Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hey, guys, this is Naim, and you've reached the Mosaic Church Podcast. So excited that you're part of our listening community and love for you to be even more connected. So check out our website. There's more content there and there's more opportunities for you get connected in our ministries and events as well. Also, love for you to share this content. If this is blessed to you. I know that God wants to use you to bless other people with it, so share this podcast you will. Lastly, would you consider supporting this ministry? This is made possible by other people's generosity, and I'd love for you to pay it forward. Join us to reclaim the message and the movement of Jesus together. So would you consider giving to this ministry? I know that God is able to do immeasurably more through us when we come together. Thank you so much. God bless you. Enjoy.
[00:00:56] Good morning.
[00:00:58] Good morning.
[00:01:00] Welcome, welcome. Hey, guys, if you're joining us online, can we make some noise for everybody who's joining us online as well? Hello. Hello. Hello. All right, here's what I want you to do, okay? If you're a guest here, I want you to play along. I want you to. What? Play along. Yes. Yes. Are you guys okay with that? We're gonna have some fun this weekend. We've got pancakes for you after the service. So. Hello. Bribing you guys. So we're gonna play along. This is gonna be tricky because I've never done this before. It is part of our series that we've been in, and we're talking about miracles, right? And so the headlines. The headlines is what? Let's read the headlines. What it is, Blind man. What? Pharisees called it fake news. I love our creativity here. It's hilarious. It's hilarious. Okay, so here's the deal. Here's the deal. I didn't grow up Christian, so I grew up, you know, having to learn Christian songs and all that. But. But there's a Christian song, old school song, that I want to see if we can sing it.
[00:01:54] This is also my audition for the worship team. Those of you who are listening, any. Okay. Okay. So it's Amazing Grace. Anybody know Amazing Grace? Anybody? Anybody? Okay, how about this side? Anybody know Amazing Grace?
[00:02:04] Sweet. The sound. Okay. Okay. Let's sing this together. Okay, here's the one I'm gonna do. Okay. I want to attempt this. It's gonna happen. It's gonna happen. Okay? So I want you to sing for certain parts. We're gonna divide the church up right here. Okay. Right here. Okay. Let's Say, sing the first amazing grace House that.
[00:02:54] See, look at that.
[00:02:58] That's awesome. That's awesome. So that's what we're talking about. We're talking about the story of how this guy gets to born blind and he experiences a miracle. And we've seen songs about it. We talk about it. What's interesting about this series of this. This. This series is that the miracles that we've been talking about, each and every one of them have got a different lesson, a different challenge for us. And so this week is no different. In fact, in fact, I was trying to figure out what this. What this miracle, what this title of this, you know, this talk should be. And I came up with this one. I wanna put it up for you. There it is. This is the title. What's the title? There's what?
[00:03:41] There's mud on your miracle. There's mud on your miracle. Which in North Carolina and Charlotte, if you're here, there's actually pollen in your miracle, right? That should be the talk, right? The pollen. No, but it's mud on your miracle. What we're gonna realize is that before we jump into this story is that you're gonna find a couple of things going on, okay? And I want you to know that I. I want you to notice those things, okay? On your own. So you're gonna find this dynamic going on. There are four words that are gonna continue to kind of bump into each other, the idea of shame and blame. So you can find blame and shame working. You're also gonna find process and pride. Okay? Blame and what? Shame. And then process. Right? A process. The process and what? Pride. You're gonna see these four words and these concepts pop up, and each character in here is going to get to choose what they're gonna. How they're gonna wrestle with it, how they're gonna negotiate with either pride, or they're gonna negotiate with blame or shame. So let's jump right in. Okay, you guys ready? All right, let's jump in. So it starts off, it says, and this, by the way, if you have your app, what I did is, is that I'm going through different translations. Some of you guys have asked, hey, what's the best translation? I don't know if there's a best translation. There's some really good ones. In fact, we're highlighting some of them in our foyer for you. And also on the app, we'll let you know about this. But this particular talk that I wanna do is I'm using several different translations to kind of make us understand or allow us to really see something that you might have not seen if you're only enslaved to one translation. There's a beauty in so many different translations, one of which is the paraphrased translation called the message. Okay, so this is. I'm gonna start off the story with the message because I think it really hits home. It says here, walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from what? Birth? So remember that he was blind from birth. Okay, so what happens? Right? Well, the disciples. The disciples, they're like, hey, hey, Rabbi, Rabbi, Rabbi. So. So. So who sinned? Who sinned? This man or what? His parents causing him to be born blind? And then Jesus says this. He says, what? You're. What? You're asking the wrong question. You're asking the wrong question. See, what's interesting about this is that whenever bad things happen, we want to blame someone. When something goes wrong in our lives, we want to blame. We want to look around and see the people in our life that maybe caused it or maybe in our whole life. We see the trajectory of our life. We wanna blame possibly our parents, possibly people in our lives that did. They did. They were part of causing some of the trauma. But there is always a lot of blame to go around. You guys know this. Just like pollen, there's a lot of blame to go around. It just goes everywhere. And we tend to do that in our lives, even spiritually. Spiritually. When things happen in our lives, when things go wrong or things just don't work out, or you're just still waiting for a miracle, you're still waiting for that thing to turn around. You're still waiting for your life. You're a single adult. You're like, you know what? I'm just still waiting. I'm still waiting. What happens when you're a single adult, though? The longer you are a single adult and you've kind of had, like, really disappointing relationships, you finally. You begin believing something about yourself. You start believing that you are sinning, and you don't even know how. Well, some of you guys know exactly how you sin it. But. Okay. But some of you, you're like, what is wrong with me? That is the question the single adults ask all the time. What is wrong with me? As long as you are in this? Because there's something wrong. There's something that's gotta be wrong. And then, whose fault is it? Whose fault is it? I remember talking to an executive. He retired from bank of America and years ago, and he was helping out. When we first started Mosaic, he was helping Out. And something went wrong. And he was like, okay, who's to blame? Who's to blame? And then he used a phrase I'd never heard before. Okay? He said, who is. There's gotta be a single neck to choke.
[00:07:42] I was like, I'm sorry, what did you just say? I just. See, I just thought it was an American thing, you know what I'm saying? I was like, maybe it's American. It's whatever. I'm like, did you just say a single neck to choke? And he was like, yeah. He said, you know, it's a business term. I'm like, is it, though? I don't know. I think it's just your term. And you need therapy. Like, what? What are you talking about? Well, basically what you're saying is, who's the person's neck we need to choke? Who's to what? Who's to blame? Who's to blame? And once it realizes in leadership it's not who, it's what to blame. Because usually systems are the ones to blame, not people. Obviously, sometimes there are people, but in this case, the disciples are doing exactly what everybody else would do. Say, hey, let's just.
[00:08:25] Why did this happen? Why it's happened. But Jesus says, hey, you're looking. Yeah, you're looking at the wrong. You're looking at someone to blame. There is no such what such. No such what?
[00:08:37] Cause and effect here. There's no such cause and effect. And then he says, instead. Instead, I want you to do this. I want you to do what? Look to what God can do. Look to what God can do. So this is interesting because what happens is the scenario is that Jesus points out, looks at this guy, goes to him, then this guy doesn't come to Jesus. So there's very much more, much more going on. There's an intention. Jesus is particular about this. He goes to this person in for a reason. So it's not a guy coming to him. Just want you to know that. Okay, so the story continues. What happens? The story continues. It says, then he spit on the ground and made mud with the. What? Saliva? Okay, now this is interesting, right? This is one of the few miracles that Jesus is like, wow, let's just get gross. Let's just get it. Let's just do it. Let's just do it. Okay? That's why there's mud on your miracle and in your eye apparently, too. Because here's what it says. It says, and he spread the mud over the blind man's eyes. And then he told him, hey, hey, if you want to? Not. Not really. If you want to. He says, go. What? Go wash yourself in the Pool of Siloam, because you got maranyai, which means scent. The Pool of Siloam was actually like a channel of water that was constructed to basically made. It was a conduit from.
[00:10:02] To get water to the city, from outer parts of the area to into the city where people could use it. So it was basically he was saying, go and go to that particular pool. Which is interesting because it seems like right here, Jesus is alluding to a process like this is how water gets here. There's a process to this. And then obviously you've got to negotiate blame. We did that. But also now shame, because he's got mud on his eyes and Jesus has told him to do that, to go and wash. Now the guy is blind. Is he deaf? Is he deaf? He's not deaf. He's not deaf. Okay. He's not deaf. Okay? So I just wanna imagine. I know. I just love the idea of it because you know and we know, okay? Because science has proven through Daredevil that when your eyesight is gone.
[00:10:52] Stay with me. When your eyesight is gone, everything else is heightened, right? Your hearing is like, woo. You can hear everything. I just wanna picture him hearing Jesus and I wonder if he's going, what's happening? What's happening? What's happening? Oh, oh, it's in my eye. It's in my eye. What's happening? So there's, it's like, what is Jesus doing? Is he insulting the guy? There's only one other incident in Mark where Jesus does something like this. The boy, the person is deaf. And Jesus sticks. I kid you not, the person is deaf, but he also cannot speak because he was born deaf. And this. And Jesus sticks his finger into the guy's ear. I'm not making this up, by the way. Okay? Then he takes his own finger, touches his tongue, and then touches the guy's tongue. You're like, are you serious? Yeah, read your Bible. This is crazy. It's crazy stuff. It's like disgusting. It's like, what are you doing now? I just want you to know, like, these two miracles are so interesting because it seems like the person was born a certain way. And then Jesus, with the way he's creating mud and what he's doing, it seems like he's saying something that's bigger than that. There's a process like that God himself has created something. He's the Creator and he's using creation to heal creation, which is Again, a big concept, but this is so interesting to me. So what happens? Right? What happens? The guy has to choose what he's gonna do. Now he's got mud on his eyes. He's embarrassed what's going on. So what does he do? Let's go on. He goes on. He says, so then he goes. He goes, right? He spit on the ground, made mud. He told him. He said, go wash. And so the man went and washed. And he did what he came back. What he came back seeing. So God tells him to go do something, which doesn't make any sense because you can heal a lot of different ways, obviously. But I want you to go walk to this place. And now people are seeing you with mud on your eyes. I just want you to know that sometimes God will ask you to do something that you feel is beneath you.
[00:13:09] God will ask you to do something that you feel is beneath you. Anybody have a. Have you. Anybody have a moment where you're like. Someone suggests something for you to do, and you're like. You don't tell them this, but in your head you're like, this is beneath me. Anybody? Be honest. Anybody? You're like, this is beneath me. Like, I'm not. I'm not. No, no, no. This is not above my pay grade. This is what this is. Yeah. At work, someone says, hey, could you do this? And you're like, I'm sorry.
[00:13:36] I'm sorry. That's not. That's not. No, no. I'm a manager. Like, no, no, I don't do this. I don't do this. I'm the boss. I don't do this. This is beneath me. This is beneath me. Could it be possible that the reason why you're still blind, in a sense, or you're still in need is because, I don't know, God's asked you to do something that's beneath you? And you're like, I'm not okay with that. I'm not okay with that. Could God be saying, I need you to do something that you need to wrestle with your pride?
[00:14:08] It's not just blame, it's also shame. But then there's also this idea of a process. I'm telling you to do something, and you gotta negotiate your pride. I think for some of us, we don't get to step into a lot of things in our life not because God is not good. It's just that we're too proud.
[00:14:27] We're just too proud. And I tell you, I mean, I've had moments in my life I'm like, this is beneath me and I've got to check myself before I thank you. Yeah, I gotta check myself. Okay, so the story continues. What happens? What happens? Okay, so people find out. The. The town is buzzing, right? And so people are asking, what happened? What happened? What happened? The Pharisees get involved. The religious people, they get involved. The fake news people, they're like, hey, this is not true. Okay? So they're like, asking, okay, so who healed you? What happened? And he told them. He said, the man called Jesus. He said, the man called Jesus made mud and spread over my eyes and told me, go and to the pool of shalom and shalom and. And wash yourself. So I went and washed. And now I what?
[00:15:19] Now I see. Now I see the people, the Pharisees, everybody's like, we don't believe this. We don't believe this. The reason is because it was so odd. And also, Jesus had been doing these miraculous things. And the Pharisees were like, I'm not quite sure if this is really true. I'm not quite sure if this is believable. That's like, some of us, we grew up in church where, you know, everybody had a miracle and a healing every Sunday, Every Sunday, every Sunday. If someone's like, I'm healed. You're like, really, though?
[00:15:51] Because last week you weren't. The week before that, you were. And, like, what happens? More demons came. Like, what's going on here? Like, what's happening? And so we live in a world that we find ourselves going, ah, I'm not quite sure. I'm not quite sure. I'm not quite sure. I don't believe this. Because. Because for some of us, for most of us, we need to see a miracle walking. We need to see someone living out a process, living out healing. A person who struggles with addiction doesn't go, okay, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. No, no, you have to keep on walking it out. So, see, again, with miracles, there's blame and shame. There's process and there's pride that we all have to negotiate. So. So the story does continue, though. So they're still like, okay, what's happening? What's happening? Okay. Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been born and demanded, like, what is your opinion about this guy? What is your opinion about this? The person who healed you? Now, here's the thing. Did this guy see the person who healed him?
[00:16:55] No.
[00:16:57] No. It wasn't like his eyes were open and there was Jesus. No. Because he was what he Was gone. And Jesus was gone. He never saw Jesus. He only, what, heard him. He only heard him. So he didn't know. He's like. So they're like, I think this guy is a guy. This guy named Jesus did it. So this man, even his story, as you notice it starts off by telling people, I don't know. I just know there's a man named Jesus. He did this. I'm not quite sure. The Pharisees come and they go, okay, who did this? Who did this? They go, it was Jesus. Like, yes, it was Jesus. And then he goes like, what do you think he is? What do you think he is? And he says this. He says, what is your opinion about this man who healed you? The man replied, I think he must be a. What? I think he's a prophet. All of a sudden, the man's idea of Jesus has moved from a man to now, what Prophet? So it seems like this revelation of Jesus is a process. I wonder if God wants to show you something as you journey with him, with the struggle, as you're praying about something. Because God doesn't only just, you know, answer prayers and allows things to happen and provide for you. What he also wants to do is he wants you to get to know him more. See, if you're wondering, guy, what are you? What are you doing in my life?
[00:18:22] What are you doing in my life? Why am I not. Whatever, whatever, whatever. And God wants to show you something about himself. He wants to not just give you. He wants to grow you. He wants to grow you in your relationship with him. So he's a prophet. All right, so then the story continues. What happens next? Okay, then they go to his parents. They are like, this is serious. The parents Remember the first time the parents were mentioned, the disciples mentioned them, right? And he was like, who's to blame?
[00:18:51] The parents? Did the parents sin? Did this person sin? Who sinned? Who sinned? So now the parents are a part of the story, which, again, friends, this is so odd. It's so odd because this miracle involves not just one or two people. It involves seemingly everybody. Bring the parents in. Like, why do we wanna bring the parents in? It's interesting. Interesting. So his parents were like, hey, what do you want from us? And the Pharisees were like, we want to make sure that this is actually true. Is this your son? And did this happen?
[00:19:28] And so what do they respond? They go, we know this is our what? This is our son. And they wanted to confirm he was what he was born. What? He was what? Born what He Was born blind. He was born blind, but we don't know how he can see or who healed him. We don't know. We don't know. And then they say this, which is so interesting. Then they say, ask him. He is what? He is what? Help me out. He is what?
[00:19:56] Old enough. He's old enough to speak for himself. He's old enough. What is happening here? I want you to know that the writer, John, and even obviously God wants us to know that when it comes to. To blame and shame, like I said, there's so much to go around.
[00:20:13] And the reason why they did not want to answer that question is because they knew that if they legitimized it, they said, yes, this is it. This happened. If they answered the question, whoa, what happened? It goes on. It tells us this. It tells us. It says, his parents said this because they were afraid that the Jewish leaders who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. And that's why they said, he's old enough. Ask him.
[00:20:46] I just want you to know, like, isn't it so sad and tragic to be a part of a faith community that could expel you for a miracle?
[00:20:58] For a miracle. The Pharisees were like, we're going to expel anybody who claims this. And then these guys, his parents, they were like, we're not gonna say anything. We just know that's our son and he was born blind. That's all. But we're not gonna say it because we don't want to be thrown out of the church.
[00:21:21] I mean, sadly, I've met people who've been thrown out of the church for all kinds of things. Isn't it tragic? Isn't it tragic? Why would being thrown out of the church. Why? Because in this story, again, blame, shame, pride, and process. Pharisees, their pride was so much bigger than their theology. So much bigger. Because they. What they wanted to do was they wanted to prove that Jesus was not God, that he was not doing these miracles. This was not. It was not good. And they had a problem with them because Jesus would heal. If you read the entire chapter, he would heal. On the day. You're not supposed to heal anybody or do any work. What was it? What's that day? The Sabbath. The Sabbath. I mean, some people believe that even him making mud and doing that work was like a defiant thing. They're like, I'm going to do work. Like, it's just. What? It's just. It's amazing to me the amount of spiritual pride that gets in the way. For. From. It gets in the way in our healing, in our. In God's presence in our life. Just. Just amazing to me. So the parents are like, you know what? We don't want to. We don't want to. We don't want to. We don't want to. Wanna. I wonder if that conversation happened next to the guy, because I don't know what he went through in his life. I'm not quite sure. Did he blame his parents?
[00:22:41] And now they're just not disowning him, but they're kind of like, you're on your own. What's happening?
[00:22:47] Are the parents choosing the church over their kid?
[00:22:52] I mean, this is messed up a little bit. It's messed up. It's messed up. So what happens next? What happens next is they go back to the guy. They go back to the guy and they interrogate him again. And then he says this. I don't know whether this man is a sinner. Like, I don't know. I don't know. But one thing I know this. I know this. I know this, right? I was blind, but now what I see, that's all I know. That's all I know. That's all I know. It's amazing the amount of emotional tension and energy around this miracle, because then the story keeps on going. So what happens after that? What happens after that is that they interrogate him even more and he is like. Well, he starts basically giving them ideas of who that this could be God, that this could be God. And they're like, you.
[00:23:49] You have no idea what you're talking about. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And this is what they say. They call him something that he wrestled with his whole life. He called him what? He says you were born a total. What, like basically saying the reason why you've been blind this whole time is because you're a sinner.
[00:24:05] It goes all full circle to the blame thing. Full circle to the blame thing. And then they say this. Are you trying to teach us? Are you trying to teach us? What is that? What kind of statement is that? You think it's a prideful statement?
[00:24:20] Are you trying to teach me? Are you trying to tell me? Me? Are you trying to tell me?
[00:24:26] So again, here you've got these people wrestling with pride, and then what did they do? They threw him. What?
[00:24:34] Out of the synagogue. They threw him out.
[00:24:38] It's so heartbreaking to see that. So that's why. That's why very few miracles. Jesus does this. He circles back around. So now Jesus finds the Guy and goes back to him. Goes back to him. So what happened? Jesus hears about it. He hears that he'd been thrown out. He was like, hey, me too.
[00:25:00] And he says. And he says, hey. He goes to him and he says, hey, do you believe in the Son of God?
[00:25:06] And the guy's like.
[00:25:09] He was like, who is he? Who is he? Why? Because he had never seen Jesus. He's like, who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? And then Jesus says this, which is awesome. He says, you have both.
[00:25:23] You have both have seen him, and it is he who speaks with you. And then he said, lord, I believe. And he worshiped. Worshiped him.
[00:25:37] I just want you to know that our lives.
[00:25:41] Our lives are not.
[00:25:45] Are not perfect. And growth is never perfect, but growth is something that's really beautiful. For some of us, you might have not grown into the miracle that you're praying for. You haven't just haven't been grown into it. Because you start off as saying, I don't know who I believe about. I don't know what. I know. He's just a man. Then, oh, maybe he's a prophet. He's a prophet. And then, you see, with this guy, it becomes where he is no longer a prophet. He is now what, the Son of God.
[00:26:16] See, when I read this, I realize that there are sometimes in our life, as we journey through faith, that we live out the blessings of someone that we do not know. Like, we are living out the blessings of God, and we have never really acknowledged him. We have never even known him. That's why some of us, when we come to faith, you go look back in your life and you're like, oh, my gosh, you were there from the beginning. You were there from the beginning, but it took you a minute to get there. See, I think for some of us, though, we might be actually, like, enjoying blessings and not giving God credit because we've not known who he was. But now that we know who he is, my question is, are we giving him the credit? We're giving him the credit. We're doing that. So then what happens? Well, the story even continues. Goes. It's crazy. It's crazy. Okay, so then Jesus is talking to the guy. The Pharisees show up. Pharisees show up. And Jesus kind of starts teaching a little bit, talking about the blind, spiritually blind people and all that.
[00:27:26] And then the Pharisees jump in and they go, are you calling us blind? Like, are you calling us blind?
[00:27:36] Are you calling us sinners? Because they equate you know, not being able to see with sin.
[00:27:42] And then Jesus says this. He says, if you were blind, you wouldn't be guilty.
[00:27:48] If you were blind, you wouldn't be guilty. But you.
[00:27:54] But you remain. You remain guilty because you, what, you claim that you could what, see?
[00:28:01] Now, this is so important to this miracle. Okay, here's why. Because this says that now you and I have a responsibility of the revelation that God has given us. Now that we've heard this story, now that we of all. You have all heard this story, the story of, like, okay, God moves and wants to negotiate with us, wants to figure out how to move us through a process. Are we committed to the process? Are we okay with mud on our eyes? Are we able to do things that are beneath us? Are we able to do some things that will, you know, mess up the way we look in our image? Are we willing to go do this? Now that we know. Now that we know that we have to do this, that we should do this? It is our responsibility to, in fact, do this, and then we're responsible for it. That means you're like, you can't be going, I've been praying about it, but now God's not doing something. I've been praying about it, but God's not doing something. See, as we end this conversation, because this is week six, we got week seven, and then we got Easter, okay? But we gotta have a hard conversation of, is God telling you something? Is God telling me something that feels so beneath me, will mess up my image, but I have to do it. I have to do it. So as we end this story, here's what we take away. We take away three things. Number one is that we got to go. We gotta go and reconcile. For some of us, we gotta. It's the goal. Go and wash, right? You gotta go and do something. You gotta go do something. And for some of us, I believe it's reconcile. Now, what does that mean? Some of you. Can I just tell you, some of you, you have to go and ask for forgiveness.
[00:29:37] You have to go apologize. But, Naim, you don't. That's between you and him.
[00:29:44] I'm just saying that your healing is connected to that.
[00:29:51] Your miracle is connected to that. And we talk a lot about forgiving people, not holding on to bitterness.
[00:29:58] But I want to reverse that a little bit. I want to say, please don't hold on to pride.
[00:30:04] There's some people you need to go and you need to say, I am sorry.
[00:30:13] I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have Said that I shouldn't have treated you this way. I am sorry.
[00:30:21] You have to reconcile because now you know. See, you've been shown, and now you're accountable to it.
[00:30:30] It's the hardest thing for a parent team. And if you raise kids, to go to your kids and say, I'm sorry. But it's the most healthiest thing that a parent can do is to ask for forgiveness for something that they misspoke about or anything.
[00:30:50] Do you have to do that? For some of us, you have to go and tell.
[00:30:55] You have to go and tell. What does that mean? See, for some of us, we keep our spirituality very private. Extremely private. Some of you guys, I know, some of you guys who are, like, who grew up Catholic, you've told me this. I know this. You've like, hey, don't tell anybody I'm here. The Catholic Church does not know that I'm here.
[00:31:19] I get that our faith has to be personal, has to be personal, but it doesn't have to be private.
[00:31:28] It has to be private.
[00:31:31] Do people in your life know, man, that on Sunday mornings you're here singing songs, trying to grow your faith? Do people know? Do people know? Are you willing to say no? Here's what I know. Here's what I know. I was blind, but now I see Jesus did it. Are you giving God credit for the life that you have right now, or is it just that, you know what? I'm just lucky, you know, it's just good karma, man. You know, you give to the universe, you get a good back. I mean, I get all of that, but at the end of the day, are we giving credit to the one who is the giver of all good things? And for some of us, acknowledging that you go and are part of a mosaic community, you are part of a faith. You're growing your faith. It's a big thing. You might need to. You might need to do that. And lastly, for some of us, you need to go and. What's the word? What's the word? Help me out. What is that?
[00:32:36] Repent. What does that mean? You're like, ah, repent. Oh, my gosh, we got flashbacks. What's happening? We just sang Amazing Grace. What's going on with this church?
[00:32:47] Well, here's the deal. See, repent actually means to turn direction. To turn. To change your mind, to go a different direction. So here's what some of us have to do. Now that God has done something amazing in your life, now that you've seen God's miracles in your life, now that you're seeing yourself in a process, going down a process, going through this, literally this pool of siyoshialm, like this conduit. You're on the process. You have to trust that. You have to keep on going. You cannot turn from it. Repent doesn't mean, oh, my gosh, come to the altar and ask forgiveness. That's asking for forgiveness. Repentance is a change of behavior. So for some of us, just don't go back.
[00:33:40] So just don't go back. Don't go back in doing what you used to do. Don't go back to despair. Don't go back to disappointment. Don't go back to that. No, you have to change your mind. You gotta repent. You gotta move away from that. Jesus would always do that. He would heal people and then he would say, go and sin. What? No more. He's like, just don't. Don't go back. Don't go back to this thing. Don't go back to this thing. He's not saying no, but I want you to feel bad and put up a banner that says, repent, you're going to hell. That. That is a Southern thing, I think. I don't know what that is, but. Okay. That is not a Bible thing. Okay. Just so you know. Okay. Just so you know. Yeah.
[00:34:17] And the Bible was not discovered in the South. Also. Also a fact. Okay.
[00:34:22] It's a change your. It's a change your behavior thing. So as we end this. I know it's a lot. I know it's a lot, but miracles are messy. Miracles have stuff on them. Miracles require you to do something. So what do you have to negotiate? Pride, Blame? Shame?
[00:34:41] Have you quit the process? Like, what do you need to do? What do you need to do? You can read these stories and go, oh, that's awesome. Or we can say, God, I think you're showing me something that I need to go. I need to go and do. I need to go wash. I need to go. I need to go and do something. What is it? What is it? So let me pray for us. Can I do that? Okay. Lord God, thank you so much.
[00:35:08] Thank you. That we. We can have conversations about miracles, supernatural things, but they're so practical.
[00:35:15] And for God, for some of us, it's so true that you are calling me to go and do something.
[00:35:27] God, sometimes we just go, you know, well, this area of my life doesn't affect that area of my life.
[00:35:35] But God, you see all the areas of our lives, and there are some things we are. We have not repent. From we have not repented. From. We. We are going back to that thinking. We're going back to that theology. We're going back to that thinking. We're going back to that emotion. We're going back to despair. We're going back and we need to stop.
[00:35:55] We need to repent. We need to change direction today.
[00:36:00] Some of us, we need to go and acknowledge that you are the God.
[00:36:05] You are the God. We got to go and tell for ourselves, for ourselves. Yes, this is. This is what I believe. I believe.
[00:36:15] I believe in Jesus. I believe that Jesus is the son of God. I believe that he saved me. I believe the power of the Holy Spirit, God, for some of us, we have to go and really testify and, and give you the credit. God, not praying about the gift all the time, but really giving credit to the giver of all good things.
[00:36:42] And God, for some of us, we have to go reconcile.
[00:36:46] Maybe that is offering forgiveness, but maybe that is going and saying, I'm sorry, God. What I do know is, is that regardless of who we are, God, your grace and mercy always follow us.
[00:37:05] You love us, God, you love us.
[00:37:10] And so we just thank you for that. God. God, I pray that as we respond, as we go light a candle or receive communion or go to the cross, God, remind us that because of the way you love us, because of your kindness, because of your belief in us, God, we are able to do the things, the hard things, the messy things, because you want to do a miracle in our lives. God, I pray, I pray these things in Jesus name, God, let's stand together.
[00:37:42] Thanks for listening to this message from Mosaic church in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more audio and video content, visit us at MosaicChurch TV.
