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.
[00:00:55] Well, all right.
[00:00:57] Tell you what. Everybody needs a Jeff Canton in their life, right? Yes. Thank you for that, man. Man. It's a. It's a. It's. We have a good church, right? I mean, it's just a good. Yeah. This is good to be here with you guys. Great to be here with you guys. So. So we're starting a brand new series, and it's. It's. It's actually the seven miracles found in the Book of John. So we're going to be doing that. But I gotta tell you a quick story. Story here. So several, like, several years ago, I was in a party, okay. And there were some celebrities there. Okay. There was Christian celebrities, and then there were real celebrities there too. Okay? So just so you know, there's a difference. There's a difference. And so. Yeah. And so I saw this one worship leader, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, there's a friend of mine who loves her stuff. And I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna get a picture with her, send it to him. He's gonna love it and all that. So I went up to her and her. I was like, hey, hey. So my friend Loves is a super fan. Superfan. Super fan. And I was wondering if I can get a picture with you. And I was like, okay. And now in my head, I'm like, okay, where are we gonna take this picture? And she was like, no.
[00:01:57] I'm like, I'm sorry, what? And then her husband's like, ah, no, no, that's. That's. We're not gonna do that. And I'm like, what? And I don't know if you've ever done this. Have you ever gone to a celebrity, like, and asked for a picture and got denied?
[00:02:10] I mean, if you haven't, because you're like, yeah, I'd never do that. I'd never do that. And for me, she was not even a super. I mean, I wasn't a super f. You know what I'm saying? Like, when she left, I was like, I don't even like your music.
[00:02:21] I don't even like your stuff. You know what I'm saying? You're not that famous, you know, whatever. But if the Rock Dwayne Johnson did that, I would be crushed.
[00:02:29] Oh, my gosh. I'd be like, no, no, no. Have you ever put yourself out there and asked something and gotten a rejection? Anybody? Right? I'll tell you what, though. I'll tell you what. Now it's got me, like, I hesitate asking people for pictures. I'm like, can I take a picture with you, Mom? I don't know. You know, like, can I take a picture? Like, can I do this? Can I do that? I wonder, though, if that's true in life. Like, I wonder if we've done this. Like, we do this. Like, we've gotten so many no's in our life that we are afraid to ask.
[00:03:00] I wonder if we've had so many nos in our life that now we might be even forfeiting a yes.
[00:03:09] Maybe even when it comes to God. Like, we've gotten so many no's from God that we just kind of go, you know what? I'm not gonna ask. I'm not gonna ask. Are there other prayers out there? Are there requests out there? There's a need out there that you're like, you know what? I'm not gonna ask.
[00:03:23] I mean, my prayers, you know, they don't really get answered. I mean, other people. Yeah. Mine, not really. Not quite sure. I wonder if we stop asking for some things. So this morning, the big idea, the big idea, if. If you gotta go, the big idea is this. Okay, I want you to do this. And this is the title of the sermon, okay? We're gonna put it on the screen for you right now. Okay? It's called the Big what Ask. The Big Ask. Are you and I willing to make and do that?
[00:03:53] To ask big? Can we do that? Are we willing to put. To be courageous enough to do that. Pushback, rejection, disappointment. And do that, I think, for our lives. If we're going to understand for the next seven weeks that God still does miracles and we've gotta get to a place where we go, you know what I'm gonna. The first step is I'm going to be courageous enough to ask one more time, and I'm gonna make the big ask.
[00:04:20] So let's try this and let's do it together. So here's what we're gonna do, right? So we're gonna go through the book of John and the seven miracles in John. Now, if you've never. If you don't know what this is, this is a Bible, okay? So I'm saying that, not to be facetious, but I'm saying this because, you know, I mean, I read my Bible, but it's on my phone, okay? Like everybody else, you know? But this is old school. This is good. But I just want you to know that all of this, this whole part of this section right here, this is all the Old Testament. This is just the New Testament, okay? And what's interesting about this is this is just. This is the old way, the Old Testament, because it's the old way of knowing and understanding God, and this is the new. And over here, there's a lot of Jesus. There's a lot of Jesus, practical things. And it starts off. This New Testament starts off with these, sorry, not apostles, but these gospels, the Gospels are stories of Jesus, and John is actually one of the last ones. In fact, it was written, some say, as the last gospel. And every gospel has kind of a different energy towards it. But the first three, like Matthew, Mark and Luke, they really want to talk about. And they mention. They give a lot of details and they talk about all the things that Jesus said. All the things that Jesus said. So we go back to that, and if you wanna find out what Jesus said, it's found in those three. Now, John's different. John starts off with a definite, like, different direction. I mean, he doesn't start off with like, you know, and the Christmas story and Jesus was born. No, no, no. He starts off. If you remember, he starts off. The first chapter is like. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And he goes all like. He kind of not mimics, but he's kind of going off of the Genesis story. He's kind of. So it's kind of interesting.
[00:06:04] He's got an intention behind him. John's also the guy, if you guys remember, John's also the guy who, in his book, he always says, I'm John, John, the guy Jesus what loved the most. Okay, here's what's really funny about that, you know, because it's true. He does that. He does that what's also true is, is because I, I, I wonder if he did this on purpose. I'm sure he did. But Jesus gave him a nickname, and so he gave himself a nickname. He gave himself a nickname that, you know, the Jesus loved the most. But Jesus named him the Son of Thunder.
[00:06:38] John and James, they were two brothers. These guys, they're the guys who were like, you know, like they went into one space city once and the, that he rejected them. And John, this guy who Jesus loved the most, John and James is the guy who said, hey, hey, hey, should we call down fire and burn them?
[00:06:56] And then after that, Jesus was like, son of Thunders. You guys are called Sons of Thunder, okay? And so that was the nickname he got. So John's goal, what's John's goal in these seven? John's goal is to change our mind about who God is, who change our perspective on who God is and the possibility of this God. And so what we wanna do is, what I wanna do is I wanna actually read you the last two lines of his book. Because what he does is, which is different from, I think modern day is like, you kind of start with a thesis, right? This is what, this is the point of the paper, this is the point of the story. But his point actually is at the end. So let's go to the last couple of lines in the book of John first to kinda understand where he's coming from. So it starts off and it says here, says the disciples, he says, saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. Okay, but these are written so that you may continue, continue to believe that Jesus is the what, The Messiah. And he goes on, he says, and he is the what? The Son of God. And that they, and that, that by believing in him, by believing in all these things and writing them down because of all these things, that you will have life by the power of his name, that you continue to believe. Like, I'm writing this thing because I want you to grow in your faith of who God is. That's the whole point of my book. Cause there's so many miraculous things he did. It's not just the seven. There's so many more. I just want you to know I'm finishing this book, but I want you to know that I want you to continue believing, reminding yourself who God is. The expansiveness of God. So when you think about the big ask, when you think about the thing that you're wondering about, like, I don't know if this is going to Turn around. Like you need a miracle in your life. Like there's a healing that needs to take place in your life, maybe for your parents. And you're like, my dad just got diagnosed and it's not looking good. I don't know what's going to happen. There are things in your life, you're like, if. If this turns around, it's gonna be a miracle. And in fact, it's going to take a miracle for my relationships to change. It's gonna take a miracle for my marriage to turn around. It's gonna take a miracle for me to get a date. It's gonna take a miracle for a new job promotion. It's just gonna take a miracle. So the good thing is that we've gotta understand there's a God out there who is able to do these things. And today he wants to do this for us. Because he's not about the big, big miracles. He's also about the little things, not the ones that we really desperately need, but also the miracles of requests that we just want. And that's why the first miracle is of him turning water into anybody, Remember? Yeah. So let's jump right into it. Okay, so we're in the second chapter of his book, and here's what happens, right? It says the next day. Now, the next day. Now, if you notice, it says John 1. I'm sorry, 2, 1, 5. And NLT if you don't know, like, you know, if you're not familiar with Scripture or Bibles, they have different translations. So NLT is a new living translation. And it says the next day. But other translations, maybe one that you have, it would probably say the third day. Okay, the third day. Now, this translation doesn't make a big deal about it, but the third day is important because it's the third day. It was always a Tuesday. Weddings would happen on a Tuesday. So John is very, very particular on how he writes. Understand this, though, the writings of John was not in English. Does that make sense? So there's so much lost in translation and there's so much nuance that we need to pay attention to. So, number one, you gotta understand that this is the day when all the weddings would take place. People know this is. This is happening. So this is happening. It's supposed to be a good one. And it was a wedding celebration in the village of what? The village of what? Cana? In what? Galilee? Important. John writes that down. Why does he write that down? The reason is, is because this region, this region of the people who lived there were.
[00:11:12] They tend to live like all united. Tell you explain. Okay. Before Jesus, there was a. There was an uprising against the Romans. Against the Romans. They were like the Jewish people came against them. And it didn't work out for them at all. Okay, they got crushed. But out of that rebellion, not rebellion, but that revolt for freedom, came a group called the Zealots. Can you say Zealot? Zealots. So Zealots showed up. That's how they started forming. And some of the people or a lot of that group, and it was a political group lived in this region. So you've got a marriage going on in that region of a political region. And not everybody's on the same political party, if you know what I mean. Judas, you remember Judas, the guy who. Betraying Jesus. Okay, guess what, who he was? He was a. He was a zealot. This political party believed that the only way to conquer, the only way to redeem Israel would be through politics. And so they wanted Jesus to become the king of the Jews. And that's why Judas. That's why Judas, like sold him out. He didn't sell him out because he didn't love him. He sold him out because he was like, if I just force Jesus hand, he will end up taking his right as the king of the Jews. But Jesus did the opposite. He went as a lamb to slaughter. And because it didn't work out like that, Judas, if you know the story, took his life because he believed that this was. This is the way. And he. And it didn't happen. So I want you to know that this wedding took place in some tension. Now, I don't even know. The couple and their families were all in the same political party. We don't know there was tension there. All I'm saying is that it needed to be. It needed to go smooth. You know what I'm saying? Have you ever been to like a. Like a family reunion or a party and you're like, this has to go smooth or we're never going to do Thanksgiving again. You know what I'm saying? This has to go smooth. Everything's got to be perfect. Okay? So that's the energy. That's it. So what happens? It happens. Is that Jesus, okay, Jesus mother was there and what happens? And his disciples were also invited to the celebration. That's great. That's great. So things are good. Things are good. And all of a sudden something happened. Sound the alarm. Oh, my gosh. What happens? What happens? The wine. Why is the wine gone? Like, that's like the wine is gone. The Supply runs out of the festivities. Festivities, yes. They're like, okay, we can't do this. We can't do. So who gets involved?
[00:13:42] Moms. Moms always get involved. Okay, let me just say moms. So Jesus. Mom gets involved and she goes to Jesus, she goes and tells Jesus, Jesus, hey, there's no more wine.
[00:13:55] Like, I'm sure Jesus, like, what does he say? What does he say?
[00:14:00] It's not my problem now. I don't know what that energy, I don't know what the hell is happening over there. What was the back and forth? Was Jesus, mom saying, you and your disciples drank everything? Like, what? Like Peter, look at him. Like, what is he? And then Jesus is like, it's not my problem though, right? It's not our. I mean, and what is he saying is? It's like, it's just wine.
[00:14:22] It's not a problem. It's not a problem.
[00:14:25] It's not a problem. And by the way, by the way, Jesus probably like, my time, what has. What has not yet come. Basically, what he's saying in other translations, he says, hey, this is not how I wanna do. Show up, like, as, hey, I'm the Messiah. Hey, I'm this rabbi. Hey, my first miraculous thing should not be to make more alcohol. Like. Like, please don't make me be that guy. You know what I'm saying? Like, seriously, mom, seriously. I remember once I was at a party, I was going to a party. I parked my car and these ladies parked right next to me, and we were about to go walk to the party, but they got in the car and had all these boxes of things and all that and cartons and all that. And I thought, oh, man, I should help them. And I said, oh, are you going to the party? They're like, yeah. I was like, we've got. I said, do you wanna help? You want me to help you? And they're like, yeah, please. Thank you so much. So they piled off stuff on me. And as I was carrying it, I realized all of the boxes had alcohol.
[00:15:24] Every one of them. There's no chips anywhere. You know what I'm saying? It's just alcohol. I'm like, so I've got two boxes, maybe three of all this. I'm walking into this party and I'm, this is not how I wanna show up, Pastor Naim. Because there's gonna be some wise guy, some dude I know, like, Jeff. He's like, oh, hey, Pastor's bringing all the wine. And exactly, that's what happened. I was like, I don't Wanna show up like this. So I get what Jesus was doing. But, but, but, but, but, but his mom. His mom kinda walks away from that conversation and basically. And says this to other people, right? To the people working there. She says what to them?
[00:16:10] Do whatever he says. Do what he said. So basically she was like, I'm done. You got this. I'm not telling you twice.
[00:16:18] Clean your room. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm leaving. You're gonna handle this. You're gonna handle this, okay? And by the way, you've done this before. Like, I don't know what she said. You know what I'm saying? I know you and James, I remember, okay? You've done this at home, okay? You can handle this. So do whatever. She walks away now. I don't know what happened there, and I don't even know why Jesus did do it. But here's what we do know. What we do know is, is there are three things that took place there through Mary's actions. Three things. Number one was this idea of asking. She made the big ask.
[00:16:52] Now, maybe for her, it wasn't a big ask, but it was.
[00:16:55] It was for wine. Jim. Sane. And it was frivolous. It was like, I mean, no one needs it.
[00:17:05] You want it, but no one needs it. No one needs it. No one needs it. And yes, it's gonna create some. Because it's a shame on our culture. It's gonna create some tension. It was supposed to go smooth. And this would stop the party. This would be shameful or humiliating for the host. I get that. I get that. I get that.
[00:17:30] So Jesus, mom makes the big ask. She's like, this is not a thing that was gonna make or break the wedding. They're still gonna get married and all that. But this would be great if you could do it. Now. My question to us, to all of us, is like, are we willing to make that ask? Is there something that you're like, you know what? This is not that important.
[00:17:54] This is frivolous. I really would like this.
[00:17:58] I don't need it, but I would really like this. I really would like this.
[00:18:04] I would say, hey, what is something that you're not praying because you don't want to make the ask. You're too scared to get rejected by God. What if God was saying, hey, I want you to ask? And see, for some of us, we just ask as we go, as we're driving, you know, somewhere, we ask. We shoot up a prayer here and there as we go, you know, about our day and Then there are others of us who, like my wife, who is like, she. Seriously, when she asks, she writes it down. You know what I'm saying? She writes it down. And I wonder, for some of us, the big ask, maybe for you, the thing that's not frivolous, maybe it's a big one. It's important. It needs to happen. A miracle needs to take place, a healing, desperately. You need one. Maybe you need to write it down. Now. Ashley and I both, you know, have journals, and she read me parts of hers, and I was gonna be like, man, I've done this. You know, I've done journals. You know? So I looked at my journals and I realized they're all about me. And so I was like, this is not good. My journals are all like, why am I here, God? And I'm like, okay, I'm not gonna read that. But I asked her if I could share this. And it's basically, the title is like. It has a date on there. It's 19 from 1996. And it says, God answers, exclamation mark. It says, God has answered so many prayers this past couple of months. I want to record them so that I. So as I. So as not to forget, as I tend to do.
[00:19:38] God has done so many things. And then she left. She said in February, I was praying to join.
[00:19:45] Praying for a job, an apartment, a roommate, and for my family and to find a new place, a church where I could grow in Him. And then now in August, I live, and she starts reading all the things that took place. All the things that took place.
[00:20:02] And then she, you know, then she writes here. She says, God is so faithful. How. How can I continue?
[00:20:09] How can I continue to doubt?
[00:20:12] And then she talks about a roommate situation, and one roommate bailed on her. And then the next couple days found another one. And, man, I think for some of us, you need to dare to ask in writing.
[00:20:26] In writing. You're like, no, you're not in writing.
[00:20:30] Write it down and let's see God. I'm writing this down. I'm asking you. And I want to know what happens, because I'm going to come back to this and see if you answered it. Friends, you have no record of God's faithfulness because you have no record, because you forget.
[00:20:49] So let's write it down. We have to ask. And then we have to expect.
[00:20:53] Expect God to speak to us, to show us, to expect God, to sense him, to feel him. We have to expect. I mean, she walked away fully expecting him to perform this miracle. Regardless of what his first reaction was.
[00:21:13] She expected. And I don't know why she expected. Right. I can only speculate. But I wonder. I wonder if she was like, I expect this in confidence because I know you, and you and I have a history.
[00:21:29] I wonder if God's saying, hey, you don't expect things from me because. Or you expect nothing from me because you are not. You don't know that I know you. Like, maybe we're not that close. You're not expecting because, well, you don't have a personal relationship. You don't.
[00:21:46] Because maybe you're not worthy of this. And maybe this prayer request, this job, this next career, this college, you know, major, whatever it is, it's not that big of a deal. But I want you to do this because I'm asking you, and it's important to me.
[00:22:10] Do you expect God to move? Not because the.
[00:22:15] The thing you're asking for is important. Do you expect God to move because it's you asking.
[00:22:22] It's you asking, and he knows you and he wants to make you happy.
[00:22:29] He's doing it for you.
[00:22:31] Do you know you have a God who will just do it for you?
[00:22:35] Not because it's a big ask and not because you deserve it.
[00:22:41] You're worthy of it. He'll just do it.
[00:22:44] See, I wonder if Jesus interacting with his mom.
[00:22:49] They had this moment where he was like, hey, I know why this is so important. I know why weddings are so important to you.
[00:22:59] I know why weddings so important. I know. I know why you want this wedding to be perfect.
[00:23:06] I know why, mom, because yours wasn't.
[00:23:11] Your wedding was not perfect, and it was kind of my fault.
[00:23:18] That's why there's no record of happened in private.
[00:23:23] And I wonder if Mary was like, I want every woman to have this, okay? I want all the weddings to be awesome.
[00:23:31] I want him. I want him to be awesome. So, Jesus, take care of it.
[00:23:35] You're the ultimate wedding crasher.
[00:23:38] You fixed this. This is important.
[00:23:42] And she expected him to move on his behalf because she had a relationship with him. I wonder if you and I can do that. Should we do that? Yes, we should. And then. And then we had to act.
[00:23:57] Her act of faith was what? Walking away and saying, handle it. You guys do whatever he says.
[00:24:08] What is your act like when you pray? Do you act like God's gonna show up?
[00:24:14] I mean, I'll tell you myself, I. Sometimes I pray, and then I'm like, just in case, I'm gonna do it.
[00:24:21] Like, just in case, I'm gonna make this happen just in case I'm gonna do this. And I live like a Christian. I look like a Christian atheist. Like, I believe, but my practical steps, like, is like, I believe there's a God, but I act like he's not there.
[00:24:39] Like, I believe he loves me, but he's kind of busy.
[00:24:45] I wonder if God's saying, hey, I want you to start acting like I love you.
[00:24:50] Like, what? Let me ask you, what if. What would happen if we start acting if, like, God loves us, like, that he loves you and he wants to provide. Like, what would your life be different? Like, he gives a rip.
[00:25:10] He cares that it's like, you got to get this job or I don't know what's going to happen. He knows the pain he gets you're not sleeping at night. He knows you're taking extra medication. He gets it.
[00:25:25] What if we acted like God really cared for us?
[00:25:28] I think we would be more confident, more persistent in our ask God. You're going to do this. You're going to figure this out. I remember in college, so if you don't know, I didn't grow up in this country. And I came here, you know, on a tourist visa after a Gulf War took place in my country in Kuwait. And then I came here, obviously, as an immigrant on a tourist visa. And three weeks into my stay here, I was trying to figure out if I could get into college or what I was going to do. I had this supernatural experience with Jesus in my room and all that, and I became a follower of Jesus. And I didn't really understand what I was doing because that changed my immigration, not change my immigration status, but it changed a lot about me because then what I had done, and I did not even know this, I had committed a religious crime against Islam. And so Sharia law, if you guys have ever heard that, you've heard Sharia law, there's so many things about that. But Sharia law, one of the statements is that if a Muslim converts, he is a murtad. Can you say murtad? He's a murtad. So he is. You are allowed to kill him, to execute him. And the pastor, the imam, would actually say, hey, so and so is now murtad. And there's a fatwa against him, which is another Arab word which means, hey, and the father is supposed to do it.
[00:26:58] So based on that, the U.S. government gave me religious asylum. So I was a refugee, religious refugee for a good while. So while that was happening, I was trying to get my green card, all that stuff was happening, but I was in college, right? And I started figuring it out and trying to. How to stay in college and pay for college now. Okay, okay, so let's talk about this, okay? First of all, college, okay? So you know there's in state tuition, right? Everybody know, right? And then there's what? Out of state. Out of state tuition. But. But then there's another thing. There's a. Out of a country tuition, okay? Which is a lot higher, okay? So I was like. I was. That status as an immigrant refugee. So I was like, there is no way I can pay for this, okay? So I started doing all kinds of jobs. I was working under the table, over the table, all the tables. I was just doing all. Whatever I could do. I mean. I mean, so many jobs, okay? Ridiculous, Ridiculous jobs. Why? To figure out, how am I gonna do this? Also, I started taking classes in different colleges in. I was in South Carolina, in Charleston. So I was taking, like, just so no one would catch up to me, you know, like, the tuition people wouldn't catch up to me anyways. So finally, you know, like, it took me six years to graduate, but, you know, and then I had to declare my major and you gotta stick to a school and get your classes in. And I was like, there's no way I can pay for this. There's no way. So I decided. I decided I'm going to go to the president. Not the U.S. no, no, no. I was going to go to the president of the college and I'm going to ask him for a scholarship. Now, first, mind you, not that bright. So GPA was a problem, okay? The only A's I got, and I kid you not, was in drawing and Arabic. Ha, ha.
[00:28:46] Big brain here. So I figured out how I can figure out my gpa. So anyways, I show up to his office and I was like, hey, can I get a couple minutes with the president? Like, what you need? And I told him, and they're like, mm, he's kind of busy. I was like, all right, cool. All right, all right. So next week I show up again.
[00:29:02] I was like, they're like, hey, you weren't here next week. They're like, yeah. She's like, you know, we've got financial offices to do that. Handle that. I was like, yeah, I know, but I just wanna. I just wanna talk to him. I just wanna talk to him. Can I just talk to him? And they're like, no, I don't think so. I don't think so. I said, okay, I'll be back next week. So I showed up next week, and then I did this for about a month or more. I'd just go sit in their office, do my work. And it got to a point where they knew me. My name. It was hilarious. They were like, hey, what are you eating today? You know, it was like. It was ridiculous. And then one day, the lady was like, hey, he's got five minutes. You got five minutes. Okay. And I was like, okay, okay. So I was like, finally, the holy of holies. I'm going in, and I'm figuring out what I'm going to say. What am I going to say? What am I going to say? And he's on his desk. I can still picture it. He's like.
[00:29:50] And he looks up and he goes, so my office tells me that you've been showing up for the last couple of months or a month. And so what's the deal?
[00:30:00] How can I help you? And I was like, well, you can help me, actually. And no, I just said, hey, this is my problem. There's no way I can graduate if I don't get some kind of scholarship. And he was like, you don't qualify for anything. You don't qualify for anything. You got no. There's no. There's no. There's no. There's no. You can't.
[00:30:20] Yeah, you don't qualify for anything. You. There's.
[00:30:24] Yeah, there's no programs. There's nothing. I was like, yeah, there's nothing. And he's like, are you gonna graduate, son? And I was like, yes, I am. I want to graduate. Just take more Arabic classes and drawing, but I'll graduate. And he was like, all right, I want to make you a scholarship. He made me a scholarship.
[00:30:48] Cut the tuition in half or less.
[00:30:51] Man, just showing up. Just showing up.
[00:30:57] I think some of us have shot a prayer, but you haven't shown up.
[00:31:02] How bad do you want it? Like Jesus says, hey, pray. Pray to the point of bugging God. Jesus even said, hey, you gotta be persistent. You gotta keep on doing that. Because God wants to know how badly you want it. Because in that showing up, guess what happens? You don't change his mind. You change your soul.
[00:31:25] You become a different kind of person, a person who is persistent.
[00:31:30] God's not trying to get you to say the right things so you can convince him. He's trying to make you a certain kind of person.
[00:31:38] And when we come to him and ask, we go. We begin to change into the people that he wants us to be, resilient people who would not allow no's from other people to stop us.
[00:31:54] So let's act. Let's act. So what happens? What happens is, is that Jesus performs the miracle, right? So let's go back to the text here. What happens? Standing there, it says stand. Nearby were how many? How many stone water jars? Six. Used for Jewish washing. Each could contain how many?
[00:32:17] 20 to 30 gallons. I mean, that's a lot of wine. That's a lot of wine. Jesus told the servants, okay, fill the jar with water. And then what happens? When the jars had been filled, he said, now dip some out and take it to the master of ceremony. So what happens? They did, right? They did. And the master of ceremony says this. He says. He says, when the master of ceremony tasted the water that was now wine. What did he say? I can't believe it. This is disgusting. No, no, no. What do you do? What do you do? He said he didn't know where it came from. So he called the bridegroom over, and he says, the host always serves the best wine first. And then when everybody is a little tipsy, okay, what happens? He brings out the what? Less expensive? And you've kind of done the opposite. And then John writes this. He says, this miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee, which he records, that says was the what?
[00:33:16] First sign Jesus revealed his glory. And disciples believed he did this intentionally. Intentionally. So what does it tell us? What is this? The way it tells us, number one, that if you hear a.
[00:33:36] If you hear nothing, like if you hear a no or not now. Like if you're praying for something and it's not really turning around, it's not.
[00:33:43] It tells me a couple things. Number one, it tells me sometimes. Sometimes we're not ready. We're just not ready for this. Like, you're not ready.
[00:33:54] Let me talk to just single adults here, okay? If you're one of those single adults who are like, man, I just wanna find my person. And I've been praying and praying and praying and praying, and you're like, don't tell me I'm not ready because I've been ready. And I get that. I get that. I get that. But I just want you to know, maybe you're not ready, but I just want you to know you being not ready does not mean you are not worthy.
[00:34:24] That doesn't mean you're not worthy. That doesn't mean God says, be a better human.
[00:34:31] And then, no, you're not ready. Might mean something else.
[00:34:38] It's not because you're not enough.
[00:34:41] You're not. I've been praying for this promotion I've been praying for, it's not. You're not worthy of this promotion. It's not worthy. You're not worthy. It's not about your worth. It's just about, it's just you're not ready right now, maybe even to handle this. There's some other stuff coming around the corner. You don't see it. I see it.
[00:35:02] You're not ready. And the other thing it tells me is sometimes it's not about us being ready. It's just not about the right time. Like sometimes it's just not the right time.
[00:35:11] And again, again, again, again. You're like, come on, come on.
[00:35:19] It's not. You're running out of time. Because that's what we think. We're running out of time. He's like, no, it's just not time. It's just not time. It's just not time. You'll see this in miracles. Like when we go through the book of John together. You'll find that God's very intentional about timing and in that he wants us to again become certain kinds of people and see something about Him.
[00:35:46] So it's just, maybe it's just not time. And lastly, I think is God will show up and it's not about you're not, you know, you might be not ready. You might, might, might not be the right time. But it's, but also it's not going to be what you think it is. It's just know he's gonna answer this prayer. It's not. Maybe, just maybe you are praying for the wrong thing right now.
[00:36:16] Like you're praying for it because you see this and God says, I want you to talk to me more about this. And I want you to ask yourself, why? Why? Why not what, what, what you want? But why? Why? Why? Because I need you to understand that there's something else you need to be praying for.
[00:36:31] Not this something else or because I'm going to show up and I'm gonna, I'm gonna provide in a very different way. I'll tell you what.
[00:36:41] Every prayer I have ever prayed and every miracle or everything that God has figured out for me has looked nothing like what I was praying for. I don't know about you, nothing like that. Similar, similar, similar. But not like that like I thought. Like, hey, you're gonna provide this need like this, right this, this way. Right this way, this way. Nope, we're not gonna do it this way. Okay, but it's gonna get met. Like, I just want you to be know that God Be open to the idea of like maybe, just maybe in prayer. You need to change your prayer a little bit.
[00:37:17] So my last question for all of us is, so what is, what is your big ask? Is your ask big enough?
[00:37:25] Maybe God's saying, hey, I know you're asking for this, but you need to ask for bigger for bigger. Which sounds ridiculous, it really does.
[00:37:37] But friends, I think we're at a point in our lives that we just need to do this because there are impossible situations we're all facing. So that's why we're doing this. This seven week series is not about me figuring out how to have more faith to pray and believe for God, for miracles. Here's what I want to do. I want you guys to pray for me. I want your help. I need you. Because there are days I have zero faith, and those days I'm gonna borrow yours.
[00:38:04] I'm gonna come in here on Sunday morning and I'm like, I'm not that great. And I want you to give me encouragement, which literally means put courage in me.
[00:38:15] And I want us to give each other faith. I don't want us to borrow each other's hope and faith and assurance and peace. And we do it together. Because Jesus was saying, hey, when two or more are gathered, I am there. Like you want the expression of the fullness of me. Come together and pray for each other.
[00:38:38] Don't pray alone.
[00:38:40] You wanna see, you wanna feel my presence. Come together and lift each other up. Pray for each other. Ask God in my name. It'll be done. Come together. The hardest part is coming together, believing together. So next couple of several weeks we're gonna do that. And so on our app that we talk about, you know, hey, we got an app. We got an app. Yeah. So on the app itself, please download this. And also when you go to it now under the Engage tab, there is gonna be another page that'll open up for you. And it basically says this, look for this, it says believing together. When you click on that, you can fill out a form or fill out, basically a way to communicate with us what you're praying for, what you're believing for. Also the good things. So it's gonna be like a prayer request form and answered prayer form. And so I wanna do this for the next seven weeks. In fact, in our services, anonymously, obviously, I wanna read some of those and pray together.
[00:39:39] Pray together for each other. God, I wanna put my stuff in there and I want you to pray for me. But we have to learn to pray together. If we're going to see God move in our lives, then we have to move from. Just like me in my closet doing my thing. No, no, let's do it together.
[00:39:56] Because if we do it together, then everybody's needs are met. If we just focus on our own needs, then we got a problem.
[00:40:04] So let's do that. Actually, let's start today if we. Can someone pray for us. Can you stand? Let's pray together.
[00:40:15] So, God, we come before you in this moment, and usually we respond and we want to do that. We want to want to do that, and we want to pray and. But, God, right now, Right now we're not praying for each. For our needs. Right now we're actually praying for the need of the person of another person in this room.
[00:40:38] Maybe a person that we saw, maybe a person that we.
[00:40:43] I don't know, they just stood out to us this morning.
[00:40:47] Maybe a person that.
[00:40:49] That we noticed in the lobby.
[00:40:53] God, we're thinking of another person. Not ourselves.
[00:40:57] Not ourselves.
[00:41:00] And we're saying, God, would you meet that person's need? God, would you remind them by providing for them, God, that you are close to them? God, would you do something, allow something to happen this day that reminds them that you are close?
[00:41:22] You're close to them, and you care about.
[00:41:28] You care about providing not just what we need, but also what we want?
[00:41:38] God, would you heal, restore, forgive, provide more than we can ask or imagine for that person that we're thinking of right now?
[00:42:00] God, as we respond, allow us to see and sense and hear maybe even more on what you're asking us to do and what you're prompting us to ask for. Even so we do that together. God.
[00:42:22] Thanks for listening to this message from Mosaic church in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more audio and video content, visit us at MosaicChurch TV.
