[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's Word in practical ways.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in.
Are you glad to be in church? I'm glad to be here. Welcome to High Ridge Church. You happy for Jesus? Come on. We spent some time in the Word, spend some time with the Lord. I'm glad that you're here.
As we're applauding, let's take a second to welcome in all of our people watching from all over the world. Come on, High Ridge family. Give a big warm round of applause. We see you.
We have some of you watching from Cameroon. Hello to the berries. We have Danny watching from Ecuador. Hello to you, all of our friends and family all the way around the world. We love you. We're so glad that you could be here. Welcome back to our Moment series. So grab your Bibles, if you wouldn't mind, and open them up to John chapter two. John Chapter two.
As we're tuning into God's Word today, I want to say thank you for being such an awesome, for giving me, being a giving church, for giving me the greatest honor of my life to be able to teach God's Word here today. It's such a beautiful thing to be a part of a church that loves Jesus, that wants to be a part of what he's doing on the earth. I love that and I'm so glad that you're watching. I'm so glad that you're here.
John Chapter two. We're going to continue our series called Moments today. We're talking about how life happens in defining moments. You might not be able to remember all of your life, but, but you have moments that stick out. And at some point, once you hit around my age, you, you realize that a lot of your life has revolved around some defining moments that are weddings, right? Weddings. Some of you are like, I've been to a lot of weddings and I've, I've, I've actually participated in a lot of weddings. Some of you have had way too many weddings. We need to talk about that.
But you know, the experience is completely different when you're, when you're experiencing a wedding as a groom and then when you're experiencing a wedding as the father of the bride.
So for those of you that have ever had to walk your baby girl down the Aisle. Let me see. Where are you at? Let me see your dads. Where you at?
We understand things that nobody else has.
You just you. You don't get it. There's something special that happens in that moment. Some of you have. Have multiple daughters. You've done it multiple times. You understand? But there's a big difference between my. My son's wedding, which happened a few years ago, and then my daughter's wedding, that happened about six months ago. Completely different perspective. And I remember when I was standing behind the curtain getting ready to walk out with my son to preach his wedding, I looked at him and said, you okay, bubba? He said, I think I'm okay. I said, you're not gonna cry on me, are you? He said, nah, Dad, I think I got it. I think I'm good. I'm excited. I'm nervous, but I think I got it. And I said, I think I'm good too. So as long as you're good, I'm good. We can hold this thing together. And then, you know, the music started, and the grandparents started walking in, and then the parents started walking in and getting seated. And the music's playing, right? And I'm looking at him, and he's looking at me. Then. Then mom walks in. He's like.
I'm like, don't you do this to me. Don't. No, not you, man. Don't do this. If you get started, if I see you crying, then I'm gonna become a mess. And I didn't know that they had a bet going of how long I would last. 34 seconds.
34 seconds into that wedding, before, I was like, I just need to stop for a second, and. Whoo.
Overwhelming. Now, at the end of that, we were sitting here talking about my daughter's wedding, which was coming up. And then in just a few years later, my daughter said, hey, dad, when I get married, can you not preach my wedding? Can you just be my dad and just walk me down the aisle? I'm like, you know, I've proven today that I probably cannot handle that emotionally. So you're probably right. I will just be your dad. I will walk you down the aisle. I will do all the dad things. And she said, yeah, we'll just get, like, Pastor Doug to do it. I said, well, I'm better than that.
But walking my daughter down the aisle, there's so many things that are flooding through a dad's mind in that moment, and probably the most prominent one is don't fall. Don't fall, don't fall. Don't trip. You're wearing these shoes that nobody told you you need to wear them tight shoes that you only wear for weddings. I should have broken these things in. But the other things that are going through your mind are the first defining moments in your relationship with your baby girl's life. And I remember the first diaper, and I remember bringing her home from the hospital. I remember the first time that they picked up this little shriveled up, little gray human being and placed her in my arms. And I remember grabbing her for the first time. I said, I get to be the very first kiss. And I remember kissing her for the very first time. Remember holding her and dancing around the room as they were doing the surgery on my wife and doing the cesarean stuff. And I'm just like, I don't even care. Like, hey, I got this beautiful baby girl. Whatever happens, happens. It's just.
And they tell you things about becoming a dad that you don't realize, but they tell you, like, you don't realize until you hold your own child. Like, there's parts of your heart you haven't used yet, and you don't understand what that means until that moment.
Until that moment. And as I'm walking her down the aisle, I'm thinking about the time that she was born. I'm thinking about the time that I walked her to school for the very first time and the time that I walked her through her first heartbreak. And you know the parts of your life where you're. You're loving her deeply. And you go back to these defining moments in that relationship, teaching them how to drive and thinking, I'm about to die. I am about to die. This person should not get a license ever.
But there's those moments that are flashing through my mind as I'm walking down the aisle to this wedding. And in those moments, I was drawn to the description Hosea, where the Lord speaks about his children, the way that the Lord speaks about you, and the way that the Lord speaks about me, that helps me to understand his father's heart. It helps me to realize that he's been there all along, that God has divine moments. And those moments are designed by your father to get you to understand how much he loves you, how much he has a plan and a purpose for your life, how he wants a relationship with you. And this. This comes from Hosea, chapter 11. Read this with me, if you would. It says it was I. God says it was me that taught Ephraim how to walk.
I'm the one that taught my child how to walk, he said, taking them by their arms. You ever done that? Parents, you remember those moments where you. You grab their hands and teach them how to walk? God said, that was. That was me that did that. Do you see the heart of the Father?
He says this. He says, but they did not realize it was.
It was I who healed them. They didn't have an understanding of the Father's heart.
He says this, I led them with cords of human kindness and with ties of love.
You know, part of maturing is realizing how God has divinely orchestrated some defining moments of your life. Why? To show you his great love.
God has incredible, deep, powerful love for you. And he has divinely orchestrated some moments of your life to show you how much he loves you, how much he cares about you, how much he longs for you to long for Him.
We've said this before, and I'll say it again. You are as close to God as you choose to be. Your relationship with God is just as far as you allow it to be. God says, I'm here. I want a relationship with you. Revelation. Jesus says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. I'm knocking, waiting for you to invite me in to have a relationship with me. God says, I'm the one that grabbed your arms. I'm the one that raised you up. I'm the one that's given you life. And I want you to know me. I've led you with cords of human kindness. I've led you with my love.
And then we come to a powerful story at the beginning of Jesus ministry where God begins to show his love through His Son. The Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. And here is God sending the greatest love he could ever give to mankind in his one and only son. Now to this point, Jesus has lived for 30 years, and the only person that really understands who he is is his mother.
And Jesus has begun his ministry. He started by preaching a few times along the sandy shores of the beach. And in that process, he begins to call a couple of disciples. Hey, come follow me.
And don't glamorize this moment. This was not something that would be easy for them to do. They had to leave family and friends. They had to leave businesses. They had to leave their responsibilities. They have jobs. They got kids that need to go to school. They've got parents and they've got grandparents and cousins and uncles. They've got a future And a hope and a career plan and a path for their life. And they drop everything to follow. After Christ, there's a sacrifice that has to be made.
But until this point, Jesus is just a preacher, just a teacher until John chapter two, where things begin to change.
So John records it this way as he's writing. He says this on the third.
Somebody say those two words with me third day. Anytime that you see that in scripture, it's not referring to the band from the 90s and 2000s, that's not what it's talking about.
This is called, in theological terms, this is called prophetic foreshadowing. Anytime you see that in scripture, know that there's an expectation of a miracle that's about to happen. And so John, as he's laying out this amazing story of Christ and what he did, he's saying there's something that's, that's about to happen. It's prophetic foreshadowing. I'm telling you, there's something about to happen. It's the third day. Now we also know that this is also true of the first century Jewish weddings. They, they didn't last, you know, 30 or 45 minutes like our weddings would. Now for some of you, it's like that wedding was way too long. You, you didn't live in first century. Judah, let me just tell you that those weddings lasted a week.
That's party for real.
And so he says on the third day of this seven day wedding feast, there's an expectation of a miracle that's about to happen. And we get to catch, we get to capture that as we're reading John's account of what happened. He says, there's a wedding that took place in Cana in Galilee, and Jesus mother was there. And Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
When the wine was gone, Jesus mother said to him, they have no more wine and look at Jesus response, woman, why do you involve me?
Time to make a liquor run. Jesus like that though, he's, I'm a guest here, I don't work here.
Jesus replied, my hour has not yet come.
And if you read between the lines, the mother just said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. In other words, like, yeah, whatever. Hey, do something.
Do whatever he tells you. It's interesting because until this point, the only person that knows who he really is is his mother.
But Jesus has done no miracles. He's done no signs. Despite what other alternate versions of the written text would tell you, Jesus hasn't done anything until this moment. We can find out exactly why in just a few moments. But this shows us that Mary believes before the miracle. Mary believes before anything supernatural begins to happen. Why? Because she knew who he was before he was born.
When angel said, the one that's coming, this is the son of God.
It's God's love expressed to mankind.
And this mother says, it's time.
He says, nah, my hour has not yet come. Yes it is.
She turns to the servant, says, just do whatever he tells you. Powerful words it Sundays. Nearby stood six stone jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from 20 to to 30 gallons.
And Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water.
So they filled them to the brim.
And then he told them, now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. That makes no sense. Why would I take the master of the banquet some water that we just poured into some religious ceremonial washing jugs?
That makes no sense. But they did it.
I wonder how many things and your walk with Jesus will not make sense until you do them.
And it says this, they did so. And the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He didn't realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water, they knew.
And then he called to the bridegroom, called him aside and said everyone brings out the choice wine first and saves the cheaper wine until after the guests have had too much to drink.
That sounds like a Mexican wedding by the way to me. If you've never been to a Mexican wedding, you don't know.
It also sounds like a two year old's birthday party. In the Mexican culture. You would be shocked at the amount of kegs that are available at a Mexican 2 year old's birthday party. You don't know.
You don't know.
But he says this, you have saved the best till now.
My I believe that's a prophetic word for some of us that are sitting here. God's saying, this is the season. This is the season. I've saved some of the best till right now.
We know this as a church. God's not done with us. The best is still yet to come. God's got great things in store for us. Why? Because he's a good father. He has a good plan for us. There's an expectation of miracles.
He says, you've saved the best till now. And what Jesus did here, John says it this way in Canaan, was the first of the signs. Notice he doesn't say the first of the miracles. He Said the first of the signs. He intentionally uses that word, signs. Why? Because signs always point to something that's ahead.
Let me just tell you, for those of us that know the story of what happens after this moment, know there was a train coming, and his name was Jesus, and he's about to change the course of history.
He said it was the first of the signs, that something greater was just about to happen, the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory. And here's what I was drawn to as I was studying this. One of the things I'd never really thought about before is this next phrase. He says, and his disciples look at this next word, believed in him.
They had been following him. But John says, this is when we started believing him.
We obeyed him, and now we believed him.
It shows us that this story, this miracle, it's not about wine. It's about revelation.
This is more than just a story about a wedding.
It's about insight. It's about revelation. It's about a deeper truth. Where God moved in their life from awe to intimacy.
Where Jesus became more than a guest, he became the Savior.
Where he became more than from, more than a curiosity, he became the Christ in this moment. The disciples said, whoa.
Our relationship has changed because what Jesus was and what he is has moved to a deeper relationship.
The same is still true for us today. God is always looking to take you into a deeper relationship with him. You have not arrived.
And until the moment that God takes you home or he comes back, we still have more to learn. We have deeper insight, we have deeper revelation, deeper truths that the Lord wants to take us to. He wants to show us himself.
Here's what we see.
The disciples believed from this moment. I want to take you back and just ask you a very simple question to go back in your mind and ask yourself, when was the moment where I first believed?
When was the moment that Jesus went more from.
Moved from a. From a Sunday school story to, whoa, that's not a fairy tale. That's real to me.
Because for some people, you might spend your entire life knowing about Jesus and never knowing Jesus. You might think, I've heard the stories. I know, I've read the Bible, I've gone to church, but I've never had an intimate relationship with him.
There should be a moment where you say, I believed in that moment.
Now also know this. There are moments, and we see this in the lives of the disciples. We see this in our own lives. We know this to be true, that there's a moment where you first believed. And there's a moment where that belief gets attacked.
Oh, surely that didn't happen. Surely that was just luck. Or that was just an emotional experience, or, oh, you know, maybe that wasn't.
Where was the moment that you first believed, where God became real to you?
If you don't have that moment in your mind, let me just suggest to you, perhaps today is your day.
Perhaps today is the day where the light bulb comes on and you recognize the simple fact God loves me, has a plan for my life.
He wants to be more than just words on a page.
This entire series is designed to bring you deeper in your relationship with the Lord because it is as deep as you allow it to be.
As we're digging into God's word, there's some powerful truths that I think are so important for us to see. Here's the first. If you're a note taker, you might wanna write this down. Number one. Jesus always begins as a guest.
Jesus always begins as a guest. He comes where he's invited. The Holy Ghost comes where he's invited.
Our God is a gentleman. He doesn't force himself on anybody. He always begins as a guest. And in this story, we see that Jesus ministry, all the miracles, all the signs, all the wonders, everything started when he was invited.
When he was invited. And by the way, not only was Christ invited, his mother was invited, his disciples were invited. Which tells us something not only about Jesus's personality, it tells us the personality of what we should act like and be like and how our culture should respond to us. We should be invitable people, if that's a word. We should be those that. That people around us say. I. I want you at the big moments of my life. I want you to. To be there when I'm celebrating something big, when I have defining moments in my life. I want you. Why? Because you're precious to me. You're special to me. I like being around you. You make things better. You make things easier. The life of the party. Why? Because there's something different about you.
Jesus was invited. And Jesus always begins as a guest.
But here's also what we see with Jesus being a guest. We still know this to be true, that it's easy to keep Jesus as present but not prominent.
Present but not prominent. Lord, we invite you into the parts of my life that I want you to save and help me with. But leave this to me. I got this.
And then most of our relationship with the Lord just ends up as being the Jesus. Take the will moments. I can't Handle this. I can't fix this, Jesus, you fix it. But don't touch this. I like this.
It's really easy to leave Jesus as well. You're, you're present, you're here, but not prominent.
Let me ask you a question. Is, is Jesus the guest or is he the host?
Because there is a deeper level of intimacy that the Lord wants to take us to. He doesn't just want to be invited, he wants more.
How many of us only leave Jesus at the margins of our life?
I want just enough Jesus on Sunday to help me feel better about what I did on Friday.
Heard a pastor one time says, you spend all night on Friday sowing your wild oats, and then Sunday you're praying for crop failure.
It's easy for us to leave Christ at the margins, but he wants more. It's easy for us to only invite Jesus into the crisis. And trust me, he wants to be there. Jesus is always willing to step into a crisis, but he. He wants more than that. He wants to be more than just the 911 God. Can he come and help in emergency situation? Yes, he wants to be invited, but he also wants to be the pre crisis God too.
Here's the thing that we see about Jesus. Even though this is a crisis that this family is walking through, they're just about to run out of wine. This is about to be crazy. But here's the thing, the guests don't know why, because Jesus stepped in before they were embarrassed. He's the pre crisis God too.
So before we dial 91 1, have you talked to God about it?
Let me ask you, what's your first response to crisis moments? Is it call my counselor, call my doctor, call my friend, blast it out on Facebook? Or could it be that our relationship with Jesus was designed to give us wisdom in those moments, to give us insight in those moments, to give us revelation? God has always wanted to take us deeper than just the crisis moments.
And he comes where he's invited.
I believe that for some of us, we would say as we're talking about the wine running out, there's parts of my life where the wine has run out too. Let me just ask you, where in your life has the wine run out?
You might say, I just don't have the patience for it anymore. I don't have the ideas, I don't have the methods. I don't know how to fix it.
Is it your job?
Your career path? Is it your finances? Is it your marriage?
Because all of us walk through periods of our life where we would say the wine has run out.
I don't know.
I can't figure this out.
Here's what we know.
Some of the greatest moments with God often begin as anxiety, lack and difficulty.
Some of the greatest miracles you'll ever see Jesus perform are when people invited Jesus into that crisis where Jesus begins to solve things that could not be solved.
But know this, you have to invite them and you have to come to the end of yourself, the end of your solutions. And this is where unfortunately, most people will never go. Cause I don't trust him with that.
Is Jesus a guest or is he the host? Jesus always begins as a guest. And when we learn to reframe those crisis moments as God opportunities, here's what happens. They lose their power over us.
You start thinking of problems and anxieties and difficulties and lack not as this is the end of my life, this is the end of my marriage, it's the end of my finances. No, like, okay, Lord, I've got no other options, but I know you're with me. Will you help me?
Then you're not afraid of them anymore. They lose their power over you. That anxiety starts to break.
Why? Because Jesus is in the room and he wants more if I'm willing to let him have it. Here's the second key that we see through this incredible story. Not only does Jesus begin as a guest, but with Jesus number two, a crisis becomes a. An opportunity.
A crisis becomes an opportunity. Notice this, that in this seven day wedding feast, to run out of wine on the third day would just. It shows a dramatic under planning failure to plan on, on their part. And those that have ever had to host a big party, you recognize that when stuff runs out, you're like, that's on me. But this couple would have been culturally embarrassed. They would have been shamed.
Like how, how could you not have thought that you have this many people coming, you have to provide for a week. They would have been embarrassed, but they would have been severely embarrassed and shamed in their culture for not being able to provide for those that they had invited. And it shows us through the story that because Jesus is present and Jesus takes care of this need, that God cares about our emotions.
God cares about what you're feeling. God cares about what you're walking through and how it affects you. God cares about the embarrassment of people and he helps them to avoid that embarrassment.
You know this. Your feelings matter to God.
Your feelings matter to God. But let me say this, but they're a horrible leader.
Your feelings matter to God. But They're a horrible God.
And many of us unfortunately live with our feelings as our God. If I feel it, that's what I'm going to devote all my attention to. All, all of my efforts go around to solving what I feel like. Your feelings are not God. They're horrible leaders.
In our culture, we say, choices lead, feelings follow. Does your feelings matter? Yes. But they have their place.
God cares about your feelings.
Your emotions matter to God.
But often we put our feelings and our emotions in the wrong place of authority, especially in the middle of a crisis.
With crisis, it becomes an opportunity. Here's what we know about this, is that a crisis will often expose our limitations and then invite divine interactions. God allows those moments to happen. Why? So that we would seek for him, so we would reach out for him, so that we would find Him. Scripture says, though I be not far from any of you, I'm not far. But God will often allow us to come to the end of ourselves, to come to the end of the wine. Why so? So that we'll ask him to help.
And I love that his mother, Jesus, Mother Mary, brings this issue to him.
They're out of wine.
And then she says, do whatever he tells you.
Powerful words, by the way. These are the last words that we know that Mary ever spoke, the last recorded words that we have of her. But they're still powerful. They're still prophetic today. Do, just do whatever Jesus says. If we could just live by that. If that's the only nugget that you need today to help you walk through the next week and what God has for you, that's enough. Just do whatever Jesus tells you.
But not only are the words powerful, not only are they prophetic.
Here's the good thing. Jesus says, my hour has not yet come. And she submits to his timing and releases control.
And if believers could just get that, if I could just get you to embrace that part of your walk with Christ, you would be shocked at how quickly you began to divinely mature in your walk with God.
Here's what we know, is that every healthy prayer life will always include a release of control.
I can't fix it, but I'm willing to do whatever you tell me. Yes, I'm listening to you. I'm waiting for you.
There's a release of control now, once again, unfortunately, this is more than this is. This is deeper than most, most, even seasoned believers are really willing to go. If you, if you really get down to it. No, no, no, no, no. I don't want control to be Given to Jesus. I still want to be in control. I just want him to fix the part that's broken.
With a crisis, there is divine opportunity for you to understand the Lord deeper than what you settled for.
So Mary's words aren't just practical, but they're prophetic. She surrenders to his timing, and Jesus responds with what seems like resistance.
My hour hasn't yet come.
This is not really my problem.
And she says, just do whatever he says. And then she waits.
It shows us that even. Even when God makes us wait, there's intention that tells me that even when I'm waiting, that's not time wasted.
Are you in a waiting season of your life? Waiting for the next thing to happen, Waiting for the job, waiting for the move, waiting for the adventure, waiting for school to start, waiting for some big breakthrough. Even in the waiting, often we will forget that God's speaking in the waiting.
And she submits not only control over the situation, she submits to his timing, Lord. Even if I don't understand it, even if I'm not sure, Lord, you know the deadline, like, Lord, it's, It's, it's.
It's 11:45. And, and you know the cell ends at midnight, like it's Amazon Prime. It'll come back next week. Calm down. Like, you don't need all that.
I'm just gonna submit to your timing, Lord. But my check needs to clear. I got 15 minutes if I'm gonna buy. Like, you don't need all that. Stop.
Learning how to submit to God's timing. Learning how to submit control of the situation is an important step for us to go deeper with the Lord than what we've settled for you. Still with me, everybody.
Even in God's delays, there's always intention.
Here's the third and final thing I'm gonna share with you from John, chapter two, number three. With Jesus, things will always transform.
Things will always transform. It will always change. Always change, always change.
Jesus doesn't leave the things the same way. When he begins to be invited, when he begins to move, it will not stay the same. Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But our situation will not be the same yesterday, today, and forever. It's going to change. Why? Because with Jesus, things always change. And they change into something better when you hand it to him.
This is good news for us that are control freaks that think we have to fix it ourselves.
When we learn to submit to his control, we learn to submit to his timing. What Jesus gives you in response is always better.
It's always better. He turns water into wine. With Jesus, things are gonna transform. This is how we know it to be true. You know this as well as I do. When someone claims to be a Christian but never changes God, you're a liar.
That means you go to church. That doesn't mean you're a believer. That means Jesus is living at the center of your life. Why? Because if he's there, you're going to change. You're going to stop looking like you and start looking more like Him.
With Jesus, things will always change. They're going to transform and they're going to be better.
We see this in Scripture. Jesus uses wine to illustrate a point. And we could take this all kinds of different ways. And I've preached this many different ways. But wine is always symbolic. In Scripture, it's symbolic of several things. Not only is it symbolic of the Holy Spirit, Jesus talks about pouring out new wine and new wine into old wineskins and things like that. It's always symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it's symbolic of things like joy and celebration and abundance, which it is in this case. Joy, celebration and abundance. Jesus brings joy.
Jesus brings celebration. Jesus brings abundance.
And he does that with six jars that were empty, used for religious cleansing.
Here's what we know is that Jesus takes religious emptiness and fills it with joy and celebration and abundance.
Religious dead works.
When we allow Jesus into the very core of our lives, he's going to change me.
I want us to be filled with religious dead works.
You'll notice that there's a joy, there's a sense of celebration, there's. There's an abundance mentality. Why? Because Christ is here and he's filled up that empty religious vessel with something that's better.
We know this to be true because Jesus not only does this in John chapter 2, but in John chapter 10. Jesus is talking about the mission statement of his life. This is why I'm here, why he says I came, that they may have say the next word, life and have it more. What abundantly. Jesus came that we would have abundant life.
And when he fills up these religious jars that were empty, he fills them with water and it turns the water into wine. When he transforms it, it says very specifically how many of those jars there were six. We could go into Jewish history and numerology. How come, how this is so important? Six is the number of man. And this is God doing into man what he could not do with his best works. We could go on all that stuff. But what I think is important to understand is it says, each of those are 20 or 30 gallons, which tells us that at most, this is 180 gallons of wine.
Now, if that ain't Mexican, I don't know what is.
But all those guests knew from that point is, this party got good.
But I think Jesus makes the point to not just be enough, but to be more than enough.
He gives in abundance.
When he says, I've come that you may have life, that you may have it abundantly. Jesus demonstrates that by turning water into wine and giving them more than enough. Also, not only is the wine symbolic of joy and celebration and abundance and the Holy Spirit, we know this to be true. If you've been a believer longer than five minutes, you know that wine is symbolic of the blood, blood of Jesus.
Jesus at the Last Supper, breaks bread. He said, this is my body. And he pours out the wine and gives it to each of them. Said, this is not wine.
This is my blood poured out. Why?
For the forgiveness of your sin.
So when Jesus takes empty religion and transforms it into new wine, better wine, abundant wine, what he's saying is, my blood is more than enough to cover your sin. My blood is more than enough to cover the sins of the person sitting next to you. My blood is more than enough to cover the sins of the entire world.
My blood is more than enough. And some of us need to hear that today, that the blood of Jesus can do what empty religion could never do. You cannot follow all the rules on your best day.
Thank God that he loved you enough to send his son to shed his blood so that you could have grace, abundant grace. The blood of Jesus covers our sin. It doesn't just forgive us, but it enables us to rise above that and become abundant life, people, celebration people, joyful people. And in a world that is so hurt and terrorized and full of anxiety in these moments, in a world where the wine has run out, we cannot show our world empty dead religion.
We can't turn people back to the rules.
They need to see that he's the God of abundance. He's the God of joy. He's the God of celebration.
He's the God that turns water into wine and turns me into something holy.
Turns you into something holy who sets you apart for a specific purpose, to be his hands and to be his feet into a world that so desperately needs it.
We see this from scripture, that Jesus doesn't just restore what was lost. What does he do? He provides something better.
He provides something better.
As we look around our world today and we see the status of Our people and those that watched a video a few weeks ago of a man being assassinated. As we see those horrible things, as we experience the tragedy of that moment, as we live in the aftermath of that, we've seen a response that I've not seen in my lifetime.
I've not seen anything close to that until.
Until I saw, like, September 11th and I saw people coming back to relationship with Jesus. Why?
Because they're scared and they're afraid.
Let it never be said of us that we turn people back to empty, dead religion and said, there's your answer.
Let's show them Jesus, the God that's transformed people like me and people like you, show our world what celebration really looks like, what joy in the midst of great sorrow can look like.
It's about being full of his spirit, about being covered by his blood.
You know something I didn't notice until I was reading this story. I'd never quite seen it in this way as I was dealing with this. But it says this, that Jesus was told by Mary to have no more wine. Jesus says, it's not my time. And she just tells the servants, do whatever Jesus says, powerful words, prophetic words.
But then the servants did it, and it made no sense.
And they got to experience it firsthand. They got to see it.
They got to experience it firsthand. They got to be a part of the miracle. This is just the beginning of what Jesus does through his disciples and through his servants that are willing to obey and believe and to trust even when it makes no sense. And this is where we find the great disconnect in a lot of people that are claiming to be followers of Christ. But when life gets hard, they disconnect. Why? Because they want control.
But the servants got to see it first. They got to be a part of.
Shows me very clearly that those that serve and obey get to see the things that those in the spotlight only talk about.
But it doesn't make any sense. But you did it anyway. And guess what happened? Jesus moved. Jesus did something that was a crisis that became a huge testimony, became a sign pointing the way towards his glory. What could God do through your life if you're willing to serve and obey when it makes no sense? A lot of what we're doing, Christianity, to the outside world makes no sense until you read the book. And for many of us, we get stuck. It has to make sense to me before I step out in faith. That ain't faith. If it makes sense to you, that's not faith.
What do you mean? You're going to put me in a dunk tank and hold my head underwater and then declare my sins forgiven. That doesn't make a lot of sense. It's called baptism. Doesn't make a lot of sense until you read the book, until you believe and trust and obey. And so this is a prophetic declaration. I went in the water one way and I came up changed. There's a defining moment in my life where it didn't make a lot of sense to anybody that wasn't there.
But baptism matters.
It makes a difference for those. That tithing makes no sense to you. I don't understand. What are you talking about? Giving to God. Honoring God with the first of my paycheck. Honoring God first? Yeah. Most people will never do that. Why? Because it doesn't make sense to me until you read the book, until you're on the other side of it.
And I'm just telling you, my wife and I were talking about this yesterday.
I can't imagine my life where I'm tipping the Lord or giving him whatever I might have left over, if I have anything left over.
I've learned how to honor the Lord first before I pay a single bill. I honor him first with the best of what I have and the first of what I have. That doesn't make sense to you. You don't understand because you've never read the book.
But God honors the first. It matters to him. Why? Because he deserves it.
It's all his anyway.
He's the God of joy and celebration and abundance. I wonder, where has the wine run out in your life?
Because for those that are willing to serve and to trust and obey, when it makes no sense, you get to see things that other people only talk about.
You get to experience it.
Are you willing to serve?
Are you willing to obey?
Are you still fighting for control?
See, Jesus turns empty religion into an overflowing relationship When. When he moves from guest to host.
He wants the same for my life. He wants the same for your life. He wants more.
And what you give him, he'll always give you something better.
Could it be that God has saved the best till right now for you? This is a divine moment for you to release control, to surrender to his timing and say, lord, I'm willing to do it your way.
Why? Because your way's better.
Would you bow your head and close your eyes with me as we finish up right here today? I believe that the Lord is speaking right now through his word. I want to give you a chance to maybe respond to that by just simply saying holy Spirit, what are you saying to me?
Can you pray that right where you are? Holy Spirit, what are you saying to me?
Are there parts of my life where I've been fighting for control, believing that I can solve it on my own?
Are there parts of my life where the wine has run out? And could it be that you're inviting me into a deeper relationship with you, into a deeper level of submission, a deeper level of trust?
Lord, I don't want to fight you.
I want your heart. Your way is better. Your way is better. Your way is better. Your way is better. Your way is better.
Jesus, come fill up this religious emptiness with your spirit.
Holy Spirit, come speak to us today.
Help us, Lord.
Help us, Lord. We need you with heads bowed and eyes closed. How many of us would say by the simple lifting of our hands that, pastor, there's a certain area of my life where I can see it, the wine has run out. I don't know what to do. Can I just see your hands all across this place? That's resonated with you. Yeah, I see it.
I see with many of you, it's marriage, it's finances, it's jobs, mental health.
I get it. I know it. I see it. Most importantly, though, is that God sees it.
I want to encourage you to take a step of faith, to invite Jesus to be more than a guest, to let him take control and you submit to whatever he says to do, and you come to the end of yourself.
I want to invite you into a trust relationship with the most high, God, who has loved you from before you were born, who has destined you to a deeper life with him.
Lord Jesus, come meet us here and now with heads bowed and eyes closed. Maybe you came here today and you're saying, pastor, I don't have a relationship with Jesus. I've never asked Jesus to be the Lord of my life.
My friend, you're in the right place.
For others, you would say, pastor, if I'm going to be honest, I was raised in church. I've done all the things, but I'm so far away from God, it's filled with religious emptiness. I see it.
My friend, you're in the right place, too.
Some of us, you need to come home.
And I believe if you could see it right now, God himself is reaching down his hand to you, saying, come home.
Come back to me with heads bowed and eyes closed.
I want to lead you in a prayer, the same prayer that somebody led me through one time. My life changed in this divine moment. I started believing in this moment, with this Prayer. I want to invite you to pray this prayer with me. I'm going to say the words, I'm going to ask you to repeat them with me. And as a matter of fact, all of us are going to pray it out loud together so you don't feel embarrassed in any way.
Pray this with me, Church. Just say Jesus.
Come on, say it like you mean it. Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God.
I believe that you came and died.
I believe you rose from the grave so that I could have life, forgiveness and grace to cover my sin.
God, please forgive me.
Now say this, my friend. Say, jesus, I give my life to you right now.
And with heads bowed and eyes closed, if you prayed that prayer and you meant it, if you took a step forward in your walk with Jesus, if you're coming back to him, or if you've never prayed that prayer before, if that was you and you meant that, would you do me a favor? With no one else looking around, would you lift up your hand all across this place and say, that was me? Pastor, I meant that I prayed that prayer. I see you. Good, good, good, good.
I pray that prayer. Yes, I see you.
Yes, ma', am. I see you.
Yes, sir. You guys can put your hands down. For those of you that pray that prayer, I want you to know that there's a phone number I want you to text me. Would you text me? The phone number is appearing behind the screen.
If you're watching online, that phone number is appearing right now on your screen. Text me. Text the words I prayed to that number. And this is what's going to happen. I'm going to send you back the link to some things that will help you understand what you just did, what that means, what just happened inside of your heart.
And I'll tell you what to do next, because this is not the end of your relationship with Jesus. This is the beginning. It's the greatest honor of my life to help people know Jesus better.
I'm proud of you in the decision that you just made. Good for you. High rich family. Go ahead and look up at me if you would, and let's stand together. As our service finishes up today, I'm gonna invite our elders and their wives forward once again. If you're watching online, we would love to be able to connect with you and we would love to ask a favor of you. If you have a social media account, would you. Would you consider sharing this message on whatever social media platform that you're watching? It means the world to us when you do that. There is on average between 3 and 5,000 people every single week that watch this message, that watch our worship. Some of them don't have a home church. And when you choose to share this message with your world, it's making a big difference. We believe that God has called you to make a difference in your world and one of the ways you can do that today is by sharing this message with your social media world. Another way is if you're a first time guest with us today, there's a connect card on the seat back pocket in front of you. We would love to connect with you, we'd love to find you a church home. We'd love to pray for you. If you have any prayer requests, we would love to be that church for you. But we need you to pick up that card, begin to fill it out and then on your way out we have a giving station and you can just simply place that card in there and that can be your gift back to us today. It's a big deal when you do that. Thank you. For everybody else, I want to pray for you, I want to bless you. I want to send you out with the best prayer that I have. Also want to remind you, hey favorite is coming up, our women's ministry. Ladies, you've been waiting all year long for this. It's coming up.
And so ladies know that it's happening. You'll need to buy a ticket for that also. Just you need to know that there, there are three services. There's a lot of ladies and there's a lot of ladies don't even come to this church that are coming to this event. So we, we need to make sure that, that you understand, you have an expectation of, you probably will not get a seat.
But you're not here to get a seat. You're here to meet other ladies. You're here to meet with Jesus here to lift his name up together and speak about those ladies issues that we don't even know what you're talking about as guys. But as, as guys, if you want to serve, if you've been saying like, hey, I'd like to serve at that event and serve these ladies, your, your wife or your mother or your daughter, then Pastor Paul is right here. He's raising his hand. There you go. And he'd be happy to talk to you. He also has an email, paulirichlv.com if you want or High Ridge Church. LV. Right. How Ridge LV. How Ridge LV. Good. And he would be happy to take your email and then you can volunteer to serve at that event if you'd like to. Then let me pray for you and bless you as we go.
Father, I pray that you bless my friends with an incredible week, that they would follow after you all week long. Be led by your spirit. Would you bless them?
I pray these things in the mighty name of Jesus and all of us said together, Amen. God bless you as you go. Have an awesome week.
[00:46:22] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening.
[00:46:34] Speaker B: If you want to be a part.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: Of our online community, consider Connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv. Or you can check out our
[email protected] lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.
