Podcast Sermon Notes

Snapshots of the Savior - The Miracle Worker
River Church of the Mall of America
Podcast from April 30, 2006

This series is a series of snapshots of Jesus like from a photo album so that we can get to know Him better.
First Snapshot of Jesus the Miracle Worker
The spiritual high that the Apostles must have been on when they served all those people they fed on the mountain when Jesus told them to feed the people with 3 loves of bread and 2 fishes. Can you imagine it? Then Jesus tells them to go across to the other side of the lake. He wants them to stop the high-five type of worship. And Jesus goes back and dismisses the people. He goes and prays to God, doing a debriefing of what went on. Most likely going over the day that started with John the Baptist being beheaded. Asking God why? So he tries to get away and the crowd follows Him and He ministers to them and then feeds them all. While spiritual talk with God is going on, Jesus does not see the weather. The apostles trying to survive for 9 hours on the water while Jesus gets his strength back from God and they have to ask themselves, "where is God?" Do we ask ourselves the same questions, where is God in the problems that we are going through? Are we in the boat with them?

And they look and see a ghostly figure but with a familiar voice. And the fear leaves them. When God is in the midst of things with us we seem to be OK. Jesus said to them I AM, the personal name of God. He puts Himself on an equal status with God. Peter tries to focus in on this and walks over to Him, even in the problem he is facing. He focuses on the miracle worker but then he focuses on the problem. And Jesus walks with Peter through the problem.

So what can we learn from this portrait. Burn this portrait of Jesus into ourselves. The God of the Bible wants to walk with us through the problems we are going through. It will change our depression and relational loneliness.

2nd Snapshot of Jesus the Miracle Worker
Big shot in the church comes to Jesus and asks Jesus to come heal his daughter. Jesus is like a rock star in the crowds that he draws. And He says let's go, and the disciples act as His body guards to get Him through the crowds. And there is this woman, poor, hungry, and sick. She hears the stories about this Jesus going though her town. She says if I can just touch his garments I can be healed. She was risking making that crowd unclean and unholy. She was desperate for God. Have you even been desperate for God? Needing a miracle. Asking God for a miracle. She wants to touch something so He will not notice. She reaches for and touches just a piece of the fringe of a tassel. And she experiences power and knows she is healed. Jesus puts the breaks on this entourage and asked who touched me? She says she was. He goes to her and she tells Him her whole story. She delays the big shot in the churches with his daughter's problems. She not only got a physical healing but an emotional healing as well. God was there and listening to her.