His Word Has Power

John 4:46-54 "Healing of the Officials Son"

Who do we look to in moments of despair? Although, the question may be what and not who.

In this passage of Scripture we find a man who is about to lose his son. He is a nobleman and has undoubtedly exhausted all of his resources in order to save his son. As his son lay dying, not even his high social stature and wealth could cure the boy. He then decides to leave his son in Capernaum and travel to Cana, because he has been informed that Jesus is staying there. For some perspective, the distance this man had to travel would have been about 20 miles.

Would I leave my child lying on his deathbed to search out a supposed healer of whom I am not yet convinced? That takes faith.

While it had to be hard leaving his son, he was desperate and at his wits end. He finds Jesus in Cana and begs Him to heal his son. Jesus responds rather oddly, stating that "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe." But are all believers given a sign? No.

1 Corinthians 1:22 talks about how some demand signs and some look for wisdom, but the message we preach is Christ crucified. It is not about what Jesus can do for us, although he can and does perform miracles. It should be about what we can do for Jesus. He has already laid down his life for us and given us his Spirit. Now, we must take him at his word.

The nobleman does just that. When Jesus instructs him to go, for his son has been healed, the man left and "took Jesus at his word." At that very instant, the man later finds out from his servant, his son was healed. At 7pm Jesus declared his son healed, and at 7pm his son was healed. It was at that moment "he and all his household believed."

In this man's lowest place he turned to Jesus. It took great faith for him to seek Jesus and to also take him at his word. I believe I would have pressed Jesus to physically meet my son and perform this miracle. But Jesus supersedes space and time (Jn 2). May we not wait until we are down and out to seek Jesus. He will be there to catch us when we are low, but we must also pursue him when we are at our very best as well.

Take him at his word: John 14:5-6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Church Plant

When I first decided to join a new church plant in Lake in the Hills, IL, I was beyond excited to see what God was going to do through my family in order to reach people in that area. But when I started talking to people about what I was going to do after college, many people responded with "Do we really need another church in the United States?" My answer, "Yes."

I am aware that there are many churches in the United States, but somehow not everyone is being reached. Therefore, if there is a certain demographic of the population that is not being sought after, it is our job to "go out and make disciples of all nations."  Lake in the Hills is an extremely young area, with a median age of about 30 years old. According to church statistics, only about 30% of people around that age attend church.

Also, there is a new idea of thought that has become prevalent in today's society. Words such as "Coexist" and "Tolerance" appear everywhere. Being exclusive is definitely not trendy. An interesting article was written by Jonathan Parnell regarding this subject. He differentiates the ideologies of Old and New Tolerance. Old Tolerance can be summed up by "accept[ing] the existence of different views." New Tolerance can be summed up by "accept different views." As a Christian, I accept that people have different views than I have. I share my faith, try to do good unto others, and strive to selflessly serve people.

Many people around my age feel that Christianity is too exclusive and that there is no definite right or wrong. And I, too, felt this way for quite a while. All-inclusive was an easy philosophy for me to accept. But New Tolerance is less than tolerant regarding Old Tolerance. Parnell states, "'new tolerance' has a right and wrong, too, it's just that what's wrong is to say there's such a thing as right and wrong."

In the end, people need to hear about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The church needs to keep in mind that loving is God's number one commandment. We are to love God, and we are to love people. This love for people is not based on whether or not they believe the same things as us. Many people do not. But we are Jesus' "witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

America needs more churches.