A Christmas Miracle

Intro

The first week of October, Ps Jenni and I were on our regular morning walk. For over a year, we have been walking 3 miles a day, 6 days a week. Monday through Saturday we have a regular route that we walk. It’s been so great. Spending the time together.

Which let me just say, it took a long time for Ps Jenni to talk me into walking with her. I never saw it as true exercise, but we started and we only missed 3 weeks in the middle of the summer where we have been doing this on such a regular basis. And the benefits of walking 10,000 steps a day are phenomenal. Here are just a couple of benefits.

Reduces the risk of heart disease, heart failure, and strokes. Reduces the risk of 13 different types of cancer. Can reduce the risk of dementia by 50%. Healthy weight loss, burns calories, increased bone mass, increased circulation. One article I read stated that 10,000 steps a day is the magic pill that pharmaceutical companies have been searching for. Why do I say that, to encourage you to get out and move!

Mark 12:30 NLT

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’

Love God with your entire being. Loving God is not just a spiritual thing, it’s not just an emotional thing, it’s not just a mental thing, it’s also a physical thing, you are a total being, so love God as a total being. Love him with your whole being!!!

Alright, Ps Jenni and I were on our walk and we see so many great people on our walk, and this one day we saw someone absolutely amazing. We ran into Oscar and Bianca. A beautiful couple that has been part of Focus Church for the last couple of years. We stopped and talked, and Oscar said, I had a dream about church. He said, I dreamed that we went to church, but there wasn’t anyone there. He said, I dreamed that the church had moved and you guys didn’t tell us. Listen, this was before Ps Jenni and I even drove by the property that we are currently looking at. This was before we started talking to our leadership, this was before we talked to our overseers, this was before we said, The Time is Now. This was before all of this.

He woke up and told Bianca about the dream and she said, “Well, I get the church emails, and I’m sure they will let us know if there is a change in the location. That might seem like a big deal.” He’s telling me this story, and I said, “Well Oscar, We aren’t in a place for a new building right now, but I’m going to stop saying it’s impossible. I told him that this summer I was challenged by this thought.

How can we expect God to do the impossible when we keep calling it impossible.

Mark 10:27 NLT

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”

Matthew 19:26 NLT

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

Listen to me, “Impossible is NOTHING…TRUST IS EVERYTHING!

I said that to Oscar and he said to me with more excitement than I have on Sunday mornings, Let’s believe for a Christmas Miracle!

Oh! C’mon Somebody!!! That got me so excited, we were halfway back from our walk and I said to Ps Jenni, Oscar just challenged me in such a big way, I believe we need to change the series for Christmas. I’m believing God for miracles. I’m believing God for miracles that we have been waiting years to see. I’m believing God for miracles that we have been praying for. I’m believing God for miracles across our Church. I’m believing God for miracles in your life. I’m believing God for miracles in my life. I’m believing God for this season to be a season that we will never forget.

I believe! Does anyone believe with me?

There was a man that had a son, Scripture tells us that he was possessed by a demon, a wild scenario that we don’t experience a lot today. But Scripture gives us this account.

Mark 9:21–22 NLT

“How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

Mark 9:23 NLT

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

A couple of weeks ago, Ps Tony, one of my great friends, was with us and said, “Faith is the Currency of the Kingdom.”

I believe! Does anyone believe with me? Anything is possible if a person believes! This is the year, this is the moment. The Time is Now! For your miracle. I believe, do you believe?

On October 14th, Ps Jenni and I drove by a property on Meridian and the 24, and we saw something that challenged us so much, we saw something that could be the future of Focus Church. Oscar didn’t know this moment was in our near future, Bianca didn’t know that this was in our near future, Ps Jenni didn’t know that this moment was in our near future, I didn’t know that this moment was in our near future. But my God knew. He was preparing our hearts for this moment.

So many moments that have led us to this moment, to understand that The Time is NOW!

Listen, I’m a man of faith. I live every single day of my life by the faith I have. I’m dedicated to my faith in God. I have sacrificed my life, dedicated my life to the faith I have in God. I don’t know if you know this, but I’m a pretty smart guy, I’m a pretty driven man. There is a personality test called Strength Finder, and it said that my ideal job would be to be a Field General. I could have absolutely excelled in my military career. I could have dominated business.

But I freely gave it all up, because I have a faith that is so much bigger than any material drive that I have. I am a man of faith.

But in this season, as we are looking at this land, this building, this ground that is in front of us, my faith is bigger than it has ever been before. My faith is stronger than it has ever been before. My faith is to see God move, my faith to see God move not just for a building. They will come and go, but my faith to see God move in your life. It is bigger than ever before.

I believe this season, this is your time, this is our time, for a Christmas Miracle. I believe it with everything inside of me. The Time is NOW!!!

I want you to do something. I believe this is going to be so powerful. I have been praying for this moment, I have been believing for this moment. Ushers, begin to pass out these cards. Just a simple 3x5 card. Nothing unusual about this card, but something completely unusual about this moment. Just a natural piece of paper, but something completely supernatural about this moment. Here is what I want you to do. I’m going to ask you to think about the Miracle that you have been waiting for. I want you to think about the Miracle that you have been praying for. And I want you to write it down.

Nothing special about writing it down, but something so special about writing it down to God. This miracle is what we are believing for. This miracle is what I have been praying for. This miracle is truly the miracle that we have been expecting. It’s really cool to think about a building and a property for our church, but in my heart, nothing compared to seeing God move in your life!

I’m believing God for a Christmas Miracle!

My faith is bigger than it has ever been. But can I be honest with you. So have my moments of doubt.

Mark 9:24 NLT

The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

I believe so much. I believe so much. I believe so much. I believe that God is going to come through in your life. I believe that whatever you wrote down, that this miracle is on the way. I believe so much that there are going to be so many miracles this Christmas, there are Christmas miracles upon Christmas miracles on the way. I believe that God is going to come through for a future property. I believe it so much. In fact, we have seen God move so much already.

When we started this wild ride of looking at a property, I told our leadership, I think the church could raise 100-200 thousand in a month. Well, Focus, I get the honor to stand up here and tell you that in the last 3 weeks, we have pledged 304,000 towards the future of Focus Church. I’m overwhelmed by how good God is. It’s a miracle to see God moving.

We knew it would take a miracle, and we are seeing it happen.

But help me overcome my unbelief! Because I also know that this property will take a miracle even bigger than this. This land is expensive. We can’t overextend ourselves and be locked into land that we could never develop. We can’t overextend ourselves to the point that everything we have worked towards is gone because of a hasty decision. It is going to take a miracle.

My faith is bigger than it has ever been, but so are my moments of doubt. I see how much this land costs, I see how much this building costs, and these numbers don’t add up. With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

I have moments in the morning that I wake up, doubt will overwhelm me. My faith is so big right now, but these moments of doubt are so big. There is no way this building will happen. There is no way we can make this happen. There is no lending institute that will give us money. There is no deal to be done. It’s just too expensive. Why didn’t we buy this 10 years ago? Why didn’t we make a bid before this developer saw it? We could have made a deal with these guys and it would have been a fraction of the cost. Why? Why? Why?

And it started me thinking about all the things that cause the doubt to invade the mind of this man of faith. Because I know if I have moments of doubt, I’m not the only one. If we are honest, we are all like this father, I believe, but help my unbelief?

What causes these moments of doubt to crush us?

As I was reading the Christmas story over again, you can see so many moments of doubt in one of the greatest moments in human history.

Luke 1:5–20 NLT

When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old. One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying. While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.” Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.” Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”

I don’t know about you, but this is a moment that I would have loved. I don’t know about you, but if I’m at church, and all of a sudden an angel of the Lord, Gabriel, is standing before me. I’m listening. I’m paying attention. I’m all in. I’m ready to do whatever is asked of me, I’m ready to believe anything, and do anything. My goodness, please God, send an angel to give very clear and specific direction.

I’m telling you, if I had an angel of the Lord appear before me before church started, I’m telling all of you and nothing would ever stop me from doing what The Lord told me to do.

But is that honest?

It’s easy to say, but is it honest to say?

I think if we were all honest we would respond very similar to Zechariah. For this specific reason. We are all human and we have the same fears, the same insecurities and the same tendencies.

Why would we respond the same way as Zechariah?

OUT OF OUR CONTROL!

The moments of doubt overwhelm us the because these things are completely out of our control!

Zechariah and Elizebeth had been trying to have a child for years and years, and that miracle was out of there control. They had believed for so long, but the doubt had crept in so much that the doubt was now their reality more than the belief.

Look at the miracle you wrote down. Is it in your control? Is it something you could accomplish on your own? If it was, wouldn’t you have done something about it years ago? Wouldn’t you have done something about it decades ago? Wouldn’t you have done something by now?

But it is out of your control. And let’s be honest when it is completely out of your control…oh man…the doubt creeps in.

On October 14th, Ps Jenni, Case, Jude, and I saw this future, we saw this possibility. We brought the leadership of our church into the conversation, each of them said, “Pastor, the time is now!” On November 9th, after our 2nd Saturday prayer service, we had a church meeting, and we told the church what was on our heart.

When we got home that night, Ps Jenni said to me, “Well, the cats out of the bag now. There is no going back.”

And I’ve got to tell you my thought. God, I believe, but help my unbelief.”

Why? Because this is out of my control. I don’t have 4 million sitting around for this moment. I don’t have the ability to make this happen. And let’s be honest, let’s call it out. Who is on the line here? If we put this out there and it doesn’t happen, we aren’t blaming God, of course not, he’s God, and that’s ridiculous. Who’s neck, reputation, leadership is on the line. YOU’RE LOOKING AT HIM!

I’m just being honest with you. I believe, but help my unbelief!

The man standing in front of Jesus asking for the healing of his son. Lord, this is out of my control. I can’t make him better. The disciples couldn’t make him better. I believe, but help my unbelief.

Zechariah, standing in front of Gabriel in this miraculous moment, we have tried and tried to have a child, but I’ve only lived with heartbreak after heartbreak. Lord this is out of my control. I believe, but help my unbelief.

This humble preacher standing before you, willing to set up and tear down for the rest of my life, willing to sacrifice anything and everything for my God, willing to preach the hard things of the scripture. Willing to stand firm on every single conviction that God has given me. But I can’t make a building happen on my own will, my own strength, my own resources. Lord this is out of my control. I believe, but help my unbelief.

Your small card, but massive request before God. You have been praying for this for years, perhaps decades. It is completely out of your control.

God we believe, but help our unbelief.

My God is the Miracle working God. That son was healed, Zechariah and Elizebeth gave birth to John the Baptist. There have been miracles after miracles that have happened throughout the scriptures, there have been miracles that have happened throughout human history, this is the same God we worship, the same God we pray to, the same God we need right now. There have been miracles after miracles in our church.

I believe in the future home of Focus Church, but more than anything, I believe in the miracle you need right now. This is a season of Christmas Miracles.

Come forward for prayer!