Miracle Workers

April 6th 2025

Series: Days of Elisha

Sermon Title: Miracle Workers

Topic:Journey through the life of Elisah to learn how he became an incredible man of God.

Key Passages: 2 Kings 4: 8-37 & 2 Kings 8: 1-6

Topic: Elisha, Faith, Miracle

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message, we will learn how when we follow God, we have no idea what He will do through us!

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Sermon:

Hello Family Church!!!

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Celebrate salvations / re-dedications / baptisms last week.

Welcome back to our series, reading through the life of a prophet named Elisha in the Old Testament.

We are looking at all these incredible ways that the Holy Spirit worked in and through him.

Last week, we read about Elisha performing an incredible miracle.

A woman’s husband died and left her with a pile of debts.

The creditors told her to come up with the money, or they would take her sons as slaves.

Kids be glad you were born today and not in ancient times!

She asked Elisha for help, and he told her to grab the olive oil in her house and pour it into all her neighbors' jars…

It made no sense…

He didn’t say why or what would happen…

But she listened, and God kept multiplying the oil until EVERY jar was filled!

And she was able to sell all that oil to pay off her husband’s debts, save her children, and live off what was left!

God is AMAZING!!!!

PAUSE

And what God does today through Elisha is even more amazing!

Today, we are about to see another miracle and it is going to teach us something VERY important…

And let me remind you all, Elisha, we learned in week #1, was a regular guy.

He was a farm kid.

A farm kid in the middle of a regular work day was called to follow the prophet Elijah.

We saw this regular farm kid take a MASSIVE step of faith and follow even though he did not know what was in store for him.

Even though he didn’t know what was going to happen.

We saw him just trust God to fill in the details later.

This regular guy has become this incredible prophet…

A prophet whom the Holy Spirit has done more miracles now than any other person in existence!

Church, let me make a point right out of the gate…

Then, I want to tell you a 100% true story that will lead us into the Bible story today…

Imagine the miracles God could do through us if we fully follow Him.

Repeat

I want you to think about that as I share this story and we read the Bible today.

PAUSE

So, if you would open your Bibles with me to

2 Kings 4

And by the way…..

(New Person Bible Connection)

If you do not have a Bible, that is ok!

After service, we will give you an AMAZING leather-bound study Bible!

Or if you have a Bible stop by there anyway and we will give you a gift card to a local restaurant because we LOVE that you came today and we want to bless you!!!

Just go to (ADD YOUR CAMPUS PLACE) and get one for FREE!!!

PAUSE

And I want to tell you a true story right here.

A story of a really good friend of Pastor Adam’s (OR ADD A STORY OF YOUR OWN HERE).

This is a story from when Pastor Adam was just a purchasing agent for Pulte Homes and his friend was just a rep for Dow Chemical.

We became friends through work and Jenny and I would hang out with her and her husband; even though in some ways we were very different.

She and her husband were Atheists.

We were Christians.

We had Addie and wanted more kids and they never wanted kids EVER.

And I want to share with you the story about her…

So fast forward in my Atheist friend’s life many years.

One day she is on FB and she gets a friend request from a random person… some random person that runs a hosting program for orphan kids….and for some reason she chooses to accept it and that is it.

Fast-forward another year and a half, and she has this encounter with God in a Sikh Temple in India, which led her to check out what church is all about, which led her to come to know Jesus, and she got baptized!

And I want all the Christians to note something; you can encounter God anywhere…..it does not only happen in church.

For my friend it happened in a pagan God’s temple!

I have an Atheist cousin who told me it happened at a church that had an indoor soccer field that he played at all the time…. He NEVER went to church, but he went to this church because it was outside the box…. Years later, he decided to try the church one weekend because he had so many friends who went there and played soccer, and BAM, he gave his life to Christ…

God moves OUTSIDE the little box we put him in.

PAUSE

Fast forward another year and a half and that random FaceBook lady calls her about hosting kids…and she was like NO WAY! I DON’T like kids!

Then for some reason she found herself constantly going back to this lady’s website about hosting kids…..

And so they finally come to this decision that God was telling her to host a child.

And so, with zero experience with kids, they decided to host one, and they got a 15-year-old boy!

Great idea right?

Well, long story short on that, it didn’t work out, and the boy went home.

Easy to say well….God we tried…didn’t work out we are done with that….

But she kept feeling God asking her to host again…

A year later, she finally gave in to God, and they decided, we are going to host a girl.

A month before the girl was going to come, she was adopted; the rug was pulled out from under their feet, and with it, the $3,500 they put down.

The story could end there; but no this is just another scene in the greater story.

Shortly after, a boy came up, and they decided to host him and shell out more money.

When the boy got there, he seemed like the perfect kid, and they were so happy.

But then, one day, he started bleeding from his ear.

Obviously, NOT good.

And as soon as the doctor saw him, he said, “he has some major issues, and we need to get a CT scan ASAP because it looks like a tumor heading into his brain.”

So they petitioned the agency to keep him longer…but were turned down….

And so they were forced to send him home, knowing full well he would most likely die.

And they thought it was over….and that ended this part of their story.

PAUSE

And then one day in church she clearly hears God say, “Adopt him and bring him back!”

So she is praying…..Wait…I am not signing up to be a mom….God….I was just going to help some kids for small periods of time…..And God says, “Adopt him and bring him back!”

And so they say ok….knowing full well the adoption process usually takes over a year, and he most likely will be dead by then.

So they started the process and God did the impossible…

In 3 months, he was back living with them and getting treatments while the adoption process was still going!!!

To complicate it…foreign kid…not theirs…no insurance…

And super long story short…..A hospital donated what was needed to make it happen!

AKA God showed up again…

And then everything finally started to get better….. NOPE…..then everything started to go……..downhill….. the boy started going through all kinds of massive mental issues….

And nothing was working….

Meanwhile, their marriage is falling apart.

Meanwhile, her career is tanking because she has to drop everything for this kid God said to adopt.

Meanwhile, she her physical health is tanking because she has no time for her.

Meanwhile, EVERYTHING in life is the worst thing they can imagine.

Then one day, her husband said, " Maybe God just wanted us to fix him body; and it was not about adopting him.”

And my friend told me that she WENT CRAZY on her husband!!!!!

And they almost got divorced…..

Fast forward….and they need to head back to his home country for one last court hearing and then he is officially their son.

And on the way there….her case worker tells her she should not keep him…….and like with her husband….she went off on her case worker….

Her mom decides to go with her for support.

And her mom is an Atheist.

And her mom is sitting in the terminal waiting for her flight and two women sit right behind her…and her mom is an ATHEIST mind you….and she just felt the need to introduce herself to these random women.

And this lady hears why she is there and says, “I am a Christian and God is telling me to tell your daughter not to go through with it.”

And her Atheist mom calls her daughter and puts this lady on the phone with her!

An Atheist….meets a random lady in an airport and listens to what God says to her….God moment anyone?

But again, my friends goes off on this lady and tells her she not going to listen!

My friend gets on the plane….and is heading over to Frankfurt……crying the whole way….not knowing what to say to God….so confused and hurt…..

And she gets to Heidelberg (cool for the reformed people in the house). And her mom says I know this sounds crazy.

But I think God was speaking through those women.

And then, out of nowhere….as a baby Christian….she feels God speak to her and say, “I gave up my only son for you, and I am asking you to do the same.”

So. she prayed for God’s will and strength because she did not want to give him back!!!!

And she did not know if she could.

So got to the court…

She said she was sweating, shaking, and looked like a trainwreck….

And she gave up her future son…..and she cried all the way home....and through the end of the year…..

PAUSE

She said it was the hardest thing in her life and the most obedient she has ever had to be…..

But now she can look back and she can see how God spoke to her throughout all of it!

And now her marriage is better than it has ever been and stronger…..and her business is thriving….and life is Great….

She said that now she knows, for the first time in her life, that God is real.

And that God does speak to us.

And God DOES do miracles!!!!

PAUSE

And I know this is a hard story for some people because it does not end happily ever after for this boy….and we have no idea what is going on in his life….

But this is not just a story about this boy….

It is a story about how God healed a little boy….

A story about how God taught this couple how to pray and how to hear God amidst their prayers…..

It is a story about how to follow God no matter what he asks…

A story about how miracles are not just a thing of the past…

But miracles can happen today as well IF we step out in faith!!!!

PAUSE

And the story we are about to read in the Bible has its ups and downs…

Just like my friend’s story.

Some of you here today are in the middle of a scene, but you think this scene is your entire story…

This sickness is a scene.

This job loss is a scene.

This person who is being mean to you is a scene.

This spiritual desert you are in is a scene.

This fear that is overshadowing you is a scene.

This problem you have is a scene.

DON’T confuse your scene with your story!

Your story is NOT over yet!

Turn to your neighbor and say…. you're story is not over!

PAUSE

Let’s start reading… 2 Kings chapter 4 staring at verse 8

2 Kings 4: 8-37 8 One day Elisha went on to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat.

So here we have a person of means: a wealthy woman.

And I know being rich means different things to everyone in the room today. But if we look at being rich from a global perspective or a God perspective, do you know what you will find out?

If you are not aware if your household makes more than 33K a year from a global perspective you are VERY rich!

That income puts you in the top income earners in the WORLD!

But that is another sermon…..

But this rich lady decides to use part of her wealth to just bless a man of God.

No one told her to do this…

She just knew God was generous, and she wanted to be generous with what God had given her.

There are lots of you in this room today with this same mentality, and that is awesome!

Verse 9

9 She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God.

10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”

She says, let's add a room on our house for him!

AND let’s run to Ikea and outfit a room with the basics so he doesn’t have to worry about it.

And bear in mind she is doing this out of the goodness of her heart!

She isn’t expecting the man of God to do something for her because she is doing something for him.

She isn’t expecting God to do something for her….

She is just living a life like the Bible calls us all to live.

Verse 11…

11 One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there.

12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him.

13 Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you?

Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’”

Stop there…

Elisha, of his own accord, decided to see how he could bless this generous woman.

So he asks her how he can.

And listen to how she responds:

She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”

She said, “I am good! I don’t need anything! I am NOT doing this for ANY return!”

Think about yourself for a minute…

Do you freely serve others like this?

Do you freely give like this?

Or do you only serve when it aligns with your priorities?

Do you only give if you can control where it goes and how it is used?

Think back to my friend’s story…

Do you just follow the leading of God even when it does not make sense?

PAUSE

Verse 14

14 “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked. Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”

15 Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway.

Note here she left!

After she said she was good she LEFT!

She meant it!

So, they call her back.

And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway.

Verse 16.

16 “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”

“No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”

He promises her something she has always dreamed of….but something she knows will NEVER happen because they are too far along in years.

She thought her story was just about a man of God using her house and eating her food…..and she didn’t realize that was just a scene in her story!

That God had other plans…..greater plans!

Verse 17…

17 But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

Great right! Her story ends with happiness like she never would have expected.

She had a son!

But that is not the end of the story…..

Verse 18…

18 The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. 19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!”

His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

20 After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died.

Parents or grandparents in the room know that the pain of losing a son or grandson is probably some of the greatest pain in the world!

Parents should not bury their kids….it is the other way around!

She never thought she would have a son….and she had been so overjoyed for a few years…. but it abruptly ended.

So she has a choice.

This can end her story…

Or she can choose to let this be a scene….

Listen to what happens…

21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

22 She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”

23 “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.”

“That’s all right,” she said.

24 She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.”

25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite!

26 Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”

And church….

Will you all read with me this mother’s response…

“Everything is all right,” she said.

What?

Everything is NOT all right!

All is not well!

What does she mean?

Why would she say that?

PAUSE

Let me circle back to my friend’s story and something else she said to me.

She said, “I wish I would have been thankful for the trials instead of being angry. God loves us and provides for us even in the midst of pain.”

PAUSE

When you are in the midst of a difficult situation can you still say, “Everything is ok?”

Can you still thank God in the midst of pain?

Do you still pray and talk to God even when you're hurt?

Or do you run from the one person who wants to help you the most?

PAUSE

Verse 27…

27 When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said,

“Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”

The most powerful prophet ever….was stumped!

The greatest miracle worker in history was not hearing from God anything about what was going on…

Veres 28…

28 “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

She cries out in pain and says….I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS blessing…..but you gave it to me….why!

Why would you give me a blessing just to take it away from me?

PAUSE

I am sure some of us have been there in life.

Some of us have been there when we got pregnant and then lost the baby.

Some of us have been there when we lost an older child.

Some of us have been there when we lost our dream job.

Lost our spouse.

Lost our parent.

Many of us have been at this same place…..but the question to ask again is the same….

Write down this question..

IS this moment going to define my story, or is it just a scene in my story?

Repeat

Verse 29…

29 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run.

Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

30 But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

31 Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response.

So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”

Even the servant thinks all hope is lost.

32 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. 33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord.

Like my friend prayed and asked God what to do with her son…

Prayer is always the best idea…

34 Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands.

As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm.

35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more.

The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

36 Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.”

37 She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

Her son’s story was not over…

But not only that church…

Her story was not over!

I am going to skip ahead in the life of Elisha because I want to show you what happens…

Flip to 2nd kings 8.

Listen to what happens here:

2 Kings 8: 1-6 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life,

“Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.”

2 The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.

3 At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land.

4 The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.”

5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land.

Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.”

6 The king asked the woman about it, and she told him. Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him,

“Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”

And I want to pause right here….

I want to close with something from that my former atheist friend said DEEPLY impacted her.

One day, she was talking with a person, and they asked her this question, “Based on the way you live your life today. If there is a God, who will stand with you before God and give testimony to the good you have done?”

IS there ANYONE who will stand up for you at the end of your life and say because of you they were changed?

Is there ANYONE who will stand up at the end of your life and say you led them to Christ?

Is there ANYONE who will stand up for you at the end of your life and say that you were a critical part of their story?

PAUSE

I want you to think about something today…..are you someone who is just a scene person…. Or are you a part of people’s stories?

Are you just a person who is here and gone?

Are you just a person who is going through life?

Are you a good friend who won’t rock the boat because you want to stay friends more than you want to lead someone to Christ?

Are you going to go through life and leave no real track of your existence?

Or are you going to be a storymaker?

Are you willing to listen to God and do crazy things?

Are you willing to invest your money in God’s kingdom and build things for a man of God?

Are you willing to step out in faith and speak prophecy over people?

Will you pray such bold prayers that people’s lives are changed?

WILL you trust God enough to try and raise the dead?

PAUSE

Or are you content to just be…

PAUSE

Who will stand for you at the end of time?

Who will stand for you like Elisha had this woman….who knew he was the real deal…..

Who will stand for you?

Is there anyone?

PAUSE

And I want to end with this….and this is the best news I could ever tell you.

Take my friend as an example.

She has lived the majority of her life as an atheist.

She has lived most of her life believing Christians were idiots.

She has lived most of her life do anything but trying to honor God.

But you want to know the greatest news in the world?

THAT DOES NOT MATTER!

And you want to know why?

Because she gave her life to Jesus and now Jesus is going to be standing next to her in heaven.

And Jesus will say to God the Father…

All those things she did are no longer valid because I gave my life up for her sins!

Just forgave her for all the ways she based people who followed Him!

Today, maybe you are here because you need to hear that God hears you when you pray.

Maybe you are here today to understand that God is with you in the midst of the pain of your life.

And maybe some of you were here today because today is the day you are going to give your life to Jesus, and you are going to know that you have someone in your corner when this life ends.

So, church, here is our life application for this week.

Life Application: How could you make sure to live a life where it impacts other people for Jesus? As a result of today’s message, I will _________________________.

Prayer:

Make sure to do salvation call!

Offering:

Thank you all for being here today!

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Week #1 –

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Have a great week!!