What are miracles and do they happen today?
- 1 reality 2 realms – seen/physical; unseen/spiritual
- 2 realms were together until sin separated them
- One day 2 realms will reunite
- Today – on occasion 2 realms temporarily reunite & “miracles” happen
- Bible =127 miracles
- “Thin Places” – ancient Celtic XN’s
-Divine ladder Heaven to earth angels descended in days Jacob, a cloud by day
and a pillar of fire by night Moses, tabernacle, & temple that housed presence.
-God told Moses Ex 3:5 “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
=Memorialize w/altars & stacking stones of remembrance
Jesus Body – God & Man – IMMANUEL
Jesus’ 33 Miracles
John 21:25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
1. Ruling over nature
2. Restoring health
3. Removing demons
4. Raising the dead (Study Guide)
Non-Christians report Jesus’ miracles
Matthew 12:22-24 …a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him [Jesus], and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
The Jewish Talmud and Celsus, an opponent of Christianity, charged that Jesus
“practiced magic.” Jewish historian Josephus said Jesus was “a doer of wonderful works.”
What is a miracle?
A miracle is an event where a spiritual being (God and angels, Satan and demons) supersedes the laws of nature.
- Miracle from Latin “to wonder” – supersedes natural causes = awe or dread
1980 US hockey team defeated Soviets “miracle on ice”
Why do some worldviews not believe in miracles?
Atheistic Naturalism – there is no unseen realm, and no God or angels or demons to do anything extraordinary. The world runs on natural laws that cannot be broken.
Deistic Naturalism – God made the world, left it forever, and runs it by natural laws that cannot be broken.
- Scientific method – test & retest in controlled environment
Biblical Supernaturalism – from beginning to end, the Bible records historical miracles where a divine being from the unseen realm temporarily supersedes the laws of nature. These miracles are reported by eyewitnesses, including the medical doctor Luke.
Reject? = Offensive. I’ve seen miracles. God healed my mom.
What do Christians believe about miracles?
I need the chart from pg 21 of the Jesus’s miracles study guide
- Cessationism – half true, LOW DEMONIC, open blasphemy HS (grieve/quench/resist)
- Functional Cessationism – low faith/hope/energy (not big on prayer & worship)
- Continuationist (or Charismatic) – Acts 12 of 28 chapters miracle (30 years)
- Word-Faith – Make God (like magic) College pastors wife. Abuse = Cessationism
Should Christians seek miracles?
Matthew 12:38-40 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
- We don’t follow miracles. We follow Jesus & miracles follow us. “Come Follow Me!”
Can we make God perform a miracle?
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 “…a thorn was given me [Paul] in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
- God used Paul to heal others, could not heal himself
What if you don’t get a miracle?
Daniel 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods..”
How are miracles also signs?
John 2:1–11 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
Miracles are “signs” pointing to King Jesus & Kingdom of God.
Family Dog Kaya
Healing; Casting out demons; feeding hungry, healing sick, raising dead, nature healed
= 1. Rest. 2. Parties. Holidays & Parties
What can you do if you need a miracle?
- Pray for yourself in faith and listen well, believing God can hear and answer.
- Remove whatever hinders your connection to the Lord.
- Spend time in thin places (Christian friendship, Scripture, prayer, worship)
Praise up. Presence down.
- Pray for others in faith, believing God can hear and answer. This can include the laying on of hands like Jesus did over adults and children, which comforts the person and invites the Holy Spirit. [our grandkids. Father heart God]
BAND UP FOR CLOSE – your free expression!
Thank you – Vision Prayer to close
Testimonies (salvations; #’s deliverance, inner healing trauma, physical healing, death overcome, TC)
