Sermon :“Greater Things!”
Pastor Kim Wenzel
Matthew 11:7-14 NIV
1 When Jesus finished placing this charge before his twelve disciples, he went on to teach and preach in their villages.
2-3 John,
meanwhile, had been locked up in prison. When he got wind of what Jesus
was doing, he sent his own disciples to ask, “Are you the One we’ve
been expecting, or are we still waiting?”
4-6 Jesus told them, “Go back and tell John what’s going on:
The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.
“Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!”
7-10 When
John’s disciples left to report, Jesus started talking to the crowd
about John. “What did you expect when you went out to see him in the
wild? A weekend camper? Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk pajamas? Not
in the wilderness, not by a long shot. What then? A prophet? That’s
right, a prophet! Probably the best prophet you’ll ever hear. He is the
prophet that Malachi announced when he wrote, ‘I’m sending my prophet
ahead of you, to make the road smooth for you.’
11-14 “Let
me tell you what’s going on here: No one in history surpasses John the
Baptizer; but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is
ahead of him. For a long time now people have tried to force themselves
into God’s kingdom. But if you read the books of the Prophets and God’s
Law closely, you will see them culminate in John, teaming up with him
in preparing the way for the Messiah of the kingdom. Looked at in this
way, John is the ‘Elijah’ you’ve all been expecting to arrive and
introduce the Messiah. "Yet whoever is the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he!"
Amos 5:1-6 NIV
1 Listen to this, family of Israel,
this Message I’m sending in bold print, this tragic warning:
2 “Virgin Israel has fallen flat on her face.
She’ll never stand up again.
She’s been left where she’s fallen.
No one offers to help her up.”
3 This is the Message, God’s Word:
“The city that marches out with a thousand
will end up with a hundred.
The city that marches out with a hundred
will end up with ten. Oh, family of Israel!”
4-5 God’s Message to the family of Israel:
“Seek me and live.
Don’t fool around at those shrines of Bethel,
Don’t waste time taking trips to Gilgal,
and don’t bother going down to Beer-sheba.
Gilgal is here today and gone tomorrow
and Bethel is all show, no substance.”
6 So seek God and live! You don’t want to end up
with nothing to show for your life
But a pile of ashes, a house burned to the ground.
For God will send just such a fire,
and the firefighters will show up too late.
John 11:11-14 NIV
1-14 “Believe
me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe
that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will
not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way
to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing.
You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines
of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will
be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in
this way, I’ll do.
Today's Verse
Malachi 4:1-2
"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire," says the Lord Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves."
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