Bobby Lepinay

Changing Water Into Wine

This past Sunday we continued our "Miracles" series with Part 3, Jesus changing water into wine out of John 1:1-11.  

To start with, lets make this clear:  Jesus did NOT turn the water into "unfermented grape juice"! First of all, it is a JEWISH wedding.  As my friend Neil Silverberg says, "Have you ever tried to pass unfermented wine to a party of Jews??? You would be STONED!!!"

The master of ceremonies here in this story knew good wine from bad and states that this wine was 'the BEST' in class and that usually, the hosts brings out the cheap stuff after everyone is pretty blasted, but not this host: He brought out the best last, after everyone was pretty plastered.

If you dont believe me, read it for yourself.

But that isnt the point of this miracle.  The point is found in vs. 11:  For people to believe in Him.

See, the BIGGEST miracle isnt healings, or changing water into wine, or walking on water.  The biggest miracle is when a heart opens to Christ. This is what Jesus is all about.  Reaching people who are far from the Father.  Seeking and saving the lost.  

And its what He calls US to be about as well.

Do you want to be more effective in seeing the non-Christians in your life come to faith?  It's really not that complicated.  We see Jesus modeling the way in this story:

1. You have to be AMONG them.

            Jesus was invited to parties.  Lots of them.  Just read the Gospels.  He didnt stand off, too                   holy. He mixed and associated with lost people and they loved being around Him.  When is the               last time you were invited to a non-believer's party??  Do you just TOLERATE them?  Or to they               feel genuinely LIKED by you ?  Jesus was accused by His enemies of being a 'party person', a                   'wine-bibber and glutton, a friend of sinners'.  Read Luke 15:1 and the rest of the chapter as                    well.

     2.  You have to be a SERVANT to them.

            In this story, the family ran out of wine.  There was a PRACTICAL need and Jesus met it.  In                   effect, and I know this may sound crazy to many, Jesus took over the bar.  Again, read it for                 yourself.  The point here is that Jesus met people where they ARE, in the needs they had at the             moment.  We likewise, if we want to be more effective in reaching those around us, need to                 serve them.  In Luke 16:9, Jesus commended the unjust steward for using his worldly resources             to make heavenly friends.  That translates to us using money to bless the unsaved, to show                   them God's unconditional love.  THAT's how you open a heart!!

      3.  You have to be EXTRAVAGANT.    

            Going back to our story, Jesus took 6 jars that held about 25 gallons each.  That is 150 gallons               of the finest wine.  A bottle of wine is about 26 oz, making this the equivelant of around 750                 bottles of wine.  Figure fine wine starting at about $40 a bottle and you have here a $30,000                 MIRACLE!!!  The point??  OUR GOD IS AN EXTRAVAGENT God!!! He blesses richly, thoroughly.             All through the Bible we see this, from His intricacy in all He created, to the feeding of the 5000             with plenty left over, He is extravagant and gives MORE than enough.  And I most show God                   when I myself am extragant.....especially to those who don't know Him.   This has challenged                 me personally, to be honest.  Do I tip waiters and waitresses just enough to get by?  Or do I                   really try to go above and beyond??  Just a thought.....!  :)

Influencing people toward Christ isn't really that complicated.  We have to be with them, among them, a part of their lives.  They have to feel we like them, not just tolerate them.  You have to serve them, and do so extravagantly.

Oh, and by the way:  STOP EXPECTING UNSAVED PEOPLE TO ACT ANY OTHER WAY THAN UNSAVED!!! We as Christians are always trying to clean the fish before they are even caught!  They have to be caught first, then the Holy Spirit, not YOU, comes in them and begins in His timing to clean them.  I am sure lots of the people around Jesus cussed liked sailors, even His own disciples, as they were unconverted fishermen til the Holy Spirit converted them.  There were people at the parties that were drunk.  Yet Jesus was not offended and it didnt affect His love toward them nor His serving them.  

Grace my friends....and see you this coming Sunday!

PB 

Raising Lazarus From The Dead

After 3 months off, I am back into the blogosphere!  To be honest, it was GREAT being unplugged for so long, but, I do realize that it is a fruitful way to communicate and so am committed to blogging long-term.

So, as promised Sunday, I am finishing Sunday's message here on my blog.  To review, I talked about the fact that sometimes in life our situations, ie, relationships, finances, ....even faith....can take a turn for the worse, as happened with Lazarus in John 11.  They can even "die", as was the case with Lazarus.  You may indeed have to file bankrupcy.  You may face a divorce.  You may even lose someone close to you.

But that doesn't mean its over.  God has a bigger, overarching plan. 

"This sickness will not END in death."

Our God is a God who specializes in bringing dead things to life.  (Romans 4) He usually lets them REALLY die, as in Lazarus' case, 4 days dead! But as the Abekani tribe, an Indian tribe in the Northeast say, "God is the one who is the power in the seed when the seed looks most dead."  He is the God of resurrection.  

And we are called the People of Resurrection. If we are about anything, it is the fact we believe in God's power to resurrect dead things.  But as we look at our lives, the dreams that have seemingly died, the death that can become a part of us, the pain, the heartache, we have to remember 3 things:

1. Jesus does indeed CARE about our pain.  We see this here in the story of Lazarus.  It says He "was filled with anger" when he saw the people weeping and Himself wept.  Why?  I believe because He saw the pain and anguish death causes, that was the result of the fall of humankind.  Death came through sin.  Sin is the cancer of the universe that with death, will one day be overthrown and conquered by Christ. (I Cor 15)  But in the meantime, Jesus sympathizes with our suffering and pain.
2. He has the POWER to change things.  He IS the resurrection and LIFE! We tend to limit Him in our circumstances, but truly, in HIM is unlimited possibility.  If you just go through the Gospel of Mark, one gospel, one thing you cant help but notice is that WHEN JESUS WAS PRESENT, ANYTHING WAS POSSIBLE.  And that brings us to our last point.....how do we get Christ's Presence into our circumstances??....
3. We need to hear HEAR His voice.  Jesus shouted out to the dead man Lazarus, "Come out!" The dead man heard His voice and came out.  The Bible says in Romans 10:17 that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." This is when you hear the Lord internally in a clear way that changes everything. You know that you know that you know in your "knower" that God has spoken to you.  We call that a "rhema" word, from the Greek.  

There are 2 keys to hearing God's voice:

• We have to get QUIET inside. You cant hear God with a noisy soul that is always going, going, going.  This is why we tend to hear God best in the early morning hours before we get a busy mind and heart.
• We have to EXPECT Him to speak.  God honors faith, and faith is expectation.  God loves when we come to Him with expectancy!

Love you guys and glad to be back!!

PB