2 Corinthians 5:11-21

My background… Science + Engineer = Skeptic –Clear cause-effect –Observable result –One, clear-cut answer Others tried to disprove –I just believed, but “no good reason” –But not as deeply as I do today About 10 yrs ago, began to understand prayer Small group kept saying: “It’s a God thing” –Once, we talked about saints, angels, etc

Do I believe that miracles still happen today? Do you?

Consider this young man… Born in middle-class family Likes to play soccer, fish, golf, swim, etc Age 23 earned dual degree –accounting & financial planning YET… By age 25 –Sponsors 43 people (food/clothing/shelter) –Built/started schools –Built/started a hospital Speaker to over a million around world

Is it a miracle that someone at such a young age is having such an impact on people all over the world?

Miracles in the Bible To show that the person performing the miracle was sent by God (e.g. Moses) To create faith in those observing the miracles (e.g. Jesus)

What is a miracle? 3 words: dunamis (miracle), semeion (sign) and teras (wonder) All 3 together in Acts 2:22, Hebrews 2:4, and 2 Corinthians 12:12 The occurrence of a miracle meant God was working OUTSIDE the laws of nature

Youth Class: A Case for Faith Scientific Method –Observe, Hypothesize, Predict, Experiment Let’s try it

Did I perform a miracle? I simply intervened If I can “defy the law of gravity”, don’t you think God can intervene as He wishes?

I was reading a book… Shane Claiborne Maryville, TN “What if Jesus Meant All that stuff?” Esquire - Nov 18, 2009

In the FIRST chapter… “Back at college, I had asked one of my Bible teachers if he still believed in miracles, like when Jesus fed thousands of people with a couple of fishes and a handful of loaves. And I wondered if God was still into that stuff. I wanted miracles to be normal again.”

“He told me that we have insulated ourselves from miracles. We no longer live with such reckless faith that we need them. There is rarely room for the transcendent in our lives. If we get sick, we go to a doctor. If we need food, we go to a store and buy it. We have eliminated the need for miracles. If we had enough faith to depend on God like the lilies and sparrows do, we would see miracles. For is it not a miracle that the birds find enough worms each day?”

Have we? “He told me that we have insulated ourselves from miracles. We no longer live with such reckless faith that we need them. There is rarely room for the transcendent in our lives…” Have we “eliminated the need for miracles”?

I kept reading about this Bible student… He began to work in inner city with many homeless people He spent many days & nights in worst parts of Philadelphia In regards to miracles, he came to this conclusion:

“He was right. On the streets of Philly, we experienced miracles. We would wake up sometimes with a blanket on us or a meal beside us that was not there when we went to sleep. Other moments were so mystical that I’m scared to try to crystallize them on paper lest you think I’m nuts… or even worse, that I am a saint of televangelist. (After all this is only the first chapter!)”

Later in the book… Homeless moved into abandoned cathedral known as St. Edwards Later, Catholic Church tried to evict What happened?

Later in the book… Is this a “modern day” miracle? Sure, these things were happening, but is this a Miracle? The kind with a “big M”? What happened next?

What was my response? Am I “immune” to seeing angels? Am I “immune” to seeing miracles? Are they obsolete? Or, do I just think it is “coincidence”?

Stuff kept happening…

Consider this young man… Born in middle-class family Likes to play soccer, fish, golf, swim, etc Age 23 earned dual degree –accounting & financial planning YET…. By age 25 –Sponsors 43 people (food/clothing/shelter) –Built/started schools –Built/started a hospital Speaker to over a million people around the world Remember the beginning?

Reasons for Miracles: To show that the person performing the miracle was sent by God To create faith in those observing the miracles Remember the beginning?

2 Corinthians 5:11-21

14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for HIM who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view… Easy Difficult harder

2 Corinthians 5: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Easy Difficult harder

Recalibrate! Do we believe Christ died for us? Do we see Christ’s Ambassadors? Are we encouraged to do likewise? Are we reconciling others to God? Are we becoming the righteousness of God?

1.To show the person was sent by God 2.To create faith in others