02/25/24 Sermon Recap: Sermon, Memes & Notes.

You need persistance in your hunger for the things of God.

God doesn’t always lay it out for you- He is expecting you to step out. You need to have a spiritual hunger for Him, which takes persistence, and once you begin to get persistent about it you can start to see people healed.

What healings and miracles are you waiting on?

What areas in your life do you need to keep being persistent in?

Use the talents you already have to serve God & love others.

It's not what you don't have, it's what you do have that God can work with. If we would just honor God with the blessings and talents He has given us, instead of going to him with the list of all the things we don't have, we would begin to see him work.

What God-given talents have you buried?

How can you use what you already have to serve the kingdom and love others?

You need a large ox for a big harvest.

Many times we expect a move of God to be a beautiful symphony that is just amazing, and that everybody's going to be about it. What we don't realize is that many times when God's moving, it's messy. In the book of Proverbs it says that the stable is clean where there's no oxen... but you need a large ox for a big harvest. When God moves, not everybody’s going to see it, not even all the spiritual leaders.

Are you seeing through your own eyes or through the eyes of the Father?

Don’t miss the move of God by being spiritually blind to how he is working by focusing on the “messy and dirty” parts. Instead, focus on how you can be a worker in the coming harvest

Be ridiculous if necessary, but don't miss your Jesus moment.

Are you willing to get out of your comfort zone for God? In the story of blind Bartimaeus, it is important to note that not everyone mentioned in the Bible is named, so when scripture does gives you a name, it is developing context to show you that this person was important. The disciples following Jesus were literally telling Him to shut up, and he refused, and instead he got even louder. He was willing to be ridiculous to not miss his moment with Jesus.

Are you willing to step out for God, even when people think you're ridiculous?

You are a child of God, use that priviledge to draw near to Him.

Initially, Jesus wasn't planning on stopping for Bartimaeus. According to scripture, about two thirds of the time God does things just because He's awesome, and it’s Jesus’ faith that heals people. However, one third of the time that God heals, He's acknowledging the faith of the person that reached out to him. This means that we have a relationship with God where we can provoke him; we can bring him into invitation. That's why James writes in the fourth chapter, “draw near to God and he will draw near to you”. In that text, who draws first? YOU.  As a child of God, you get the privilege to go boldly to the throne of grace.

Are you using your privilege as a child of God to draw near to Him?

I'm not going back to what I use to be.

Bartimaeus cast aside his garment. This is significant because this is when his faith was activated. In their culture, he was what they would call an expendable, meaning he probably had a short lifespan and was unable to produce and give to society. He was on the outskirts, an outcast as a blind man. In that position they gave him a garment that signified that he was allowed to be a beggar, giving him comfort, as a provision for him. When he cast it off it was a big moment because he's saying: “I'm not going back to what I used to be”. After he was healed, he followed Jesus on the way. He wasn't satisfied with just the miracle, He wanted to be a disciple. How many of us hold on to our old identity wanting a healing, but not realizing that we won't be touched by Jesus until we cast it off? 

Do you want to be a disciple, or do you just want Jesus for what he can “do for you”?