At The Root Of It All

I'd like to introduce our speaker today. I'm not good at introductions, so

I'm gonna be brief, but I'm gonna tell you that something it's meaningful to

me. When we were in transition to come to the Chesapeake Conference, there

were immense details that we had to juggle. In fact, when you transfer

a twelve million dollar valued asset from one organization to another, all kinds of

eyes have to be on it, the Union, the federal government. In

fact, reporting occurs through what they call ninety documents on now. One of

the people that really helped to pull it off, who helped to bring our

entire church as a group without having to do individual transfers into this conference,

was Elder Hastic. But he did it by respecting every level of the church's

organization, from the General Conference, North American Division to the Union to our

conference. That's a that's quite an accomplishment. Elder I couldn't have done that,

and he worked with my naivete and my greenness in the matter to get

the job done. How many of you grateful we're in the Chesapeake Conference and

when we had that marriage. Remember the first Sabbath when Elder Lutz was here,

and it was the marriage between the two, and we set our vows,

so to speak. I remember when that prayer was occurring, our conference

Secretary, Elder Andre Hastick, put his arm around me, and I felt

loved. I knew the Holy Spirit is in this man, and I knew

at that moment, Praise God. He's our conference secretary and so older.

We want you to come and open up the word of God. Let Jesus

work through you as you've already worked for our church. We're very grateful to

have you here. Elder. Thank you Pastor Oxtam Tanko for that warm welcome

and for your ministry here. What a blessing it has been to know you.

One might think that our connection just goes back to the coming of this

church transferring to the Chesapeake Conference, but believe it or not, my connection

with Pastor roxent Tenko goes way back further than that, all the way back

to Columbia Union College when I was studying there for religion and psychology and at

the time, Pastor k sent Tenko was the senior pastor there. At the

Sligo seven. They have been a church and I had the opportunity to enjoy

and be blessed by his ministry from even back then. And it's interesting how

the Lord leads here. We are, I don't want to say it's twenty

years later, but twenty years later, and we're just so delighted to see

how the Lord continues to bless you. Pastor Rocton Tenko, appreciate your vision

for radio ministry, for worldwide out for evangelism, for prophecy, for preaching

the Word of God unapologetically, and for raising up this beautiful congregation and the

Lord's blessed with this building and such. Truly, the Lord is in this

place, and we just say amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, thank

you for all of those who have led in our time of worship. It's

good to be here with you again. As we're just mentioned, I was

here just a few months ago. I guess that was last year. Now.

Time flies, as you know, but it was a blessing to be

here to officially welcome the Reaching Hearts International Church into the Chesapeae Conference of Seventh

Day Adventist We're just alighted. We see this as a gem in our conference

and we're just so glad that we're all under one roof, as it were,

as a family of God and so mentioning, I would like to actually

take this moment to both introduce to you as well as to invite you to

a special event that we have in the Chesapeae conference on an annual basis,

one of the highlights of all of the calendar year. We have a full

calendar of the conference. One of the highlights of our calendar is camp Meeting.

Now Camp Meeting, many of you may know or maybe not. Our

Camp Meeting takes place in Hagerstown, Maryland, on the campus of Highland View

Academy, and we will be having our Camp Meeting from June thirteenth through the

seventeenth. That's coming up here in a couple of months, and that will

be a full week of seminars of preaching. Our guest speaker will be Elder

Derek Morris, the president of the Hope Channel, and he has blessed us

in times past. Many of you are familiar with him in his ministry there

on the Hope Channel as well. We have division programming for our kids from

zero all the way up to youth young adult as well, and of course

there's a lot of social activities, a lot of time for fellowship. We

have a featured musician, we have family worship. I can't go through it

all. It's a lot, but go ahead and visit the conference website CCO

SDA dot org and you'll be able to click on the banner there right it's

going to pop up right away about camp meeting. There you will be directed

if you want to stay with us for the week. We have lodging for

you, meals for you and such. So I just want to put that

out there and invite you officially to your first camp meeting in the Chesterpe Conference.

We're coming off a year a few years being virtual only and now we're

going back to an in person format. So it would be a blessing to

have your congregation represented there at camp meeting in a couple of months now,

and it's going to be a high time as it always is, a great

family reunion as it were of the Chesterpe Conference, and we'd love to have

you there as well. Of course, this morning I bring you greetings also

from my counterparts in the administrative staff there at the Chesterpe Conference, Elder Jerry

Lutz as our president and Edward O. Munios as our treasurer, and I

know Pastor Leots was here not too long ago installing you're a new associate,

Nick Stevenson, and welcoming him and his family. We're glad you are here

with us, my friend in a special way. And also speaking of Columbia

Union College, it's now Washington Avenue University, but you know it's always see

you see in my heart. That's actually where I met my wife, Heather.

You can just wave over there, Heather. Yes, and my two

young youngest daughters are with her, Ashlyn and Aubrey, as well as my

mother is here with us here today as well. And I'm glad to have

my family here with me on this day. You know, this morning,

I just want to share with you something the Lord just laid on my heart

from the Word of God, and I pray it will be encouragement here to

you today. But let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father in heaven,

we are so delighted that you have given us your holy word, because

in your word we can find light and direction, we can find healing for

our souls. We've come here on this day of rest to worship and honor

you as you have directed us. Oh God, we thank you for this

beautiful congregation and edifice with which we're able to sing forth our praise and open

up this word that you have given us through the spirit to be an encouragement

to us here in this day. Bless us now as we open up your

word, Oh God, show us your truth, and may you be with

us in a special way. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen,

Amen, Amen. As a young child, I always had a very

curious mind. I always asked a lot of questions. Now you're blessed here

today because my mother is here and she can verify this truth. So if

you don't think I'm telling the truth, you can see her afterwards and she

will verify that. I always asked a lot of questions. It's interesting as

you have your own children, you see some of that can come out and

the children. Your characteristics as a child will sometimes come out in your children

as well. I have three daughters. My oldest daughter actually isn't here today,

unfortunately, but she's up at HVA right now Highland View Academy for a

music fest that's conference wide. Have about two hundred students that are up there

learning a lot about music and sharing their songs of praise here today, So

that's why she's not there with me. But out of my three daughters,

I definitely see little glimpses of my personality and my background that come out in

them. And I used to ask a lot of questions because I always wanted

to know why something was happening. I wanted to know how things worked.

And that's why, at a very young age, I was privileged to have

a personal computer. Now, they used to be a lot bigger back in

the day. They're not something you could just take around lightly and move around.

You know, you said it there and you had to keep it there.

They were quite large, and I used to spend hours upon hours on

that computer, just trying to learn how it worked, how it all functioned.

And one day I was blessed because a family friend of ours who was

in the IT field, came over and he did something that completely blew my

mind and it just changed my life forever. He opened the computer for me,

He took the cover off and showed me how it all worked inside.

Up to that point, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I

was afraid to open it up, wasn't going to blow up, wasn't going

to work ever again wasn't going to break it, so I left the computer

clothes. But one day he opened it up and my eyes were opened.

I said, wow, I saw all the little parts in there. I

saw the power supply. I saw the hard drive which was really big and

physical size, but very small and capacity. Back in the day, we

had this thing called a floppy disc. I'm showing my age. Anybody knows

what the floppy disc is? You guys remember those? Okay? All right,

all right? Do you know? The capacity of the floppy disk was

one point four megabytes? Some one point four four actually for perspective for those

of you who don't speak computer nerd, for conspect for perspective, what that

means is the picture you could take with your phone now wouldn't even fit on

one of those disks anymore. We've moved on with technology. But I was

so delighted to see how the pieces all fit together. I just love to

know how things worked, and I always wanted to be able to deconstruct things.

Fat I figured out one thing though, it's easier to take things apart

than it is to put it back together. There are many things that I

would find a radio or so, and well, where did that piece go

again. That's just how I was. I always wanted to know how things

operated, software and hardware and how it all came together. But low and

behold, it's not just computers that are built that way. There's also our

operational systems in organizations are built to function just like a computer, a well

oiled machine. They're designed to have different people, different departments come together and

produce a particular product. For instance, you'll find in the healthcare system you'll

have medical institutions, or educational institutions, or ecclesiastical institutions, nonprofits and businesses

all have systems that are designed to make sure that everyone's following the set rules

and that everything works as planned. There is an intended product, there is

an intended service, there is an intended outcome that all of these organizations are

built to have and to produce on a regular basis. But if you've ever

been around any of those institutions I just mentioned, there's one fiddle flaw in

all of them. They're run by people, and when you're around people,

you recognize that things don't always go as planned, and therefore systems don't always

work as you would expect. I remember I went to the car dealership to

buy. I use car number of years ago, over ten years ago now,

and I have settled on a Toyota Corolla. It's a two thousand and

five and it shows us age not so well, but it shows us age.

And at the time that car was only forty thousand miles on it.

Now, praise the Lord, it has two hundred and eighty four thousand miles

on it. God has truly blessed a man. I'm so excited about that

because I don't like car payments. That's just my nature. So when I

was buying that car, the salesman try to get me to buy a warranty,

and I asked him, being the curious person that I am, please

explain to me, why do you think I should pay X amount more when

I really don't want to pay what I'm already paying, but you want me

to pay additional money. Explain to me why should I pay this warranty?

And he simply said to me, mister Hastick, this machine, this car

is a machine, and every machine will eventually break down. And you know

what, he is right. There are times where I've had to fix my

car over the years, but you know that is just as truth isn't it.

At some point, every system, every machine, everything that's meant to

work forever and ever, eventually it will break down. And when things break

down in the business sector or maybe the medical sector, they do this thing

called some of them institutions do this thing called a root cause analysis. But

they're trying to get to the bottom of is where did our systems fail us,

what exactly went wrong in this situation, and how we can prevent it

for the future. So they'll call on all the department heads, they'll have

a big meeting, they'll go through all the statistics in the data. But

you know what, if you've ever been a part of a root cause analysis

before and on your job, part of the conversation that no one's saying out

loud is they really are looking for someone to blame. They want to know

who can we hold accountable for this error, who can be put on the

chopping block if it was a critical fatal error. At the end of the

day, a root cause analysis is designed to figure out who's really at fault,

what's at fault, And sometimes I even want to know who they can

throw under the bus. But you know, my friends, this is a

human conditioned tendency that started even from when the earth began, when we had

Adam and Eve and Sin entered the world. And the Lord is doing an

investigation as to what has taken place. Who told you that you were naked?

And guess what, Adam plays the blame game. It's the woman that

you gave me. She gave me the fruit. That's the reason that this

all has happened, my friends, gives a tendency to go ahead and to

blame and to want to know who's at fault for the situation. And that

continues on. That mentality has started from the garden and continues on to this

day. It happens in our households, it happens in the workplace times.

Yes, it even happens in our church. This mentality is pervasive in us

everywhere. But I want to take a look at a particular passage in scripture

where we receive this root calls analysis as it were taking place even there amongst

the disciples in the day of Jesus. If you go with me to John

chapter nine, John chapter nine, I invite you to open that up with

me. We're going to be sitting in this passage here for the remainder of

our time. John chapter nine, it's the story of the man who was

born blind. John is a rich gospel, believe to be the last one

that was written. And we see what's called a high Christology, which is

the deity of Christ. The divinity of Christ is front and center all throughout

this particular passage or a particular book. You can tell even from John chapter

one and how it begins about affirming God and Jesus as as even there in

John chapter one, it shows us the deity of Christ right away, and

that same theme continues through all of the passages of John. But here in

John chapter nine, we have a very unique situation. John chapter nine,

Verse one says, now, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man

who was blind from when blind from birth. And that's one thing I love

about this congregation, pastor, it's people of the Word. I can tell

that people of the Word are here blind from birth. Now, remember we

were just talking about the fact that we like to play the blame game,

and that started even back in the garden of Eden. And guess what it

picks up right here in John chapter nine. But before I get to what

the disciples asked, I want to take a moment to just think about this

man that was born blind. Sometimes we can read over passages kind of as

a byline. Sometimes we can just read it as a quick thing to kind

of brush by while we get to the point. But I believe, as

the Bible says, that all of a scripture is God breathed. So even

when we read that this man was born blind, I think we need to

honor his reality by thinking about what that means for him. This man was

born like every other child, emerging from his mother's womb, crying, but

he could not be comforted by the sight of his mother's face. This man

was not able to experience all that we would as fully sighted people what we

see when we close our eyes, as what he would see when he opened

his eyes. He was born blind. He could feel the piercing warmth of

the sun rays, but he could never take in a sunrise or marvel at

the beauty of a sunset horizon. He was isolated from other people, other

boys his ages. He was growing up, not being able to engage in

the same games and have the same experiences. He was living in darkness,

both literally and as well as figuratively, and we wouldn't blame him at some

point if he asked a question, why me? Why me? Everybody else

seems to be just fine. And he may have been carrying around some guilt

and shame because he was surrounded by people who thought that someone in his family

or something that he had done, had caused him to deserve this kind of

punishment. That sentiment is actually baked in that question that we see here in

verse two of chapter nine. That's when the disciples asked Jesus, saying,

Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind?

That's a very powerful question. It is a pregnant question, Rabbi, who

sins this man orhose parents that he maybe or he was born blind. Here's

what Ellen White shares in Desire of Ages. He was generally believed that the

Jews, that Jews, that sin is punishment. In this life. Every

affliction was regarded as a penalty of some wrongdoing, either of the sufferer himself

or his parents. Of course, it's true that all suffering comes from transgression

of God's law, but there was a particular thought there the Jewish mindset that

hence, once upon whom some great affliction or calamity had fallen, had the

additional burden of being regarded as a great sinner. The man was born blind.

The Disciples had seen that for themselves. They knew that this man had

an issue from birth. So they began to ask a question. They wanted

to do a route cause analysis on him and find out exactly why was this

man born blind? And here's what they did. They gave Jesus two options.

Here's option one. Jesus, okay. And I'm wondering here in my

mind, maybe the disciples were split. Maybe there was a group that there

was a camp that said, I think it was him, He's the reason

he's blind, and they may have gotten together said yeah, I think we're

right. I think we're right. Then there may have been another group that

said, hey, no, I think it probably was his parents. So

they come to Jesus and they say, hey, Jesus, here's two questions.

I mean, one question, two answers. Was it this man or

was it his parents? Who's at fault here? They're trying to do a

rude cause analysis as to what went wrong and what caused this man's condition.

But my friends, when you're dealing with the Lord, I think it's a

good idea to not go to him with just two options. As much as

I loved ultiple choices the choice tests, I always felt like it was a

little bit easier to figure out or remember, to jog my memory what the

right answer is. When you're dealing with God. It's not a good idea

for us to go to him and just say, Jesus, you have option

A. You're gonna give me this job or this job, this spouse or

that spouse, this pay or pay this house or that lord. You have

two options. Every time you go to God and you try to trap him,

you try to make him be on your agenda. God will not go

for option A or option B. You remember, option C was all of

the above, and then there's option D none of the above. Jesus tended

to live and then none of the above category because he was impossible to predict

at all times what the Lord had in mind. And there Jesus said something

very important. But before I get there, I want to just take a

moment to look at the fact that this man had already suffered so much,

he'd already been through so much. He's he's been in social isolation, and

perhaps he had spiritual concerns or doubts. Maybe he didn't feel the love of

God because people were telling him all this time, you're this way because you

did something wrong, or your parents did something wrong. You are basically accursed.

He was all by himself, and the disciples show up, and instead

of sympathizing with this man's condition, they began analyzing it instead. This man

needed a human touch, he needed compassion, but they were ready to have

a theological discussion about what got him to that place. It's easy to look

down on the disciples and the opportunities that they miss along the way. But

I believe we have that same temptation even today, that when we find people

who are not quite a following the word of God, or perhaps maybe walking

in darkness themselves, it's quick. It's very easy for us to jump on

the bandwagging of having a theological discussion about that person's condition instead of simply having

compassion for them. It doesn't mean that we need to throw our theology away.

But I love what Jesus did. He was full of grace and truth,

so he taught with his words, but he also taught with his actions.

So we understood the theology of Jesus not by just only his teaching alone,

but by his actions. It showed his theology as well. And this

was a missed opportunity of the disciples. Instead of reaching out to the man

that was blind, they simply wanted to have a Sabbath school discussion about his

condition. But here we are. Jesus is always there to redirect us to

something that's more important, more deep, more involved than we ever thought was

possible. And Jesus blew them away. They said, Option A, it's

him, Option B, it's his parents. Jesus, which one A or

B? A or B A or B. Jesus tell us, tell us

which one? And here's what he says verse three. Neither this man nor

his parents have sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in

him. As long as I am in the world, I am the light

of the world. Wow. Wow, I don't think we have enough time

to let the depth of what Jesus has said soak in. He is letting

the disciples know that this man was not simply cursed by God, forgotten by

God. It wasn't a punishment because of his parents sins. It wasn't his

own sin that got him in his own condition. But this man was allowed

to suffer because the Lord had a plan for his life. He was allowed

to endure pain and hardship because the Lord had a plan for this man's life,

and he was going to now use his his healing as an object lesson.

As he said, this man maybe in darkness, but guess what I

am the light of the world. Do you see the juxtaposition here? These

two things are being put side by side. There's a mind, there's a

man that's living in darkness, and there's Jesus who's declaring that he is the

light of the world. It's not an accident that these two were now put

on a path of intersection, because indeed God had a plan, and he

wanted them to know that where this man was was not where he was going

to end. The disciples must have been blown away because they thought they had

it all figured out. They thought they knew exactly what Jesus was supposed to

say. And Jesus did not go for either option. He gave them a

third option that they didn't even anticipate, which is neither the man or his

parents are guilty here. But as actually so that the works of God could

be revealed in him. Do you know sometimes we will go through things in

our life that some things that are painful, some things that are hard to

explain, some things that may cause you a physical ailment, some things that

may call you cause you to be socially isolated, some things that may cause

you to question what's going on spiritually when you're thinking about God, and you

may even feel forgotten. We may not say it when we show up here

to church on Sabbath morning. We may put a smile on and we try

to push through and say happy Sabbath. But on the inside there are times

where we're wondering whether or not it is a truly a happy Sabbath. But

on those days, my friends, I want us to remember the scripture that

Jesus says, I have allowed this so that the works of God can be

revealed in you, because I am the Light of the world. And that

was a beautiful declaration. We know we have several I Am statements all throughout

the Book of John, and this is a key one. I am the

light of the world. Would you agree that we need light in this world

of sit in darkness? Absolutely? We need light. And you know,

my friends, which interesting as that you never appreciate how much you need light

until you're in complete nutter darkness. It's when the lights go out in the

middle of the night, and then you all of a sudden, you really

appreciate that flashlight that's on hand. It's only when you're starving when you can

really surely appreciate the blessing of food. When you're parshing, you're thirsty,

and you're just panting, you can't take it anymore, that's when you really

appreciate a cool glass of water. Jesus shows up in the midst of this

man's depths of darkness because he could appreciate what Jesus was about to do for

him. He was going to open his eyes. But let's go ahead and

look at John chapter nine, verse six. He says, when he had

said these things, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva,

and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And

he said to him, go wash in the pool of slam, which is

translated scent. So he went and washed and came back, seeing this was

a powerful, powerful miracle. Can you imagine this man who was born from

birth never being able to see a single thing, and then Jesus now performs

a miraculous miracle and the man comes back seeing. But I want to take

a moment and look at exactly how Jesus chose to do this miracle. Jesus

could have spoke and said eyes be open, and that would have worked.

This is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords we're talking about.

That would have worked. But the method Jesus shows is that he spat on

the ground, made clay with saliva, and then he anointed the man with

clay. Now, what I've learned over the years is that the Lord doesn't

always check in with me before he decides to do something. Maybe you've found

that out too. It's a little disappointing at times, but I've learned it

for my good. But he doesn't always check in with me. Because if

I was about to get healed from my blindness, I probably would have opted

for something that didn't include saliva, something that wouldn't include dirt and clay from

the ground, the dirty ground that people may have been walking on and spitting

on whatever. I don't know what all was going on. I would have

chosen a more beautiful miracle where he just would have put his hand on my

head and we could take at a little photo and put it on Instagram,

and this is my time, this is my a moment. But Jesus chose

something unconventional to do something unconventional. He spat on the ground, he made

clay, He anointed this man's eyes, and then he goes and send him

to a pool that's called sent My friends, I think there's a lesson for

us in this. That's sometimes when God is trying to bring about healing in

your life, it's going to come in unconventional packages. It's going to come

in in ways that are going to be uncomfortable for you. The way that

God grows us is often by allowing us to be uncomfortable for a moment.

So imagine this man is blind and all he's hearing is the spittle coming out

of the mouth, and then he's feeling something on his eyes and he can't

even see what's happening. This doesn't sound like a comfortable situation to me.

I'm cringing a little bit just thinking about it. But but Jesus knew what

he was doing, and this man did not know what he was doing,

but yet he had to believe and trust that Jesus had his best interest at

heart. And my friends, sometimes we're going to be put in the situation

where we are blind and we need healing, we are empty and we need

to be filled. And Jesus will show up and say, you know what,

I'm not going to take option A or Option B. I'm going to

do this my way. And it will get a little uncomfortable along the way

and may even feel unbearable for a moment. But if you trust the process,

better said, if you trust your Lord, our God, he will

do the miraculous on your behalf, even when it gets a little uncomfortable along

the way. And guess what. It's interesting the name of the pool is

translated sent again. I don't think that's a throwaway detail, no such thing

in the Bible. It required this man to now have faith to walk over

to that pool and to wash, and then he came back seeing if he

simply wanted Jesus to do all of the work, his miracle was going to

be stunted right there. But he needed to have faith and to walk to

that pool and to wash, and only after he was obedient, and he

had faith and he actually followed through with what Jesus told him to do.

That's when he came back seeing some of us are stuck in a place where

the Lord may have said something to us, but we're still fighting with God,

trying to wrestle with him, trying to make ourselves right and he can

trying to convince the Lord to go a different direction, and we're stuck because

we can't get to that last place of healing. That's called sent which means

we have to obey what the Lord has put in our heart. Obedience,

my friends, does not fraternize with delay. That means that when the Lord

tells us something, it's something we must act on. It's something we must

take seriously. And that is what this man wanted to be, wanted wanted

to see, but in order for him to see, he had to allow

Jesus to make him uncomfortable for a moment, and he had to also go

and follow what the Lord has said. Sometimes we think of miracles as only

God doing something, and it is a miracle he is doing something. But

more than that, there are times where God invites us to be a part

of the miracle with our obedience, and we may sit back and ask ourselves,

Lord, why am I still blind? I thought you were going to

hear me? What's going on? And then there may be something that He's

asked you to do that we're still not following through on. And that one

thing can be a separation between where we are and God's healing in our life.

So guess what. He comes back, But he comes back seeing,

and we don't get to dictate exactly how that goes. But it's interesting when

you reach chapter nine, I encourage you to do that perhaps this afternoon.

It's a fascinating dialogue because we have this man born blind and the Pharisees begin

to do a root cause analysis, not on why he was blind, but

now it was on his healing. They wanted to understand, how is it

that you were born born blind and now you're seeing? Is what took place?

And what happens is They asked the man the same questions over and over

and over again, and he gets a little frustrated. They go to his

parents and say, okay, tell us what happened here. The parents were

fearing the Jews because they know they didn't like the Christ, so they said,

well, he's old enough, he's of age, go ask him.

And then he said, listen, I've already told you. Why do you

guys keep asking me the same thing over and over again. Sometimes you may

have those type of conversations where you're telling somebody your story. You're trying to

tell them exactly what's taken place, but because they don't want to listen,

they can't hear anything, and you end up repeating yourself over and over again.

And that's what this man found himself, repeating himself and saying, who

who did this? And he tells him it's Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is

the reason I can see. And they came and they looked for him.

In verse eight, his neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was

blind, said, is not this he who sat and begged? They were

all surprised. They knew him, They were neighbors. There were people in

the community in his area, in his neighborhood, and they knew they recognized

him, but they only recognized him as blind. And that's interesting, my

friends, that when we have some ailments in our life, sometimes we can

carry that burden, we can carry that scar, and that is our entire

identity. He is just a blind man born from birth. His whole identity

was wrapped up in his ailment and his affliction, in his troubles and his

worries. He was a blind man. That's all. He was, full

stop, period. But then they said, wait a minute, is this

not he who sat and begged? Now they see a fully sighted man walking

around, talking, greeting people, enjoying life, and there, wait a

minute, who is this guy? Is this the same guy? Verse nine

said, Some said this is he? Others said he is like him.

They couldn't They couldn't bring themselves to believe that this is now the same guy.

Maybe it looks like it's a kind of looks like him. Who who

is this guy? But I want you to pay attention. At the end

of verse nine, he said, I am he, I am he.

Now there's a shift. This man was only identified with the fact that he

was born blind, and now his identity is being found in the fact that

he's been touched by Jesus. That is a that is a game changer.

That is now the new crux of his identity comes from his healing and comes

from the miracle that Jesus had wrought in his life. But that phrase I

am he, it's a very powerful phrase that's repeated throughout the book of John.

We find it in about eight places. I am he is usually spoken

by Jesus alone. This is the only time that I was able to find

in the Book of John that the words I am he were being spoken,

but it was not Jesus speaking. So this is the only time the I

am he is said, but it's not from Jesus. And John chapter four,

when Jesus is talking to the woman at the well, the woman said

to him, I know the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he

will proclaim all things to her to us. And Jesus said to her,

I am he, the one who is speaking to you. John chapter eight

he said, in that's the previous chapter to the chapter that we have right

here, I told you that you would die in your sins, for you

will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he. And then

verse twenty eight, chapter eight he says, I am he again. Then

chapter nine is where we are where the blind man says, I'm the one

that was healed. I am he. But we go back to Jesus now.

In John chapter thirteen, he says, I tell you this now before

it occurs, that when it does occur, you may believe that I am

he. John chapter eighteen, we have them coming to arrest Jesus in the

garden of guests sent to me. And they answered, who are they?

He asked, who are they looking for? Who are you looking for?

Jesus said, I am he. Then Judas betrayed him, and he was

standing there with them, And later on he says, I am he,

and they fell back as dead. Ben you remember that story. And then

again in verse eighteen, he says, I told you that I am he,

So who are you looking for? You're looking for me? Let these

people go well. As I hear that phrase, I am he. I

think of Moses having a god encounter out there with a burning bush, and

he's he's being tasked to go to Pharaoh. He's being tasked to stand up

and deliver the message that God has given him, and and and Moses is

feeling a little as secures who should I say? Has sent me? Who?

Who? Who's behind this whole thing? And instead of giving Moses a

name, God declares an eternal reality. I am that I am, and

I believe that same phrases is somewhat connected here in John chapter eight, especially

as at the end of the one of John eighteen eight and says, I

am he. So if you were looking for me, let these people go

sounds very familiar to me, as it did Let my people go. This

is the great I am. That's declaring. Just like he started the world

with his very own hands and by his own words, and just like he

was able to deliver his people out of the hands of Pharaoh and in slavery,

and just like now this man that was born blind could be freed from

his blindness. Jesus is declaring, I am the one who's bringing salvation to

this world. I am the light of the world. I am he is

a beautiful statement. Of course, the man who was born blind could not

claim the deity of it, but he was touched by deity, and perhaps

his miracle of blindness, as you see later on the chapter, actually speaks

to the spiritual blindness that Jesus is able to secure. So while he speaks

those same words, it's because his healing is in alignment with the mission of

Jesus to bring lightness, to bring light to the darkness at the root of

it all. Jesus wants us to experience a transforming miracle with him, He

declares. I am he who will wipe every tear from your eye. He

declares, I am he who will take your pain and transform it into triumph.

He says, I am he who will take your burdens so that your

walk and load can be lightened. I am he who takes our sin so

we can be presented before the Father spotless. I am he the light in

the midst of your darkness. I am he who is going to go to

the cross so that we all can live. I am he at the root

of it all. Jesus wants to be our everything. And you know this

man born blind as a representative of us here today as well, and perhaps

you might be able to relate to him in some way. Perhaps you've had

some issues, some scars you've been carrying since birth. Sometimes there are feelings

of abandonment that haunt you throughout your life experience. Sometimes you feel like you

never quite measure up or never quite fit in. Sometimes you may feel like

when you look to the left of the right, the person beside he is

more blessed than you are, and you're wondering why me, But I'm here

to tell you, my friends, to encourage you here today that the pain

and the difficulty and the scars you carry, whether they be from birth or

later on in life, they were never meant to be the end of you.

It was only meant to be a starting point. With Jesus. You

don't need to simply shrug your shoulders and say well that's life and resign to

a jaded perspective on why things are happening the way that they are. But

I encourage you to look back to scripture and see that there's a God that

says I'm going to intersect your path and I'm going to bring light into your

darkness. Even now, just like that salesman told me, everything eventually breaks

down. And that doesn't just go for cars. It goes for the human

experience as well. You could be humming along as it were on cruise control

and suddenly unexpected things can break down in your life. But here some encouragement

here as we come to a close in Second Corinthians four seventh through nine,

but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing

power is from God, and not from us. We are hard pressed on

every side, but not crushed, perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but

not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. That tells us that no matter

what happens to us, we are still in the Lord's hands and he is

still in control. I want to end on this note. When you go

back to John chapter nine, verse twenty five, the blind man was being

asked a barrage of questions, but he had one statement that he clung to

at his verse twenty five, the end of it says, one thing I

know that though I was blind, now I see. Wow, one thing

I know although I was blind, now I see Do you want that to

be your testimony here this morning, that the Lord has brought you from whatever

darkness you may have experienced. Maybe it was spiritual darkness, Maybe it was

darkness in your family, maybe it was darkness on the job. I don't

know your story, but the Lord does. And my friends, we open

up the Word of God with people who are studying, and they have they

have a desire for truth. But I'm going to share with you something as

well, that the world is hungry for living testimonies. Of transformed lives.

So they may not agree to sit down and study with you right away,

but if you tell your story and you let them know. I once was

blind. I thought it was all over, and I I made some decisions

that really weren't the best. I was blind. I gave up on life.

I gave up on God, I gave up on spirituality. I gave

up on church. I gave up on my family, on my spouse.

I once was blind, but then Jesus touched me and he wrought a miracle

in my life, And now I see. Do you know? People are

hungry to know that God still cares. They're hungry to know that there's hope

for their life, that God is still in the transformation business. People believe

that if they come off the assembly line, as it were, the effective,

they think they're done for life. They think it's like a product we

may get from Amazon. They don't realize that God is in the business of

redemption. God is in the business of reconciliation. He's in the business of

making all things new. So this morning, I just want to ask you,

would you like a little bit more faith on your journey? Would you

like a Lord to encourage you this morning to say, you know, God,

I just need a little bit more faith because I know I've struggled in

the past and I've dealt with blindness. Lord, I know you've brought me

to a certain place, but but I need you, Lord to just take

me even further on my walk with you. I'm wondering if you'd want to

come up front here with me for prayer. If you'd like to do that,

I'm gonna invite our pastor up here as well to provide a prayer.

If this morning you want to say to the Lord, Lord, I just

need a little extra measure of faith on this journey. You may be walking

with Christ. You may be opening up their Bible every day. That's fine.

This doesn't mean you're not walking with God. This means that, Lord,

I need just a little bit more from you. I know you have

a plan for my life, but right now I'm just in a struggle.

I just need a little bit more faith. I want you to open my

eyes though. God, if I'm blind in any area, Jesus, show

me your way, show me your power, show me the possibility, because

I know you're not done with me yet. Maybe you know someone that is

blind It could be your kid that refuses to come back to church. It

could be your spouse who doesn't want to join you on Sabbath morning. I

don't know what's going on in your life, but I do know the same

Man that touched the hands and the eyes of the man that was blind,

he's right here with us through the spirit here this morning. So don't feel

obligated to come forward. But if you feel the Lord of impressing upon your

heart to bring yourself or even on the behalf of one of your family members

or friends, we are going to have a special prayer right now and pray

to the same one that open the eyes of the blind to do it yet

again, so that we could have a testimony to share, not just in

the life here, but in the life to come. Because God is not

done with us yet, but he is coming back soon. So while the

door is still open, we're going to press in and seek the divine healer,

who can share change what we think is unchangeable, Who can heal what

we think is unhealable, Who can turn around situations that we thought we're going

to be solidified forever. The Lord can break it down, and he can

make it back up in his image, that is a mighty God that we

serve the path through oct and tangle. I do invite you prayer, prayer

of dedication, faith on behalf of your people here today. Let's kneel and

come on closer in, Just come closer in. Let's form a circle here,

as close as you can get. They're heavenly. Father. We're very

grateful for the message of this hour, your Holy Spirit resting on our conference

secretary, who is a humble servant of God, to call us to Jesus

today. Father, we live in a world we're broken. Brokenness is what

we need to be saved. Thank you that we live in a world in

which we're broken. Father. We get our ideas, we think we know

what we want to do, and we're blind to Jesus. And so he's

lifted up Jesus today. And Father, our will is not your will.

And Lord, these dear people, my friends, more so yours. Different

reasons have brought them to kneel before you today. Others are praying in their

chairs. Not just here, Father, we want revival in our lives,

the kind that puts others first, that doesn't get offended easily. We all

get offended easily that seeks to lift up and save that person's on the outside.

And Lord, where are the outsider on occasion? So, Father,

thank you for gathering us this morning, thank you for visiting us, Thank

you for bringing revival in this service today. And Lord, I pray for

every one of these dear people that your Holy Spirit arrest on them. They'll

feel, they will feel of immense value. Lord. Yesterday a dear man

prayed for me, a pastor many years ago, and he said, Pastor,

Mike, Jesus loves you. Father. I lift up every one of

these dear people, and I think you that Jesus loves them as if there

was no other person in the universe. And so Father, take that love,

stick it in their hearts through the Holy Spirit. Empower them to stay

in their Bibles as we heard the word of God today, because Lord is

so much out there that would drag us away from a real relationship with You

for nonsense. Keep them in the Bible, Lord, and help us to

be faithful in service and not to get discouraged. And when we feel it

to come to church, and Lord, have more revivals here. Thank you

for this day, and thank you for the servant of the day. Bless

him too in Jesus name. Amen. Let us pray, Father, we

are so delighted that you live in our hearts. We want to always have

our hearts wide open for You of God the Tabernacle. With this earthen vessel,

Lord, we surrender all over to you here today afresh, asking you

to do your work in your way and in your time. Whatever blindness,

Oh Lord, we have in our lives, we invite you to heal us

and to declare that you are the light of the world and our lives.

Bless us now, Oh God, as we go forth from this time of

worship, not forgetting where we've been, but being empowered by it, by

your word, by your plan for our lives. Oh God, we look

forward to your soon return, and may your light shine through us in this

dark world until that day. May we be found faithful when you return,

Oh Lord. We pray now the name of Jesus. Amen.