Sermon

Jesus The Restorer | Pastor Sarah Keller

Next Level Church Podcast

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  1. We put your hands together and just thank God for the House of

  2. God. It's just so good to be with all

  3. of you. We were.

  4. It's good to be back. We were in Chicago last weekend,

  5. and so we missed being with you all, but we had some fun.

  6. Matt and I got to watch some Big 10 basketball.

  7. I got to see the Champions like a bucket list to watch the

  8. tournament. So that was fun.

  9. Yeah. This was us before the Indiana

  10. game. We were so excited, and then we

  11. forgot that they're not good at basketball this year.

  12. So this was our face afterward. Yeah, that was us.

  13. So we watched all the other teams.

  14. Of course, we're all having fun with March Madness right now.

  15. If you're following along, I'm winning our Keller family

  16. bracket right now, just so you know.

  17. But you have to brag about it in the moment because it could

  18. change. But we had a lot of fun in

  19. Chicago. If you're wondering if Chicago

  20. is still the Windy City, it is. I have a picture of Pastor Matt

  21. and I outside. This was the best we could do.

  22. That was, it was very windy. We actually got to see three

  23. different storms while we were in Chicago.

  24. Yeah. A hailstorm, A windstorm and a

  25. snowstorm. And that's what reminded me.

  26. This is why everyone comes to Southwest Florida for spring

  27. break. I was like, what were we

  28. thinking? So anyway, it is good to be

  29. home. Who's excited for the word of

  30. God today? Come on.

  31. The Word of God is alive and active.

  32. We're in this series. Jesus, the one and only man,

  33. there is only one. His name is Jesus.

  34. We've been talking about how he's the Son and the Savior and

  35. the shepherd. Last week we talked about how he

  36. is the rock and I'm excited for us to dive into the word that

  37. God has given me. Today I was thinking about the

  38. one and only and there are some things that there's like the one

  39. and only of. There are a lot of things that

  40. are duplicates. Like have you ever walked in and

  41. been like, she's wearing the same outfit I am or he has the

  42. same jacket I do like? So there a lot of duplicates out

  43. there. But then there are certain

  44. things that are the one and only.

  45. Like each of us have the one and only fingerprint.

  46. It's unlike anyone else in the world.

  47. There's one and only DNA. There's the one and only Mona

  48. Lisa and everybody still lines up to see her.

  49. We don't understand really why, but they do, right?

  50. Like there's the one and only. A couple weeks ago we took our

  51. granddaughter Esther to her first baseball game.

  52. And of course, we love Matt, Pastor Matt.

  53. He's Poppy and he loves baseball so much.

  54. He could not wait to get a baseball for Esther.

  55. So he starts screaming and he got this baseball.

  56. He's like, it's my granddaughter's first baseball

  57. game. So they they got this baseball

  58. and Oh my gosh, she's just so cute.

  59. So anyway, so she had a great time, took it all in.

  60. When we got home, Matt was so excited to put this baseball in

  61. the protective case. He was.

  62. And then she didn't understand, like why can't I touch the ball

  63. anymore? But the reason he did this right

  64. was because he was like, this is her one and only first baseball.

  65. So we have to put it in this protective case and Poppy put it

  66. in the office. It's in this place of great

  67. honor. Like it's her one and only.

  68. We were so excited and I was thinking about Jesus or one and

  69. only. He is the name that's above

  70. every other name. He's not just a good guy.

  71. He is not the name that we say if we stub our toe.

  72. We do not take His name in vain. Everyone.

  73. He is the one and only. He is the King of kings.

  74. He is the Lord of Lords. The scripture says that everyone

  75. one day will bow to the one and only name of Jesus Christ is who

  76. He is. He is the one and only.

  77. So our key verse that we've been looking at for this series is

  78. found in Matthew 16, verse 13. And Jesus walks into this region

    Matthew 16:13

  79. and he asked his disciples who do people say the Son of Man is?

  80. Verse 14? They replied, well, some say

  81. you're John the Baptist and some say Elijah, these people who

  82. have gone before you and still others Jeremiah, like one of the

  83. prophets. So they're saying there's a lot

  84. of things that people say you are and a lot of people that

  85. they're kind of relating you to. Gosh, he's like John the

  86. Baptist. He's he's like Elijah in person

  87. again. And verse 15 And then Jesus

  88. takes this teaching moment and he looks at his disciples and he

  89. says, but what about you? That's what they're saying about

  90. me. But who do you say I am?

  91. And that's what this series is all about, us learning and

  92. reflecting on the person of Jesus to let him transform us

  93. all over again. Church family, who do we say he

  94. is today to us? So the title of my message, if

  95. you're taking notes, is Jesus the restorer.

  96. We're going to be looking at Jesus as our restorer.

  97. He's the restorer. He, he wants to bring

  98. restoration to our lives. And if there are some broken

  99. areas maybe in our life today, maybe something that feels not

  100. yet quite restored, maybe in need of healing, I believe Jesus

  101. wants to meet you today, fill you with hope today and let the

  102. restored Jesus come into that place.

  103. So will you pray with me, Heavenly Father, we thank you.

  104. Jesus, we call on your name. It's a precious name.

  105. It's a holy name that if there are any of us even today, right

  106. now that have already realized, oh, I've been taking his name in

  107. vain or I've been just saying his name as if it's not the one

  108. and only God. Today we just repent.

  109. We say we're sorry, we come close.

  110. We want to lean in Jesus to who you are.

  111. You are the one and only. You are holy, You are awesome.

  112. So would you soften our hearts and reveal your word today and

  113. God, would you bring restoration Jesus Christ to every area of

  114. our lives? We pray this and everyone who

  115. agreed said Amen, Amen. So if we're going to get to know

  116. Jesus as the restorer, then I want to to look at the very

  117. first time that this word restore is found in the New

  118. Testament. It's found in Matthew 12.

  119. And the setup of this was Jesus and his disciples were walking

  120. through a field and it was the Sabbath day.

  121. And the scriptures record that his disciples were hungry

  122. because they were normal humans. So if you're hungry today,

  123. you're just like the disciples. So they were just, they were

  124. hungry. And it says that they were

  125. walking through this field. And so they began to pick some

  126. great, which would have looked like work, but they were picking

  127. it to eat it because they were hungry and Jesus was allowing

  128. it. The Pharisees see this and they

  129. start freaking out. They're doing something

  130. unlawful. They're doing something that

  131. they shouldn't. This shouldn't be allowed.

  132. And Jesus points back to multiple scriptures in the heart

  133. of God. And he's like, oh, it's not

  134. about the letter of the law. He tells the Pharisees, you're

  135. not innocent either. I mean, it's this amazing kind

  136. of moment. You can read it on your own.

  137. He also says I from Lord of the Sabbath and then we pick up in

  138. verse 9 going from that place. So going from that setting that

  139. he was just in he went into the synagogue and a man with a

  140. shriveled hand was there looking for a reason to bring charges

  141. against Jesus. They asked him.

  142. So now these same Pharisees that were upset about the field are

  143. now asking the him this is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath.

  144. So Jesus said to them, if any of you has a sheep and it falls

  145. into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift

  146. it out? And I'm sure all of them were

  147. like, well, yeah, we have sheep and we would get it out of the

  148. pit. Verse 12, while they're nodding

  149. their head, Jesus then says to them, how much more valuable is

  150. a person than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do

  151. good on the Sabbath. So Jesus is with the Pharisees.

  152. There's this shriveled man, they're trying to catch him in a

  153. trap. And instead he gives a filter

  154. for how they should be thinking about the Sabbath and how

  155. valuable people are to God. So when they were out in the

  156. field and the disciples were hungry, Jesus was like, yes, let

  157. them eat. And then they see this man who

  158. has a great need, he has a shriveled hand and he's like,

  159. I'm about to do something really good because it is OK to do that

  160. on the Sabbath. Verse 13 Then he said to the

  161. man, stretch out your hands. So this guy's hand is shriveled

  162. and he says, stretch it out. So he stretched it out and it

  163. was completely restored, just as sound as the other.

  164. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill

  165. Jesus. Wow, isn't that crazy?

  166. There's one man who is getting restoration in his hand.

  167. And then there's a whole group of Pharisees who are like, no,

  168. this is not going to be what we have.

  169. They were caught up in this lifeless legalism.

  170. But Jesus shows up with life giving mercy, and his life

  171. giving mercy shows everyone how much he values people.

  172. The Pharisees, they didn't accept Jesus's healing power or

  173. his message at all. But this man who had a need, who

  174. had a shriveled hand that needed restored, he encountered Jesus

  175. the restorer that day in his hand was restored because Jesus

  176. is a restorer. So the word restore that we see

  177. here for the very first time in the Greek language is apocathis

  178. to me. And apocathis to me restore

  179. means to re establish back to original standing, to return

  180. back to the ultimate ideal, to restore back to full freedom.

  181. So when the scripture records that it was completely restored,

  182. that's what happened. It was apocalypse to me.

  183. His hand went back to the ultimate ideal.

  184. It was re established. He had full freedom in both

  185. hands. And Jesus did this.

  186. Jesus was the restorer, but he did doesn't just restore.

  187. He doesn't just do restoration. Jesus is the restorer.

  188. When Jesus came from heaven to earth, he restored all of us as

  189. humankind because we were fallen and sinful and there was a

  190. separation from God because of that.

  191. But when Jesus came, he took back the gates of hell and he

  192. took the keys and he said I'm going to give access to these

  193. people who proclaim who I am. He is the restorer.

  194. Jesus is the restorer. He doesn't just improve things.

  195. He, he doesn't just look at things and say, I, I want to

  196. make it a little better. He returns them to wholeness,

  197. restoration. All throughout Scripture, every

  198. time you see this word apocalypse to me in the New

  199. Testament, every single time that word apocalypse to me,

  200. restore is always associated with Jesus showing up and doing

  201. what Jesus does. Or it's associated with people

  202. praying in the name of Jesus that he would apocalypse to me,

  203. restore what has been broken and bring healing.

  204. Jesus is our restorer and I just sensed as I prayed for us today

  205. that for some of us we've been seeing Jesus as an add on,

  206. almost like Jesus. If you could just improve my

  207. life a little. But I want to remind you, that's

  208. not who Jesus is. He isn't an add on.

  209. He isn't here to just improve a little.

  210. He is Jesus, He is alive, He's the Savior of the world.

  211. He's not here just to improve us, but to restore us.

  212. So how does Jesus restore? How does he want to bring

  213. restoration to our lives? Well #1 Jesus restores through

  214. relationship. I want to remind us today that

  215. to follow Jesus is not to be signed up for a religion.

  216. We can't be born into relationship with Jesus.

  217. We have to choose it. This is why we don't baptize

  218. babies here because we don't see that throughout the New

  219. Testament. It's always people who have made

  220. a decision for Christ and to follow him that then can be

  221. baptized. A baby hasn't sinned yet.

  222. They haven't made any mistakes, so they can't choose.

  223. So that's why. But it's more the relationship

  224. part is more than just salvation.

  225. That's the the beginning. We see over and over again

  226. throughout Scripture Jesus choosing to be in relationship

  227. with his disciples. He ate with them, He walked with

  228. them, he talked with them, he taught them, He let them have

  229. questions. They were always together.

  230. And so before Jesus goes to the cross, there's this incredible

  231. moment. And I think because Easter is

  232. coming up, it's just so real to me all over again that Jesus

  233. decided that he was going to wash his disciples feet.

  234. They were dirty and cry me. And he makes the choice that

  235. he's going to be that close to serve them and to wash their

  236. feet. And then they have communion

  237. together. They sit at a table, they have

  238. this incredible relationship together.

  239. And then we see this moment at the table when Satan enters

  240. Judas, one of the 12 disciples, and he leaves to go betray

  241. Jesus. They get up from the table and

  242. they take a walk and there's eleven of them left.

  243. And he says to his disciples, it's recorded in John 1513.

  244. He looks at the 11 that were left, and he says, greater love

  245. has no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's

  246. friends. You are my friends.

  247. He looks at them. If you do what I command, I no

  248. longer call you servants because a servant does not know his

  249. master's business. In other words, Jesus was saying

  250. if you were a servant, you would be outside.

  251. You would just be doing what I told you to do, but you're

  252. actually inside. We're doing this together.

  253. We are friends, we are in relationship.

  254. You are not out there just obeying my commands.

  255. We are actually together. He says instead, I've called you

  256. or verse 15, I no longer longer call you servants because the

  257. master doesn't know the master's business.

  258. Instead, now he says, I have called you what friends for

  259. everything that I learned from my father, I have made known to

  260. you. You see, both proximity and

  261. intimacy are necessary for continual restoration.

  262. And I think sometimes we can think, oh, I'm, I'm close, like

  263. I'm around Jesus. But we see here that it's

  264. proximity being around, but it's also intimacy being close.

  265. And it's so it's not just about being around, it's about being

  266. vulnerable. It's about being real.

  267. It's about letting him in and you letting yourself be

  268. vulnerable and real with him. And the reason why is because on

  269. a daily basis, church family, the enemy is sneaky.

  270. He's going to try and steal our hope.

  271. He's going to try and kill our joy.

  272. He's going to try and destroy our love for God and for others.

  273. It's what he does every day. That's what he's trying to do.

  274. So closeness with Jesus allows us to continually be in

  275. restoration. You see, being around Jesus or

  276. being around the things of Jesus doesn't give us a relationship

  277. with him. Think about it.

  278. Think about Judas for just a moment.

  279. Judas was one of the 12. Judas was around him.

  280. Judas had the same access that the others had.

  281. He had his feet washed. He was at that table, he ate the

  282. meal, he heard the teachings, he went everywhere with him, just

  283. like the other 11. But scripture records that every

  284. time Judas referred to Jesus, he only called him Rabbi, which

  285. meant teacher. All the other disciples called

  286. him Lord and Messiah. So there was something about

  287. Judas where he only saw Jesus as a teacher.

  288. He was not in close relationship with him, and because he wasn't

  289. in close relationship with Jesus, when the enemy came in to

  290. make him a betrayer, he took the bait and he betrayed Jesus.

  291. He walked away. Now that's different from Peter.

  292. We're not talking about being perfect because you've got Peter

  293. who totally denies Jesus and leaves him at Jesus worst moment

  294. right in the garden of get somebody and he's there.

  295. But then when he goes to the cross, he's actually denying

  296. that he doesn't know him. So you would kind of look at

  297. both of them and think it's the same, but it's not the same

  298. because after Jesus is resurrected, Peter's out on the

  299. lake and, and he's now fishing. And Peter was the one who had

  300. said, you're, you're the son of God, you're the Messiah.

  301. They were in relationship. And Jesus comes running after

  302. Peter and he's like, Hey, what are we doing here?

  303. And Peter's like, I'm fishing. He's like, Hey, you got some

  304. work to do for me, man. Like we've been in relationship.

  305. This is the beginning of the restoration of their

  306. relationship, and it starts with conversation.

  307. Jesus looks and he's like, do you love me?

  308. He's like, yeah, I love you. He's like, do you love me?

  309. Feed my sheep. There's this whole amazing

  310. conversation. So the relationship gets

  311. restored. And then Peter has incredible

  312. purpose. We see this purpose playing out.

  313. Then in Acts 4, once Jesus is resurrected and in heaven, Peter

  314. was preaching the gospel with John.

  315. So he's preaching people were getting healed in the name of

  316. Jesus, and then they get put in prison for it.

  317. So speaking the the Speaking of the captives.

  318. So the people who would put them in prison, look at what they say

  319. about this. Acts 413 When they saw the

  320. courage of Peter and John and realized that they were

  321. unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took

  322. note. What did they take note at?

  323. They took note that these men had been with Jesus.

  324. So they looked on and they were able to realize these guys are

  325. not even that impressive. Like they have not had a lot of

  326. school. They are just ordinary men.

  327. And yet when they were teaching and preaching, people were being

  328. healed. How was that happening?

  329. Oh, we took note. They've been with Jesus.

  330. There was a difference. It wasn't just knowledge, it was

  331. transformation. They had been in relationship.

  332. They weren't just around him. They didn't just know his

  333. teachings. They had been with him and

  334. church family. Where are we today?

  335. Are we just around the things of Jesus?

  336. Are we just showing up and listening to the teachings of

  337. Jesus? Or are we on our knees saying,

  338. Jesus, I need you in relationship.

  339. I want to follow your commands. I want to be your friend.

  340. I want to be so close that I can hear your voice and I can follow

  341. your word and I can correct myself when I need to because

  342. Jesus, I've got to stay in relationship.

  343. I've got to have that constantly restored when my boys were

  344. young, like not too young, but like old enough to get dressed

  345. on their own or get their own bagel.

  346. You know, I, I used to say to them, boys do not bother me in

  347. the morning because there are two things that I need before

  348. you encounter me #1 is coffee and #2 is my time with Jesus.

  349. And I meant it because the the the me that carries over from

  350. the day before is not the me that I wanted my boys to

  351. encounter. Do you see what I'm saying?

  352. Like I had to spend some time with Jesus to get yesterday out

  353. of me, To get less out of me so I could look more like Jesus

  354. before they encountered me. We need to be in relationship

  355. with Jesus. He restores us through

  356. relationship #2 Jesus restores after suffering, He restores

  357. after suffering. In this life, I just want to

  358. remind us we're going to have trouble and heartache.

  359. This world can be so cruel and the enemy is so real.

  360. One of the hardest times in our faith walk can be when we're

  361. enduring suffering. Maybe that's you today.

  362. I don't know. Maybe you've recently lost your

  363. job and feel a little hopeless in your finances.

  364. Maybe you're enduring a health battle.

  365. Maybe you're experiencing homelessness right now.

  366. Maybe you're in an abusive relationship that you so

  367. desperately are trying to get out of.

  368. Maybe for some of you, you've been unfairly treated or

  369. misrepresented, maybe lied about, cheated out of something.

  370. Maybe for some of us it is we're walking with Jesus and we've got

  371. this new lifestyle of living for Jesus and you are being mocked

  372. for it and just feels like suffering.

  373. You're suffering in some way. I want to give you hope.

  374. Indiana Jesus today because he restores after suffering and

  375. first Peter, we see Peter over 3 decades later after Jesus had

  376. ascended to heaven. He's still following him.

  377. He's still in relationship with him.

  378. He's still teaching others and preaching the gospel.

  379. And he writes to these believers who are now scattered all over

  380. and they're enduring hardships because of Jesus.

  381. So this is what he writes. First Peter 5 verse 8.

    1 Peter 5:8

  382. He says be alert and of sober mind because the enemy of the

  383. devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone

  384. to devour. So he's like, be alert, be aware

  385. there is an enemy, he's trying to take you out.

  386. Verse 9 resist him standing firm in the faith because you know

  387. that the family of believers throughout the world is

  388. undergoing the same kind of suffering.

  389. So Peter doesn't ignore the sufferings.

  390. He doesn't try and act like they're not there.

  391. He says no, you're suffering, others are suffering.

  392. The enemy's trying to take you out in the middle of suffering.

  393. So you've got to resist him. You've got to stand firm in the

  394. faith. Verse 10 and he says in the God

  395. of all grace, who called you to the his eternal glory in Christ.

  396. Look at how he says this after, after you have suffered a little

  397. while, will himself restore apocalypse to me you and he'll

  398. make you strong and firm and steadfast.

  399. To him, Peter says be the power forever and ever, Amen.

  400. So he says there will be a little suffering and it's going

  401. to take a little while. And for us, we say good a little

  402. while, just about 10 minutes. How many of you know in God's

  403. time is different than our time. Our little is not his little.

  404. He's got the whole span of time in his eyes.

  405. And he says, Peter says no, no, he's going to re establish you.

  406. He's going to make it ideal again.

  407. He's going to give you full freedom.

  408. He's going to restore you after the suffering.

  409. I want to tell you today, it's not over.

  410. If you are in the middle of suffering, Jesus is your

  411. restorer. He will restore you.

  412. It may take a while. It may take a while to heal from

  413. that abuse. It may take a a greater faith

  414. and a deeper trust to put yourself out there to apply for

  415. another job. It may take multiple steps.

  416. It may take a medical journey along with prayer.

  417. It may take letting Jesus into that broken place of your heart

  418. and saying, OK, God, I forgive and I forgive again and I'm

  419. going to love my enemies. I'm going to do what you said,

  420. and it may take a while for you to be able to endure the

  421. suffering, but Jesus himself will restore you.

  422. He will bring back everything that the enemy has tried to

  423. steal, and he'll make it better who he is.

  424. He restores us. He won't just make it a little

  425. better. He's going to make it whole.

  426. He's going to make it whole who He is.

  427. So He restores. He restores through

  428. relationships, He restores after suffering #3 He restores our

  429. bodies and our souls. You see, we are a triune being.

  430. We are made-up of three parts, just like God is Father, Son,

  431. and Holy Spirit. We are body, soul and spirit,

  432. and often times there are places in one area of our life that are

  433. broken and in need of restoration, and it affects the

  434. other area. For instance, sometimes there

  435. can be something in our physical body and because we're suffering

  436. or need healing in our physical body, it can affect our soul.

  437. It can affect our heart and our mind.

  438. It can affect our emotions. For instance, have you ever, you

  439. know, gotten sick and all of a sudden you were just in a really

  440. bad mood because of it, right? Like, I don't feel good, but now

  441. I'm mad. And you're like, I wasn't mad

  442. yesterday, but I'm mad today. Like, that's what happens,

  443. right? We're enduring something in our

  444. body, but then our soul gets affected as well as well.

  445. Sometimes it's our soul that starts to get affected and then

  446. it can affect our body. Last November, our son Drew and

  447. Taylor, we're getting married and we're so excited.

  448. And the week before their wedding, I didn't think I was

  449. very stressed, but maybe I was because all of the sudden I came

  450. down with a case of shingles for the first time, which if you

  451. don't know what that is, good for you.

  452. I had chicken pox when I was 8. So that virus lives in me.

  453. And it decided to make its way out that week of the wedding.

  454. And I had these huge blisters all up and down my neck and my

  455. back. And it's painful and it's

  456. affects your nerve endings. And as I prayed, obviously went

  457. to the doctor, getting medicine, all that.

  458. But then I started praying and I felt the Holy Spirit say the

  459. enemy's trying to steal your joy.

  460. And I was like, oh, he's not going to steal my joy.

  461. Like so all week long I'm like, I have shingles, but I am full

  462. of joy. Joy of the Lord is my strength.

  463. Like it does not matter. We're going to have a good time

  464. this week. Like I don't care.

  465. And I'd be like, ow, this hurts. Jesus heal me.

  466. But the joy of the Lord is my strength like all week long.

  467. So I was like, he didn't win. He's not going to win.

  468. Then the day before the wedding, I wake up and my eye is in so

  469. much pain and I go to the doctor and I have a corneal ulcer,

  470. right? So that's when I got really mad

  471. at the enemy. I was like, no, no, no, Satan,

  472. you messed with the wrong girl. Like we are not doing this

  473. right. Because I realized he is trying

  474. to steal my joy. And I've, I've learned this and

  475. I've grown in my maturity in Christ because I can see the

  476. connection where the enemy tries to get in one area and affect

  477. the other. And I was like, no, no, no, you

  478. don't get to affect my soul. I am going to enjoy this

  479. wedding. And I did have the biggest smile

  480. on my face. Nobody.

  481. I knew that I had shingles and a weird eye thing going on, right?

  482. Like God is so good. The way I learned that, though

  483. was 15 years ago. My faith was not there.

  484. It was Easter Sunday. I had not done anything

  485. physically wrong to affect my back, meaning, you know, I

  486. didn't do some wild crazy thing and jump out of a plane and oh

  487. man, my back got hurt. Or I didn't reach down and get a

  488. toaster wrong. I don't know, like, and it was

  489. Easter Sunday and 15 years ago on Easter Sunday, I was leaving

  490. the building and my back was in so much pain that I was dragging

  491. my leg behind me and my whole body was out of alignment.

  492. And I had to go on a journey for my physical body.

  493. But at the same time, we realized there really wasn't a

  494. source to my back pain. And the Holy Spirit revealed

  495. Sarah, the source is your soul. There isn't forgiveness, there

  496. is bitterness, there is years of trauma and undealt with things

  497. in my soul. In my soul needed restoration so

  498. my body could also be restored. We see this throughout

  499. Scripture. Jesus, He would heal physically,

  500. but then he would speak to the heart.

  501. He would speak to the mind, the will, the emotions of the

  502. person. We see this in Mark 5.

  503. There's the woman who's been bleeding for 12 years, Mark 5,

    Mark 5:27

  504. verse 27. When she heard about Jesus, she

  505. needed this restoration. She came up behind him in the

  506. crowd and she touched his cloak because she thought if I just

  507. touch his clothes, I will be healed.

  508. Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that

  509. she was freed from her suffering.

  510. So Jesus heals her. She touches the cloak, there's

  511. instant restoration in her body. She is healed, but it wasn't

  512. just about her body because Jesus wanted to speak to her

  513. soul. He doesn't just go on, He starts

  514. to look for her. Where is the woman who just

  515. touched my cloak? Verse 33.

  516. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell

  517. at his feet and trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.

  518. He said to her daughter, your faith has healed you go in peace

  519. and be freed from your suffering.

  520. So she was physically healed first, but she was still afraid

  521. and she still felt like she didn't belong.

  522. And so Jesus speaks to her identity.

  523. He says, I know everyone else has cast you out for 12 years,

  524. but you're not just healed. You are my daughter.

  525. You are in this family. This is who you are.

  526. He touched her body, then he touched her soul.

  527. We see this again in Matthew 9 verse 2.

    Matthew 9:2

  528. Some men brought to him a paralyzed man lying on a mat.

  529. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to them, take heart son,

  530. your sins are forgiven. At this some of the teachers of

  531. the law said to themselves, This fellow is blasphemy.

  532. They were consistent in their messaging, by the way.

  533. So here in this story, we have a paralyzed man who needed

  534. physical healing. And when his friends show up

  535. with him, he doesn't heal him first physically.

  536. He speaks to his soul. Oh, I know you need healing in

  537. your body. But son, your sins are forgiven.

  538. Take heart. You've thought that you have to

  539. live with that sin in your life, that shame, that guilt that is

  540. gone. You are forgiven.

  541. You are free. And then verse 6, So he said to

  542. the paralyzed man, now get up and take your mat home.

  543. In other words, Oh yeah, I can hear your body too.

  544. Then the man got up and went home.

  545. And when the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe, and

  546. they praised God, who has given such authority to a man because

  547. he wasn't just a man, He was the Son of God.

  548. So this man, he gets up, his body is restored, but his soul

  549. was healed too. And everyone is filled with awe.

  550. This is Jesus. And by the way, we're going to

  551. pray. We're going to pray for physical

  552. healing today. We're going to pray for soul

  553. healing today. We're going to pray that if

  554. there's a connection today, the Holy Spirit would reveal it to

  555. you, and He's going to restore you completely.

  556. We're going to pray because He's the one and only restore #4

  557. Jesus restores our very life. He restores our very life.

  558. It's just a reminder that we're all sinful and fallen, and yet

  559. Jesus threw his sacrifice on the cross.

  560. He washes us clean. He makes us new.

  561. He lifts us up out of every pit that we're in.

  562. This is who Jesus is. These are his words.

  563. John 10/10. He says the thief, Speaking of

  564. Satan, comes only to steal, kill and destroy.

  565. But I have come that they may have life and have it to the

  566. full. He restores.

  567. He gives us a abundant life and eternal life and if today you

  568. would say, well, I don't know Jesus, I don't know this Jesus

  569. that you're talking about. I'm not in relationship with

  570. him. Can I just tell you you can be.

  571. It is one decision away. It's just admitting I'm a

  572. Sinner. I believe that what Jesus did on

  573. the cross was for me and then confessing it with your mouth

  574. and he will restore your very life.

  575. Not only will you be saved and know that heaven is your home,

  576. but He can make all things new. He can restore you.

  577. So with every head bowed and every eye closed, if that's you

  578. today and you would say, I want to say yes to a relationship

  579. with Jesus. I want to know Him as Savior.

  580. Would you just lift your hand on the count of three?

  581. Any location that you're in today, every room online, If

  582. that's you, I want to say yes to Jesus.

  583. Just raise your hand and I'm going to pray for you on the

  584. count of 3123. Raise it up high.

  585. I see that hand, Sir. I see hands all across this room

  586. that I'm in. I see those hands, I see that

  587. hand, so many people saying yes to Jesus.

  588. If you're online, you can put it in the chat.

  589. If that's you and you have your hand up right now, why don't you

  590. just take your hand and put it on your heart?

  591. And I'm going to pray, but as I pray, this is really you

  592. praying. So pray this from your heart and

  593. Jesus is going to restore your very life.

  594. So Jesus, we call on your name today.

  595. We admit that we are sinners. We've fallen short and Jesus, we

  596. need you. Would you come into our life?

  597. Would you change us? Would you wash us clean?

  598. Would you put us in your family? We confess now and we receive

  599. the Holy Spirit. God, would you transform us in

  600. Jesus name? Amen.

  601. Amen. If that was you, don't leave the

  602. property today without getting one of these free Bibles.

  603. We want to help you in your relationship with Jesus.

  604. So find someone at the connection tent.

  605. We're going to put that in your hand.

  606. But we're not finished. I, I want us to praise, we ought

  607. to stand across every room that we're in today.

  608. Jesus is the restorer. He's the one and only.

  609. And I want us to sing this new song that we've been singing.

  610. And for all of us, I want this to be a prayer from our heart

  611. where we say, I pray into the atmosphere.

  612. So as we're singing, this isn't just a song, this is a prayer.

  613. And then when the worship team finishes this portion, I'm going

  614. to pray for us. So come on, let's sing.

  615. I