Summer Refresh Session 4 "Shut Out or Shocked" | Pastor John Vaught | Sunday, August 2, 2026

Good evening.

Good to be in God's house, isn't it?

It's been a good day. It's been a

delight to be with you. Very nostalgic

for me personally. Uh we're 13 years

into the church planting.

Um

I think about

uh where we met on Sunday nights.

Like you, we had two different locations

where we met. We we rented a rec center.

Um and um

they kept raising

the rates on us.

And then I couldn't find a place for

Sunday night

and for the midweek. And so there was a

um

kind of a corporate flex suite building.

It's

It's not retail. It's It's a corporate

It's like a strip mall, but it's

corporate.

And they hadn't been able to rent the

facility. I think they were asking like

3,500 a month or something like that.

And I said,

"Listen, you're not making any money on

this right now.

And we need a place for Sunday nights

and for Wednesdays.

How about I just rent it month to month?

When you find a tenant,

we'll move out."

When you find a tenant. And he's like,

"Oh yeah, that's a pretty good deal." I

said, "We'll pay you a thousand a

month." And so that was a good deal for

us.

And um

and so we were in there for a year

before they kicked us out. And um

they kept with they kept having people

come and look at the suite

and with the hopes that they would rent

it, and no one would ever rent it.

And I think he began to think, "Man,

um we got to get these folks out.

They're a hindrance." And I really think

God was protecting us. Anyways, long

story short, they said, "Well, a- after

the first year, if you don't pay the

full amount, you can't be here." Well,

the full amount was like 3,500 a month.

We were already paying, I think, 2,000 a

month for Sunday morning.

And so we moved from that place. We call

it the Cactus House.

It was a house uh off a main road called

Cactus. A good fitting for Arizona, huh?

Cactus and 101, and it was atrocious.

It was atrocious. There was a pool in

the backyard.

There was the We call them goat heads.

You probably have them here. Stickers,

you know, when you walk and it's kind of

brambly and they'll stick to your shoes

and you don't realize it till you get

into the house or something like that.

And maybe it comes off your shoe and so

you're walking barefoot on the carpet

and then you step on it

And so they had that and they had a

pool. And we had We weren't a big crowd.

We were much like this, but we had a lot

of kids.

And there's a pool with no fence around

it.

And so we're watching all the Anyway,

just and how God used those times and

they were so sweet. And listen,

I know you can't wait to get your own

place.

But enjoy this time. This is so

valuable. It's so sweet.

And so

God is good. Amen.

God is good.

Um

What do you usually do for invitation on

Sunday night?

>> Just normal.

>> Can I take some liberty?

>> Yes.

>> You never ask the pastor that publicly.

Cuz what else is he going to say?

>> [laughter]

>> Huh? No?

Here's what I would like to do for our

invitation time. I'm going to give you a

chance to pray

on an individual level. And just right

there from your chair.

But then what I would like for us to do

is to take the truth that we're going to

look at and pray corporately

for what God has in store for Boulder

Valley. So what I want to do, what

that's going to look like, the reason

I'm telling you now is because I don't

want crickets

when I say, "Okay, who's going to pray?

And I

Now now you can change this pastor as

I'm saying this if you feel like it.

>> We we pray like this on Thursday night.

>> Oh, you do?

So I'm going to start the prayer. I want

pastor to finish.

But I then I want you to pray and we'll

take turns praying out loud.

And those that aren't praying are going

to be listening.

And just saying amen in their heart.

Does that make sense?

An affirmation

asking God.

But in order to prevent the awkwardness

of waiting for the next person to pray,

I I just want to take volunteers right

now. Don't I'm not forcing you to pray,

but I'll start.

Um and then we'll go back and and ladies

too.

I want ladies too. You know that the

ladies prayed in the upper room. And so

who else? Okay, very good. I need a

couple ladies.

All right, very good. Very good. All

right. So during the invitation time,

what that's going to look like, I'm

telling you that right now so you know

so it's not awkward. I'm going to give

you a chance to pray for the truth

individually.

In your own life.

And then after I give you about a moment

a minute or two of silence, we're going

to take an opportunity and just pray

corporately hearts united together as

one person at a time praise. Does that

make sense? Very good.

Before we turn to the text, let me give

you one more thing.

We learned about the power of the mind.

Now listen, you don't realize it, but do

you know what the the congregational

singing

is designed to do?

It's designed in part and I mean brings

glory to God certainly.

But what does Colossians 3:16 say? Let

Colossians 3:16

the word of God dwell in you

richly,

teaching Is it Is that right? I should

probably turn there. Teaching and

admonishing you

one another in Psalms and hymns and

spiritual songs. So, I want you to get

this.

So, as we sing together,

we're

the truths of the song

that we're singing

are supposed to resonate in our heart.

And that goes back to what we look at

because there's something about when you

hear

your own declaration of truth,

and what that does. We know

psychologically through brain scans

that it does something to you. Did you

know that? And so, God is smart in how

he produced the church in corporate

singing.

And so, uh so, I I circled some of the

lyrics that we sang. Um this would have

been yet not I, but Christ alone. Listen

Listen to one of the things that you

just sang.

Uh the night is dark,

but I am not

forsaken.

What you What are you doing? You're

declaring truth that not only is for

God. God's the audience. We understand

that. But it's also to impact Colossians

Colossians 3:16

3:16, that the word of Christ dwell in

you rich richly, teaching and

admonishing. You're admonishing your own

heart. So, listen. I say this to our

folks all the time.

We meet routinely. We sing routinely,

but there's nothing routine about every

time we sing. Does that make sense? So,

you sing with your heart. You sing with

your heart. And you understand Let me

Man,

I got to get to my notes so I don't keep

you here all night.

>> We're stewarding music now.

It's all right. We'll just do it.

>> I mean, look, I

Yeah, I get hit at everything. Yeah.

Where we eating after this tonight?

>> Shake Shack.

Well, see, I need to preach long so you

can listen long and burn a lot of

calories cuz Shake Shack's a lot of

calories.

Um but singing is so important. And and

there's something Mhm.

When I sing, I'm deliberately

visualizing

the presence of the Lord.

Visually.

Jacob, when he You remember the story of

Jacob's ladder?

When God showed up that night, he was on

his way to his um

uh to his future father-in-law, Laban.

And he's in this place and he just

thinks he's going to bed and it's a

night of rest before he continues his

journey onto his father-in-law.

And then God appears. You remember that

story, Jacob's ladder?

You know what he says about uh that

place afterwards?

He said, "God was here

and I knew

it

not."

And

we have to understand we're physical,

we're finite.

God is infinite. He's outside of time,

space, and matter. And so, again, it's

the power of the mind. It's taking these

truths and and almost visualizing these

truths as I sing, as I pray,

as I just carry out my walk with God.

And so, I recognize I don't have to feel

God's presence here to know he's here.

And if Jacob can say, "Man, angels were

ascending and descending and I knew it

not."

Then you understand that angels are

watching right in here.

And God's presence is here right now.

And so, how do you know that? You feel

it? Well, sometimes I feel it.

Sometimes I feel it.

But, I don't have to feel it to know it.

>> Amen.

>> Right here.

And so, as you're saying, I'm just

saying as you're saying,

don't let it be routine.

Don't let it be routine. It's special.

And I visualize God.

Visualize it. Can I just give you

another thing?

>> [laughter]

>> I I want to encourage If How many would

like the the same kind of connection to

God that David had?

Would you like that?

I have this statement that I repeat. If

you want what David had, do what David

did.

If you want what David had,

do what David did.

So, there are a couple things that David

did in his personal walk with the Lord

that allowed him to connect. One is

worship, and y'all do that.

But, make sure you have personal time

Make sure you have personal time of

worship. If you've not done that before,

it's weird.

At first, it's weird.

Right, because you got to visualize

God's here, and he's watching.

But, another thing that I love to do in

my personal time with the Lord

is I'll lift my hand to the Lord.

And I'll just talk to him.

You see that in the Bible.

Not just in the Psalms. You lift your

hand unto the Lord.

And there's a There's some There's some

very applicable truths to that.

Um we have some kids in the room here.

When they want something from Mama,

what do they do?

Mama.

They reach up to Mama. If they want a

affection,

Mama.

And lifting your hand to the Lord, I

believe is an acknowledgement, God,

you're there.

And I need you.

And I want you.

It It's a It's a outward expression of

an inward persuasion that God is here.

He sees me. He's watching me. He hears

me and I can interact with God whether I

feel like it well whether I can feel it

or not because I know he's there. Does

that make sense?

Just a lot of

practical stewardship things. Let's move

on to the text. Mark chapter 5. That's a

Mark 5 · chapter mention

pretty good name, isn't it?

Mark 5. I want you to also put a

bookmark.

I believe it's Matthew 9.

Would you bookmark Matthew 9? Yeah,

Matthew 9.

>> [snorts]

>> And we're going to look at a story that

God used in in my life and in the

ministry of Northway

in a great great great massive way.

And I believe this same truth can be

applicable to Boulder Valley Baptist

Church.

And so let let before we read, let me

give you a little bit

of the setup of how God used this

message.

We were in a state where I felt like we

were stuck as a church.

Um we we had already had a building. We

owned 456,000

that was still left on our mortgage.

And when I started Northway, one of my

goals was we want to be able to start

more churches.

But we're limited. We don't

we're not oozing with money. Money's not

just floating around and and like

Boulder, there's a lot of limitations

with expensive real estate and things

like that.

And so I felt stuck and I'm like, "Lord,

you know, I'm wanting to start churches.

Um but I feel stuck."

And so God said to me

not audibly, but just in my time with

him, he says well

um you're you've been waiting around and

just sitting around

and not really doing anything.

Why don't you just do what you can do?

Just do what you can do and take the

next step. So then I walked away from

that and like I began to evaluate.

What's the next step for us? If we're

going to start churches, I broke it down

in chunks.

And so step number one was this.

We need to pay off our building

so that we can begin to use that money

that we would pay in our mortgage, put

that away for a church planting fund and

that we could pay a church planting

intern.

But that was a big that's a big first

step because again, I told you

we had 456,000

dollars

that we need to pay off our our

mortgage with. Okay, so

So then I'm like, okay, well how are we

going to do that?

And we had a substantial amount that we

had saved in our in our general fund. We

had 300,000

in our general fund. So our goal

was to take 200 We had about 350. Our

goal was to take

200,000 out of our general fund.

And if the mortgage is 200 456,000

and you subtract

200,000 from that, how much does that

leave us?

256,000

dollars.

And I felt like the Lord say

I want you to do a one-time offering.

And I said

what?

So we called it the KFO.

Kingdom Forward Offering

and we were going to raise it

in one service.

That was our goal.

One of our our our lead deacon in our

leadership team said to me I talked to

him privately before I presented the

church said to me

pastor um

have you considered maybe doing this as

a

as a year-long campaign giving campaign?

And I said as a matter of fact I did. I

know that makes the most sense

rather than thinking we're going to

raise $256,000

in one service.

Um but I'm just telling you God didn't

give me liberty to do that and he said

go this direction.

So on February 18th I think that was

February 18th Valentine's Day?

Oh yeah okay February 14th yeah it's

Valentine's Day is very important to me

as you can tell yeah.

>> [laughter]

>> Uh on February 18th we were going to

have KFO Sunday and and a one-time

offering with the hopes of raising

$256,000

within

our church that was running about 70 at

the time.

Yeah.

So I came back this message that we're

going to look at

is what God used in my heart because I

was afraid.

I was afraid. So with that in now how

would you like to know how it turned

out?

You're going to have to wait till the

end of the message. Okay. So let's read

this passage

um why don't you stand you've been

sitting a little bit why don't you

stand.

Mark

five

we're going to break it up in two little

sections here okay so let's begin in

verse 21.

>> [snorts]

>> Mark five

verse 21 third word in verse 21 is what?

You know why I do that? Want to make

sure you're tracking along with me.

Verse 21.

And when Jesus was passed over again

by ship into the other side

much people gathered unto him.

And he was nigh unto the sea.

And behold, there cometh one of the

rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name.

And when he saw him, he fell at his

feet.

And besought him greatly, saying, "My

little daughter daughter lieth at the

point of death.

I pray thee,

come and lay hands on her

that she may be healed. She shall live."

Jesus went with him.

And much people

followed him and what?

What does that mean?

People are walking and there's so many

people it's shoulder to shoulder.

Does that make sense? It's a lot of

people.

And so, can you imagine, look, how

hopeful this father is? Right? He's come

to Jesus. He's a ruler of the synagogue.

We're going to talk about that in a

minute. And and despite the crowd, he

got Jesus to agree

to go to his house. Can you imagine how

excited he is?

Can you imagine how excited he is? That

means I'm waiting for a response.

Very good.

Look at verse Where did we leave off? Um

verse Look at verse

uh 25.

And a certain woman which had an issue

of blood 12 years

and had suffered many things of many

physicians and had spent all that she

had

was nothing bettered

but rather

grew worse.

When she had heard of Jesus,

came in the press

and touched his garment. Now, time out

for a minute.

You're this father.

You got Jesus

to agree to come to your house.

Throng of people.

Now this woman

is coming in

and he probably knows that Jesus has

compassion to people. So I just imagine

what that would have looked like. Watch

as you watch Jairus

watch how Jesus responds to this woman

or maybe sees this woman come to Jesus.

I look

I'm just like my son's about to die. I

got him to agree to come to my house and

I'm like oh no, you're not talking. No,

you're not talking to him. You you see

what I'm saying?

And so she comes and

let's see verse

>> [snorts]

>> verse 28.

For she said, if I may touch

but his clothes

I shall be whole. We won't read how that

unfolds. She gets healed and the story

picks back up in verse 34.

He said to her, daughter, thy faith hath

made thee whole, go in peace

and be whole of thy plague.

While he yet spake

there came from the ruler of the

synagogue's house

certain which said

thy daughter is dead

why trouble us thou the master any

further?

And as Jesus heard the word that was

spoken, he said unto the ruler of the

synagogue, be not afraid. Would you say

the next word? Next two words?

Only

believe.

And he suffered no man to follow him

save Peter and James and John, the

brother of James. And he coming to the

house of the ruler of the synagogue and

see at the tumult

the tumult the crowd that was making all

this commotion.

And them that wept and wailed how?

What does that mean?

They were loud.

>> [snorts]

>> All right, verse 39. We're almost there.

And when he was coming to the house, he

said unto them, "Why make you this ado

and weep? The damsel is not dead, but

sleepeth." And they laughed him to

scorn, but when he had put them all out,

he taketh the father and the mother of

the damsel and them that were with him,

which would have been Peter, James, and

John, and entereth in where the damsel

was lying.

He took the damsel by the what?

And he said unto her,

"Talitha koum."

Which is being interpreted, "Damsel, I

say unto thee, arise."

Straightway the damsel arose and walked,

for she was of the age of 12 years, and

they were astonished

with a

great

astonishment.

I love that.

I want that. Would you look up here for

a minute? Don't you want that in your

life?

You want to be astonished by Jesus.

Look here.

Look here. You can be astonished by

Jesus.

You're going to have to steward your

faith.

You're going to have to steward your

faith

like this woman.

I believe I can see miracles

in my life. I believe it.

I believe I believe Boulder Valley can

see miracles. I know you've seen

miracles already,

but I believe you can see more.

But if you want to see him, you're going

to have to steward your faith and be

like Jairus. Let's read the last verse

and then we'll sit down.

And he charged them straightly that no

man should know it

and commanded

that something

should be given her to eat. Father,

thank you for the time in your house

today and just

I love the Sunday night.

It reminds me so much of Northway and

it's family time.

And I I don't want to be long,

but I don't want to

uh for the sake of time

sidestep the impact that you want to try

to make in our hearts

over these next few moments. So,

accomplish your will, would you please?

We ask it in Christ's name. Everyone

said,

amen. You may be seated.

Title of the message is this.

Shut out or shocked.

Shut out

or shocked. It speaks of the two

different groups that are represented in

this story.

And I told you how God used this story

in my life as I felt like the church was

stuck.

And essentially, let me just give you

what the Lord spoke to me as I was

reading this story

as we felt stuck as a church.

The Holy Ghost said to me

this right here.

John,

which group do you want to be in?

Shut out

or the shocked?

And I had to answer that.

I want to give you three I want to break

the message up into three areas of

consideration. The first thing I want to

highlight is some of the dramatic

details of Jairus's problem.

And because the story is oozing. I mean,

it's oozing with details and drama. And

number one, let me just highlight how

unlikely the faith is of this man named

Jairus. And so, look at verse 22, would

you please? Go back and look at verse

22. And behold, there were come with one

of the rulers of the what?

Which means he is Gentile or Jewish.

He's Jewish.

Not only is he Jewish,

but he is a prominent

leader and figure in the Jewish

community.

Um he would be a part of the Jewish

worship system and he would be part of

the spiritual elite

of Israel, not in Jerusalem because that

would be the temple. Synagogues were in

the various smaller cities that were in

Israel. Listen to what one commentator

how he explains and gives insight about

uh the rulers of the synagogue. It says

this,

"The synagogue rulers were a group of

men, usually numbering between three and

seven in each local synagogue who acted

as caretakers and administrators of

synagogue life.

They safeguarded the scrolls, cared for

the facility, organized the synagogue

school, supervised the readers,

teachers, and those who prayed." And so

Ja- Jairus is he he's a prominent Jewish

spiritual leader. Okay, now time out and

I want you to think about this.

So far have the prominent Jewish

spiritual leaders been excited

for Jesus and his ministry or not

excited? Which one?

Not excited at all.

In fact, they have already were in

chapter five for the sake of time I

won't make us go back two chapters. In

chapter three, you can say amen to that.

And but if you read in Mark 3,

the Jewish leaders had already begun

their plot to kill Jesus.

So this would be

these would be the colleagues of Jairus.

That his his peers, his colleagues are

not excited about Jesus. In fact, some

of them hate him so much that they've

already plotted to kill Jesus by this

point.

These are his Look, these are his

equals. These are his companions. These

are the Look, these are the people that

he rubs shoulders with.

And what's so surprising about Jairus

is he hasn't let the narrative of those

around him

define his view of Jesus.

He believes that Jesus is important and

can do something about his son. And and

I I man, I want to be like that.

And even in the Christian

Even in the Christian community,

American Christian community, I don't

want to let the the narrative of the

average American Christian define my

view of Jesus cuz I believe it's wrong.

Amen and amen.

Not only does he believe in Jesus, he's

not afraid to publicly Listen, this is a

leader.

He He's not afraid to publicly display

his view of Jesus. Did you see what he

did in verse 23?

And besought

him

What's the next word?

Greatly. There's a crowd of people.

He's a leader.

And he comes to Jesus

greatly pleading with people watching.

Please do something. You can do

something about my son. I want to be

like that.

I don't want to care what other people

think about how

about what they think about my passion

for Jesus. I want to be unashamed, no

matter where I'm at, that Jesus Christ

is everything to me and he's worthy of

passion and even it's he he's worthy of

me making my passion publicly known. And

so, man, the the faith of Jairus is very

unlikely.

And he did not let

the people around him

define

his view of Jesus or keep him down.

Yeah, I I I I got to thinking about

before I got right with the Lord, I was

saved already, but my best friend was an

atheist.

He was in the Air Force, as a matter of

fact.

Officer in the Air Force

and he was an atheist. And so, when I

started getting right with the Lord and

I start going to church, it radically

changed our relationship.

You know what's so sad about that?

He's the second friend

of mine that's been in the military that

ended up committing suicide.

Yeah. Kevin Clegg was his name.

And I'm so thankful that God saw me in

that state, my best friend being an

atheist,

Misty and I not even living for God, not

even having a care for God. And he does

a work inside of me to produce a faith

that nobody who knew John Voight before

would have said, "Oh, John Voight, he's

going to be passionate about Jesus

Christ. He's going to go start a church

and he's going to help people find Jesus

and grow and invest and and be stewards

of the things God has given him." No one

would have thought that if you knew me,

you wouldn't have thought that. And I'm

just so thankful that God knows how to

reach down and touch our lives and and

change our life and be patient with us.

I'm so thankful for that. Aren't you

thankful for that? Amen and amen.

And so, that's the that's the unlikely

faith of Jairus. And then, I I think

about the unfavorable odds of Jairus.

Look in verse 35.

While he yet spake,

there came from the ruler of the

synagogue's house

certain which said, "Thy daughter is

dead.

Why trouble us thou the master

any further? Isn't that interesting?

>> [laughter]

>> He came to Jesus cuz he believed God

could do something about it. Jesus

Christ could do something about it.

And obviously his servants from his

house would have known that.

Then his daughter dies.

And they send a servant and here's

Jairus with Jesus heading to the house.

Servant comes and I would imagine as

Jairus is seeing the servant come, he

knows, "Oh, this is not good."

And the servant says in the earshot of

Jesus,

"Hey, this is too much for Jesus. He

can't He can't help us anymore.

Your daughter's dead."

I want you to notice

something. Don't lose your place in

Mark. I want you to notice what Matthew

says about this.

Look at verse 18.

Uh Matthew 9. Are you there? Matthew 9

Matthew 9:18

verse 18. Look at Matthew 9 verse 18.

Matthew 9:18

While he spake these things unto them,

behold, there came a certain ruler

and worshipped him

saying, "My daughter is even now dead,

but come and lay thy hand upon her

and she shall live." Oh, I I'm I'm

I came in

Oh, that's not the verse uh I'm I'm

looking for. Oh, it Here Here's my

point. Again, he didn't let the limited

view of even his servants uh define his

view of Jesus and and he's like, "No,

listen.

I I know she's dead already,

but Jesus, you can still do something

about it." And I'm so thankful. Notice

what Jesus Go back to Mark chapter 5.

Mark 5 · chapter mention

Notice what Jesus says after he Jairus

hears his servant and he repeats this

back to Jesus and Jesus says this to him

and go back to Mark 5 and verse 35. As

soon as Jesus heard the word that was

spoken, he said to the ruler of the

synagogue, "Be not afraid, only

believe." I'm so thankful for this cuz

Jesus responds to Jairus and he says,

"Listen, I can tell you're fearful here.

You still believe me. I can tell you're

fearful.

Keep believing.

Don't let your fear win.

Don't let your fear hinder your faith

and and only believe." And then I want

you to notice the individual care that

was

that was displayed by Christ. I want you

to notice

Okay, the

go back to Matthew 9. Let me point

something out.

Go back to Matthew 9. Real Do that real

quick.

This helps to keep you awake on a Sunday

afternoon.

You know, our service on Sunday

afternoon is at 4:00.

6:00 is a way better time as far as just

for your natural clocks

timing and chemistry and all that cuz

4:00 your body is still trying to digest

your food and our folks show up but man,

their eyelids are getting a workout. You

know, I'm saying Anyways, God bless you

for being here is what I'm trying to

say. Okay, go back to go back to Matthew

9.

Um

Matthew 9:18. Notice the latter part of

Matthew 9:18

verse 18 what he says, "My daughter is

even now dead,

but come,

lay thy what?"

Hand upon her

and she shall live.

That's his request. Do you see it there?

Now go back to Matthew 5.

Did I say Matthew? Mark. Mark 5. Go back

to Mark 5.

Verse 41.

And he took

the damsel

by the what?

And said to her, "Talitha koum." I which

is being interpreted, "Damsel, I say

unto thee, arise." And straightway

the damsel arose.

Did Did you see what happens?

Jairus had said, "Jesus, would you

please come?" After hearing that his

daughter had already died, the servant

had already come. He said, "Would you

Would you Would you touch the hand of my

daughter

and make her alive?"

When Jesus shows up,

he shows up. Can you imagine how mom and

dad would be watching this?

And Jesus walks over to the damsel,

not moving.

She's dead.

And touches her hand

and heals her. Question.

Why did he touch her hand?

Okay. You need help with this,

apparently.

Hold on, sweetie.

I'll give you a chance in a minute.

Does Jesus have to touch someone

to convey his power?

Well, the woman with the issue of blood

said, "If I but touch his garment, I

shall be whole."

So, does Jesus have to touch someone to

convey power?

>> No.

>> No, he doesn't. How do we know that?

>> Lazarus.

>> He didn't touch Lazarus at all. He was

outside the grave.

Said three words.

What three words did he say?

>> Lazarus, come forth.

>> Lazarus, come forth. No touch. No

touchy.

>> [laughter]

>> Lazarus gets up.

Listen, Jesus didn't have to touch

in order to heal.

He just thinks it.

So, my question again to you

is why did Jesus go over

touch the hand

and then say rise?

Say it again.

Huh?

The dad asked him.

Jesus, would you touch my daughter,

please?

You can do something.

And I imagine

as the dad is watching Jesus go up to

his daughter,

Jesus is touching not because it makes a

difference

on the girl that he's about to

resurrect. Get this. I want you to get

this. Not because it makes a difference

to her.

It makes a difference to dad.

You know what he's doing? He's showing

the dad, I care for you. I'm going to do

something specific based on your request

simply to show you that I care for you,

that I hear your need, that I feel your

struggle, that I can do something about

it. He didn't have to touch the woman.

And that's the kind of God that we

serve, that he'll do things over and

over and over again. When you have

Listen, when you have faith and you

trust in him, he'll do things that you

don't actually need. He just does it

because it touches you and makes you

feel better about it.

That's our God right there. Woo! Man.

That's good stuff right there.

Love it. So, those are some of the

dramatic details. Now, let me show you

the second aspect, the two groups

of Jairus's problem, the two groups. We

pointed it out already, but as it

relates to this miracle, there are only

two groups of people.

Right? I want So, I want you to stay

with me. Only two groups of people as it

relates to this miracle. Get this.

There are those

that are allowed to experience the

miracle first hand.

And be What does the word say? And be

greatly

astonished.

Group one.

The only other group

they don't get to experience it.

They just get to

hear about it.

Let's look at it.

Because there's some distinctions here.

Go back to chapter You're in chapter

five. Look at verse 37. And he suffered

no man to follow him save Peter, James,

and John, the brother of James. And he

coming to the house

of the ruler of the synagogue and seeth

the tumult

and them that wept

and wailed

greatly. We don't This is hard for us to

understand this because

we mourn as Americans differently than

than even today in the Eastern cultures.

They mourn very expressively

AND OUT LOUD.

>> [screaming]

>> I KNOW THAT SEEMS WEIRD, DOESN'T IT TO

US?

That that would BE NORMAL CULTURE.

NOT ONLY THAT,

they would actually hire

mourners.

They would hire

>> [laughter]

>> Look, if I die, Misty,

do not hire people to come mourn me.

I No.

So, that's just part of their culture.

So, Jesus brings James, John, and Peter

and he leaves the other disciples

because he knows the house is crowded,

filled with people who are mourning

loudly.

I think we should all try to demonstrate

the mourners in the house. Ready? 1 2

My wife's doing this.

>> [laughter]

>> But but I want you to imagine the house.

Can you imagine walking into that house

and you hear all a house filled with ALL

OF EVERYONE

THAT'S THAT'S THE NOISE.

AND HERE COMES PETER,

JAMES, JOHN, and Jesus

hearing this crowd.

All right, so listen, it's loud in the

house.

Got it? It's loud in the house.

Notice verse 39.

And when he was come in, he said unto

them,

Okay, who's the them?

Who would be the them?

The mourners.

Why make ye this ado and weep? The

damsel is not dead,

but sleepeth.

Okay, now time out.

They're mourning, it's loud. Yes or no?

Have you ever tried to communicate to

someone in a loud room?

In our cafe at the the church building,

it's one of the worst places to talk cuz

everyone's talking and it it echoes and

it's tile floor and it echoes just so

loud and it's hard to hear people. And

so often times as I'm greeting guests

after the service, I'll move out and

outside even when it's hot just so I can

hear people. So this house is loud,

filled with mourners and and Jesus is

going to say a statement. He's going to

say the woman's not dead, she's just

sleeping, but I want you to keep in mind

he would have to say it loud enough to

overcome the loud morning of the people.

So, I don't know how loud he said it,

but I would imagine, "Hey,

she's not dead.

She's sleeping." And what happens

immediately after he says that? Look at

the next verse.

How dramatic

of a change.

I'm going to illustrate it cuz I'm such

a good actor.

>> [laughter]

>> As that's going on,

"She's not dead. SHE'S SLEEPING."

>> [laughter]

>> "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING. YOU have no

concept of reality."

>> [snorts]

>> That seems dynamic just you watching me.

Can you imagine how dynamic it was there

and and how this all unfolded? Good

gracious.

So, what does Jesus do to these people?

By the way, why are they laughing and

mocking Jesus? Because they believe

or because they don't believe? Which

one?

They don't believe.

What does he do with them?

Look at the next verse. What does he do?

"Hey, excuse me, folks.

It's time for you to leave. Come on."

No. Now, the damsel's not in in the area

where they're mourning.

She's in a separate room.

He He Jesus does something like when

he's speaking of Lazarus.

Jesus, you think that there were

probably people there that didn't

believe in Jesus that were watching that

situation unfold? Absolutely, there are

Jews there. And he healed them even in

the unb- in front of the unbelieving

Jews. This is different. Excuse me,

folks. I'm going to have to ask you to

leave the house. Yeah, come on. No, I I

know. No, it's time for you to leave.

And he gets everyone

out of the house. He didn't have to

because she's in the other room. He

could have walked in the other room just

with the Peter, James, and John, mom,

and dad. But he didn't do that. He gets

everyone out of the house.

And then you just have the other group.

The group that he pushed out of the

house,

they they are shut out.

But the other group gets to be

shocked.

Greatly, what does it say? Look at it.

Verse 42.

And straightly the damsel arose and

walked, for she was of 12 years of age,

and they were astonished

with a great

astonishment.

Look here.

Mom and dad

watching.

Peter, James, and John.

Jesus walks up. She's laying here.

Silent.

I'm silent.

All the people are gone.

Mom and dad have their eyes fixed

on Jesus.

He goes over.

Touches.

I can see dad's heart.

Tears welling up.

It's like, man,

he's going to do something.

He's going to help.

Jesus says, "Rise."

I mean, can you imagine just watching

this?

>> [snorts]

>> And as soon as she starts to sit up,

>> [gasps]

>> greatly astonished. Wow.

It's amazing. That leads us to the final

category, the personal identification of

Jairus' problem.

The Bible says all scripture is given by

inspiration of God and is profitable for

what?

Y'all know that verse?

What'd you say?

>> A whole bunch of stuff.

>> It says a whole bunch of stuff, right.

Well, let me give you what that whole

bunch of stuff actually says.

All scripture is given by inspiration of

God and is profitable for doctrine, for

reproof, for correction, for instruction

in righteousness that the man or woman

of God may be perfect, thoroughly

furnished unto all good works.

I came across this story as I told you

when I was in a season when I felt like

the church was in a season of being

stuck. God, we've got this building, but

we can't really move forward anymore and

I'm not sure exactly. You want to go sit

next to mama? Come on, go sit in there.

There you go. Good job, buddy. And so

we're stuck and I didn't know what to do

and I'm complaining and God

what do we do? This look, there's too

many obstacles, God.

And God says, "Well,

just do what you can do. Make a plan.

What's the first thing you got to

tackle?" Well, we got to attack our

debt.

We got to pay off our debt. Okay, so

what are you going to do about it?

I guess we can do a giving campaign to

try to pay it off.

And so um

I I'm I begin to formulate this plan,

but listen, I'm scared because I know

that we have to raise 250

Are you all hearing me? 200 and 56,000

dollars

from 70 people who show up on a Sunday

morning.

I was scared.

And I knew God told me

a one-time offering, not a giving

campaign.

Doesn't make sense.

Just to help you, your leader wants to

have big faith, but one of the things

your leader

every leader will struggle with is when

God leads us to the to the edge of the

Jordan River,

we know God can stop the river, but what

if he doesn't and I said everyone needs

to come to the river, then our

leadership looks jeopardized.

And I didn't want to say, "Well, God did

uh told us to do a KFO offering. We're

going to raise $256,000

and we raise even if we only raise

$100,000, that's $156,000

short. What kind of leadership I must

not I must not discern the guiding and

the leading of the Holy Spirit." Does

that make sense?

And so,

I said to God,

"I'm afraid."

And he said, "I see your fear.

Only

believe."

God asked me, "What group do you want to

be in?" Again, I I'm going through this

verse and this passage as I'm going

through this time.

And I said, "Well, God,

I want to be in the shocked."

And I I wrote this down in my personal

journal. God was saying to me,

"If you want to be included in the group

that gets to experience my power

being exercised over a situation to

accomplish amazing things,

get Are you listening?

Then you need to be willing to let me

place you

in desperate or fearful circumstances

that require my power

to overcome.

Everyone wants to see a miracle.

Are y'all listening? Everyone wants to

see a miracle.

Everyone wants to see the power of God

manifest in their life. You know why

they don't?

Cuz God tries to position them

to see that power. And how he does that

is by placing you in desperate

circumstances

that no money and no people group and no

connections will fix. Only God can do

it. And when God does that, what do we

do?

>> [screaming and groaning]

>> And then we complain.

So God says, "Okay.

I'll show it to someone else."

You know.

And so I said, "God, I I want to be in

that group." He said, "Well, you got to

be okay let me put you in desperate

circumstances."

And so

I said, "God,

Here's what I said to God. God,

I believe.

Help thou

my unbelief."

I really believe that's the perfect

thing. And here's why. Let me just

And I'm sure you have this mindset.

>> [snorts]

>> When your heart is at the right place of

full faith,

you should have fear.

Cuz you're finite.

You think that you're going to have the

kind of full confidence that wipes away

all fear and can figure out the

infinite? That's pride. You can't figure

out the infinite. You don't know what

he's going to do and we don't command

the infinite. I am finite. He is

infinite. And so I used to be confused

that I wouldn't be shocked when God

answers a prayer if I have full faith.

That's not the case at all. No, I can

still believe that God can do the

miracle and and if my faith and heart is

in the right place, I'll still be

shocked afterwards because man, how do

you wrap your mind around what God can

do? It's hard to do it, but I want to be

there when he does it so I can be

greatly astonished.

And so

I told the church

we're going to do the KFO offering. We

need to raise $256,000.

I believe God can do it.

Told church, I don't know what they're

going to do. What I what what's going to

happen?

But I believe God can do it.

Uh yeah, I forget. I did I did do the

math on per person and it was

ridiculous.

It's $3600?

Yeah, but you know, probably 30% or 25%

are kids.

Huh?

$3600 please. You got a lot more yards

to do.

>> [laughter]

>> Right?

>> [snorts]

>> So, they had about a month from the time

I preached this message, this very

message to them.

And I said I I want us to be in the

shocked not the shut out. But we got to

be unified together in belief.

So, I told the church

I'd been saving up for a new mountain

bike.

You just help you with my mountain bikes

that I buy.

Like the entry level is about five

grand.

The kind of mountain bikes that I buy.

I know that seems crazy. Listen, you

should never buy a $5,000 mountain bike.

>> [laughter]

>> But it does make a difference.

And I've been saving up for a mountain

bike.

And that got completely interrupted and

I said, "Okay, Lord, I've I'll hold off

on that and I'll give

I was [snorts] determined to give $5,000

um that I'd been saving

uh, to the KFO offering.

So,

about a month goes by, we come up on

February 18th,

and we we take the offering

on a Sunday morning. Take the offering.

Our two guys that are back there

counting the money, it took them

forever.

Forever.

And our lead treasurer, his name's Tony

Arnett.

Very quiet guy, very extremely smart.

Very quiet. And he's sitting in my They

use my desk as a Anyway, they use my

desk and

um,

he's like, just [snorts] stoic in the

face.

Let me give me

So, I'm like, oh, oh, no.

He's stoic. There's not a smile on his

face.

He's writing down numbers and

he kind of double-checks.

Hands me the paper.

We didn't raise

$256,000.

We didn't do it.

You know what we raised?

$271,000.

That's our God.

Do you know what happened to me

after I looked at that paper?

Speechless.

And I told the church that night,

I told the church that night,

And when I told them there was an

audible

>> [gasps]

>> cuz they believed

but they feared also.

That week I went off to

pay off our mortgage.

And then the rest was history from

there. We took on a church planting

intern. We've saved about 50 grand in in

in a couple years whenever the timing is

right. I'm going to send them back.

So, here's why I tell you that story.

It's so nostalgic for me to be here

cuz I see Northway.

You know, 5 years ago or whatever it

was.

And so I'm asking you

uh look your pastor God has given you a

pastor

that faithfully handles the word of God.

Listen, that's rare.

And that's a that's a blessing.

God is giving you a pastor that has

thought through the dynamics of ministry

and does it sharp using the

the limited resources that you have.

And and I

I'm just telling you that this is rare

to see in a church plant.

Since we started, there have been six

other church plants that started in the

Phoenix metropolitan area that are no

longer there.

There are two more that are getting

ready to start. I hope they make it.

What you're seeing here, though this is

not a Look, not a very big crowd here

Sunday night.

But it's miraculous.

This is miraculous.

But God has more.

And God wants to show more miracles.

And my question to you is which crowd

do you want to be among?

The shocked

that gets to experience it firsthand

or do you You to be among the shut out

that only gets to

hear about it,

but you miss out on the delight of

experiencing it.

Would you answer that for me? Which

group do you want to be in?

Shocked. I want you to be in that group.

If you're going to do that, you've got

to steward your faith.

You got to believe big things.

Believe big things.

You got to believe it.

If you're going to do that,

you got to be willing to let God

put you in uncomfortable circumstances

so he can show his power.

Pastor, you got to lead it, and you know

that already. I know that you will. I

know that you want to.

But it look, there's a building here in

Boulder

that I'm convinced God's going to give

you.

Well, that's impossible. So is raising

people from the dead.

Right? Yes or no?

And so is splitting the Red Sea.

And so is

uh saying Lazarus come forth and he

comes forth. So is taking five loaves

and two fish.

The theme verse for Northway that I that

Lord used to help me uh launch out into

Scottsdale is Psalm 77:14, "Thou art a

Psalms 77:14

God

that doest

wonders."

You know what You know what that There's

a distinction there. He's doing wonders.

He's doing miracles.

He's doing.

Not he has done.

Not he will do.

He is doing.

And we get to choose whether or not

we're going to be in a group. You get to

choose by stewarding to have a big

faith. You You look, you've got to

determine to have a big faith. You've

got all the You've got enough of the

record to have a big faith. Yes or no?

But you're going to have to determine my

God can do amazing things, but you got

to believe it and then when God

positions you in uncomfortable

circumstances, you've got to not

let your fear kill your faith and say,

"God, I believe.

Help thou my unbelief.

Let's do this."

And I'm going to give you a chance to

pray. Would you turn to 2 Chronicles?

16

2 Chronicles 16

I remember when I first heard this

verse,

I was at Heartland as a matter of fact

and this has been one of my theme verses

in my life.

2 Chronicles 16

Look at verse number nine.

>> [snorts]

>> Now, the this is said in relation

to Asa, uh

uh the king,

but God broadens it out to anybody

according to verse nine.

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro

throughout the whole earth

to show himself strong

in behalf of them whose heart

is what?

Perfect.

Full. [snorts] Not Not perfect as in we

never make a mistake. Perfect as in full

confidence

in him.

Look here. You know what this is saying?

God is still looking throughout the

earth.

Who can I use

to show my glory and my power?

You get to choose corporately as a

church

whether or Look, it can't just be him.

Moses, you know why

You know why it took 40 years for the

people of God to get through the

wilderness? It's not because their

leader was bad. You need more than a

great leader. There's got to be a group

of people that buy into the leadership

and that follow rather than being

fearful and scared and unwilling to

embrace

a big faith in God. Does that make

sense? So, here's what I want to ask you

to do.

Number one, I want I want you to have

some

just alone time, you and God. And I want

you to take a few minutes

and I want you to ask God to help you

have a big faith

so you can be among the shocked

not the shut out.

Can you do that? I want you to take a

few moments. Do you have some background

music? And then I'm going to pray and

close out that personal time [music]

that you have with the Lord. Take some

time

and pray just you and God.