Weekend Sermon

     Hello, and welcome to another week of the Weekend Sermon.  I am glad to be able to be with you and post the sermon today.  I hope that everyone who reads the blog is doing well.
     I am staying very busy at work, and I am thankful to the Lord for my job.  Thank you for all of your prayers on my behalf during the past few months.
     Over the past several weeks, we have been in the midst of a series of messages about the miracles of Jesus.  Today, I would like to discuss what I believe is the greatest miracle that Jesus performs.
     One day when Jesus was teaching, He was approached by a rich, young man.  This young man asked Jesus what was necessary to inherit eternal life.  Jesus asked the man if he had obeyed the commandments.  The man replied that he had obeyed all of the commandments since his youth.  Jesus said that the man lacked one thing.  The man needed to sell his great possessions and give the money to the poor.  The Bible says that the man turned away from Jesus, because the man was very wealthy and did not want to part with his riches.
     Jesus went on to say that it was harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  The disciples asked, "Who then can be saved."  Jesus replied that with God all things are possible.
     This leads to what is greatest miracle of Jesus.  Jesus changes the hearts and lives of people.  With Jesus the possiblility of reform, salvation and forgiveness is offered.
     The Bible is full of examples of individuals whose lives were radically transformed by the power of Jesus Christ.  One of the best examples of this in Scripture is the conversion of the Apostle Paul.  Paul was a persecutor of Christians.  He had set off on the way to Damascus to find Christians and arrest them.  While he was on the road travelling, Paul encountered the risen Christ.  From that moment on, Paul's life was never the same.  Paul was transformed from a persecutor of Christians into a man who devoted the remainder of his life to spreading the message of the love of Jesus.
     In my own family, I have seen the transforming and miracle working power of Jesus in someone's life.  My Dad was a heavy drinker, and he was a rather violent man at one time in his life.  However, my Dad met Jesus. 
     My Mom had visited a local church for a couple of Sundays, and the minister came to visit at our home.  This minister shared the gospel of Jesus' love with my Dad.  That day, my Dad became a new creation in Christ Jesus.  My Dad became a different man.  Everyone who knew my Dad could easily see that my Dad's life was transformed.  This type of transformation is only possible through the miracle of salvation and forgiveness offered by the Lord Jesus.
     Jesus is still in the business of miraculously transforming people's lives today.  If you are lost in sin and have never trusted in Jesus for salvation, you can know the risen Lord today.  If you turn to Him in repentance and faith, He will forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteous.  You will miraculously become a new creation in Christ and have a personal relationship with the Lord who loves you so much that He gave His life for you.  I urge you to come to know Jesus today.
     Next week, we will begin a hiatus from our series on the miracles of Jesus.  I feel like I want to preach on a few different topics for the next few weeks.  After that, we will look into some of the miracles of Jesus again.  May God bless you.  Amen.