Nothing is Impossible

John 20: 16-18

Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' " Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her

                                                            I've Just Seen Jesus

The army of Israel looked at Goliath through the eyes of man and said he's too big to beat.  David looked at him through the eyes of God and said he's too big to miss. by Wally Carter

Reverend Robert Schuller graduated from Calvin College and Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan and went to California to start a church. It was during the 1950s when so many people from the Midwest went to California. Schuller loaded his books in his station wagon with his wife and small children and drove around until he found a place to start a congregation. It was an unconventional spot – in a drive-in movie theater. He started preaching on Sunday mornings from a portable pulpit erected in the parking lot and his congregation came in casual clothes and sat in their cars picking up the sermon over the portable speakers provided by the theater. Robert Schuller built his parking lot church and later erected a church building to go with it. church leaders continued to say he built in the worst possible place for a church since it was surrounded by freeways and almost in the shadow of Disneyland. What seemed impossible, God made possible for Dr. Schuller. 

A greater impossibility: that a virgin would conceive and bear a child. This contradicts all the laws of nature, but God set up those laws and is able to use them as God wills. Once in all human history, the law of God was broken by God so that God's Son might come into the world.

We need faith. What seems impossible is not so with God – with God there are unlimited possibilities and all we need is the faith to accept and receive what God has to offer. Faith in Jesus Christ is the greatest impossibility, yet it comes if we open our hearts and minds to receive it. 

God has many blessings in store for us as individual people and for this congregation. If we look to Jesus, each one of us, and believe in Jesus, miracles can happen. We can change. We can become the people God wants us to be. We can reach out to others with the wonderful message of God's love in Christ. God can turn what seems impossible into wonderful possibilities for this congregation, for me, for you. Blessings galore can be ours with faith in Jesus. FOR WITH GOD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. Amen.

Excepts from James Kegel serman.

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Do Not Run...Push Through

Billy Graham said, "Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valleys."

It seems that an old dog fell into a farmers well. After considering the situation, the farmer decided that neither the dog nor the well were worth saving. So, he decided to bury the old dog and put him out of his misery. When the farmer began shoveling, the dog was hysterical. But as the farmer kept on shoveling, and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck the old dog. Each time a shovel full of dirt hit his back, the dog would shake off the dirt and step up. So, blow after blow, the dog would shake it off and step up. No matter how painful those shovels of dirt were, the old dog fought panic, he just kept shaking it off and stepping up. Finally, the dog, battered and exhausted stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well. What he thought would bury him actually benefited him because of the way he handled his adversity. 

Perseverance is the ability to shake it off and step up when a load of trials are dumped on you. Perseverance is producing maturity

The mature Christian life is the sweet fruit of bitter times.

excerpts from This Day's Thought by Kelly Randolph

Running from the trials produces worse, long term results than the pain of pushing through.  Do not run…push through! When we push through is when God uses His power and showers on us His grace.

When we do things we don't like, commit to exhausting and time consuming training schedules or  suffer through chemo and other treatments to fight a deadly illness we look ahead. We look ahead to the outcome or finish line and it gives us the perseverance to push forward. Keep your eye on the prize and the JOY of pushing through will outweigh the trials you came through to reach it.

Philippians 3:14

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us