Wild, Week 3: A Wild Journey

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. Psalm 97:1-6 (NIV) His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples see his glory. Psalm 97:1-6 (NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 (NIV) Message Title: A WILD JOURNEY This life is one long WILD JOURNEY, and embracing it is the only way we discover a WILD GOD. As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" John 9:1-39 (NIV) "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. John 9:1-39 (NIV) There is PURPOSE in the PAIN. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 (NIV) What if your misfortune is a divine set up for the miracle that God wants to perform? As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." John 9:1-39 (NIV) After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means "Sent"). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. John 9:1-39 (NIV) The MIRACLE you NEED won't always arrive the way you WANT. My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT) His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man." John 9:1-39 (NIV) "How then were your eyes opened?" they asked. He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see." "Where is this man?" they asked him. "I don't know," he said. John 9:1-39 (NIV) They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and I washed, and now I see." John 9:1-39 (NIV) Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." John 9:1-39 (NIV) But others asked, "How can a sinner perform such signs?" So they were divided. John 9:1-39 (NIV) Then they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened." The man replied, "He is a prophet." John 9:1-39 (NIV) Not everyone will understand YOUR journey. …A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. "Give glory to God by telling the truth," they said. "We know this man is a sinner." John 9:1-39 (NIV) He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" John 9:1-39 (NIV) Whisper your OPINIONS, shout your STORY! Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?" John 9:1-39 (NIV) Then they hurled insults at him and said, "You are this fellow's disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from." John 9:1-39 (NIV) The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." John 9:1-39 (NIV) To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out. John 9:1-39 (NIV) Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him." Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." John 9:1-39 (NIV) Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. John 9:1-39 (NIV) Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." John 9:1-39 (NIV) Jesus is not only our guide and our source… He's our destination.