Jesus Changes Everything

(upbeat music) - Hey, can we put our hands together for the worship team? Come on, come on. (audience applauding) We did a fantastic job leading us in. Super excited that you guys are here today. Super excited for the opportunity just to lead you guys in week three of good news. Now let me ask you a question about raising your hands. How many people in here were born? And ladies, it's okay to raise your hand, all right? How many of you were born in the '80s and before that? Anybody in here, '80s and before, '80s and before, cool. So you guys, now listen, I try my best as a student pastor at heart not to use examples that don't connect to all generations. So if you'll just lean in with me as we start today's word, in the '80s and before, if I can explain to those that were born after the '80s, there was a time in life where we didn't care if a Dorito was bright red, okay? Listen to me, we didn't care if we were helmets when we were riding down the street. I never wore a helmet and I think I'm okay, I don't know. I don't remember a lot from that time and maybe that's because I feel a lot. But let me say this, there's something also that we didn't do, we thought seat belts were overrated. Can I get amen? Boy, they were overrated, all right?

I remember specifically in 1988, '89, riding in my father's 72 Thunderbird. Come on, now, it was not nice, it didn't look good, okay? We didn't have seat belts. But I did ride in the front seat as a four and a five year old on that hump, you know that would put down to put his arm on it, but I would sit on it. Now the other thing that I remember doing and this is gonna hit home is my grandmother, she had a Cadillac. And a Cadillac had something in the back seat, it was a shelf. And sometimes you put your dog up there, you put a little, you know, a lot of times people, for some reason, would put a box of Kleenex, I still don't know why. But I vividly remember riding down the road and sleeping on that, just like that. Am I wrong? I'm not the only one, right? Getting on that shelf and riding and just falling asleep and being baked by the sun. I remember that. Now I think that some studies have been done in the early '80s, usage of seat belts were one out of 10 people. But as evidence and things were studied and lives were lost unfortunately, seat belts, the study that seat belts dramatically

reduced death and injury became more obvious. And so today, because of click it or ticket, who's ever got a ticket for not clicking in anybody? Oh, we're all saints in here. Okay, cool. I'm sorry, click it or ticket. 90% of people in America now use seat belts and seat belts have saved around 15,000 lives a year. And so my question is, what changed? What changed, why did that happen? Well, people believe the evidence, right? It was easy to see that thousands of people were losing their lives every single year because they weren't wearing seat belts. In fact, there was a time in life where cars were created without seat belts and as time went on and deaths and injuries happened and wrecks, they realized, hey, we need to change something. And so here's what I want you to know is we dive in. What you believe about life will always shape your life. What you believe will always shape your life. And so here's the deeper question for today. How did you come to believe what you believe? How did you get there? How did you come to believe what you believe? Because nobody believes something. Nobody believes evidence. Nobody believes something without a reason. These people would have never put seat belts in cars if people weren't losing their life.

And belief is built on trust. And trust is built when something proves itself true. And so in John chapter two today, Pastor Wes, our lead pastor has done an incredible job setting us up over the last two weeks. And in John chapter two, the gospel of John, the reason why it's written is for that exact reason. He is not, John is not simply just telling us a bunch of children's stories that we could read and entertain us. John is laying out evidence for people of who Jesus is, what he did for us, all of the miracles, all of the power, all of the authority. so that's the whole point of the gospel of John and in John chapter 2 He dives into who Jesus and the the beginning of his ministry actually in John chapter 20 verse 31 It says these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah the son of God And that believing in him you will have life by the power of his name And so he is telling these stories for a reason so that we would believe him to be the Messiah the son of God and Believing in his name as Blake said a few moments ago coming to him in salvation We would spend eternity in heaven with him our life would be changed And so when we come to John chapter 2 what John does is give very clear evidence of Jesus's authority and his power but not just through words through signs and through miracles and through truth And so what we do is we see a Jesus who transforms We see a Jesus who has passion for true worship We see a Jesus and the truth about the hope that comes through resurrection and then we see a Jesus that can see human heart that can see our intentions that knows what's going on on the inside and so by the end of this chapter today and We're going to read today, but I by the end of this chapter you and I have to answer a question What are we going to do with Jesus? Now that I know these things about them now that I'm the things are being unpacked

What am I going to do with Jesus because there's the truth is that you and I can admire him and Still miss him We can go to church and not follow him We can be around him, but never surrender to him We can know all the facts about Jesus and never trust in him. And so in John chapter one What does he do? He says hey? This is who Jesus is John the Baptist says hey look the Lamb of God is here and he's here to take the sins of the world away and an invitation begins and So his disciples and Andrew and Nathaniel and Peter and John they begin to follow Jesus and in John chapter two a revelation happens We see Jesus as ministry began at a wedding And we see his power in his authority not through just words, but we see it through his actions I think that's really important. So let's unpack the first couple of chapters If you don't have your Bible with you, it'll be on the screen Excuse me a first couple of verses in this chapter and it'll be behind me Here we go in verse in verse one. It says the next day There was a wedding celebration in the village of Kaina in Galilee Jesus's mother was there and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration The wine supply ran out during the festivities. So Jesus's mother told him they have no more wine Dear woman, that's not our problem. Jesus replied my time has not yet come boy He is straight to the point, but his mother told the servants do whatever he tells you in Standing nearby were six stone water jars used for Jewish ceremonial washing each could hold 20 to 30 gallons and Jesus told the servants fill the jars with water and When the jars had been filled he said now dip some out and take it to the master of the ceremony So the servant followed his instructions verse nine when the master of the ceremonies tasted the water that was now Wine not knowing where he had come from though, of course the servants knew he called the bridegroom over a host Always serves the best one first He said and then when everyone had drink has drink a lot of wine He brings out the less expensive one, but you have kept the best until now. He's really excited exclamation point last verse This miraculous sign in Kaina in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his what glory and his

Disciples believed in him and so they're at a wedding and Everything's going great. It's a celebration. I don't know if you know this in Culture there something terrible happens You can't just run up to the gdg and buy a box of wine when it runs out It took a while to get this together And so the wine runs out and it's gonna ruin this celebration It's gonna be in an embarrassing moment and this shame could have followed this family for a very long time So this is a big deal and Mary comes to Jesus and says listen There's no more wine and she can't do it because I know you can do something about this son I need you to do something now in other versions of the gospel Jesus is pretty direct a reason for that we're not going to dive into that today but can I just say wow he's brave even for Jesus if I said that to my mommy I know taste in my mouth you know what I mean now there's a reason for that and we're not going to dive into that he wouldn't be in disrespectful so he comes she comes she says Jesus what are you gonna do we need your help and he says my time has not yet come and so what Jesus is doing in that moment is he's reminding us that I'm not here just to solve simple temporary problems I'm not a genie that you rub the lamp and I come out and I fix things little temporary problems like the wind running out I came to sacrifice my life for sinners and be resurrected from the grave but even so Mary says hey I need you to just do what he says she's acting in faith I just need you to do what he says and so the Bible says that Jesus instructed them to fill these six stone jars and and that they obeyed and these weren't ordinary jars let me unpack that they weren't ordinary jars just sitting there okay these were Jewish ceremonial washing jars they weren't drinking water in those and the Jew and Jewish customs they would use this to wash their hands and wash themselves off before a meal before a religious activity is a sign of outward cleanliness and and this was in Jewish custom and somewhere in between they're serving and their obedience this water becomes wine and it's not just like okay wine it's not average wine it's the

best one ever made and Jesus did something incredible in that moment John calls it Jesus's first son and listen to me everything in the gospel we got I think let me help you with this as you're studying the Bible dive into it and unpack context because John calls this the first sign and this is a big deal because a sign that word in the scripture is pointing to something bigger it's not pointing to just wine it's pointing to something bigger it directs our attention to something greater he is not just making water into ron wine Jesus is revealing his glory and telling the world that something different has arrived that's what he's telling the world I have arrived the Messiah is here and so those jars represented this outward cleansing but Jesus came to do a deeper cleansing in our lives and so this is this crazy moment that's happening so this miracle is not just about a wedding reception it's about Jesus revealing who he is and remember in verse 11 it says the miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory I'm revealing my glitters the first time I'm letting the world know who I am this is the real weight of this moment so don't get caught in the wine in the celebration this is the real moment where Jesus is saying the Messiah has arrived my ministry has begun he revealed his glory and he showed his power in that moment and so what John wants us to understand is this this miracle is not just about them then and Jesus is not just revealing his glory to those then and his power then 2000 years ago this is a sign Jesus is revealing and he is saying that the same person that transformed water into wine 2000 years ago is transforming people today then I am transforming lives and I'm transforming hearts and I'm transforming marriages I am taking broken people and making them new I have the power and the authority and he's revealing himself I transform families in future here's what I want you to know before you go any further is that I don't care what kind of mess you're watching online I don't care what kind of mess online and in the room you've walked in here with today there is no heart too hard there is no life that is too far gone if Jesus can turn water into wine then he can take your

emptiness and give you joy and take failure and turn it into grace he can revive those things that feel dead he can heal those things that feels wounded and restore those things that you thought were over there are people in the room and those watching online that may have had a marriage that's been dead for five years and both of you are single and God can still bring you back together again and it'd be a testimony of his goodness and here's what I want you to know is that the power the transforming power of God man it'll it'll affect people for generations but I'm going to give you just a cliff note for just a few moments here, is that my father was a cocaine addict for 20 years. And in 1993, a next-door neighbor named Randy Knapp, who was the follower of Jesus, my mother had taken me, my brother and sister away from my dad. He's living in a home with no power, no water, no garbage, nothing, no food. He is literally doing drugs in this home, in the dark. And Randy would knock on the door three times a day to give him breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and every single time he would sit down he would tell him about Jesus. And one day my father woke up, six foot tall, 23 years old, and his 120 pounds. Drugs was killing his body, his legs stopped working. He woke up on a Saturday morning. He drug himself across the front yard. He knocked on Randy's door and said, "Randy, I have to go to church, because if I die I'm going to die and I'm going to go to hell." The next day Randy took my father to church. And that morning my father gave his life to Jesus and was transformed. My father never again went back to drugs. My mother came that night and accepted Jesus. A few weeks later I went to a camp and I accepted Jesus and my brother and my sister. And in this past Wednesday you guys can put this guy in the white. That is my father being ordained as an ordained minister. Come on.

Listen to me. And now he leads with the Asymptos of God's Teen Challenge in the southeastern United States. The father is a transforming God. And if he can turn water into wine he can change lives. And what he did 30 years ago is now affecting my household today. Because of God and because my father's decision to recognize who Jesus is and his power and his glory I'm standing before you today preaching the gospel. How incredible is that? So here's what I want you to know. Somebody needs to hear this. You are not beyond transformation. I don't care what the enemy told you. I don't care what blah, what lie you're believing. You are not beyond transformation because there is a living God who loves you and wants the best for you. And if you will come to him and say I am empty father and I am dying. I am broken. He can heal you. He can feel you with joy. If he can turn water into wine then he can take our emptiness and turn it into joy. He still restores. So let's jump into verse 13 and continue on with this story. It says it was nearly the time for Jewish Passover celebration. And so Jesus went to Jerusalem in the temple area. He saw merchants selling cattle and sheep and droves for sack and doves for sacrifice. He also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. So Jesus made a whip. It's about to go down for some ropes from some ropes and some and and chase them all out of the temple. He drove them the sheep and the cattle scattered the money changers coins all over the floor and turned over their tables. Then going over to the people who sold doves he told them get these things out of here stop turning my father's house into a market place. Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the scriptures passion for God's house will consume me.

They're still in verse excuse me chapter two. He's now in Israel for Passover. This is one of the most important days or events in in Israel all year long. People come from all over the place and as Jesus enters this temple he's expecting worship. But what he sees is chaos people are buying sheep and buying things and selling things it is turned into a marketplace. This was a place of worship. This is where people came to meet God and now it's been turned into a marketplace. And my guess is he's probably angry about that. The Bible says that he went and he made a whip can I just say that is patience. He's showing us patience. So if you ever get angry at your kids you spouse anybody. Jesus is saying if you want to do it right take a few time take a few moments before you say anything. He walked over and he made a whip. Now in his mind he knew what he was going to do with it. But he was common himself down I believe that human side of him. And then he begins to flip tables and pours out coins and he's stream stopped turning my father's house into a market place. Now some people in here would look at that and say well why would Jesus get angry. That's not the Jesus I know. and the pictures and he's got a staff and he's got a peace sign up, right? That's the Jesus I know you have not read the Bible. What we have to understand here is that Jesus is showing a love that is not passive because something holy is being dishonored. And so he's not sinning. This is not selfish anger. This is not a loss of controlling anger that I experience in my life and you experience this is righteous anger. This is the right response to something that is happening that is wrong.

He didn't lose his temper. He went over and he made a whip. He was precise in his calculations. What should I be doing next? So I want you to understand what this was doing is revealing his heart to us. It was revealing his heart in this moment that he loves the Father, that he loves true worship, that he loves the people that want to worship the Father and that was being distracted. They weren't allowed in that moment to worship the Father to hear God in that moment because there was so much chaos going around. And so when worship was corrupted in that moment and people were being exploited, Jesus responded with holy passion. It was not a loss of temper. It was calculated, it was righteous anger. You have to understand in this moment this was bigger than money. This was bigger than money. This is about misplaced priorities. They had taken the house of prayer and they had turned it into a house of profit. And they were allowing greed to get in the way of people meeting God. They were using religion and they were missing the Father. And if we are not careful today, we will do the exact same thing. If we're not careful today,

you got to look beyond what's happening, a marketplace, look beyond. There was a distraction and they had their mind on something else instead of the Father. When it was time to dive into true worship and hear from the Father, they were focused on a thousand other things. You see, we can attend church and miss God. We can sing songs but never surrender. We can know church language and never know God. We can make faith about convenience, comfort and preference. And I got to be honest with you, I have done that more than anybody in the room at times in my life. I have made my relationship about Jesus and my relationship with Jesus about what I want, when I want it, how I want it and it better be that way or I don't want anything to do with you today. And so Jesus is showing here that I have passion for true worship and I want you to experience true worship and he truly cares about that. I do not believe that he is impressed with our outward activity or their hands raised high. That's great for all of us. But see, again, we're gonna find out he knows our heart. He knows the true thing that's going on on the inside. He don't care about that outwardly response if my heart is far from him.

He does not care about empty routines. He wants our heart to be fully engaged with God. And so can I just say this because I get, I go back to Jesus being angry. Sometimes the Lord has to come into your life and to your prayer life and to your prayer closet. Sometimes he has to flip over tables in your life. Sometimes he has to flip over tables in your heart. That heart, that table of greed, that table of pride, that table of arrogance, that table of self-centered religion, the table that has the secret sin, he flips them over. But he's not doing it because he hates us. He's doing us because he loves it. He loves us too much to leave us the way we are. And so sometimes he creates a little bit of chaos in your life and you think, "Why do I feel the way, why am I so convicted?" It's because he's flipping over tables. And he wants you to change. He wants you to recognize that. John says that the disciples remembered Psalm 69.9, zeal for your house will consume me. It is God's passion, excuse me, Jesus is passion and his passion for the Father's house in this moment. It wasn't just emotion, it was another sign. He was telling them that I am the promised Messiah. This is my Father's house. This is not how we're going to act. He was revealing that he has the authority in that moment to confront false worship and call people back to the Father.

Now let me just say this, that kind of authority could not be ignored. What happened in that moment ruffled some feathers and there were some religious leaders excuse me, in verse 18. It says, "But the Jewish leaders demanded, what are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it." All right, Jesus replied, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." What they exclaimed, it has taken 46 years to build this temple. And you can build it in three days. But when Jesus said this temple he meant his own body, and after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believe both the scriptures and what Jesus has said. And so the religious leaders, they show up and they start to question Jesus, what are you doing? Who said you can do this? Now, can I just, for a moment, I want you to see what they didn't ask. They're the religious leaders in the temple. They're there to handle this. Evidently, they let them turn this into a marketplace. You know what they didn't ask? Were we the problem?

Is my heart right? Did I do something? What did we not do right here? Instead, they wanted Jesus to justify himself. How dare you walk into here and act like you have the authority? Show us some type of sign and Jesus says, okay, we'll destroy the temple, this temple, and I will raise it up in three days. See, what they misunderstood is, he was not talking about that building. He was talking about his body. He was talking about himself in that moment. Jesus is pointing forward to the cross and the resurrection. You will tear this down, but I will raise it up in three days. This is the center of this moment. We cannot miss. Remember, don't get so caught in everything else. Focus in on what Jesus is talking about. He is showing his authority that's not just over the temple. It's not just over people, it's not just over religion. His authority is over death, hell in the grave. He is showing them, destroy this temple, and in three days it will raise up again. And I want you to understand, there's a lot of people in the world today then, and we'll be in the future. Anybody can make claims. Anybody can talk a good talk. Anybody can gather people. Anybody can do magic tricks,

but there is only one person that can say, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Put me on a cross, and in three days I will raise it up, and he did it. There's only one person that did that. And so here's what I want you to know, is that the empty tomb is proof that Jesus is who he says he is. It confirms his word, and it validates his authority. It reveals his power. And I want you to understand that if Jesus has the authority over death, then he has the authority over everything. Over everything. Over every area of your life, he has the authority over your sin, the authority over your shame, the authority over your fear, and the authority over your future. And in this moment you see the disciples, and they're the first ones transformed from this. Because John says that they didn't fully understand what was happening in that moment until after the resurrection. Before that, they were confused, and they were afraid, and they were scared, because they just watched this man Jesus be crucified on a cross, and die, and now it's Saturday. What now?

He's dead, it's this over? What are we supposed to do? They were living in fear. But the Bible says that they believed after they saw a risen savior, everything changed. Because in that moment, his words made sense, and their fear gave way to courage, and suddenly hope was alive. And here's what I want you to know, is that you and I are on the other side of this resurrection. We have read about his body, the temple being destroyed in three days. We know that he is our risen savior. So I want you to understand that the resurrection is not just proof of who Jesus is, it should be the foundation of our hope in every single day of our lives. It means that confusion does not have to be our story, that fear does not get to control your life, that hopelessness does not get the final word. Jesus still brings life where there is death, and he brings peace where there is fear, and hope where there is despair. This is the savior that we worship. Please hear the promise of John chapter two, as we close out here in just a few moments. Jesus specializes in rebuilding what is broken. over and he can bring life into places that had been dead for a very long time. And I want you to remember this if you remember anything. The resurrection reminds us that God is still in the

beauty of, still in the business of making beauty out of brokenness. This is our Savior. This is the one of the most powerful moments in all of scripture. Chapter two, we are seeing his power in his story being revealed who he is. Jesus is letting us know I have the authority. I had the power. I can change water into wine. I can walk out of the grave. I will challenge religious leaders and people all over the world. But he ends John chapter two by saying this because of this miraculous sign Jesus did in Jerusalem and at the Passover celebration many began to trust in him. Verse 24 and 25 lean in. But Jesus didn't trust him because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature for he knew what was in each person's heart. So John chapter two after these incredible moments it ends with a hard thought. Most of my life I've done everything I can to hide from the Lord. Not remembering daily that he already knows what's going on in my life. He ends by saying that many people believed in Jesus in that moment and because they saw the signs. But Jesus didn't entrust himself to them because he knew what was going on in their hearts. They were impressed by Jesus. I don't know if this sounds like you. It doesn't mean but they were not surrendered to Jesus. They liked the miracles. They liked the excitement. They liked what Jesus could do for them. But Jesus saw deeper. Jesus knew then and he knows now the difference between curiosity and commitment. He knows the difference between admiration and repentance. He knows the difference between outward religion and genuine faith. And so listen you may fool yourself and you may fool people but we will never fool Jesus. And can I just say to you that that is grace that Jesus is showing us even in that moment? Even in the moment when he knows what's going on this is not all bad news because the one who fully knows you is the same one who fully loves you. He knows your struggle. He knows your wounds. He knows the things that you need healed. He knows what nobody else sees. And still he is inviting you in to follow him. Isn't that incredible? That even though he knows everything about me he still invites me into a relationship with him. And so in the beginning I said hey what are we going to do with Jesus? And so I want to answer that really quickly. You ready? What am I supposed to do with Jesus respond to him? This remember this is not a story. This is evidence that Jesus is who he said he is. And he has all the authority and all of the power and all of the majesty to do incredible things in your life to transform your life. To take the emptiness in your life and fill it with joy. If he has the power to transform bring in what feels

broken. If he cares about true worship give him your heart. If he conquered death trust him with your future and if he already knows everything about you quit hiding. Quit hiding from him. If you don't know him come to him today. If you've drifted from him run to him today. If you are weary bring it to him today. If you are ashamed bring that shame to him because Jesus doesn't just improve lives. He doesn't just patch things up. He doesn't just make things a little bit better. Jesus changes everything because he has the power and the authority to do so. And he showed it on the cross and he showed it in his death and his resurrection. So please do not leave here merely impressed with Jesus. Leave here surrendered. And before we pray the same Jesus the same one who walked out of the grave 2,000 years ago is still changing lives today. And if you want a relationship with Jesus, if you want to run to Him today, just three thoughts, believe in Him, trust in Him. Excuse me, follow Him and trust in Him. Believe in Him, follow Him and trust in Him. Don't leave here the same way you came in. Don't log off Facebook the same way. You logged in, recognize that this is the power and the authority that Jesus has what happened 2,000 years ago is still happening today. If He can turn water into wine and transform it, He can transform your marriage and your kids. And what's my father 30 some odd years ago? Go from a drug addict who was dying to a man now preaches the gospel to those that are addicted. He can transform your life. Can I just pray over you before we jump into some worship, Father? Thank you so much for what you've done. Thank you, God, for who you are.

Thank you, Jesus, for your death, your burial, your resurrection. Thank you, Father, for allowing us to hear the word go forth today. God, I pray for those in the room and those watching online, Jesus today, that are broken, that are empty, but have heard the gospel of John chapter 2, that He has transformed lives. He's turned water into wine. He's cleansed the temple. He has made a place for me to worship you. And He has walked out of that grave. The resurrection is our hope. And I know that He sees my heart cut. And so I want to stop hiding. I'm gonna worship Him. I'm gonna give my life to Him. Thank you, Jesus. In your name, we pray.