MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN

It is the thought by most scholars that Mark is the oldest of the four gospels being written before 70 A.D. While Matthew was written for the Jews, Mark was written for the Romans. Mark was a very close companion of Peter and his writing shows the influence of the energy and the impulsiveness of Peter. Jesus is portrayed by Mark in ALL HIS POWER AND AUTHORITY while emphasizing His deeds.

FOLLOW ME: Jesus said these words to Simon and Andrew in Chapter 1. He also told this to James, the son of Zebedee and John, his brother. He spoke these words again to Levi in Chapter 2. He has said to us as well, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. God does not want us to accept Him and then do nothing but He wants us to serve Him.

Jesus went up into a mountain and ordained His twelve disciples so that he could send them out to preach, to heal the sick, and to cast out devils. We also are to serve Him and to do His will. Several of you sing in the choir, others teach, some do both. We all have our jobs to do to serve the Lord. Do we do our best when we serve Him? That is what He wants and expects of us.

In these chapters, Jesus performed several miracles. In Chapter one, He called an unclean spirit out; Simon's mother-in-law lay sick of a fever, the fever left when Jesus touched her; He cleansed the leper. In Chapter two, He healed a man of the palsy. Chapter three, He healed a withered hand.

Is God still in the miracle business? You betcha. Let me tell you of two that I heard this week. While in the Social Security office, a black lady came in and sat next to me. She said, "Don't we have an awesome God." She then started to tell her story to everyone who would listen. Her son was in the hospital on life support. The doctors came in and pronounced him dead and removed the life support. Her family told her he was gone but she refused to believe it. She told them God didn't say anything to her about taking her baby and He would have told her. She went in to see her son while she kept repeating he wasn't dead. After a few minutes, her son sat straight up in bed. Praise God, her son was alive.

On Thursday, our seniors went on a trip to the apple barn. First, we stopped at this restaurant for lunch. The lady who waited on us told us she had a miracle story to tell us. A twelve year old girl had an attack of appendicitis but before they got her to the hospital they had ruptured. She was a very sick girl for awhile. Afterwards the doctor told her she would never be able to have children because her insides was so messed up. When she married, her husband and her tried for years to adopt and every time it fell through. Then at 41 (I believe that was the age she said), she got pregnant. As she turned sideways, she told us she knew this story was true because she was that girl. Praise God, she not only is having her miracle but she is telling her story to everyone.

We serve an awesome God who is alive and well and still performing miracles. He has performed several miracles in my life. I know He has performed miracles in others of you. One that I know of was to Jaybrena's nephew. I am sure we all have our stories to tell. Let us tell them and give God the glory for what He has done. Yes, Praise God, He is still in the miracle business.