<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE>
<META content=text/html;charset=UTF-8 http-equiv=Content-Type>
<STYLE type=text/css>BODY {
FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 11px
}
A {
FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: #ff6600; FONT-SIZE: 11px; TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
A:visited {
COLOR: #666666
}
A:hover {
TEXT-DECORATION: underline
}
P {
FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: #666666; FONT-SIZE: 11px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
H1 {
FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: #666666; FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
H2 {
FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: #666666; FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
H3 {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-STYLE: normal; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: #666666; FONT-SIZE: 12px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: none; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
H4 {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-STYLE: normal; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: #666666; FONT-SIZE: 11px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: none; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
HR {
WIDTH: 100%; HEIGHT: 1px; COLOR: #ff9900; size: 1px
}
.forwardform {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
.forwardinput {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
.forwardsubmit {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
DIV.emailfooter {
FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 11px
}
DIV.emailfooter A {
FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: #ff6600; FONT-SIZE: 11px; TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
</STYLE>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 9.00.8112.16457"></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Signs and Hidden Significance<SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">I returned yesterday from San Antonio, Texas. While I
was there I remembered my first visit to Houston when I was a student at
seminary. As I was interested in history, I visited the battlefield outside the
city. There, at San Jacinto, General Sam Houston defeated the Mexican army and
won independence for Texas. The Texans have erected a huge memorial tower -- it
looks much like the Hoover Tower at Stanford University -- and with typical
Texas modesty placed a sign in front of it that says. "This tower is ten feet
taller than the Washington Monument." </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">That is what signs are for: to tell you something that
you would not otherwise know; to manifest a significance that might otherwise be
hidden. That is what John means when he says that this miracle was a sign. What
it pictured was the normal outcome of the combination of human and divine
activity. Men can fill water jars; only God can turn water into wine! Men do the
ordinary, the commonplace, the normal activity, but God touches it, and brings
it to life and gives it flavor, fragrance and effect. That is the meaning of
this sign: it is an indication of what the ministry of Jesus is going to be like
whenever he touches a human life, not only during his lifetime on earth, but
also through all the running centuries to come, whenever his ministry would be
present in the world.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Thus it affects us today as well. Bring God into your
situation and all the humdrum, commonplace activities are touched with a new
power that makes them fragrant, flavorful, enjoyable and delightful, giving joy
and gladness to the heart. That is the meaning of this sign. <SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Ray C. Stedman, Water to Wine </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">_____________________________________<SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">A Whole New Era<SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">What about the underlying meaning? What did this
strange first miracle signify? In a departure from custom, John fails to
interpret for us the miraculous "sign," which for him almost always means a
symbol, a kind of acted parable. Some commentators see in it a preview of the
last Supper, when Jesus transforms not water into wind but wine into blood, his
blood shed for all humanity. Maybe. But, I think not.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">I prefer a more whimsical interpretation. Tellingly,
John notes that the wine came from huge thirty-gallon jugs that stood full of
water at the front of the house, vessels that were used by observant Jews to
fulfill the rules on ceremonial washing. Even a wedding feast had to honor the
burdensome rituals of cleansing. Jesus, perhaps with a twinkle in his eye,
transformed those jugs, ponderous symbols of the old way, into wineskins,
harbingers of the new. From purified water of the Pharisees came the choice new
wine of a whole new era. The time for ritual cleansing had passed; the time for
celebration had begun.<SPAN class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Prophets like John the Baptist preached judgment.
Jesus' first miracle, though, was one of tender mercy. The lesson was not lost
on the disciples who joined him at the wedding that night in Cana. Don't let it
be lost on you!</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Adapted from Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew,
Grand Rapids: Zondervan 1995, p. 168.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">_________________<SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">The Power of Christ <SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"></DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Nearly one hundred years ago, there was an American
inventor named Louis Enricht who announced that he had discovered a cheap
additive that would turn ordinary tap water into automotive fuel. At the time
World War I was raging in Europe and gasoline was enormously expensive. Enricht
claimed that his new additive would bring the per‑gallon cost down to a single
penny. That certainly got everyone’s attention.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Enricht even gave a demonstration to a crowd of
reporters. He had the reporters check that his jug was full of ordinary tap
water, then poured in a small amount of greenish liquid, stirred it up, and
invited everyone to test this miraculous mixture in their own vehicles. They did
and it worked! Enricht’s demonstrations were so convincing that even the
world‑famous automaker Henry Ford offered him millions to buy the rights for his
additive. And no wonder. We’re still looking for such a cure to our energy ills
today.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Actually, Enricht had merely discovered that if you add
a very cheap chemical called acetone to water it will run an engine for a while.
Then it will destroy it. But before anyone found that out, Enricht had managed
to convince not only Henry Ford, but several other famous American businessmen
who should have known better, to give him millions of dollars for his worthless
invention. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Enricht was a scam artist. His invention looked
convincing, but ultimately it destroyed the engine it was supposed to power. The
power of Christ, on the other hand, took that which was inferior ordinary well
water and made it rich and full and delightful.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Anything Christ touches is going to be improved by that
touch. The water was not only going to be transformed to wine. It would be the
best wine possible. In this he was but reflecting the nature of God. God is a
giving God. The God who has given us a beautiful and a bountiful world does so
because that is God’s nature.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Andreas Schroeder, <I>Scams, True Stories from the Edge
</I>(Buffalo. NY: Annick Press Ltd., 2004), p. 1., adapted by King Duncan,
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
title=blocked::http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8ABwkGDgFQCkkNAwBKDAtXUVw=
href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8ABwkGDgFQCkkNAwBKDAtXUVw%3D"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"
title=blocked::http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8ABwkGDgFQCkkNAwBKDAtXUVw=><FONT
title=blocked::http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8ABwkGDgFQCkkNAwBKDAtXUVw=
color=#0000ff>www.Sermons.com</FONT></SPAN></A></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">_________________________</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Humor: Miracles</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">There is a time-honored story about a skeptic who was
continually harassing the local pastor. His one delight in life seemed to be
making the pastor appear inadequate intellectually. The pastor bore these
challenges to his theology and faith with great restraint. <BR><BR>One day the
skeptic was heckling the pastor about his views on miracles. "Give me one
concrete example of a miracle," the skeptic taunted. "One concrete example."
Whereupon the pastor hauled off and kicked the skeptic furiously on the shin.
<BR><BR>The skeptic couldn't believe it! <BR><BR>The pastor asked, "Did you feel
that?" <BR><BR>"Yes," the man said as he nursed his sore leg…</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">The rest of this illustration and many additional
illustrations and sermons, including our sermon series for Lent, can be accessed
at <A href="http://www.Sermons.com">www.Sermons.com</A>.<SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=571574716-19012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV></BODY></HTML>