November 29-30, 1997

Mike Slaughter

The Continuous Miracle
Life in Christ is a continuous miracle. I share with my family often that if I die, I have had 46 years of incredible life. I mean, what a life! See, life is an intersection between the divine and the human. There is this intersection going on all the time between the supernatural and the natural. The Bible calls it between the spirit and the flesh. Miracles are happening all the time - in us and around us and through us. But, we’re waiting for lightning, and we don’t see.
Do you remember the illustration in psychology of the iceberg? You only use 10 percent of your brain power. Ninety percent of your brain power is subconscious so you’re unaware of 90 percent of what’s going on. It is the same in the spiritual realm. There’s only a very small percentage of this spiritual activity, this intersection between God and people, the supernatural and natural, that we’re aware of. The miracle is happening all the time, in us, around us, and through us, but we’re aware of very little. We’re looking for lightning and we’re missing the miracle.

Luke 1:30-37
30: And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31: And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32: He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33: and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end."
34: And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?"
35: And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
36: And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37: For with God nothing will be impossible."

Well, go with me to the first chapter of Luke. (Luke 1: 30) We’re going to talk about the Mary miracle during this Advent season. We’ll talk about the miracle of God, the voice of God always speaking around us, in us, and through us, while we’re waiting for lightning and are unaware. The angel Gabriel came to Mary. Now isn’t it interesting - all of the time life is at this intersection of the supernatural and the natural, angels are all around us, the voice of God continually speaking, the spirit of God continually working. But if we’re only aware of about 10 percent of the physical of what’s going on around us, how unaware we are of the spiritual! That is why Jesus said what is flesh is flesh and what is spirit is spirit.
Now some of us hear the angel’s voice. Look at the 30th verse. Mary heard and the angel Gabriel say to her, "Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
Now, there will be an end to your kingdom. There will be an end to the kingdom of the United States of America. We’ve been around about 200 years and we look like we’re on the downward swing of things. Do you know, America has lasted a whole lot longer than a lot of other kingdoms in the world. It’s lasted longer than the kingdoms of ancient Rome and ancient Greece, but we’re on the downswing, folks. "Long Live America" will not happen. But the kingdom of Jesus Christ will be sustained forever. There will be no end.
Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" And the angel said back to Mary, "It’s a God thing. The Holy Spirit is going to come upon you and God will do this." Doesn’t make sense, it’s not rational, you’re never going to figure God out with the scientific method. And, here is what I love, the angel says in verse 37, "For nothing is impossible with God." Don’t you love that? "Nothing is impossible with God."

I. Common Tools
Miracles are happening in us, around us, and through us all the time. We live at this intersection of the supernatural and the natural. God does miracles. That’s what the Mary story is about. Mary is not unique. God does miracles through everyday people, with ordinary objects, in regular places. I mean, Mary was just a teenager, probably about fourteen years old. She was from a lower socioeconomic background.

Luke 1:48
48: for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;

Now the angel comes to this ordinary teenager and says, "God has chosen you." "Me, I mean, I’m kind of an unlikely candidate,"
How many of you think God’s going to do a miracle? How many of you think that the probability is that God’s going to do something big through someone other than you? Isn’t it easier to picture that God is going to do something through others. I mean, so many people say to me, ‘Mike, I understand how God can use you more than God can use me,’-- No! That’s the message of the Mary miracle. God has chosen you. Ordinary people, everyday people, with ordinary means, in regular places, God has chosen you.
God always uses ordinary people. Think of the people that Jesus did miracles through. People who were less than whole. I can picture now how he came to the woman who had been married five times. "He can’t mean me, I mean I’ve been married five times and right now I’m living with somebody I’m not even married to," (said the prostitute). And, Jesus did an incredible miracle through that woman; she went back and led her whole town to Jesus.
Working women and men, fishermen, Rahab the prostitute from the Old Testament, the prostitute Jesus talked with. An IRS worker. What a montage of unlikely candidates. You see, we keep looking out there - expecting God to use the extraordinary - and we’re missing where God’s working right there in the everyday places of our common experience.

Ordinary Objects
John 9:6
6: As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay,

Common objects were what Jesus used. He didn’t use extraordinary things. What did he use? Water. He turned water to wine. One time he came across a guy who had been blind from birth. What did he use? Spit and mud. Wiped it on the guy’s eyes. Now what was he doing? He’s saying, "Folks, you’re looking for miracles in the wrong places. It’s the common things that God has already put in your hands that God will use." Stale bread. Common objects. Ordinary events.
Now, God is going to make his entry to planet earth. You get to write the scripts for "The X-Files." How are you going to write that script? How would you write it? How would God make his entry into planet earth? In the birth of a baby? No, I mean, that’s too ordinary. I mean, the birth of babies happens all the time. That God would take up temporary residence in a womb? Wow! I think not! A teenage girl? Highly unlikely! What I really see is a teenager who is in trouble. You see, we’re missing the miracles. It’s not in the extraordinary that God works. It’s in the ordinary.

Regular Places
Look at the regular places God used. Nazareth. It is a backwater town. It would be like Jesus being born today in Hazard, Kentucky. Backwater, out of the way. Ordinary places. I mean, think of a barn. How would you write this script? He wasn’t born in a hospital. We keep looking to the extraordinary and the expectations of where we think God is going to move. He was born in a barn.
What do you smell in a barn? Donkey dung! Donkey dung permeates the air and flies are on the baby. That’s why most people didn’t see God or believe in God because they were waiting for lightning and they saw an illegitimate birth. Most of us are missing God because we are looking in the wrong places, my brothers and sisters. You see, it’s in the ordinary people, it’s in the everyday events. It’s in those regular places that God is waiting to make a miracle happen.
You know, I’m praying for you this Christmas season. You know what my prayer is during this Christmas season? My prayer is that these four weeks become an impregnating moment in your life. That you get in touch again with the miracle that God wants to birth through your life, because you are chosen by God. Did you know that? God is with you - God is for you. And God has sent you to planet earth to do an incredible thing, but it’s not going to be in the extraordinary. It’s going to be in the water and the spit and the mud and the barn and the teenage girl. I’m praying for you, that these four weeks become an impregnating moment.

II. Willing Servants
Luke 1:38
38: And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Now, you see, God does miracles in everyday people, of ordinary means, in regular places, who are willing to be servants. Look at verse 38 (Luke 1:38). It is amazing. The angel speaks to Mary. She’s not sure what she’s heard, she’s not sure the next day if it wasn’t the pepperoni pizza. You’re never totally sure that it was God that you’ve heard. You see, that’s the risk. But Mary says to the angel, "Here I am, I am your servant. Be it done to me as you have said."
Would you have said that to God? You see, that’s the attitude of a servant. I don’t know. I’m not sure that’s what I would say to God, because I know what my daddy would say when I went home and said, "The Holy Spirit made me pregnant." My dad wouldn’t buy that line - no matter how many angels I told my dad I saw. You hear what I’m saying? You see, that’s why many of us would rather be volunteers, because we can kind of pick and choose where we get involved, and when the temperature gets too hot we can kind of jump back. But you see, a servant says to God, ‘Here I am. Be it done to me as you will.’ Regardless of what happens to me.
If you’re a servant of God, it’s only servants of God through whom miracles will happen, you open yourself to all kinds of misunderstanding. Sometimes when I share the things I believe God has said to me, people look at me like they think I’m crazy. Some of them leave the church and start other churches! All your life you’re open to be misunderstood. Tell me that most of the people that Mary ever talked to in her life believed that her pregnancy was a Holy Spirit thing. No. Every time Mary walked into a room she was subject to the gossip, ‘That’s the girl that was pregnant on her wedding day.’
You see, my brothers and sisters, servants are willing to be birth parents for other people’s miracles. You know, you and I have a misconception about miracles. Often we think miracles are for us, kind of like praying, "Oh, Lord, let me win the Lotto - I know what I would do with that money." Or, "Lord, let me get that job." Or, "Lord, let me get that relationship." You know, we pray for a kind of unique relationship in our life. Miracles of God do not stop with us.
That’s the Catch-22 about this miracle thing. A miracle of God will always come through you to benefit another person. Mary had to give her son for the life of the world. Mary had to stand there and watch her son suffer. She could do nothing about it. Mary had to bury her son. Now parents, you know what I’m talking about. No parent should ever have to bury their own children. Am I talking to the right people? I know your prayer. It is, ‘Let me get sick, let me die, before my children die.’ Right?
You see, if it is a miracle of God, it will touch other people around you. It doesn’t stop with you. If you want it to stop with you, ‘Lord, let me win the Lotto’..... ‘let me get that job,’ it’s not a miracle of God. You subject yourself to luck and I don’t want to live in that place.
Did you read about the woman two weeks ago who won the Lotto? Eight million dollars, and she didn’t keep any of the money. How many of you read that? I couldn’t believe it. A lady, living on a little pension won eight million dollars and she gave it to her Catholic Church. I’m going, ‘What is wrong with that woman?’ You know how volunteers do. ‘Well, I’ll give 10 percent to the Lord, or I’ll even get generous with eight million and give the Lord half.’ This lady said, ‘I have no need, what do I need eight million dollars for? I have a pension. And she gave it all to the Catholic Church. Wow! Why did she buy a lottery ticket?
You see my brothers and sisters, if it is a miracle of God, it will come through you and touch other people around you. Miracles happen through servants who are willing to carry God’s miracle full term. Miracles aren’t quick. Did you know that? A lot of people want it right now, but miracles aren’t quick. So God births miracles through people, servants who are willing to carry that miracle full term.
Now I’ve only observed this, but I’ve kind of observed it close hand. Pregnancies stretch you. Am I right? Pregnancies leave marks, they take a toll on your body. Can anybody verify what I’m talking about? Now, I don’t know, I haven’t experienced this but tell me if this isn’t true -- they appear to be very uncomfortable at points. Right?
See, miracles aren’t quick, they’re not instant, and they happen through people who are willing to carry that miracle full term. People who are not going to quit when they’re tempted. People who are not going to abort when they doubt, but are willing to say to God, ‘Here I am, your servant, no matter what, for life. Be it done to me as you say.’ Oh, those are the people through whom God’s miracles will flow.
Last Saturday, Louella Thompson, a member of our church, had a ribbon cutting ceremony at her new building in Middletown, Ohio. This has been a 10 year dream that finally came true. On the video you see the building that you all helped build. The "Feed the Hungry" project is in that white house which is her home. Ten years ago Louella heard God say, "Louella, I want you to open the door of your home, feed everyone who comes, and don’t ask any questions."
On the last Saturday of each month, many of you have gone down there and helped in her tiny kitchen. I counted fourteen women in there last week, cooking and serving over 700 people last Saturday. And everyday children come to her home who would have no hot meal before they go to school. Because ten years ago, she heard the voice of God say (I don’t know if it was through the angel Michael or Gabriel or who), but she heard the voice of God say, "Open your door, feed everyone who comes." She had fifteen dollars and a very humble home.
She went to the city council countless times about getting the land to build this facility to feed the hungry. She was hassled; she was misunderstood. She says the city council said, ‘All that woman does is feed winos and druggies.’ Amen! That’s exactly what Jesus is doing.
Last week all those city council members were up there on that platform and stage along with state senators. Governor Voinovich declared it "Louella Thompson Day." You see, God did that miracle through Louella because she was willing to carry God’s miracle full term, in spite of being misunderstood, in spite of the setbacks and hassles. And do you know, that whole thing came off without one penny of government money. Not one dime of government money. A miracle of God!
If you want to be a womb that births God’s miracles in the world, you can’t just try this Christian thing. Too many of us come here and we’re just trying Christianity. You can’t try this, you’ve got to train for it, church. You’ve got to train for miracles. I mean, I commit myself to certain disciplines, not because I want to. I was in my office yesterday afternoon, praying for you for two hours on my knees. What am I praying for? Not because I want to or because I’m trying it; but, for the sake of the Lord Jesus, and your well-being depends on it. You see, we commit ourselves to discipline for other people. I read the Bible about an hour a day, not because I always feel like it, but because other people’s lives depend upon it.
You can’t do random acts of serving. Some people are going, ‘Well, it’s Christmas, let’s help the poor a little bit.’ You can’t do random acts of serving. It’s about a lifestyle of serving. And you can’t be too young to adopt this lifestyle. I was a freshman in college when Dr. Harry Whitehouse called me and said, "Mike, we need you to help out with the youth group every week." And, since I have been a freshman in college, I have been serving every week through the life of the church, my brothers and sisters.
You can’t be too young, but it’s about a lifestyle of serving. I want to say something to the young people here. Teenagers. You are so special to God, because it is easier to build a teenager than remake an adult. Do you hear what I’m trying to say? And God has an incredible miracle that he wants to birth through your life. I keep sharing this with my own kids. It’s easier for God to get enough people’s attention.
God has an incredible miracle that he wants to birth through you all. So you’re going to have major temptation. Don’t stop! You’re going to be tempted to stop. You’re going to be tempted to compromise. You’re going to be tempted to take shortcuts. Even in your time of doubt, don’t stop! Don’t miss the miracle. Carry God’s miracle full term. Even if I doubt, even if I don’t know you’re there, God, I am your servant, do to me as you will.

III. Beyond Limits
My brothers and sisters, God does miracles through ordinary, everyday people, anyone who is willing to be a servant. And God births miracles to people who commit themselves to a journey that exceeds life’s limits. In other words, they attempt what is way beyond possible.
You know, I want my kids to know that I am living a life that is way beyond my ability. I never wanted to live a life that was within the means of what I could accomplish. I want to live a life that causes me to live it from my knees. So I’ve got to be plugged into God’s dream. See, I don’t want to be plugged into my own dream. There will be nothing miraculous about my dream. Maybe I could have made a lot of money, but nothing miraculous about that. I want to live a life that is so above my ability that it forces me everyday to live it from my knees because I’ve got to be dependent upon the power of God.
I was a youth minister for ten years. I loved it. Matter of fact, this past October, I got to speak to our youth group. Were any of you kids there? I loved being with you all, and I got in touch with that initial call into ministry, through youth ministry. I heard the angel Gabriel through Dr. Harry Whitehouse saying, "We need you to help out with the youth group." It’s funny how God speaks. We keep looking for this voice to come from heaven but the voice of God comes to us in the ordinary, everyday circumstances of life. We think it’s Harry Whitehouse but it’s really an angel come from God. So I got to speak to our youth group, and I came back the next day and I said to Tom Tumblin, our Executive Pastor, ‘I want to resign. I’m going to turn in my resume to be Youth Pastor,’ So I resigned from being Senior Pastor and now my resume is in for Youth Pastor! Not really! But I loved being with youth again.
We quit, we left youth ministry eighteen years ago because I could do youth ministry without being on my knees. I could be a youth minister in my sleep. But if you don’t have to be on your knees to do it, then you’re not living a life that exceeds life’s limits. You’re not attempting the impossible.
We did mission statements this past spring/summer. Do you remember that? I hope you did yours. If not, during these next four weeks, I’m going to be bothering you, irritating you, encouraging you for these four weeks to be an impregnating moment for you to again get in touch with the dream (mission) for which God created you. Here was my mission statement: "To be a force of transformation through the Church in post Christian North America by knowing Christ and making Christ known." This is my purpose.
Well, I thought North America was achievable because this is where I’m speaking. I’m speaking in the nine provinces of Canada and the fifty states. Most of those are English-speaking and that’s my language. Ein sprechen (a little) Deutsche, but from there everything else is English. So, that mission is achievable. That was my mission statement this past summer.
But the problem is, we tend to set our mission statements by the ceilings of our comfort levels and what we think is achievable. That’s about as high as our mission statements go. They don’t tend to exceed life’s limits. Two weeks ago, I discovered that every week, besides Canada and the United States, people from at least ten countries are plugging into our worship experience through the internet. People are taking our sermons off of the Internet from twelve countries, including Canada and the United States.
So, I said to Len Wilson, our Media Minister who travels with me when I speak, ‘I’ve gotta change my mission statement.’ It was too small. That’s the problem with most of our mission statements. They’re too small. So here’s my new mission statement: "To be a force of transformation through the Church in the post Christian world by knowing Christ and making Christ known."
How is this possible? I can’t speak Japanese! Nothing is impossible with God. Nothing is impossible with God. I’m going to Korea this August, and I’ll probably do some workshops there, and guess what? A Korean man flew here from L.A. and he said, "Let me get in touch with your publisher so I can publish your book and your video materials in Korean." You see, the problem is, most of us are not living lives that exceed life’s limits. We set out mission statements too low.

Luke 1:28,30
28: And he came to her and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"
30: And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Why? Here’s a big word. Ready? Four-letter word: fear. Fear. Now what does the angel keep saying to Mary? Look at verses 28 and 30. What does he keep saying to Mary? "Don’t be afraid, God is for you. Don’t be afraid, God is with you." The major factor that causes us to miss God’s miracle is fear.
Now this is group participation time. What do we fear? Success, wow, we probably do. What happens if God uses me? Responsibilities. The unknown - what will happen? Rejection, that’s a biggie, right. Man, here I am, an introvert, an 18-year-old kid and I’m thinking that God’s going to do something like make me get up in front of people and speak. What will people think if they know I’m a Jesus freak? Right, rejection.
What else do we fear? Relationships. Failure. Oh, a big one. We fear failure. Interesting fact - do you know who has struck out more times in life than anybody? Babe Ruth. We don’t remember Babe Ruth for that, do we? Most of us aren’t striking out enough! What else do we fear? Loss of things. Do you mean -- the cost of commitment? If I really do this God thing, what is the cost of commitment?
So we focus on all these fears and problems. Notice that the promise of the angel is not judgment, it is not about failure, it is a promise. It is a promise that God is with you, God is for you, and God will accomplish it through you.
Here’s the next place we go. Now we get intellectual with God. How can this happen? Demonstrate, if you’re there, set this thing on fire! Give me a sign. We blame God for a lot of things we do. God doesn’t work in those ways.
How is this possible? Explain it to me. Write it all out so it makes sense, and then I’ll do it, right? Now I’m not sure, but you could put the collective intelligence of this room together, take all of our little brain powers, put them together, and it still isn’t enough to comprehend God. How do we think that we’re smart enough to understand God? We’re not. So the angel doesn’t even try to logically explain God to Mary, the angel just says, "Mary, just trust me, it’s a God thing. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and God will do it." You don’t have to understand it. You can’t understand God. All you have to do is trust and see what God will do.

Luke 1:37
37: For with God nothing will be impossible."

Well, my brothers and sisters, these next four weeks, I am entering in a time of fasting and prayer for you. I am praying that these next weeks will be an impregnating moment, that you again get in touch with the miracle that God wants to birth through you, the miracle that God has sent you to accomplish on planet earth. Remember what Jesus said, "The things I do, you will do, and greater things than these." And I know some of you are sitting there thinking, ‘How can this be, how me?’ Well, this is the one thing I know. Nothing is impossible with God. Nothing is impossible with God. Nothing is impossible with God!

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