Participants: Michael Kontes
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000413
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00:30 Hello friends, my name is Michael Kontes
00:32 and I want to welcome you to Faith Chapel. 00:35 Today we are going to look at a first century 00:38 individual who will inspire you but first, let us pray 00:43 Father, we come to thee now and we thank thee 00:45 for the love that you poured in our lives. 00:47 We ask that you help us to understand you better, 00:50 help us to serve you better, help us to give you 00:54 everything that we have, be with us now 00:58 in Jesus name, Amen. 01:03 Friends, today we're gonna to take a look at 01:06 a first century individual who had all the 01:10 amenities of life. We are gonna look at someone 01:13 who worked for the Fortune 500 company of his time. 01:17 Synagogues R Us, we are going to take a look at 01:21 everything he had but when his daughter became ill 01:29 he was willing to let go of all of his worldly 01:32 possessions to go and search for Jesus. Let us 01:37 open up to the Gospel of Mark. Gospel of Mark 01:41 chapter 5 and jump into our Bible text. Mark chapter 5, 01:47 And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the 01:52 synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, 01:56 he fell at his feet, And besought him greatly, 02:00 saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: 02:06 I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, 02:11 that she may be healed; and she may live. 02:18 Friends, Jairus is his name and he lived in Palestine. 02:24 He lived as I said earlier for the Fortune 500 02:27 company of his time Synagogues R Us. 02:30 Jairus had a six figure salary, four weeks 02:36 of vacation, ten sick days, four floating holidays 02:40 a year. He had everything that life had to give. 02:45 Now Jairus like Zacchaeus at one time heard Jesus. 02:54 I imagine as he heard Jesus he would wonder, 02:57 what it would be like to be a part of Jesus' 03:00 disciples? What it would be like to be going around 03:04 and feeding the multitudes? What it would be like 03:07 watching people be healed. But Jairus had a struggle 03:11 and the struggle was breaking away from what 03:15 was that for a sure thing that he had at Synagogues 03:18 R Us and breaking away to being a part of Jesus' 03:24 group. Now, I imagine that to follow Jesus 03:32 as we see through out the scriptures for many people 03:34 it was a struggle, the rich young ruler came 03:37 and could not sell everything. Zacchaeus finally 03:43 came to a place where he was so low that he could 03:47 give everything over. Many times God orchestrates 03:52 and allows events to take place in our lives so that 03:55 we have an opportunity to respond to his invitation 03:58 of love. Now many times this transforms in situations 04:05 of illnesses of loved ones and this is the case here 04:09 with Jairus. You see Jairus had a, I'm sure a beautiful 04:12 daughter. We do not know her name but for the sake of 04:17 the sermon let's call her Zoey. The Greek word Zoey 04:23 means life. So Jairus had Zoey and she was a 04:27 beautiful girl and I am sure that Jairus and his wife was, 04:31 they were training Zoey to be a daughter of God, 04:35 I am sure that she was learned in the scriptures, 04:38 I'm sure that Jairus loved to watch his daughter 04:41 put on her dress and curl her hair as she was going 04:46 to Sabbath at the Synagogue. Now probably who knows 04:53 may be Jairus would also want to check out and see 04:57 how Jesus was doing so he would jump on the web. 05:01 Once a week he go to JesusofNazareth@Calvary.com 05:05 and see what Jesus was doing, where he was lately? 05:08 Who he was feeding, who he was healing, and wondering 05:11 in his mind what it would be like to be a part of 05:14 Jesus' merry band of followers and believers. 05:21 This scripture tells us that his little daughter 05:26 became sick. I imagine as his little daughter 05:30 became sick as the scripture says he went straight to 05:33 Jesus, he knew where to go. He had heard of Jesus, 05:37 he knew of Jesus' reputation. I imagine him coming 05:40 inside and looking at his daughter who was sick 05:44 and may be he could not look into her blue eyes anymore. 05:48 And he'd look upon her, and he'd finally had enough. 05:53 He said you know what? I don't care what my peers 05:56 think, I don't care if they don't want me to go and 05:58 seek out Jesus. My daughter's life is the most 06:01 important thing and I need to do what is best 06:05 for my daughter. There are times where God allows 06:12 circumstances for us as parents to be brought to 06:16 a place with our loved ones so that he can refocus us. 06:24 In 1997, as I've shared in the past with you and 06:27 most of you know my daughter became ill with 06:30 brain cancer, my daughter at the end of July went into 06:35 a coma for six days and my wife and I had a prayer 06:39 on July 28th as she passed in our arms and she kissed 06:42 us and this world goodbye. After we buried my daughter, 06:47 I didn't know what to do with my life. I knew that 06:53 God was calling me to go do evangelism to be a part 06:56 of ministry, but I didn't know how to start and 06:59 where to go. I went and talked to the associate 07:02 pastor at the Church that I was member of at the time. 07:06 And the pastor said Mike, you need to go back 07:09 to school and you need to get your theology degree, 07:13 and I was blown away. I said I can't go back to school, 07:16 I'm 30-years-old. Yes Mike, you need to go back and 07:21 get your degree and as I went home and got on my 07:22 hands and knees, God made it evident that I needed 07:26 to go back to school as a 30-year-old and I did. 07:30 I went back to Pacific Union College and after two, 07:33 I did three years worth of schooling in two years 07:35 and got my bachelors degree in theology 07:40 and God opened up a new chapter in my life 07:44 and I believe now friends looking back in hindsight 07:49 that it was probably my daughter's death 07:52 that opened up the door for me to be standing here 07:55 in front of you today. There are many times 08:02 that we don't know how God is leading, but we allow 08:07 the opportunity that God gives us and we embrace 08:09 and seize the moment for God. This is what Jairus did, 08:14 Jairus saw his daughter dieing and he was willing 08:17 to put down the prejudice of his peers and even 08:19 his own prejudice to go and to find Jesus. 08:24 As he goes to find Jesus we're told that Jairus 08:27 made the statement to him come and lay your hands 08:30 on her that she may be healed and she will live 08:36 and the scripture says immediately Jesus left 08:39 with Jairus. Now there is another part of this story 08:44 that takes place and on the way they meet a lady 08:50 who had a physical ailment, a blood issue, 08:54 and I don't want to get too much into this story 08:56 because this is a sermon in and of itself but I will say 09:00 that there are many times when we go to Jesus 09:02 and tell him we need his help and he allows 09:07 an apparent delay in our circumstance to build 09:12 our faith. I am sure it was very difficult for Jairus 09:16 to sit here as they're pressing through and some 09:20 lady touches Jesus, instantly is healed, 09:24 she touches him and as the text reads, it says 09:27 Dunamis which we get in our English word dynamite. 09:31 Exploded inside of this lady and she became instantly 09:35 healed and Jesus stopped and said who touched me 09:41 and Jairus is sitting here as a father and I am sure 09:44 he is saying we need to get to my daughter, 09:47 we need to get to my daughter. But Jesus allowed 09:51 that, so that Jairus could have his faith strengthened. 09:56 You see, if someone from the crowd could 10:00 reach out and touch the hem of Jesus' garment. 10:05 Jesus could heal a little girl, then the story goes 10:12 on and the story reads that a messenger came to Jairus 10:15 and shared with the Jairus that his daughter 10:18 passed away. Do not bother Jesus anymore and at that 10:24 point I'm sure that Jairus hung his head down 10:27 and said, I did the best that I could do, I tried. 10:35 And that was a truthful statement, he did. 10:38 But as he looked at Jesus, Jesus said to him the words, 10:43 be not afraid only believe. [Foreign language] 10:51 Do not be afraid only believe. The Greek word for 10:56 belief friends is an action word, verb, meaning 11:02 commitment. Here Jesus told Jairus, don't be afraid 11:10 just commit and know everything will be okay. 11:15 As they reach Jairus' house the hired mourners are 11:19 there, everyone is wailing Jesus walks in and shares 11:24 a quick statement, why are you all sad? 11:28 The girl is not dead, she is asleep. And they laugh at 11:33 him because everyone knows the picture of death. 11:39 Because of their unbelief, Jesus puts them out of the 11:45 room and calls the parents and James, John and Peter 11:52 in there with him. Now here's a point that 11:56 I would like to share, there are times, there are times, 12:00 in our lives where if we have influences, people in 12:05 our lives who do not believe that Jesus can do the 12:07 impossibility, we need to make sure that they're at 12:11 a distance to us. There comes times when Jesus 12:16 wants us to believe the impossible. The Bible says 12:22 all things are possible through Christ Jesus who 12:25 strengthens us many times as we go from 12:30 the book of Genesis to Revelation we see 12:33 the thread, the theological thread of the impossible 12:38 becoming reality, because our God is not a God that is 12:46 limited. For example, for example the Israelites 12:55 being delivered from Egypt, all of the plagues are 12:59 falling all over Egypt but yet in the land of Goshen, 13:02 they are protected by the hand of God. Here they're 13:06 getting ready to go into the Red Sea and they come 13:10 to the borders and God exclaims out to tell the 13:13 people to go forward through Moses. Moses take the 13:17 people and go forward and what does God do? 13:19 God opens up the Red Sea. No lights at night but 13:24 through a pillar of fire to give them warmth and light 13:28 to guide them through the desert, another miracle 13:31 takes place God takes them through the Red Sea 13:36 and through the desert. When you look at the Bible 13:41 from Genesis to Revelation, God is a God of miracles 13:44 and many times, many times friends the reason why some 13:49 miracles don't take place is because we don't ask 13:52 for them. The Bible says ask, seek and knock. 13:57 It does not say ask, seek and knock as long 14:00 it's not a miracle. The Bible says even if it is a miracle 14:05 we are to ask, seek and knock. And according to 14:09 God's will and according to God's timing he will 14:13 answer as he chooses. This is very, very, 14:21 very difficult, because basically we have to place 14:27 our circumstances in the palm of Jesus' hands, 14:30 we become very, very reluctant to do that, 14:34 it's very difficult for us to do that. It's very difficult 14:37 to see a loved one become sick, it's very difficult 14:43 to see a loved one go through pain and yes 14:46 say God not my will for my loved one, but thy will 14:51 for my loved one. During my daughter's ailment 14:57 she started doing radiation treatment. My daughter had 15:02 beautiful long brown hair and beautiful blue eyes, 15:06 as she came down with her brain cancer which was 15:09 it was called pontine glioma which called the 15:12 Michael Jordan of brain cancers, it was just 15:16 no known survivors. It was on the brain stem and it was 15:21 intertwined. My daughter through her ailment came 15:28 closer to Jesus even though it was hard for me to 15:31 watch at times. She started gaining a lot of weight 15:34 because they gave her steroids, Decadron to reduce 15:40 the swelling in the brain. She had the Cushing look, 15:45 the puffy cheeks, extra weight in the tummy area. 15:51 She started losing her hair on the sides; 15:56 her eyes were crossed because the cancer, 16:00 the tumor was pushing on the six cranial nerve, 16:03 so her eyes were crossed. She looked different 16:07 to the majority of the people she looked like an anomaly. 16:13 My daughter stopped going up on Sabbath mornings to 16:17 the children storey up in the front of the church. 16:20 And the reason why she began to start noticing 16:23 how people started looking at her a lot differently. 16:28 In fact one time after church service we went to the 16:33 local park for a potluck and we were sitting 16:37 in the picnic area and the play area was right 16:41 next to us and one of my friends was watching the 16:44 kids playing Arianna, at this time, could not 16:46 walk because of the brain cancer. And so she was 16:49 sitting at the bottom of the slide and someone, 16:54 a boy from the neighborhood and his father came into the 16:56 play area. They came in and they walked over to 17:00 where the kids were playing and the little boy who 17:02 looked at my daughter and then looked at his dad and 17:05 said, Daddy what's wrong with her? He didn't say 17:09 anything that was meant to be mean. My daughter 17:16 looked different and this child noticed it as 17:19 did everyone else. My friend who was watching the 17:23 children did not know what to say, he was speechless, 17:26 but the Holy Spirit through my daughter spoke words. 17:33 My daughter looked at this boy and she said 17:35 "I am in love with God; I am in love with God." 17:42 That story was not shared to me till her funeral service 17:47 and it gave me hope, because my daughter was in love 17:52 with God and she came closer to God and because 17:57 God allowed this trial to come up on my daughter 18:01 I had to learn relinquishment, I had to 18:05 realize that I was just a steward and her heavenly 18:09 Father is the one who dictates what transpires 18:12 in her life. As they entered into the room Jesus, 18:20 the three special disciples, the parents, Jairus 18:27 and his wife, I'm sure and I can imagine and I felt 18:34 the pain that Jairus and his wife has felt at that time. 18:39 I'm sure they were crying sad and discouraged. 18:44 And as Jesus assessed the situation the first 18:49 century healer was going to extend his feeling 18:55 in and hit finger and touch and make this young damsel 18:59 whole. With the witnesses watching, Jesus stood up 19:09 with the dignity of a King and with the boldness 19:16 of only that the true physician can say, damsel, 19:23 arise! And as Jesus Christ, the living healer and 19:29 life giver calls forth the damsel. I envision a tremor 19:37 going through her body and she beginning to move 19:44 and her eyes begin to open up and the pulse of life 19:53 began to beat again. I can envision Jairus and his wife 20:05 shocked with happiness and overwhelmed. 20:13 Most of the time when we share this story it ends 20:17 here, so I want to bring up a point that's very 20:21 important for us, though Zoey was resurrected 20:29 in this story and that she had an opportunity to be 20:32 around her mother and father once again. She still became 20:38 a prisoner to death, meaning that she would have to die 20:44 once more. May be in fact she might have passed away 20:50 only five or ten years later we really do not know, 20:53 but the one thing that is factual and that the Bible 20:57 is clear upon all that sinned will surely die. 21:02 But also all those who believe in the name of 21:05 Jesus Christ will have eternal life. Zoey came back 21:12 to life there was hugs, there was kisses, I am sure 21:17 the disciples sat there with jaws dropped. 21:26 But unfortunately though that happiness was extended, 21:33 Zoey would become a victim of death later on 21:38 in her life. You see brothers and sisters, I would have 21:43 loved for Jesus Christ to be able to resurrect my 21:46 daughter and in fact after my daughter died in my 21:50 wife's arms, we prayed and we asked Jesus if it was 21:57 his will to resurrect Arianna, he didn't resurrect 22:04 her and yes, there is a hole in my heart today. 22:09 That will not be filled this side of the grave, 22:11 but I will also share with you that I am joyous 22:19 and I am happy and the reason why is because 22:25 my daughter has eternal life and I don't ever have to 22:31 worry about someone inappropriately touching 22:34 my daughter. I don't ever have to worry about someone 22:38 saying something harsh, cold, something mean 22:43 that would hurt her. I don't have to worry about all 22:46 of these temporal things, you see in this story Zoey, 22:51 Jairus' daughter had healing and it was only temporal 22:54 healing friends, temporal. The kind of healing that the 23:00 Bible wants us to focus into is not temporal healing 23:04 but eternal healing. To me, this where I embrace 23:13 the scripture in Revelation chapter 21 where Jesus says, 23:17 that there's coming a new heavens and a new earth, 23:21 no more tears, no more sorrow, no more pain for the 23:26 former things, the what things; the former things 23:30 have passed away and I shall make all things new. 23:36 And I will be their God and they will be my people. 23:42 Friends, I look forward to the day when there will be 23:45 no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears, 23:49 no more death. How many have you have felt 23:53 the sting of death? Having a loved one pass away 23:56 and go to the grave and feel that empty hole 23:59 in your heart. The Bible exclaims and the Bible 24:03 shows to us that yes, temporal healing is very nice 24:07 and we would embrace it, but the most important healing 24:12 is spiritual healing that leads to eternal life, 24:16 that brings us to a place where we will be able to sit 24:19 at the tree of life with Jesus forever more. 24:24 You see there is coming a day when Jesus Christ 24:28 the healer and a physician will call forth to the dead 24:33 in Christ and that first resurrection and the dead 24:38 will come forth and as the book of First Corinthians 15 24:41 exclaims they will say, O death, where is Thy sting? 24:45 O grave, where is Thy victory? Then those of us 24:50 friends that have remained will see Jesus and will call 24:55 forth lo, here is our God; and we have waited for him 24:59 as we will be translated into the clouds of glory 25:02 to be with Jesus and our loved ones forever more. 25:06 And in fact the Book of Thessalonians says 25:10 this is the blessed hope. This is what we are to share 25:15 with one another. Jairus, his wife, his daughter Zoey, 25:25 they had a great opportunity afterwards, after they were 25:30 all healed and reunited to become followers of Jesus. 25:36 It is my belief that after watching Zoey be healed, 25:41 Jairus became a committed follower of Jesus, 25:46 I believe that he resigned from Synagogues R Us, 25:51 he lost out on his 401K, he didn't have his company car 25:56 and the vacation days disappeared. But in exchange 26:03 that vacuum that was, that, those materialistic 26:07 things that were taken away, the vacuum was filled 26:13 through following and serving Jesus Christ. I can 26:19 share with you personally today that the hole 26:22 in my heart for my daughter is not no been filled 26:26 and won't be this side of the grave, but when I come 26:30 and I serve Jesus Christ and I serve others who are 26:35 going through the sting of death, it keeps me humble, 26:41 it allows me to remember that this world is not my home, 26:45 it helps me remember that all things are temporal, 26:51 it keeps me from getting too attached to the things 26:54 of this earth. It keeps me focused, it gives me vision 27:02 as it does to all of us. Today as we are closing, 27:10 has the death of a loved one touched you 27:13 and paralyzed you? Has the death of a loved one 27:18 brought you so much sorrow you don't know how to 27:22 leapfrog it. I will share with you brothers and 27:26 sisters, that if you've had a loved one pass away 27:30 and go to sleep in the arms of Jesus, do not allow 27:34 the pain of not being around your love one 27:36 and what are the future things you could have 27:38 done with that loved one overwhelm you. 27:41 I ask you to focus in on the coming kingdom, 27:44 a kingdom that will be filled with happiness and joy, 27:49 no more death but life, and life, abundantly. |
Revised 2014-12-17