David Jeremiah - The Work of the Holy Spirit
- Watch
- Donate
When Walt Disney opened Disneyland in Anaheim on July 17, 1955, it covered 160 acres of former orange groves. Opening day was chaotic; rides broke down, paint was still wet, and the pavement was so soft that women’s high heels sank into the asphalt. But Walt had built something no one had ever seen: a place where imagination came to life, and he called it the happiest place on Earth. Walt died in 1966, never seeing his next dream come true. But he did something very few people get to do: he built something that was greater after he was gone than it ever was when he was here. His team, the Imagineers he had trained, picked up the blueprint and built beyond what Walt ever imagined.
They opened Walt Disney World in Florida in 1971, a resort complex so large it could fit all of San Francisco inside its borders with room to spare. Today, the Disney Empire spans six resorts, 12 theme parks, a cruise line, movie studios, television networks, and over 220, 000 employees around the world. And that story reminds me of something I read in the Bible, and I have to tell you what I read in the Bible the first time this really dawned on me. It was so amazing I had to go back and read it a couple of times to ensure I was reading it correctly. It’s what Jesus said in John 14:12. Here’s what he said: «Most assuredly,» speaking to his disciples, «I say to you that he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also, and greater works than these will he do because I go to my Father. "
When I first came across that verse, I remember stopping and asking myself what in the world could this possibly mean? Maybe you’ve had the same question cross your mind: how could anyone, especially ordinary people like us, ever do greater works than Jesus? What was he telling his disciples that day? And what is he saying to us right now? Could it really be true that we are meant to continue the work of Jesus and even see it multiplied in our time? At first, it sounds impossible; I mean, it feels so bold to be true. But Jesus never exaggerated. He never spoke just to inspire people or impress them; He is truth itself. Every word He spoke was absolutely reality. When he said we would do greater works, he meant it.
The possibility of greater works takes us to the works that Jesus performed during his public ministry. They were mind-boggling; he banished diseases, cast out demons, raised corpses to life, created wine, fish, and bread with a word and a touch, and calmed mighty storms with just a word. How could it be said that in any stretch of the imagination the works of the disciples and our works, who belong to his church, are greater than Jesus' works? Has this promise ever been fulfilled? Can we point to anything that would help us understand that in some way this is being fulfilled in our generation? Some have said, «Well, the key here is that you have to understand that the greater works are related to belief.» In other words, the reason we don’t do these greater works is that we don’t believe enough. Is that true?
The problem with this is that if our ability to do such works depends on our faith, then we would have to have greater faith in Jesus. And Jesus didn’t say, «He who believes in me with sufficient faith,» or «He who believes in me with all his heart,» or «He who believes in me intensely with great sincerity shall do greater works.» He just simply said, «He who believes in me will do greater works.» That makes no sense. Greater works, greater miracles than he performed. I mean, what could that mean? In John 2, at the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus converted the simple molecular structure of water into the far more complex molecular structure of wine. Can we do that? In John 4, by a word uttered over ten miles from the scene, Jesus instantly reversed the decay process and restored to full vigor and activity the cellular structure destroyed by a mortal illness. Can we do that? In John 6:1-14, Jesus took five loaves and two fish and created enough bread and meat to feed 5,000 hungry men and their families. Can I do that? Can you do that?
In John 6, Jesus created an anti-gravitational force of unknown nature that enabled him to walk along the surface of the stormy sea. You ready for that one? In John 11, Jesus stood at the mouth of an opened grave and called through the veil of death to his friend Lazarus. Not only was Lazarus dead; his limbs, eyes, brain, and internal organs were already in a state of decay. The man had been dead for four days, and putrefaction was well underway. Yet at the captive and creative word of Jesus, all the cells and functions of that body were instantly restructured, and the departed spirit was summoned again to the body. Lazarus lived, spoke, thought, and remembered. Awesome! What could possibly qualify as a greater work than that? Great works, marvelous miracles, yet beyond all question.
And think about it: every one of these acts was only superficial and temporary. I mean, I’m not discounting what Jesus did; I certainly would never do that. But I’m simply making the point that no one was permanently helped by these miracles. None of man’s deepest needs were met by these works of power. Yet he created food for a single meal, but the people got hungry the next day. He stilled the raging sea, but only until the next storm. He healed bodily ailments, but every person he healed eventually died anyway. I don’t know what you think about Lazarus, but I really feel bad for him. He had to die twice. That’s what happened to him. He had already passed into glory. He was already walking the streets of heaven, talking to Abraham, Moses, and David, filling his eyes with heavenly splendor and gazing on the very throne of God. And what happened? Jesus brought him back. Years later, he had to repeat the whole process all over again. He had to die again.
And the miracle of bringing Lazarus back was no favor to Lazarus; Jesus did it as a sign miracle for everybody who watched. I remember a story by a teacher I had in seminary named John Mitchell. He used to come to the seminary and teach classes for three weeks, and I was in some of his classes. He was a teacher for many years at Multnomah Bible College, and he used to tell the story of sitting at the bedside of a dying friend. The man seemed to be slipping out of his life; his breathing grew very shallow until finally, it seemed to stop. When this happened, Dr. Mitchell thought, «He’s gone now.» Suddenly, the man’s eyes popped open, and he looked into the craggy face of Dr. Mitchell. «Who’s there?» the man said. «It’s all right,» Dr. Mitchell said. «It’s just me.» «Oh,» the man groaned, «I’m so disappointed.» You see, he thought he was going to look into the face of Jesus or at least an angel. Instead, he saw the same old hospital room and the face of the old Scotsman, Mitchell. If he was disappointed, just imagine how Lazarus felt. What a letdown to find himself back in his grave clothes, lying on a slab in a dark tomb. Yet the author of life called him back, and he stepped once again into the lesser light of the sun.
Now I want to ask you a question: can we do something greater than that? The possibility of greater works. But the promise is that Jesus tied his promise of greater works to the coming of the Holy Spirit, and this is what we can’t miss. In John 14:12, Jesus said, «And greater works than these he will do.» And what reason does he give? Here’s the key: «Because I go to my Father.» This is a common phrase and a common teaching. John 7:39 says, «But this he spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.» John 16:7, Jesus said, «Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Holy Spirit, or the Helper, will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you.» These greater works that Jesus promised us are dependent upon Jesus physically leaving this world and going back to heaven. Those things could not happen, he said, until he went to his Father and sent the Holy Spirit to take his place.
After Jesus had spoken these words to his disciples, he went to the garden that night where he was captured, taken to trial, and brutally crucified. He rose from the grave on the first day of the week and appeared to the believers over a period of 40 days. He then ascended back to his Father, and ten days after he returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. The third person of the Trinity came upon everyone who believed. Peter and the other disciples stood in front of the very mob and the rulers who had crucified Jesus and proclaimed the resurrection and the offer of salvation. And 3,000 people got saved in that service. And someone has said that more people believed on the day of Pentecost than had believed in the entire three and a half years Jesus walked on this earth. And I believe that is true.
Amazing as our Lord’s words are in John 14:12, it is literally true that a believer today may accomplish greater works on earth than our Lord himself accomplished. And I’m going to suggest to you three ways that that is true. It is not in any way a disrespect to Jesus; it’s the word of Jesus to us himself. First of all, we have a greater message today. The great works Jesus did while on this earth dealt with the material. The greater works that he promised deal with the spiritual. In Luke 10:17, the disciples had returned from their first preaching mission, and the Bible says, «And the seventy returned with joy saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name! '»
And they were thrilled that they had been able to cast down demons. But Jesus corrected them. He said, «Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.» Did you hear what Jesus said? They had been cheering, laughing, and high-fiving each other because they had been able to throw out some evil spirits. And Jesus said, «That’s okay, but don’t get all excited about that. What you really need to get excited about is that your names are written down in heaven.»
What was Jesus saying? The spiritual is far more important than the material. The eternal is infinitely more important than the temporal. You and I have difficulty understanding that. One of the reasons we do not have greater works going on in our lives is that we do not understand the priority of the spiritual over the material. We have a much greater message because conversion is the greatest miracle we could ever be associated with. A friend of mine told me about a group of short-term missionaries who held evangelistic meetings in Africa. During these meetings, the believers reported a blind man miraculously received sight. When the believers came back to report to the sending churches, that was just about all they could talk аbout: a man’s sight restored. What a miracle! Yet during those same meetings, many embraced Jesus as Savior and found eternal salvation. Many stepped out of spiritual blindness into the light of God’s kingdom. But that news seemed to receive second billing to the miracle. If we could only view these things as God does, if we could just see them through God’s eyes, the message of reconciliation meets the basic needs of every man and woman, every boy and girl, and it meets those needs permanently and never has to be repeated.
In miracles, only God’s power and goodness are revealed. But in conversion, God’s grace is revealed, something that causes even the angels to look over the bowels of heaven and wonder. The message of the saving grace of God, men and women, is the greater message because it is the message that extended to the Gentiles and rolled outward across the world like a mighty tsunami wave. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ have given to us in this generation the greatest message that has ever been communicated to any people at any time in any place. There’s never been anything like it, and there never will be. At any time, will there ever be anything like the gospel? It is called the eternal gospel, the good news. And you and I can show compassion and reach out to help people with their hurts. We can minister to them in their sorrow. We can assist them in dealing with terrible addictions and dysfunctional family situations. But if in the process we do not give them Jesus Christ and salvation, we have only postponed the inevitable. We have not helped them. Our message is greater because it is for eternity.
Over the years of ministry, God has given me some wonderful friends, many of them here in this church and many of them here in the city, some of them spread across the nation. One of my best friends is a doctor who lives in Boone, North Carolina. He keeps in touch with me almost every other week or so. We talk on the phone. He started a group called Medical Missions, and this group brings doctors together and helps them go to the mission field for two weeks at a time every summer. My friend goes to Africa; I think he’s in Africa almost more than he’s here. Every time I try to get a hold of him, he’s in Africa. They go there and perform surgeries and help people there who would never get help if they didn’t come, because there’s just nothing like that for these people. One day he told me something I never forgot. He said, «David, we used to go to Africa and do surgeries on the people that would come: broken limbs, dysfunctional faces.» He said, «One day it dawned on us that all we were doing was fixing them up and making them healthier on their way to hell.» If you don’t give them the gospel, you’re not helping them. He said, «We made a commitment on that day that we would never do another surgery until we presented the gospel to the person who was getting the surgery, if they were capable of hearing it, and giving them an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ.» What he was saying is the physical is important, and it is true. Sometimes people don’t care what we know unless they know how much we care. But if you only help people physically and don’t give them the gospel, you haven’t really helped them. You’ve only made them okay until the inevitable when they won’t be okay for a long time.
So I’m telling you what Jesus tells us: one of the greater things about what we do is we don’t just help people physically-and we do that as we can-but He’s given to us the wonderful privilege of communicating the message of the gospel, which is life-changing. And some of you here today know what I’m talking about because you remember what you were before Jesus Christ entered into your life and what he’s done to make you a new person. So listen to me: one of the reasons we can do greater works is that our message is a greater message. And then, number two, we have a greater ministry.
Think about this for a moment: the works Jesus did while he walked the dusty paths of Israel were localized in scope. If you were up on a space flight and could look down on the great curve of the Earth and if the shuttle was in the right orbital position and weather permitted, you would strain your eyes and see a little strip of land at the edge of a great continental shelf. That little strip of land is Israel. Believe it or not, it is the size of New Jersey, the whole nation. During his lifetime, the Son of God was confined in his influence to a comparatively small section of that slice of the Middle East.
Do you know Jesus never left Israel? He didn’t go to Egypt. His whole ministry was in Israel. And if you’ve ever been to Israel, you know it’s not a very big place. It’s like a postage stamp. I did an event there some years ago, and we had so many people with us we couldn’t have the opening service in the same hotel; we had to split it up, and one was in one place and one was about 25 miles away in another place. They said, «Dr. Jeremiah, we’re going to have you speak in this service, and then we have a helicopter waiting for you, and we’re going to take you to the other one.» I said okay; I had no idea what I was getting into.
The helicopter was located in the corner of a dark field with guards all around it so nobody could get to it. I said, «Where’s the lights?» «Oh, we can’t turn the lights on; they might shoot us.» Oh my goodness! I got in the helicopter, and we flew, and in the dark the pilot was saying, «Over there’s Jordan; over there’s…» and he talked about all the lands that were surrounding, and you could see them all from Israel. They’re just surrounded by all these lands and, up until recently, especially lands filled with people who hated the Jewish people. That’s where Jesus was.
He spent his whole time in that little postage stamp nation. At that time, the whole world was Israel. And yet in just a little more than 300 years, Christianity closed all the temples in the heathen Roman Empire and numbered its converts by the millions as the gospel spread beyond the borders of Israel and began to fill the world. Today there are billions of people who claim Christ as their Savior. And the ministry isn’t confined to Israel; it’s exploded across the nation.
I just spent three days with people who’ve helped us take that message to these nations, and I told them-and I say this humbly-I believe I now speak 19 different languages. I only know English, but I speak 19 different languages because through AI they take my voice -it’s my voice-and they put it into the language of other nations. They coordinate my lips with the words. And I’m telling you, people, if you would see it, you would think David Jeremiah is speaking in Chinese, and I’m not. But the message is being preached in all these places, and they’re just getting started. I’m going to have more languages next time I talk to you about this because we’re working on it really hard.
What I’m saying is we carry the ministry of the gospel to the ends of the earth. Jesus didn’t do that; Jesus ministered in Israel; he never left Israel. But he empowered his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel. He has told us that’s our responsibility — to find a way to leverage the gospel for the whole world. And that’s why we have radio, and that’s why we have television, and that’s why we do social media and write books: because we’re trying to reach as many people as we can with the gospel. That’s what Jesus has empowered us to do. These are the greater works he’s given us to do because he went to the Father. And isn’t it interesting? He went to the Father and put his DNA in every single Christian who’s still on this earth. His DNA is the Holy Spirit. Isn’t that something?
While he was in Israel, he was confined in his own body. When he went to heaven, he said, «I’m going to give you all the Holy Spirit.» And the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. Now every single person who believes in Jesus Christ has the Holy Spirit living in them, and they can carry the message of Christ wherever they go. I pray a prayer sometimes when I get up in the morning: «Lord Jesus, help me to take the influence of Christ wherever I go today.» And all of us can do that. When we do that, we’re doing the greater works that Jesus said we would do because we’re going where he did not go, but he sent us as his representatives.
Today our words are carried across the entire globe. I do not preach in a small corner of Israel. When I preach, I speak in a large city. But even more amazing is how, through the blessing of modern technology, these messages are recorded and shared around the world instantly, continuously, almost endlessly through many different channels. When we did the campaign that we did on the Great Disappearance, on the rapture — remember that book a couple of books ago? -after it was all over, some of the staff people came to me and said, «We have calculated this, and these are actual numbers: the campaign for the Greater Disappearance touched 300 million people around the world.» How can you do that? Because Jesus said, «Greater works will you do than I did because I’m going to the Father, and I’m sending the Holy Spirit, and he will help you do these works.»
I remember when television first appeared, and I know some of you remember that too because you’re older than I am. But I don’t know if you remember this when that first happened. Those of us who were conservative Christians weren’t sure that was a good thing. I know my dad wasn’t sure it was a good thing. We didn’t get a television for a long time after it became available, and when we did, my father used to sit on the bench, and every time a commercial came on, he’d go and shut the thing down. He was afraid it would be a beer commercial or a cigarette commercial.
I mean, that was his exercise for the night: sit on the couch, go turn it off, sit on the couch. There were no remotes back then, remember? And I remember hearing people preach about television being the result of the prince of the power of the air, that it was satanic and it was no use, and you didn’t want to do television. And, of course, it was like anything else. It is whatever you use it to be. We finally got over that and realized that while it was a tool that could hurt people, it was a wonderful tool that could help people. And we began to do television ministry, and God uses that, and we use every form of communication: television, radio, print, podcast, social media, live streams, apps-whatever comes next-we use it to proclaim the gospel.
And this will surprise you: we’re even on TikTok because I think the people who watch TikTok may need us more than the rest of the people on the other networks. And I say the farther the better, the faster the better, the sooner the better until Jesus comes back. What Jesus was saying to his disciples was this: «While I was on this earth, I was localized; I could only touch individual men and women in my travels and speak to a few local audiences. But believe me, after I am gone and the Holy Spirit comes to fill my disciples, my ministry will be as far spread as Christians are.» So wherever there is a Christian, there’s Christ. And wherever there’s a believer, there’s ministry.
We have a greater message. We have a greater ministry. And then one more thing: we have greater miracles. I can almost hear some of you say, «Okay, I’ve been with you so far, Pastor, but now the miracle thing-I’m not into that. How could there be greater miracles than the ones we’ve heard you talk about already?» So let me suggest to you that the Lord Jesus, while he was on this earth, never saw a conversion like that of Saul of Tarsus. He never saw a revival like the Great Awakenings that have shaken our world.
The miracle of conversion is indeed a great miracle; it is the greatest miracle there is. Do you believe that? Just think about what happens when someone comes to Christ: a person who once lived closed from God, self-centered and without direction, becomes alive to God. The one who was spiritually dead is now filled with joy and peace through the power of the Holy Spirit. A life that was once in chaos now has order, meaning, and purpose. He’s born again, a miracle of grace, and a living testimony to the God who creates and saves. Wow! That’s what happens when a person receives Jesus. That’s what happened to you when you said yes to him. You were a closed system, and you became an open system. You were chaos, and now you are a new creation.
The longer God gives me the opportunity to preach and teach, the more overwhelmed and amazed I am that he does what he does through the salvation of souls. By his grace, he works in human hearts in ways you and I can never comprehend. When sometimes we hear the stories and we say, «How in the world could that have happened?» He can take a person who is going totally in the wrong direction and, in a moment of time, through an encounter with Jesus Christ, radically change that person and set him on a road to happiness in his heart. Jesus Christ is the only one who can do that! And that is the miracle he’s called us to participate in.
We spread throughout our neighborhoods, our nation, and our world as ambassadors of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And wherever that gospel is preached, wherever someone comes to Christ, the greatest miracle that ever happens on the earth is happening in the life of that person. They are changed for eternity. And I tell you again what Billy Graham said: they will live as long as God. Amen.
The power behind the greater works is also expressed in this passage. How do we go about the greater works? If you read this passage of Scripture, you won’t have any doubt about it. John 14 says, «Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me, and the works that I do, he will do also, and greater works than these he will do because I go to my Father. And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.» The greater works are accomplished through prayer.
I’m excited about the fact that in our small groups and in our prayer ministry, prayer is going on for this church all the time. There’s no way to explain Shadow Mountain without prayer. We had an advisory board meeting last night after the service. Some of the things that God has done in this church just in the last year are enough to stagger your imagination. How does that happen? It doesn’t happen through one person; it happens because people pray, and God works in our facilities, in our schools, and in our multiplied outreach opportunities. These things have been accomplished through the agency of people who faithfully pray every day. I never go anywhere that people don’t come up and say to me, «Dr. Jeremiah, we pray for you every day.» You have no idea the power that is in that. We wouldn’t be where we are, doing what we’re doing, touching the people we touch if people didn’t pray. The Lord has honored these prayers.
I believe with all my heart that the secret to all that God has done and all that he’s going to do is found in the power of prayer. And I promise you when we pray, our dreams will be greater than our memories. It is exciting to me to understand what begins to happen as we pray. Take another look at that verse. Jesus said, «And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do.» If you ask anything in his name, he will do it. That’s no small distinction. I mean, sometimes Christians get weary because we forget, and I want you to read this carefully because we often misread this verse. Listen carefully: we think God wants us to do his work for him. So we pray, «Lord, I’m praying to you to help me do this work.» But that’s not what the verse says.
Listen to what the verse says: «And whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.» God doesn’t want us to do it; he wants to do it through us. If we keep trying to do it ourselves, we’re going to get worn out, we’re going to get really tired, really weary. We aren’t capable of doing God’s work, but God wants to do his work through us. And he says, «If you ask anything in my name,» it doesn’t say you will be able to do it; he says, «If you ask anything in my name, watch out, I’ll do it! I’ll do it through you, I’ll do it for you, I’ll do it by you.»
I remember hearing about a preacher some years ago who said he could build a great church if there was no God. I’m not sure that’s a compliment. Sometimes we do commendable, praiseworthy things in the energy of our flesh. But when God begins to do the work through us, it is an entirely different proposition altogether. Incredible things begin to happen, things we never dreamed would happen. We’ve had some things like that happen to us in the last few days, things we could never have dreamed would be possible. So I tell you the possibility of greater works, the promise of it, and the power behind it.
Now just a moment, and we’re done with the priority of the greater works. A long time ago, a pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago made this statement: «He said, Never undertake more Christian work than can be covered in continual prayer.» Good counsel. And I have a feeling that many of us are over our limit. I have a feeling that many churches are well over their limit. Oh, how we need to grasp the priority of prayer! I have no idea what is going to happen in and through this ministry because I’m not going to do it; God’s going to do it through me.
As we pray, God will show us what he’s doing, and we’ll get under the spout. There’s a wonderful truth that you live your life by: find out what God is doing and get in on it. Find out where God is blessing and be a part of it. You don’t have to look very far; you can figure that out yourself. The reason I’m excited about it is that I know God’s vision for you and for me, for my family and your family, for my city and your city, is greater than our own individuals could ever be. When I started out to do what I’m doing, I was preaching in a little church in Thurston, Ohio, as a young college man. 35 people showed up every Sunday, religiously. I just got a letter this week from the son of the family where we stayed the first time ever going to Thurston, and his mother, who was then in her prime, just turned 102. He invited me to her birthday party, and I wish I could go.
It reminded me, as I look back over my life and over the years what God has done, how he has taken the little things you do, and you do them faithfully. And pretty soon, those little things become other things, and you do those faithfully, and then other things happen. That’s the story of ministry. You don’t just show up one day, and all of a sudden, you have the immeasurable blessing of God. You trust God for every day to do what you know he wants you to do. Sometimes it’s an incidental thing. But listen to God; he will tell you- I know that for a fact. If you ask God to direct you and lead you, he will do it. You may not like what he tells you to do, but he will do it; and you can count on it.
And so often in the past, I’ve concentrated on this goal and that goal, and I’m really into goals and objectives and plans. But I believe that people should not concentrate as much as they do on the goal but more on the power. God will help you do this. So what I want to leave with you today as we close our minds around this passage is this: let’s don’t short circuit what God wants to do in our life. You know God would do much more in the lives of his people except for unbelief. The one thing that keeps God from doing his work is that God won’t bless unbelief. If we don’t believe God will do it, he won’t do it. If you trust him to do it, you better be ready because the surprise is about to come. We have to put our feet in the water before God calls the water back. We have to take the first step; we can’t just wait, «let’s see what God does, and if he does something, maybe I’ll be a part of it.» No, you have to be bold in your faith.
And you have to pray this prayer: «Lord, help me today to do the greater works that you talked about in John 14. Show me some people who need Jesus and let me help them come to Jesus. Some people who might come to church and hear about Christ and become Christians. Some children who need to go to Sunday school, but they need somebody to take them.» All of these things that God puts in our hearts to do, you know what I’m talking about. It’s different for every one of us. God has a unique plan for your life and for mine. I have no idea what is going on in your life, but he wants to work through his Spirit and help you do the greater works. You’re not going to find a framed copy of it hanging on the wall in some office. God is going to do it in his own way, in startling and unexpected ways as we trust him.
And you will probably be surprised when it happens. Someone once told me, «If it makes sense, it’s probably not from God; if it’s logical, probably God didn’t tell you.» But if you’re always doing the logical things, God’s probably not in the equation. Say, «God, help me to do something outside of the box for you. Help me to leverage what you’ve equipped me to do for the kingdom and for the glory of Christ.» And when we do that, we will see revival, we will see salvation, we will see the blessing of God. Nothing that is ever needed will be in lack, but we will have all that God promised for us. That is my prayer for us as a congregation as we reach out across the world.
I remind you of a very special statement that’s part of our DNA: «The light that shines the farthest has to shine the brightest at home.» If we’re going to reach the world, it starts with us. We have to be the bright light here first before we can touch the world. And we are that by the grace of God. I think about our candle lighting ceremony that we have every year on Christmas Eve, and it’s such a testimony to what happens with one light coming down the center aisle, and then little by little, all the lights being lit until the room is filled with the glory of light. And we sing that little song, «This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine. Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m going to let it shine.» Men and women, that’s what God has called us to do as we enter into this new season of ministry and head toward Christmas time. Let’s ask God to help us shine like we never have, holding our lights up high, making a difference in people’s lives around us for the glory of Christ and for the salvation of many. And God bless us as we do it. And all God’s people said, «Amen.» Let’s pray together.
Father, thank you for the encouragement of John chapter 14. Thank you that you’ve entrusted us with greater works than Jesus did when he was on this earth. We don’t take that lightly; we are overwhelmingly blessed to have the opportunity. Lord, help us to do some of those works this week, for you’ve called us to be saved, not by works, but for works. We’re saved to do good works for you, to honor you with our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit. May that be true for all of us as we go forward. In Jesus' name, amen.