Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to preach for a church that supported me very early in my speaking ministry. Grateful to Pastors Johnny and Stacey Brown of Inspired Life Church (Charlotte, NC) for providing me an opportunity to come back and say thanks to a wonderful group of people who invested in me during college.

I had a great time teaching and God met us at the end of the sermon with prophecy and spoken blessings. It’s not the same as hearing the sermon live, but I wanted to share my actual sermon outline for those interested in reading on their own.

Sermon Details

  • Title: Take The Next Step
  • Scripture Text: Luke 4:14-15, 22-26, 28-29 (KJV)
  • Key Verse: Luke 4:25-26

Points

  1. Premise: Jesus has the power to save everyone.
    1. Salvation can be defined as redemption, healing, deliverance, removing guilt, etc.
    2. Luke 14:14 (NLT) “Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region.”
    3. Luke 5:17 (KJV) “And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judæa, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.”
    4. God’s power to heal will match the expectation of the audience (even if it’s an audience of one)
  2. Revelation: Doubt is the only limit to God's power.
    1. Mark 6:5 “And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.”
    2. Faith makes life seem unfair because God doesn’t just “give miracles away”
    3. This explains why we often see one person out of many being healed throughout the Bible
    4. I.e. woman with the issue of blood (Luke 4:43-44)
  3. Tension: Sometimes things will work out for you while everyone else is suffering.
    1. Luke 4:25-26 (NLT) “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon.”
    2. The widow was a gentile. She was from Sidon. Sidon was the land that should have went to the tribe of Asher, but they failed to conquer the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 20:17, Judges 1:31). Queen Jezebel was also from Sidon.
    3. This woman didn’t “deserve” the blessing because she was not a “widow of Israel”
    4. Jesus won’t reject any one who comes to him in faith.
  4. Action: Take the next step.
    1. You don’t need more faith!
    2. ‭‭Luke‬ ‭17‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭KJV‬‬ “And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”
    3. The quantity of our faith is not the problem, it’s the activity of it.
    4. Obedience develops and activates our faith. This was the difference between this widow and the others.

Final Thoughts

When God communicates, He does so in spirit, for He is spirit. This method allows Him to inform or warn a group of people simultaneously. He may use non-physical methods such as dreams, an audible voice, echoing in our conscience, influencing our thoughts, or visions. However, God will not force us to listen or act upon His prompting. It is clear that if we do not take the next step, meaning to follow those promptings, we will miss the miracle that He has pre-planned for us. Taking those steps is how our faith is activated and strengthened. Often, we reject God’s prompting to do simple things, only to discover later that when the need arises, we are unprepared to move a larger mountain.

If you have follow up questions or request prayer, hit me up at marcus@marcusbattle.com