Rewind — the teaching platform built on your church’s own preaching

The big idea

Jesus shows up to places He's invited to, so whatever mess you find yourself in this year, invite Him into it.

Whatever mess or empty season you find yourself in, there's hope: Jesus shows up to places He's invited to. He met a young couple's ordinary need at a wedding in Cana, and He wants to meet us in our ordinary moments too, turning them into something extraordinary when we simply invite Him in and obey.

A story from life

Rocky shares how Halloween became his favorite holiday after a costume-switch prank at a party in eighth grade led him unknowingly into a stranger's home.

Jesus shows up to places he's invited to

— Pastor Rocky High

Point 1 of 5

Jesus shows up to places He's invited to

Pastor Rocky introduces the big idea for the new year, noting that Jesus has been showing up in messes since the dawn of time, culminating in God leaving His throne to be born into human mess at Christmas.

Point 2 of 5

Jesus attends an insignificant wedding for insignificant people, because He was invited

Working through John 2, Pastor Rocky points out that John's gospel opens with the infinite becoming an infant, then moves to Jesus' first miracle at a wedding in Cana, a place so obscure history lost its location, for a couple whose names aren't even recorded. Jesus and His disciples are invited, and the wine runs out, a serious social and financial problem in that culture.

Jesus has been showing up in messes since the dawn of time

— Pastor Rocky High

Point 3 of 5

Mary doesn't tell Jesus how to fix it, she just invites Him into the problem

Mary knows the wine is gone and simply says to Jesus, 'they have no more wine,' without giving Him instructions. Pastor Rocky says this models what we should do with our own empty seasons: invite Jesus in rather than trying to dictate the solution.

She didn't tell Jesus how to fix it. She didn't tell Jesus what to do. She did not bark orders out him. She simply invited Jesus into the problem and said, Jesus, here is our problem. We are out of wine

— Pastor Rocky High

Point 4 of 5

Do whatever He tells you, even when it's ordinary

Jesus tells the servants to fill stone jars with water, a completely ordinary task, and they simply obey. Pastor Rocky says the extraordinary things God does in our lives almost always start with ordinary decisions to obey Him.

Point 5 of 5

The servants who obeyed were the first to see the miracle

When the master of ceremonies tastes the water turned to wine, he doesn't know where it came from, but the servants do. Pastor Rocky draws out that those who simply said yes to the ordinary task were the ones who got to witness the miracle firsthand, and that being a servant positions us to see God at work.

God can take ordinary and turn it into extraordinary

— Pastor Rocky High

The servants always see the miracle first, always

— Pastor Rocky High

he doesn't just love who you should be. He loves who you are

— Pastor Rocky High

A story from life

Rocky returns to the Halloween story: the friend's father tells him to take off his mask, and responds with a smile rather than anger — used as an analogy for how the heavenly Father receives honest confession.

Take it into your week

Pastor Rocky's charge is to start looking at the ordinary things around you differently and invite Jesus into them.

Application

Invite Jesus into your empty places
If you feel like your cup is empty or you don't know how you ended up where you are, follow Mary's example and simply tell Jesus the problem rather than trying to fix it yourself.
Do the ordinary things God asks
Like the servants who filled the water jars, obey the ordinary instructions God gives you this week, trusting that extraordinary things start with ordinary obedience.
Start looking at what's nearby differently
If you want to see God move in 2023 in a new way, look at the ordinary things around you and see them as material God can use for something extraordinary.
Take off your mask before God
Whatever situation you're hiding from, reveal your true self to your heavenly Father, trusting He receives you without condemnation and loves who you actually are.

Keep going

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