Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Yeah. A lot of hopes, wonderful dreams. but they are dashed. dreams.
A shadowed. A day of promise turns out to be a night. of disappointment. We will learn that the unexpected problems, the crises, and disappointments of life are transformed when we have a personal encounter with Jesus. This is the verdict with Pastor Jean Monroe.
This daily program is a media ministry of Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Have you ever been working towards a lifelong dream and just before you reached it? Everything fell apart. Broken dreams can be crushing. But as we'll see today, even in the middle of life's disasters, God has a plan.
Let's join Pastor John Monroe with a message all about Transforming Shattered Dreams. We're considering certain situations in John's Gospel. where different people had an encounter with Jesus in various situations. Not all people respond in the same way. but some are forever changed.
I've called today's message Transforming Shattered Dreams. All of us know what it is to eagerly anticipate some event or accomplishment which turns out to be a real disaster. But that's life, isn't it? Who has not had their dreams shattered? or have something important fall apart and go horribly wrong.
How do we respond in these times of trouble? Where do we return? when everything falls apart. Today we're going to learn about a wedding where disaster strikes. And there seems no solution.
But Jesus is there. And when you have a personal encounter with Jesus, shattered dreams are transformed. As a pastor, I get a unique view at weddings, and I've learned at weddings to expect the Unexpected. Because all kinds of funny, embarrassing, odd, not to say bizarre things happen from time to time. At weddings, we have of course The Groomsmen bathed in sweat, a common occurrence.
Mothers of the bride and the groom, who almost invariably seem to be fixated on the possibility of stumbling to go upsteps. ill fitting tuxedos, crying brides Opinionated bridesmaids, wonderful dealing with them. But it is true that embarrassing things sometimes happen. at weddings. At the wedding we're considering There was an extremely embarrassing situation.
The wine ran out. The wedding without wine in the first century was absolutely unthinkable. We are going to read that this wedding took place in a small town in Galilee called Canna. And Jesus was there. The disciples that we've met in John chapter 1: Andrew, John, Peter, Philip, and Nathaniel, who are beginning to follow Jesus, are also there.
We're going to read. And Mary, the mother of Jesus, was also there. present. Wine running out. was a major A disaster.
No doubt this couple, like all couples, getting married, dream of the perfect wedding day, but their dreams are beginning to be shattered. Incidentally, what do you do in life? when, as it were, the wine runs out. What do you do in life? when the unexpected happens.
We will learn that the unexpected problems, the crises, and disappointments of life are transformed when we have a personal encounter with Jesus. because Jesus is in the business of transforming shattered dreams. That's why the gospel is good news. Jesus is an expert in transforming shattered dreams. And when we come face to face with Jesus Christ, We experience a deep joy Which the changing circumstances of our life, whether good or bad, cannot take away.
Here is today's message. Invite Jesus into every aspect of your life. Invite Jesus into every aspect of your life. and experience a life of joy. Let's open our Bibles to John chapter 2.
We are going through some of the incidents of John's Gospel Thinking of these situations where Jesus confronts individual situations and acts as only He. Can act. John chapter 2 then, and we're going to read verses 1 through 11. And on the third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited and his disciples to the wedding.
And when the wine gave out, The mother of Jesus said to him, They have. No wine. And Jesus says to her woman, What do I have to do with you, my hour? has not yet Come. His mother said to the servants, Whatever he says to you, Do it.
Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, Fill the water pots with water. And they fill them. Uh to the brim. And he said to them, Draw out some.
and take it to the head waiter and they took it to him. and when the head waiter Tasted the water which had become wine and did not know where it came from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew, the head waiter called the bridegroom and said to him, Every man. serves the good wine first. And when men have drunk freely, then that which is poorer You have kept The good wine. Until now.
This beginning Of his signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested his glory. and his disciples believed. In him. The wedding. The wedding where water turns into wine.
Clearly, there is a crisis at this wedding, verse 3. The mother of Jesus says to him, They have no wine. Wine in the Bible is often a symbol of joy, and at this particular wedding in the rather small town of Cana of Galilee, at this wedding the wine runs out. A celebration is quickly heading for a major crisis. Difficult to celebrate in these circumstances, isn't it?
The dream wedding is about to be shattered. It is very interesting to note But of all of the places where Jesus could have chosen to perform his first sign The first sign which Jesus performs is at a wedding. That tells us a lot, that's very instructive, isn't it? Jesus was not a killjoy. Jesus lived a life of joy.
And he brought his joy, he brought the joy of heaven to earth and to other people. And by his presence at this wedding in Cana of Galilee, Jesus is blessing the wedding and approving of marriage. He is sanctifying and beautifying and purifying the act. of marriage. But of course there is a problem.
Celebration. Is going to end because the the wine has run out. What is the divine?
Solution. You'll see in verse 3 that Mary, the mother of Jesus, explains to her son that they have no wine. And Jesus' response, which may come to us. Rather strangely, may appear to be harsh. It wasn't harsh, it isn't disrespectful.
But he says, Woman, verse 4: What do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come. Jesus is making it clear that He's going to respond not on the mother son relationship. He is in fact distancing himself from His mother. His priority is to do the Father's will.
He has a mission in mind, and ever before Jesus, as he begins, his public ministry is this hour.
Now what is The hour. Turn to chapter seven. If you've got the NIV, it says the time. My time has not yet come. Literally, it is our.
What is this hour? John uses it several times in this Gospel. John seven, verse thirty. They were seeking, therefore, to seize Jesus, and no man laid his hand on him. Because His hour same word his hour had not yet.
Come. Chapter eight. There's two. Yeah. These words he spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no one seized him because his hour.
same word had not yet Come. People tried to arrest him, tried to capture him, indeed tried to kill him at different times in his public ministry, but were unable to do so, says John, because his hour had not yet come. Chapter twelve. Verse twenty three. John 12, 23, Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come.
For the Son of Man to be glorified. When is this hour? When is the Son of Man going to be glorified? Verse 24, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Here we have an indication then that this hour is the hour of his death. Verse 27: Now my soul has become troubled, and what shall I say? Father, Save me from this hour? But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Jesus' purpose in life.
was to come for this particular hour. Chapter thirteen. Verse one.
Now, before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, he's only now literally hours away from the crucifixion.
Now his hour has come that he should depart out of the world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them. to the end. Chapter seventeen Verse one. These things Jesus spake, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, He said, Father.
The hour, same word. The hour has come. Glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee. What is the hour? Clearly, the hour refers to the hour of his death when he's going to be lifted up on the cross.
Jesus comes for this hour to die on the cross for our sins. There is work to do. He has come to do the Father's will. In replying to his mother in John chapter 2, he's reminding his mother that he comes to do the Father's will, but the hour of his death has not yet come. And what does Mary do?
Verse five She instructs the servants to do whatever Jesus says. And he tells them As we read in verses 6 through 9, he tells them to fill six. stone water pots to the brim With water. Do you picture this? and when the water is drawn, from the water pots The water has turned into wine.
I'd love to have been there to see that, wouldn't you? How long does it take? wine to be produced Quite a process, isn't it? From the planting of the vines to the growing of the grapes, to the ripening of the grapes, to the plucking of the grapes. To the fermenting.
of the grape juice and so on. Takes a long Time. But what takes a long time In nature. The creator And John has already told us in John 1, verse 3, that he is the creator, that nothing exists apart from our Lord Jesus Christ. that the creator is at work.
and he simply speeds up the process. In an instant Water. is turned into wine. W Temple says The modest water saw its God. and blushed.
How wonderful. The water Sees its creator. and it blushes. Ordinary water is transformed into extraordinary sparkling wine in an instant. And John tells us that there is abundance Well over one hundred gallons, probably about one hundred and fifty gallons of wine, of the best wine.
That doesn't surprise us. Because our God is a lavish God. When Jesus feeds the five thousand from from two loaves and five fishes, there are twelve baskets left over. God is always lavish in His provision. Our God is not a God of the ordinary, He's not a God of the mediocre, He's not a God who just does things, He does things with excellence, He does things superlatively, He does things abundantly.
He does immeasurably more. than we could ever imagine. This newly married couple is probably very poor like most newly married couples. will be able to serve will be able to sell The leftover wine, this magnificent wine, they're probably going to sell. But joy there must have been at this wedding.
Shattered dreams are transformed. Jesus comes, as He Himself is going to say in John chapter 10, not just to give life, But to give life Abundantly, and he does that. The point: those who invite Jesus into every aspect of their life experience a life of joy. That's the wedding. But secondly, what about the meaning?
What's the meaning of the turning of the water into wine? Verse eleven tells us this beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. The turning of the water into wine wasn't just a miracle, it was a miracle, it was more than a miracle, it was a sign. A sign indicates that there's a special meaning, a spiritual truth, beyond the miracle. Jesus didn't just perform a miracle to help a couple get out of an embarrassing situation.
No, the miracle, John says, is a sign. It's a manifestation of the glory of the Lord. a demonstration of the power and the majesty of Jesus and And it is also a sign. A wonderful sign. To those who knew the Old Testament, like the Jewish people, of the inauguration, of the coming of the Messianic Kingdom.
The Messiah has come. And one of the evidences of the Messiah is that there is abundance of wine. In the Old Testament, the Messianic kingdom, that is the reign of the Messiah, the reign of the king. Is often pictured in terms of wine flowing abundantly. We have that in Isaiah twenty-five, we have that in Amos nine, for example.
In the New Testament, Jesus himself gives an example of this, of the kingdom of God, of the messiahs. Kingdom is portrayed in terms of a banquet, in terms of a wedding feast in Matthew chapter 22. What's the point? in Jesus. The long anticipated, the long promised Messiah.
With all of the Old Testament scriptures pointing to this day, now in Jesus, the Messiah, the King, has come. The evidence, there's an abundance of wine. It's a time of joy. It's a time of celebration. The Messiah.
has come.
So, the sign of the turning of water into wine points to the Messiah replacing Judaism. The new is now replacing the old. The old is not just going to be reformed or improved, it's going to be replaced. The new wine replaces the old wine. The end of chapter two, the new temple, Jesus Himself, is going to replace the old temple.
You don't need an old temple now that Jesus has come. The new birth, chapter three, is going to replace the old birth. The new living water of John chapter four is going to replace the ordinary old water. The new worship, John chapter four, a worship which focuses on the place, which focuses on the mechanics, is now going to be replaced by new worship, Jesus says, worship in spirit and in truth, in the Messiah. The old the old is gone.
The new has come. the king. has arrived in Jesus. the Messiah. It was the beginning.
of the manifestation of The glory. This one in the very midst was not just an ordinary man. Wasn't just a prophet. It was the Lord from heaven, the Messiah himself, and these six stone water pots, verse 6. represent Judaism, represent the old religion.
With the coming of Jesus the Messiah, the old religious institutions and customs and rituals and traditions are being replaced. Judaism had now become like an empty stone pot cold. empty. Lifeless. Mechanical.
destitute. of joy. And where there should have been celebration and joy and fellowship, there was emptiness and coldness and routine ritualism, there was a dead religion. And can I say that religious rit ritualism will never save you. You may have religion.
You may enjoy the rituals of your particular religion, but it will never ever give you lasting joy and it will never ever take you to heaven. It's sad, but it's true, isn't it? When the average person thinks of religion, he or she doesn't think of joy, of celebration, of fullness of life. You think of that which is dry. boring, cold, mechanical, a meaningless ritual.
and meaningless traditions. And some of you have experienced that kind of religion. Isn't it sad? When the Church of Jesus Christ The new temple with Christ in our midst. can become a place of gloom, of contention.
of criticism of negativity No, the changing of the Water into wine symbolizes an end of the old. An end of the lifeless, the emptiness, the dead legalism of religion and ritualism. Jesus, the Messiah, the King, has come. And when you invite this Jesus Into every aspect of your life, you'll experience a life. of joy.
The wedding. the meaning of the turning of water into wine But you say, John, that was 2,000 years ago, and that's very interesting. But I've not been steeped in Judaism. I've not even been steeped in any particular religion. What on earth does this have to do with me?
What is the personal significance of water turning into wine?
Well, it is very, very. significant for you And for me, three things to do. Number one, as we think of the personal significance of this. Sign for you. Number one.
trust Jesus. in every aspect. of life. Will you do that? The disciples who saw the water turning into wine, we read at the end of verse 11, believed in Jesus.
They saw the sign, they saw something of the glory of the Lord revealed in this miracle. And they believed. In Jesus. Will you do that? Will you believe?
In Jesus? Are you trusting in Jesus? Jesus Christ. This was a life-changing experience. I ask you, have you trusted in Jesus Christ?
Have you received the forgiveness of sins and as you have received Christ into your life, into your heart. As the one who died on the cross, as the one who rose again, as the one who is eternally alive, and you have placed your personal trust in him. This is not just going through rituals of becoming a member of a church or going through the ordinances of the church or complying with the regulations of your particular religion. This is a living faith and a living Christ. It is trusting Christ.
Have you done that? Many of you say, well, yes, praise God and His grace. I have trusted in Christ. I can honestly say I am a believer in Jesus Christ. That's wonderful.
Are you experiencing this lasting joy? If not, could it be Because you have not trusted Christ. In every aspect, of your life. This miracle at Cana is a reminder that God The living God still intervenes in our life in unexpected ways and transforms life. Will you trust Jesus in every aspect of life?
Secondly, Obey. Jesus in every aspect of your life. Look at verse five. His mother said to the servants, Whatever he says to you, do it. Wonderful advice.
Whatever he says to you, Do it. She didn't understand all that Jesus was going to do. But she did know Jesus well enough and she trusted Jesus well enough to do the right thing. at the right time. and Jesus was going to perform a miracle.
But did you notice that the servants had to play their part? Verse 7: Jesus said to them, the servants, fill the water pots with water, and they filled them to the Brim. He said, Draw out some and take it to the head waiter. And they did that. They drew it out and they took it to him.
They obeyed. the words of the master. And as they obeyed, the gloom and the disaster of the wedding was transformed.
So here's your question. Are you willing? To obey the Master. Are you willing to obey Jesus. Let me ask you this.
Is there an area of your life where you are not obeying. Jesus. Perhaps you've never been baptized, a command of the Lord. Perhaps there is something that you're doing that you know you shouldn't be doing. And the Word of God and the Spirit of God has clearly revealed this to you.
You're being disobedient. Is there some such area? In your life? This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. and a message he's titled, Transforming Shattered Dreams.
Today's lesson is a great reminder about how to deal with so many of the problems we face in this world. As we navigate difficult situations, we can sometimes be tempted to lean on ourselves or the plans and resources of this world. But as we were reminded today, our strength and provision are found in God alone. To help encourage and equip you to have a God-centered perspective, no matter the circumstances. John has written a wonderful personal guidebook.
Called trusting God in tough times. We'd love to send you a copy, completely free, as our gift to you. To receive a copy of Trusting God in Tough Times, just go to our website. at the verdict.org. Before we close today's program, we invite you to join in what God is doing through these daily biblical messages by supporting us with a financial gift of any amount.
Your generous contributions help bring these gospel messages to your local community and send them to new listeners all around the world.
So partner with us today by going online to theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. were located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you're looking for authentic Bible-based teaching and a community of Christ-centered fellowship, then we encourage you to visit us this coming Sunday. We'd love to welcome you and connect you with our growing community.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? The turning of the water into wine at this wedding was not just something done by Jesus to help these people avoid embarrassment or inconvenience. Rather It was a display of the glory of God. demonstrating that Jesus is no ordinary man. He is the Messiah.
In Jesus, the King has come to earth. And he cares for you. Make sure you have a personal encounter with Jesus so that your life is transformed. and join me next time. as we continue to look at this wedding.
where shattered dreams are transformed. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mm.
