This free church bulletin article was written by Brian Humek from Irving, TX. You are free to use this in church bulletins, church emails and on church websites. No credit needs to be given. Simply clicking the book link at the end of this free bulletin article will help more content to be placed on this site. Donate your own free bulletin articles here.
Bible Passage: John 11:1-37
The book of John is filled with signs, not miracles. Same thing? Yeah, but there is more significance to a sign; a sign points to something greater. The signs in the book of John pointed to Jesus, his divine nature, and his ability to save lives. After Jesus’ seventh sign, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, the religious leaders finally understood. This sign cements Jesus’ position as someone they must kill (John 11:53).
A Scottish preacher, Billy Wilson, used the following illustration to make a point about signs. In the movie The Man with Two Brains, Steve Martin’s character went to his dead wife’s picture to ask if she would mind if he married a specific woman. Steve Martin’s character looked at the picture and asked her to give him a sign if she would not approve of the marriage. The painting begins to move, the fireplace below the painting shakes, everything in the room vibrates as if an earthquake has just hit. Unaware of the events (or more likely ignoring them) he continues, “Just give me a sign, any sign!”
We’re a lot like that. A Bible could fall in front of us, our car could break down in front of a certain church five days in a row, a parent or co-worker could invite you to church, your favorite restaurant could be torn down and a church built in its place, you could win round trip tickets to Christchurch, New Zealand, or maybe a minister may move in next door to you. You may never see the signs that may point to something greater like, maybe you should visit church for the first time in years, months, or weeks. Maybe there is indeed a good message for you there. In fact, I know there is a good message there for both you and me.
Why did I write something today about signs? Well, I received another rejection today on one of my picture books. This particular picture book has now received five form rejections without any comments whatsoever. That is not a good sign, but it may be a sign that the story is just not right for the market. If I keep sending that manuscript to publishers and continue getting rejections, I just might be the one needlessly saying to God, “Send me a sign, any sign.”
—> Support our free bulletin articles ministry by purchasing the 5 Star rated Leave it to God on Amazon today.
Related posts:
While it is not a certainty, we've all probably read Romans 8:28. If we just love God, everything will turn out just fine. "Yeah, right!" some of us might say, including me. But if we look a...
We all want to be spirtually stronger, don't we? Don't worry if you haven't prefected Chrsitian spirituality yet; it doesn't happen overnight. In fact, you'll never be perfect at it, but you should be...
Struggles can sometimes make us wish we were dead. They can make us feel like we are prisoners. Struggles can make us blind to the blessing Jesus died to give us. Jesus’ words should be uplifting to u...
Jesus said, “I have overcome the world.” My question today, what has the “world” thrown at you lately? Cancer? A cheating spouse? A job dismissal? A computer that crashes every day? A child that finds...
The older I get, the more I enjoy time moving slow. Sometimes I wish time could stop. Time is a valuable asset in our lives. Rarely do we ever say, “Boy, I just have too much time on my hands.” Often,...
Saturday I read a book about leadership. It was a great read and made me realize we are all lead by something or someone. At the same time, we are all leading/influencing someone else, whether we know...
In Matthew 11:28, Jesus speaks to two different groups of people, those who labor and those who have burdens. Jesus is simply saying that he is here to help. If there is something difficult for us to ...
Husbands or males in general, have a bad reputation. There’s something that we usually do that gives us that reputation. O.k., maybe there’s more than just one thing that gives us that bad reputation,...
