John 14:12- Sermon on Behalf of Haiti Partners

First Baptist Jensen Beach and Haiti Partners

Jensen Beach, FL

February 14, 2010

9:00am

Dr. Tony Campolo

First Baptist Jensen Beach and Haiti Partners

Jensen Beach, FL

February 14, 2010

9:00am

  1. John 14:12- Jesus is about to go to the cross and leave his disciples. The disciples are upset because they thought that Jesus was going to drive the Romans out, establish his kingdom and rule from Mount. Zion. Jesus tells them not to be upset.
  1. There is a difference between Christ being in you (A choice made to accept Him) and Christ being with you (Christ is always with you).
  1. Jesus says that they shall do what he has done, and even greater things than those. (Tony is suspicious of miracle workers who are bald.) Jesus must not be talking about miracles when he says “greater things than this.”
  1. Miracles don’t last. The only lasting miracle was Jesus rising from the dead. (If someone is miraculously healed, eventually, they are going to die anyway.)
  1. Jesus didn’t come into the world to demonstrate his power, but to demonstrate his love.
  1. We are the body of Christ. Romans 8-“The same Spirit that was in Christ Jesus and raised Him from the dead, that same Spirit shall be in your mortal bodies.” It’s about time we start acting like Jesus.
  1. If that same Spirit that was in one is now in many (the 150 sitting in the audience) 150 is greater than 1.
  1. The same Christ that was in Jesus wants to enter into each and every one of us. If you let him, you could be the now body of Christ as Jesus was the then body of Christ
  1. Tony’s story about being in Haiti and the 3 young prostitutes. Tony threw them a Disney party, but nothing has changed, they will still be selling their bodies tomorrow to dirty men, but for one night they were children again.
  1. Mention of Haiti Partners and their ministry
  1. We have made Haiti into a welfare state. We end up doing for the Haitians, what they should be doing for themselves. We have to empower them. We have to help/train the teachers to learn how to read and teach children, rather than taking their teaching jobs away from them.
  1. Tells the story of Tony being in Haiti at a restaurant and the three hungry Haitian boys.
  1. We have been living absurdly. We have everything, huge houses, just to hold stuff and not necessarily people. While these people in Haiti don’t even have food.
  1. Asks for people to donate a dollar a day for Haiti, to train teachers.
  1. Closing Prayer

Tags: John 14:12, miracles, power, love, Romans 8, Haiti, Disney, Haiti Partners, jobs, teachers