The Miracles of Jesus: The Process for Community Building Through Kingdom Expansion

By Reverend Devin Miller

The Miracles of Jesus: The Process for Community Building through Kingdom Expansion is a blueprint for both community and church leadership to look at as they face timely issues in their own leadership environments.

For community leaders, it will assist you in addressing issues in a more compassionate yet practical way. For church leaders, it will interpret the miracles of Christ from a community perspective, allowing churches to reconnect with communities and become more engaged to expand the kingdom. And for other Christians, The Miracles of Jesus will inform and allow you to see the Gospels and the miracles in the Bible in a whole new way, showing you that the Word of God is just as relevant today as when it was written.

For both community and church leaders alike, The Miracles of Jesus will reveal that the way to expand the kingdom of God is through community building and involvement with the church and with civic and social organizations. This approach will breathe new life into an institution that’s being left behind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Dec 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532063527

Reverend Devin Miller

Reverend Devin Miller lives in Dallas, Texas, where he serves as the founder and lead teacher of Clear Faith Christian Ministries COGIC. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, where he received his bachelor’s degree in business management with an emphasis in marketing; he also graduated from the Grace Theological Seminary and Institute with a master of divinity degree. Rev. Miller is the father of two sons, Dorian and Donovan, and he believes that his calling is to serve and teach God’s people the basic principles of God through Jesus Christ, expanding the kingdom one soul at a time.

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CHAPTER 1

Born of a Virgin

Matthew 1:18–25, Luke 1:26–38

In the New Testament of the Bible, Jesus is described as being the Messiah (Christ) who was promised by the prophets of the Old Testament of the Bible. Jesus is fully God and fully human. God allowed himself to be born as a person, to live among people and to teach people about God’s plan of salvation and to die for our sins. Because Jesus also is human, he is called the Son of God and the Son of Man.

Jesus was born to a woman named Mary about two thousand years ago in the town of Bethlehem, which is near Jerusalem, in the biblical land of Israel. Mary was engaged to a man named Joseph. In Matthew 1:20, Joseph is called a son of David, meaning he is a descendant of King David, who ruled over Israel about three thousand years ago.

Mary was a virgin when she became pregnant with Jesus. The miracle of the virgin birth of Jesus is recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament:

This is how the birth of Jesus, the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law and yet, did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

After he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means God with us).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Application for Community Building

Within each community lies the future and the purpose of that community, and it is housed within the heart and spirit of each child. If we are going to have strong communities, we must have strong children. Unfortunately, within many of our urban communities, this is not the case.

In this miracle, the birth of the Christ child, we see that God was orchestrating the entire process. God chose the vessel that would present the Savior of the world, and he did it in such a way as to respect the customs of that day.

When we are in the process of building community, we must first know what we are dealing with, and once we assess the potential of that community, we must seek out the people who will carry the dream or vision of that community to full term. Not everyone who claims to be for the community is actually for the community. God specifically chose Mary and Joseph because of their history and their future. And in choosing leaders to build our communities, we must do the same.

Mary was pure and undefiled, leaders must be dedicated and devoted to the purpose and promise of any given community.

Mary was obedient. Leaders must be willing to serve as well as be served. In this day and age, with so many so-called leaders pimping our community, we need leaders who are servants first. They must be willing to get dirty with those who they are trying to lead, and they must lead by example. As the story goes—and as we will see in other miracles involving Mary—she was the quiet leader who knew her Son and knew what he was purposed to do. Leaders must be clear on purpose, promise, and process in order to properly build the community.

When we look at Joseph from a community-building perspective, he represents the reluctance and hesitancy of any community when the change that is needed and necessary doesn’t fit the status quo.

Joseph represents the traditional approach to community building, and when doing it the same old way and expecting different results was challenged, he had to be convinced. There are many within our communities who are holding it back because of the fear of change and the fear of losing identity. This is becoming an ever-increasing problem as our leaders of the past are maturing, yet they do not want to let go of the reins of power, influence, and control. The solution to this is found in how God dealt with Joseph. In simple terms, God presented the case based on his position as the Son of David.

Since Joseph was a part of the lineage that Christ had to come through—and because Joseph knew the law—God appeared to him in a dream to get his attention and present it to him away from others who might have influenced his decision.

When we are trying to move a community, we must engage the keepers of that community. They are also known as the elders. Within them is a reservoir of history and knowledge that we dare not forget. In fact, they will create the foundation upon which to build the community. Emerging leaders within any community must find a healthy balance between themselves and the elders. By forging this alliance, the elders will be able to soften some of the blows that may come and assist in guiding the new leaders in ways they may not have thought of.

Joseph, in that short encounter with the angel, understood his role within the life of the new leader, Jesus Christ. He was there to provide the humanity that he was going to need, provide the understanding of a true father-son relationship, and give him the skills that he had, so that he would become a builder of men.

When seasoned leaders team up with young, energetic leaders, there is always going to be a give-and-take within the process. Each entity must know its role within the construct of a healthy, viable community.

Mary and Joseph were given specific assignments in very different ways, according to the purpose that each of them had to fulfill in order to present the true community builder to the world. While we all have a role to play in building our communities, we must be willing to listen, learn, grow, and go in order for the community to flourish. Failure to partner will create a dysfunctional community, and the potential of that community will be lost, starting with the future of that community: the children.

CHAPTER 2

Changing Water into Wine

John 2:1–11

Before Jesus began his public ministry, he attended a wedding in Cana with his mother, Mary, and some of his disciples. During the wedding banquet, Jesus performed a miracle that involved changing water into wine. Cana is in Galilee, which is a region within the biblical land of Israel. It is near Nazareth where Jesus spent much of his childhood.

John, the author of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Bible, indicates that this was the first miracle of Jesus—or at least the first that was witnessed by his disciples.

This was explained in the Gospel of John, which is a part of the New Testament of the Bible:

On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’s mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’s mother said to him, They have no more wine.

Woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My hour has not yet come.

His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you.

Nearby, stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water.

So they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, Now draw some out, and take it to the master of the banquet.

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.

What Jesus did in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

Application to Community Building

Our communities are in desperate need of leadership, and so were the communities in the time of Jesus Christ. And while the community as a whole may not know what it needs in order to grow, there are people within the community who might be able to provide the solution if asked the question.

When we look at this particular miracle, we