Pushed Into Purpose | John 2:1-11 | Pastor Joshua Thomas, Sr. | Freedom Church ATL

So often, we look at this text and we race to the water turned into wine. We shout because water became wide. But we miss that Mary who thirty years earlier pushed him into this world. Somebody missed that. Thirty years earlier, she sat alone in a bar, pushed him into this world. Now thirty years later, when it was time for him to start showing who he really was, she gives him another push. And this time, she would not have to cradle him in her arms. This time, she could step back and watch him become. [01:21:19] (55 seconds)  #StepBackAndWatch

There have been times I felt down and my mother said, you can do it. And you would have thought somebody put a jet rocket on my back. Not because she had a secret key Not because she was in the same profession and had all of the knowledge of it but simply because she was my mother. Wow. Each of us have, whether it's your mother, whether it's someone else, people assigned to us to push us into our purpose. Yeah. Never know who they might be. [01:17:35] (48 seconds)  #PurposePushers

To run out of wine in a first century Jewish ceremony is a sign of great disrespect. It's something that will stay with the family forever. They'll forever be known as the ones who ran out of wine. Yeah. Ten years from now, they say, you remember that wedding? Twenty years later, when there's a good moment, you say, they're the ones who had the wedding and the liquor ran out. People had to go to the store down on the corner to get something and come back. [00:59:41] (33 seconds)  #EmptyCupLegacy

For others, the week has presented challenges, some obstacles that showed up that you weren't expecting. Some things you thought were solved, Let you know that they weren't quite done yet. But you are still here. I need you to just gently squeeze your neighbor's hand. If you're sharing online, I just want you to squeeze your own hand and just say, I'm still here. Everything that has been thrown at you has failed. Every weapon that's been formed against you has failed to prosper. [00:13:59] (42 seconds)  #ImStillHere

But John did makes the decision to not introduce us to young Mary. He makes a decision to introduce us to veteran Mary. She's been a mother for thirty years. Yeah. She knows a little something because I believe that if you've mothered a child past the age of 10, you know something. Yeah. I need some mothers to say amen. Amen. By this time, she has lived through sleepless nights. Yeah. She's watched as Jesus would not go to sleep. [00:56:51] (30 seconds)  #MotherhoodWisdom

Maybe someone who you just did not think really care. But they were sent from god to push you to become who god wanted you to be. We all have some who are desire sent to us and assigned to us, but we all are also assigned to others. Don't live your life without pushing some others. Don't live your life without saying to them, I see more in you than you see in yourself. And I have enough faith in God that it will come to pass. As believers, as the body of Christ, it's time for us to take some people under our will. [01:18:42] (58 seconds)  #SentToPush

At the time of this text in John chapter two, Jesus is a grown man. He's 30 years old and he has already begun his work of gathering disciples to him. He knows that the time has come for him to impart his wisdom into some others and he's begun selecting young men to travel with him. He's flipped the script. Normally, in Jewish culture, the young men select the rabbi to study But Jesus has come and said, I'm gonna select those who wanna I need with me. [00:55:11] (35 seconds)  #HeChoosesDisciples

In John's gospel, Mary shows up here, but we don't hear from her or see her again until Jesus is at the cross. First thirty years of his life, she was right there. It was her assignment to carry him. But now it was her assignment to push him further that he might become all that god sent him to be. Let's pray god today. We thank you for purpose pushers. We thank you for mothers, for grandmothers, for big sisters, for relatives, for church friends, for community members that pushed us [01:22:14] (48 seconds)  #HonorThePushers