We’ve all had different reactions to our sermons, but my friend’s takes the cake. While he was preaching one Sunday, an older woman gave out a loud groan and died. An ambulance was immediately called as a top notch doctor in the congregation started to check in on her. Unsure of what to do, my friend walked on stage and proclaimed that her life would return to her in the name of Jesus. Eventually the ambulance arrived and took her away dead.
But then, around lunch time, he got a call from the woman asking for a ride home because the hospital had cleared her to leave. When the doctor who had observed the scene heard about this, he was angry with the hospital and asked her to come in so he could figure out what was actually wrong. But he, too, had to clear her.
One night, the Apostle Paul preached well past midnight, illuminated by the light of lamps. A young man drifted off to sleep while he preached on and on and fell off a third story floor to his death. But following in the footsteps of Jesus who raised several people from the dead during his ministry, Paul proclaimed this young man alive, and so he was.
As Christians, we never know what kind of things can happen in the name of Jesus—and that’s exactly why I make a habit of asking God for the impossible, whether I always see him answer or not. With Jesus as our King, our stories don’t always end the way other’s do. Under his reign, even death itself can be a temporary moment in someone’s story.
*This devotional was created out of the themes of Acts 20:1-16 found in today’s reading at CommonPrayer.net.
Jamin Bradley 
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