Skip to content The First Step to Breakthrough, Part 2 Jan 6 · 30 min ...more
The First Step to Breakthrough, Part 2
January 6, 2026 · 30 min
God wants to do the impossible through you. How does that work? What do you need to do to in order to experience that kind of life changing breakthrough? Chip answers those questions in this message.
Series Experience Breakthrough January 6, 2026 · 30 min · Experience Breakthrough
God wants to do the impossible through you. How does that work? What do you need to do to in order to experience that kind of life changing breakthrough? Chip answers those questions in this message. ...more Show the full description Show less God wants to do the impossible through you. How does that work? What do you need to do to in order to experience that kind of life changing breakthrough? Chip answers those questions in this message.
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Chip Ingram is an American Christian pastor, author, and teacher. He is the founder, teaching pastor and CEO of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and discipleship ministry.
618K followers
Jesus Teaches Breakthrough Through Miracles 0:11 Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.0:14 God wants to do something impossible through you. Not hard, not unlikely, not difficult, but impossible. He wants you to experience a supernatural power in ways that are0:26 literally unimaginable. The question is, how does that work? What do you need to do in order to experience that kind of life changing breakthrough? That's what we'll cover today. Stay with0:38 me.0:40 How did Jesus prepare his disciples for breakthrough? Today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram takes us inside Jesus' ministry training program. Watch how Jesus deliberately teaches his followers to0:52 recognize his goodness, power, and compassion. From healing the sick to feeding thousands, every miracle had a purpose, to show that God isn't just powerful, he's good. It's all part of1:04 our series Experience Breakthrough, learning to stop feeling confined by life's biggest barriers and spiritual futility. If you're ready to see God work in ways you never imagined, this message is1:16 for you. Let's join Chip Ingram with the first step to breakthrough.1:21 How did Jesus are you ready for this? How did Jesus teach his disciples to experience breakthrough? If you're taking notes the first question1:33 was what is breakthrough? The second question was is there a biblical pattern of breakthrough? And I think we've demonstrated that. The third question, how did Jesus1:45 teach the disciples to experience and be agents of breakthrough? It's twofold: repent and believe the good news. Repent. Metanoia. It means with your1:57 mind. Have a change of mind. Think differently about God. Think differently about yourself and start thinking about it the way God thinks about it and believe the good news.2:10 Believe that he loves you, and live out of the freedom and the reality. The gospel is not, What can I do for God? How can I earn his favor? The gospel is, Good news. This is what God has2:21 already done for you. Receive it, believe it, let it fill you up, and then out of thanksgiving and love, express that same kind of love to others. Now with2:33 that said, how did he teach his disciples? He wanted to teach these good Jewish religious boys that he didn't come to change the culture. He came for2:45 people to move out of their stuck religion and the wickedness of the day, And to have a relationship with the living God. And so he announced what it was. And then as2:57 you look at the book of Mark, what I want you to see, his goodness, his goodness, his kindness. So as you pick it up, notice, okay, he's going to announce the good news. Skip down, if you will, to verse3:09 21. Then he went to Capernaum, and the Sabbath came, and Jesus went into the synagogue, and he began to teach. And the people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as 1 who had authority, not as the teachers3:19 of law. And there was a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit. What do you want to do with me? The first thing he does is eradicate evil. So3:31 there's sort of some authentication. Woah, who is this guy? The next thing he does, as you skim, look at verse 29, he goes over to Peter's mother in law's house and she's sick. And people are wondering, Wow,3:43 who is this guy? And he heals her. And then if you skim down a little bit after that, what you find is there's a real buzz here, and he spends almost all night, and the whole town comes out.3:55 He casts out demons and heals, and people are coming from everywhere. And then he gets up real early the next morning to pray, to stay focused, and the disciples say, Jesus, last night you were a super hit.4:06 Everyone's talking about you. This is going to be awesome. Come on back. And he says, no, no, no, no. There's many other villages and places I need to go. So he teaches the disciples it can't be about them, it can't be4:18 about us, it can't be about just now. It's fulfilling what God wants. And so notice then, he he begins a preaching tour. And in chapter 2, what's he do? He heals a paralytic. And then in the4:29 end of 2 and the early part of 3, he calls the disciples, deals with some theological issues. And then chapter 3, notice, he went into a synagogue again, and there was a4:41 man with a shriveled hand. His popularity is mushrooming. And now the Pharisees are jealous. And what's he do? He speaks, doesn't even touch him. He speaks and the man is healed. Afterwards the Pharisees,4:53 religious people, are plotting how to kill him. Then the crowds followed Jesus. Skip down, if you will, verse 9 of chapter 3. It says, Because of the crowds, he told the disciples to have a small boat ready for him to5:04 keep the people from crowding him, for he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. Do you do you under what's the message? It's a new preacher, and you have to say to yourself,5:16 what's he doing? He just keeps healing people and healing people and touching people and touching people that no 1 thinks is worth anything. It's good news. This isn't measuring up. He just keeps loving5:28 people. And if you're 1 of his early Jewish boys disciples, you're going, this is really different. And did you notice it's not about how many services they have or how many buildings they're building. What is it?5:40 It's his power. The world today doesn't need to see more church buildings or more services or our numbers increase for that sake. They need to see the power of God in you5:52 and in me, in our homes, in our work, in our neighborhood, unleashing the power that does good. That's the gospel, and that's what he wants to teach him. Well notice he6:04 appoints the 12 and they come with him. And in chapter 4, he begins to do some teaching, which is always very important. So he teaches them about the kingdom, and then after he6:15 teaches them about the kingdom, he wants them to understand that they are agents to bring breakthrough in the lives of people.6:29 And we don't have time to go into depth, but I encourage you to read it on your own. Chapter 4 he teaches about the kingdom, about trusting God, about the soil. It's responding to God's word. And he talks about6:41 how it grows with the mustard seed and how if we don't respond to the truth that we get, we don't get more truth. And he talks about how it's a supernatural thing that happens and in and of itself it will grow. It's the6:50 power of God's word as the Holy Spirit uses it in the hearts of people that are open and willing. And then he says let's go to the other side because what he wants to do now he has helped them see this is my message7:02 it's good news. But now he wants them to understand this is who I really am and I'm not only good but I'm powerful enough to handle anything that ever comes up7:14 anytime with anyone. And so he says let's go to the other side and these professional fishermen get into an impossible storm. And what's he7:25 do? You know the story? He's at peace. He's asleep. They cry out. He speaks. And what happens? It's a breakthrough.7:38 And they go, who is this guy? And then they go to the other side. And there's not just a guy with demons. If you if you read it later today, very carefully, it's a demoniac that has7:50 a legion of demons in him, and no 1, in other words, it's impossible, no 1 can control this guy. So, anybody have demons in your life? I don't mean necessarily literal ones,8:01 but, I mean, we talk about, you know, the demons from our past, our family of origin, my addiction. And there may be some literal ones. And what's he do? He8:13 speaks, and he's healed. And he wants them to know that it really happened. So the demons get into pigs, so visually you can see this is reality. And then they go back across, and as he's going, he hears8:25 there's a little girl that's very, very sick. And as he's walking, there's a woman who's in an impossible situation. I mean, the author makes it very clear. She's used up all her money. She's sought all the doctors she8:36 can find. Nothing works. But she believes there's goodness in this man. She's heard. She's seen. If I could just touch him. And she does. The goodness of God is so great8:48 that Jesus, unaware when someone draws near to the goodness of God by faith, supernatural things happen. She's healed on the spot. And did you notice what he said to her? Daughter, your what made you9:00 well? Your faith. But she got to the point that George Muller talked about. I'm I'm bankrupt. There's nothing I can do. If this Jesus can't help me, if I don't get a breakthrough, there's no hope.9:13 And then he's on the way to help the little girl. The servants come. It's too late. Don't bother him. She's dead. And this might be worth putting your nose in. Mark chapter9:25 5. Ignoring verse 36, what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, Don't be afraid. Just9:37 believe. Are you are you starting to get the gospel? It's a declaration. It's an announcement. How is he teaching these disciples?9:49 What what's he doing? He's demonstrating the goodness and the love of God. And then if you would care to skip over to chapter 6, the beginning, because10:01 hearing about it and watching it never makes it real in your life. So chapter 6, he says, Boys, I'm going to send you on an expedition, but I want you to depend on me, and I want you to experience what you've seen. So no10:12 cloaks, no second bags, no money, no walking sticks. I want you to go to these villages. I'm on a preaching tour, and I want you to heal the sick. I want you to cast out demons, and I want you to announce the kingdom.10:22 And they go do it, and God works through them. Woah. And they come back to him, and they're exhausted, and they're excited. They're now agents of breakthrough. Lord, the demons, they listened to us. People were10:34 healed. He says, Well, let's go get a break. And they go to get a break, and as they arrive, oh my lands. He makes Mick Jagger and every rock star in the entire world seem10:46 like nothing because the crowds swell and swell and swell and swell and swell. He has compassion on them. And so in chapter 6, here's don't don't miss this. In chapter 6,10:58 the disciples, after he teaches them, by this time, verse 35, it was light in the day. The disciples came to him in this remote place. He said, it's already very late. Send the people away so they11:10 can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy for themselves something to eat. Notice Jesus' response. But he answered them, you give them11:21 something to eat.11:24 You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We'll hear more from Chip in just a moment. If you've missed any part of this message or if you'd like to share it with a friend, you can find it anytime online11:35 at living on the edge dot org. And while you're there, you'll also discover a full library of Chip's teaching series, small group resources, and practical tools to help you grow in your faith.Empowering Disciples for Impossible Tasks 11:47 It's all waiting for you at living on the edge dot org. Now let's get back to today's message.11:54 Now I don't know about you, but I've, you know, they've seen some miracles. God's used them to perform some miracles. There's been some breakthroughs. There's 5000. And the way they counted in those days were 5000 men.12:03 Who knows how many people? Okay. Listen very carefully. This is what we lost. Jesus expects you to do impossible things.12:16 Period. God expects to do impossible things in you and through you. And if you go on and read the story, you will say, well, how does it happen? What's he do? He said, well, what12:28 do you got? I'm not asking you to do something with what you don't have. What do you got? Bring it to me. Trust me. And when you understand by faith how good I12:40 am and you're willing to obey what I've already said, I will show up in ways that declare and reveal my glory and my goodness to people that12:52 have no idea that I love them. That's what breakthrough is about. Now, when I read things like that, I get very encouraged. But I also begin13:04 to ask questions like, number 4, is there a historical precedent that breakthrough can happen in our day? Right? In other words, this is great, this is great stuff. It's13:16 Bible stuff. But does God still do that? And I would say if we could do a quick run of church history, of which we won't, what I'd say is you would see that13:28 the book of Acts is a picture of breakthrough, and there'll be many things that we'll learn about what these very ordinary people did. Where God, through a clear vision13:40 of people who believed what he said, who were very ordinary, transformed by about the next 300 years the entire world. And during that time you'll find guys like Athanasius13:52 who stood his ground, when all of Christianity was moving in a way apart from the truth. And there was a breakthrough. And you'll see times where then corruption happens in the church,14:04 and they get connected in this Holy Roman Empire. And everything that Jesus said, and all that he taught and who we're to be little by little by little would begin to just be so far away from what14:16 was happening in the life of the church. And so he would raise up a Saint Francis over here and a group of monks over here and a Teresa Avia here and and then a a John Huss,14:28 a Czech priest, who said, Wait a second. And it's the Bible. And then a Luther, a Calvin, and a Zwingli, and a Reformation would be birthed. And they did14:40 it imperfectly, and they did some wonderful things, and then they did some really terrible things in the midst of it, because God doesn't use perfect people who have it all together to do breakthroughs. They have blind14:50 spots. And then after that reformation you have people like Tyndale who said, You know something? We've got this printing press. I'm going to start making Bibles in English that people can get. And Huss made a15:02 copy. You know breakthroughs are expensive, really expensive. They burned Huss at the stake as a heretic. Probably the greatest breakthrough that15:14 happened in the last 500 years was Martin Luther. And I, in my journey here, was led very clearly by God to study Martin Luther, because the parallels of15:25 what was happening in 15 12 through about 15 60 are very akin to what's happening in our world today. Here's the historical context.15:37 The Holy Roman Empire is now in cahoots with the church. There's corruption. No Bible for the common people. The only person who could interpret the Scripture was the15:49 pope. Only priests had access to God. The church and the church laws was the authority, not the Bible. People were paying at this point for their salvation in indulgences, trying to pay their way16:01 out of hell into heaven. And there was ignorance, poverty, a functional caste system with the nobles, hierarchy of the church, and, most of the world, illiterate peasants, called the Dark Ages. After Huss16:13 blazed the trail, literally, no pun intended, Martin Luther shows up. He had a tortured childhood, very strict, strict parents. That's16:25 putting it mildly. He had a conscience that he could never get right. And he found himself longing to please God. And he did get a good education, but in the middle of his education in law school he16:37 had this horrendous experience, some sort of lightning or thunderstorm, along with the loss of a friend. And he promised God, he prayed, according to church history, he prayed to Saint Anne, If you get me out of this,16:47 I'll be a monk. And he lived, and so he went to be a monk. Wittenberg. He got his doctorate, his master's, then his, became a teacher at16:59 Wittenberg. And he had no peace in his soul. I mean, it was a complete works orientation. The justice of God, the justice of God, what God demands, said Luther, in his own words, made17:11 me hate God. I hated God. And he was like obsessive, compulsive, over the top. I'll do whatever it takes. He fasted. He did all kind of weird things to himself. He went on pilgrimages.17:23 He prayed for long periods. I mean, he just anything that can earn God's favor. And he would always come back realizing his own heart, his own motives, and he just hated God. And so his supervisor said, You're a monk.17:34 It's hard to be a monk and hate God. I mean, it's not a good job. And so, his supervisor had him do his doctoral work in the original languages where he taught the Psalms,17:46 Romans and Galatians. And after teaching those courses for about 3 years, on a certain day at a certain time, for the first time ever he read what the Bible said, not the indoctrination of the heresy that he17:58 heard, that the just shall live by faith. Therefore we have peace with God since we've been justified by faith. And the lights came on and Luther had a, what he described as an evangelical18:10 awakening, and he thought it was no big deal. What he realized was, I've just rescued the authentic gospel. And he began to teach it, and things started happening in Wittenberg. Literally, the first was 9718:22 Theses, not 95. And people were excited, and there was a movement, And there was conflict with the Holy Roman Empire. And God, in his sovereignty, had this king, Frederick, who really liked Luther, and so the Pope didn't18:33 want to mess with him. And then he did the 95 theses later, and I mean, all blank broke loose. And 1 man stood very imperfectly.18:45 And because of that, the Reformation. And here's what happened to you because of that breakthrough. All individuals, you, normal people, can have a personal relationship with Christ. Salvation is by faith. Salvation18:57 is a gift of God's grace. You are a priest. You can talk to him directly, and God wants to use you. Marriage was elevated. Peace and assurance, a joyful life, not living under the19:09 thumb of this angry God. Scripture is the authority of your life. No teacher, no church, no organization. The Word of God is your authority. The equality of men and the basis of democracy19:22 are all rooted in even peasants matter to God. You know what the message was? God is good. God is good. God is loving. God is great. God19:34 wants to bless people. He doesn't think any more of kings than he does of peasants. Germany went through this tumultuous time, and the king hid Luther, and he translated the Bible into19:45 German for the common people. And despite his horrendous views of Jews and some of his anti Semitic, they were terrible early on. And then as he grew in Christ, he moderated them. And then near the end of his life, he19:57 got frustrated. He said some terrible things. I mean, he was a very blunt You would read some of his stuff and go, Are you kidding? And the only thing I can tell you is, it's encouraging to me.20:10 Because I don't know if the Lord will come back, or maybe there'll be another 50 years. But if I'm dead 50 years from now, I'm sure there's going to be some people that'll listen to or read a sermon20:22 and say, you know, how could Ingram be just I mean, he seemed like he was really on about this, but he was so off. I mean, that Cause we are a product of our culture and environment, but we don't know it. And God20:34 can use ordinary people where you are in your life now. So, the first question is, so what what is this idea ofHistorical Precedents of Divine Breakthrough 20:46 breakthrough? Is is there a pattern in scripture? Yes. How did Jesus teach his disciples? Is there historical precedent? And I mean, it's happening through history and after Luther it goes on. And20:58 I mean, we could talk about then the next generation of them, and what Carey did, and then Wesley and Whitfield and Edwards and America, and then the next generation of Moody and Spurgeon, and then the end of the21:07 century, Amy McPherson at the turn of the century, and Billy Sunday, and then all of a sudden a war, and Dawson Trotman, and Billy Graham, and Bill Graham and Bill Bright. Regular, ordinary people like you21:20 and me, whom God becomes so real and so good, they live out of what he's already done for them, and they believe it to the point21:32 that they begin to look at other people as objects of God's love and mercy, and they begin to treat and think and act that way, and live with a joy because they don't have to measure up.21:43 You already measure up. That's the gospel. Final question. Maybe the most important 1. How do you experience21:55 the first step of breakthrough? And I'm gonna tell you it is so easy to say and so hard to experience. Are you ready? It's to believe that God is good.22:08 Not intellectually, I mean believe. It's to believe that he is willing. It's to embrace that God wants to do not something hard22:20 or difficult, but the impossible in you and through you. It's his will. If you were 1 of his disciples, he would turn to you, he would look you right in the eye and say, You feed him. And you go,22:31 What? You reach your neighborhood. What? You be the breakthrough at work. What? You take the first step in the reconciliation of this minute of marriage. What? You break that addiction and bring22:43 other people with you. What? It's what he expects and all the power is available to do it. How? I don't want you to intellectually think,22:55 oh yeah, when I was there it seemed like God really loved me and he cares about me and I'm valued and I'm forgiven and his spirit lives in me and I have gifts and he's got a plan for my life. Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, and23:04 then Monday morning. I want you to read this over, and I want you to put your name in it. Because I want you not to memorize this or say, God will love me more if I get this23:16 down. This passage was not written just to read at funerals. This is 1 of the most graphic pictures of God's goodness in all the Bible.23:28 And when you personalize it I mean just in preparing for this, I just read, the Lord is Chip's shepherd. Chip lacks nothing. He makes Chip lie down in green pastures. He leaves23:40 Chip beside quiet waters. Wow. He refreshes Chip's soul. He guides Chip along the right paths for his name's sake. Even though Chip walks through the darkest valley, Chip will23:52 fear no evil, for you are with Chip. Your rod and your staff, they comfort Chip. You prepare a table for Chip in the presence of Chip's enemies. You anoint Chip's head with oil.24:04 Chip's cup will overflow. Surely, goodness and love will follow Chip. Not somebody, somewhere, sometime, me. All the days of Chip's life and Chip, talk about promise,24:16 will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I want you this week to write your name in there and I want you just to read it over. And by24:28 the way, as you're reading, if you find just if you slip into start praising God, it's okay. If problems about, oh, I mean God would really give me direction or help me get through this and you start thinking and24:39 thoughts come to your mind that solve problems, that's okay. If you renew your mind, next 7 days, okay? At least a couple times a week, your intellectual ascent24:51 that God is good will move from your head into your heart, and you will begin to see differently. And you will begin the first step for breakthrough.25:06 This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Did you catch what Chip just taught us? Jesus didn't just perform miracles to show off his power. He was teaching his disciples and us that God is good,25:18 and he wants to work through us. Chip will be back with 1 more thought, so please stay with us. As we continue the series on breakthrough, we wanna make sure you have tools to help you dig deeper. That's why we're25:29 offering Chip's free 10 day devotional called Psalms of Hope. This isn't your typical devotional. Here's the format. Each day, Chip gives you 10 minutes of focused teaching on Psalm 1, PsalmBelieving in God's Goodness for Personal Breakthrough 25:41 15, or Psalm 23. Then you take 10 minutes alone with God to meditate, pray, and let his word sink deep into your soul. Just 20 minutes a day for 10 days. You'll discover how25:53 these Psalms address the very issues we're talking about in this series. How to find strength when life feels impossible. How to stay close to God when everything's falling apart. And how to experience his26:04 presence even in dark valleys. Whether you're dealing with disappointment, fear, or just need a fresh encounter with God's goodness, Psalms of Hope will meet you exactly where you are. It's completely26:16 free at livingonthedge dot org. Just search for Psalms of Hope and start your journey today. Here's what makes all this possible, faithful friends who invest in this teaching ministry.26:28 Your financial support allows us to keep creating resources and delivering biblical truth every single day. Now if this ministry is making a difference in your life, please consider giving today. Visit26:40 living on the edge dot org to give or write to Living on the Edge, PO Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia 3 0 0 2 4. You can also call triple26:52 8 3 3 3 6 0 0 3. And don't forget, the Living on the Edge podcast brings you every message on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen. Subscribe27:04 today and share it with someone who needs to hear this. Well, now here's Chip with a final thought.27:09 As we close today's program and you think about the breakthrough, I mean, the impossible thing. And right now, you may not really be able to believe that it27:21 could happen, but I want you to know that god is good, that he is your shepherd, that he is for you, that, as the text says in Psalm 23, his goodness is27:32 literally running after you. It's pursuing you. It's amazing to think about that the God of the universe, all powerful, that he knows everything about27:44 you and cares about you, and he wants to do good things, better things, even that you could think or imagine. And so I have a little exercise that will27:56 help you begin to, little by little, start to get that from an intellectual concept to something in your life and heart that you could really believe. And so what I want you to do is get Psalm28:08 23 out right in front of you, and then I want you to rewrite it. And I want you to rewrite it where you put your name wherever there is a personal pronoun. And it'll feel a28:20 little funny at first. You know? In other words, the lord is Chip's shepherd. He's going to lead Chip in paths of righteousness.28:33 He restores Chip's soul. I mean, that's how I've done it. And as you go through that sort of meditatively, you'll thank God. And, you know, 4 or 5 minutes just before you go to bed pondering28:45 that, and now you've planted that in your subconscious, and the Holy Spirit is gonna begin to help you conceive and believe that you are precious and valuable and28:57 protected, and God loves you. In fact, there's, 1 verse that summarizes Psalm 23 very well in the New Living Translation. It's Psalm 86 5,29:09 and I love the way he puts it. It says, oh, lord, you are so good, so kind, so ready to forgive to everyone who calls upon your name. I just love29:20 that. So good, so kind, so ready to forgive. And here's the condition to all of those who call upon your name. Could you believe today that the beginning of breakthrough is29:32 believing that God is good and he wants to be good to you?29:36 Ready to make room for God's breakthrough in your life? I'm Dave Druey inviting you to hear what that looks like tomorrow on Living on the Edge. Today's29:48 program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.In this video 0:00 Jesus Teaches Breakthrough Through Miracles11:38 Empowering Disciples for Impossible Tasks20:40 Historical Precedents of Divine Breakthrough25:33 Believing in God's Goodness for Personal Breakthrough
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