Lift Up Your Eyes (Part 2)

Pastor Rocklyn Clarke - Sunday July 4, 2010

© 2010 Life Church Ministries, Inc.

http://www.LifeChurchBoston.org/

Notes Introduction Bible Reading 6/27 - 7/3: OT Timeline: OT Contemporary Books: Review Take another look at Jesus! Preparation - Luke 24:13-32 Select the Passage - Luke 24:13-32 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?” “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Study the Passage NIV Hebrew Study Bible KJV The Message NASB RSV Discover the Exegetical Idea The disciples were slow to accept Jesus' resurrection. Analyze the Exegetical Idea Explain It: What does this mean? Two disciples are leaving Jerusalem in despair over Jesus' death. They didn't expect Jesus to rise from the dead. They failed to take seriously the words of the prophets. They failed to take seriously Jesus' prediction of his resurrection. They failed to believe the testimony of their brothers and sisters. The Jews had various ideas about the messiah: Some expected a political ruler (a king). Some expected a religious leader (prophet or priest). Some expected two messiahs. Prove It: Is it True? Do I believe it? Yes - It's what people often do. They "signed on" to their favorite parts of what Jesus said. They failed to seriously engage all of what he said. They needed to look at the circumstances with fresh eyes. Yes I was told about Jesus but failed to take him seriously. I didn't take the time to really confront the story. I wanted to be in charge of my own life. Apply It: What difference does it make? So What? We're foolish when we ignore the good news. Even followers of Jesus "slept on" the resurrection. You could miss the good news yourself! If you miss the good news about Jesus, you miss life! Some people come to church for "good luck" so they can still be in charge of their own lives. Formulate the Homiletical Idea: Take another look at Jesus! Determine the Purpose of the Sermon (what listeners should do) Take the gospel story seriously. Let the gospel transform your thinking - your world view. Follow Jesus. Decide How to Accomplish This Purpose Outline the Sermon Standing Issues From a word Bishop gave me: Make sure people do something with God's message. Make it plain: Use accessible language. Use modern day parables based on every day occurrences: Sitting at a stop light Driving through a green light Approaching a yellow light Being cut off in traffic Going shopping Going to a mall Going to school; sitting in class Going to work; sitting in your office; Keep it simple. Use illustrations of truth out of my own experience. Impart faith to obey the Word and receive God's promises. Introduction Communion has been postponed to next Sunday (4/11) Welcome Cards - “I want to call your attention to the Welcome Card that you were given on your way into the auditorium” These cards do two things for us: They help us get to know our new visitors better. They also give anyone (visitors or members) a chance to express a need or to give us feedback. By filling it out you will help us to better serve you. We're going to provide time for you to complete the cards at the end of our service, but we encourage you to start filling them out now. Please use this card: • if you’re a first time visitor or if you’ve never filled one out before, • to tell us about a decision you made today, • to ask us for more information, or to give us feedback. Please include your contact information unless we already have it. At the end of service we’ll ask you to complete the card and then place it in the designated box or give it to someone from our staff on your way out. Easter Sunday For Jews, the day begins with evening (e.g. "there was evening and there was morning - the first day" - Gen 1:5) Maundy Thursday - Passover begins after sundown Good Friday - Passover culminates with the crucifixion Saturday - Sabbath (till sundown) Easter Sunday - resurrection Easter Name possibly derived from German Eostre-monath Easter Bunny Tradition began in the 1600s Brought to U.S. by German immigrants. The Empty Tomb - Luke 24:1-12 (Read Together) Transition If it had been me I would have appeared to everyone. "How ya like me now?" Read the Passage - Luke 24:13-32 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?” “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Homiletical Idea: Take another look at Jesus! Exegetical Idea: The disciples were slow to accept the resurrection. What does this mean? Two disciples are leaving Jerusalem in despair over Jesus' death. They didn't expect Jesus to rise from the dead. They failed to take seriously the words of the prophets. They failed to take seriously Jesus' prediction of his resurrection. They failed to believe the testimony of their brothers and sisters. The Jews had various ideas about the messiah: Some expected a political ruler (a king). Some expected a religious leader (prophet or priest). Some expected two messiahs. Is it True? Do I believe it? Yes - It's what people often do. They "signed on" to their favorite parts of what Jesus said. They failed to seriously engage all of what he said. They needed to look at the circumstances with fresh eyes. Yes I was told about Jesus but failed to take him seriously. I didn't take the time to really confront the story. I wanted to be in charge of my own life. What difference does it make? So What? We're foolish when we ignore the good news. Even followers of Jesus "slept on" the resurrection. You could miss the good news yourself! If you miss the good news about Jesus, you miss life! Some people come to church for "good luck" so they can still be in charge of their own lives. Homiletical Idea: Take another look at Jesus! Purpose of the Sermon (what listeners should do) Take another look at Jesus: Engage the message. Join the party. Take another look at Jesus: Let the gospel transform your thinking - your world view. Your world view affects how you interpret evidence. What you think you know about Jesus affects how you hear his story. I had to take another look at church and pastors. Take another look at Jesus' death. Jesus predicted his own death - Luke 18:31-34 This was a "downer". Some people would rather "keep the party going" than take time to deal with a sobering issue. His death would fulfill the scriptures - Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 (written hundreds of years before Jesus). Take another look at Jesus' burial. He was buried in a tomb. He was wrapped in a burial cloth The Jews used strips of linen to secure the hands, feet, and jaw. Take another look at Jesus' resurrection. The tomb was empty. The strips of linen were neatly folded. A friend wouldn't do this. An enemy wouldn't do this. Angels announced the resurrection. The disciples still didn't believe. Engage the message. You can choose what you do with what you hear and see. Some messages you shrug off. Some message you wrestle with. Jesus wants to help you "get it". He came to them as they were "getting out of Dodge". - Luke 24:15 God will send people/messengers your way. Be sure to receive them. Talk about it. They responded to Jesus' question "what are you discussing . . .". Let God's messenger affect your plans. They invited Jesus in. Jesus is revealed in the breaking of bread. Blessing of bread Blessed art Thou, LORD our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. Bread is symbolic of Jesus' body broken for us. God sends messengers who give of themselves. Transition - Once you see Jesus you have a choice to make. Join the party Read the Passage - Luke 24:33-53 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. The two men returned to the disciples in Jerusalem. If you want more of Jesus you have to connect with his other followers. Jesus reveals himself more fully where his people gather together. The early believers devoted themselves to fellowship - Acts 2:42-47. Transition - We're getting ready to conclude Conclusion Have you taken another look at Jesus? Are you engaging the message? God saves us by his grace - Four Life Principles: God exists. God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. A relationship with God must be on his terms. God's terms are: follow Jesus! Are you ready to join the party? Who will you connect with? We invite you to hang with us as we learn about Jesus together. Lift Up Your Eyes (Part 1) Preparation - John 4:1-42 Select the Passage - John 4:1-42 Study the Passage NIV Hebrew Study Bible KJV The Message NASB RSV Discover the Exegetical Idea Follow Jesus in the harvest! Analyze the Exegetical Idea Explain It: What does this mean? Jesus is actively committed to harvesting people for the Kingdom. He expects his disciples to follow him in this. Lift up your eyes. Greek epairo (epairo) - Look at your immediate surroundings. John 6:1-15 - Jesus lifted up his eyes and saw the crowds. Prove It: Is it True? Do I believe it? Jesus travelled through Samaria despite the cultural taboo. Jesus spoke with a Samaritan women despite the cultural taboo. Jesus used his encounter at the well to teach his disciples. Apply It: What difference does it make? So What? Doing the Father's will and finishing his work will sustain us just as physical food sustains our physical bodies. If we don't follow Jesus in the harvest we aren't his disciples. Formulate the Homiletical Idea: Lift up your eyes and look at the fields! Determine the Purpose of the Sermon (what listeners should do) Lift up your eyes. See the fields. Start harvesting. Decide How to Accomplish This Purpose Outline the Sermon Standing Issues From a word Bishop gave me: Make sure people do something with God's message. Make it plain: Use accessible language. Use modern day parables based on every day occurrences: Sitting at a stop light Driving through a green light Approaching a yellow light Being cut off in traffic Going shopping Going to a mall Going to school; sitting in class Going to work; sitting in your office; Keep it simple. Use illustrations of truth out of my own experience. Impart faith to obey the Word and receive God's promises. Introduction Welcome Cards - “I want to call your attention to the Welcome Card that you were given on your way into the auditorium” These cards do two things for us: They help us get to know our new visitors better. They also give anyone (visitors or members) a chance to express a need or to give us feedback. By filling it out you will help us to better serve you. We're going to provide time for you to complete the cards at the end of our service, but we encourage you to start filling them out now. Please use this card: • if you’re a first time visitor or if you’ve never filled one out before, • to tell us about a decision you made today, • to ask us for more information, or to give us feedback. Please include your contact information unless we already have it. At the end of service we’ll ask you to complete the card and then place it in the designated box or give it to someone from our staff on your way out. Transition - "I have brought you glory on earth . . . - John 17:1-5 Read the Passage - John 4:1-42 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” Homiletical Idea: Lift Up Your Eyes! Exegetical Idea: Follow Jesus in the harvest! What does this mean? Jesus is actively committed to harvesting people for the Kingdom. He expects his disciples to follow him in this. Lift up your eyes. Greek epairo (epairo) - Look at your immediate surroundings. John 6:1-15 - Jesus lifted up his eyes and saw the crowds. Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. Is it True? Do I believe it? Jesus travelled through Samaria despite the cultural taboo. Jesus spoke with a Samaritan women despite the cultural taboo. Jesus used his encounter at the well to teach his disciples. What difference does it make? So What? Doing the Father's will and finishing his work will sustain us just as physical food sustains our physical bodies. If we don't follow Jesus in the harvest we aren't his disciples. Homiletical Idea: Lift Up Your Eyes! Purpose of the Sermon (what listeners should do) Walk outside your comfort zone. Lift up your eyes. See the fields. Start harvesting. Walk outside your comfort zone. How did you get here? Have you had a recent change in plans (like Jesus leaving Judea)? Are you tired and taking a rest? Lift up your eyes Take a break from focusing on yourself. Take a break from waiting for what's familiar. Look at your immediate surroundings. See the fields Who's in your vicinity? Someone outside your comfort zone? Someone in an unfamiliar situation? Be willing to be vulnerable. Take a rest outside your comfort zone. Ask for help. Ask a question. Start harvesting To be continued! Conclusion Jesus changed his plans to avoid the perception of competition. Jesus chose to travel through Samaria. Jesus took a rest when he was tired. Jesus asked for help. Jesus used confusion as an opportunity to generate curiosity. New Material Preparation Expository Preaching Expository preaching is the communication of a biblical concept, derived from and transmitted through a historical, grammatical, and literary study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit first applies to the personality and experience of the preacher, then through the preacher, applies to the hearers. Select the Passage Study the Passage NIV Hebrew Study Bible KJV The Message NASB RSV Discover the Exegetical Idea Subject Tools: How, Who, What, When, Where, Why Complement Analyze the Exegetical Idea Explain It: What does this mean? Prove It: Is it True? Do I believe it? Apply It: What difference does it make? So What? Formulate the Homiletical Idea Determine the Purpose of the Sermon Decide How to Accomplish This Purpose Make it plain Use accessible language and modern parables. Make sure people do something with God's message. Keep it simple. Use illustrations of truth out of my own experience. Impart faith to obey the Word and receive God's promises. Outline the Sermon Lift Up Your Eyes (Part 2) Preparation - John 4:1-42 Select the Passage - John 4:1-42 Study the Passage NIV Hebrew Study Bible KJV The Message NASB RSV Discover the Exegetical Idea Follow Jesus in the harvest! Analyze the Exegetical Idea Explain It: What does this mean? Jesus is actively committed to harvesting people for the Kingdom. He expects his disciples to follow him in this. Lift up your eyes. Greek epairo (epairo) - Look at your immediate surroundings. John 6:1-15 - Jesus lifted up his eyes and saw the crowds. Prove It: Is it True? Do I believe it? Jesus travelled through Samaria despite the cultural taboo. Jesus spoke with a Samaritan women despite the cultural taboo. Jesus used his encounter at the well to teach his disciples. Apply It: What difference does it make? So What? Doing the Father's will and finishing his work will sustain us just as physical food sustains our physical bodies. If we don't follow Jesus in the harvest we aren't his disciples. Formulate the Homiletical Idea: Lift up your eyes and look at the fields! Determine the Purpose of the Sermon (what listeners should do) Lift up your eyes. See the fields. Start harvesting. Decide How to Accomplish This Purpose Outline the Sermon Standing Issues From a word Bishop gave me: Make sure people do something with God's message. Make it plain: Use accessible language. Use modern day parables based on every day occurrences: Sitting at a stop light Driving through a green light Approaching a yellow light Being cut off in traffic Going shopping Going to a mall Going to school; sitting in class Going to work; sitting in your office; Keep it simple. Use illustrations of truth out of my own experience. Impart faith to obey the Word and receive God's promises. Introduction Welcome Cards - “I want to call your attention to the Welcome Card that you were given on your way into the auditorium” These cards do two things for us: They help us get to know our new visitors better. They also give anyone (visitors or members) a chance to express a need or to give us feedback. By filling it out you will help us to better serve you. We're going to provide time for you to complete the cards at the end of our service, but we encourage you to start filling them out now. Please use this card: • if you’re a first time visitor or if you’ve never filled one out before, • to tell us about a decision you made today, • to ask us for more information, or to give us feedback. Please include your contact information unless we already have it. At the end of service we’ll ask you to complete the card and then place it in the designated box or give it to someone from our staff on your way out. Transition - "I have brought you glory on earth . . . - John 17:1-5 Read the Passage - John 4:1-42 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” Homiletical Idea: Lift Up Your Eyes! Exegetical Idea: Follow Jesus in the harvest! What does this mean? Jesus rested when he needed it - Mark 6:30-44 Jesus is actively committed to harvesting people for the Kingdom. He expects his disciples to follow him in this. Lift up your eyes. Greek epairo (epairo) - Look at your immediate surroundings. John 6:1-15 - Jesus lifted up his eyes and saw the crowds. Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. Is it True? Do I believe it? Jesus travelled through Samaria despite the cultural taboo. Jesus spoke with a Samaritan women despite the cultural taboo. Jesus used his encounter at the well to teach his disciples. What difference does it make? So What? Doing the Father's will and finishing his work will sustain us just as physical food sustains our physical bodies. If we don't follow Jesus in the harvest we aren't his disciples. Homiletical Idea: Lift Up Your Eyes! Purpose of the Sermon (what listeners should do) Walk outside your comfort zone. Lift up your eyes and see the fields Start harvesting. Walk outside your comfort zone. How did you get here? Have you had a recent change in plans (like Jesus leaving Judea)? Are you tired and taking a rest? Lift up your eyes and see the fields Take a break from focusing on yourself. Take a break from waiting for what's familiar. Look at your immediate surroundings. Who's in your vicinity? Someone outside your comfort zone? Someone in an unfamiliar situation? Illustration - My encounter with Al during the neighborhood walk. I had three potential parties to engage with: The church people I came with. (they already knew Jesus) The restaurant owners. (language barrier) Al I had to choose. I chose Al. I wasn't sure initially where he was at. He had questions and wasn't afraid to ask them. Illustration - Our neighbor's wedding We left a previous wedding reception full of believers we knew. We had many tables to choose from. Our other neighbor's table was full. Eva asked if I wanted to sit with our neighbor's adult son. I deepened my relationship with him. Illustration - "The Love Nest" at Lorenz Island Kuisine While picking up a food order I noticed a flyer. "The Love Nest": Upcoming singles hookup event. "Love Productions Presents" "No one is perfect but there is a perfect someone for everyone!" "Only singles allowed! Perpetrators will be escorted out!" "Prepare to come and meet your soulmate . . ." "Are you ready to meet your TRUE LOVE?? Come to a place where everyone in the room is looking for the same thing - a relationship" I'm working on some relationship material (postcard form + web site). I see this as a harvest opportunity. Start harvesting Be willing to be vulnerable. Take a rest outside your comfort zone. Ask for help. Ask a question: What's your name? What do you do? How long have you been doing it? Do you enjoy what you do? Can you help me with . . .? Partner with a harvester. Discipleship and mentoring. Submit. Illustration: Me hanging out with Bishop. I listened prayerfully while he shared with strangers. Hang out with a connector. This often means attending their events. Connectors create environments with many opportunities. Don't go to places that will tempt you to do the wrong thing. Don't be afraid of being uncomfortable. Illustration: Champagne at our neighbor's wedding. Illustration - "The Greatest Minds" Meetings with lots of unchurched people. Facebook connections. Conclusion You can step outside of your comfort zone. You can start looking at the opportunities around you. You can ask a question. You can partner with someone. You can help reap the harvest! Altar Call / Welcome Cards / Communion ? Welcome Cards - refer to script We're almost ready to close this portion of our service, but first we want to give you a chance to respond to what you've heard. Earlier in the service we mentioned the welcome cards and we encouraged you to begin filling them out. Right now we want you to complete your welcome card. We especially want you to use this card if: if you’re a first time visitor if you’ve never filled one out before, if you want to tell us about a decision you made today, if you want to ask us for more information, or to give us feedback. Please be sure to include your up to date contact information unless we already have it. MC & Worship Team continue with tithes, offerings, and worship Benediction - Numbers 6:24-26 “‘“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ Men's Prayer Life Group Material Life Group Word Material These are sample discussion questions / topics. Your life group leaders may choose to adjust these questions, substitute new ones, or spend the Word section of the meeting in a different way altogether. Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. John 4:1-42 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” Discussion Questions / Topics: Have you been vulnerable with someone out of your comfort zone recently? Discuss. How willing are you to ask people questions? Have you done so in any recent encounters with unchurched people? Do you know any people who are better at "harvesting" people for God's Kingdom than you are? If so, have you ever partnered with one of them? Would you be willing to? Discuss. Do you know any "connectors" - people who know many more other people than you do? In what ways might God use your relationship with them to help you win people into God's Kingdom? Life Group Witnessing Activities Key Passage - John 4:1-42 Activities Discuss as a group how you can use what you've learned from Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well to win people into God's Kingdom. Discuss both what you can do as individuals and what you can do as a team. Scriptures For 07/04/2010 Life Church Sermon Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. John 4:1-42 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” John 6:1-15 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. John 17:1-5 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.