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April 21, 2020 6:00 am
You know that is your friend, neighbor, family member, maybe you if life is hard right now and you need help getting unstuck paid. Stay with me as we learn Jesus to helping those in that's today welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edges of international discipleship ministry between the Bible teaching up shipping today. Chip continues fully volume 1 of a series for the middle of the series. So if any of these messages along available on the ship common misconception is that dominated culture century Israel Jesus really didn't relate to women. Well, as were about to learn his message thing could be further from the truth. In fact, much to the contrary, Jesus actually broke all kinds of cultural taboos to elevate a woman who had no hope of anything good coming your way out here. Strip with this message from John chapter 4 I like to have you lean back and I have the profile of four women.
I've change their names there women that you know some of them are your neighbors, friends, some of them are daughters of people that you know from school. Jennifer is in junior high body and emotions are changing rapidly.
Her mom is busy with two jobs.
Her dad lives out of state. She has a yearning to deeply connect relationally to be loved, to be important especially to a man. Her mind often still thinks like a little girl but her body is reaching adulthood.
Older boys have started noticing her, she learns to give sex to get what feels like love and by her 16th birthday. She's been there and done that. Debbie's a senior in high school. She really found true love. They been going together for about a year and 1/2. The last years of high school. She's had one abortion. Her boyfriend is gone away college and they decided that they'll stay in touch.
It's going to be great someday they'll get married except he came home from spring break and let her know that he found someone new. She feels alone abandon desperate. She smiles on the outside she's dying on the inside she's doing things she never did before she got drunk she sleeping around and she feels like there's no hope for her future.
She's been there. She's done that late 20s and mid 30s. Sarah is burned out. She lived with her college flame for about three years, had a child together got married quickly divorced a couple years later she now lives with two other guys in the last 12 years, she dropped out of college to help support her family.
She's better she's wounded. She's tired she looks really great on the outside she's learned how to get what she wants from a man. Everything that is. But love now she feels empty.
She's raising a child on her own.
She feels like life is passing her by, and it 32. She feels a lot older than she is. Finally, there is midlife. Nancy is making the best of a really bad situation.
She's got two teenagers and a 10-year-old. She still working through the emotions of her divorce life after his affair shattered her world. Her violent outburst actually shocked her she's barely making it financially. She has no hope, no future, but kinda keeps a good face on for the kids. She aches with loneliness. She keeps replaying the tapes in her mind of poor choices that she made and vacillates between feeling sorry for herself, depressed, guilty, and self-hatred and white-hot anger toward those that have heard her life is nearly half over, and she feels like she's been there and she's done that I like to suggest that these four stories, not their real names are all over where we live and you know them or you'll meet them in the question I have is if Jesus walked into a local coffee shop and sat down with that junior higher or senior or 32-year-old or midlife woman who's been wounded and hurt and is angry and been used. What we say. How would he help how we view them and that's what working to find out today if you'll look at your notes working to find that he meets a woman exactly like this, and here's what I want you to get keys going to walk into a coffee shop or in the living room and he's going to have a conversation with them, but the odd part about this conversation.
It won't be him in his physical body. It'll be him in his spiritual body called the church and the person that he's going to talk to them through. As you because he lives in you. If you're a follower of Christ, and you'll sit down with that junior high or senior or 2030 something, or midlife woman or man and you will speak the words of life to them.
That's the plan. And so what I want to do is connect help you understand will.
How can I do that I want to help you move from learning what it says then and even being where you interpreted to passing it along.
And so want to try and model something that Jesus models for us when you sit down with the person that's hurting when you sit down with someone who feels like they're worthless that they've messed up their life that God could never care.
I want you to just go through this process you can use John chapter 4. First, you can just share the big idea. As you read through it. Make observations in a paragraph by paragraph. This is just a big idea. This is what is talking about second then you can read those verses and woman get done you be able to do it. You can explain to them this is what it meant in that day and this is what it means today and then you can personalize your response. You can say you know this is what he was saying to this lady and this is what God is like.
And this is what is been saying to me and so it's really what would been learning, but the next step is that I want you to pass it on on to learn to communicate it and so you need to explore their needs and their concerns and their questions and what you can find is the way you help people the most isn't is what I know this is what you ought to do.
Here's all the things I'm telling you, ask questions how do you feel what was it like when he left you what, what's going on down inside. Why do you feel like there's no hope. You think God could ever care and when you get on the same page and love and care for people. I want to tell you that God has divine appointments for you in the next few weeks the next few months and in this year were you will be Jesus in you, loving and helping people and he has divine appointments. So with that if you look at your notes. I'm going to walk you through the process that I learned from Jesus. These passing on me to pass on to you and so you look God wants to use you to share his word, and so we learn what does it say what is it mean what is it mean to me. How do you pass it on right the word communication you want to learn to make observations of the Bible you want to learn to do interpretation.
You will learn to apply to your own life and then you want to learn to communicate God's plan was never that we come into a room talk to one another about God and go into our little corners and live our life. The game plan was that he would speak to us, transform us and then lovingly we would communicate that truth by how we live and what we say and so are you ready in your notes. You'll notice at the very top.
I put a summary that's just the big idea I've made the observations so in verses one through nine.
Here's the big idea basically what Jesus is going to say is Jesus breaks through barriers to breakthrough gender barriers culture barriers to follow along as I read the Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it wasn't. Jesus was baptizing, but his disciples when the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back at once to Galilee.
Now he had to go through Samaria. Would you put a little box around the word had to will come back to that. So he came to town in Samaria called sidecar near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph Jacob's well was there and Jesus was tired as he was from his journey, and so he sat down by the well and it was about the sixth hour or noon our time when a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, will you give me a drink is disciple is not going to the town to buy some food.
The Samaritan woman said to him you are a Jew and I'm a Samaritan woman. She accents grammatical young woman. How can you ask me for a drink for Jews do not associate with Samaritans. Now if you understand the culture and what's going on here you can see that he's gonna break down a gender barrier or racial barrier a social barrier a cultural barrier in a religious barrier. Whatever he has to do to let this woman know he loves her. When a Jew was out not just alone but a Jewish man never spoke to woman in public. A rabbi would not even make eye contact. In fact they had a group of rabbis called the blue and the bruised when that woman would come they would cover their eyes they would bump in the stuff, literally. This is true because they they didn't want to be defiled. So this woman comes up culturally. When she gets about 20 feet away. Jesus is is vulnerable. He doesn't have heat.
He's thirsty.
He's tired he has nothing to get it. He doesn't move. She keeps coming closer. She's coming at noon not in the morning when most women come because she's had five husbands is currently living with a guy she's an amoral person and on the totem pole of social value somewhere between the very bottom of the bottom.
She is a worthless person that no one cares about but notice he had to go through Samaria and in Greek, there's a three little word, it means a divine necessity.
When this is put in the Scripture it's for purposes we may not understand there's a divine necessity for keypad to go through, not because it was shorter but because of God's plan and so he's on it she gets about 20 feet away. He doesn't move and then instead he does the unthinkable.
Will you give me a drink of water. 20 minute your he's dressed. He's a rabbi he's a Jew he speaking to me. 123 strikes.
This is unbelievable.
She gets closer now. He wouldn't a Jew would never drink out of a cup or something that a Samaritan had, it would be defiled. He not only says speaks to, will you give me a drink. That means she's going to dip her water down in there and he would drink out of it. How are you Jew speaking to me.
A woman gets up in the conversation starts in the notice what he does.
This is a woman who's been used and abused. She certainly made some bad choices, but most people that go through multiple men and are promiscuous have been wounded or abused and hurt and are looking for satisfaction and worth and value in her life is totally messed up. And Jesus does something very humble. He puts himself in a position of need, rather than authority and said would you give me a drink. I don't have anything notice at the bottom of your notes. Here's the lesson we must intentionally break through any and every barrier to the gospel. Jew and Samaritan male and female rabbi and Samaritan social barriers. What ever it takes. And then he humbles himself your listing to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram this message is from chip series Jesus unfiltered volume 1 believe. For more information about the series or the ministry of Living on the Edge, please visit our website LivingontheEdge.org when I was get back to Chip for the rest of his talk like you. I'm praying that God will help my neighbors come to have a personal relationship with Jesus and I when we first moved in. I have one neighbor that we would ask you become good friends now, but he made it very clear early on but I'm not a good neighbor. Okay, don't bother me. Don't mess with me.
The walls were coming up when he heard I was a pastor and you know Scott like I don't me that Jesus stuff. Either he didn't quite say it like that and but later I found out he came from a background where not a good religious experience and and he really is rebelled and I just want to know. Forget it. You know, we tried little things and helping out and doing things and praying and didn't see lots of results I dismember doing some stuff in our garage trying to cover something it took two people and I remember thinking someone I just asked, could you give me a hand, a look to me. I really need your help, and he came over with me and as we were doing it and then in these kind of things everyone smarter than you actually got to do this and do that do that he was has lots of good suggestions or at least suggestions and so anyway we did it his way and we got done and something happened to something happened. Something happen because this isn't the pastor that's going to tell them what he ought be should I needed help. Remember, this is how you build relationships, see sometimes we think as Christians were supposed to fix people in and tell them what they ought to do and here's in a week. We've got all this something and they need Jesus models just the opposite. Who the people at work that you need to ask help who's a neighbor that you need to ask help for you. Build relationship when there is mutual need this second big section is that Jesus offers to quench her deepest thirst in Jesus. Verse 10 answers or if you knew underline the word gift. If you knew the gift of God and who it is. But ask you for a drink. Underline the word who seek no one cares about this lady.
No one in his first responses. He has a gift and if she understood who he was, you would ask him and he would give you living water to serve the woman said she looks at you have nothing to draw within the well is very deep actually to hundred 50. Where will you get living water and then she throws a little sarcasm running, it would be impossible hundred feet well living water. This running water that's about this even better than well water, you're saying you could offer you don't have anything are you greater that our father Jacob who gave us this well drank from it himself and also a census block two thirds Jesus answered now is making parallel everyone drinks this water will be thirsty again is tapping and thirst is a metaphor for what satisfies what physical stuff physical you drink you get thirsty again you drink you get thirsty again but whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never thirst.
Indeed, the water that I will give him will become notice in him a spring of water welling up to change of topic eternal life. He's offering her eternal life. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water so I won't get thirsty and have to come back here control water again. You just like the play on words. Nicodemus the work spirit and when. Now there's physical water and you speaking of the Holy Spirit in relationship and you note your life revolves around coming out here alone is a desperate, lonely woman who is wounded because you rejected by the women and by everyone in the town in your promiscuous past and present. If gift who it is God.
I want to give you not just something to fix your temporary life. I want to fix your heart to forgive you. I want to restore you. I want to put you on a new path. I want you know that no one else may think your valuable I made you I love you I think your valuable and I want to help you and she doesn't quite get it. Basically she gets the idea that might be sort of magical water. You know, if I don't have to make this trip all the time. That sounds good.
Here's the life lesson the application of the timeless principle. Grace, not condemnation is what draws people Jesus just joining us, you're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Jeff's message today is from believe volume 1 of a series Jesus unfiltered in this series chips taking an in-depth look at Jesus walking us through the gospel of John. The authorized biography of Jesus of you will each of the Gospels has a specific purpose and in John we see his focus on the Lordship of Christ proves that Jesus is the son of God. Closer to home how Jesus wants to be your savior. Starting right where you're at today maybe listening more than once is the key to mastering the troops in these passages of John and hope you do that the audio resources are discounted and chips message notes are free. You can use them to dig into the Scripture passages followed chips outline and take notes as you listen for complete details on the believe discounts and trips free message notes give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 or visit us online at http://livingontheedge.org will chip just before you go to your application can see want to jump in here, I'll be right back in just a minute to talk about today's teaching but as we study the apostle John's teaching here to the gospel.
I can in the back my mind here.
Some of you saying you know chip and this all sounds really wonderful but you don't know me you don't know what I've done, you don't know what I've been boy if you ever understood that terrible things in other words, Jesus could never associate with someone like me he could never really love me. Never forgive me and I want you to know.
Listen carefully. That is alive from the pit of hell.
The fact of the matter is, as no one is beyond the reach of Jesus love but but if you believe that lie. It'll keep you stock if you believe that lie. You'll never come to receive his grace or as a follower. If you believe that lie you'll think you're a second-class citizen.
The rest of your life and never experiences joy in his power be used by him. Here's what I want you to know the only way to break lies is with truth and so what we develop is what we call truth cards for every chapter in the book of John we have the lie outlined and that we have the truth of that chapter to help you break free. Let me give you an example for those who feel like you don't measure up your unworthy. The lie in chapter 4.
Is this God could never accept me or use my life. After all the terrible things I've done. It says right on the card and right below the cart is a little stop sign, stop, and then you turn over the card and the cards is Jesus wants to accept and use me, he for gave a woman who had five husbands and was currently living with a man so he could communicate his love through her to a whole city. Actually, that passage goes on to say he is seeking or pursuing those who would worship him in spirit and in truth. If you want to be free of your past, trying hard doesn't work. The truth does let me encourage you get a copy of these truth cards will give you all the information back get two or three copies. They're very inexpensive and go through it with some friends or family, and here's what you experience you experience the truth and the truth will set you free bike strip will the Jesus unfiltered truth cards are available now while supplies last. When you go to your website. LivingontheEdge.org there a set of 21 cards like the one strip uses. Each card is a common lie or spiritual battle we all face and on the flipside, it has a passage from the Gospel of John to help you renew your mind with the truth whether there for you or someone else.
Order your set of Jesus unfiltered truth cards and get free shipping by calling us at 1-888-333-6003 or order online at http://livingontheedge.org without here. Strip with his application. As we close today's program.
I think there's a couple of very important lessons that we learn from Jesus historical interaction with the Samaritan woman. I think the first and foremost is that were never too far from God for him to break through what ever barrier needs to be broken through. If you and I are just willing to be honest, and it's painful and it's hard and it was a process for her but I don't know what's going on in your life. I don't know what your struggles are, but I know that if you try and work about yourself if you keep blaming other people.
If you just keep thinking that you can do the same thing that you doing right now.
Life is going to get better and right that's a dead end. But if you'll be honest, I'm absolutely honest broken before God, he will meet you, he'll forgive you. He will restore you.
Now, the restoration doesn't mean that everything is gonna be wonderful in your never to have any problems. The restoration means you got a deal with some stuff the restoration means you gonna have to have people in your life to do life with you and so I don't know where you're at in terms of reading the Bible or talking with God or going to a Bible oriented church but I can tell you this, God's grace is available, but those are the tools through which that grace flows and so you can ask God for help and he reaches out his here's my word come talk to me share your heart, he'll meet you. These are my people let them love you and if you go on that journey. Here's what I will tell you he will meet you with the same kind of power and love and forgiveness that he met this lady and so decide today what are you going to do and what one human being are you gonna tell honestly, this is where I messed up the secrets out of the bag. This is what I did and here's the next step. I'm gonna take you do that, and God will show up just before we close. We want you to know that as a staff we ask the Lord to help you take whatever your next step is. We'd love to hear how it's going. Would you take a minute to send us a note or give us a call either one is easy. Just send a quick note to chip@livingontheedge.org or give us a call at 18883336003X broadcaster continues a series Jesus unfiltered, so be sure to make plans to join this is Dave Drewry for all of his thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge