Outreach
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As we get close to the heartbeat of God we begin to value what He values. We begin to hate what He hates and love what He loves.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
God loves the World in the context of giving of His Son.
We begin to love the lost. We begin to desire that none should parish but come to the knowledge of saving faith.
It is part of the great commission.
He will begin to change our thinking and our attitude. One proof that we love Jesus we have a love for the lost. We have a love for those who don’t know Jesus.
Our attitude begin to change.
Coaches understand the importance of their teams having the right attitude before facing a tough opponent.
Surgeons want to see their patients mentally prepared before going into surgery.
Job seekers know that their prospective employer is looking for more than just skills when they apply for work.
Public speakers want a conducive atmosphere before they communicate to their audience.
Why? The right attitude can have an effect on the outcome.
Most of the time it is the way we present the Gospel rather than the gospel itself that offends people.
Two people can share the same news with the same person and receive different results.
Why? Usually the difference is the in the attitude of the person sharing.
The eager witness says to himself “people are hungry for the gospel and desirous of positive change in their lives.
The reluctant witness says to himself “ people are not interested in spiritual things and don’t want to be bothered.”.
Those two attitudes will not only determine the number of attempts made in witnessing but also will have an effect on the results if they both share the same faith and message.
We are ambassadors of Christ.
We point to the living water that Jesus promised those who are thirsty.
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Where was Jesus at ? in the temple.
Why does John make it a point to mention it was the last day of the feast? And what feast?
When King Solomon finished dedicating the temple it says that fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. It says that the Glory was so powerful that the priests couldn’t even enter.
This happened during the last of the feast of Tabernacles. So year after year it became a Jewish tradition to anticipate the Glory of the Lord to fill the temple on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles.
The mere presence of Jesus in the Temple that day represented one of His greatest messianic claims. Jesus coming to the Temple on that specific day was God’s way of saying to the people that His glory, in the person of His Son, had returned to the Temple.
Why did He say come to Him for living water?
There was another tradition associated with the Feast of Tabernacles that is called water libation ceremony. It was a visual prayer for fall rains so the harvest would ripen in the fall. It was a symbol of life to the Jewish people.
During this ceremony the High Priest would exit the Temple and begin to make his way to the Pool of Siloam, which was water that was spring fed thus the term living water. The priest would take two golden pictures and fill them with the spring water and take them back to the temple to pour them out on the alter. This was performed each day during the feast.
They believed in the last day of the feast God would release faith to believe for living water to be poured out.
Jesus was implying that He is the living water sent from God that they were praying for.
Light of the world:
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
During the feast of Tabernacles another custom developed called the Illumination of the Temple Ceremony. 4 Large menorahs in the courtyard. Some records say they were about 70 feet high and when they were lit it was said that they cast such a bright light that they illuminated every courtyard in jerusalem.
Writing in the Sand:
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?
42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”
43 So there was a division among the people over him.
44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
Some wanted to except Jesus as the Messiah and others rejected Him. After His claim of being the Messiah
Woman Caught in Adultery:
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst
4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”
6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
They have just rejected Jesus’s claim that He is the living water thus rejecting His claim as Messiah.
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.
Jesus is focusing on personal sin not only of the woman but her accusers as well. There greatest sin is your rejection of the Messiah.
He was talking to Scribes and Pharisees who was well versed in scripture and their thoughts would have undoubtedly gone to the passage of Jeremiah 17:13