Bless Every Home: Listen

Bless Every Home: Listen

John 4:1-26

INTRODUCTION

We had a great time at the Southern Baptist Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.

The unity within our convention is strong.

Seemed to be less controversial than many.

Don’t believe the headlines on secular media. they spin for their listeners.

-No we didn’t give churches permission to have women senior pastors. Just the opposite.

I’d be glad to answer any questions.

Sitting in meetings for 8-12 hours a day is not my forte.

I would find myself in the room, hearing everything going on and then be surprised when everyone’s ballots go in the air.

Hearing and Listening are not the same thing.

MEN- I was hopeful that Father’s Day would have been next week. EAT

I apologize your wife may use this sermon against you.

Jesus was a great listener. He always knew the needs of those he met.

John 4:1–26 ESV

1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Thank you to everyone who has signed up for the Bless App.

If you haven’t, please use the QR codes around, or ask for help and we will get you signed up.

B- Begin with Prayer

L- Listen

In Order to Listen We Must...

1. See Them (6-7)

John 4:6–7 ESV

6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”

Look beyond yourself.

ILL- Avatar, "I see you."-phrase in the Na'vi language.

A deeper meaning than just seeing.

I know you exist. I recognize you. I know you.

It is acknowledging they have value.

ILL- Line at Walmart

Are they just people in their pj’s who are in your way of getting checked out?

Or are they people who have value and a great spiritual need?

2. Love Them (7-9)

John 4:7–9 ESV

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Love without Prejudice

3. Answer Them (10-15; 19-24)

John 4:10–15 ESV

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

Beyond just what they say, answer what they need.

Turn a physical discussion into a spiritual discussion.

John 4:19–24 ESV

19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Don’t let a question sidetrack from most important.

But don’t come across as not carrying or being a bad salesman.

Cannot answer until you have fully listened.

Ask good questions.

And truly care about their answers.

Don’t talk too much.

When we are nervous or anxious we have a tendency to do all the talking.

Good questions will help with this.

Stay engaged in a long conversation.

Let them know you care.

4. Know Them (16-18)

John 4:16–18 ESV

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

Jesus had a supernatural ability to know people’s hearts.

We have to get to know them slowly through time.

The point of asking good questions and listening is to get to know them and what they care about.

Careful— don’t just care because you want to “win” them.

Jesus called us to love. Let love become the motivation for the Gospel conversation.

5. Point Them (25-26)

John 4:25–26 ESV

25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Point them to Jesus.

The answers to their problems is Jesus.

Make sure you are the light of Jesus, not the light of yourself.

You want them to see Jesus.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

CONCLUSION

No matter what you are going through in your life today, the answer is Jesus.

Will you commit to listen to your neighbors?

Will you follow Jesus?