Transformative Encounters

Good morning, If you have a Bible I invite you to turn with me to the Gospel of John. This morning we will be in:

Bible Passage: John 4:31–54

Oh Great God! This morning, as we reflect on and think about various encounters with Jesus, We ask that you Incline our hearts to you, not for prideful gain or any false motive but for your glory! We ask that for your name’s sake that you would lead us and guide us as we live our lives.

I pray that you would open our eyes to behold the wonderful things in your word.

For your name’s sake Lord, unite our hearts to fear your name help us to be unified in our worship this morning as we study the issue of taking the Lord’s supper in an improper way help us to see how we can avoid do that same thing…

and help us to be satisfied with your sacrificial and steadfast love and help us to imitate that love when we come together.

As we look at this passage today, help us to listen and live your word, and may we recognize that true joy and happiness can be found only in you. We ask you this morning to help us to boldly share the stories of our encounters with anyone who will listen. Amen

Introduction:

This morning I’d like to start with a little congregational interaction Can I get a show of hands… Do any of your do any online shopping?

Yeah I guess thats a few of you…

One of the most helpful things when you are looking to buy a product online are the customer reviews. Especially with things you have never seen or used in person. The reviews help by guiding us to making a decision to either buy a product or move on to another option. Testimonials are something that we share and look to to help us every day.

Last week Joe taught from the beginning of this chapter and encouraged us all to come unto Jesus. The same invitation that Jesus extended to the woman is the invitation to us, Come unto Jesus! The result of her encounter with Jesus caused her to leave her water jar run into town and to tell everyone she saw to “come see the man who told me everything i ever did.” And amazingly, the town comes. Regardless of the reputation she had with the others in the town there was something so urgent in how she conveyed what had happened to her they listen and come!

That is where we are when we start this morning. We will pick up the story in verse 31.

Big Idea: Trust in Jesus leads to life-changing encounters that fulfill our deepest needs, both physically and spiritually.

There two main scenes in this passage. The completion of the story of the Samaritan woman, and we also witness the second sign in the Gospel of John, the healing of the official’s son.

This morning I want us to see 3 things.

1. Prioritize your calling.

2. Proclaim your personal story.

3. The power of telling your story.

Lets look at this passage together this morning:

READ John 4:31-54

As I mentioned before we read the passage there are two scenes in the passage. The first scene happens in verses 31-42.

We end with verse 30. John 4:30 “They left the town and made their way to him.”

So as the people are making their way out to him we get this conversation with Jesus and the disciples. We see that Jesus is hyper focused on what is happening spiritually in the town of Sycar.

1. Prioritize Your Calling

John 4:31–38

“In the meantime the disciples kept urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them. “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest. The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.””

Jesus’ “food” was doing the will of the Father…

If you will remember from the beginning of the passage that Joe preached on last week the disciples had gone into town to buy food. Jesus hung back. So their confusion is understandable when Jesus tells them he has food that they don’t know about.

When Jesus begins to explain, his point becomes clear. He has just had one of the most incredible conversations recorded in scripture. He has explained to the woman who he is and why he has come. He has come so that they true worship can happen. His coming into the world has started something totally new! Remember what he told the woman?

John 4:23 CSB

But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him.

The father wants such people to worship him and the only way to the Father is through the son. Jesus is doing the will of the father by bringing about heart change in those who believe in him as the Messiah!

This act of carrying out the will of the Father is so much better in sustaining Jesus than the physical act of eating food! He has just spent time eating spiritually. Physical food is not on his mind. He is focused on the mission he was sent to accomplish.

Next he moves into an illustration from farming that would help them understand his point. This idea of sowing and reaping. How the seed takes time to grow. In this specific moment in time the seed was ready for harvest.

In verse 35 he says this: John 4:35

John 4:35 CSB

“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open (lift up) your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest.

He is telling them that the work is at hand! the time for harvest is at hand! Lift up your eyes… Look around and see what the Father is doing. In this very moment the people from the town were on their way to them. The Lord is moving in the hearts of people and Jesus and the disciples need to be ready!

Jesus comments in verse 36-38 encourage remind us that often there are many involved when it comes to giving the gospel to someone.

John 4:36–38 “The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.””

The reaper is gather fruit, the sower and the reaper can rejoice together!

When someone comes to faith in Christ, we must rejoice no matter where that happens. If someone attends our church for a good while and hears the gospel, then one day maybe they attend a different church while visiting a friend or family and they respond to the gospel with belief we need to celebrate! Bill Cook commenting on this verse write this:

John: Jesus Christ Is God True Nourishment: Jesus Instructs the Disciples on the Importance of Missional Living (4:31–38)

The work of harvesting souls for the kingdom is not to be done in a spirit of competition, but the important point is that we play a part in the process. Each person has a task, ‘one sows and another reaps,’ and one role does not supersede another (4:36b). When a sinner comes to faith in Christ, whether we were the one who planted the seed or the one who got to ‘pick the fruit’, both laborers can rejoice because a sinner has received life eternal.

So if one sows while another reaps, realize that there is a season for it all. Trust that the Lord is working in all of it.

It’s so easy to get caught up in our own little bubbles. You know what I mean right?

A social bubble is just the idea that you are so caught up in your own world that you are totally oblivious to what happens outside of that bubble…

Years ago, when texting was just becoming popular, I remember reading an article about a guy who nearly died while texting and walking! He was in a major city and he was using a blackberry phone… he was just walking and really getting after it, you know “two thumbing it!” And y’all he walked right into an open man hole! he stepped right in and smacked his head on the edge of the hole on the way down. Nearly killed himself…

We all have these bubbles in our lives though… Think about it with me

Your family bubble.

Your work bubble.

Your friend bubble.

Your social media bubble, entertainment bubble…

Your church bubble.

If you are not careful all of these things can distract you from your calling…

The Disciples had a bubble. They got caught up in being the ones that Jesus chose as his followers. They had gone off for food. When they come back they are a bit concerned that Jesus was talking to the woman but remember what it says in verse 27?

John 4:27 “Just then his disciples arrived, and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?””

They were concerned but didn't voice it, and when she left… it seems that they didn’t really talk about it. They were really concerned with eating…

Jesus though.. He was laser focused on the mission… telling them “Lift up your eyes” Look at the harvest that is ripe and ready…

I realize that I have been a bit unfair with the whole Social Bubble idea. And so I also want us to see something from Jesus’ actions here that will help those of us who are prone to staying in our comfort zone. Though Jesus was focused on his mission, he continues to teach those who are closest to him. While he is anticipating the conversations with those who are coming out from the town, he is also willing to invest in those who near him.

Even in his warning them of being self absorbed and missing what God is doing with others, he is taking the time to lovingly teach them!

SO my encouragement to you is avoid the tug in your heart to make life all about yourself! Use the opportunities that God has given you to be an encouragement to those he has placed in your life. Point your family to Jesus, point your co-workers to Jesus, use your influence and every resource you have to point people to Jesus.

We’ve got to pay attention to both those inside our social bubble and those outside of it. Because God is on a mission, drawing people from every nation and tongue to himself and he uses us and our testimony to do it!

So if you want to get involved in the mission of taking the gospel to the nations… God has given us such a great gift! The nations are coming to us.

I did a very small amount of research when preparing this message and a conservative estimates reveal that there are at least 15-20 different nationalities represented in the town of Leamington… The next time you are out with your family at one of our great parks, just look at how many different people groups are represented…

Brothers and sisters, Lift up your eyes!

Remember the words from Matthew 9:37-38

Matthew 9:37–38 CSB

Then he (Jesus) said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

Pray that the Lord of the Harvest would send our workers into his harvest. I and I dare you to pray this prayer along with me…

Father in heaven, i pray that you would send workers int your harvest here in Leamington, and I pray father that you would start with me!

Lift up you eyes friends… God is calling people to himself, lets get on board and get on mission!

That moves us to my next point where do you you start?

2. Proclaim Your Personal Story

Because this passage includes the completion of the previous passage we looked at last week with Pastor Joe, I would like for us to look back up a couple verses to verse 28-30.

John 4:28–30 “Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They left the town and made their way to him.”

We can’t underestimate our personal testimony.

I was out with a group of men from our church a the park this week as they were doing the work of evangelism. One of the questions that was posed out there to a young man after he said he was a believer was: “Do you have a testimony?” HE answered “no.” After some other prodding questions he had misunderstood but the leader of my group was still able to ensure he had a clear understanding of the gospel.

Then the conversation went from there. I wont get into the details of the whole conversation with you but I will say this…

If you know Jesus… You have a testimony, and it doesnt matter if it is one that we would consider dramatic, like the one we just read about here, or if it’s something that seems insignificant to when compared to others. All of our stories will be used by God when we share what he has done for us with others!

The woman’s testimony was simple but God used it in a very dramatic way. We know from that passage that Joe preached last week that the woman would not have met the standards of what would considered moral. She had been married 5 times, and was now living with a man who was not her husband. So, her testimony… “Come and see a man who told me everything i ever did.” seems to have caused quite a stir.

There are a few elements of her testimony here that I think its important for us to look at and to learn from.

a. There was urgency in her story.

Look back at verse John 4:28 “Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people,”

She forgot what she came to the well to do. Her encounter with Jesus was so intense that she had to drop everything to tell someone. It reminds me of the calling of the apostles, how many of them dropped what they were doing an immediately follow.

The encounter with Jesus changed her life forever and the response to it was to tell others so they could encounter him as well!

b. She Told Others What Jesus Did

We aren't given the full conversation she had with others in the town. Just that she said “he told me everything I ever did.” Remember the conversation was pretty interesting, about living water, never thirsting again, there was a bit of theological debate… We are not told if she replayed the entire conversation with them, she may have but it seems that what brought people out to see Jesus was the evident change in this woman’s demeanor. Her story about what he did for her was what God used to draw people out to see Jesus.

c. She invited them to “Come and See”

She says hey don’t take my word for it… Come and see for your self. He’s out at Jacob’s well right now. Come and see!

I love the implication of the word “come.” She didn't say go and have a look for yourself. She said come and see. The implication is that she’s going back to spend more time with Jesus, and she’s inviting people back with her to come and to see…

Throughout this series you have often heard us talk about Pointing others to Jesus and we should certainly do that, but there is power in saying come with me and meet the man who knew everything about me and didn’t reject me. Instead he revealed himself in the most loving and gracious way possible. So…

Come and see!

3. The Power of your Story

Lets look at the impact of the woman’s testimony and also another one. Here in the last section of this passage today.

John 4:39–42 CSB

Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. Many more believed because of what he said. And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”

They heard her testimony, God used that story to bring them to Jesus. Many believed because ow her testimony.

When they encountered Jesus, they invited him to stay with them and as a result of that Many more believed! The woman could have taken her water jar and quietly gone home and kept her conversation with Jesus to herself, but instead she boldly went and shared her story and many were saved!

We see the effects of another testimony here in the final verses of chapter 4 as well.

I realize that the last section of our passage today deserves a sermon all on it’s own.

This is the second of the seven signs we find in John’s gospel.

John 4:43–54 CSB

After two days he left there for Galilee. (Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) When they entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen everything he did in Jerusalem during the festival. For they also had gone to the festival. He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die. Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.” “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed. While he was still going down, his servants met him saying that his boy was alive. He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him,” they answered. The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household. Now this was also the second sign Jesus performed after he came from Judea to Galilee.

So after Jesus left the town, he continues his journey back to Galilee.

And as we just read together, he is met by this very important man, a royal official. He has “come to Jesus” to plead with him to heal his son. How did he hear about Jesus’ ability to heal? It has to be because of the testimony of those who had either been at the festival of the Passover, or were present at the wedding at Cana.

Either way, there was enough evidence for this man to come to Jesus and to beg for intervention in his son’s sickness. He was desperate, and comes to the one who he believes has the power to save his son’s life.

Jesus’ response to the intial requests seems harsh… John 4:48

John 4:48 CSB

Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

Dr. Bill Cook is helpful in his explaination of this verse:

John: Jesus Christ Is God The Savior’s Powerful Word: ‘Your Son Lives’ (4:48–50)

Jesus is confronting a mentality that sees Him simply as a miracle worker. His statement, ‘unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe,’ is a challenge not only to the royal official (‘Jesus said to him’) but also to the Galilean people—‘you’ is plural. They were in danger of becoming so enthralled with Jesus’ miraculous power that they failed to see that His miracles were intended as signs to point them to faith in Him.

So the response by Jesus after the man’s second plea in verse 49, for him to Go… (because) your son will live required faith. In healing the man’s son from such a distance Jesus is showing the royal official and all those who would hear of this story, another “sign” of his divinity. The reason for the signs are to bring about faith in him. The result of the healing is the entire household believing. Here’s the testimony…

John 4:52–53 “He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him,” they answered. The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household.”

It was the testimony of the official’s encounter with Jesus the day before combined with the work of Jesus in saving the boy’s life that lead to the spiritual salvation of the entire household. Someone though had to have told the royal official about Jesus and his situation was desperate enough for him to make the 16 mile journey to Cana to meet with Jesus.

Friends as I said before, there is a lot more to unpack here, but what I want you to see is that the story of your initial encounter with Jesus and the story of how Jesus is shapeing your life even today can be used by God to bring spiritually dead people to life.

As I mentioned earlier, you may think like I often do about myself that my story of meeting Jesus and trusting him is not very interesting. I came to faith in Jesus at the age of seven. And even though I had not lived long enough to really do much sinning. My sin was separating me from God all the same. When the Lord impressed upon my heart through conversations in church and with my parents that I was indeed a sinner destined for an eternity in Hell with out hope, God gave me the gift of salvation through repentance and faith… Friends that’s just as dramatic as any other testimony. We God saves us he takes moves us from Death to Life no matter how old you are or how bad you've been… you were dead… and now you are alive.

se stories…

Final Thoughts

This morning I’ve been talking a lot about the testimony of conversion. That moment in time when we you first believed. These are important and we should tell them. But I want to remind you that the testimony of God’s work in your life is an ever growing story of faith, full of all the ups and downs that come with a life time of an growing relationship with Jesus. Tell people of how you met Jesus but tell them of how he is changing your life as you continue to walk with him!

MOVE TO LORD’s Supper

One of the ways that we do that is by celebrating the Lord’s Supper together. If you didn't get a cup on the way you can raise your hand and one of our ushers will be happy to get you one. Here at Good News Church we plan to make this a regular monthly occasion. When we partake in the Lord’s Supper, its also a way of testifying to the work that God did for you and for me.

The Lord’s Supper should cause us to look back, to look out and to look forward.

We look back to the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf. He died as a substitute for me and for you. Our sins separate us from God and Jesus’ cross work is an act of ultimate love an reconciliation.

We Look Out -

1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

This is in some way a testimony to each other and to those of what God did for us through the death of Jesus.

We look Forward: The last part of that verse 26… How long do we do this? We do this until he comes! We take the bread and the juice reminding us of his sacrifice. And we do this with a joyful heart knowing that he is coming soon!

So, today if you are a believer and have been baptized on your profession of faith in Jesus as your Lord I invite you to join me in taking the Lord’s supper.

Matthew 26:26–28

v 26 “As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.”

Join me in taking the bread.

v 27-28 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Let us pray