so there is a seemingly benign and vague question i want to ask all of you (and the question is borrowed, but i want your answer to be different)
What is your What-
what is the thing in your life that you think you have all figured out, fixed, and are not worried about? Is it a relationship? Is it a skill? A promise? Is it some sort of security that you have created for yourself that you think no one else can harm or touch?
or here to put it more "spiritually" is there an area/part/majority of your life that you think you don't need God to control, guide, or rule? Is there something in your life that you "got it" all figured out?
still thinking? or do you "got it"... good write it down, text it to me or if you are brave post it here or on the facebook page...
and for tomorrow night read these two stories (we will be discussing them.. basically john 3 and john 4 with some clipping)
STORY OF NICODEMUS
“There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
“How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people.”
(John 3:1–22 NLT-SE)
<<<Nicodemus is the religious guy, one of those guys that other people turn to for help... and he still went to find Jesus because even the things that he was supposed to have figured out, he had questions, doubts, concerns... does this sound like you? are you someone that is normally pretty secure and people even turn to you for help or advice? but do you ever wonder? ever worry? ever still have doubts?... >>>
STORY OF THE WOMAN AT THE WELL
“Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John(though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
He had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
“I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”
Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!”
Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him.”
(John 4:1–30 NLT-SE)
<<<this unnamed woman is a powerful example of being in the wrong place at the right time... how was she to know that on this day of days she would sit next to Jesus and He would ask her for water and later find out He had something better in store for her... something that she didnt even know was possible but yet knew she needed... this is another situation that applies to a lot of us... we don't even realize that we need and yet He makes a way, shows, guides... says the right thing in a right way to just mess up everything in the most perfect way possible>>
I hope to see you tomorrow night and i hope that these words find you well and that He continually draws you back to Him!!!
peace and blessings
First Baptist Church of Bethany Student Ministries (FBCBSM)
3800 N Mueller Ave
Bethany, OK 73008
(405) 789-3312
Youth Center
3700 N Mueller Ave
Bethany, OK 73008
Open Hours
Sundays 9am-11am, 4pm-7pm
Wednesdays 5pm-8pm
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