Living the Good News in the 168 “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So, when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” ~John 4:39-42 As we have looked at the story of the Woman at the Well in John 4 over the last few weeks, we have seen Jesus break social & religious barriers, a woman going immediately to tell others about Jesus and the disciples learning about evangelism. Through this 4th chapter of John, God is teaching us how to be evangelists today. The word Evangelist is derived from the Greek word meaning “proclaimer of good news”. An evangelist is someone who tells the good news of whatever it is s/he has to share. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to tell the good news of what He has done for us. We are to share with those in our lives how Jesus makes a complete difference in our lives. We, as the Woman at the Well did, can share about our own experiences with Jesus. We tell our story and bring another to Jesus, so s/he can have their own story with Him. Telling the good news is not done only with words. It is in how we interact with others in all areas of our lives. Being a follower of Jesus is not just in the one hour a week we go to church. It is in each of the 168 hours of a week. This means that telling the good news is also to be a part of how we converse with those we may disagree with on a particular issue. Differences do arise because we are all uniquely created in the image of God and have different experiences, but if we only speak from anger and argue with one another we miss the opportunity to learn from each other. Perhaps as evangelists we ought to take a breath and listen in order to learn from one another and share the good news of Jesus in that interaction. Brothers and sisters in Christ each of us are evangelists in every hour of the week. Let us learn from the Woman at the Well how we can go to our immediate community and share our story. Let us share the good news in our social media posts without judgment, but instead with the open arms of Jesus Christ reaching out to those who have not heard yet. See from the verse at the beginning of this blog how an entire community came to know Jesus because of one woman’s story. Now imagine how many people the Holy Spirit can reach through you when you live the Good News in the 168 hours of the week. What will you do differently in your day to day life with this mindset? How will your interactions in person or online change when you begin seeing yourself as an evangelist in the 168 hours of the week? Now imagine how much our local community here in Brooklyn Park and throughout the Twin Cities area can change if and when all of us live the Good News in the 168. Do you hear people saying they believe now not because of what we have said but rather because they have heard for themselves? As we begin to re-enter into physical gatherings in our communities let us each come with the mindset that we all are evangelists 168 hours a week. May we continue to be the Church in all aspects of our lives, including outside of the church building, sharing our stories and inviting all people to discover their full life in Christ for themselves. Fellow disciples we are on the verge of a great movement of God. We are being empowered by the Holy Spirit and sent out by God the Father to be evangelists. As we gather together online and in small groups, we can encourage one another to keep sharing the Good News. We are being sent out now to share and tell our stories. Go and tell your story. Be strengthened by the Holy Spirit to share. Remain transparent so that as others look at you, they see Jesus Christ welcoming them home. Share, wherever God the Father leads you, so that His Will is done here on earth. ~Pastor Vicki Epper
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When the Rejected Share the Good News “Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So, the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.” ~John 4:27-30 Here we are in the third week of our brief series on John 4, studying the Woman at the Well. We have already seen how Jesus gives us the Living Water and that we are the Church together. Today we are looking at how Jesus chose those who society rejected to share the Gospel.
Towards the end of this story the disciples come back from looking for food to find Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman. They were shocked to see their Teacher talking to a woman (this was not allowed by Jewish Law), a Samaritan woman at that (an ethnic group not respected by the Israelites), and worse, a Samaritan woman who was divorced but living with a man who was not her husband (Yeah, that one’s bad too). How did Jesus break so many social rules while they were gone? It hadn’t taken them that long to get dinner. The disciples seemed to forget they were picked by Him to be His closest followers. They were not wonderful scholars. They weren’t the highly sought out bunch that rabbis looking for students would seek. Each of them had already been passed up by all the other rabbis to be their students. They were rejected until Jesus found them and invited them to follow Him. The Woman at the Well, as we have seen, was rejected by the town because of her past divorces and now she was living with a man. It is the reason she was at the well at Noon and not the morning when everyone else went to get their water for the day. She was rejected by others but was selected by Jesus. Take note of what she did as the disciples were talking with Jesus. She left her water at the well to go into the town. There she told as many people as she could that she met the long-promised Messiah, the Savior. Because of her invitation the town came to meet Jesus for themselves. As we read further in the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament, we see these same Disciples (minus Judas Iscariot) go out telling towns all over Asia and into Europe about the long-promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. Two different societal rejects passionately go share the Good News of Jesus Christ. You may be sitting there wondering how you could possibly share the Good News yourself. Maybe you think you don’t know enough about the Bible so that is why you can’t share the Good News. Perhaps you can’t think of someone in your life that is not already a Christian. But what we learn from the Disciples and the Woman at the Well is that Jesus calls everyone, regardless of how society judges them. He qualifies them to share the Good News. They respond from their relationship with Jesus Christ to go and tell others. They simply share why they love Jesus with someone who has not heard yet. This week see yourself as an evangelist for Jesus Christ. Start with the reason why you love Jesus. Write down the difference the Holy Spirit has made in your inner being since becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. Then pray to God the Father for who He is placing in front of you to share your story. When you feel scared pray for the peace of God to wrap you up. If you fear the words won’t come when needed ask the Holy Spirit to give them to you when needed. Remember Jesus is sitting beside you at the well as He was with the Woman at the Well. He is giving you the Living Water to sustain you through all things. You are an evangelist. Go with joy, sharing your own story with Jesus Christ with all you meet. ~Pastor Vicki Epper Fill My Cup & Let it Overflow with Love “Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 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.” 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.” ~John 4: 13-15 Last week we started to look at the Woman at the Well from John 4. We learned from her story that everyone of us are the Church together, no one is excluded, no one is on the outside. After meeting Jesus, she went back to the town and told each person how she met Him and invited everyone to come meet Him for themselves.
This week we are looking at Jesus’ lesson of how He is the Living Water. He began conversing with her about water since they met at a well. She was there to obtain the water she needed for her house for the day. Jesus taught her how He gives her, and each of us, all that we need in life. Jesus gives us life that never ends. He fills our buckets to overflowing so that not only are we filled but we have more than enough to share with others. He fills our cups and lets it overflow. Whoa! We are not meant to receive from God and consume for only ourselves. God provides for all our daily needs. Part of His plan is for us to share from our overflowing to others. It is one of the ways He cares for everyone. As you spend time alone with Jesus each day let the Holy Spirit fill your cup with His abundant life. Be restored. Give your hurts, your fears to Him. Let Him heal you, feel His love filling your soul, even the deepest parts, then see the overflowing begin. Look to see who comes into your day that God is leading you to share with from your own overflowing of love. As the Woman at the Well received the abundant life Jesus gave her, she then went back to town sharing from her own overflowing of love. She didn’t wait to gain more knowledge. She went that day to share with the whole town. Do not fear that you don’t know enough. Be assured that the Holy Spirit is with you always giving you the courage and words to share. Tell others why you love Jesus. Look to the Woman at the Well for encouragement, see how she shared from an overflowing of love. Those times you sense fear creeping in say this prayer: “Fill my cup and let it overflow. Fill my cup and let it overflow with love. Let it overflow with love to all. AMEN” ~Pastor Vicki Epper You Are The Church |
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