Leading With Your Heart

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Don't be afraid to lead with your heart.

John(84) (Part of the Believe(74) series)
by Jason Stansbury(10) on July 14, 2019 (Sunday Morning(337))

Love(18), Love of Enemies(1)

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Leading With Your Heart

John 4:1-26

 

  • A Bit of Background

    • Jesus leaves Judea for Galilee

      • The Pharisees are stirring up trouble again (vv. 1-2)

      • Jesus intentionally avoids this conflict created by the Pharisees (at least for the time being)

      • So Jesus leaves Judea and travels to Galilee

  • Jews and Samaritans

    • “Now [Jesus] had to go through Samaria.” (v. 4)

      • AND YET . . . Many Jews did not travel through Samaria

      • Many pious Jews completely avoided Samaria, both out of hatred and to avoid impurity

    • A brief history of Jews and Samaritans

      • Hundreds of years of mutual hatred and distrust

      • After Israel divided into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom was captured by the Assyrians in 722 BC

      • Throughout that captivity, Israelites in the northern kingdom intermarried with Assyrians and also developed their own religion which included the worship of both the true God and Assyrian false gods

      • So Jews saw Samaritans as “half-breeds”

    • So why would Jesus “have to go through Samaria?”

      • Divine appointment

      • (Acts 1:8) Witnessing in Samaria – God calls us to witness to our enemies!

  • The Humanity of Jesus

    • Despite prejudices and traditions, Jesus talks to this Samaritan woman at the well

    • Look at Jesus’s approach to her

      • Shows vulnerability

      • Show humility

      • Prioritizes the person

        • “Through the entire conversation, Jesus deals with her as a person in her own right, with her unique history and special longings. ​​ She emerges in the account as a credible character with personal dignity, because Jesus treats her as such. ​​ Simply put, Jesus loved her and was prepared to breach age-old conventions to reach her. ​​ Our failures in evangelism are so often failures in love.” ​​ [Milne, 87]

        • PRINCIPLE #1 – Don’t be afraid to lead with your heart

        • MY NEXT STEP TODAY IS TO: ​​ Take intentional steps to prioritize people in my life this week.

  • The Divinity of Jesus

    • (v. 10) Jesus begins to reveal who He is

      • “Living water” (Jer. 2:13)

      • Exactly what she’s been searching for in relationships which have run dry

    • Bringing out the truth

      • The woman expresses interest

      • Jesus begins to tell her about herself

  • Spirit and Truth

    • Jesus’s response to her questions of religion

      • Maybe she felt unworthy or excluded

      • Jesus addresses this

    • God wants those who worship in Spirit and in Truth

    • “. . . an attitude of heart which acknowledges God and His sovereignty over our lives. ​​ Furthermore, worship must be done in truth – honestly, biblically, centered on Christ. ​​ This paragraph shows the difference between religion and the gospel: ​​ religion describes humankind’s search for God; the gospel describes the way God reached down to humanity.” ​​ [Anders]

  • What Does This Mean For Us?

    • Don’t be afraid to lead with your heart

    • What you need: ​​ God

    • What you don’t need: ​​ all the answers

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