Sunday, May 6, 2007

Andrew G. Pittman
Sunday Morning
May 6, 2007

How to Share Your Faith…Like Jesus Did
John 4: 1 – 26.

I. Introduction.
One of my pastor friends tells me that all churches say they want to grow… even though most churches don’t want to grow. It is easy to get comfortable and not want any new people around.
For what purpose does our church exist? As we dream about the future of Lufkin’s First Baptist Church, this is one question we need to ask and answer. Perhaps you are able to think of many answers to this question. However, I can only imagine two answers. These two answers are complete opposites which cannot peacefully coexist in our church.
The first answer is to say that First Baptist Church is a club which offers membership services to those who choose to join our club. In other words, church is for church people. If someone wants to join our church, then he or she may receive the full benefits of membership. These benefits include: fellowship with likeminded people; Sunday morning celebrations of our traditionalism; and programs to pass on our traditions to our children.
The second answer is the answer found in the Bible. In Genesis 12, God called Abraham to go into a new land so that Abraham’s descendents could live as God’s chosen people. However, God did not choose Abraham for the purpose of establishing a club. God called Abraham so that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12: 3).” In Matthew 28, Jesus gathered his disciples on the top of a mountain to commission them before he ascended into heaven. Jesus did not commission the disciples to establish a club. Jesus commissioned them to “make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28: 19).”
The purpose for Lufkin’s First Baptist Church must be consistent with the teachings of Scripture: to be a blessing to all people and to make disciples. Our purpose is to fulfill Jesus’ mission in Lufkin, in Texas, in North America and around the world. One of the many differences between a club and a church is vision. A club has a vision only for itself and its own members. A church is supposed to have a vision for the non-Christian people outside.
I am excited to be a part of this church which has demonstrated a vision for people outside our membership. On Monday, April 30, our church helped our mission church—Cross Timbers Cowboy Church—receive the necessary funding to build a new church facility on Highway 69 North. On Tuesday, May 1, our church entered into a covenant relationship with a local pastor to establish the first African American BGCT church in Angelina County. This church—New Beginnings Baptist Church—will hold her first worship service in September. In October 2006, our church voted to develop a partnership with the First Baptist Church of Grandprairie, Alberta, Canada to support them financially and to do mission work in their community.
Next week, I will travel to Africa with a group of people from Buckner International. Buckner already operates an orphanage in the African nation of Kenya. We will visit this orphanage to witness the work that is taking place. Then, we will travel to Ethiopia to dream and make plans for building the same type of ministry there.
Buckner has invited our church to be one of five churches from East Texas to establish and operate a new orphanage in Ethiopia. In addition, we will have opportunities to do evangelism and church planting in the same areas in which we work with orphans, foster parents and adoption.
The trip I will take this month is a “vision trip” for the new work. Buckner has scheduled the very first mission trip to Ethiopia to take place July 9 – 19. I cannot travel in July because we have our Bible School scheduled for that same time. However, Buckner wants our church represented on this first mission trip. I have information from Buckner for anyone who feels like God might be calling you to this ministry in July. Consider this an open invitation for those who feel called.
My prayer is that we would adopt this on-going mission to Ethiopia as one way to share God’s vision for non-Christians outside our church. Adopting this mission would give our members three opportunities to participate in mission: local (New Beginnings Baptist Church); North American (First Baptist Grandprairie, Alberta, Canada); and global (Ethiopia).
I believe that if we will share God’s vision for people outside our church and participate in that mission, then God will begin to grow our church in exciting ways. Will you join me in fulfilling this purpose? We cannot allow our church to become a club.

That leads to what should be an obvious question…How can a church grow? You have probably heard me quote Rick Warren several times. Rick Warren says that there are three ways a church can grow…Grow through Birth—more and more babies being born…Grow through Transfer—people moving to town looking for a church, or a church split across town…Grow through Conversion—witnessing to the lost and baptizing new converts into the church…

Read John 4: 1 – 26.

II. Jesus Was Alert to Every Opportunity.
The story begins as Jesus and his disciples learn that the Pharisees are interested in Jesus’ ministry. They are not interested in becoming disciples, but in running Jesus out of town or killing him…So, Jesus and his disciples have to travel in a hurry from Judea to Galilee.
The quickest route from Judea (in the South) to Galilee (in the North) is to travel directly through the central region of Palestine, known as Samaria. This was not the normal route for Jewish people—including Jesus and the disciples. They normally went miles and miles out of their way to avoid Samaria so they would not have any contact with any Samaritans.
On this particular occasion, Jesus and the disciples traveled on a straight line directly through Samaria…And it just so happened that they were passing through Samaria during dinner time. Therefore, Jesus sent the disciples into the nearest town to buy some food.
While the disciples were gone, Jesus waited at the local well to rest. There at the well…in the middle of the day…at the hottest point of the day…Jesus had an encounter with a Samaritan woman.
The way John tells this story, it seems that Jesus just “happened to be there at the same time” as the Samaritan woman. But Jesus did not think of this encounter as a chance or a random event. Jesus saw this as a God-given encounter…And used it for God’s purposes…
This has a theological significance for us today…God is at work in EVERY circumstance of our lives…God moves us and directs us into the places he wants us to go…God moves the right people into our lives at just the right times…
Think of your family members…Friends…Co-Workers…Classmates… God has placed these people in your life for a specific reason…

III. Jesus Was Willing to Cross Boundaries.
After meeting the woman for the very first time at the well, Jesus began to speak to the woman. It is important to note that Jesus took the initiative in the conversation. He asked her for a drink…If Jesus had not initiated the conversation, they would not have spoken. Given the circumstances of the woman’s life…I am almost certain that she would NEVER have spoken to Jesus first.
Just initiating the conversation was a big step for Jesus to take. And Jewish men and women of that day would have seen this as a really big deal. In fact, I usually like to imagine the disciples as they walked back up and saw Jesus speaking to this Samaritan woman at the well in the middle of broad daylight, out where everyone could see him…I’m sure they thought, “What has Jesus gotten us into this time?”
The disciples would have been shocked to see Jesus speaking to this woman, because none of them would have spoken to her…Jesus didn’t have to speak to this woman…The disciples would NOT have spoken to her…And no one would have questioned why the disciples were silent…
When Jesus spoke to the Woman at the Well, he overcame at least three boundaries.

1. She was a Samaritan…Jews did not speak with Samaritans…They were considered an unclean race…You will remember from Old Testament history that the Northern Kingdom of Israel was completely destroyed by the Assyrians, but the Southern Kingdom of Judah was taken captive (or Exiled) by the Babylonians…When the Babylonians invaded Judah, they captured the strongest, the bravest and the best looking people and took them to Babylon as slaves…But they left the weak, the ugly and the disabled behind…These people who were “left behind” intermarried among the foreign peoples who lived in that region and established their own nation… When the Israelites finally returned to their land, they found it was already populated by these interracial people…These were the Samaritans…And the Jews wanted nothing to do the Samaritans…Even in Jesus’ day

2. She was a Woman…In Ancient Jewish culture, women were devalued as nothing more than just property belonging to a man…Daughters were property of Fathers…And Wives were property of Husbands…A woman had no identity of her own…Her purpose was to serve the needs of her man—either husband or father—there was no self-respecting man who would endeavor to have a relationship with a woman…

3. She was a Sinful Woman…We read that this woman had a very bad reputation in her town…She was known as a very promiscuous woman…She had been married five times and was now living with a man who was not her husband…Jesus could get a bad reputation just by associating with this woman…

This has theological significance for us today…God’s redemptive plan is intended for all the world and all people… For God so loved the WORLD, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life…It is never for us to decide who can and who cannot be saved…

IV. Jesus Was Sensitive to Genuine Human Needs.
Notice that Jesus did not begin the conversation by forcing the woman to listen to the Four Spiritual Laws or the Roman Road to Salvation. The first thing Jesus did was to LISTEN. He listened to her as she expressed what she was worried about and as she expressed her deepest felt needs.
Jesus listened to her needs, because Jesus came to meet her needs…He spoke the Gospel Message—the Good News—to her specific needs and concerns. He did not try to take a cookie-cutter approach to presenting the Good News, as if every person were exactly the same person.
Jesus knew this woman was different and took the time to get to know her and build a relationship with her. Then he was able to touch her life at the point of her greatest need…By listening, Jesus got to know two things about this woman…

1. She was involved in a Sinful Lifestyle…As I mentioned earlier, she was a promiscuous person…She had been married to five different men and was now living with a man who was not her husband…I can remember a time when we referred to this as “Living in Sin”…Now couples may choose this as a way to save money or to see if they have what it takes to get married…Did you know that recent research and census data indicate that the divorce rate is actually significantly higher for couples who marry after first living together?
Jesus was very aware of this woman’s sinful lifestyle, yet notice how he addressed her…Jesus did not condemn her or make her feel guilty even though we know that he did not approve…He addressed her problem as a search for satisfaction… Read vv. 13 – 14…Nothing else in this world can satisfy the cravings and desires of life like Jesus…Only Jesus can satisfy…

2. She was involved in a False Religion…Samaritans and Jews shared the same history and roots…Therefore, they held similar beliefs…However, the Samaritans rejected the Jewish understanding of God’s revelation—They had a different Scripture with different books…The Samaritans rejected the Jewish worship—They worshipped in a different Temple on a different site…
Again, this is a search for satisfaction in the wrong direction…Jesus looked beyond these issues and realized that her search for satisfaction could only be fulfilled in a Right Relationship with God.
This has a theological significance for us today…God’s redemptive plan meets all human needs. Ultimately, the greatest human need is to be in a Right Relationship with God. This relationship is only possible through Jesus Christ as Lord

V. Conclusion.
We have looked at one biblical story about an evangelistic encounter between Jesus and the Woman at the Well. The story shows us how Jesus witnessed to a woman who was no different from you and me—she was a sinner searching for satisfaction in all the wrong places.
Our community is filled with hundreds and thousands of men and women just like that—sinners who are searching for something that will satisfy.
Are you willing to share your faith like Jesus did?
Are you willing to look for God’s hand leading you to witnessing opportunities? Are you willing to listen to the aches and pains and hurts of your friends and family members? Are you willing to tell others that the only thing that can truly satisfy every longing of the human heart is a Right Relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord?
Maybe you are here this morning searching…Maybe you would like to take a sip of the Living Water that will quench your thirst and satisfy all your needs…