Apr. 12, 2020

SONrise Service

Good morning! He is risen! I am reminded of John 4 during this time of uncertain days, our earthly comforts are stripped away, our freedoms are limited, and we stand in need of deliverance. The church that we run to on Sundays in search of reprieve has closed her doors. Yes, I am reminded of John 4 where we find a wearied Jesus sitting beside the well of Jacob, and along comes a woman of Samaria, a woman whose reputation is questionable; a social outsider if you will. She was going about her usual day, but Oh! She is about to meet an unusual Savior! As she approaches the well, Jesus asks her for a drink. She was surprised by this request. A Jew asking a Samaritan for a drink? They enter into this dialogue that ultimately ends in her confessed sins and deliverance that impacted all of that town. The part of this exchange that captures my thoughts during this season of our lives though is concerning the place of worship. During the time that this conversation took place, the Samaritan people worshiped in one place and the Jews in another. She had perceived Him as a prophet and desired to worship correctly. This knowledge is gained from her inquiry. Listen to Jesus' response, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth." The woman then, uncertain as to who was in front of her- but knowing enough to be looking- says, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things." Here is the power statement. Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

READ: Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

PRAY

STUDY:

1.) We are all afflicted transgressors.

a. Romans 3:9-12

i. "We have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

1. We have a sin problem. There is no good in us. Depraved, wretched, sinful, a people without hope in our own condition.

a. The woman at the well; afflicted

b. The thief on the cross; afflicted

c. The tax-collector; a legal thief, unjust and corrupt; afflicted

d. The unrepentant person sitting in church pews and pickup trucks across the globe; afflicted

2. You may ask; Why so gloom today?

a. You must know how desperate you are to see the great salvation of Jesus Christ.

b. Our dreadful, sinful condition is to drive us nearer to the One who makes us pure and clean.

2.) The grave awaits us all!

a. From the onset in Genesis 3:6

i. "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate."

1. Deceived; distracted; destroyed

a. In a moment of deception, sin entered and death began.

b. Not only began, but reigns. Looming in the future. Awaiting each of us. Guaranteed.

ii. We have earned death.

1. Romans 5:12 "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned."

2. Isaiah 64:6 "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; And we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (KJV)

iii. The wages of those sins, or even one sin, is death.

1. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death..."

3.) The dead in Christ will rise!

a. 1 Corinthians 15:12-58

i. If Christ has not been raised, we are most to be pitied. If the tomb is not empty, then we have no hope.

1. But the good news of EASTER is THE TOMB IS EMPTY!!

ii. (22) We have life through Christ.

iii. (42) What is sown is perishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

iv. (53-57) "For this perishable body must put on the imperishable , and the mortal puts on immorality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts immorality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?"

Conclusion:

Jesus tells us how to defeat death, John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Yes, they crucified Him. Yes, He died. Yes, satan thought he had won. Oh, but on the third day Jesus got up out of that grave, walked among men and forty days later ascended into glory to await the appointed time when the Father says, "Go get our children." All of these are purchased by the blood of Christ: the woman at the well, the thief, the tax collector, and the sinner sitting in pick-up trucks and church pews around the globe. The ones who repent and believe and call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. In John 17, Jesus prayed, "(11b) Holy Father, keep them in your name which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one...(20) I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me."

I ASK, DO YOU BELIEVE?