Joe_Applegarth

Q2. (John 6:10) Why does Jesus have the crowds sit down before feeding them? What is the disciples' role in this? Why would you prepare for a miracle if you don't think it would happen? How ready is your congregation to see miracles take place? Primarily to prepare them for the miracle to come. Secondarily, so the disciples could determine how much bread would be required to feed each group, and seated, the people won't be pushing and shoving in order to grab at what is being distributed. The disciples were carrying out Jesus’ directions and were being prepared themselves for the miracle to come.I don’t believe you would.

Q1. (John 6:5-9) Why does Jesus try to get the disciples to own the task of feeding the crowds? What is the significance to the story of the boy's five loaves and two little fish? In essence, Jesus was preparing them to disciple others for the work of furthering His ministry and for building up the body of Christ. Jesus was always teaching, preparing them for the time when He wouldn’t be with them in order to make them committed and effective. They viewed their task as being impossible, but that was the lesson. He knew that they would be going out into the world to do the impossible but through Him, they could do things that they believed to be humanly impossible and that they should always look to Him for strength and guidance just as we should be doing today.With Christ Jesus, all things are possible.

What should be the role of the Scriptures in our lives? The scriptures are the word of God and we should study them every day, on our own and with our friends, families and other believers. Studying His word will grown our faith and allow us know our Heavenly Father and Christ Jesus better. As we get to know Him, He’ll bless us all with the power to witness to non-believers, to resist the evil one and give us the strength to face our daily challenges. That said, just reading and studying isn’t enough; you could (theoretically) memorize the Bible front to back and if you don’t put the things you’ve learned into practice in your life, you’ve simply memorized words. As a faithful Christian you are also “required” to apply His words and His guidance in our daily lives. “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” [Phil. 4:9] How is it possible for a person to be a great student of the Bible, but so lacking in spiritual discernment and lifestyle? Many who claim to be atheist study the Bible in order to argue against it. I’ve met several of this ilk in my 66 years on this earth and, even though atheistic as they are, they are/were, in their own right, great students of the Bible. They diligently read and studied the word but simply refused to believe. There are also a lot of us who claim to be “good Christian” men and women who simply delude ourselves into believing that we are righteous simply because we've memorized and can quote scripture at the drop of a hat. Those who profess to believe and are non-committal or really don't fully believe and put the Word of God into practice, their belief in their own righteousness is false. The truth is that, in addition to study and prayer, you still (first and foremost) must have an unshakable faith in Christ Jesus and apply his teaching in both word and deed to our daily lives. “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” [James 2:14] How can we keep our churches orthodox but not legalistic and judgmental? There are several definitions of orthodoxy and I suppose you could probably apply any of them to this discussion. However, the definition I choose to go with is this one: “sound or correct in opinion or doctrine, especially theological or religious doctrine.” Time and space doesn’t allow for a full accounting of my thoughts on this subject so I’ll keep this brief. Obviously, we can start by teaching and preaching the ONLY sound, correct church doctrine available; the Bible (and only the Bible)! In order to be non-legalistic and non-judgmental we have to stay with what’s worked from the very beginning of Christianity and that is faithfully teaching and preaching the word of God and removing any/all man made teachings and traditions from our churches. The Bible is, as it should be, our only teaching tool. Scripture tells us quite clearly that God is the unquestionable Creator of the universe and He and only He, reigns supreme; Jesus Christ was (is) God in the flesh and that He died for the redemption of the sins of ALL mankind. God made us in His image but He also gave us a free will and because we have that free will, we will be judged solely on our own faith and on our own works and not because of the sin of Adam or anyone coming before us. We also need to teach and preach that we can be saved only by faith (hearing and believing the word), accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, repenting our sins and being baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit and living our lives the way The Lord expects us to live without question and without apology! If we do these things, Jesus will not have died in vain!

According to John's Gospel, what is the value of miracles? Miracles were used to bear witness that Jesus was who He said He was and that God had sent him to complete his work. What is the weakness of faith that depends solely on miracles? Why do you think that we don't have more miracles in our day? The miracles performed by Jesus and his first-century disciples were done to establish the credibility of Christ Jesus and the credibility of his disciples after him. Today, we have the Gospels to validate His credibility and the validity of His message. That message of course is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world! If anyone needs proof beyond the written Word of God, then I believe that their claims of faith are misguided! How much is that dependent upon a congregation's attitude (and unbelief) towards the importance of modern-day miracles? It has been clearly established in Scripture that those early miracles were used only to corroborate the testimony of Christ, and those he sent out into the world to spread the good news after He was gone. Recording those events in the New Testament was intended to permanently corroborate that testimony so, just like speaking in tongues, miracles are no longer. Today we have the written word of God so constantly having to prove and re-prove the validity of His ministry is not required. A congregation that needs more than the testimony of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit to the gospel writers, are not (in my opinion) mature Christians and their faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is weak.

Why is Jesus so dependent upon the Father for wisdom? In this lesson you said: “The Son is not independent of the Father, but rather dependent and working in concert. Jesus listens to the Father and speaks the Father's words, declares the Father's judgment. He and the Father are inseparable.” I’m in total agreement with that assessment, He is dependent upon the father because He and the Father are one. How dependent are you upon your culture to approve of your way of life and validate your wisdom? I do not depend upon my “culture” to approve/disapprove of my way of life. The only approval I need is the approval of my Lord Jesus Christ. Same answer for the second part of the question, the only validation I need is the validation of Jesus. To what degree do you depend upon God for wisdom? I’m human so I obviously fall short but I try to never, ever make a decision (large or small) without first talking it over with God. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 4:5-7]

According to John 5:24, when does eternal life begin? When he we hear His word and believe in Him (and after we’re immersed in baptism). “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ… [1 Peter 3:21] What is our default position without Christ -- life or death? Death. How can people come to eternal life if they never "hear my word"? THEY CAN’T! In John 14:6 Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. How do your friends and neighbors normally hear Jesus' word? Unfortunately, some never do hear His word unless they hear it from me and even then many of them have ears that don’t, or won’t hear and have hardened their hearts against Him. What might be your role in seeing that they hear his word? Jesus said: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” That isn’t a command that I take lightly.

Are we intended to emulate Jesus' listening to the Father or is knowing the Bible a modern-day substitute for this? Yes, we should always be listening to the Father and following his guidance. Our preachers and church elders are only men and, as such, are fallible. Just like the Father was in Jesus, the Holy Spirit is at work in us and we need to listen intently. The Bible isn’t a “substitute” but rather a “supplement” to listening. Paul said in his letter to the Romans, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The Bible is the “word of God” and He will never contradict anything that’s found in scripture. Why don't churches teach more about hearing the voice of God? I think, in a lot of preachers tend to focus on love, peace and harmony while leaving out or downplaying the consequences of our sin. Going to hell has become less and less central in sermons these days and we need to be reminded that there are consequences for our actions AND what those consequences are. The Lord tells us what they are but I believe that there are those in the church who completely miss the mark when it comes to the blessing of fellowship with our Lord. The reason they are is simply because they speak but don’t listen; subsequently, they’ve lost the ability to recognize His voice when they hear it. What would happen in our generation if we would learn to dynamically hear God and then obey what he is saying to us? If we would all learn to hear God and obey Him, we would all have a future filled with hope rather than dismay. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” [Jeremiah 29:11-13]

Q4. (John 5:14-15) Is it possible to be blessed outwardly, but lost inwardly? Why did Jesus confront the healed man in the temple with his sin? How was this necessary for a full healing, his salvation? Does the man seem to respond with faith to Jesus' rebuke? Is it possible to be blessed outwardly, but lost inwardly? Yes, definitely! In Matthew 23:27-28, the apostle affirms that when says: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Why did Jesus confront the healed man in the temple with his sin? It really doesn’t say if Jesus had followed him there or if he just happened upon him. This much I know for certain: 1) the man did absolutely nothing to ascertain who Jesus was and 2) there was a very good reason for everything that Jesus did so I believe he knew the man would be at the temple, he knew what was in his heart and He went to the temple specifically to confront him about his sin. Obviously this man was guilty of some, or perhaps even a multitude of sins that he hadn’t repented. Jesus knew about his sins when he healed him but He healed him nonetheless! When he confronted him at the temple he did so to let him know in no uncertain terms who He was, that He knew about his sin and that he had to give it up or face the possibility of far greater consequences. John doesn’t say whether he actually did/did not repent, nor does he make any mention at all of this man’s faith in God. How was this necessary for a full healing, his salvation? Jesus healed the man physically at the pool and then slipped off into the crowd. The text leads one to believe that the invalid made no attempt to ascertain who Jesus was, nor did he offer anything in the way of thanks. When He confronted the man about his sin at the temple he was completing the healing by healing him spiritually. He knew the man’s heart and the sin that was contained therein and he warned him to clean up his act or face dire consequences later. If this man actually did repent his sins and get himself immersed in baptism, the healing process would have been complete; i.e. body and soul. Does the man seem to respond with faith to Jesus' rebuke? I doesn’t appear that he did; John says that after His rebuke this man he went to the authorities to reveal Jesus’ identity to them. Does that make him a Judas who turns on the only person who had done right by him? To me there are a lot of questions that are left to one’s own interpretation. How can we be sure that he wasn’t at the temple to worship and praise God for the miracle that healed him? Could it be that he was so grateful that he just had to tell others who had healed him or was he perhaps witnessing the healing miracle that the Lord had done for him. John leaves a lot to our imagination but in all honesty, I don’t believe he actually showed any particular faith in Jesus but there are enough questions in my mind that lend themselves to extending a slight benefit of doubt.

Q3. (John 5:9-13) Why are the "Sabbath police" (the Pharisees) so upset at the man who is healed? How can a person be so intent on rules that they miss what God is doing? Have you ever caught yourself doing that? Has someone in your church been so intent on "how we do things here" that they couldn't see God at work? What is the sin of the Pharisees here? Why are the "Sabbath police" (the Pharisees) so upset at the man who is healed? They are upset because of their over concern for the Sabbath but I believe that the underlying cause for their displeasure was that Jesus healed him on the Sabbath. How can a person be so intent on rules that they miss what God is doing? Have you ever caught yourself doing that? Has someone in your church been so intent on "how we do things here" that they couldn't see God at work? There’s a very real danger of missing what God is doing in our lives if we put our trust in the laws of man and/or religious tradition over the real Word of God. The Pharisees’ traditions according to the Mishnah say that the Jews couldn’t work on the Sabbath; because of their belief in man over God, they totally missed God at work. We are human beings, and because we bring human frailty to the table, at times we tend to put earthly things ahead of the Lord’s work and as a result we all (me included) fall far short of His expectations. What is the sin of the Pharisees here? Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” In this case, as in most if not all cases, the Pharisee’s sin was to put man’s law (the Mishnah) ahead of God’s. Instead of praising and glorifying God for sparing the invalid man, they invoked the laws of man. Jesus said “Him only you shall serve”; as usual they chose to serve the rules of the temple over serving God.

Q2. (John 5:6) Why do you think Jesus asked the invalid if he wanted to get well? Why is it important for us not to make assumptions, but to seek discernment about people's needs before we pray for them? Why do you think Jesus asked the invalid if he wanted to get well? I believe it was probably the utter helplessness of this man that prompted Jesus to choose him out of the large crowd around the pool. He didn’t heal everyone, instead He turned his complete attention to just that one man. Jesus already knew what was in the invalid’s heart when he asked the question so I believe He asked because it was important to Him and to the invalid himself that he answer. Even though he never directly answered yes or no, Jesus must have been satisfied with his response or He would have gone on his way. The question might sound strange but it’s very telling because we all know that there are people out there who are suffering who really don’t want to be helped. These people wallow in their own miserable existence. They make the most of their weaknesses and their helplessness and in a lot of cases, actively seek the attention and pity of others because of their infirmities. Was this man one of those? Possibly; but I believe Jesus asked the question not because He wanted, or needed to hear this man’s response because He certainly did not. I believe he asked because he wanted the man to look at his own pitiful condition and accept personal responsibility for his life. He asked the question because he wanted this man to know that he had to give up on ‘human’ effort and admit to himself that he really couldn’t do anything on his own. In a roundabout way, the invalid man’s response was yes, he did want to be healed. He admitted to himself what Jesus already knew-- that he’d tried everything he could humanly do but he needed help and that he had absolutely no hope of ever doing it on his own. He wanted and needed Jesus’ help. Quite obviously Jesus accepted that response because instead of moving on, he told him to “pick up his mat and walk.” Why is it important for us not to make assumptions, but to seek discernment about people's needs before we pray for them? When Jesus looks at us, He knows what’s in our hearts and He knows exactly what we need and He willingly shares His love and compassion for those of us who are suffering. Like the invalid at the pool, Jesus’ love and compassion led him seek him out and to heal both his physical and spiritual infirmities. We, however are human beings and we don’t possess the ability to look into the hearts of others. That being the case, I don’t believe we should even try to “seek discernment about people’s needs before we pray for them.” Everyone is deserving of our love and our prayers no matter what their circumstances might be. In order to pray for others effectively, we must ask the Lord to make us more sensitive to their problems. When we pray for others, we always have to keep in mind that it’s not our job to judge whether or not someone “deserves” our prayers, that’s the Lord’s job. If it’s His will, God will pour His love and compassion into the hearts of those for whom we’re praying. Everyone, regardless of their station in life or their physical, psychological or spiritual condition is deserving of our encouragement, our help and our prayers. Rather than seeking to determine someone else’s spiritual needs, as a Christian we should consider it an honor and a privilege to walk with God in helping others through our prayers. Pray and pray earnestly and always remember to let the Lord determine the concern over the need. The Lord cares deeply about every one of us; He, and He alone has the solution for all of our troubles. When we take other people’s needs to God, we are working in tandem with Him and we should view it as an honor and a privilege to be able to share His concern, listen to His instructions and then follow His guidance.

Q1. (John 5:1-16) How would you describe the invalid's character? The invalid's faith? How does Jesus' healing here demonstrate the grace of God? Why do we humans find it difficult to accept grace when it is offered to us? Why do we resist the concept that God's gifts are entirely by grace? How would you describe the invalid's character? I can’t say that I totally buy in to your depiction of this man’s character but I do see your point. For the sake of argument, I submit the following: Obviously, the man was totally, or near totally disabled. He’d been an invalid for 38 years so, my guess is that he was most likely overwhelmed by a desperate need to get well. Over the course of those 38 years, he’d probably tried (unsuccessfully) anything and everything in his mortal power to improve his situation but he may have just given up. He had to rely on others for support and to get him back and forth every day. It doesn’t say this in the lesson but when the indigent and infirmed gathered at a gate like this they were, more often than not, begging for alms so he was probably a beggar as well. I his condition, he was probably suffering spiritually (low self-esteem) as well. I do appreciate your point that this man may have been a complainer but I believe that he may have simply been responding to questions asked of him by Jesus and not actually complaining about his lot in life (although he probably was). Blamer? Again, I see your point but when he was confronted by the Jewish official(s) he may have simply responded. He had no idea at the time who had healed him, nor do I believe that he had even an inkling of the authority that this man may have had. Personally, where I in the invalid’s shoes, I would follow the directions of anyone who had the awesome power to heal since he obviously had the authority to do so as well. Yes, I’d say he was probably a sinner, everyone is. This is made clear when Jesus followed him to the temple and warned him about continuing to sin. Your argument is that “There's no indication that he accepted and acted on Jesus' rebuke…” By the same token, there is nothing to indicate that he did not. Did he actually “report” Jesus to the authorities, or after he discovered who had healed him, was he simply bragging to them that it was Jesus? This man’s character is clearly in question but Jesus saw something of value in him so he must have had some redeeming qualities or He wouldn't have singled him out from the hundreds who were gathered there. The invalid's faith? How does Jesus' healing here demonstrate the grace of God? It’s unclear about his faith in God but he obviously had no idea who Jesus was when he asked him if he wanted to get well so his faith that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah didn’t seem to be an issue at the time. People tend to believe that you need to have absolute faith for a miracle to happen but Jesus clearly showed that you don’t. This man still didn’t know who He was even after he’d been healed. Since he didn’t know who Jesus was, before or after the healing, he understandably didn’t receive him as the Messiah at the time either. It appears that this man had done absolutely nothing in his life to deserve favor from the Lord yet he was healed through the Grace of God none the less. Why do we humans find it difficult to accept grace when it is offered to us? Why do we resist the concept that God's gifts are entirely by grace? I personally believe that we all have serious doubts that God can truly accept us just as we are. After all, we’re sinners and not only do we know first-hand the sins that we’ve committed, God does as well! And-- as human beings, I think we have a really hard time trying to reconcile that. God looks into our hearts and He knows our deepest, darkest secrets yet He loves us nonetheless and sometimes that’s a concept that’s really hard for us (human beings) to get ourselves around. That kind of unconditional love is not something that comes natural to any of us and it stands firmly in the way of our accepting His grace. Good works alone won’t get any of us into heaven but that doesn’t stop us from striving for just that. Unfortunately, when we fall short of those aspirations we see that as failing God so how can He possibly love us? His grace is something that’s totally undeserved, we need to understand that and remove the self-doubt that keeps us from accepting it.

Q4. Have you read of miracles accompanying a great harvest of new believers on the mission’s fields in our day? What place do miracles have in evangelism today -- both in your country and abroad? Why do some denominations in our day deemphasize miracles or claim that they were only for the early church? Why do some denominations emphasize miracles? Which of these types of denominations tend to grow faster? What kind of "discipling" is necessary for those who come to Christ primarily on the basis of miracles? No, in my humble opinion, these followers of so-called modern day healers are not true believers in God, they are simply (misplaced) believers in the man who perpetrates false miracles upon them. If we bother to read it, Scripture clearly tells us that miracles had a singular purpose in God’s plan and have not been extended to any of these modern day charlatans. There is absolutely no ‘credible’ evidence to back up their claims, just the unsubstantiated testimony of so called witnesses. None whatsoever! A miracle is defined as: “an event which the forces of nature—including the natural powers of man—cannot of themselves produce, and which must, therefore, be referred to a supernatural agency.” (Fisher 1900, 9). Jesus’ miracles validated the fact that He is truly the Son of God and none of them were ever done for personal gain nor were they done out of any particular personal self-interest. Unlike the evangelistic charlatans of today, Christ’s disciples who performed miracles in the first century did so in front of “credible” witnesses and they were only done to validate Christianity and the ministry of Jesus Christ. The early disciples had no money to speak of so they certainly did not do those things to increase their own personal wealth unlike the TV “faith-healers” we see today. “Heal this person! Hallelujah! Oh by the way, send your check to…” (fill in the blank) “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed.” (Mark 16:20). The false claims of modern day miracle workers shouldn’t be deemphasized, they should be seen for exactly what they are! These things are simply lies perpetrated upon us by Satan; he it seems really wants us to believe that these people have extraordinary powers! The hard truth in that is simply that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. No matter how pure you believe your intentions are, if you're buying in to these so-call "evangelistic healers" you are simply buying into Satan’s lies. If you're putting your faith into a man who claims to be able to perform miracles in our day will most certainly put yourself on that perilous road. The miracles performed by Jesus and his first-century disciples were done to establish the credibility of Christ Jesus and the credibility of his disciples after him. Today, we have the Gospels to validate His credibility and the validity of His message. That message of course is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world! If anyone needs proof beyond the written Word of God, then they are not true Christians and their claims of faith are totally misguided and false! It really doesn’t matter which one grows faster. The important thing to consider in all of this is which one actually grows stronger in the Lord. Those who put their faith in a man, or those who put their faith where it belongs, IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! The most important point to make is that it has been clearly established in Scripture that those early miracles were used to corroborate the testimony of Christ, and those he sent out into the world to spread the good news after He was gone. Recording those events in the New Testament was intended permanently corroborate that testimony so, just like speaking in tongues, miracles are no longer required. Today we have the written word of God so constantly having to prove and re-prove the validity of His ministry is not required. The bottom line is, if you need more than His testimony which was given through the Holy Spirit to the gospel writers then you are not a mature Christian and your faith is weak. "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" I made that good confession years ago and I still believe and live by it today! I need nothing more than my faith and the Word of God to sustain me. If you need to see a miracle to believe then you really need to reevaluate your faith.

Q3. (John 4:53) What are the factors that caused the royal official's household (immediate family, extended family, and servants) to believe? How mature was this faith initially? How do you think the royal official was able to nurture it beyond mere "miracles faith"? 1) Jesus had been in Capernaum preaching, teaching and performing miracles before. If they hadn’t personally witnessed these things they had at least heard about them and believed the stories about him to be true. Because of the miracles that Jesus had performed in the past, the man’s faith that he could also heal his son took him on a two day journey to see Jesus who told him that his son was alive and well. On faith, the man took Jesus’ at his word and as he returned home he was met by his servants who told him that his son was alive. When the man realized that he got well at the same time Jesus said his words of healing, he and his whole household believed. At first it was faith in miracles but when Jesus’ healed his son they understood that Jesus was the Son of the Living God. 2) Initially he only had faith in the miracles that Jesus had performed so it wasn’t mature faith at all. 3) The miracle showed the man without a doubt that Jesus was the Son of God and that all things were possible through faith in Him.

Q2. (John 4:43-50) What do we learn about the royal official's faith from his actions? Why did he travel 20 miles from Capernaum to Cana? What does this say about his faith? When he departs for home and "takes Jesus at his word," what does this tell us about his faith? His faith in Jesus was strong. He didn’t ask Jesus to go to his son and when Jesus told him that his son lives, he had faith that Jesus did what he asked without having to ask for or see the proof. We can learn to trust in Him just as the nobleman did, without question! 2) To ask Jesus to heal his son who was close to death. He’d only heard of Jesus’ miracles but had faith, knowing that Jesus could heal his son. 3) He trusted Jesus without question.

Q1. (John 4:43-48) Many of the Galileans believe mainly because they have seen miracles. In what ways do miracles help build faith? Why does only seeing miracles not build a mature faith? Why does Jesus rebuke the Galileans in 4:48? Jesus used miracles as divine testimony to support his claim that he was the true God and as absolute proof to skeptics of the power of God. The miracles were to build and strengthen the faith of those who believed in him. First they heard the word and the miracles simply reinforced the word. Whenever Jesus performed a miracle, it was always done to reinforce His teaching. 2) Miracles without the word have no real power. Those who witness them without knowing the teachings of Christ Jesus do not know the power of God. First must come our faith in Him; miracles simply reinforce faith. 3) Because they expected to see Jesus perform miracles before they would believe. He expects us to believe and have faith in Him not in the miracle.

Q4. (John 4:39-42). Why do you think Jesus stayed two days in Samaria, when elsewhere he instructed his disciples not to preach in Samaritan villages? What does it mean that Jesus is the Savior of the whole world? What are its implications for our lives? For your church's mission? 1) Even though they weren’t the main focus of His ministry he felt it important that He spend time ministering to them. Tradition and prejudices were set aside as an example to every one of His disciples, to include those of us living in the 21st century. He’s still teaching and ministering to us two-thousand years later. 2) It means that even though his main focus was the 1st century Jews, Jesus is the Savior for everyone, Jew, Gentile, Black, White, etc. 3) For us as a family of believers, we are expected to do our own work well and never forget that it isn't all about us. “Jesus' ministry built on that of John the Baptist, who stood in a long line of prophets who had preached repentance and faith even before him.” Now it’s our task to carry on that ministry. As we work to fulfill our personal mission, it will spill over into the church’s mission and we will be raising up the church as well.

Q2. (John 4:35) What caused the harvest to ripen so rapidly in Sychar? How likely is it that the testimony of one, discredited woman could make such a huge impact? What might God do with your testimony if you were to share it? Why is it necessary to "open our eyes" to see the potential spiritual harvest? 1) When Jesus says "harvest", He’s talking about a spiritual harvest of believers, not a physical harvest of crops. In this setting, He’s talking about “bringing people from unbelief to faith and from sin and destruction to eternal life.” Having heard Jesus they put their faith Him based upon His words. 2) It wasn’t the Samaritan woman who had an impact on the Samaritan people, it was the Lord working through her and in that context is not just likely that she’d have an impact on them, it’s extremely likely… 3) I try to share my testimony as much as possible but up to this point I don’t think it’s made much of a difference. My prayer however, is that the Lord will use my testimony to influence others to open their hearts and minds to Him. 4) The “spiritual harvest” is around us every day, we just need to look for it. The person who’s in physical pain or who has a terminal illness has a very great need to have God in his/her life. The downtrodden and homeless amongst us, unbelievers and believers undergoing spiritual warfare are other fields in need of harvesting. The possibilities are limitless and as Christians it’s up to us to look for them and spread the good news that Jesus Christ is here among us.

Q2. (John 4:35) What caused the harvest to ripen so rapidly in Sychar? How likely is it that the testimony of one, discredited woman could make such a huge impact? What might God do with your testimony if you were to share it? Why is it necessary to "open our eyes" to see the potential spiritual harvest? 1) When Jesus says "harvest", He’s talking about a spiritual harvest of believers, not a physical harvest of crops. In this setting, He’s talking about “bringing people from unbelief to faith and from sin and destruction to eternal life.” Having heard Jesus they put their faith Him based upon His words. 2) It wasn’t the Samaritan woman who had an impact on the Samaritan people, it was the Lord working through her and in that context is not just likely that she’d have an impact on them, it’s extremely likely… 3) I try to share my testimony as much as possible but up to this point I don’t think it’s made much of a difference. My prayer however, is that the Lord will use my testimony to influence others to open their hearts and minds to Him. 4) The “spiritual harvest” is around us every day, we just need to look for it. The person who’s in physical pain or who has a terminal illness has a very great need to have God in his/her life. The downtrodden and homeless amongst us, unbelievers and believers undergoing spiritual warfare are other fields in need of harvesting. The possibilities are limitless and as Christians it’s up to us to look for them and spread the good news that Jesus Christ is here among us.

Q6. (John 4:23-24) What does it mean that "God is spirit"? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Have you ever "gone through the motions" of worship without worshipping? How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God? 1) It simply means that God doesn’t have a physical body as we know it. The Son, Jesus came to earth in a physical body but God (the father) and the Holy Spirit are invisible, they are not physical beings in human form. Numbers 23:19 (NKJV): “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.” 2) Worshiping in spirit means to worship God passionately, from the heart, not just simply going through the motions out of some feeling of personal obligation. Worshiping from the heart means truly honoring God and not just satisfying our own personal needs; Deut. 6:4 says that we should “love the Lord with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our might.” Worshiping in truth means that we need to “know” God on a personal level. We get to know Him but studying His Word, knowing what He wants and expects of us and then applying that knowledge in our daily lives. 3) Yes, of course. I think we all “go through the motions” at times but before I go to worship I always begin by praying that my conduct will glorify Him in some small way. 4) We all need to know and understand what God is all about. Our worship should ALWAYS be passionate and it should ALWAYS glorify God in every way. Through prayer and study we will come to know and understand exactly what He wants and expects of us and our worship will reflect a positive, loving, spiritual attitude. When our worship is sincere, the more we glorify God.

Q5. (John 4:19-22) What motives cause the woman to bring up a religious controversy to Jesus? Why do people today try to generate religious controversies with us? What are their motives? 1) Jesus had exposed her sin so instead of having to admit her transgressions she changed the subject. She brought up the differences between Jews and Samaritans and how and where one should worship but all of it was simply to evade having to face her own sin. 2) People have become blind to Christ and they’re struggling for answers. I believe that they’re looking for someone who can make a convincing, clear-cut case for Christianity like Christ did with the Samaritan woman. 3) The motives are wide-ranging, perhaps they’re honestly looking for a way to bring them closer to God, or they’re suffering and looking for relief. Perhaps it’s merely curiosity, i.e. is there really a God out there and is the Bible really His word. The motives are infinite but the fact that they’re talking is opening a door to discipleship and as a Christian it’s our DUTY to share the good news about our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.

Q4. (John 4:16-19) What was the effect of Jesus' special knowledge of the woman's history with men? What effect did it have on her faith? How can such gifts of the Spirit work today to bring people to faith or deepen their faith? 1) The knowledge that Jesus had about her history with men was astonishing as He had exposed every indecent thing that she had ever done. She believed he was the Messiah and went into the city and told everyone what had happened and as a result they too believed. 2) Studying and understanding the Word of God brings us closer to Him. Jesus not only associated with sinners, He sought them out teaching us to be more understanding and less critical of others. As Jesus demonstrated love and acceptance we too have to do the same things in order to teach others to understand God’s love for them and that He’s always there to forgive their past misdeeds.

Q3. (John 4:9-15) What does the "gift of God" and the "living water" (4:9) refer to? What does receiving this gift result in (4:14)? Does this gift differ from or is another way of saying the "baptism with the Spirit" that John the Baptist spoke about in 1:33? 1) The ‘Gift of God’ and the ‘living water’ are references to the Holy Spirit. 2) Everlasting life. 3) Yes, when he said "living water," he was speaking of the Holy Spirit, John spoke of baptism in the Holy Spirit and the “living water” that quenches our spiritual thirst is the Holy Spirit.

Q2. (John 4:9-15) Jesus' words to the woman in verses 10-13 seem to imply that all people are spiritually thirsty. What has been your experience? Does the woman seem spiritually thirsty at this point? What caused her deep thirst to surface? What does this teach us about our own witness? 1) At one point in my life, I really totally unsatisfied with my life. All I ever wanted was to live a more personally fulfilling life. The problem at that point in time was that I found myself looking for happiness everywhere except for Jesus. I had a loving wife and children, a nice home and a very good job but something was missing and the more I looked for it the more it eluded me. I was trying to meet do it on my own and that just wasn’t working too well. I was looking for the easy way and it wasn’t until years later that through Jesus Christ I finally found the happiness and contentment that I’d been looking for. My personal search was in vain and I’d spent a great deal of time rejecting God and not looking to Him to meet my needs but through the gospel of Christ Jesus I’ve finally found a happy, successful life and I think Him every single day for blessing me with His love. 2) Yes, I believe she was; she’d been married five times and was living in sin with a man who wasn't her husband. That Jesus knew of her sins and gave her an opportunity to have those sins forgiven made an impression on her. She believe Him when He told her that He was the Messiah and she repented and then went back to tell her friends and family, how Jesus knew about her sins and his offer of the live-giving water and eternal life. 3) Her deep thirst arose when she found out that Jesus already knew about everything she’d ever done.

Q1. (John 4:7-9) Why do you think Jesus went against the social norms to communicate with the woman? Why do we hesitate to go against social norms to share the good news? How do we balance our need to obey God and our need to live peaceably in our culture? 1) Jesus approached this on two very distinct fronts, first of all she was a Samaritan, and verse 9 says clearly that “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” the second issue was that she was a woman and as a general rule, Jewish men did not speak to women in public (to include their mothers). By opening dialog with a Samaritan, Jesus was demonstrating clearly that the kingdom of Heaven was open to everyone who believed and was more interested in sharing the good news by bringing the truth to the Samaritans than he was about following the societal rules of the time. 2) We live in a very permissive culture and the vast majority of us want to fit in by doing what everyone else is doing. When we have to make tough moral choices we’re often torn between doing what we know is right and doing what is culturally acceptable. In order to be able to go against those ‘social norms’ that we face every day we have to have a strong relationship with God. 3) We balance our need to obey God with worldly wants and needs by living our lives for Christ. We need to dedicate ourselves to fellowship with other Christians, prayer, the reading of God’s word and meditation. Those are the things that will strengthen our moral compass and supply the spiritual strength to do the right thing. Living our lives for the Lord will prevent anything from coming into our lives that contradicts our faith and love of Christ Jesus.

Q5. (John 3:36) Is it possible to believe in God's love and God's wrath at the same time? How does God's justice allow salvation, when what we deserve is punishment for our sin and unbelief? (Hint: the "substitutionary atonement.") We love our children but we can also be angry with them and punish them for their misdeeds. Because we do doesn’t mean that we love them any less so in that context love and wrath certainly do co-exist. In the same way, God loves us all but His wrath will deliver punishment on the unrepentant sinner but that doesn’t mean that He loves them any less. As a sign of His great love He’s promised that if we repent, be baptized and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that He will forgive our sins. God gave His only son as a sign of the great love that He has for all of His people. Christ was the spotless and perfect sacrifice given for sinners and He bore the wrath that we deserve. God hates sin and those who accept Christ as their Lord and Savior will have those sins washed away but for those who reject Him God’s wrath will be loosed upon them on judgment day.