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First Alliance Church Weekly Sermons
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Monday Dec 07, 2020
Monday Dec 07, 2020
Advent 2021: Bringing Peace
Luke 1:46-55
If there is one word that usually always finds its way into our understanding of the Christmas story, that word is peace. Whether the observer is Christian or non-Christian, people cannot go very long in discussing the meaning of Christmas without bringing up this word. Of course, we often have very different understandings of what this peace actually consists. Fortunately for us, the second most important character in the Christmas story had a clear vision of this peace and she is going to share it with us today. What exactly is this peace that the Christ child gives?
I First, the peace this child will bring is p_____________________ peace.
A. Mary says, “My very life, my spirit, the d______________ part of me, the e__________________ of who I am, glorifies God for what he has done for me.”
B. Mary, throughout her life, was treated as a nothing, and that is no exaggeration:
1. First, she was an u_______________ teenage girl.
2. Second, she was dirt-_____________.
3. Third, she was a citizen of an e__________________ nation.
C. Mary says, “God did not call me to be an i____________________ for his child, not a means to an end. To him I am a v_________________ person.
II Second, this peace is s___________________. Peace has to do with how we t____________ each other in this world.
A. First, she says, “He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.” This is a s_____________________ revolution.
B. Second, Mary says, “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.” This is a p____________________ revolution.
C. Third, Mary says, “He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.” This is an e____________________________ revolution.
1. Some believe that all this attention which Jesus and Luke give to the poor is not about p_______________ poverty; it is about s__________________ poverty.
a. First, Jesus does not say, “Blessed are you who are poor spiritually.” He says, “Blessed are you p_______________.”
b. Second, remember that most of the people in Israel in Jesus’ day were l______________ poor; they had very, very little to eat.
-So, if the good news Jesus had for these physically poor people was limited to spiritual bread, then Jesus was being horribly c___________.
2. Some think that what Mary is talking about here refers to the s______________ coming of Jesus.
a. But how odd that Mary would praise God for the second coming of her son b______________ she has even experienced his first coming.
B. Second, Mary does not speak in the f_____________ tense in these verses.
3. What began with the birth of Jesus has obviously not yet been c_____________________.
-Which means that while we look forward to the second coming when all the hungry will be filled and every wrong will be made right, we cannot simply sit back and w______________ for Jesus to do it a_________.
III Third, this peace is s_____________________.
-How does God show mercy “to Abraham and his descendants forever?” By placing Jesus in the w_____________ of Mary. In other words, by sending a S___________________.
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Advent 2021: Holding on to Hope
Luke 1:26-45
I (Luke 1:26) “In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.”
First, we need to be _________ to God’s message of hope.
A. Luke doesn’t say Mary was troubled because an angel spoke to her; what troubled her was the _______________. Nevertheless, she was open to ___________ the message.
B. That is why when Medieval artists portrayed the Holy Spirit coming to Mary to enable her to conceive the Messiah, they pictured the Holy Spirit, as a dove, entering Mary through her ___________________.
John 3:8, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
II (1:30) “But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the House of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’”
Second, we need a ______________ from God.
A. Gabriel doesn’t say, “Mary, you are highly ____________________. He says, “You are graciously ________________.”
B. The message of Christmas is that the gift given to Mary has also been given to ______.
(Colossians 1:27) “It is Christ in you that is your hope of glory.”
(Galatians 2:20) “I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
III (1:34) “’How will this be’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.’”
Third, we need something to believe in which is _________________ ourselves.
A. People have a hard time with the virgin birth, but their doubt is m__________________ because virgin birth is nothing compared to i________________________.
B. If Mary had been told that she and her husband Joseph were going to have a child who would be Israel’s Savior, then they would have been forced to believe in ___________________________.
C. There would have been no hope in that message, but only s______________, and w________________, and feelings of i_____________________________.
“‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God…. For nothing is impossible with God.’”
IV (1:38) “’I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said.’ Then the angel left her.”
Fourth, we need a willingness to __________________.
A. Jesus said in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve….” Like s_________, like m_____________.
B. Selfish desires have ________ power when life seems hopeless, which means hopelessness keeps selfishness in check. For this reason, God cannot take away our hopelessness until we are willing to a_______________ our selfish way of living.
V (1:39-45) “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear. But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.’”
Fifth, we need h___________________.
A. Mary took the favor God had poured out on her and she did not h________________ it, she poured it out on o______________.
B. Mary was the most favored woman in human history, but she played the part of a w_________________ servant, and that is humility.
VI Would you like to hold on to hope while our world is being severely tested? Mary shows us how:
(1) We must be ___________ to hope.
(2) We need to understand that hope is __________ something we can create.
(3) We must see that hope is a ___________ and we must receive that gift through _____________.
(4&5) To keep us from becoming proud and self-centered, we need to receive hope as _________________ and we must practice ________________.
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
After 2020 Can We Look to 2021 with Hope?
Romans 8:18-30
I In Romans 8:18-30 Paul gives us ___________ reasons why we should face the coming year with hope.
II First, we ought to hope because only hope can help us see our disappointments in the _________________ way.
(8:18) “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
A. What does Paul mean?
1. First, suffering p________________ us for the glory which lies ahead.
(1Peter 1:6-7) “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
2. Second, suffering helps us to see things as they ____________ are.
(2 Corinthians 4:17-18) “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes, not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
B. Paul reminds us that for a Christian there is far more happening in our lives than what we can _______________.
III Second, we ought to hope because God has built hope into his entire _________________.
(8:19-23) “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly and as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
(Genesis 3:17) “Because of your sin, cursed is the ground because of you.”
A. The effect of the physical creation being cursed is that nature is now _____________ _________________.
B. Because the physical world is c__________________ to us, it too is seeking what we are seeking: It wants God to make things ______________.
(Revelation 21:1) “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.”
IV Third, we ought to hope because our hope does not depend on what we can see with our p_______________ e_________.
(8:24-25) “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
A. Pastor Jennifer Bliss-Criswell (Worship Report)
B. Paul and Nancy Gieschen (Discovery Class Report)
C. Margaret Goins (ESL Report and Children’s and Youth Report)
V Fourth, we ought to hope because the one who makes hope possible is the ______________ ______________ who lives within us.
(8:26-27) “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”
VI Finally, we ought to hope because for the Christian, hope is never a __________________.
(8:28-30) “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
VII We have hope as a church because a church is made up of people who know _______________ and everyone who knows __________________ has hope.
Hebrews 6:19 “We have this hope as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.”
Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
Pastor Kevin Goins, Chris Gill, Stephane and Travoris McKissick and Susan Bliss
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing” (Conclusion)
John 9:30-41-23
I First, sickness gets our attention and it gets the attention of Jesus (9:1).
II Second, sickness makes us uncomfortable (9:2).
III Third, sickness is caused by alienation (9:2).
IV Fourth, oftentimes our best theological or commonsense explanations for sickness are not good enough (9:3a).
V Fifth, sometimes sickness happens for a good reason, so that God can be glorified in our life (9:3b).
VI Sixth, all believers in Jesus are called to help sick people find health (9:4).
VII Seventh, sickness is a work of the kingdom of darkness; healing is a work of the Kingdom of light (9:5).
VIII Eighth, the how of healing is very important (9:6).
IX Ninth, sickness can be overcome by divine healing, but healing does not happen without some action on our part (9:7).
X Tenth, divine healing will always arouse doubt (9:8-9).
XI Eleventh, the response to the healing of sickness is often questions (9:10-12)
XII Twelfth, healing is not only a debated topic, it is also a very divisive issue.
XIII Thirteenth, people who are healed enter into some kind of relationship with the Healer.
XIV Fourteenth, both sickness and healing take place within the context of family.
XV Fifteenth, every testimony of the healing power of Jesus is unique.
XVI Sixteenth, the healing ministry of Jesus shows that he stands at the very _____________ of life.
A. First, Jesus stands at the center of life because he can do for us what no one ever thought _________________ (9:30-33).
1. First, he shows how r______________ was their claim that they didn’t know where Jesus was from.
2. Second, he says (9:31) “We know that God doesn’t listen to __________________. He listens to the ____________ man that does his will.”
3. Third. He reminds the Pharisees that this wasn’t just any miracle. It was a miracle of the _______________ order. (9:32) “____________ has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do _________________.”
B. Second, Jesus stands at the center of life because only he can call people to a t____________________ life (9:34-38).
1. Being born blind is not why the Pharisees call this man a sinner. They call him a sinner because they are reasoning b__________________.
a. First, he dared to disagree with them, the r______________ l_____________ of Israel, and only a sinful man, they believed, would do that.
b. Second, they see that he f_____________ Jesus and they see Jesus as a sinner, so anyone who follows a sinner must be a sinner.
2. We would expect Jesus to say. “Here I am; I am Jesus who healed you,” but he d________________ himself from the healing and starts to talk about the Son of Man.
3. By saying, “Who is he?” the man makes it clear he wants a personal f________ to f_________ encounter with the Son of Man.
C. Lastly, Jesus stands at the center of life because only he determines whether people _________ or whether they are ______________ (9:39-41).
Sunday Jul 12, 2020
Sunday Jul 12, 2020
“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”
John 9:18-23
I First, sickness gets our attention and it gets the attention of Jesus (9:1).
II Second, sickness makes us uncomfortable (9:2).
III Third, sickness is caused by alienation (9:2).
IV Fourth, oftentimes our best theological or commonsense explanations for sickness are not good enough (9:3a).
V Fifth, sometimes sickness happens for a good reason, so that God can be glorified in our life (9:3b).
VI Sixth, all believers in Jesus are called to help sick people find health (9:4).
VII Seventh, sickness is a work of the kingdom of darkness; healing is a work of the Kingdom of light (9:5).
VIII Eighth, the how of healing is very important (9:6).
IX Ninth, sickness can be overcome by divine healing, but healing does not happen without some action on our part (9:7).
X Tenth, divine healing will always arouse doubt (9:8-9).
XI Eleventh, the response to the healing of sickness is often questions (9:10-12)
XII Twelfth, healing is not only a debated topic, it is also a very divisive issue.
XIII Thirteenth, people who are healed enter into some kind of relationship with the Healer.
XIV Fourteenth, both sickness and healing take place within the context of _____________.
A. The first point we need to make is that both sickness and healing are a f______________ a__________________.
1. Before we turn to the parents, we need to see that the Pharisees only reached out to them because of their ____________________.
a. In other words, they did not believe that a _______________ had been done.
b. We should be a_________________ to people disbelieving God’s work in our life.
c. We should not be _________________ when we give Jesus glory for what he has done and some respond with unbelief.
2. Our daily experience continually reminds us h_____ m__________ sickness and disease are family matters.
a. The recent Lifeway poll revealed that ______% of our prayers are focused on family and friends.
b. To Heal a man born blind would require a s_________________ relationship with God. That is why the Pharisees first try to deny the miracle, and to do that they drag in the man’s parents hoping they will say their son was _________ born blind.
c. Both in times of sickness, and in those times when we celebrate healing, family is ______________ stage.
d. What sustains us during times of sickness, and what we celebrate when we experience healing, is r_______________________.
B. Second, families know the ______________ about our experience of sickness and healing.
1. The Pharisees have _______ goals here: the first is to __________ the miracle altogether, to show that it never happened.
2. The Pharisees perspective is also clear from the second question they ask: “You __________ your son was born blind, well then, how is it that he can now see?”
3. The Pharisees thought their l___________ and their s_____________ would force the parents to admit that it was all a s______________.
a. The reason that does not happen is because the parents were _____________ witnesses.
b. The only r_______________ source of information about this man was his parents.
4. The Pharisees, however, did not ask, “How is it he can now see?” only to prove that their son was _____ born blind. They asked that question because, even if there was a miracle, they might still be able to find a way to d__________________ Jesus.
5. If the Pharisees got more than ________ explanation for the healing, they could use that to create doubt about _____ or ________ was really responsible for the miracle.
C. Third, families with sick people know that their answer is a “____________,” not a “___________.”
1. Without a doubt, when circumstances are dire, families know the name of their loved one’s ___________________.
2. At other times, however, depending on the family, you will hear another name which is spoken in that hospital room, and that name is the name “_______________.”
3. Real hope is always based on a person who can _________ something.
D. Finally, families know there is a ____________ they will have to pay, either to deal with their loved one’s sickness, or to celebrate their loved one’s healing.
1. Sickness today represents a great _________________ burden for families.
2. We all know that when someone gets sick there is a monetary cost, but there is also a _________________ cost.
a. The Pharisees passed the buck to their son because they did not want to upset the r_________________ l______________.
b. To be kicked out of the Synagogue meant that no one would __________ you, or use your _______________, or even want to be _________ with you.
3. You and I still face that same _________________ today. We fear telling people who are not believers, “Yes, I have been diagnosed with an illness, but my ____________ is in Jesus.”
Saturday Jun 20, 2020
Saturday Jun 20, 2020
“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”
John 9:17
I First, sickness gets our attention and it gets the attention of Jesus (9:1).
II Second, sickness makes us uncomfortable (9:2).
III Third, sickness is caused by alienation (9:2).
IV Fourth, oftentimes our best theological or commonsense explanations for sickness are not good enough (9:3a).
V Fifth, sometimes sickness happens for a good reason, so that God can be glorified in our life (9:3b).
VI Sixth, all believers in Jesus are called to help sick people find health (9:4).
VII Seventh, sickness is a work of the kingdom of darkness; healing is a work of the Kingdom of light (9:5).
VIII Eighth, the how of healing is very important (9:6).
IX Ninth, sickness can be overcome by divine healing, but healing does not happen without some action on our part (9:7).
X Tenth, divine healing will always arouse doubt (9:8-9).
XI Eleventh, the response to the healing of sickness is often questions (9:10-12)
XII Twelfth, healing is not only a debated topic, it is also a very divisive issue.
XIII Thirteenth, people who are healed enter into some kind of _______________________ with the Healer.
A. First, behind every case of sickness there is a real ___________________(9:17a).
1. “Finally” is not just an indicator of ___________, it is also an indicator of ex___________________ on John’s part.
a. Sickness cannot exist by itself; sickness cannot exist without __________________.
b. One of the things I have noticed during this pandemic is how easily we turn sick people into ______________________________.
c. The religious authorities treated this man as if he was just a piece of e___________________ that could be used either to c_______________ Jesus or to glorify him.
2. John next says, “Finally, they t_____________ again….”
a. There is a tendency when someone important to us gets sick, to think more about what their sickness means to ________ than what it means to ____________.
b. To see someone seriously sick means that we are forced to think of what life would be like w__________________ them.
3. Then John says, “Finally they turned again to the _________ ________.”
a. The formerly blind man is not a person with a _____________ to them; he is instead only a sickness, a disease, a thing: “the blind man.”
b. We often tend to treat people with serious illnesses as if they __________ that illness.
c. Sometimes sickness is very hard on relationships because you cannot have a relationship with an i_________________, you can only have a relationship with a p_____________.
B. Second, behind every example of healing, there is a real ________________ (9:17b).
1. Even though much of the crowd and religious leadership are hostile to Jesus, they still expect that this man should ______________ something about the one who healed him and he should be able to _________ them what he knows.
2. This is probably the first time anyone ever asked this man for his o______________ on anything … and it is a very c_________________ question.
3. This man, then, is on the __________________.
4. There was someone behind this unprecedented miracle: there was a ____________________. But some very influential people were very much opposed to recognizing Jesus as _______________.
5. We also find ____________________ in the same situation today: No one is in a better position to talk about the Savior than the ones who claim to have been _____________ by him!
C. Finally, behind every healing there is a person who must decide the ___________ of the one who healed him (9:17c).
1. The Pharisees asked this man for his opinion of who Jesus was…. In response he says, “He is a ___________________.”
2. There are ______________ things to point out about the man’s answer:
a. First, his understanding of Jesus is ________________.
b. Second, his understanding of Jesus is c___________________.
c. Third, his understanding of Jesus is still i____________________.
Tuesday Jun 16, 2020
Tuesday Jun 16, 2020
“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”
John 9:13-16 (Conclusion)
I First, sickness gets our attention and it gets the attention of Jesus (9:1).
II Second, sickness makes us uncomfortable (9:2).
III Third, sickness is caused by alienation (9:2).
IV Fourth, oftentimes our best theological or commonsense explanations for sickness are not good enough (9:3a).
V Fifth, sometimes sickness happens for a good reason, so that God can be glorified in our life (9:3b).
VI Sixth, all believers in Jesus are called to help sick people find health (9:4).
VII Seventh, sickness is a work of the kingdom of darkness; healing is a work of the Kingdom of light (9:5).
VIII Eighth, the how of healing is very important (9:6).
IX Ninth, sickness can be overcome by divine healing, but healing does not happen without some action on our part (9:7).
X Tenth, divine healing will always arouse doubt (9:8-9).
XI Eleventh, the response to the healing of sickness is often questions (9:10-12)
XII Twelfth, healing is not only a debated topic, it is also a very divisive issue.
A. Four truths stand out in these four verses:
1. First, people are often divided over what kind of authority to consult when a miracle has occurred.
2. Second, in the presence of a miracle people will often create division by looking for some reason to call a miracle of healing into question.
3. Third, in the presence of a miracle, people often create division by focusing on the “how” question rather than the “who” question.
4. Fourth, in the presence of a miracle, people will often divide themselves over how they feel about _______________.
a. How did the Pharisees and the crowd respond to the miraculous healing of the man born blind?
i. First, they tried to d__________ the healing.
ii. Second, they turned their attention to the __________.
iii. Finally, they directed their focus to the ____________.
b. We need to point out several things about their judgment:
i. First, their judgment ignores the c_______________ of the miracle.
ii. Second, their judgement is focused on the character of the o______ w________ performed the miracle.
iii. Third, their judgment is not u____________________.
c. Why is there always division when it comes to Jesus?
i. It happens because Jesus himself p________________ division.
ii. What we see here is that Jesus not only caused division by the __________ he _________, he also caused division by the __________ he _________.
iii. One group of Pharisees thought the most important thing about the miracle was that __________ had accomplished it.
iv. For the other group, however, the most important thing was that Jesus did this miracle on the Sabbath day and that, they believed, was a v____________ of the ten commandments.
d. That raises an important question: _______ did Jesus carry out this miracle on the Sabbath.
i. I believe there were _______ reasons why Jesus did not wait:
A. First there was a p______________ reason: It is quite likely that if Jesus had not healed this man on this particular day, he may ____________ have had another opportunity.
B. Second, there was a t______________ reason: Jesus saw two things:
1. He saw how the faith of the Jewish people had become more of a __________ ___________ than a relationship with God.
2. And, he saw that the Pharisees had very little compassion for those who did not live up to their concept of h________________.
ii. It is also very obvious that the Pharisees express no _________ or ____________________ when they first hear of this man and how he was healed.
iii. Jesus saw the Pharisees attempts to protect the Sabbath observance as evidence of the fact that they loved the ___________ far more than they loved ____________.
iv. They thought humans should obey the law for the sake of the law, instead of realizing that God gave the Sabbath law to p________________ people from working themselves to _____________.
e. We should not, however, overlook how r________________ this is to our own day.
i. Do we ever say about people: “Because she does not understand the political issues the way I understand them, she _________________ be from God?”
ii. A person may be ______________ about their interpretation of the Bible on some issue, … because we are not ________.
iii. But even if someone’s understanding of God’s Word is not in total agreement with ours, that does not mean they are o_________________ to God.
iv. Some were judging on the basis of their p______________, and some were judging on the basis of the f___________, and so there was division.
f. Some people cannot believe in miracles because they will not believe in a Savior who would ___________ them enough to do a miracle for them.
g. Here is a question we really need to ask ourselves: Can we accept the healing ministry of Jesus as an act of God’s grace and love which is meant for _________?
Sunday Jun 14, 2020
Sunday Jun 14, 2020
“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”
John 9:13-16 (Part 3)
I First, sickness gets our attention and it gets the attention of Jesus (9:1).
II Second, sickness makes us uncomfortable (9:2).
III Third, sickness is caused by alienation (9:2).
IV Fourth, oftentimes our best theological or commonsense explanations for sickness are not good enough (9:3a).
V Fifth, sometimes sickness happens for a good reason, so that God can be glorified in our life (9:3b).
VI Sixth, all believers in Jesus are called to help sick people find health (9:4).
VII Seventh, sickness is a work of the kingdom of darkness; healing is a work of the Kingdom of light (9:5).
VIII Eighth, the how of healing is very important (9:6).
IX Ninth, sickness can be overcome by divine healing, but healing does not happen without some action on our part (9:7).
X Tenth, divine healing will always arouse doubt (9:8-9).
XI Eleventh, the response to the healing of sickness is often questions (9:10-12)
XII Twelfth, healing is not only a debated topic, it is also a very divisive issue.
A. Four truths stand out in these four verses:
1. First, people are often divided over what kind of authority to consult when a miracle has occurred.
2. Second, in the presence of a miracle people will often create division by looking for some reason to call a miracle of healing into question.
3. Third, in the presence of a miracle, people often create division by focusing on the __________ question rather than the __________ question.
a. John says the Pharisees “also” asked the healed man how he was healed because the neighbors, and the crowd who originally witnessed the miracle, had a______________ asked the very same question.
i. Sometimes sick people are miraculously healed and no one is involved except the ___________ person and _________.
ii. If that had been the case with the healing of the blind man, then there would have been n_______________ the Pharisees could say.
iii. The crucial question became this: Was this man healed in a way that __________ or _________ ___________ violate the Sabbath?
b. There were ____________ ways in which Jesus’ actions could have been seen as a violation of how the Pharisees understood the Sabbath.
i. First, Jesus mixed ____________ with __________ to make mud on the Sabbath day.
ii. Second, Jesus sent the man on a journey which may have been l_____________ than what was allowed on the Sabbath.
iii. Third, Jesus, according to the Pharisee’s rules, did not have a good r¬¬¬¬¬_______________ for violating the Sabbath.
c. This means that the Pharisees could have accused Jesus of ____________ Sabbath violations, if the man who was healed had told them all he c_____________ have told them.
-Notice, how the healed man answers the “How?” questions of the Pharisees:
i. First, he doesn’t say anything about how Jesus made the ____________.
ii. Second, he simply says, “And I washed,” without mentioning his j____________ to the Pool of Siloam.
iii. Third, the formerly blind man does admit that Jesus did heal him on the Sabbath, but he could not deny that and be t_________________.
d. I believe it is still true today that when people are confronted with a miracle … they jump to the ________________ question.
-Why do they do that?
i. First, they want to know how because they want to find a way to explain the miracle that is not m______________________.
ii. Second, people jump to the how question because they are looking for a m________________ which they can use by themselves.
iii. Third, we ask the how question because if we believe the person who claims to be healed, and we decide to seek healing for ourselves, we want to make sure that we do not need to do something that would be u_______________________ or e____________________ for us.
e. When it comes to sickness and healing, not only do people want to focus on the “How,” what is even worse is that they tend to ignore the ____________.
f. In all the healing miracles in the Gospels, it was always the s__________ who. This tells us that it is the who which is the most i_____________ element of healing.
g. We see that the Pharisees were focused on the “how” because they wanted to c___________________ Jesus. The healed man, on the other hand, was focused on the “who” because he wanted to h______________ Jesus.
H. If the who is one who has sufficient power to accomplish anything, then the how question no longer m__________.
Friday Jun 12, 2020
Friday Jun 12, 2020
“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”
John 9:13-16 (Part 2)
I First, sickness gets our attention and it gets the attention of Jesus (9:1).
II Second, sickness makes us uncomfortable (9:2).
III Third, sickness is caused by alienation (9:2).
IV Fourth, oftentimes our best theological or commonsense explanations for sickness are not good enough (9:3a).
V Fifth, sometimes sickness happens for a good reason, so that God can be glorified in our life (9:3b).
VI Sixth, all believers in Jesus are called to help sick people find health (9:4).
VII Seventh, sickness is a work of the kingdom of darkness; healing is a work of the Kingdom of light (9:5).
VIII Eighth, the how of healing is very important (9:6).
IX Ninth, sickness can be overcome by divine healing, but healing does not happen without some action on our part (9:7).
X Tenth, divine healing will always arouse doubt (9:8-9).
XI Eleventh, the response to the healing of sickness is often questions (9:10-12)
XII Twelfth, healing is not only a debated topic, it is also a very divisive issue.
A. Four truths stand out in these four verses:
1. First, people are often divided over what kind of authority to consult when a miracle has occurred.
2. Second, in the presence of a miracle people will often create ___________________ by looking for some reason to call a miracle of healing into ____________________.
a. Before we can understand the approach that the _______________ take to this miracle, we need to know something about these religious leaders.
1. Most scholars are convinced that the root of the word Pharisee means to s_______________ or to d___________.
2. From what did they separate themselves?
i. Some believe they were p_________________ separatists.
ii. It is more likely, however, that the Pharisees were r__________________ separatists.
iii. Their key verse was ________________ ____:_____-_______.
3. The Pharisees thought their calling was to be holy, which required them to avoid any creature that was considered unclean, such as a _____________, and any human being who had become unclean, such as a ______________.
4. When it came to the law, the Pharisees thought there was one law which was more important than any other, and that was the law about keeping the __________________.
5. There is in the Bible a commandment about the Sabbath; it is the ___________th commandment.
i. The word “Sabbath” comes from a Hebrew word which means to c________________.
ii. But it was more than a time to cease from _______; it was also a solemn time because when you observed the Sabbath you were doing what ________ did when he created the world.
6. There are __________ things about the Sabbath day that are hard for us Christians:
i. First, we Christians do not give to the Sabbath the ______________ which the Jews gave to it.
-Why was Sabbath keeping so important to the Jews?
1. First, it set them a______ and gave them a d____________ identity.
2. Second, keeping the Sabbath was a c______________ of God.
3. Third, it was practiced w_________.
4. Fourth, keeping the Sabbath was something to be done at a certain ____________, not in a certain _____________.
ii. Our second problem is that Sunday, or the Lord’s Day, has drawn our attention ____________ from the Sabbath.
iii. Third, as Christians we believe Sunday is of overwhelming importance because it is a r________________ of the resurrection of Jesus.
7. In the fourth century, the Roman emperor Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor, made it a law that certain types of work could not be done on ______________.
8. In 1234 AD Pope Gregory IX made it the official position of the ___________________ church.
9. Then, 250 years later, the Protestant Reformers stepped into the debate and said that the fourth commandment ought to be understood ________________________.
10. That was the popular approach for Christians until the seventeenth century when rationalism and science led interpreters to suggest that the ___________ Bible should be understood spiritually.
11. After this, Bible teachers began to counterbalance this overemphasis on spiritualizing the Bible with what they thought was the only other alternative, and that was l_______________ the entire Bible, including the fourth commandment.
12. There was, however, another reaction. There were some Christians who began to promote what they called non-Sabbitarianism. This was the view that as Christians, we do __________ have to keep the Sabbath law.
13. I should also point out that there is another approach to all this: the position of the S____________-________ Adventists.
b. We know what the Pharisees thought about keeping the Sabbath because they published their teaching in a ________ call The Mishnah.
1. The Sabbath section of the Mishnah gives a list of _______ “main tasks” which were prohibited on the Sabbath.
2. This list was not p_______________, however, and it was added to as rabbis thought of more activities that violated the Sabbath day.