First Alliance Church ATL

05-05-20 Kevin Goins - The Church's Ministry of Healing, John 9:7 conclusion

“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”
John 9:7 (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).

-This verse makes four key points:

A. First, Jesus told this man to go.

B. Second, Jesus told him to wash.

C. Third, Jesus did not ask this man to e________________ his f___________.

1. That is significant, because there are times when Jesus ___________ ask a person to do just that.

a. First, there is the example of J______________.

b. Second, there is the example of the two blind men in ___________________ chapter ________.

c. Third, we have the instructions found in J____________ chapter ____________ which tell the church how to carry out the ministry of healing.

2. But Jesus did not ask for an e__________________ or confession of faith on this occasion. Jesus did not ask the man ________________ before he healed him.

3. Sometimes we do not have the _____________ to convey what it is we actually believe. That does not really matter, however, because we always have _______________ which we often carry out without thinking, and these actions will make _____________ what it is we truly believe.

4. The blind man did not know __________ he was going to the Pool of Siloam, except that someone told him to do that. He did not have any _________________, but still he went.

D. Fourth, and finally, something e_________________ happened to this man.

1. The man born blind came home seeing because he __________ when Jesus said, “Go,” and he ____________ when Jesus said “Wash!”

2. What Jesus asked the blind man to do was not ____________, but neither was it ____________________.

3. To obey the instructions of Jesus always brings _________________.

4. Remember: divine healing is not faith in ____________; divine healing is faith in ___________.

05-02-20 Kevin Goins, John 9:7, Part 3

“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”
John 9:7 (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).

-This verse makes four key points:

A. First, Jesus told this man to go.

B. Second, Jesus told him to ____________.

-What is the significance of this instruction by Jesus?

1. First, some believe that what Jesus is doing here is simply to repeat an _________ ________________ miracle of healing.

a. N_______________ went to see E______________ in 2 Kings chapter 5.

b. While there is some s______________ between the Old Testament miracle and John chapter 9, the circumstances in our text are too d_____________.

i. First, Jesus is not a _______________ like Elisha, he is M________________.

ii. Second, the man born blind is not a _______________, as Naaman was.

iii. Third, Naaman ___________ to be healed.

iv. When the man born blind is told by Jesus to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam, he does not ___________ at all.

2. Second, some believe that Jesus sends this man to wash in order to symbolize being _____________ from _______.

a. The Bible has a lot to say about the cleansing power of ______________.

b. This would mean that Jesus is not only planning to heal the man’s b______________, but he is also going to heal the man’s s____________.

c. But that does _______ fit here:

i. First, Jesus has already made clear in the f_________ three v_____________ of this chapter that the man’s blindness has nothing to do with sin.

ii. Second, if the washing symbolizes being cleansed of sin, and the need to be washed is because Jesus put _______ in the man’s eyes, that would make Jesus the s_____________ of the man’s sin.

3. Third, the washing could represent what we would call c_______________ or r______________ cleansing.

a. Ritual cleansing is using water to represent something which is true in the _________________ world.

b. Ritual cleansing was very important to Nazirites. A Nazirite was a person who was consecrated, or s_________ a__________, to serve God in a specific _______ for a specific period of _______.

c. I believe this man is told by Jesus to immerse himself in the Pool of s______-ness. He is to leave behind his old life, a life in which he did n___________ but sit and beg all day.

d. This man becomes, not just a happy healed person, but a powerful a_________________ for Jesus.

e. This miracle shows us that we must stress the fact that Jesus does not heal us simply to make us f__________ g___________ again.

f. We need to remind people that when God heals, he heals to take us from a place of l_____________ availability for service to a place of g_________________ availability for service.

04-28-20 Kevin Goins - The Church's Ministry of Healing, John 9:7 part 2

“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”
John 9:7 (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).

-This verse makes four key points:

A. First, Jesus told this man to go.

1. Why did Jesus issue this command to the blind man to go?

a. First, he commanded him to go to get the blind man out of his rut.

b. Second, he commanded the blind man to go in order to motivate him to seek w_______________ for himself.

1. This guy in John 9 is doing nothing: he did not s________, he did not c___________ a tree, he did not unroof a r___________, he did not even a_______ Jesus to heal him.

2. There is a popular idea about God today and this idea is that, if there is a God, we need do ______________ at all to bring ourselves into line with his purposes or plans for us.

3. This means that all we need to do is to simply sit back and absorb his __________ and __________________.

4. The Bible does say that there are two blessings which do belong to everyone who is born into this world: _______ and ___________.

5. The Bible does, however, refer to many other blessings which do require some action on our part if we want to r_____________ them. In other words, there are things for which we must ___________.

6. And the most important thing for which people need to ask God is to be ____________, to be delivered from the power of ________ and ___________.

7. It is clearly the teaching of God’s Word that it is not by ____________ something that we are saved. Yet, at the same time, the Bible makes it clear that what we do ________________ greatly.

8. The solution which the Bible provides is that we come to God by ______________, not by works, but after we have come to God there is ____________ for us to do, but this work is not our own. It is a work orchestrated and empowered by __________ for his glory.

9. I believe Jesus is working in this blind man by getting him off his recliner and on to the road which will lead to a r__________________ with Jesus and s___________ for the Kingdom of God.

10. Leaving people where they are is what I believe can happen when we ignore the ministry of _______________.

11. I love the words of Oswald Chambers, who said, “Never try to explain God until you have obeyed him. The only bit of God we can __________________ is the bit we have _______________.

04-06-20 Kevin Goins - The Church's Ministry of Healing, John 9:5 pt 3

“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”

John 9:5 (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).

This verse makes 4 very important points:

A. First, Jesus came to this world to be our light.
B. Second, healing is a work of the Kingdom of light.

C. Third, sickness is a work of the kingdom of _________________.

1. We said that sickness is the end-product of _____________________.

a. Adam and Eve had _______ and un-______________ access to God.

b. Since God is the only one who has the power to give life and to heal, to be separated from God is to be confined to the land of ________________ and ____________.

2. Suddenly, there is something in the world of sickness that is a potential threat to ______________________.

a. If we have never been aware of it before, we should be able to see it now: something is ____________.

b. What is wrong is that there is _______________ in the first place.

c. We are sick today because there is _______________ in this world.

d. God did not send ______________ into this world; he did not send _______________ into this world; and he did not send ______________ into this world. By choosing __________ over ___________ we opened the door to all these things.
D. Fourth, we are to fight against the kingdom of darkness, and all its devices, including _________________.

1. While Jesus is in the world, he will minister the light of God’s healing ministry, but when he leaves this world that light will need to be kindled by his _________________.

2. While it is day, before the night comes, we must do the work that Jesus did, and one huge aspect of his work was the ministry of _____________.

3. Jesus has the power to heal, but he also has the power to see to it that __________ ___________ is done in our life.

a. Sometimes he causes God’s will to be done by ____________ us and sometimes he causes God’s will to be done by making us _________________ over a sickness which he does not remove.

b. Then, again, healing may be his ________ for you.

c. With Jesus all things are _______________, even if they ________________ impossible in the past.

4. There are victories to be won: s_________________ victories, e__________________ victories, m_________________ victories, f_____________________ victories, and there are victories of ________________ healing to be won.

5. How sad it would be to refuse to believe Jesus for the wonderful thing he ____________ to do for us!

04-04-20 Kevin Goins - The Church's Ministry of Healing, John 9:5 pt 2

“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”

John 9:5 (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).

This verse makes 4 very important points:

A. First, Jesus came to this world to be our light.

B. Second, healing is a work of the kingdom of _____________.

1. If we looked at all the occasions in the Gospels when Jesus healed the blind, we would be doing Bible study for ____________.

2. Some argue, not without reason, that Jesus actually spent _______ time _____________ than doing anything else.

3. If healing was a major component of the work of the Kingdom of Light 2,000 years ago, it must ___________ be a major component of the work of the Kingdom of Light ___________.

4. What we need to state clearly is how _______________ the work of “faith healers” is from what Jesus did.

For example:

a. Jesus healed ________________ individuals. There is a tremendous difference between “___________ healing” and _____________ healing.

1. Divine healing is healing that is carried out by __________ in accordance with his ________. “Faith healing” is healing instigated by a human being who claims to somehow be the _________ of God in healing people.

2. Divine healing depends on the power of _________, while “faith healing” is said to depend on ___________.

b. Jesus never asked a person to stand and give a testimony about a healing that had _______ _______ happened.

c. The people Jesus healed never had to worry about their sickness _____________________.

d. Jesus never attempted a healing which was __________________.

e. Jesus never ____________ or asked for ___________ to heal people.

5. There is a d________ s__________ to the ministry of healing. Or, there is a dark side to the _________________________ ministry of healing.

6. For everything that is real and genuine, there will always be the ______________________.

7. We should not put our hope in ______________; we should put our hope in __________.

03-01-20 Kevin Goins - Anatomy of An Illness, part 2

“Anatomy of an Illness”
John 9:1-38

Last Sunday we said that John 9 gives us an anatomy of illness. An anatomy is a study of how something works. This chapter shows us how sickness works and how people respond to it. What does John 9 teach us about sickness?

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 _________________________ (9:2).

A. Alienation comes from the word alien which means s____________ or o____________. Alienation is the act of ____________ someone into a stranger or an “other.”

B. There are _________ forms or kinds of alienation that we see in Genesis:

1. First, there is ________________ alienation.

a. Why was there a tree of the knowledge of good _____ evil? Why didn’t God __________ allow them to know good?

b. To be good you must be able to choose good, but you cannot choose good unless you can also choose __________.

c. Because of their sinful choice, Adam and Eve were __________ from the Garden of Eden, which was the place where God used to walk and talk with them.

2. Second, there is __________________ alienation.

-What does social alienation do? It creates ______________; it leads to crime and war and hatred and racism and acts of violence, and it endangers our _____________.

3. Third, there is _________________ alienation.

a. Before the fall Adam and Eve didn’t fight animals or eat animals – instead they ______________ the animals.

b. Now, because of sin we are alienated from the ___________ kingdom and from the _____________ earth, and that alienation has made us __________.

4. Lastly, there is _______________ alienation.

02-23-20 Kevin Goins - Anatomy of An Illness

“Anatomy of an Illness”
John 9:1-38

In 1979 Norman Cousins wrote a groundbreaking book entitled, Anatomy of an Illness. He wrote that book because he was suffering from a connective-tissue disease which had crippled him and he had to try and make sense of it. We may not be at the mercy of such a disease, but sickness is so common that we must make sense of it. The Bible can enable us to do that.

I John devotes an entire chapter to the healing of a blind man so that we can see an illness in all its d________________.

A. You and I cannot afford to see the healing miracles of Jesus in a shallow and superficial way because sickness is a terrible _____________ to everyone.

B. Two decades ago the U.S. ranked eleventh in terms of life expectancy, but we have now fallen to __________-_____________ in the world.

C. There is another statistic we cannot ignore: the mortality rate, and the mortality rate still stands at ___________ percent.

II What do we learn about sickness in this chapter?

A. First, sickness gets our __________________ (9:1).

1. The disciples noticed the blind man, but what John emphasizes in verse one is that Jesus noticed ___________.

2. Why would Jesus go to the trouble of noticing another sick person? Because that was his God-given _______________.

3. According to Isaiah, the work of Jesus in saving us from sin, and his work as healer, are somehow ____________ _________________.

4. That means that just as Jesus could not help but notice s____________, so also he could not help but notice the s___________.

B. Second, sickness makes us ________________________ (9:2).

1. The disciples needed an explanation for the man’s blindness that could keep them from seeing him as a _____________.

2. We are so threatened by the idea that terrible imperfection can exist in our world that we try to find someone to ____________.

3. We feel that something is wrong with a world in which people are born blind and children die of cancer, and the Bible says we are _________.

09-22-19 - Kevin Goins - My Grandpa Was a Baptist Preacher, part 2

“My Grandpa Was a Baptist Preacher!” John 8:37-59

What is it that people who do not have Jesus in their life depend on to make themselves feel secure about Judgment Day? One of the things people lean on is their pride in their godly ancestors. In our text today
Jesus lets us know that our forbearers, as wonderful as they may have been, cannot save us from the consequences of our sin.

I Jesus says that actions speak louder than our family tree (8:37-38).
II Jesus says we all have an ancestor in our family line we would rather ignore (8:39-41).

III There is a spiritual ______ test which can determine whether we are truly children of God (8:42-59)
A. There is the l_______ test (8:42).
B. There is the b__________ test – Can we ______ God speak to us through his Word? (8:43, 47).
C. There is the t________ test (8:44-47).
1. Whatever language we learn first becomes f__________ to us.
2. When we are born the language of s________ l______ is our native and natural language.
3. When we experience new birth by trusting Jesus, we can then begin to speak and comprehend the language of s_________ t_______.
4. Those without the ________ of _______ in them cannot grasp or recognize spiritual truth.
D. Lastly, there is the J_________ test (8:48-59).
1. Stoning was the penalty for b__________, which means the religious officials understood Jesus was claiming to be _____ in the _______.
2. The Pharisees allowed what o___________ them about Jesus to blind them to who he really was, and the same thing happens today.
3. If you are a real child of God then you ______ Jesus for _____ he is.

09-15-19 Kevin Goins - My Grandpa was a Baptist Preacher

“My Grandpa Was a Baptism Preacher!” John 8:37-59

What is it that people who do not have Jesus in their life depend on to make themselves feel secure about Judgment Day? One of the things people lean on is their pride in their godly ancestors. In our text today
Jesus lets us know that our forbearers, as wonderful as they may have been, cannot save us from the consequences of our sin.

I There are some expressions which people think are m_________. One of these is “I believe in _________!”
A. People also feel safe saying, “I’m not perfect, but I try to live the _____ life I ______.”
B. Another expression people believe will save them on judgment day is: “My mother was a real _________.”
C. One thing many are counting on to save them from God’s judgment is their Godly a___________ - But it is _____ enough.

II Jesus says that _______ speak louder than our family _______ (8:37-38)
A. Jesus begins by saying, “I know you are the s_________ of Abraham – You have godly _____.”
B. In the ancient world they put a great emphasis on ___________ - they believed you could never be __________ than your ancestors.
C. Many today want a family tree they can be ________ of.

III Jesus says we all have an ancestor in our family line we would rather ____________ (8:39-41).
Jews in that day thought Abraham had earned a vast treasury of m_______ in God’s eyes and his descendants could d_______ on that merit.
B. But in verse 39 Jesus says it is not just about being the o___________ of Abraham, it is about d_______ the things Abraham did.

IV There are two problems with this truth:
A. First, many do not believe in the _________.
B. The second problem is that while many do not believe in the devil, we do believe in ___________.

08-25-19 Kevin Goins - The Truth About the Truth that sets us free, conclusion

“The Truth about the Truth that Sets us Free” (Conclusion)  John 8:30-36

John 8:32 has been used by all sorts of people to promote all sorts of ideas. But a biblical text cannot mean whatever we want it to mean. What is the truth about the truth that sets us free?

I First, the truth that sets us free isn’t only for the believer. In fact, it’s actually directed at the non-believer (8:30).
II Second, there is a truth that can set us free (8:31a).
III Third, to be set free by the truth, we must use our head (8:32).
IV Fourth, the truth is a person (8:31-32).

V Fifth, being set free by the truth can be ______________ to people (8:33).

A. When Jesus says he has a truth that can set them free, they get offended, for _____ reasons:

1. First, it offends their __________ pride.

2. Second, it offends their ____________ pride.

B. They were offended by something Jesus said and so they refused to __________ in him.

VI Sixth, the freedom which the truth brings is freedom from the _________ of ______ (8:34).

A. In verse 34, for the twelfth time in John, Jesus begins a statement with “________, ________.”

B. The truth Jesus is stressing is that ____ makes us ________.

C. Sin is not simply an ______, sin is a ________.

D. Sin is a power which stirs up the desire to find pleasure ___________ God.

 

VII Seventh, the only truth-teacher who can set us free is the ______ (8:35-36)
A. In the ancient world families consisted of two kinds of people: _______ and __________, with all the rights of family members, and _________, who had no permanent place in the family.

B. It was a tradition in Roman households in biblical times for the _______-______ son, when he became a man, to release all the slaves he had grown up with.

VIII Jesus is the one who gives us freedom, but there is something we need to _________ this freedom.

A. First, to be free you need d___________.

B. Second, to be free you need a__________.

C. Third, to be free you need o_____________.

D. Fourth, to be free you must have a h________ e_________.