Woman at the Well

John 4 describes the story of the woman at the well.

While traveling from Jerusalem to Galilee, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his disciples walked through Samaria. Jesus sat by Jacob's Well, exhausted and thirsty, while his disciples went to Sychar to get food. During the hottest part of the day, a Samaritan woman came to the well to get water.

Jesus then broke three Jewish customs. First, He spoke to a woman. Second, the Jews traditionally despised the Samaritans. Third, her getting Him a drink of water would have made Him ceremonially unclean. The woman was shocked by all of this.

Then Jesus said that He could give her "living water" so that she would never thirst again. By this He meant eternal life, which confised the woman at first, but as they talked more about their beliefs, she voiced her faith that the Messiah would soon be coming. Jesus said, "I who speak to you am he." (John 4:26) The woman now understood her encounter with Jesus. She left her water jar and returned to town. Many Samaritans soon arrived and asked Jesus to remain with them. Jesus stayed and spoke to them about The Word of God.

How often do we look upon others and believe that we understand them from their outer appearance? How often do we think that we know the whole picture from the outside? Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ sees through this outer layer. Similar to seeing through the woman at the well, He continues to look with penetrating eyes into our hearts, into our souls, and knows what we are truly made of. The inner self can only hide from so long from the all knowing power of God.

The Wedding at Cana

John (2) describes the wedding of Cana.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ attended a wedding feast in Cana with his mother Mary and a few disciples. They ran out of wine at the wedding, which threatened humiliation for the bride and groom. Mary gestured toward Jesus and then told the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:3-5)

Nearby were six water-filled stone jars commonly used for ceremonial washing, each holding up to 30 gallons. Jesus instructed the servants to fill the jars with water and then take some to the master of the banquet. Amazed, the master took the bride and groom aside and complimented them. Most couples serve the best wine first, he said, then bring out cheaper wine after the guests would no longer notice the difference. "You have saved the best till now," he told them (John 2:10).

Through this miracle, Jesus was able to demonstrate that he was the Son of God to all of the guests at this large wedding. Nonbelievers look for proof from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ every day, but they miss the signs right before them. Look for Him as you go through your day, and listen for His Word.

Jesus Walks on Water

Matthew 14 tells the story of Jesus walking on water.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ sent some fo the disciples ahead in a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. During the night, the disciples encountered a storm. Jesus came to them by walking on the water. At first the disciples thought they were seeing a ghost, but Jesus said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Peter replied, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." When Jesus agreed and invited Peter to come join him, the disciple began walking on the water toward Him. But then Peter momentarily took his eyes off Jesus, saw wind and waves, and began to sink. He cried out, and Jesus immediately reached out his hand to catch Peter. The storm ceased as they climbed into the boat together.

Similar to Peter, we must keep our eyes on Jesus and stay focused on His Word. If we get distracted by the swirl of wind and waves around us, we will lose focus on what is important, and we, too, will begin to sink. We, too, shall begin to give in to the evil forces that swirl wround us, hoping to drag us down. Of course, when we call out to Jesus, he reaches out to bring us back toward Him - back to safety. Once we have Jesus in our boat, the waters calm and we can see everything around us with a new clarity.

Denial

Today’s sermon is about denial. Let’s take a look at Peter denying knowing Jesus in the Gospel of Mark.

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. "You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus," she said. But he denied it. "I don't know or understand what you're talking about," he said, and went out into the entryway. When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, "This fellow is one of them." Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean." He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're talking about." Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept.

– Mark 14

Peter has a chance to do the right thing here. To support his Lord. To tell the truth. When Jesus tells Peter that he will disown Him three times, the disciple boasts that he would never do such a thing. The others may, but not Peter. Jesus is then taken away to face the High Priests on charges that will eventually lead to His death. Peter follows behind, but he does not stay by His side. He does not come through in the moment of truth. He wants to do the right thing, but he is weak. When he has the opportunity to prove himself, he instead lets the Lord down by denying Him.

There are many examples of denial taking place in front of us today. Each of these is actually a denial of The Lord. Many of you watched the Satin Strangler trial. Here we see Destiny Blande denying the Satin Strangler.

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In court Destiny Blande denied being the Satin Strangler. The rooster crew in the courtroom, my friends. We heard it. But how did she respond? With a deaf ear.Destiny is enjoying all of the fanfare of the spotlight – but she wants none of the responsibility that comes with it. Is she a killer or is she not? Her desire is to have it both ways.

Peter wanted to be the number one disciple of Jesus – the Rock upon which the Lord would build his Church. He stood tall in the garden of Gethsemane, making promises and stealing the glory from the others. But then he could not stand up to the challenge.

Destiny Blande had a decision to make. She is standing at the divergence of two paths. A turn in either direction would prevent crossing back over – to confess to the murders or to deny them. Nothing in between.

So far Destiny Blande denies the Satin Strangler. She chooses to remain an anonymous nothing rather than satisfy her Lord by accepting her designated role. She denies her Lord when she denies the title. Denies her Lord.

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John the Baptist

The story of John the Baptist comes from Matthew 3, Mark 1, and Luke 3 of the New Testament.

Before Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ began his ministry on earth, John the Baptist had been preparing the people for the coming Messiah. He challenged them to repent, turn away from sin, and be baptized. But when Jesus appeared, coming to John to be baptized, John told him, "I need to be baptized by you." He wondered why Jesus needed to be baptized. Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness."

John agreed and baptized Jesus. As Jesus rose out of the water, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove. A voice from heaven said, "This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

By asking to be baptized, Jesus was confessing sin on behalf of the people and identifying with those who were repenting. He also set an example for his followers. Most importantly, Jesus was announcing the beginning of his earthly ministry.

John devoted his entire life preparing for the arrival of Jesus, but John resisted His first request. He felt inadequate for the task. Are you worthy of the Lord? Are you ready to accept Him into your life? Time is running out for your decision, friends. The time is soon upon us.

Jonah and the Whale

The story of Jonah and the Whale, one of the oddest accounts in the Bible, originally comes from the book of Kings, but is also mentioned in Matthew 12 and Luke 11 in the New Testament.

God spoke to Jonah, son of Amittai, telling him to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh. Jonah was upset at this command because Nineveh known for its wickedness and was the capital of the Assyrian empire, one of Israel's fiercest enemies.

Jonah did the opposite of what he God had commanded. He booked a ship to Tarshish, in the opposite direction from Nineveh. You might imagine that the Lord was upset at this and sent a violent storm that threatened to destroy the ship. Jonah realized that he was to blame for the storm and told the crew to throw him overboard. When they tried rowing to shore instead, the waves only got higher. Fearing the wrath of God, the sailors finally tossed Jonah into the sea, and the water immediately grew calm.

Jonah was swallowed by a giant whale sent by God. In the belly of the whale, Jonah repented and prayed to God. He praised God, ending by saying, "Salvation comes from the Lord." (Jonah 2:9)
On the third day God commanded the whale to release Jonah onto dry land. This time he obeyed God, walking through Nineveh proclaiming that in forty days the city would be destroyed. The Ninevites heeded Jonah's warning and repented. God, in turn, had compassion on them and spared their lives.

In this story God expressed concern even about the wicked. He commands all within His creation to follow his plan. The whale is much like the tomb where Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ lay following the crucifixion, only to rise from the dead into the glory of the kingdom of heaven on the third day. Jonah thought he knew better than his Creator. This foolish notion almost cost him his life. God had the power to destroy him - with so little effort - it would have taken just a moment and minimal effort - Jonah was lucky that God offered so many warnings and so many chances to come back to his beliefs in Him. Others may not be so lucky to have such a patient and forgiving Creator. They must heed the warnings.

Daniel in the Den of Lions

The book of Daniel includes the story of Daniel in the den of lions.

In 605 B.C., when the Babylonians conquered Israel, they took many young men into captivity, one of whom was Daniel. He lived in the pagan kingdom of Babylon in captivity until his 80s. Through obedience to God, his Creator, and an impecible reputation of honesty and hard work, Daniel had succeeded in becoming a political administrator, much to the jealous dismay of the other government officials.

The other politicians tricked King Darius into passing a decree that anyone who prayed to another god or man besides the king during the next 30 days would be thrown into a lions' den. Daniel knew this but still went home, knelt down, faced Jerusalem, and prayed to his Creator. The other administrators informed the king. King Darius loved Daniel but was forced to have Daniel thrown into the lions' den.

The king ran to see Daniel the next morning. Daniel told him, "My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king." (Daniel 6:22) The king was greatly relieved, and Daniel was brought out of the den unharmed.

King Darius had the other politicians, their wives, and their children all thrown into the lions' den, where they were immediately eaten. Then the king issued another decree ordering the people to pray to Daniel's God.

Daniel's story is much like that of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is unbending in his faith, despite the threat of death. When he is put in the den under circumstances much like Jesus' trial before Pilate, he faces what appears to be guaranteed death. The Creator watches over him, however, and he is released from the den much like Jesus emerges from the tomb during the resurrection. Are you at the mouth of the lions' den yourself, trying to maintain your faith? Hopefully this story will be an inspiration to you.