Amazing Grace!
Sermon
Notes
May 6, 2007
Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior
Pastor
(480) 895-8766
5So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his
son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was
there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. 7A Samaritan woman came to draw
water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(His disciples had gone to the
city to buy food.) 9The
Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a
woman of
16Jesus said to her, “Go, call
your husband, and come back.” 17The
woman answered him, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I
have no husband’; 18for you have had
five husbands, and the one you have now is not your
husband. What you have said is true!” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I
see that you are a prophet. 20Our
ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people
must worship is in
27Just then his disciples came. They were astonished
that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or,
“Why are you speaking with her?” 28Then
the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29“Come and
see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” 30They left the city and were on
their way to him.
31Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat
something.” 32But he said to
them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”
33So the disciples said to
one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete
his work. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how
the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit
for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may
rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’
38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into
their labor.”
39Many Samaritans from that city believed in him
because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40So when the Samaritans came to
him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41And many more believed because of
his word. 42They said to the
woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have
heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
A.
Introduction
1. Prodigal Son
a. A
teenager named Todd came to his pastor for advice. The lad said, “I disobeyed my dad and drove
up to the lake with my girl friend. On
the way home I crashed dad’s car into a tree.
He will be furious when he finds out.
What should I do?” The minister
replied, “Go home and confess your sin to your father, and he will forgive you
as did the father in the Prodigal Son story.”
A few days later the teen called the pastor and said, “Well, I told dad
what I did.” “And did he kill the fatted
calf for you?” asked the minister. “No,”
said the boy, “but he nearly killed the prodigal son!”
b.
At times we have been the prodigal son. We have done something that we are ashamed
of. And at other times we have been the
unforgiving older brother. We have held
bitterness and even hate in our heart.
Thus all of us have been in need of God’s amazing grace.
2. New Testament witness
a.
All through the New Testament we find God’s grace. In the Prodigal Son Story we find a father
willing to forgive his son who lived a wasteful and immoral life. Likewise the father offers his love to a
stubborn and unforgiving son. We see
Jesus intervening to spare the life of a woman who is going to be stoned to
death, because she was allegedly caught in the act of adultery. We, also, see Jesus reaching out across all
sorts of lines of prejudice to talk to the woman at the well in today’s
Scripture Lesson. And the Apostle Paul
speaking of what God has done for us through Jesus says: “For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8 NRSV) Thus, Paul reminds us that our salvation is
not of our own doing. It is the gift of
God’s love for us in Jesus Christ! We
are saved only because of God’s amazing grace!
b.
This morning I will lift up two things concerning what this
amazing grace means to us:
B.
God loves and accepts you, just as you are!
1. Vending Machine
a.
George was convinced that he was a vending machine. And that’s why he eventually ended up in the
b.
Too many people feel out of order in life. There is something wrong with them. It may be something emotional or
spiritual. They feel unworthy and
unlovable by God or people.
2. Today’s Scripture: The woman at the well.
a.
The woman at the well in today’s Scripture lesson had a lot of
reasons to feel unworthy. The Jews looked
down on Samaritans. They looked upon
Samaritans as “half-breed” Jews who did not worship God properly. Further, this woman had been married five
times and was now living with a man.
Traditional interpretation is that she was an immoral person. She is often viewed as a loose woman. Several years ago in an Alpha Class we had a
discussion about the customs of Bible times.
It was pointed out that women had almost no rights, and few ways of
making money on their own. Yet a Jewish man
could divorce his wife for just about any excuse. Perhaps this woman was simply the victim of
an abusive male dominated society.
b.
Then Jesus enters the story.
He defies custom and gives the woman dignity by talking to her. He does not reject her. He just loves her as a human being. My friends, it doesn’t matter whether you are
an outcast, sinner, or a victim. Jesus
loves you too!
3. Old Movie
a.
One evening, I caught just a glimpse of an old movie on TV. The hero spoke to his beautiful leading lady,
“Give me a kiss, baby.” And she replied,
“You mean right out here in front of God and everybody?”
b.
God in Jesus was not ashamed to show you how much He loves
you. As Romans 5:8 says, “But God has shown us how much He loves us. It was while we were still sinners that
Christ died for us!” (TEV) Right
there in front of the mocking crowd Jesus gave His life for you and me! We do not have to be good enough to deserve
it. Indeed we could not be good enough. He does not like our sins, but He just loves
us as we are.
4. Heavenly City (from: “Spiritual Autobiography” by William Barclay)
a.
William Barclay the Bible scholar says this about the Heavenly
City of God: “I have often quoted the
dimensions of the
b.
Clearly God wants people to get in! God wants you to be a part of His
Kingdom. That’s because God loves you.
C. God calls you to be more accepting, more
forgiving, and more compassionate toward others!
1. Baby Sister!
a.
Amy’s dad is a pastor and her dad was assigned to an ethnically
diverse
b.
God calls us to love all people.
2. Today’s Scripture: Jesus!
a.
And that is the lesson of today’s Scripture from John’s
Gospel. Jesus reached across the lines
of prejudice to strike up a conversation with a Samaritan woman. He did not treat her as a lesser. He did not beat her over the head with God’s
laws. First, He offered God’s
unconditional love. Only after that did
He challenge her to greater living.
b.
Do we follow Jesus’ example?
Do we love people, because they too are God’s creatures? Too often we are judgmental and not
accepting.
3. Victim of a drunk
driver
a.
Dave Gallagher’s beautiful young wife was killed by a drunken
driver. Dave was left to face the world
alone with his two children. Few can
understand his pain, and he grieved for a long time. Sadly that grief turned into an intense
red-hot hatred for the man he called “The Murderer”. Dave let the hatred consume him. He sought further legal action and he even
thought of hiring a hit man to kill “The Murderer” in his prison cell. The worst part was that his home became a bad
place to live. His children lost not
only their mother to death, but also their father to hatred. Dave was not there emotionally for his kids,
and he participated little in their lives.
Finally, his daughter said an innocent, honest and pointed thing: “Daddy I miss mommy too, but please don’t die
in your heart, we need you.” Dave went
to a mountaintop and there he raged against God, “The Murderer”, and life. Then he fell to the ground and sobbed. That’s when he felt God’s sustaining
love. That’s when Dave sought God’s
help, asked for God’s forgiveness, and asked the Lord to help his deep
sorrow. It was then that the healing
truly began.
b.
An unforgiving heart keeps us from inward peace and joy. Jesus understood that. Time and time again he calls His followers to
love and to forgive.
4. Corrie
ten Boom (from: “The
a. Corrie ten Boom learned the importance of
forgiving. After World War II she
traveled all over
b.
His words called her back to the present. Beaming from ear to ear and bowing he said,
“How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein.
To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away.” The man then put out his hand. It was too much for Corrie. Her hand stay frozen, paralyzed at her
side. Forgiveness for such a thing would
be hard for anyone, and she thought it seemed outrageous for him to expect it
of her. At that moment she confesses
that she had angry and vengeful thoughts.
She struggled to raise her hand.
She could not. She felt nothing,
not the slightest spark of forgiveness.
So she breathed a silent prayer:
“Jesus, I cannot forgive him.
Give me your forgiveness.” Then
God touched her heart and released her from her hatred and hostility toward
this man who had wronged her and her sister.
And she held his hand and forgave him.
This can happen for you too, but only through the amazing grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
D.
Conclusion: Recap
1. God loves you and
accepts you just as you are! God offers to you His gift of love,
forgiveness and pardon. You can live
freely and joyfully in the knowledge that God loves you!
2. God calls you to be
more accepting, more forgiving, and more compassionate toward others! With Jesus in
your heart you can do this. You can love
others, as Christ loves you!
5So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his
son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was
there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. 7A Samaritan woman came to draw
water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(His disciples had gone to the
city to buy food.) 9The
Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a
woman of
16Jesus said to her, “Go, call
your husband, and come back.” 17The
woman answered him, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I
have no husband’; 18for you have had
five husbands, and the one you have now is not your
husband. What you have said is true!” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I
see that you are a prophet. 20Our
ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people
must worship is in
27Just then his disciples came. They were astonished
that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or,
“Why are you speaking with her?” 28Then
the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29“Come
and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” 30They left the city and were on
their way to him.
31Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat
something.” 32But he said to
them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33So the disciples said to one
another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete
his work. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the
harvest’? But I tell you, look around
you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36The
reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so
that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For
here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38I
sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered
into their labor.”
39Many Samaritans from that city believed in him
because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever
done.” 40So when the
Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there
two days. 41And many more
believed because of his word. 42They
said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe,
for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of
the world.”
Amazing Grace!
1. God loves and accepts you, just as you are!
2. God calls you to be more accepting,
more forgiving,
and more compassionate
toward
others!