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Focus Text: John 4.19-24

By demonstrating His in-depth knowledge of the woman and her marital state, Jesus gave compelling evidence that He was more than mere man. This led the Samaritan woman to say, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” (John 4.19-20).

There is the possibility that the woman posed this popular religious-political question merely to deflect attention away from her own condition. Or, there is the possibility that she really…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: John 4.19

Truth is a beautiful thing even when it hurts. It was doubtless somewhat painful for the Samaritan woman to admit that Jesus was right in His assessment of her when He said, “…you have had five husbands, but the one whom you now have is not your husband.” But, that revelation was just what the woman needed to cause her to finally realize that there was more behind the stranger’s claims than mere idle words. It was this intimate knowledge of her life that led her to conclude, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.” (John…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: John 4.13-18

“Jesus answered and said to her [the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well], ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’ The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’…  ( Click for more )

September 17,2007; If Heaven Ain’t a lot like Dixie

Focus Text: Isaiah 55.8-9

I like some country music; I like some bluegrass music; I detest any music that demonstrates contempt for God and/or contempt for general moral and ethical values. Almost any popular genre of music has its share of such debasing, degrading, and disgusting lyrics. A well know artist had a hit a few years ago entitled, If Heaven Ain’t a lot like Dixie, I Don’t Wanna’ Go. It will prove worthwhile to seriously think about the sentiment expressed by that song title.

First…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: John 4.10-14

Continuing Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, “Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?’ Jesus answered and said…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: John 4.4-9

“But He [Jesus] needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: John 8.8-11

“And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’” (John 8.8-11).

The…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: John 8.3-11

A study of this subject matter, How God Treats Sinners, could not be complete without introducing the story of the woman taken in adultery. We quote the passage in its entirety:

“Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?’ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse…  ( Click for more )

September 10,2007; We Been Praying for a Miracle

Focus Text: 1 John 4.1; Hebrews 2.1-4

The place was a large southern metropolitan city; the place was a rented auditorium in a not-so-well-to-do downtown area. The occasion was a “miracle crusade” featuring a visiting evangelist who had promised via the radio ads to do great and marvelous deeds in the name of the Lord. The rest of the story is related below.

There were prayers for the sick, but there was no instantaneous manifestation of any power beyond that which might be expected in any such gathering…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 15.30

How can two people have such an opposite view of things? The prodigal’s father and the prodigal’s brother were at opposite extremes when it came to the treatment of the penitent prodigal. Perhaps the older son would have granted the prodigal’s first desire and accepted him back as one of the hired servants, but to receive him with so much ado, to the jealous sibling, this was just out of the question!

Hear the hatred in the older son’s response to his father: “‘But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 15.29-30

The older brother was irate! His father had gone all out to demonstrate his joy over the return of the prodigal. To this point in time, the only information that the older brother had about these events was second-handed. Yet, he had formed an opinion about the events and in so doing, challenged the authority and wisdom of his father; this fact will be key as we proceed.

“So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 15.28

Why even think about how God treats sinners? What practical application is to be made even if we know how He treats them? Doesn’t everyone already understand how God treats sinners anyway? How could a misunderstanding of this subject matter affect my life and the way I present myself to others and to God?

First, it needs to be explicitly and emphatically stated that everyone does not know how God treats sinners. That was part of the problem that Jesus addressed in the fifteenth chapter of Luke with His three-fold parable approach. Likewise, it…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 15.24b-28a

At the very outset of this miniseries centered on the parable of the prodigal son, it was pointed out that this is not a typical parable in many ways. One of the unique things about this parable is that it has more than one main message; it has at least two, and perhaps three main lessons with several “side lessons.”

Thus far in this series we have talked about the younger son (the prodigal) and the father. Specifically, we have addressed the interaction between the two of them when the penitent son decided to return to his father’s…  ( Click for more )

August 31,2007; I Love Jesus with All My Heart

Focus Text: John 14.15,21

In case you miss the connection, The Friday Flyer is a holiday weekend substitute for Monday Miscellany (this is due to next Monday being Labor Day). I plan to resume How God Treats Sinners on Tuesday.

It was a TV show whose title piqued my interest. I had never seen it before, it was late in the evening, and I thought it might be interesting, so… here’s the rest of the story. It was one of those reality shows where real people are put to test in the face of other real people without…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 15.22-24

When the prodigal returned home, he was thoroughly and totally penitent. His father directed his servants to “…Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry.” (Luke 15.22-24). The point of today’s message is to demonstrate that God has no penitent children whom he treats as second-class; with God it is either…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 15.21-24

“And the [prodigal] son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.” (Luke 15.21-24).

In the quoted scripture, there is a great contrast…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 15.20-21

“And he [the prodigal son] arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’” (Luke 15.20-21).

Whether one likes what the prodigal had done or not, it is impossible not to like his penitent attitude in coming home! He returned broke and broken, but he returned. Pride could have stopped him, but…  ( Click for more )

August 27 2007; The Shocking Truth

Focus Text: Hebrews 1.1-2

Believe it or not, I have personally attended a few “tent revivals.” For the younger crowd, a tent revival was (I use the past tense because they are essentially a thing of the past) an evangelistic tool used to attract and gather crowds to listen to a singing and preaching service. It derived its name from the unique practice of erecting a large canvas tent in which people would gather at the time announced on the sign posted near the highway or printed on the flyers that were passed out throughout…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 15.14-19

The parable of the prodigal son is somewhat atypical of all other parables of Jesus. First off, it is much longer than most parables. Some parables are only one or two verses; the parable of the prodigal is twenty-two verses in length. Most parables have only one central theme; this parable has three major lessons with many other ancillary minor lessons or points of comparison. However, whether it is atypical or not, the context still reigns king in interpreting it. Please recall as you read the parable as well as when you read these lessons, that the…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 15.11-16

Perhaps no parable is more often referenced than the story of the Prodigal son. In fact, it is so well know that several idioms in the English language have arisen from this significant biblical illustration. We speak to someone returning after a long absence and say, “Well, did the Prodigal finally decide to come home?” Or, when someone is down on their luck, we might say they have been “…eating with the pigs.” Or, if someone throws an elaborate party or celebration on a particular occasion, we might say they went all…  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 15.8-10

Jesus continued His response to the cold-hearted Pharisees who disdained lowly sinners and exalted themselves beyond measure: “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15.8-10. …  ( Click for more )

Focus Text: Luke 15.1-7

“Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them.’ So He spoke this parable to them, saying: ‘What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them,…  ( Click for more )

August 20 2007; HELLO PREACHER!!

Focus Text: Luke 11.37-47

I used to go into my regular barber shop and was routinely greeted by a loud, and usually cheerful, “Hello Preacher!” Maybe in my younger days, I kinda’ liked those greetings – at least a time or two; they soon got old. I think it was when I learned the real significance behind these welcomes that I began not only not to like them, but to despise them. Read on and see why!

I think I liked it at first because I was proud to be a preacher (in the biblical sense of the word). I came to…  ( Click for more )

August 17 2007; Part 12 of TBD

Focus Text: Luke 7.50

Sweet words and deeds linger long after the emotion and excitement of the moment have passed. If you stop and think, I almost know that you can remember some kind words and/or deeds that someone spoke or did years and years ago. However, I also know that no words or deeds could be sweeter than those spoken and performed by Jesus as he concluded His meeting with the sinful woman in Simon’s house. See what you think; He said, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” (Luke 7.50).

The most significant…  ( Click for more )