Is there one question from Sunday s message that you would like to ask or discuss?

Transcription

1 God of Miracles - Week 2 (Leader s Guide) Are you Desperate for Change? VIDEO: Show tonight s video here: Week 2 ICEBREAKER: Have you ever suffered with a debilitating disease for an extended period or known someone who did? What were some of the most difficult struggles you experienced? If you haven t experienced a physical affliction, have you had a long wilderness season or spiritually dry season? How were you able to cope through it all? If you are comfortable, share with your Group. SUNDAY REVIEW: Briefly discuss the message from Sunday. Name one thing that stood out to you from Sunday s message. Is there one question from Sunday s message that you would like to ask or discuss? What did you sense the Holy Spirit saying to you during the message? How did you feel about seeing Leah Hansen s testimony? Group? Did you come forward for prayer? Would you like to share your experience with the Leah s testimony will likely have been very emotional for everyone. It is for us! Give people room to express their feelings -- some may feel disappointed that they have been praying for miraculous healing for many years and it hasn t happened. This is where we pray along with Jesus: Thy Will Be Done, and we surrender to a good, good Father who wants us to learn dependence on Him above all else. We experienced a healing service on Sunday, however, many people may have felt too timid or unsure about coming forward for healing. In the Bear Burdens Section, we will be asking you to lead your Group in healing and anointing prayer [only if you are comfortable] (instructions below).

2 APPLY THE BIBLE: Kerry Shook says, One of the greatest promises on healing in the Bible is in Isaiah 53:5 : But he was pierced for our transgression, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Christ died on the cross to heal us from our hurts, our sins, from our sickness, from our wounds. The healer is familiar with your wounds, and He has the power to heal you. Like the women we will study tonight, we have to reach out to Him in faith! Are you desperate for change? Jesus is waiting for us to reach out to Him! LEADERS NOTE AND TIP: If you have time and want to DIG DEEPER, ask your Group members how much they know about Luke, the author of this gospel. Here is some very brief background for you about Luke in general and Chapter 8 specifically: While we do not know precisely who wrote Luke and Acts; we do see remarkable skills in storytelling and writing that this person had, and we glimpse some of the Christian convictions this person had, but these materials themselves do not state who the person was who wrote them. Like many ancient types of writing, gospels are a genre in which the author normally does not identify himself or herself. The common Greek name Luke had appeared in several New Testament letters ( Colossians 4.14 ; 2 Timothy 4.11 ; and Philemon 24 ). After the ascension of Christ into Heaven, Luke, whom Paul had taken with him as an expert in the way, wrote under his own name and according to his own understanding. He was not an eyewitness of Jesus and is likely from the second generation of the early Church. It is possible that Luke was a Gentile, likely from Antioch and a physician by profession. Both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts are addressed to Theophilus, although many scholars have attempted to identify him, unsuccessfully. Luke s gospel is unique in that he has a complete chronology of Jesus life and death. Stylistically, Luke is known for his vivid detail and ability to make scenes come alive! Luke has more references to the role of women in Jesus ministry than any other gospel. In Chapter 8, he mentions several by name. Note that the women come from a wide array of social levels, from the highest levels of the social order in Herod s palace (Joanna), to a demon-possessed woman (Mary Magdalene) who would have been a social outcast. To give you background on this passage, at this point in the gospel account, Jesus and his disciples have returned to Galilee from the land of the Garasenes, but as their boat lands on the western shore of the lake, a crowd is waiting. They have seen his boat from afar and have massed on the beach to welcome him. Have several people in your Group read Luke 8:40-48 and Mark 5:21-34 Have you ever been in a large crowd of people, maybe at Rockefeller Center at Christmas, or after a Sports Game? What is it like? How is this very much like that kind of experience? Help your Group feel the tension of the scene. We know how crushing large crowds of crowds

3 can be -- especially determined ones! Let one or two share an experience and quickly pivot to the biblical narrative. As Jesus heads for Jairus' house to heal his daughter, the crowd is especially thick. In v. 42, Luke tells us: "As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him" (8:42). The word translated "crushed" or "thronged" (KJV) is Greek sumpnigo, "as a hyperbolic expression for 'crowd around, press upon,' something like 'almost crush.' " It is the same word used by the Gospel writers in the Parable of the Soils (8:14) to describe the thorns "choking" the wheat and making it unfruitful. As Jesus moves toward Jairus' house, the streets are utterly jammed. I imagine it like the crowd moving out of a sports stadium at the end of the game, except that these streets are not designed to handle these kinds of crowds. Jesus is able to push forward only with difficulty and progress is slow. Why are there so many people crowding around Jesus? Jesus fame is growing, he continues to teach and heal in remarkable ways. In fact, He had just healed a demon-possessed man who was like that for a very long time and the man went out telling many! As news about Jesus continued to spread, there were crowds waiting for him wherever he went. Jairus, a local synagogue leader had just asked Jesus to come and heal his daughter! The crowds wanted to see this happen! Whether they are there to be healed or they are merely thrill seekers, the crowds are overwhelming. What was wrong with the woman in the crowd? Among the pushing, shoving, elbowing crowd this day is a pale woman. For twelve years she has suffered from uterine bleeding and she is weak. Mark records, "She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse" ( Mark 5:26 ). Why was it unusual - and dangerous - for her to just be in the crowd? We look at this passage with 21st Century eyes, but we have to remember that in Jesus day, a woman who was bleeding was considered unclean and not allowed to be with others. She is broke and hopeless. Her faith in doctors' remedies is long since gone, she has spent all she has. There is no hope for her. But her problem is compounded by the way she is viewed by Jewish law -- as ceremonially unclean. Women were normally considered unclean during their period. "When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period. Whoever touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening." ( Leviticus 15:25-27 ) Anyone who knew about her illness would shun her. She couldn't go about in society and mingle in the marketplace with the other women, since a touch from her would make someone else unclean. She couldn't attend ceremonial occasions, or synagogue worship. And so she resorts to secrecy. She probably isn't even known in Capernaum. She comes incognito, her condition

4 carefully concealed. She doesn't want to confront him in public. She is too ashamed to admit the nature of her illness, and perhaps even be rebuked for mingling with others in her unclean state. She must do this without revealing anything. But she must touch him. She must. Why does she risk so much to get to Jesus? The testimony of Jesus' astounding acts of healing spread all over Galilee, even to the village where this woman lives ( Mark 5:27 ) and she determines to find him and be healed ( Mark 5:27 ). To reach Jesus, she must push and shove and elbow her way between people when tiny openings occur. She has decided in her heart, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed" ( Mark 5:28 ). She doesn't want to confront him in public. But she comes with determination. A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Tim talked about the position this woman had to be in to touch the edge of his cloak. Why is this significant? Luke 8:44 says the woman "came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak" (8:44). The word translated "edge" is Greek kraspedon, " 'edge, border, hem' of a garment." But it can also refer to the "tassel" that Israelites wore on the four corners of the cloak. We're not exactly sure which is referred to in this verse. Whichever the lady touched, the effect was powerful and immediate. The woman had to be low to the ground, in a posture of humility, crawling around people s feet to get to the hem of Jesus cloak. What happens when she touches His cloak? What is ironic about this? Mark says that immediately "she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease" ( Mark 5:29 ). Jesus feels it too. Though the press of the crowds against him are jostling and bumping him constantly, their touch doesn't have any effect. But when the woman touches him, Jesus is suddenly aware of it: "I know that power has gone out from me" ( Luke 8:46 ). The Greek word translated "power" (NIV) or "virtue" (KJV) is the Greek word dunamis from which we get our English words "dynamo" and "dynamic," and means "power, might, strength, force." The irony of this story is that dozens of people had been touching Jesus in these few minutes of moving towards Jairus' house, but only one had touched Jesus with faith that released saving power -- a sick but determined woman. Is there some magic in the touch of His cloak? Do we benefit from touching medals, crosses, anointing oil or bibles? How can we be sure? Of course there is no magic in Jesus cloak or in other talisman that people sometimes attribute power to. Jesus actually clarifies what happens so that it wouldn't fall into the realm of magic and superstition. "Your faith healed you," he acknowledges. Her faith surely wasn't in his clothing. It was in God whose working through Jesus. The clothing didn't impart healing, he is saying her faith in God has brought that about. We must be very careful not to create false idols. There are likely many different beliefs among the people in your Group - you want to gently help them see that all miracles - and the power to perform them - is only from Jesus, the miracle maker.

5 When Jesus asks who took the power from Him, why does she confess? The unclean woman who has secretly pushed her way next to Jesus to touch his cloak has no place to hide. She is suddenly afraid and trembling. What will people say? What will the rabbi say when he finds out that an unclean woman has deliberately touched him? But she falls at Jesus feet and tells her story. She has no choice. Jesus doesn t expose her secret. Why not? Luke's account doesn't tell us, but there could be two reasons: This is the first step in removing the terrible burden of uncleanness from the woman. Jesus accepts her. He isn't angry. He blesses her with God's peace. He tenderly calls her daughter. This both helps restore her own self-esteem, but also her standing in the community. Those who do know her will see Jesus acceptance of her and she can be restored. Normally, if an unclean person touches someone, the person is then considered unclean. However, when this woman touches Jesus, the opposite occurs, she BECOMES clean. Are you desperate to touch the hem of Jesus garment? Is there an area of your life where you need more of Jesus? What stops you? How is this miracle an encouragement to us, no matter what we are going through? How can we position ourselves to receive a miracle? We know these are a lot of questions to ask, but we think you know why we are asking so many. Often, it is difficult for people to be transparent and share deep things in their lives; however, we all need more of Jesus! Here are some additional questions you may want to ask to those who may be hesitant to share: Have you felt unworthy of a miracle, even too ashamed to put your prayers into words? Why is this so difficult? Do you ever feel unclean? Encourage your Group to reach out and touch the hem of His garment. When we know Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, he takes our sin, our shame, our uncleanliness to the cross. As a result of his death on the cross, and resurrection, he now sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf. Jesus already knows your need. Psalm 139:4 says, Before a word is on my tongue, you, Lord know it completely. Jesus already knows our deepest need. Our part is to reach out to Him in faith. In order to position ourselves for miracle, we must humble ourselves, admit our need and go to Jesus. This can be difficult for us because we don t like admitting our weakness or our need! We love being independent, strong and self-sufficient, but that is not who Jesus calls us to be, He says when we are weak, He is strong. BEAR BURDENS One of the most painful and difficult things to admit is that we need healing, that we really need God to do a work in our lives that we cannot do on our own. Is there a physical healing you need or a relationship that needs healing, or a situation where you need help? Our first step is to pray, God I can t heal myself of this sickness, relationship, situation, I need you to help me. The only people who receive healing are those who admit that they need healing.

6 Share with your Group an area where you need Jesus and ask them to pray with you. There is no shame in needing him! Jesus promises to give Grace to the Humble. James quotes the Book of Proverbs in James 4:6, when he says, God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. LEADERS NOTE AND TIP : You may have 2 wide extremes within your Group. Those who need everything and have been begging Jesus for many miracles but never seem to receive any and they may be growing a bitter heart. Help them see that their position or posture - of surrendering their will to His - is a large part of miracle making! Gently pray that the Lord would help them pray, Lord your will be done, which is sometimes the most faith-filled prayer we could pray! On the other extreme, asking for help or admitting need may be very difficult for some members of your Group! They may even struggle with identifying any need they may have. Be gentle with them, helping them understand that it is VERY unlikely that they don t need anything right now, which can be a common response for more mature Christians or those who grew up in more stoic traditions. One way to start to crack this is to even help them see that we always need more of Jesus - even John the Baptist prays, I must decrease, so that He can increase. Help them pray and ask Jesus to show them where He can work in their hearts. Below are some instructions for how to anoint people with oil, and a video by Pastors Tim and Jason which you can watch if you are unfamiliar or uncomfortable praying over people for healing and anointing them with oil. [The oil has no special qualities or power. Simple olive oil or vegetable oil works just fine!] 1) Have you asked Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior? We are praying in His power and Name. The Greatest Healing you can receive is the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus. 2) Before we pray, WHAT SINS do you need to confess to the Lord? The Bible draws a direct connection between confessing our sins and healing from God! 3) Follow the process below: // 5 Step Healing Process 1) INTERVIEW Ask What s your name? Where does it hurt? 2) ASK PERMISSION May I put my hand on your shoulder, may I anoint you with oil [1]? 3) PRAY Ask (intercessory) or Command (authority) in the shed blood of Jesus. 4) ASK On a scale of 1-10, how are we doing? (get honest, accurate feedback) 5) Follow- UP: ling may be instantaneous or gradual. What is God s next step for this person? CHANCE TO SERVE

7 Parents Night Out is hosted once a month on Friday nights in Morris County & Union Counties, in which parents of children with special needs can drop off ALL their children (infant to 13-years-old) for 3-hours of free childcare. Every child, including siblings, is paired with a personal buddy, who will attend to their every need throughout the event. Activities for the kids include games, crafts, movies, music and a bounce house. Volunteers have completed a background check process and a nurse is also available to handle any medical needs. It s a time for parents to rest, rejuvenate, or run errands! Would you consider serving with your Group at Parent s Night Out at our Morris or Union County Mountainside locations? The next opportunity will be on March 22, details can be found here: LiquidChurch.com/ParentsNightOut DIGGING DEEPER Read John 4:1-42 Following are some highlights you will want to help your Group Members understand. Ask them if they know the significance of these details. Nearly every word in Scripture has meaning. Why did Jesus have to make his way from Judea to Galilee? Jesus had to watch where He was going as the Pharisees were exceedingly jealous of Jesus growing popularity. It wasn t time for Him to take them on yet, so He had to keep moving! Why was passing through Samaria risky? As Jesus made His way from Judea to Galilee, he had to pass through Samaria. Politically, Samaria was not a distinct region, but its culture and religion were definitely distinct from that of Israel. We would do well to recall the historical relationship between Israel and Samaria. After repeated warnings from God s prophets, divine judgment finally came at the hand of the Assyrians, who defeated Israel and scattered the middle and upper classes throughout the other nations they had conquered. They replaced the dispersed Israelites with heathens from other lands ( 2 Kings 17:23 ff.). These heathens intermarried with the remaining Israelites resulting in a nation of half-breeds, a most distasteful and evil thing for a devout Jew (see Ezra 9 and 10 ; Nehemiah 13 ). Worse yet, the true religion of Israel became intermingled with heathen idolatry. The Samaritans professed to believe in the God of Israel and awaited the coming of Messiah (see John 4:25 ). They accepted only the first five books of the Law, but rejected the rest of the Old Testament Scriptures. Wherever they found it necessary to justify their religion and their place of worship, they modified the Law. The relationship between the Jews and the Samaritans was definitely strained. What does this narrative tell us about Jesus? While John 1 informs us of Jesus deity, or divine nature, it also teaches of His humanity. Jesus was tired. The chapter says it was just about high noon, so that our Lord s fatigue may have been partly related to the heat of the day. Weary from their journey, Jesus and His disciples

8 come to a parcel of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph in Genesis 48:22. On this land, a mile or so from the city of Sychar, was Jacob s well. It was a deep well about 100 feet deep fed by a spring. Other water sources were available in the area closer to town, but this well may have provided the best water. It was at this well that Jesus sat down to rest. Why the emphasis on Jacob, and on this well which once belonged to him? It seems as though this woman (and perhaps the Samaritans more generally) took pride in claiming Jacob as their forefather, whereas, most Jews would consider Abraham their Father. Why does this woman collect water at the well at this time of day? She is likely not welcome early in the morning, or later in the evening when most women would collect water. Three things about this woman seem to put her at a distinct disadvantage. First, she is a Samaritan. Second, she is guilty of sexual immorality, and third, she is a woman. We have already commented about the way the Jews felt toward the Samaritans. We are not left in doubt as to how the Pharisees would have dealt with such a woman. What was the Pharisees system to stay holy? Think back to story above. The Pharisees had a very simple system for being holy they simply kept their distance from sinners. They thought sin was contagious, and that one could catch it by merely being close to sinners. This is one reason they are so distressed when they see our Lord having such close contact with sinners. Why is it is surprising that Jesus is speaking to this woman? How does He get her attention? In contemporary terms, Jesus already has two strikes against Him so far as being able to share the truth of salvation with the woman at the well. He is a Jew; she is a Samaritan. He is a man; she is a woman. There seems to be no common ground, no reason to talk, and nothing to agree upon. In spite of this, our Lord succeeds in getting this woman s attention, not by telling her something she needs to know right off the bat, but by asking her for a drink of water. She has something He needs water. In asking her for a drink of water, Jesus catches this woman completely off guard. Jews did not share eating or drinking utensils with Samaritans. The woman cannot help but inquire of Jesus why He would ask the unthinkable. Our Lord s willingness to cast aside cultural barriers gets this woman s attention. How does the Gospel change all of this? Can you think of a verse which explains this? Of course this woman doesn t know this, but we do! By Jesus death and resurrection, He breaks down all of these barriers. Read Galatians 3:26-29 : 26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham s descendants, heirs according to the promise. Jesus turns this world upside down!

9 Jesus doesn t really answer her question directly, instead He reveals Himself to her. How and Why does He do this? Notice the elements of this revelation. First, our Lord moves from literal water (a drink of water) to a spiritual water the salvation which our Lord offers this woman. Second, Jesus indicates to this woman that there is something of which she is ignorant. She knows neither the gift of God nor the identity of the One speaking to her. If she knew these things, Jesus tells her, she would be asking Him for a drink, and He would have given her living water to drink. The woman does not understand what Jesus is saying, but she does understand that He is claiming to be someone important, and to have something she would want if she knew who He was and what He could give her. How does the woman take Jesus literally? How does Jesus use this to enter her world and heal her? If there is one thing this Samaritan is willing to admit she needs, it is water. That is why she comes out to Jacob s well. Jesus asks her for some of this water, and then proceeds to inform her that He has better water living water water that produces eternal life, water that permanently quenches thirst. The woman is ready for this kind of water. And so she tells Jesus she would like some of His water. She obviously doesn t really understand what this water is, but she is ready to accept some of it. She would gladly make this her last trip to Jacob s well in the heat of the day. Jesus has now moved to the deepest level of this woman s need, her need for cleansing from sin. To do this, He gently exposes sin in her life. He does so by telling her to bring her husband. She makes a choice not an unusual choice, but a very predictable one. She chooses to conceal her sin by giving Jesus an answer that is factually truthful, but functionally dishonest. She tells Jesus she has no husband. He heals her heart -- Jesus peers into her life and tells her what her greatest need is! How does she respond initially and then in vs ? Now all the cards are on the table. The cat is out of the proverbial bag. Her sin worthy of death is out in the open. Now her true thirst, her real need, is self-evident. Some think the woman s response is evasive, an attempt to get the conversation away from the subject of her sin. Some disagree. This woman may be eager to hear what Jesus has to say, and more eager than ever to have some of this living water. She perceives that Jesus is a prophet, and tells Him so. Is this not progress? Eventually she recognizes Jesus as the Messiah. Although this is not counted as one of Jesus 34 miracles, we see a miracle in her life. What is it? What lesson is there for us in this narrative? Jesus transformed the Samaritan woman s heart. WE need to remember this so we don t miss the point. We should never allow our eagerness to see and experience physical miracles blind us to the possibility and reality of heart miracles that occur around us all of the time!

10