Join us online! - Next online service starts Sunday at 9 AM • Watch Live →
February 6, 2023
Loved | John 9
WHEN YOU’RE AN OUTCAST
What’s it like to be loved by Jesus and to love him back? Or put another way, what’s it like to believe Jesus? John tells the story of the blind man healed by Jesus to help us imagine this. He wants this story to be our story: one where in love Jesus transforms us, sends us, and includes us.
Listen to an audio version of the message
Songs for this week: Spotify
John 9
- The disciples ask Jesus to explain why bad things, like blindness, happen to people. How would you respond to that question? Is there anything in Jesus’ response that makes you think about this differently?
- The man’s first encounter with Jesus is initiated by Jesus, who in love reaches out to heal the blindness that kept him on the margins. Tell the story of your first encounter with Jesus.
- This healing requires trust and obedience. Where in your life might Jesus be inviting you to greater trust and obedience so that he can heal you of an area of shame or sin or brokenness?
- The man is called to witness when he doesn’t even know who Jesus is! Where are you being called to witness? Have you felt like you knew what you were doing?
- The man’s understanding of who Jesus is grows throughout this story. How has your vision of Jesus changed over time? What have been the points that most changed it?
Bonus: Through this story, the man’s vision of Jesus progressively improves. He “sees” more and more. There’s another progression that’s happening, of the Pharisees’ blindness. How do they refuse the light?
Share with a friend
Recent Sermons
Ezra 3:10-13 - The book of Ezra tells the story of the return of God’s people from exile. The account details the extra care that was taken by the returnees in doing their best to reproduce what they once had. Very quickly, they got the old altar operational and began to rebuild the temple. Our story is about what they chose to do on the day the foundation of the new temple was in place. There was a party that didn’t feel like a party for everyone, and that’s just honest!
Daniel 6:1-24-The book of Daniel is all about the Sovereignty of God. The God of Israel proves himself sovereign even in faraway Babylon: boys receive foreign favour and are released from having to eat rich and potentially unkosher food. Young men are saved from a fiery furnace, and old man Daniel doesn’t get eaten by a den of hungry lions. God proves he’s not limited by international borders, arrogant kings or wild beasts. All of this points forward to Jesus, who demonstrated his sovereignty (he is God, after all!) in different ways.
Ezekiel 36:22-28- The people of God deserved to be in exile in Babylon. They had betrayed their relationship with God by worshipping idols and committing horrible acts of violence. But instead of giving up on his people, God goes with them into exile. He shows up with a message of hope: he will bring them back, clean them up, and make them new. It was good news for the Israelites, and it’s good news for us today.
Isaiah 6:1-10 - Most of Isaiah’s writings don’t have a timestamp on them, but one event does. The day that he had his most profound encounter with God was shortly after King Uzziah died. King Uzziah would have been on the throne long before Isaiah was born and would have been the only king that Isaiah knew. That’s a big loss. Sometimes, God is able to meet us best when we’re tender from loss or grief.
1 Kings 18:16-39 - Elijah lived at odds with his culture. An evil king (and queen!) wanted him dead, so he went into hiding. After 3 years, God prompted him to set up a showdown: Yahweh vs. Ba’al, good vs. evil, a battle to the death. Sadly, good’s triumph barely left a mark on the life of his country. Thankfully, there was another good vs evil showdown years later, and its impact is still being felt around the world.
1 Kings 12:1-16: King Rehoboam continues the descent that has been the story of the kings since the throne was established. No one seems to be able to get it right. Leadership is tough. It requires listening to God and keen self-awareness. Rehoboam’s legacy is that he divided the people of God. May that never happen again.
