Over the last several weeks we have been focusing on the stories of Jesus’ compassionate attentiveness to ‘the one’.   

Are you willing to follow Jesus in His steps, to take on Jesus’ missional strategy, to go for ‘the one’ He has put in your life?  Jesus was intentional to have a relationship with ‘the one’. 

Definitely pray for the person, and begin to listen to the Holy Spirit to give you His guidance and to provide you opportunities to have conversations with ‘your one’.  

I have a personal story, about a young woman that I have known since 2019.  Our first conversation was through a glass.  She is with us today.   

I asked her permission to share, and she said “Pastor Terry, it’s okay. I want people to know how you were there for me to point me to Jesus.”     

I met Amy when she was in Hotel Middle River; and for those of you who do not know, I call the local Middle River Jail the Hotel Middle River.     

I visit individuals one-on-one at Middle River.   

When visiting the ladies, they quickly learn that I am on a pursuit to point all people to Jesus.  Each one of the ladies know that they are “my one”.   

I faithfully journeyed with Amy from Middle River and then to various prisons.   

While in Middle River, Amy found a “Building Your Faith” book that was left behind by another lady who had moved to another Correctional Facility, and it had my name, the church of the Nazarene address, and my phone number written in the front of the book.  The ladies, are not allowed to take personal possessions to their next location.   

Amy said as soon as she saw the contact information, she wrote me a letter.  Within a month, she said the officer on duty called to say “You have a Pastor visitor”, and Amy thought it was her pastor from her home church. 

Amy said her most vivid memory was the first day that she met me, I was smiling at her through the glass and talking to her on the phone, and saying “Jesus loves you!” 

It was during COVID, and she had already served two years, and everything was shut down for family or friends to visit. 

Amy said she was depressed, and stressed out.  She said that being locked up that time around was really hard for her, and it was very different.   

She is now living a new life, the old self is gone, and she is filled with the hope of Jesus.      

When I visited Amy one-on-one: 

• We talked.  

• We prayed together. 

• Sometimes she would cry.    

• I would share a short message. 

• And, I always told Amy that Jesus loved her, and that He would never leave her.   

My heart was burdened for Amy to come to know Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior.  During our visits, I watched her grow spiritually. I remember when she prayed and asked Jesus to forgive her and come live in her heart. 

Since that day, I have witnessed Amy continuing to grow in her faith and to have a thirst to know Him more and to love Him more.  She has left the old self behind.    

Amy arrived in Harrisonburg in January 2023. She started to East Rock with me the first Sunday she was in Harrisonburg, and she has been with us ever since.   

Amy attends Celebrate Recovery at our Harrisonburg Campus, and she recently completed her Step Study so she is ready to be a Celebrate Recovery leader.   

Amy has a job, and she attends AA meetings regularly.  She is serving on a ministry team which are advocates for the ‘Homeless, Lower Income, and People who are in Need’.   

Amy is growing in her faith, and she desires to share her story so that all will know that nothing is impossible with Jesus.  She wants people to know what Christ has done for her.  Amy is now enjoying a relationship with her mom, and her two sons.    

Amy knows there will still be difficult days ahead, but the thought of living her life for Christ spurs her onward.   

Who is your one? (Pause) 

Our hope is that we have stirred in your heart the awareness that Jesus is for ‘the one’, and He uses you and me, to reach the world, one person at a time. 

In the back, on the high top tables are the ‘for one’ cards.  If you have not picked up a card, please do so today, and be certain to write ‘your one’s name’ on the card.   

Put your card where you will see it, to help you remember to pray for ‘your one’, and to ask Jesus to give you opportunities to spend time with ‘your one’ and for you to share Jesus with them.  

We are going to look at one more story from the life of Jesus where he pursued ‘the one’. In His pursuit of this one, Jesus crossed all sorts of social and cultural boundaries. 

Last week Pastor Jared taught about Nicodemus, a well-known teacher and leader in Israel.  Today’s story is completely different.  We turn to the story of one known only as “The Samaritan woman.”  

Today we are going to be in John Chapter 4, but before we read and unpack it, let us pray. 

Please join me in praying this prayer:   

“Dear God, I pray for a world that doesn’t know you in a personal way. I pray for those who are lost.  I pray for Your mercy and grace, not just upon my loved ones and me, but for all those who are lost, hurting, hopeless, and needy.  Lord, please help me to go for ‘the one’. Prepare the way for me, to bring hope to all that I encounter today and forever.  I love You Lord.  In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.” 

John 4:1-28 is long and involved.  Use your senses to enter into the passage so you can see and hear the conversation going on, and you can feel it unfolding. 

This passage teaches us that the Good News is for every person, no matter their race, social position or past sins.   

In the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus crossed all barriers to share the Good News, and we who follow Jesus must be willing to do the same.  

I am going to unpack the passage. We are going to read, unpack it, and read some more. 

Verses 1-5:  Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— ²although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.   

 ⁴Now he had to go through Samaria. ⁵So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.  

In 722 B.C. Assyria conquered Israel and took most of its people into captivity and its capital was Samaria, many Jews were deported to Assyria.  Foreigners, those known as gentiles, were brought in to settle the land and help keep the peace. 

The intermarriage between the foreigners, and the remaining Jews resulted in a mixed race called the Samaritans.  The Samaritans began to worship the pagan idols alongside the God of Israel. The Jews saw the mixed race as impure. 

The Jews did everything possible to avoid traveling through Samaria. 

Thus, we MUST understand, that when the scripture said “He had to go through Samaria” that Jesus made a determined choice to go through Samaria. The Jews would have gone a different route. 

Jesus wasn’t concerned about the cultural divisions.  He chose to go to Samaria, because He was on mission to reach ‘the one’, the lady at the well.  

Verses 6, 7 and 8:  ⁶Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 

⁷When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)  

We learn from these two verses that He meets the woman at the well at noon.  The detail of noon must not be missed.   

Twice each day, morning and evening, women came to draw water.  Noon is an unusual time to go get water because it is the hottest part of the day, and time for a noon meal.  

The Samaritan woman came at noon because she came to be alone, to avoid eyes fixed on her and piercing whispers of shame and condemnation from the others. 

Jesus began the conversation with the woman at a point she could understand, at a point she was already thinking.  He asks for a drink of water. 

Jesus is in need, fully God, and fully man. He sat down in need of rest and in need of a drink of water.   

Verse 9:  ⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 

The response from the woman was natural because of the historical feud between the Jews and the Samaritans.  The woman was part of the hated mixed race. 

There was also the shock of the custom that Jesus, the man, would ask a strange woman for an act of kindness.    

In the day, no respectable Jewish man would talk to a woman under such circumstances.  But Jesus looked beyond all those things to see the one standing in front of him. 

Verse 10:  ¹⁰Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 

Jesus begins to shift the conversation away from physical water to something more.  Something he knew the woman desperately needed.   

Jesus was speaking of living water, a free gift with no cultural, or social strings attached. 

Verses 11 and 12:  ¹¹“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 

 ¹²Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 

The woman still did not know what Jesus was talking about. Focused on the task at hand, she misses the implication of Jesus’ words.    

Not offended by her questions, Jesus continues. 

Verses 13 and 14:  ¹³Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

Jesus carefully leads the woman from the place she was thinking, ‘about the water in Jacobs Well’, to ‘a higher and more satisfying thought’, the thought of an unfailing source and eternal life. 

The contrast on the old way which represented Jacobs Well, and the new way which represented Jesus, the living water.   

Verse 15:  ¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 

The woman seems to still be thinking of her physical need of water, but Jesus is about to make it very clear- He sees a greater need in her life than just water from a well. 

Verses 16, 17 and 18:  ¹⁶He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”  

¹⁷“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.  

¹⁸The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 

Jesus suddenly changes the conversation-”Go and get your husband and come back…” 

The woman who came at noon to hide from her past, suddenly finds herself reliving it again. 

Her confession was simple and true.  “I have no husband.” 

Commentators through the centuries have differing interpretations of her story.   

Many focus on the woman’s gender and marriages, describing her as a sinner, an adulterer. 

We must be careful not to let the lady’s marital history overtake the rest of the narrative.  

We have no idea if the husbands died, if she was divorced, if Levirate marriage was involved which the law required a widow to marry her deceased husband’s brother. 

Whatever this woman’s past, she has been through a lot.  And Jesus sees her. 

The nameless woman, engages in the longest conversation Jesus has with anyone in the Bible.  We know that Jesus’ language is not judgmental 

The main point involves Jesus and this woman having a deep, rich theological debate that allows them to form an intimate connection across real and perceived differences.   

Jesus reveals that he is more than a thirsty Jewish traveler. The probe was sharp and deep, searching out her whole past, but this is not about shame or condemnation, it’s about redemption. 

Jesus wanted to cross the racial barriers, the religious barriers and the gender barriers, and to say that God is for everyone.   

Verses 19 and 20: ¹⁹“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 

The woman recognizes Jesus’ knowledge about her, and she changes the topic of conversation to one that would be safer for her.   

The woman acknowledges her own religion when she said our ‘fathers worshipped on this mountain’. 

The Samaritans made their sacrifices and celebrated their holy days on Mt. Gerizim, while Jews considered Jerusalem the Holy City and any other site was blasphemous.  

The Samaritans disagreed with most Jews on the idea of resurrection after death. 

The Samaritans accepted only the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) as Holy Scripture.   

They considered the Levite priests to be the highest religious authority, and the Jews looked to the rabbis as their interpreters of the law.  

Verses 21, 22, 23 and 24: ²¹“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  

²²You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  

²³Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 

The woman’s question was a smoke screen to keep Jesus away from her deepest need.  The location of worship is not nearly as important as the attitude of the worshipers. 

Jesus makes it clear that soon, worship won’t be a matter of temples and location, but spirit and truth. 

Verses 25 and 26: ²⁵The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” ²⁶Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” 

The woman’s mention of the Messiah opened the door for Jesus’ great self-disclosure, “I, the one speaking to you–I am He!” 

In a Samaritan region, to a broken woman, with nobody else around, Jesus says     I am the Messiah”.   Jesus didn’t just share that news with anyone, but to ‘the one’, he was crystal clear-“I am He”. 

Verses 28 and 29: ²⁸Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ²⁹“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 

Jesus saw her, and knew everything about her and that is exactly how she knew He was the Messiah.   

Because Jesus went for ‘the one’ in a personal way, the woman at the well encountered Christ, and even though He knew everything she had ever done, He still loved her. She goes joyfully and evangelizes her community.  

Here is a clip of how it may have looked:  The Lady at the well video. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/c0du4zcvao5e4rjig443t/Lady-at-the-Well-v2-5_40.mp4?rlkey=2vpj4y6ba3wh7u5ri90vr7fts&st=hv0zgjmm&dl=0 

The conversation had ended.  The woman left her water pot behind, forsaking her old life, and a meaningless religion.  She would never need it again as she had an inexhaustible well of water.   

Jesus went for “the one”.  Jesus crossed ALL barriers to reach this one, the Samaritan woman. 

He crossed:  

• Racial barriers 

• Religious barriers 

• Gender barriers 

Jesus is for YOU, and YOU, and YOU, YOU!!!  (Point to people)  

He is for EVERYONE! 

And Jesus’ commitment to reach ‘the one’ changed everything for this woman.  And friends, He can still change everything for people in your life and mine.  Just like the story of Amy, God is still rescuing people one at a time. 

(Conclusion) 

Church family, we must not sit back and hope for the conversion of the world.  We must go “for the one” as Jesus did.   

Deep within your soul are you moved to feel compassion “for your one”? 

What are you doing to reach “your one”? 

Believers, the Story of the Samaritan woman calls the reader to encounter Jesus, believe in Him, testify to the ways He brings abundant life to everyone, and to invite others to “come and see” for themselves. 

Please go for “the one” that God is calling you to faithfully pray for, and give your time and energy to be a part of their lives, so that they will come to know Jesus. 

Let us pray: 

“Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of ‘my one’.  Thank You for trusting me to pray for them, and to reach out to them. I ask that they may know Your will and be obedient to You.  

Give them clarity, acceptance, and understanding of Your purpose for their life. May they come to know You, may they trust in you, and may they know joy in the midst of difficulties and obstacles.  

I pray they may have a humble heart that seeks forgiveness and allows them to boldly accept Your unconditional love.  

I pray that I can be a source of safety and encouragement for them. Give me the courage to trust that you are working.  Please protect and lead them. Show me how to love them better. 

We love You Lord.  In Jesus Name, Amen.” 

http://bible.com/events/49311510

Church of The Nazarene Harrisonburg Campus

For One: Part 4 Harrisonburg

Part 4- Jesus and Nicodemus

John 3:1-2

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

WHATS A PHARISEE?

WHO IS NICODEMUS? (RULER/POWERFUL/WEALTHY)

NICODEMUS MEANS “VICTORIOUS PEOPLE”

John 3:3-11

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.

John 3:14-15

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

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John 20:21

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Isaiah 45:22

“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

Jesus & Nicodemus (The Chosen)

https://www.bible.com/events/49311109

Church of the Nazarene – East Rock

For One Part 4 East Rock

You must be born again…

Welcome to our teaching series called “For One”.

Throughout this teaching series we are seeking to know and understand the power of Jesus’ one at a time pursuit of people. We believe that Jesus came to save the whole word, and that through his life, death, and resurrection, he has made the pathway to salvation and eternal life open to us.

Jesus is for everyone.

During his earthly ministry, many times we see Jesus fulfilling this worldwide redemption mission, one person at a time.

Jesus is for one.

So, what would it look like for you and I to adopt that same model for our lives? So many times, our focus is on our country or our community, and that’s not a bad thing. But what would it look like for us to be for one, like Jesus was?

That’s what Jesus did, and it transformed the lives of many people in the gospels.

Today as we continue in part 4 our teaching series, we are going to look at the story of Nicodemus. One of the most well known one-on-one conversations in the bible.

John 3:1-2

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

We are introduced to Nicodemus as a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council.

The Pharisee’s were an elite group of people who had sworn to uphold all of the law and the extra oral traditions that went with it. They separated themselves from most normal life so they could be perfectly in line with every letter of the law.

The Jewish Ruling Council was also known as the Sanhedrin. This was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jewish people. It was like the supreme court of the Jews. And Nicodemus is there.

He is a portrait of the best of the best in the Jewish mind, and he is coming to ask Jesus some questions.

John 3:3-4

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

“Like for real, how is someone supposed to be born a second time as an adult?” That’s basically Nicodemus’s question back to Jesus. One of the most prestigious religious leaders in all of Israel isn’t getting it.

But Jesus is clear- VERY truly I tell you- he adds extra emphasis- No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.

What Jesus is pointing to is an altogether different kind of birth, not from our mothers, but from above, the spiritual realm

This idea of again can literally mean a second time, or it can also mean from above. Here it seems to be referring to both. To see the kingdom of God, something new and from another source, must be born, must come alive inside of us.

John 3:5-8

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Much scholarly debate exists trying to tease out what exactly water and spirit means, but there is a clear reference in the Old Testament that seems like the clearest connection.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

God was describing what the new work of Messiah would be like.

It would be a washing a cleansing from sin. He would put a new spirit within his people, and they would be made new, having a new heart. With all this NEW, it’s like being born all over again. Completely different.

Fast forward to Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Jesus says, if you don’t have that cleansing from sin and spiritual birth from the Lord- you aren’t going to be in the kingdom of God. You won’t see it or participate in it.

John 3:9-15

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

How much Nicodemus left understanding that night, we may never know. For Jesus, this born-again idea was a basic understanding that he felt was easy to see in the scriptures. But yet, Nicodemus had missed it, he was still confused.

In one more attempt to help Nicodemus, Jesus likens his work to the story of Numbers 21 where the people are sinning by grumbling against God. In response the Lord sends venomous snakes among the people, causing many people to die. The cure for them was that they would look to Moses and this bronze serpent being lifted on a pole. It was a look of faith.

Jesus tells Nicodemus, that in the same way, when He, Jesus, is lifted up on the cross, all those who look to him in faith will be saved. Those who are experiencing the sting and bite of sin, those dying in sin, if they will look to HIM, will experience the new birth and have eternal life in Christ.

This is really the answer to Nicodemus’ question: How can these things be? How can this new birth happen?

Jesus says: to be born again, you must believe in the work of Christ. Place your faith in his death and resurrection and receive the purity and eternal life in the spirit. Believe that you need cleansing from sin and a new spirit within. As you look to Christ in faith, that’s how these things can happen.

So, have you been born again?

Have you experienced the cleansing from sin, the freedom from it’s penalty. Have you received the new life of Christ? Have you received a new heart? Do you have the Spirit of God within you?

Friends, this is not a religious question.

Nicodemus was the most religious person any of us would have known. He followed all the rules, he prayed multiple times per day, he gave of his money, he served the church, everything, down to the letter. Perfect. Jesus looks right at him and says: You need to be born again.

Entrance into his kingdom is not an achievement of man, no, its step of faith. It’s by God’s grace through faith in the person and work of Christ..

Will you place your faith in the person of Christ Jesus? Will you look to him for cleansing from your sin, and the source of eternal life in you?

That’s being born again. And today friends, if you place your faith in Jesus, you confess to him that you are a sinner, ask for his forgiveness, and invite him to come into your heart, to make you alive- you too can experience this new birth.

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https://help.youversion.com/l/en/article/y03uerubo8-mychurch

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Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

For One – Part 3

Are you paying attention?

This morning’s speaker is Brian Charette, who is a lay person who occasionally teaches for us. Brian and his wife Pam have been a part of our church for many years. Pam is a member of the Church Board.

Our beautiful, God-designed brains are fearfully and wonderfully made. One of your brain’s greatest giftings is the ability to filter out and/or ignore information and stimuli. It’s also one of your brain’s greatest challenges when it comes to the theme of this series…For ONE.

This story in focus this morning appears in all of the Synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark an Luke. We’ll focus on the version in Mark but include the other two versions below.

Mark 5:21-30

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 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. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

Mark 5:31-34

“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Two medical students from Nigeria – Serekara Christian and Daniel Koate -published a paper in 2017 in the Nigerian Biomedical Science Journal. Their goal was to diagnose the woman in the story. They wrote:

The woman with the issue of blood as reported in the Holy Bible suffered in her condition for 12 years before she was healed by Jesus Christ. This review aims at underpinning the condition to hematology, identifying the probable causes and its diagnosis. Based on the signs and symptoms associated with her condition, menorrhagia, a condition characterized with prolonged menstrual bleeding is the probable clinical condition she suffered. A low level of von Willebrand factor, other clotting factors and disorders in platelet functions can all be implicated in menorrhagia.

Under Mosaic laws a woman with an issue of blood was considered unclean and was “put apart” for 7 days. During this time anything she lay on or sat on was considered “unclean” meaning that if anyone touched one of those things he would have to wash his clothes and bathe in water to become clean again. The Mosaic law also specified that if a woman had an issue of blood that lasted longer than 7 days that all the days of her issue were considered unclean, and she must be treated as such. This means that this woman had probably been unclean for 12 years and that she had to live “put apart” from others for all that time.

Sometimes, we are called to pursue the ONE – searching as did the woman with the lost coin and shepherd with the lost sheep. But sometimes, the ONE will pursue us, like the woman with the issue of blood or the prodigal son. The question is, when the latter occurs, will we be paying attention?

Pastor Kevin’s first teaching series – “For One” is based on the lost and found stories of Luke 15, which follow.

Luke 15:1-32

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

Here are the other two versions of the story of the Woman with the Issue of Blood.

Luke 8:40-48

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Matthew 9:18-22

While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

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Church of the Nazarene – East Rock

For One Part 3 East Rock

Jesus sees the one seeking Him…

Welcome to our teaching series called “For One”.

Throughout this teaching series we are seeking to know and understand the power of Jesus’ one at a time pursuit of people. We believe that Jesus came to save the whole word, and that through his life, death, and resurrection, he has made the pathway to salvation and eternal life open to us.

Jesus is for everyone.

During his earthly ministry, many times we see Jesus fulfilling this worldwide redemption mission, one person at a time.

Jesus is for one.

So, what would it look like for you and I to adopt that same model for our lives? So many times, our focus is on our country or our community, and that’s not a bad thing. But what would it look like for us to be for one, like Jesus was?

That’s what Jesus did, and it transformed the lives of many people in the gospels.

Today as we continue in part 3 our teaching series, we are going to look at two people that really stood out from the crowd.

Luke 8:40-42

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him.

The first one to stand out from the crowd is a man named Jairus.

He’s a local synagogue leader. He was likely in charge of ordering worship and the business of the church. He would have been a man of reputation, of status, and means.

But Jairus doesn’t stand out because of any of those things- He stands out because he has fallen at the feet of Jesus. For a man of his status, this was a humbling scene, but he didn’t care- His daughter was dying, and he had faith that Jesus could do something about it.

As the crowd moves, they press in on Jesus. So close they bump and stumble together. Then, someone else emerges from the crowd.

Luke 8:43

And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her.

She shouldn’t have been there. She shouldn’t have been in the crowd, in contact with other people.

An issue of bleeding made you unclean according to the law of Moses.

Anything you touched would bear the same stigma and penalty as you did. Anyone who touched you, brought this on themselves.

This woman had been cut off from virtually all contact and community because of her health condition.

She had tried everything to be made well. Marks gospel records she spent all she had on doctors and treatments, but nothing worked. It seemed that nothing and no one could help her.

But she had heard about this Jesus. He could heal the blind, make the leaper clean. Surely, he could help her. If she could only touch the corner of his garment- that would be enough. That would do it, she had faith. And that’s what made her stand out from the crowd.

Luke 8:44-48

She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

She was the one. The one seeking Jesus in faith. She believed that a personal encounter with him could bring healing, if she could only touch him.

All those other people crowded around Jesus. They wanted to be near, maybe hear a teaching, see a miracle. They even bumped into Jesus, they touched him, he felt it. He probably even smelled them they were so close. Nothing happened to them

Something was different about her touch. She was seeking.

It was a reach out in faith to Jesus as the one who could save her. It was personal. And it changed everything.

This beautiful scene of peaceful commissioning is seemingly cut short.

Luke 8:49-53

While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.” They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.

The people bringing this news think that all hope his gone. No need to bother Jesus anymore, she’s gone. They didn’t have faith that he could do anything else.

People in the first century knew how to properly identify when someone was deceased.

Jesus dismisses the crowd, only Pete, Jim, and John and the parents are allowed to see what’s about to happen.

The crowd laughs at Jesus assessment that the girl was only sleeping. They knew she was dead. They weren’t stupid. Jesus knew that too. He was speaking to what he was about to do. He was inviting them to have faith.

Luke 8:54-56

But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

And with that, the story of two people standing out in the crowd comes to a close.

What made their story different? Of all the people who bumped into JEsus that day, of all the people walking along in the crowd- why did these two stand out? It was their faith.

Lots of people in the crowd believed that Jesus was a miracle worker, a teacher, a really nice guy. But these two stood out from that crowd because they believed Jesus was for THEM.

They had faith that a personal encounter, a personal relationship would change their lives. And friends, they were right.

Their faith drove them to throw themselves on Christ, one who could help, and he saw them. The ones reaching out, coming toward him in faith. And friends, he still sees those people in the crowd today. The one seeking. The one searching.

Will you reach out to him today in faith?

Establish COTN as Your Church on the App

In this YouVersion Bible app, we encourage you to set up COTN as your church. It’s a simple process and will open up opportunities to stay connected to us!

https://help.youversion.com/l/en/article/y03uerubo8-mychurch

Giving at COTN

If you ever have questions or need help with online giving, please let us know: finance@cotnaz.org Thank you for your partnership in building the Kingdom of Christ as you impact others!

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