Sunday Sermon Notes from 4/25/2021
Have you ever been on the “inside” of a joke?
Did you feel included and part of the group as a result of being on the inside?
Have you ever been on the “outside” of a joke?
Did you feel excluded or left out?
Read John 1:43-51
- What was the inside story about Nazareth? Weren’t they looked down on by others?
- How are the men in the story related to each other?
- Jesus expressed he knew Nathanael
- How did Jesus know him? What did Jesus see him doing earlier?
- Was Nathanael truly a man of “no deceit”
- Jesus was able to see more than what Nathanael was trying to show off
- What happened to Nathanael’s heart when Jesus gave him proof?
- Can we move the hearts of people the way Jesus did?
- Unlikely, many times, even if we show someone proof they can still doubt
- Why? Maybe because it is sometimes difficult to see the truth in our lives and accept it and make long lasting changes as a result.
- Was it easy for Nathanael to change his views about who Jesus was?
- Not likely easy, it took a huge amount of faith to admit who Jesus was
- Nathanael was a Jew who did not believe in Jesus, he was at the beginning stages of discovering who the Messiah truly was
- Jesus had an inside track with Nathaneal and used it to help him come to faith (remember Jesus had seen him by the fig tree earlier)
- As disciples, we have an inside track with Jesus and by staying close to him he will help our faith to continue to grow
- Jesus will knock down roadblocks to get to our deepest parts of our heart and who we are so that we can have a relationship with him
- Remember the promises that God gave to Abraham, they are for you too!
- Genesis 28:10-22 and Genesis 12:1-3
- 7 AMAZING promises from GOD:
- To make you a great nation
- To bless you
- To make your name great
- To make you a blessing
- To bless those who bless you
- To curse those who curse you
- All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you