Hope Sabbath School Lesson 8 Ministering Like Jesus

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] welcome to hope sabbath school an in-depth interactive study of the word of god i'm glad you joined us today we're continuing a series on making friends for god i love that title because god loves us all with an immeasurable and unfailing love but there are people around us who don't even know that god exists and if he does they don't know anything about his character so this series is so important today's topic ministering like jesus welcome to hope sabbath school welcome to the team it's going to be a great study i'm excited today because you know i think what jesus is longing for is that we would reflect the beauty of his character and it seems very timely doesn't it for the days in which we live we're glad you're part of our hope sabbath school family wherever you are love to have you write to us hope tv.org hope ss write to us give us a message of hope how god's impacting your life here's a note from carlos and barbados he said i don't even get i don't often get to study the adult study with other members of my church maybe he teaches a children's class so watching hope sabbath school is like studying that i don't get a church you are an inspiration and many people here in barbados are watching hope sabbath school that's we would like to have an invitation to barbados we'll do a live hope sabbath school there i may get one keep up the good work may god continue to bless you and in the world to come thank you carlos for writing angela writes from texas and she uses our outline that you can download from the website she says to be honest i only watch hope sabbath school in the past to help me prepare for the study when it's my turn to teach at church however recently i started devoting my mornings to studying and listening to hope sabba school i didn't realize how much information it actually taught and i feel like i took this resource for granted in the past i've been praying for god to give me wisdom and to help me understand what he has in store for me so i can better be equipped to help those around me now i wake up looking forward to reading and studying the word of god amen thank you for providing and sharing information to the world i wouldn't have been able to do it on my own god bless you all well angela that's why we do help sabbath school because god wants to multiply what's happening here by ten thousand right where people say well i'd like to share the word of god with others too god bless you and all there in texas watching hope sabbath school here's a note from a donor in montana and i want to thank you this is a donor-supported ministry this donor writes and says i sure do enjoy your interactive hope sabbah school a friend in washington state told me how great the study was that's a good witness isn't it so for the past two years i download hope sabba school from my computer to my flat screen tv and i feel like i'm right there with you you say this is a high-tech person actually i'm 85 years old i don't get out much in the winter to our small church so it's refreshing to be part of hope sabba school enclosed is a small donation to help further the work of hope sabbath school worldwide so other people can receive the blessing too and a gift of one hundred dollars isn't that beautiful all the way from montana thank you so much to all of you who helped support this ministry and that makes a difference around the world well here's a note from rudy and rudy writes and says greetings brothers and sisters in the name of our mighty lord jesus christ you say that sounds like a preacher i'm nine years old and a resident of georgia i write this letter to let you know how i appreciate the work you've been doing my family and i enjoy watching hope sabbath school every single day they must be watching the daily hope program and on friday night with the beginning of sabbath i want to tell you you're touching many souls including mine what i enjoy the most is the song every time you come up with a new theme song i learn it the next day by now i know a lot of songs and bible verses because of hope sabbath school i cannot wait until one day when i can be part of the hope sabbath school team i think rudy would do a great job don't you yeah rudy thanks for writing to us all the way from georgia in the united states and by the way gisele in trinidad and tobago would agree with you because she says i'm from the twin island republic of trinidad and tobago born in trinidad i want to express how much i appreciate the scripture songs may god continue to bless your ministry gisele well gisele rudy the rest of us our theme songs taken from psalm 105 oh give thanks to the lord listen now you can sing along [Music] make known [Music] taco [Music] seek the lord in his strength seek his face ever more remember his marvelous works which he has oh give thanks to the lord call upon his name [Music] let's pray together our father in heaven we're excited today as we can study an important topic ministering like jesus as we by your grace make friends for god we pray that the holy spirit would guide as we study here and as all around the world hope sabbath school members are part of this interactive in-depth study may you be our teacher and may lives be blessed and transformed in the name of jesus amen amen but as we think about ministering like jesus there are several things that emerge caring for the lost treating people with respect uh extending his healing ministry and revealing the immeasurable and unfailing love of god and someone could say derek i can think of seven others that we could add to that but let's take a look and say what would it look like as we make friends for god to to minister like jesus let's start with a well-known story in luke chapter 19 and verse 10. it's the story of a very wealthy tax collector puja and we're not going to read the whole story but his name was zacchaeus right verse 10 at the end of that story what does jesus say in luke 19 and verse 10 and i'll be reading from the new king james version for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost why would he describe zacchaeus as a lost person billy what do you know about zacchaeus well i think he's lost partly because people have shunned them okay he was a tax collector and at that time people thought that um tax collectors were traders um because he was a tax collector uh collecting taxes from his own people and so he might have been excluded from the synagogues he might have not been welcome in the temple because they viewed him as kind of a outsider exactly traitor okay anybody think of another tax collector that jesus built a bridge with matthew all right gladys let's take a look in matthew chapter nine by the way this study is not all about tax collection you know we're talking about people who are lost and maybe like billy you said they're lost partly because they've been cut off by other people you know that's holding them back from connecting with god matthew chapter 9 gladys read verses 10 through 13 for us and i'll be reading from the new international version matthew chapter 9 verses 10 to 13. while jesus was having dinner at matthew's house many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples when the pharisees saw this they asked his disciples why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners on hearing this jesus said it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick but go and learn what that means i desire mercy not sacrifice for i have not come to call the righteous but sinners now luke records a parable with three parts lost sheep lost coin and lost sons um and that's also being criticized for spending time with sinners but jesus says that's why i'm here so so we're going to ask a challenging question in just a minute how can we make friends for god with sinners and not be dragged away from god but just think about that one let's look at what jesus taught in matthew 5 in the sermon on the mount christian if you could read verses 13 and 14 because jesus doesn't seem to suggest that his followers should just try to isolate themselves and stay out of trouble until jesus comes what does jesus say in the sermon on the mount matthew 5 13-14 okay i'll be reading from the new king james version matthew chapter 5 verse 13 and 14 you are the salt of the earth but if the salt loses its flavor how shall it be seasoned it is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men you are the light of the world a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden how does it relate to this idea of making friends with sinners we have to intermingle okay how can we be lied to them if we're hiding maybe the bushel could be a church building yes right christian you know and i'm gonna maybe it's gonna sound a little strong here okay but jesus said it not not me okay um he says that if saul loses its flavor it's good for nothing okay so at the end of the day the the conclusion that we can make is if a christian is not caring it's not loving people he's good for nothing wow that is strong isn't it no no but jesus said it right that would be like saying if if someone is in darkness and you're concealing the light of jesus that's in you you're also good for nothing or it could it be that the light will actually go out right well that's an interesting thought what do you think puja i think the idea of salt i think the lessons that we can one of the lessons that we can take away from salt is that solved transform and it preserves many ways so jesus in comparing us to salts i think wants us to be agents of change in people's lives agents have changed ministering like jesus was jesus an agent of change yes really well the assumption is that you know sinners or people who are lost don't want to be you want to stay that way and what jesus is saying is that people who are lost have the desire to get themselves out of that but they are looking for opportunities and we come in as assault and as the light and the other thing too is that um in verse 14 especially in the king james version it says that the city said on the hill that's like the light cannot be hidden so there is something about you being a christian or you being the light of the world there are some things you cannot hide if you connected to the light of the world right that's interesting it doesn't say should not be but cannot be said you can't hide it if you're connected to the light of the world now someone andrea is going to ask oh but andrea i'm kind of scared if i start making friends with lost people that they might drag me away from god is that a is that a valid concern what do you think i think it's a valid concern but i don't think that it's a a reason that you shouldn't do what jesus asked you to do okay i think it means you you shouldn't try to do that alone i think you need to be in a in grounded in a community of believers grounded in your faith with jesus and understanding your purpose um it's not to please those people that you're with but it's to please jesus and to reach them with that's interesting you gave us two aspects connected to god and grounded in a community could it be that you go i'm gonna go help that person that someone who loves you in the community might say i don't think you're the right person to do that or ask gladys to go with you right don't put yourself in a compromising situation so there's connection to god connection to people let's see what jesus says in john 17 verses 15-18 billy john 17 jesus uh it's in the upper room there he's actually speaking about the holy spirit what does he say in john 17 verses 15 through 18 yes and i'll be reading from the king james version i pray yes i pray not that thou should take them out of the world but that thou should escape them from evil from the evil they are not of the world even as i am not of the world sanctify them through thy truth thy word is truth as thou has sent me into the world even so have i also sent them into the world does that sound clear but how does he keep us from the evil one through the word sanctify them by the truth your word is true okay but there are people who know the word who are not kept from the evil one they go and do uh evil things they get tripped and fall they may know about the word but they're not grounded in the word okay they know about the word not grounded in the word um i think it's more this word if it doesn't lead us like andrew said to that living connection with jesus is just information yeah i mean the devil knows the word right the demons know the word right so that connection with jesus but i like that community too because he's speaking to all of them right and remember even when jesus sent them out he sent them two by two so if we just took this one lesson caring for the lost we'd say that's important not optional right but make sure you're connected you're connected with heaven and with others you've got some support with the right kind of people right if it's someone that's doing what they're doing that person could drag you away really and something that's very practical is that jesus prayed every morning now he was the son of god and he knew that before he even ministered to anybody that he needed to make himself ready and that's what he did every morning and i'm i'm sure it's not just that morning but practically he needed to be ready every morning so that's that connection with with god all the time now that connection with god is also going to affect the way we relate to others i'll take andrew your comment first yeah i was just going to go along with that that um it's a and knowing our need for dependence on god like a humility i guess that says i can't do this by myself i need god i need other people that this this is spiritual warfare that i'm going to encounter and i can't do that by myself and i think that humility helps us you know that's an interesting point too because if you're going to help a person out of darkness and into the marvelous light of jesus there's going to be a battle right so i need that connection and that protection let's go on to another aspect of ministering like jesus which is treating everyone with respect we're caring for lost people we're treating everyone with respect let's look at a story in matthew chapter 8. uh puja if you could read for us in matthew 8 verses 5 and 6. um maybe you've heard this story maybe it's the first time that you're hearing it uh what what surprises us about this conversation and i'll be reading from the new king james version now when jesus had entered capernaum a centurion came to him pleading with him saying lord my servant is lying at home paralyzed dreadfully tormented should i continue through verse six okay dreadfully tormented what what surprises you about that interaction there's several things well he was a roman official okay and jesus was a jew so how would you expect a can i use the word a typical first century jew to respond to the roman centurion christian well first of all they would immediately refuse because for a jew to step into the home of a gentile that would make them ceremoniously unclean and so that was taboo a jew a young jewish man would not find himself entering into a gentile home you know talk about asking to do something jesus is going to turn that upside down and say if they ask you to go a mile go two miles uh anybody else what what do you notice that's unusual about this interaction well i'm sorry about it yeah i think that you know just the fact that he expressed his need right away he didn't try to cover it up i think that the centurion was very bold at the same time you know knowing the distance between the jew and him being a gentile he still did not he his need was so great that he did not care about expressing his need explicitly he could have looked down on jesus yes for not being a roman right yes right you keep reading the story for us if you would there in matthew chapter eight let's look at verses seven through ten and i'll continue reading from the new king james version and jesus said to him i will come and heal him the centurion answered and said lord i am not worthy that you should come under my roof but only speak a word and my servant will be healed for i also am a man under authority having soldiers under me and i say to this one go and he goes and to another come and he comes and to my servant do this and he does it when jesus heard it he marveled and said to those who followed assuredly i say to you i have not found such great faith not even in israel and then verse 13 the rest of the story verse 13 then jesus said to the centurion go your way and as you have believed so let it be done for you and his servant was healed that same hour now we need to think about what does that have to do with us today are there some people watching hope sabbath school who might be under the influence of an occupying force is that possible that they don't have freedom that there's an occupying force like the romans were there but what would that look like for us what what kind of application might we have anybody what do you think we're talking about treating everyone with respect but let's look at one other story in john chapter 8 and we'll read verses 2 through 11. and andrea if you could read that for us in john 8 beginning with verse 2. by the way some manuscripts don't have this story okay so you may see have a translation where it's got it in parenthesis not found in some manuscripts it just sounds so much like jesus to me i believe it's an authentic story but there are many other stories that illustrate jesus showing respect now here's the question who is he showing respect to in the story all right andrea let's go to john chapter 8 verses 2 through 11. okay and i'm reading with the new revised standard version early in the morning he came again to the temple all the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them the scribes and the pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and making her stand before all of them they said to him teacher this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery now in the law moses commanded us to stone such women now what do you say they said this to test him so that they might have some some charge to bring against him jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground when they kept on questioning him he straightened up and said to them let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her and once again he bent down and wrote on the ground when they heard it they went away one by one beginning with the elders and jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him jesus straightened up and said to her woman where are they has no one condemned you she said no one sir and jesus said neither do i condemn you go your way and from now on do not sin again now most people don't read verse 12 but i just have to tell you jesus says after that i am the light of the world right so there's darkness uh and and and jesus comes into that darkness to bring light right where do you see jesus treating people with respect in this story who's the most obvious what's the most obvious answer to that question the woman right she's thrown probably half naked at the feet of jesus big crowd most of them critical and he treats it with respect right right who else does he treat with respect in the story though the accused the other party well that's a good point i was going to talk about all the people who were picking up rocks but what about the person who actually was involved in that by the way it seems pretty clear that it was a setup doesn't it yes right to track jesus but where could jesus have said by the way bring ebeneezer over here [Laughter] could he have done that he could have he could expose him in front of everyone what did you bring your family too and i'm going to tell them what you did in secret it will be declared open he could have done that right [Music] who else does he treat with respect that you might think doesn't even deserve it kirsten well when i notice here that jesus um he he stooped down and wrote you know with his finger on the sand uh i can't help but to think that jesus is actually showing respect to them in the sense that he's not publicly shaming them by vocalizing their sin in front of everyone you think that's what he wrote in the ground i believe so okay i believe so and i think that i think that he quietly without even saying a word he stoops down and writes on the sand and i i believe that they they saw what he was writing and i believe that it was convicting them of their private sins that jesus did not spill you know yeah why didn't he just expose them and and you know cut them down why does he even treat those would you say they were doing was their behavior admirable no no why does he treat them with respect for you the pattern that i see in the way jesus treats others is that he always look for the good in others and he always tries to bring the best in people so by by approaching them in this manner he attracts them to himself you know you know later in the book of uh in the book of acts i think it's chapter 6 it says there around verse 7 that many priests believed you know in in him so maybe some of them were there and said he could have done this but he treated everyone with respect gladys i think it was overwhelming love that he demonstrated at that moment just like christian was saying writing on the ground you know he probably just wrote a word extortioner yes that just touched their heart so at the same time by doing that like like christians said bending down they saw love you know he could have he had the power the authority and the information to shame them and he didn't so why don't why doesn't everyone treat others with respect maybe an even more challenging question you talked about some difficult sayings christian why are people who may profess to be followers of jesus not treating everyone with respect what what excuses do people give i'm a follower of jesus i go to church every week and yet they they don't treat everyone with respect what what excuses what are some human excuses that people give billy yeah what i can think of is uh that they don't deserve it uh if you think about criminals um who committed heinous crimes a lot of people don't feel the need to even minister to them saying that well they're in prison in their pain for what they deserve so i think sometimes we treat people like that saying that well even with the assumption that we don't want to see them in heaven because we have this if we feel like justice for them to for them to receive justice they have to be lost which is so ironic so so contrary to the character of loving god right yes where it says in scripture if you if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us right right in fact didn't jesus say oh by the way you who are condemning uh if you have no sin cast the first stone right right what other excuses do people give you i think uh oftentimes people or i mean including me uh we often say this person treated me badly so you know why should i treat him kind of differently yeah so is there a text that would challenge that i think that's very human isn't it you were mean to me yeah you know you eye for an eye you made a racial slur towards me you know i'm gonna say something mean back you spit at me i'm gonna spit back is there a teaching in scripture that would challenge that i mean the old eye for an eye tooth for a tooth but jesus said the golden rule what did jesus say do you want to love your enemies bless those who cursed you in matthew christian you know and and you know we're talking about excuses people give but sadly though sadly i've i've sensed sometimes that there's blind spots that people have they don't even realize you know how they're behaving what they're saying um and sadly it's because from an from an early age you know they've been brought up with certain beliefs certain mindsets it's been ingrained in in their thinking that's the way we treat people in my community they they looked up at mom or dad or even adults and and they've who have modeled you know this kind of behavior and they don't know any different and as they grow they they begin to you know display those kind same kind of behaviors and they don't even realize it because it's all they know didn't someone say you have to learn to hate yes you know it's it's not you're not born with that you know hating people who are different from you uh but but our culture impacts us andrea i was also thinking that sometimes we we have really valid things that need to be heard but we're so focused on the message that we don't think about the best way for it to be heard and i think that's what jesus did he was wanting to reach their hearts and so he he could have just called them all out but if he'd done that they would their defenses would have been up it would have been over no message would have had a chance to get to their hearts and i think sometimes we think this message is so important it has to get through and so it has to be done in a certain way that's kind of harsh but in fact that's not actually going to be like what changes the heart so the first message should not be the wages of sin is death right it should be let me tell you that god so loved the world yeah that includes you brother sister right now it's true that sin brings death that's why jesus you know what it's a different way isn't it you quoted a text gladys i'd like you to read from matthew 7 and verse 12 which i think really it's kind of a simple principle uh when i'm thinking about how to relate to people um if i were to ask our group here or maybe our hope savage school members of us to ask you do you like to be treated with respect would you do do you enjoy being disrespected you say derek that's an obvious answer but what does jesus say in matthew 7 and verse 12 gladys i'm reading from the new international version matthew chapter 7 verse 12 and he says so in everything do to others what you will have them do to you for this sums up the law and the prophets anyone have another translation what translation was that new international new international version anyone have another translation have the king james how does the king james put it billy so it says therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do you even sow to them for this is the law in the prophet there's something very profound about this it doesn't just say don't treat people the way you don't like to be treated yourself it says actually go out and treat people the way you would like to be treated in a positive yeah yeah the positive police are proactive even if they don't treat you back you treat them the way you would like to be treated right does that challenge you today yes booyah i believe so more than ever before i think in an age of social media you know oftentimes the things that we post and share and comment in the way that we do them sometimes hurts i think a lot of people i myself learned this lesson recently as i was posting something on my facebook something that i was really concerned about but then i realized maybe i should have approached it or maybe write it it with you know a little softer tone or words than just simply calling out right away on what i thought was wrong and i mean the message was important but the way i approach it back to what andrew was saying right yes exactly so i think we need this lesson principle more than ever before so if we were to take that and come to billy's point if we were to take that desire to speak out about an injustice or whatever what we learned from what andrea said earlier is make sure you're praying a lot about this and maybe talk to a few other christian friends and just say hey billy i'm thinking about posting this i feel really strongly about it and is that okay it doesn't say somewhere a multitude of counselors there's safety there's wisdom right yeah timing is very important um and you can see that with jesus jesus could have easily called him out but um i think he held back for some good reasons he maybe he felt that i'm not ready yet to call out the sins that are happening in front of me and i think we should also learn from that that there is a time for everything if if you just got hurt maybe not now is not the best time to respond respond back thank you gladys and and sometimes you know you're in the uh heat of the moment right you're not even thinking about being christian right now you know before you push send right right before i push sin let me just say is this reflecting the immeasurable unfailing love of god right exactly and if i have a question let me talk to god about it and let me counsel with some other christian friends who love god and love me who might say absolutely that's that's led of the spirit of god you say well thank you god right or why don't you wait on that just for a bit and think about how you want to say it yeah if we just took these two principles we're talking about making friends for god and ministering like jesus caring for the lost and treating everyone with respect wow our culture would look different would our churches even look different i'm not throwing rocks because you know the one who was without sin but but we're talking to ourselves right right yes just those two we're going to come on to a third and fourth principle after you comment for you i think we also need this very much because these day it's hard to see like civil conversations you know among uh i guess even among our members ourselves because when we have a different i guess understanding of a situation or a different perspective often time instead of um having a civil conversation we end up throwing rocks at each other simply because we have a different perspective so as as i think about these words of jesus i'm you know i guess i come back to the question how would i want others to treat me if i didn't know this and this and that i think i would want them to explain to me what i didn't know in a i guess a loving manner sure so i guess that's back to the treating others the way i would like to be treated right yes so um yes andre i just think maybe that starts with what you were saying it's not just don't do it but but do this and maybe that actually starts with the way that we we put people and categories in our minds and as soon as we put that filter then suddenly without even thinking about it we treat them in a different way so it kind of starts even earlier and i i so much appreciate what christian said the context well this is why my whole family does this they all say these things and they all treat people and we invite certain people over we don't invite other people over that's just that's just wait a minute you know is that is that what jesus is asking us to do right can we challenge that well let's go on to a third aspect of ministering like jesus this one you might say derek this this is just jesus activity and that is the healing ministry of jesus but but actually making friends for god ministering like jesus is actually extending his healing ministry let's look in matthew chapter 4 and uh christian if you could read verses 23 to 25 of matthew chapter 4. by the way i'm so thankful for the bible aren't you yes don't take this for granted just like we shouldn't take our health for granted or our freedom we would not know the story unless the holy spirit had inspired people to write this down and preserved it for us right what do you read in matthew chapter 4 verses 23 to 25 okay i'll be reading from the new king james version and jesus went about all galilee teaching in their synagogues preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people then his fame went throughout all syria and they brought to him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments and those who were demon-possessed epic epileptic epileptics and paralytics and he healed them great multitudes followed him from galilee from decapolis from jerusalem judea and beyond the jordan some have said and they're i think they're absolutely right if you read the gospel jesus spent much more time healing people right than he did preaching sermons by the way matthew records what you just read and matthew has more sermons in teaching of jesus than anybody else in the gospels but he still says jesus went around healing a lot of people so my question would be why did he do that why did he spend so much of his time healing people and what does that have to do with us in terms of making friends for god i believe jesus was meeting the needs of the people okay as simple as that so you might broaden it out and say um that we should not only care for the lost and respect everyone but we should back to being proactive right we should go out and and intentionally meet the needs right people exactly right yes andrew i say also just i think access to hearts again it softens people up when when their needs are met so that they can listen to what he's saying and how he is he's got in front of them yeah so an example would be when he fed the five thousand right that was a miracle uh but but then he said i'm the bread of life so wanting to lead them to a to a connection with him billy so and from that passage i think you know the assumption is that well you know the only way i can help somebody is by becoming a doctor or i need to have those skills in order to heal somebody from their diseases and i think we also forget about even the other aspects of health like mental health like you can be a blessing to somebody just by being next to that person just by being um that listening ear and and that that that also a healing ministry that you can do to help other people so it's broader but it would include helping people find physical homes right gladys yes when you minister to somebody's needs you just open up the doors of their hearts when i was a missionary in philippines we were in an area where there was another um religion that was really opposed for us preaching and we spent a whole month trying to knock on doors and nobody will open their doors to us and then one day we were in prayer and the lord impresses to these variables and it was just like you need to go and reach out so we went and started offering washing the people's clothes cleaning their kitchen taking out their trash and we just went door-to-door asking do you want us to clean your your garden do you want us to to help you do the laundry and within a week we do more work than the whole month because people started opening their doors and the words that is spreading we didn't even have to go knocking anymore people will come to our house and say can you come tomorrow and help me do this and while we were working we were sharing the love of god the ministry of cleanup andrea i see you smiling i know you've been in a mission assignment too does that make sense to you absolutely yeah the more the more you can interact on a personal level like that and serve the more hearts are opened let's see what jesus says in matthew chapter 9 and uh gladys if you could read verses one through seven because he doesn't say just go out and tell them that i'm the messiah and if they trust in me that they can be saved that's not their only assignment right let's see what jesus says matthew 9 he's speaking here to the 12th later he'll speak to the 70 and he'll speak to all of us to to go out as his followers but read what it says in matthew 9 verses 1 through 7. i'm reading from the new international version jesus stepped into a boat crossed over and came to his own town some men brought to him a paralyzed man laying lying on a mat when jesus saw their faith he said to the man take heart son your sins are forgiven at this some of the teachers of the law said to themselves this fellow is blaspheming knowing their thoughts jesus said what do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say get up and walk but i want you to know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins so he said to the paralyzed man get up take up your mat and go home then the man got up and went home when the crowd saw this they were filled with awe and they praise god who are given such authority to men so there's lots of other miracles by the way i'm going to give you a chance to share some of them but what healing is offered in this miracle physical physical healing and spiritual healing and spiritual healing right both of them now again we might say jesus is awesome but the spirit of god while you were reading that text impressed us impressed me to add matthew chapter 10. so it's not in your outline i'll put it in so that others can read it but billy if you could read matthew chapter 10 verses one through eight because again people could be saying well that's awesome jesus is awesome but let's see what he says to his followers about extending his healing ministry matthew 10 verses one through eight okay and i'll be reading from the king james version and when he had called unto him his 12 disciples he gave them power against unclean spirit to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness in all manner of diseases now the names of the twelve apostles are these the first simon who is called peter and andrew his brother james the son of zebedee and in john his brother philip and bartholomew thomas in matthew the publican james the john the son of alphaeus and uh le baez whose surname was thaddeus simon the canaanite and judas iscariot who also betrayed him these twelve jesus sent forth and commanded them saying go not into the way of the gentiles and into any city of the samaritans enter you not but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of israel and as you go preach saying the kingdom of heaven of heaven is at hand heal the sick cleanse the lepers raise the dead cast out devils freely have received freely give okay last sentence freely you've received freely now does it include preaching or teaching what what jesus taught absolutely yeah it says go right doesn't it say tell them the kingdom preach kingdom of heavens at hand right what else does it include heal the sick heal the sick raise the dead cast out demons cast out demons yeah so back to what you were saying earlier billy it's broader than just physical healing it could include that right yeah but it's extending the healing ministry of jesus now i'm going i am not jesus is that really possible that we could make friends for god by ministering like jesus what caring for the lost showing respect everyone and actually extending his healing ministry billy yeah and that reminds me of um if we want to read um john 14 verse 12 um john 14 yeah let's take a moment to find that you've got the king james version yes john 14 verse 12. you know i i really love it when we're studying because you're reading your bibles and the spirit of god brings a text to your mind and you say that reminds me of this is an in-depth interaction interactive bible study right right what does jesus say in john 14 12. so he said verily verily i say unto you he that believeth on me the works that i do shall he do also greater works than these shall he do because i go to my father and that text i was discussing with a friend of mine and i said okay well jesus raised the dead and he says greater works will do so what can be more than grace in the dead so the only conclusion that i can think of is that well jesus raised one person maybe we'll be able to raise a whole cemetery of people because that's a greater amount of work and and i feel like also jesus also has expectations for us as his followers for for us to continue his legacy isn't it greater that he could do it through us we're not the messiah right i had an experience with with a a young lady who'd been cutting herself and she'd been really damaged as a child and i i was there the day that jesus healed her and as we're kneeling in prayer i realized that that little girl died when she was five and she was buried literally under all of that darkness and pain and it dawned on me that jesus was going to raise her from the dead [Music] and he said we're still breathing but jesus was going to raise her from the dead does it not kind of make your head spin a little that jesus is calling us when we make friends for god to minister like him amen you say derek it's impossible and and andrea you would say it isn't possible without jesus without jesus right without the holy spirit empowering us in jesus name christian you know if you think about this every physical every miracle that jesus performed ultimately it was to to show that there was a greater reality that he that he could accomplish right so if he if he healed physically the greater reality was that he could heal heal the the spiritual aspect of the soul of the the body of the mind and and so for me when when i see about us performing greater things as you know as a as a pastor one of my greatest joys is to see a life transformed in christ going from darkness into light for me that's a resurrection taking place that's someone coming back from the dead doesn't it say you were dead in your trespasses and sins yeah but you've been made alive right i'm going to get excited but by grace you've been saved right so that is a resurrection too yes beautiful somewhat share a testimony of a time when you say i didn't deserve this i'm not that strong but god gave me a chance to be involved in extending his healing ministry andrea oh sure um it was last year at some point and i actually wasn't feeling well like i just had a kind of that darkness was kind of around me for a little while but i was leaving work one day and i happened to look over as i was leaving there was a car in our parking lot at work and i looked over and the lady was standing outside her car and she was just crying so i like rolled down my window and i asked her if she was okay and she's like no so i i pulled in next to her had a conversation with her ended up being able to help her find some resources but the main thing she needed at that moment was just someone else to listen and to feel her pain and i realized that because i was feeling my own pain i had a certain kind of way to be able to feel and share her pain and yet it also helped me feel better you know in a way doesn't it say if you give it's given back to you yeah that's very interesting that was would you say that was a holy spirit-led event definitely could have just said i don't know probably triple a or some auto repair is coming to help her you know and just drive off but the spirit of god impressed you and how do you look back on that experience of of extending the just exactly what you said i mean it was the holy spirit um not just in in orchestrating the timing but also um i think just helping me to know like how to be there in that moment right and know what to say you know i didn't feel like i had anything to give but jesus had plenty to give through me even isn't that awesome we've got to move on to the fourth one uh we've we've got uh caring for the lost and treating everyone with respect right and extending his healing ministry that ought to keep us on our knees right but then revealing or reflecting the immeasurable unveiling love of god and let's look at a part of a story jesus shares in matthew 25. gladys could you read for us verses 31 to 36. matthew 25 31-36 then we want to talk about what it means for us today i'm reading from the new international version verse 31 says when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him he will sit on his glorious throne all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed by my father take your inheritance the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world for i was hungry and you gave me something to eat i was thirsty and you gave me something to drink i was a stranger and you invited me in i need a clothes and you clothed me i was sick and you looked after me i was in prison and you came to visit me now it's very clear in the teaching of jesus that we're not saved by feeding the hungry right giving drinks to the thirsty right the bible's very clear whoever believes in jesus should not perish but have everlasting life right so why is feeding the hungry and giving water to the thirsty and visiting people in prison why is that important anybody billy yeah i would say it opens up the opportunity for the holy spirit to you know get in you know get inside the person's heart um i'm reminded of a missionary trip that i did a mission trip that i did and um the community that i went in was basically very dangerous and we didn't have any security guards we just went in um and the people there were saying that you guys are the only ones who practice what you preach because there are a lot of churches they come in they pass out flyers they say that yeah come to my church come on to do revivals but you guys despite knowing our reputation you chose to set up school for us and also give us um medicine and all that and so now they are ready to listen because they saw that we were genuine and reaching out to to these people that's beautiful tell me a story in the gospels where you really see the immeasurable love of god revealed because we want a minister like jesus so tell me a story you don't have to read it but just tell me a story we'll get a couple of them and then we'll talk about some time that someone revealed the immeasurable unfailing love of god to you story christian um the disciples meet with jesus in the upper room they're all there including judas but the bible says that jesus loved them until the very end and he actually stooped down rolled up his sleeves and he washed their feet and for me it always impacts me when i think that judas was one of them you know jesus washed jesus's feet you know and uh for me that that shows great mercy praying that he would repent john chapter 13. all right another story revealing very brief immeasurable unfailing love of god in the ministry of jesus yes i love the the story in luke 18 about the the widow of name she was bearing her only son and jesus just resurrected him i love this luke seven but that's the is it luke 18 yes the widow of name son who died yes okay and jesus resurrected him in that time women had no place in society if they didn't have a husband beautiful or a son and jesus just gave you know which one came to my mind and then i want to give you a chance was when the mothers wanted someone to bless jesus to bless their children yes the disciples like no no no and jesus let them come to me right revealing the love of god tell me a time someone showed the immeasurable unfailing love of god to you lately i've been thinking about this with the situations that we go through in the world with all these problems and when i find peace in the word of god and the knowledge of god i i started thinking how how did i get so blessed to know this truth and i realized it's because of people who came out of their comfort zone to share god's love to my say my ancestors you know and and just i come from an ethnic group called mizo and we didn't know god before the missionaries so as i think about this it's the northeastern part of india yes i'm just so thankful for those people who came out to share the love of god you know we're glad they did too because we're glad you're part of the team and you're you're helping to share the immeasurable unfailing love of god someone else the time someone showed that love of god to you anybody yes gladys yes andrea has shown the immeasurable love of god to me i started working in her office and i made a lot of we didn't know that i made a lot of mistakes and i was so nervous because she was out and she trusted me with an assignment and i call her i was just like hi i'm so sorry and she said it's okay it happens to everyone and now being new at a place it just made my heart light why is the command of jesus in john 13 so relevant for today a new commandment i give you love one another as i have loved you by this all will know that you're my disciples ministering like jesus yes if you show love by the way that's the agape love that's the love of god why is it so important today did we ever need it more than today more than ever more than ever yeah what have we learned about ministering like jesus today well caring for lost people right yes treating everyone with respect with respect what was the third one extending his healing that's impossible without him it's miraculous and then reflecting reflecting the immeasurable unfailing love of god i'm excited to be a follower of jesus are you yes amen you say this is this could be revolutionary yes this could change the world and jesus would say hallelujah and the angels would say that's why he came amen yes that's why he came my friend i pray you've been challenged by our study today i know i have that the love of jesus would be reflected in us as we care for those around us how we respect them we extend his healing ministry let's pray it can happen in his name father in heaven we've been challenged making friends for god by ministering like jesus may the spirit of jesus be in us that his work would continue through us for his glory we pray in jesus name amen amen amen well thanks for joining us for hope sabbath school today we're in the middle of a series making friends for god we're not trying to earn our way to heaven but we want to honor the one who saved us by his grace take what you've learned today ministering like jesus go out and be a blessing to those around you [Applause] [Applause] you

Channel: HopeSabbathSchool

Views: 37,764

Rating: 4.8255033 out of 5

Keywords: Hope Sabbath School, Lessson 8, Seventh-Day Adventist

Id: _GgzEAvOSxA

Length: 58min 31sec (3511 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 18 2020