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[Message notes] Sun 25 Feb - It's No Coincidence | The Time is Now (Gareth Nicholson)
Have you heard about the revival at Asbury? Started on 8 Feb led by Gen Z, no hype, just people hungry for Jesus! Revival is an invitation deeper into His presence.
Of the 5 major revivals in the last 100 years, something special has always happened at Asbury. Could this be a pouring out of God's grace, the start of revival as we've never seen before?
There will always be skeptics, confusion, and a desire to “do it here” – the way to steward the now well is to cultivate a hunger and desire for God – because God shows up where he is wanted!
The best way to do that is to get into the word and read about Jesus because He reveals the Father.
We will be in John 4 for the next few weeks – this is a story that creates a desire for Jesus by the way he restores a social outcast to incredible purpose, teaches about a lifestyle of worship, talks about working in the harvest, and ends with miraculous healing.
I. Jesus is Intentional & Unconventional
Jesus HAD to go to Samaria. He made the first move. Samaritans were despised by Jews and rabbis didn’t talk to women. Water was drawn in the morning and evening, not in the middle of the day. The woman Jesus meets is likely a social outcast, avoiding the crowds. It could be she was the victim of abuse at the hands of many men.
Jesus does the uncomfortable and unorthodox to meet a social outcast where she is at
II. Jesus is Graceful & Transformational
Sometimes God asks you to do something because he's after your heart. Jesus starts a conversation with what’s right there – the well, and he gracefully confronts the sin and pain that is limiting her life. She evades, but - Jesus is more concerned about winning a soul than winning an argument. In short, he is saying “ I know you, and I don't condemn you. I'm inviting you into a better way.”
III. Jesus is Redemptive & Restorative
Testimony replaces her task – she leaves the water jar at the well and runs to the people she’s been avoiding to tell them about Jesus. Her shame is forgotten because of her story. Jesus gives her a story that changes a city and starts a cultural revolution.
Jesus is Compelled to do it for the one - what if you do it for the one?
He creates a safe space to confront sin – what if instead of judging, you point them to the one?
He gives her a story to change a city. What if you tell your story to someone? What city might it unlock?
It's no coincidence. The Time is Now. The time is now for Jesus to meet you where you are, and give you a story that is bigger than you. The time is now to make every moment matter.
