1. I found a nickel when I was little, went around looking at the ground, bumped head
2. Dad always telling to to hold my head up and look where I'm going
3. Christians have to hold their head up
4. Text: John 4:34-38 - The theme here is Evangelism
5. Jesus said "lift up your eyes"
a. It seemed that they were always preoccupied that Jesus was always
telling them things such as this
b. In this case it is no different
6. We too must lift up our eyes from our own preoccupations:
I. Preoccupation with our limits (v.27)
A. The disciples marveled that Jesus was talking to her, they never
would have
B. Jews and Samaritans did not like each other
1. Reasons why they did not like each other
a. Modified the books of Moses to fit their own theology
b. They worshipped at Gerizim instead of Jerusalem
d. Samaritans committed unpardonable sin, intermarriage
e. Samaritans were considered half breeds
f. Jewish proverb: "Eating with a Samaritan is like eating
swine's flesh"
2. Note: This was a Samaritan Woman.
a. This was a double whammy
b. Jewish men did not typically hold women in high regard
c. They did not generally speak to women
d. Jewish Proverb: "I thank God I am not a gentile or a woman"
3. JESUS IGNORED THESE LIMITS
C. ILL: Knew a Christian several years ago named Mary
1. Single mother, poor, smelled funny, and had ragged clothes
2. Her kids were very active (some would say uncontrollable)
3. People shunned her, because she was "different"
4. She eventually fell away and no one seemed to care
D. Maybe that's not the kind of limits we are pre-occupied with
1. May limit yourself because you don't think itapplies to you
2. May limit it because you don't think you know enough
3. May limit it because you're too busy to teach the lost
4. May limit yourself because afraid of what people will think
E. Whatever the limit is, whether social, ethnic, or just your
own attitude, REMOVE IT
II. Preoccupation with our own pettiness (v. 31-32)
A. Disciples always preoccupied with Petty things that they often over
looked the spiritual
1. Jesus was talking about "living" water, but the woman
was thinking of physical water
2. Jesus told his disciples he had spiritual food, but they were
thinking of physical food
3. Jesus never got caught up in the petty things of life, but
always had his mission in mind
a. We should have our mission in mind in everything we do
b. Bible Classes, Benevolence, Visiting our neighbors, etc.
c. We don't do these things just to do them
d. Let's make a conscious effort to "do all for the sake of
the Gospel" (I Cor 9:23)
B. What sorts of petty things takes your mind off of the real goal?
1. I can't tell my nieghbor about Christ, he wouldn't listen
2. I'm not a good teacher - That's petty
3. That's the preacher's job
4. Disputes with one another
a. "If we were about our father's business more,
we would be in each other's business less"
b. To decide that I'm going to quit because I'm
mad at you is petty
C. Story: Lectureship in Hell of Satan and all his leaders
1. Satan wanted to know how to spread the bad news
2. Did not like ideas from first speakers
3. Third said "Let's convince them to do nothing" Satan
promoted that demon
D. It may be that we get so preoccupied with "doing church",
that we forget all about the goal of winning souls to Christ.
1. If that is what is happening, maybe Satan is succeeding in
convincing us to "do nothing"
2. What are you doing to win souls to Christ?
3. If the answer is "nothing", what Petty thing is keeping
you from it?
III. Preoccupation with our own wisdom (v. 35)
A. Jesus quoted a common saying "4 months then the harvest"
1. Jesus told his disciples to "lift up their eyes",
harvest is NOW, not in 4 months
2. He was talking about people, not the literal fields
a. Grain is not white when it is ripe
b. v. 30 says the people were coming to him
c. The fields are "white" is likely talking about their robes
B. We may not quote a proverb, but may quote other things.
1. "A demographic study, 6 months of training, then the harvest"
2. Many people spend all their time reading church growth literature
but never go out and win a soul to Christ
3. It does not take a degree in church growth or missions to
win souls to Christ
4. Paul stated that not many Christians were "wise, mighty or
noble" (I Cor 1:26)
C. Human wisdom has told us the following about how to
grow a church
1. Do a demographic study of an area to see whether it is
receptive before going in
2. Winning souls is a "spiritual gift", and not everyone has it
3. Must study church growth trends and literature to grow a church
4. A church must "keep up" with the culture in order to grow
5. A church must be innovative to grow (drama, Christian
bands, etc. in worship)
6. Worship services should be geared to reach the lost
-We still have a tradition from this - our invitation song
7. This list goes on and on... I'm sure you can think of some others
D. We often times are preoccupied with our own building
1. Focus has changed from working in the world to win souls
to maintaining a building
2. "We have ceased to be fishers of men and have become
keepers of aquariums"
Concl:
1. Lift up your eyes
a. From your preoccupation with your limits
b. From your preoccupation with petty things
c. From your preoccupation with human wisdom
2. Going through an apple orchard, and you keep looking down, all you see are wormy apples.
3. Lift up your eyes, there is fruit everywhere, you need to go look for it
4. Someone else has planted the seed, and now its your job to harvest that fruit
5. What will happen if you don't? The fruit will rot and be lost
-Talking about people here, not lifeless fruit