Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
February 5, 2017 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: We must get out of our comfort zone to reach people for Jesus.
Focus Passage: John 4:1-42
Supplemental Passage: but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8 NASB)
Introduction: Samaritans - The name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon (677 B.C.), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the original inhabitants whom Sargon (721 B.C.) had removed into captivity. These strangers amalgamated with the Jews still remaining in the land, and gradually abandoned their old idolatry and adopted partly the Jewish religion.
After the return from the Captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem refused to allow them to take part with them in rebuilding the temple, and hence sprang up an open enmity between them. They erected a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, which was, however, destroyed by a Jewish king (130 B.C.). They then built another at Shechem. The bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans continued in the time of our Lord: the Jews had “no dealings with the Samaritans”. Our Lord was in contempt called “a Samaritan” (Joh_8:48). [Easton]
I. Had to Pass thru Samaria (v 4)
a. Could have taken a different, route, but this one was the quickest
b. Most Jews would do anything to avoid Samaria and Samaritans
II. Crossed cultural norms (v 7)
a. Even the woman knew He was stepping out of the norm
b. He treated her as He would have any other woman at the time
III. Spoke Truth in Love (v 10, 17)
a. Living Water
b. You have no Husband
c. Resulted in the woman and many others believing
Application/Invitation: Where is the limit of your comfort zone? Does it go right up to “religious” things, but doesn’t include it? Does it only involve people who look like you and think like you? Does it only involve subjects you know about like sports, or fishing, or knitting, or grandkids? Does it not involve going to even a different neighborhood? When you work for the Lord within your comfort zone, you are able to do things in your own power. But when you get outside your comfort zone, you must depend on the Lord’s strength to get anything done. Get outside your comfort zone.
