More Life For Your Life

November 22, 2015 / By

Young asian father sitting on the sofa while reading a book with his children shot with winter background on the window

Following are my notes for the message, “It’s About Life:  There is more life for your life.”

There is more life for my life!  John 10:10

Without life the universe would be meaningless.With life my quest is to make it meaningful.

My view of life may find two perspectives in serious tension:

  • Seek to add years to my life.
  • Seek to add life to my years.

Life’s meaning isn’t so much connected to the risks I take but to the relationships I develop.

Today we are focusing on Jesus in the narrative of “Jesus and the Woman of Samaria.”  John 4:1-42

In Genesis 2:7 we find God “pottering” man from the dust of the ground and breathing into man the breath of life.  We know that Jesus (and the Holy Spirit) can very accurately be identified as Co-Creators with God.  John 1:3, John 1:4

John 4:6 is a thought provoking line in this narrative.  Clear as day, right before our very eyes, we see Jesus, the One of whom it is said, “In Him was life,” weary, hungry, thirsty, tired and weakened.  The concept of an exhausted God is more than some folks can handle.

There is more life for my life when I wear myself out being life-giving.  Matthew 16:24-26

There is more life for my life, not when I live and speak from the place of my own need, but when I live and speak life into the places of the other person’s need.  John 4:7-15

There is more life for my life when I “eat the meat” of doing the will of God and to accomplish His work.  John 4:34

There is more life for my life when I live in such a way that I can linger in the “God’s work” opportunity.  John 4:40

There is more life for my life when I see the exponential growth of being life-giving (How many new relationships did Jesus have after being in Samaria?).  John 4:39, 41

This abundance of life with which we opened our conversation today is provided by the Good Shepherd who, unlike the “thief who steals, kills and destroys the sheep,” became the One from whom everything was stolen, killed and destroyed so that the I might have life!

MCA Church LIFE Group Homework

Listen – My Story

  1. Have you ever had a meaningful conversation with someone you didn’t know prior to the conversation? Talk about how it felt, the results, etc.
  2. Can you think of a time when you went to help someone but you left more helped than they were?

Learn – Digging Deeper

  1. Since life’s meaning is more defined by the relationships we develop than by the risks we take, what may we learn from Paul, Philemon and Onesimus?
    1. How did Paul talk to Philemon? 1, 4, 7, 9
    2. How did Paul talk about Onesimus? 12, 17,18
    3. Google “What is the meaning of Onesimus?” Do you see the play on words Paul used in verse 11?
  1. How did Paul talk to Philemon? 1, 4, 7, 9

 

  1. How did Paul talk about Onesimus? 12, 17, 18

 

  1. Google “What is the meaning of the name, Onesimus?” Do you see the play on words Paul used in verse 11? Could you make a play on words about yourself?  Are you weak or a warrior?  Could you apply Joel 3:10 to your life today?

 

  1. Read the last sentence in verse 20. Is there a relationship to which you can bring life, that will refresh someone else? Philemon receiving Onesimus as a brother would refresh Paul.

Life – Taking it Home

  1. What is God saying to you through this lesson?
  2. What could you do this week to ensure that you are receiving more life for your life?
  3. What is your next step in response to this teaching?

Lift – Prayer

  • Please pray for God to show you how to add more life to your life.
  • Please pray for the MCA Church Thanksgiving Day celebration to be life-giving.
  • Please pray for the MCA Church #JoyOfGivingTuesday (Tuesday, December 1). We are asking God to help us fully fund MCA Church’s Children’s Ministry for 2016.