3 BARRIERS TO RESTORING A HEART
By Eddie Lawrence

I actually got this idea from an entry on my wife Mikki's blog (read it for background to this sermon outline). I took the idea and thought it would make a powerful sermon for people to hear and meditate upon.

TEXT: John 4:¹⁵ The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” ¹⁷ The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” ¹⁹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 

Here we have a story where Jesus shows us how to reach out to someone who has been checked off most people's list.

TRANSITION: Notice these three barriers that Jesus had to overcome in ministering to this precious woman searching for meaning in her life:

1. CULTURAL BACKGROUND

-She was a woman.
-She was a Samaritan. They were considered the half-breed Jews of the North who were idolators.

-By approaching her and conversing with her, Jesus broke the conventions of his day concerning a man talking publicly to a woman.

-By being willing to drink out of her container, he also showed he did not judge her as a Samaritan.

What wounds do you carry due to people misunderstanding your culture?

2. RELIGIOUS TRAINING

-As a Samaritan woman, she had been taught to worship God in a way contrary to the Jews of the Jerusalem area.
-Her religious believes center on a geographic location instead of a personal relationship with God. We can be guilty of this today by thinking God is only moving in our "Church building."
-She did believe in the prophetic and Jesus ministered to her in that way.

-Jesus invited her to know God in Spirit and truth. He offered her living water for her soul.

What religious ideas do you have that are not rooted in Spirit in Truth?

3. PERSONAL HISTORY
-She was a woman of questionable character. She was living with a man.
-She was a woman who experienced 5 failed marriages.

Jesus did not waste time condemning her. He allowed the Holy Spirit to work through Him to show her the love and acceptance of God.

-She had a testimony of who He was afterwards.

What is in your past that haunts you that you think God can't forgive?

CONCLUSION- Are you willing to overcome these barriers to reach people for Christ? Are you willing to see their heart instead of their race? Their need instead of their sin? Their future with God instead of a future without God?

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