Category: Sermons Page 3 of 4

1 John 1:1-4

In the New Testament koinonia is the word translated “fellowship.” It means to share in something, a partnership, to be a partaker or participant. It refers to the things that people share in common. It also refers to the living bond between us and Christ.

Our Common Connection
Jesus Christ is the common connection all Christians enjoy. Jesus is the only Son of God. he came lived and died and rose from the dead. Because we trust in the work of God through Jesus we are connected with Jesus through all time.

[Eph 4:3-6 ESV ] [Be] eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Because of our connection to Jesus we share in aspects of his life: his life, sufferings, death, resurrection, inheritance and reign.

The Bible gives us several images of our connection to Christ:

• Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27)
• Household, family, brothers and sisters, bride of Christ, first-born (Eph 2:19; Rom 8:29; Heb 2:11; Eph 5:22ff;
• Vine and branches (John 15:5)
• Temple or building (Eph 2:19ff)

Each of these images demonstrates a different aspect of our connection with Jesus. But they also highlight our connection with other Christians There is an interconnection between us and every other Christian.

This is one of the meanings of the phrase in the Apostles’ Creed “the communion of saints.” Among all of the doctrinal statements of faith in the Creed is one about our connection with each other. Like all the other statements of doctrine, this one is meaningless if it is not lived out in our lives.

Created for Community
The Trinity exists in complete community. In the beginning when the man was first created, for the first time God said “It is not good.” God, then, went about establishing community.

As humans we were created in the image of God. If we are created in the image of God, and God exists in community, then I am created for community. If community is going to be authentic, I must see you as created in the image of God as well. The fruit of the Spirit, and Spiritual gifts are meaningless outside of community.

Fellowship includes the following

Care for one another

Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples. John 13:35 (LB)

Share our lives with one another

Share each other’s troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 (NLT)

Hold each other accountable

Speaking the truth with love, we will grow up in every way into Christ, who is the head. Eph 4:15 (NCV)

Protect one another

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Eph 4:3 (NIV)

These are all in the context of relationship. The quality of the relationship determines the depth of each aspect of fellowship

We are connected to Christ Jesus in a very real way and because of that connection we are connected to every follower of Christ. One of the ways, the primary way live out our connection to Christ is through our connection with others.
It is easy to criticize others for not caring about us, but we do not have the luxury of that self-indulgence. We will not be held accountable for what others did or did not do, but only for what we do or do not do.

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Giving is a touchy subject with many people. In today’s world we have almost become identified with the things we possess. So if someone, messes with our stuff or our money they are messing with us.

Paul wrote 2 Corinthians while on his third missionary journey. Among other things he was reminding the churches of Corinth about the offering they were to collect for the poor of Judea. His reminder is contained in Chapter’s 8 & 9. In those chapters he tells us some important things about giving.

A Principled Mind
Paul reminds us that the one who sows sparingly will also read sparing. (V. 6) He recognizes a spiritual principle involved in giving. The principle comes from the long wisdom tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures:

[Pr 11:24-25 ESV ] One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

Paul tells us that giving is like a farmer sowing seed in his field. The harvest you receive will be in proportion to what you give. Some have taken this to the extreme and taught that God is obligated to multiply your monetary gift. But the harvest is not always monetary, it comes in different ways:

• Satisfaction being an instrument of God
• Destroy the grip of greed and materialism
• We get to be partners with God in blessing others
• We are investing in something beyond ourselves
• We help strengthen families
• People come to know Christ
• People are given hope

v. 10 reminds us that we can be generous because God is the one who has given us the seed we sow. God gives us the seed for our benefit, and gives us seed to give to others, so we should give it. God provides it all!

The Principle is this: When I give, I am enriched in more ways than I can comprehend. When I give I am not diminished in any way I am enriched. The Principled giver knows that.

A Joyful Heart
God loves a cheerful giver.
God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. (MSG)

Cheerful translates the Greek word “hilaros” hilarious, cheerful, joyful, merry; this is the only place this word is used in the New Testament. It is the opposite of being a grudgingly or reluctantly giver; someone who is glad to do so.

“Laughter is an instant vacation. Giving is a two-week cruise with pay.”

— Bob Hope, entertainer; source: Hoyt Hilsman, Hemispheres (December 1999), p.50

The joy of giving comes from knowing the results of our giving. 2 Cor 8:7 calls giving a grace that we excel in just like of gifts of God’s grace, spiritual gifts.

It results in thankfulness. The saints will glorify and thank God because of their generosity. Our giving can increase the thanks which flows to God. Whenever we give others are helped and they give thanks to God. Our giving increases the thanks that flows to God.

A Dedicated Will
Give as you have made up your mind (v. 7)
Our giving is not to be based entirely on emotion, but a reasoned, sacrificial gift. Think about it, think about what you give and then give it. This is not to say our heart should not be involved, but once we have determined what we will give we give it!

When we make a decision and follow through with it, we demonstrate the validity of the gospel

[2 Co 9:13b ] …they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ….

When we decide to be givers to help alleviate the hardships of others we demonstrate the truth of the gospel, we live as Jesus did. Jesus left everything to come and give his all for us. And now we give of our resources to help others.

[Jn 3:16 ESV ] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

God is a giver. He gave us the universe, the earth, our lives, our strength, our intelligence, our skill, our last breath. Giving brings pleasure to God. We are never more like God that when we give. When we give it will bring us pleasure.
What can you give today?

Mark 10:35-45

We all like being served. As matter of fact we like it so much our economy has given birth to the service economy. There is a whole economic system that is based on serving others.

John and James
John and James surmised “Somebody is going to be in charge, it might as well be us. And why not? They had met all the demands Jesus placed on them as disciples. They left everything to follow Jesus. They had endured many hardships. In their mind they had earned the right to a promotion.

Jesus asked them a question, “Are you ready to suffer?” “Sure,” they said, “why not?” Jesus then reminded them that they would indeed suffer for the kingdom, the positions they wanted were not Jesus’ to grant.

Do you want to be great?
Jesus had to remind them about how the kingdom works. It doesn’t work according to the standards of the world we live in. Greatness is not about power and position. It is amazing that Jesus does not condemn the idea of greatness, he condemns going about it the wrong way.

Jesus wants us to be great. The word traslated “great” in this passage is “mega.” Jesus wants us to be mega Christians, Mega Men, Mega Women, Mega Kids – He wants us to be great, but great by his definition. His definition of greatness is service. The path of greatness is the path of service

The Greatness of Serving
The greatness of serving is not found it a focus on our serving, it is found in putting a focus on the one we serve. To be sure we serve God ultimately, but we serve God by serving others. The focus of serving must be placed not on us but on the people we serve. The path to greatness is serving other people in the name of Jesus

Conclusion
In Holy Communion we celebrate the greatest act of serving in the history of the world, the day when the Almighty God of the universe came to serve a sinful human race by giving his life on the cross. He came as a servant to seek and save that which was lost.
In Jesus’ life, death and resurrection he gave us the pattern of service. We come and offer ourselves as a living sacrifice not just in surrender to God, but in service to others.

Notice these words from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s a new definition of greatness.

…by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.

2 Peter 3:17-18

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

The trajectory of every biblical text assumes growth. But growth is not automatic. No one drifts into spiritual maturity. 2 Peter 3:18 says that we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, but what does that mean?

Grow in grace
Grace is God’s unmerited favor, it is God’s undeserved love mercy and compassion freely given to us. It is also the power God gives us to do what we should. To grow in Grace is to discover new dimensions of God’s love and acceptance of us as God’s children.
We can grow

We grow in our awareness of God’s grace in our lives

We also grow in our exercise of God’s grace in our lives

We also grow in our ability to offer grace to others

Grow in knowledge
The knowledge here is not just facts, it is intimate relational knowledge as well. We are to have a deepening experience of Jesus and an understanding of the truth of Christ. This knowledge should be ever increasing until Jesus comes. We grow in our knowledge of the implications of Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection for our lives.

Why should we grow?

2 Peter offers at least three reason for why we should grow.
1. Because there are many false teachers

There are many influences in our lives. Many of them influence us to live for ourselves rather that for God. The influence comes from family, teachers, books, media and entertainment to name just a few.

2. Because we stand accountable to God

We will all stand before God one day and give an account of our lives. Can you imagine someone saying, “Well God, I just really wanted to get in heaven, I didn’t really care anything about living a better life or knowing you any better.”

3. Because we are called to live uprightly

We can not live uprightly if we resist God’s grace and refuse to know him more. We cannot be upright by ourselves, we need God’s grace. We don’t even know what an upright life is with God’s help. Life on our own terms is not an upright life.

4. The world needs godly people as a credible witness to the truth of Christ
Living a godly life is not boring or stale, it is living life in that adventure of God. It is being freed of all those things that make life rich and full and meaningful.

5. Living uprightly exposes error

When we live uprightly in this world a difference is seen between us and that will hopefully cause curiosity. We are then able to give a reason for the hope in us.

Growth happens when we simply grow in our knowledge and experience of God and act on it. The best way to do that is through Life Groups or Bible Studies. At the very least spend some time each day in God’s word and put into practice what you discover.

In the Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian The four children find themselves back in Narnia. Although only a few years have passed for them, over a hundred years have passed in Narnia. As they continue their adventure, Lucy sees Aslan for the first time in this adventure.

“Aslan,” said Lucy “Your bigger.”
“That is because you are older Little one,” answered he.
“Not because you are?”
“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”
– Prince Caspian p. 148
As we grow Jesus becomes bigger. How big is Jesus in your life?

John 4:7-10 (11-38)

We have been looking at what means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ.Today we will talk about sharing our faith with others.

This passage tell the story of Jesus’ encounter with a woman from Samaria. This one encounter led to many Samaritans in the town believing in Jesus.
Samaritans had the reputation of being unscrupulous half-breeds. Although they had a mixed ancestry prejudice fueled much of the hatred. Many Jews would not even go through the region. But as the Scripture says, Jesus “had to pass through Samaria.”

Jesus’ actions can help us know how to be ready to share our faith

Jesus was ready to respond
Jesus had traveled about 30 miles by foot from Jerusalem to Sychar. He was tired from travel, teaching stopped to rest. As he rested he didn’t forget his mission
Who would have ever thought a well on the outskirts of town would become the starting place for a great revival?
He had been living his message, so now was no exception.

If we are going to be ready we must imitate Jesus.
• We must be aware of the true spiritual state of people far from God. Without Christ they are lost. We can not simply say, “Well they believe in God” or “he’s a good person.” Thoughts like that will discourage us from sharing our faith with others.
• We must know what God has done for us and be able to tell others.
• We must realize that opportunities to share may come at any time.
• Sharing our faith is the natural outgrowth of living our faith

Jesus noticed a person in need
We don’t know exactly what prompted Jesus to talk to the woman. It may have been the situation, a woman at the well at mid-day, or something in her face.
but whatever it was he noticed her and engaged her in conversation in a non-threatening way.
We must learn to be aware of the people around us. It is so easy to be preoccupied and not notice people. Engage them in non-threatening ways that demonstrate true human compassion. Cultivate genuine friendships with unchurched people. Don’t push, just give a gentle witness, offer them Christ

Jesus reached across boundaries

[Jn 4:9 ESV] The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Jews normally did not have anything to do with Samaritans. It was considered inappropriate for a man to speak with a woman who was not his wife, let alone a Samaritan woman

We will also have to reach across boundaries, racial, economic, political, occupational, social and ethnic boundaries. Crossing those boundaries demonstrates that the love of Christ is real. We reach across not as superiors but as brothers and sisters, fellow pilgrims.

“Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread.” – D.T. NILES, New York Times, May 11, 1986

Jesus related to her as a person
He respected her and did not judge her. He listened to her and responded appropriately. He was not following a rehearsed program or speech. He only went as far as she would allow and adapted the message to fit her needs.
We must not treat people as souls with ears. They are not a project or a target, they are a person. You may have memorized a program or strategy, but relate to them as a person. In the Conversation, discover their needs and apply the gospel to them.

[John 4:35] …Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

Here is a very touching story that illustrates the power of simple faith sharingIn the fall of 2005, my 9-year-old son, Austin, had his tonsils removed. Before the surgery, an anesthesiologist came in to start an IV. He was wearing a cool surgical cap covered in colorful frogs. Austin loved that “frog hat.” When the doctor started to leave, Austin called out, “Hey, wait.”

The doctor turned. “Yeah, buddy, what do you need?”

“Do you go to church?”

“No,” the doctor admitted. “I know I probably should, but I don’t.”

Austin then asked, “Well, are you saved?”

Chuckling nervously, the doctor said: “Nope. But after talking to you, maybe it’s something I should consider.”

Pleased with his response, Austin answered, “Well you should, ’cause Jesus is great!”

“I’m sure he is, little guy,” the doctor said, and quickly made his exit.

When Austin’s surgery was finished, the anesthesiologist came into the waiting room to talk to me. He told me the surgery went well, then said, “Mrs. Blessit, I don’t usually come down and talk to the parents after a surgery, but I just had to tell you what your son did.”

Oh boy, I thought. What did that little rascal do now? The doctor explained that he’d just put the mask on Austin when my son signaled that he needed to say something. When the doctor removed the mask, Austin blurted, “Wait a minute, we have to pray!” The doctor told him to go ahead, and Austin prayed: “Dear Lord, please let all the doctors and nurses have a good day. And Jesus, please let the doctor with the frog hat get saved and start going to church. Amen.”

The doctor admitted that this had touched him. “I was so sure he would pray that his surgery went well,” he explained. “He didn’t even mention his surgery. He prayed for me! Mrs. Blessit, I had to come down and let you know what a great little guy you have.”

A few minutes later, a nurse came to take me to post-op. She had a big smile on her face as we walked to the elevator. “There’s something you should know,” she said. “Some of the other nurses and I have been witnessing to and praying for that doctor for a long time. After your son’s surgery, he tracked a few of us down to tell us about Austin’s prayer. He said, ‘Well girls, you got me. If that little boy could pray for me when he was about to have surgery, then I think maybe I need his Jesus, too.'”
Tina Blessit, “A Prayer Before Surgery,” Today’s Christian Woman (July/August 2006), p. 27

Romans 12:1-2

I started this series talking about the attitudes of a fully devoted follower of Christ.
Now we want to move on to the actions and today we look at Worship.

Worship carries many different meanings for people it could mean:

• The formal liturgy of the church
  Praise songs
  Quietly meditating on the Psalms
  Gospel songs and testimonies
  Raucous high energy music with dancing
  Drums and chants

Worship comes from an old English word which means to attribute worth or respect to someone.

Fully devoted followers of Christ worship God with their lives. Worship is more than what we do here, it includes all of our life.

Casting Crowns sings a song which helps us get a handle on this kind of worship

LifeSong
Empty hands held high, Such small sacrifice
If not joined with my life, I sing in vain tonight

May the words I say, And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing, Bring a smile to You

What is it we do to worship God fully? How do we know when out worship is empty hands held high, and when it is pleasing to God? How do we know when we are just honoring God with our lips and not with our lives?

Romans 12:1-2 can help us understand what that kind of worship looks like.

Therefore…
In light of all God has done…
1. Reached out to a rebellious, self-centered people

2. God made a way to be reconciled, by his sheer mercy, by grace through faith

3. Gave us a way to be victorious over sin and evil

When we approach worship, the “why” is bound up in all that God has done for us through Christ. That is reason enough for us to worship him and serve him the rest of our days.
In other words worship is not doing God a favor, it is expressing our gratitude for All God has done for us.

Living Sacrifice
Those who first heard this epistle were well aware of the concept of sacrifice. This time they were not only to offer a sacrifice, but be the sacrifice. Sacrifice is an offering, not just giving something up. A living sacrifice is an offering of your whole self; the whole of who your are. At its essence our obedience is the sacrifice we offer, our daily lives become the sacrifice.

LifeSong
Lord I give my life, a living sacrifice
To reach a world in need, to be Your hands and feet
May the words I say, And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing, Bring a smile to You

Spiritual Worship
The words translated “spiritual worship” can also be rendered “reasonable service.” It means an intelligent and deliberate act of worship in light of all God has done for you. The most reasonable thing you can do. It is spiritual in the sense that it is real and genuine. The word translated “worship” alludes to the work or service of the priests in the temple.

How do we become a living sacrfice?
1. We renew our minds. Allow God’s word to be the lens through which you view all of life. See all of life from God’s perspective: yourself, others, situations, relationships, hopes, life

2. Use the gifts you have been given in service to God
[Rom 12:6 ESV] Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them….

Worship, real authentic worship ascribing worth to God with our lives — all of our lives.

Is your work, study, home life, relationships, financial life, recreational life, social life, worthy of God.

It can be…start where ever you are and seek to honor God. Notice how the text is paraphrased in the Message

[Ro 12:1-2 The Message ] So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

This post begins an eight part series entitled Revolution: Becoming a Fully Devoted Follower of Christ. The series is based on the book by George Barna.
Luke 9:57-62

Last October as we were finishing up work on our Mission / Vision I was searching for a way to describe the kind of life to which Jesus has called us. I liked the phrase “fully devoted follower of Christ,” but what did that mean?

Penny (my wife) and I were attending Catalyst and happened to hear George Barna talk about his book Revolution. In the book he describes the lives of a group of Christians who have left the institutional church but were still passionately committed to Christ. As he described the characteristics of those Christ followers, I knew I had found the description I was looking for.

For the next several weeks you will hear each of those characteristics. Actually, they are behaviors or actions. We will answer the question what does a fully devoted follower of Jesus look like.

Before we dive in to that I think we should first of all look at the attitude or mind-set of a fully devoted follower of Jesus. Being fully devoted is not just only about actions it is about the heart and mind as well.

If we are going to be fully devoted followers of Jesus we will need these attitudes.

A Commitment to Perseverance
In the passage above, one of the would-be followers seemed to be caught up in the moment. He was ready to follow Christ out of impulse. It doesn’t seem that he had through the implications of his decision. Following Jesus was not as glamorous as he suspected.

We, too, can get caught up in the same fantasy. We follow Christ because he meets my current needs of forgiveness. We get caught up in the emotion of the event. We seldom think through the implications of our decision.
There is a marked difference between
• Coming to Jesus to escape hell (there must be more)
• Making a decision for Christ (voting for Jesus)
• Becoming a Christian (a one time event)
• Following Christ ( a life long journey)
Being a follower of Christ will sometimes be exciting, fulfilling, meaningful, cool, awesome, rewarding, but there are also times when it will be tough, unpopular, painful, risky, dangerous and demanding.

Settled Priorities
Jesus called someone to follow him and he makes what seems on the surface a reasonable request.
The duty to parents was one of the highest priorities in Jewish society — it was considered to be an act of piety, but there maybe something else going on here.
By asking to wait until he buried his father he probably was asking to wait until his father died to come and follow Jesus
Jesus made it clear that following him trumped family obligations
Notice this passage:

[Lk 14:26 ESV] “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

This exaggeration was a characteristic of Semitic people; it helps create a stark contrast. The statement means that “if there is a conflict, one’s response to the demands of discipleship must take precedence of even the most sacred of human relationships.” [NIB vol. IX p. 292]

We are to have one priority above all else – following Christ

An Undivided Mind
One would-be follower simply wanted to bid farewell to his family and friends, or so it seems on the surface. This may have been a way of saying “Let me have a going away party,” or “Put all my affairs in order.” After I get every in order I will follow you. One day I will follow, but not right now.
Jesus gives a very stark word picture to highlight the urgancey of following him now

[Lk 9:62 ESV] Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

We, too sometimes long for the old life. We begin to long for the fun and forget the consequences. We don’t press on with Christ and get discouraged. We forget the end result of the old life.
Living out our complete commitment to Christ means looking forward.

[Php 3:7-11 ESV] But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Following Jesus means that the life Jesus offers is worth everything we go through. Our relationship with Christ is not an appendage to our lives; it is the core. When times get tough we don’t take a break from worship, we run to worship to be reminded of God’s care for us.
We must have the conviction down deep inside that Jesus’ way of life is the best way of life!
Someone might say, “If I follow Christ like you say there will be big consequences for me. Yes there will, but there will be consequences to any way of life you choose and you will have to live with them. Which set of consequences will you choose?

Conclusion
We don’t know what either of these would-be disciples chose. But we do know what Jesus chose. He continued down the road to Jerusalem knowing full well what was waiting for him.
The writer of Hebrews puts it this way:

[Heb 12:2-3 ESV] [We should look] to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Jesus was faithful in all he did. He took the journey ahead of us. He looked at you and me and said it was worth it. And now he calls us to do noting more than what he did.

2 Kings 5:1 (2-4)

[2 Ki 5:1 ESV] Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

The story of Naaman is one of those stories that make you think about the ways God works in the world. Jesus even referred to Naaman as an example of God reaching over the Jews to heal a pagan. let’s look at the story.
Naaman was the Commander of the armies of Aram (Syria). The Lord gave him victory over Israel at Ramoth-gilead where King Ahab was killed in battle.
The scriptures describe his as “a great man,” a technical term which meant he was a man of considerable social standing, a mighty warrior and highly regarded by the king.
After giving us this glowing introduction the test continues with the simple words, “…but he was a leper.”
Leprosy referred to any number of different skin diseases. It had many social implications and even the possibly of death. To say the least he was in a very desperate condition.

The Path to healing
Naaman had exhausted every means of healing at his disposal. No doubt he was discouraged, depressed and desperate.
In his household there was a slave girl who was probably taken during the war with Israel. She had compassion on the pagan military commander and provided a solution.

[2 Ki 5:3 ESV] She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

The king of Syria wrote a letter of invitation to the king of Israel. The king of Israel was shocked and dismayed with the request for him to heal Naaman. The prophet Elisha heard about the incident at told the king to send Naaman to him.
Apparently Naaman had quite a few expectations of what would happen when the prophet healed him. He would probably be welcomed as an honored guest, there would be a very moving solemn mysterious ritual and the disease would be gone. But that is not what happened.
Elisha didn’t even come out of his house. There was no greeting, ritual, spells or incantations. He simply sent his servant tell Naaman to, “Go wash in the Jordan seven times.”
Naaman was angry, offended and indignant, but his servants persuaded him to do as the prophet asked. And he was cleansed.
This story has profound implications for our cleansing as well. We can learn a lot about the salvation God offers from the story of Naaman

God reaches out to enemies

Naaman was an enemy and Romans says the same thing about us:

[Rom 5:10 ESV ] For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

We are rebels by nature and yet God reaches out to us because he loves us.

Salvation only comes God’s way

There was only one way for Naaman to be healed, and only one way for us to be saved
Here is the way way:

• Confess: Agree with God about your rebellion
• Repent: Turn and forsake your way
• Believe: Place you whole trust in what God did through his Son, Jesus in the cross and resurrection

Salvation comes only through faith and obedience
For Naaman to be healed he had to believe what Elisha said and act on it. The same is true for us. Just knowing is not enough, we must act on what we know; and then obey. Obedience is the demonstration of trust, the test of faith. That faith and obedience should then spill over into every other area of our life.

God uses all kinds of people as witnesses
We tend to favor professionals. We will travel far and wide to hear the testimony of some famous person, but completely discount the testimony of those we rub shoulders with every day. God used a slave girl and he uses others as well, just ordinary people. God can even use you!
Every encounter you have has the potential to change someone’s eternal destiny. So we must live our faith, talk our faith and be ready
Conclusion
We have an incurable disease within us called sin. This disease destroys our life inch by inch. It messes up every relationship in our lives, because there is something wrong with our primary relationship – our relationship with God.
There is a cure. The cure does not rest in us, but in the power of God.
To be healed we must trust the Word of God spoken by prophets and ordinary people— and we must obey.
When we Obey we are healed, saved, cleansed, delivered and restored.
It can start right now! No blinding lights, no pilgrimage to the Holy Land, no verses to memorize, no special words to utter. Just believe and Obey.