Connecting People With Jesus

Life Is a Highway Pt 1

1.2.11  Bud Wrenn

‘… we are formed for God’s family…’  Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life

We need to bring into submission to God, our interpersonal dealings - moving from manipulation to motivation.

è Repair broken relationships.

è Enjoy the 'people experience'. 

èKeep short accounts.

1 Peter 3:8-9  ⁸ Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. ⁹ Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.

There are three aspects to this purpose of life, which we refer to as CONNECT:

1) Establishing a relationship with Jesus,

2) Establishing a relationship with others, and

3) Helping them move toward Jesus.

Entering the Highway:  Connecting with Others

1) Keep an eye out FOR others.

John 9:1   ¹ As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.

Common CONNECTION Killers

è Slanderous talk

....Keep your tongue from speaking evil,...

è Gossip about others

"...Keep your lips from telling lies...."

è Meddling in others' business

Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

2) Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

John 9:2 ² “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

3) Keep in mind their greatest need - their spiritual need. 

John 9:3-5 ³ “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. ⁴ We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. ⁵ But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”

4) Determine a practical need - and fill it.

John 9:6-7 ⁶ Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. ⁷ He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!

5) Continue to engage them to establish a relationship.

John 9:8-9  ⁸ His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!” But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”

6) Help them sustain / maintain focus on Jesus. 

John 9:10-11 ¹⁰ They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?” ¹¹ He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”