This opening introduction, this illustration, is a bit aimed.
! And so if you don't have children or grandchildren, just pretend.
! Two young men have asked your daughter to marry them at the same time.
! Your daughter asks you,
which one should I marry?
You give it some thought.
Your two options are fine young men.
Johnny, he's got great hair.
Sharp dresser.
Well composed, socially engaging.
And it looks like his future is financially set.
The problem, though, with Johnny is that he's a flatterer.
He's a sweet talker.
And you've witnessed yourself.
You've seen him flatter your daughter.
Sweet talker.
In order to get what he wants.
In fact, he's even sweet talk to you before.
So it's left you kind of like, hmm.
Not sure about Johnny.
I love his hair.
And then there's Demetrius.
Demetrius is a little rough around the edges.
But man, does he love the Lord.
In fact, here's how he's rough around the edges.
I mean, he's humble.
He's honest.
But whenever you're talking to him,
on the side, you're kind of counting the number of swear words he uses.
But boy, does he love the Lord.
Whenever you see your daughter with Demetrius,
you see something happening to her.
He's in it for her.
She comes out of spending time with him,
having this sense that there are no ulterior motives in this young man.
But he's got her best interest in mind.
Who should I marry?
A couple weeks ago, we learned from Jesus
that Jesus was sent on a search and rescue mission of sorts
to search and find true worshipers of the living God.
Those who would worship God in spirit and in truth.
And the way that Jesus brings about true worshipers
is he gives them new life.
He gives them the Holy Spirit
who is like this spring within them
that wells up into eternal life
and they become worshipers of the living God.
And for the last few weeks,
we've been seeing all sorts of very interesting,
different people become worshipers of the living God.
I mean, first we saw this guy named Nicodemus.
He's this religious professional.
And then we saw this Samaritan adulteress.
She believed.
Her whole kind of town believed.
And this morning we're going to see
a really powerful and influential person
see and believe.
In fact, this passage that we're looking at this morning,
this is John chapter four,
verses 43 through 54.
It's on page 1057 of your Pew Bible.
This passage, we're going to see two groups,
two different groups of people
who are pursuing Jesus.
They're seeking him.
But they're seeking him with different motives.
And so the question that we're going to ask and answer is,
who will Jesus choose to give eternal life?
Between those who are seeing and believing
and those who are hearing and believing,
which ones will Jesus say,
you're mine?
Now, so here,
H-E-A-R,
John 4,
43 through 54.
After the two days,
he, Jesus,
departed for Galilee,
for Jesus himself had testified
that a prophet has no honor in his hometown.
So when he came to Galilee,
the Galileans welcomed him,
having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem
at the feast,
for they too had gone to the feast.
So he came again to Cana in Galilee,
where he had made the water wine.
And at Capernaum,
there was an official whose son was ill.
When this man heard
that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee,
he went to him and asked him to come down
and heal his son,
for he was at the point of death.
So Jesus said to him,
unless you see signs and wonders,
you will not believe.
The official said to him,
sir, come down before my child dies.
Jesus said to him,
go, your son will live.
The man believed the word
that Jesus spoke to him
and went on his way.
As he was going down,
his servants met him
and told him that his son was recovering.
So he asked them the hour
when he began to get better.
And they said to him,
yesterday at the seventh hour,
which is 1 p.m.,
the fever left him.
The father knew
that was the hour
when Jesus had said to him,
your son will live.
And he himself believed
in all his household.
This was now the second sign
that Jesus did
when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
So I'm going to make two points in the sermon.
If you want to follow in the notes,
point number one is
seeing is believing.
And point number two is
hearing is believing.
So let's look at this first group
who are pursuing Jesus,
who have adopted this kind of mindset
of seeing is believing.
And we see it in verses 43 and 45.
In 43, we learn that after two days,
Jesus departed for Galilee.
And just to remind you,
he has spent the last two days
in Samaria of all places
in a town called Sychar.
And just to remind you,
back in 4-1,
Jesus was down
in southern Israel
and Judea.
And he got word
that he was starting
to get a certain kind of attention
that he didn't want to get.
And so he's like,
I got to go north.
And at that point,
in order to get to northern Israel,
he had to make a decision.
Am I going to go around Samaria
or am I going to go through Samaria
to get to Galilee?
And he decides,
I'm going through
because we learned after the fact
that he had an evangelistic appointment
with this certain Samaritan woman
at Jacob's well.
And lo and behold,
the whole town comes out eventually.
And they,
with kind of one voice,
declare,
you can see it in verse 42,
they said to the woman,
it's no longer because of what you said
that we believe,
for we have heard for ourselves.
And we know this,
this is indeed the Savior of the world.
Eternal life had come to Sychar.
Salvation had arrived.
This might even be the planting
of the first church of Sychar.
It's extraordinary.
A bunch of Samaritans
believing in a Jewish Messiah.
And then if you look at verse 45,
we read this.
So when he came to Galilee,
so he's moved out of Samaria,
come to Galilee,
the Galileans welcomed him.
Welcome, Jesus.
Come stay with us.
You need a car, Jesus?
Use my car.
You want to go to Chick-fil-A, Jesus?
Come, come, come.
Hang out with us.
You are welcome here.
Come.
But we're told
why
they welcome him.
So when he came to Galilee,
the Galileans welcomed him,
having seen
all that he had done
in Jerusalem at the feast.
For they too
had gone to the feast.
They had seen
all that he had done
while he was in Jerusalem.
That's referring to
back in John chapter 2.
That's where
Jesus is down
at the feast of Passover.
And that's, remember,
where he cleared out
the temple
because people were making it
essentially
a marketplace
and they were trying
to make money
at the selling of goods
to offer.
And so it ceased
becoming
a house
of worship
and it had become
a place
of buying and selling
for people
to make money.
apparently
he must have done
some other miraculous things
because
these Galileans
are referred to
as having seen
all that he had done
in Jerusalem.
You might be asking
the question,
well, what's wrong
with that?
What's wrong
with welcoming
the healer?
The miracle worker?
What's wrong
with that?
Well, in verse 44,
there's this little
parenthetical statement
John puts in.
He says,
for Jesus himself
had testified
that a prophet
has no honor
in his hometown.
And what that is doing
is helping you
understand
what's going on
in verse 45,
the nature
of this welcome.
There's this proverb
that's attributed
to Jesus here.
A prophet
has no honor
in his hometown.
How does that work?
A prophet
doesn't have any
honor
in his hometown.
What kind of works
like this?
Jesus was from Galilee.
He grew up in Nazareth.
It's just down
the street
from Cana.
He grew up
in Nazareth.
People were familiar
with him.
They knew
he was a carpenter
and his human father
was a carpenter.
And here's what happens.
Because people
are familiar
with you
in that way,
they feel like
they know you,
they've seen you
grow up,
they have a harder
time believing
that you are actually
been appointed
by God
to speak God's
very words.
They become skeptical
that you are
a speaker of God
thus saith the Lord
and with that
comes some serious
weight.
You don't mess
with a prophet.
So what this means
is that Jesus
is aware
when he leaves
Samaria
that as he moves
into Galilee,
he is not
going to be
honored
by everybody.
He's moving
into dishonor.
Do you know why?
Because he knows
that there are
some who will
honor him.
Jesus does call
himself a prophet
here,
but he's not
just any prophet.
He is the
ultimate prophet
because he himself
is God
in the flesh.
He is
God revealed
just by walking
around.
He makes
God
known
and whatever
he say
is
God's
word.
He's the
ultimate
full and final
revelation
of God
and some
of you
right now
have Hebrews
chapter 1
ringing in your
head.
So let me just
read it.
Long ago
at many times
and in many ways
God spoke
to our fathers
by the prophets
but in these
last days
he has spoken
to us
by his
son
whom he
appointed
the heir
of all
things.
Through him
also he
created the
world.
He is the
radiance
of the
glory of
God
and the
exact
imprint
of his
nature.
This is
just no
prophet
showing up.
This is
the prophet
God
in the
flesh.
And so
Jesus
knows
that he
goes into
Galilee
that what
awaits him
is not
honor
but mostly
dishonor.
And he's
going in
like I
said
because
there are
some in
Galilee
who are
going to
believe in
him.
When he's
being welcomed
by these
Galileans
he's being
welcomed by
people
that want
to see
some signs
and wonders.
They have
apparently
forgotten
about his
whole cleansing
of the
temple
piece
and they
want
Jesus
to do
some song
and dance
for them.
When Jesus
cleansed the
temple he
was rebuking
people for
making
God's
place
a place
of buying
and selling.
Here
what
we're becoming
aware of
and what
we'll see
in a rebuke
in verse
48 is
he's
rebuking
these
Galileans
for
making
him
into
some
kind
of
entertainer
for
them.
Welcome
Jesus.
Can we
have some
goosebumps?
Welcome
Jesus.
Would you
mind
wowing us
with your
wonders?
We've
got an
empty
tank
and we
need to
be
wandered
up.
These
Galileans
welcomed
Jesus
not because
of who
Jesus
is
and what
he has
to say
but they
welcomed
him
to be
entertained
to be
wowed
to be
impressed
and if
you want
to think
about
those two
young men
we started
the sermon
with
these
Galileans
were more
like
Johnnies.
this
welcome
was
flattery.
It's
just
sweet
talk
to get
to
what
they
want
and what
they
want
is not
what
Jesus
is there
to give.
Jesus
will you
do a
little
song
and
dance
number
for us
today?
They
have no
idea
he's
God's
ultimate
prophet.
In
verse 48
Jesus
says
this
unless
you
all
that's
not a
singular
you
it's
a
plural
you
unless
you
all
see
signs
and
wonders
you
all
will
not
believe
that
is
a
rebuke
he's
like
he's
like
you're
not
going
to
believe
even
if
I
did
signs
and
wonders
!
If
I
don't
do
them
you're
not
going
to
believe
the
purpose
of
this
is
we're
seeing
a
people
who
are
building
their
faith
upon
one
religious
experience
after
another
they
are
building
their
faith
on
signs
and
wonders
now
is
it
wrong
to
experience
God
and
to
experience
a
movement
of
his
Holy
Spirit
no
but
when
you
build
your
faith
on
that
and
that
becomes
the
object
of
your
faith
it
will
not
deliver
imagine
a
chronically
sleep
deprived
man
who
keeps
guzzling
coffee
and
when
the
coffee
runs
out
he
grabs
a
Red
Bull
and
when
the
Red
Bull
runs
out
he
grabs
a
monster
and
when
the
monster
runs
out
he
grabs
a
five
hour
energy
drink
this
guy
is
going
to
be
flipping
out
what
he's
doing
he's
just
trying
to
stay
awake
he's
just
trying
to
keep
the
energy
going
and
what
many
Christians
can
do
today
is
move
from
one
religious
experience
like
one
caffeine
rush
after
another
that's
what
they
really
want
they
really
want
to
get
juiced
and
they
make
the
object
of
their
faith
something
other
than
Jesus
this
approach
to
Christianity
is not
walking
by the
spirit
walking
by the
spirit
is the
fulfillment
of the
promised
new
covenant
in which
God
would
dwell
in us
by his
spirit
and he
would
move
in us
internally
so that
we
would
obey
his
word
and live
for him
so that
the spirit
becomes
this spring
bubbling
up
of
eternal
life
enriches
our
delight
to
live
for
the
one
and
only
God
have
you
ever
heard
someone
say
in terms
of
believing
in the
existence
of
God
something
like
this
you
know
what
when I
see
the
facts
when
there's
kind
of
cold
hard
scientific
evidence
then I'll
believe
it's
kind
of
a
seeing
as
believing
approach
to
whether
God
exists
or
not
or
maybe
do
you
remember
Thomas
at
the
end
of
the
gospel
of
John
listen
to
this
so
the
other
disciples
told him
we
have
seen
the
Lord
but
he
Thomas
said
to
them
unless
I
see
his
hands
in
his
hands
the
marks
of
the
nails
and
place
my
finger
into
the
mark
of
the
nails
and
place
my
hand
into
his
side
I
will
never
believe
this
mindset
of
seeing
is
believing
is
elevate
something
above
God's
very
words
it's
a
common
mindset
in our
culture
today
and
it
goes
something
like
this
in
order
to
be
convinced
that
something
is
actually
true
you
need
to
experience
it
with
your
senses
mindset
has
crept
into
the
church
today
because
the
goal
of
many
Christians
is to
have
an
experience
versus
faith
in the
sole
object
of
Jesus
experiences
will
come
but
they
are
no way
to
take
the
place
of
Jesus
the
kind
of
experiences
that
we're
talking
about
are
emotional
worship
how was
worship
today
it was
great
what
they're
talking
about
is
an
experience
that
people
want
to
have
a
sense
of
God
himself
speaking
to
them
people
want
to
have
a
sense
of
they
interpret
the
events
of
their
lives
as
signs
from
God
because
it's
experience
essential
we're
told
to
not
walk
by
sight
but
to
walk
by
faith
so
all
that
I
want
you
to
see
here
in
this
seeing
is
believing
is
that
there
was
a
group
of
people
who
were
welcoming
Jesus
and
they
were
like
show
us
something
really
good
sadly
they
were
in
it
for
themselves
and
that's
not
genuine
faith
so we
move
from
this
seeing
is
believing
crowd
to
now
hearing
is
believing
and we
see this
played out
in verses
46
through
54
and
there's
this
contrast
between
the
Galileans
who
welcomed
Jesus
and they
wanted
to
experience
something
from
Jesus
and
they're
contrasted
with
an
official
from
Capernaum
who
heard
of
Jesus
and who
believed
in the
word
of
Jesus
in
verse
46
we
read
that
Jesus
came
again
to
Cana
in
Galilee
where
he
had
made
the
water
wine
that
was
the
first
sign
of
the
gospel
of
John
there
are
seven
signs
in
the
gospel
of
John
and
the
result
of
that
earlier
sign
and
John
was
that
his
disciples
believed
and
while
we're
on
the
topic
of
signs
let
me
just
help
you
think
about
how
signs
are
to
function
signs
and
wonders
are
not
to
be
the
object
of
our
faith
signs
and
wonders
are
to
direct
our
faith
onto
the
sole
object
of
our
faith
God
himself
if
you
want
to
please
turn
with
me
to
the
end
of
the
gospel
of
John
chapter
20
verse
30
and
31
this
is
the
purpose
statement
of
the
gospel
of
John
and
here's
how
it
reads
now
Jesus
did
many
other
signs
in
the
presence
of
the
disciples
which
are
not
written
in
this
book
but
these
are
written
these
signs
are
written
so
that
you
may
believe
that
Jesus
is
the
Christ
the
son
of
God
and
by
believing
you
may
have
eternal
life
the
purpose
of
signs
is
to
direct
our
gaze
to
Jesus
to
behold
him
to
believe
him
to
find
life
in
him
so
we
don't
pursue
signs
and
wonders
to
pursue
signs
and
wonders
we
pursue
Jesus
verses
46
and 47
this
official
is in
Capernaum
and he
hears that
Jesus
has come
to
Galilee
and so
he
goes
and it's
a 22
mile
uphill
climb
from
Capernaum
to
Cana
and he
goes
because
we
learn
at the
end
of
47
that
not
only
is
his
son
sick
his
son
is
sick
to
the
point
of
death
he's
on
the
verge
of
death
now
this
official
is
having
to do
with
the
government
but
when
you
hear
official
don't
think
about
the
pleasant
people
who
work
at
the
DMV
I
know
they're
wonderful
folks
don't
think
of
that
wonderful
person
who
is
supervising
your
polling
place
when
you
go
and
vote
it's
not
that
kind
of
official
the
word
official
that
we
see
here
used
throughout
this
passage
it
means
someone
on
the
king's
court
it's
referring
to
someone
who
has
incredible
influence
they
have
the
king's
ear
this
is
someone
who
has
a lot
of
political
juice
and
not
only
is
this
guy
kind
of
kind
of
in
close
to
Herod
Antipas
who
was
the
tetrarch
king
of
Galilee
at
this
time
by
the
way
he's
the
guy
that
beheaded
John
the
Baptist
so
not
only
does
he
have
his
ear
this
official
from
Capernaum
he's
got
some
money
he's
got
some
jingle
because
when
he goes
back
to
Capernaum
he is
met
by
a
number
of
his
servants
multiple
servants
which
means
he has
some
kind
of
financial
reserves
and
resources
but
here's
the
thing
this
man's
political
connections
and
whatever
amount
of
money
he
had
they
were
not
doing
him
any
good
in
light
of
his
dying
son
they
couldn't
help
him
none
of
his
connections
none
of
his
money
everything
he
was
so
desperate
so
when
he
hears
about
Jesus
and
he
must
have
heard
that
he
had
healing
powers
he's
like
I
gotta
go
we
many
of us
have
had
children
or
we
know
of
people
with
children
who
have
been
sick
to the
point
of
death
and
it
just
pulls
on
you
how
desperate
you
can
get
so
in
verse
47
he
hears
that
Jesus
he
hears
that
Jesus
was
close
by
and
so
he
goes
to
him
and
he
asks
Jesus
he
asks
him
to
come
down
to
Capernaum
with
him
and
to
heal
his
son
so
the
question
is
this
guy
pursuing
miraculous
signs
or
is
he
is
this
genuine
faith
look
what
Jesus
says
verse
48
and
it's
kind
of
surprising
you're
like
whoa
that's
kind
of
harsh
that's
a little
cold
Jesus
he
says
in
verse
48
Jesus
said
to
him
unless
you
see
signs
and
wonders
you
will
not
believe
here's
this
desperate
official
this
dad
with
a
dying
son
and
Jesus
is
like
unless
you
see
signs
and
wonders
will
not
believe
of this
man's
heart
why
is
he
there
is
he
there
for
wow
or
is
he
there
for
genuine
belief
in
Jesus
no matter
how
small
is
he
believing
in
Jesus
this
should
ring
the
bell
Mark
chapter
7
Jesus
is
a
very
similar
interaction
with
the
Syrophoenician
woman
in
which
he
tests
her
to
see
about
the
genuineness
of
their
faith
in
verse
49
very
politely
this
man
says
sir
and
he's
not
asking
questions
anymore
come
down
before
my
child
dies
I
hope
you
feel
the
desperation
of
that
it's
like
it's
like
this
official
did
not
hear
what
Jesus
just
said
and
the
reason
why
he
didn't
hear
what
Jesus
just
said
is
he's
not
there
for
signs
and
wonders
he
is
there
for
his
son
and
it's
you
Jesus
that
is
my
only
hope
that
he
will
live
in
verse
50
Jesus
recognizes
that
this
little
amount
of
faith
is
enough
he's
not
seeking
to be
wowed
he is
seeking
him
he's
seeking
Jesus
so he
says
go
your
son
will
live
note
he
doesn't
go
with
the
man
he
just
says
go
your
son
will
live
and
this
man
who
does
not
see
his
son
healed
at
the
moment
this
man
goes
and
what
I
want
you
to
see
in
verse
50
is
what
said
about
him
Jesus
says
go
your
son
will
live
the
man
believed
the
word
that
Jesus
spoke
to
him
and
went
on
his
way
hearing
is
believing
he
goes
on
his
way
he
believed
the
word
that
Jesus
spoke
look
back
at
chapter
4
verses
41
and
42
and
many
more
Samaritans
believed
because
of
his
word
and
they
said
to
the
woman
it's
no
longer
because
of
what
you
said
that
we
believe
for
we
have
heard
for
ourselves
from
him
and
we
know
that
this
indeed
is
the
savior
of
the
world
hearing
is
believing
seeing
is
not
believing
hearing
is
believing
hearing
the
word
from
Jesus
in
51
through
53
we
have
this
very
interesting
confirmation
it's
the next
day
and the
official
is
walking
downhill
to
Capernaum
and he
meets
several
of his
servants
coming
uphill
and they
have
something
really
interesting
to say
to him
they
tell
him
that
his
son
is
recovering
they
tell
him
he's
no
longer
on the
brink
of
death
that
he's
been
delivered
from
death
and
what
this
man
asks
is
what
time
did
that
happen
what
was
the
hour
that
he
began
to
get
better
and
they
said
to
him
yesterday
at
one
o'clock
the
fever
left
him
and
so
we
get
a
sense
of
the
illness
it
was
some
kind
of
fever
that
was
putting
him
on
the
verge
of
death
and
they
say
hey
it
about
one
o'clock
I
remember
it
yeah
I
remember
it
was
about
one
o'clock
that
the
fever
left
him
it
was
one
o'clock
where
he
was
delivered
from
death
to
which
the
father
says
by the
way
verse
53
is
the
first
time
the
word
father
is
used
of
this
man
the
father
knew
that
was
the
hour
when
Jesus
had
said
to
him
your
son
will
live
here's
why
that's
significant
that
means
Jesus
healed
his
son
instantaneously
from
a distance
with
no
apparent
effort
instantaneously
from a
distance
with no
apparent
effort
there was
no sense
that Jesus
says
your
son
will
live
he
said
it
and what
this
father
puts
together
is
this
man
has
the
power
to
bring
my
son
back
from
dying
from
a
distance
instantaneously
and with
no
effort
in
verse
54
we are
told
that
this
is
the
second
sign
of
Jesus
and
remember
in
chapter
20
verse
31
that
the
purpose
of
a
sign
is
to
bring
about
faith
in
Jesus
to
believe
in
him
so
look
at
verse
53
the
father
knew
that
was
the
hour
when
Jesus
had
said
to
him
your
son
will
live
and
he
himself
believed
!
they
believe
the
whole
gang
believes
they
put it
all
together
could
you
imagine
the
conversation
his
servants
tell him
what they
told him
and he's
like you
will not
believe
what just
happened
Jesus
said
that
and it
happened
and then
when he
shows up
back at
home
in
Capernaum
he's
like you
will not
believe
why
our
son
is now
living
Jesus
who's
in
Cana
said
so
who
is
this
guy
that
even
a
fever
obeys
him
from
a
distance
instantaneously
with no
seeming
effort
the
whole
household
believes
that
includes
the
servants
they
had
come
to
see
in
some
measure
that
Jesus
is
the
son
of
God
the
Christ
and
as
a
result
of
believing
that
eternal
life
had
come
to
their
home
in
Capernaum
their
faith
was
not
in
the
miracle
their
faith
was
in
the
worker
of
the
miracle
the
one
who
brought
it
about
my
guess
is
that
whole
household
having
believed
in
Jesus
and
everybody's
now
healthy
they're
like
hey
let's
go
back
to
Cana
let's
go
say
hi
let's
go
say
thank
you
and
that
little
boy
who
was
healed
would
go
over
to
Jesus
and
could
you
imagine
Jesus
thank
you
so
much
for
delivering
me
twice
thank
the penalty
of my
sin
what I
want you
to notice
is verse
50
the man
believed
the word
that Jesus
spoke to him
and went
on his
way
hearing
is
believing
we build
our faith
not on
our
experience
but on
the person
and words
of Jesus
Christ
so we
have two
groups of
people
two
motives
and this
passage
contrasts
them
we
have
the
seeing
is
believing
Johnny
types
who
are
in it
for
themselves
who
are
flatterers
who
are
wanting
to
make
Jesus
dance
for
them
and
then
you
have
the
hearing
is
believing
Demetrius
types
one
is
sign
centric
the
other
is
Christ
centric
that's
this
royal
official
and
his
household
not
only
was
their
son
healed
but
their
whole
household
was
saved
as a
result
of
believing
in
Jesus
the
difference
of
course
is
the
object
of
their
faith
seeing
is
believing
make
signs
and
wonders
the
object
of
faith
experience
maybe
it's
making
science
the
object
of
your
faith
maybe
it's
making
your
works
all I
need
to
do
is
be
better
the
object
of
your
faith
maybe
it's
making
your
church
tradition
the object
of
your
faith
maybe
if I
keep on
going to
church
every
Sunday
I'll be
saved
but
none
of that
has the
power to
save you
hearing
is
believing
it's
Jesus
Christ
who
is
totally
God
and
totally
man
and
in
him
is
eternal
life
because
he
himself
died
on the
cross
and
was
raised
from
the
dead
and
he
offers
eternal
life
to
all
who
would
believe
the
point
of
this
whole
passage
is
that
in
order
for
you
to
receive
eternal
life
you
must
believe
in
Jesus
alone
he
is
the
sole
object
of
your
faith
and
that
comes
by
hearing
and
hearing
the
word
of
God
now
you
might
be
asking
a
question
like
this
well
how
much
faith
do
I
need
what
kind
of
quality
of
faith
do
I
need
in
order
to
believe
in
Jesus
and
receive
eternal
life
what
kind
of
faith
do
I
need
how
much
faith
do
I
need
this
past
week
I
caught
a
clip
of
Tim
Keller
who
was
a
recently
has
died
but
he
was
a
pastor
of
a
church
in
Manhattan
and
he
said
this
it's
not
the
quality
of
your
faith
that
saves
you
but
the
object
of
your
faith
it's
not
the
quality
of
your
faith
it's
the
object
of
it's
January
in
Wisconsin
and
they
go
out
onto
a
frozen
lake
in
order
to
ice
fish
the
mom
has
done
this
for
decades
she
knows
the
ice
is
12
inches
thick
she
knows
you
could
drive
a
red
peterbilt
dump
truck
over
the
ice
no
problem
she
hears
the
cracking
no
big
deal
she's
done
it
knows
it
she
trusts
it
but
her
daughter
who's
five
years
old
this
is
she
and
so
she
just
kind
of
walks
out
onto
the
ice
every
time
it
cracks
she
gets
a
little
nervous
she's
like
mommy
will
this
ice
hold
our
weight
are
we
going
to
fall
through
like
those
boys
did
and
it's
a
wonderful
life
is
that
going
to
happen
to
us
she's
just
kind
of
afraid
we
have
different
qualities
of
faith
on
the
ice
you
have
the
mom's
high
quality
faith
on
the
ice
she
knows
she's
relaxed
but we
also
have
this
little
girl
who
is
nervous
she's
just
got a
little
faith
but
she's
out
on
the
ice
the
point
is
it's
not
the
quality
of
your
faith
you
can
have
a
very
little
faith
and
a
really
big
savior
and
that's
all
that's
needed
because
it's
about
the
object
of
your
faith
that
saves
you
it's
not
having
faith
in
faith
it's
having
faith
in
Jesus
what
he
says
his
finished
work
on
the
cross
12
inches
of
ice
is
hard
to
argue
with
and
so
is
Christ's
death
and
resurrection
you
can
trust
that
with
a
lot
of
faith
or
a
little
!
faith
any
kind
of
faith
it's
the
object
of
your
faith
and
he
will
grant
you
eternal
life
have
you
put
your
faith
in
Jesus
or
have
you
been
seeing
is
believing
it
another
thing
I want
to draw
to your
attention
is that
Jesus
is the
savior
of the
world
we've
now
encountered
a
well-to-do
politician
who
believes
in
Jesus
a
couple
weeks
before
we
saw
an
adulterous
Samaritan
come to
faith
in
Jesus
a
week
before
we
saw
Nicodemus
this
religious
professional
who
eventually
demonstrates
faith
in
Jesus
these
are
very
different
people
but they
all have
the same
object
of
faith
Jesus
Christ
what they
all have
in common
is
Jesus
it's
true
of us
as a
church
we
have
quite
a
mix
of
people
in
this
sanctuary
from
all
sorts
of
different
walks
of
life
but we
all
share
one
common
object
of
faith
the
crucified
and risen
Jesus
who is
seated
at the
right
hand
of
God
and
one
day
closer
to
coming
back
he's
at the
center
of
everything
we
do
it's
true
of
the
universal
church
right
now
around
the
throne
room
of
heaven
we
have
people
from
every
tribe
tongue
and
nation
multitudes
and
multitudes
that
no
one
can
count
who
are
worshiping
Jesus
Christ
right
now
you
see
he's
the
savior
of
the
world
and
when
more
and
more
people
from
different
walks
of
life
come
together
as
one
local
body
it
brings
about
some
challenges
but
it
also
brings
about
a
multicultural
richness
of
what
Jesus
himself
can
do
the
third
piece
I
just
want to
apply
it
and
I
want
to
encourage
you
to
act
there's
a few
different
things
that we
learned
about
Jesus
he
moves
towards
dishonor
for
us
he
did
that
for
us
he
tests
hearts
and
so
when
we
pray
you
can
better
believe
he's
going to
test
our
motives
when
we
pray
but
he
also
heals
from
a
distance
I've
been
encouraged
all
week
to be
praying
for
things
because
my
king
is
alive
and
even
though
he's
at
a
distance
he's
at
the
right
hand
of
God
seated
on
his
throne
he
can
still
heal
instantaneously
from
a
distance
without
any
effort
which
means
we
pray
we
ask
him
for
things
we
ask
him
to
move
in
people's
lives
we
ask
him
to
heal
the
sick
to
give
strength
to
the
weak
and
when
he
does
and
he
has
we
don't
put
our
faith
in
the
miracles
we
put
more
faith
in
the
miracle
worker
our
king
Jesus
the
sole
object
of
our
faith
we
started
this
sermon
with
the
question
well
who
would
you
recommend
to
your
daughter
to
marry
Johnny
nice
hair
but
a
flatterer
or
Demetrius
rough
around
the
edges
but
man
he's
you
have
no
question
that
he's
in
it
for
your
daughter
who
would
you
recommend
I
think
it's
pretty
obvious
right
well
who
does
Jesus
give
eternal
life
to
in
this
passage
is
it
the
Galileans
who
were
who
were
hoping
Jesus
would
do
a
little
song
and
dance
for
them
no
that's
not
genuine
faith
that's
making
Jesus
do
what
you
want
no
it's
the
royal
official
!
in
his
household
who
came
to
Jesus
as
the
sole
object
of
their
faith
these
were
the
ones
that
Jesus
was
seeking
these
were
the
true
worshippers
in
Capernaum
and
that's
who
Jesus
is
seeking
today
not
flatterers
those
who
humble
themselves
people
from
every
tribe
tongue
nation
having
one
thing
in
common
Jesus
is
the
sole
object
of
our
saving
faith
it's
him
we
behold
it's
him
we
believe
and
it's
him
who
gives
us
life
in
abundance
let
me
pray
God
in
heaven
would
you
impress
upon
our
hearts
once
again
how
worthy
you
are
Lord
Jesus
to
be
the
sole
object
of
our
faith
and
that
you
as
the
controlling
center
of
each
of
us
individually
and
as
us
as
a
church
that
you
would
get
all
the
praise
and
glory
and
honor
and
fame
and
majesty
that
you
deserve
would
you
continue
to
work
in
our
midst
would
you
continue
to
answer
our
prayers
would
you
continue
to
do
things
that
only
you
can
do
not
for
us
Lord
not
for
us
but
to
your
name
give
glory
!
In
Jesus
name
we
pray