WE ARE CALLED TO EXPANSION
We are all called to Expansion! To expand means to increase, to broaden, to become large & to grow, and for us as Christians, that means expanding into all God has planned for us individually and collectively as the church.
Scripture Luke 7:11-17 Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son
Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
To reach a generation with the reality of Jesus, we need to be committed to bringing care, comfort, and cure to the brokenness in our homes, community, and world. Jesus teaches us how we can do this by speaking life into what was once called dead!
UNCHANGING OUTLOOK
Luke 7:11 ‘Jesus went to a town called Nain… as he approached the gate, a dead person was being carried out’
Previously, Jesus was in the town of Capernaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee where he healed a centurion’s servant. The very next day, he and his disciples travel to the city of Nain. He goes there with his disciples, and because of his miracles and teachings, a crowd is following Him. There is sense of excitement and expectation around this crowd, they have heard some amazing truths from Jesus, and they have seen Him perform an incredible healing. They want to see what He will do next! As Jesus and the crowd enter Nain, they are met with another large crowd coming out. This second crowd, however, is not joyful and excited. It’s just the opposite. They are weeping, wailing, and mourning. They are not following a man who heals, gives life, and great teachings. Instead, this second group is following a young man who is dead. This young man was the only son of a widow. Being a widow at this time and culture meant that her future would be very hard. She would be completely destitute and would have to rely on others to survive. Her future was most likely, the grim and ugly reality of being a beggar.
Interestingly, the meaning of the city Nain, is ‘beautiful’. It is in this city of ‘beautiful’ that Jesus comes face to face with this moment of death and the circumstance of grief, loss, and the hopelessness of the widow’s future.
But what others saw as ugly and death, Jesus saw as beautiful and as life.
Likewise, we are empowered just like Jesus, to be people who see things the way God intends for them to be. We can call what looks ugly – to be beautiful, we can call what seems hopeless – to be hopeful, we can call what seems dead – to come alive!
In our family, relationships, university, workplace, we need to be people that see and give these areas of pain & challenge the name that God has given them – a name called hope, life, and future – and not change our outlook or language because of a challenging situation.
- Are there areas in our lives where our outlook or language needs to change? Maybe because of challenging situations or feeling out of control we have just accepted the situation as too hard and have given up for a better outcome.
- Are there places in our family, relationships, workplace, church, or in our own character that feel lifeless and need a fresh sense of being aligned to how God sees and calls them? Make time to pray and for each other.
ENGAGED HEART
Luke 7:13 ‘When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, “Don’t cry”.
The widow now, has no way to provide for herself. In this culture, women could not work, they depended on their husbands. If their husband died, they depended on a son. If their son died, they would be forced to beg. That was this woman’s situation, now.
And as this woman exits Nain, following her dead son’s coffin, she is confronted by a crowd. A joyful, excited crowd of people following a man – Jesus, who is very much alive.
The two crowds meet at the gates of Nain and the joyful crowd, recognising that their excitement is out of place, quickly quiets down, maybe they don’t know how to act or what to say, so they look away. Except for one man – Jesus. He doesn’t look away but looks straight towards her and there is genuine grief and compassion in His eyes. Luke 7:13 says that when Jesus saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, “Don’t cry”.
Initially, these words seem totally out of line. If there is one thing you don’t say to someone grieving, it’s “Don’t cry!”. She just lost her only son, of course she should cry!
But we know that Jesus had compassion toward her, and that He feels, knows, and understands her pain better than anyone. In telling her not to cry, He is telling her, to trust Him. He knows what He is doing, and he plans to bring comfort to her pain.
For us to see the one like Jesus does, and to have compassion for others, we need to have an engaged heart that stays soft and is not hardened over time by the hurt and disappointments that life and others can sometimes bring. Let’s choose to not close our hearts and our eyes off to people that need love and care, let’s choose instead, to continue to speak life, love, and compassion towards others (and ourselves!), just like Jesus did. When we do this, we can have complete confidence that God knows what He’s doing through us as, we step out and bring comfort to those who are hurting.
- Do we see the one? Are we available to look beyond the crowd and stop for the one who is hurting?
- Are there areas in our life that we recognise has given us a hardened heart and cause us to close off to people?
- How can we choose to instead keep our hearts soft and be able to have engaged hearts with those in need? Share some experiences you have had with how God has helped you keep a soft and engaged heart.
OWN THE OUTCOME
Luke 7:14 ‘Then he went up and touched the bier (coffin) they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”
In Jewish culture, the teachers and leaders would never touch a dead body or even a coffin that held a dead body. The Jewish law taught that doing so made that person unclean. Spiritual leaders of the Jews would not even to go near a dead body ref Lev 21:1-12. But Jesus came and touched the open coffin. In so doing, he took the taint of death upon Himself. Jesus is never concerned with protocol or etiquette of the day, His only concern is to comfort the mourning mother and to speak life into the young man, who was once called dead.
Jesus owned the outcome. He touched what was painful, broken, and dead and brought power, life, and hope into the situation. For us, it could be that we find ourselves in moments in our homes, our workplace, university environment, where there seems to be unhealthy cultures. Or in our own life we feel we can’t find freedom in a certain area. But let’s remind ourselves in these moments, that we have the same power to own the outcome and to speak life into every environment we find ourselves a part of. This is by the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us!
- How do we own the outcomes in our environment? What is our language like when faced with situations that seem unhealthy in our area of influence or our area of responsibility?
- How do we lead our families, teams, friendships, ourselves? Do we go along with gossip or other dishonest behaviour? Share examples that have helped you own the outcome in your situations.
WE ADVANCE GOD’S KINGDOM & ARE COMMITTED TO THE CAUSE
Luke 7:16-17 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
The response in this moment was that many people glorified God. A great miracle had been done, and only God could have caused it. So, they give glory to God. They recognised that Jesus was not just a great prophet, but they believed that God himself had come down to help His people. This was such an extraordinary reality for them that it caused the news of who Jesus is and what He had done to spread throughout all of Judea and the surrounding country.
When we experience the truth and kindness of Jesus, we just can’t keep it to ourselves, He changes everything!
Think of a time you’ve heard some exciting news; a friend is pregnant, a new job opportunity, a healing or miraculous outcome etc. and when we hear it or experience it, we just can’t wait to tell someone else. That’s what happened with the miracle of Jesus raising the widow’s dead son. Except it didn’t stop with friends and family. The goodness of God and what He did spread throughout entire countries!
And still today, we have our part to play in telling others about the goodness of God, sharing the news of what Jesus has done in our lives and what He’s done for others. When we do this, people give praise to Him, and His Kingdom is advanced.
It takes us to be committed to the cause of advancing His kingdom. To continue to spread the news of the kindness, goodness, and compassion of our God. This is one of the most important and one of the greatest privileges we have as the church. A gathering of people that is all about telling the good news of Jesus. Being a part of church is Advancing Gods Kingdom and we can all commit to outworking how that looks individually and collectively as a team.
- Share with the group how experiencing the goodness and kindness of God has has changed your life.
- Are we intentional about sharing the good news of what Jesus has done in our lives? How does it look in our homes, community to advance his kingdom? E.g., Praying together for people to be open to God, creating opportunity to share, inviting family and friends to church.
- To advance in anything it takes commitment! How are you committed to advancing God’s kingdom in your individual life and as a collective church? It could be by joining in group and sharing life with others, serving on team, joining a community outreach team etc.
Sundays Message
Listen to Sunday’s message:
Expansion Vision
https://www.expansion.org.au
Coming up at Life
Prayer
- Men – 6am Tuesday at LIFE
- Women – 6.30am Wednesday at LIFE
Easter Production
https://www.easteratlife.com.au
RESOURCE REF: NIV Bible, Bible Hub Definitions, Life message