God Encounters : Pastor Ben

Canvas Church : San Diego

God Encounters : Pastor Ben

"Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 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.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:1-42 ESV)

"Jesus Juke" .. "Spiritual Juke"

Thinking it's one going one way and it's going a totally different direction. 

This passage has Jesus jukes all over the place! We call them "parables". 

Referencing water, a husband, food, etc .. They weren't expecting the responses that he gave & he spoke to them in parables. God encoubters! 

1) A true God encounter will give you a new perspective. She looked at Jesus as a Jew, why are you asking me for water. But her perspective changes from a Jew to a Prophet to the Messiah. And it changed her interaction. It changed the way she listened to him. (read the apostles)

 EX. A homeless man can give you advice about money & your like ok whatever your homeless. A wealthy man can give you the  EXACT same advice & your like wow! 

God mentioned the 5 men she was with .. That showed how she was searching for affirmation. Once she told everyone about Jesus she was saying, I dont need these men to affirm me anymore b/c I met a man who knows everything. Even when Jesus was baptized, the very first thing God did was affirm him. (Not based on what he did or hadn't did but b/c you are my son.) 

2) He laid out a plan for continual God encounters: Through worship.

God encounters dont happen b/c you so desperately need him but b/c he wants so desperately to meet with me. 

3) Purpose. He went there with the intention of affirming that woman. Her perspective was changed & it impacted others around her. 

People think I'm coming into his relationship with Jesus & now I have all these things i need to change. If that's your perception, you will work your whole life to try & prove yourself. Versus I'm coming into this relationship and his grace changes me. He loves me no matter what I do. 

"For God so loved the world that he gave everyone a parachute" 

God Encounters : Melissa Miller

Canvas Church : San Diego

God Encounters 

Melissa Miller 

"On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19 ESV)

Leprosy is comparable to the zombies in the tv show The Walking Dead as far as it being called "the death before death" & and also as far as what they look like (ailments). This is why the other 9 stood back at a distance. All except for 1. 

Some healing is instant & some he tells to walk it out in faith. Sometimes God doesn't always give you his hand but he gives you his word. 

People after Gods heart care more about Gods approval than the approval of others. They aren't satisfies with outward appearances, they want inward transformation. 

"Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan." (Luke 17:15, 16 ESV)

Sozo- to save, keep safe & sound, rescue from danger or destruction, wellness, complete wholeness. Luke 17:19

People after Gods heart have an attitude of gratitude.  What prayer request are you living in? What has God blessed you with already that you take for granted when other people are coveting what you have. 

Is the height of your joy dependent on the depth of your things? Speaking life. 

People after Gods heart seek his PRESENCE over His PERFORMANCE. Don't seek after feelings and experiences, seek after God. He is everything you need. 

Jehovahjireh - he provides (its who he is)

God Encounters :Pastor Brandon Miller

Canvas Church : San Diego

God Encounters 

Pastor Brandon Miller

"The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.” But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!” “How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.” They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.” Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed. Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home. After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray." (Mark 6:30-46 NLT)

The Desolate Place:

Desolate: deserted of people in a state of bleak and dismal emptiness. 

The number 1 prescription in the country, aside from sickness & disease, is anti-depressants.

The desolate place is where God does a work in the heart. 

1) Find rest in God 

"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." (1 Peter 5:7 NLT)

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. "(Philippians 4:6 NLT)

"Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT)

2) God will call you to serve others.

We find our purpose in serving others. 

3) It's an opportunity to depend on God. 

It's nice to plan & as a whole we tend to be independent. BUT WHO GETS THE GLORY IF YOUR NOT DEPENDING ON GOD. What are you living for? Instead of, look what I've done, how about look what God has done through me. 

John 6:5 portrays how we attempt to come up with our own solutions. Go back to what we know or run away, and it just might work BUT YOUR MISSING OUT ON THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE GOD COME THROUGH IN MAGNIFICENT WAY. The correct answer is, what do you say we do God (like Philip).

4) It's an opportunity to exercise faith. STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE. Do things, take steps of faith. 

God Encounters

Canvas Church : San Diego

God Encounters 

"Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials —one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground. Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus." (Matthew 17:1-8 NLT)

Ever had an awkward moment? Like you saw someone waving & thought they were waving at you but they were really waving at someone behind you. Lol

Peter had an awkward moment: "Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials —one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” 

God showed up & interrupted Peter's moment. Basically told him to shut up & listen to his son.

1) God encounters ALWAYS point to Jesus.

Peter wasn't even acknowledged. Peter made it about himself like "its good that IM here b/c I can add to this moment by doing something that I know how to do."

Peter tried to prove his acceptance of why he was there in that moment. 

We do the same thing, we feel like we have to prove what we can do or how we can perform. We always search for affirmation. We live in a fatherless world, where children look to their mothers to nurture them & their fathers to affirm. There is no need to seek affirmation from men & women on this earth.

And we can't impress God! We have to stop trying to affirm his love for us. The point is to be transformed so instead of looking at it from a "works" point of view, realize that God loves us NO MATTER WHAT WE DO. The only affirmation we need is that he sent his son, Jesus. 

THIS IS WHAT SEPARATES CHRISTIANITY FOR THE REST IF THE WORLD. YOU CAN DO NOTHING TO EARN IT. 

Mathew 7:21-23

2) God encounters are often unannounced.

3) God encounters are usually interrupt your plans.

( Read Matthew Mark Luke & John. Do a character study on Peter & John. Peter focused on how he loved God; John focused how God loved him. )

Why are Moses & Elijah there? 

Moses represents the law.

Elijah represents the prophesies. 

..Then they lift up there eyes & see only Jesus is there saying dont be afraid; symbolizing that what you cant accomplish in the laws & what you cant fulfill in the prophesies doesn't matter because I am here (: 

I LOVE YOU.