Pearls and Velvet

Sermon Notes from Praise Fellowship October 9, 2010

Speaker: Irwin Larrier

Main text: John 4:1-10 The story of the woman at the well and the interaction she had with Jesus

Key points:

The story of the Samaritan woman was told in a very different way than I'm used to hearing. It was told from the perspective of the woman at the well. Basically the speaker used very descriptive and colorful language to depict the life of the woman and how she ended up at the well. He explained her life journey and told how she had disappointment after disappointment. Pointing out that she didn't just one day arrive in her predicament she arrived in her situation over approximately a 20 year journey. During that time she had her first marriage then divorced and she repeated the cycle over and over until she found herself in the situation where she was living with a man who she wasn't married to. Life had beaten this woman up to the point that her self worth was totally diminished not only in her eyes but also in the eyes of everyone she knew. She had a reputation so to avoid being around other people at the well she picked to go at the time she did. Also the speaker brought out that probably along her journey from her residence to the well she thought about the fact that none of her marriages had brought forth the fruit of children. So being childless was probably a sore spot for her especially in that day and age. While she still had hopes of a better life she had gotten so used to her circumstances that she didn't expect anything good for her life because life had crushed her faith.

The question was asked: What is christian fatigue?

Answer: Christian fatigue happens when we become content to be discontent with the circumstances of our lives to the point that we don't even look or try to change our situations.

This is where Jesus found the woman at the well! She was a broken woman who had become content with her discontent.

The speaker also highlighted the fact that marriage doesn't suddenly cure a relationship of issues. In fact he said in many ways marriage complicates or intensifies the issues couples may have prior to marriage.

We as Christians need to realize that when God is in our lives the problems we face aren't problems...we ARE the problem. We are so often concerned with our issues that we aren't able to appreciate where God has brought us from and where He's trying to take us.

Jesus is NOT the answer, Jesus is the SOLUTION!

Each of us are losing the battle against sin in our private lives.

Building blocks represent our character and worldview. The goal of the enemy is to destroy the building blocks of our lives so that we aren't able to build a strong foundation in Christ.

The building blocks of our lives are damaged by the following:

dysfunctional family environment

hate

despair

disappointment

bitterness

sexual sin

drugs

alcoholism

intemperance

The above issues are just a few examples of how the blocks of our lives become broken.

In the story of the woman at the well its easy to understand how her self worth was diminished to the point that she believed she didn't deserve any better than her situation.

Her personal moral struggles had chipped away slowly over time and had left huge emotional wounds.

The beautiful thing is that even in the state she was in Jesus embraced her in love, affirmation, and support!

We need to remember that Jesus created us in HIS image! Meaning that Jesus has put his image into me. But because of hardships we have forgotten we were made in God's image!

WOW! I thought that was deep... Let that marinate in your mind....

God knows that there is nothing good to build on in me BUT He still loves me and wants to rebuild not just the blocks of my character but me as a woman. God wants to restore me to being a reflection of HIS image!

In this day and age many of us have fallen into a pit of sexual sin according to the speaker.

He said we have wrong sexual programming! Meaning God designed us as individuals to connect sexually with ONE person. He explained that there are more than just physical things happening during sexual intercourse. There are physiological, emotional and spiritual effects of sexual sin. He went on to describe how the mind releases a chemical during sexual intercourse that allows us to connect to one's partner in a deeper way. The release of the chemical is done involuntarily that's why it can be so detrimental to one's character when sexual sin is happening.

Then the analogy was given of a pearl and the process that the speck of sand has to go through in order to become a pearl. He likened us as women to pearls and in the analogy he said that men represent cloth. But not just any cloth velvet. Hence the title of the sermon. He said in our lives God's plan is to take me where I am and refine me into what He desires for my life. In this illustration he said that men if they allow God in their lives they will become refined as fell and be smooth. The reason for the illustration is to show that the pearl can't be velvet and velvet can't be a pearl. Pointing out that each of us has specific roles in life in regards to relationships. So the speaker said it is the role of velvet to polish and display the pearl that God has designed us as women to be. And we as women are to allow our husbands to support us and allow God to use that man to refine us even more through a healthy relationship.

He said that many of us as women don't have velvet men in our lives because God is still working on us and if we had the velvet we wouldn't appreciate it or worse we would wreck the blessing!

To be clear Women represent the Pearl and Velvet represents Men. And this is because both materials have distinctly different roles and harsh processes to endure before reaching maturity.

He challenged men to adjust their priorities and worldviews when it comes to their dealings with women.

Another important point is that no matter what hardships I or any of us as women experience we need to realize that in God's eyes we are each valuable and we are still PEARLS!

When God restores or allows us to experience hardships I need to understand its only to make me be a better vessel for Him!

Further more Jesus is the TRUE Velvet! He alone is the one who has the ability to polish away particles of sin that have accumulated in our lives.

Also it was brought out that there is an idea in Adventism that SDA's have a monopoly on heaven! But the speaker said this idea couldn't be farther from the truth. The story of the roman solider who had his daughter healed by Jesus was told to illustrate how someone "outside" the church is viewed in the eyes of God!

Jesus after healing the child said to his followers that he hadn't seen that much faith in all of Israel. So to bring the illustration to today the speaker wanted us as a church to remove the idea of superiority from our complacent mindset. He went on to say that Adventism is a flavor of Christianity and other religions are different flavors. That is why the bible states that Jesus has sheep in MANY flocks! However it is my belief that God has called me to be the flavor of Adventism because He has called me for a special work. We as SDA's need to understand that not everyone is called to be our flavor! However, we also need to understand that different flavors have different worldviews which affect the way in which we live and see the world.

Today each of us had the opportunity to choose to become the Pearls and Velvet pieces that God intended us His children to be. So there is no reason to remain disillusioned by hopelessness or ones past!

My prayer is that the notes from todays message touches your heart! Be blessed and thanks for reading!