Jesus was on a journey in John 4:1-42. He was walking with his disciples and they came to Jacob’s well. The disciples went into town to grab lunch, while Jesus took a rest.

“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.” John 4:6-10

Sometimes, we have to sacrifice our personal comfort to minister to someone’s heart.

Jesus was tired. Not just road-trip tired. He was walked-for-miles tired. But when a hurting woman showed up, he opened a conversation in order to heal her brokeness. He ignored his personal weariness and went against cultural norms to show her love.

Our culture is very “me”-centric. We have this strange idea that if something is good, it will never inconvenience us.

As believers, we are called to minister to lives around us. If we are pursuing this mission, we have to lay our comfort mentality aside. We must step past self-preservation.

Holy Spirit might ask us to talk to the dirty person. Or the ex-con. He may want us to show love to the single mom who has babies from three different guys. Or the person that just can’t break that porn addiction. He may ask us really listen to the guy that cusses every other word.

Jesus insists that we look past the exterior and into the heart of a person.

And we might be uncomfortable. Our Christian friends may not even understand what we’re doing.

Jesus’ disciples sure didn’t get him. When they came back from grocery shopping, John 4:27 tells us they were pretty confused. But Jesus didn’t hold back for fear of what they would think.

He was after the woman’s heart. If we read on in their conversation, we’d see that, over and over, Jesus saw through the outer shell of sin and self-righteousness. He talked to the person she was on the inside.

It was good for the woman that Jesus was willing to sacrifice His personal comfort for a hurting person. In fact, it’s good for all of us, since the cross was pretty inconvenient.

In Acts 3:1-12 we find the story of Peter and John headed to the temple. They encountered a beggar who was unable to walk. The guy tried to score some of their loose change. When Peter spoke to the beggar, it says the man, “fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.”

Peter surprised the beggar with his reply, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And that’s exactly what happened. The man was completely healed and began walking, jumping and praising God.

All because Peter did something unexpected.

Peter could have played it safe. He could have dropped a couple of coins in the beggar’s cup and said, “We’ll be praying for you.” But he didn’t. He took a risk and a man was healed and Jesus’ fame was spread.

How do we handle our opportunities to do the unexpected?

Do we choose to love sacrificially? Do we reach out with hands of healing? Do we disavow bitterness? Do we avoid passing judgement? Do we put another before ourselves?

When we go against the norms of this world and operate by the standards of the Kingdom of Heaven, we pave the way for Jesus to work wonders in the lives around us.

Rather than giving people what they expect, we can give them so much more. We give them what we have been given: Jesus.

Acts 2:42-47 gives us a snapshot of life at the beginning of the church. Here are some highlights:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…. And all who believed were together and had all things in common…. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes….”

The early church was devoted to community. They listened to teaching together, they ate together, they were generous with each other.

Why did that rag-tag group of former fishermen, tax collectors, and a whole slew of new converts form such an inclusive family-type group? Because they saw Jesus do it.

Jesus lived in community with His disciples and followers while He was on earth. He ate with them, He taught them, He traveled with them, He shared finances with them.

Much deeper than those external forms of camaraderie, though, is how Jesus continually welcomes each of us into community with God. Galatians 3:26 says, “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

The members of the Godhead even share relationship with each other. They discuss plans together, like in Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” And they love each other, as John 3:3 makes apparent, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.”

God values community. Through Jesus, He even paves a way for relationships with us, mere mortals.

Because Jesus delights in relating to those that make up the Church, we need to follow His example. Like our Leader, we must build community with those that Jesus loves.

Before returning to heaven, one of the last things Jesus said to His disciples was, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

As Christians, the idea of having the power of Holy Spirit working through us is generally favorable. It’s the other stuff that goes along with it that causes us divide into our separate “camps.”

Some of us seem to revel in the outward stuff; the wilder and crazier, the better. Our focus quickly gets on the hype and we don’t realize we’re missing the whole point of supernatural empowerment.

Others of us see the more eccentric ones acting silly and chalk it all up to emotionalism. And then we decide we want to stay as far away from Holy Spirit as possible. Which is a much worse idea.

After Jesus returned to heaven, Holy Spirit did indeed show up, as promised.

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4

So, not exactly a dull day. But notice what it says, “it filled the entire house where they were sitting.” This wasn’t some wild tent meeting with the evangelist whipping the crowd into a frenzy. They were just sitting.

In that apparently calm environment, Holy Spirit filled the room and started doing crazy stuff. Not because of hype, but because power showed up.

If we read on in the story, Peter preached a killer sermon and 3,000 people came to Jesus. And that’s the point.

Holy Spirit comes upon us so that we can direct people to Jesus. Sometimes astounding stuff happens. Sometimes everything may seem calm on the surface. Either way, we don’t have to hype anything up nor do we need to apologize for anything. Holy Spirit will do what He thinks best.

And He always wants us to be empowered to point people to Jesus.

Jesus first mentioned the concept of church in Matthew 16:13-20. He asked His followers what people were saying about Him. Then He flipped the question around and asked the disciples what they said about him. Peter, never one to hold back, blurted out, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

At this point in the passage, there is an important nuance. It says, “And Jesus answered him.” That “and” connected the identity of Jesus to the first mention of Church. Jesus and the revelation of who He is cannot be separated from His Church and who they are.

In subsequent mentions of the Church in Scripture, similar metaphors are used to explain the symbiotic relationship of Christ and His Church:

• Christ is the bridegroom and His Church is the bride (Ephesians 5:25-27). A groom without a bride is just a guy; a bride without a groom is single.
• Christ is the head and the Church is His body (Colossians 1:18). A head with out a body is dead. A body without a head is a corpse.

It’s often asked, “Can you be a Christian and not be a part of a Church?” Technically as a believer you are part of the Church universal. But that wasn’t what Jesus was talking about, because the word “church” is the Greek word ekklesia, which means to assemble together. Being a part of the Church means we gather and assemble with other believers.

Because, not only are Jesus and His Church inseparable, but Jesus uses people to build His Church.

When Jesus presented the idea of Church, He first confirmed who He was. Then He turned to Peter (who had just received a revelation of who Jesus was) and said to Peter, “Now let me tell you who you are because of who I am.” He declared to Peter his new identity and purpose based on Jesus’ identity.

In Ephesians 2:19-22, Paul tells us that the household of faith is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”

Jesus chooses to use people. He doesn’t need us. He chooses to use us. By His grace, He uses us to build something glorious, beautiful and powerful: His Church.

Each of us is a vital part of the Church. It’s not that we’re individually special, but when we’re in Christ and we have the revelation that Jesus is the Son of God, we are new creations. Then can be used by God to build His glorious Church.