The Spiritual Question

JOHN 5:1-9
1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie— ...

The blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the invalid replied ...

“I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

LEADER: This is the Word of the Lord

PEOPLE: THANKS BE TO GOD

The Spiritual Question

THE CONTEXT -- OUR ADDICTED WORLD

US ADULTS ADDICTED

game-changing research

US ADULTS ADDICTED

US ADULTS ADDICTED

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Modified - Dopamine:

• Drugs
• Gambling Tech
• Pornography
• Video games
• Social Media
• "Hyper Palatable" food

TODAY'S CHALLENGE:
Products are modified to give us dopamine hits that are greater than we are created/evolved to handle ...

"Going with the flow" in our world will leave you fat, sick, depressed, and anxious ... because some addictive agent is over-stimulating your dopamine receptors ... and wrecking your life.

A STORY OF HEALING

1. People in need were LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE
(v 3)

2. Jesus asked the question THAT GETS TO THE HEART OF THE ISSUE
(v 6)

3. The one in need of healing VACCILATED
(v 8)

WHY THIS QUESTION MATTERS:

1. Healing requires FAITH AND ACTION, and you won't pursue it unless YOU REALLY WANT TO

LUKE 14:28-31
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? ...
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

MATTHEW 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

2. People tend to ACCEPT WHAT IS FAMILIAR

3. Most of us are DOUBLE MINDED

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