Sermon by Pastor Dr Ng Swee Ming on 3 Mar 2013 - "From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment" based on John 2

1. • The Gospel of John sermon series
• Focusing at the whole area of
CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP
Transformation thru Discipling

2. Do you know ...
Over the past 24 hours :
heart beat > 103,000 times,
blood travelled 168 million miles,
breathed 23,400times, inhaling 438 cu ft of air,
ate 1.5Kg of food & drank 1.5L of liquid,
perspired 0.7L … generating 450 tons of energy,
spoke 4,800 words,
moved 750 major muscles,
exercised 7 million brain cells.
It is any wonder why many
of us are feeling so tired !!

3. The Gospel of John
KEY POINTS of John’s Gospel :
• The WORD, the LIGHT & the RIGHT
• John used SEVEN specially chosen
miraculous “SIGNS” as signpost ...
Key Verse : John 20:31: “But these are written
that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, and that by believing you may
have life in His name.”
 John 1:12 “Yet to all who
received Him, to those who
believed in His name, He gave
the right to become children of
God”

4. The Gospel of John
“Come & See” .... Bringing people to Jesus
and that is the hallmark of being a disciple ...
bringing / introducing people to Jesus ...
& helping them to grow and mature ...

5. from Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
Today’s Scripture : John 2:23-25
Now while He was in Jerusalem at the
Passover Feast, many people saw the
miraculous signs He was doing and believed
(trusted) in His name.
But Jesus would not entrust Himself to them,
for He knew all men.
He did not need man's testimony about man,
for He knew what was in a man.

6. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
John 2:23
Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover
Feast, many people SAW the miraculous signs He
was doing and BELIEVED in His name.
John 3:1-2 Nicodemus ... "Rabbi, we know you are a
teacher who has come from God. For no one could
perform the MIRACULOUS SIGNS you are doing if
God were not with him.“
John 4:45 When He arrived in Galilee,
the Galileans welcomed Him.
They had SEEN ALL THAT HE HAD
DONE in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast,
for they also had been there.

7. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
John 2:24-25
BUT Jesus would not entrust Himself to
them, FOR HE KNEW ALL MEN.
He did not need man's testimony about
man, FOR
HE KNEW WHAT WAS
IN A MAN.

8. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
Jesus, Son of God ...
KNOWS ALL men (and women)
KNOWS what is in a man
God is OMNISCIENT
God KNOWS EVERYTHING about
EVERYONE
God KNOWS EVERYTHING about you
How do you feel ?

9. Survey :
Which would you
prefer to be able to
do :
1. To be able to ‘read’
people’s mind
OR
2. To be able to ‘see’
the future ?

10. Acts 5:11
“GREAT FEAR seized the
whole church and all who
heard about these events.”

11. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
If God KNOWS EVERYTHING
about ME,
What will be my reaction ?
Quite naturally we will be
FEARFUL ...
Why ?

12. “There is someone here who cheated in
his income tax to the tune of $20,000 ?
Please own up and pay up ....”
His social security number is ....
For example ....this really happened

13. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
Sitting in the pews ...
How will you feel ?
How will you react ?

14. Jesus knew what was the stumbling
block in this man’s life ....
But Jesus did not just condemn him...
Jesus graciously allowed him to decide...
Rich Young Ruler: Matt 19, Mark 10 & Luke 18

15. John 4:28-29
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to
the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man
who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the
Christ?"
John 4:41-42
And because of His words many more became
believers. They said to the woman, "We no longer
believe just because of what you said; now we have
heard for ourselves, and we know that this man
really is the Saviour of the world."

17. Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me,
you have believed; blessed are those who have not
seen and yet have believed."

18. Reason why Jesus
did not trust “man”
Danger of only
‘Seeing the Signs’
but not the
‘Saviour’
“Seeing” Faith

19. John 6:14-15
After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus
did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet
who is to come into the world." Jesus, knowing that
they intended to come and make Him king by force,
withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.

20. John 6:60 On hearing it, many of His disciples said,
"This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
John 6:66
From this time many of His disciples turned back and
no longer followed Him.

21. Yet Jesus did trust some men ...
Luke 6:12-13
Jesus went out to a
mountainside to pray,
and spent the night
praying to God.
When morning came, He
called His disciples to
Him and chose twelve of
them, whom He also
designated apostles:...

22. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment

24. God’s Plan of Salvation for the whole of creation
God had Only ONE PLAN
John 3:16...
16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one
and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall
not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world
through Him.
18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because He has not believed in the name
of God's one and only Son.
From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment

25. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
God’s Plan of Salvation for the whole of creation
1 John 5:11-12
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us
eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He who has the Son has life; he who does
not have the Son of God does not have life.
THERE IS NO PLAN B

26. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
John 17:20-23
"My prayer is not for them alone.
I pray also for those who will believe in
me through their message (i.e. you & I),
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in
me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that
the world may believe that you have sent me.
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that
they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in
me. May they be brought to complete
unity to let the world know that you
sent me and have loved them even as
you have loved me.

27. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
Application

28. Our
VISION
 TRANSFORMING LIVES 
 EXPANDING HIS KINGDOM 

29. Our Faith as Christians or as Disciples ...
- To be Must always be
a Christian is to be
a Disciple At times be
Discipleship must but
be At all times to live
Discipleship is a
about Christian life.

30. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
Matt 28:18-20

31. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
Thy Kingdom Come...

32. Jesus & the “crowd”
No need ...
No commitment ...
But ...
He loved them...
He willingly died for them...
From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment

33. From Fear to Faith to Fulfillment
Jesus knows all man & woman
Jesus knows EVERYTHING about you –
your mind, heart, soul & body...
No child of God need ever walk ALONE
No child of God need ever say :
“NO ONE UNDERSTANDS OR CARES!”
Because God knows, understands & cares.

34. In closing just remember
 WHO You Are - GOD KNOWS
 WHERE You Are - GOD’s THERE
 WHAT You Are - GOD CARES
Need to Move from FEAR to FAITH
– Trust God
Then to Move from FAITH to FULFILLMENT
– Be a Disciple of Christ
From Fear To Faith To Fulfillment