Deep Dive 14Sample

On Animal Planet the other day, there was a guy who was bitten by an extremely venomous snake somewhere in the bush in Africa. The snake bit him in the ankle and the fast-acting venom hit his bloodstream very quickly. His friends rushed him to the nearest place where he could get a ride to the hospital. It took them several hours to get him treatment. Finally, after a long series of events, the hospital staff identified the type of venom and gave him anti-venom to counteract the deadly poison.

This man's friends knew he was dying, and they did everything possible to get help for his critical condition. In today's passage, you'll see that Jesus did the same thing, except that he was responding to those in critical condition, spiritually. Jesus cultivated relationships with people who were spiritually dying and in need of serious help. His radical lifestyle was marked by love, sacrifice, and reaching out to people who needed salvation.

For the past 14 days, we've been thinking about how crucial it is to be a part of a church - a community of believers. Today, spend some time thinking about the people in your world (e.g. school, work, neighborhood) that God may be prompting you to reach out to. Many people have never experienced the love of God or the hope that he gives. What are some ways that you can be intentional about sharing Jesus with them? How can you introduce them to this idea of community?