November 5, 2023
Testify
- Matt Nickoson
Sermon Notes
Luke 8:8 NIV
"Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown." When he said this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."
Luke 8:18 NIV
"Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them."
Luke 8:8 NIV
Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown." When he said this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."
Jesus believes my transformed life will produce more life.
Luke 8:26 NIV
They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.
Luke 8:27 NIV
When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.
Demonic possession is where an evil spirit takes over the thoughts, actions, and decision-making of a human. It happens but is rare.
Demonic oppression is where a person, even a Christian, is tormented or tempted by an evil spirit.
James 4:1-2 NIV
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
James 4:7-8a NIV
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.
"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them." – C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Luke 8:28 NIV
When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!"
Luke 8:29 NIV
For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
Jesus relentlessly pursues those who need him most.
Luke 8:34 NIV
When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside,
Be bold while sharing your story.
Luke 8:35 NIV
And the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
Luke 8:36 NIV
Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured.
Luke 8:37 NIV
Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
Luke 8:38-39 NIV
The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
Romans 10:14-15 NIV
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"