LIFEGATE LIVE | Sunday Gathering | Come and See Week 3

Devotional

Day 1: Mud, Spit, and Obedience

Jesus stopped mid-stride when others kept walking. His disciples saw a theological puzzle; He saw a man. Mixing dirt with saliva, He smeared mud on sightless eyes - a shocking, intimate act. The blind man didn’t debate theology or demand explanations. At Jesus’ command, he stumbled toward Siloam Pool, mud dripping down his cheeks. Obedience preceded understanding. [37:09]

This miracle reveals God’s heart for the overlooked. Jesus interrupted His journey to dignify a man society labeled “broken.” The healing required participation - not perfect faith, but simple trust. God’s power works through ordinary obedience, not grand arguments.

Many of us wait for clarity before acting. Jesus invites you to move while the mud still stings your eyes. What step is He asking you to take before you see the full picture? Where is He calling you to obey despite discomfort?

“He spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.”
(John 9:6-7, ESV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to show you one person He sees that you’ve overlooked.
Challenge: Before sunset, initiate a conversation with someone society often ignores.

Day 2: When Night Meets Light

The man groped through thirty-eight years of darkness until light exploded through cracked mud. His eyes first beheld the face that had always seen him. No theological debate healed him - only raw encounter. The miracle began when Jesus stopped. It completed when the man moved. [36:40]

Physical blindness mirrored spiritual sight. The disciples argued causes; Jesus demonstrated compassion. True transformation starts when we experience Christ’s presence, not when we solve theological equations. Encounter always precedes explanation.

You don’t need answers to meet Jesus. He comes to you in your unresolved questions and unfinished healing. What area of your life feels like perpetual night? How might Jesus be inviting you to encounter Him there?

“Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.’”
(John 9:3-4, ESV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for three specific moments He interrupted your darkness.
Challenge: Text one friend about a recent time Jesus became real to you.

Day 3: From Transaction to Transformation

The disciples’ question hung in the air: “Who sinned?” They wanted formulas - blesseds for the righteous, punishments for sinners. Jesus rejected their economy of merit. Mud became the currency of grace. The blind man received healing before proving worthiness. [35:13]

God refuses to be managed. We bargain; He gives. We calculate; He lavishes. The pool waters didn’t check the man’s theology before healing him. Grace operates outside human ledgers, transforming what we thought was beyond repair.

How often do you approach God like a vending machine? Where have you substituted transaction for trust? What good work is He inviting you to do today simply because He’s good?

“His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.’”
(John 9:2-3, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one area where you’ve treated faith like a business transaction.
Challenge: Do an act of service today without telling anyone about it.

Day 4: The Cost of New Sight

Neighbors squinted at the healed man. “Isn’t this the beggar?” Pharisees demanded explanations. Parents distanced themselves. New vision cost relationships, reputation, comfort. Yet the man stood firm: “One thing I know - I was blind, now I see.” [43:28]

Transformation disrupts. People prefer predictable brokenness over messy healing. The man’s testimony threatened power structures and comfort zones. True witness often requires losing others’ approval to gain Christ’s affirmation.

Who in your life struggles to accept your spiritual growth? What old version of yourself do others still label you as? How can you graciously persist in living your new story?

“The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘It is he.’ Others said, ‘No, but he is like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’”
(John 9:8-9, ESV)

Prayer: Ask courage to keep growing when others prefer your past self.
Challenge: Reach out to one person who’s questioned your spiritual changes.

Day 5: “I Don’t Know” Sets You Free

Pharisees circled like lawyers: “What did He do? How?” The healed man shrugged. “I don’t know.” Three words dismantled their debate. His testimony needed no footnotes: “Once I was blind. Now I see.” Argument’s chains fell where confession’s keys turned. [47:06]

Witness thrives on honest simplicity, not air-tight arguments. The man’s story pointed to Jesus without explaining Him. Your “I don’t know” can create space for God’s “But I do.” Testimony isn’t defense - it’s declaration.

What question about God paralyzes your witness? Where can “I don’t know” become an invitation to wonder rather than a wall? How might sharing your story spark curiosity in others?

“He answered, ‘Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’”
(John 9:25, ESV)

Prayer: Ask boldness to say “I don’t know” when facing unanswerable questions.
Challenge: Share one sentence about Jesus’ work in your life before day’s end.

Sermon Summary

The Gospel account in John 9 provides a clear picture of how God transforms lives and how human responses reveal the difference between arguing about God and living in the light he gives. A man born blind moves from exclusion to restoration when Jesus sees him, defends him, touches him, and sends him to wash in the pool of Siloam. That physical healing mirrors spiritual sight: transformation requires movement, encounter, and obedience more than theological explanation. The surrounding reactions expose common responses to grace. Curiosity, suspicion, and the need to control appearances show up in neighbors, religious leaders, and even family. Those groups interrogate the healed man because transformation unsettles familiar categories and threatens established assumptions.

The healed man models faithful witness by refusing to enter the courtroom of debate. He admits honest uncertainty with the words I do not know, then testifies plainly, I was blind, now I see. His testimony refuses to prove doctrine and instead points to an encounter that changed his life. The sermon presses a practical shift for everyday witness: stop defending a case and begin telling a story. Storytelling removes the pressure to answer unanswerable questions and invites curiosity rather than confrontation. It also calls for vulnerability. A true testimony exposes past blindness and present sight, and that kind of honesty can cost reputations, relationships, and comfort. Yet stewardship of the life story belongs to God, not to personal image management. The recommendation is simple and immediate: start small. Share one honest sentence about what God is doing in the context of regular relationships, then leave the results to the Spirit. Communion frames this practice as participation in the cross, the place where individual stories meet God’s greater redemption and where sight is finally restored.

Key Takeaways

1. Witness as story, not argument Sharing testimony shifts the weight from defending God to witnessing God. Stories invite imagination and curiosity; arguments demand final answers. When testimony leads, people meet the possibility of God rather than a defended doctrine. [32:50]
2. Say I do not know freely Admitting honest uncertainty removes the pressure to fabricate answers. Those three words open space for genuine curiosity and spiritual searching. Vulnerable admission often draws people closer than polished certainty ever will. [47:21]
3. Jesus sees, defends, touches, sends Transformation begins with attention and moves to relationship and mission. God notices the outcast, protects dignity, initiates closeness, then empowers the healed to join the work. True healing both restores sight and issues a sending. [36:40]
4. Steward your story for God The life story belongs to God and functions as a tool for his glory, not personal reputation. Honesty about past brokenness risks social cost but yields authentic testimony that points to God. Entrust outcomes to the Spirit and practice telling the story in small, ordinary circles. [53:06]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[29:26] - John 9: The question of sin
[29:52] - Jesus declares the light
[30:13] - The healing at Siloam
[31:06] - From argument to testimony
[36:40] - Four actions that transform
[41:15] - Interrogations and skepticism
[46:36] - I do not know; I know this
[51:52] - Your story is God’s artwork
[55:37] - Start small: tell one sentence
[60:32] - Prayer and communion

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
John 9:1-7, 24 (ESV)
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”

Observation Questions

What four specific actions did Jesus take toward the blind man before he was healed (see John 9:6-7)? How did these actions differ from the disciples’ initial response to the man’s condition?
How did the healed man respond when pressured by religious leaders to condemn Jesus (John 9:24-25)? What phrase did he repeat to redirect the conversation?
According to the sermon, what three groups interrogated the healed man, and how did each group react to his transformation? [41:15]

Interpretation Questions

Why might Jesus have used mud and the pool of Siloam to heal the man instead of doing it instantly? What does this process reveal about how God often works in our lives?
The healed man said, “I do not know” when asked theological questions but declared, “I was blind, now I see.” How does his response challenge the assumption that witnessing requires having all the answers? [47:21]
The sermon mentions that people often prefer others’ “dysfunction over transformation” because it feels more familiar. Why do you think human nature resists or distrusts radical change in others?

Application Questions

When have you felt pressured to defend God or explain suffering instead of simply sharing how He has worked in your life? What honest, one-sentence story could you share this week about God’s movement in you? [59:13]
The sermon encourages starting small by sharing stories with “your circle.” Who in your daily life (family, coworker, friend) needs to hear a specific example of how God is transforming you right now—even if it feels unfinished?
Admitting “I don’t know” can feel vulnerable. Where do you need to practice saying those words instead of pretending certainty? How might this create space for curiosity about God in a relationship?
The healed man’s story cost him socially. What fear holds you back from sharing your own “I was blind, now I see” moments? How could entrusting the results to God free you? [53:06]
Jesus saw the outcast before healing him. Who in your life feels overlooked or categorized? What practical step could you take this week to “see” them as Jesus does—not as a project, but as a person? [37:09]

Sermon Clips

This is the freedom that we have, not to build a case, but rather to share a story. We are not trying to defend God because in fact, he doesn't need us to defend him. I don't know isn't the enemy of witness. The enemy of witness is trying to come up with answers to questions we could never answer. It's saying things that that don't align with the truth of who God is. Your story is not an argument for God's existence, but a demonstration of his power. [00:49:41] (45 seconds) #StoryOverArgument

But very quickly, witness becomes less about telling the truth and more about winning an argument. And in John nine, we see this story where everybody wants an argument. Everybody is looking to fight, but the man at the center of this story, the man born blind, he doesn't bring an argument. He gives a testimony. And so in week three of this series on witness where we are learning to walk the way of Jesus, we are reminded that that God doesn't need better lawyers. [00:32:28] (37 seconds) #TestimonyNotTactics

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