Lift Up Your Eyes

Beginning the year in John 4:27-38, the focus centers on Christ’s intention for his people: participation in a harvest God has already prepared. The commission is clear—make disciples—not as a program to run but as a life to live. Authenticity, evangelism, and outreach are woven together as kingdom priorities, not church-growth tactics. The emphasis for the year is outreach, rooted in gospel conviction and partnership with like-minded churches, aiming to connect the lost to Christ, engage in discipleship, and multiply the kingdom.

Three movements emerge. First, transformed testimony. The Samaritan woman’s encounter at the well shifts her from isolation to invitation. She leaves her water jar—her symbol of avoidance—and runs to call others, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” Real grace does not merely soothe shame; it sends. Her changed life becomes the persuasive evidence that draws a town toward Jesus.

Second, reordered desires. The disciples urge Jesus to eat, but he replies, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” Even well-meaning disciples can drift into distraction. Christ redirects their appetites, teaching that obedience to the Father’s will sustains the soul more profoundly than immediate comforts. The point is not asceticism; it’s alignment—delighting in what delights God.

Third, a ready harvest. “Open your eyes and look at the fields,” Jesus says. The harvest is not postponed to a future season; it is present. Some sow, others reap, and both rejoice as God gives the increase. The joy of gospel work is shared labor—honoring those who have gone before, partnering in the present, and celebrating that the fruit belongs to God. The call is urgent and hopeful: look up, notice the prepared fields, and enter them with compassion and courage.

The invitation rings out: leave the old jar—guilt, sin, and self-protection—at the foot of the well. Receive the living water and let a new testimony spring up. This is the path into a year of outreach for the sake of the kingdom, where forgiven sinners become bold witnesses and Jesus is glorified in the gathering of a harvest only he could prepare.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Forgiven sinners become bold witnesses. Real conversion moves a person from hiding to heralding. The Samaritan woman’s shame is replaced with an honest, compelling invitation that stirs curiosity in her town. God often uses unpolished, newly redeemed voices to wake others to the reality of Christ. A changed life is itself a persuasive apologetic. [10:45]
• 2. Kingdom desire outruns natural appetites. Jesus is nourished by doing the Father’s will, exposing how easily good things become distractions from ultimate things. Spiritual strength grows when obedience is not a chore but a delight. Mature believers still need regular recalibration to keep mission over comfort and purpose over convenience. [15:16]
• 3. The fields are ready right now. Jesus refuses the myth of “later” by commanding his followers to look up. God has already prepared people; our task is attentiveness and faithfulness. Urgency is not panic—it is love that refuses delay when eternity is at stake. Lifted eyes see opportunities providentially placed in ordinary places. [19:18]
• 4. Shared labor, shared joy in salvation. Some sow for months; others reap in a moment—but the joy belongs to both because the harvest belongs to God. This guards against pride in the reaper and despair in the sower. It also invites collaboration across churches and generations, honoring unseen labor that God never forgets. [22:59]
• 5. Outreach is gospel-shaped, not program-driven. Efforts that chase numbers fade, but outreach rooted in Christ’s mission grows authentic disciples. The aim is kingdom multiplication, not brand expansion, and it flourishes through cooperation with like-minded churches. When the gospel shapes method and motive, fruit is both deeper and more enduring. [02:10]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:16] - Called to make disciples
• [01:22] - 2026 emphasis: outreach
• [02:10] - Gospel-shaped, not program-driven
• [03:16] - Main point: forgiven sinners harvest
• [04:01] - Scripture reading: John 4:27-38
• [06:35] - Transformed testimony at the well
• [09:54] - Leaving the water jar behind
• [13:36] - Reordered desires over appetites
• [15:16] - “My food is to do His will”
• [18:33] - A harvest already prepared
• [19:18] - Open your eyes to the fields
• [20:58] - Sowers and reapers together rejoice
• [23:50] - Kingdom growth over church growth
• [24:53] - Invitation: receive living water

Bible reading

- John 4:27-38

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 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 Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Observation questions

1. In John 4:28-30, what specific actions does the Samaritan woman take after meeting Jesus, and how does the town respond?
2. In John 4:31-34, what are the disciples urging Jesus to do, and how does Jesus describe his “food”?
3. In John 4:35, what saying does Jesus quote about the harvest, and what does he command his followers to do instead?
4. In John 4:36-38, what two roles in the harvest does Jesus name, and what shared outcome do they both experience?

Interpretation questions

1. “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did” invites a town to examine Jesus for themselves ([10:45]). What does this shift—from isolation to invitation—teach about the nature of true repentance and the power of a changed life?
2. “My food is to do the will of him who sent me” reframes nourishment ([15:16]). What does this reveal about how obedience can satisfy the soul more deeply than comfort or convenience?
3. “Open your eyes and look at the fields” challenges the myth of “later” ([19:18]). What kind of urgency does Jesus call for, and how is it different from panic or pressure?
4. “One sows and another reaps” highlights shared labor and shared joy ([22:59]). How does this truth guard reapers from pride and sowers from discouragement?

Application questions

1. “She left her water jar” points to leaving behind old patterns of guilt and self-protection ([09:54]). What “jar” might you need to leave with Jesus right now? What first faith step would show you’ve put it down this week?
2. “My food is to do His will” calls for reordered desires ([15:16]). What good thing most often distracts you from God’s will? What is one simple change to your schedule that would help you “feast” on obedience this week?
3. “Open your eyes and look at the fields” invites attentiveness to people God is preparing ([19:18]). Name two people or places in your daily life where the fields may be ready. What gentle next step will you take in the next seven days?
4. Some are sowers, others reapers, both rejoice ([20:58]). Which role best fits your wiring right now, and why? How can this group partner with you so that sowers don’t lose heart and reapers stay humble?
5. “It’s about the kingdom…not about [our church]” encourages collaboration beyond one congregation ([02:42]). What practical partnership with like-minded churches could you personally pursue this quarter?
6. The call this year is to outreach in our community ([01:22]). As a group, what is one outreach we can plan for the next 60 days? Who will we serve, how will we prepare, and who will own the next step?
7. Outreach must be gospel-shaped, not program-driven ([02:10]). For the outreach you just named, how will we keep the focus on connecting people to Jesus and not just running an event? What will we say, pray, and do to make that clear?