“One Thing I Know”
Series Title: The Story That Speaks Pastor Jim Lowe III
Sunday Morning, 9:30am Stream 07/12/26 (3rd Sunday Message)
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{All scriptures are “NIV84” unless stated}
New Series:
The Story That Speaks
Each of us has a story.
We’re going to talk about what that story means. and the power of sharing it.
Message Title:
“One Thing I Know”
Today we have something different we’re going to do. We are going to read a testimony from a creative diary. Take a listen to this.
Creative Diary:
Me? I was known by what I could not do. Before people knew my name, they knew my condition. I was the man who could not see. The man who sat in familiar places. The
man people walked past. The man people talked about. Some people looked at me with pity. Some looked at me with questions. Some probably looked at me and wondered what I had done wrong. But nobody asked me what it felt like to be me. Then one day, I heard men talking nearby. They were asking about my condition again, like people had done my whole life. “Who is the one who lived so bad, him, his parents or someone else? I’ve heard questions like that my whole life. But then I heard another voice. He did not speak about me like I was cursed. He did not treat me like I was a mistake. He said my life could be a testimony to others. Then He touched me. He put mud on my eyes and told me to go wash. But something happened. I went blind. I came back seeing. After that, people had questions. Religious leaders had questions. Neighbors had questions. Everybody wanted an explanation. I didn’t have one. But there was one thing I knew.
I was blind.
Now I see.
Any idea who wrote this story?
We are talking about the blind man who had an encounter with Jesus in John 9.
What we just read…THAT is the power of a testimony. It may not answer every question, but it gives evidence that God has been at work.”
And based on the story from John 9…
we can see some points about A Story That Speaks.
Point 1: People Will Know Your Condition Before They Know Your Story
What we see about the man in John 9
John 9:1
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.
What was his name?
He was called “The Bind Man” that’s not a name
that’s his condition
He wasn’t known by anything else than his “problem.” Some of us might have been known as “The Blind Man”
but our name was different… We were called:
that failure
that sick person
the one no one wants
that person who’s divorced that troubled person
that depressed person that mistake
that failure
But we have a reminder from the blind man’s story. what he was wasn’t the conclusion to his story.
Don’t Let People Keep You In A Chapter God Has Already Turned
You aren’t who you used to be.
The Blind Man had a change to his story… so do you.
This leads us to point number 2.
Point 2: Where People See Your Condition, The Lord Sees A Story With Purpose!
John 9:1-2
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
As Jesus went along…he saw a man… the disciples asked who did it?
Why would they ask that?
He was BORN blind…
he couldn’t have done anything if he were BORN blind.
It goes to show how people will do you… Tell someone something happened…
“well what did YOU do?”
“You must have done something where God is punishing you…”
Just like Job’s friends - ‘God only punishes the wicked’…so what are you doing? who are you doing it with?
what are you saying? what are you thinking?
Jesus answered that though… When they asked him who sinned:
John 9:3
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
Jesus was showing that there was a reason for this…. so the work of God could be displayed in his life.
Pain May Be Part Of The Story, But It Doesn’t Get To Write The Ending!
Jesus is telling us that pain has a purpose…
those things that others want to know you for… he has a plan for!
Point 3: Your Story Requires Your Participation!
John 9:6-7
6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
Jesus did the work…
it took the obedience to unlock it.
The healing didn’t happen until the man washed. until he had done what he was told
that MEANT that he had to go to the Pool still blind.
Sometimes Deliverance Requires You To Keep Moving Before You See Results!
What are the things the Lord has told you to do you haven’t done yet? If the bible says:
“the man went and washed, and came home seeing…” all he needed to do was what he was told!
There was a similar story in Luke 17 where 10 people with Leprosy came to Jesus. they asked to be healed…
Jesus told them to show themselves to the priests. the bible says AS THEY WENT…
AS they were obedient…
AS they were doing what the Lord told them.
Sometimes Your Story Is Waiting On You To Finish It!
What are some of the things the Lord has told you to do?
what are some things you know you need to STOP doing? maybe your story is waiting on YOU to change something.
But back to the blind man.
So the man received his healing…
and afterwards…everyone wants to figure out HOW it happened.
Who did it??
Who is this Jesus??
Jesus isn’t a holy man…so who healed you?
They had all these questions and statements… which goes to the last point:
Point 4: Your Story Doesn’t Have To Explain Every Detail!
So what happened?
John 9:8-12
8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” 10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they demanded. 11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” 12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.
They’re all trying to figure out what happened here.
John 9:13
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.
Wait…they brought who??
The man who HAD been blind?
I thought he was the blind man!
I love this because while he used to be defined by his past… there was someone who could change his name.
He was no longer know as the Blind Man
He was now known as the man who HAD been blind.
But they begin to ask all type of questions. “How can you see?”
He says: “I did what the man told me to do” They say: “Jesus did it?”
“He’s not from God if he’s healing on the Sabbath.” “If he’s not from God he’s a sinner…”
They’re trying to figure this thing out.
They ask his parents how he can see…
they get into an argument with each other…
John 9:24-25
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” 25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
And that’s the point behind the entire message today.
They wanted him to explain what he couldn’t explain… they wanted answers so they could disprove it…
but he refused to let what he didn’t know silence what he DID know.
They kept asking the man…
he says he doesn’t know what they’re talking about… all he knows is he is NOT who he used to be.
Too many times we are quiet about our story because we don’t want to have to “defend it.” We know people will be asking questions to try to invalidate it.
They don’t want to understand… they want to discredit you.
they want to say God didn’t do it.
But that’s even more reason to not keep quiet!
Your Story Doesn’t Have To Explain Everything - Just Be Honest About What You Know!
don’t worry about what others can say about YOUR testimony!
What you know is what you had before…is gone.
You were delivered from that situation. You were healed.
Your children were headed.
You walked away from that accident. You were delivered from that addiction!
Your God did something amazing for you… because who you used to be…
you no longer are!
Your Story Should Be Spoken!
We’ve learned something about the blind man and his story. we read a creative diary detailing his story.
Point 1: People Will Know Your Condition Before They Know Your Story!
Point 2: Where People See Your Condition, The Lord Sees A Story With Purpose!
Point 3: Your Story Requires Your Participation!
Point 4: Your Story Doesn’t Have To Explain Every Detail!
EACH of you have a story…
This week…let’s begin to start asking the Lord to reveal to us one of those stories.
Some we may remember…
some we may have forgotten…
but we need to start remembering… Because those stories need to be told.
Let’s start focusing on that.
Because the blind man’s testimony told of a life that was changed… because of an encounter he had with Jesus.
This Week:
Pray To Remember The “One Thing.”
The blind man did not have a microphone, a platform, a title, or a complete explanation. But he had a story. And when people questioned him, his story spoke.
His story changed someone… He didn’t sit on it.
We are still taking testimonies.
The stories of what the Lord did for you. or for your family.
financial blessings healings
miracles deliverance
Let’s not sit on those stories… they healed you…
but they were meant to help others!
Somebody may not understand everything about your journey, but they need to hear what you know: I was lost, but God found me. I was broken, but God kept me. I was grieving, but God comforted me. I was blind, but now I see.
