Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Killers 4 – Jesus and the Serial Killer

Serial killers exist, and you do not want to be at the mercy of one.
How do you spot a serial killer? Look for these things..
#1 A growing body count.
#2 Aimless, unmotivated killing.
#3 A predictable pattern.

You are at Redemption Church in Plano Texas. My name is Chris Fluitt and I welcome you today to the 4^th week of our Killers sermon series.

Killers Title

Quick review – Jesus tells us about a thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 
A killer is a person or thing that takes life. Somewhere in your life is a killer.
There are foolish killers that tempt us with a fun time, but these killer clowns have a hidden agenda.
Killing is bad, but it is always worse than you think. Homicide is also fratricide, the killing of a brother
or a sister. Homicide is also Deicide, the killing of God, because we were all made in God’s image.
Ultimately homicide is suicide. By killing others we are actually killing our self.
Today I want to warn you about serial killers.

Serial Killers

A serial killer is a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive, and typically following a predictable pattern of behavior.
If I were to ask you guys to name a famous serial killer, I bet you could all name at least one. Their names have become infamous.
Jack the Ripper was never caught on his killing spree in London in the late 1800s.
The term “boogeyman” originated with a serial killer named Albert Fish around the turn of the 20^th century.
Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Zodiac killer, the D.C. Sniper attacks… all well-known serial killers.
It is interesting that serial killers are not just an American thing. Every nation has a list of serial killers.
The deadliest serial killer on record is Luis Garavito, who in the 1990’s killed at least 138 proven victims. It is possible that this serial killer had over 300 victims.
We don’t like to think about serial killers, but they do exist, and it would be terrible for you to be at the mercy of one.
 

A serial killers checklist

All serial killers have these 3 characteristics.

• A growing body count
• The killings are aimless – no motive
• Predictable Pattern

Some people are serial killers. You see the body count grow, the aimless deaths, and the pattern. You probably know some serial killers.

• Relationships : Marriages & Friendships
• Finances
• Jobs
• Health
• Broken dreams & promises
• Churches

 
Do you know the story about Jesus and the Serial killer?

Jesus and the Serial Killer

Turn to John 4.
John 4:7 (NIV2011) When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
John 4:9 (NIV2011) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. )
John 4:13 (NIV2011) Jesus answered (speaking of the well water), “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
John 4:14 (NIV2011) but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:15 (NIV2011) The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
John 4:16 (NIV2011) He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
John 4:17 (NIV2011) “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
John 4:18 (NIV2011) The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
The woman is the serial killer.
What is the body count? 5 husbands. 5 broken marriages.
She is aimless. Never fixing the problem.
And we see the pattern. She runs to man after man. She is even with a man now who is not her husband.

Serial Killers can’t help themselves

This woman was powerless to change. It is likely that she wanted to change, yet she was not able to change.
The phrase “powerless to change” almost seems like sacrilege to us. We love independence. We like to think that we can change.
Yet serial killers can’t help themselves.
 
Serial killers are psychopaths.

• They don’t fear pain or punishment.
• Indifferent to society.
• Calloused and unemotional.
• Health experts say that a serial killer cannot be cured.
• Forever fixated on the pattern.

Controlled by the pattern

Do you ever feel like you can’t break free from the pattern? No matter how hard you try the pattern remains the same.
Romans 8 warns us about this pattern.
Romans 8:5 (NIV2011) Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
Romans 8:6 (NIV2011) The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:7 (NIV2011) The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
Romans 8:8 (NIV2011) Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
The pattern of flesh is death.
The flesh is everything that is carnal,
sinful, dishonest, lustful, hateful, and greedy.
 
Serial killers are controlled by the pattern. The woman at the well was controlled by the pattern. Let’s be honest, we too are controlled by the pattern.
If the Serial Killer could change the pattern, most would.
If we could change the pattern, we would.
We need God to change the pattern.
 
You can’t change someone’s pattern for them.
The purpose deprived killing continues because we are controlled by the pattern.
You need to avoid aimless people.
 

Ghost Ships – Avoid Aimless People

Most boating/shipping accidents are caused by ghost ships. A ghost ship is an unmanned sea vessel. Often times a ship will come untied at the dock and float aimlessly into a sea channel. In the night, when it is hard to see, the ghost ship will float right in the pathway of another ship leading to the destruction of both ships.
Avoid ghost ships. Avoid aimless people. People with no direction are ghost ships. People who just float with whatever is easiest will wreck you. AVOID AIMLESS PEOPLE.
Ask Jesus to give you a new aim.
 

Morgues – Avoid body count people

You would never want to hang out in a morgue with a bunch of dead bodies. There are people that are very much like a morgue. Everything they touch and deal with is dead.
They have never had a healthy thriving relationship. They have never had a promotion on the job, instead, they blew up the job. The body count keeps climbing with some people.
Avoid people that death always follows after them.
Ask Jesus to give you new life.
 

Controlled by the pattern

This pattern of the flesh will only bring death. There is no “but it will be different this time.” As long as you are controlled by the pattern, you will experience and endless body count of death.
 

Jesus gives a new pattern

In John 4, Jesus attacks the pattern.
John 4:13 (NIV2011) Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
This water from the well will only satisfy you for a moment, and then you will be back with the same thirst. You will be back because you are controlled by the pattern.
John 4:14 (NIV2011) but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:15 (NIV2011) The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
 
Jesus gives a new pattern. His new pattern contains new life.
Our response needs to be “Jesus, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
She was not talking about the well water any more. She was talking about drifting from one dead relationship to another. She was thirsty for new water and a new life.
You have been drawing from the wrong pattern only to get thirsty again… Jesus gives a new pattern. A new life!
John 10:10 (NIV2011) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
The pattern of this world is death, but Jesus gives life to the full.
 
A serial killer has a growing body count, aimless lack of motive, and a pattern of death.
Jesus changes the pattern, and Jesus can make you a serial life giver.

Serial Life Giver

I want you to notice that Jesus doesn’t just give life… He gives life to the full.
Jesus doesn’t just give water to sustain you.
John 4:14 (NIV2011) but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The water he gives becomes a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The water Jesus gives becomes a source of life, it becomes a well spring all its own. His goal is to not just supply you with water but for you to become a supply to others.
The old pattern is death, and the body count stack up. The new pattern is life and those that are made alive should grow after the pattern of Christ’s resurrection.
 
John 4:28 (NIV2011) Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,
She left her what? She left her water jar. She left behind the old pattern. She has a new source of living water. She goes to the people of the city.
John 4:29 (NIV2011) “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
John 4:30 (NIV2011) They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
She was a serial killer. A body count of dead relationships followed behind her, but now she is a Serial Life Giver. There is a trail of people being made alive by the living water of Jesus behind her.
Her testimony “Come see a man…” was a well spring of eternal life.
She never had to return to the old well, there was a new spring within her.

Serial Life Giver

Are you a serial killer or a serial life giver? What pattern are you following?
Is eternal life flowing from you?
Is it flowing into your relationships? Your children? Your job? Your community?