Faithbase

All right that it is it is pouring out there Play in the rain Somebody somebody's saying to go play in the rain. All right guys So let me let me just start out by saying that it is pretty intense being in this room with the metal roof The rain is obviously being very loud. So I'm gonna do my best try to keep you guys focused over here. What's happening over here? So tonight we are starting on our series on your way and we get to talk about three different encounters that Jesus has In the next three weeks. So today we're gonna be talking about the woman at the well and today We're gonna be reading through the book of John chapter 4 and we're gonna be reading it all together So if you don't have a Bible if you don't want to look in your Bible on your phone We're gonna be having the scriptures up on the screen. But before I begin, let me just say a prayer Heavenly Father Thank you so much for this night. Thank you Lord for allowing us to gather here Lord. We ask for your protection We ask that you we are focused on your word in this moment Jesus and we ask that your Holy Spirit just speaks into our hearts Lord through your word in the name of Jesus Christ We pray amen. Okay, so we're gonna start out in the book of John chapter 4 verses 1 All and we're gonna read all the way to 42. So bear with me It says here in verse 1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisee had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John Although Jesus himself did not baptize but only his disciples. He left Judea and departed again for Galilee and He had passed had to pass through Samaria so he came to a town called Samaria called Sakaar near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph and Jacob's well was there So Jesus wearied as he was from his journey was sitting beside the well and it was about the 6th hour Meaning it was high noon. It was pretty hot and in the middle of the day a woman from Samaria came to draw water Jesus said to her give me a drink for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food The Samaritan woman said to him How is it that you a Jew asked for a drink from me a woman of Samaria? For Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans Jesus answered her if you knew the gift of God and who it is It is saying to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water The woman said to him sir, you have nothing to draw water with and the well is Deep, where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself as did his son and his livestock and in verse 13 verse 13 It continues on saying Jesus said to her everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again But whoever drinks of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again the water that I will give them will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life and The woman said to him sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water Jesus said to her go call your husband and come here. The woman answered him I have no husband and Jesus said to her you're right in saying I have no husband for you I've had five husband and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true I feel like in that moment Murray should be like be shouted out Murray Murray like as if he just revealed a whole bunch of things in her life that that apparently is true and in verse 19 It says the woman said to him sir. I perceive that you are a prophet our fathers worshiped on this mountain But you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship and Jesus said to her woman Believe me the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem Will you worship the father you worship what you do not know? We worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews and he's obviously talking about himself verse 23 It says but the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit And in truth for the father is seeking Such people to worship him God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth The woman said to him I know that the Messiah is coming and he who is called Christ When he comes he would tell us all things and it is a very epic moment Jesus said to her I who speak to you and he and Just then his disciples came back and they marveled that he was talking with the woman But no one said what do you seek or what why are you talking with her? So the woman left her water Jar and went away into town and said to the people come see a man who told me all that I ever did Can this be the Christ they went out to the town and were coming to him and meanwhile the disciples were urging him Saying rabbi eat, but he said to them I have food to eat that you don't know nothing of any do you don't know anything about so the disciples said to one another Has anyone brought him something to eat? Jesus said to them my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish his work do not say there are yet four months then comes to the harvest Look us I tell you lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life So that the sower and reaper may rejoice together But here is saying is holds true one sows and another reaps I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor for others have labored and you have entered into this labor Basically, he's saying you're about to enter a season in your lives where other people behind you have done the work and in verse 39 It says many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony He told me all that I ever did So when the Samaritans came to him They asked him to stay with them and they asked him to stay with there and he stayed there for two days and many more Believed because of his word they said to the woman it is no longer because of what you said That we believe but we have heard for ourselves and we know that this indeed is the savior of the world So I know it was a pretty lengthy time of reading but it is a pretty interesting story Especially I and what God put in my heart as to opening up the series because he is on his way to one location And he intentionally stopped in Samaria to be able to have this encounter with this woman Especially knowing that that the impact that he is going to have in this one person lives Eventually trickles down to the many in that city So but before I move forward and I can tell you guys some key points and some things that are I want to share out Of my heart we just read directly from the Bible the story about the Samaritan woman So what I want to do now is a little something a little bit different. I want all of us to go outside I'm just kidding. Okay, relax. I'm just making sure you are paying attention. Obviously, it's raining outside We're gonna watch a video clip and it's a video clip from the show called the chosen May have heard it Maybe you have not but the reason why I'm showing you guys is so one that you guys could understand Really what is happening in this moment between Jesus and this woman and also to be able to show you it's really concrete The story into your mind. So some of you guys are visual Learners of you guys are something you guys are just here So I'm just praying that somehow the story really sticks to you that you guys remember the story first of all And then after this video clip, I want to share what's on my heart as far as what in this story. So Please don't try to talk to next to the person if you you really want to if you feel like you need to talk somebody Just you can go ahead and sit in the back, but don't distract the person next to you as we were watching this kid Please that's all I ask. All right, go ahead It's pretty cool to see Modern-day directors and artists just try to do their best and basically bring the Bible back to life So that we can have a better understanding of what happened back in the days over thousands of years obviously the Bible doesn't want to just say excuse me, but Who were the names of the men that she were that she was with or or the oranges or anything like that? There's obviously some type of cinematic and artistic effect to certain levels of speculation I just want to say that To make sure you guys don't think and you're gonna tell the story of the Samaritan well and then start naming the dudes names It's not in the Bible. Okay, we're so we read what was in the Bible and that's why I did intentionally first so that you guys can basically Compare it and basically filter out what is actually exactly what the Bible says and exactly what is more just an expansion of it I guess you could say So definitely read the story in detail on your own because there's definitely a lot of good stuff in there But there's a few things that I wanted to to draw out out of this script out of this story One is the the bridging of the gap I remember when I was your age and I remember I used to say this very specific prayer quite often, which was God help me Bridge a gap between people, you know Help me Lead people to you God and even to the point where I would even pray that God help me put me in the gap and then Things start to go really tough for me like take me out of the gap You know It was too hard and when you prayed a certain there are certain prayers We pray the guy will will take you literally and put you exactly where it is, you know Especially when it comes to doing his will but just this story alone is one of my favorite story in the Bible because it just shows Jesus's character and his personality more and his care for bridging the gap between different types of generation different types of of cultures different types of people from all different types of Backgrounds, you know the Jews and the Samaritans the Samaritans were not friendly with one another so in this moment It was very very important because it was showing Jesus was showing to other people like I'm not here just for the Jews I'm here for the Samaritans. I'm here for the people like across the world. I'm here for everybody You know, so and then this even in this very moment that he has of the Samaritan woman. He is literally Having to kind of kind of if you don't know if you guys know it's kind of have to repeat himself How who he says he is and what he has to offer and I and I gotta I gotta tell you guys I think that's one of the most favorite one of the favorite things that I really love about Jesus Christ and his pursuit of us his unrelenting Like never-ending pursuit of us that even in this just one conversation that we read in the Bible and how he is even Challenging her and said I listen you you don't you don't know what what what you do not worship What we worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews and he's trying to teach her that there is Salvation coming that she may have heard of the Messiah She may have heard the price, but he was trying to basically tell like hey I am the Christ and I'm here and right in front of you which is a whole nother thing that completely blows my mind because honestly I've been there in moments even as a Christian and I'm going through stuff and God's like does he not see me? I'm right next to him. Why is he reaching out to me as a Christian? So you so you can only imagine as people who hasn't really have that deep Encounter with Christ or having you know, ask Christ into their lives where God is just pursuing them in such a way and yet They don't believe what Christ has for them and in this moment, what's really really awesome Which I want to point out here in verse John chapter 4 Verse um verse 11 It says the woman said to him sir, you have nothing to draw water with the well is deep Where do you get that living water? You know like at one point and when I'm reading this story and like it's like God talking to me in my heart and how How many times in our lives? When God has given us an answer or when God is trying to lead us towards one direction and we challenge God in a way Like man, like I don't really think you know what you're talking about I don't really think you have the resources to deal with the situation that I'm in It's sort of like putting God in the box except in this moment She didn't really necessarily knew who he was, you know It took her a little bit a couple of sentences after that to for her to understand who he was But what about us today that we know who the Christ is that we know who Jesus Christ is he knows what he has done for us on the cross yet when we are faced whether with a Healthy decision or a struggle or just something in our lives and we're just like we're not even going to God first and yet we are going You know trying to maintain control of a situation instead of going to him first and then here in verse 13 It says Jesus said to her everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again You know There's a reason why I read all this because there's so much stuff to teach out of honestly this passage alone Right here when God is teaching this woman like listen, I I am who you say who I'm saying I am I'm the Christ. I'm the one here to basically Remove that that that void in life to remove that type of starvation. Obviously, he wasn't talking about h2o Physical water, you know he's referring himself as the living water as a source for us not to to seek out other things of this world as a as a resource for for certain things And then going down towards verse Verse 21 Jesus said to her woman believe me the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem Will you worship the Father? You and then in verse 23 It says but the hour is coming and now is here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth For this for the father is seeking such people to worship him God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth Let me tell you guys that's that sentence alone when Jesus said those words and then it's not only him What of what is to come about the veil being torn and us having more of an intimate relationship with God the father? But it's also completely I'm completing properties, but it's also him assuring the woman. I listen there's gonna be I'm gonna break down the barriers I'm gonna whatever barrier that you are experiencing currently. He's talking to her at that time. I'm going to break those barriers down because it doesn't matter where you're going to worship. It doesn't matter where you are. It doesn't matter whether you are Jew or Samaritan. There's going to be at a time, the time is now. He's telling in that moment is where you're going to be able to worship God the Father, you know, within yourself, with within, with Him, with His Holy Spirit. He's basically telling of all these things that is to come. So then when we're looking at it today, where we do have the Holy Spirit, today, where we, there is no division, there is no barrier between us and God. We have that unlimited access to God the Father. Listen, you don't have to be here at Fuel on a Wednesday at 630 to worship God. You could do that in your home. You can do that in school. You can do that in grocery. It's not just clocking in coming on a Sunday morning, you know, wearing our Sunday best, making everybody believe that everything's okay in your life, when really probably it's not. No, that God is meeting you there. And that's another thing that I wanted to point out, that God will meet you exactly where you are in your life. Whether you are a baby Christian or whether you are a 70-year-old Christian, it doesn't matter because guess what? He's still your Father at whatever season you are in. And I love the fact that in that moment, He met this woman at the well, you know, and He told His disciples to go somewhere else, and then He had this encounter with this woman. Man, how many times do we need an encounter with Jesus Christ? How many times do we ask God, hey God, I need you to meet me exactly where I am in this state of mind that I'm in, in this season that I'm in, whether I'm going to go off to college or whatever, I'm about to enter into this football game or softball game. God, I need you to meet me right here. And I want you guys to take that as a key point, that God can meet you exactly where you are, wherever you are, at any time of day. It's not just on a Sunday morning, and that's what is another barrier that He was breaking down. Something else I wanted to point out in verse 29, she says, come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? You know, and it's crazy because she's kind of having, you can see the transformation. I don't know if you ever read the story and see a transformation in one sentence. She's literally at the same time telling people, hey, come and see a man who told me all that I ever did. And yet she is asking a question, can this be the Christ? So even after she even had that experience with Christ, and He told her all, like revealed it all to her, and that's what, that's another whole thing that we're going to talk about too, about the relational aspect where God does know our deepest desires, our deepest struggles, and He can meet us there. But then you can literally see in one verse just how she is transforming, how she, when she goes over to tell other people all that is happening, she is literally being transformed because of the experience and presence and relationship connection that she had with Jesus Christ in that moment. See, I want to share with you guys this interesting story that, or a little short story, of an experience that I had, probably around your age, where my thought process, and this is definitely not right theology at the time, was that Jesus loves me because He loves the person that I'm going to be. And in my mind at the time was that was the only way that I can wrap around the understanding of why God loved me so much. That He's going to love the person who I'm becoming, you know, day in, day now, and then sanctification, justification, all that stuff. And then one day I said that out loud to a mentor of mine, and he literally challenged that theology of mine, which I'm really grateful he did. He pulled out the Bible and he showed me Romans chapter 5 verse 8, and he said, God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And then he goes on to say, like, Elias, He loves you right now. He's not loving the person who you're going to be. It's not a layaway plan. It's not a financing option. That's not how it works. You know, like, that's not how it works. He's loving you fully to who He is onto you right now. And I kid you not, guys, I'm literally in tears and saying, no, that's not possible. No, I don't understand that. And even reflecting it on the past, it's like, as if my spirit, it's like, my soul understood what he was saying, but then my flesh was like, that can't be. Like, you don't know the things that I have done. You don't know where I've been. You don't know what goes on in my mind. Like, that can't be. And again, I even, like, kind of challenged the fact that, no, I'm becoming more Christlike, and that's how, that's impossible. Later on, obviously, he, using this sermon, he's like, hey, look, just go home, pray about it, because he already saw that the work of Christ was already stirring in me. And then later that day in my room, I literally could not stop crying, guys, because I realized that what he said was 100% correct, that the fact that God loved me, even in that very moment that I thought that, no, no, it can't be, that He loves the future of me, like, because, you know, why would He love a person like me? And I'm telling you guys, that one experience and that understanding with good theology allowed me to have such a deeper relationship with Christ. It allowed me to understand, like, man, you, God, you are so good. You are so amazing. And you're so fair. You're so right. You're so just. The fact that you are giving me, it's not even giving Him a chance. He already accepted me for who I was, and that it was His Holy Spirit, and it's through His reading of the Word, and just hearing the Word of God, and exactly the way my mentor opened up the Bible, and read Romans 5, 8 out loud, and just having that Word, you know, He listened to it, was the process of me just deepening my relationship with Christ. But the fact is, God 100% already loved me in that very moment. And man, I'll be honest with you, that was a little bit hard, a lot hard to understand. And then reflecting upon that experience, I'm reading chapter 4, and even seeing that verse in verse 29, come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? Woman, you just had an experience with God Himself. He told you all He has ever did. Like, you were in His physical presence, and you are still questioning Him? How could you? That was me. It was like, literally did that, like, a couple of years ago, you know. But it's a beautiful thing that the fact that that can still happen thousands of years ago, and then that happened to me when I was around your age. And guess what? God is the same. He's still saying the same words, that I'm the living water, that we thirst for certain things in this world, but when we receive His living water, we're going to start thirsting for Him, wanting Him in His presence more. And let me tell you, after that encounter, I just, I did want His presence more. I did want to deepen that relationship more. Why? Because it was the first time ever I've ever experienced that there was one person in the world that knew everything about me, and yet still loves me exactly who I am. And that loves me so much, that died on the cross for me. And that loves me so much, that is actively pursuing me, and actively renewing me, and actively just transforming into His image. But the fact is, He still loves me. So then, when I made mistakes, He still loved me. When I did a decision that wasn't within His will, He still loved me. But the fact is, when I got up and kept going, He still loved me. And if I didn't get up, and I still stayed in the ground, guess what? He met me in that place. It is the act of pursuit. It is the conviction of the Holy Spirit, where we get to call ourselves Christians. That, and I know that this world probably have minimized that word, Christian, but it is literally the definition of Christ follower. And this woman became a Christ follower of herself as soon as immediately when she understood who He was. But not only that, invited a whole freaking city to see what was going on. It is an incredible thing. You guys know that Jesus knew that that was going to happen. He knew that if He'd changed this one woman's life, the ripple effect that it would have among others. And that's another thing, and it's a whole other message, but I'm going to point on it. The ripple effect that you guys can have in other people's life is very important. And don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to blow up some eagles here, or trying to put all this pressure on you, because even the rocks can cry out Christ's name. But let me tell you, God is inviting you, just like how He invited this woman, to tell others about it. Now, why would you want to hold all that information? Why would you want to hold that relationship just for yourself? Ask that question. That's why when we, as Christians, we react by telling others. So people say like, hey, how was your day? I'm like, we're not going to be like, very good, holy brother. Oh, how are you, Lord? We're not going to be weird about it. But we, as Christ followers, if God is the main person in our lives, wouldn't we just, as natural as we breathe, is as natural as we have a conversation about Christ with others. Hey, how was your day? It was good. You know, I had this going on and everything, but you know, God is good. It's cool. God is good. Oh, you're a Christian? Like, yeah, I do. I do believe in Christ, and He's done a lot of great good stuff for me. He saved me. You know, you don't have to spill your whole story, but let me tell you guys, when you speak the truth, the truth compels people to lean in. Whether you want to believe that or not, as much as the way that this world is and says, this is the truth, when in reality it's not, the real truth compels people. It draws people in. And let me tell you, there is a responsibility upon God to draw His people towards Him. So when you are speaking the truth, and you want to share the truth, let me tell you, God is going to use you. When you are willing, He is going to use you. Sometimes when you're unwilling, He's going to use you. So let's, let me just finish on, sorry I went over a little bit here. And then here in this, in this part right here is the, the really, in verse 42, it says, it is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard it for ourselves, and we know that this indeed is the Savior of the world. You know, these people knew God in such an intimate way physically, but guess what? Even Christ Himself said that when He would go away, and He is in the physical person being in heaven right now, that's a whole other conversation if you want to have it. He left, did not leave us alone, but He had, we have the Holy Spirit with us here today. And these people, and these people, they knew how much God loved them because they, the Messiah finally showed up in their, in their lives. And knowing how, knowing how much God loves us, like I said, it does something to you. And I want to challenge you tonight. If you knew how much God loves you, is it compelling you to change? Is it compelling you to read God's Word? Is it compelling you to be in His presence? At, at much, at most, is to want to be in His presence? Because let me tell you, when you are in the presence of God, that is where the transformation is happening. When you're reading the Word, that is where the transformation is happening. I wrote this very short poem, which is, may sound corny, but it's something that God put in my heart, and I want to read it out to you guys. We live because He died. We thrive because He is now alive. We are redeemed because He deemed it so. We abide in Him because He delights in us. What great love this is. What great love for us. What great love for me. When I wrote, when I wrote that short poem, what I realized is that it is a process. It is a journey. And let me tell you, sometimes the love of God can smack you really hard, and you will understand it a hundred percent. But I, God knows that for us, it takes a little bit of a journey to understand. It takes a little bit of a walk with Him in His presence for Him to say, mind you, you are a hundred percent saved. He is a hundred percent love you, but it's the other way. Like, do we understand? Are we actively pursuing God? So, I just wanted to just share those couple words as far as a reflection upon this story. And we, next week, we're going to be talking about the story of a woman who anoints Jesus' head when He is at the Pharisee's house. And let me tell you, you do not want to miss this message. It's a comparison between the woman who anoints Jesus' head and Simon, that's his name, the Pharisee. And we're going to talk about the difference between the two and how their relationship is between Christ. And it is definitely a word that you do not want to miss because it's one that allows you to reflect, like, where are you on the side of relationship with God as far as pursuing Him? So, in this very moment, let us just bow down, bow our heads, and let's just say a prayer. Did it stop raining, Nick, out there? Okay, so let's pray. Father, thank you so much for this day. Thank you, Lord, for this night. Thank you, Lord, for your message and for your story, knowing that you had such an interesting interaction with a Samaritan woman and that this interaction just shows all the more of your character, of your personality, of your pursuit of us. I ask, as we break off into our small group, that we continue leaning on into your presence, leaning on into your word, into diving deeper into knowing who you are. We love you, God, and we thank you, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.