00:00:35.040 Good morning. Welcome, everyone, to Freedom Church.
00:00:38.269 Can we give God a great big hand? He is so good. He is so worthy.
00:00:43.240 Hey, if we haven't met, I'm Pastor Eric, lead pastor here, and I want to just
00:00:47.100 start by sharing with you guys as we're in this series.
00:00:49.680 We kicked it off last Sunday. We're in the second week of sharing the good
00:00:53.720 news. But I wanted to take a couple of times, every once in a while I do this, I
00:00:57.220 just want to give you a little peek into how we do things here at Freedom
00:01:01.040 Church. Maybe you've been to other churches, maybe you're a part of a church,
00:01:04.340 you're visiting, you're checking things out.
00:01:06.160 Maybe you're here at the very first time at a church, or you're watching
00:01:09.840 online for the very first time. I'd like to just help you not
00:01:14.200 just try to figure it out, but I want to help you understand some things so you
00:01:17.660 have clarity, so you have expectations. And there's nothing secret we do.
00:01:21.760 I just want to help you see it so that you know what you're saying yes to and what
00:01:25.280 you're saying yes to being a part of.
00:01:27.460 So today, I just wanted to share, a couple of people have asked me recently of how
00:01:31.240 do I come up with the messages? How do I come up with the sermons, and
00:01:35.220 how do I pick the series, and some of those things?
00:01:37.200 And it all starts with prayer.
00:01:41.500 On Sunday after today, what I'll do is I go home and typically,
00:01:45.260 sometimes I try to get a nap, depends on if the kids are bad or not.
00:01:47.960 Well, I mean, they nap too. But Sunday evening typically, sometimes
00:01:51.900 Monday, I open a blank Word document and I start to type.
00:01:56.130 And that's how I type my notes every single week.
00:01:59.100 I know some people are like, "Why don't you just take Craig Groeschel's notes or
00:02:01.640 take somebody else's notes and just preach them?" And I'm like, I don't think
00:02:04.550 there's anything necessarily wrong with that, but I feel like God speaks
00:02:08.500 through me to the people that He's entrusted me to care for, to
00:02:12.280 lead, to love. That I pray for you, I care for you, I want what's best for
00:02:16.300 you. And I believe God's going to give me a specific message for us
00:02:20.380 here at Freedom Church in Murrysville in August of 2026 on a
00:02:24.340 rainy day. What's the message He has for us today?
00:02:28.660 And yes, I could copy, cut, or somebody else who did it said it better, preached it
00:02:32.500 better. I just really feel like God wants me to do— What I'm supposed to do
00:02:36.280 is write a message, and it takes a lot of work, a lot of effort.
00:02:39.360 And this goes back a couple of weeks ago.
00:02:41.800 I really felt like this Sunday was John chapter four.
00:02:44.800 It's the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
00:02:47.860 And that's all I had a couple of weeks ago.
00:02:49.700 So then this past week, as I'm preparing, I'm writing, I'm like, "Maybe
00:02:53.590 God wants to say something different.
00:02:55.040 Maybe Luke 15, maybe Luke 14." And I'm going through, looking at
00:02:59.080 different passages, different chapters, and as I'm reading, as I'm praying,
00:03:03.040 "God, what do you want to say?" I kept feeling like these are good.
00:03:06.120 The Bible's good. All the Bible is good.
00:03:08.640 But He kept bringing me back to John chapter four.
00:03:11.160 So for me to say today's message on John chapter four,
00:03:15.020 I believe it's what God wants me to share.
00:03:17.840 It's not something I came up with. I'm copywriting.
00:03:20.780 I'm copying the Apostle John, who's writing this, who's
00:03:24.600 penning this down. I plagiarize Jesus and the Apostle Paul all
00:03:28.560 the time. I plagiarize sometimes Peter, sometimes some of the other people, the
00:03:32.200 prophets, but I plagiarize them. I don't really feel good plagiarizing
00:03:36.200 from other pastors in the area, but it's all the same book.
00:03:40.140 Right? And today, as we look at John chapter four, the story of Jesus and the
00:03:43.840 Samaritan woman,
00:03:45.420 for some of you, you've probably never heard this story.
00:03:48.640 For some of you, you're like, "I've heard this for 100 times.
00:03:51.840 I've been around a while. I've heard this story before. I've read it before.
00:03:55.320 I read it every year as I read my Bible plan." But I want us to all
00:03:59.360 just try to start fresh.
00:04:01.880 It doesn't matter how many times you hear the word of God, He can speak
00:04:05.800 to us in this day, in this season, in this moment, right where you are now.
00:04:10.020 You've heard this story before, but maybe it's been a couple of years.
00:04:12.700 You're in a different place in life now than you were a couple of years ago.
00:04:16.579 Hopefully for the better. Right? But either way, we're all in different places, and
00:04:20.120 I believe God can speak to you to really encourage you, to
00:04:24.080 inspire you, maybe to convict you, to ultimately draw
00:04:28.060 you to become more like Him and less like our old selves.
00:04:31.640 So, I just want to share a little bit of how I come up with those notes, and each
00:04:35.500 week I pray and say, "God, what is it that you want to speak next week?"
00:04:39.300 Plan on talking about something, same thread, sharing the good news.
00:04:43.100 But next Sunday also, we have Kids Move Up Day.
00:04:46.240 What we do is kids are going back to school.
00:04:48.920 How many parents here are like, "Amen"?
00:04:50.850 Kids are going back to school,
00:04:52.900 but we're going to be praying for the kids next Sunday.
00:04:56.760 Kids are moving up in the kids' classrooms as well, ones who are old enough to
00:05:00.800 move from nursery to the four-year-old room and then to the first-year-old room.
00:05:04.220 The students are moving to the youth ministry. So we're going to celebrate them.
00:05:07.840 We're giving them gifts, having a little party for them in the back as well.
00:05:10.880 But wanted to let you know that's happening next week.
00:05:12.940 Make sure to bring your kids and get other people to bring their kids because
00:05:16.040 there's going to be a party in the kids' ministry next Sunday as well.
00:05:20.020 But today,
00:05:21.220 we're going to jump into John chapter four. Before we do, let's pray.
00:05:24.500 Heavenly Father, God, I thank you, God, that you speak to us,
00:05:28.480 your sons and daughters, and God, I pray you'd speak to each and every one of
00:05:32.080 us here in this room and those listening online.
00:05:35.280 God, that you speak your word in season for each and every one of us.
00:05:39.360 God, that we wouldn't all necessarily have the same next step, but God, you'd give
00:05:42.900 us our next step, how we apply your Word to our
00:05:46.860 lives. And God, may your Word come alive.
00:05:49.260 God, I pray you'd speak through me.
00:05:51.120 Help me get out of the way and just be a conduit for you.
00:05:54.560 And God, that we'd apply this word to our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.
00:05:59.440 So Jesus, He's in His full-fledged ministry at this point.
00:06:03.120 He's talking to people, He's healing people, He's doing His work.
00:06:06.360 John chapter 4 in verse 3 says, "Jesus left
00:06:09.600 Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to go through
00:06:13.600 Samaria on the way." Now, this verse, this
00:06:17.360 word, actually, to understand, some of you don't know, the Old Testament
00:06:21.160 primarily was written in Hebrew, the New Testament primarily written in
00:06:25.060 Greek. Now in the Greek, and this is the New Testament, that word had
00:06:28.860 to, it was absolutely necessary
00:06:32.780 that Jesus had to go through Samaria.
00:06:35.360 Now, there's times in our lives where we feel these convictions, we
00:06:39.160 have principles that we have to do this.
00:06:42.400 It's not something like an obligation, you're forced to do it, but
00:06:46.300 it's that compulsion of this is the right thing.
00:06:49.220 This is the thing that I feel God's really calling me, telling me, leading me to,
00:06:53.300 and I have to say yes to it. I just have to go on this mission trip.
00:06:57.520 I just have to bless this person financially.
00:07:00.040 I just have to do this thing that most of the time it gets you out of your
00:07:03.980 comfort zone, but these had to moments we see throughout the Bible.
00:07:07.540 This is when Jesus Himself, He had to go through
00:07:11.220 Samaria. Now, for most of us, we're probably not too familiar with the
00:07:15.080 Middle East and the geography. So I want to help you by giving you a map.
00:07:19.120 So a map here shows the southern region of Judea where
00:07:22.540 Jerusalem is located. The northern part, way up by there, the
00:07:26.380 Sea of Galilee, that's where a lot of Jesus' ministry took place, in
00:07:29.890 Galilee, in Jerusalem. So Jesus, in the culture of the
00:07:33.880 time, Jews would do as much as possible to
00:07:37.400 avoid that big green area known as Samaria.
00:07:41.220 Why did they avoid that area? Well, one, just geographically, it's a mountain.
00:07:45.300 It's the Mount of Gerizim, and it was actually a little bit
00:07:49.200 shorter time-wise, it was more distance, but shorter
00:07:52.820 time-wise to walk around Samaria, even though it's
00:07:56.700 much further distance to travel, it was less elevation climb.
00:08:00.100 But so the people, the Jews, would avoid Samaria,
00:08:03.920 one, because it kind of made sense walking distance-wise, but really it's
00:08:07.799 because they hated the Samaritans.
00:08:11.020 The Samaritans were a mixed breed of people.
00:08:14.000 Anybody a "Harry Potter" fan? Anybody see "Harry Potter?"
00:08:17.840 It's okay to be honest. I know we're in church.
00:08:19.320 It's okay to like "Harry Potter," okay?
00:08:21.800 I like "Harry Potter," okay? I confess it, but
00:08:24.940 I haven't seen it in a long time. But the mudbloods, right?
00:08:28.020 The people who are mixed, the humans and the wizards, they mixed.
00:08:31.380 They were mudbloods. They were treated as less than, like
00:08:34.520 disgraceful. That's what the Samaritans are to the Jews.
00:08:38.740 The Jewish people have the Jewish bloodline.
00:08:41.490 They despise Samaritans because the Samaritans were
00:08:45.360 half Jew, half Assyrian, or half Gentile.
00:08:48.560 These people who weren't followers of God, Yahweh, they were followers of all
00:08:52.540 these pagan gods. They intermarried and had these children and
00:08:56.320 generations. For 700 years, they've been battling
00:09:00.280 and hating each other. Think about how many years it's taken
00:09:04.680 for all this separation, this division to take place.
00:09:08.040 So when it says Jesus had to go through Samaria, He really didn't have
00:09:12.020 to, but we're going to get to the why He had to.
00:09:14.660 It says He goes to this village of Sychar, which is located right there near the
00:09:18.640 middle. Sychar, Mount Ebal. He gets to this village near the top of this mountain,
00:09:23.040 and there is located Jacob's Well.
00:09:26.210 So for those of you who don't know what a well looks like, this is a picture from
00:09:29.300 the Middle East, near Jerusalem. So it's not the well that we're talking about, but
00:09:32.980 it gives you an idea of what a well in this time would have
00:09:36.940 looked like. Very primitive, hole in the ground, probably some stones,
00:09:40.820 maybe some shade cover. It was very hot, desert-like.
00:09:44.680 I'm guessing at the time Jesus was there, those pressure-treated six-by-sixes were
00:09:48.600 not there.
00:09:49.980 Just a guess, but Jesus sat at a well, something similar to this. He says He sat down from His long walk, weary
00:09:57.980 from His travel. It was about noontime, so highest point
00:10:01.900 of the sun. It was hot in the day, and He sits down.
00:10:05.080 In verse 7, it says, "Soon a Samaritan woman
00:10:09.060 came to draw water and Jesus said to her, 'Please give me a drink.'
00:10:13.680 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into
00:10:17.600 the village to buy some food." Now, a couple interesting things.
00:10:21.300 If you don't study the Bible, you don't catch all the awesome details
00:10:25.300 that are in the Bible. You can just read through it and it's great.
00:10:27.240 You should read the Bible. But when you really study it, you learn context, you
00:10:31.120 learn culture, you learn geography, you learn all these things that it just
00:10:34.980 makes the picture more real. That's why I want to show you a map.
00:10:37.300 That's why I want to show you the well.
00:10:39.120 Try to put yourself in this place with Jesus and this Samaritan
00:10:43.020 woman at the well, hot part of the day.
00:10:45.780 She comes to get water and Jesus goes, "Give me a drink." Now, what
00:10:49.920 you might not realize is not only the Jews and Samaritans hate each other,
00:10:54.520 if a Jew were to touch a Samaritan or a Samaritan was to touch them, they would be
00:10:58.300 considered unclean. Again, they thought they were a subspecies of human.
00:11:02.500 Like half breeds, touch me and I'm unclean.
00:11:05.380 So they wouldn't share utensils, they wouldn't share drinks, and this
00:11:09.500 request of Jesus would've been shocking.
00:11:12.380 But He's also alone with her, which in their time especially,
00:11:16.320 it was never okay for a man and a woman to be alone together.
00:11:19.420 It was unheard of. They would've always been together with a group of friends.
00:11:22.780 They would've had family members or somebody else with them so that there was
00:11:26.760 no question of what was taking place.
00:11:29.580 But here we have Jesus, He's sitting at the well.
00:11:32.940 This woman comes to Him. Again, the disciples go into the village to buy some
00:11:36.760 food,
00:11:37.820 and the Bible never says why she is there at that time
00:11:41.840 specifically. Most scholars and people speculate that the best time
00:11:45.840 to get water from the well was early in the day when it was
00:11:49.200 cooler. Because again, they're pulling all this water up out of the well, then
00:11:53.040 they've got to carry it into the village.
00:11:54.740 They've got to carry it sometimes miles away, and it was hot doing it during
00:11:58.740 the day. It would be much better to do it in the morning when it was cooler, and
00:12:02.620 then you have your water supply all day long.
00:12:05.240 So most people speculate it's probably because she didn't want to be around the
00:12:08.940 other women Because the women would all go together to the well for
00:12:12.480 protection. There's safety in numbers.
00:12:15.080 But here is this woman coming by herself, middle day. This was unheard of.
00:12:18.580 She should not have been doing this by herself at this time.
00:12:21.780 So there's many reasons it could be.
00:12:23.640 We do not know for sure, but the woman is
00:12:27.020 surprised, for Jews refused to have anything
00:12:30.940 to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, "You are a Jew.
00:12:35.480 I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?"
00:12:40.360 Again, this tension of 700 years, this battle, this
00:12:44.420 history of Jews and Samaritans, I feel is summed up so well in her two
00:12:48.340 sentences, where she's like, "You're a Jew." And I read into it maybe a little bit.
00:12:51.900 I feel like she had a little tone, like, "You're a Jew.
00:12:54.520 I'm a Samaritan woman. Who you asking me for a
00:12:58.180 drink?" I feel like maybe there's some sass or tone to it.
00:13:01.460 Maybe I'm reading into it. You read it your way, but I read into it.
00:13:04.860 It makes it more fun.
00:13:06.840 But what the point of this is, is Jesus
00:13:10.640 broke through cultural barriers.
00:13:14.239 He's not just a Jewish man, he's a Jewish rabbi.
00:13:17.800 He's a teacher, and here he is speaking to a Samaritan woman, a
00:13:21.640 half-breed, and even women were considered less than the men,
00:13:25.420 especially in this culture. And here's Jesus speaking to this woman,
00:13:29.320 asking her to give him a drink, that if he touches her, if he touches this drink,
00:13:32.980 if he receives this, he's going to be unclean according to Jewish
00:13:37.000 law and custom. So, of course, she's shocked.
00:13:39.640 But Jesus consistently did that. He broke down
00:13:43.260 barriers that divide people. Hear me, church.
00:13:47.020 Church of 2026, there's so many things that divide us.
00:13:51.200 Jesus wants to unite us. Jesus doesn't want us focusing on
00:13:55.120 all the things we disagree on. He wants us to stay focused on the things we
00:13:59.020 do agree on. Most Christians, we agree on the most important
00:14:03.020 things, that Jesus died, was buried, rose from the dead, and he's the
00:14:06.960 only way that we can enter eternal life in heaven is through
00:14:10.820 him. That's what we should be primarily focused on.
00:14:14.700 What kind of worship music? When do we do this in a service? How do we do that?
00:14:18.640 We got to stop fighting and arguing over those things we disagree on and
00:14:22.820 stick to the core doctrines of the gospel.
00:14:26.260 If we do that, stupid things won't matter and the most important
00:14:30.160 things will matter. Because here's the reality.
00:14:32.460 There are tens of thousands of people all around us in this local
00:14:36.320 area that I believe don't know Jesus. They're not going to church.
00:14:39.460 They don't profess to be followers of Jesus.
00:14:42.120 If they don't turn to Jesus, guess where they're going to spend eternity?
00:14:46.040 Separated from God in eternal damnation.
00:14:49.300 We should care so much about that more than how we do our
00:14:53.040 thing and how somebody else is doing something different than us.
00:14:56.660 We got to get back to focusing on the main thing.
00:14:59.700 So Jesus replies to her. She challenges, asks this question, a fair
00:15:03.340 question. Jesus replies in verse 10, "If you only knew
00:15:07.620 the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to,
00:15:12.080 you would ask me and I would give you living water."
00:15:17.560 I don't believe this statement is just for this woman at the well.
00:15:20.840 I believe this statement is actually for each of you and myself included,
00:15:25.280 that you don't know. If only you knew the gift God has for you.
00:15:30.040 If only you knew the value. If only you knew your worth, the
00:15:33.840 precious value and worth of Jesus's blood that was shed for you.
00:15:37.450 If only you knew the value of eternal life, that God sent
00:15:41.430 his Son to lay his life down for you.
00:15:44.180 If only you knew the value, the gift.
00:15:46.820 Again, it's a gift, not because we can earn it, but because he freely
00:15:50.760 gives it. If only you knew the gift God has for you and who
00:15:54.800 you are speaking to.
00:15:56.840 Do you realize this? When we go to prayer, when we go to God in prayer, we're
00:16:00.880 speaking to the creator of the universe,
00:16:05.080 the creator of the universe who holds it in the palm of his hands,
00:16:09.220 that he has control and power over all things.
00:16:12.630 And here's this God that we can speak to, and he converses, and he wants
00:16:16.620 a relationship. If only we knew who we were really
00:16:20.760 speaking to, we would ask, and he would give us living water.
00:16:25.280 That God's plans for us are ultimately
00:16:28.960 good, even if it doesn't feel like it.
00:16:32.410 The times in my life where I've been closest to God have often
00:16:36.220 been the most difficult times in my life. Any of you relate to that?
00:16:40.560 Some of your lowest points, your hardest times, your trying times are
00:16:44.560 when you pray the most, are when you go out, cry out to God the most.
00:16:48.760 Because our prayers look a lot less religious and
00:16:52.540 organized and look like, "God, help me.
00:16:55.380 I need you." Those are the times I believe God is
00:16:58.780 so joy-filled because he knows his children are calling for him as his Father.
00:17:04.700 Some of our lowest points can be the best things that happen for us.
00:17:08.580 That's for me. I was hopeless. I was broken.
00:17:11.000 I was in desperate need of saving, and I didn't even know
00:17:14.980 it. Maybe that's where you are today, that God has a gift
00:17:18.840 for you. He wants you to know who you're speaking to, and he has living
00:17:23.040 water. It's himself. It's eternal life available for you.
00:17:27.520 In verse 11, she responds, "But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket."
00:17:31.900 She said, "This
00:17:33.280 well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?
00:17:36.350 And besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this
00:17:40.340 well? How can you offer better water than he?"
00:17:45.010 And we often will do just what she did.
00:17:47.480 Jesus just tells her how there's this amazing gift of eternal life.
00:17:51.000 There's this living water that's available, and she flips it from
00:17:54.840 a supernatural God thing to a very natural thing.
00:17:58.900 But you don't have a rope or a bucket,
00:18:01.200 right? When God says, "Hey." "God, I can do the impossible." And you
00:18:05.100 say, "But I don't have a rope or a bucket." When God says, "I
00:18:09.060 can heal you physically of that sickness or that illness." "But I don't have
00:18:12.980 health insurance." But I don't know my doctor," or, "I don't have enough money to
00:18:16.772 pay for the bills." No, God says, "I can restore
00:18:20.652 that relationship in your life." But they were wrong,
00:18:24.772 and I'm not very good with my words, and I don't want to say sorry. Right?
00:18:27.532 Or God says, "I'm going to provide for you.
00:18:30.472 I'm going to make sure there's more than enough.
00:18:32.272 You don't have to worry and stress about your stuff, because
00:18:36.012 God is a God who provides." And we say, "But I don't have a job.
00:18:40.132 I don't have a good resume. I don't have this or that." And we
00:18:43.412 minimize what God is saying He wants to do
00:18:46.132 supernaturally by only focusing on the natural.
00:18:50.052 So God says you can be forgiven. God says you can be saved.
00:18:54.112 God says you can be healed, you can be free, you can live a life of
00:18:57.752 freedom. And if we don't get our focus off of the natural, of
00:19:01.352 trying harder, being good, doing more, we'll miss out on
00:19:05.172 receiving what God says is available to us.
00:19:08.732 He says there's living water, and we go, "But there's no
00:19:12.592 rope. There's no bucket. I don't know how to get there."
00:19:15.592 Go to the one who does know. Isaiah 55 says it this way.
00:19:18.712 God says, "'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the
00:19:22.632 Lord. 'My ways are far beyond
00:19:26.112 anything you could imagine.'" Catch this, that
00:19:29.792 God says his thoughts, his ways are so much
00:19:33.512 better. There's not enough English words to explain how much higher,
00:19:37.412 how much better God's ways and God's thoughts are than
00:19:41.292 our thoughts. Anybody else have bad thoughts?
00:19:44.632 Maybe small thoughts? It's okay. You're in church. You can be honest.
00:19:47.652 I have bad thoughts at times. When I'm driving down the parkway and somebody cuts
00:19:51.372 in front of me, sometimes a bad thought creeps in. Okay? Let's be honest.
00:19:55.292 We have these thoughts, and sometimes it's just our plans, our
00:19:59.352 strategy, my life plan, or my goal is
00:20:03.172 so much smaller than what God's plans and God's goal is for
00:20:07.152 your life. In verse 13, Jesus replies to the woman.
00:20:10.892 He says, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become
00:20:14.672 thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will
00:20:18.432 never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring
00:20:22.312 within them, giving them eternal life."
00:20:26.752 Jesus is giving fresh water. He's giving living water.
00:20:30.192 Jesus is known as the river of living water. You know what a river does?
00:20:34.412 Apart from a bucket, if you have a bucket of water and you scoop some
00:20:38.272 out, guess what? The bucket gets lower.
00:20:40.672 But when you have a river and you scoop some out, it just keeps going because the
00:20:44.872 source just keeps flowing. Jesus is a source.
00:20:48.392 Jesus is flowing. He's not limited.
00:20:51.152 You can't have too much Jesus. You can get as much of that
00:20:54.952 river of Jesus as you want. He's not going to run dry.
00:20:58.652 Our problem is we look at the bucket.
00:21:00.772 We come to church on Sunday, we get our buckets filled up, and we wonder why by the
00:21:04.132 end of the week there's nothing left.
00:21:05.832 Because we're living in a bucket rather than living in the river of
00:21:09.752 living water, which is Jesus. Religion will give you a bucket,
00:21:13.732 will get you by. Jesus will give you a relationship that'll keep
00:21:17.492 sustaining you well beyond when you leave this room today.
00:21:22.012 We must tap into that living water.
00:21:24.832 He offers something that's not stagnant, not dead, but alive, and
00:21:28.732 it ultimately leads to eternal life with Him.
00:21:32.212 He says, "You're going to get thirsty if you drink this water.
00:21:34.812 But when you drink of me, you'll never thirst again.
00:21:37.652 You will not become thirsty." She says, "Please, Sir, give me this
00:21:41.432 water."
00:21:43.092 It clicks for her. She's like, "Give me this water.
00:21:45.022 Then I'll never be thirsty again. I won't have to come here to get water."
00:21:49.072 Now, I think she's thinking there's some magic potion, or there's some secret
00:21:53.132 thing, or maybe that never-ending well that I want to be a part of.
00:21:56.952 She's still thinking somewhat naturally, but she goes, "Give me that water." That's
00:22:00.672 a perfect response that she has when she realizes, "Man, I'm
00:22:04.692 coming here day after day, week after week, month after month in the
00:22:08.532 hottest part of the day to get this water.
00:22:10.812 I don't want to do this anymore."
00:22:12.712 You know what that looks like in our day and age is you try harder,
00:22:16.992 you do a little better, you go to church, you pray a little bit, you read your
00:22:20.572 Bible verse on the day, and you do
00:22:23.372 which is all good. But if you're doing that to quench the
00:22:27.132 thirst that you have to really know God and be spiritually
00:22:30.972 satisfied, you're going to be coming back all the time, and you need to come back
00:22:34.912 for more, rather than having that living relationship from a
00:22:38.952 living well that is Jesus. He says,
00:22:42.862 "Go and get your husband." And she responds, "I don't have a
00:22:46.832 husband." Now, Jesus knows all things.
00:22:50.512 Did he miss it? He tells her to go get your husband, and she says, "I don't
00:22:54.452 have a husband." Was Jesus wrong? Well, no, because he says, "You're right.
00:22:58.232 You don't have a husband, for you have had five husbands, and you aren't
00:23:02.072 even married to the man you're living with now.
00:23:04.652 You certainly spoke the truth."
00:23:08.372 Now, we all have tried to fill a hole inside of us.
00:23:13.792 I'm sure somebody's quoted some famous pastor or theologian at
00:23:17.692 some point that there's a God-shaped hole inside of each of us, and whether that's
00:23:21.652 theologically correct or not, I believe that's true, that we all are seeking
00:23:25.572 something true. We're all seeking what is truth.
00:23:29.012 We're all seeking purpose. We're all seeking fulfillment.
00:23:31.952 And sometimes we try to fill that with temporary joy, with
00:23:35.752 temporary pleasures, with temporary freedom.
00:23:38.472 Sometimes it looks like we try to get to this place where we're going through
00:23:42.352 life and we say, "If only I could get a bottle of wine.
00:23:45.632 If only I could just binge for five hours on Netflix," or, "I just
00:23:49.552 can't wait to get to the next vacation." How many of you got on vacation where you
00:23:52.592 came back more tired than refreshed?
00:23:55.072 That seems to be the case more often than not, but we try to fill
00:23:58.632 ourselves with all the wrong things rather than going to
00:24:02.612 Jesus first. And I absolutely love that Jesus did
00:24:06.312 not shy away. He never shied away from speaking truth
00:24:10.072 about sin. He says, "You don't have a husband.
00:24:12.632 You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now is not
00:24:16.532 even your husband." He calls her out saying, "You're living in sin now.
00:24:20.932 You're not married to the guy you're with.
00:24:23.072 If it was at least husband number six, it would be better, but you're living with a
00:24:26.692 man who you're not even married to." Jesus never backed down from
00:24:30.232 speaking the facts. He spoke truth
00:24:34.262 But he did it in grace and in love.
00:24:37.582 And truth and grace, when it's combined together and delivered well, it
00:24:41.102 brings freedom.
00:24:43.022 This woman needed to be called out, but in a loving way,
00:24:47.022 and Jesus, being the perfect one to do it, he calls her out.
00:24:50.022 And I notice something too, he doesn't ever identify
00:24:53.282 her with her sin.
00:24:56.222 He doesn't say, "Hey, you promiscuous woman.
00:24:58.422 Hey, you..." whatever label he could put on her.
00:25:01.202 He never identifies her with her sin, but many times, we
00:25:05.162 do that. I'm an alcoholic. I'm a drug addict. I'm this.
00:25:09.202 I'm an adulterer. I'm... And we make that our identity, rather than know that
00:25:12.862 that's your lifestyle, that's behavior, that's sin, that's wrong, but that's
00:25:16.762 not who you are. That is not your identity, that's not your
00:25:20.542 value, and we need to break off those lies of
00:25:24.102 identifying with our sin instead of...
00:25:27.282 We still got to be honest, we got to address it, but we have to be able no
00:25:30.882 longer identify
00:25:32.622 as our sin, but identify as the one who has paid for our sin.
00:25:36.742 See, her deepest need wasn't another relationship.
00:25:40.362 Her deepest need was a relationship with Jesus.
00:25:44.922 She'd been looking for love in all the wrong places.
00:25:48.902 She'd been looking for all the right things in the wrong places.
00:25:52.402 What she needed was a relationship with Jesus.
00:25:55.612 That was the solution. That's what when Jesus said, "You've
00:25:59.502 tried all these things. Give me a shot." You've tried
00:26:03.162 religion. You've tried drinking. You've tried gambling.
00:26:06.022 You've tried finding codependency with
00:26:09.822 somebody else. Give Jesus a shot. Because guess what?
00:26:13.382 He will never fail you, he will never let you down, he will never betray you,
00:26:17.562 he will not forsake you. He's the only man that any of us could ever
00:26:21.542 truly trust in and give our lives to.
00:26:24.382 Our deepest need, not just for this woman, every one of our deepest needs is a
00:26:28.402 relationship with Jesus Christ.
00:26:31.602 She says, "Sir," in verse 19, "You must be a prophet.
00:26:34.922 So tell me, why is it that Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of
00:26:38.822 worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount
00:26:41.962 Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?" Now, I believe that
00:26:46.022 he just spoke truth to her, called her sin out and said, "Hey, you had
00:26:50.002 five husbands. You're living with your guy now." And she goes, "Let me
00:26:54.002 ask you this religious question." She diverts from, he just
00:26:58.222 spoke into her life, and she goes, "Hey, now, let's not talk about that.
00:27:01.222 Let's not talk about me. Let's talk about this idea of Jews and Samaritans."
00:27:05.012 She brings up this controversial topic. Right?
00:27:07.632 And she's looking for a religious answer, I believe, rather than
00:27:11.522 he's trying to speak to her directly. He's trying to speak to her heart.
00:27:14.982 He's trying to speak to this one woman that's right in front of him.
00:27:18.262 He gives this answer about why it doesn't really matter where you worship, but
00:27:21.802 we're going to worship in spirit and truth.
00:27:23.922 And then in verse 25, the woman says she's not satisfied with his answer,
00:27:27.942 from what I gather. She goes, "I know the Messiah is coming."
00:27:31.502 See, the Samaritans, they were still waiting for the Messiah.
00:27:34.372 The Jews and the Samaritans, they had most of the same belief of the Messiah,
00:27:38.642 the one who's going to come save God's people.
00:27:41.402 They had different kind of views on that.
00:27:43.262 But the woman said, "I know the Messiah is coming, the one who is called
00:27:47.082 Christ. When he comes, he will explain
00:27:50.462 everything to us."
00:27:53.782 And Jesus told her, "I am the Messiah." Now, remember, I
00:27:57.742 said that the New Testament is written primarily in Greek, so when I reread all
00:28:01.262 this in the Greek, her actual words were, "I know the Messiah is coming," and
00:28:05.242 his response was, "I am he, the one you speak about."
00:28:09.862 So people argue and claim, "Oh, Jesus never said he was the Messiah."
00:28:13.882 Well, when you see this conversation and she goes, "I know the Messiah's coming,
00:28:17.922 the one who is called Christ," is very clear two identifiers
00:28:22.062 of the Hebrew Messiah and the Greek Christos, that this man, when he
00:28:26.162 comes, he's going to explain everything.
00:28:27.322 He says, "I am he, the one you speak of." He
00:28:31.082 unquestionably says, "I am the Messiah."
00:28:35.162 Even Muslims in the Quran
00:28:38.182 claim that Jesus is the Messiah. They don't believe he's God, but they believe he
00:28:41.982 is the Messiah. So even Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah.
00:28:45.762 How much more should Jews and Christians see the evidence
00:28:49.762 and the facts and the history that Jesus is the Messiah?
00:28:53.102 What's the Messiah? The Messiah's the one who came to bring us good news.
00:28:56.922 He conquered sin and death. He overcame sin.
00:29:00.002 He made a payment for our sin to rescue and deliver
00:29:03.602 God's people.
00:29:05.922 He claimed it very clearly, "I am the Messiah.
00:29:09.182 I'm the one you speak about." In verse 27, just then,
00:29:13.442 he drops this bomb on her. Right? He says this claim to her,
00:29:17.362 and just then, his disciples came back.
00:29:20.922 Now they're shocked. Why are they shocked?
00:29:23.222 Well, they see Jesus talking to a woman, and it says
00:29:27.222 none of them had the nerve to ask, "Why are you talking to her?
00:29:30.042 What's going on here?" Imagine, they show up and they're like, "Who's going to ask
00:29:33.062 her? Peter, you're the one who always speaks up." I feel like the apostles will
00:29:36.942 all vote, like, "Peter, you're the one who keeps saying stuff and getting in
00:29:39.482 trouble." They'd call him out. But it doesn't say other
00:29:43.182 than what they see, because what they missed was they missed the conversation up to
00:29:46.882 this point. So they show up at the well, and all they see is Jesus, their
00:29:50.602 rabbi, their teacher, talking to a Samaritan woman of all
00:29:54.442 people. If it was a man, maybe it would be different, but he's speaking to a woman
00:29:58.482 at this well alone, and then she does what
00:30:02.482 I believe is the best response.
00:30:04.802 It's verse 28. It says, "The woman left her water jar beside the
00:30:08.842 well and ran back to the village, telling everyone,
00:30:12.402 'Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did.
00:30:16.442 Could he possibly be the Messiah?'" Could he be the
00:30:20.042 Messiah? She ran to tell people. Guess what she didn't do?
00:30:23.542 She didn't run to go take a class first.
00:30:25.922 She didn't run to go get a degree first.
00:30:27.962 She just ran and told people, "Hey, I think there's a guy who
00:30:31.882 might be the Messiah. Come and see." Come and see for
00:30:35.534 yourselves. Her first response. Now, it says she left her
00:30:39.534 water jar. She came to that well to get a jar of water, and
00:30:43.554 she left with the living water. She had no idea what she woke up
00:30:47.354 that day would be a life-changing moment not only for her, but
00:30:51.354 for her entire village as well. The day
00:30:55.414 I got saved, I was 25 years old. I got saved.
00:30:58.594 It was January 5th. It was cold. It was winter.
00:31:01.014 The first thing that happened, I was in Charlotte, North Carolina, at a conference.
00:31:04.474 I started telling everybody around me, "I just gave my life to Jesus.
00:31:07.594 I just became a Christian." And I told the people.
00:31:10.014 I got in the car, the people that drove with me down there, I got in the car with
00:31:12.774 them, I started telling them. I called my mom, I called my dad, I called my
00:31:16.074 brothers. I'm telling everybody, I'm like, "Guys, I just became a Christian.
00:31:19.154 I just got saved. I know Jesus now." And guess what most of
00:31:23.134 their responses were? "Okay, cool."
00:31:27.394 And I was depressed about it. I was like, "You're not nearly as excited
00:31:31.134 about this as I am. Do you not realize what..." As
00:31:35.254 little as I knew, I knew something changed.
00:31:38.134 I knew my life was heading this direction, now I'm heading this direction.
00:31:42.054 I knew that I was a new creation. I didn't have all the theological terminology
00:31:45.964 yet, but I knew God changed my life in that moment, in that
00:31:49.594 day. And I wanted to tell people about it.
00:31:52.134 And so much so that when I got back that week from Charlotte, I went down to
00:31:55.694 Oakland and started just talking to people on the street.
00:31:58.354 I went down with a group of other people, and we set up a table and just started
00:32:00.954 praying for people. I had no idea how to pray, but I tried.
00:32:04.734 I said, I just listened to what they did, and I repeated it to this person.
00:32:07.434 I listened to this guy talk to this guy, and I went over and talked to this
00:32:10.034 homeless guy. And we just loved on people, and I bought them McDonald's, and I gave
00:32:13.694 them shoes, and I was like, "What can I do to tell more people about
00:32:17.714 Jesus?"
00:32:19.374 But sadly, guess what happened along the way?
00:32:23.134 I'll be honest that all these years now since that moment, I
00:32:26.734 feel that passion fades.
00:32:29.834 That excitement isn't always there like it was those first few
00:32:33.594 weeks, first few months of my life.
00:32:36.154 And regrettably, I go,
00:32:38.074 I have to go back to that moment, go back to that time where I go,
00:32:41.944 "God, where was I on that day?
00:32:44.774 Where was I on January 4th?"
00:32:47.354 I was depressed. I was miserable. I had all this stuff on the outside,
00:32:51.274 but inside, I was empty.
00:32:53.354 I was nothing on the inside, and I was looking for all the right things
00:32:57.354 in all the wrong places. I was in relationship after relationship.
00:33:01.014 I was going from job to this to that, and I was empty inside.
00:33:06.114 And I know on January 5th, something changed in my heart.
00:33:08.694 God changed my heart. He removed my heart of stone and gave me a heart of
00:33:12.674 flesh. He gave me a new life. And I wanted to tell as many people
00:33:16.614 about it as possible.
00:33:18.514 And I'll be honest, it fades. If you've been serving Jesus for decades,
00:33:22.494 you know what I mean. That passion maybe isn't there anymore.
00:33:26.324 That light, that fire, that excitement, that boldness, like, "I don't care what
00:33:30.334 anybody has to say, I'm going to tell people about Jesus."
00:33:34.534 Right? It's like when you first get engaged, you tell everybody, "She's
00:33:38.154 amazing. She's wonderful. She's beautiful." What happens after you're married 10
00:33:41.974 years? You're like, "Eh, she's all right."
00:33:45.994 Let's just be real. That shouldn't be the case, but I still say my wife is the
00:33:49.834 hottest person. I love my wife. She's amazing. She's phenomenal.
00:33:53.534 The way she loves, the way she sings, the way she worships, the way she prays, the
00:33:57.034 way she cares for our kids, that never gets old.
00:34:00.334 Who she is as my bride, I call her my beloved because I never want to forget the
00:34:04.234 day we got married, she was my beloved bride. She's always going to be my bride.
00:34:08.214 She's not my old lady. She's not the old hag.
00:34:10.435 She is my beloved, my bride until the day one of us
00:34:14.134 dies. Amen?
00:34:18.765 Let's stir that passion. Let's get that passion.
00:34:20.495 It's not something you work up with emotion, but remembering what you've been saved
00:34:24.515 from, what you've been saved for, and what you've been saved
00:34:28.214 to,
00:34:29.574 I believe will result in that passion stirring up within you again.
00:34:32.924 And realizing, do I fear man or do I fear God?
00:34:36.464 Do I want to serve man or do I want to serve God?
00:34:39.634 Galatians 1:10 says that if we live to serve man, we're not really servants
00:34:43.554 of Christ. So overcoming the fear and some of the reasons why
00:34:47.574 we don't share our faith or share our story ultimately has to be
00:34:51.455 rooted in our love and fear of God, first and foremost. So what happened?
00:34:54.955 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.
00:34:59.114 Now get this,
00:35:00.734 Jesus just radically changed this woman's life. He tells her all these things.
00:35:04.234 She runs to the village. All the people come streaming out.
00:35:06.814 It says a crowd of people come out of the village, and what do the disciples do?
00:35:10.554 They say, "Hey, Rabbi, you should eat something." They're focusing on food.
00:35:14.574 Now, I want to be nice to them first because I think I'm going to be mean to them
00:35:18.394 in a second. But the disciples, I think they're trying to help Jesus.
00:35:21.354 They're like, "Hey, man, you haven't eaten all day. We're all hungry.
00:35:24.214 You should eat something." Or they see the crowds, and they're like, "You need to
00:35:26.634 get your strength up because this prayer line is probably not going to end
00:35:30.494 until dark." So maybe that's why they were like, "Rabbi, eat something."
00:35:34.534 But I find that unfortunately, many of these
00:35:38.214 disciples are just like Christians today, and I'm talking myself included
00:35:42.154 in this, where God is doing miraculous things.
00:35:46.234 Do you realize right here in Murrysville, there are dozens if not more, dozens I'm
00:35:50.174 aware of and know of, of teenagers who are seeking to learn the
00:35:53.994 Bible. They're hungry for the word of God.
00:35:56.634 Multiple dozens, not two dozen, multiple dozens.
00:36:00.574 I believe hundreds of kids right here in our community are looking for truth.
00:36:04.814 They're hungry for truth. They want to know who Jesus is.
00:36:07.294 They want to know purpose. They want to find a hope.
00:36:09.514 They want to have meaning in their life because they're living without it every
00:36:12.994 single day. The tens of thousands of people that don't know where they're going to
00:36:16.874 spend eternity, most likely on the path of hell and destruction, they're
00:36:20.814 looking for answers. They're looking in all the wrong places.
00:36:23.994 They're going to the bars, to apps online, dating apps.
00:36:27.334 They're looking for everything else, and they don't realize the answer is in Jesus
00:36:30.914 Christ. And all these people, all this stuff that's happening, God—
00:36:35.094 ... moving. I believe God is moving and reviving things in our local
00:36:38.974 community, in our school. And many of us, unfortunately, we are
00:36:42.814 more concerned with the Steelers training camp, or more concerned with our
00:36:46.654 fantasy football league, or more concerned about what we're going to eat for lunch
00:36:50.154 today because we're all hungry now. Right?
00:36:52.194 Instead of being so consumed with what is God
00:36:55.994 doing. The disciples here are worried about food.
00:36:59.534 Jesus is worried about the people who are coming to see him and
00:37:03.334 encounter him. Jesus replies to them, he says, "I have a
00:37:07.034 kind of food you know nothing about."
00:37:11.494 The disciples like, "Did he order DoorDash?
00:37:14.534 How did he get food? There's nobody around this place, right?"
00:37:18.924 "Did someone bring him food while we were gone?" they asked themselves.
00:37:22.214 And Jesus explains, he says, "My nourishment comes from doing the will of
00:37:26.214 God who sent me and from finishing his
00:37:29.874 work."
00:37:31.754 The most fulfilling and satisfying thing that I believe
00:37:35.544 any of us could do is to be living in the purpose that
00:37:39.294 God has given you in your life.
00:37:42.634 The purpose, my purpose, and I believe it's for anybody, the greatest
00:37:46.474 joy you will ever have is helping point somebody to Jesus.
00:37:50.914 If you ever get the opportunity to pray with somebody, to accept Jesus, to give
00:37:54.574 their life to Jesus, if you ever get the opportunity just to invite someone to come
00:37:57.754 to church and they raise their hand and they give their life to Jesus, and they're
00:38:01.154 calling you or they're texting you or they're telling you because you're sitting
00:38:03.354 next to them saying, "Hey, I just gave my life to Jesus.
00:38:05.614 What do I do now?" That should be the most satisfying, fulfilling thing that
00:38:09.554 ever could take place. Because guess what?
00:38:11.134 We celebrate babies, we celebrate new lives, we should be
00:38:14.914 rejoicing with every single person that gives their life to Jesus for
00:38:18.454 eternity. The Bible says the angels rejoice in heaven when one
00:38:22.234 sinner repents and turns towards God.
00:38:25.334 That should be the most important and the biggest celebration we could ever
00:38:29.274 have as a church, especially. So what takes place, verse
00:38:33.134 39, many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus
00:38:36.954 because the woman had said, "He told me everything I ever did." Just a
00:38:40.934 quick mention. It says many of the Samaritans.
00:38:43.213 It doesn't say all of the Samaritans. So I want you to take some pressure off.
00:38:47.374 Only Jesus saves, and Jesus is the Messiah right
00:38:51.294 in front of these people, and he still didn't have all of them convert. Right?
00:38:54.974 He didn't have 100% success rate necessarily, but many of
00:38:58.674 them. So when people reject you, you're just like Jesus.
00:39:02.123 People rejected Jesus, and he's doing these miracles, raised Lazarus from the dead,
00:39:05.914 and they still rejected him. So people are going to reject you.
00:39:09.234 People aren't going to receive you every single time.
00:39:12.074 It doesn't mean we stop. It means we simply obey what God tells us to do.
00:39:15.954 So many people come because the woman had said, "He told me everything I
00:39:19.914 ever did." When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their
00:39:23.794 village, so he stayed for two days.
00:39:26.014 In verse 41, long enough for many more to hear his
00:39:30.014 message and believe. Then they said to the woman, "Now we
00:39:33.794 believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we
00:39:37.734 have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed
00:39:41.694 the Savior of the world."
00:39:45.574 Notice this. She didn't save the people.
00:39:48.414 Her story didn't save the people.
00:39:51.794 Jesus saved the people. His message, his good
00:39:55.774 news is what ultimately did the work of saving them, that they
00:39:59.714 came to understand this place that now we know he is
00:40:03.414 indeed the Savior of the world. Your story,
00:40:07.484 and you included, me included, none of us save anybody.
00:40:11.534 But what we do is we share our story that then invites
00:40:15.343 people to want to hear more, and then Jesus saves them.
00:40:19.274 But if you don't share your story, you don't invite other people to
00:40:23.094 come hear and learn about Jesus, then how are they going to be
00:40:26.854 saved? Romans says that unless someone goes and tells them, how can they
00:40:30.794 hear? How can they believe if no one speaks, right? As we talked about last week.
00:40:35.534 Your power, your ability comes in your story, your testimony,
00:40:39.794 what you have personally experienced.
00:40:42.494 Even if it's simple as, "Man, I love church because these people are nice people.
00:40:45.894 We need more kind people in the world.
00:40:47.774 Come sit with me." And then let them hear about Jesus.
00:40:51.533 Let them believe that as we worship God, and they don't even know this God that
00:40:55.354 we're worshiping, and they say, "There's something real to this." As we open the
00:40:59.254 scriptures and read the Bible, God's word can speak to them and can draw
00:41:03.114 them to himself.
00:41:05.534 Here's the reality. The good news is available to all.
00:41:10.634 You know, right before Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well, the Samaritan
00:41:14.694 woman, he was meeting with Nicodemus, a super religious Pharisee.
00:41:18.074 He was
00:41:19.094 one of the top guys of the Pharisees.
00:41:21.534 Whether it's religious people or sinful people, the good
00:41:25.614 news is available to all. It's one of the best parts of the
00:41:29.594 good news. The gospel is available to all.
00:41:33.554 Our job, your job, your one step this week, if I had
00:41:37.514 to give you one thing to do, will you invite one person to come with you next
00:41:41.414 week? Will you invite one person to watch online?
00:41:44.374 Will you
00:41:45.354 share things on social media, share things on the website, go on the website and
00:41:49.294 watch it and share it with other people.
00:41:51.194 Will you invite one person in the next week? It's really simple.
00:41:54.954 Just text them. If they say no, invite them next week.
00:41:57.934 Invite them next week and say, "Hey, I'm going to invite you every week until you
00:42:00.874 say yes." They'll probably show up, right?
00:42:03.354 Because we know and believe what we've experienced, and we want
00:42:07.354 what's best for them. That's why we want to share the good news with as
00:42:11.234 many people as we can. I'm going to close here.
00:42:13.474 Revelation 22, verse 17.
00:42:16.714 "Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who
00:42:20.574 desires drink freely from the water of life."
00:42:25.054 Jesus is the living water. And you know if you're ever
00:42:28.674 thirsty, you're already dehydrated a little bit, right?
00:42:31.174 And that thirst that we have, that desire we have that we need to keep coming
00:42:35.134 back can only be fully satisfied in Jesus Christ.
00:42:39.774 Could you please stand to your feet?
00:42:44.094 I just want to offer you two things.
00:42:47.514 One,
00:42:48.674 if you've never experienced that living water, if you've never had that passion,
00:42:52.934 that desire to share your story with others, it could be because you've never
00:42:56.854 fully surrendered your life to Jesus.
00:42:59.254 It could be that you need to rededicate your life to Jesus and say, "Jesus, I
00:43:03.254 give my life to you. I give over control to you. God, I know I've sinned.
00:43:07.054 I repent of my sin, and I want to walk with you now." It
00:43:11.054 doesn't mean you're going to go to seminary, it doesn't mean you're going to get a
00:43:13.114 degree. It just simply means you surrender your life to Jesus.
00:43:16.694 That's the most important decision any one of us could ever make.
00:43:21.714 And the second thing is, once you've received that,
00:43:24.994 I'm inviting you to go share it. So I'm going to pray. Would you join me?
00:43:28.254 As you bow your heads, close your eyes. Let's pray.
00:43:30.254 Heavenly Father,
00:43:31.694 God, we thank you, God, for this story.
00:43:33.254 God, we thank you for what Jesus modeled for us, that he went
00:43:37.154 to those who were outcast. He went to those that culture said we shouldn't go
00:43:40.994 to. God, I pray for each and every one of us, that we would see ourselves in
00:43:44.954 this story. God, that we'd see ourselves as like the woman at the well, that we
00:43:48.914 are unworthy, we're not good enough. We have sin.
00:43:52.114 We have issues in our lives. But God, you still invite us to
00:43:56.074 come to you to receive that living
00:44:00.034 water. God, I pray for every single person in this room that is thirsty.
00:44:03.724 God, not just naturally speaking, but God, supernaturally.
00:44:06.994 God, there's people I know in this room right now who are spiritually longing for
00:44:11.014 you, spiritually longing for truth, spiritually
00:44:14.634 longing to know who you are, to have a life-giving
00:44:17.814 relationship with the creator of the universe, to
00:44:20.974 receive that living water. God, I pray just living water over every
00:44:24.954 dry area of every person's life. God, over
00:44:28.154 relationships that have been dry, over marriages that have gone dry,
00:44:31.614 over finances that have been dried up, over people's physical health who
00:44:35.524 has gone dry, and there seems to be no hope.
00:44:37.814 God, I pray living water, Jesus Christ, you personally, God,
00:44:41.754 be filling each and every person, refreshing them,
00:44:45.374 reviving them. God, bring them that fresh spring.
00:44:48.974 God, I pray, if there's anybody here
00:44:51.134 in this moment of prayer, this is between you and God,
00:44:55.134 don't leave here today thirsty. Don't leave here today wondering what your next
00:44:59.194 step is. Your next step, if you don't know for absolute certainty that you have
00:45:03.234 a relationship with God the Father because of what Jesus Christ
00:45:07.054 did, you can begin that relationship today.
00:45:10.854 And I'm going to count to three, and I'm going to ask you on the count of three to
00:45:13.374 lift up your hand if that's you.
00:45:15.874 What you're saying is, "I give my life to Jesus.
00:45:19.134 I know I've sinned. I repent of my sin, and Jesus, I want to receive that
00:45:23.134 living water from you."
00:45:27.334 Maybe you need to pray, "God, I've never had that passion.
00:45:31.014 I've never desired to share you with other people, so I don't know if I really know
00:45:34.174 you." And you want to know God in a real and personal way.
00:45:38.394 This applies for you, too. So I'm going to count to three, and I ask on three, you
00:45:42.014 just slip up your hand. I'm going to pray for you.
00:45:43.734 One,
00:45:45.234 two,
00:45:46.834 three.
00:45:48.874 Amen. I see those hands. Anyone else?
00:45:52.074 Heavenly Father, I pray for every person with their hand up, God, that they would
00:45:55.374 know you in a real and personal way. God, they would give their life to you.
00:45:59.334 They would surrender their life to you.
00:46:01.274 God, that from this day forward, they would know that they are a new creation in
00:46:05.094 Christ Jesus, that the past is gone, the old is gone,
00:46:09.034 and they are new today. They're not identified or
00:46:13.074 valued by their sin or by their past, but God, their value and identity
00:46:16.994 is rooted in you, Jesus Christ. That they are a son or a daughter
00:46:21.034 of yours. God, I pray that they would tell as many people as they can.
00:46:24.824 And God, if they tell anybody in this room, that there would be no other response
00:46:29.014 than "Hallelujah, praise God." Because the angels are rejoicing
00:46:32.954 in heaven. How much more should we be rejoicing when every single
00:46:36.674 person turns to you? And God, I pray for every person in this room right now,
00:46:40.754 God, that we would be bold, we would be unashamed.
00:46:43.474 God, that we would go and share the good news.
00:46:45.634 God, stir up that passion inside each and every one of us.
00:46:49.774 Take us back to that moment, that day, that time where we gave our lives
00:46:53.794 to you. God, when we were in darkness, we were separated from you.
00:46:57.374 We were in our sin, and God, we needed you as our savior.
00:47:01.154 Father, remind us what we've been forgiven of.
00:47:03.894 Remind us what we've been saved from and what we've been saved to, and may
00:47:07.794 we live our lives to tell others, to share the good
00:47:11.714 news of who Jesus Christ is. God, I pray you'd use each and every one
00:47:15.734 of us this week, that we would share our story.
00:47:18.754 We tell people about you, about your goodness, your mercy, your love,
00:47:23.174 and your forgiveness. And God, I pray as a result, your church would grow, your
00:47:26.874 kingdom would expand, and God, that more people would enter heaven as
00:47:30.874 a result. I pray this all in the mighty name of Jesus.
00:47:34.554 Amen. Amen. Can we give God a great big hand and say amen if you made
00:47:38.434 that decision? Jared's going to come on up and give you a few quick announcements
00:47:42.354 before you're dismissed. You can have a seat.
>> Jared
00:47:46.618 Amen. It never gets old, people surrendering their lives to Jesus, and
00:47:50.918 really just participating in the enjoyment and the celebration with the angels in
00:47:54.958 heaven as we celebrate people taking that pivotal next step.
00:47:57.968 And perhaps you're new here with us this morning, maybe even here for the very
00:48:01.758 first time. We just want to welcome you, and thank you so much for choosing to
00:48:05.718 spend part of your Sunday with us, or welcome back. We love to have you back.
00:48:09.378 We'd love you to invite family, friends, coworkers, and love to get to know them.
00:48:13.498 But first, we want to get to know you and hear your story.
00:48:17.058 If you'd be so kind, just take out your cellphone, and if you scan the tap card
00:48:21.078 on the seat back in front of you or that QR code on the screen behind me, just
00:48:24.898 leaving some very basic information.
00:48:27.018 We just want to be able to follow up with you and keep you up to date with so many
00:48:30.538 different opportunities for growth and growing closer to Jesus that
00:48:34.498 we will have here at Freedom Church, and this will be a simple way for us to
00:48:37.458 connect, get to hear your story. Also, on the way out the door today, if you do
00:48:40.898 that, we want to put a gift in your hand as well, just as our way of saying
00:48:44.778 thank you.
00:48:46.118 Perhaps you're even here this morning, this Sunday morning, and you would like to
00:48:49.478 become a more active part of Freedom Church or just discover a little bit more
00:48:53.438 of God's mission for us, and also discover how you
00:48:57.298 are uniquely gifted by God to make an eternal impact.
00:49:01.578 Twice a month, we have what we call our Next Steps class, which is
00:49:05.358 specifically designed to help you discover more about the church,
00:49:09.018 discover how you're uniquely gifted, and how you can surrender your life
00:49:13.038 to Jesus and serve in our local community.
00:49:16.018 It takes place twice a month after the second service.
00:49:19.178 Food and childcare are provided. I would encourage you to scan the QR code to get
00:49:22.738 signed up for the next time, and we'll have an opportunity to prepare for you and
00:49:26.498 look forward to getting to know you more there on those Sundays coming up here.
00:49:30.798 Last, but certainly not least, we also have a wonderful opportunity for those of
00:49:34.598 us who have made that decision to surrender our lives to Jesus, to
00:49:38.538 begin that relationship with Him through water baptism.
00:49:42.058 It's a great big celebration we're going to have on Sunday, August 30th at the
00:49:45.598 11:00 a.m. service. We encourage you, if you sign up to get baptized,
00:49:49.418 invite family and friends. If you'd like to be water baptized,
00:49:53.318 fully submerged in the water as a sign of your old life gone and
00:49:57.318 forgiven, rising up with a new life in Christ in a relationship with
00:50:01.318 Him. It's a pivotal next step in our walk with God.
00:50:04.358 I would encourage you to get signed up or just ask Pastor Eric or
00:50:08.018 myself any questions you may have, and what that might look like, and what that
00:50:11.538 really means, and the value and the significance of being water
00:50:15.198 baptized. Again, August 30th after the second service,
00:50:19.058 during the second service rather.
00:50:20.578 If you want to scan the QR code and get signed up.
00:50:22.218 We're looking forward to celebrating our brothers and sisters taking that next
00:50:25.618 step. If you guys could please stand to your feet, I'm going to pray, and then
00:50:29.318 you'll be dismissed.
00:50:33.718 Heavenly Father, we're so grateful.
00:50:34.958 Thank you, Lord God, that each and every one of us in our own way was like
00:50:38.958 the woman at the well, Lord God, that you took a pause, that you
00:50:42.218 intentionally went out of your way.
00:50:44.978 You saw us from afar. You knew us, and you
00:50:48.538 designed that moment, Lord God, no matter what it looked like
00:50:52.498 for each of us, God, that that same value you had for our lives, the
00:50:56.498 sacrifice you made for our lives, Lord, was so precious to your heart.
00:51:00.438 I thank you, Lord. I ask you would help us to see people this
00:51:04.198 week with that perspective, that same perspective that you had
00:51:08.278 for the woman at the well, and that even as a result, many more people, just like
00:51:12.018 the village in Samaria, that many more people, Lord God, would come to know you as
00:51:15.938 a result of our surrender and our courage to share our faith
00:51:19.818 or simply to invite somebody to church, Lord God.
00:51:22.598 Thank you, Holy Spirit, for revealing those opportunities and giving us the
00:51:26.638 courage to follow through this week.
00:51:29.358 And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You're dismissed.
00:51:32.458 Have an awesome week, everyone.