The Church of Eleven22 - Grace Pursues - Run Over by the Grace Train - Wk 5

Episode Date: October 13, 2024

The fake you's doing just fine. Real Jesus died on a real cross for the real you. And it's time to get real.

I'm not crying, you're crying. Austin and Amelia, you guys are heroes, heroes, heroes of the faith. Amen. Amen. This won't be true at every campus and every service, but they're sitting right here on the front row. And I'm just telling you, if the writer of Hebrews rewrote Hebrew chapter 11, which is called the Hall of Faith, you too would be in it.

Because by faith, you choose to do what God would have you to do. And in a world that worships that convenience, it's you honored the sanctity of life. And so praise God for that. And I hope and I pray that your lives and your testimony is an inspiration really to every believer, especially believers in Florida. Every single one of us this November,

we get to walk into a ballot box and we get to make a decision on whether we get to choose life or not. And I hope and pray if you call Jesus, your Lord and Savior that you will do that. And so thank you, thank you, thank you for what you have done. Praise God for you. For those of you watch it online, we'll show their story maybe at the end of the sermon

or something like that. If you got your Bibles, I hope you do. We're going to be in John chapter four. And I also just want to give a shout out to all of the men and women families in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina that have been hit by both Hurricane Milton and Helene and our thoughts and prayers are with you. If you're a part of 1122 and you want to get involved, there's two ways that you can do that. You can go to our website, COE22.com. And right there, the front page is a way that you can click. You can go.

we're going to be sending teams to help people that are in need. Also, one of the things that you need to know is every single time you bring your first and best to the Church of 1122, every single time a portion of those dollars go to support an organization called Convoy of Hope. And we give hundreds of thousands of dollars to Convoy of Hope every single year. And it is a Christian disaster relief organization. And so they are waiting on things like this to happen so that they can take food and water and medicine and the gospel and all of those kinds of things.

So just know when you say, what are we doing? Not only are we going to send teams, but we are always meeting needs all over the world through partners that we have. So our thoughts and prayers are with those folks for sure. Now, we're in the fifth week of this series called Run Over by the Grace Train. And what we're going to deal with today

is this question that I think has probably come up in your mind. Because we've been talking about grace after grace after grace after grace. and when you get run over by the grace train, that it changes everything about everything, about everything, and there's some of us in the room that will begin to ask the question, does that count for me? Like I know grace works for all those good church folks, but does it count for me?

I mean, even look at that couple on the bumper video, they don't lose their faith when they lose a baby. And some of us are thinking, I kind of question my faith if I lose a parking spot. I mean, they met it. camp. That ain't where me and my wife met. You understand? And you can kind of begin to think the grace is for those nice, cleaned up church people, but does it really count for me? John chapter four is an unbelievable event that happens in the life of Christ that shows just as well as

any other event that he ever went through, that this thing that Jesus came to bring was a movement. for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. We'll pick it up in John chapter 4 verse 1. It says this. Now when Jesus, now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples. See, Jesus was trying to remove himself in the comparison game. I mean, can you imagine how Christians would brag if they got baptized by Jesus? He'd be like, Jesus baptized me. And so he's like, it doesn't matter who baptized you. It just matters in whose name you're baptized. Amen? Amen. Amen. All right.

So trust me on that one. So he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. Judea is down here, Galilee is up here. And right in the middle, there's this place called Samaria, verse four. And he had to pass through Samaria, underlines the word had to. And he had to pass through Samaria. Well, here's the only problem with this verse, is he didn't had to. People walked around Samaria all the time.

In fact, very orthodox Jewish people, very conservative Jewish people, then they would take like 295. There was a beltway around Samaria, and they skipped it all the time because the Jewish people and the Samaritan people hated one another. So from a geographical navigation standpoint, he didn't have to. It was a three-day journey to get from Jerusalem to Galilee if you go through, but it was a sixth-day journey if you went around. Now think about this, all you, type A driven, got to get there people. How much must you hate some people to add three days to your journey so that you didn't bump into any of those people that you didn't like? Well, it's not just that they didn't like each other.

They socially hated each other. They religiously hated each other. They ethnically hated each other. What happened is way back, like almost a thousand years before this, the people of God, God told him, you obey me, I'll protect you. But you take your eyes off of me, I'm going to take my hand of protection off of you. and he would be so patient with him. This is pretty much the story of Israel

over and over and over and over. But in this one particular time, the nation of Israel begins to worship other gods, and so God says, all right, all right, fine, fend for yourself. And then the Babylonians come in and they exile the nation of Israel. So think like Daniel, Shadrach Meshach had been to go, if you've read about that, that's what was happening then.

Years and years and years later, Nehemiah comes back from Jerusalem to, I mean, comes back from exile, back to Jerusalem, to rebuild the city. walls. And meanwhile, that whole time that that's been going on, what happened was there were some people that were left behind. So they took the best and the brightest and the sharpest and the most athletic. They took them in Babylonian exile. All the rejects they left in town. Well, the rejects decided to just kind of start their own new religion. And what they began to do is they began to

intermarry, and this wasn't a racial thing, they began to intermarry with people that worshipped other gods. And sure enough, they do a little bit of their worship and worship the one true God Yahweh, and then they would worship some other gods, too, and they begin to mix this thing together. Well, there's a bunch in the Bible that's not okay with that. So then what they begin to do is they took their Bible, like many Christians do today, with a highlighter and some scissors, and they just cut the parts out that they didn't like. And so ultimately, over hundreds of years, this group of people became known as the Samaritans. They were named after one of the cities there in that region. Well, when Nehemiah comes back to rebuild the city, they say,

we'll help. And Nehemiah is like, there's no way, because you haven't been faithful to God, so you're not going to come in here and stink up our city. And so they were like, well, forget you, we don't need you. We don't need your temple, and we don't need your way of worship. And they use some Bible verses, but not all the Bible verses, and they created their own place of worship. And this is basically what you call a cult. And the problem was not ethnically that they intermarried.

The problem was that religiously they intermarried. But what began to happen is that the Jewish people and the Samaritan people began to hate each other. They blamed ethnicity and also religion. Now there's this one phrase that gets used historically in the church to describe the Samaritans that I just think has no place in the church period. Sometimes I've heard a whole bunch, especially older pastors who'll say, that the Jews hated the Samaritans because, and the word they will use is half-breed.

Okay. That phrase has no place in the kingdom of God. And let me tell you why. Because we're not breeds of people. You understand? There's one race. human race. So I don't care what shade of color you are or where your parents are from or if one parents from there and another parent's from it. It doesn't matter. That God designed you and he knew

exactly what he was designing when he came up with the idea of you and that you are fearfully and wonderfully made and God's works, which you are one of them, are wonderful and we should know that full well. And so here's a group of people and they have intermarried with some other people that worship other gods. And so, man, I mean, this really, really, really created a problem between the Jewish people and the Samaritan people. And yet, even with all of that, socially speaking, going on, Jesus had to go through Samaria. Well, what do you mean he had to if he didn't actually had to? Well, here's why he had to. Because he had a divine appointment according to his heavenly father. Well, we're going to find out, if you keep reading in the gospel of John,

If you get to the next chapter, by the time you get to John 15, you'll hear these. John 519, you'll hear these words. So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing for whatever the father does, that the son does likewise. So the reason that Jesus had to go to Samaria is because his father told him, I got an appointment with you tomorrow in Samaria. you. So my question to you is this. So what do you have to do? I mean, what is that thing that you have to do? Now, you don't actually have to have to, because he will let you be

disobedient. But if you are obedient to God, what is that thing that you know that God is telling you to do? And dang it, every time you come to this church, it gets on you a little bit, you know what I'm talking about. Like it's, you know, in a couple weeks we're going to talk about forgiveness. And you're like, I'm going to skip that week. Because every single time, the moment I say the word forgive, Sheila's face pops up in your mind. He's like, I should probably forgive her, but you're like, I ain't going to do that. Or maybe, maybe this is going to make you real nervous.

Nobody's going to clap on this one. Maybe every single time we talk about bringing our first and best to God. Then you know that you know that you know God is calling you to do something radically generous. But you definitely don't come to the altar on that week. You're like, I'm not even going to stay for the last song because it might get on me. and I might have to change something about what I want to do. Or maybe it's come to the altar. At the end of this service, I'm going to give you an invitation to come to this altar.

And some of you know that the God of the universe is like, won't you come to the altar and your pride's going to get in the way? Or maybe it's lead that disciple group. Or maybe it's stop drinking so much. Or maybe it's cut off that whole toxic relationship. Or maybe it's don't give up on your marriage but keep fighting. Or maybe it's sign up for that very first mission trip. See, here's the thing, man.

The real preacher here, ain't me. The real preacher is the spirit of God, and the Holy Spirit will tell you exactly what you need to do, and the greatest advice is that the whole Bible is in John, chapter 2, verse 5, where Mary looks at the servants and Jesus is standing right there, and she says these words, do whatever he tells you to do. So let me ask you, what is he telling you to do? Do it.

Verse 5. So, he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph, and Jacob's well was there. We'll come back to that in a little while. It's very significant. And Jacob's well was there. And so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well, and it was about the sixth hour. That would be noon. Now, here's something that the apostle John wants you to know, is that though Jesus is fully God, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, Jesus is also fully man, and the Word became flesh. and dwelt among us. And so the almighty sovereign king of the universe, Jesus, who will judge all things, spoke all things into existence, and by his very power holds everything together that is,

the brother got tired. And he's walking through on a three-day journey, and he needs somewhere to sit down, and it's noon time. And listen, so many of us have such a terrible view of who Jesus, the Christ, walking around on this earth 2,000 years ago, actually was. In fact, if you just Google Jesus, the first picture that will come up is the

worst picture of Jesus I've ever seen. Have you ever seen the one? He looks like a 16-year-old Swedish kid, and he's like doing the Pledge of Allegiance, Scouts Honor, you know what I mean, real skinny, just Danish. I don't know how he's Danish. You can just almost hear him go, hello, I'm Jesus. Bro, that ain't Jesus. This is a Middle Eastern Jewish carpenter guy. You understand what I mean? And the almighty sovereign kid. of the universe would what the Bible, what theologians call, he would condescend to come and be with us. That he would step out of the glory that is heaven. He would take off his royal robe.

He would sit down his royal crown. He would lay down his scepter and he would be wrapped in flesh and be obedient to come here on a rescue mission for you and me. And he would be willing to come and meet with you. In fact, that's what one of the names of God is, Emmanuel, God with us. What this woman at the well that he's going to meet with in just a little while, what she is going to experience is God is just not out there somewhere distant, waiting for me to get my act together, but he takes the initiative upon himself to dress himself in humanity

and make himself available for a lunch meeting with me and you. And so this is what he does. He sits down at Jacob's well. Verse 7. And a woman. Now, if you knew first century culture, and if you knew Greek, the moment it says a woman, you'd be like, oh, uh-oh. What's happening here?

From Samaria, oh, even worse. Came to draw water. Now, in case you're new to Bible study, what we're going to see in back-to-back chapters is Jesus meeting with all different kind of people. in chapter three Jesus meets with a guy named nicodemus. Nicodemus is rich. Nicodemus is a Pharisee. Nicodemus is externally speaking.

He's pure. Nicodemus is all that in this culture. And Jesus is happy to meet with Nicodemus and explain to him it's not his external that is going to save him, but he needs to be born again. And yet what we're going to see here is that Jesus is also very, very willing. in fact goes out of his way to meet with somebody that he's not supposed to meet with. He's not just meeting with the rich and famous. He's also meeting with a Samaritan woman who has come to the well at noon to draw water.

Why? Because Jesus came to institute a movement for all people to discover and deepen who he is. And so Jesus says to her, give me a drink. He doesn't say it like, that sounded too aggressive. That's not what it was. In the Greek, it's more like, ma'am, could I please have some water? So I've heard from this one girl that I need to work on my tone, okay? So I'm trying.

Give me a drink. How about that? For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. And the Samaritan woman said to him, see, she's thrown off here. This is scandalous. She says, how is it that you, a Jew, as for a drink for me, a woman of Samaria? I mean, this is scandalous. And then John gives commentary here in the parentheses for Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

You see, here's the thing. When Jesus enters the scene, everything changes. You see, this woman knows ethnically, religiously, and culturally, we're not supposed to talk to one another because your people think my people are dirty. And if I touch you, then you're going to become dirty. And if you drink out of my water bucket, then you are going to become dirty. But you see, Jesus changes everything. You see, typically in our world, when dirty touches clean, the clean gets dirty.

But when it comes to Jesus, when the clean touches the dirty, the dirty gets clean. And that's about what's that happened here. Now, it's very important. It says that it's the sixth hour, all right, which means this is 12 o'clock. Well, there's a reason that she is there at noontime. In the first century, it was the job of either the children or the woman of the house to go and fetch water. And the typical time to do this would be early in the morning or late at night. or like late in the afternoon.

Why? Because that's when it's cool. Listen, we know this very well in Jacksonville. I mean, this weekend is like the first time where it finally didn't feel like a million degrees. But remember back to June, July, and August? Or as we lovingly call it, the beast, the dragon, and the Antichrist, you know what I'm saying?

Right, right. So if you have to walk your dog, when do you walk your dog? You walk it in the morning or in the evening. If you see somebody walking their dog at noon, what does that mean? They had their dog and they wanted to die. That's why, okay? And so at the well, early in the well, early in the morning and late at night in the evening,

there would be a lot of other women there. And this woman is tired of the looks and tired of the comments and tired of the gossiping about her. So as to avoid all the people because of the shame that she has in her life, she's going to avoid all of these people and try to be alone and go there at noon. And so not only is she,

not a person of high moral character. Also, again, Jewish people didn't talk to Samaritans. And in the first century, men didn't talk to women, especially at wells. Like a well could often be a place where you would like meet a girl. This is where Abraham found a wife or Isaac. This is where Jacob finds his wife. This is where Moses finds his wife at a well. I don't know. Some of y'all are like, where's that well?

That's not this. That's not what we're talking about here, okay? And here's what's crazy, though, man. Jesus does not mind breaking down religious or tradition to get to his people. He breaks gender boundaries, cultural boundaries, ethnic boundaries, religious boundaries, moral boundaries. He does whatever it takes to reach people that think they're too far gone, but he knows they're not. A friend Brian Luritz, who preached here a bunch of years ago, he's got this great quote. He says this, the gospel compels us to strange relationships.

relationships. Let me tell you why this matters to me a lot, man. Because I get it. I've been on staff of the church for a long time. I'm 51. First time I was on staff was 19, all right? That's a long time. And I've been to a bunch of places that seem to just be for church people. That ain't this place. This place is a movement for all people to discover deep in a relationship with Jesus Christ. So every time you show up here, get ready because you're coming into the well. And so Jesus, he's going to answer no time. He's going to waste no time. He's going to dive right in.

And Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it was that is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Here's what Jesus is going to do, particularly in the Gospel of John. You see it over and over and over and over and over. He's going to teach on two planes. One is he's going to talk about something physical, temporary that's right in front of your face, but he's trying to connect the dots to the eternal to teach a greater gospel reality. That's what he's going to do.

He's like, listen, lady, you keep showing up here because you have physical thirst, but you also have spiritual thirst, and the temporary things of this world are never going to fully and finally satisfy. But I've got something here for you that you really want, and the water that I have for you can give you life and give it abundantly. You see, all through the gospel of John, really all four gospels, Jesus over and over and over is going to connect with Old Testament realities, and he's going to connect with things that are right there in front of them. And Jesus ultimately is saying those things are just the shadow and I am the substance. Jesus is saying, I am the better whatever thing you were looking for. Like, for example, in the old covenant there's a bunch of lambs to get slain.

And he's going to say, you don't have to do the lamb thing anymore because I am the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world. That in the Old Covenant you had some ceremonial hand-washed. things and at the wedding of Cana, he's like, you don't have to do the hand-wash thing anymore because I'm going to take that dirty water, which is your nasty life, and I'm going to transform it into something beautiful, like the best wine you've ever had. Over and over and over, like when he talks to Nicodemus, he points back to Moses with the bronze serpent. And you might not know what that means, but he would. And he would say, listen, you don't have to have the bronze serpent

anymore because I'm going to be the one that shows up and I'm going to be lifted up. And whoever looks to me, I will be the one that cures the venom that runs on the inside of you. It's not an outside in thing. It's an inside out thing. And so over and over and over, he is saying that I am the substance of everything that you've been looking for. So you've been coming to this well over and over and over that Jacob gave you. And it can quench your thirst only momentarily, but what I can do for you is fully and

finally satisfy you forever. That's what I'm here for. And the woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw water with. and the well is deep. And so it goes right over her head. Why? Well, God is so patient because these people are so dumb.

And you're thinking, are you talking to me? You should pray about that. Yeah. She's so focused on the now and the near that she can't pick up what he's putting down. And then she asks this question, this is key.

She's intrigued. She's being drawn to him. She says, so where do I get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. You see, this is very, very interesting here that they're at Jacob's well. Because what you'll see is a ton of parallels between the life of this woman and the life of this Old Testament guy named Jacob. See, Jacob shows up in the book of Genesis.

He's a very prominent figure in God's redempted plan for all humanity. and Jacob was constantly looking for satisfaction in the temporary things of this world. In fact, Jacob's name itself, Jacob means heel grabber or deceitful one. You see, when Jacob was being born, he had a twin. And the twin, his older brother, came out first, and in the Old Testament, they would just name you like what you are or what you were going to be. And so the first baby comes out, boom, and he's hairy. And so they named him Esau. That's what it means.

Chubaka wasn't around yet, so they go with Esau. And the Bible says that Jacob in the womb is trying to like grab on to Esau's hill and pass him like going wide and turned forward at Talladega to come out first. Because you got all kind of blessing if you were the firstborn. You didn't get near as much blessing if you were the second born. And so his name means heel grabber or deceitful one. And sure enough, he grows up to be a deceitful one. Esau is kind of a stud. Esau is Isaac's favorite.

Esau's hairy. Esau's a bow hunter. So I like him already. Esau's buff. Esau likes to do stuff outside. Esau played linebacker. Like, that's who Esau is. Jacob was kind of a mama's boy.

He'd hang around the tits. He made a nice stew. And so he was kind of, you know, real-wives of Jerusalem. That's where he hung out. And so a couple times in his life, he tricked his family to deceive them so that he could receive a blessing that wasn't his.

And that's what's happening. So he tricked his dad to get the, Father's blessing, and he also tricked his brother to steal his birthright. Well, his big linebacker bow hunting brother got ticked at him, and so one day, Jacob is on the run running for his life, and as he's on the run, you've got to think, he's thinking, this was not my plan for my life. And he's on the run, thinking his old life is all jacked up, and he finds himself in this place called padamaram.

He lays his head down on a rock in order to go to sleep, and God Almighty shows up. I believe this is what's called a Christophany where the pre-incarnate Jesus shows up and wrestles with Jacob. It was like the very first UFC. And so Jacob's just holding on to the Lord saying, I'm not letting go until you bless me. And he's like, oh, I got your blessing.

And he touches his hip and pat-ow, and he has to tap out. And for the rest of Jacob's life, everywhere he goes, he walks with a limp. His whole life is changed by this encounter that he has. with the Lord, which is a perfect picture of exactly what this woman is going through. This whole life, she has been looking for satisfaction in places that will never, ever bring it. She's only looking at the temporary and she's not trusting God for the eternal. And then she's going to have this encounter with Jesus himself, the second person of the Trinity,

in the flesh. And when he grabs uphold of her, spiritually speaking, everything about her life is going to be changed forever. And so what he's saying is, listen, Jacob left you this well, and it can quench your thirst for a minute, but I am greater than Jacob's well, and that will quench your thirst temporarily, but I'll satisfy you for eternity. Verse 13, and Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. We talk about this all the time around here. The temporary will never satisfy. We have all kind of phrases that we use around here.

One is the merry-go-round of normality. That this world spends billions of dollars a day to get you to take your seat on the merry-go-round of normality, so you'll just chase after the same thing everybody else does. And I don't know how many laps you've got to take until you realize this ain't that merry. Now, when you first get on your little hobby horse, and you're like, oh, look, I got the shiny one with the unicorns. horn, yay. And about 10 years of taking that lap, she go, is this it?

You ever been there? You see, I don't know what's more sad. The person that spends their whole life chasing the guy for a gold that's not real, or the person that actually achieves it and realize they've been duped. I mean, when you spend all, your whole life, which our entire system is set up for.

For you to wake up every Monday and eat something, watch something, drive something, go sell some something, come home, watch something, go to sleep, eat something, do it again and again and again and again and again. And the biggest prayer of your whole week is, thank God it's Friday. If that's you, you ain't doing it right. You're sitting around people right now that are like preaching because you've been there before.

You lay your head on the pillow and you say, is this it? And you know the answer is, this ain't it, man. And so all this world has to offer. We talk about this all the time. Man, you can chase stuff, you can chase status, you can chase sex, It'll never be enough. It's called lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the proud of life. And this world spends billions of dollars a day to keep you going back to that same well

that will never fully and finally satisfy. And we buy into it all the time. I mean, one of those, lust of the flesh, lust of the flesh, is when we have this desire, if I could just feel a certain way, then I'll be fully and finally satisfied. And what's crazy is it could be popcorn or it could be pornography. realize that? This is how tricky the enemy is. You begin to think, I deserve to feel this way. Or how about this one? You know, you could pour yourself into some addiction, or you could pour yourself into working out too much, and neither of them will fully, finally satisfy. Some of you

actually believe, if I could just get to my ideal weight, then I would be happy. Have you met somebody at their ideal weight? They ain't happy. They're never happy. They're grumpy, because they don't get to eat nothing. Don't you know this? And you're both jealous of each other. They want your cheesecake and you want their abs. And you're like, if I only have that. Right.

It'll never satisfy. For some of you, it's lust of the eyes. And again, we call this the cul-de-sac of stupidity. Not because stuff is stupid, because you're stupid. You think new pants, a new half-bath? Whatever they think, a cyber truck. That's my favorite one to pick on now. How many of you see have a cyber truck?

And you're reminded constantly of how stupid people are. Why? Is anything wrong with a cyber truck? Yes, dumb, but the real dumbness is anybody that puts their hope there, as if anybody looks at that and think, oh, they're arrived. Or the pride of life. When you begin to think, I make a name for myself at the expense of your family that you're related to and at the expense of your church family and the commission that God has given you. And it happens over and over and over.

And so why do we continue to go to the temporary way? wells of this world that we know from our own experience don't have the capacity to satisfy. You see, the real problem, though, is these wells are not neutral like Jacob's well. You see, these wells that we go to for satisfaction and security, they only lead to to brokenness and emptiness and dissatisfaction. See this woman's life as Exhibit A. You see, when we were created, when God came up with the idea that he was going to make image bearers for his own glory, and he fashions together the very first man, and he breathes the breath of life into Adam, the ruah of life.

And Adam opens his eyes. He is face to face with his heavenly father, his creator. And this is what every single one of us were created for. This is why there's no temporary thing in this world. can fully and finally satisfy. Because if our life is an engine, the fuel by which we are supposed to run is a relationship with him. And if you put anything else in the engine of your life and try to run it on that, it's just going to lead to breakdown. And this life, this woman's life has been broken down over and over and over.

Verse 15. 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. and listen, man, I'm a professional Christian. I've been doing this for a long time, okay? I don't know what 51 minus 19 is. That's a lot. I can't do that kind of math on my brain real quick, but if you are talking to somebody about the gospel

and you have the kind of response this woman has, let me just tell you, okay, let me just tell you. If I'm coaching you on evangelism, I'm telling you, this is where you close the deal. I mean, everybody knows in sales, the key is to close the deal, right? And so she says, I'll take some of this living water and what you're supposed to do is go, bingo, Jesus, what you should say now is every head bowed and every eye closed. If you're ready to surrender your life to me, raise your hand, or do the thing, right?

That's what you're supposed to do. And listen, man, the Bible talks about all kinds of different gifts, and one of the gifts God has given me is I have the gift of evangelism. I don't know why, but I tend to lead a bunch of people to Christ. And a part of the reason is because I closed the deal. And I've done it in all kind of random places. I was in Walmart one time, and I'm just standing there in the 10 items or less deal. and there's a woman with a kid in front of me, and, you know, I'm standing there counting her items

just to be like, well, she can't count or read. I'm not sure which one it is, but, okay? And the kid is trying to get all the snacks because Walmart hates you, and they put all the little sugary snacks at eye level to the toddlers, and she's throwing witty pieces in, and he's throwing them out.

You know, it's back and forth, back and forth. And this woman looks at this kid, and at the top of her lungs, she screams, relax! And I thought, well, he's never going to understand what that word means, right? So I get my one or two things, She's still trying to wrangle the kid.

She hasn't left yet. And you can tell, man, she's just having the worst day ever. And I'm telling you, I can't explain it, but I feel like the spirit of God says, get her. So I go, all right, here's what I don't want to do. I don't want to stand before the Lord one day. And he goes, why didn't you talk to that lady in Walmart? And I go, well, I didn't know it was you, okay? I would rather be there and he'd be like, you made that up.

I didn't tell you to do it. Well, it seemed like you'd be into it. Okay, I just do, that's kind of how I try to live my life. And so I'll ask her, I said, excuse me, ma'am. She looks at me. And she goes, I go, are you okay? And she was like, what you mean? I mean, just like, I don't know, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, hold on.

And I did like this, I go, are you okay? She was, no, my husband just left. Boom, waterworks. Thirty seconds later, I'm praying with her to receive Christ in Walmart. No problem, okay? One time back in the day, I was doing door-to-door evangelism. Google that. Nobody does it anymore, but we used to, all right?

So I got my Lord's gym shirt on, and I'm going door-to-door, doing a survey thing for an FCA camp. I knock on this door. there's a lady in there, and she's running like a little bootleg daycare. Because there's no, it's like the woman in the shoes. She's got so many kids, she don't know what to do. They're everywhere, all right, and there's snot and tears. And I ask her, my little survey, I'm supposed to ask this question,

can I tell you about the peace I found in Jesus Christ? She goes, peace. You have peace? I go, I know him. She's like, I'll take peace. 30 seconds later, here we are. Pray and receive Christ. I didn't ask her about her life or anything.

I just close the deal. So she says, I mean, look, bro, she is tossing Jesus a softball. Where can I get some of this living water? And look what Jesus says to her. Jesus says to her, go call your husband and come here. Now, you're like, all right, again, again. I'm a pro. I am a pro.

So if Jesus was asking for a little bit of advice on evangelism, this is where I would step in and be like, hey, come here, son of God, maker of heaven and earth. Hey, I know you know the end of the story, but listen, I don't, listen, don't worry about that. You see, that's called sanctification, and we can worry about that later. Let's just worry about justification right now. Let's get her in the kingdom. We'll get her to a disciple group. Surely somebody in her disciple group will be like, honey, who you living with?

Because I saw on Instagram some shady stuff, and then we'll work it out later, okay? Because I don't know if you know this, Jesus, but you're actually asking her about the thing that's got her here at noon. This is the most shameful thing in her life. So why don't we just deal with that later? And I think Jesus might reply to me something like, hey, I'm not looking for a transaction. I'm looking for transformation. And the thing that she's most ashamed of,

I'm not ashamed of at all. I'm not here to just deal with the externals so she can show up to a meeting every twice a month or something. That's not what we're talking about. This is evidence that a real Jesus came. to die on a real cross for the real me and you. And the fake you's doing just fine, man. He's not worried about this show that she's putting on here at the well.

He is ultimately concerned about the details of this woman's life, especially the parts that she's most ashamed of, she's most embarrassed about, that she has been most defined by all of those other people. And Jesus said, they say, nah, I want all of you. And the woman answered him, I have no husband. And Jesus said to her, you were right in saying that I have no husband. For you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.

Listen, man. Jesus wants all of you, the deepest, darkest parts of your life. Because you realize to be mostly known is to not be known at all, and you can't be, you can't be totally loved unless you're totally known. And he already knows. And that thing that you're most of the moment. ashamed of, he already died for. And that thing that you're trying to keep from Jesus and that you're so embarrassed of, he already knows. And if you fight the devil in the dark, you're going to get your butt kicked. And the cross invites every single one of us to be honest so that we can be free.

C.S. Lewis says it this way in mere Christianity. He says, give me all of you. He's talking on behalf of God. Give me all of you. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your talents and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you, all of you. I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to kill it, no half measures will do. I don't want to only prune a branch here and a branch there. Rather, I want the whole tree out. Hand it over to me, the whole outfit. All of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams, turn them all over to me, give yourself to me, and I will make of you a new self in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange, give you myself. My will shall become your will. My heart shall become your heart.

Listen, church, the fake you is doing just fine. And Jesus came on a rescue mission for the real me and the real you. And he says to this woman, go get your husband and bring him here to me. She's thinking about, I don't really like talking about that. It's like, I know, but that shame is what has kept you at this well your whole life. I said, listen, I would tell you, go and get that thing that you are the most ashamed of and bring it into the light of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Like, go and get that abortion. And you're like, whoa, we're not supposed to talk about that here.

I get it, man, I get it. I get it. I've worked at church a long time. And I know there's no better place to fake it than at church. But if we're going to fake it, we ain't going to fake it here, man. I mean, what are we even doing if we just came here to do a TED talk and some Christian karaoke? No, thank you. I'll go get another job and do something else.

Church makes a terrible hobby. But Jesus says, go get that thing that you're most ashamed of because I know exactly what I was getting into when I shed my blood to pay for you. And maybe it wasn't, maybe you didn't have the abortion but you paid for it. Or you drove somebody there. And you've always kept this deep, dark secret.

And you believe that when he died on the cross, it was for somebody else's sin, but maybe not this one. Or maybe it's go get it. that porn addiction. And you would be devastated if somebody finds out. Jesus already knows. Or go get that affair. Or go get that eating disorder that you haven't been honest about. And listen, man, it's a tough one. It's so tough. If you have an addiction to a drug, you can stay away from the drug forever. If you have some kind of eating disorder, you can't not eat. And the enemy's kicking your tail over this thing because you just act like it's not a problem.

he knows or go get that depression. Christians have a hard time with this one, man. I mean, it's just until very, very recently that churches would even admit that a Christian can be depressed. Because, you know, you read the book of Philippians and says, rejoice in the Lord always and again, I say rejoice.

And you're like, man, I wake up in the morning and I just can't turn the rejoice on. I don't know what's wrong with me. Yeah, Jesus says, go get that and bring it here. Or go get that substance abuse. The reason I'm saying it right now is because I'm giving you about a 15 minute warning. In about 15 minutes, I'm going to invite you to trust Jesus enough to go and get that thing that has brought so much shame and bring it here to the altar and lay it down at his feet and let him deal with it. Because listen, the gospel isn't merely fire insurance.

The gospel is an invitation for freedom in this life. Now, eternity matters. Hell is hot forever's a long time. You should figure that out. It's a really, really big deal. But heaven is not, the gospel is not just a thing to get us there one day when we die. The gospel was given to us

so that the cross can out us all, cleanse us of all of our sin, and beat down the enemy in the areas where he is trying to beat us down to drag those things that we are shamed up into the good news of the gospel light and watch Jesus fight on our behalf. That's the woman that said to him, sir, I perceive that you're a prophet.

You think? Has it ever happened to you? I can't tell you how many times I'll be in the lobby and somebody come in there like, hey, this is my first time. I feel like you were talking to me. Did my wife email you? I'm like, no, dude. No, that's the spirit of God getting in there, man.

I don't know you. The woman said to him, sir, I perceived that you're a prophet. Now watch what she's going to do. God, this is so classic humanity. She's going to deflect. She's like, all right, well, why don't we talk about something that has nothing to do with me? me. Let me ask you some theological questions.

Verse 20. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. What are we talking about mountains for? I'm talking about you go get your husband and you don't really have a husband. You've been married to five and that guy you're now and even you got. She's like, well, let's talk about, hey, what about this mountain over here? Because the Samaritans had built a worship

center on a different mountain. This is deflection, man. It happens all the time. As I've told you, I get the chance to share my faith a lot. I fly a lot, okay? I preach about 220 times a year. So about two, I got two or three sermons to write every single week it seems like. So one of my evangelism strategies on airplanes is I sit down because I always have a sermon right.

I take my Bible, even though I've got it on my commuter, I open it up, and then I just go, that's it, to the person sitting next to me. That's what I do. It's not quite that blatant, but it's almost. It's just I make it abundantly clear that that's what's about to happen. And if they look at me in and they just don't want to talk, then I lean into my, I enter Calvinism and think, well, God's not wooing their heart right now so I can work and watch my movie. But if they want to talk about it, then let's go, baby. Ding, ding. I'm into it. All right,

I like it. So I've been training some pastors in East Africa a bunch of years ago, and you've got to come through Amsterdam to get home, and I'm sitting in the plane, pull out the Bible, and this girl sits, she's sitting next to him, a younger girl, and she was from Germany, but she'd been in Amsterdam, probably not doing awesome things. And she looks at me when I open it, she goes, you believe that? and I'm like, winter, winter, chicken dinner. This I do. Let's go. All right, all right, let's go.

Okay. She didn't even know where to start. She didn't know Old Testament, New Testament, none of that. So I just started in the beginning that you're not an accident. You're not just an accidental clump of cells. Is there anybody that you love or that loves you? And she talked about her family and her sister. And I was like, do you think that's just a chemical accident?

And then she was like, what about evolution? I'm like, no, I'm not a racist. She's like, what do you mean? I was like, have you ever looked up the whole title of Darwin's theory of evolution, that book? It was about the preferences of some races over other. I don't believe that whatsoever. I don't think that some races are more involved in other races like the racist Darwin does. You don't believe that, do you?

I believe we're actually created on purpose by God and everybody is uniquely put together by him. She's like, I didn't know that. I was like, I know you didn't. That's why you got to read this book. And then I finally started about Jesus coming on a rescue mission. And you could tell, man, she's like, she's kind of getting a little, you know, a little bit weird. And she's, and then, and then you could see where she hit that moment where she thought, uh-oh, if I go with this thing you're talking about, it's going to cost me everything I've been doing in my life.

And she goes, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, how about this? How about this? Well, what about, what about the dinosaurs? All right. And why does the church hate gay people? Okay. And what about a man on an island that never heard the message? What about him? Does he go to hell?

I go, all right. Well, let's, just a couple of questions. Okay. The church shouldn't hate anybody. The church should love everybody because Jesus loves everybody. Are you guys? Because I'm not. I'm like, all right. Are you a paleontologist? What is that? A person that studies dinosaurs? I am not. Okay. Are you a sociologist looking for the lone man on the island? I am not. Okay. So let's don't worry about those things. There are legitimate answers to all those questions. Why don't we just stay right here talking about you? This is what Jesus is doing with this girl.

You see, she tries to distract him by talking theological. 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. He's talking about himself. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. don't miss this. For the Father is seeking such people to worship him. This should be a whole sermon

one day. The God's not looking for worship. He's looking for worshippers. He's already got worship. All the creation worships him. That the angels and the elders are worshipping him right now. He's not looking for a style of worship. He's looking for worshipers. He's not looking for concerts. He's looking for a congregation of people that know him as Heavenly Father and cry out to him. He's not looking for a performance. He's looking for people that will make his church a house of prayer. That's what he's looking for. And we worship him in spirit. This means like, wrote religious activity will not move the heart of God. And you know who worships in spirit? Forgiven people do. And you worship him in truth. You can't just run around and act a fool because you feel like it. That

that right thoughts about God is the only way to rightly love him. And he goes on to say, God is spirit. And those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. And the woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming. He was called Christ. And when he comes, he will tell us all things. And this next part, man, I wish you knew Greek. If you knew Greek right here, this verse 26,

it will blow your dentures out. I'm telling you, in English it doesn't quite have the punch. It kind of does. and Jesus said to her, I who speak to you, am he. In Greek, the way the sentence is, it goes, the one that speaks to you, I am. Now listen.

You see, she believed in the first five books of the Bible, okay? And the reason that he says it this way is because in the Gospel of John seven times Jesus makes these I am statements. Like I am the way the truth in the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. I am the good shepherd. I am the door.

I am the light of the world. All over, I am the resurrection and the life. And the reason he does is all the way back in Exodus, when Moses goes, he bumps into this burning bush. It turns out God speaking to Moses through the burning bush and tells him to go to Pharaoh in Egypt and say, let my people go. And he says, well, who shall I say sent me?

And God says, you tell him, my name is, and the way we translate it in English is I am. And so seven times in the gospel of John, Jesus says, I am. Seven is the number of completion. So the Apostle John wants you to know that Jesus is claiming that he is completely God. I am in Hebrew is Yahweh. It's just four letters.

Y-H-W-H. German theologians don't have Y's and W as they have J's and B. So Jehovah and Y'Awe, same name. And it means I am that I am. In Hebrew, Yahweh is supposed to sound like breath. Breathe in, yeah, breathe out, wave, Yah, way. Yah, way. That the God of the universe is as close to your next breath.

And Jesus is sitting eyeball to eyeball with this woman. And she goes, oh, you want the Messiah? You want the Christ? And if you're new to Bible study, Christ is not Jesus's last name, it's his title. And he's like, oh, you want the Christ? I am. That she can literally smell the very breath of God in this encounter. And just then the disciples came back.

They screw up everything. And they marveled that he was talking with a woman. Why? Because he's not supposed to talk to her for 25 different reasons. Please know this. The disciples considered this girl the worst. And if Jesus walked in this room right now, you know who you want to sit with?

You, one of you is the worst. You realize? Somebody, I mean, somebody is the actual worst. I don't know who it is. I have my, you know, guesses. Bright guy preaching, but whatever. And he'll kick down doors, and he'll move through eternity,

and he will make himself a servant. to sit down with you and me. And they marveled that he was talking to this woman. And no one said, what do you see, or why are you talking to her? They're all scared. They're like, I'm not talking to them. One, two, three, not yet.

That's what they do. And so the woman left her jar. The thing she thought she needed most for survival now is not even important to her. Jesus rearranges everything in this woman's life. And went away into the town and said, did the people come and see a man who told me all that I ever did.

Can this be the Christ? and she's like, we know what you did. And you should be ashamed of it. She's saying, oh, y'all don't understand. This man took all my shame away. This man took the thing that I was most embarrassed of. And in fact, God has used the thing that I was most embarrassed of to set up this meeting because I wouldn't be there at 12 o'clock

if it wasn't for this shameful mess of my life. And they went out of the town and they were coming to him. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him saying, rabbi, eat. but he said to them, I have food to eat that you don't know about. So the disciples said to one another, has anyone brought him something to eat? And Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me to accomplish his work. Listen, the most sustaining thing that you can ever do, the most satisfying thing that you can ever do,

is what we talked about at the beginning is do whatever he tells you to do. Everything else will be secondary. Verse 35, do you not say, there yet four months, then comes the harvest look, 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 sower and reaper may rejoice together for here the saying holds true one so's and another reaps i sent you to reap for that which you did not labor others have labored and you have entered into their labor in other words listen church could you just do what that woman's done she took her

story, which was a mess, and God used it to share his gospel message, that God is at work in all things for the good of those that love him and are caught according to its purpose. Who needs to hear that you've been run over by the grace train? And here's what I can promise you. You have no idea what hangs in the balance. Many Samaritans from the town believed in him because of this 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 he stayed there.

two days, and many more believe because of his word. They said to this woman, it is no longer because of what you said that we believe. You see, oftentimes your story is just an on-ramp for people to meet Jesus, especially if you're busted up. Especially if you're busted up. Man, if your story is always just cotton candy and Cadillacs, and people say, oh, I want that, they don't want Jesus. They want cotton candy and Cadillacs.

When you're saying, hey, listen, man, I was at the, I had made terrible decisions. I had made terrible choices. Not only have I sinned, but people have sinned against me. And it led me to a place of utter and total destruction. And I began to believe that I was too far gone. And then you realized, through the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there's more grace in Jesus than sin in you.

The world needs to hear that story. And they say, for we have heard for ourselves that we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. Do you know what the Samaritans have been told their whole life by the religious people? There's a Savior coming, but he ain't for you. He's only for us. And every single time people passed them, went around their town, they would reiterate that. And every single time, this woman would show up at the well. She had heard that there was a Messiah coming, that there was a Christ coming, that there was a Savior coming.

She just thought it was for somebody else. and Jesus shows up and goes eyeball to eyeball with her so that she will know that when John the baptizer says, behold, the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the whole world, that accounted for her too. You see, here's the whole point, man. The fake you's doing just fine. Real Jesus dot on a real cross for the real you. And it's time to get real.

This lady's plan A was not to be known as the one of my woman. with five husbands that has to avoid people to show up at the well the middle of the day because she's embarrassed and shame. And then she meets Jesus. And the blood of Jesus washes her shame away. He'll do it for you too. He'll do it for you too in this very moment. So I want you to imagine at all of our locations, if you're watching online, make your couch an altar. That this is the well. And you've been encountered the living God. His name is Jesus. The God's soul of the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever, including you, would believe in him, would not perish, but have eternal

life. But then it keeps going. He did not send his son into this world to condemn the world, but to save him. That the God of the universe wants to take the thing that the enemy tries to identify you by. Because the enemy is famous for trying to define us by our scars. But when Jesus was hanging on that cross with his hand pierced and his feet pierced and his side stabbed, when he came out of that grave, he says, for anybody who would believe, how about you be identified by my scars? So Jesus says, go get your husband and bring him to me. And so go get that thing that you're most ashamed of. But abortion, that porn addiction, that affair, that eating disorder, that depression, that substance abuse.

Even if you've been battling with it over and over and over and over, and you've broken promises to yourself and to God over and over and over. And go get that image because everybody else thinks you're mom of the year, but you know you. You're so insecure. You scream things at your kids that you should never scream. Go get that control, dad. Remember when you promise you'd never be like your dad?

and now you're brutalizing your family because when you walk in the room everybody puckers up because they're afraid. Go get that. Go get that insecurity and that failing marriage and that failing business. And go get that hopelessness and that loneliness. And I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking, I'm the only one. You know why we have these cards up here? We ask you for weeks, hey, where were you when grace changed everything? And here's somebody that says, I struggle with a pornography addiction. and here's somebody that's addicted to drugs and stealing from their family, and here's somebody that has serious anger issues and depression and suicidal thoughts,

and here's somebody that though they know, theologically, God would never leave them. They have a tendency to feel totally alone. And here's somebody that's just been partying and sleeping around, and they're mean to the people they call their friends, and here's somebody that expects everybody in the world to revolve around them, and here's somebody that's struggling with lust, and here's somebody that's addicted to cocaine, and here's somebody that's addicted to alcohol and over and over and over and this whole

thousands of people here at the church of 1122 are claiming I need Jesus. I can't do this on my own. And so you go get whatever that thing is and you come and bring in and leave it at the feet of Jesus. Don't take my word for it. Listen to the invitation of Jesus out of his very own matter. mouth. Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden when nothing will wear you out like toting around some shame in your life. Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your soul for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And so today at all of our locations the altar is open for anybody who's been carrying around shame. whether it was your own fault or something that happened to you. And I want to invite you to come and unload that burden. Peter says, on behalf of God, he says, cast all your cares upon me. And don't cast it like a rod and reel,

like you sling it up there and then reel it back in and take it home with you. You sling it on the feet of Jesus. And you take upon yourself his gospel. And you walk out of here with your head hell high. because Jesus is not looking for a transaction, he's looking for transformation. And he came and died on the cross and walked out of that grave in freedom so that we could walk in that same freedom.

Would you please stand and let me pray for you? Our good and gracious heavenly, Father God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. And Lord, we are all the woman at the well. We have so many things in our past and even in our current struggles that we think if they knew, God, we thank you, that you know and you love. love us anyway. That we are fully known by you and we are fully loved by you. And the way that we know that we are loved by you is because you've already demonstrated it at the cross. That you went to the cross and you pushed up on your nail pier's feet and you declared it is finished.

The shame is finished. The condemnation is finished. The payment for that sin is finished. So we can take those things that the enemy has tried to use to hold us back and we can come and declare that though we are great sinners, you are a greater Savior. And because you walked out of that tomb, we can walk in that same freedom. Lord, I pray that chains would be broken, that addictions would go away. God, I pray that marriages would be restored. Lord, I pray that therefore now there would be no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So church, go get that thing.

Go get that thing. And you bring it to Jesus and lay it as his feet. We're going to sing, we're going to bring, we're going to pray. Let's respond.