The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 7: Bridging Culture

Episode Date: September 22, 2019

The gospel doesn’t only alter our eternal trajectory, but meets us in the deepest darkest places of the soul.

Amen and amen. How we do with church? You better get ready. I'm all pumped up from last week. I only got to preach once last week, so I hope you are ready. I have been excited to share this message. John Chapter 4, better listen fast. We've got a lot to go through. John Chapter 4, we are at the end of this Bridges series. So if you got here late, it's all right, okay?

The message will kind of stand on its own. But what we've been studying for the last seven weeks is that Jesus is the ultimate and eternal bridge builder that ultimately he built a bridge from heaven to earth. And then when he got here, he built all kind of bridges. He crossed socioeconomic boundaries and racial boundaries and theological boundaries and all of that. And in our time together, we're going to talk about him bridging culture. Now, I don't know if you're ready for this. You don't seem ready yet.

Are you still saturated or did it leak out? What happened? Just like a minute ago. Okay. So Jesus builds this cultural bridge. And honestly, right before I came out as I was praying about this, man, our country right now is a mess in regards to this cultural divide, this ethnic divide, this racial divide. And it seems like it's getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse, not better and better and better. And what we're going to find in this text is that Jesus is the only answer to bring us together.

Amen? And so let's just dive right in. John chapter 4. It says, 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. So note to self, when you get baptized here, it doesn't matter who dunks you, because you ain't getting done dunked in my name. You're getting dunked in the name of the Father of the Son and Holy Spirit, amen?

By the way, just last week, ass-saturated. At all of our campuses, on Sunday, we baptized 150 people. Amen? And on Wednesday night at our Baker campus, we baptized an additional 67 brothers. I was talking to the assistant warden. He's been there for 20 years. He says we filled that tub up over and over and over and over. And in his 20 years until last night he had seen zero baptisms.

And last night we saw 67 men proclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Amen. We'll keep going. He left Judea and departed again for Galilee. verse 4. And He, Jesus, had to, underline that in your Bible. And Jesus had to pass through Samaria. Time out. He didn't really have to pass through Samaria. See, the thing about Samaria is, if you've ever gone to the back of your Bible with the maps, that's the problem if you do it on your phone. You don't get these colorful maps in the back. There was an area of this part of the world called Samaria, and there was this incredible, divest vision between Jews and Samaritans. And it was partly theological, it was partly racial, it was totally cultural, and they hated one another, hated one another.

So just real quick, an Old Testament lesson man, way back in the day, God's people, the Jews, Israelites, they were unfaithful to God, and so God takes their hand of blessing off of them, and King Nebuchadnezzar comes in and takes them out and takes them away in what is known is the Jewish exile, but there were still some people kind of left around, and then later some people moved back to this area, Jewish people, and then they began to enter Mary. Now, at this point, the problem is that these folks did not worship the one true God, but they, when they begin to marry people that worship all kind of pagan gods, they began to mix theologies and mixed cultures and mixed religion, and they essentially booted the majority

of the Old Testament and only held on to the first five books of the Bible. And essentially, they created their own kind of quasi-religion. And so you match that mixed-up theology with some racial and ethnic prejudices there. And then you fast forward that a thousand years or so. And these two groups of people hated each other. I mean, they had incredibly derogatory names for one another. And they just decided, you stay in your spot, we'll stay in our spot. Well, to get from Jerusalem to Galilee, the best way, the expressway went right through the middle of Samaria.

But what most Jewish people would do is that they would take this long way all the way around Samaria. It would take you a couple of extra days to go that way. But most of the religious Jewish people thought it was worth it because they didn't want any of them to get on them. And so when it says Jesus had to, he didn't have to had to, had to. another way to go. So what does this mean? You see, Jesus had to go to Samaria because God the father had an appointment for him. So let me just ask you. Let me just cut right to it. What do you have to do? There's some things that God has told you to do and you keep taking the bypass and he wants you to go straight at that thing. What is it? Maybe this is the only reason that you

were here. You write that thing down. Delayed obedience. is disobedience. What is the thing that God is asking you to do? Here's what the Bible says about Jesus and his obedience in John 519. 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. John 1249, for I have not spoken on my own authority, but the father who sent me has himself given me a commandment, what to say and what to speak. So when Jesus gets to the exit, and there is an exit that says go around Samaria, and there is another one that says go through Samaria. And because the father tells him he had to go through Samaria, what is God asking you to do?

I mean, listen, I bet there's 100 of you right now, and you know God has called you to sign up for a short-term mission trip. And more than sign up. You signed up many times to actually follow through and go on the trip. Now listen, here's the deal. I'm not telling you, I am telling you to go, you got three years to go, but the Spirit of God is confirming in you, you should go. That's who I'm talking about. Or God has called you, you know it. Every time we talk about forgiveness, every time we talk about reconciliation, that X, that person, that old boss pops up in your head, and the Spirit of God says, call them.

And you have to, but you don't have to. You understand what I'm saying? And the crazy thing is today, and you ain't got to wait until you get home until you get to a phone. You're sitting on it. what is the thing that God is asking you to do, telling you to do? Well, praise God. Jesus is always obedient and he had to pass through Samaria. So, he came to the town of Samaria called Sakar, near the field of Jacob.

Near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph, Jacob's well was there. And so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside. the well. It was about the sixth hour. That means it's about noon time. They would count the hours when the sun came up, so somewhere around six o'clock sun comes up, so this is about lunchtime. Now think about this. What John is showing us here, John is showing us the humanity of Jesus. I don't know what you think about when you think about Jesus. I think a whole lot of the artwork throughout the decades has been pretty abysmal when it comes to giving us a real picture of Jesus. If you just Google Jesus, you know what picture you usually get?

Usually get this like super thin, like, I mean, frail, skinny, Swedish man. With blonde hair, no split ends, bathrobe, Miss America Sash. You know the one I'm talking about? One hand's like, he's a Boy Scout or something, and it's got a halo. Hello. Who is that? Because I'm going to tell you, man. I mean, I don't know.

you notice, ain't a lot of Swedish people born in Bethlehem. Okay? When Jesus comes up to the well, I know a lot of us think that he just sort of like moves without moving his feet, you know? But the Bible says he's weird. He's looking for a place. Jesus, the son of God, the Word made man, is huffing and puffing and he's thirsty and he's tired and he wipes the sweat off his brow and he says, I got to sit down somewhere.

Let me just be honest. We do not create Jesus in our image, but that's the Jesus I need. Because if Jesus is just floating around in his white robe and his blonde hair with his English accent, what's he knowing about me in my life? Because I get tired and I get thirsty and I got to sit down. Look, man, Jesus stepped into the grime of this world. And for a Jewish rabbi to sit down here, I'm telling you, what he's going to do now. next is he is going to start talking to people, a woman in particular, that culturally he wasn't

supposed to, which means this. That means if Jesus walked in this room right now, he would sit next to you and you and you, even though all the religious people were like, who you're sitting with. Don't you know that Jesus meets us in our mess? He ain't hanging out at the spa, waiting for everybody to get cleaned up and then come on in. Though that's what most churches would tell you. That's just outside of the way Jesus interacted with people. Verse 7. If there's a soundtrack to this event, the soundtrack changes here.

A woman from Samaria, no, came to draw water. And Jesus said to her, this is scandalous, people. See, if you grew up in church, you've seen too many. little felt pictures of the Samaritan woman and you already know how it ends. You've got to get that out of your mind. Whatever the most out of bounds human you can think of, put that in your mind. This is whose Jesus is talking to. He crosses multiple barriers right here.

First of all, gender. Did you know that a Jewish religious man was not allowed to talk to a woman in public that was not his wife? And if he found his wife talking to any other man in public, That was grounds for divorce in the first century. No, no, no, not supposed to do that. Also culturally, again, this is like racism at its highest degree. And Jesus is like, I don't think so, and sits down next to this woman.

Theologically, she's whack. All right, you ultra-conservative Christian, this is, he's sitting down with the most left-leaning liberal in the world. She's just making stuff up that ain't in the Bible. Morally. Do you know why she's there at noon? She's ashamed of herself. She's embarrassed. Listen, it was the women's job in the first century to go get the water.

And they would do this early in the morning because it's cool. It's not hot yet. The sun's not beating down on you yet. And so that's when they would go. And it was like, man, it was like mean girls. They would all get together and they were all buddies. And it was this little sorority and everybody shared prayer requests, also known as gossip. That's what they would do.

together. Not her? Not five-man Sally. She's like, uh-uh. And she's ashamed of this. So she waits to the crowd dissipates and she comes so that she won't bump into anybody and all of the people she bumps into in the world just happens to be the son of God. Sitting next to her, looking at her in the face, talking to her, scandalous and says, give me a drink. But he doesn't say it like I just said it. I don't think. I've been working on my tone. I've got a lot of more work to do. Give me a drink. I don't know how it's just... I'm trying, man.

We find out later, this is an ask. Would you give me a drink? For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. And the Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a Jew, asked for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Except Jesus.

If you weren't here on opening night of saturated, you need to go back and listen to Pastor Brian Laritz's message. He says that the gospel compels us to strange relationships. You should ask yourself. I should ask myself this question often. Where in my life is there evidence of the gospel producing strange relationships? Like relationships with other people that this world says, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You two people aren't supposed to be together. And then you go, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's just this one thing. We have the same father. That's the only thing about it. You see, so Jesus had no problem with any of the barriers the culture had set up between them. He just builds a bridge right over it. You see, the gospel compels us as believers to treat all people as if they are image bearers of God and potential recipients of God's grace poured out at the cross.

Do you know why we're supposed to treat people that way? because they are, period. And if the grace of God does not flow through us towards every human being we come eyeball to eyeball with, then it could be because the grace of God is not in us. And you think, and I think, we did something to earn this. I'm just going to confess. Two weeks ago, when I told that story that I tell every three years

about taking the stripper to church, and it wrecks all. Y'all all cry to. Those of you have been around three years, you start crying right when I started. All right, one time I took a striper to church, you're like, oh, here it comes, okay, I get it. And at the end of the service, the sermon was so good, I convicted my own self. You understand? I'm standing over there, and I just fell on me, and I was like, my problem is just simply this. I think I'm better than you.

Anytime I mistreat anybody, my children, my wife, my staff, the elders, whoever it is. anytime I get that email and it's like pass in and I'm like and I come and simply I get to this place where I don't know what happens I know I take my eyes off of Jesus

and I think I'm better than you and when we are at the foot of the cross we simply say who am I that you would take my place and so Jesus he's sitting at the well with somebody that he ain't supposed to be sitting with

real quick Church of 1122 all campus welcome to the well. That's what this place is. If you think you've got to be cleaned up and you think you've got to have it all together, honestly, you won't fit in here very well.

Because the gospel will out you. The gospel will out your pride. This place is a hospital room. That's what this place is. And if you think you've got to wait for the bleeding to stop before you go to the ER, you need help. It just ain't for the bleeding. You've got some other stuff going on here.

And if you think you've got to clean yourself before you come to the Savior who died to clean you, then it's just simply because you don't understand the gospel. Welcome to the well. It's going to be a grimy, grimy place around here. Praise God. So he said, Jesus answered her, because she says, why are you talking to me?

And Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living, water. You've got to underline that word, those two words, living water. She has no idea who she is talking to. No idea. Now, please don't miss this.

She is, I don't, how close you think they were sitting? When you do Bible study, you've got to, you got to use some spirit-filled imagination. This is a real event. So put it in your mind. I mean, you think they're on the other side of the way. I'm like, hey, I can get a drink. No, who are you talking? I don't think so. I think they're close enough just to talk. And she's what, she's this far, she's this far. From God in the flesh, she doesn't even know it. Can you believe that people could be in the very presence of the Son of God and miss it? Yes, I see it every week in our church.

He's here. He's here. We're gathered in his name. We're making much of him. He inhabits the praises of his people. He speaks through his living word. Please, please. This is my fear at 1122.

I'm telling you, it's my fear, because I know you come and I yell at you and I tell jokes and you laugh and all that and you're engaged. And what a shame would it be if your kids have a good time and you're kind of like the music and then I entertain you and you're this close to the son of God and you miss him. He's speaking to you tonight. He's speaking to you right now, not through my words. He's speaking to your soul by the power of the Holy Spirit and he speaks through his word. Please, please, please, please, whatever you do, don't miss him. because you just thought you'd go to church. She has no idea who she's talking to.

And she offers, he says, I'll get you some living water. Living water has two meanings. You see that, the well water was, it could be stagnant at the bottom of the well. Living water meant like water that was running and it was fresh and good for drinking. And it also could mean supernatural.

More than natural water. And so the woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw water with. She still doesn't get it. Aren't you glad that the Lord is patient with us? Ever take you a minute to understand what God means? This is just me? Thank God.

Thank God that he is so much more patient with his children than I am mine. I can tell you when it comes out from me, man. I coach all kind of stuff. And every time I think about the patience of God, I've told you this a million times. I don't care. I can never get this image out of my mind. I'm coaching T-ball.

I'm a little third baseman. I look over during one. He's a pretty athletic kid. I look over during one of the games, and he's laying on his face. Third base, laying hands like this, not worshiping. It's not like he's prostrate before the Lord. And he's taking the bill of his cap,

and he's scooping up. I'm telling you, man, I was about to lose. I almost lied. Then I thought that may be the safe. place for him. Like the smallest amount of surface area. You know, he's going to take one in the face. But I'm like, what are you? What? I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I believe from a heavenly perspective, man, when the angels look at me, I'm over here at third base just scooping up some dirt with my hat. And the unbelievable part of the gospel is that while the angels may be making

fun of me, God the Father goes, shut her, man, that's my boy. Look at my boy. Look at my boy. And so, she don't get it. She's like, hey, you're going to give me water. You're, you're going to be water. don't even have a bucket. And the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father of Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. Interestingly enough, a lot of stuff happened at this well in the Old Testament.

And one of the primary things this well was known for is that Jacob, Abraham, and Moses all found their wives at that well. I know. Some of you like, show me that well. Okay, I get it. Maybe this is why every college ministry in the country is called the well, because everybody's like, hey. Okay. Now, and I don't know, maybe she's looking for love in all the wrong places. I don't know. But she's looking, she's looking for a temporary love, and she bumps into the perfect love. And his name is Jesus. 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. He's going to use this well as a living illustration of her life. He's going to say, you keep coming back to this well and you drink and you drink and you drink and you think it's going to fully and finally satisfy, but the temporary things of this world can never ever fully and finally satisfy. So the bottom line of what he's saying is this,

why do you keep coming back to the same well that does not quench your thirst? And he ain't talking about water. That's a pretty good question we should ask ourselves, isn't it? Why do you and I? Even those of us that know Jesus, why do you and I continue to go to the temporary wells of this world seeking to be satisfied by temporary things that do not have the capacity to satisfy our eternal soul? Now, 1 John tells us there's only three wells in this whole world.

Do you know this? The book of First John, John tells us, I talk about it all the time. It says, do not love the world or the things of this world, all this world has to offer. Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Those are the wells that we dip into, the lust of the flesh. That means that we want to feel a certain way. And we might go to food, we might go to sex, we might go to drugs, we might go to Netflix, we might go to the people's applause.

but it's simply what we try to do is we think if that thing, if that pill, if that person, if that comment, if that post can make me feel a certain way, do you know what that empty well is called? It's called the lust of the flesh. And we go, there ain't a person in here that hadn't been in that well multiple times. Listen, man, those pictures aren't going to do it for you. That boyfriend's not going to do it for you. even if you get down to your ideal weight and ain't going to do it for you.

It's just not. You'll feel it for a minute. Just like when you drink a cup of water out of Jacob's well, it quenches your thirst for a minute. It's amazing how quickly it runs dry, isn't it? And you ever notice how one cup this time may fill you up, but next time you've got to have two cups and three cups and four cups? For some folks, it's not the lust of the flesh,

it's the lust of the eyes. that you want to have something, that you want some stuff, that you fix your eyes on something, and you think if I could just have a new, whatever it is? You ever notice how the thing that you want new is awesome, but everybody else's new thing is dumb? Like, shiplap, why would we go make money on shiplap? I'm about to get a truck. How is that different? I'm telling you.

And we, everybody's like, no, no, not me. Stuff is not important. Go with me on a mission trip. And just explain to one of our compassion kids where we live and tell them we might not have a blind spot here in America. You see, we do. Around here we lovingly call this the cul-de-sac of stupidity when we think stuff is going to satisfy.

And I'm not saying stuff is stupid. I'm saying you're stupid. Me too, man. Me too. I walked through Gander Mountain, Cabellas, Bass Pro, and I thought, I didn't even know I needed that until I saw it. Gracious thought, you got one of them. Not like that, I don't, baby, that one's different. Look at that. My other one's brown than green. This is more green than brown. Got to have that. It's crazy, isn't it? And it's just a well that will never, ever, I'm telling you, you think if I could just log on to my bank account and this number came up,

all said. If you double that number, you just set yourself a new number. No matter what it is, you fix your eyes on a thing, anything other than Jesus, I'm just telling you, it will let you down. And then there's the pride of life. Status. See, lust of the flesh is I want to feel away. Lust of the eyes is I want to have something. Pride of life is I want to be something. This is about title and accomplishments. And if I could just get to the top of the ladder, How many people have spent their whole life clapping to the top of the ladder and only to realize I'm on the wrong wall? What a waste of my life.

For her, for her it was something different. But this is what he's talking about. He's using this well as an illustration to her life. And then he says, the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. You see, think about this for a second. I talk about it all the time. in the beginning God gathers together after he makes everything and he says it's good but God's better

than good so he's going to go very good and he's going to make he's going to make image bearers adam and he takes the dust of the earth and he forms it in the ground and and adam is not yet a living being until god breathes into adam the ruach of life and now this is his son his image bearer and adam opens his eyes and he's face to face with god and if adam was created in the image of God, he was, you see, Adam doesn't, Adam doesn't have a soul. Adam is a soul and he's just like surrounded by a body. This means that we were created with a soul, an insatiable desire at the deepest levels of who we are. And the only thing that can fill that insatiable desire is not the temporary wells of this world, but the almighty everlasting God. Blaze Pascal, before he invented

like trigonometry, he said that every single one of us are trying to fill the God-shaped hole with things that just won't fill it. This is the conversation that Jesus is having with her, and please don't miss this. And if you open the eyes of your heart, it's the conversation he wants to have with you right now. And so he says, the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. That only the eternal God, can satisfy our insatiable appetite. And the woman said, him, sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. In evangelism 101, this is when you go, bingo, I've had a number of conversations that have gone similar to this.

I literally, I was in Walmart one time, not our church, but like with the stuff. and I'm standing in the line out of 10 items or less aisle and I don't know about you but the moment I get there what do you okay it's 11 all right okay 11 okay that's cool not I mean can you not read or count it's one of those two I don't know which one it is

this little boy this little kid man he's over here and he's just jacking around with the candy bars can't get this right he's all loud and I never forget the man the mama looks at her in the pure Walmart fashion and screams at the top of her lungs relax And I thought, he's never going to understand the meaning of that word. He's never, I don't do this all the time.

I'm not like super evangelist. I don't know. Acts 1-8 says, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses. So there are times in my life where the spirit goes, get them. So I just went, are you okay to the mom? Like not me, like, are you okay? Like I checked out, she's walking over there.

You okay? She's like, I'm fine. I'm like, no, hold on. I mean, seriously. Like, are you okay? And it's just like, six minutes later, which is in Walmart, she's praying to receive Jesus, okay? Boom. When you get to this point, you close the deal.

That's what you do. That's what it looks like. The lady is like, sir, give me this water so I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. You want some living water? I do, all right. Keys, come on out. They start playing. Get the hazers going again.

Just bow your head, close your eyes, admit, believe, receive, raise your hand. Boom. Close the deal. deal, Jesus. You know what? If you didn't know the text, that's what you would think he would do. Come on in. You're one of ours. Instead, Jesus says to her, go, call your husband and come here. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What? Wait, whoa, whoa, Jesus. Can't you deal with that later? You see, just to ruin the end of it, she's got five husbands and she's sacked up with a guy right now that's not her husband. And he's like, hey, let's talk about that for a minute. Now, if I was coaching

Jesus, not that he's asked, but if I was coaching him, I would be like, yo, hey, hold on, hold on, Savior. See, we're saved by grace through faith, not by works, so the sanctification can start a little later. Let's just get her on in the baptism class first, go ahead and get her dumped. Then we'll get her in disciple groups, and one of those ladies in the Skype, they'll be sure to bring it up after they check her a Facebook post. But like, hey, hold on one second. Who you living with? Okay, and that's how we can run this. What you think? Not Jesus. Jesus says her, go, call. Let me just translate this. Hey, ma'am, go grab your deepest, darkest, most shameful area of your life that has you waiting

six hours after the crowds have dissipated to show up here to avoid everybody. Go get that and bring it to me. You know what this is called? this is called empathy. Jesus isn't being mean. Jesus is loving her. I met with a friend of mine the other day and he said this. When I see people hurting, I physically hurt for them and I have to do something. This is what Jesus is doing. He says, when I see people hurting, I physically hurt for them and I have to do something. Do you know that to be mostly known is to be not known? And most of us at the church, I don't know. We bring about 80%, 90% of us to the light.

And we've got some stuff back here, and we would rather just kind of keep it back here out of the light. You see, the problem is you fight the devil in the dark, he'll kick your tail. You drag him into the light. Jesus fights for you. That's just the difference. And so Jesus says, go get it. Go get that thing. C.S. Lewis says it this way in mere Christianity.

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 your desires and all of your wants and all of your wishes and all of your dreams. Turn them all over to me, give yourself to me, and I will make you a new self in my image. Give me yourself, and in exchange, I will give you myself. My will shall become your will.

My heart shall become your heart. See, we say it all the time, man, it's okay to not be okay. It's just not okay to stay there. The fake you's doing just fine. Jesus says, bring it. Bring it all to me. And the woman answered him, I have no. husband. She's trying to fake it. Let me just ask you, what are you trying to keep from Jesus? What's that thing in your past? That sin, that lust, that addiction, that thing that you were so embarrassed of? Listen, Jesus is not embarrassed of you. He died on the cross for you. He says, go and get it and bring it to me. She's faking. I have no husband. And Jesus said to her, you're right in saying, 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. Now here's the thing. This is a sin. This is just not the point. At church, we're famous for getting hung up on the thing that's not the point. The point is Jesus wants to get to the deeper issues. Why do you continue to run to the same well that never satisfies you? It doesn't matter what the sin in and of itself is. Do you understand this? And there's a huge difference between condemnation and conviction. And what Jesus is offering her is conviction. He's saying to her, what I am offering you is freedom. You don't have to fake it anymore. I know exactly what I get when I'm offering living water to you and I'm saying, bring it all to me. Condemnation is, how dare you? You are unfit for use. But Romans 8 1 says, therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are

Christ Jesus. There is nothing but freedom. And the woman said to him, look at this. Sir, I perceive that you were a prophet. You think? He just read her mail right there at the deal. Now, watch what's she does? This is classic dip, dive, duck, dive, dodge move right here. But you can't juke Jesus, man. He stays in his lane. He knows what he's doing. So here's what she says. Our father is worshipped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. And Jesus says, he answers her question, but he keeps it right on topic. 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. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. You see, here's what happens so often. You talk to somebody about Jesus changing their life, and instead of talking about their life, they want to throw up these theological diversions. I'm going to Africa this week.

I think it was the last time, maybe the time for that. I'm flying back. I've told you how oftentimes I have to do work. I sit down on the plane, I open my Bible, and I just look at people. You want to do this or not? And if they don't want to, no problem. I lean on my Calvinism. Maybe you're not chosen.

I can get to work, all right? If they want to talk, praise God. Maybe this will work out good for you in all eternity. All right. So, whatever goes, it's up to the Lord. So I sit down, pop up in my Bible, working on my sermon for the next time. This girl is sitting next to me. She's a young girl from Amsterdam.

She was like, you believe that? And I'm like, all right, ding, ding, here we go. Yeah, I do. Let's talk about it. So we're talking. The spirit starts jacking with her. I mean, you can see it, man. She's in an abusive relationship.

She's doing some shady stuff in Amsterdam to make a little extra money. It's just not because she doesn't know her dad. I mean, she is a broken young woman. When I start talking to her about what it looks like to surrender her life to Jesus and that Jesus could change all of her life, then she starts going. So what about the dinosaurs? So if Jesus is the only way and there's a man on an island all by himself, what happens to him? And then why does the church hate my gay friends?

Okay, those are her three questions? And I go, okay, hold on, are you gay? No. Okay, first of all, Jesus loves everybody. Okay, secondly, are you a paleontologist? No, okay, so let's not worry about the dinosaurs right now, okay? Are you a sociologist trying to find the person? No, okay.

There are answers to all of those questions, okay? They just don't have anything to do with your soul right now. Stop with the theological diversion. And just be real right now with Jesus. this is what this woman is doing. And then the woman says, I know that Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ.

And when he comes, he will tell us all things. And Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he. As a Samaritan woman, she knew the first five books of the Bible. She did, because they were still holding on to those. The Torah,

when Moses goes to the burning bush, and God says, Moses, go to Pharaoh, tell him to let my people go. And he says, who shall I say, send me? And God says, my name is I am. In Hebrew, it's Yahweh. It's four letters, the tetragram.

It's supposed to sound like breathing. Like breathe in, Yah, breathe out. Way. Yahweh. It literally means I am that I am or I be that I be. The eternal God. When Jesus says, I who speak to you, am he, he is saying, yo, wake up, look at me.

You didn't understand my cup and water illustration? Yahweh. That's what he's saying. The book of John is knowing for the seven I am statements. Like I am the red of life, I'm the resurrection in life, I'm the way the truth in the life, keeps going, four more times. And who gets the precursor to the seven I am statements? Not Nicodemus the Pharisee, not one of his disciples, but this woman that he's not even supposed to be talking to. And that's who God reveals himself to. Verse 27. And just then the disciples came back and they marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, what do you seek?

Or why are you talking to her? And so the woman left her water jar and went away into the town and said to the people, come see a man who told me all that I ever did. You see what happens when you meet Jesus face to face? He frees you of all your condemnation. The thing that she was ashamed of, now she is putting on display. Can this be the Christ? And they went out of town and they were coming to him.

You see, when Christ opens their eyes, everything changes. We're going to skip down to verse 39. And many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. Many Samaritans believed in him. Not because of a sermon, not because they saw a miracle, not because they saw it in the Torah. How many of you know that God can take a mess of a life and create this unbelievable message that points to the mercy of God poured out for all people? Don't you ever be ashamed of what God saved you from? The cross has outed every single one of us.

And she said, 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 believed because of his word. And they said to the woman, it is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves. And we know that this indeed is the savior of the world. Hey, if somebody invited you here this weekend, it was simply, here's their invitation. If they were like, hey, what you come to church for me?

Just come check it out. They were just doing what this woman did. They may not have had all the words, okay? But here's what they're saying, I love you. and I would love for you to check this out for yourself and maybe you could bump into the Son of God who loves you. Again, I've told you they're not going to say it that way, especially if you're a dude.

If someone of your buddies invited you here, you're not going to be on the golf course and be like, hey, I tell you, I'll tell you I love you. You can, but we ain't playing golf anymore, okay? So it gets weird. But all they are saying, the reason you're not trying to convince you of anything, we're not asking you of anything, I'm just wondering if maybe you would see Jesus for yourself and not miss him.

And that now you would believe, not because of the testimony of your friend, but because you yourself bumped into Jesus. That God uses her mess to display his mercy. That God takes the greatest mess, and he preaches the greatest message, that God came to rescue sinners. You see, here's the point of all of this, is that the gospel doesn't only alter our eternal trajectory, though that matters. I mean, it matters more than anything.

In 100 years, we're all gone. The death rate in America, 100%. So you might want to deal with this. What are you going to do with this man named Jesus? Because hell is hot forever's a long time. That's a serious question you need to answer. But what we find here is Jesus is not simply your fire insurance so that one day you go up and not down. that Jesus is deeply, deeply, deeply concerned about you right now

in the deepest, darkest areas of your life. The gospel doesn't only alter our eternal trajectory, but meets us in the deepest darkest places of the soul. I believe right now as we close, Jesus is saying to every single one of us, go get your husband. Go get that thing that you've been hiding. Go get that thing that you've been ashamed of.

Go get that thing that you've been lying to your, disciple group about because you feel like everybody would look down on you if they knew this thing about you. Go get that thing that you've even been afraid to bring to the Lord because you think real Christians don't do this. Listen, real Christians are saved by grace through faith, not by work. And then Jesus says, bring it to me. Bring me that addiction and bring me that lust and bring me that debt and bring me that failing business and bring me that anger and bringing that failing marriage and bring me that, that depression that you have, just go get it and bring it to me. You see, because he wants it all. So we got a little bit of time here. This is not the service to hustle out and go get your kid.

We're going to close a little differently at all of our locations. The band is going to come and they're going to sing a song called Bring It to the Table. Bring it all to the table. And the image that I want you to have in your mind is that God the Father is at the top of this big, family table and he has saved a seat for you but you got your junk and you're like well once I fix this I'll then maybe I can have a seat and he's like no that's not how the gospel works bring it all bring all of you I don't want part of you because there's no part of you is to not know you bring your depression and bring your addiction and bring your habitual sin and bring those things that frustrate you and bring

that bring those failings in your marriage and bring your frustration with your and bring all of those things and bring your anger and bring your ego and bring your insecurity. Whatever that thing is that the enemy tries to latch on to to tell you you should be ashamed of that, God the father says, no, I died for that. What you bring that thing to the table? Some of you, for the very first time, have heard the invitation of God to come sit at his table as a family member, a son or a daughter of the Most High King. receiving the gospel, becoming a Christian, being a follower of Jesus, as simple as this.

I'm not saying it's easy. It's the hardest thing you'll ever do. It's just the most simple decision you could ever make. That you admit it. I'm not a mistakeer that needs to just make better decision and get better at sin management. But I admit it, I'm a sinner, and I need a savior, a rescuer, a bridge builder. And I believe, I trust somehow that when Jesus Christ, died on the cross, that counted for me.

And in this moment, I'm ready to confess him as my Lord and Savior. And I want to bring it all to him. We're going to bow our head and close our eyes. I'm going to give those of you who have never surrendered your life to Jesus at all of our campuses. Did simply do that. And then when I say amen, the band is going to sing, and I just want you to receive this song. But for some of you, I dare you to do this. For some of you that feel stuck, for some of you that feel hopeless, for some of you, that feel like you've brought most of you to Jesus,

but they're still part of your life back there. And Jesus says, I need you to bring that to me. You want some chains to break free. I dare you at all of our locations that during this song, to just stand up where you are. You can stand and lift your hands, or you can stand and hold your hands out, and I assure you the people around you

are going to begin to beseech the king of the universe on your behalf. So if you're ready to surrender to Jesus, I'm going to give you the opportunity to do that now. bow your head, close your eyes. And if right now, for the very first time, you were ready to admit it, I'm a sinner in need of a Savior, that I believe somehow when Christ died on the cross, that counted for me. And in this moment, you were ready to confess him as Lord and Savior. Raise your hand.

Say, Father, here I am. I received the invitation to come to your table as a son or a daughter of the most high king. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. I thank you that when you save us, you say every single bit of us. And that we are fully known and we are fully loved, which means we don't have to hide anything. We can bring it to you. We pray this in the good, strong name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen. Now receive this prayer over you.