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00:00:01 the good morning and I think just to Echo Pastor Mobi you know when you say religion what people say that you come you go to your temple you go to your church you do your religious Duty you go back that's not that's not Christianity uh being a Christian is being a disciple of Jesus is about community and so I like to particularly ask if if you feel coming to church means you come you sit in the corner and then go home and you've been doing that for the last 20 years you're not you're not really going to
00:00:33 church you're just performing a religious Duty and that's not good for you and that's not what God wants and so we ask especially if you are a you like to remain anoymous in church reach out to somebody that's what community is about uh let me just continue a bit uh and next week's sermon Dr Peter will take the Lord's Prayer then William part two and then John will take the Lord's Prayer on part three today I'm going to take you through uh something which is series which I'm going to bring you through but before we do that I just
00:01:08 wanted to say something that really distracted me did you guys see these flowers in front here oh fantastic I heard you done by Corin all right wow Corin postco really is beautiful man I just thought you were just lovely okay uh let me just share a bit a few weeks ago we had at the end of last year Pastor palan spoke about the Samaritan moment and the sermon really touched me I thought it was it was very meaningful and he spoke on it very heavily from the perspective of missions and there was one statement he made
00:01:42 which really caught on and then I told and you know what I'm going to change my whole sermon and after that at the watch Night Service brother Ruby who sat here made a remark about it next day at the mission conference Pastor Paran made the same remark and is this remark if I can get my thing going ah is this it com from John 4 then leaving a water jar the woman went back to the town and said to the people come see a man who told me everything I ever did could this be the Messiah and Pastor Palam picked up an interesting detail
00:02:15 and John's very good at this he didn't say the woman went back to town the woman left her water jar and so he said to move forward you need to let go of something and R Ruby at the watch Night Service said you know he's thinking dropping something to move forward with FBC and next day at the mission conference palan repeated the same thing and you find this idea of dropping to move on is is a common theme when Jesus meets the the brothers Andrew and Peter he says come follow me in Matthew and the text says what they
00:02:50 dropped everything I'll make you fishous a man he meets a tax collector tax collector make a lot of money you know come follow me what does he do he drops he drops it and later in Matthew it says whoever who has left houses and homes and brothers and fathers to follow me and so to follow Jesus is a cause and so today I want to ask you a question and I want to just pick this up as we start a new year and the New Year message I want to ask you is what are you willing to let go in 2024 to follow Jesus and so we're going to revisit this
00:03:37 text it's a fantastic text I want to maybe put another angle to it and I just pray that the Lord will speak to all of us let's come before God In Prayer Lord God I ask for the spirit of humility oh Lord that not I speak but you speak not the wisdom of man but your power Lord Speak oh Lord we may listen Speak oh Lord that we hear your voice in Jesus name we say this amen now we're going to go to chapter 4 and I want to explain a little bit a bit how John writes what makes this text so fascinating I'm going to pick up two
00:04:26 things now the first thing John writes if you if you understand literature right those of you who read there's many forms of literature John loves to use symbols he smack all over the place I'm going to give you a few examples of it and John 4 is very rich in symbols you don't pick it up you miss the richness of the text he's not doing allegory allegory means it is not a literal meaning he's not in fact he's giving a double meaning okay I'll give you an example of that later and why the purpose is so that you have a richer
00:05:03 experience of Jesus let me give you a few example and here the most famous is that the Gospel of John is structured around seven I am I am right and he uses imagery I'm the vine I'm the braad I'm the light I'm the gate seven I AMS and it structures the whole book Why seven because God created the world in seven days Perfection not only are there seven I am there are seven miracles only seven unlike the other gospels only seven and they escalate they start with water to wine and interestingly it is at a
00:05:49 wedding that is not I tell you incidental and it ends by raising the dead which is a funeral so he's very good at this but the other one which people don't pick up is his double meaning and this is really fascinating I'll just give you three examples right the first comes right off the Gospel of John and everyone has picked this up in the beginning of the Gospel John he says the light shines in darkness the darkness has not overcome it the Greek word is cavina Bonos is a strange word it has two
00:06:26 meaning it means you cannot overcome it also means kalav Bonos also means you cannot understand is a specific word so Darkness doesn't understand and cannot overcome and the classic example is what John 3 when does Nicodemus comes to see Jesus at night and what is his opening statement rabi we know very clever no why he represents the Sanhedrin the San hedri and other people in darkness he comes to do a deal and what happens at the middle how can this be why because he's in darkness he cannot understand so
00:07:14 Jesus tled him you are Israel's teachers and you don't understand so there's a double play and again one most interesting one is in John 18 and there a double play again it's in darkness the mob comes to arrest Jesus and you're looking for Jesus what does he say he says I am he what does the crowd do they bow down why even when Jesus is arrested it is by the hand of God Darkness cannot overcome John 11:14 is also another very famous One the word he doesn't say God become man he says the word there
00:07:53 another story by becomes flesh and made his dwelling and he uses the Greek word which means Tabernacle so there's a double meaning what's the double meaning God became man and walked Among Us that's Jesus number two Jesus is the Tabernacle what's the Tabernacle the Tabernacle is when God and man meet together so that's a double play but one the most famous is John 6 which The Narrative of the feeding of the 5,000 and and and you see whether you can pick this up right 5,000 people huge crowd follows Jesus right he feeds them using
00:08:29 what five loaves two fishes 5 + 2 is what seven Perfection how many baskets are there 12 baskers how many tribes are there in Israel 12 deliberate who walk through the desert very hungry asking for bread 12 tribes what did God give them mana and he gives the plot away because the crowd says our ancestors gave us he didn't use the word Mana gave was bread from heaven then what did Jesus say I am the bread of life is this fantastic piece of literature so he plays with feeding of 5,000 physical hunger to spiritual
00:09:15 hunger he's the bread of life Jesus is the bread of life God Gave You bread from heaven and you had food and you don't see it so it's very rich now to really appreciate John 4 you need to pick up the symbols so I want you to go through it and I hope you don't get confused but it's a very rich text now because it's complex I'm going to ask you to do something for me today which we rarely do I want you to open the Bible it's a very charm you know come to church tell people must Open Bible because we too you to having it put up
00:09:47 there so open the Bible and we're going to read it and the way I want you to read it is imagine you sitting down and Jesus is talking to you and we read the text from John 4 if you don't have a Bible type into your handphone John 4 it will give you to a link called Bible Gateway click on Bible Gateway go to NIV or ESV and it will open up for you so let's read it right John 4 and we'll take from verse 4 now he had to go through Samaria so he came to a town to Samaria called SAA I think pal gave us a bit of
00:10:23 this near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph now this where gets interesting Jacob's Well was there and Jesus tied as he was from the journey sat down by the well it was about the six hour two things first well a well in the Old Testament is where you go to tackle girls on you know very Rachel where did Isaac find his wife at a well right and where did Jacob find his wife at a well where did Moses find his wife Zora at a well so you want to take a woman go to a well so Wells have
00:11:01 meaning actually wells in Old Testament is about life all right that's one all right okay and then he gives you very fascinating detail it was about the 6 hour that's noon now when you pick it back in John 2 at the first miracle where he turns water to wine how many jars are there six jars all right now I want you pick up a little bit of the details H when a Samaritan woman came to their water Jesus said to them will you be a Christian will you follow the five laws no he says will you give me a drink and
00:11:46 that's fascinating why because he shows you his heart you know I I sometimes don't like him when Christians got very strong nowy I know when I was in un were all the Christian doing Commando raid know they honor you and say I bring a track would you like to be a Christian can you make me a Christian in 5 minutes if if you can in my opinion I mentally quite unstable you can't do that is wrong people need to ask questions now what's interesting is this Jesus gives her dignity Jesus said to her will you give
00:12:21 me a drink all right the Samaritan woman says to him you are a Jew I'm a Samaritan woman how can you ask me for drink for Jews do not associate with Samaritans not Samaritans don't associate Jews Jews do not associate with Samaritans what are Samaritans pen come up Have You Seen Her t-shirt B Mary Raa are you ja are you J okay you can go back now rism is the abrahamic religion but they take some of the books and they leave out the rest Samaritans took the five books of the pentet and they left out everything else that's
00:13:10 what Samaritans are there's something else about Samaritans and I'll take you from Second Kings but let me give you a little bit history Israel fought and they became two Kingdom 10 tribes went up there formed the nation of Israel two tribes Benjamin and Judah from the nation of Judah one king called Omri decided to move move the capital from a place called timi to a place called Samaria which was held by the two tribes of ifham and Manas let to give you some history and so Samaria became the capital of Israel and later on the word
00:13:45 Samaritan comes from Samaria let me give you Second Kings the king of Assyria invaded the entire land marched against Samaria and late stage to for 3 years in the night of Hosea the king of Syria captured Samaria and deported Israel to Assyria so few things one the samarians Samaritans are like payan I mean Hab they only take part of the Bible so first secondly the Samaritans now are being deported right verse 24 then the king is very smart what he does he tries to break their influence the king of
00:14:19 Syria brought from people from Babylon CA AA Hamad and Safar that's very specific you know and S them in the towns of Samara to replace the Israelites they took over Samar live is town why you cannot prevent a uh Resurrection because now foreigners have taken over you want to understand this try to imagine Chinatown Jalan imbi Suma Foreigner that's exactly what they did now verse 30 is interesting the people from Babylon made Suk benov K made Nal ham made Aima the aice made nimas and tatak they all gods L they and here's
00:14:56 interesting because the king of Babylon sent a priest to come back to try to teach them to follow hey you better follow the god of that land because each country got their own Gods and verse 32 they worshiped the Lord but they also appointed all their own people toate them as priests meaning they they came to church but they believe other things and he repeated it they Worship the Lord but they also serve their own Gods I come to FBC but I also believe in fun that's the context and then there are these chilling words they will not
00:15:32 listen but persisted in their former practices even while the people were worshiping the Lord they were serving their idols and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did and by the time of Jesus under Emperor Augustus there are three areas Galilee Judea and Samaria and the Samaritans only only took the first five books of the Old Testaments they do not go to Jerusalem they worship at a mountain called Mount jerusalm some history all right now we go on how can you ask me for a drink Jews
00:16:16 do not associate Samaritans verse 10 Jesus answered if you knew the gift of God and who is that that ask you for a drink you have asked him and he were given you living water sir the woman said you have nothing to draw with and Val is deep when can you get this living water so she is thinking in terms of physical water now that's a theme again in John I will destroy this Temple what he's going to destroy the temple okay you must be born again you must enter into the B womb of woman I mean I'm the
00:16:47 bread of life he's going to give us his flesh so the the repetitive motive in John is people tend to think with their physical eyes and with their stomachs that's the repeated you know where can you get this living water are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well and drank from him himself as did his sons and his flocks and hers Jesus answered everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst indeed the water I give him will
00:17:19 become to him a spring of water welling up to eternal life then you ask yourself what exactly is he talking about and so if you can you turn to John 7 just flip it further down John 7 and this is the Feast of Tabernacles at the end in verse 37 John 7:37 on the last and greatest day of the feast Jesus stood and said in a loud voice if anyone is thirsty let it come to me and drink so what is this living water Jesus whoever believes in me as the scripture has said streams of Living Water will flow from within him and so
00:17:58 he gives the Holy Spirit the woman doesn't get it he thinks it's just water so verse 15 the woman said to him sir give me this water so I won't get thirsty and have to come keep coming back here to draw water and this is where the text gets interesting he told her go call your husband and come back I want you to count the number of times the word husband is repeated H go call a husband and come back I have no husband she replied and his answer is very cryptic Jesus said to her you are right when you said you have no husband the
00:18:36 fact is you have had five husband and the man you now have is now is not your husband it's a very CH you know what you say is quite true and now the word husband is repeated five times I want you to pick up some details and what's particularly interesting is Jesus doesn't rebuke her she has five husband and she's living in with person that's a sin Jesus doesn't rebuke her pick up these details sir woman said I can see you a prophet first was Jew now Prophet our fathers worship on this mountain that's Mount Jerusalem but you
00:19:19 Jews claim the place where we must worship is in is in Jerusalem so let me ask you question uh here you meet a person the guy just Expos you you know he expose something no one else knows so very few people know that's why you come and get water at noon when no one is around you go fight husbands and by the way you're now living in with somebody your cohabiting what does she do hey let's talk about najib I he got to appeal hey let's talk about Taiwan election she changes topic she changes topic I she changes it because she's
00:19:52 very smart cuz he's an uncomfortable topic or she's actually pursuing the same discussion I throw to you she's pursuing it all right and I'll tell you why later a lot of Scholars say she's deliberately changing it because it's uncomfortable I don't think so I think there's a 20th century reading of it into psychology it is not I will tell you it a same flow of thinking so he says he poses to him a theological proposition he where to worship we worship on this mountain but you Jew say must Jerusalem and Jesus
00:20:28 declared believe me woman when a time is coming where you will worship the father neither on this mountain or Jerusalem you Samaritans worship what you do not know like what uh p is doing wearing a baju she does not know I know no King you can still wear that baju we worship what we do know for salvation from the Jews for time is coming has now come where the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and Truth for they are the kind of worshipers the father seeks God is spirit and his worshippers must Worship
00:20:56 in spirit and truth and this is where all all the worship leaders say aha see hillam worship is from the devil because they're not worshiping in truth they're only worshiping in spirit oh Jesus had heal songs in his mind when he read this it's completely illogical so this text is a classic text to use in what we call the worship war debate that's completely not what Jesus is talking about the key to understand this text is how it ties to the earlier section about what water and Living Water that's the flow of your hexis to
00:21:32 extract this out and to go into a debate on worship is missing the point of the text the woman said I know the Messiah called Christ is coming when he comes he explain everything to us then Jesus declared I want you to read it out what does he say what is it I am he where have you heard that seven I AMS that's deliberate now once she says that there are two responses H but I'm going to give you another response because this idea of I am he is found in John 18 so you pluck with me and go to John 18 and
00:22:21 here again John 18 is at night now so again darkness is the theme in The Book of John and Jesus is being arrested all right and then you look at verse four Jesus knowing all that was going to happen to him went on and asked what is it this want you want because Judas is leading a mob to arrest Jesus what is it you want Jesus of Nazareth they replied what does he say after that I am he the Greek is exak and what do they do when he says I'm he they drew back and fell to the ground why because even Darkness cannot
00:23:14 overcome the I am so this is the key verse I am two responses first the response from the Jews the second is the response from the Samaritans and I suggest to you the text has two plays the first play is about a Samaritan woman the second play of the text is about Jews and Samaritans it's smack right in the text it's actually what we call Chasm structure if you know Jewish literature it smacks it know it starts on Jews and Samaritan it ends with Jews and Samaritans first how do the Jews reply verse 27 then the disciples rep returned
00:23:56 and was surprised to find him talking with a woman H talk to woman some more Samaritan woman and then John add this but no one asked what do you want or why you talking with her they are so filled with contemp because Jews think Samaritans are what Half Breed Ma you only got five books of the Bible Ma you intermar Assyrians ma we are like P you know you are like a par know that's what he think so Jesus talking to par what are you in darkness they don't bother but what does the paria do then leaving her water jar the woman
00:24:48 went back to the town and said to woman come see a man who told me everything I did could this be the Christ and The Story Goes the Samaritans belief the Jews are indignant they Messiah talks to Samaritan the Samaritans find the Messiah that is the text let me ask you one question what is the key image used in The Narrative of the Samaritan woman you have to be blind to miss this like you don't need to be a scholar come on guys what is it sorry I even give you an image what is it correct it's water you miss this you miss the whole
00:25:39 thing it's all about water it starts up with a wealth Jesus said can I have a drink then she says you have nothing to draw your water I give you living water at the end when she leaves she leaves a water jar hello water is beyond water the key thing is physical thirst versus spiritual thirst that is the anchor of the text now why did the Samaritan woman drop her water pot because she had discovered living water that is The Narrative of the Samaritan woman and that is The Narrative of Samaria and Judea I'll give you two read
00:26:29 on this let's take the first thing what will satisfy the deepest longing of your soul if I ask you a question now and you could have the dream life you wanted the dream life H what would it look like you would say get married have children get a good job do well that's what we call the sanitized version the real version of your guy is then you no one looking I go up to golock law I tell my wife I go there to look at supplier yeah right I go to to play golf the first thing with men is this but you cannot tell everybody because
00:27:26 you're you're Church go but all the men here you had your Wilder desire woo cannot do that L Church must be religious but after that you find is empty you can go and strong word screw every woman you want now after that you feel empty so better better get married then after that not enough no because men got ego so they want want to build something they want to believe a legacy so Elon mask never ends and the biblical position is this men's desire or women or humanity is unquenching the reason why it's
00:28:17 unquenching is because it's centered on self that's the proposition of the text and the vehicle to use it is this you have five husbands how did that work out for you you went from job to job to job all of us enter life wanting to be happy and we want to be satisfied halfway through you whack a road bumb then another road bumb then another road bumb and then you think all men cheat on you women do this my children don't love me and like that woman you give up on it I'm just going to live with you I'm not
00:29:06 going to get burned anymore that's the function of the text is very revealing that's one and so jeremi says Humanity has two problems first they want to be satisfied without God that's one the second they find satisfaction without me but it leaks and so if you are a person here and I want to ask you are you happy let me let me give you the earlier version what if it's a very simple version you know some people kind tell me you know I know I just want to be happy who doesn't want to be happy I just want to get married have children I
00:29:48 don't go to golock or Hai I'm not their type I just want a simple life it's true but the reality is tomorrow you could wake up and find a lump on your side your children could change you could hit a car we call this life and to make the pursuit of your life this this kind of things the Bible is telling you you need a reality check so if you love someone so deeply and that person's taken away from you you will break that's why the Bible is so real point one ask yourself what satisfies you point two God initiates contact the rest is up
00:30:36 to you and this is where the text is interesting because John 4 is positioned next to John 3 is deliberate let's look at four first how does she start hey you're a Jew you know you you you you should have be talking to me you know you people very at why are you talking to me halfway through I can see you're a prophet then later on are you the Messiah you see the progression what does she have that we can learn she engages the Living God sincerely there are two types of people in this church and we all fall into one or the
00:31:25 other and I'm talking about our our fallen nature the first don't ask anything come to church all oh thank God I see at the back I don't need to open my bible don't need to have this chalot preacher come and Kow me I can play Tetris at the back so let me ask you a question if you went to see your dad and you play Tetris in front of him would that be would that be something your dad will appreciate no right can you imagine when you get up to meet God and you just sat at church in FBC in the corner didn't open your Bible
00:32:07 folded your hands PL your hand for at the bottom and you told God I came to church every Sunday it is the same as you playing Tetris in front of your father if you're doing that I want to say in love this is in love don't come to church go and play golf now you think that's insulting is not it's not the judging statement because at least when you're playing judge you're being you're playing golf you're being honest I'm playing golf you can't come to church and not open your Bible you can't come to church and play
00:32:43 your handphone I'm not saying that in a judgmental manner you you are lying to yourself because you're not asking questions and God won't speak to you that's one group here's the second group like to ask a lot of questions one but you ask for the sake s of asking you're not really interested you're just intellectually being tickled she's asking because she wants to know are you the Messiah and so John puts two stories side by side Nicodemus is a Jew Samaritan wom a Samaritan the story is about Jews and Samaritan is very clear
00:33:22 and the the the Samaritan narrative begins with Jews don't get on with Samaritan at the ends with the disciple says why the peep are you talking to Samaritans it's sandwiched that way look at the contrast you can read it and you ask yourself are you Nicodemus or are you the Samaritan woman because if you don't do this go and play off I say this in love because at least you can clear your mind then come back to church if you've been coming to abbc a long time for the last 30 years and you just sit at the back I
00:33:59 will tell you stop coming to church in love be at home and pray and say why am I coming to church then come back because you are lying to yourself and us as elders and leaders we don't tell you that God will hold us liable so ask yourself God initiat contact the rest is up to you you see often is a case where we want God to fulfill our deeper desires a precondition for us to follow you if preach something relevant to your life you can make money I can heal your relationship can do all of this you guys
00:34:35 will listen but the moment we say pick up your cross and follow Jesus a lot of people say not not interested if that's the case then we want Jesus to follow us point three unless God confronts your innermost being you have really not encountered God I am he verse 26 the Jews are so blinded why are you talking to a paria the Samaritan woman tells the whole town the whole town comes to know Jesus because she responds to I am he in John 18 I am he they bow down when you encounter God something happens then you
00:35:21 sit there says how do I know I encountered God do I need to come in front and get Z maybe H know you lay hands on me and I shake electricity I fall down no you know people like to talk about hey I like your sermon I felt very encouraged I felt it was a great sermon what what does it mean I think a lot of us want to have the joy and the love and that oh man that was a great sermon before you get there God's going to do one thing to you this is the pattern you know what is this he's going to do this to
00:35:56 you I tell you how I became a Christian I thought I was Christian because I went to church I sat at the back of church in Sydney when I was studying and the Pastor said things and I use a fourl word I said beep he's talking about me then he say it again I said peep how the peep did he know is me he did it again and I said God are you talking to me God will make you uncomfortable if you come to church and you have not felt you know is he talking about me that really makes me feel uncomfortable you have not uncomforted
00:36:45 God and that is a question for you today because the text is telling you God speaks in scripture and and the Samaritan woman when you had part of scripture speaks in Jesus and he speaks today through the spirit that is the living water out of you streams of Living Water will come now give you the fourth point and these West scholar have got very what's the first part got to do the second part first is water living water then we had to worship are you two separate matters you know and people try to reconcile the
00:37:26 two let me tell you how is reconciled is actually the same thing but what is fascinating is the device John uses to Pivot the text and it is this subject husbands sorry the S went there wrongly no pun intended sad B let me give you a little bit uh five husbands repeated five times before that I'll give you this and some of you say I'm going to allegory I'll tell you I'm not I think that's a double meaning the woman comes Jesus meets her at 6 at noon in John 3 there are six jars I will put it to you the two
00:38:10 chapters are tied in John 3 it is a wedding there's a bridegroom pick that in mind five husbands let me give you back this text if you count the number of gods there how many gods are there Suk benov Nagal Ashima nias tatak ad an there are five people and five Gods I put it to you this in the book of Hosea Israel is mentioned as the wife because Homer HOSA and G is a illustration of Israel as wife and God is the husband I put it to you that's a double meaning the meaning is this this the Samaritans have had five husbands five
00:39:03 gods and the current God they have they worship something they do not know only five books of the T took your temples in the wrong place what is he trying to tell you he's saying this to AA the image is about husbands and marriage I want you pick that in mind because John Tre is but the bridegroom right the king second king text is about marriage because Hosea go marriage the Samaritan woman was married to a many husband but never satisfied I think the key verse is this the church married to Christ is
00:39:40 satisfied that is the text there is both a corporate message to us as a church and an individual message to you and me and the question to us are we married to Christ if we are we will be satisfied despite all the issues unless you thirst for God your soul will never be satisfied and the main theme Here Christ is a living water we shall satisfy your deepest longing both as a body of a church and individually now this comes the difficult question hey so easy to talk you know I love love my wife my
00:40:32 children God forbid this if something happened to them I would die in know honor I get it I get it but the Bible is telling you because that is the source of your satisfaction in a sinful world that will and can be taken from you it can disappoint you my my source of Joy are my kids your children will change maybe your son will be gay that's something we don't talk about maybe your daughter will be this maybe someone goes into depression maybe you will lose all your money and the point of the Bible if
00:41:12 you make physical longings your utmost desire you are in darkness you cannot overcome it that's one and you cannot comprehend it that's why light is the m major theme in John then you see well how do I get there I can't just close my eyes and say God is my living water I don't feel it that's where the second part of the text is so important you do that by daily Worship in spirit and truth truth is eating of Jesus he is the bread of life spirit is to every single being and the stories of John 4 4 5 6 is
00:41:59 one narrative is Mana do you think of Jesus daily how does it work up when you wake up tomorrow what do you do you either plan your day or worry get your car and go to work or you pause and give God five minutes that's a starting point and say God this is the day I give it to you as Worship in spirit my every most being in truth Jesus be with me when I meet my boss whom I cannot tahan Jesus be with me when I come home and I pick a fight with my wife Jesus be with me when I talk to my kids who hate me and don't want to talk
00:42:52 to me that's Worship in spirit and Truth and you say well I find it very hard to do I mean you stand up here and you give me all the religious stuff it's not so easy to do no an know and I will say yeah I struggle and this is where palan is right because you're clinging to your water pot I want to ask the worship team to come up but I want to give you this to ponder and then I'm going to just ask you this you know after palan spoke I went back and I really struggled I realized one thing for myself you know
00:43:59 I think the Lord asked me about my the two things the Lord asked one I will share the second I won't because private the first thing the Lord asked me was my work and the Lord says you know there two roads in your career I know one you're going to expand because I my office is very busy and do you have time for church or are you willing to drop some contracts and Trust I will provide for your staff for my daughter for my wife because being an elder Church takes time when I first started an elder I
00:44:52 want to quickly quit though I think we those why because I use the same word all of us use you know what's that word no time so my prayer now is this Lord if required make my office so small H I can take care of my staff give them a very good bonus and spend more time in church that you will provide and I didn't want to pray that because there was a water pot I did not want to drop here's the second one do you know what's the water pot the Samaritan woman is supposed to drop living in with a man we call this
00:45:49 sin and don't tell me you and I don't have sinful habits we got to drop I have one I have many but there was one I made a vow you want to know what it is you talk to me privately I'm not going to share with you up here but I'm going to challenge you as you start 2024 what are you prepared to drop to follow Jesus the road to that is this you ask yourself first what satisfies you and you know that actually it will never satisfy and then you begin to talk to God and ask questions when you do that he will reveal it to you and make
00:46:41 you feel very uncomfortable and then he will speak to you and says will you drop that and all of us will be dropping many water pots in our spiritual journey and this morning he is speaking to you what will you drop and if you do not do it you will not be satisfied in him I'm going to let the worship team sing this song that speaks of it and then we're going to do a prayer challenge thank you shall we all stand as the dear pth for the wat so my soul longth to thee you alone are my heart desire and I long to work worship
00:47:59 [Music] thee you are Are My Strength my shield to you alone may my spirit youone are my heart desire and I long to worship [Music] thee you're my friend and you are my brother R you are I love you more than any other so much more than anything you are alone Are My Strength my shield to you alone may my spirit heal you alone now my heart desire and I long to worship Thee I want you more than gold or silver only you can satisfy [Music] you alone are the real Joy giver and the Earth for all my you
00:50:16 alone Are My Strength my shield to you alone may my spirit you alone are my heart desire and I long to worship me shall we all sit down as the music plays I want the Lord to speak to us the Samaritan woman entered life and she got married Hallelujah then one husband Maybe died maybe went to war then she got married again and she said Hallelujah and maybe the second husband had an affair and walked out on her then she got married the third time he says well this one should work and this one also went to
00:51:19 war and died then the fourth husband then the fifth husband and then she gave up she says you know what if it comes it comes I'm just going to leave him to this guy and I want to say I'm not talking to anyone imp personally this is both literal and this is double meaning and I will say a lot of us have settled for a life which is Half Baked because you're not letting go of a water pot and right now God speaks he says he wants to be light to you light that will overcome this anxiety the depression this settling for
00:52:06 Less light that will give you understanding he wants to be living water to you so that you never thirst again he wants to be Bread of Heaven to you and he ask you would you come I spend a moment now to say whether you accept that challenge and if you do he would then say [Music] come follow me and one part of you will say I'm scared I have this bad habit I'm not worthy I have this history if only people knew who I was they they won't they won't love me I have pride I can't work with other people I have
00:53:16 fear I'm the difficult person I know then the Lord says give me that water pot [Music] and I will give you living [Music] water shall we all sing the chorus again [Music] you are my strength my shield to you alone my spirit you are Lord of my heart desire and I long to worship [Music] you shall we take the benediction Lord You Are the husband of this church and we the church are your bride we have but one husband which is you we do not have five we come to you as a church in this spiritual journey and we claim your promise that
00:54:52 if we come to you we will be satisfied that our life journey is a series of dropping one water pot after another and this morning we ask we drop one as a small sign of walking in faith we put it at your feet at the cross where you so loved us you died for our sins and by dying for our sins you poured out the the Holy Spirit and so we swim in the Holy Spirit we immerse ourself in the Holy Spirit and we will never thirst again and so now Lord depart Us in peace depart Us in Joy but most importantly for this morning depart Us
00:55:53 in hope that tomorrow tomorrow will be a better day as we worship you in spirit and in truth tomorrow and every day of our life God's people say amen God bless you all service is over please stay back if you want to talk to one of us we're here to just have conversations with you nothing else not here to judge but just talk God bless you all
