Good morning to you all. Once again, we are here to share prayer, worship and fellowship, We are here to thank Him for being with us all through the good and the bad.
This morning I want us to look at, being thirsty for the things of God. I want to ask if we are full and overflowing, with the living water of God. We will be looking at John Ch 4. The Woman At The Well. We will think about being filled to overflowing with the goodness of God to a world that need Jesus.
Let us begin by singing. To God Be The Glory. From The Royal Albert Hall.
Let us turn to Scripture: John ch 4:1-26
Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman
4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptising more disciples than John – 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptised, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a]) 10 Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’
11 ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?’ 13 Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ 15 The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’ 16 He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ 17 ‘I have no husband,’ she replied.
Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’
19 ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’
21 ‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’ 25 The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ 26 Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you – I am he.’
May the Lord add his blessing on his word today.
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As we journey into a time of prayer we pray for people to come into a knowledge of God, the God who brings hope, peace and love into a hurting world. We pray for our families, loved one and friends. We pray for our country. We pray for a continued peace in Israel. We pray for world peace.
To help us in our prayers, let us sing: All Hail The Lamb.
He will be our battle cry as we live out his gospel message in a hurting world.
Time Of Prayer
Psalm 56 reminds us that God is with us. This Psalm stood true in biblical times, and it proves true in this day as well. Though there is great fear surrounding us at the moment we can rest assured that we have a Father in Heaven who is with us in all things.
Thank You, Lord, that You are my refuge and my strength in hard times and an ever-present helper in times of trouble. Help me to cling to You and this truth from the Bible that You keep bringing to my mind. I know that You are the only all-powerful God, and that there is nothing that is too difficult in my life for You to deal with, nor is there any obstacle in my path that is so insurmountable that I cannot cross, knowing that You are by my side. Please give me Your strength to face today’s hard and troubled times, with the confidence of knowing that Your strength is made perfect in my weakness. Thank You that my strength comes from You, and that Your grace is sufficient for all the tasks and duties that will cross my daily path, not only for today but for the rest of my journey through life.
Thank You, Father, that Your grace is sufficient. Help me to meditate on this truth every day, Amen.
Please take a few moments in our pray time to come to God with your personal prayers. Remember our community, nation and our world.
Now, let us share together in The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
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Lets listen to the Staff Songster sing: His Provision.
Filled To Overflowing
Ever been so thirsty that you think you’re going to die? And then, you have a wonderful drink of fresh, cool, clear, water. Awesome!
I remember, in my younger days, I was doing the Sheffield half Marathon. It was a very hot day. We all knew it would be an arduous run, and it was. One thing, all the runners looked forward to was the water stops. How refreshing is was to drink and be refreshed when you felt so thirsty.
When we are thirsty and we have a deep long drink, it is such a satisfying thing isn’t it? I mean, our need for water is one of the most basic of all needs. 70% of our body is water. After oxygen, water is our most important physical need. You can’t go for very long without water. The body starts closing some of its functions and depending on the conditions, we can be seriously ill within a couple of days.
Its interesting to note that Jesus talks a lot about water in his ministry. And when Jesus talks about His plan for our lives, He uses ‘thirst’ and “water” to explain what He means. I think its because, water and being thirsty is something we can all relate to.
So Jesus meets a woman, a Samaritan woman, at a well and He says to her:
Everyone who drinks out of this water will be thirsty again but those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them, a spring of water gushing up into eternal life.
Life gets thirsty and we need to be filled to overflowing with his grace and love, why? Because that’s Jesus’ plan, for you and me no ifs, not buts. That’s his plan
Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give them will become in them, a spring of water gushing up into eternal life. Hallelujah. Praise The Lord.
I wonder sometimes whether, in life, we make things just a bit too complicated. For me, faith is a simple thing, I read what Jesus said, I hear what God has to say and I try my best to live by it. Even when I’m screaming and pulling my hair out, probable shouting, “that’s never going to be possible.” I read his word and remember his promises and say, ok, I leave it with you.
Every time my feelings or the things that are going around me end up pear shaped, I just go back to his living word and read of God’s promises. And I pray about it. I ask, “Lord make a way.” My simple faith proclaims, “I’m just going to believe Him, and all his promises.” Its not unrealistic. Its just living out a simple faith. We need to live that simple faith more now than ever. People need to see within us a hope, a peace a determination that whatever happens, God’s promises stand true and he will deliver us. People today are looking to faith filled people more now than ever. They are looking for that assurance, that hope. And we have that assurance and we have that hope and its all found in Jesus.
Look in your bibles at the promise Jesus gives in John chapter 7, verse 37.
If anyone is thirsty let them come to me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, rivers of living water will flow from them.
There are a few parts to this promise. The first one is “if you’re thirsty – just get a drink”. When life is dry and parched and empty, if ANYONE is thirsty (anyone means anyone) come to Jesus and He will fill us full and overflowing with his life-giving water.
The second thing he says is this, “whoever believes in Me”. You see, it’s a faith thing. When He says, “whoever believes IN Me”, that word “in” literally means ‘into’. Literally it says, ‘whoever believes into Me’.
I’ve given this analogy before in my ministry. When I look at a chair and believe without any doubt or thought that it will hold me when I sit on it. I’m declaring, I put my faith and trust INTO this chair.
So what Jesus is saying is this. Whoever believes in Me. Whoever believes what I say. Whoever says, I will put my trust in him, well, from him will come rivers of living water, not a trickle, not a stream, not a river, but river’s plural. Do you get the picture?
An abundance, a flood tide of blessing of the Holy Spirit, whoever believes in me, from them rivers of living water will flow out from them. Amen to that I say. And people today need to see the goodness of God flowing from us. Let our neighbours see it. Let our families see it. Let our friends see it. Let the goodness of God be overflowing from us.
But there are a few things that can stop this spiritual flow, such as fear, worry, anxiety, loneliness etc. You see, Jesus never promised a life without hardships. Without stresses and strains. He actually promised the opposite. He said, “In this world you will have tribulation” BUT, (and we really do need to rest upon this “but”) in the middle of all of that anxiety, stress and worry, He promised that He would fill us to overflowing in this thirsty, parched, dry, isolated land. He would let us experience the incredible satisfaction of a deep drink of His spiritual water.
You may be feeling spiritually or emotionally thirsty during these uncertain times. Or you may feel on top of the world. But whatever part of the journey you are on, Jesus says, come to me and I will fill you to overflowing. We’re all different; we’re all close to God in different ways. Some people do it by singing, others get up early in the morning and pray. But the consistent message of God’s word is, when we draw close to Him; He draws close to us and that’s a special thing and there is an incredible satisfaction in being filled full of Him and being filled full to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. He fills us in ways that nobody else can.
The problem with some people is that they have been living for such a long time in a dry parched land that they have accepted it as normal. I meet so many spiritually dry people, who can’t imagine how God could ever fill them to overflowing. I want to tell you this, do not accept anything less; don’t settle for anything less than the fullness of God in your life, the very presence of Jesus through His spirit in us.
Jesus calls us to look up! To look to him and be filled with power and living water. Jesus calls us to look up and find our purpose and direction in him and him alone. Seeing with God’s perspective, we can then look in at our own lives and see where God needs to rule. Which aspects of our lives, our thoughts, dreams and achievements, are seen through our human eyes and what might these look like through God’s lens? Maybe you are distracted by the things of this world, the challenges of life or the ambitions and achievements that dazzle. It is so easy to lose our way when we refuse to be filled to overflowing. Once we find our purpose and direction, once we see those areas of our lives which need to be in Christ, we can look out and see how to live this new life on earth. Are you full to overflowing. Will you this day respond to God’s call upon your life.
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I ask you to take this time to come to him personally. Take this time to listen to this song and come to God in humble prayer and aske to be filled with his power, love and peace so that we can be a light, a source of hope and strength to the people around us.
At the closing of our worship, let's aske the question. Am I full and overflowing with all the goodness of God? Can I proclaim, “It is well with my soul?
I pray and I hope that everything is well with you soul. I pray that you are overflowing with God's wonderful grace, love, peace and mercy. May God be with you all.
The Lord bless thee and keep thee:
The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.
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