Sermon Manuscript

[Joshua comes up after first 2 songs]

Church family, later this morning within God’s Word we’re going to be examining the topic of worship.  So I asked Isaiah earlier this week if I could come and share a few words before we sing this next song.  Because I believe this song will help us today to better understand what God wants to say to us.  The song we’re about to sing is called King of Kings.  It’s by a group called Hillsong Worship.  And it was released on July 12, 2019.  In examining its back story the writers said that they wanted to write a song which would walk us through Scripture and help us to feel the longing that the world felt as they waited for Jesus to come.  Year after year.  Century after century.  Then He came and was born, took the form of a Man, declared Himself to be King and invited us into His Kingdom.  And through His death and resurrection He showed Himself to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  So as you sing this next song declare Him to be your King and tell Him how you desire to see Him come into your world.  Let’s sing.

[Song:  “King of Kings” - 4:26]

[As Isaiah prays, Joshua comes up.]

Amen and amen.  Thank you Worship Team for leading us in song this morning.  The song we just sang, King of Kings, spoke of a desire to see Jesus come into our world.  And today we’re going to meet a woman from the Bible who desired the same thing.  She desired to see God’s King and His promised Messiah come into her world.  And then one day He did!  And what He revealed to her changed her life and I believe that it will change your life and mine too.

So let’s get started.  If you have your Bibles, turn with me now to the book of John chapter 4.  Today we’re going to be in verses 7-26.  And as you turn there let me quickly remind you that today we are continuing within a series of messages called Eagle Eyes where together we are learning how to have “eagle eyes”.  Eagles have amazing vision.  Their eyes are capable of seeing prey from several miles away and they are even able to stare directly into the son.  And through the Gospel of John we are becoming like eagles.  Learning to fly high to see high and lofty truths and staring into the Son.  The Son of the Living God.

Two weeks ago we examined John 1 where John began His Gospel by saying that “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”  Then in verse 14 he said, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  Jesus, the Word of God, took on flesh and became incarnate.  And we called this The Incarnation.  We also learned on that day that we need to live incarnationally.  God wants to come into our lives, dwell within us, and change us from the inside out.  And then last week we examined John 3 and the story of Nicodemus.  Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Sanhedrin, came to Jesus at night to find out who He was and why He came.  Who was Jesus?  Nicodemus thought that He was just a Rabbi, a Teacher, and a Miracle Worker from God.  But he discovered that Jesus was the Son of Man and the Son of God who would be crucified for the sins of the world.  Why?  Because Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life.”  Jesus came because of love.  And Nicodemus left that night processing the love of God and what it meant.  And we were challenged to do the same.

But after Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus He left Judea and went north to Galilee.  But in order to go to Galilee from Judea He chose to pass through a region called Samaria.  This was a region filled with people whom the Jews hated because in their past they had disobeyed God by marrying people who were not Jewish.  Historically, here’s how that happened.  In 722 B.C. the Assyrians defeated the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  When they did they removed many of the Israelites from the land but the king of Assyria called Shalmaneser the fifth repopulated the area with people from various nations.  The Jews who remained intermarried and became the Samaritans.  And from that point forward these two groups hated one another.  But God did not.  And neither did Jesus.  Jesus did not hate the Samaritans and He proved that in John 4.

Because while He was traveling through Samaria He came to a town called Sychar and stopped to rest at a well while His disciples went into town.  It was about noon John tells us in verse 6.  And Jesus was all alone.  But here’s what happened next.  Verse 7 says:

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 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.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

Alright.  Let’s take a look at a couple of key phrases here.  First of all, notice how verse 7 begins.  John says that “A woman from Samaria came to draw water”.  That might not seem strange but it is.  Why?  Because typically women would go to draw water in the morning with their friends.  They would go with others and they would go in the morning when it was cooler.  But here this woman comes by herself.  So she’s a loner.  An outcast.  Someone without friends who comes in the heat of the day so that she won’t be ridiculed and rejected as she normally was.  Simple statement but there’s a lot there.  Here’s another one.  Jesus says, “Give me a drink.”  This would have been an odd statement.  A Jewish man speaking to a Samaritan woman.  That wasn’t supposed to happen and John points that out in verse 9.  So she responds by saying, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?”  She’s acknowledging the social and political tensions between the two groups.  So Jesus says, “Listen.  If you knew the gift of God and the One who was speaking to you then you would have asked Him for a drink and He would have given you living water?”  You see Jesus is once again trying to get a person to think spiritually.  Remember.  He did this last week with Nicodemus when He told him that you must be “born again” and to be “born again” you must be “born of water and the spirit”.  So she asks where He got this “living water” because He has nothing with Him and the well is deep.  She’s thinking physically not spiritually.  Just like Nicodemus did.  But Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks of this water will become thirsty again but the water I give will become a spring within him, a well which will produce Eternal Life.  And that person will never be thirsty again.”  So the woman says, “Sir, give me this water.”  

But Jesus will once again change the conversation.  Verse 16 says:

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

Alright.  Stop here for just a moment.  Notice a few things.  Did you notice what Jesus says?  Because it’s strange.  He says, “Go, call your husband, and tell him to come here.”  And the woman says, “I have no husband.”  If we were to stop here we’d say, “Wow.  Jesus.  That’s rough.  Are you picking on a single woman?”  But, of course, that’s not the case.  And He says, “Oh, you’re right.  What you said is true.  You don’t have a husband right now because the reality is that you’ve had five husbands and the one you’re with now is not your husband.”  Wow.  So suddenly Jesus reveals to her that He knows her and He knows her past.  Why is she coming to draw water in the middle of the day?  Why is she all alone and an outcast in society?  Because she has had one husband after another.  She’s dated or married every man in the town.  OK.  That’s a stretch.  But she has a “past”.  She has a “history”.  She’s made “mistakes”.  Quite a few of them.  And now she’s uncomfortable.  Who wouldn’t be!  So it’s her turn.  She’s going to quickly change the conversation.  Verse 19 then says:

 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Wow.  OK.  So notice what she says.  She says, “Sir, I perceive you are a prophet.  Because only a prophet who is from God would know what you just said.  So as a prophet where are we called to worship?  Jews say in Jerusalem.  We say here on this mountain.  So what do you say?”  And Jesus says, “Woman,  believe Me.  The time is coming when you will not worship God in either place.  Jews worship what they know.  Samaritans worship what they do not know for salvation is from the Jews.  But the Father isn’t interested in where you worship so much as how you worship.  And He wants you to worship Him in spirit and in truth.  Because God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”  So she says, “I don’t know if you’re right or not but what I do know is that when the Messiah comes He will tell us all these things.”  And then Jesus turns to her and says something He’s never said to anyone before.  He says, “I who speak to you am He.  I am the Messiah you’ve been looking for.  I am the Christ you’ve been hoping for.  I’m the Promised One you’ve been waiting for.  The One sent from God to come into your world and into your life.  I who speak to you am He.”

Wow!  What a powerful moment.  Several years ago I was watching The Chosen when they showed their version of this powerful moment.  So I want you to just take a moment to watch how they portrayed this moment as the Woman of Samaria discovered Jesus.  Let’s watch:

[Video:  “Woman at the Well - 2:25]

Wow.  What a powerful scene.  Every time I watch that scene it brings tears to my eyes.  Because while there is certainly some liberties taken in how this took place it shows us how amazing this moment truly was!  The God of this Universe.  Who stepped out of heaven and took the form of a Man came to a region of people who were hated and spoke to a woman from an unknown town who was hated.  And in that moment revealed to a broken down, beaten up, woman of Samaria that the long awaited Messiah had come.  And was now standing before her.

Wow.  And before I go any further can I just say this?  Her story is your story.  It’s my story.  It’s all of our stories.  Sure.  No one in this room has been married five times.  But all of us have sinned.  All of us have turned from God.  All of us have known what it’s like to be an outcast.  And then for some of us Jesus steps into our life, reveals who He is, and said to us, like He said to her, “Do you believe in Me?  It would be good that you did.  Because I’m counting on you to do so.”  And some of us have.  We have believed in Jesus.  We have turned our lives over to Jesus.  We have been baptized into Jesus’ name.  And we are now followers of Him.

But some of us have not.  And if you have not please understand.  You are right where she was.  You are right where she is.  And throughout this story she came to understand more and more about Jesus.  At first, He was a Jew.  And then a prophet.  But in the end the Messiah.  Because Jesus revealed more and more about Himself to her.  And Jesus says to you as He said to her, “The One you’ve been waiting for and the One you need stands before you.”  The question is, “Will you give your life to Jesus as she did?”  Will you believe in Him?  Will you turn your life over to Him?  And then will you go and tell others about Him?  Because later in verse 39 she does and the whole town comes to believe in Jesus too.  So are you ready to give your life to Jesus?  Later in this service I’m going to give you an opportunity to do so.

However, for those of us who have done so I want us to focus on what Jesus said about worship.  Because Jesus said that the hour is coming when people will worship the Father in “spirit and truth”.  Because God is Spirit and He seeks those who will worship Him in “spirit and truth”.  That phrase must be important because Jesus used it two times when speaking to this woman of Samaria.  So what does it mean?  

Mark Moore in this week's Core 52 chapter called Worship explains this well.  He says, “For Jesus, the real question is not about the style of worship but about the heart of the worshipper.  Valid worship arises from the Spirit and Truth - both words deliberately capitalized.  In the gospel of John, Spirit and Truth are more persons than virtues.  Jesus is identified as the embodiment of Truth and the Holy Spirit is described as the “Spirit of truth”.  The strikingly new nature of Christian worship honors the Father, as experienced through Jesus, by the indwelling of the Spirit.”  He goes on to say that true worship honors God in our hearts, praises God with our lips, and serves other people.  But here he points out that Christian worship is Trinitarian.  It honors the Father and proclaims the Son through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Unfortunately, that’s not what always happens.  Because if we’re honest with ourselves often we come into worship with a lot on our minds.  We’re thinking about what happened last week or what we’ve got to do next week or who we need to talk to or how many games the Colts will win.  We come in tired, worn out, and with our hearts somewhere else.  And so instead of worshiping God with our hearts we worship Him by simply going through the motions.  Walk in, sit down, listen to announcements, stand, sing, sit, listen to sermon, stand, walk, get communion, walk, sit, stand, sing, walk out.  OK.  Done for this week.  Check!

But Jesus says that’s not what God’s looking for.  God’s not looking for people to go through the motions and that means that many times many of us “go to church” but we don’t “worship God”.  We just went to a building where other people worshipped God!  And all of us are guilty of this.  Some of us are guilty of doing that this morning!  So what do we do about that?  How do we change?  How do we worship God as He intended and as He deserves?

Here’s three steps you can take each week here at The Fountain.  First of all, worship God in your conversation with Him.  Worship Him in prayer.  Each week when you walk into this room begin a conversation with God.  In your mind, say to God, “God, here I am.  I’m here to worship you this morning.  I’ve chosen to be here and I want to meet with You.  Last week was crazy but I’m ready to start a new week with You.  So help me to stay focused on You during the next hour.  Eliminate any distractions.  Erase any unnecessary thoughts.  And enable me to hear Your voice.  Speak to me through the songs we sing, the words we read, the meal we share in communion, and the decisions we make for You.  Encourage me where I’m doing well.  Embrace me where I’m not.  And above all else help me this morning to worship You in spirit and truth.  The Spirit which lives within me and the truth which You have given me in Jesus.”

What could happen if we did this together?  What could happen if as you were praying others around you were doing the same?  What could happen if God heard from the prayers of His people a unified desire to worship Him in spirit and truth?  Could that change what He can do?  Could that enable Him to pour out His Spirit upon us each and every week in a brand new way?

Here’s a second step you can take:  worship God in your celebration of Him.  Worship God in your praise of Him.  Prayers and praise.  As you speak with God each week in this room, think about what God has done for you.  Praise Him for what He has done for you personally.  He has given you life.  The air that you breathe.  The food that you eat.  The clothes that you wear and the possessions you have.  He’s given you the family you have.  The friends you enjoy.  The big and small pleasures of this life.  He’s brought you through the ups and downs of life.  He’s given you a job and a career or even better - retirement!  He’s given you hobbies and interests and gifts and abilities.  He’s given you blessings.  One after another after another.  And if that wasn’t enough He’s given you Jesus!  And in Him you have the best of the best both in this life and in the life to come!  So worship Him!  Celebrate Him!  Thank Him from the deepest recesses of your heart, mind, soul, and spirit!  Praise Him for all that He has done for you!

What could happen if as we spoke to God weekly and were reminded of the many reasons for why we should praise Him!  How might we see that on the faces of the people who lead us and serve us and teach us and participate with us in worship?  What could happen and what would God do if He saw a group of people in Fountaintown, Indiana, who were unified in their praise of Him?  Could that enable Him to bless us and encourage us in new ways each week?

Here’s a third and final step we can take together:  worship God in your commitment to Him.  Worship Him in your prayer, praise, and through the promises you make to Him.  Prayers are inward reflections.  Praises are outward responses.  But promises made to God are spiritual resolutions.  They are choices to change and move as God calls all of us to do so.  Because the reality is that every week we come here God wants to meet you and me right where we are and then speak to us in such a way that we learn what He wants us to do next.  For some of us here this morning it’s to make a decision to follow Him.  Or to be baptized.  For others it’s to take a step of faith and to give financially or to serve within a ministry.  For others it might be to join a Life Group or invest in someone personally.  For some it might be to start a Bible study or a book study or even a Christian group that meets to just spend time together.  Recently, a group of ladies from our church started a group to meet once a week and walk together.  Incredible!  

What could happen if we as a church family each and every week gathered together with the expectation that God was going to meet with us and challenge us to take that next step of faith?  And what if we as a local church embraced that and actually looked forward to that so that we could become the church God has called us to be?  How would those commitments, both big and small, change us?  How could it change our families, our communities, our society?  What might God want to do through a group of committed believers who were sold out for Him?

You see when Jesus said that God is looking for worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and truth He was explaining how God desires to be worshipped so that we might give to Him exactly what He wants.  And by doing so He might pour out His Spirit and His blessings and His power upon a group of people He loves because they love Him with their whole heart.  So will you worship God with all of your heart?  Will you worship Him today with all your heart?

Because in just a couple of moments we’re going to have a second chance to do so.  Here’s how it’s going to work.  In a moment I’m going to pray.  And then we’re going to move into a time of communion.  As we do so you are going to have an opportunity to worship God through your conversations, celebrations, and commitments.  

So after I pray I want you to take some time to enter into a conversation with God.  Talk to Him.  Tell Him you are here to worship.  And tell Him how much He means to you.  Then take a few moments to celebrate.  Thank God for what He has done for you.  Think about your life and where you are right now.  Thank Him for anything and everything that comes to mind.  Then thank Him for Jesus.  Thank God for sending Jesus.  Thank Jesus for dying for you.  Thank Him for giving to you His Spirit.  The Holy Spirit.  And then let’s move into a time of decision and response where we will all make commitments to God.  For some we will take Communion.  Communion is where we remember the death of Jesus by taking a piece of bread and a cup of juice.  They symbolize His body and blood.  For some we will give of our tithes and offerings.  For some, this is your opportunity to make a decision for Jesus.  If that’s you just find me.  Meet me at the front and we’ll go and find a place where we can talk.  For others as you go back to your seats, continue speaking to God and ask Him what commitments you need to make.

And then let’s go back into worship!  We will sing a song together called Holy Song.  Because in the book of Revelation, chapter 4, we read an account where a disciple named John is taken up into heaven and given a glimpse of what worship of God looks like.  And John is given a vision of the throne of God with 24 elders and 4 living creatures all around Him.  And day and night the four living creatures say, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God the Almighty who was and is and is to come.”  And when they say that the 24 elders respond by saying, “Worthy, worthy, worthy are You God to receive glory and honor and power."  And we’re going to join them this morning.  Because the chorus of our song says:

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty

Worthy, Worthy, Worthy

All of the earth is full of Your glory

And as we sing that song together we’re going to worship God together in spirit and truth.  We’re going to honor God and proclaim Jesus and be united in the Holy Spirit.  

So let’s do that together!  Let’s worship God through our conversations, our celebrations of Him, and commitments to Him.  Because…

When we worship in spirit and truth we please God with our praises for Him.

Let’s pray.

[Prayer:  For God to help us worship Him in the way He desires to receive it.]

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