SEVEN Series: Come and See

A short, engaging podcast that accompanies our sermon series, offering additional insights, practical application, and behind-the-scenes conversations to help you go deeper into God's Word throughout the week.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

There's no perfect person. Everyone has dysfunction. Yeah. Everybody has brokenness, even if you've grown up in a Christian home. So if you can just like expedite the process of seeing your own dysfunction. Yeah. And bring that truly to the Lord, man, what he is able to do for you.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Hi, Ernesto. Hi, Jake. How are you doing today? Doing good. I'm glad to be here. Very good. We are on our next episode here, going through our seven series. I'm really excited to be here with you today. You wrote this week's Devo in our journal. Yes. Uh, super exciting. We are in John chapter four. John. So tell us a little bit about what's going on here in John chapter four.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Yeah. First of all, I love these opportunities that we have to be able to just dig into God's word together. Thank you for all the work that you put into actually organizing these things so that people have these daily resources. I feel like that's so helpful in our Christian walk. Because sometimes I feel like we just kind of open up a Bible and hope for the best, maybe even like kind of stick a finger in the middle and be like, ah, let's see, let's see what's happening here. Um, but man, there's just so much intentionality behind the series, behind a podcast, be behind the video resources. So just thank you for all the work you're doing that. So I I love this. Obviously, I've spent a lot of ministry time in the realm of worship. Um, so I love being able to uh have something like this to talk through. Um, but this is a really cool passage. So uh Jesus is out with his disciples and ultimately they kind of go out into town to go get food and and and what else uh happens kind of in that area. Um, but we have this encounter with Jesus, and he goes to the Samaritan woman, which in their culture, this is kind of a this is not a good thing, right? That's a no no, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Um to be a woman by herself for one. Yes, but then also for it to be a Samaritan woman.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Being in Samaria, the Jews and the Samaritans did not like they did not get along, no, and and they had different views of kind of how to handle theology, they kind of went about their Jewish faith very differently, but also they were the Samaritans were kind of like the the black sheep of the Jewish people, right? They're kind of seen as these like half-breeds because they're not all the way Jewish and not a lot of them have have mingled with some of the pagan nations and they have already some off views from a lot of Jewish people's perspective. Um, so already you don't talk to Samaritans, but then culturally you also don't approach her because she's a woman, right? This would be like very indecent. Yeah. Right. Um, but there's so much context that makes this story so beautiful. So not only is Jesus coming up to this woman and breaking all the rules to do that, right, but also she's there at a very interesting time of the day. Yeah. Right. Like if you're if you're in a weekly or daily rhythm of going to fetch water for your family or for yourself, you're not gonna go during the hottest moment of the day. Right. Right. This is like a lot of desert area. It is hot. This is around noon that she's going. So I mean, imagine you know what this would feel like, even in our context. Like if you're trying to do anything outside and are trying to avoid the hottest time of the day, right? You're not gonna go out at noon, right? Right. Um, but this is a time that she goes out. So it says a lot. And as we continue to hear more about her story, and that it turns out she hasn't just had one husband, but has had several husbands, and the man that she's living with isn't even quite her husband, yeah. Um, this is a messy story. Yeah. So she's going out at noon. Likely she doesn't want the judgment of all the other women who are also there to fetch water and kind of look at her and see her story. Whatever judgment she would feel in a moment like that is probably like exactly what she's trying to avoid. So it's rich, man. For for as much as it is this kind of very specific story, there's all these like cultural nuances that that kind of make the story special.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Yeah. Oh, it it you're right. It's so rich. And I feel like for me, like this is just cement in my heart that it doesn't matter what you say about you, it doesn't matter what other people say about you. Jesus loves you. He came for all. And so uh I know that's my big takeaway from this, but I'd love to hear from you, you know, as you spent some time studying this passage, as you wrote our devo, you know, uh for this week. What really stands out to you and like how did this passage, how does this passage encourage you? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

So I think for the person maybe who is interacting with this passage, and maybe they don't have a similar story, like maybe they don't relate to having had, you know, five different spouses or um, you know, maybe don't live in a culture where they feel very kind of judged by their past. Um, there could be a sense of like, well, that story really isn't for me. Um, but if you take a look under the hood a little bit, I do think we find some similarities that we probably could relate to. Sure. Um, for example, I don't know if if this has happened to you, but there are moments where it just feels like we're like hyper aware of everything that we've got going wrong. Yeah. Right. It's like maybe it's a time where you're really just trying to like get get some things in order. Um, I know like at the beginning of the year, people like everyone's trying to fix their diets, right? Um, but even beyond that, sometimes more serious moments in our lives where it's like, man, I just know I'm not winning at life, and there's some things I just have straight up wrong. Um, maybe, maybe it's relationships, maybe it's finances, maybe it's just an area of sin and bondage where it's like, man, for as much as I fight, I can never really get it right. And it's so interesting in moments like that, so much can feel like it's out of control. So when we find those few little things that we can control, sometimes I feel like we then will like super try to control it. Yeah, it's like, okay, well, I can't get rid of this addiction, but I really can just make sure that I protect my time. Or I yeah, I'm gonna be very selective with uh the way that I handle maybe another aspect of my life and and become almost militant about it. And really, all it is is that we're trying to make it right. Whatever it is that we don't have control over, whatever it is that we feel like we can't quite overcome, if we can at least control something, it makes us uh have this feeling of okay, well, maybe maybe some part of this makes up for the parts of my life that is dysfunctional. Yeah. I don't know how many people I've talked, talked to, um, where maybe they're they're working through certain things as a family, but that same family might seem like like the model family in another area. And it's like, but if you look under the hood, there could be some overcompensating because some things you're just like out of control. So I feel like when I look at her story, what stood stood out to me as much as she is working through the shame of her past, as much as she is there at noon trying to avoid judgment, there's that part of her that fight in her that's like trying to get theology right. It seems so random, right? Like, uh, probably the thing you should be most focused on is trying to get your personal life in order. And she's like obsessed over uh man, you Jews say that that we're supposed to be going about worship in one way, going to the temple, and uh, but we are also to think of Abraham's well right here, and like this is really the mountain that we should be worshiping on. And she's trying to get theology right. Yeah. And Jesus sees right past that and says, Listen, none of that's really gonna satisfy the thirst you really have. You can try to get the theological piece right, and ultimately you're gonna be thirsty. Yep. And uh, he's able to just see right through that, cut right through that, and say, I see your thirst. That is so powerful. Yeah. Because how many times in our lives don't we just obsess and obsess, obsess over the thing we can control and completely miss the real uh formative work that God is inviting us into because we're focused on the wrong thing. Right. And Jesus loves her so much he's not gonna allow her to do that. It's like, no. Uh actually, let me call out some things that you're not saying and let's have the real conversation. This isn't about theology. You are trying to get something right because everything is wrong on this side. I care about that. Let's have the real conversation. That's the kind of worshiper God is looking for. Someone who, in spirit and in truth, will bring their true thirst to God and acknowledge only you can satisfy it. Right. Now we find a worshiper. Worship is a lifestyle, right? It's it's we are submitting our entire lives to the Lord and his ways and every part of how we think, how we speak, how we react, all of it is worship, right? So it's not just the singing part. When you hold a door for somebody, that's worship. When when you wake up in the morning and have gratitude for what the Lord has allowed for the day, like that's that's worship. It's it's every part, right? And so we shouldn't disconnect our lives uh and every decision that's made within our lives from worship. All of it is worship. You're either worshiping yourself, you're worshiping something in the world, or you're worshiping God, but you're worshiping something. Everybody worships. Yeah. And so I think part of what a worship lifestyle what is a natural byproduct, is when you have encountered God for who he is, what he's like, when you have received from that living water, the natural response is you want to tell people about it. Right. It's it's the thing that most naturally comes comes up. And I feel like a big struggle that we can have, especially if you grew up as a Christian, um, is there's not always this like readiness to evangelize, right? It's like there's an awkwardness around it. It's like, oh, like I've never really done this before. Like, I want to be the kind of person who says I share the gospel all the time, but in practice it's it's a little awkward and weird, and I I kind of don't know where to start, right? Yeah. I don't think that the person who has experienced this deep transformation probably has a similar thought around that. Probably the person who has had this major life change because they had no other choice but to bring their true thirst to God. When they're in a conversation about somebody else's similar thirst, it's so much easier to be like, wait, if you're going through this, I've been through this. Can I please tell you what Jesus did for me? Yeah. When we haven't brought our true thirst, then we never get that story. Right? Yeah. And we all have it. There's no perfect person. Everyone has dysfunction. Yeah. Everybody has brokenness, even if you've grown up in a Christian home. So if you can just like expedite the process of seeing your own dysfunction and bring that truly to the Lord, man, what he is able to do for you and in you and through you would so much better prepare you for having an evangelistic lifestyle because all you're doing is sharing your true story. Yeah. But if your story is I tried to perfect religion and never brought my true thirst to him, then evangelizing becomes really difficult. You're trying to convince other people that religion is awesome. Yeah. Right. As opposed to convincing people of your experience. I experienced peace like I never had before. Yeah. Forgiveness that I didn't think I was worthy of, healing in my heart for things I never thought I would overcome, uh, addictions that completely shifted because I actually gave the need that was underneath it, I gave it over to God and He filled it better. When you have those stories, that is so much more uh to work with, right? You know, and to be able to share with your community, look what God has done.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Yeah, yeah. And it's everywhere on the spectrum too, because we we have to recognize that that no matter how good we've been, no matter even how maybe even easy our life has been, we've all sin and fallen short of the glory of God. And we have to love what God loves, we have to hate what God hates. And if if if we hate what God hates, we really will recognize just how far away we are from God. Like how, like, no matter what life I've lived, I have fallen short of the glory of God. Yeah. And I constantly need him to be saving me from something. He's always making me better. We're always becoming more and more like Christ. And that should only make us want to celebrate what he's doing. Yes. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Man, I'll never forget. I was, I want to say I was 12. And I had a friend who was kind of like the model Christian. And she was a youth leader at the church I was at at the time. And um she we were ice skating and she actually she broke her leg. And in the hospital, I remember her sharing with me, man, like that needed to happen. And I'm like super confused, like, what do you mean that needed to happen? Right. And she goes later to share. Um, I had so much pride in my heart because all these young people are just living crazy. And I wish that they would like live for the Lord. And I I didn't realize how much pride had been building up in my heart. And this time of having to sit out from ministry and be at the mercy of everybody who's willing to help, um, it just made her very reflective. And she realized I've never actually repented from the sin of pride. And I was judging my fellow brothers and sisters. And without that time of her being kind of humbled, um, she wouldn't have even recognized that she had a thirst in her life. We have thirst. Yeah. And the sooner we can bring it to him, the more we have access to living water, and that sets us on fire for him.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Oh, yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you very much, Pastor Ernesto. Appreciate your taking today. For those of you that are watching, let's go ahead and jump into our discussion time if you're in a group or just into your personal devotion time. Again, thank you so much, Pastor Ernesto.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Thank you, Pastor Jake.