WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:04.160 Well, hey guys, if you have a Bible, we're going to be in John chapter 4 this morning. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.320 We'll bounce around and use a variety of scriptures, but our main scripture is John chapter 4. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:11.039 So feel free to turn there, pull that up if you want to read along. 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:13.919 We'll have it up on a screen, but it's always nice to have it in hand. 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:19.199 We're going to jump back into a conversation that we started a few weeks back called Never Going Back. 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:25.519 It's interesting, we have a tendency as people to go back to things that leave us wanting. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:30.960 I don't know if you've ever had that experience before where you go back to something that doesn't actually satisfy you. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:35.200 Albert Einstein, pretty smart dude, you know, good-looking dude too. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:38.240 He's credited with saying something that I don't think he actually said. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:40.560 But uh, but in fact, Alex, I've got Alex here with me. 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:41.920 Alex running all of our tech this morning. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:42.960 Hey, Alex, say hello. 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:43.520 Hello. 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:44.960 Hey, I'm glad that you're here. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:46.159 I also have Zach with me, by the way. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:47.359 Zach's our cameraman. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:48.640 He's always behind the scenes. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:49.679 You never know what he looks like. 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.399 You could pass him on the street and never know that it's him, but he's real. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:54.560 In fact, Zach, if you could kind of nod to say hello. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:56.399 That's that's Zach saying hello to all of you. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:57.920 Zach's our mystery cameraman. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:00:58.479 Zach's awesome. 00:00:58.560 --> 00:00:59.759 I've got Zach and Alex with me. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.640 Alex, Einstein is attributed to saying a quote. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:03.359 It's pretty famous. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:04.079 You probably know it. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:08.799 Um I don't think he said it, but it's it's basically insanity is. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:10.719 Do you know what it the rest says? 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:14.079 Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:19.040 Can we just take a moment to appreciate how well read and deep Alex Benel is? 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:19.920 Way to go, Alex. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:21.200 That is that is the quote. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:26.159 Again, don't think Einstein said it because we have instances of it being said or very similar things being said earlier in history. 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:31.280 But if you're as smart as Einstein, I think you deserve a few extra things being being accredited to you, right? 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:37.680 So he said that uh, or someone said, that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.400 And if that's the definition of insanity, I'm insane. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:42.159 And let's face it, you're insane. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:44.319 All of us are crazy because we all do that. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:49.439 We all have a tendency to go back to something over and over again, expecting that this time it's gonna work. 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:52.959 This time it'll be different, just because we we want it to be. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:54.799 I'll give you an example from my life. 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:59.920 Um, something that my wife loves, and I just don't, is this drink called LaCroix. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:02.560 I'm sure a lot of you guys are familiar with LaCroix. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:07.599 Many of you have probably had LaCroix, and if if you love LaCroix, just don't uh don't judge me right now. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:09.599 Uh but I I don't like LaCroix. 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:12.479 Alex, what's your what's your LaCroix opinion? 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:16.960 Like, where do you stand on the topic of this French horrific soda? 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:18.800 It it depends on the flavor. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:19.280 Okay. 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:19.919 Yeah. 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:22.719 Um my favorite is peach pear. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:24.000 Peach pear, okay. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:27.120 I think I've had passion fruit too, and that one was good. 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:27.680 Okay. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:33.439 Um, but otherwise, several of the other flavors are just not good at all. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:34.319 Not good. 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:35.360 Yeah, I agree. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:38.240 I haven't tried I haven't tried those, but I'm not going to. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:39.439 You know why? 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:40.719 Because I'm not crazy. 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:42.319 I'm not going to be insane anymore. 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:47.360 See, every single time Megan gets LaCroix from the grocery store, she she will get a new flavor. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:48.240 That happens pretty often. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:49.759 And she'll be like, Justin, try this one. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:50.879 It's so good. 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:52.560 And for some reason I do. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:54.319 I'm like, okay, maybe this is the one. 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:57.120 And I try it, and it isn't good, and I don't like it. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:00.879 And yet, three weeks later, when she gets another flavor and she says, no, no, this one's good. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:04.879 I'll even find myself sometimes going to the fridge and I'll see a flavor I've never had before of LaCroix. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:06.400 And I'll just talk myself into it. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:19.759 I'll be like, you know, I should just, I'll give this one a maybe this is the one that's gonna make me a LaCroix believer, and I'll I'll open it, I'll take one sip, and I'm like, this is terrible, this is awful, and then I just have to go find Megan and say, hey, you're gonna need to finish this because this is bad. 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:21.039 I don't speak French. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:23.360 I'm pretty sure law in French is the. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:27.919 Is it possible that Croix is crap? 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:29.599 Is that what do you I mean? 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:33.520 I mean, I'm not a linguistics expert, but it seems possible. 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:34.560 It's possible. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:36.240 LaCroix is the crap. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:37.680 That's that's at least in my experience. 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:39.840 So again, if you like LaCroix, forgive me for saying that. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:42.960 I don't like LaCroix, and yet I've gone back to it over and over again. 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:44.719 There's so many other examples of that in my life. 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:53.599 Things that for whatever reason, I just keep telling myself that this time it's gonna be different, this time it's gonna work, I'll give it another shot, I'll do the same thing and expect different results. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:55.439 We all have that tendency. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:59.599 We all have the tendency to keep going back to things that leave us wanting. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:03.439 And this morning we're gonna look at a story of someone who does that exact same thing. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:07.919 And Jesus, fortunately, has a conversation with this person and convinces them that there's a better way. 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:09.520 John chapter 4. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:13.280 This story is generally known as the story of the woman at the well. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:15.759 It's a really powerful story for a number of reasons. 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:21.600 Number one, it's an example of us getting to see Jesus have an uninterrupted conversation with someone. 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:23.600 We don't actually have a lot of examples of that. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:27.439 We actually don't get a lot of stories of Jesus having a one-on-one conversation. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.480 We have this one, we have one in John 3 and a few others. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.720 But this is an awesome moment for us to see what it's like for someone to sit down and talk with Jesus. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:45.279 And if you're a Jesus follower and you love Jesus and you're just all about Jesus, think about what an honor it would be to actually have a one-on-one conversation with Jesus. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:46.160 Just you and him. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:48.240 That's what this woman gets to experience. 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:50.079 She didn't know she was gonna experience that. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:51.040 She didn't seek it out. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:55.519 When she woke up that morning, she never had the thought that, you know what, I'm gonna talk to God face to face. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:57.519 But it happened anyway and it changed her life. 00:04:57.600 --> 00:04:59.360 And so let's read John chapter 4. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:01.120 We're gonna start in verse 1. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:09.759 It says, Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John, though Jesus himself didn't baptize them, his disciples did. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.560 So he left Judea and he returned to Galilee. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:14.319 He had to go through Samaria on the way. 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:19.120 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sikr, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:25.040 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:29.199 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, Please give me a drink. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:33.360 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.800 The woman was surprised, for Jews refused to have anything to do with Samaritans. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:41.519 She said to Jesus, You're a Jew, I'm a Samaritan woman, why are you asking me for a drink? 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:53.680 And Jesus replied, and this is this is so good, if you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:56.000 I want to pause there for just a second. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:58.000 That's a powerful statement. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:06.480 If you only knew what God has for you, if you only knew the gift God has for you and who you were talking to, you'd ask me, and I would give you living water. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:11.199 Jesus is saying, hey, don't think for a second that you're the one that has the most to offer me. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:15.759 Yeah, I'm thirsty, I need a drink, but but I have something to offer you that you can never fully understand. 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:22.160 This phrase living water, it's a really interesting phrase in Hebrew, which would have been the language that Jesus would have spoken along with Greek. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:26.160 In Hebrew, uh living water is is this this right here. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:28.879 And Alex, I'm gonna set you up. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:30.959 Try pronounce this. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:33.680 How do you think in Hebrew this is pronounced? 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:38.319 Uh I've been thinking about it over and over, like the entire time. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:41.199 Um chem. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:42.879 Okay, that's that's that's a good. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:45.360 Let's let's first acknowledge, we're in, we're in Georgia. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:48.399 Uh let's first acknowledge the Georgia pronunciation of this. 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:52.959 What would you say like the uh like let's go deep south pronunciation of this phrase would be? 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:54.639 Uh myam cham. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:55.920 Yeah, yeah, there you go. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:57.920 Mayam chem or something like that, right? 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:00.000 Uh I'm not a linguistics expert either. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:11.759 I don't speak Hebrew, but the the way you would pronounce this, and I'm probably gonna butcher it, but I'm gonna do my best, would be uh myim, because you always put in Hebrew the emphasis is on the second syllable, so it's my what's that? 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:14.720 You know in Hebrew it's that like you're clearing your throat sound? 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:16.240 It's ma'im khaim. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:21.680 And again, those of you who speak Hebrew, comment section, butcher me, go for it. 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:31.040 Uh but this this is living water, and in the Hebrew culture, this phrase was a really, really powerful phrase because uh in the Middle East, water is a very precious resource. 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:33.519 And so, um, Alex, again, I'm putting you on the spot. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:33.839 Yep. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:39.360 Uh if you had to guess in inches, how much rain we get in Georgia every year in inches. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:40.639 It's less than 100, I'll tell you that. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:40.879 Yeah. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:42.319 What would you what would you go for? 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:44.079 Uh can I do like a range? 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:44.879 Is that cheating? 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:46.319 No, get but within five. 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:47.120 Within five? 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:47.439 Yeah. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:48.000 Okay. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:53.040 Um I would say between 60 and 65 inches. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:54.959 Okay, we actually get about 75. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:55.839 That's good though. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:56.639 It wasn't that far off. 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:58.319 So we get about 75 inches of rain. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:02.319 Israel, on an annual basis, how much rain would you suspect that Israel gets? 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:08.079 Uh between 15 and 20. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:09.360 Okay, 21. 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:10.240 They get 21. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:10.959 That was really good. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:11.279 All right. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:13.120 So Israel gets about 21 inches of rain. 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:21.519 Now, what's really interesting about Israel versus a place like like where we live is that that rain that they get each year, it is almost always completely condensed to a certain season. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:27.040 And so it almost never, ever rains in Israel between May to mid-October. 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:29.040 Like zero rain whatsoever. 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:33.440 And so uh when the rains come, the entire the entire country changes. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:36.240 Now, in today's world, we have things like irrigation, right? 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:40.159 We have we have plumbing, and so they're able to do different things even when it's not raining. 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:42.080 But back in Jesus' day, none of that existed. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:44.960 So you literally depended on the rain. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.039 You depended on that season for life. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:51.200 And so when it was the dry season, you would have had all the fields be be barren. 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:53.519 They would have been brown, it just would have been dust and dirt. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:56.799 But then when the rains came, those same fields would have come to life. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:03.120 They would have had grass, they would have had plants, the rivers would have risen, and wherever the rivers were, there would just be life. 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:10.080 In fact, in ancient Israel, you would often see near the rivers, like lush green trees, and then just a few feet away, nothing. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:12.799 Because it all had to do with the life that water brought. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.360 And that phrase, it meant living water. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:22.480 When Jesus is talking to her and he describes living water, she would have known that the water she was drinking from that well, that was stagnant water. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:25.440 What they would do is they would store water in cisterns. 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:30.320 You know, those cisterns would fill up during the rainy season, and then slowly but surely they would they would they would go down. 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:31.759 And that's what this woman was drinking. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:33.200 That's what everyone was drinking at this time. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.120 It was stagnant water. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:36.879 It's like old water, basically. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:39.600 But Jesus says, I can bring you living water. 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:43.360 I can bring you the kind of water that brings you life. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:46.159 Now, Jesus is prone to speak in metaphor. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:47.600 That's something we see Jesus do all the time. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.639 And oftentimes when he speaks in metaphor, completely goes over people's heads. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:56.960 For example, he's talking to the Pharisees at one point and he's in the temple, and he says, If you destroy this temple, I'll build it back in three days. 00:09:57.120 --> 00:09:59.919 And they think he's talking about the physical building of the temple. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:01.519 It took them 40 years to build that. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:02.639 And they're like, You're crazy. 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:04.159 You could never build this in three days. 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:07.039 He wasn't talking about the building, he was talking about himself. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:09.120 When he said this temple, he meant him. 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:13.440 And he's saying, Look, you guys are gonna destroy this body, but it's gonna rise again in three days. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:21.120 John chapter 3, Jesus talks to a guy named Nicodemus, and he says, Hey, if you want to, if you want to know God, you want to know the Father, you have to be born again. 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:25.360 And Nicodemus thinks he's being literal, says, You mean I've got to get back in my mother's womb? 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:28.320 And Jesus is like, Yeah, clearly, clearly not. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:29.759 He often spoke in metaphor. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:33.919 He's doing that here in John 4 again, but the woman, she she doesn't understand that. 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:34.799 And so let's go back. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:35.919 Verse 11. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:39.840 She says, But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:41.200 And this well is very deep. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:42.320 Where would you get this living water? 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:44.559 She thinks he's he's talking about actual water. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:48.720 And let's face it, she probably thinks he's just this crazy guy sitting by a well, right? 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:54.879 She's not expecting this to be a prophet, or, or better yet, the Messiah, to be, to be the Lord himself. 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:56.240 She thinks he's just nuts. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:58.080 So she's kind of like, What in the world are you talking about? 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:01.039 You don't have a rope, you don't have a bucket, where are you gonna get this water? 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:05.200 And besides, do you think that you're greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well? 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:09.600 How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed? 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:13.919 Jesus replied, Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:17.120 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:21.039 It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:27.279 Please, sir, the woman said, Give me this water, and then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to get water. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:29.519 Go and get your husband, Jesus told her. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:31.360 I don't have a husband, the woman said. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:34.320 Jesus said, You're right, you don't have a husband. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:38.000 For you've had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:40.000 You certainly spoke the truth. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:41.519 Sir, the woman said. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.480 And just imagine, she's jaw-dropped right now. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:46.320 How in the world could Jesus know this about her? 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:52.320 Sir, the woman said, You must be a prophet, so tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship? 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:56.000 While we Samaritans claim it's here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:00.799 You know, this is a moment where she's realized that she's talking to someone who really knows the Lord, knows God. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:04.960 And she doesn't realize yet that He is who He is, but she recognizes He knows things. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:08.240 And so she starts asking him all these questions about God that she's had her whole life. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:18.559 Jesus replied, Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem, we might say in a church building or online. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:25.679 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes for the Jews. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:31.679 But the time is coming, indeed it's here now, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:39.039 The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way, for God is spirit, those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:42.559 The woman said, I know the Messiah is coming, the one who's called Christ. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:44.480 When he comes, he'll explain everything to us. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:47.919 And then Jesus told her, I am the Messiah. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:50.320 He says, I am the Messiah. 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:54.480 And honestly, this is the first example we have of Jesus just looking at someone and saying that. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.200 This story is obviously incredibly rich. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:04.879 It's hard for us sometimes to go through a story like this and just spend a week or a few weeks on it because we could spend months talking about this and not even scratch the surface. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:15.840 But we're going to use this story as a jumping-off point for the next few weeks to talk about the concept of us never going back to those things that ultimately just leave us disappointed. 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:19.600 Really, Jesus, when he's speaking to this woman, he's speaking to all of us. 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:30.559 We are all the Samaritan woman because we all keep going back to those old wells, those old wells full of stagnant water that may satisfy us for a little while, but at the end of the day, they just leave us wanting. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:32.159 We all have that tendency. 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:35.360 So what we're gonna do for the next few weeks is we're gonna we're gonna name those wells. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:46.000 We're gonna call some of those common old wells out, and what we're gonna do is draw a line in the sand in our hearts, so to speak, to say, I don't want to ever go back to that old well again. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:47.279 I've been there before. 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:48.399 It left me wanting. 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:50.960 It didn't fill me up, it didn't give me what I really needed. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:54.559 I don't want to be insane and keep doing the same thing, expecting different results. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:55.440 I want something new. 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:57.840 I want this living water that Jesus promised. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:03.519 I want him to give me something that brings me to life, that gives me the life that I've been promised. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:13.840 I think deep down inside we all know that we're meant for something great, that we're meant for a life that's not just a little bit better than what it is right now, but we're meant for something that's transformationally different. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:19.440 Something that God has reminded me of time and time again in my life is that he's not that interested in life improvement. 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:22.000 We get very fixated on life improvement. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:25.120 And sometimes church honestly can get boiled down into life improvement. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:29.360 It's just little bitty things you can do so that your life is just a little bit different, a little bit better. 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:30.879 God's not interested in life improvement. 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:32.399 He wants to transform your life. 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.080 He wants to make you a new person. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:37.840 He wants to give you an entirely different perspective, an entirely different mindset. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:43.279 When Jesus promises living water, he's telling this woman, I want to categorically change everything. 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:48.720 I want to give you something so powerful, so rich that it's like a spring bubbling up inside of you. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:50.639 You'll never be thirsty again. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:55.120 I think deep down inside we all know that we're meant for something more, but we struggle to find it. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:15:01.759 And what we end up doing instead is we just keep going back to those old wells, thinking maybe this time, maybe this time it'll give me what I need. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:07.120 So we're gonna spend a few weeks and we're gonna talk about those old wells that we keep going back to. 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:14.080 We're gonna name them, and our desire is to never go back to them again, but to go and seek the living water that Jesus promises us. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:19.440 And so we're gonna get started today by talking about something I'm gonna call the well of self. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:21.360 The well of self. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:35.600 And when I talk about the well of self, here's what I mean: being self-protective, being self-sufficient, being self-reliant, self-confident, self-gratifying, and seeking self-fulfillment. 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:36.879 This is the well of self. 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:40.000 Something really interesting about the woman at the well is she's alone. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:45.200 She is by herself, and she's actually at this well at a time of day that no one should really be there. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:49.279 There's a reason that Jesus is the only person there, and it's because it's it's in it's midday. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:50.559 It's like noontime. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:53.759 And in their culture, you would never have gone to the well at noontime. 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:54.960 It would have been so hot. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:16:00.159 Everyone went to the well in the cool of the evening, and they would get the water that they needed for the day to come. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:02.159 You would never have gone to that well in the middle of the day. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:04.399 But this woman, she's a loner. 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:06.240 She's an outcast. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:11.759 Likely because of some of the things that Jesus mentions to her, her reputation, the way that she's lived her life. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:13.919 In that culture, she would have been shunned. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:14.799 She's an outcast. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:17.120 She's all on her own. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:20.240 And she's definitely a woman who's learned how to be self-reliant. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:22.879 She's definitely a woman who's learned how to live life on her own. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:24.159 That's just been her MO. 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:36.159 Yes, she's obviously been in many relationships, but you can tell that those relationships have not worked, that that her pattern has been that the relationships fall apart and she moves on and she moves on and she moves on. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:48.799 And the way her life is going, this person she's living with now is maybe either going to be husband number six or he's gonna be over with and someone else is gonna come along, because the only person that this woman can really rely on is herself. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:50.960 She is a self-sufficient person. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:17:02.720 But the problem with being self-sufficient is that oftentimes, and we see this in this woman, at least in the area of her relationships, is that when we are when we are self-sufficient, we often find ourselves beginning to self-sabotage. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:05.440 We become a self-sabotaging person. 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:10.000 We rely on ourselves for everything, and what we end up doing is sabotaging everything that we get involved with. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:22.160 I'm not saying that all these relationships that have gone wrong were her fault, but you know, if you've been married five times and you're on the sixth, eventually you've got to start looking in the mirror and saying, hey, maybe, maybe something's up with me. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:26.240 When we live self-sufficient, we end up self-self-sabotaging. 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:32.480 But here's what's really interesting for us as Americans is that we've been taught to rely on ourselves. 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:38.240 And if you're friends with me, I'll apologize because this is something you've probably heard me go on a rant about many different times. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:47.759 This is something that I'm really, really passionate about, is examining some of the worldviews, examining some of the prescribed ways of thinking that we are culturally conditioned to believe. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:52.400 And asking ourselves the hard question: does this actually line up with the teachings of Scripture? 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:55.519 Does this actually line up with the teachings of Jesus? 00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:04.240 And so, for example, in the last 30, 40 years, the predominant worldview in America that has shaped the way that we think is a worldview that's called secular humanism. 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:05.279 Secular humanism. 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:21.119 And the definition of secular humanism, if you open it up in a dictionary, is this it's humanism with regard to the particular belief that humanity is capable of morality and self-fulfillment without belief in God. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:28.240 That we as people are capable of having everything that we need for fulfillment. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:30.559 We can be self-fulfilled. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:36.960 We don't need God, we don't even need to believe in God, we don't need to acknowledge that there is a higher power, we don't need any of that stuff. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:42.960 We have everything within ourselves to find self-fulfillment. 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:46.559 And so there's some mantras that exist because of secular humanism. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:49.759 And these are things, by the way, that we almost all believe at some level. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:53.519 These become the lyrics of our children's animated uh movie songs, right? 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:56.000 It's things like uh be yourself. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:00.640 Hey, if you want to be happy, you've just got to, you just have to be yourself, right? 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:03.920 That's that's saying you have everything within you to be self-fulfilled. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:05.839 Believe in yourself, right? 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:06.880 Secular humanism. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:13.920 It's the belief that we don't need God, we don't need faith to have everything that we need to be fulfilled. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.119 We just need to believe in what? 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:17.599 Believe in ourselves, right? 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:19.759 Things like do what you feel is best. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:21.440 Hey, you are the authority. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:26.400 Whatever you feel, that that is definitely, you know, that's that's your truth. 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:30.160 These are the types of mantras that I grew up being conditioned to believe in, right? 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:33.119 When I was a kid in school, I started going to school in the in the 80s. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:36.480 And these were like the things that were on the posters in our classroom. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:39.279 Things like believe in yourself, be yourself. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:48.799 You can accomplish anything that you set your mind to, and all of it had this idea that you have the power within yourself to do whatever you can possibly imagine. 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:52.640 We have to ask ourselves the question: does this work? 00:19:54.079 --> 00:20:02.400 Does the well of self, relying on ourselves, doing everything we can to gratify ourselves, to fulfill ourselves, does that work? 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:05.839 Do we have a society of self-fulfilled people? 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:08.319 And I believe that it's pretty clear that we don't. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:22.000 When you look at the trends in anxiety and depression and suicide, when you look at the fear that our world lives in, the panic that people have, the uncertainty that everyone's dealing with, it doesn't seem like we're very good at self-fulfillment. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:24.240 It doesn't seem like we actually have the answers. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:26.799 I mean, look what's going on right now in our country. 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:36.880 You know, one of the things that I think we're all united in right now, as divided as we might be, is that clearly there's no uniformity in terms of the solutions to the problems that we face. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:43.039 We have all these experts, we have all these talking heads, we have all these people that are telling us what to do, but none of them even agree, none of them even know. 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:48.079 And every two weeks the model changes and the data changes and the projections change, because no one knows. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:52.079 Maybe, just maybe we don't have the answers within ourselves. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.440 Maybe, just maybe we we don't have everything we need. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:57.119 Maybe we need something more. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:02.319 You know, this woman at the well, she did not have the ability to give herself living water. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:19.680 Jesus says, look, if you only knew the gift that God has for you and who you're talking to, meaning him, Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Lord, if you only knew who you were talking to and what God has for you, you would ask me and I would give you living water. 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:23.279 Be very, very clear in your understanding that Jesus is saying, this comes through me. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:25.440 We see this happen elsewhere in Jesus' teachings. 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:26.400 He's not shy about it. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:30.000 He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:33.519 He calls himself the bread of life. 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:36.880 He tells us that he is the solution. 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:43.039 At the end of the day, we don't need something, we need we need someone, and that someone is not us. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:45.200 That someone is him. 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:47.200 He's the one who gives that to us. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:54.240 We might be taught by our world that we can be self sufficient, that we can be self reliant, that we can be self fulfilled, but God speaks in very different terms. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:56.240 For example, let's look at a few scriptures. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:58.559 And Alex, just kind of keep these rolling, okay? 00:21:58.640 --> 00:21:59.680 Uh we'll look at Jeremiah chapter. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.160 17, one of my absolute favorite scriptures. 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:03.920 This is what the Lord says. 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:11.200 Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:13.440 It goes on to use some really good imagery. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:15.920 They are like they're like stunted shrubs in the desert. 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:19.519 I love that we're talking about this connected to the whole living water thing, right? 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:23.200 The whole idea that living water is going to bring things to life. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:26.640 It says they're like stunted shrubs in the desert with no hope for the future. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:31.359 They will live in the barren wilderness in an uninhabitable, salty land. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:37.440 But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and their confidence, right? 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:38.720 They're not self-confident. 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:40.720 They're confident in the Lord. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:43.519 They are like trees planted along a riverbank. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:46.480 And again, they would have seen a river as living water, right? 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:48.880 With roots that reach deep into the water. 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.519 Such trees are not bothered by the heat. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:54.160 They're not worried by long months of drought. 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:55.680 Their lives stay green. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:58.880 Their leaves rather stay green and they never stop producing fruit. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:00.319 Maybe that was a Freudian slip. 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:01.759 Their lives stay green. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:03.440 They never stop producing fruit. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:16.079 Jeremiah says that look, when we put our trust and our faith in our own strength, if we want to be self-reliant, then we might as well reserve ourselves to being like stunted shrubs in the desert. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:18.400 We don't have deep roots. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:21.599 We don't have the ability to endure the droughts that life brings. 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:29.920 But if we put our trust in the Lord, if we're not self-confident, but we're God confident, it's like we have deep roots that go down to a water source that's unending. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:34.559 And no matter what happens, no matter how long the drought might be, we're good. 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:35.839 We produce fruit. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:37.200 Our leaves are green, right? 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:38.319 Our lives are green. 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:39.839 Let's go on to the next one. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:42.799 2 Corinthians 3, 4 through 5. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:46.480 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:53.920 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:24:00.720 Paul, who wrote this, is saying, like, our confidence, our views of sufficiency, it's not from us. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:05.279 We recognize that we don't have anything in ourselves to be confident in. 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:10.799