WEBVTT 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the Medicurch Podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name is Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.240 I'm the pastor here at Medicurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:14.960 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:18.000 God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoyed today's message. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:25.199 Good morning, MedicChur. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:26.320 How y'all doing? 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:28.879 Excited to be here this morning. 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:34.560 And uh whether you're in the room, whether you're watching alongside us at Holotis, man, I'm excited about you guys. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:35.280 I love you guys. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:36.719 I love you guys just as much. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:38.079 But uh excited to be here. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:40.479 It's been a couple months since I've been hanging out with y'all. 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:42.399 And if you don't know me, my name is Tony. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:46.960 I've had the honor of, you know, being alongside you guys here at Petrenko for quite some time. 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:52.000 Last year, we we baptized over 139 people, like insane. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:54.719 Our movement is growing, people are coming to know the Lord. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:01:08.640 And over the last couple months, I've got to hung out at Helotus with some amazing people who decided, hey, we're gonna do whatever it takes, we're gonna pack up even where it feels comfortable, even where, you know, there's no setup, we're not pulling things out of a trailer, we're not showing up at 6 30 in the morning. 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:14.480 And they decided we're gonna do whatever it takes, and we've been actually just enjoying this time together. 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:17.359 Sometimes it looks like when you step out in faith, like it's a struggle. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:19.200 And believe me, carrying a cross is a struggle. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:23.120 Showing up in the morning is a struggle, but I just get to serve along with some amazing people. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:25.359 I'm so thankful for y'all on the other side of this camera. 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:27.359 And uh just know that you are part of that. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:41.599 You guys giving here, you serving here, getting out in the community together, like we are one movement, and that's why it's so important that every single week we hear a message from our pastor or whoever's on stage, and we all hear the same word so that we're united together. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:48.560 And what happens when a group of people are united by something such powerful as the gospel, Jesus? 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:56.799 There is nothing that we could not do, there is no room that we could not penetrate, there is nothing that a group of people who are united by the Holy Spirit could not get through. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:00.319 And I'm just really excited to be part of a group of people like that. 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:08.960 And you know, what comes with that, actually, it's the excitement, the newness, lots of new people coming in and serving and people using their skills. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:10.319 Like that is amazing. 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:17.840 But what you also see on the side of fast growth is people stepping in new leadership roles, people taking on new responsibility. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:30.879 And one of the hardest things which you're aware of, if you've taken on any kind of responsibility, if you've been part of something that's moving fast, that's growing, is all this change is happening, and you tend to see sometimes people cycle in and out. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:44.000 Which is kind of sad, like people who are on fire for the Holy Spirit, on fire for sharing the gospel, serving every week, wanting to start a life team, wanting to get plugged in, sharing with their coworkers to only let it fizzle out. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:48.319 And fast faith starts are cool. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:59.039 But what I want to know about, what I really want to wrestle with, and I want all of us to go on a journey with today is what does it look like to thrive, to like really last? 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:10.879 Because we all hear about people and we've observed people who are successful in either entertainment, business, even ministry, to sadly seeing a fallout, someone burning out. 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:18.639 Maybe that's you in a business you've started, and like the first two years you were gung ho and it became work and it fell out, you lost your passion for it. 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:21.599 Or maybe it's like starting a brand new family, right? 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:38.960 Like marriage and the honeymoon season and all that, everything's great, but then slowly, fight after fight, not seeking to resolve things, but seeking to actually divide and to prove your point, you've started to see a healthy relationship become something that you dread. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:45.759 And what I want to ask, because I've been asking this question for literally over six months, since we've launched Helotus. 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:50.879 I'm thinking through, like, hey, we're starting brand new, families are gonna be coming in, people are gonna be serving God. 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.520 And like through ministry, I've been serving in ministry. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:04:05.199 I've been, I've known Jesus now for about 11 years now, and I've seen so many people come either through these doors or under ministry, as I was a part of, and people just go silent, they disappear. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:09.680 What I really wanna wrestle with today is how do people last? 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:12.879 How do we keep running hard? 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:16.560 How do we not just survive but actually thrive? 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.000 Because the hard truth is, not everyone does. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:27.920 And if you've lived any season or been part of anything of greatness or put your time towards anything, you have actually faced that reality today. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:28.720 We've seen it. 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:45.279 People losing everything, people chasing after success, validation, approval, people who we've even thought had it all together, like celebrities, and we have, you know, access into people's lives that we shouldn't probably have access to, and we see all this happening and we go, hey, I want that life. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:46.560 I really want that life. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:48.399 It looks like they got it all together. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:50.959 It looks like their family photos got it all together. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:52.800 Like, I can't even get our kids to rile up. 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:58.000 But in the meantime, chaos is happening in the background, but the picture's taken and everyone's comparing. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:08.319 And then what happens is time goes on, and time tells, and you hear about people who you thought were successful, and you realize they're empty inside. 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:10.639 Sometimes it's even worst-case scenario. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:17.120 You hear about people who took their life, who you thought were happy people, who were full of joy, someone you would have never thought of. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.759 So, how do we really last? 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:22.079 How do we run the faith? 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:26.160 How do we endure the rest of our lives as Christ followers? 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:38.240 You know, there's people who struggle with this, and I hope you'll agree with me that you are also struggling with this idea today, and that we don't leave ourselves to point someone else, but we would internally go, hey, that's me. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:42.879 There's actually a conversation that Jesus had with someone specifically like this. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.839 It was a woman, and Jesus, we're gonna look into words today. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:49.759 I'm gonna kind of just give you these words up front, just to like throw it right in your face. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:56.639 Jesus said in John 4, verse 13, Jesus said, Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:00.399 And maybe you already know this story, maybe you don't, and that's okay. 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:08.560 We're gonna really dive into this conversation that Jesus had with someone, someone who wants to thrive, who all it's clear, wanted to know God. 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:13.279 It's clear, if I asked you, most people are gonna go, hey, I want to do whatever it takes to wreck my life. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:15.519 I want to ruin every relationship I've ever been into. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:17.680 Like, how do I get that done before 12 o'clock? 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:19.199 No one is thinking that. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:27.439 We all want to thrive, we all want healthy relationships, we all want a relationship with our creator, we all want to be fully known and fully accepted by God. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:38.480 And Jesus here, he was talking about a well, he was talking about physical water, but what we're going to learn is he's actually talking about so much more today. 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:41.519 Today, my message is called thirst trap. 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:44.480 And it is not your typical definition of thirst trap. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:47.600 So let's, if you don't know what that is, don't Google it, don't just don't get distracted. 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:48.879 Like, let's just move on. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:50.720 Just to play on words. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:57.360 And before we pray today, what I really want to do today is actually February is kind of hard for me, like not hard in a good way. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:04.879 Like every February that comes around, I was actually, first time I ever walked into a service like this was in February 11 years ago. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:11.040 And what I want to do is just speak to those on the other side of the camera, those in the room who maybe you got dragged here today. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:16.240 Maybe you're here kind of against your will, like maybe your wife brought you on, or maybe you're here just with your family. 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:18.720 Just know I was in the same exact shoes as you. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:20.959 I was an unbeliever, I was a skeptic. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:23.360 I was someone who I needed to find the logic. 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:26.959 I really needed to understand before I could decide to believe in something like this. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:31.600 And Medichurch is a place that no matter where you are on your faith journey, you belong here. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:39.120 Doesn't matter if you've been following Jesus for a long time, or today you're really agnostic, you're atheist maybe even, and you really are just wrestling. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.319 Today I pray that the Holy Spirit would speak to you. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:45.360 Because I was in the exact same position as you. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:46.560 I acknowledge you. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:52.639 I know how hard it is to get here today, and for all of us in the room, I pray that the Holy Spirit would speak to you. 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:53.439 So let's pray. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:56.000 Father, we are just thankful to be here today, Lord. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.040 Holy Spirit, I pray that you would speak on my behalf. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:01.360 These would not be my words, but your words. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:05.439 You created my mouth, you created my tongue, and Holy Spirit, I pray that you would flow out. 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:22.639 And as it falls today on these people here in the room, and those in Helotus and those watching online, I pray that you would do what only you can do: bring life change, bring healing, restoration, that you would give us new perspective, and ultimately we would understand a little bit more about you, our creator. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:25.680 And God, we are just thankful to be here today. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:28.480 Everyone says, Amen. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:30.319 Amen. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:35.039 So, like I was telling you, that story about this woman. 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:38.240 So, this is a story we find in John chapter 4. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:41.440 You may know it as the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman. 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:45.039 And um, picture this it's a blazing hot day, super hot. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:47.039 Texas, I moved here three years ago. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:49.200 We had like, I don't know, a hundred days over a hundred. 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:49.919 That's wild. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:50.799 Let's just picture that. 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:51.600 It's hot. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:58.159 This woman is walking over to a physical well, and it's right in the pitch of the afternoon, and she's alone. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:05.759 And right away, you and I, if we were reading into the text, if we were studying what's going on in the scripture, we would learn that that is a red flag. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:10.399 Most women would travel together as a group and they would do it right in the peak of dawn. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.120 They would do it right in the morning when it's cool out. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:20.799 So we we read about this woman who's traveling on her way to this well, and she actually is confronted by a man. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:28.960 And a man there is sitting at this well, and what she's shocked is that this man is a Jew, and this man is actually talking to her. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:32.240 A Jewish person would not talk to a Samaritan woman. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:34.720 And this man is Jesus. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:37.600 He's not no ordinary man. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:41.840 This is her creator, this is your creator. 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:45.759 He knows her, he knows everything about her. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:47.679 And she's coming today. 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:53.279 She's coming to this well to quench her thirst, her physical thirst. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:56.960 It's hot, she's trying to provide for her family. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:01.519 And she has an encounter with Jesus. 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:08.000 And right there in John 4, verse 10, they're having a c they're having a dialect, and we'll clear it up. 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:19.919 But it says in John 4, verse 10, Jesus answered, If you knew the gift of God and who was saying this to you, give me a drink, and you would ask him, and he would give you living water. 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:24.320 Jesus is there, he's parched, it says he's weary, he's tired, he's been traveling. 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:29.519 The disciples, they're on a journey into town to get food, and Jesus decided to stay back at this well. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:41.759 And the Samaritan woman who's looking for physical water to quench her physical thirst has an encounter with Jesus, and Jesus asks her for water, and she's shocked that he's talking to her. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:49.919 And he says, If you only knew who I was, you would be asking me to give you water, living water. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.159 And she's obviously confused. 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:55.279 Like, one, why is this guy talking to me? 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:56.720 And you know the approach. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:02.159 Like, you've been there where you're walking up to someone, you see someone there, especially like you see a dude, she's probably like not excited for this. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:06.159 Like, okay, and then he decides to talk to her, and she's like, I just gotta get out of here. 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:08.000 I'm alone, I don't wanna deal with this. 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:23.039 So, like, this is all going on in her head, and he's saying this weird statement to her, like, if you only knew who he was asking you to drink for water, you'd flip the question and then you'd ask me for water, and she's looking at him, and she literally says in the next text, like, you don't even have a bucket, dude. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:24.960 How are you gonna help me? 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:26.159 This is a deep well. 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:36.480 If you don't know, like they used to have to walk up to this well, drop this bucket, and then rope this thing back up and carry this five, you know, 10-pound 10-gallon thing of water back into town. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:41.440 And Jesus says this statement here, and she doesn't get it. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:45.919 And you and I, we wouldn't understand what he was saying. 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:50.000 So Jesus spells it out in our key text we just read, John 4, verse 13. 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:54.559 Jesus said, Everyone who drinks from this water will thirst again. 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:57.440 And that's where it gets real. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:06.639 That's where there's some kind, like something's working in her head because he's not talking about the water from the well, he's talking about her life. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:17.759 And she keeps coming back to this physical well to draw physical water to quench her physical thirst that is necessary. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:19.279 She needs this. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:23.279 And Jesus, he's not he's not concerned with that. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:28.240 He wants to provide something different because he knows this woman. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:33.519 He actually tells her point blank how much he knows her because when he asks her, he says, Hey, go get your husband. 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:35.679 And she's like, I don't have a husband. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:37.200 And he's like, You're right. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:43.120 You've had five husbands, and right now you're living with a man who's not even, you're not even married to. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:48.639 And it wasn't to condemn her, to do all these things, it was it was just to show her who he was. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:49.840 He is God. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:52.879 And he is concerned for her. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:54.480 He met her at a well. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:13:15.840 She wanted a physical need met, but he is providing something different to her because she's been going back to the same well over and over and over, chasing relationship after relationship after relationship, trying to find validation, approval, and all of these different things that will never satisfy her actual thirst. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:17.840 She keeps coming back. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.279 And today, Jesus calls it out. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:27.759 He says, Anyone who drinks from this water will soon become thirsty again. 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:31.600 And that is our story. 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:33.840 That is you and I. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:39.840 We're looking for validation, we're looking for approval, we're looking for relationships that are gonna fill our needs. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:46.000 We're scrolling, we're sighting, we're swiping, we're looking for likes, we're looking for something to fill a void. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:59.919 This woman came today trying to get her physical thirst met, and Jesus is offering her as well as all of us here today, something different, something eternal. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:06.399 What we learn about her is she's trapped, she's trapped in this cycle. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:12.559 And I just want to ask the question are you just like her? 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:15.360 Are you just like the woman at the well? 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:19.120 And some of y'all just got a little tight, like, oh yo, I don't have five wives. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:20.080 Relax. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:21.679 Let's chill. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:27.039 But if we're honest, we're doing the same exact thing as her. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:35.360 We're running to wells, we're running for physical things, things that will never satisfy us. 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:45.279 We will always end up feeling thirsty, and we're grinding, we're working ourselves to exhaustion, hoping that we finally achieve enough. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.720 Hopefully, we finally feel like we matter. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:56.879 You check the nation, you chase the next fling, the next text, the next hookup, the next relationship, and every single time you fall short. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:14:58.320 Every single time. 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:00.080 And we're just like her. 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:06.000 We're drinking from a well that will continuously leave us thirsty. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:10.960 Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:13.600 It's a trap, it's a thirst trap. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:15.759 We are this the trap of the flesh. 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:23.759 You and I, we live in this thing called the flesh, and we need to fight against this thing daily because you and I, we have physical needs and they should be met. 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:27.039 You know, different things we all need just to basic survival. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:37.919 But then what we're trying to do, because we feel this emptiness, we feel lonely, we feel whatever it is that you're feeling today, and we try and shove in all these physical things that will always leave us dry. 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:40.799 It never lasts. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:43.840 Some of y'all know this well. 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:55.679 You may remember, you may just recall some of these statements, like just one more drink, just one more hookup, just one more hour at the office, right? 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:56.639 Like, I'm a performer. 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:58.080 Like, if y'all, like I'm a performer. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:00.080 I I love to be validated when I start performing. 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:01.519 I love to work. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:02.320 It's dangerous. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:06.960 I've seen my dad do it, I've seen him ruin my parents' relationship, I've seen him run away to work. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:13.519 My grandfather, he comes from the generation, like he was out in the morning, 6 a.m., back at the end of the job, like whatever. 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:14.879 Like, we love to work. 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:15.600 I love to work. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:20.480 Some of y'all know what it's like to perform and to think that you're gonna find validation in that. 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:25.919 I'm just here to tell you, you are gonna come up dry every single time. 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:33.919 And Jesus changes everything here, He gives us a different reality. 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:39.039 You don't have to come up thirsty every single time. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.720 There is something that can provide for you. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:47.440 And Jesus changes everything in his next statement, John 4, verse 14. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:52.559 He says, But whoever drinks from this water that I will give them will never thirst again. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:59.360 In fact, the water will that I will give them will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:03.120 Jesus is saying, I have the answer. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:08.319 Everything you're looking for is found in me. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:13.599 And nothing else will ever satisfy those needs. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:15.359 Hear me today. 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.720 It is deeply ingrained in your soul. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.640 You have a longing for a creator. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:24.960 Eleven years ago, I was wrestling with that. 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:26.240 I had no idea what that meant. 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:34.000 And one day I had an encounter with the Holy Spirit, I had an encounter with the person of Jesus, and I knew whatever that was, I needed more than that. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:35.519 I needed that. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:40.160 All of us here today have something on the other side of the camera in Helotus or online. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:46.400 You have something in you to be fully known and to be fully accepted, and you will never find that here on earth. 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:50.079 That is only an eternal promise that you will ever cling on to. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:56.720 That is the only time you're gonna feel that is when God calls us back to Himself, when we're fully known, fully accepted by our Creator. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.119 And until then, we're gonna play the part. 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:07.279 We're gonna be chameleons and no one's gonna actually know who we are, or we're gonna let people know a little bit too much about who we are, and they're gonna think we're weirdos and that we're gonna just feel not accepted. 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.160 Like we're always going to wrestle with this. 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:20.559 And Jesus offers himself as the source, the living water that you and I are looking for in any aspect of life you can think of. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:25.759 And if you're chasing those things, we're missing. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:32.799 And we're gonna continue showing up to dry well after dry well after dry well thirsting. 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:37.279 And that gets me thinking a little bit. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.160 I wrestle with that a little bit. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:51.440 Jesus offers us eternal living water, and he says, those of you who drink of this water, or you could say, believe, believe in the person of who I am. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:57.759 If you believe in me, you put my faith, you put your faith in me, you will never thirst again. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:05.119 That's an eternal promise to that woman that day at the well, and that is to all of us here today, all of us watching online. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:09.200 So here's my question then. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:14.720 Even me as a pastor, why in the world do I feel thirsty? 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:22.559 Why is it sometimes I can come to a service just like this? 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:45.279 I can pray out loud, I can worship, hear a great worship set, led by one of our or one of our amazing worship leaders, and really feel like I'm feeling the spirit, and then get challenged in the word, get inspired and lightened by our pastor, and then Monday hits, Tuesday hits, and I'm feeling thirsty. 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:49.039 And I'm running into thirst trap. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:55.039 I'm running to things that are gonna forever keep me feeling dry. 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:01.359 You're putting your identity in something that's never meant for you to put your identity in. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:05.440 You're giving weight to things that were never meant to be given weight to. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:11.759 Jesus offers us this living water, so why in the world do I feel thirsty? 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:17.359 Because the truth is, some of us believe in Jesus here today. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:19.839 And we're still running to the world's wells. 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:25.359 And there's a prayer in the book of Psalms. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:31.279 This is quoted to David, and um I think it helps us really understand a little bit more. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:35.759 It's something that I've been praying literally with our launch team for like six months. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:38.640 So I hope you guys know this prayer, this prayer. 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:44.240 Or if I've met with you one-on-one over the last couple months, I've been asking people to pray this with me. 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:48.880 And today I'm asking you to take this verse and to pray it with me as well. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:51.599 I think we can really find some truth here. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:54.880 I think we can really hinge on what David is getting at. 00:20:55.119 --> 00:21:00.000 It says in Psalms 139, search me, God, and know my heart. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:02.319 Test me and know my concerns. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:06.799 See if there's any offensive way in me and lead me on the everlasting way. 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:11.359 Search me, oh God, and know my heart. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:14.319 Point out anything in me that offends you. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:15.680 Test me. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:17.680 Lead me, God. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:20.799 Show me the eternal way. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:27.759 Some of us today, if we're honest, we don't know ourselves. 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:35.200 What I want to remind you today is if you think you know yourself, you don't. 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:40.400 Your creator who knit you together in your mother's womb. 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:46.000 Before you were a thought in your parents' eyes, before anything, he created you. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:49.920 He knows exactly how you and I would respond in any kind of thing. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:57.039 He knows our heart, he knows our motives, he knows your shadow personality, he knows the walls you put up, he knows everything about you. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:08.240 And part of why you and I feel Is because we're not asking our creator, the one who created us, who's inviting you today into relationship with him, to search you. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:16.960 To bring about the things inside of you that you can't stand, the things that you don't even understand why you do the things you do. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:24.799 Paul says it in his, he says this like all the there's this idea that, like, why do I keep doing the things I don't want to do, but why do I not do the things I know I want to do? 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:28.319 Like, I know what I gotta do, but I don't do them. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:32.799 And the things that I'm doing, they're actually making me thirstier. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:35.920 Why is it? 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:44.000 You gotta ask yourself, what wells are you running to? 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:47.519 Jesus is offering living water. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:54.160 And our biggest problem that we see in this text with David is that we don't even realize it. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:56.720 We don't know ourselves. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:04.000 We need God to show us, we need the Holy Spirit to show us, and then we need to trust Him to lead us. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:10.720 That means letting some stuff die, trusting Him with it, and then walking in tune with the Spirit. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:20.880 Not running back to the thing that's kept you thirsty for years, but moving out, trusting Him that His way is better, His thoughts are better. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:27.920 This everlasting spring that you have inside of you, the Holy Spirit. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:37.920 And some of us have never asked God to search us, to search our hearts. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:48.480 Some of us we know who God is, we know about God, but we don't know him. 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:55.599 We're not sitting with him, we're not allowing him to search us. 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:06.480 The gospel is not just information, the gospel is an invitation. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:24.720 It's one thing to know the scripture, it's one thing to know about God, to know that there was a beginning, to know that there's a creator who created you, to know that Jesus went to the cross for all of us here today, all of us online. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:28.000 He thought of you on the cross. 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:36.799 It's one thing to know that, and then it's one thing to eternalize that. 00:24:38.799 --> 00:25:02.640 That this invitation from Jesus to this woman at the well, who thought there is no way that this Jewish man would ever even approach me, and what she found that day was living water, the Messiah, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, who stepped into her story, who stepped into her brokenness, acknowledged her physical need, and say, Hey, I have something for you. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:04.720 Living water. 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:09.839 Believe in me, trust me, know me. 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:14.079 Search me, oh God, because I don't know myself. 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:18.559 Point out the things in me, God, that offend you, and I'm sure that's a long list. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:21.839 Things that I don't even know that I'm doing, people that I'm hurting. 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:24.799 I need you, Holy Spirit, to show me this. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:28.799 Without you, I don't see it, I don't know it. 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:44.480 And then sustain me, guide me, lead me into this new life, this transformed life that you are offering to this woman and to every single one of us who are hearing what I say today. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:47.839 Jesus is offering you living water. 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:51.200 And he says that you will never thirst again. 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:56.000 And if you find yourself thirsty, it's because you and I are running to the wrong well. 00:25:56.240 --> 00:26:01.119 You can stand right by a well and still be completely thirsty and never draw from it. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:15.039 And we can come here on the weekend and we can listen to a preacher, we can listen to worship, we can pray, but if we're not drawing from this well Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, God, sustain me, you're gonna feel thirsty. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:20.799 You're gonna feel frustrated, and you're gonna be left wondering why. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:33.359 The gospel is an invitation into a relationship with our personal loving God who created you. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:36.480 And he knows you in ways that you don't know yourself. 00:26:37.119 --> 00:26:41.039 And this prayer is going to draw the Holy Spirit in. 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:44.799 It is a dangerous prayer because you are now asking God to test you. 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:46.799 Like, hey, I've been working on stuff. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:48.799 Let's see if you've really been working. 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:54.079 I'm gonna throw some stuff your way, I'm gonna allow some things to happen to you, and I'm gonna see how you respond. 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:57.680 And you tell me, are you changing? 00:26:57.839 --> 00:26:59.599 Are you leaning on me? 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:02.079 It's a dangerous prayer. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:13.359 And I hope that you would join in with me and that you would search your heart and allow God to really start wrestling you both alongside each other and allow the work of the Holy Spirit to work in and transform your life. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:19.039 Many of us here today have been saved, and hear me, we've been saved. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:22.880 You will forever be in the hands of the Father. 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:24.400 Nothing can remove that from you. 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:27.680 Your acknowledgement of who Jesus is is what saves you. 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:35.839 But some of us here today, if we're honest, we've been following Jesus maybe a short time, maybe a long time, we have been saved but never transformed. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:48.160 We've never allowed God to work with the things, the reason, maybe you were at the lowest point in your life and you met him, maybe in one of these seats, or like me, you met him in a parking lot and you were at the end of your rope. 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:52.240 But if I stayed there, I wouldn't be here today. 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:56.880 I would know about him, but I wouldn't know him. 00:27:57.759 --> 00:27:59.039 And I'd be thirsty. 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:02.559 And don't get me wrong, I'm I still find myself thirsty. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:04.559 But when I'm thirsty, it's an alarm sound. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:06.799 Hey, dude, you're prioritizing the wrong thing. 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:09.359 You're running to your past, you're running to the things that don't last. 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:17.039 You need to go to the well, you need to go pull from this everlasting water that is within you, and you need to fixate your eyes on that. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:18.640 Search me, oh God. 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:27.759 It's an invitation, not just about hearing about living water, but actually drinking from it and believing that Jesus is offering it to you today. 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:30.160 That's all I have for you today. 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:38.160 It's an invitation, the same invitation that was given to me, that's given to you, given to you in Holotus or anyone watching online. 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:48.400 This is an invitation to know God, to draw from the one eternal living water, the thing that will never, you will never feel you're quenched, your thirst. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:52.400 And if you don't actually partake in it, you will forever feel dry. 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:56.240 You will continue to fall the trap of this world. 00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:59.519 You'll be running to the wells of this world. 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:02.079 And I've seen it too many times. 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:08.720 People who are running hard, people who join startup on a surf team, want to lead a life team. 00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:15.200 Then a couple weeks go by, things get a little hard, and they push back, they push out. 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:17.680 People who run in hard, it's on fire for the gospel. 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:22.480 They had a radical experience with Jesus, and then a year later, it's like, yo, what happened to so-and-so? 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:24.480 Where did they go? 00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:31.359 They knew about Jesus, but they never let him transform him. 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:34.960 That to me is scary. 00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:43.200 And I'm thankful that one day all of us who put our faith in Jesus are one day gonna be perfected. 00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:49.519 New creation, new heaven, new earth, and everything will be perfect, and this will fully be sought out. 00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:57.119 Everything, every desire you've ever had, no more, uh, no more uh tears, everything is just gonna be peace, joy, fully known, fully accepted. 00:29:57.279 --> 00:30:04.400 But there are some people who are gonna go through life here on earth caught up in wrath, caught up in things that God never willed for their life. 00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:10.319 We live in a cause and effect world, and God allows things to happen because he's calling you, he's pushing you. 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:11.759 Hey, this is not working. 00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:13.920 How many times are you gonna go to this well? 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:15.119 Draw from me. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:17.680 It's an invitation, come to me. 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:21.519 That was me. 00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:24.480 Some of y'all know I used lived in South Florida. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:26.000 Reverend Marlon's here. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:37.759 And uh, my first job in ministry, I got like early on, probably too early on, put in a high level of leadership in a role that I really didn't understand. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:39.920 And I told you before, I'm a performer. 00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:41.279 Your boy's gonna get it done. 00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:42.960 I'm gonna figure it out. 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:48.400 I don't know if that's me seeking approval, seeking validation, and that's my dry well. 00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:51.440 I'm seeking this, I'm dry, it's gonna stay dry, and guess what? 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:53.200 That well dried up. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:59.440 There's a quote I heard over and over and over in my last job. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.960 And Pastor Troy, he would quote this all the time, and I'm gonna quote it to you, you might not even know what it means. 00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:11.759 It says, You can use people to build a great ministry, or you can use ministry to build great people. 00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:13.599 I didn't know what that meant for like three years. 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:15.839 I'm not expecting you to catch on so quick. 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:24.480 And it took God removing the grace of where I was at, putting me in a position where I'm staring at this LED like text of this quote. 00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:26.079 My pastor's been telling me for years. 00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:28.640 I was on my way out, I had quit my job in ministry. 00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:30.160 I said I'm no longer gonna work in this. 00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:35.440 There's no way when I met our pastor, Pastor Clayton, when he took me out to dinner, I was like, bro, I'm not working at a church, don't worry about that. 00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:38.000 Like, like I was done, done. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:51.920 And then I realized even things that seem spiritual, showing up to a service, serving, praying, sitting around a life team, talking about godly things. 00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:53.839 What's the motive? 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:55.920 What's the heart behind it? 00:31:56.880 --> 00:31:59.920 Because what I was doing, I was performing. 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:04.480 I was putting on events, mission Saturdays, getting people, rallying up people. 00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:08.480 I was doing all of these things, and none of it was actually quenching my thirst. 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:12.799 And what I was doing was I was using people to build a great ministry. 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:19.200 I was using the people that God had actually entrusted me with in order to build about some kind of kingdom here on earth. 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:23.519 I want to fill a room, I want to grow our campus, whatever that was. 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:27.599 And I hit a wall. 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:35.200 And the same people who hired me, I was at the other side of a table one month, and they sat me down and said, Hey man, that fire that used to be in you when we hired you, we don't see that fire anymore. 00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:36.160 And I'm like, really? 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:39.839 Because I'm stressed, I'm burnt out. 00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:42.559 I had some things I wanted to say. 00:32:44.160 --> 00:32:46.000 I was running to the wrong well. 00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:55.119 And what I realized, and God redeemed that, and I find that here today, is you can use ministry in order to build about people. 00:32:55.519 --> 00:33:04.960 The point of everything we do here on the weekend, the point of life teams, it's all like we're getting all these different things we're using is in order to build God's kingdom, in order to build up God's people. 00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:09.440 What's the point of putting on something and people just showing up if transformation is not happening? 00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:16.880 And that is the thing, that is the lasting living water, seeing people's lives redeemed and restored, that is the thing. 00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:22.079 But even things that look spiritual, there's a trap. 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:25.200 And I share that with you just for you to understand. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:28.000 We are in a broken world. 00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:31.440 There are traps all around us. 00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:36.640 So, how does that that leads us to like our first initial question? 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:38.720 How do people last? 00:33:42.960 --> 00:33:44.720