Do You Want To - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. Good morning, good morning.

Turn somebody, tell them you almost made it to

2026. You're getting close. Give them a high

five, shake their hand, do something crazy, hug

their neck. Come on, we're almost there, right?

2025 is almost behind us. 2026 is on the way.

It is good to have you here this morning and

worshiping and praying. I love all the community

that takes place here at Lifehouse. In here,

in the square, outside the church, we hear about

it all the time, people getting together, connecting,

and really following Jesus together. We think

that is incredibly important. But this morning,

on this last Sunday of 2025, can you believe

it, right? Anybody else, this year flew? Yeah?

Some of you are like, I can't wait until this

year is being over. Come on, raise your hand

if that's you. You're like... Thank God it's

over. It's done. All right. But we're heading

this morning on this last Sunday of 2025. We're

heading to John chapter 5. So you can begin to

John 5 · chapter mention

turn there. And as you're turning this morning,

I'm going to just take a few minutes to do a

little bit of a rewind of chapter 4. I preached

on this last week or the week before on chapter

4. I want to do a little rewind on all that that

I preached. And sometimes when we do that. It's

good to get the back story to understand the

story that you're about to tell. How many know

there's always a story behind a story, right?

There's always a story. Hearing a story before

the story sometimes helps you understand the

bigger picture of what's going on. Over the holidays

here, over Christmas, our grandchildren have

been with us. We have five wonderful grandchildren.

They're all under the age of 10. And when they

get playing, we've got an area downstairs where

they go play. They get playing down there. They

just get lost in playing. But sooner or later,

it happens. One of them comes upstairs. It's

usually one of them that think they're the policeman

of the whole bunch, right? And they come up,

and they've got to tell the story. And they're

like, you know, they're just sitting there. They're

just all sitting there crying. They're like,

they're all being mean to me, right? Now, how

many of you know there's more to the story? Come

on, right? They're all being mean to me. So you

go down and you start to investigate. You talk

to the other four grandchildren. They're like,

well, yeah, they're being mean to them. We're

being mean to them because they hit us with a

hockey stick, right? You know, something along

those lines. You know, there's always a story

behind the story. And it's good sometimes to

catch up or to get a recap on what happened in

the chapter before to help you unfold what's

going to happen in the chapter that you're getting

in. So we're going to do a little recap. So in

John chapter 4, Jesus is traveling north. Judea

John 4 · chapter mention

through Samaria to Galilee. Let me say that again.

He's in Judea. All right, think of it as an Oreo

cookie. All right, we're just coming out of the

holidays. Jesus is on the bottom layer of the

cookie, right? He's in the south. He's traveling

from Judea. He's going to go through Samaria.

That's the double stuff, all right? That's the

white part. He's going to go through Samaria,

and then he's going to head up to Galilee, and

he's traveling to the northern part of Israel.

While he's traveling north, Jesus makes his stop

in Samaria. Him and his disciples, his followers,

they're following along. They stop at a well,

the well of Jacob. And while they're there, they're

going to get a drink. They're going to take a

break. And Jesus sends his boys, right, the disciples,

to town to get some food. While he's there, he

has a talk with a woman who comes to the well.

A Samaritan woman comes to the well. And Jesus

begins to talk to her. And he says, you know,

I've got water that if you drink of this water,

you will never ever thirst again. And she's like,

I want to know about that kind of water because

I'm tired of carrying water. And he begins and

he continues on. And he starts to tell her everything

that she has ever done. That's what the Word

of God says. That's what Jesus says. He begins

to unfold prophetically. Jesus tells her everything

that she's ever done. And she is so convinced

that he's not only a prophet, but that he's actually

the Jewish Messiah that is talked about, that

she sets down her pot, she runs back to the city,

and she begins to tell the men of the city, hey,

I met a man who's told me everything I've ever

done. And she is so convincing in what she's

speaking to these men that they... They virtually

leave the city and come out and they meet Jesus

at that same well. And they begin to try to find

out for themselves. And they become convinced

that he is something more than a prophet. And

they invite him to stay for two more days. They

believe that he's the Messiah. They believe that

he's the Christ. They believe that he's God's

son. And the Word of God says that as he speaks

to the Samaritans, that many come to believe

on Jesus. Now, you've got to understand something.

The Samaritans are not friends with the Jews.

As a matter of fact, Jews don't talk to Samaritans.

Samaritans don't talk to Jews. And Jesus and

his disciples are there. Now, I believe this

personally. I believe that Jesus was beginning

to teach his disciples something. He had very

Jewish disciples, okay? They were all Jewish.

And he began to teach them that we're going to

go outside the circle of our Jewish community

and we're going to begin to share the gospel

with everybody. Jesus leaves that area of Samaria,

right? That's in the middle. He leaves that area

of Samaria, and he comes into the area of Galilee.

And this is the area where he previously did

his first miracle, where he turned water into

wine. And as he enters there, a man from Capernaum

comes up. He's actually a nobleman from Capernaum,

and his son's about to die. He wants Jesus to

come. He wants him to heal him. And Jesus says,

just go ahead and go on your way. Your son's

going to be fine. He lives. He didn't even need

to go. He speaks this, and the boy is healed

that very hour. This is the second miracle that

takes place in this area of Galilee. Jesus leaves

this location and begins to head towards Jerusalem,

where we pick up today. And you might say, well,

why did you give us all that, right? All these

accounts that we read in chapter 4. Well, because

all these things begin to help us understand

that Jesus has very strategic objectives while

he's taking his disciples and he's training them.

First is to preach the kingdom of God to everybody,

everywhere. He's bringing the kingdom. He's talking

about salvation is near. It has come near you,

which is him himself, right? Salvation is there

before you. Jesus is Messiah. And secondly, he's

training his disciples. the minister and spread

the gospel because he's not always going to be

with them. He wants them to see what he's doing.

He wants them to hear the truth. He wants them

to hear the mysteries. He wants them to live

the life that he's living and minister the same

way so that when he's gone, they carry the torch

so that they can adequately minister to others.

So in John chapter 5, it gives us one more opportunity

John 5 · chapter mention

to look at a truth that Jesus is going to bring

out. Something that he's going to teach the disciples

that we need to hear as well. Amen? So, listen,

I gave you like a half an hour to get to John

John 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5. Are you there? All right, great. John

John 5:1

chapter 5 verse 1 says this. After this, there

was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to

Jerusalem. Now there was in Jerusalem by the

sheep gate a pool, which is called in the Hebrew

Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a

great multitude of sick people, blind, lame,

paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.

For an angel went down at certain times into

the pool and stirred up the water. And whoever

stepped in first after the stirring of the water

was made well, whatever disease they had. Now,

if you read up on this a little, some speculate

that this was a Jewish legend. That took place.

But I'm going to take it in God's word. It doesn't

say it was a legend. As a matter of fact, there

were people all around this pool. There's five

porches around this pool. This was a big pool

area. And there were people all over waiting

for the water to stir it. The word of God says

what the word of God says, right? For it says

an angel went down at a certain time into the

pool and stirred up the water. And whoever stepped

in, it was like first come, first serve. Whoever

stepped in first after stirring the water was

made well of whatever disease. So there were

people, sick people laying all around this pool

just waiting for the water to stir so they could

get in. Verse 5 says this, now a certain man

was there who had an infirmity 38 years. How

many of us have a long time to be sick? I'm lying

to you after 38 minutes. Truth, right? Dixie

will confirm she's a Bernard, right? 38 years.

And when Jesus saw him lying there and knew that

he had already been in that condition a long

time, he said to him, do you want to? Say, do

you want to? Do you want to? Turn to somebody

beside you and say, do you want to? That's a

pretty open -ended statement, right? Do you want

to be made well? That's what he says to him.

And the sick man answered. He said, sir, I have

no one to put me into the pool when the water

is stirred up. But while I'm coming, another

steps down before me. Jesus said to him, rise,

take your bed, and walk. And immediately the

man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore

said to him, who was cured? It's the Sabbath.

It's not lawful for anyone to carry your bed.

He answered them, who made me well said this

to me, take up your bed and walk. And they said

to him, who is the man who said to you, take

up your bed and walk? But the one who was healed

did not know who it was. For Jesus had withdrawn

a multitude being in that place. Afterward, Jesus

found them in the temple and said to him, See,

you have been made well. Sin no more, lest the

worst thing come upon you. The man departed and

told the Jews that it was Jesus who made him

well. Jesus comes into Jerusalem during a time

of a Jewish feast. It's busy. There are people

around. There's a festival going on. People are

everywhere, and Jesus heads right to the pool

called Bethesda, near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem.

And when Jesus arrives, the pool is surrounded,

just like I said a little earlier, with diseased

people, people that are lame, people that are

paralyzed, people that are struggling with something,

you know, some kind of infirmity. And Jesus doesn't

begin to preach a sermon there. I'm thinking

he's walking into this place where there's a

captive audience of people, maybe hundreds around

that are sick and need healing, and Jesus healed

all the time everywhere he went. You know, I'm

thinking in my head, why didn't Jesus come in

here and begin to preach the sermon? He's already

got an audience there. They're already gathered,

right? But he doesn't. He walks right past everybody,

goes right to a guy who's had an infirmity for

38 years. Do you ever read the Bible and go,

hmm? Come on, do it with me. Go, hmm? Hmm? Yeah.

I'm like, hmm? Like, why didn't Jesus? Because

there's other places where Jesus preaches and

teaches, and he heals everybody. And I'm thinking,

this is a perfect opportunity. They're all in

one place, right? They're gathered. Why did he

do this? he goes right by everybody else to a

man who was sick and diseased for 38 years, right?

And this guy is so diseased, he's to the point

he can't even get to the water fast enough when

the water does stir. He's desperate for some

help when the water stirs. A guy who's been to

every doctor probably spent all his money trying

to get well. Years, not days, not weeks, not

months, years waiting, believing, hoping. That

he's going to get healed somehow. Years waiting

to feel whole and to feel complete and free of

disease. Years. And all of a sudden, on a random

day, a man who he does not know walks up to him

and asks him just one question. Jesus comes up

and says, do you want to be made well? One question.

Jesus doesn't come up and introduce himself.

He doesn't come up and say, hey, I'm Jesus, right?

I'm the Messiah. He doesn't come up and ask this

man all about his problem. He doesn't try to

get a long history of when this all started and

how did it progress and how did you get to this

point, right? Jesus walks up to a guy that does

not know him at all and says, do you want to

be made well? And at first read, when you're

looking at this passage, that seems like a little

bit of a ridiculous question to ask in this place,

right? In this place. Of course the guy wants

to be made well. That's why everybody's there.

That's why they're all sitting around the pool,

right? How many of you wasn't hanging out there

at the pool to get a tan? Right? He wasn't working

on the bronze tan. He wasn't there relaxing the

cool of the day, you know, and sipping on a lemonade

and just hopping in the pool and getting out

when he gets a little overheated. That's not

why he was there. This pool was the equivalent

to hanging out at the ER at your local hospital.

All right? How many of you have ever gone to

the ER, and when you get in there, everybody's

sick, and you look around, and you're thinking,

they're a lot sicker than I am. Maybe I'm just

going to leave, right? I don't know if I came

in here sick, but I'm probably going to leave

here sick. I'll take my chances with whatever

I brought with me coming into this place. That's

what this was. There were people everywhere.

So why does Jesus walk up, pass everybody up,

and ask one question, why do you want to be healed,

to one guy? I think he was teaching his disciples

something. I really do. I believe the first step

of healing in any area of our life begins with

the want to. Any area of your life that needs

wholeness, wellness, health, healing of some

kind, it all begins with the want to. The journey

of healing cannot even begin in our lives without

the want to factor. Do you want to be made well?

By me, Jesus. We need to have the want -to factor.

If we want Jesus to do something in our lives,

we have to want him to do it. We've got to have

that desire. We cannot get to a place of wholeness

and health in Jesus without a want -to factor

in our lives. Turn to somebody beside you and

shake them because they might want to sleep.

Tell them, do you want to? Come on. Do you want

to? You've got to have the want -to. If you want

to be made well. Do you want to be healed of

whatever's plaguing your body? Causing pain,

discomfort, frustration, right? Do you want to

be healed of what's plaguing your mind? That's

circling. How many of you circle in your mind?

When those thoughts begin to intrude, they just

keep coming back, right? You want to be healed

by it? You want to be healed by what's crushing

your soul, your spirit? Do you really want to

be healed? It's a want -to factor. I know it

sounds like a given, right? It sounds like a

senseless question to ask. And I know we might

all have asked, absolutely I want Jesus to heal

whatever I got going on, right? I want to be

whole in whatever is not so whole right now in

my life. Of course I want that. Of course. But

it's not as obvious as it sounds. Because yes

to the question with Jesus, do I want to be made

well? With Jesus entails more than just a wish

to be healed. Yes to Jesus, the question, right,

do I want to be made well by Jesus, includes

am I willing to do what Jesus says next to be

healed. When we're talking about Jesus in his

statement, yes to Jesus' question of do you want

to be made well includes a willingness to do

what Jesus says to do next. We all like the no

strings attached approach to give me whatever

I want or whatever I need in the moment. Amen?

Am I the only one? Come on, let's just be truthful.

We all want the Christmas present every single

day of our lives. Wouldn't that be amazing? You

got up and there's a present for you on the table

every single day, right? Not once a year you

didn't do anything to deserve it. You didn't

do anything. It's just right there. It's why

millions of people play the lottery to win the

1 point, what was it, 1 .6, 1 .8, 1 point something

billion dollars, right? It's because they want

what they want when they want it with no strings

attached. Jesus gave me, Jesus, you know, I just

want this. Just give it to me. Just give it to

me, please, right? Or stomp, stomp, stomp, kind

of like my grandchildren do sometimes, right?

Just give it to me. They throw, how many of you

know what a pitch and a fit is? Anybody know

what I'm talking about, right? We call it an

ever -living fit. I don't know what that means,

but somehow that's higher in the ranks, all right?

You can pitch a fit, but if you pitch an ever

-living fit, that's a whole different level,

right? Give me what I want, the snack, the candy,

the toy, whatever it is. I'm going to pitch an

ever -living fit. Jesus was teaching his disciples

something. This is how it works in the kingdom

of God, right? Understand something. It is Christ

who provides the power. It is Jesus Christ who

supplies the resources. He has the answer. His

hand is not short in supplying anything that

you need. Any healing that you need, he's available

and can do it. He has all the resources at his

disposal. He can speak the world into existence.

He can fix anything that you've got going on.

He's just looking for somebody who wants to be

made well, who's going to say yes, and they're

willing to do what's next. Jesus asked this man,

do you want to be made well? And when he was

convinced that this man actually wanted to be

made well, Jesus commands this man to do one

thing. Jesus said to him in verse 8, rise, take

up your bed, and walk. And the word of God says

it immediately. The man was made well, took up

his bed, and walked. When Jesus asks me if I

want to be made well, I have to ask myself the

question, am I willing to do what Jesus is going

to say next? He's got the power. He's got the

presence. He can do it in a word, but am I willing

to do what he's calling me to do next? What if,

what if that man would have said, I just don't

want to get up, Jesus. I don't want to do it.

I've been here this long. I'm not picking up

my mat. That's illegal to do on the Sabbath day.

That's why it mentions it in there, right? You

weren't allowed to pick up your mat on the Sabbath

day. I can't do it, Jesus. What if he never attempted

to move? I've been in this condition so long,

Jesus. I don't even know who you are because

he didn't even know his name, right? You know,

you're just some guy that walks through the middle

of the crowd. You got some other guys following

you. You know, you're this joker who come up

to me and ask this question of me. This one question,

who are you anyway? Why don't you just go away

and let me alone in my misery? He could have

done all those things. But Jesus asked one question,

do you want to be made well? This guy doesn't

know, it's Jesus. He doesn't know he's talking

to the Son of God. And Jesus says, rise up. I

think the moment, I don't know this for certain.

I'll tell you when something's my opinion and

when it isn't. But when he said, when Jesus saw

that he wanted to be made well, I think the moment

that man tried to move, the moment that man began

to listen to the command of Christ to rise, take

up your bed, healing his body. And he stood up

and he grabbed his mat. This man met Jesus. Look

at it. Jesus, look at him in the eye. Look at

him in the eye of a stranger. Truly. And had

enough faith into the man who was talking to

him to follow his command. Rise, take up your

bed, and walk. And he did what he hadn't done

in years. He walked out different. I believe

Jesus was teaching his disciples. I think he

was showing them because he could have preached.

He could have healed everybody in that place.

He had the power to do it. He had the power to

do it. If we want to be made well in any area

of our lives, we've got to be willing to do what

God says to do next. You see, yes to Him, to

Christ, and being made well means I've got to

be willing to do what's next. His next command,

His next instruction, the next thing that God

says in the Word of God as you're reading it.

Amen? It's true. I can't tell you how many people

that have asked me to pray over them as a pastor.

And I knew in my heart, they wanted to be made

well in an area, but I knew in my heart they

weren't willing to do what God was going to say

to do next. I knew it, right? Sometimes I just

wanted to stop and say, let's not waste our time.

Your time, my time, anybody's time, right? They're

not willing to walk away from the toxic relationship

that they're in. They're unequally yoked. Man,

I used to run into this all the time when I was

a youth pastor. That was 100 years ago, I know,

but it's still the same principle, right? You

know, when I was a youth pastor, they're unequally

yoked. They're dating somebody that's not a believer.

And I'm like, you know, hey, the Word of God

is clearness. And the next step is just to follow

what Jesus said. They don't want to do it. And

they want to be whole and healthy and well in

their relationship, but they're not willing to

follow what God says. They won't follow his command.

They won't follow his word. They won't follow

the prompting of the Holy Spirit that's tugging

on their heart, telling them to do this or do

that, right? They won't forgive somebody, right?

And they won't. They won't. They won't forgive

someone or they don't want to offer forgiveness

of any kind. They just want what they want. Stomp,

stomp, stomp. And you've got to be willing to

do what Jesus says next. We're about to launch

into reading God's Word over the course of this

next year. Do you know why some people don't

read the Word of God? They don't want to know

what God's Word has to say because it's going

to tell you what to do next a lot of times. They

don't want to read it. Ignorance is bliss. They're

just looking for the quick fix. A lot of people

chase the presence of God and ignore the Word

of God. They'll chase the presence of God, but

they'll ignore the Word of God. You can't do

it. Sometimes I think, you know, and again, this

is my opinion. I'm only going to throw two opinions

in today, and you can take this. This doesn't

cost you anything, and you can just chuck it

if you want to, right? But sometimes I think

when somebody comes to God like that, if God

made him well in the middle of their disobedience

to him, wouldn't he actually be kind of enabling

bad behavior? We've got to be willing. We've

got to be willing to do what God says next. Jesus

was teaching his disciples. I'm going to ask

the worship team to come. He was teaching them.

If we want to be made well, we've got to be ready

to do what God tells us to do next. Let me give

you a biblical example of what I'm talking about,

and then we're going to get ready to take communion.

If I want to be made well spiritually in my life,

if I'm in need of spiritual healing because,

well, I'm not well, I'm sin sick. Because that's

what sin does. Sin separates you from God. Sin

makes you sick. And the first question that Jesus

is going to pose to my sin -sick heart, right,

if you're caught in sin and you're away from

God, he's going to ask you, do you want to be

made well? Because he's the only way to get well,

right? We cannot be saved from sin if we don't

believe that sin's killing us in the first place.

That sin brings death into our lives. That sin

separated me from God. So the first question

we ask, or the spirit of God or God, Jesus himself

asks, do you want to be made well spiritually?

And hopefully the answer is yes. I know I'm sin

sick, Lord. I know I'm far from you. I want to

be made well. I want to be that. But what does

the word of God say happens next? Well, you can

go to Romans 10, 9 and 10. It says this, that

if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus

and believe in your heart that God raised him

from the dead, you will be saved for with the

heart one believes unto righteousness and with

the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

So step one is, I let Jesus know that I'm willing

to be made well spiritually, right? That I believe

in him, and I believe that he's the way to salvation,

the way to health, and that he shed his blood

for my sins, and he paid the price I can't pay,

right? I believe all that. But step two, we overlook

a lot of times. Oh, step two is that we confess

Jesus as Lord. That's a whole other ballgame.

The first one is all the power of God in your

life to wash you clean of sin. The second one

is that I'm going to make him Lord and I confess

him as Lord. Do you know what it is if somebody's

Lord in your life? That means they're number

one. That means that you're going to listen to

what they have to say. You're going to follow

what... The way that he tells you to live. Lord

means that he is a number one in our lives. And

if we're going to, we got to believe, right?

We love that part because that's all him washing

us clean. But then you got to confess him as

Lord. He's Lord if you stand. Water baptism.

One of our favorite times that we have water

baptism. It's about a public confession, right?

As Jesus as Savior and Lord. This is the way

I'm made spiritually whole and well. We love

the unconditional part of God's love. We really

do. But a lot of times we miss the conditions.

God's love is unconditional. His blessing and

favor is always conditional. Read your Bible.

It'll tell you. Always. Can't get away from the

love of God. You can go to the depths of hell.

You cannot get away from the love of God. And

his desire for you. But his blessing and his

favor and what he's going to do in your life,

it is conditional. Your miracle, your healing,

your wholeness could be just on the other side

of your obedience to what God says next. And

you're like, really good. Communion is about

remembering the price that Jesus paid. that first

part that I talked about that you cannot do on

your own. That first part of Jesus died for your

sin. He paid the price that you could not pay

for sin because it was death. That's what communion

is all about. But as we take communion today,

I want us to ask ourselves the question, am I

willing to do what's next? Am I willing to do

what's next? So I'm asking you to bow your heads.

I want you to take a moment. The Word of God

says we should always take community in an orderly

manner. And I want you to ask yourself the question,

if you're in the house this morning, and you

got sin in your life, and you're separated from

God, this is the moment in time when you, Jesus

made it so easy, this part of it. He paid the

price for all of it. It's paid in full, actually.

All you have to do is receive it. It's the gift

of God. And if you want to be reconciled to God,

if you want to be in relationship with God, that's

you in the house this morning. You've never done

that. Just raise your hand up, put it back down.

I'm going to lead you in a prayer. That's all

I'm going to do. Get in the house. All right.

For all the rest of you, I want you to hear.

I don't know whether you need wholeness and healing

in your life. I don't know if it's in your mind.

I don't know if it's in your soul. You've been

injured. Man, your mind, will, and emotions are

a mess. I don't know if it's a physical need.

So many other things. Financially, ask yourself

the question. Am I going to say yes to the one

dude? Do I want him to heal me? Do I want him

to make me whole? And am I willing to do what

he tells me to do next? Serious question. Father,

I come to you today. I thank you for each one

in the house. Lord, I believe. God, when you

walked, Jesus, when you walked past all those

other sick folk, and Lord, you went to this man

who was willing. God, to the man at the pool

of Bethesda who you asked the question, do you

want to be made well? And he said, yes, he do.

He actually didn't even say it. You saw it in

him. And the next thing you did is you commanded

him to stand, rise up, and take his mat. And

he did. And Lord, you healed him. God, we come

with hearts ready. Lord, for the next thing you

speak to us. Lord, we know that you have the

power to supply the healing. We know that you

have the power to supply the wholeness in our

life. But am I willing to do what's next? Lord,

I ask for each person in this house, as we get

ready to launch into 2026, to answer that question,

I will do whatever you tell me to do next, Jesus.

Whether it's in your word, whether the Holy Spirit

reveals it to me, however you choose to show

me. In Jesus' name, amen. I can't think of a

better way to go into 2026 than hearing the word

of God. Right? Whether it's through the written

word or the revelation of God through the Holy

Spirit in your life, I can't think of a better

way to launch into 2026. Because whatever you

need to be holding is just on the other side

of what God's calling you to do next. Amen? to

this message from Lifehouse Church. We pray that

you were impacted powerfully by this message.

If you have been personally affected by our ministry

and you would like to partner with us as we love

God, love people every day, visit our website

at