Sunday Message (1st service) - Pastor Brad Neuschwander (August 23, 2026) | Life Bible Church

Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We

want to thank you for joining us today, and we

hope you find today's sermon impacting as you

listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk.

To find service times and watch messages online,

see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now,

enjoy this week's message. Would you open your

Bibles to John chapter 4? We're going to pick

John 4 · chapter mention

up. Where we left off last week, if we can. Hallelujah.

Beautiful. Father, in Jesus' name, Lord, we have

come to you today. And Lord, let it, as Paul

said, let our prayers be, Lord, without ceasing.

Lord, it's never tiresome to bring things to

you. We need your covering. We need your blessing.

We need your favor. We need your counsel. And

Lord, this morning we ask you to come as the

one who is the shepherd of our soul. The one

who the scripture says in Ephesians chapter one

that you have been given as the head over the

church. You are the great husband, so to speak,

of our faith. And we're asking you now to wash

us with the water of the word. Lord, we present

ourselves as your church, your church who's been

born again by your sacrifice, your blood paid,

Jesus Christ, for us to receive salvation. And

now we come to the place, Lord, of allowing your

word to minister to us deeply. Lord, some of

the most simplest of verses can bring some of

the greatest revelations. Lord, I'm asking to

remove the stops and remove the barriers that

keep us from seeing the fullness of what you

have. And this morning, as you are the great

feeder of your sheep, Lord, not only feed us,

but wash us. As you did with the disciples, wash

our feet, wash our path, wash our understanding.

Cleanse us for the word that you've spoken to

us and the scriptures. We've accepted Christ

Jesus. Those who know you have accepted you.

And Lord, your word has made us clean. Now wash

us and feed us of the bread of life. In Jesus

Christ's holy name, amen. All right, you're turning

to John chapter four. Thank you, Jennifer, so

much. Praise the Lord. John four. We've been

talking about Jesus dealing with the woman at

the well. We're on our slow. Remember, Jesus

walked everywhere he went. So there was no motorized

sermons in the scriptures. So we are walking

our way slowly through the scriptures from Passover

to Pentecost and that understanding of as Jesus

is speaking in his three and a half years of

ministry as he begins to lay down some of the

and build foundation stones of truth as he introduces

the truth of the Father as he is that, but also

the truth of the Holy Spirit. And it's important

that as we see this in John 4, that we recognize

what Jesus was actually saying to the Samaritan

woman, because it applies to every single one

of us. John 4 .10 is kind of the key verse that

we've been kind of... anchored off of last week

we'll review that and just remind ourselves okay

what are we talking about here John 4 10 says

this Jesus answered the woman at the well he

said if you knew the gift of God and who it was

that says to you give me a drink you would have

asked of him and he would have given you living

water if you knew If you knew who it was that

was around you, that was in front of you, that

was constantly asking, I would just say it to

you personally, for those that are here in this

room, everyone that was in the sound of my voice,

those online, if you knew who was speaking to

you, if you knew, because God is always speaking.

He's always declaring. In fact, as the scripture

says in Psalms, day after day, it pours forth

speech. Night after night, it declares his splendor.

God is always revealing himself. He's always

speaking. In fact, as the Bible says, the thoughts

of God are thousands daily toward you. He's always

speaking. The problem is we got to do the little

tune into the frequency. I know for those that

are under 30, there's a thing called a radio.

And that radio, if you happen to go to your grandparents

or maybe your great -grandparents, there was

a little big box and it had a big old tuner on

the side and a needle between the stations. And

you had to, not digitally, this was before the

age of digital. I know, back to the Stone Age

of the 60s and 70s. You had to actually, in 30s,

40s, 50s, you had to tune that radio in to get

a signal. Folks, God works on digital, of course.

But the spiritual atmosphere of how you are made

actually speaks to you dialing in, not just having

a preset and expecting God to do it all. God

is always releasing on his word and by his spirit,

his truth. But he is looking for you and I to

have personal responsibility. Why? Because things

in our life move us off the dial. And for those

of us that are somewhat old timers, let's say

50 and above, we recognize that you can have

a radio back in the day set on that perfect place

and just This atmosphere alone makes you redial

and retune it in. Just like an instrument of

guitar. If that guitar was not tuned each time

we played, you wouldn't want to be in this building.

Because I don't know about you, but kind of how

I was raised. We raised in a conservative setting

in the Mennonite church, and the church I went

to didn't even have instruments. We all kind

of just... heard the tune from the pitch pipe

and four -part harmony man when somebody was

flat or sharp it was like knuckles across the

cheese grater for me the little the thing that

you know nothing worse in my mind literally that's

why you'll see me from time to time talk to the

sound booth going they're flat turn them down

or the guitars off Tell them they need to turn.

I can hear it when the tune goes out. I don't

like that about myself, but man, it messes with

me. It's kind of like. The same thing is true

just by living this life. You can find yourself,

even though you're dialed into the right station,

you can find yourself with a very weak signal

or even. Almost missing it completely. And it

takes what? It takes time in his presence to

tune yourself back in. It's not that God moved.

It's that we're flawed. Come on, we're flawed.

And we need to always come back to recentering

and to the tuning fork of heaven. And so Jesus

is saying, if you knew, if you understood that

God was speaking, and here's what was happening

with this Samaritan woman and what happens with

us. Many times we get involved in things in life.

And for certainly for this woman, Jesus. Nothing

was haphazard. I can't imagine knowing who God

is and how he framed everything in the scripture.

Even times where he said, when the disciples

came to say, God, or the Pharisees, who sinned,

this man or his parents? He goes, neither. It

was that the works of God would be done. This

Samaritan woman was picked on purpose. God always

directed his son by what? Jesus being completely

in tune and bringing him to the well at that

time, at that point, at that day, because that

was his divine appointment. And it was to remind

you and I that God sees and knows everything.

It was also in Jesus dealing with the Samaritan

woman saying, you can get caught up in so many

things. a faulty understanding, and a spirit

of religion that you think you're okay even when

you can't even see or hear the one who's trying

to talk to you in the moment. Wow. Jesus was

revealing himself to this woman and to all of

us as what? The gift of God. And Jesus, by doing,

saying, if you really knew who it was, that the

gift of God, the gift that God, because he was

quoting John. Remember, we're in the gospel of

John. This is key language. For God so loved

the world that he gave his only son. Jesus is

the gift to bring reconciliation, to close the

gap between the father and the world. If you

knew the gift of God, he was saying it not only

as salvation, but he was saying it as relational.

Second thing Jesus was, or third thing Jesus

was doing is he was revealing that the father

in his nature is a gift giver. And we looked

at that last week. God himself loves giving himself.

If you're a gift giver, you understand this.

You are giving part of yourself in that gift.

And the father, Jesus was explaining, if you

knew the gift of God and who it was that was

saying to you, give me a drink, you would have

asked him and he would have given you living

water. That's really kind of perplexing that

Jesus would put it that way. But he was saying,

listen, I'm asking you something. Because what

you're giving me is small compared to the gift

that God wants to actually give you. I'm trying

to get you. Notice he was trying to get the woman

to cross over her reservations to receive a gift

that was beyond her wildest imaginations. So

many times. We limit the gift of God and we limit

God as the gift giver because we have mindsets

that stop us from actually crossing over and

receiving. I don't mean that in a weird way.

I mean actually receiving God's perspective,

his love, and the gifts that he has for us. This

leads us to the next point. We can put it on

the screen. The gift of God wants to be known.

Not only is God a gift giver, if we have to begin

to put in our mind that is who God the Father

is. He is a gift giver. Now people have taken

this and moved it to an extreme. They've moved

it to an extreme, let's just say prosperity type

gospel. It does not remove the fact that God

does not He does desire to prosper you, but that

is not the only thing that God wants to do. And

when we boil it down to just material things

or prosperity of wealth, that is the smallest

issue in what he comes to bring. This is where

it has to come back under the balance of the

whole scripture. Just like when we give to the

Lord of our tithes and offerings. Tithes and

offerings of obedience and of faith is the smallest

of all the things that he asks of us. The greater

gifts are all the other gifts above that. Yet

it's still included. Same with prosperity. I

didn't mean to even get on this topic, but because

it's so much in the news stream that the perversion

of it is that's all people talk about. That shouldn't

be all people talk about, but it includes who

God is. And so there has to be an understanding

that God brings his gift to every level of your

life. Every level. Now, let's move on. Jesus

is saying to the woman and to every person, especially

of the Gentiles as he was in the realm of Samaria.

And Samaria, again, for those that are listening

here, Samaria was a mixed, what used to be where

God's people, he had two... 12 tribes, two stayed

in the land of Judah, 10 got dispersed and Samaria

became known as a place of mixture. So just even

Jesus dealing at this well, it is a picture of

God doesn't forget. Oh my goodness, I gotta come

down here and preach this. God does not forget

places where he put truth in your life. He was

standing by the well of the forefathers. That

was prophetic even in itself. It was a type and

shadow. God came to do what? Still bring up the

water of truth that was once dug for to actually

provide for his people long ago. And even when

you stray, God still comes to bring you back

to places where truth doesn't change. You moved.

Here Jesus is sitting at this well. Of course

he could have commanded, cup, be formed, water,

come in it. But he didn't. Why? Because it was

a prophetic statement of saying God always uses

and partners with people to bring about God's

revelation and encounter. He doesn't just do

things by himself. He can. He could do it all

by himself. But he's chosen from the very place

of pattern to always include us in the understanding

of God, in the revealing of God, and in the releasing

of who God is. That's why he's called the gift

giver. He's constantly giving and wanting that

gift to get in you and through you. Because that's

his nature. He's saying to the woman, My people

know that God gives gifts. Listen, she gave the

excuse. You people worship here, we worship there.

Jesus had to correct some things. Sometimes I

listen to people and I read all sorts of things

and watch all sorts of things as time allows

me of various different commentaries of how people

view things. And people always want to say that

Jesus didn't correct things. I'm like, have you

read the scriptures? Okay, let's just read it.

This is a correction. Salvation is of the Jews.

He didn't say, you are wrong. He was saying,

you are wrong. Your answer? Now, he didn't get

nasty about it, but he literally said the truth.

Salvation is of the Jews. Everything that you

thought. It's not. Change. You've had your perspective.

You've lived in it. You've thought it. You've

rehearsed it with those that were around you.

But your encounter with God is gonna require

you to come to a different conclusion. Folks,

in that statement alone, Jesus was releasing

what repentance really is. It's the changing,

of the position of your heart and your mind to

agree with what God says. And Jesus was saying,

but you have not known. Listen, my people know

God gives gifts. You have not known the gifts,

nor have you known the nature of God's gifts

or his goodness, because you've not known the

true and living God. That's what he was really

saying to the Samaritan woman. If you knew. But

because of where you've come from, because of

the mindset of what you've surrounded yourself

with, and because you've embraced not only a

political persuasion, but a religious persuasion,

you've separated yourself from us on the basis

of, yes, there was injustice from this group.

There was religious pride from this group. Yes,

there was all sorts of things that made you feel

inferior. But that does not negate where you

have to get to actually come to the source of

truth. You can't bring truth to validate where

you live. You still have to come and embrace

truth and come from where you live to where he

is at. It's a big deal. What do I mean by that?

Jesus is saying, if you really knew. If you knew

God's nature in his heart, you would then want

what he has. And Jesus continuing in this dialogue

in John 10 and 11 says, if you knew, you would

have asked. You would have asked in the English

language, actually is one word in the Greek,

eteo. It means, You would have asked means to

crave, to call, to desire, and to require yourself

to find out. What's he saying here? He's saying

something way deeper. He's saying, if you knew

who it was that was standing, the gift of God

that was in front of you, and you knew who it

was that was asking you, give me a drink. Give

me. Give me what you can give me. Give me your,

that's all that you have. Just give me a drink.

If you knew who it was, you would have asked.

If you knew who it was, there would have been

a, should have been. If you knew. Instilled from

the knowing comes a craving and a desire and

a automatic. Something inside of you that would

require of your own heart to search it out for

more. This now is starting to hit some pay dirt.

Because what I'm saying to you here, it not only

is Bible, but it confronts mindsets that said,

if all I get is Jesus, that's all I need. Fact

is, if you actually got Jesus, if you actually

knew who it was, Eric, I'm gonna pick on you

because you sat on the front row, okay? If you

knew who it was, there would be something automatically

from the Lord that the minute you said yes to

Jesus, something would come inside of you that

if you wouldn't fight it, would automatically

say, I need more of him. I want more of him.

I desire more of him. I mean, and isn't that

exactly, I mean, I'm not picking on you, but

I am picking on you. Isn't that exactly what

happened? The moment you said, I'm rededicating

my mind, what took place? Something that never

took place before. Something prior was shelved.

The moment you began to really know what took

place, all of a sudden it began almost like it

was a a rope climbing inside of you. It began

to pull you into a place of, I've got to know

him more. Folks, that is the nature of the Holy

Spirit. And that is the nature of really knowing

God. It will pull you. from where you've been.

And there will be a consciousness of the spirit

of God inside of you that says you must have

more of him. And it isn't just about, you know,

chasing after All of the things out there, it's

actually an inward thing that says, I must know

him at his word. I must know him as truth. And

I must know him in the spirit. It's all three

of those things. Because if you only chase after

one, you stop embracing the fullness of truth

and only get partial truth. Are you there? This

is really, really important. If you knew, ateo,

if you really knew, you would have asked to crave,

to call, to ask, to desire. Do you understand

that ask? Until now, when Jesus said to his disciples,

until now, you've asked nothing in my name. Why

was that? Because Jesus had been with them at

every level. And now he was going to be with

them at every level, but he was not going to

be tangibly, physically with them. That's why

he left that statement until the very last week

of his life as he was saying, until now you've

asked nothing in my name. Ask! that you may receive,

that your joy may be full. Why would he say that?

Because he was transitioning them from just having

personal proximity in a relationship. He was

transitioning them to what they needed to move

into, to life of the Spirit and the Word. They

had not experienced it to that point. they'd

only experienced living with the word that's

why John could write in the very first and the

word came and the word was manifest and we beheld

him as the only son of God verse 14 of John chapter

John 1 · chapter mention

1 full of grace and truth But Jesus would move

them from beholding the Son as a short three

and a half years of actually embodied in the

flesh. And he was moving them in the journey

to get them past a physical thing into a what?

A spiritual thing where they would fellowship

with the Spirit of the Holy Spirit and the Holy

Word of Truth. And that's why he told them. That

they hadn't asked anything. Why? Because everything

they'd had at this point was dependent upon what

Jesus did for them without actually putting any

faith really on the line. You say, where do you

get that? Well, go back and read how many times

did Jesus say, oh, ye of little faith. Or like

I tell David Straub, how long must I be with

you? I mean, the reality being, I mean, that

was constant pull that Jesus was reminding them

of their lack of actually tapping into who the

father was and they were dependent upon his relationship.

trying to move them to be dependent upon the

same spirit of God that he was now operating

in. And that's why this encounter with the woman

at the well is so important. Because it's leading

you. It was leading her, and please get this,

past religion. It's the only thing that will

lead you out of religion. Because as a Samaritan,

You got to see this. Her answer was, well, you

Jews say to worship God is over there, but we

worship here. And I know someday when Jesus returns,

when Messiah comes, he'll tell us all things.

And Jesus had to say, I'm he. And I haven't been

telling you all things. But she couldn't understand

it. Why? Because religion and then her excuses

of her own lifestyle kept her bound, keeping

everything about God out there. Because to bring

God in means what? She felt convicted. Are you

doing okay? You see, you have to step out of

your mindset for a moment. It's not about tradition.

It's not about religion. then you would, if you

allow yourself as you're pursuing God, if you'll

allow yourself to step out of religious precepts,

I will never tell you to step out of the truth.

No one should ever tell you to step out of truth.

But let's make sure that you're calling truth

what really is truth. There's a lot of people

that want to call truth the way they've been

doing things. And that is not truth. That's your

own home -brewed version of just stuff. And it

has shreds, it has shavings of truth, but it

is not standing in the truth. So you have to

actually, and this is where we separate the sheep

from the goats. Right? Jesus said, I'm going

to separate the sheep from the goats. Why? What's

the nature of a goat? The nature of a goat is

similar to the sheep. Fact is, even in the law,

as under the Mosaic covenant, you could bring

a kid goat that would exactly be a representative

of a lamb. A goat could be accepted at the young

age. But at a full -grown age, it was not accepted.

Meaning what? At the beginning of their life,

there was no real difference between a kid goat

and a lamb. But the moment you get past that

year, because that's the definition of a lamb,

a year old lamb is the end of it. It now moves

from lamb to sheep, or it moves from kid to goat.

And the question is, what's the nature of a goat?

The nature of a sheep By nature or the nature

of a lamb is what? It does not. How do I say

this carefully? It does not choose its own way

above what is revealed. It allows the shepherd

to lead it. The nature of a goat will choose

when the shepherd leads it. The lamb. The sheep

hears the shepherd's voice and follows. That's

why we're always called sheep. Not because we're

defenseless, which we are, which we're helpless,

which we are, which we often can't take of ourselves.

True. Not because of all of those things, but

because of primarily what? Because Our life spiritually

is to be like a sheep that hears the nearness

and the fellowship of the shepherd in which we

trust. And we trust the nature of the shepherd

over what our eyes, our emotions, and our own

will want. A goat is different. A goat will eat

everything. Now this is important. One of the

reasons he divides the sheep from the goat is

because the goat will not discriminate and actually

have a filter of what it should eat and what

it shouldn't. It will eat things that are filled

with mixture and that are not good for itself.

A goat will choose to butt and to run its own

way. When it decides to. It's why the Bible uses

the difference between do not be like a mule.

Have you ever ridden a mule or had a mule? I

can tell you I've had experiences with mules.

They can be some of the best animals on pack

travel. Several years, dad and I drew Snake River.

In the Snake River unit in Hell's Canyon between

Idaho and Oregon, we drew tags to go into the

wilderness unit and hunt elk. Dad had a mule.

Cousins had a mule. Of course, Dad would keep

his mule and I had to borrow a mule. Borrowed

mules are faulty. And so here we are 27 miles

back off the trail. We're 27 miles deep into

the Hell's Canyon wilderness. And just for reference,

Hell's Canyon is the deepest canyon in North

America. It's greater depth than Grand Canyon.

And we are in the pucker brush. We are back in

Hell's Canyon. We are back on mules. We packed

everything out. Everyone is there. And all of

a sudden we're hiking up. this treacherous trail

where even horses don't go, but mules are more

sheer footed until they decide to do their own

thing. Now this is the nature of a goat as well.

It had been raining. And so I'm wearing a rain

slicker and rain pants. I had not spent a huge

amount of time in the saddle. And I forgot about

this one key thing called the saddle horn that

sits right in front of you. Everybody else's

mule keeps climbing. My mule hears something.

And I felt like Yosemite Sam on Looney Tunes.

I said, whoa, whoa, whoa. Bing, bing, bing, bing,

bing, bing, bing. And up the trail and on the

saddle horn do I bounce over and over. And by

the time, by the time my mule finally came to

rest, I couldn't get off the mule. My dad looked

at me and goes, what's the problem? I said, we

were playing the game with the pogo paddle at

the balls. I said, I kept saying, whoa, whoa.

And if you remember that little loony tune that

says, whoa, dragon. I said, whoa, dragon. That's

the exact, I wanted to shoot that mule right

there. And just put a couple of antlers on it

and say, here's my elk. Now, I'm telling that

story just to, it's funny now. It was not funny

then. There were still seven more miles to ride

back into base camp. And the nature of that stubborn

mule, the nature of it would do what it wanted.

Nobody else's mule would do it. Why? Because

it knew its rider. But the rider that didn't

have it, it knew me. Oh, and I hated it. Goats

are the same way. You can turn your back and

they'll do what? Immediately butt you. Just look

up some videos on goats and their nature. They

will, but you'll think that you have just, you've

fed it, you have watered it, you have done everything

you know to do and the nature of it depends on

whether it likes you or not or the time of the

day. It will go for you. That's why Jesus said

he would separate the sheep from the goats. Why?

Because in the nature of a goat, it's a rebellious,

stubborn streak. It will do what it wants to

do regardless of who and what has been placed

in front of it. Sometimes it obeys and sometimes

it doesn't. It can't be relied on. This is what

the Holy Spirit was actually trying to get into

the Samaritan woman's mindset. He was saying,

listen, if you'll step out of this religious

thing that you've built and allowed the culture

to frame your understanding of how you can worship

God. You see, you need to understand the Samaritan

woman, are you ready? Was a worshiper of God.

You say, well, show me where in the Bible God

dealt with mixture. Right here. Because she was

able to tell Jesus where they worshiped. And

she was able to tell Jesus that she believed

that she was worshiping the same God as the Jews.

It just was different. So it means that there

was actually a heart to want to worship God.

a heart that actually performed worship of whatever

degree, and in her mind, because she was sincere,

she saw it as truth. I'm gonna say this, and

I don't mean it to be too shocking, but there's

a lot of people that come into a worship service

and actually don't worship the true Jesus. They

worship the Jesus of their own mind. They're

not worshiping the Jesus of the scriptures. Okay,

we'll keep going. I'm not gonna leave you there.

If you would step out of your mindset, if you

would step out of your understanding, if you

would step out of what has... relegated you,

Jesus would have given. That word given is the

word didio me. In the Greek, it means I would

have granted you. I would have given you. I love

this word didio me. It means I would reach out

to you. I would give you something that you could

administer. That word didio me means something

of a gift that has administration to it. Do you

understand that the gift that God gives you,

there's a lot here, that's why I'm diving through

this chapter. What it's saying is every gift

from God, if it's legitimate, has administration

protocol in it. Meaning, there will require stewardship.

Administration is stewardship. It's not just

about... that you have to steward money. I'm

talking about if God gives you the gift of faith,

you have to administrate and steward faith. If

God gives you the gift of healing, you have to

steward healing, Chrislin. There is a steward.

That's why the Bible says in Hebrews, by reason

of use. Come on, by reason of what? Use. That

means you've employed it. That means your gift

isn't standing around waiting for you to come

by the field one day, just standing there over

and over until you think about it. Your gift

actually that he gives you is meant to be employed.

That doesn't mean it works for you. It means

that you're actually working for the Lord and

administrating what he's put inside of you. Think

about it. That's part of the gift. That's part

of the grant. And see, let's just talk about

it just with basic salvation grace. The reality

is this, when God gives you an encounter and

you accept it, you see, you understand who Jesus

is, that he is the only begotten son of God,

that he died for you and he made it personal

for you. And you say, yes, Lord, forgive me.

And I said, I accept you as Lord and savior of

my life. That is not where that ends. Now the

employment and the administration of that gift

begins because now you begin to walk with an

understanding of who you are that was different

the moment that happened versus who you were.

God says that when whoever is in... 2 Corinthians

5, 17. If any person is in Christ, they are a

new creation. The old is gone and the new has

come. That is his language of saying, you're

not who you were defined by your mistakes. You're

not defined by what you came out of or who your

parents were. You're not defined by your family

history. You're not defined. I just read an article

this morning of a guy found out that his dad

was Charles Manson. He never knew for 40 years.

Your dad's not Charles Manson. Okay. The reality

is when, I don't think, no, I'm messing with

you. The reality is it doesn't matter what family

line or what heinous things have been taking

place. The moment Christ, you receive Jesus Christ

and he forgives you, your identity spiritually

is new. And with the new, he gives the ability

now for you to begin. He teaches you in administration

of that understanding. And that understanding

is to follow you through every decision in life.

So like when I'm getting over here and going

to this guy in the red hat over here, the reality

is, Kirk, when now he came to Christ, and I know

that he has, I've seen it, what happens? The

filter of where he was and what he's been starts

to think and put that thinking different in front

of him because It requires something inside of

it, not of a heavy weight or a burden, but it

actually begins to be a new Holy Spirit filter

that says, you must administrate me continually.

That's not a heavy burden. It is the process

of your thinking is renewed and you begin to

think according to your new identity, not according

to who you were. And how many know in this room

that your old nature pops up frequently trying

to redefine who you are. And that's why you must

continually administrate the mind of Christ with

the gift that he gives. Jesus said, if you would,

he would have given, you would have asked, he

would have given, he would have. furnished. Here

again, some more words, reach out, grant, give

something to administer, to furnish, to extend

and present. That's the heart of the father to

give to you, to furnish, to you, to extend himself

and present himself to you so that what he gives

of himself would now he could help you administer

what he gave you. We would say this to our children

if we have the ability. As they age older, have

you noticed that the gifts that they want also

increase? The value. You know, as a kid, a Hot

Wheels toy was like, okay. Well, it used to be

like a buck 09 at Buy Mart when I was a kid.

But the reality now, a Hot Wheels toy, a $7 gift

could actually keep them employed for hours.

But now at the age of 15, 16, 17, you give them

a Hot Wheels toy for Christmas, they think you've

just excommunicated them from the family. There

are things that as they grow up, they have what?

A deeper desire for things of more value. That's

the whole point of the gifts. As you grow up

in Christ, you begin to desire the deeper, even

not that the other gifts are more valuable than

salvation. They are add to the treasure of the

salvation. I would have given, even today, world,

the flesh, the devil, try to convince us that

God is limited. And God's gifts, this is the

mindset of the world. And even in some Christian

cultures, that God is limited. He's haphazard.

He's fickle. He's moody. It's better to play

it safe with your heart with God so that you

don't get disappointed in believing him. Am I

speaking to the right group of people? All of

these thoughts, if you're really honest with

yourself, have come to you. Luke 11, 13 says

it this way. How much will your Father in heaven

give the Holy Spirit to those who ask? Again,

ask. Eteo, I'll reach out, I'll extend, I'll

grant, I'll give you a gift of administration.

I'll come to you. How much more is that in regard

to the Holy Spirit than any other gift that you

ask? John 4, 22 says this. Jesus, looking to

her, says, you worship. Notice how Jesus, again,

validates that this Samaritan woman worshiped.

You worship what you do not know. You can be

in full -scale worship and not know. Come on,

just let that sit for a moment. We worship what

we know for salvation is of the Jews. What's

he saying? He's saying, listen, if you knew it

was not about the place of ground, if you knew

it was not about the style or form, but if you

actually had an encounter with the one who really

is, it would change you. Jesus was speaking to

the Samaritan woman saying, if you would lay

down what you think you know and all of their

justifications, you would come to know who he

is. The thing, Jenny, if you'd come to the piano,

sweetheart, thank you. The thing that the word

of the Lord came this morning in the prayer room.

And as we met with the staff and team early this

morning is that God was changing and God was

not going to allow hardness of heart to stay

in his worshipers. That he was bringing down

the stone towers of pride so that people could

actually see who he was. And he's both. He is

the God of spirit and he's the God of truth.

His Holy Spirit is truth and his word is truth.

He is responsible for what is actually truth.

You can actually worship in spirit and not be

in the spirit of truth. That's what the Samaritan

woman was doing. She was worshiping. according

to the spirit of her age, of her culture, of

her understanding. And she believed that she

was actually connecting. But she wasn't actually

connecting to truth. The same with people that

say, well, all I need is the word of God. Well,

then you're missing the other part that God said

is truth. He's called the spirit of truth. Which

means you can actually worship God and only partially

connect with what he has for you if only you

choose a word -only perspective. Why? Because

the Father says, and we all know these verses

and we can quote them, the Father is looking

for those who will now worship him in what? Spirit.

Oh, let's try it again. Spirit. Not or. And.

Not, I just worship in spirit, but I don't really

want that truth stuff. Not or. I'll choose word

or spirit. God gives us a choice. No. He says

the Father is looking for those who will worship

him in spirit and in truth. That's why when Jesus

presented himself, we'll say to the Samaritan

side and to the Jewish side, he was speaking

to both groups because each group. had found

a way that they were validated in, in saying

they knew God and loved God and God should affirm

them in what was there. And yet the truth that

was operating in both was standing right in front

of them and neither group was able to identify.

Why? Because it didn't come the way they thought

truth should look. And that's why Jesus had to

break through to this. In his gracious approach

to the Samaritan woman, he's saying, listen,

if you would allow your heart to actually be

open to the truth, you would recognize that the

truth was right before you. I'm going to put

a pin in this today. We may come back to it next

week. I don't know. But I want to talk to us

this morning as we close and get ready to close

as Pastor Scott comes and gives us a couple of

announcements in just a moment. I am compelled

by the Spirit of God this morning. The Holy Spirit

is here. He is. There were several key prophetic,

I'm going to call it visions this morning. Of

Jesus standing as the lion and the lamb. Notice

Jesus highlights in John 4. He said the Father

is looking for those who will worship in spirit

and in truth. That was in John 4. John 1, as

the Apostle John writes the beginning of his...

salutations and his opening argument of his gospel.

He goes, and we beheld him. John chapter one,

verse 14, and we saw him. The word of God made

flesh and we beheld his glory. Notice the next

statement that he would say that would be the

beginning salvo that would go all the way through

the gospel of John is he was full. of grace and

truth. What's he saying? Full of the Spirit and

full of accuracy from God's perspective. Full.

There wasn't an either or. He never sided to

one or not. He accepted both the fullness of

the Holy Spirit. That's why the Bible would say

in another place, the Spirit was on him without

measure. It means the spirit of grace, the spirit

of counsel, the spirit of power, the spirit of

might, the anointing, the revelation, every prophetic

word of knowledge, gifting, everything that comes

from the Holy Spirit was on him in fullness.

Yet what? Jesus never used that to divorce himself

from the truth. It was always the spirit and

truth. And that's what made him the fullness

of truth. That's what he's asking from us. It's

not that you have to come up with the truth or

come up with the spirit. We have no part in that.

Our job is to what? Know him. Just like he stood

in front of the Samaritan woman and he stands

in front of every person. He said, if you really

knew. who it was. If you'll not remove the truth

and you'll not sidestep the spirit and you'll

allow your heart to read my word and experience

me from setting aside your religious mindsets

and any hurts or any other type of thing that's

tried to shape you beside what my word and my

spirit desire to shape you, then you will do

what? You will encounter the one who gives. living

water it's it's the living water it's the thing

that we drink from constantly would you would

you just bow your heads for a moment father even

now lord i am praying in this room god we come

From a variety of backgrounds. Some having no

understanding of who you are. Some grown up hearing

about you. Some along the way like me and others.

Lord, we've received, but we need more. And we're

asking, Lord, for you to help set aside preconceived

ideas that we would not make any more justifications.

of why we don't have to yield to your word and

to your spirit. You would remove from us the

heart of pride. You would remove from us the

mindset that says what we have is good enough.

And God, you would ignite in us that drawing

capacity of administration of what you've put

inside of our hearts that says to pursue, to

go after, to draw on you, not only from the word

of God, but from your Holy Spirit and fellowship.

If you're here this morning and you have not

had an encounter where you could say, I know

Jesus. I've been reached out to. I've been extended

the grace. I know him. I've taken him into my

heart and my mind. I've received him as who he

is. as savior and as my king. And I live under

the counsel of his word and his direction. If

you have not had that, I'm telling you as king

and as shepherd, he is looking to draw you and

change your nature from goat to sheep this morning.

Shepherd comes to ignite your heart to hear his

voice. And if you have not met him and know him,

I'm inviting you now by the Spirit of God to

come to know him. If there's anyone in this room

that would say, yes, I want to invite him in.

I want to hear the shepherd's voice. I want to

encounter the shepherd's kindness and his grace

in my life. Would you just be so bold right now?

I'll send somebody to you. Just lift one of your

hands up high and say, that's me, preacher. watching

all around I'm going to send my team back to

you because we love you and we want to pray with

you and we want to encounter Christ with you

well I'm asking that if there's those here this

morning who say you know what I've been bringing

a worship that I didn't realize was more directed

toward my liking than what was honoring fully

of the Lord and I want to fully connect with

Jesus I want to bring my perspective and exalt

myself. What makes me feel good? I want to worship

the King. And I'm asking now, Jesus, that you

would forgive me and you would break off every

wall that I've created. If that's you, I'd say,

you know what? I can pray that prayer. Would

you just lift your hand before the Lord and say,

that's me, Lord. I need to break some walls down.

I've created something in my own heart and mind.

Yes. Lord, you see, come on, just lift those

hands. Thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Lord, every

hand that's being lifted, every mindset that

is now surrendering to you and to your word and

to your Holy Spirit. Lord, those that are calling

on the name of the Lord for the very first time

and those that are saying, Lord, I'm sorry, I've

made this more about me. My likes, my dislikes,

the way I want it done. Come back to saying,

it's about you. Cleanse me. Forgive me. Wash

me. Thank you, Jesus. Now bring, Lord, your new

hearts and mindsets now to them by the spirit

of grace and by the spirit of truth. In Jesus'

name, amen. If you would like to give, click

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