Abundant Life || Pastor Adam Mesa

And send the disciples. We truly hope you're encouraged by this week's message,

and so right now we're gonna jump into our message. If you joined us

last week, if you did it, that's completely okay. Pastor Diego encouraged

us with a message talking about which mindset and it was a parallel between two

mindsets, the abundant mindset and the scarcity mindset. Well, I'd love to

consider and continue that conversation, but instead of looking at which mindset, fully

dealing with the abundant mindset, because this is what I think would be great

for us to have a conversation on. You know, names matter and thinking

about names is important. You know, whenever we maybe have a new child,

we usually spend a lot of time thinking about what we're gonna name our

child. Whether you have a new pet, you'll think what are we gonna

name this pet? What's the name gonna be? What are they gonna be

about? Some of us will go as far as naming our cars or even

our Harley's or whatever it may be. We just start naming things that are

in our lives. Well, I remember a few years back, I was

talking to Pastor Diegar founding pastor, and I told him, Dad, we're

Abundant Living Family Church. Where did you come up with that name? Abundant

Living Family Church? Why? Why? Out of all the names you could

have picked, there's a lot of churches out there called Grace Church. There's

a lot of churches called First Baptist Church. There's a lot of First Baptist

churches that been the first you know, have you ever noticed that? So

that's kind of interesting. And so there's something in a name. And so

as of what do you think about when you get the name, he said,

well, first of all, in the nineties, the longer you could

make your name, the more impressive that would be. So he said,

I went with Abundant Living Family Church. Which is why today when we invite

our friends to church, we just say come to my church ALFC, because

no one can remember the order of the church. Is it Abundant Family Living

Church? Is it A But I don't know if you ever experienced that before,

But we just that's why I just we just say a left see now.

But in the nineties, you make it as long as possible. That's

why you have First Ebenezer Church of God in Christ, of Episcopal say of

Detroit, Michigan in and then they named the zip code and everything else,

because that was the thing back in the day, is the longest. So

the more words you can, the more associations you can add to it,

the better it was. So I asked them, wasn't abundant living family church?

And you know, Pastor Diego he just so the first part was he

just said, well, the family part is pretty obvious. I want I

wanted to, you know, build a church for the Lord, and I

wanted to build a community for the Lord that was family focused. And he

said, because I had gone to so many churches before that one ministry kind

of had superior superiority over another. And so you would go to the kids

ministry and maybe it was dilapidated or it wasn't taken care of, or you

go to youth ministry and paper was falling off the walls, and you know,

the youth didn't have anything that they can hang out or play. And

so he said, I wanted to build a church that the whole family could

be ministered to, the whole family could be encouraged all the way from kids

to adulthood. And so I said, that makes sense. And then I

said, okay, well what about the first part? He said, well,

you know, in a time in my life, John ten ten was

important for me was that in many of us know Pastor Diego's story about how

he had been let go from his previous church and he was really having three

jobs to take care of the family, and he really didn't know. He

had no desire to start a church, no desire to found a church.

And so when he did decide to do it and he chose abundant living,

it was because he was preaching to himself then in a time of brokenness,

then in a time of disconnection from the Lord, in a time because we

know John ten ten, which we're gonna read here in a little bit,

it says that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, and I

come that you may have life and have it abundantly. And so it was

this idea that he said, I felt like the thief came to steal,

kill and destroy my life, and I found that the more I leaned into

Christ, the more I found an abundant life that's found in Christ. And

so I think that's great because we have a lot of new people that have

joined our church, and we have a lot of new people who are coming

to our church, and in growth track you learn a lot about the history

of our church. But in a message sense, I think it's important for

us to see what it means when we say abundant living, because when we

say abundant living, we're not talking about living a life of abundance in materialism.

That's not what we're talking about. Now, Can God bless you with

material things? Does that happen? Does he open up doors? Yeah?

Definitely, But I mean Bill Gates and Elon Musk aren't Christians, and they

have a lot of money and a lot of abundance in that sense, but

there may be some other things they don't have that only the Lord can give,

which is what we're going to talk about today. So that in the

future, if you walk away and you say, hey, abundant living is

my home church, you know what type of abundance and what type of life

that we're talking about. And so we thought, I thought, what better

way than talking about the abundant mindset that Christ encourages us to have. And

so right now we're gonna first read our passage of Scripture and it's found in

John chapter ten, verse seven. So if you would join me in standing

for the honor of reading God's word, we will read this morning and discover

this true today. Today we're gonna read just verses seven all the way down

to eighteen. So John ten seven to eighteen, and it says this.

So Jesus again said to them, Truly, I say to you, I

am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and

robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door.

If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and we'll go

in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, kill,

and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it

abundantly. Him the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays his life down for

the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who

does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and

flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he

is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good

shepherd. I know my own and my own no mean, just as the

Father knows me. I know the Father, and I lay down my life

for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.

I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.

So there will be one flock and one shepherd. For this reason, the

Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it

up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down

of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I

have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my

Father. Let's pray, Lord, as we discover your truth today. Father

God, I pray that none of us came here today to hear an opinion

of man philosophy as a man. We came here today to hear you.

Lord. May your word go forth, Father God, May the spirit begin

to speak to us and minister to us. Lord, and may we grow

in our knowledge of your great love and your great mercy and your great grace

to us. We thank you, Lord, that Jesus Christ was the shepherd

that laid his life down for us, and may we learn that today and

that truth today. In Jesus name, Amen and amen, you may be

seated. Thank you so much, you know, part of the passage that

we just read is a lot of times, if you've read John ten ten

before, it's always important to take all of the chapters and preceding chapters into

account. And so some of the things that Jesus is saying in this moment

is most of us, when we think of the thief only comes to steal,

kill, and destroy, we're just immediately imagining Satan. Now, there's

an element of truth of that biproxy, but the actual people that Jesus is

talking about is he's talking about false leaders and false teachings, those false mindsets

is what he's talking about. He's talking about sheep that are led astray by

false teachers, false gurus, false ideologies, false hopes. Now, if

you follow that trail of tears long enough, you will know that Satan is

originally the instigator of those things. But he's not necessarily just pointing out to

Satan being the thief that steel kills and destroys. What he's saying is he's

saying these thoughts and these teachings, these things you find on YouTube, these

things you start googling, these things that start derailling your faith and your hope

to Christ, and you say, oh, my friend put me on this

guy who's teaching me meditation, and he talks to us about how this God

will give you peace or this thing will give you peace. Or my friend

put me on to this person that I'm listening to on LinkedIn or Facebook,

and now I'm following them. And so I'm going to church on Sundays while

I'm also pursuing these other thoughts and these other ideas and these other passions.

And so what Jesus begins to say is he says, those thieves, those

thoughts, those teachings will aim to steal, kill and destroy because it will

not lead you anywhere. It'll only take away. And so what happens is

when Jesus begins to talk about this, he then begins to parallel and say,

but I am the good shepherd. I'm the one who will be the

only one that is willing to lay my life down for my sheep. Those

philosophies, those gurus, those ideologies, those are nice. But would they

lay their life down for little old you? Would they go on across naked

and shamed and be in for you. No, they're just posting on Tuesdays

and thursdays to YouTube, and then they turn that monetization on and as long

as they keep tickling, we keep searching. That's it. So pass and

Kenny's in this one today. And so what happens is is Jesus begins to

tell us I'm the shepherd. I'm the one who's truly looking out to care

for you. I'm the one who's truly looking out to guide you. And

the sheep will know my voice. And so then what happens is is Jesus

gives us the picture that you and I are sheep. And you know,

sheep have been created and they have over the years been adopted to truly be

domesticated. You know, as sheep cannot live on its own. You know

that there's no such thing as a wild sheep, just like there's no such

thing as a wild French bulldog. Take a bulldog and English bulldog and set

it out into a field and come back a week later. That thing's dead

because it's been bred to be a house dog. It's been bred to be

something that you look at, and so without you as the caretaker of a

bulldog, it can't live on its own. That's the same thing as a

sheep, and so a sheep that's not cared for it that usually looks like

this. I have a picture. This is usually what a sheep will look

for that's uncared for. Do I have to come closer to the screen in

order for us to see it. This is what a sheep normally looks like,

uncared for. This was only after a few months. This sheep was

getting by by itself for a little bit, but there was no one there

to shave it. There was no one there to bathe it. When they

actually shaved this one, it was actually emaciated. So on the outside it

may look like it's fat and puffy and getting its food, but that was

all just a deflective tactic. When they shaved his fur, he was actually

emaciated and malnourished because he had to eat on his own. And I think

that's really reminiscent of us when we get all these other teachings. And as

long as I got a suit and a tie and I and as long as

I got the right hand bagging, as long as I got the right car,

maybe no one will recognize that I'm really emaciated, and I'm really hurting

right now, and I'm really in pain right now. But on the outside,

I looked fluffy. McDonald's can get you fluffy, but that don't mean

nothing. And so his hoofs haven't been cared for. And so what happens

is is without this sheep getting a shepherd, it's headed to what to destruction?

Okay, So what happens in Jesus's day Oftentimes, if you were a

wealthy landowner and you had a lot of sheep, would hire a shepherd to

help you with your land. But the shepherd was in it for what the

job was. The shepherd was in it for the pay. And so what

would happen is if a wolf or a robber would come, the shepherd would

clock out. As you should listen. If I'm working at Horizon and someone

comes to rob the place, I'm walking out the door. I'm opening in

the cash register because I'm going this ain't my business, but come do it

at my house. To be totally different story, because this is my house,

this is my place. So what Jesus says is he says, these

sheep people are mine. No one no one will protect and live for these

sheep like I will. And he says, anyone else, any other mindset,

any other teaching that does not come from me. You want to know

what the end result will be. It will be to steal, to kill,

and to destroy. And each mindset will lead you to a different thing.

Yeah, and I will talk to you in a second. But some

things will be stolen from you, some things will be killed from you,

some things will be destroyed. That's why we get to the place of destruction

in our life. And so what happens is is we realize this thing.

Jesus is telling us, there's this thing that's been missing all along as we've

been pursuing other things. And for the people of Israel, it was often

false teachers. It was often rabbis that would just tickle their ears and tell

them what they wanted to hear. And that's what Jesus was saying. He

said, there's been some people before me that have called themselves Messiah. There

have been some people before me that have called themselves rabbi. But I'm here

to do something new, you know. A few months ago, early at

this top of this year, one of the things my wife likes to do

is is she likes to do cruises for our family vacations because they're easy.

You get there, you're on the cruise seven days, you don't have to

leave. It just it just they're not much to think about. And she

likes that aspect. Well, uh, you know, we did this thing

during COVID that many of you others may have done, is we had a

COVID baby. Okay, so we were in quarantine. There was nothing else

to do, and so we had a baby. And that was our youngest

and our latest. It's called the COVID baby if you never heard of it.

And I see them in children's church every Sunday. And so this was

our first family vacation now with like like true one with Thomas in our life.

And so we've been on a cruise before with Matthias, but now we

got a second kid, and so a second kid is there with us,

Thomas who at that time was almost gonna be too. And so we go

and we get any guys know, cruise ships, some of them are very

nice, but all the cabins are genuinely pretty small. They're pretty tiny,

like they're they're just there to sleep. So we go, we go into

our cabin and there's a queen bed there and just a queen bed, and

so we're thinking to ourselves. I'm like, I'm not a little guy.

We did this once before with Matthias, but now we have a second one,

and so we're gonna sleep on this bed with me, who's not a

little guy, my wife, Ashley, who's taller than me and more athletic

than me, so she alone can cover the queen. I alone can cover

the queen. And then we add a four year old and a two year

old to the mix. So we're talking out loud, and our attendant who's

helping us turn down our room every day, he comes up and he says,

oh, guys, I forgot to tell you that little couch over there.

I can put a bed sheet on it and one of your kids can

sleep there. Well, it's like it's like the size of my shoulders.

So I know my boys are gonna roll off of it for sure. So

I tell my wife I'll sleep on it. I'll sleep on it, no

big deal. She's like, okay, you know what saying, no debate,

no rock, paper scissors, anything like that. Yeah, go go

for it. Okay, So I'll put the little little sheep there and I

sleep and man, this thing was hard. This thing was uncomfortable. I

sleep well, I'm sleeping on it for three days, waking up every day,

back sore, everything so warm. So just so happens. We had

went with Pastor Aaron, our Pomona campus pastor, who was just doing our

generosity moment. We went with him and his family. So about the third

night, our boys want to go over to their room to hang out with

his daughters, and so we go over there to drop the boys off to

hang out, and sure enough, where my sofa was that I was sleeping,

there was another queen bed right there. And I look at them.

I say, hey, how y'all get that queen bed? And they said,

I said, my room has a sofa. They said, yes,

that's the sofa. I said, hold on, hold on, hold on.

They said, yeah, this thing comes out from under it, it

lifts up and it turns into a sofa. I said, how y'all know

about that? They said, our attendant told us. I said, your

attendant told you, guys, And they go, yeah, he mix it

up every day for us, And they go, what did your attendant say?

I said, he gave us a couch and gave us a blanket.

So I run to my room literally run I pull this thing out. Sure

not, there's a queen bed right there. Then every day the attendant we

have he tears it down because you can't even move once you set that thing

up, So he tears it down every day for us, and then every

night I'd have to put it back together. And I asked, Aaron and

Erica, isn't an annoying you? How you have to put it back together

every day? They said, no, our attendant does that for us.

Now, my wife has been cruising her whole life. So when I married

her, I got a stat I got status with her little cruise lyne thing

that was Aaron and Erica's first cruise. They have no status. They are

nobody's on that cruise ship. I got like a little pin I got me.

I got my own little section where I can sunbathe. And my attendant

ain't even tell me that. I got another bed in my room. And

their attendant is showing them everything they need what to live an abundant life.

They're attendant is showing them everything, every secret, setting it up for them,

bringing things into them. While the attendant. I had the mindset,

I had the coach, I had the YouTube personality. I had the friend.

I had the boyfriend, I had the girlfriend. I had that voice

I was listening to was like, Hey, best of luck. But hey,

in seven days, you're gonna get this survey with a tip bag and

it's gonna say tip on it. I'd love for you to put something in

there, I told my wife, because sometimes you can prepay. You can

prepay the tips before you get on. I say, we don't prepay tips

no more. They gotta earned that joint. You got, You got at

least show me. You don't even have to set up for him. You

got atleast showed me something exists. That's what you gotta do. But how

many times do we live in that place and you see the enemy. He

may be showing you glitz and glamours and these false hopes, and really he

has this hope to steal, kill and destroy. You See, in today's

age, things have began to change. There's some statistics that have been going

around around death, and here's what they say concerning young adults, but also

everyone else. Half of Americans say that during the last two years they thought

about death more often. Nearly half think about death at least once a month,

and twenty three percent think about death on a daily basis. More gen

Zers thirty five percent think about death every day than any other generation compared to

twenty nine percent of millennials, twenty one percent of Gen Z, and fourteen

percent of boomers. You see, there is more death that is riddled today

than ever before. And you've you ever thought and put together and thought to

yourself. As the world continues, at least in America, to draw further

and further away from Christ, would it not be a cool incidents that the

generation is also getting closer and closer to thoughts of death. It just so

happens to be coincidental. You see. What happens is we know this if

I got to have a page that I can ride on, this is what

we know passage we read John ten ten, which is what our church revolves

around. It says that the enemy comes to steal. So we want to

look at these three things real quick. Steal, kill and destroy. As

Jesus says, I came. You may have life and have it abundantly.

But here's what happens. This is this is the Greek terminology for what Jesus

said when he said abundant life. He said parissas zoe zoe meaning life,

Paris sas meaning what we use in English as abundant. But it's that's that's

not really accurate because a lot of stuff in Greek, which we've talked about

before, it has bigger images and parallels that not only that words can't always

contain because sometimes it symbolizes something. So we've talked about before that sin means

to miss the mark, but it actually meant like an archer missing a mark

of an arrow, or a soldier with a slingshot missing the mark of hitting

a target. And so it's less of the word and it's more about the

picture that it entails is what to work. So when you're translating that into

English, it is sometimes hard because you kind of just have to know the

cultural image it's trying to portray. Paris sauce is one of those cultural images

it's trying to portray. So what would that mean? Usually if you use

paris sauce, it's usually after a statement or a word that you just said,

and you're trying to exclaim how it's the greatest version of the best side

of things that that could be. So if I were if you were filling

up your gas tank and the thing clicked off, and I said, are

you full? You would say, yes, I'm full. But if I

came and I clicked it more and it sat there for another two minutes,

and now it begins to overflow, I would say, now it's pariss us.

Now it's the greatest version of what that could be. That's what that

could be. And so we have to ask ourselves, what did Jesus just

say and what is supposed to be the greatest version of what it could be?

So Jesus just gave us it. He said, the enemy comes to

steal, kill, and destroy. He said, I came that I may

give you a life? What greater than the other words that I just proceeded

with. So what you're supposed to do is actually give us the opposite of

whatever these words are, and the greatest form of those words. So the

zoey we know is just life. But what we would say is abundance.

Here is really just It's meant to say, whatever those three words are,

take the greatest form of that word of what that could be. So so

what is the greatest word and what is the greatest opposite that you could stay

for? Steel, give or also generous generosity. I experience generosity sometimes at

at Chipotle. Sometimes I get someone that's willing to be generous in the scoops

of chicken, and I've learned. I know that they're supposed to fill that

little baby spoon. But when that guy looks up at me and gives me

a little wink and he gives me a double scoop no charge, I'm thinking

this is generosity at its finest. When I go to McDonald's and I say,

can I get an extra barbecue sauce and they say, normally is fifty

cents, but today it's on me. I think you've given me something,

something generous. So then you take kill. What's the greatest form of the

opposite of kill? Life? But here's the thing. Is kill something that's

done over time, or is killing that's done in an action. It's a

verb. It's not something that exists. You can't you can't keep killing something

when it when it's killed, it means it's killed. It's an active verb.

So therefore life is not an active verb. But you want to know

what is living? That's something that's continually active. And then you come over

here and I mean, this one is an obvious one. What is the

opposite of the greatest form of destroy? Y'all are smart. You guys all

got masters of vinities today. So when Jesus says John ten ten, the

enemy comes to steal, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.

And I came that you may have life and have it what you may have

life generously living to be built, which means Jesus has a desire to build

your life generously. That is greater than the term abundance. So when we

say as a church we're abundant living family church, we are a church where

Jesus is building our lives daily because it's living. It's an active verb,

living generously more than I deserve, more than what the world is giving me,

because the world gives in a way, so long as you give back.

I want you to think about the things that you take advantage of that

give you something, and I want you to imagine you stop paying for those

things. How often do those things keep continuing to give back? But Jesus

gives generously, building with no strings attached. One of the most beautiful ways

with some of the moments we have that Jesus begins to tell us you know

Smith wiggles Worst, which is one of the greatest revivalists. Smith wiggles Works

once told us this. He said, this blessed book brings such life and

health and peace and such an abundance that we should never be poor anymore.

It's found in a relationship with Christ, and it's found in Jesus that we

will never be poor or more. We will be abundant in what in life.

And see what happens is is Jesus gives us a beautiful parallel. He

really breaks it down for us because Jesus talks about this active living quite often.

And one of the most famous stories, one of the most famous passages

that Jesus gives us concerning living in abundance is the famous passage in John chapter

five concerning the woman at the well. And I just want us to see

a few moments and hopefully radically change our perspective of what Jesus was saying when

he was speaking to this woman at the well. It says this in John

chapter four, verse seven, a woman from Samaria came to draw water.

Jesus said to her, give me a drink, for his disciples had gone

away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him,

how is it that you, a Jew ask for a drink from me,

a woman of Samaria, For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered

her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is

saying to you give me a drink, you would have asked him and he

would have given you living what n The woman said to him, Sir,

you have nothing to draw wa with, and the well is deep. Where

do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob?

He gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons

and his livestocks. And Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this

water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will

give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him

will become in him a spring of water that's welling up for eternal life.

The woman said to him, Sir, her, give me this water so

that I will not be thirsty or have to come draw water again. Let's

break this down. You know. One of the things he begins to do

is he does give her some living water. A lot of us, A

lot of us miss the part where he does at one point give her some

living water in her life, and some of it leads to her salvation,

which means she goes back to her city and she tells everyone about the goodness

of Christ. A lot of us won't understand what sometimes God's living water looks

like. So Jesus offers her living water, and you want to know the

way that he does it is he says, you have been looking for purpose

by having five husbands ex husbands, and you're currently living with a man that's

not your husband. She says, sir, I'll perceive you're a prophet,

and he says, oh, I'm more than that, because what he was

pointing out to her is he was pointing out to her, if you want

some living water, I'm wis start giving you some living water. And this

living water ain't always exactly because hear how it starts. This is we're we're

gonna break it down. A lot of us missed a moment, and we

think that when he says living water, he's just talking about some spiritual component.

But if it was just spiritual, the woman wouldn't have understood it.

She did understand it because she said, give me some of that. So

it wasn't so spiritually elusive that she didn't know what he was saying. What

would happen is is oftentimes a lot of times you would have a well or

a reservoir. If you ever go into Israel' you'll see a lot of reservoirs.

They built them all the time in Israel. And so these reservoirs or

these wells would often fill up either during a rain season or they would detract

something to be able to fill it up. But the thing was is number

one, the wells were not always full of water, and sometimes the well

would dry up and they would have to build a new well, unless you

were particularly blessed, and you were like the people of Jerusalem. Because these

were Samaritans, they were held in a certain location and they were ostracized by

the Israeli people, and so they weren't allowed to really freely go up to

Israel, so much so that the Israelis hated the Jews hated Samaritans so much

that if there was a closer way to get where they were going but they

had to pass a Samaritan village, they would double their travel time just to

avoid those people as much. They didn't like them. So if you were

blessed and you were Jewish. There's two areas in regions that have living water,

ones in Jerusalem and ones in Galilee. Both have sources to the snow

capped mountains in the northern side of Israel and the southern side of Lebanon.

So there were water springs that traveled twenty four hours a day, seven days

a week because they were connected to a source that was feeding it water every

single day. You see, if someone had water that was connected to a

source, it was known that they had access to living water. So she

thought Jesus as a prophet, was telling her about a secret place that was

connected to a mountain that no one in Samaria had ever heard about. So

he thought he was bringing her into a living water or place where they didn't

have to be cautious around a well that would run dry, where she would

continuously have to control them a ount of water that they drink so that it

wouldn't run dry, or they would have to pray for rain so that it

wouldn't run dry. Instead, there was a source it was connected to that

funneled water. That's what Jerusalem had it had a watering source that funneled every

day all day, and so what would happen is is we have springs like

this, This would be known as a living water spring. And so what

happens is is water like this we know if you ever see National Geographic or

anything like that, this is pretty pure drinking water. And you want to

know why it's pretty pure drinking water? Number One, because it's coming from

snow capped mountains and the snow has melted. The snow came from the sky,

and by time it's traveled to where you were at, it has passed

enough rocks, and the rocks have filtered the water, so it's taken out

all of the impurities. But what they'll say is they'll say, if you

ever come to an area of water in a forest, if you cannot see

a spring leading up to it, you cannot drink from it. You need

some type of filter because there's gonna be bacteria that develop in it. There

are gonna be animals that are drinking out of that, and they're gonna leave

stuff. There are animals who are gonna lay droppings in it. And if

there is not living water to wash all of that stuff away, then the

bacteria is gonna build up. And so this is where this woman found herself.

I got my little bathtub right here. Everyone who likes baths, Oh,

that's a cozy bath right here. How many of you guys think how

many baths can I take before I have to refill this water? How many?

How many baths you think I could take? For I got to refill

this water and they got refilling, then what I'd have to fill it back

up again? I mean, we don't really do that in our life.

I mean, how many times do we sit in bathtubs and we bring our

junk and we sit in it, and we roll around it, and then

we and then we come back for more. On a daily basis, we

continually find ourselves in these places where all this bacteria. What would happen if

I took a bath here for six days in a row, and then on

the seventh day, I was really thirsty and I went and got a cup

and I drank out of that water. What would happen if I offered you

some of that drinking water. You're taking a lot of water from all of

your friends. You're taking a lot of water from YouTube. We're taking a

lot of water from that guru. We're taking a lot of water from those

teachings, and then we wonder why we're sick while we're depressed, and then

all we think to ourselves, Okay, well I just won't sleep there again.

I didn't like that guru. That guru feled me, or that might

say bad. I'll just go on YouTube and I'll find a new one and

I'll build another bathtub. So in your life, you got like sixty bathtubs

because you keep dirty in one bathtub after another and you don't want to empty

it. You don't want to clean this. So I'll just build a new

bathtub. Let's go lay in a new bathtub. Oh I didn't like that

guy. That guy was a jerk, That guy was dirty, that guy

was trash. So let me just build a new bathtub, get a new

guy, get a new girl. And so when Jesus tells the woman I

am living water, what he's saying is, you know that you can bathe

in a spring and you can drink in it at the same time. Because

the moment you sit in that it is pushing all of your impurities downstream.

And so a scoop of the water right next to you ain't the same water

that you're bathing in in that moment. So you know that if you're in

a living water spring, you can both bathe and drink at the same time.

In other words, do you know that when you truly live an abundant

life with Christ, where He gives you living water, you can both go

to him to be cleansed of your impurities, but you can also drink and

get purpose for your life, and you can get clarity for your life.

You know you don't have to be perfect when God can start speaking to you,

because if he's living water, it means that you could bathe and drink

in the same place. But with all these other philosophies and mindsets you're drinking

from where you're bathing, this is a dangerous place. Let me see if

I can get out. This is really hard plastic bat that we can get

in time, you see, So I want us to see this. Here's

what we know. Water that has been purified to a point that all of

the minerals are taken out. We call that dead water. So things like

disaunty and things like all the other nestly things like pure life water and all

those water. Those things have been distilled to a point that there is nothing

living in it anymore. So they call that dead water. How many of

you guys don't like drinking arrowhead water? You know why you don't like drinking

arrowhead water is because you're tasting the dirt from arrowhead. It's the minerals.

You don't like the taste of the living water. You don't like the taste

of the minerals. That's what it is. You're used to drinking dead water

that the taste of living water goes man, Dude, this taste nasty because

living water takes in a custom. Living water takes acclamation. You can't just

figure out living water, but you can figure out dead water because it has

nothing to give. There's nothing to offer. So we have to ask ourselves

with these final moments, where do we stand in our relationship with Christ?

Do we want to be abundantly living or do we want to be dead water?

Because an abundant living you have a blessing where you are wired to the

source. You're connected to the source. So a relationship with Christ and investment

in Christ, a pursuit of Christ, means that you have the source whenever

you need it however you need it. You have access to God. You

are directly tied to the source. That's what living water was. Jesus was

saying, untied to the source, my father in heaven. And so he

said, if you knew who was standing in front of you, you would

give your life to me because I have access to the source and in me

as a spring what of eternal life. So when we connect with this living

water and this living life, we are wired to the source. The next

one is we become wanting of fruitful lives. You know, you could tell

water is near when things start growing. All these rains recently happened. Pastor

Diego shared last week, and all of a sudden, all these flowers started

blooming that we didn't know flowers were at. Fruit start coming where we don't

know. Fruit is that because when something has access to water, it just

starts growing. So we start living fruitful lives. The closer we get to

the water source, the closer we start consuming this water, then we start

growing. The next thing is is what happens is is then you become to

a place our church's name is we begin to water our families. In other

words, you become overflowing when you're connected to the source. You know,

if you get a bucket and you go to a spring, you can just

keep scooping and scooping and scooping, and you won't get to the end of

that. But if I take you to this bathtub and you keep scooping,

and you keep scooping, you will get to the end of it. And

then you'll go online and your search for a new thing and a new bathtub,

and a new purpose and a new this because you keep getting to the

end of the water. So we become overflowing and we start watering others around

us, our families, our community, people around us, because why we're

living in abundance more than we're exceeding all of those areas. And then the

last thing is is when we're connected to the source, we're bunnet living.

It washes waiste away. That's what Jesus did with the woman at the well.

He didn't read her mail to embarrass her. He read her mail to

wash her waiste. He said, I just want you to know I know

about your five ex husbands. I know every time one husband didn't work,

you win and got a new one. I know when that husband didn't work,

you win and got a new one. I know, when that husband

didn't work, you win and got a new one. And then at this

point you're not even believing in marriage. You now just have a boyfriend.

He's like, I know about that, but he's saying, I can wash

that waste away, because a living spring can wash contaminantes away, and he

purifies us and he cleanses. The last one is or we live in a

place that's full of dead water. Dead water breeds a place for basic desires,

becomes just material things, material probs. I know what I'm missing.

Our family is missing a boat. If we could get a boat and we

could go to the river, I think our marriage will be better. I

think the kids will be better. I think have we not done that before,

found ourselves in some way, shape or form something like that. I

know it's a basic desire, so that we know in our heart, we

know it ain't gonna fix it. Will it be fun? It may be

healthy for your family, Yeah maybe, but we know it's basic at the

end of the day, and then it breeds. Bad habits we start to

develop. We had deadwater, we develop bad habits for our life. Bad

habits, bad bad relationships, bad friendships, everything like that. We start

burning bridges. If we start looking at people for people as sources to give

us life and not Jesus, then what happens is when someone fails you,

when someone hurts you, when someone doesn't live up to your expressions or your

desires, what do we start doing. We start burning the bridges. You

didn't give me what I needed, you didn't fill my bathtub. And so

we start viewing people as sources rather and relationships. So if that person is

going to be my source, then yeah, it is gonna let you down.

It is gonna be hard. And the last thing is is it does

start breaking. Relationships. Starts breaking relationships. Marriages get into trouble because their

marriage has pursued dead water. People get into trouble. We get into trouble

because we have fallen into a place of dead water. And so marriages and

relationships and friendships they all start breaking. Workplace starts breaking. We think to

ourselves, as long as I just in these friendships at this job, or

I leave this job, then I think it'll figure out over here. Because

we're viewing things as places where we find source and health and happiness, and

can those things be parts of things that God will use to build your life.

Sure, but it cannot be your source. Cannot be your source.

Living water needs to being our source. And so when we say abundant,

Living Family Church, we are saying that we pursue Jesus in a way where

he build our life generously and actively every single day. He is the living

Word, he is living water, and he is a source in a spring

that you and I can draw from every single day. So when you find

yourselves going into a mindset that is robbing you, stealing you, killing you,

and destroying you, just know that you have a shepherd that is looking

to give you a zoe abundant life. That's Jesus's desire. Let's pray this

morning. God, we thank you Lord, as we've gathered here today.

Father God, we thank you that you have encouraged us, Lord to live

an abundant mindset. Father God, may we walk out of here Lord truly

reflecting on who the sources of our life is. If we're at a place

that we need to make a heart check to know that we've been looking for

it in all the wrong directions, and we've been trying to find life in

all the wrong areas. May you help us and give us the strength to

make the decisions we need to pursue You, Lord Jesus, we thank you

that you are our good shepherd and you are our source of living water.

May we not take that for granted that every single day we have a spring

that's next to us that we can draw fun. We thank you that we

can bathe and drink in the same place we can find cleansing, and we

can also consume and hear your voice at the same time. We thank you

Lord in Jesus name, Amen and Amen. We really hope you enjoyed the

message, and if you said yes to Jesus, we just want to say

congratulations and give you a free devotional to help you walk out your faith.

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