Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to the Karma Chaj podcast.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: Can we stay standing for just a moment?
I hope you aren't tired of me yet. I think this is my third time with you this year, so I think you're seeing me more than the local church that I'm leading at sees me at this point.
I'm kidding, obviously, but it's great to be back with you. Can we just take a moment and pray?
Close our eyes, lift our hands, remind ourselves that we are first and foremost here for God.
Lord, we love you. We ask that heaven would be present this afternoon, that you would come and abide with us, that you would come and dwell with us. Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, we ask that you would reveal Jesus to us, that you would open the scriptures that we might comprehend them.
Thank you, Holy Spirit, Come and have your way in this service.
Meet each one of us. Holy Spirit, we ask that we wouldn't leave here the same.
We come as hungry children in need of bread this afternoon.
In Jesus name. Amen.
You can be seated if you have your Bibles. We're going to read a lot of scripture as per usual, but we can turn to John, chapter four.
When I was praying for Cromer Church in this community, I felt like God was saying that he was instilling a greater boldness into this community.
And it was quite interesting that Emily actually opened with that idea of God bringing boldness into this community. And I sense that God is calling us into dreaming bigger than just for ourselves, but for our community and our neighborhoods and the people around us, which can actually be quite scary at times because at times, unfortunately, our Christian walks can become about us. So what does it look like to dream bigger than ourselves? What do I mean by that? Most of us in the room, if we're pursuing healing in our faith journey, it's because we struggling with sickness or somebody close to us is struggling with sickness, or if we're pursuing greater breakthrough with finances, it's because I need a breakthrough in finances or my family needs a breakthrough in finances. The problem with that is the moment that you and your family are doing well, you no longer need God.
So my Christian walk and my need for God is based on my lack. So when I'm doing well, I no longer need him, which means it's actually dangerous for you to flourish because then you aren't going to need God anymore.
Are you with me so far? So what I'm saying is the Christian walk is actually, you might be doing really well financially, but is your neighbor doing well?
What about somebody in this Community. Is everybody thriving financially? What about sickness? You might be in great health. I might be in great health. But is the whole body of Christ in great health?
Because if we really believe we're one body, it would mean if somebody else is affected, that's affecting me.
See, Common day would teach me. It's all about me. But what Paul actually, I think this is fascinating. Freedom looks very different to us as believers. Paul writes this in Galatians. He says, don't use your freedom as opportunity to the flesh, but use it to serve one another in love.
See, freedom to us actually looks like loving others.
Freedom in our kingdom looks like not obeying the flesh to the world. Freedom is do whatever you desire. To us, freedom is crucify the flesh and do what the Spirit desires.
To the world. Freedom is saying whatever is on your mind.
To a believer, freedom is the one who can tame his tongue when he's being falsely accused and keeps quiet.
Freedom looks very different to us. I often think about this in Acts chapter two, when we all want revival. But when you really take a moment and look at what revival is, I need God's help to want revival.
What do I mean by that? Like, revival looked like we all sell everything we have and give it to people in lack.
So that no one was in lack. No, everyone gave their stuff away, so
[00:03:51] Speaker C: no one was in lack. That means the person you think doesn't
[00:03:54] Speaker B: deserve what you have because they aren't
[00:03:55] Speaker C: working as hard, still get some of
[00:03:56] Speaker B: what you have, still want revival.
Pretty costly, am I right? Like people in your house, People are
[00:04:05] Speaker C: getting your stuff, which they don't deserve because you worked harder and he's not working as hard. But somehow he still gets some of your stuff.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: It sounds a lot like God's grace.
They don't deserve it.
[00:04:18] Speaker C: Did I deserve his love?
So I think that's where God's calling us into.
[00:04:25] Speaker B: Let's get into John chapter four, because I got a bit ahead of myself and some of your eyes are awfully wide. So it's okay. Let's go on a journey together. I love this passage here in John chapter four. I'll show you a little bit of what's happening. But Jesus is walking with his 12 disciples in the desert on this journey. And it comes up in verse six where it says, in John chapter four, verse six. Now, Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied from his journey,
[00:04:52] Speaker C: sat by the well.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: It was about the sixth hour. And firstly, this is important for where we'll go later.
[00:04:57] Speaker C: This is one of the Verses that
[00:04:58] Speaker B: really shows the humanity of Jesus.
Romans chapter 8, verse 3 says that Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh, meaning that he put on humanity. He never gave up his divinity, but he put on humanity. This is an example. Why? Because God in heaven has never experienced being weary before.
Right? God doesn't get tired, but. But Jesus gets tired. Why? Because he's put on humanity.
[00:05:24] Speaker C: Which actually shows, if you really get into this, it's the humility of Christ
[00:05:28] Speaker B: that for you and I, the God that made us would experience being weary
[00:05:31] Speaker C: because he had to become a man
[00:05:32] Speaker B: to die for humanity.
So he gets tired. God himself getting tired and needing to rest. And then the other part of the verse that's quite unique is that the author John mentions the time of the day. It was the sixth hour, which how they would keep track of time. That would mean it's noon. So it's the desert. It's the hottest time of the day.
He's saying that for a reason. Because no one would go to get water from the well in the desert at the hottest time of the day.
All the women would go to collect
[00:05:58] Speaker C: water for their families, either in the
[00:06:00] Speaker B: morning or in the evening at the coolest times of the day.
[00:06:03] Speaker C: So John's recording that for a purpose. Because Jesus sits down at the well, and no one else should be at
[00:06:08] Speaker B: the well, given the time that he sits down to rest there. His disciples go in to get food.
[00:06:13] Speaker C: But he isn't alone, because a woman
[00:06:15] Speaker B: approaches the well and says, give me a drink.
[00:06:18] Speaker C: Now we know why this woman's coming at this time. Later on in the passage, we find out that this woman has had five husbands and she's on number six, which
[00:06:27] Speaker B: in culture, if she had cheated on five men, she would have been killed or stoned for that.
[00:06:31] Speaker C: So what that shows us is that five minutes rejected her.
[00:06:35] Speaker B: So she would have become an outcast in society.
[00:06:38] Speaker C: And now she's on her sixth man, which is not her husband.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: So she's living an immoral life.
[00:06:42] Speaker C: And because of the shame that she has, she is now hiding from society,
[00:06:46] Speaker B: she's hiding from community.
[00:06:48] Speaker C: Sounds an awful.
[00:06:49] Speaker B: An awfully lot like Genesis, chapter one,
[00:06:53] Speaker C: Adam and Eve, sin. What is the automatic response?
[00:06:56] Speaker B: You hide from God, you hide, and
[00:06:59] Speaker C: it's still the same thing. You could be in church, but when you have shame and condemnation, you hide
[00:07:02] Speaker B: from those around you and you push those who love you away because you
[00:07:07] Speaker C: subconsciously think, if they really knew me,
[00:07:09] Speaker B: they wouldn't want me.
That's what shame teaches us.
[00:07:12] Speaker C: So this woman is Bound by the
[00:07:14] Speaker B: fear of man, she's rejected.
[00:07:16] Speaker C: She's hiding from society.
[00:07:17] Speaker B: She's living an isolated life. And she shows up to the well like she would every day to collect water. Not wanting to be seen or talked to anyone, she shows up.
[00:07:25] Speaker C: But today is a little different because
[00:07:27] Speaker B: there's a gentleman at the well, and
[00:07:29] Speaker C: this gentleman, who we know is Jesus,
[00:07:31] Speaker B: she has no idea, begins to speak to her. Now in her mind, he clearly isn't from town because if he was from town, he wouldn't be speaking to her.
Given her lifestyle and testimony, men would have certainly not talked to her in public.
Are you with me so far?
[00:07:46] Speaker C: So this man speaks to her and
[00:07:47] Speaker B: says, hey, can you give me a drink?
[00:07:49] Speaker C: And she says she actually has no idea. She goes, you don't even have a bucket or anything to get water with. And the well, it's quite deep. How are you going to get water? And he goes, verse 10. If you knew the gift of God, who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him, and
[00:08:02] Speaker B: he would have given you living water.
[00:08:04] Speaker C: So Jesus doubles down again here. He says, sir, you have nothing to draw with. Verse 13. Jesus says, Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks the water I shall give him will never thirst, but the water I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. I love this, that verse number one, because you receive the water and then it begins to become water that others can receive from.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: What a powerful picture. It doesn't just stop with her. The water in you will become one into everlasting life.
[00:08:35] Speaker C: So I love this idea. And then she goes, okay, sir, give me this water. I love this because Jesus is convincing her. I think we think it's a powerful
[00:08:43] Speaker B: verse because we're like, oh, it's so special. Jesus is like, come to me and
[00:08:46] Speaker C: you never thirst again. She doesn't know it's Jesus.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: She's probably kind of weirded out by that statement, right?
[00:08:52] Speaker C: If you were drinking water and a guy approaches you and goes, hey, if you drink that again, you're going to thirst. But if you drink this, you'll never thirst.
Can we agree? It's a strange thing to say. We like, no, it's powerful. She doesn't know it's our Lord and Savior.
So eventually Jesus is like, no, really, you should ask me. And I think this is me reading into the text. I think she sarcastically goes, okay, give me the living water, because what is living water? She doesn't even know it's not even a thing. Give it to me. I'll never thirst again. I never have to come back here. Great. I don't want to come here anyway, so give me this living water. She finally buys into what Jesus is offering her.
And I call the savage Jesus. Jesus goes, okay, you can have the living water. Go and get your husband.
[00:09:33] Speaker B: And she's like, I actually don't have a husband.
[00:09:35] Speaker C: Jesus is like, that's right, you've had
[00:09:37] Speaker B: five, and you're on number six.
I'm like, Jesus, like, hey, like, love. And like, hey, like, let's not judge the woman like that.
[00:09:46] Speaker C: But in reality, this is the love encounter. Because the whole time she would be thinking, this man is speaking to me because he doesn't know who I am.
This man is loving me because he doesn't know what I've done.
He's offering me this gift that's too good to be true because he doesn't know my past.
And she goes, okay, give it to me. And in that moment, she would have realized, wait, he knew everything about me and still offered me this gift that
[00:10:12] Speaker B: I could never earn.
[00:10:14] Speaker C: I think in this moment she realizes the love that Christ has for her and everything changes for her in one moment of experiencing how God sees her. And we'll come back to that. But can I tell you, when you realize how God sees you, it changes everything.
I believe that's what God is restoring to you and I. If you can see how loved you are by God, it will change every part of your life. I remember for me, growing up in the church, I never knew how loved I was by God. And when you don't know how loved you are by God or how God sees you, you live condemned. You would never want to share your faith with anyone.
Here's one thing I think about often. We all talk about how good God is. It's like God is good all the time.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Almost went into a forest Frank song for you right there.
[00:11:03] Speaker C: But the reality is, if God is as good as we say he is, why do we have to be convinced to share him?
Just me. Or something's not adding up.
Like when you had your favorite new restaurant. No one had to tell you to share that, but you couldn't shut up about it.
But the God of the universe is so great, but I'm not called to share him.
Something's not adding up here. I remember for me, growing up in the church, I would never want to share my faith because I myself wasn't enjoying it. Until I saw how God. Until I realized how God saw me. And I want to show you the
[00:11:37] Speaker B: verse that changed everything for me. Firstly, let's turn to James chapter one.
I want to build a little bit of a point here before we do that. Right after Hebrews, James chapter one.
And then we're going to read the verse. It really changed everything for me.
James chapter 1, verse 13 says this.
[00:11:56] Speaker C: Let no one say when he is tempted. I'm tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil,
[00:12:01] Speaker B: nor does he tempt anyone with evil.
Okay, God cannot be tempted by evil. Turn back to Hebrews chapter four, a few pages to your left. Hebrews chapter four.
I love hearing Bible pages turned.
Hebrews chapter four, verse 15.
[00:12:23] Speaker C: We do not have a high priest
[00:12:24] Speaker B: who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but
[00:12:27] Speaker C: was in all points tempted as we
[00:12:29] Speaker B: are, yet without sin.
You see the contradiction straight away. James says God cannot be tempted. Hebrews says Jesus was tempted in every way.
[00:12:37] Speaker C: What's the point that I'm trying to
[00:12:38] Speaker B: make is that when Jesus came in a human body in the likeness of sinful flesh, he gave up some of his godly rights.
[00:12:45] Speaker C: He never took off divinity, but he
[00:12:48] Speaker B: put on humanity 100% God, 100% man. He experiences temptation. He would have never experienced temptation before, but he experiences it for you and I.
[00:12:57] Speaker C: What's beautiful about this verse is, number
[00:12:59] Speaker B: one, temptation isn't sin.
He was tempted in every way, yet
[00:13:04] Speaker C: without sin, many of us beat ourselves up for just having a thought. That thought is not sin until you
[00:13:09] Speaker B: choose to partner with the thought.
So he was tempted in every way.
[00:13:14] Speaker C: We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with us. What that means is in your worst moment of temptation, God's not looking down
[00:13:20] Speaker B: at you saying, how dare you?
He actually knows what it's like to feel tempted and feel weak and in need of God.
[00:13:29] Speaker C: Matthew chapter 4. When he comes out of the desert,
[00:13:31] Speaker B: he's so tired from fasting and being
[00:13:33] Speaker C: attacked that angels have to help him out of the desert.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: You have a high priest who can sympathize with your weakness.
[00:13:44] Speaker C: But this verse shows us 100% God, 100% man. He had to come in the likeness
[00:13:49] Speaker B: of a man to die in our place.
[00:13:53] Speaker C: One of the early Church fathers said this. The apologetic of our faith is the cross, meaning the defence of the Christian faith is the cross. Because who makes up a religion where
[00:14:02] Speaker B: God dies at the hands of his creation?
[00:14:07] Speaker C: Every other belief is how powerful their God is and ours is too. But power looks like humility.
[00:14:13] Speaker B: In our religion, power looks like surrender. What other religion does power look like? Surrender.
[00:14:20] Speaker C: Second Corinthians 5.
[00:14:21] Speaker B: This is the verse that I'm building up to that changed everything for me.
[00:14:27] Speaker C: I remember the first time I ever preached.
[00:14:29] Speaker B: I'm a pastor's kid, so I'd been asking my dad if I could preach
[00:14:32] Speaker C: for a long time through my teenage years.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: He always was very wise and said no because I was barely walking with the Lord. But I was always like, I want to preach. People ask me all the time, like, what was it like not wanting to preach? And God called you. I was like, I always wanted to preach.
[00:14:45] Speaker C: Give me a mic.
And I remember the first time I
[00:14:49] Speaker B: got to preach, and there's a picture of it on my Instagram somewhere. I was wearing red skinny jeans that were rolled up toms, a tucked in flannel shirt. Not much has changed with the flannel, but it was like all different colors.
[00:15:00] Speaker C: And I remember studying to preach in the first 30 minutes of my sermon
[00:15:04] Speaker B: prep was just finding my Bible because I still wasn't really walking with the Lord.
[00:15:08] Speaker C: So I blow the dust off my Bible.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: I turn to the red letters because I know that's more exciting than the black letters. I grew up in church. I'm reading the red letters and I come across this word righteousness. And I'm like, I have no idea
[00:15:19] Speaker C: what it means, but it sounds like
[00:15:20] Speaker B: something my dad would say in church, in a sermon.
[00:15:23] Speaker C: So I Google it. What does righteousness mean?
[00:15:25] Speaker B: It means to be right with God. So I take out a fresh notebook, because how many of you know when God is speaking you need a fresh notebook? Some of you have like 15 notebooks with one page used.
So I take out my fresh notebook
[00:15:36] Speaker C: and I'm like writing out righteous what it means.
[00:15:38] Speaker B: I'm crafting the sermon and it's like, go to church, pray. Go to Wednesday night prayer meetings, outreach.
[00:15:44] Speaker C: And now I look back and I'm like, God, I pray.
[00:15:46] Speaker B: You blocked everyone's ears during that sermon
[00:15:48] Speaker C: because it showed how incorrect my view
[00:15:50] Speaker B: of what righteousness was.
[00:15:51] Speaker C: And then I came across this verse.
[00:15:53] Speaker B: It began to change everything for me. In verse 21 second Corinthians 5.
[00:15:58] Speaker C: For God made him who knew no
[00:16:00] Speaker B: sin to be sin for us, that
[00:16:02] Speaker C: we might become the righteousness of God in him.
For God made him who knew no sin to be sinful. So he's tempted in every way, yet without sin when he dies on the cross.
When we see the crucified Lord, we should see our sin crucified in him and our sickness crucified in him. When he died on the cross, he took your sin and he died with your sin on the cross. He who knew no sin became sin.
But in return, you and I get an exchange. He takes our sin and we take his right standing, his righteousness. Which means it's like, think about this. Hypothetically. If you could live a perfectly right life, it's impossible. We've all sinned and fallen short. If you could, it would only equal his righteousness. You couldn't surpass it.
Right? Because he's perfect. So think about this. His perfection never made a mistake. I get his right standing with God, he gets my sin. Which means that if you've accepted Jesus Christ and you're in this room, it would be impossible for you to be more right with God than you are right now.
Because how can you be more right with God than Jesus was?
And that's the righteousness that's been imputed to you. Now the question becomes is, how did Jesus become sin?
Did he have to sin to become sin?
[00:17:17] Speaker B: No.
[00:17:18] Speaker C: Did he have to partake in the action of sin to become sin?
[00:17:22] Speaker B: No.
[00:17:22] Speaker C: Yet somehow he becomes sin on the cross. How was it his actions? Did he partake in it? No, of course not. So how did he become sin? The scripture says God made him who knew no sin to become sin.
So here's my question for you. If Jesus didn't have to sin to become sin, why do you think you
[00:17:39] Speaker B: have to act righteous to become righteous?
[00:17:49] Speaker C: Galatians 2:21 says this.
If right standing comes through what you
[00:17:57] Speaker B: do, then Christ died in vain.
That's a very humbling verse.
[00:18:04] Speaker C: Meaning this. If right standing with God comes to what I do, I'm saying Christ didn't need to die.
I ask you this today. Was his sacrifice enough?
Or does he need your church attendance plus his sacrifice, Bible reading plus his sacrifice. Think about what you're communicating, Jesus. I sinned and messed up last week. I did some things I shouldn't have done. I feel better about what I did when I go to church. Meaning your sacrifice plus my attendance is good enough.
Your sacrifice isn't enough.
I'll help you, God. That's not humility, that's pride.
Telling God his sacrifice wasn't enough is not humility.
If I go out to eat with
[00:18:46] Speaker B: Jake, maybe who was playing drums and did that beautiful remix of that last song with adding some drums to wasn't him.
[00:18:55] Speaker C: But if I go out to eat with Jake, think about this. I go out to eat like I want to get Nando's later.
[00:19:00] Speaker B: So I'M like, jake, let's go to Nando's.
[00:19:03] Speaker C: And we get to Nando's, and the bill comes at the end. And I'm like, jake, I'm gonna pay for it. He's like, nope, it's on me. I'm like, okay. In the beginning, it's good manners to
[00:19:12] Speaker B: be like, I'm gonna pay, right?
[00:19:14] Speaker C: He goes, no, I'm getting it.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: It's a gift. I'm like, okay, I'll.
[00:19:17] Speaker C: I'll pay you back.
[00:19:18] Speaker B: He's like, no, it's a gift.
[00:19:19] Speaker C: I'm like, no, I'll pay you back.
He pays for it three months from now. I'm like, hey, Jake, I'll. I'll pay you back for that. Nando's. He's like, bro, it was a gift. I'm like, no, I'll pay you back a year from now. I'm like, hey, I'll pay you back. How many know eventually? Me trying to pay for something that's already been paid? That's not humility. That's pride.
But we do the same thing with our sin.
I'll pay for that. It's like, bro, it's already been paid for. Get over yourself.
Humility is like, hey, God, I don't understand how you would die for me. Like, people say what you're preaching is too good to be true. I'm like, I agree. God becoming a man and dying in my place is a lot.
If I'm ever like, that makes sense.
[00:20:02] Speaker B: I probably lost it.
[00:20:03] Speaker C: Like, it should be overwhelming to me, but I'm like, I'm as humility as I got. I don't understand. Show me how much you love me.
This is not about what I can do. See why this is so important? This is not something that we graduate from. But unfortunately, at times we have.
[00:20:18] Speaker B: But we shouldn't.
[00:20:19] Speaker C: Because what is Proverbs 28:1 says this.
[00:20:22] Speaker B: If you can turn me to Proverbs 28:1.
[00:20:34] Speaker C: Proverbs 28:1. The wicked flee when no one pursues them.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: But the righteous are as bold as a lion.
[00:20:41] Speaker C: See, why am I preaching righteousness connected to boldness? Because we thought that boldness is a personality type.
That's a lie.
Boldness doesn't come from your personality type. Boldness comes from an understanding of your right standing with God.
When you see how God sees you, you stop caring what people think here.
You know why we so controlled by people's opinions? Because we're looking for affirmation from them. Because we've forgotten how God sees us.
When I forget how God sees me now. I need you to affirm me. I have to find my identity somewhere.
So if it's not in God now, it becomes from people.
You can be shy, but bold. It's not about introvert, extrovert. It's about knowing you are loved.
And when I know I'm loved by him, why would I put your rejection above his acceptance?
And I'm not saying we shouldn't care what people think. Of course you should care. Like, if everyone thinks you're unloving and unkind, that's probably a problem.
[00:21:45] Speaker B: But we shouldn't be controlled.
Turn me to First Corinthians, chapter four. I think this is a powerful passage.
The righteous are as bold as lions. God is calling us to be bold again.
The righteous are as bold as lions.
[00:22:07] Speaker C: I love this passage because it shows
[00:22:08] Speaker B: me, if it was possible for Paul, God can do it in my life too.
Paul says this in 1st Corinthians 4. 3.
[00:22:18] Speaker C: But with me, it's a very small
[00:22:20] Speaker B: thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court.
In fact, I do not even judge myself, for I know I have nothing against myself, yet I'm not justified by this.
He who judges me is the Lord.
He who judges me is the Lord.
[00:22:38] Speaker C: I use this analogy of the courtrooms
[00:22:40] Speaker B: in the mind, the courtrooms in the mind. What do you have in a courtroom? You have an accuser and you have a defendant.
And Paul firstly says, hey, it's a very small thing that I should be judged by you. Meaning he's free from people's opinions.
See, many of us live in the courtroom in the mind of people's opinions.
[00:22:58] Speaker C: Meaning we walk into a room and all we can think about is we're defending ourselves from what people might think about us.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: We walk into a room and our
[00:23:05] Speaker C: first thought is, what are they thinking about me?
[00:23:07] Speaker B: What are they thinking about how I'm dressed? We leave a conversation, what are they thinking about what I said?
[00:23:11] Speaker C: And in our minds, we constantly defending ourselves to everyone around us. The issue with that is we don't even know if the opinions we think they're having are true or not.
[00:23:20] Speaker B: You ever been there before where you
[00:23:23] Speaker C: think everyone's having these thoughts about you and you start to live a certain
[00:23:26] Speaker B: way, and it's actually not even true.
You know, they did a test. I forget the exact things, where they
[00:23:32] Speaker C: took a group of people and put,
[00:23:34] Speaker B: like, a sticker on their head, and they told them they were writing all these, like, insults on their forehead.
[00:23:40] Speaker C: And everyone with the insults like, yeah,
[00:23:41] Speaker B: everyone treated me so differently when you write.
[00:23:43] Speaker C: And that's often how we live our lives. We live our lives like that. And the issue there is we become
[00:23:47] Speaker B: puppets on the strings of people's opinions.
[00:23:50] Speaker C: So I walk into room and I go, what will people like now? The enemy loves this because if we are called to use our freedom to love one another, he would love for me to walk into a room. My only thoughts be here.
Because I can't truly love you if
[00:24:05] Speaker B: I need something from you always, right? Are you with me?
[00:24:09] Speaker C: Like, if I always need affirmation from you, it's really hard to love you because I'm going to say things in order to get you to affirm me versus be here to serve you.
[00:24:21] Speaker B: Are you catching what I'm saying?
[00:24:24] Speaker C: And there's times where love looks like correcting someone. You might not always get affirm back.
And that's what love looks like.
So we live in the courtroom of people's apprentices. You weren't called to walk into the room and go, what about me?
You're called to walk in the room and go, how can I serve and love others?
See, the enemy loves for it to make it all about us. And oftentimes we come into church and we go, how is anyone going to see me or serve me or prophesy over me? But the problem is, then I come into service and how many people are looking out for me?
[00:24:57] Speaker B: One, it's myself.
[00:24:59] Speaker C: But if we all had the mindset of, I come in to serve others and love others, not myself. How many people come in and are looking after me? Hundreds.
[00:25:07] Speaker B: On a Sunday.
[00:25:10] Speaker C: That's a better game plan to show up if we all showed up. Like, I'm going to love and serve others.
[00:25:15] Speaker B: A much better game plan.
[00:25:17] Speaker C: So then Paul goes, hey, that's one of the courtrooms of the mind. The second courtroom in the mind is your opinion of yourself, where some of us hold our shortcomings against ourselves.
You don't know what I've done. You don't know what I've done. You don't know my past. I've. I don't know your past, but that statement shows you. Shows me that you don't know what he's done.
The apple or the fruit on the tree will never be greater than the cross.
I don't know what you've done, but I know what he did. And it's greater than what you've done.
His love is greater. His sacrifice was greater. So we hold on. Like Paul says, think of this. Can you look yourself in the mirror and have nothing against yourself.
That's possible.
Have no shame, have no condemnation. To see your past the way Christ sees your past, that means no regret.
Paul had done some pretty horrific things.
[00:26:18] Speaker B: And he goes, I have nothing against myself.
[00:26:21] Speaker C: He goes, but I'm not made right with God.
[00:26:23] Speaker B: Because this is God who judges me.
[00:26:26] Speaker C: Because that's the courtroom that we are called to live in before the audience of one.
I love when people are like, you can't judge me. Only God judges me. I'm like, that should be more concerning for you.
You think that's a good thing.
Like you more. You think that's easy. You can't judge me, only God. I'm like, I know. That's why I'm trying to help you.
Because I will one day, even as a believer, stand before an audience of one. Not for my sins, My sins are forgiven. But there's the judgment seat of Christ. I will answer for my actions as a believer.
[00:27:00] Speaker B: We need to hit on that again in the church.
[00:27:03] Speaker C: The judgment seat of Christ. I will be judged for my actions, whether useful or useless, as a believer.
And that's where I want to live, is before the audience of one God. What are you saying?
Because that's what boldness looks like. What is God saying? Not to be controlled by the people's opinions around us, but to be people that are bold and say, God, what are you telling me to do?
Because I think if we can begin to see how God sees us, things will begin to shift for us. Turn back to John chapter 4.
[00:27:35] Speaker B: Someone can jump up on the keys too.
John chapter four.
[00:27:43] Speaker C: This woman's story is profound to me because when Jesus encounters her with this love and this acceptance and this knowing of who she is, look at the response that she has.
It says in verse 39. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified.
[00:28:02] Speaker B: He told me all the things I ever did.
[00:28:06] Speaker C: One woman who's bound by fear goes back to the people she was hiding
[00:28:10] Speaker B: from to preach the gospel.
[00:28:12] Speaker C: In a moment, one experience with the love of God, and everything changes for her.
What changed? She knew how God saw her.
And the fear begins to crumble in her life.
Here's a few takeaways for us.
No one had to convince her to share the gospel.
No one even had to tell her it was a thing.
No one had to train her.
And I worked as an outreach coordinator for five years. I'm not against training.
My point is, how do you do outreach Tell people what Jesus did for you.
She's literally like, hey, come see the man who told me all the things I ever did. I'm like, that's a great outreach plan.
What has God done for you? See, but this is the natural response. When you see how loved you are by God, how could you not share that with others?
So that's why we love, because he first loved us. We need an encounter with his love God. How do you see me? I think the issue is that many of us, the temptation is to move on from righteousness.
Like it's an elementary teaching. Like, I matured. I used to be overwhelmed. Now I've got new things.
You know what Paul said in Galatians 6, I boast in one thing. The cross of Jesus Christ, by whom the world's been crucified to me and
[00:29:32] Speaker B: I to the world.
[00:29:33] Speaker C: Paul said in First Corinthians, Chapter two, I'm determined to know one thing, Christ and him crucified.
The problem with us is that we're overwhelmed by righteousness in the beginning. Then we move on. Prophecy, eschatology, all these things which are okay, but they will never be the core thing.
We were never meant to move on from the cross.
We hear righteous, we go, oh, I've heard that before. That's the danger.
Do we still wake up overwhelmed by the fact you're right with God? Does that still move your heart that you woke up right with him this morning?
Here's the worry to me is that when we forget the gift of righteous, we lose our boldness and this world becomes about us. And suddenly we're so equipped in prophecy and healing. But if we don't have boldness, we never use those tools for the world.
If we don't understand righteousness, we're so equipped, but we never going into the world.
Here's a statistic that hopefully stirs us. 90% of people that are brought to church are brought by someone that's been satisfied for less than a year.
I propose it's because we moved on from this revelation we called the core revelation, elementary.
For me to move on from this wouldn't be to mature. It would be to backslide.
The deeper Paul got into Christ, the more refined his message was, Christ crucified.
You didn't move on to something different.
I love the story here.
This one woman takes her testimony and sees a city meet Jesus, and then Jesus actually ends up coming and staying a few days in that city, which is so powerful to me that you and I, like, they actually come and they go we actually heard it from him now, so we believe she goes and shares and then they come and meet him. Our job is just like, hey, come and meet him. He's so good at meeting people.
Take the pressure off. If you just share, share him, he will meet them, and it's what he does best.
You ever brought someone to church and
[00:31:37] Speaker B: you're a little bit nervous, then God's really good at meeting them.
[00:31:41] Speaker C: There was a guy recently I invited
[00:31:42] Speaker B: to church from the gym, and he's in the Marines. Never been to church before. And I see him on the second or third row. I'm like, nervous. I'm like, I hope he likes it. I hope no one's weird today trying to, like, protect him from people.
It's like, stay away from him. My intern gets on stage out of a room of hundreds, picks him out for a word of knowledge. Like, hey, I have a word for you. I'm like, bro, out of everyone in
[00:32:00] Speaker C: the room, begins to read his mail,
[00:32:03] Speaker B: and he gets touched by the Lord.
[00:32:04] Speaker C: That's what he does best.
You share a little bit like, hey, God did this for me. And then God shows up and meets that person. But he's looking for our partnership.
[00:32:15] Speaker B: What would it look like for you
[00:32:16] Speaker C: and I to go into less than share our faith with people and allow for God to move? But this is what I feel like as we come into a closing. One of the verses here that really struck me or confused me for a while is verse 28.
The woman then left her water pot and went away into the city and said to the men, come see a man who told me all the things I ever did. Could this be the Christ?
Then they went out of the city
[00:32:40] Speaker B: and came to him.
[00:32:43] Speaker C: I read that, and I was kind of annoyed and confused. I'm like, why does it say that she left her water pot?
Feels unnecessary to me. It doesn't say she picked up her water pot, but it says she left her water pot. This one fact. Everything in scripture is there for a purpose. So I'm wrestling with this Lord, like, why does it say she dropped her water pot? And I begin to see it. Like, if you think about it every day, she had come to this temporary source. She had come to this well with her water pot, which signifies the temporary sources of this worldwim. And she would have to come back day after day. But now she's met living water.
And when God meets you, it always requires a response.
It always requires a response. Follow me. He invites, he meets. You want living water. But she has to Respond. And what is she saying? She's dropping the temporary source. I'm not going to be coming back here every day anymore because I found living water now.
But what does this mean for you and I? We as a church, have to be really honest when we're going out into the world. I see too many believers are like, hey, I found living water, but they're still drinking temporary water. What do I mean by that?
They're like, hey, I found the prince of peace. Well, then why do we need cigarettes and drugs?
Why do you still need that bucket, that temporary source? Is he not enough?
We're like, oh, I found joy inexpressible. Why do you still need a drink every night to experience joy?
If he's that good, why are we still carrying water pots? I don't blame the world for not wanting what we have.
If we aren't actually walking it out, People come to me. They go, is it okay for me to drink? My question is not yes or no. My question is, why would you want to?
Is it okay for me to smoke? My question is, why would you want to? Do you want to go back to that well every day for the rest of your life?
Do you want that temporary source? What if I told you it's not about shame or condemnation? So you're telling me. I'm saying no. You get to be free.
I don't want to get drunk. I like my life.
I don't want a temporary source. I enjoy freedom.
That's what's available for me. It's not, what can I do? It's like, I don't get to do that anymore. God set me free.
I feel like there's some people in the room that need to drop some water pots this afternoon. Drop some temporary sources this afternoon.
Can we stand right now?
Can we stand right now?
God always requires a response in these moments where he goes, hey, living water is available, but would you drop the water pots? Would you drop the temporary sources that you've been running to? And I feel like this afternoon there's some temporary sources. There's some people in the room, and God looks at you like you looked at the woman. He sees it all. He sees the shortcomings and the sin, proclivities and propensities. He sees it all. And he doesn't go, figure yourself out first and then come to me. He doesn't go, if you figure yourself out, I'll give you living water. Can I tell you, you can't figure yourself out.
You can't earn the living water. You have to have it first. And that begins to transform you.
You come to him as you are, knowing that he'll never leave you like that. So if that's you this morning and you need to respond and say, hey, my life's not right with you, God, I'm going to respond this morning. I'm going to make a decision to lay some things down. Maybe you haven't been following him or you aren't walking with him. Today is a moment of repentance.
And if that's you and you know you need to get your life right with God and lay some things down, I want you to respond and come forward boldly right now with no shame. Come forward right now. If that's you and you in the room.
Bless you, brother. Bless you. Anyone else, respond right now. Bless you, bro. Come forward.
Come forward.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Jesus.
There's no shame in this moment.
Thank you, Jesus.
God, you are good.
God, you are good.
Bless you. Bless you. Thank you, Lord.
Lord, we thank you for your freedom in the room. Can we stretch our hands out towards these brothers and sisters? Lord, we thank you for your freedom in the room. Would you fill them, Lord? Joe, you can come. I'm going to hand over to you in a moment.
Before Joe leads him in a.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: In a time of prayer, I just
[00:37:14] Speaker C: release boldness over the whole community right now.
Over. Like in the book of Acts where the Holy Spirit and boldness came upon people.
This would be a bold church, Lord.
Lord, would you grip people for their neighbors, for their friends in the grocery stores, in the supermarkets, Lord? Would we be bold with what you've done in our lives, Lord, to share in others, Lord?
[00:37:38] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to the Chroma Charge podcast. If you enjoyed this message, you can like and subscribe.
You can also join us in person or online every Sunday at Cromer Church. For more information about us, including our ministries, events, worship and how to donate, visit our website at Cromer Church.
