TRANSCRIPT:

Hey there. I’m Stafford Beasley, pastor at Cashie Baptist Church.

Thanks for letting us show God’s love for you with this simple drink of water.

The Bible tells us in John 4 about a time when Jesus asked someone for a drink of water. It was the middle of the day, He was tired from walking, and so He sat down beside a well.

A Samaritan woman came to the well. And you have to know that the Jews, Jesus’ own people, didn’t get along with the Samaritans. It was a racial and religious thing.

But this woman comes to the well and Jesus asks her for a drink. She’s amazed that He, a Jew, would ask her, a Samaritan, for water. But then He tells 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 water." (John 4:10)

But she looks and sees that He doesn’t have anything to get the water with, so she’s confused–what does He mean?

So then He says, "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 welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13)

See, this water bottle we’ve given you–if you drink it, you’re going to end up thirsty again. It only quenches your thirst for a little while. But Jesus says He can give us something that is permanent. Something lifegiving, something refreshing, something healing.

Just like on a hot sunny day we might get tired and our mouths get dry and we crave water, our souls thirst for something too. We have this craving–this longing for something more in our lives, and a lot of times we try to satisfy it with all sorts of things.

It could be something not-so-good: maybe drugs will scratch that itch, maybe more alcohol is the solution, maybe if I can just be satisfied sexually. But if we’re honest, none of those things are the answer.

And neither are the good things: Money, a job, a family–they’re all good, but nothing quite quenches that thirst. We’re never really satisfied. We’re still left parched, looking for water–longing for something that can truly make us whole.

Well, this is what Jesus offers to fix. But like one author says, “the living water of grace is sweet only to those who know the bitter taste of their sin.”

After Jesus tells this woman about the living water, He then asks her about the sin in her life. He already knew that She had been trying to scratch that itch, satisfy that craving, quench her thirst by going from man to man to man. But when she sees that He knows this, and yet He treats her with grace and gentleness and dignity–when Jesus lovingly speaks into even the deepest darkest parts of her heart, something changes in her. She realizes that He alone can satisfy this longing deep in her heart.

See, Jesus confronts us in our sin. He tells us in His Word that we have all sinned. Ever since the first humans, none of us is perfect. And because we have sinned against a holy God–because we have turned our backs on our Creator, we have been separated from Him–the only One who can truly quench our thirst. And because we have sinned against Him, we deserve judgment. He’s a good Judge, so He must punish wrongdoing.

But God loves us so much that He knew we could never do enough good to work our way to Him–we could never find Him on our own, so He came to us. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, became a man. He lived a perfect life. And He laid down His life to die for us on the cross. And by dying on the cross, He took the punishment that we deserve–we who had sinned against Him. He died in our place. But He rose from the grave on the third day and now offers us true life.

He loves us so much that He invites us to leave behind everything else that can never truly satisfy us, and come to Him for forgiveness and satisfaction and life. So that when we turn from our sins, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, He’ll forgive us and make us whole. It’s not because of anything we do, but by trusting in what He has done for us.

He loves us so much that He sends His Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts, a spring of water welling up to eternal life. True, meaningful, joyful life that nothing and noone can take away.

So that even when we die, since we’ve been forgiven, we’ll go to heaven to be with Him forever.

All we do to be saved–to be satisfied–to be forgiven and reconciled to God–to enjoy this living water is ABC–admit that we have sinned against God; Believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins; and Commit to following Him with our whole lives. It’s that simple. That’s how much God loves us–He made it simple for us.

If you have any questions about any of this, or want to know more about what it means to be a Christian and to enjoy God with your whole life, please don’t hesitate to give a shout.

Thank you for watching. We at Cashie love you, and God loves you even more.