Latest / Breakthrough Church Podcast / Rivers of Living Water
Transcript
- Breakthrough Church: What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Breakthrough Church Podcast. I am excited to give you some updates about Jesus Saves. If you remember over the last several weeks, I've ⁓ chatted with you about the effort that Time to Revive is putting forth to ⁓ really mobilize and unify all the churches ⁓ in this city and it even goes beyond this city. It's it's incredible what they're doing, but ⁓ specifically to unite ⁓ the the churches in Dallas to really preach the gospel to the nations that are coming. ⁓ to Dallas for the World Cup. There are nine matches in Dallas at Dallas Stadium. ⁓ and each one of those coincides with a watch party ⁓ at Fan Fest. ⁓ I'm also learning there's a lot more watch parties happening around the city. ⁓ if you just look up World Cup watch party in your city on Google, you'll probably find one. And it's a big deal. I forget how big of a deal World Cup is and really how big of a deal soccer is. It's really the world's most popular sport. ⁓ As a Texan, I'm like, no, it's all about football. ⁓ but it's it's really not. That's the United States thing. ⁓ the rest of the world plays football, soccer. And so ⁓ it's been really fun. So the w here's basically what Jesus Saves has done. They've said, Hey, ⁓ the upper room in Dallas is gonna be the hub. We're all gonna meet there four hours before a match. We're gonna worship, be equipped, and then we're gonna be sent out to go to Dallas Stadium or the Fan Fest in Fair Park. ⁓ and you're gonna preach the gospel and share Jesus and pray for people as you as you go. And then ⁓ about you know an hour or two after the game, you're gonna come back to the upper room and testify and share stories. And so Breakthrough Church participated in that on Wednesday of last week. And it was so cool and very difficult, if I'm being honest. ⁓ you got we we got really good worshi worship, really good equipping, ⁓ everything from like what are the what are the different kinds of soils you're gonna come in contact with. ⁓ believe it or not, everyone you try to share the gospel with has different soils, ⁓ different ⁓ quality soil in their hearts, meaning Jesus' parable. You s scatter the seed and then you have ⁓ four types of soil and and depending on the the soil is is what will happen to the seed. And so when you're sharing the gospel, you can tell when someone's closed off. You can tell when someone's maybe a little interested, and you can tell when someone is like all in on what you're sharing with them. And ⁓ and so just being aware of those things they they taught us and then And they taught us how to engage in spiritual conversations and they use four words love, listen, discern, and respond. And I think it's really helpful. ⁓ you always move towards people to love them. Jesus did this all the time. You move towards someone, not because you're you wanting you're wanting to convince them that they're wrong and you're right, but you really want them to know that they are loved and that you love them and that Jesus loves them. And so you you go near to them, you go and sit by them, you go and meet them at their level, you do what they're doing, you have this posture of I just want to love and bless people. ⁓ and then you discern. ⁓ or I'm sorry, you listen, ⁓ you talk, ask questions. ⁓ don't speak until you you're ready to s to speak, until the Lord is ready for you to speak. You just ask questions. ⁓ and then and then you discern, meaning you're really doing this the whole time, but you discern and you're you're thinking, Okay, how how do you want me to respond, Holy Spirit? ⁓ and then you go and you you you respond, you do it. And ⁓ one of the best ways is offering to pray first and then if they're open to that, you pray for them and if If it's if it makes sense in the moment, you say, Well, do you mind if I if I share the gospel with you? Do you know what the gospel is? And then you walk through what they have. They have these gospel cards that walk you through repentance and sin and death, God's love, ⁓ and and our faith in his love, and then us confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in our heart that God raised him from the dead. So you just go through this whole presentation kind of. And and so we went out there on on Wednesday and we did this and ⁓ it was it was really difficult because there's so many people and they're there to watch the game. So you can really only capture them before or after the game. and I I was ⁓ just it it was good to go once. We're gonna go again this Saturday, more on that in a minute, but it was good to go and just get a f a lay of the land. And ⁓ we also got to pray for a lot of people and and plant a lot of seeds. I felt like most of the people I talked to were bad s bad soil or or bad bad soil, hardened soil, people not as receptive to the message of Jesus. ⁓ But what I found is ⁓ I was really striving. I was trying really hard to fit the presentation that I had been trained in into the conversation. And I was trying to treat every conversation like a sales pitch almost, rather than an organic relationship and conversation with someone. And after the fact, I I wasn't I wasn't condemning myself or or or disappointed in myself, but it was a good learning process. ⁓ because you can't Force Jesus on anybody. You can't just every one person's different. And and so I just want to I want to share with you briefly, just off the top of my head. I mean, it's not really on the top of my head, I've thought about it, but I want to share with you how I'm thinking about evangelism. Okay, so evangelism isn't just trying to convince somebody that you're right and they're wrong. Evangelism is meeting the spiritual needs of people. ⁓ so when I approach someone now, what I'm learning to do is this person has A spiritual need. Obviously, at the very core of it is the forgiveness of sins and healing in their heart related to the forgiveness of sins. But I also know that there's healing that needs to take place in different areas of their life. Everybody's got trauma, relationships, fears, anxieties. ⁓ everybody has these. And and if especially if you're not a believer, you not only you not only have those, but you don't have the well of eternal life to drink from. You you have to go and find comfort or covering somewhere else outside of Jesus. So when I'm approaching someone, I genuinely believe I have what they need. I I have exactly the thing that their soul most deeply longs for. So then that frames my entire conversation. I'm not just trying to get to a sales pitch. I'm trying to really discover what's this person's greatest need spiritually. What what's something that they're going through right now that, man, if I could just identify that and pray into that by the spirit, that will unlock their soil of their heart and they'll be much more receptive to hear the gospel presentation. And so that's that's kind of how I'm seeing it. Number one is I'm seeing it more as the every time I go to to s to witness, like they these people have spiritual needs. I need to identify what those are. And pray into those things and meet that person where they are in their need. This is what Jesus did in the woman at the well. He went to the when he went to her, he didn't have a presentation to give them, although he did present himself to her as the Messiah, but only after the fact, ⁓ or only after the the reality that of him pointing out her sin and her spiritual need. I believe he got a word of knowledge and said, Hey, go get your husband. And she says, I don't have a husband. And he's like, You're right. You've had five, and the one you're living with isn't your husband either. And sh that immediately turns the conversation spiritual. It was very surface level and ⁓ practical. And then all of a sudden with that one word of knowledge, the entire conversation went spiritual. ⁓ because Jesus knows the most important things are spiritual and the most important needs that need to be met are spiritual. So I've got to get this conversation to go spiritual. And it's really helpful when you get a word of knowledge to do that. Because immediately people are like, How'd you know that? Well, God told me. There you go. You're in the spiritual realm now. ⁓ but ⁓ on some level, when you're trying to meet a need and you know it's spiritual, you've got to take the conversation from practical ⁓ and tangible to spiritual and transcendent in a way. And so ⁓ I I don't want this to sound too complicated. I'm just trying to say like we have the provision for those people's spiritual needs. And Jesus exemplified that by revealing this woman's spiritual need at the woman of the well and eventually saying, I am the Messiah, which was fulfilling that need. The revelation of the Messiah is. What we have. It's what we offer. It's the revelation that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, who loved me enough to die on a cross, to forgive me of all my sin, to cover all my shame, and to give me eternal life now and forever. That's the good news of the gospel. But so often we try to I try to get there too quickly and I don't let the Holy Spirit I don't give space for me or the Holy Spirit to really identify what are the needs Jesus is trying to meet right now. ⁓ the second the the second thing I'm I'm thinking about is ⁓ well it's not really a second thing, it's actually just a continuation of this. I'll just keep sharing it. ⁓ so in in Acts chapter three, Well, let me let me tie a bow on the John four passage because ⁓ the reality is Jesus says, I have water that if you drank from this you wouldn't be thirsty again. And that's what captivated her attention. She's like, Wow, that sounds nice. ⁓ because she was going to the well in the middle of the day because she was afraid of ⁓ she was a social outcast because of her either prostitution or just adultery or sleeping around. ⁓ and and nobody wanted to associate with her. And if if she was out there, she'd be made fun of and publicly shamed. And so she was going to the well at a time. You didn't go to the well. And Jesus in that moment is offering her real water that'll actually quench her thirst. And she's thinking, if I just get that water, then I don't have to come to the well anymore and suffer public shame. And Jesus is saying, I actually have water that goes underneath your shame, that flushes out your shame, and that'll give you eternal life now and forever. And and she didn't fully understand that at the time, but she did know that the water he was offering was better than what this well was offering. That he was an eternal well rather than this temporary well that she was going to. And I think that's that that perspective when we come to people as witnesses of the risen Jesus Christ, we are coming as wells of eternal life. We aren't the Messiah. Jesus is the Messiah, but what did Jesus say in John 7? If you're thirsty, come to me and drink, and out of your heart will flow rivers of living water. Did you know, Christian, that there is a river of living water in you? What do rivers do? Rivers flow. They're not a pond. It's not a lake where it just sits in one spot. Rivers flow. So Jesus gifts you the Holy Spirit when you come to Him in thirst. And that Holy Spirit doesn't just quench you, it is supposed to be released through you into a dry and thirsty world. So when you're going to evangelize or witness or even just share Jesus or pray for someone, you're coming to them with a river of living eternal water inside of you, longing to be re be released through you. It's the Spirit of God. He is the river of God. He is longing to be released through you into somebody else's life. So when you're going to to pray for someone and share the gospel with someone, you're not doing that because you want them to just agree with you and you're not trying to get them into heaven when they die so that one day you can be with them and they can have forgiveness of sins. This is not fire insurance that we're offering here. And I'm getting ahead of myself now. You have the river of living water, the Holy Spirit in you, longing to be released through you. And sometimes all it takes is for you to go to someone and say, Hey, may I pray for you? ⁓ so I I want to encourage you with that. And then and then secondly, I I've been thinking a lot about ⁓ the Acts three passage in ⁓ when Peter and John they go to the temple to pray. And right outside the temple is a lame man. He's ⁓ he's lame from birth and he's sitting there and he's asking for alms, asking for money. And Peter and John walk by him and and he's lifting his hand up to him, but he's not looking at Peter and John. He's just lifting his hand, ⁓ saying, Give me some money. And Peter and John look at him and they say, Look at us. The first thing they want is is they they need to get his attention. And so he looks, and then Peter and John, or Peter says, We don't have money, but what we do have, we give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk. And he grabs his arm and he lifts him up and he starts to walk again. It's an amazing story, an amazing miracle. Thousands get saved because of this one miracle. and what what why do I why do I love this? What Peter and John just did is what our approach to discipleship and to evangelism should be. We have something that people need. I know I shared this already, but you see that clearly. Peter understood. What this person's need was was not just money, although, yes, we should meet practical needs too. But underneath that, well, I also think the reality is Peter probably didn't actually have any money. So, but Peter looked at this man and said, ⁓ he doesn't actually need money. What he does have, I actually can provide something here. Peter understood that he held in himself something that could change this man's life forever. It was the presence of Jesus and healing from his presence. So he Grabs his hand, says, stand up and walk, and he does. When we witness and evangelize, we have to understand who we are. We are disciples of Jesus with spiritual authority on this earth. When we approach people in evangelism, we know the truth and are offering that truth free of charge. Sometimes it can be like, well, I'm just a, I just want I'm one opinion among many and all the different religions, and we have a culture of plurality, and so. I gotta be respectful of different people's cultures. And okay, sure. We do have to respect culture and build bridges. All that is very important. But at the end of the day, we have to understand that we have dominion here on earth and that the truth we have in Jesus is the truth, not just a truth or my truth. It is the truth. And I get to offer that not just by saying, Can I walk you through this gospel card? But I I can actually give them the life of Jesus, the healing of Jesus through a touch and a word. This is true. Of you and I, and what is what true evangelism is, according to Jesus and what you see in Acts, it's a true impartation of what Jesus purchased on the cross. Jesus on the cross purchased forgiveness of sins, healing of bodies, covering of the blood, covering of shame, or covering with the blood, covering shame with the blood. All of those things were purchased by Jesus on the cross. When we go to evangelize, we're saying, look what Jesus has for you. Take it in faith in the name of Jesus. I just love Peter. He's like, we don't have money, but what we do have, we give you. And he gives it to him. And so you have something to offer. That's my point. When you're talking with your friends that don't know Jesus, it may seem you may seem intimidated. You may seem like they have all of these things that you don't have. I have people in my life where I think this. So I'm like, gosh, I'm sure I have much to offer here. And that is a lie. Just like Peter, what you have, they need. And you can give it. Jesus, a relationship with Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit, eternal life and Now, all of that you have and can give if people come in faith. So, ⁓ and the the last piece of of this puzzle I want to talk about. ⁓ I think when when years ago, when I would hear someone say some of the things I'm saying right now, ⁓ well, here, let me phrase this differently. What ha what was wrong with my approach on Wednesday last week was I just wanted to get people to say a prayer. I wanted them to have a clear understanding in their minds of what the gospel was, what was required of them, what sin is, how how they're separated from God because of sin, et cetera, et cetera. ⁓ but but I I I think that Jesus calls us to do more. I don't think we just want converts. We want disciples. You may have heard that before. I'm not saying anything new. I've heard other people say this, but I'm more convinced as I practice evangelism ⁓ weekly and try to daily, ⁓ what I'm what I'm noticing is that the the the person who's committed to evangelism is also committed to discipleship. Because Jesus said, Don't He said he said, Come follow me, not come believe in me and be and go to heaven when you die. His call was to come and be a disciple, to learn his way of life. And and I j I was praying about this a couple of days ago, or maybe yesterday. And I feel strongly that this is what ⁓ discipleship, like the definition of discipleship, is in Matthew sixteen. And ⁓ This is why evangelism is such a miracle when anybody comes to know Jesus truly in a moment. It's such a miracle because Jesus said, If anybody would come after me, let him deny himself and follow me. For if you would gain your life, you'll lose it. But if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it. That's what discipleship is. Discipleship is a denial of self, denial of your own passions, your own desires, your own flesh. It's a denial of those things. And it's a picking up a cross. Well, what does that mean? If someone was picking up a cross, In the time of Jesus, that means that it was visibly, ⁓ it was it was obvious. Hold on. ⁓ it was obvious. Sorry, it just kind of disconnected. I hope I didn't lose you guys, but it was obvious to everyone around the person carrying the cross that they were guilty of something, that they had been convicted. So when Jesus is saying, pick up your cross. He's saying there should be enough evidence in your life of you following Jesus that when people look at you, they say, That's a disciple of Jesus. That's what we're after. Paul will say it this way: that he's laboring so that Christ would be formed in you. And who is the Christ? He's the crucified Lamb of God, the one who went to the cross of his own volition. We should over time grow to become people who, out of our own volition without being asked or told, give ourselves over and away for the purposes of God and to love people around us. Th this is what discipleship and this is where I've seen in my personal life, most people get hung up on discipleship. They love the power of the Holy Spirit. They love to see God move. They love his presence and experiencing him in a moment. But over time, if you do not learn the way of the cross, which is denial of self, which is sacrifice, repentance and confession, Paying the price to truly follow Jesus into the depths of God and the kingdom of heaven. If you aren't ready to do that, then you will not be sustainable in the kingdom of heaven. You will have some moments with God, but you'll be limited. You'll be like the lame man who's trying to get the benefits of Jesus by reaching your hand out to him and asking for a handout, but you fail to give him your full attention. And until you finally look at the man who was slain, See his wounds, understand they were for you, and then give your life fully away daily. You'll not, you're not going to experience the kingdom of heaven in fullness. You can get touches and you can get tastes. I'm not even saying you won't go to heaven when you die. I'm sure you will. But the Lord is looking for people in this hour who deny themselves, their own passions and desires, and their soul passion becomes Jesus' face, his presence. When the longing of your heart is to see Jesus in fullness, to love him completely, no matter the cost, if that's your passion, everybody's talking about, well, my my here's my my passion. My passion is coffee, my passion is fitness, my passion, my passion, my passion. And I think the Lord right now is saying, sure, sure, sure, whatever, whatever. No, your passion must be my face. I think he's looking for a generation in this age, this hour that would rather spend hours alone in a secret place than going and doing anything else. And I think even good religious things, I think he's saying, okay, yeah, that's all great. But you can have a form of godliness and lack its power. And I believe that power comes in the secret place as we learn to be friends of God, who truly delight in his presence and love him. People who won't don't just try to work for God, but actually delight in God. ⁓ and from that place, everything flows. ⁓ I have s I I feel like I could riff on this for y like a long time. I'm going to spare you guys this. But what I want to say is, ⁓ true discipleship is a laying down of what you want, your desires, even if you believe they may be from God, laying them down at his feet, saying, I don't want to negotiate God. I don't want to try to say that I don't want to try to tell you, Jesus, that I want this and that and you. There needs to be no mixture, no negotiations. It's a complete surrender. Everything in your life is his. And when you give everything in your life to his, that's what denial of self and death looks like. Then you come to resurrection life. It's not just a better life, it's a new life. It's a different life. It's a replaced life. He gives you his own life. And so I just want to encourage you, if if you're like, man, I struggle with evangelism and I struggle with witnessing. I just I get afraid. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say. I would say, okay, all of that is fair and we can learn that over time. But what I want you to focus on, what I'm trying to focus on, is in my heart, am I truly surrendered completely, my will, completely surrendered to the will of the Father? If it is, you will have no choice but to go and witness and evangelize. Because you'll understand that when Jesus died on the cross, the Father paid an infinite price to capture men and women who are not in his kingdom yet, to save people who are going to eternal separation from him. He did the cross. He died on the cross, Jesus, to seek and save the lost. The mandate of a Christian is to seek and save the lost, but we cannot do that independent of a full surrender of our wills to the Father and through Jesus and by the Spirit. So I f I I did spit a lot at you, but I would just encourage you for the next five minutes before you move on to the next thing in your in your day. ⁓ just ask the Holy Spirit what he's saying to you. What are you hearing when I'm saying all of this? Write it down, ⁓ take some notes, and even reach out to me and let me know what you're hearing from the Lord. But I do believe that that the Lord is looking in this hour for a generation of disciples, a group, a church who look at Jesus and can't look away because of how beautiful he is. And when we truly see Jesus for who he really is, guys, like you will never be the same. And I don't, I'm not trying to say you haven't. I'm just saying if you've looked, then keep looking and never look away. Your life will never be the same. And ⁓ anyways, I could keep going. I'm gonna stop. ⁓ I just want to invite you to prayer Wednesday night at 6:30. ⁓ we're gonna pray and worship ⁓ at Loft City. And then ⁓ after that on Saturday, we're gonna meet on on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the usual place for service. But this service will be more of an equipping service. I'm gonna talk more specifically about some things I shared already today. ⁓ how do we c how can we how can we be disciples who are seeking and saving the lost in our everyday life? It's gonna be some equipping like love, listen, discern, and respond. And then we're actually gonna have a chance to go do it afterwards at a World Cup game, ⁓ at Fair Park. Argentina is playing Jordan that evening. It's a late late game. ⁓ and we're gonna be out late. So if you're if you're a a night owl, this is gonna be your type of thing. So we're gonna go to Fair Park and pray for people and offer them rivers of living water. ⁓ It's gonna be amazing. So, ⁓ we'd love to s have you guys join us this Saturday at five PM at Loft and then from six thirty, ⁓ we're at six thirty we're gonna we're gonna carpool and we're gonna head down to Fair Park. We're gonna share the gospel with people. ⁓ it's gonna be great and glorious. So all right, ⁓ I think that's it. Love you guys and hope you have a great week.