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Wells | Pastor Kami Palmer | Faith Church · Faith Church Podcast

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All right. We've had a wonderful morning already.
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And the word this morning that I felt the Lord
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stir on me is in response really to the word
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that Dennis gave a couple of weeks ago. How many
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of you remember that on the well that the Lord
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is opening up? And so I've begun, I just began
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praying through that and I want us to... because
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you can hear a word like that on Sunday morning.
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And sometimes, especially if you're newer to
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this, you're like, what does that mean? A well
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is opening up, you know? Sometimes we use language
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that if we've been around this a while, we understand.
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But if you're newer, that might be new terminology
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for you. So I wanted to dive a little bit into
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that. So what we're gonna do is... Nick laughed
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at me when I put my notes back there. He's like
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we're gonna be here all morning I said no, we're
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gonna move through this fast What are we gonna
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do is I'm gonna I want you to have from the word
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the Old Testament basic understanding of the
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importance of wells in the Old Testament And
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then we're gonna transition that into the New
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Testament, okay? So you'll want a notebook in
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your Bible this morning, because you're gonna
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need to write these down, because we're gonna
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move through them quickly. But how many of you,
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I think there might be a couple of you in here
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that would say, my dream life, if I could do
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anything and had unlimited resources, would be
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to begin and live on a homestead. I would like
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to just. Yeah, a couple of you. I think most.
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Oh quite a few of you. Connie really? Nathaniel
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do you? Nathaniel shaking his head no. I'm trying
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to envision you Connie having a homestead. I
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don't know. As long as she doesn't have to go
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outside. What she means is Nathaniel she would
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like you to start the homestead and she could
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just dwell in whatever dwelling you build for
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her. That's right. So, Alexandra and I like to
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watch this show called Homestead Rescue. Has
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anybody ever seen Homestead Rescue? The Alaskan
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family that comes all over the United States
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to people who we believe, and we get a little
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critical, quite honestly. We're like, have you
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ever watched a YouTube? I mean, I feel like I
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could because I watch enough YouTube videos on
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the subject. There's some basic things I feel
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like I could go and do. And so some of these
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people that they have to go and rescue, we are
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like, what is your problem? What were you? Like
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they had a romantic idea of leaving the city
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and living off grid. And then what happens is
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they don't know what they're doing. I'm like,
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really? I thought some basic research on how
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to grow a garden might, you know, at least grow
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a garden. And so they come in and they rescue.
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Honestly, I don't know how they do it. I would
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be too much like exasperated with people, but
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they're invested in their homestead. So they
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come in and they get them set up to succeed on
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their homestead. And every time, here's what
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the issues come down to. The issues come down
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to their inability to hunt or trap animals or
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raise animals. Or they might raise animals, but
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when it comes time to harvesting the animals,
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there's a problem. Or the garden, they cannot
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successfully grow a garden. So they cannot provide
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food for themselves. The other major issue that
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you find is they cannot provide a water source.
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Almost every time, it's one of these two issues.
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They cannot provide food for themselves and they
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have no water source. And there cannot be a successful
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homestead where there is no food and where there
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is no water. I mean... We do. We sometimes just
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laugh and disbelieve over some of these. I mean,
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some have legit issues, okay, but some of them
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I'm just like, come on, watch a YouTube video.
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That's all you need to do. This morning we're
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going to talk about the importance of wells in
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our life. And so we're going to walk through
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here really quickly at the beginning because
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I want to get where we're going at the end. So
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there are five wells in the Old Testament that
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we're going to take a brief moment to look at.
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Okay, the first one is the well of being seen
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and accepted. This is the first well that we
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see in the Bible, and that is in Genesis chapter
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16. This is the account of Hagar, and if you
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know the backstory, you know the promise God
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gave Abraham for a son, and then he and Sarai
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could not have a child. So Sarai got tired of
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waiting on God and said, here, take my servant
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and have a child with her. That will be my child.
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And so she sends Hagar into Abraham and they
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have a child, Ishmael. And once she gets pregnant,
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Sarai, unfortunately, begins to resent Hagar
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and to be jealous of Hagar and to treat her poorly.
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And so Hagar runs away from Sarai. She flees.
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And so we take up the account in verse 6 of Genesis
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16. Then Sarai mistreated Hagar, so she fled
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from her. The angel, I'm skipping around in this
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chapter, The angel of the Lord found Hagar near
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a spring. A spring is also used interchangeably
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with a well, and later on in the chapter it's
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called a well. Near a spring in the desert, she
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gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her.
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So the angel came and visited her at this well.
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And in response, she named This well you are
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the god who sees me for she said I have now seen
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the one who sees me This is that is why the well
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was called beer the high Roy the god who sees
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Hagar had only known unfair treatment and rejection
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There is something and that was all she needed
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in that moment Was to know is the angel the Lord
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came to her God sees me Because when God sees
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her God accepts her and God takes away the rejection
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that she's been under This is I didn't understand
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the power of this really until After I had my
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first two, my plan in life was to have two kids.
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I got a boy and I got a girl, and I was happy.
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And a couple of years later, the Lord began to
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speak to me about having more children. And that
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was on a Friday, and I said, I don't want to
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have more children. But the Lord spoke it in
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such a way, I knew he was asking me. I was like,
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oh, no. And he said to me, I don't want you to
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talk to anybody about this till you decide if
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you're going to obey. And so I had a lady I was
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praying with weekly and I knew I wasn't supposed
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to say a word to her. Sunday night, we had a
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church fellowship and she came up to me and she
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said, Cami, I've been praying for you. The Lord
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has spoken to me that you're in a battle and
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it has to do with children. And He wants you
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to know that He sees you. That's all she said.
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That was all I needed to hear. And I said, yes,
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Lord. There was something, there was a power
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in knowing God sees me. He sees what He is, it
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is empowering to do the hard things that He calls
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us to do in life when we know He sees us. Because
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really that's all I need in life, is to be seen
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by my father. To be seen, to have his attention
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upon me. You ever see kids, a lot of kids act
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out, why? Because they're trying to get attention
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from somebody. Might be a discipline issue, but
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sometimes they just need to be seen by the adults,
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right? There's something in us that was created
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to be seen. And for Haggar, the Lord told her,
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he said, you need to go back to Sarai. You need
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to go back to your place of hardship, to your
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place of unfair treatment. How many of you have
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ever been treated unfairly? By family, by a job?
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God sends her back to the place of unfair treatment
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and she's able to do it why because He saw her
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and it empowered her There's something in knowing
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that God sees you and I feel like that's the
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beginning place often for us and our faith journey
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is To be at the well where you encounter him
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And no, he's not looking and seeing your neighbor
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next to you. Everybody look at your neighbor.
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He's not looking at your neighbor. Darren, you
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tell me to do this stuff all the time and you're
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not looking at a neighbor. He's rebellious. He's
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acting out. He needs attention. is true. He gets
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honoring when he needs attention. Now I forgot
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what I was saying. Okay, so God's not, he's not
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looking at your neighbor and saying, oh, I see
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Abigail. I don't see Vanessa. No, he's looking
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at you. Right now, he sees you. He's not valuing
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somebody next to you more than he's valuing you.
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His son died for you. He sees you. He sees you.
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This is the well of acceptance where he says,
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all are welcome at my well. All are welcome to
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this place of encounter. So our first well, the
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well of being seen. The next well is the second
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well of visitation for Haggard. And so Haggard's
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story continues. And this is the well of provision.
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And so Hagar had gone back, right, and gotten
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pregnant, had the baby, and still Sarah is having
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issues with this. And she can just no longer
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take it anymore. And she says, send that woman
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away. I don't want her in my household. Send
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him away. Send her away. And so we come to Genesis
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21. And so after, you know, Abraham really just
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should have stood up to his wife. But early the
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next morning, Abraham took some food and a skin
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of water, this is verse 14, and gave them to
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Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and sent
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her off with the boy. She went on her way and
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wandered in the desert of Beersheba. When the
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water in the skin was gone, She put the boy under
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one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat
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down about a bow shot away, for she thought,
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I cannot watch the boy die. And as she sat there,
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she began to sob. All the mama hearts can understand
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that, right? God heard the boy crying, and the
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angel of God again called to Hagar from heaven
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and said to her, What is the matter, Hagar? Do
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not be afraid. I love the perspective of heaven
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is so different God has heard the boy crying
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as he lies there Lift the boy up and take him
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by the hand for I will make him into a great
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nation Then God opened her eyes and she saw a
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well of water So she went and filled the skin
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with water and gave the boy a drink I think that
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her eyes were so, how many of you have cried
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so much your eyes just get swollen shut, right?
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Her eyes were so consumed by her tears. All she
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could see was the despair that she was in and
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her son was in. Because man's provision had already
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failed her, right? Abraham had sent her out with
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provision. But it was not enough and it never
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will be. Man's provision will never ever be enough.
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You will come to the end of man's provision,
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of this world's provision. It will take you only
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so far and then you find yourself saying, what
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now? We're left to die. All along, though, there
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was a well. She couldn't see it, but there was
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a well. And in that moment, heaven opened over
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her and began to speak over her. And suddenly,
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she finds herself at another well. The well of
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compassion. He had compassion for their desperate
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place. for their destitution. You know God has
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a well for you in your place of lack, in your
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place of destitution. Maybe it's a destitution
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of relationships. You have no relationships and
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you're lonely. Maybe it is a financial, maybe
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it is a physical. There's a well of provision
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that He gives. But what it takes is us censoring
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ourselves around the well and not the provision
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of man. I just discovered that I had some blood
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work and found out I have like a thyroid that's
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in the tank. Like it's way off almost to the
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top of the chart. And Darren was praying for
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me last night and because I have a hole I deep
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dived into. all about thyroid, and I've got a
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whole protocol I've got myself on. I've got to
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make a note to know what I've got to do. And
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so I'm faithful to steward it, but do you know,
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there's a supernatural well for me that will
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refill it, that will restore it, that I put my
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trust in. Man's things will take me so far, and
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then there is the provision of heaven. And so
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I position myself around the well of provision.
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So we have our first well was the well of being
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seen, the second well the well of provision,
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and our third well, and this is good news for
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you, I've named this well the well of yes and
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amen promises. How many of you have promises
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that God has given you and years later you are
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still waiting? You know He spoke to you. you've
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yet to see it come to pass. Well today you can
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be encouraged. We're going to look at Genesis
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24. Eventually Abraham and Sarah had their own
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child, the promised child who was Isaac, and
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there came the time that they wanted a wife for
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Isaac. And so Abraham sends out His servant to
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find a wife for Isaac and So I love what his
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servant does his servant obviously knew the ways
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of their household and in 24 verse 42 The servant
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came to the spring So he found the well in town
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and he said Lord God of my master Abraham If
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you will, please grant success to the journey
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on which I have come. See, I am standing beside
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this spring. If a young man comes out to draw
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water, and I say to her, please let me drink
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a little from your jar, and if she says to me,
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drink, and I'll draw water for your camels, too.
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That's a big job. That's a lot of water. Let
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her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master's
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son. Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebecca
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came out with her jar on her shoulder, went down
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to the spring, drew up water and said, I said
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to her, please give me a drink. She quickly lowered
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her jar and said, drink and I'll water your camels
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too. He immediately went to the home of Rebecca.
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Rebecca became Isaac's wife. This is the well
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of where God's promises that he made to you are
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yes and amen. So let them be You receive a prophetic
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word and you're believing for it God speaks direction
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over your life over your future and you have
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yet to see it come to pass What you need is not
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to in your own strength and ability fulfill God's
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promises what you need to find is a well Abraham's
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servant could have gone door to door, knocking,
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looking for relatives of Abraham. He could have,
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in his own mind, come up with a plan of action
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to find a wife, you know, matchmaker .com. He
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could have done something like that, but he didn't.
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He went and he found a well. And he trusted that
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God would, in that place, at that well. Bring
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the yes and the amen. God's promises for you
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are not fulfilled in your own strength, in your
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own abilities. They are fulfilled at the well.
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They are fulfilled at the well. If his servant
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had not found the well, He would have missed.
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He would have missed the provision of the Lord,
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the fulfillment that the Lord had for Isaac's
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wife. And so don't get discouraged over these
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promises. You just say, I'm going to stay at
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this well until Lord you send it. I'm going to
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stay at the well of your presence until the fulfillment
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comes. Okay, that takes us into well number four.
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We're moving through these fast to get somewhere
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Genesis 26 This is still his son Isaac and Isaac
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we're gonna come back to this passage a little
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later on but Isaac He went up to bear Sheba and
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that night the Lord appeared to him And he said,
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I am the God of your father Abraham. And what
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he's doing here is he is reaffirming the covenant
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that he had made to his father Abraham, to Isaac.
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And he says, don't be afraid for I am with you.
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I will bless you and will increase the number
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of your descendants for the sake of my servant
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Abraham. In response to that encounter, here's
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what Isaac did. He built an altar there and he
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called on the name of the Lord. This is how we
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see them worshipping the God of Abraham in those
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days. They would build an altar and they would
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call in the name of the Lord. This was their
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act of worship. And so he did that. The first
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thing he did was build an altar and then it says
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he pitched his tent and there his servants dug
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a well. Dug a well. This is my favorite well
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the well of worship and encounter There's just
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really nothing else this for me. This well is
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not about what I can get from God This is a well
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of where I can worship him. This is the well
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where I can just enjoy his presence I Love this
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well He pitched his tent and he there if you're
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going to listen digging a well is no easy thing
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it's not like we have the drills that we have
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nowadays right can you imagine digging a well
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is a big deal but digging down through bedrock
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to get to the water table and so this is no easy
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task but he was committed he had encountered
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god at this place And now this place was a sacred
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place. So he pitched a tent and he dug a well.
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He said, I'm driving my roots down right here.
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The well of worship and encounter. Man, visit
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this well, live in this well. This should be
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a well that's day in and day out of your life.
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The place of encounter. Which leads us to the
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last one that I'm going to briefly touch on the
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well of refreshment We come later on to the Israelites
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and their exodus from Egypt in Exodus 15 and
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You know, this was a great wilderness. They were
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often hungry. They were often thirsty But in
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chapter 15 verse 27, it says that they came to
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Elam where there were 12 springs of water and
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70 palms. This is the well that enables us in
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Psalm 84, 6 to pass through the valley of weeping,
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where they make it a place of springs and of
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pools of refreshment. How does that happen? Because
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There's a well that God gives of refreshment.
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It's a well for you to drink from. And so these
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are wells that we find, and they're literal wells,
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but they're places of God encounters as well.
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Right? You can drink actual water from these
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wells, but they were also these God encounter
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places. In the New Testament, there are two wells,
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and this is where we're going. And you can't
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get to the second well unless you go to the first
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well. And the first well is found in John chapter
25:18
four. And I'm gonna be moving around in here,
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but we're gonna start in verse six. This is where
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Jesus comes and he meets the Samaritan woman
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at a well. His disciples have gone in to get
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him food and he comes to Samaria and he sits
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at the well of Jacob. And in verse 6, it says,
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Jesus, therefore, being wearied from his journey,
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sat thus by the well of Jacob. It was about the
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sixth hour, and a woman of Samaria came to draw
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water, and Jesus said to her, Give me a drink,
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for his disciples had gone to buy food. And the
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woman of Samaria said to him, How is it that
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you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan
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woman? For Jews had no dealing with Samaritans.
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They would have nothing to do with each other.
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A huge racial issue right here. And Jesus sees
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her. She's not used to being seen, especially
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by men or by Jews. And Jesus sees her. Jesus
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answered and said, If you knew the gift of God
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and who it is who says to you, give me a drink,
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you would have asked him and he would have given
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you living water. And then the woman said, I
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have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.
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Where then do you get that living water? Are
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you greater than our father Jacob who gave us
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the well and drank from it himself? as well as
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his sons and livestock. Jesus answered and said,
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whoever drinks of this water will thirst again.
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But whoever drinks of the water that I have will
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never thirst. But the water that I shall give
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him will come in him a fountain of water springing
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up into everlasting life. And the woman said,
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Sir, give me this water that I may not thirst
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nor come here to draw it. And then Jesus gets
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real personal with her. He's offering her the
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gift of salvation. But in order to do that, he
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has to touch on some things in her lives. How
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many of you, when you came to salvation, the
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Lord had to touch on some things in your life,
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right? And he still has to touch on things in
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my life. But he says, go call your husband and
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come here. And she says, I have no husband. And
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Jesus says, you have well said, I have no husband,
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for you have five husbands. You have had five
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husbands. And the one whom you now have is not
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your husband. In that you spoke truly. And the
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woman said to him, sir, I perceive that you are
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a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on that. Actually,
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let's stop there and go over. to verse 28. So
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she perceives he's a prophet in verse 28. They
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have a whole nother conversation, but in verse
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28, it says after her encounter with Jesus, she
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left her water pot, went into the city and said
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to the men, come see a man who told me all things
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that I ever did. Could this be the Christ? Then
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they went out of the city and came to him. And
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so she brought all the men of the city out to
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see Jesus. What was she doing in that moment?
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She was testifying. She was evangelizing. Go
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over to verse 39. After the conclusion of this,
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It says, many of the Samaritans of that city
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believed in him because of the word of the woman
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who testified, he told me all that I ever did.
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So when the Samaritans had come to him, they
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urged him to stay with them and he stayed two
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days and many more believed because of his own
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word. Then they said to the woman, now we believe
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not because of what you said, For we ourselves
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have heard of Him, and we know that this is indeed
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the Christ, the Savior of the world. Hallelujah.
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This is what all the other wells build up to.
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This is the whole enchilada. It is salvation
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that has been given at this well. And this woman
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had been thirsty. She was so thirsty she had
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tried to find in all of these husbands and men
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Something that would satisfy her and she couldn't
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find it Until she encountered the Christ the
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Savior of the world This is the well This is
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the well that you cannot move beyond This is
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the well that satisfies the longing of your heart
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the longings You don't even understand but have
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been put inside of you to be satisfied by the
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Christ He says to drink deep Drink deep of the
31:15
salvation. I love in Isaiah It says come all
31:19
you who are thirsty come to the waters you have
31:22
no money Come buy eat Come by wine and milk without
31:28
cost." And again, he calls out and says, with
31:33
joy you will draw from the water the wells of
31:36
salvation. Listen to me, if you are here this
31:43
morning and you've said, I have never drank of
31:46
these waters. I have a thirst that I've been
31:50
trying to satisfy and I just can't seem to quench
31:53
it. There are waters available for you all are
31:59
welcome at the wells of salvation and He would
32:03
love for you today to draw deep and to drink
32:07
from the well of salvation Once we have drank
32:12
of the well of salvation though Here's here's
32:17
where we're gonna land this next well of the
32:21
New Testament And so a couple of weeks ago, Dennis
32:25
gave this word. And it says, the word that came
32:30
was, the Lord would say, surely that there is
32:34
a fresh well that is beginning to flow. It will
32:40
soon gush forth with the oil of the spirit that
32:44
the world has not known before. It will bring
32:47
forth fresh revelation, fresh understanding,
32:52
fresh flow of the spirit that the nations have
32:55
not experienced before. Reformation will come
32:59
forth in a mighty way that the world has not
33:02
known. For surely those who would want to stand
33:05
by the old, the old was for an appointed time,
33:08
for an appointed season. Although the source
33:12
is the same, it is going to be a fresh revelation
33:15
of the Spirit of God that the world has not known.
33:19
Come and drink, come and be transformed, come
33:22
and be renewed by the power of the Spirit, says
33:26
the Lord. We were going through this on Tuesday
33:31
night at our leader meeting and and Katherine
33:33
was pointing out to me that this is not a well
33:38
of water in this word But it is a well of oil
33:46
of the Holy Spirit And once we have drank of
33:52
the wells of salvation What was the first question
33:56
that the apostles would ask in the book of Acts?
34:01
They would come unto groups of new believers
34:04
and they would say, have you received the gift
34:08
of the Holy Spirit? It was the first question
34:12
they would ask. Have you received this gift?
34:18
The well of oil. And you're not going to necessarily
34:23
find this term, the well of oil, but really all
34:27
a well is, is a source, right? It's a source.
34:33
And Jesus, when he was doing his ministry, after
34:38
he was baptized, he went into the temple and
34:41
he began to read in the temple from the book
34:44
of Isaiah. And he read, the spirit of the Lord
34:47
is on me because he has anointed me. He anointed
34:54
me to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim
34:57
freedom to the prisoners, recovery of sight for
35:00
the blind, the oppressed free, to proclaim the
35:03
year of the Lord's favor. But he was anointed
35:07
to do that. How did they anoint in the Old Testament?
35:14
It wasn't just these little bottles, man. They
35:16
poured on the oil. There that oil was gonna Everybody
35:21
knew the priests have been anointed the king
35:25
had been anointed with oil it permeated I Mean
35:30
even one little dot of this and you'll know you
35:32
were anointed with oil today and they were permeated
35:37
with it and So Jesus was saying I have been anointed
35:42
by who the Spirit of God anointed me. And so
35:51
when we talk about oil, what the association
35:55
is in the word is with the Holy Spirit. Because
36:00
it was the Holy Spirit, nobody poured oil on
36:04
him, the Holy Spirit came down upon him and anointed
36:07
him. And so we see that the the oil in the Holy
36:12
Spirit that Association and so Jesus he was ascending
36:17
into heaven after he died and Resurrected and
36:21
he said this you will receive power when the
36:25
Holy Spirit comes on you And you will be my witnesses
36:31
in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends
36:34
of the earth. And in fact, Jesus said in John
36:37
14, these things that I'm doing, you're gonna
36:40
do even greater things. You're gonna do even
36:44
greater things. What I want us to see is that...
36:49
After we have drank of the wells of salvation,
36:53
there is the oil of anointing, the oil of the
36:56
Holy Spirit that is now available for us. And
37:02
just as it anointed Jesus to proclaim freedom
37:06
and set people free, it is what he has anointed
37:10
us to do. It is what he has sent his Holy Spirit
37:14
to do. to empower us to be witnesses, to move
37:22
outside these walls and for the Holy Spirit,
37:27
the oil of the Holy Spirit. Just as it would
37:30
permeate those kings and those priests when you're
37:34
at work, so should the oil of the Holy Spirit
37:38
permeate your life. The aroma of the oil should
37:43
be very evident in your home, should be very
37:47
evident in your workplace, should be evident
37:50
in your school, wherever you are, the oil of
37:56
the Holy Spirit. it should be evident that we've
38:01
been filled with and touched and baptized with
38:05
His Spirit. The oil, the well of oil is the Holy
38:10
Spirit. And so Jesus, Jesus said in Matthew 25,
38:18
He had just been teaching the previous chapter
38:21
about the end times, about His second coming.
38:24
about one that we haven't seen yet, his return
38:27
for this church. And so in the next chapter,
38:32
he says, at that time, here's what it's gonna
38:36
be like. The kingdom of heaven is gonna be like
38:39
10 virgins who took their lamps. and went out
38:44
to meet the bridegroom. Five were foolish, five
38:47
were wise. Five took their lamps but no other
38:51
oil. Five took their lamps and brought oil and
38:54
jars. And so the bridegroom was a long time in
38:59
coming. And so what began to happen, they became
39:04
drowsy, they fell asleep. And then at midnight
39:07
came the cry, the bridegroom is coming, the bridegroom
39:10
is coming. Oh, what began to happen, the foolish
39:15
ones ran out of oil. And so they turned to the
39:18
wise ones and they say, give us some of your
39:21
oil. And the wise, like, sorry, we only have
39:25
enough for us. You need to go buy oil. By that
39:29
time, it was too late. The bridegroom had come
39:33
and taken them and the doors had shut. Listen,
39:39
your person sitting next to you, cannot give
39:42
you the oil that you need. Teenagers, you can't
39:47
rest on the oil of the Holy Spirit of your parents.
39:50
You guys gotta be filled. Kids, you gotta be
39:54
filled for yourself. I cannot give my kids oil
39:59
anymore. They gotta get their own oil. As much
40:05
as that hurts our hearts sometimes, it's the
40:08
truth. We cannot provide oil for others. We can
40:12
only go to the source for ourselves. Everybody
40:16
has to go to the Holy Spirit for themselves.
40:20
But I love that Jesus at the end of time is saying
40:24
here, are you going to be a foolish or a wise
40:27
virgin? The wise ones are carrying oil. The chief
40:32
concern for these virgins while they waited for
40:35
the bridegroom was that they would have light.
40:39
Right? It wasn't enough. They just had the oil.
40:43
They had the lamp that the oil filled so that
40:48
what? The light could be shining forth while
40:51
they waited. Are we connecting the dots here?
40:57
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit that you would be
41:02
a light. And he then becomes the source. for
41:08
the light, the oil for the light. Our chief concern
41:17
as we await the return of Christ is light, is
41:25
being a source of light for our world, and that
41:30
requires oil. We cannot be our own source. We
41:35
cannot be the source for the light The call is
41:41
for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit to be
41:44
a witness and So we have to keep drinking because
41:49
what happens in those lights they do they burn
41:51
the oil And as you are sharing the light If you
41:58
are not continually drawing from the source,
42:01
from the well of oil, you will burn out. The
42:06
source has to flow through you to be a light.
42:13
And so, finally, I want us to see the importance
42:21
of these wells, because we have an enemy That
42:27
desires to stop up your well to cut you off from
42:31
your source When we read in Genesis 26 About
42:39
Isaac remember pitching his tent If you go back
42:45
to that verse what he had been doing up until
42:47
that point was reopening the wells of Abraham
42:52
Abraham had dug a lot of wells And then the Philistines
42:57
had come in and stopped up all of his wells.
43:02
And so Isaac was going through the land and he
43:07
was reopening the wells of his father. There
43:12
are wells of our forefathers. There are sources
43:16
that are important that the enemy would love
43:21
to stop up in your life. If he can cut you off
43:26
from the filling of the Holy Spirit from the
43:30
source of oil, if he can cut you off from the
43:35
wells of salvation, this is what he wants to
43:40
do. This will knock you out if he's able to stop
43:47
up your wells. On October 31st, how many of you
43:54
are history buffs? Any history buffs? Really,
43:57
not very many of you. I'm surprised. Well, you're
44:01
getting a little history here. October 31st,
44:05
1917 was the Battle of Beersheba in World War
44:13
I. And this is actually one of It's remembered
44:21
as the last great cavalry charge of history.
44:28
And so they were in battle and the Allies had
44:36
tried a couple of times to take this ground of
44:41
Beersheba. And the importance of it is this.
44:46
There were 17 wells. in the city of Beersheba.
44:52
There were 17 wells. It was a water source. And
44:57
all around them was a desert. And they had tried
45:00
a couple of times to take it and had not succeeded
45:03
until an Australian force rose up and said, we're
45:11
going to do this. And so the Australian Light
45:16
Horse Company executed a daring charge, riding
45:22
four miles in the desert under machine fire.
45:28
Four miles under machine fire. They did lose
45:33
a great number, but they are famous for using
45:39
their bayonets as swords to take the town and
45:43
capture the wells. For Australia, it's their
45:48
moment of fame. Because they taking that city
45:53
and those wells changed the course of World War
45:57
I. It really is what enabled England to come
46:01
in and to finish off the war. It turned the tide
46:07
and it had a lasting political landscape. for
46:12
the Middle East, laying the groundwork for the
46:15
return of Israel. All over water wells. All over
46:23
water source. Your enemy wants to cut you off
46:29
from your source. And there has to be this same
46:35
kind of tenacity as the Australian light horse.
46:41
company to say, I'm not letting my source get
46:44
cut. I'm going to be like Isaac and I'm going
46:48
to pitch my tent and I'm going to drive down
46:51
deep. And I'm going to, I think about, I think
46:56
about all of the believers in this region before
47:00
us decades and decades ago that have prayed prayers
47:05
for this region. That we are praying. prayers
47:09
of. Do you know what those are? Those are wells.
47:14
And every time we pray, we pray in, we are reopening
47:18
those wells for this land. For those of you that
47:28
came to our newcomers class last week, you heard
47:30
the story of us moving here and finding out that
47:33
Darren's great -grand - Was it your great -grandfather?
47:36
Your grandfather? Great -grandfather, Airy Vanderhorst,
47:41
had been a president over at Lincoln College.
47:44
We didn't know that until we moved here. There
47:48
was a great move of God that happened on that
47:50
campus the years he was the president. What is
47:54
that for us? That is a well. That is a well.
47:59
Gary and Kathy worked hard re -digging those
48:01
wells as we dig Chi Alpha on that campus. That
48:07
was in 1930. There are wells. There are wells.
48:15
My father dug a well for our family when he came
48:20
to Christ. He dug a well for my family. The enemy
48:27
wants to stop up those wells so that future generations
48:30
can't benefit from them. There has to be a tenacity
48:36
in us that says I am not going to settle. I am
48:42
going to live my life around the source, around
48:48
the source, around I will release the Holy Spirit.
48:52
It doesn't matter. My kids have to choose for
48:55
the well for themselves, but my responsibility
48:58
is to camp us out as a family at the well. My
49:03
job as a parent was to make sure we were drinking
49:07
from the well as a family. Then comes the moment
49:10
they've got to choose for themselves. But as
49:15
much as in my power, I'm gonna make sure there's
49:17
an open well, an open source for my family and
49:21
for every person that the Lord brings. Now listen,
49:25
there is, we are living in this time and I love
49:28
the word that came. that Dennis brought. And
49:31
in 2 Chronicles, if the team wants to begin to
49:34
come up now, at 2 Chronicles chapter 26, we have
49:38
King Uzziah. And he started out as a really great
49:42
king. He ended up in pride, but he started as
49:45
a great king. And it says in verse 9 that Uzziah
49:49
built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate
49:53
and the valley gate and at the angle of the wall,
49:55
and he fortified them. He also built towers in
50:00
the wilderness and it says this he dug many cisterns
50:05
Because he had much livestock in the foothills
50:09
and in the plane and He because he also had a
50:13
lot of people working in his fields in his vineyards.
50:16
So he needed a lot of water sources We are living
50:22
We are living in a culture that requires many,
50:27
many water sources. It is a dry land out there.
50:32
And it isn't enough to say, oh, the pastors can
50:36
be the water sources. No, you have been filled
50:41
with the Spirit of God. You are a source for
50:45
this community. We need everybody to be filled
50:49
as a source for our community, filled into overflowing
50:55
in your light shining. And so this morning, I
51:01
want us in this moment, There may have been,
51:03
as we went through these wells, a certain well
51:06
that just gripped you for now. But ultimately,
51:10
what the mission, the heart of God is, is that
51:13
we be wells filled with the oil of the Spirit
51:17
so that we would shine in this world, so that
51:21
we would have power for living, so that you would
51:25
have power to overcome your difficulties so that
51:29
you would have power to overcome what the enemy
51:33
would try to bring against you. So that you would
51:36
have power to overcome in your family troubles.
51:39
So you would have power to overcome in your physical
51:43
troubles. So you would have power to overcome
51:46
in your workplace troubles. You don't have to
51:51
struggle. You don't have to struggle in lack,
51:55
you have been filled with the Spirit of God.
51:59
You have in you what is needed. You have become
52:03
a well yourself. You have become a well yourself.
52:10
And so this morning, this morning, what I'm asking
52:14
is that we would all in some way in our heart,
52:18
just respond to the Lord. And so I want you to
52:21
just stand with me for a moment. And the first
52:24
thing I want us to do is, listen, if you have
52:27
never drank from the wells of salvation, today
52:31
is your day to do that. Today is your day to
52:34
say yes to the living water that Jesus offers
52:38
you. And so before we go any further, I want
52:41
us to all just pray this together. And if that
52:44
is you, I want you in sincerity of heart to join
52:48
with us in this prayer. Lord Jesus. We acknowledge
52:55
that we need you. Without you, we have no source
53:02
of life. And so we receive your life -giving
53:08
waters. We draw upon your salvation, and we receive
53:17
it as our own. I choose you, Lord. I choose your
53:24
waters of salvation. I'm pitching my tent at
53:29
the well, and I will not be moved. In Jesus'
53:35
name. If you prayed that today, we want to know.
53:40
And so, at the end of the service, either one
53:44
of the elders or Darren and I, come and tell
53:47
us that you prayed that prayer, because we want
53:50
to help you. in that. And now for the rest of
53:56
us, I want us for a moment, Brianna's gonna lead
54:00
us in a moment of worship, and I want us to just
54:04
take a fresh drink from the oil of the Holy Spirit.
54:13
I know some of you are, you need it desperately.
54:16
Life has sucked you dry situations have sucked
54:19
you dry and for a few moments You just need to
54:23
be filled up again with the Holy Spirit And so
54:27
if as we worship you need some people to pray
54:29
with you We want to pray with you that you would
54:33
be have a fresh Infilling of the Holy Spirit
54:37
the oil of his spirit for you. He's longing to
54:41
source you He's longing to give. He wants to
54:44
give you more than you could ask or imagine.
54:48
And so as we worship, hey, life will continue
54:51
on in a few moments, but for the next 10 minutes
54:54
or so, let's just say, fill me again. Fill me
54:57
again, Holy Spirit. And so Brianna, lead us here
55:01
just for a moment. If you need a prayer, I want
55:05
you to just come up to the altar. We would love
55:07
to pray with you this morning.