Life’s bitter waters, much like the Israelites’ encounter at Marah, can either embitter or better us, depending on our perspective. As we navigate the hurdles and hardships, we're reminded of the transformation that unfolds through obedience to God’s commands. Drawing from both scriptural accounts and contemporary experiences, the narrative of Marah becomes a powerful allegory for our own life challenges, urging us to seek the solace and sweetness of Jesus, the living water. Together, let’s embrace the joy and unity found in the presence of God, as we travel through our own wilderness toward a promised land of spiritual abundance.
Thanks for listening! Find us on Instagram or visit our Website.
Life’s bitter waters, much like the Israelites’ encounter at Marah, can either embitter or better us, depending on our perspective. As we navigate the hurdles and hardships, we're reminded of the transformation that unfolds through obedience to God’s commands. Drawing from both scriptural accounts and contemporary experiences, the narrative of Marah becomes a powerful allegory for our own life challenges, urging us to seek the solace and sweetness of Jesus, the living water. Together, let’s embrace the joy and unity found in the presence of God, as we travel through our own wilderness toward a promised land of spiritual abundance.
Thanks for listening! Find us on Instagram or visit our Website.
Hands together. Aren't you glad you are in church this morning. God is so good, it is so good to see your smiling face here this morning. Here, as a part of First Baptist Church Power Springs, if we can, let's bring up the lights a little bit, just so people can see their Bibles and take some notes and all of that. But I am so glad that you are here. Your presence matters because you matter to God and God has a purpose for your life.
Speaker 1:Happy Free Car Magnet Sunday. You didn't know that was an official holiday, did you? But thank you for coming today grabbing one of those free car magnets, slapping that puppy on your car. What a great way to show people. Number one, that you love your church. Number two, where they can come and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ preached. Can I get an amen? So good to have you.
Speaker 1:And before we get started, I just want you to know what God is doing here at First Baptist Church Powder Springs. I want you to know four things that he's doing before we jump into our passage this morning. First of all, we have a new team member, a new staff member. She starts tomorrow on our administrative assistant team and her name is the one, the only, teresa Womack. So give it up for Teresa Womack. She's up here on the front row and so we are so excited that she is coming to join our staff family. We are so thankful. Also, I just want you to know about our student ministry. This past Wednesday, our student ministry met in here for their first time, instead of over in the garage. Ministry met in here for their first time. Instead of over in the garage, they met in here. Why? Because we always want to give the next generation prime real estate, prime real estate, and so we're so thankful for the next generation, for the student ministry meeting in here, and this morning they are meeting up in that room right up in there. We gave them a new room where they can meet all together on Sunday mornings. Maybe they can hear us If they're in there. Put your hands together one more time for our student ministry.
Speaker 1:We're so thankful for our teenagers, pastor Brian Capshaw who leads them. God is so good, and we even had a Sunday school class, a connection group, that said we will move for our teenagers. So we're Baptist, but we're not that Baptist. You know what I'm saying. So I'm just so thankful for all of the flexibility, all the flexibility that everyone has Also. Number three. Number three we have a spring fling lunch today for all of our widows and widowers, just to show them how precious they are to us, how precious they are to God, and that all that God is doing in their life. Put your hands together for all of our widows and widowers, because we're so thankful for them. We've got a lunch for them right after this this morning. And then I want you to know, two Sundays ago we had our Next Step Lunch. I didn't get to tell you about it last Sunday, our Next Step Lunch and I want you to know that we had 22 people in attendance in our Next Step lunch. Six of them declared or decided to be joining by letter. Two of them wanted to get baptized, four of them were interested in joining and they're praying about it, and another four had joined already. So God is adding to our number. One more time for all that God is doing here at First Baptist Church, powder Springs.
Speaker 1:Well, this morning we're going to continue on in the book of Exodus. You can look with me at Exodus, chapter 15. Exodus, chapter 15 and it's the same book, but we're going to turn it into a new series for this month and this series we are calling it instead of why we worship, we're going to call it Worship in the Wilderness. Now let me explain why we're calling it Worship in the Wilderness Because, if you remember, as we started Exodus and this was back in the first of April they're bringing out the TV. Hey, y'all give it up for our production team. One more clap, one more applause. They do a great job, man, taking good care of us. There they are in all of their glory and man, they do such an amazing job. We would not be able to do what we do if it was not for those that are working behind the scenes. Amen.
Speaker 1:So Exodus we've been going through the book of Exodus, and Exodus actually teaches us some really important truths for our life. If we're not careful, we can read the Old Testament like these are just historical stories that we're just simply supposed to believe that have happened. But the Old Testament is actually a lot more than that these historical stories that God orchestrated in order to teach us deep theological truths of what we are currently going through. Here's what I mean.
Speaker 1:Exodus starts out with Egypt or Israel is they are enslaved, the people of God, israel, they're enslaved by the people of Egypt. That is a picture of how we are enslaved in our sin, a slave to the evil, one before our salvation. The Bible says that God raised up Moses, a deliverer, and God used Moses to deliver his people. In the same way that God has raised up Jesus, his son, to be our savior, amen. And the Bible says that God poured out 10 plagues of judgment onto Egypt, and the last one being the, the death of their firstborn. But God allowed Israel to escape that plague. But all they had to do was to sacrifice a Passover lamb and to spread the blood over the doorpost. And that is our theological picture that God has poured out his judgment, his wrath, on all of our sin, at the cross of Jesus Christ, because he is our Passover lamb and he has died for our sins. Can I get an amen? And God is so good so he's working all of these things out.
Speaker 1:And then, as they are escaping or going out of Egypt, the Bible says that he leads them with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. That is a picture of the Holy Spirit that when you are saved, god then leads you by the Holy Spirit. And then the Bible says that he led them through the Red Sea, and 1 Corinthians 10 says that the Israelites, god's people, were baptized in the sea. What a picture that we are called to be baptized after we are saved as our first act of obedience, because that's what the Holy Spirit leads us to do. Just last week we got to see four baptisms in here. Just last week we had a husband and a wife, a husband and a wife who dedicated their baby boy to the Lord and handed them off to one of the grandparents and turned around and they got baptized right there. And then we had a mom and her daughter get baptized right after them.
Speaker 1:And I want you to know that God is changing lives here at First Baptist Church, powder Springs in so many different ways. So we're calling this worshiping in the wilderness. Why we're calling it worship in the wilderness? Because life, your life and my life, our life, is like this season of the Israelites, where they're wandering in the wilderness. God has saved them, god has delivered them, and sometimes we think well, now surely everything's going to be just fine. Right, he's already poured out the plagues and he's sacrificed the Passover lamb and he led them through the Red Sea, and now they're just going to walk to the promised land and everything's going to be just fine V and let's all go home. But that's not what happens. That's not what happens to them, because that's not what happens to us, because that's not what happens to us, because that's not what happens to you. You give your life to Jesus, but life is still like a wilderness that we are wandering through. We're following God, but yet we are going through many struggles.
Speaker 1:And I want you to see this morning what we're going to talk about from Exodus 15 and 17 is four ways to know if you are trusting God. Here's my question for you Are you trusting God? How do you know whether or not you are trusting God? Did you know that you can trust God with your eternity? You can be saved, but there can still be parts of your life that you're not trusting him fully. And then the question is well, how do we identify those areas of our life? And even if we know what they are, then what exactly are we supposed to do with those? The design of the message this morning is to teach you how to trust God. I think about just here.
Speaker 1:About two weeks ago now, I was bringing Brooklyn to school and as I was bringing Brooklyn to school, a police officer runs out into the streets, has his arms reached out at my vehicle, right here, right before the church parking lot. I slam on my brakes and I stop and he says pull in here. I'm like, oh my goodness, what is happening right now? They have caught some perpetrator, they have caught somebody, somebody's in trouble. It was me. It was me. So they pulled me in the church parking lot. Little did I know it was like a distracted driver sting that they had going on and I got stung, okay. And so they pulled me in the parking lot and I rolled my window down and he said, sir, you were looking at your phone. And I said, yes, you're right, I was doing the wrong thing. I was looking at my phone. I said, to be honest, I'm actually the senior pastor of the church that you're in this parking lot, and I was with my daughter and I'm playing every card that I can, right, and so I'm with my daughter, and this is true story.
Speaker 1:And I was texting her little attendant, who helps her with her wheelchair, to let her know that she was coming into the parking lot to take her into school. And he looked at me and he said license please. And I'm like, oh man, he got me, he got me and I love man. I love our police department. I love our Powder Springs police. I love our Cobb County police. They protect us. Put your hands together for all of our policemen, all of our police department. Man, we're so thankful we've got some here with us this morning. Man, we love them, we love them, we love them.
Speaker 1:He tells me to pull over in the parking lot so I park there. We're probably there for 15 minutes. Right, it was a hot day so I rolled my windows down to kind of let the breeze come through. Brooklyn's still in the car. She can see her little Baptist preschool rut. She's like why can't I go to school? So I'm like babe, just wait the police officer. He's working everything out.
Speaker 1:15 minutes goes by, windows are down and Brooklyn just can't take it any longer. She didn't know what's going on and she just screams at the top of her lungs why is it taking so long? Windows up right Window goes up and I had to have a conversation with her Daddy's getting a ticket. That's what is taking so long. Her daddy's getting a ticket. That's what is taking so long, and sometimes that is our attitude, like God, what is taking so long? And it's hard to trust God when we don't know what's going on. Can I get an amen? So here's what we see Four ways to know. If you're trusting God Number one you've got to know the condition of the world. You've gotta believe, you've gotta understand the condition of the world in order to trust God, that it is not the world that is going to bring about your good. If you believe that, say amen.
Speaker 1:Exodus, chapter 15, verse 22 says then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea. They had just crossed through and they went into the wilderness of Shur. You might be asking was it really called the wilderness of Shur? It sure was. That's a dad joke for you, I'm sorry. So yes, they were going into the wilderness of Shur. At this time, we see that they are following the Holy Spirit. It seems like that everything is going to be just fine when everything kind of falls apart. We see here. First of all, I just wanna show you a quick map. They start here in Egypt. This is Ramses. They go through Succoth. Oh, and where do we go? Do we go back? Do we go forward? Here we go, and they went through Succoth and then they crossed the Red Sea. This is the wilderness ofah, and we're going to see Elam in this story as well during this time, just so you know where they're going as they're heading up into the promised land. It says they went three days into the wilderness and they found no water. Now time out.
Speaker 1:I remember being taught this passage even this week. Every commentator that I read, every preacher that I listened to, everybody has always told me all my life can you believe the Israelites? Three days ago, god parted the Red Sea and they walked straight through. And it's only been three days and they've already lost their faith in God. And can you believe that they're complaining against God? Yes, I can, and don't look at me so spiritual. Yes, you can too, because scientists tell us the human body cannot go without liquid for three to five days. And they're in a hot, dry, arid desert, probably two to three million people, including children and the elderly, which means that they are hot, they're thirsty, they're dehydrated, they could be hallucinating, they could be carrying people. At this point, they've gone for three days with no water. And the question is God, do you know what you're doing? God? Did you forget something? And that's the same feeling that we all have in our lives. God, I feel like that I don't have what I really need, or God, what I really want. And so they are there and they are struggling.
Speaker 1:So then they came to Marah. When they came to Marah, they could not even drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. Therefore it was named Marah. Marah means bitter. So if you can imagine, they come to Marah, which has water there, and then they go to the water. They taste the water. The water is bitter, which means the water is poisonous. The water would make them sick. It's unpotable, it's undrinkable, it would cause. Medical articles tell us that it would have a laxative acting agent in it, which means do not drink the water. That's the last thing you wanna drink in the wilderness. And so it is like they're coming to this place and remember the Bible is teaching us about what's going on in our life, not just then, but now.
Speaker 1:So the question is when we go through the wilderness of life and you go through times where you don't feel like you're getting what you need and I don't feel like I'm getting what I want, then what happens? We become bitter. We become bitter. The question is for us is what is our Mara? What is it that makes you bitter? What is it that brings that disappointment in your life? Psychology today states consider how frequently. If you're wondering, if you are bitter, how to diagnose your bitterness, consider how frequently you get irritated or bothered just by little things. When a person becomes bitter, the most obvious effect is on their mood. Specifically, the person's baseline mood is often angry, disappointed or irritable. So I ask the question because I believe that all of us go through these seasons of bitterness. These are three signs of bitterness that can happen in our life. And what is bitterness?
Speaker 1:Bitterness is when we go through unmet expectations or, as a Christian, we do not believe that God is providing what we need. Here are 10 causes of bitterness. I read this on the internet, so you know it's true. Here we go 10 causes of bitterness Disappointment have you experienced disappointment in your life? Has someone betrayed you? Have you gone through great loss? Have you experienced failure, injustice, rejection? Do you struggle with comparison? Do you have unfulfilled dreams or unmet expectations? Have you gone through trauma? Or do you feel like that you have a lack of closure? You went through something and you just did not feel like that. There was closure. That has happened. Every single one of us has gone through that. And here they are, they're bitter and they get to this water. And now the water is bitter and it was a big trick because it looked like that God was providing them with water, but the water's not even drinkable.
Speaker 1:It would be like you're going through one of these things and maybe you're bitter because you don't have the right friends around you and it seems like that God has provided you the right friend, but then that friend betrays you. And now God, have you? God, are you playing games with me? I thought this was the person I needed, or maybe a romantic interest, and yet there was rejection. Maybe a job, but then there was failure. That happened in your life. And we go through these times where we wonder, like God, if you're there, god, if you love me, god, if you're all powerful, god, then why am I going through what I'm going through? And the Bible says and the people grumbled against Moses, saying what shall we drink? They grumbled. What do we naturally do?
Speaker 1:We complain when we don't get what we want, when we don't feel like we get what we need, we grumble, we argue, and it's interesting, they didn't grumble, they didn't complain to God, they complained to Moses, and I think that's true for me and I think that's true for you. It's like we're not dumb enough spiritually to actually go and bring our complaints to God. We're just gonna talk about it, we're gonna complain to people and we're gonna complain about people, but we're gonna try and keep free of blame against God, because we don't want God to judge us. Well, the problem is, when we complain, when we grumble, no matter who it's to or who it's about it's, ultimately God receives that personal into himself. Do you know?
Speaker 1:The Bible says in Psalm chapter 142, verse 2, that we can bring our complaints to God. Did you know that God is omnipotent, he's omniscient, he's omnipresent and he's not threatened by your complaints? Did you know that he is never worried about? Oh my goodness, what if they get mad at me? Oh my goodness, what if they find me out that I'm not actually all powerful? No, he is. And so the Bible says we bring our complaints to him. Why? Here's why Because if we don't complain to him, we'll complain about him. If we don't complain to him, then we'll take our complaints to others, and then they will share the burden of our complaint.
Speaker 1:But the Bible says that we need to bring our complaints to God, especially when we are going through times of bitterness. The Bible says and you won't see it on the screen Ephesians 4, verse 31, let all bitterness, with wrath and anger, be put away from you. Hebrews 12, 15, see to it that no root of bitterness springs up in you so that you would become defiled. See, we see this passage of scripture and it is a reminder of the condition of the world. That here's what Satan is doing. Satan is throwing everything at you that he possibly can so that you don't worship Jesus, so that you don't pray to God, so that you don't wait on God, so that you don't follow the Holy Spirit. And he's throwing everything at you and he's promising you the world. But everything in the world is designed to make you bitter, because he doesn't want you to be happy, he doesn't want you to experience who God is. We see the condition of the world and so we ask ourselves so what do I do if I'm bitter? I want you to see the cure of the gospel. The Bible says in Exodus 15, verse 25,.
Speaker 1:And so what did Moses do? Moses didn't go and complain back to the people it's all your fault. No, he went to God and he cried out to God. What did he cry? I think Moses cried. I think Moses was heartbroken. I think he cried out to God because he loved the people and he loved God and he couldn't reconcile both. He loved these people and he sees how genuinely dehydrated and thirsty and disappointed that they are and discouraged, but yet he sees God as all powerful and omnipotent and God has always been there for him. And he's trying to understand. How did the two come together? And I, just to be honest with you, I have to believe that, as the people complain for these three days, I just have to believe that had they instead complained, had they hit their knees and prayed to God on day one, God would have miraculously provided water or the strength to go on without it. Either way, it's a miracle. You know, just last night we had a hard night.
Speaker 1:Last night and our little five-year-old Brooklyn Rose she loves to wake up and party in the middle of the night. She thinks she's a teenager. And so, 3 o'clock, 3 o'clock we're in her room. 4 o'clock we're in her room. 5 o'clock we're in her room. We've been up since 3, right. And so I lay down and, to be honest with you, like I'm mad. I'm not mad at her, I'm mad at the situation.
Speaker 1:Like God, we need some rest and God, we need some sleep. And we got a baby coming. And how are we going to do a crying baby all night long when our kids, as they are, don't even sleep? And, to be honest, I'm in my bed last night, getting bitter, and God literally says to me what are you preaching on tomorrow? I kid you not. What are you preaching on tomorrow? I kid you not. What are you preaching on tomorrow? And God told me this if I don't give you the sleep you need, then I will give you the strength you need. See, sometimes God doesn't give us what we need when we think we need it. Sometimes God gives us the strength that we need when he doesn't give us the thing or the person that we need. Does that make sense? And so he does that? So we cry to the Lord. And that's what they should have done. Instead of complaining to Moses, they should have cried out to the Lord so that God could provide what they needed.
Speaker 1:In Philippians, chapter four, verse six, says don't be anxious about anything, but about everything. By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your request known to God. You won't believe what God did. God came along and God showed Moses a log and he threw the log into the water and the water became sweet. This is a miracle. This is another sign to show Moses and to show the people that God is with them and that God has chosen Moses to be their leader and that God is going to provide for them. God said you see that log over there. Moses, go pick it up and throw it in the water. Moses is like why? God's like shut up, just go do it. So Moses goes and gets the log and he throws it in the water and someone tastes it and it's drinkable, it's healthy, it tastes good. God turned the sour water into sweet tea. Can I get an amen? God loves doing these type things in the word of God. But listen, I don't think this is any kind of coincidence. It's no coincidence that it was a law.
Speaker 1:God didn't say take a handful of sand and throw it in. God didn't say see that animal in there, throw it in. God didn't say take that leaf, throw it in. God didn't say a handful of sand and throw it in. God didn't say see that animal in there, throw it in. God didn't say take that leaf, throw it in. God didn't say see that complaining person, throw them in. Too right. God didn't say any of that. God said take that log.
Speaker 1:Why? Because it is a tree that turns our bitterness into sweetness. It is the cross of Jesus Christ. Can I get an amen? It's the cross of Jesus Christ. Here's what God is saying that throw the cross, throw the crucifixion, throw the gospel onto your greatest area of bitterness and see through your life. See it through the lens of the gospel of who Jesus is and that he's died for your sin and he's risen from the dead and he's given you salvation. And all we deserve is hell. And God is not working according to our cursing but according to our blessing and he's being good to us and he's working at his will. Even when we don't have everything we think we need, that God is all we need and we always have him. That's what God is teaching us. See, all throughout the Old Testament. At first glance we don't see it, but it's Jesus all the way through. We see Jesus here in this log, as with the cross of Jesus. And then, just in two chapters later you don't need to turn there but Exodus, chapter 17,.
Speaker 1:They go through the same experience. They go without water, they get thirsty, they complain and they grumble. They don't learn their lesson, just like us Don't look at me all spiritual. You do the same thing too, and so do I. They don't learn their lesson. And God says Moses, you're gonna come up to a rock and I want you to strike this rock with your staff and it will provide water. And Moses gotta be thinking if this don't work, I'm gonna look real dumb, I'm gonna look real stupid. And he walks up to the rock and he strikes it with a staff and water comes gushing out, enough to water two to three million people. And what is the point? The point is 1 Corinthians 10, verse four, seeing Jesus in it. It says and they all drank the same spiritual drink. For they all drank from the same spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ. In other words, are you thirsty in your life for satisfaction and pleasure and love and acceptance and purpose and meaning? The point is the more you drink from the world, the thirstier you get, because it's just salt water. But when you drink from the rock, who is Jesus. Then your thirst is quenched and you are satisfied.
Speaker 1:In Numbers 20, a couple of books later, same exact scenario. They come back to the same place years, decades later, and God says now I want you, moses, to speak to the rock. And Moses is so mad at the people. The Bible said that he struck the rock not once, but he struck it a second time. Water came out and God said you didn't believe me. I think it's fascinating. He didn't say you didn't obey me. He said you didn't believe me. He didn't say you didn't obey me. He said you didn't believe me, meaning that disobedience is a sign of disbelief. Disobedience is a sign of disbelief. When we disobey God, then we're showing God that we're not believing in him in that moment. Why was it wrong for Moses to strike the rock then, when he told him to do it before?
Speaker 1:Here's why, if the rock was Christ, jesus was only meant to die once. So you only have to be saved one time. Jesus only died once. When you give your life to Jesus, the Bible says that you are eternally secure, and so you don't have to get saved all over again, just like Jesus didn't have to get struck all over again. He didn't have to die all over again. Instead of going back through all of that, what do you do? You just speak to Jesus. You just talk to him. You ask him to provide for you, you ask him to forgive you, you ask him to be with you.
Speaker 1:That is the point here of the story, that we see Jesus, that it is the cure of the gospel. What is your bitterness in life? I wanna encourage you to throw the gospel. What is your bitterness in life? I wanna encourage you to throw the log, throw the cross onto your bitterness and to see the hardest part of your life through the lens of the gospel. We see here, as we move on, number three, as we're seeing these four ways, these four ways that if we can know, if we're trusting God, we see the condition of the world, we see the cure of the gospel and I want you to see the command for the Christian, the command for the Christian, the Lord. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule and there he tested them. He tested them. This is a test. This is only a test from the emergency broadcast system. If you're over 40, you know what I'm talking about. This is only a test.
Speaker 1:When you take a test, the test is not to ultimately show the teacher what you know. It's to show you what you know. When you do a tornado drill, a tornado test, what are you doing? You are making sure that you understand what to do in a specific scenario. It is only a test. What is God doing? He is taking them through a test so that they can see where they are spiritually, and the Bible tells us clearly that we need to pass the test, because the test will pass. We see that the next stage of their journey is right after Marah. But here they are and they don't know what's going to happen next.
Speaker 1:And God said that this is a test. If you will just diligently listen to me, just diligently listen to my voice of the Lord, your God, and do that, that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commands and keep his statutes, then I will put none of these diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your God, your healer. What is God saying? Talk to me, listen to me. They don't have the Bible back then and they would have killed for the Bible't have the Bible back then and they would have killed for the Bible. We have the word of God today that we can be sure, when we open up the word, that this thus saith the Lord this is what God is saying to me, and we need to read the word of God, hear me. And we need to listen for his voice. Some Christians only read the word, but they don't listen for his voice. Some Christians only listen for his voice. Some Christians only read the word but they don't listen for his voice. Some Christians only listen for his voice but they don't read his word. We need to do the both, and to read his word and listen to his voice, because God wants to specifically speak to us and he says don't just listen to me, obey me, do what I call you to do, because I know what's best for you, because I love you. I think about a Christian artist whose name is Mandisa. We know that Mandisa passed away just a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1:I was scrolling through my Instagram one day and I scrolled past Colton Dixon. If you know Colton Dixon awesome white mohawk, cool guy and sure you'd love him. Actually, colton man, it was probably 12 years ago now. Colton came to my church. It was before he ever went on American Idol and all that kind of stuff. I had a friend. He said, hey, can you bring in my buddy? He wants to be a Christian rock star. He been to church. He said can you bring him in? I was like, man, is he any good? Is he any good? He's like, yeah, he's pretty good. His name's Colton Dixon. I was like, well, I've never heard of him. I said, how much does he want? He's like I don't know. Man, pay him 200 bucks. I was like, cool, bring him in, colton Dixon. He came in, blew our ears out. It was awesome. It was awesome and you can go to his Instagram and see this.
Speaker 1:He shared a voicemail that Mandisa left him before she died and she said I've been working on listening to the voice of God more in my life and God led you to my heart. I've been praying for you and I just wanted to call you and I wanted to encourage you and that just did something in me. Am I constantly working on the discipline of listening to the voice of God as I read the word of God in my life? Because that's what God wants. That's the command of the Christian. That's the whole point of the passage was that they weren't listening, they weren't praying, they weren't asking, they weren't going to God. They were just living their life, wandering through the wilderness, crumbling and complaining, arguing with each other, and nobody's talking to God.
Speaker 1:We see the culmination of the story. This is fascinating to me. Right past Marah is a place called Elam. They came to Elam where there were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees. So what did they do? They encamped there by the water. The spirit of God, the pillar of cloud and fire stopped. Where did he take them? To A resort In the middle of the desert. It's impossible, it's a miracle. They go without water for three days.
Speaker 1:They go to a water source. It's bitter, it's undrinkable, and this is what God had for them all along. God had blessing for them all along. I want you to see in God. He is bringing you to your blessing. He's taking you through a test, but he's bringing you through a blessing. God is not trying to make you bitter, he wants to make you better. He wants and what makes us better? That we listen to him, that we talk to him, that we follow him, that we trust him and that we believe him. So let's just bring it home to our lives.
Speaker 1:Jesus was at a water source in John, chapter 4. So, interesting to me, jesus is at a water source and he meets a woman there and she's a Samaritan and he's a Jew, and Jews are supposed to hate Samaritans. There's a racial divide, but aren't you thankful that Jesus has no racial hatred in him whatsoever? Can I get an amen? Jesus is supposed to hate her culturally, but Jesus doesn't act on cultural status quo. Jesus loves all people equally because all people are equally created in the image of God, and our churches are to reflect different races and ethnicities and cultures, all coming together for the purpose of worshiping Jesus. We invite everybody to come and be a part of our church, amen.
Speaker 1:And Jesus looks at her and he says hey, would you draw me some water? I don't have anything to draw with. And she said you don't have anything to draw with. But why would you even talk to me? You're a Jew, I'm a Samaritan, you should hate me.
Speaker 1:And Jesus turns to her and he says if you knew the gift of God, that I was the gift of God and that I am the one that is saying this to you, that I'm asking you to give me a drink, you would have asked me and I would have given you living water, sweet water. And she says back to him she says how are you going to give me this living water? She says how are you gonna give me this living water? Jesus looks at her and Jesus knows If you know the story. He says I know that you have had five husbands and I know that you're living with a man now who's not even one of those five. And Jesus looks in her eyes and look at me and he sees the pain in her life, he sees her bitterness, he sees all that she's been through and he's not there to judge her. He's not there to condemn her. He's there to love her and he's there to save her.
Speaker 1:And Jesus looks at her and Jesus says everyone who drinks of this water speaking of the well will be thirsty again. Anyone who just keeps drinking from the world will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him or her will never be thirsty again. Jesus said I am the water. The water that I will give him or her will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water ever again. In other words, I think sometimes we drink so much from the world that we get full and we don't desire to drink from Jesus. But when we go to Jesus and we receive all that he has to offer us and we drink living water from him, then we no longer need to go to the world for our thirst, because Jesus is the living water, of whom we never thirst again.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna ask you all to bow your heads and close your eyes With no one looking around. I just wanna encourage you during this time, with no one looking around. I just wanna encourage you during this time. Encourage you. What is your Mara in your life? What is your Mara? What is your bitterness? What have you gone through? What has happened to you? What have you done that you are struggling with this bitterness in life? And I wanna encourage you to throw the log into those pool of tears, of the bitterness that you're experiencing. Throw the cross on top of it, see it through the lens of the gospel, give it to God, give it to Jesus and let him be your living water and he will turn your life sweet.
Speaker 1:And maybe you're here this morning and you're thinking like the woman at the well, I wanna give my life to him. Maybe you've never given your life to him, you've never come to him, you've never asked him, so there is not saved you yet. But this morning can be your day of salvation. You can pray right now, from your own words and your own heart. You can pray and you can say dear Jesus, jesus, help me to believe in you. You can say Jesus, I need you, I'm desperate for you. You can come to him right now and you can say Jesus, be my living water. You can tell him Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for my sin and I ask you to forgive me of all my sin and I turn, and I turn away from my sin and I give my life to you and Jesus, I believe that you didn't stay dead, but you rose from the dead, that you're alive, and so, jesus, I ask you to come into my life, I want a real relationship with you and from your own words and your own heart, you can say Jesus, be the Lord of my life, be my Lord, be my God, be my savior. Jesus, be my living water and Jesus.
Speaker 1:We believe that about you and we pray these things to you and in your name and we all say amen, put your hands together for anybody that gave their life to Jesus this morning that joined our heavenly family, and we just wanna say welcome to the family man. It is such an honor to follow Jesus together. I just want to remind you this morning that there is a Next Step card there on your seat back that you can grab. And if there's a decision that you need to make this morning, if that's salvation or maybe it's your baptism, maybe you want more information about being a part of a group or you want to serve and you want to be a part of a ministry. You want about being a part of a group or you wanna serve and you wanna be a part of a ministry. You wanna be a part of our Next Step Lunch that happens again in June. Or you wanna write your greatest prayer need for the week. They're on the back that you can do that and always you can, as we always do, you can give, but I just wanna say thank you for being a part of First Baptist Church Powder Springs as we follow Jesus together.
Speaker 1:Let's stand as we pray together. Let's stand together as we pray together, heads bowed, eyes closed, heavenly Father, oh God, you're so good. God, help us to trust you, help us to learn to trust you. God, my sin, our sin, says that you're not good, that you're not providing, that you're not there, that you're not gonna come through. But, god, we declare and we proclaim God that you are good and you are gonna provide and you are with us. And Jesus, we just wanna worship you as our living water. Help us to drink from you this week. Help us to go to your word and listen to your voice and obey your commands. Oh, jesus, give us your joy. Help us to follow you and I pray that, as a church, that we would follow you, and I pray that, as a church, that we would follow you together for your praise and your honor and your glory, and God, that you would just continue to work in our lives. We love you and we pray these things in Jesus' name. You know all God's people said let's sing to Jesus together.