John 7:37-39, We Are Living Water
1. Let’s Quench Spiritual Thirst (v37)
2. Let’s Drink Deeply Of Jesus (v38)
3. Let’s Refresh One Another (v38)
John 7:37-39, We Are Living Water
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Well, as we look at John 7 verses 37 through 39 this evening, again, this is the theme verse for living water.
It's where we get our name from. There in verse 38, Jesus talks about out of your heart or out of his heart, will flow, rivers of living water and of course these.
Rivers of living water is a reference to John explains in the next verse.
The Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit working in those who believe in Jesus and as we go back and consider now.
30 years ago I don't know where you were at 30 years ago, some of you weren't even around.
You didn't even exist yet right 30 years ago I was 13 years old and just.
Barely, you know, starting to come I came a a few months after the church.
Again, and it was something that God had started, something that God had established through Pastor Tom and Joanna.
But it was a emphasis on and a focus on the work of the Holy Spirit in the ministry and in the church.
And this is where we were as a church as we started and.
It's continued to be an emphasis, and again, it's really the theme verse of the church, not just for our name, right, not just as a like, hey, that sounds like a cool name.
Let's use that.
But really, I would suggest, and I believe that the Lord named us this and tide us to these things so that we would have clear vision on what he has for us as a church and what he desires of us.
And we've seen that play out in the history and we want to continue as we move forward.
To press on in the mission and the vision that God has given to.
Yes, you know, as you think about church, it's interesting because church is like nothing else, right?
If you think about maybe choosing an employer, maybe you're blessed with the opportunity at some point to choose between two jobs, right?
And you're evaluating, you know the benefits or evaluating the pay you're evaluating.
You know the the things that you get from it, the amount of joy you might receive from the different jobs, and you're kind of weighing the pros and cons.
And you know all of those things that that you might consider in choosing an employer.
But choosing a church is not like choosing an employer, although you might approach it that way and you might think.
OK, here's the you know pros and cons.
Here's the the benefits that I get from, you know, this church or that church and and you might try to approach it that way, but that's not the biblical way.
That's not the way that the Lord would really necessarily have you consider.
And those things.
It's also not like choosing a grocery store.
You probably have certain grocery stores that you go to for certain things, right?
And you choose a grocery store, maybe for location, maybe for prices, maybe for the quality of their produce you choose a grocery store for various reasons.
But choosing a church is not like choosing a grocery store.
It's different and and we could approach it that way, and that's one way to approach the the choosing of a church, but.
But it's not necessarily the way that I would suggest in seeking out a place for us to be attached and plugged in to the body of Christ.
The church is like nothing else.
It's not like choosing an employer.
It's not like choosing a grocery store.
It's not like joining a club, it's more like.
Well, it's more like being a member.
Of the body.
Paul uses the illustration of the body in First Corinthians chapter 12, and I'm not going to dive into the details there, but there he tells us that it's God who composed the body.
In verse 24, First Corinthians 12, God is the one who designed the body of Christ, saying that every believer is a member in the body of Christ and is attached.
To other members, and that God is the one who decided which Members should be attached to the other members and put each member each believer in the appropriate place.
It's God who composed the body and put all of the parts together.
And so when it comes to church, it's again not like an employer.
It's not like choosing a grocery store.
It's not like joining a club.
It's really seeking the Lord on where he has placed you within the body of Christ where he has designed, you know, for you to fit with your personality and gifts and and you know your mission.
I think all that fits in with the other Members that got us placed around.
In first Corinthians chapter 12, verse 27, Paul says you are the body of Christ and members. Individually, this is the reality for us as believers. We are the body of Christ.
We are members of the body of Christ, universally and and one aspect of the body of Christ is that all believers everywhere throughout all time.
Are the body of.
Christ, but here Paul is writing to a local church at a particular point in time, and he says, you church are the body of Christ.
You living water are the body of Christ and he goes on to say, and members individually and so living water itself is the body of Christ, not exclusively.
So that there is no other biennio body of Christ or members of the body.
But but as a church we are the body of Christ and we are members of that.
And God has composed the body and placed us here, and connected us together for his purposes, for his vision, for his mission.
And for the past 30 years, God has been plugging people in and then pulling them out and sending them out.
You know pulling them out and sometimes sending them on the mission field or moving on them onto various stages of life for the past 30 years, God has been doing this and continues to do this to compose the body and bring in members that we would be attached.
To one another, and you think about all the lives that have been touched as you think about all the people who have come through, it's really amazing to consider all that God has done.
Over the years.
30 years of ministry.
We get to celebrate today.
But also, as we think about that, of course we look to the future and say OK, now what does God have for us in the future?
Do we have another 30 years of ministry ahead of us?
Do we have another 30 years of God composing the body and joining us together and piercing things together in a way that would glorify him and magnify him?
We're in an interesting.
Phase in church right now.
Because, well, for the past year with Kovid we really had to strip down church to the bare minimum, right?
Like we just barely did church, we did Sundays.
We did Wednesdays.
Sometimes it was online only we we kind of stripped down.
There was a lot of activities and ministries and things that were cut back.
That were paused or postponed until another time and and it puts us at a very unique place.
Where we are set up to do the bare minimum to do, you know the essentials.
The Sundays and Wednesdays type of ministry.
And it gives us an interesting opportunity.
Now that things are beginning to open up, and we're beginning to have opportunity to put together different activities and maybe start up ministries again or start up new ministries.
I would suggest to you and it's an important time for us to consider and seek the Lord about what he wants.
As we begin to rebuild.
What it is that God has for us?
There's a temptation for us to kind of like go back to what we have always done.
Now go back to what we were doing just before kovid and go back to that schedule.
Go back to those things and leaders here at living water.
I would encourage.
I would plead with you.
Please listen up that there is an opportunity for us here to be led by the Lord.
To build something new to do something different to.
Do things in a way that the Holy Spirit would lead us.
That perhaps we would have never thought of or considered before.
I was thinking about Paul's words to the Galatians, Englische in Chapter 3.
Challenging them, he says, are you so foolish?
Having begun in the spirit?
Are you now being made perfect by the flesh they were turning away from?
The reliance upon the Lord and faith in Jesus Christ and turning to a work based relationship.
And Paul says, look, think about how you started.
Go back to how you started.
You started in the spirit and now going on from there.
You're not going to be perfected by your own efforts by your own strength, by your own plans.
And for us as a church.
It's an important message for us.
We begin in the spirit.
We begin with the moving, the leading, the empowering of the Holy Spirit, and we need to as we stand at this spot and are looking ahead and wanting to rebuild and restore schedules and restart ministries and restart things there.
There is the need for us to make sure that we don't just go back to the plans that we had.
The things that we know the.
Routine that we had, because perhaps the Holy Spirit wants to do something new, something different.
Maybe it's the old things in a new, fresh way.
Maybe it's the old things, exactly the same way but but we need to make sure that we don't just rely upon our own resources, but that we rely upon the Holy Spirit.
And so I've titled the message this evening here in John Chapter 7, verse 37 through 39 we are living water. We are the body of Christ.
We are living water.
We are Members individually and so that means something for us.
God has attached us here.
He's plugged us in here.
He's composed the body.
Made us to be part of this church here on this corner and caused us to be in fellowship here.
And So what does that mean for us and how does that inform us in the things that we do going forward? There's three points that we'll consider here, from John 737 through 39 to help us.
As we take those steps forward in the things that God has for us next, the first point is found in verse 37 and that is, let's quench spiritual thirst.
We are living water and So what should we be doing? What we should be doing is quenching spiritual thirst. Verse 37 again says.
On the last day that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
If anyone is thirsty, Jesus says, let him come to me and drink.
That invitation is given.
If you're thirsty, Jesus says, I can quench that.
First, now this event takes place. It tells us at the beginning of verse 37 on the last day, the great day of the feast.
It's a feast two or it's a reference to the Feast of Tabernacles.
It happens late in the year around September, October, and the Feast of Tabernacles was a feast that.
Was mandatory for all Jewish people.
They were required to go to Jerusalem and participate in this feast that was set up and designed by the Lord to remind them of their time in the wilderness.
The things that we've been reading through in the Bible in three years, as we've been going through Exodus and Leviticus and numbers.
Looking at Israel in the wilderness, this feast was designed by the Lord to remind them of those things, and so they would have large candles that would remind them of the pillar of fire they would have.
This water ceremony that would take place on every day of the feast to remind them of how God provided water from the rock.
Throughout their time in the wilderness, well on the last day, the 7th day of the feast, the water ceremony was.
Seven times they would complete it, not just once, so they would go and get a pitcher of water, dip it in the pool of Siloam, their nearby Jerusalem.
They would bring it to the altar and pour it out before the Lord as a again a reminder of the water that came from the rock.
But on the 7th day they would do that seven times.
And while they were doing that, they would be chanting Psalm 118.
You might be familiar with the words.
This is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Save now, I pray, oh Lord, oh Lord, I pray send now prosperity, bless it is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
We have blessed you from the house.
Of the Lord.
This water ceremony that they would do was a joyful ceremony.
In fact, the recorded tradition of the Jews, one of the rabbis, said this, he that has never seen the joy of the water drawing, has never in his life seen joy.
He says look this ceremony is so joyful.
If you've never seen this, you've never seen joy no matter what other joyous occasions you've seen.
If you haven't seen this ceremony, you've not seen joy.
It was something they would celebrate as they would reflect back and remember how God provided for them in the wilderness.
Now, in the midst of this scene.
While all of this celebration is going on and very likely right before right after, during the pouring out of this water, Jesus stands up and he gives an invitation.
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
Now of course, Jesus is not talking about a physical thirst. He did not have an ice chest full of gatorade's right to hand out to those who were thirsty.
He's addressing a much deeper a long lasting need, a spiritual thirst that the people would have every human being.
Has a spiritual verse, has a thirst for God, a thirst for the things of God, and the greatest celebrations of religion cannot satisfy that thirst.
I I picture it in my head this way there's this joyful celebration going on right?
All this cheering and chanting and and great joy being expressed.
In the crowd, but also there in the midst of the crowd is some people who are looking around at their friends, their family, others around them who are cheering and celebrating, and.
And they're saying I see all of this joy, but I'm not feeling this.
I don't.
I don't know why they're being able to express that.
I don't know why they're able to feel this joy.
I'm still unfulfilled.
I don't feel joyful.
I have this dissatisfaction still in my heart even in the midst of this great, joyous occasion with everybody around me celebrating.
And I pictured Jesus talking directly to them.
He says, yeah, that's why I'm talking to you.
Are you thirsty?
And the people are cheering and celebrating and just enjoying the day.
They're not thirsty.
They're not looking for a drink.
They're not.
They're not aware of their need.
But there are those who are there in the midst of all of that celebration.
Who are aware of their need?
They recognize I, I'm still thirsty.
I'm not satisfied.
This doesn't fulfill my heart in my soul.
The religious feast in and of itself cannot satisfy the thirst.
In fact, nothing else apart from Jesus can satisfy the thirst.
Jesus says I can satisfy the thirst.
But nothing else.
Can we have the account of of the Jesus with the woman at the well in John Chapter 4?
As he's interacting with her about thirst, talking about the physical water of the well, he says if you drink of this water you will thirst again.
He's talking about the physical water, but he's also implying and alluding to.
Her actual life where she has been pursuing relationship after relationship after relationship.
And continues to thirst again.
That relationship didn't satisfy, and so now there's another first for another relationship and and alluding to this pursuit that she had in her life.
Jesus says, if you continue this pattern, you're going to thirst again.
Relationships in and of themselves cannot satisfy the heart, cannot quench.
That thirst that we have within.
The richest, wealthiest, most powerful king in Israel history.
Went on an adventure to try to find something to quench the thirst to satisfy his thirst, to satisfy his soul.
Apart from God and he tried education, he tried careers.
He tried building projects.
He tried, you know, romance and marriages and relationships.
He tried everything that is possible.
His funds were unlimited.
His power was unlimited.
He could have anything you want, anytime, anywhere.
He tried desperately to satisfy the thirst and he found that he would thirst again just like Jesus said.
If you drink from this well.
You will first again.
But Jesus goes on to tell the woman in John 414 if you drink the water that I give, then you will never thirst.
That thirst will be quenched.
Jesus satisfies the thirst that we have for God with the giving of the Holy Spirit. In verse 39, it tells us this. He spoke concerning the spirit.
He's promising here.
The Holy Spirit that would satisfy our soul that would provide a a satisfaction or a relief from the thirst, the ache, the misery that we have within apart from him.
And so Jesus here gives the invitation.
If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
He gives this invitation there.
On that day he continues to give this invitation to all of humanity and he's called living water.
To continue to extend that invitation to the world around us.
That's how we came to know the Lord, right?
You were thirsty and you came to Jesus.
Jesus filled you in and then now calls you to help other thirsty people find fulfillment.
In him, Pastor Warren Wiersbe puts it this way.
Believers would not only drink the living water, but they would become channels of living water to bless a thirsty world.
This is who we are as believers that God is attached here.
Those who not only drink the living water, not only are recipients.
Having that thirst quenched.
But now Jesus says that Holy Spirit will overflow.
Lead us.
To bring others to have their thirst quenched, we are living water.
And so it instructs us and it forms that informs us.
Let's quench spiritual thirst.
That's the path that God has given to us when you first came to living water.
I would ask you to consider were you thirsty.
Were you thirsty, was there something missing?
Was there?
You know that ache, or that unfulfilled soul within?
And how did the Lord quench that thirst?
It it was the Lord revealing himself and bringing himself to you, perhaps in a variety of ways, perhaps through the fellowship and through the people that you were interacting with.
It was perhaps the Lord meeting you through the time of worship or through the the teaching of the word.
It was, you know, maybe this aspect of ministry or a different aspect of ministry, but.
But that was what the church was about as you came.
That the quenching of the thirst that came from the Lord, working in your life.
Right?
And now, as members of the body of Christ.
We have the opportunity to carry that on to pass that on to now, reach out to others and quench.
Spiritual thirst
Now again, Paul said to the Galatians, don't try to do that in the flesh.
Right, that doesn't mean come up with a system.
Come up with a program.
Come up with, you know, do it exactly the way that it was done to you, or do the way that we exactly used to do.
I'm suggesting tonight here at living water that we need to seek the Lord and invite the Holy Holy Spirit to lead us and to move us.
Forward in a way that we can quench spiritual thirst in the way that he desires.
We, the body of Christ we living water will be a church that quenches spiritual thirst.
To the same extent that we as Members individually are empowered by the spirit to bring thirsty people to Jesus.
And so there's the need for us individually, personally, to be seeking the Lord about how he wants us to quench spiritual thirst.
Well, moving on to consider now verse 38 and point #2 this evening we are living water.
Let's drink deeply of Jesus.
We are living water.
And so, let's drink deeply. Verse 38. He who believes in me as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
Jesus says, whoever believes in me.
There's going to be this outflow.
This overflow of living water, but when he says here, whoever believes in me or he who believes in me, the word believe here, it means to think to be true.
It means to be persuaded of.
It means to place confidence in.
It's a very strong word to believe it's not just you know, kind of a hypothesis.
Well, I believe you know that maybe it could be possible, but this idea of believes is a such a strong word.
It's it's that you believe it so much that you base your life.
Upon it that your whole life is built on this belief, this truth that you hold onto.
I I like to.
Consider it this way.
Do you believe in gravity?
I can tell you that you do because I can see that none of you are bracing for impact with the ceiling.
If you didn't believe in gravity well, you would be concerned about what you might hit up there.
You would be concerned about what you might run into, but but you are so confident in your understanding and your belief in gravity that you're just sitting there.
All calm and relaxed without a care of running into the ceiling.
At all.
And and that is a good picture of how we are to believe in Jesus.
What it means to believe in Jesus that now your whole life and every moment that you're sitting.
And every step that you take is based upon the reality of Jesus being the son of God, the Savior, the one who fulfills.
And satisfies our very soul to fully and accept and adopt Jesus as Savior and Lord.
To incorporate his truth into our lives.
To follow his teaching, to know him more and more.
To believe in Jesus?
Well, the word here in the Greek is in the present tense, which means it's an ongoing thing.
Typically, when you and I talk about believing in Jesus, we are thinking about that initial time right where we come to conversion, where we become born again that first time that we believe in Jesus.
But here Jesus is saying he who believes in me and continues to believe in me.
It's this ongoing process of developing our faith in Jesus Christ.
We are living water.
And so let's believe in Jesus.
Or phrased differently, let's drink deeply of Jesus.
Let's develop depth in our relationship with the Lord.
What does it look like when a group of people?
Endeavor to believe in Jesus, to drink deeply of Jesus. We have a good picture of it in acts Chapter 2, verse 42.
Whereas the church is just beginning and and the Holy Spirit has been poured out and the work begins. It records for us an overview of how it progresses acts Chapter 2, verse 42. They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine.
The Fellowship and the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
They continued steadfastly.
That is, they believed in Jesus and continued to believe in Jesus.
They continued steadfastly in these four things in the apostles doctrine, the apostles taught the Gospels, the life and Ministry of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus, the apostles taught what is recorded for us in the epistles.
The rest of the New Testament.
The apostles taught the scriptures of the Old Testament.
So the Bible that we have here is the apostles doctrine. The whole Council of God's word.
To believe in Jesus.
Means that we base our life.
On the word of God and that we live out obedience to the word of God.
To believe in Jesus.
Is building a foundation upon the Word of God for all that we do?
For our whole life.
Fellowship, of course, is more than just hanging out together.
The word is Koinonia.
In the Greek it.
It speaks about the sharing the community part of it, celebrating things together, mourning things together, sharing issues and struggles, the highs and the lows.
Joining with each other in the mission that God has called us to being a member of the body of Christ, breaking bread together, of course can refer to communion and definitely includes communion, but also just refers to the the fun stuff.
Kind of the casual hanging out.
Fellowshipping having a meal together, enjoying life with each other.
And then they also continued in prayer, which perhaps references personal prayer, prayer together, corporately, praying for one another.
All of the above.
It's communion with the father to believe in Jesus steadfastly and ongoing continually, to drink deeply of Jesus.
That means that we.
Build our lives upon the word of God.
That we share our lives with one another that we participate as members of the body of Christ and that we're involved in prayer, communion with the father, praying for one another, and interacting with each other and with the Lord together drinking deeply of Jesus.
Is not just a single person, I'm on my own, a solo endeavor, but it is.
This joined together activity that we do as the body of Christ.
Let's drink deeply of Jesus.
Have you been drinking deeply here at living water?
Here at living water for me, myself personally, I can say the Lords deepened my roots and my faith in the Lord over the years.
Here I've learned to study the Scriptures, learned about steps of faith, walked through highs and lows with the body, learned to rely upon the Lord and all things.
It's been a spirit filled ministry that has deepened my walk with Jesus.
Pray that's true of you as well, and that you can see the same thing.
But now I also say, OK.
Now let's continue to do that as we go forward.
Let's drink deeply of Jesus.
Let's be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Not trying to do this in our own strength or going back to you, know things that we're just familiar with out of habit, but.
But allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us.
Into a deeper relationship with him that he desires to have with us, new steps of faith, new things that he wants to do.
New ways for fellowship and communion.
New Times of prayer and opportunities for prayer, new perhaps ministries of prayer.
New and fresh endeavors in the scriptures.
What does the Lord have for us?
We are living water.
Let's drink deeply of Jesus.
Well, finally the Third Point.
The third mission, part of the mission that God has for us as living water.
Let's refresh one another still here in verse 38. Also including verse 39, verse 38 says, but he who believes in me as the scripture has said, out of his heart, will flow rivers of living water.
But this he spoke concerning the spirit, whom those believing in him would receive.
For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Jesus says the one who believes in me.
Here's what the Scripture promises.
Out of his hearts will flow rivers of living water.
Drinking deeply of Jesus again, it's not just a solo endeavor where just, you know, just me and Jesus, and you know, I'm just you know, receiving all of this.
But Jesus says the result of a real connection with me, a real belief in me.
The result will be an outflow of living water.
The Holy Spirit will be working within the Holy Spirit will be ministering within but also the Holy Spirit will be flowing from you to those around you.
Rivers of living water.
It says the word river it speaks of something that is not just like a little bit of a trickle.
But it speaks of a river of water or a torrent of water, or a flood of water.
It speaks of something that is continual and substantial.
And it's worth considering.
Is your life a continual and substantial flow of the Holy Spirit?
To meet people needs.
To minister to people around you.
Now at the time that Jesus spoke this, the Holy Spirit had not yet been given.
Because it says in verse 39 that Jesus was not yet glorified.
And so there was a timing issue as Jesus was sharing these things, the Holy Spirit wasn't given to the disciples just yet.
But later on, as he resurrected before he ascended, he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit.
And the disciples received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
A few days later in acts Chapter 2, the disciples were gathered together, they received the outpouring, the filling, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Because at that time Jesus had been glorified, he'd been resurrected.
He had ascended to the father.
He was in his glorified state.
And now the Holy Spirit was given, and so believers in Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit.
And we're empowered by the Holy Spirit.
To refresh.
To serve to minister.
To the people around them.
Pastor David Guzik puts it this way.
The water of the Holy Spirit not only goes in, it also comes out.
Not only does the believer receive blessing, but he becomes.
A blessing to others.
We become a blessing the the believing in Jesus again, it's not just that solo endeavor, but it transforms us to then become a blessing to people around us.
The Holy Spirit flows out of us.
In a variety of ways that we could discuss, but one of the primary ways is in the form of service or ministry unto the.
Peter tells us in first Peter Chapter 4 each one.
Each believer has received a gift, a spiritual gift, an opportunity, a possibility of serving the Lord in some capacity, and so he says, Minister it to one another.
That's good stewardship to fulfill your role within the body of Christ.
I made reference to Ephesians 416. I forget which service, but within the last couple weeks about all of the different Members doing their part, fulfilling their role and how it causes growth for the body of Christ.
We each have spiritual gifts.
We each have a way to contribute to the work of the Kingdom of God.
To contribute to a work.
That he has called us to as attached together with other members of the body of Christ.
Now sometimes.
This idea of spiritual gifts and and these kinds of things, kind of.
'cause people to kind of grinding to a halt that it's like.
Well, I gotta figure out and it's you know this.
Perplexing dilemma.
Like, well, I can't do anything 'cause I don't know what my gifting is and and I would suggest you know, there's lots of opportunity to pray about that and allow the Lord to lead you in that.
But but also let me just remind you it doesn't have to be super complicated.
Paul tells us in that passage about the body of Christ in First Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 26. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, or if one member is honored, all the Members rejoice with it. But one way that we refresh one another by the Holy Spirit is just.
Being with each other.
Through the highs and lows of life.
And sometimes it's just suffering with another person.
Weeping with them, mourning with them in the midst of what they're going through.
Sometimes it's rejoicing with them, and maybe it's hard to rejoice with some people because you're in the midst of suffering, right?
But but joining together and celebrating what the Lord is doing in their life is a.
We for you to refresh and to be part of the things that are going on and be moved by the Holy Spirit to encourage and to bless them as they receive blessings and benefits from the Lord.
And so we are living water.
Let's refresh one another.
Let's use our spiritual gifts.
Let's be with each other.
Let's weep together and rejoice together.
Let's walk together and help each other through whatever it is that God has in store for us in the days weeks.
Months and perhaps 30 years ahead.
Let's refresh.
Which one another?
Have you been refreshed in your time?
Here at living water.
I've been refreshed I.
I mean I I could think back to all of the ministry that happened to me.
The one another ministry before I was ever a pastor here during the past 17 years of pastoring.
Here I've been refreshed by all of you.
I I've been ministered to impacts so many of you have made.
Huge impacts on my life.
My spiritual walk, my marriage at every aspect.
Because of the spirit filled ministry.
There is this ongoing refreshing experience that we get to have as we connect together, interact together and join together in the pursuit of the things of the Lord, and so that, I think, is a good encapsulation of who God has called us to be.
As a church.
We are living water.
That is who we have been throughout our history.
That's how the Lord began us.
Where we get our name, it's where we get our character.
It's where we get who we are as a church.
As members of the body.
Looking ahead, starting kind of fresh in many ways.
It gives us instruction.
Now let's be filled with the Holy Spirit.
To quench spiritual thirst.
Let's be filled with the Holy Spirit to drink deeply of Jesus.
And let's be filled with the Holy Spirit to refresh one another.
To encourage to build up, to uplift and help each other through whatever we are walking through in this life.
And so we want to finish this evening with the time of worship and just allowing us to have opportunity to invite the Holy Spirit to speak, to move and to to work in us.
Let's invite the Lord to pour out his Holy Spirit upon us for another 30 years of ministry for whatever God has in store.
That we would be effective as his people joined together as his body to accomplish his purposes.
And so Lena is going to come up.
And as she gets ready, I I just want to add on one little thought and that is.
You know we live in a a different era than we were in 30 years ago, and we went through a year of really weird, strange services.
And sometimes you know online only and I was I was thinking about all of these things.
We are living, water quenching, spiritual thirst, drinking deeply of Jesus, refreshing one another.
You know, I would encourage you.
Especially those of you who are watching online.
This is something.
These are things that can be done remotely.
We can be living water.
We can be the body of fry.
Christ, even in those times where we cannot physically be present and I would refer to my parents who shared on Sunday like I, I was thinking like I'm not going to repeat all the things they shared.
But like those things are woven into the things that they showed on Sunday, being part of the body of Christ being refreshed by all of you and encouraged and blessed.
Now the challenge of course, being online is it's easy to be the recipient.
And we're kind of set up for that, right?
But I would encourage you to be seeking the Lord about how you can also be part of the body in contributing to the quenching of spiritual thirst to the drinking deeply of Jesus and refreshing one another.
There's opportunity that the Lord has for you, even when you're not able to be physically present.
So allow the Lord to lead you in that.
Let's be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Whether we're near or far here or there.
To be moved by the Holy Spirit to be living water.
To fill the the shoes of those that got his.
You know those who have gone before us and those that got it.
You know it's placed ahead of us, but but now we have the opportunity to go forward.
Let's quench spiritual thirst.
Let's drink deeply of Jesus.
Let's refresh one another, not in our own strength, not with our own plans.
But by the leading, the empowering and the filling of the Holy Spirit, and so let's worship the Lord together.