Christ Presbyterian Church | Topics Salvation

Water of Life

Bible Text: John 4:1–30, 39-42 | Preacher: Nick Whitaker | Series: Gospel of John

Because Jesus is uniquely equipped to satisfy our hunger, we must plead with him to fulfill us.

John 4:1–30, 39-42
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 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.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Gospel as a story of the Priority of Promise

Bible Text: Galatians 3:15-29 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Galatians: The One and Only Gospel

Because salvation is based upon God’s initial promise, we must not think that we have to do something to bring it about.

Galatians 3:15-25
15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

Provision

Bible Text: Matthew 1:18-25 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Christmas in Matthew

The church father Saint Augustine famously prayed: “God command what you will, but grant what you command.” Sometimes it feels as though God’s demands are impossible. Sometimes he calls people to extraordinary service. I think this is no where more evident than in the Christmas story. But even there, we so how God provides for us in precisely the places where he calls us to go. Do you feel like God is calling you to something beyond your capacities right now? Come this week and hear about and learn to rest in his provision.

Repentance

Bible Text: Jonah 1:17–2:2–9; 3:1–10 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Jonah

Sometimes we have a complicated relationship to change. We hear people say, “You are perfect just the way you are.” Yet there are countless voices telling us that the way we are isn’t that great after all and if we just tried a little harder, we could and should be better—often with a hefty price tag. Rarely do we step back and ask the crucial questions: Is change possible? How can we get there? Join us this Sunday as we continue our series on a prophet named Jonah who experienced and offered a radical change.

Snatch Others from the Fire

Bible Text: Jude 23, Luke 15:1–10 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Jude: Exhortations for Tenuous Times

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not good advice; it is good news. It is the news that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ accomplished salvation for all who depend on him in faith. Good advice tells us what to do. Good news tell us what has been done. Yet in a world of suspicion, how do we convince others that the gospel of Jesus Christ is really good news for them?

A Psalm for Advent

Bible Text: Psalm 5 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Advent: Waiting for Salvation

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