Jesus Came

Let’s stand as we read Psalm 95 together. … (Read verses 1-7) You may be seated. Would you open your Hymn books with me… and find Hymn 113 again. Would you, where you are, sing with me once again, verse one only… let’s sing verse 1, three times. Amen. Psalm 95 is about whole self worship. Not “self” worship.

Not worship that asks, how do I prefer to worship… but to whole heartedly with all of my heart, my soul, & my mind. How do I rightly focus on Jesus and worship Him? The very hymn that we just sung together was that reminder… That we have come. And we have come to a place. A place we call his house… the house of the lOrd, and we’ve come to gather in HIs name…

to worship him. Christ the Lord. What’s remarkable about this verse is that it reminds the worshipper that there is a journey ahead of them. There’s a direction & there’s a path. But there is one thing we must remember… at some point in this journey and on this path… we come to a crossroads. We come to an intersection. In the very first verse the Psalmist writes, “Oh Come, let us sing to the Lord.” When we dive into the meaning of this word Oh come.

In the Hebrew language… it is pronounced Haw-Lak. Which means to come, too physically show up. To be present. To go.. it’s a verb there’s an action. It can be meant to make a journey…. Let’s turn in our bibles to verses 4-7. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) Jesus said, "I have to go to Samaria. And he didn’t linger, so the very next verses says, so he came.

Next we see a woman who was a Samaritan coming is way. Verse 7 says, she came to draw water. I often wondered… what was on her mind as she approached the well. Was it another ordinary day in Sychar. Did it begin like every other day? There in her ordinary life. Skipping the crowds of other, more nobler women gathering water because she’s the harlot of harlots. She’s a woman of disgrace.

A promiscuous woman. A woman on the outside of the social status of the community. I often wondered.. what was she thinking as she came to the well? Was she thinking to her self, oh no, there’s someone at the well when I’m usually there alone. I can understand that… sometimes I don’t want to be engaged by someone else. Sometimes I want to stay in my bubble of solitude because I feel safe there.

Or I rather not be bothered. Was she thinking, I don’t feel like talking to anyone else? Was she thinking, I’m not in the mood for the drama of what this jew might say or do, or even what other Samaritans who might see me engaging with this jew. What kind of rumors and hurtful comment might they say if they see me interacting with this jewish man. I don’t know what she was thinking, but I do know this…

Regardless of anything that could have been on her mind… she still came. And Jesus engages her asking her for a drink… I remember the day I met Jesus at the alter where and when he altered my life. It was an ordinary day just like today. I got up, showered and then dressed. I probably skipped breakfast that day like I usually did. I got into my car and I drove to church to be with a girl that I was trying to date.

And Jesus was there waiting for me… I still remember that day of when Jesus had to go to a little southern baptist church in Nutterfort. And so he came. He made that journey. The king of kings. The prince of peace… Emmanuel.. sent his presence to this small, insignificant southern baptist church.. and I showed up with the wrong intentions and the wrong motives. But I still came and guess what…

Jesus engaged me too. Little did I know, Jesus in his abundant grace was going to meet me at the well of salvation… and change my life forever. I didn’t show up for Christ, but I showed up and Christ met me in my sin, in my filth. I didn’t deserve it.., But he loved me and he pursued me. I believe he would have said, that he had to go.

5 So he came to a town in Nutter fort for Matthew. I would like for all of us to imagine this is our story like the woman at the well… Did we come today to church with the willingness to be engaged by Jesus? … Think of this.. as we sing the next verse… Alicia shared this with me yesterday… she reminded me that it wasn’t for a drink of water Jesus came …..

Jesus came for the woman. And this morning Jesus’s presence is here as well… for you and for me… the question is did you showed up with the willingness to let him engage you? Denny. Would you where you are…. Would you lead us in singing verse 1, one time, and verse 2, two times. As we sing this hymn together… Lt’s all of us take the time to ask… Am I engaging with Jesus?

So forget about yourself, and concentrate on him and worship him… (Singing) Pslam 95 verse 2 says: “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” What’s unique is that this word come in verse 2.. is different than the the world com in verse one. In Hebrew the second word come is Kaw-dam. It means to come or to be in front of, to meet.

The Psalmist is saying, I’ve come to show up ( Haw-Lak) , but I also come to be in His presence (Kaw-dam ). It simply means that he’s aligning his mind and his heart to focus only on God and to be before God. It’s the same as what we just sang. Forget about yourself and concentrate on Him and worship HIm. The Psalmist is Coming into God’s presence and aligning his heart and mind to think of nothing else but God.

Let’s go back to the book of John and see what happens at the crossroads where Jesus and the woman have met at the well. Read - Verse 9 - 15. What we find is two things. Jesus engages her mind. She begins in verse 9 by trying to understand what Jesus is even talking to her. She’s stuck… she’s stuck in tradition. She’s stuck on what others think and she’s stuck on the cultural norm.

Jews and Samaritans hated each other. It was so bad, that if a jew drank water at a Samaritan well. The jews believed it was as bad as eating the flesh of a pig… Which of course is not kosher. So, Jesus needs to break through what tradition says, and what the culture says. So he replies with a simple gift… he replies with a phrase that gets us every time…

“if you only knew…” How many times have you had a secrete and someone who doesn’t know the full story or the full issue and you come alone and hear their limited perspective but you know more information than them… what do you say to yourself when they speak of their limited information… You say, … “oh man… if you only knew..” Jesus just opened her curiosity. But she’s still stuck in what her tradition says.

So Jesus lets her in on the secrete.. is says, if you only knew… what.. what is it Jesus? Jesus says, if you only knew that anyone who drinks the water I offer them will never be thirsty again. Her reply… please!!!.. give me some of that. In but a moment Jesus breaks through culture and tradition and he’s got her mind centering him and his words. The second thing Jesus goes after is now her heart.

Why? Why the mind first and then the heart? Because the mind serves the heart. If her heart is burning with affection but her mind does not know why.. the mind tells the heart it’s not real. So many people come to church day in and day out with the mindset that they are saved and that they believe but there hearts are dead. There’s no real joy, there’s no real affection for Jesus.

The furnace of affection is starved of prayer and seeking Christ as the treasure of the Bible. And Because of sin, neither the heart nor the mind does what it is supposed to do. So Jesus needs to redirect them both , the heart and the mind for her to understand how true worshippers will worship in spirit. Not on this mountain, or that mountain. Not with this Genre or that Genre.

Not because this generation is better than the last or the next. So, Jesus has got her attention, but now he needs to get her heart affections on him. ( Read John 4:16-24) It curious the Jesus brings up the Womans husband. We might think for a moment that this is kind personal. But remember, Jesus is seeking a bride. And we might think this is personal, but see if for what it is…

One reason I believe Jesus mentions her promiscuous life and calls her bluff on her being unmarried… is that he’s letting her know that he knows her past. Because of sin, neither the heart nor the mind does what it is supposed to do. So he needs her to know that he knows. We all have a past. And sometimes our past prevents us from truly trusting in Jesus and moving forward.

We’ve been hurt by others, we’ve been hurt by the church, we’ve been cheated on, ridiculed, and let down… but the truth is… Jesus already knows that and he wants us to know that he knows. One of the greatest tings I’ve learned about sin is that there is nothing we can do to hide our past, nor is there anything we can do to hide what our life is like from GOd.

He already knows our faults. But what I’ve learned is that confession isn’t me telling God something he does not know. Confession and repentance is me agreeing, it’s me aligning up to what he already knows about me and applying the grace he gives to draw me closer to Jesus. Jesus is aligning her mind and her heart into one focus… and that’s to be all on him so that when he drops the mic with what true worship is…

her thoughts are not of herself and her affection is not finding homes with other men… but her thoughts and affection is focused on Christ. I think of it like this… when I fold my hands I prayer, it reminds me that I am taking my mind, and I am taking my heart and I am aligning them together to focus solely on Christ. Only on Christ… Christ is looking for a bride.

And the bride needs to be pure. The bride needs to be faithful. The bride needs to yearn for Christ and have this desire to please only the bridegroom. There’s a Scripture in Revelation that reminds me of the Spirit and the Bride.. it’s Revelation 22:17: The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

Let them come… And so it’s an invitation of Christ to come, to align ourselves on him and receive the water of life that he offers. But there’s an issue. So many times we come into this sanctuary and our hearts and minds are no where near where they need to be to worship Jesus. Our minds wonder to the pot roast roasting in our ovens and the family gatherings after church.

Our minds are often already thinking of 2 or three of more hours ahead… and all were doing is coming to church to check off the, I showed up to church box. That’s got to count for something. Our minds think of every other thing but Jesus Christ when we are here. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:5, 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

When we pray, and our mind wonders, we take it captive and make it obedient to Christ. When we find ourselves face to face with our culture that says what we should follow, we take it captive and make it obedient to Christ. It’s the same with our hearts. If our hearts are not finding this burning affection in worship… Then are we truly treasuring Christ as much as we say we do?

Are we forgetting about our self and concentrating on Him and worshipping him? The question now is this.. now that we have come… Are we willing to let Jesus infiltrate our hearts and minds this morning? Would you, where you are, sing with me verse 1 and 2, and then let’s sing verse 3, two times. As we sing this hymn together… Lt’s all of us take the time to ask…

Am I forgetting me.. am I forgetting what I want and what I desire in this world, even myself and focusing on centering myself on his presence? The last part of our Psalm is Pslam 95 and verse 6. The first come is to come and to show up (Haw-Lak), the second come is to align our hearts and minds for worship ( Kaw-dom ), but the third come is a simple Hebrew word called, ( Bo ).

Bo means to bring it to pass. To apply. To be blessed. I want to finished our time together with that truth. When we come, and we align and we praise… we apply and worship with hearts and minds that kneel and bow. Let us lift up holy hands, and magnify his name and worship him…. Only a soul that is burning with joyful affection for Jesus and a mind that is held captive to Christ and centered on Christ can worship like this.

Let’s go back to Johns gospel. Verse 25 gives us one of the most amazing parts of this conversation… she realizes that Jesus is the messiah.. and she drops everything and she goes to tell others. Read John 4: 25-29 What was her response when she realized that Jesus was the messiah… did you hear verse 29… she goes.. comes and see. Why didn’t Jesus start here? Why didn’t Jesus just say.

I am the Messiah give me some water. I believe it’s because she would have never of believed it… her heart and her mind were not tuned to hearing that message. She was focused on her self, She was focused on her culture, what was right or wrong between jews and Samaritans. Even the Disciples came back wondering why in the world is Jesus talking to this Samaritan. Jesus is talking to her because he’s showing that you can never be to far in sin for the son of God, to save you from your sin.

And ya know.. I always thought this was interesting… Jesus disciples go into town and nothing is mentioned that they bring one person to him. But Jesus spends some time ministering with a woman that everyone else overlooks. And next thing you know… she bringing he entire town with her to meet Jesus. Hebrews 13: 15-16 says: 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. She shared what she had…. And that was Jesus because she came, she aligned and she worshipped. I want to do one last thing but before we do… I want us to see the warning that the Psalmist gives… he says in verse 7 and into 8….

If you hear his voice.. don’t harden your heart. We’re going to close out with one final song.. It’s a contemporary song… but it’s a song that draws the hearer to focus only on the name of Jesus. Would you as we sing this final song… would you drop every pre conceived idea you have of church. Would you just let go of all the things you cling to that is about worship and how we worship..

and focus strictly on who we worship… Because I guarneee….. if you focus on who we worship… You’ll learn real quick…how we do it fades away. *