A Full Spiritual Life

Isn't that awesome? A powerful story. Thank you for your faithful giving. Thank you for giving to kingdom builders and all that God is doing. So exciting to be a part of that.

Amen. If you have your Bibles, take them out and turn to John, chapter 10. Welcome to Faith Summeral this morning. We're so glad you're here. I'm gonna dive right in this morning as we're entering our new series.

If you weren't here last week, I encourage you. We kind of end love thy neighbor where he had a standalone, and we talked about the. The illogical love of God as the woman searches for the coin with the image of God stamped on him. And I mean, thankful for God's illogical love for you that he pursues you. And he looks and he keeps on.

He keeps on looking. And now taking a step, kind of. Kind of. This morning, we want to start our series called Fullness. And we're going to get really practical from last week, and our writing team's taking us kind of in a little different direction in a topical format.

But I want to get real practical on this journey, this progression. Like, what happens after I come in contact with the love of God? What happens after I come in contact? What is the start of this sanctification journey look like? And you will say, Pastor Jason, you talk about this a little bit.

I will. I will cur. I will encourage you. This is on repeat. I want to live a full life dedicated to Jesus Christ.

What does that look like? How do we operate in that? How do we go through and get on this transformation, this transformation journey? The fact is, you and I need to be spiritually full. Spiritually full.

When we talk about fullness, we use this phrase a lot, being full. And there is. There is something like you can. You can tell when things are full and when things are. And when things are empty.

Things are full. And when things are empty. How many know that there's a warning light on your dash when things are empty in your car? How many of you get in a car? And sometimes it's in there, it's on every time.

Every time. Conveniently, your spouse doesn't ever get gas. And every time you get in, it's, is this me? It's on. It's on empty.

It's on empty. And that light comes up. How many of you are like, I get gas at a quarter of a tank. So I never have that problem. Anybody?

Only about 6 of you in here. Everyone else, the light comes on. You're like, I got 120 on the. And you hit the little odometer button and you're tracking, and you're like, don't hit the gas too hard. Don't pass anybody on the interstate.

Because this thing, we could push it and it could not. It could not. You know when the gas tank. You know when it's getting. When it's getting empty?

The phone battery light on your phone that pops up and says 10%. And some of you who are very attached or need to be attached, that is fear. And you're like, oh, what if something happens? What if the world. I won't be connected to my friends and society.

A warning. You get a warning and you don't like this one. I don't like this one. Insufficient funds warning from the bank. You are not getting Chipotle today.

You're going somewhere else for ramen noodles. And in fact, it's Monday, and I don't change till Friday. This could be a ramen noodle week is going on, you know, Insufficient funds. It's not. It's a warning that it's empty.

My teenagers do this a lot. Sometimes, you know, they open up the fridge. There's insufficient funds in the fridge. When are we going to eat? What's going on in here?

And I have three teenage boys in the house a lot of times, and it's. It empties quickly. It empties quickly. Empty fridge. The other side is.

We know when something's full. And I love our holidays. Most of them are centered around food, right? Any Thanksgiving people in the house, July 4th, making our founding fathers proud, eating a burger, a brat, and a steak. We're just gonna go all in.

And you go to those holidays and you're just. You're not full, but you're, like, full. Like, it's like, I ate too much. Like, it's all over you. It's on your face.

You're glowing from the grease. You need a shower. I mean, it was a good. It was a full experience. You're full.

Full. We know when we're full. We're full. Anybody like you're had a long week at work or a long day at work, and your brain gets full. Sometimes I come home and I'm like, my brain is full.

It doesn't stop working. And I'm to the max in here. Had a lot of conversations. A lot of things happen. A lot of things that go on and.

And we're full. Anybody who've just been around family and friends and maybe your small group and people that love you and you Will leave and you'll say a statement like, my heart is full. Christmas was so good, the kids are in the house. It was just, my heart is full. You can be very practically, you can walk into this room's looking full and more people are coming and the altars are full.

There is a recognition of what is full and what is empty. And for us, the desire for God, for our life is. Is to be spiritually full, to be spiritually full. Here's why. In order to be the spouse, to be the parent, the coworker, the student, the neighbor, the son, the daughter, the Christ follower that God is calling you to be, you need to be spiritually full.

Spiritually full. Stand with me for the reading God's word. John, chapter 10. John, chapter 10. And we're going to go verse 10 and then we're going to jump.

John, chapter 10. The thief comes only to steal, to kill and destroy. So there is a highlight of the spiritual warfare that is going on, right? Jesus is talking here and he's talking about the sheep and the pasture and how they know our voice. And yet there's a thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy.

And he says, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full or abundantly or overflow. Flip over to Romans chapter 12. Romans, chapter 12. Pick up one of my favorite verses. Romans chapter 12.

Therefore, verse 1. Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy off your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your true and proper act of worship. Look at the product of this. Therefore do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed. There's that that fullness be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. His good, pleasing, perfect, full life, the abundant life. The will is. Father, today I thank you for your word. I thank you that you are here today.

And I pray as we dive into this Lord, this journey, this process, this renewing that you have for us, God, I pray that your Word would speak truth and life to us. We thank you for it. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen.

As you're seated, carefully tell your neighbor they look full. Careful how you word that of the Spirit. Of the Spirit.

Throughout the Bible we see many examples where, especially in the Gospels, where Jesus has a. A interaction, an encounter where people are empty, they are in need. And through the encounter with Jesus, through the encounter with his love, through the encounter with his mercy and his grace, and who he is. It leads to beautiful, beautiful transformation. One of my favorite encounters, and I talk about this one a lot, is the woman at the well.

And there's so much in this story, different avenues and nuances. But I want to highlight this move in John chapter four, it says that Jesus is traveling through Samaria. He must needs go to Samaria. The Jews didn't go through Samaria. And.

But he travels through Samaria to meet a woman. And there's a woman who has a past of sin, and she is even presently in sin. And right away in this encounter, you get the picture that she is struggling and she is broken. And Jesus again ensues a conversation. He breaks through all of the past, breaks through all of the social differences, and he starts a conversation.

And he asks her, he says, hey, can you give me a drink now? To drink out of a Samaritan's pitcher or to have drink or fellowship, it's blowing her mind. And so it's crazy. It's crazy what is happening. Not only it's crazy that Jesus, a rabbi, a teacher, a male, is noticing her, is noticing her, that he would cross these cultural lines, these barriers.

She would cross the sin barriers, that she is in need, and she's not wanting to be noticed in the middle of the afternoon. And so Jesus makes this encounter, and the conversation ensues. Can you give me a drink? And she immediately, you're not. You're not supposed to talk to me.

This isn't right. And Jesus fires back, if you knew who I was and the gift of salvation and the gift of water that I could give you, it's living water. And she goes back to the temporal, said, listen, buddy, the well, it's deep and you don't have a jar. Living water. What's that?

And this conversation is. Is going on. And then he says. He says this powerful statement, this is where I want to hang on in John, chapter 4, verse 14. But whoever drinks of the water I give them, look at this line.

Will never thirst, will never thirst again. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water, Not a well, a spring of water welling up to eternal life. What I give you is this fullness. What I give you is not stagnant. What I give you is living.

It's a source. It springs up and constantly flowing. I love that it uses the line never thirst, which in other means, you will constantly be quenched by what I fill you with. You never thirst. You will constantly be quenched.

You will constantly be satisfied because I Will fill. I will fill you up. It will transform you. And then from there it will spring up, it will come on how many thankful. It will flow out of you constantly.

And it's this beautiful imagery. So she gets this imagery and then she diverts and Jesus continues to drill down the husband. She's had the sin that she's living in, the religion of where she worships, that she's stuck on how many people share their faith and they're like, my grandpa was Catholic. And they like go in that she does that kind of stuff. And she has this beautiful encounter.

She realizes her need and that Jesus is meeting her and that there is a man who knows everything about me and yet approached me and extended grace and extended love and still loves me and says she leaves her water pitcher behind. I love that symbolic thing. She leaves her water pitcher behind and she goes and tells the whole town, that's what Jesus is offering. When we talk about fullness today, that's what he's offering. The creator of the universe, the one who created everything from nothing, the one who has the power over death, the one who makes all things exist.

Come on. He wants to fill our lives. He wants us to have life to the full and abundant. So this morning I want to look at a couple things. We spend a lot of time on the first section, but I want to look at a couple of things.

How do we position ourselves to be this conduit of living water, to posture ourselves for this river? How do we position ourselves to posture ourselves to be full spiritually? Number one. Number one. And if you're following on youversion, it's in the app, you can follow along with.

It's number one. Seek God above all things. And I got a couple little add ons to that. Seek him constantly. And that's important.

That's. That's the extra. And then it's a dependence on the Lord. And so it's I'm putting him above all. And I'm putting my dependence and my hope and it's not just for a day, but it's constantly dependence.

I found that we depend on a lot of things in life. I will be transparent as I often am. And if you've been here for some time, you've heard me talk about this in the morning time I have a dependency and I wake up and it's the first thing that I do is I need coffee. You thought I was gonna be spiritual there, but I'll get spiritual after the coffee. I need anybody coffee.

I need good coffee. Like, not like this store bought. I love our local roasters here. I love the local coffee scene here. I love Espresso.

I've had six shots since 3am this morning. I've been working it through. It is good stuff. I'm dependent on it. I'm dependent.

I'm dependent on coffee. It gets me. I'm in. I'm in a better mood when I have it and when I don't have it. Sounds like you need to go on a fast pastor.

I know we gotta work that through. So how many of you, you know, this is a good thing that God gives us a helper in all things. How many of you have a spouse that there's a dependency in your marriage? Anybody? Good marriage, good dependency on our.

On our. On our spouse. On our husband, our wife. Good, good dependency. That is a good thing.

We are helpers in all things. I will tell you. I will tell you in our house, I'm very dependent on my wife. I need her. But I will also tell you I wear the pants.

She does lay them out for me. She holds them, she helps me get in them, she helps me. But I'm just picks out the color. The dependency. We need each other.

There's a dependency on your spouse. There's a dependency if you work in a team, if you work with coworkers, if you're on. You know, there are a part of your team, you're working together at your work for a common goal. There's a dependency. Some of you like are on your sports team.

Of course, now it's kind of that dull period in sports. We just got basketball and that's pretty much it. And so. But you're dependent on that sports team. And what I mean is like that sports team loses it.

Come on. It wrecks your day, your weekends. And sometimes they never win and you want to just retire the jerseys in your closet. But when they win, you pull those suckers. I'm just kidding.

It depends. Like we're dependent on things. We're dependent on things in our life. Do you think of dependence? Sometimes I think of dependence on a different level.

Like if you look. If you look at this building, like we're dependent on the structure and an inspector.

I said this in first service, but that's a pretty heavy load of speakers. Some of you don't like them because they're. They can get loud. But you're dependent on. You guys are dependent on some rigging and some chains and whatever.

Wiring or lack of wiring. See what I'm saying? You're. We trust no, nobody. You don't think about that stuff.

Well, now I do. Pastor Jason. Thank. I was in an elevator a couple days ago. I'm dependent that this thing is going to go up.

I'm not going to get stuck. It always gets stuck in movies, right. And I do want to be like Jason Bourne and just hit the top and see if I can get through and climb the cables and do a spider man. We're dependent that the elevators are going to go up and up planes, 490 miles an hour. That's a lot of faith going through the air.

Have you ever watched don't watch roller coaster fails. You will not get on them any thrill seekers roller coasters, you're dependent on the. I mean that thing up spins, shoo shoo. Defying gravity. Don't dependency.

I'll stop there. Dependency. We depend on a lot of things. We depend on a lot of things in our life, relationships and I think a lot of times we depend on ourselves. We have to do this, we have to carry this out.

We have to complete the stress and the task in front of us. We got the kids stuff, the job stuff, the money stuff the debt. And the stuff feels like the buck stops with me and it's all dependent on me and therefore the stress and anxiety and we have a tendency to run on empty. It's like we're one loss or mix up away from ruining the week. And Jesus says this, I've come to give you life and life to the full and an abundant life and an ongoing full.

And here it is. It's found in this transformation. You see, when we come to the Lord, when we start to understand his love that we again we talked about last week, that God so loved, we start to understand like this woman at the well that he would come, that that love would come and find me. And then in view of that love, I start to realize some facts. I start to realize that I haven't been dependent on that love, that I haven't embraced that love.

I've been dependent on other things.

And if you've been dependent on other things, you know that that doesn't work or won't work because your Creator designed you differently and because I've been dependent on other things, I'm actually in sin. And now all of a sudden in the light of that love, I'm aware of that sin, that I'm not doing what I was created and wired to do. So there's this God shaped void that I have to come back to that I am in need. Seeing this love and this encounter with this love. I realize something that has to change in me.

That I have to be dependent on him, not on me. It's the design and it's. When I'm out of that design. Anybody know that? That doesn't work.

It doesn't work. So how do I get back? How do I change? You see, I think starting out the gate, when we talk about your spiritual journey, when we talk about spiritual fullness, it's the very first step in this whole thing that we've been building to. It's to realize this.

That you need rescue. To realize that you need to be dependent. When we talk about dependence, you need to be dependent on Jesus. I am in need. Look, I'm coming to the well in the middle of the afternoon.

Cause I don't wanna see anybody. I've been broken from relationship after relationship after relationship. I'm in. I'm in. I'm in need.

It's not working. Can you give me a drink? So I keep coming here. It's so important. In fact, John 15 says, why?

Because apart from me, you can do nothing. Remain in the vine. Because if you don't, you can do. You can do nothing without me. There's nothing good in me.

In other words, I'm powerless to do this on my own. And it's so important to start here. I heard a teaching the other night, the. The first line in the Sermon on the Mount again. Jesus is gathering and he's doing his first sermon on the mountain.

Matthew, chapter five. And it'll go on for a couple chapters. And it's theologically rich and deep. And he's starting off on who he is as the Messiah and how he's different and how he fulfills everything. And you know the first thing he says in Matthew, chapter five, verse three, how he starts.

Everybody sit down. Let me tell you. Blessed are the poor in spirit.

It's as if there's this importance of realizing your own spiritual poverty and depravity. That you are completely empty. That you are in need, that you can't. Here's the good news. That is the foundation for growth.

That is the foundation for your discipleship. That is the foundation for you to start to be spiritual, spiritually full is to understand that you are empty without hope, without Jesus. So it's God. I admit that I'm powerless. I'm powerless to change.

I admit I've tried to fill myself. And I admit that it doesn't work without you. So I need you to rescue me. And I need to Be dependent on you in every area of my life. And so we have this beautiful message of the cross and his mercy and his grace and his love.

And so what happens is I realize I'm in need and I get to respond. And so now, Father, I believe in you. I make you Lord. And how many thankful in an instance, you're saved and changed and redeemed? And here's the catch.

Sometimes we stop there. But I want to take this a little further. It doesn't stop. See, as I confess and as I make him, Lord, now there has to be a movement. I get to move in a direction.

I get to make him Lord watch. I get to make him Lord of everything, constantly. How many know you need it constantly? I mean, that Jesus would say, you need to die. Daily we.

We surrender. Daily we get. We get rid of this stuff. I need to make him, Lord, constantly. And so it starts, it steps, it journeys.

And this, this heart, it moves to the heart where now you know, confess. Simple prayer. Now. Now it's a desire. It moves to passion.

You see. See, it's not just understanding your spiritual poverty. It's not just accepting conversion and that prayer, although those things are super important. But it has to move to loving him. It has to move to letting him have every area of your life.

It has to move to letting him come in and transform who you are. Renewing. Come on. Redeeming. Come on.

Taking this thing out. Sharpening me, pulling things off, me. Being dependent on him in every area of my life. In your job, you're dependent on Jesus. With your kids, you're dependent on Jesus.

With your finances, you're dependent on Jesus with big decisions you're making, with small decisions you're making. It's dependent on every area of my life. God, I commit to you. I pour myself out now. I need your power to fill me.

I need this living water. And this move happens. Watch. From poverty to dependence, it moves from. I have to.

I don't want to burn in hell to. I get you. I've seen your love. I tasted of your glory, and it's better than life. I have a desire to be dependent, a desire to surrender.

I need to die to myself because that stuff fails following you. Jesus is the best possible way to live. In every area of my life, in my marriage, in my family, in my work. You're the designer of the universe. You're every area of my life.

And here's the thing. Yes, I struggle. Yes, you struggle. But I am dependently full. That's a good line.

I Am dependently full. I will tell you. The enemy hates that because he's come to steals, kill, steal and destroy. And as you start to put Jesus first, as you start to take steps, as you start to depend on Jesus in different areas and avenues of your life, and you're surrendering everything you see, his goal is for you to stay apathetic, to just say a prayer and that be it. He wants you to stay striving.

He wants you to stay reliant on yourself. He wants you to stay dependent on other things. Why? Because that's not your purpose and you stay empty. Paul summarizes this in this.

We read it in the beginning, Romans, chapter 12. Therefore, all of that you've done in the first 11 chapters. Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of everything that we talked about, his goodness, his salvation, his truth, in view of, therefore everything that he's done, in view of his mercy, his cross, his saving power. When you see that, here's your step. Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

This is your true and proper act of worship. So here's the journey, right? In view of the mercy, in view of the cross. Come on. In view of what he did for me, this is the return I offer.

Come on. How many know? If all he did was save you from your sins, that was it. If he didn't bless you, if he didn't. If he didn't cover you, if he didn't protect, if he didn't speak to you, if he didn't give you his holy Spirit, if all he did was save you from your sins, that would be enough to give him your life and.

And to serve him for all of eternity. Come on. He took your shame, he took your guilt, he took your past. He's got your present. Like if all he the cross.

And so there's this return. It's this giving. It's this giving. Every area of my life. And this is the worship.

What? This is the fullness I offer and continue to offer and keep offering and have an ongoing offering of myself. Come on. And as I empty and as I sacrifice, he fills me. Come on.

And it's a continual filling and it's a challenge. What? What? All of a sudden it starts. I no longer am conform to the patterns of this world.

A renewal is restarting. As I let go, as he fills me up, as he gives me his word, his guidance, as I understand who he is and his character, all of a sudden I'm no longer conformed to the patterns of this world in the text. I'm no longer consumed with what the world is consumed with. I'm no longer stressed and striving and pushing and pursuing what the world is pursuing because it's empty. And he's filling me.

He's renewing my mind. He's changing my desires. So the lustful thoughts, the greedful thoughts, the things that are contrary to the fruit of the spirit is now being cleansed. And now I get to abide in him and he in me. And the fruit of the spirit no longer consumed, conformed to the patterns of this world.

And here's the catch. And this is what we talked about in the beginning. But be transformed now. The transformation now it's not just now it's not just a move. Now it's not.

It's a total transformation. Look at the word be transformed and renewing of your mind. So he has my heart. And again in my mind, the change and the filling and the sanctification, it continues by transforming the way I think. How many know the way you think is the way you act?

So this thing starts to happen and it's ongoing transformation affecting my mind. Come on. The anxiety, the stuff that's in here, so much of that that I once was, that's in there is now being renewed, is now being aligned, is now being brought back to right thinking. Now it's lining up with the scripture. And because I know his character, if it doesn't line up with the scripture, I get to dismiss that Facebook thing.

I get to dismiss that thing that's spoken over me. And I'm bringing every thought captive to sword point to this word. And this thing is starting to happen where I'm renewed into right thinking. And then you will be able to test and approve what the will of God is. This is your purpose to be full, his good and perfect and pleasing will.

It's the move now from me first to I give my life, I offer my life as a living sacrifice. Why? Because I need you in every single area of my life. And so every day it's a constant thing. Every day I choose to die.

Every day. Come on. I surrender. Every day I get a new glimpse of your grace. Every day I find out more about your character.

Every day I take a little step forward, closer. In my sanctification journey of becoming more like you. I'm not satisfied with staying the same as I was there. And this thing starts to happen where renewal and transformation process, where I am full and becoming full or fuller or I don't know, everything. But Jason, that Seems crazy.

So I just desire this. I just. How do I, you know, Dying to myself, what. That's tough to do. And he just fills me and there's gotta be something.

I'm glad you asked. We talked about this. The fall. And I gotta move quickly. John, chapter 13 and 14.

Last Supper. It's heavy. Things are going on in the book. Jesus is about to be crucified. He's washed some dirty disciples feet and he's modeled servanthood.

He's been betrayed by Judas. He has Peter come up like, hey, I'm getting ready to depart. Peter says, no Lord, I've surrendered to you. I've given my life to you. I'll follow you anywhere.

And he predicts the death you're gonna deny me. And it's this crazy word. And there's a shift in John chapter 14 into words of comfort and promise. And Jesus said, look, although all this is happening, although I'm departing, although I'm leaving, don't let your hearts be troubled. I'm preparing a place for you.

But then that sends them into more worry. What place? How are we gonna find you? Come on, they're on a different level. They're way down.

How are we gonna find you? Where are we gonna go? How are we gonna. How are we gonna again, God, we've left everything. You've transformed us.

We have purpose in you. You're going, how do I. How do I follow you? How do I get to that place? And Jesus says, I'm the way.

I'm the truth and I'm the life. And he goes into this great explanation of that because Philip says, hey, can't you just show us your dad? Show us your father. Cause then that would solve all the things. Just let us see him.

Let us touch him. Let us know who he is. And he says, he and I are one. I'm the way, the truth and the life. He and I are one.

In other words, the Father is living in me. He's actually the one doing the work. And I'm under his mission and his authority. A beautiful explanation. And then he has this crazy turn where he tells the disciples, you're going to do greater works than me.

What? You're going to do greater works than me. I'm going to a place, I'm going, you're going to do greater works than I have. In other words, the authority that the Father has given me, I'm going to give it to you. And then he goes on to say, how?

How are you going to do this? How are we going to have ongoing transformation. How are we going to. How are we going to operate once you leave? This isn't making sense.

I need physical, tangible Jesus. What's. What's going to happen? How are we going to do greater? How are we going to be full?

He gives this promise, verse 16. I will ask the Father, and He will give you an advocate to help you and then to be with you forever. And if you skip a verse or two, he says he lives with you and will be in you. How are you going to do it? How are you going to continue this journey of transformation, the renewal?

How are you going to be spiritually fruitful? How are you going to do that? You're going to have help. Come on, you don't have to do it by yourself. You're going to have an advocate, a helper living and residing inside of you.

Verse 26 goes on to say, but the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. Watch what he'll do. He'll teach you all things. He'll remind you of everything that I've said to you. He's going to be with you on the sanctification journey.

He's going to fill you up. He's going to empower you. He's going to move in you and through you. And the promise of greater works, the transformation, the living and loving, like Jesus. How?

We have an advocate, a helper living inside of us who continues to what? Fill us up. Fill us up. He will give you instruction. Come on.

He'll teach you all things. He'll give you revelation. He'll show you that it all points to me. And he will show you how to stay dependent on me. And so what's inside of you?

Listen to me. Here's the catch. The Holy Spirit inside of you will help you, will guide you, will reveal things, will make you more like me, will give you living water flowing out of you. Why? Because I need you to do greater works.

I have an assignment for you. I have a purpose for your life. Acts 1:8. He sent. He resurrected.

And in his resurrected body, he appears to the disciples, and he makes this bold statement, this prophetic statement. I need you to wait because. Verse 8. You receive power. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

You see, to position yourself to be spiritually full, to be spiritually mature, is to first realize that I'm in need. Then I get to move into a desire where I sacrifice and let go of Myself, my agenda. In other words, I'm confessing and making him, Lord, you are Lord of my life. But then to realize, come on, I'm not on my own, I'm not striving. I don't have to have it all perfect because I have an advocate.

The Holy Spirit that comes in and fills me, strengthens me, teaches me, admonishes me, comforts me, counsels me, guides me, makes me powerful and bold amongst my co workers, makes me a strong witness in my city in Judea. And the uttermost he fill. What does he do? He fills me spiritually. So, okay, I got it.

That's very spiritual, Pastor Jason. But how does that affect Thursday? I know you're thinking that. How do I make the shift? I'm gonna give you just three quick things.

Spiritual Discipline 101.

Listen. This is where your daily dependence is cultivated. This is where your transformation is empowered. This is where your relationship moves. And you get this all the time.

But the development where the Holy Spirit fills you continually. It's how it's. You grow. Look. Word, prayer and worship.

Word, prayer and worship. Your personal time with Jesus is so important. It's where he fills me and it's where my dependence on him has to be cultivated. It's where I learned who he is and what he's done for me. It's where I learned his character.

Come on. This word is active and living and alive. I get into that word and it changes me. You see the word just taking the word, it literally draws me and shows me the character of God. It.

It draws me to his very character. Are we thankful that the Holy Spirit speaks to you through His Word? Again, it's the manual. It's the operating manual for life. And so what does it do?

It sharpens me. It makes me effective. It cuts. It pierces through bone and marrow. It is the Word and the breath of God that's living in that.

Come on. That word convicts you. Just three weeks ago, I was reading and I'm just like, I've missed it. Repentance followed like it's this thing that the Word can do in our life. And as I repent, what does he do?

He fills me up. Holy Spirit's revealing things and pulling things off through the Word. It shows the character and nature of who God is. Prayer. Prayer is important.

It draws me to the heart of God. It draws me to the desires of God. Prayer, listen. It's your communication with God to develop the relationship. It's how you develop.

How you develop a relationship is through Communication. My kids will be in the same room and they will text each other. Anybody do that? Just us. They text the family chat.

And I'm like, our whole family is in the same room. Just, can we talk? That would be a cool thing. Talking is how you develop a relationship, right? How great would your date be if you didn't talk the whole time?

Get to know. Get to know her real well. Just.

That's what I'm asking them. All right, so that's the point. Like, what do we do? It's the communication that develops the relationship. It's where communication and prayer, it's where dependence is truly realized.

It's where I pray his will and his heart is where I can boldly approach, come on the throne of grace. And I can come in in my hour of need. And if you think about it, come on. There are needs everywhere. There's brokenness everywhere.

There's sin everywhere. There's destruction everywhere. There's my selfishness and my greed and things that don't line up with His Word. And we get surrounded by those. Now watch this.

We get to cast our cares on him in prayer. Get to come in and so how many thankful that when you pray, God shows up and he enters the room when we. When we stop, when we listen to him, we. When we come to him for guidance and direction. And the list goes on and on in prayer.

The Word, it's your revelation prayer, it's your relationship. And Jesus speaks and intertwines those both together. Can I give you a bonus interesting thing? Is that the advocate or the promise, the power and boldness, you're promised this free gift of the Holy Spirit with a prayer language as well. The baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

In Acts, chapter two, it says, there's a sound of wind, there's tongues of fire. And then it uses this line, they were all filled. Let me say that again. They were all filled with the Spirit, with the advocate, and they began to speak in an unknown tongue or an unknown language. Just that correlation that we talked in John, chapter four.

It's the rivers of living water that are flowing out of you that don't stop, that always quench. It's that Peter would refer as he stands up and explains what happens. He said, listen, we're not drunk as you suppose. This is a fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. And what Joel says we just sang about it is, I will literally pour my spirit out on all flesh and you will prophesy and this beautiful thing will happen.

Listen, your prayer language is powerful. It will fill you up. Why? Well, Romans 8 says, the Spirit helps me in my weakness. In other words, when I don't know what to pray, I can pray in the Spirit.

And it says that the Spirit intercedes for us to the will of God, like shows us that and ties that all together. You say, pastor Jason, my devotional lives is just kind of stagnant, man. Pray in the Spirit. Walk around if you're empty, pray in the Spirit. That will fill you.

That's a bonus. You have a powerful way. You're filled with the Spirit number two, or sorry, number three in this worship. Worship draws me back into purpose, which is to give him glory. And next series.

Next month we got a whole three weeks on worship, and we're taking a series on it. So I can't spend too much time here. And we say this a lot. Your purpose is not only just to love God with everything and love others, but your purpose. You're actually designed and created to give God glory.

You're designed to reflect his image, to give him glory. And that's worship. It's the Holy Spirit. And out of the fullness, you realize, come on. Worship is not just singing.

Singing is good. Mine's not. But singing is good. And as you sing, as you worship, it doesn't always have to be singing. Your life is worship, but as you sing, as you worship what you're doing.

Worship is bestowing value and honor and glory to him that he deserves. It's joining with the song of the angels. Holy, holy, holy. It's seeing that over and over again. Come on.

How many know God deserves all glory and honor and praise? Come on. He is Alpha, Omega, the beginning and the end. The first and last he seat is on his throne. Nothing catches him off guard.

He knows all. He is all. He's above all. He's through all he's in. Like, this is the God we serve.

And he and he chooses to love me. So my response is, God, you deserve. You deserve all glory and honor and praise. And I'm telling you, it'll fill you up. It'll change your perspective.

As you worship, you become spiritually spiritually full.

Spiritually full. I'm thankful for a God who can change everything in our daily life. But what if we could have daily dependency on God seeking him, continuing continually. Come on, how many thankful he feels. He feels.

All right, point one was 38 minutes. I got two more points. They're equal. I'm just kidding. They're really quick because we talked about these last, last Month Loving others very quickly.

Loving others, loving the church, dependent on others. I'm going to move fast as you start this transformation journey. Dependency as you seek the Lord. Come on. Not only does God fill us, not only do we have the Holy Spirit as an advocate or helper, but God gives.

Listen. He designs us as relational beings. He designs us for intimacy. It's not good for what man to be alone. So he designs us for intimacy, not just with him, but in the context of community, in the context of family.

He's a generational God. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He thinks generationally. He's a relational God. You're not to do this thing on your own.

You're not to do this thing on your own. The body of Christ is important. The early church. They're forming. He preaches 3000 are saved after Peter gives this proclamation and God is moving and right away it's recorded.

After all, the transformation happens after those are saved. How did they keep it going? What did they do? What did they do for ongoing transformation in their life? How did they posture themselves to steward the promises of Jesus?

Acts 2:42. They devoted themselves to the apostles, teaching fellowship and the breaking of bread and prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and wonder. And many signs were performed in miracles. All the believers were together.

There it is again. They had everything in common. All the believers. They sold the possessions to the poor to give anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.

They broke bread in their homes. They ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God, enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord. What was the product of that? The Lord added to their number daily, those who were being saved, they were hearing the teachings and transformations.

So what did they do? They dedicated themselves to the community. They delegated themselves to giving. And they had this commonality. That commonality was.

Not everybody liked fishing. I wish that was the case. That would be amazing. Everyone would have a boat and I could go with you and we could fish. But not everyone liked.

It wasn't that Jesus was the commonality. He had changed their lives. He had transformed their life. He had filled them with the power of the Holy Spirit. They had that in common.

And so they start this community. They met together daily, breaking bread together. And the product of that was attractional. The world looked and said, what is this Jesus community? I want to be a part of that.

What is this love that they have for one another? The discipleship that they have for one another, the passion that they have for one another, the growth that's going on there. The power and the miracles and the signs and wonders that are going, what is that? I want, Come on, I want a part of that. Our community should be attractive sometimes.

Our community is full of backbiting and gossip and politics and this and that. Our community is love, admonition and growth and discipleship and togetherness. And we do that together.

Transformation, community, listen is where you get full teaching and growth needs are met. And some of you are like, yuck, pastor, that's not for me. I'm an introvert. My days are busy, I work till 6 and I want to come home. I got my series on Netflix that I watch.

I just need me time.

I think you'll be empty. It's not the way you're designed. And yes, it's awkward at first and yes it takes work and yes it. And yes it takes initiative and yes, it's stretching. This early church, if you read it in the Book of Acts, it was messy.

There's messy things going on. It was wild. There was a lot of things happening. But I will tell you, it is the model and it's how you were created. So for you here, Somerville, you need to be here every week.

Don't miss church on Sunday. This is Pastor Larry's speech for you. Don't miss church. Churches where you are receiving, churches where you get fed. Churches where you get around a group of like minded people moving in the same direction.

Churches where you get family. Don't miss. It says the average churchgoer attends 1.2 times a month. I said this in first. I don't know if you drive around the parking lot and leave.

And that's your point. 2. I don't know how they factor that in.

Miss, don't miss. Don't miss. Get apart. It's not just hearing then it's applying that. There's discipleship, man.

We have discipleship opportunities. Not just on Sunday morning. There's classes and small groups. It's an area to go deeper. It can't just be a Sunday thing.

You need to get around people who will sharpen you listen, people who will correct you. You need correction in your life. When I correct you. Don't go to the other church. When you have people that love you, that are pouring into you and they say something that you don't like but lines up with scripture.

That's a you pride problem. You take correction. You need that in your life. Why? It makes you full.

And like Jesus, you need people around you, people around you who love you, who will grow you and it makes you full. And you need to serve. You need to serve. You need to get on our dream team. You need to invest in the next generation, our kids ministry.

Right now we're adding a service for Easter, and we need another 60 people serving our kids. And you've been sitting on the bench far too long. You need to give one Sunday a month to kids and serve. You need to be a part of it. Why?

Because we're loving the next generation. Come on. These are. They're not the church of tomorrow, they're the church of today. Our kids.

If they don't receive Jesus by the age of 13, the statistics say it drops to 70% that they never will. We get a chance to pour and teach and love on kids. You need to serve. You need to be involved out the city and the nonprofits and get plugged in. Why?

Because it fills you. You're wired this way and designed this way for community.

Number three, preaching the gospel to others. We'll close with this. John 4. You're dependent on your calling. Look at the woman.

She leaves her water pitch behind. Leaves the thing behind. See, once you're full, your job is to pour out.

And the people that she were hiding from. Now she's announcing, come meet a man who changed my life. It's the message of our whole last series. What he's done in me, they need what he's done in me. The them need it.

Those out there need it. The workplace needs it. There's a purpose and a calling that's greater, to be a witness to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost. And the helper comes in and he gives you the passion because they need a rescuer. And maybe your word, your love, your smile, your talk, your sharing is the answer somebody's looking for.

Sharing your faith will make you accountable. I no longer live for me. It's not about me. It's about pouring into others. And that becomes my purpose.

The greatest place you can be is the place of spiritual fullness. Why? Because in order to be the spouse, the parent, the co worker, the student, the son, the daughter, the neighbor, the Christ follower.

In order to be what God is calling you to be, you have to be spiritually full. Why? Because I have come that you may have life and have it to the full. So we posture ourselves so we can be the conduit of living water. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me?

Two things. If you're in here today and you say, pastor Jason, when you're talking in that first point, that really long. First point, that. First point you said, the recognization of my own depravity and the dependent on other things. And you say, pastor Jason, I'm not.

I'm not right with Jesus. This is a call we talk about every single week at Faith Somerville to give you the opportunity to surrender and to make Him Lord. To make the best decision of your life is to quit striving and quit being dependent on yourself and dependent on other things to fill you. All of that leads to emptiness. And Jesus says, I have fullness for you.

That fullness is found because he took the step. He loved you before you could love back. He committed. He died for your sins. Perfect.

He lived perfect. And so he took your sin and he took your shame, and he rose from the dead victoriously to give you victory. And he says, I'm doing that so we can have relationships, so you can be full. If you're in here today. And you'd say, pastor Jason, that's me.

I'm not where I should be with the Lord. He's not Lord of my life. I'm serving things for myself, and I need to surrender today. You could have been in any other place in the world, but he brought you here to tell you he loves you and he wants you to have a full life with every head bowed and every eye closed. If you say, pastor Jason, that's me.

I need to surrender. Can you raise your hand and look at me so I know who to pray for? Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Next thing, just. Just really quick. If you just. Pastors. Pastor Jason, I.

I love Jesus, but I feel empty. It's been busy. It's been stressful, and. And maybe it's that you would say, hey, my. My desires waned.

Maybe. Maybe you just say, hey, it's. It's not. I'm not. You know, I'm not where I should be in this.

Priorities. I've been living selfish.

Can I just encourage you today if you just say, hey, I want to challenge you to view his mercy again. I want to challenge you to say, hey, I need the advocate. Sometimes even in our relationship with Jesus, we can start doing that on our own. We can start be dependent on our. Our rhythms and our rituals and the things that we've always done.

I need the advocate. I need freshness. I need the advocate in my life filling me. And then maybe it's even just as practical as I just need to put back in my life the priority of the Word, the Priority of prayer and my spiritual language and the priority of worship. I need that.

I need to give him my day tithe in my day. There's so many other things are taking that and I need to. I need to make sure that that's a part of my life. If you're in here today and maybe that falls in one of you, just say, hey, I'm empty and I need a refreshing today. Can you raise your hand for me just so I know how to pray?

Amen. Amen. Amen. Can you stand to your feet with me as you stand? I want to give one last quick challenge to the church.

Maybe you didn't raise your hands, but can we get with others? Can we be a family man? We don't do our discipleship stuff just for another thing to do. We do it because you need it and you need community, man. Get involved.

Go to the men. We do the men's conference for you. Go to the men's conference. Sign up men, because you're going to get community afterwards. Get involved in foundation classes.

Why? So you can learn and be sharpened of who Jesus. Get involved in growth. We do that stuff for you. I want to challenge you.

Take advantage and engage. Don't just keep the same patterns coming in out of the door. Let's get a part of the family. And then can we say, hey, same thing as last month. Come on.

Who wants to pour out to their community? Come on. Who wants revival to hit your workplace? What if revival hit your workplace? Come on.

Come on. Who wants to sweep your neighborhood? Sweep our high schools? Come on. Come on.

I want God to use me, move through me. I want to be a conduit. I want to pour out this living water. Amen. Amen.

Our altar team is coming now and they're getting ready. If you raised your hand or maybe you didn't, maybe you got any healing in your body. You got some things going on in your heart and life, and you need prayer. This team is up for you. I want to encourage you, especially on that first one.

They want to introduce you to Jesus. But if you need. If you need a refreshing, they want to pray over you. If you need to surrender some stuff that's blocking you, you got some addictions, you got some things in the way. Let's let that go here at the altar.

We got a team here to minister to you. And here's what I want to do. As they come, as people start moving, I want to challenge this church body just as both sign as a hands, hands lifted up as a sign of surrender. Just. We do this a lot.

Almost every week. You lift both hands up to the Lord today as I pray. Can you pray? Can we just think about his cross? Come on.

And his goodness? Can we just view that mercy for a moment and ask the Holy Spirit to fill us afresh? And then the band's going to sing a song a couple times through and steal this moment. Father, today. Come on, Church.

Father, today. Come on. You pray as I pray. Father Day, I thank you for your goodness. God, I thank you for who you are.

God, you deserve all glory and honor and praise. Come on. You are alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. God, before a tongue's on my mouth, you know it. You know all and you see all.

And yet yout love so ravishly. God, I thank youk that yout came, that yout were beaten beyond recognition. That yout took my place. Gotta thank youk for the power of that cross and that. That blood that was shed for me, God.

You died for me. God, we know that without the shed blood, there's no forgiveness of sins. So, Father, I thank you that you did that for me. You took my place. And, God, it wasn't just for that moment, but it was for my past, my present and future sin.

And Lord, because you rose from the dead victoriously. God, we thank you for the resurrection and the power. That you are unlike any other. God, that you rose from the dead victorious. And so, God, we thank you.

See you high and exalted. But God's so personal. And because of that victory, God, we now have victory. God, we can have victory over greed, lust and envy and pride. And all of this, God, we lay.

We choose victory of you today. God, we thank you for who you are. God, we thank you for what you're doing. God, I pray in these next few moments as we solidify this in a. In a time of worship, as we pour our love out to you, God, you would show up.

God, some of us are dry. We've been serving you for years. And this last season has just been monotonous and over and over again. God, I thank you that you are a God who is near. You're a God who is close.

You're a God who speaks. So speak to us today. Refresh us today. Fill us with your Holy Spirit today. We love you, Jesus.

In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Come on. Can we give him praise?

Hey, come.