The Pathway to God

The Pathway to God (Origin #3) Matt: [00:00:00] What service? We are a digital church on a quest to discover how Jesus helps us live a more meaningful life. We are a community, a space to explore the Christian faith and a place where you can contribute and grow Our service, uh, will last about an hour and in a few seconds you'll meet our hosts, uh, for our service, who will introduce today's talk. After the talk, we will have a time of worship and reflection after which we head into Conversation Street, where we look at your stories and questions that you've posted in the comments. Now, we want to invite you to connect with us here at Crowd Church, and we've got a few ways in which you can do just that. Firstly, you can engage with Crowd from any device during our live stream, and if you're up for it. Why not invite a few friends over and experience the service together? You see, church is all about connecting [00:01:00] with God and connecting with others. And one of the easiest ways for you to do that is join one of our midweek groups where we need online together to catch up and discover more about the amazingness of Christ. You can also subscribe to our fairly new podcast called What's the Story, uh, where we deep dive into stories of faith and courage from everyday people. More information about all of these things can be found on our website at www dot Crowd Church. Or you can reach out to us on social media at Crowd Church if you are new to Crowd or new to the Christian faith and would like to know what your next steps to take are. Well, we're not Head over to our website, Crowd Church slash Next for more details. And now the moment you've been [00:02:00] waiting for is here at Online Church Service Stops right now. Well, good evening and welcome. Greetings and salutations. Welcome to Crowd Church. My name is Matt Edmundson. Beside me is the beautiful man. It's Dan, which is Dan Orange. Yeah. Yeah. How are we doing, Dan? You doing all right? Yeah. Doing very well. Thank you. Good. How's your Sunday been? Busy, but good. It's a bit different. That's very cryptic, isn't it? Very cryptic. Yeah. Uh, welcome to Crowd Church. Uh, for those of you who've never been before warm, welcome to you. Crowd is an online church. Uh, and the thing I love about Online Church is that we, uh, we kind of do this church whole thing together. You get to comment, uh, you get to throw your ideas, your stories, your thoughts, everything, uh, in the comments, whether you're watching on Facebook or YouTube. We would love to hear from you. Uh, do join in with us as we go [00:03:00] along. As we go through the talk Talk. Let's talk about the talk. Dan, do you know who's doing the talk today? Dan: I do. It's Dave Ley, which I'm very much looking forward to. He is a, is an awesome guy. He's my manual ex pastor, if you like, isn't he? Um, yeah. Pretty good friend. I dunno if I, yeah, yeah. Matt: So Dave is one of the founding pastors of the church that Dan and I go to is probably a better way to put it. Uh, but yes, in fact Dave's in the comments. Good evening, Dave. Dave, say hello to David. Hello, uh, crews in the comments. George is in the comments. Uh, if you're watching the live stream, do come and say hello. Uh, give us a wave. Let us know way you're watching from, uh, where you're connecting from around the world. Always good to hear and connect from new people. Do forgive my slightly nasal tones. Uh, I am, I am recovering from the man flu. Uh, you'll be pleased to know that I didn't have to. Uh, go to hospital. I end up in ICU. Didn't have to call out the paramedics. I [00:04:00] know brave man that I am. Uh, we have soldiered on through the man flute. Uh, so yes. So away it goes, isn't it? Well done. Yeah. I, Dan, I dunno what to say. I just feel so proud of myself. Uh, absolutely. Now we are coming to you live from, uh, Liverpool here in the uk and today we are carrying on, uh, our Origin series. I think this is week three, uh, of Origin, the new series that we're doing, uh, where we're going through the gospel of John And Dave, uh, is gonna take us through the next section of John's Gospel. If you've been following along on social media. George has been posting all the scriptures on there. You can sort of follow along, uh, with the daily readings if you want to come in and join in on that. Uh, but Dave's gonna introduce some concepts from, uh, John's Gospel. Then after that, we're gonna have a brief time of worship, [00:05:00] after which Dan and I will be back for Conversation Street. So, uh, without any further ado, let's get into, uh, today's topic, uh, and the worship and just keep commenting, throw your questions in, thoughts, ideas. We would love to hear from you. Uh, and we'll be back again. Don, I very, very soon. Here's today's talk with, oh, see, I'm pressing the button. It's not doing anything. Tell you what, I'm just gonna use a good old fashioned mouse. Let's try this. Dave: Hello. It's lovely to be with you today. Today we're gonna look at John's Gospel. And specifically chapters three and four, and we just wanna pick up some of the main themes that we read in this portion of scripture. So let's begin in chapter three of John's gospel. Jesus, one evening is visited by a Pharisee called Nicodemus, who is very curious about his [00:06:00] teaching. John uses contrast often to remind us that Jesus meets every person exactly where and how they most need to be met. This is a fascinating view of our attempt to find a path to God. Here we meet a good test case for the theory. All paths lead to God. This guy in Nicodemus, he's remarkable. He's introduced as a ruler of the Jews and a teacher of Israel. He was a Pharisee, someone who was meticulous about obeying God and God's word. Sometimes the Pharisees are regarded as bad guys, but everyone back then would've seen Pharisees as the good guys. This man [00:07:00] is religious. He's a distinguished teacher. It's also possible that he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of 70 men. He was amongst the greatest teachers in Jerusalem at the time, was probably, it's clear that he is devoured and religious. He is sincere about his fate, and he's known for being a good guy. For those who like the idea that all paths lead to God, if Nicodemus. Cannot make it in, then we are all in trouble. Nicodemus comes to Jesus one evening and initiates a conversation. This is, in essence, a collision of a good person who is very sincere and righteous, and Jesus. [00:08:00] What happens when a good, moral, upright religious person meets Jesus? Will Jesus affirm him and encourage him or will Jesus challenge and confront him? When Nicodemus approaches Jesus, he addresses Jesus as rabbi. Surely he's auto good stars because he's shown respect to Jesus. His face, words to Jesus are complimentary. For someone who is a leading religious figure in Jerusalem, he is being very respectful, even deferential to Jesus, but Jesus gets right to the heart of the matter. Jesus says something that's being misunderstood throughout the years, but something that is crucial for all of us [00:09:00] to understand. Look what Jesus says in verse three. Jesus answered him Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. This is the part that caused a lot of misunderstanding. If we ask people what Born Again means, you may get the idea that it's a certain type of Christian. So what do you think it means? Nicodemus has a lot going for him. He has knowledge, gifts, understanding, position integrity. He's the equivalent to a Buddhist leader, to a Catholic Cardinal or even a Protestant, Billy Graham. If all roads lead to [00:10:00] God, then Nicodemus is at the very front of the road. But Jesus says that all of this, his knowledge, his gifts, his standing, his obedience, it counts for exactly nothing. You have to admit, Jesus is not discriminatory here. This applies not just to people who identify to Buddhists or Muslims or Hindus. He applies it to people who identify as Christians as well. We all have the same basic standing, and that's zero. Jesus says that we need to be born again. Whoever we are. To be born again means that we receive from God, nothing less than a completely new life, A completely transformed, completely forgiven [00:11:00] life. Here's the amazing thing. Even a man like Nicodemus needs this. In order for Nicodemus to be accepted by God, God must completely remake him from scratch. Nothing less than a completely new beginning can put right. All that's wrong with us. Basically, we're a write off. Nothing is worth saving. There's nothing in us that hasn't been corrupted by sin. We don't need a minor tweak. We need every part of us that has been corroded to be changed. We don't need an upgrade. We need a complete new heart. This may sound a little bit depressing, but it's also encouraging as well. What this means is that we're all on equal [00:12:00] ground. Being sincere, moral and religious doesn't help. Our relationship with God is not based on sincerity. Morality or religion, it can't be. We need to be completely remade from inside out. Christians can't claim the higher ground Thus far, we have heard all religions are not the same. They are contradictory. What do we do about the situation? The answer to this question is at the core of the good news that I want to give you today. We can't do anything about it ourselves. This is the hardest thing to accept, and it's also what [00:13:00] sets Christianity apart from every other religion. It's inherent in the phrase born again. And it's repeated. When Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. We read that in verse five. We need a new beginning. A new bear that cleanses and renews to our very core Christianity is not about us making ourselves a better person. It's not about getting our act together. The only thing we bring to God is our need, but that's exactly what God wants from us. The way we are changed is by looking to Jesus. A summary of verses 16 to 21 tells us this God [00:14:00] loved money enough to send his son to save them. But those who rejected Jesus are condemned. Ultimately, those who are lost love their sin more than they desired God. As we continue into chapter four, we see Jesus goes from conversing with an educated, powerful, prestigious man to talking to someone who's an outcast, someone who is unlearn, someone who is a self-conscious woman. The combination of this passage, along with Jesus's conversation with Nicodemus make an important spiritual point. The gospel is for all people in all places at all times. Christ can reach every person exactly where they are in exactly their unique situation and [00:15:00] circumstance. Let's continue on. We see clearly in this passage, Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman accordance of a four. They meet because Jesus had to go through Samaria. A map of the time period shows that the shortest route for Jesus to take from Judea to Galilee would indeed take him through Samaria. Yet for many Jews this would be a problem. Jews seldom chose this route. There was great animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans, which went back several hundred Jews. Normally Jews would cross the Jordan travel nor, and then recross the Jordan, rather than travel through the land of the [00:16:00] Samaritans. Yet, Jesus had no such prejudice. He had to go through Samaria not only to get to Galilee, but also because he had a divine appointment with a particular woman who needed to be forgiven. In verse six, Jesus arrives at the well at midday, roughly the same time as this local woman who came to draw water. Yet the presence of this woman at the well was unusual because at midday it would be very hot indeed, not a good time to be in the sun carrying heavy loads of water. The fact she was there at noon may indicate she was intentionally avoiding the other women who would've gathered at the well. When she [00:17:00] approaches Jesus, Jesus does something very startling. He asks her for a drink. Several cultural barriers stand between Jesus and this woman. Let me list them for you. Gender, race, religion, social, standing, holiness. Any one of these things would've prevented Jesus from interacting with her. In her response in verse nine, she raises two of these barriers, but Jesus chooses not to focus on them. He suggests asking her for water is a small thing compared to interaction they could have if she would just ask, he would give her living water. The [00:18:00] woman's confused by his offer. Jesus clarifies that he is not talking about literal water, but something far greater. He is offering her eternal life, claiming he is the source of it. In verse 16 to 18 of chapter four, the conversation turns very personal As Jesus probes into her relationships, having offered her eternal life, he explores her need for forgiveness. She's been married five times, and now she's living with a man who's not her husband. In verse 19, the woman changes the subject. She reacts like most of us would s screaming under the light of inspection. Her promiscuity likely led to social ostracism. Which explains why she's drawing water at [00:19:00] midday. Jesus's purpose wasn't to berate her or embarrass her or to expose her, but to explore her need. Having accomplished this, he graciously lets her change the topic. In verses 21 to 24, she raises the point of, um, squabbling between the Jews and the Samaritans concerning the place from which God should be worshiped. Jesus replied from, the Jews will come a Savior, and that through him, all people, including Jews and Samaritans, will be invited to worship God in the spirit and in truth. Notice this, that she immediately goes home and begins to talk about Jesus. This is the [00:20:00] normal, the natural and right response to having met Jesus. She hadn't taken a class on evangelism. She didn't feel obligated. She just had to talk about this amazing man. She met at the well and because she believed, she told others, and we know that many others believed. Also. Jesus didn't go to Samaria because he was in a hurry to get a Galilee. Rather, he needed to meet with this woman. He crossed several barriers without regard for social custom. He told her who he was. He explored her need for forgiveness and he offered her eternal life, my friend. Can I tell you that no [00:21:00] one is beyond the reach of the love and the grace and the mercy of God? The gospel is for each and every one of us because of our relationship with God is not based on sincerity, morality, or religion, but on Jesus himself, we don't need enlightenment. We don't need improvements. We do need a savior. Jesus Christ is that savior. Annie invites each of us to look to him. And live That is an invitation directly and personally to you. God bless you and may you know this, Jesus, we have just been [00:22:00] speaking about God bless you. Video: The[00:23:00] throne and see the things.[00:24:00] The.[00:25:00] Night and day, night and[00:26:00] day and day.[00:27:00] The, the. Matt: So welcome back, welcome back to Conversation Street with myself and with Dan. Uh, this is where we're gonna get into Dave's talk a little bit. So if you have any questions, any thoughts, any comments, do share them. We'd love to hear them from you. Uh, excuse me while I just [00:28:00] scratch my nose. Uh, but yeah, this is, uh, this is that time. So, uh, we are gonna get into that. Thank you, Dave, by the way, for doing the talk. Always fab to hear Dave speak and I love Dan. I dunno about you, but I love the simplicity of what Dave was talking about. It just stripped everything away and just made it really simple. It's like, I don't care what your background is, whether you're male, female, juice Samaritan, whether you are black, white, it doesn't really make any difference, right? We all need Christ, and he meets us wherever we're at. And I was like, awesome. Dan: Yeah, I know. I wrote down, I wrote down mic drop. I thought it was like the talk. Bing. That's it. Yeah. That's the gospel. If you, um, if you think you're not good enough, you're not. And then none of us are, we need Jesus. And that's the whole, that's the whole point. The gospel is brilliant. Yeah. Yeah. Matt: If you do, the problem is more, if you think you are good enough. [00:29:00] Yes. Right. That's the problem. There's a, I I'm not gonna mention any names, uh, of anybody, so I don't wanna embarrass anybody, but, um, there is a chap that I see on a fairly regular basis who is going through a hard time, right. Uh, struggles with depression and anxiety and a whole bunch of other things. Um, and what fascinates me is he, he must say every week, I don't deserve this. I've, I've been good. I've lived a good life. I don't deserve this. I don't understand it. Um, I mean, you know, let's take the theology out as to who the author of this depression and anxiety is for now. Um, but it's this belief, this overriding belief that actually, that the majority in of people in the west have that I've lived a good life, therefore I am okay. I'm not perfect, but I am good. Um, and that seems to be okay. Uh, you know, that's kind of a lot of people thinking, isn't [00:30:00] it? And um, I think, I think the heart of the Christian message here is certainly in the passage that we've read today with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, um, is actually, that's doesn't matter whether you're good, bad, or indifferent, right? Dan: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, one of the, Dave didn't read it out, but there's a line, I don't think it's in John's gospel, but when Nico is talking, he says, I've kept all the commandments right from my birth. You know, it's like. The laws, I've, I've done them. Or, you know, you can't really get, oh, that's the rich Matt: young ruler. Is it, is that the rule the same as nicotine? I don't think they are. I think they're two different, are we confusing stories here, Dan: Dan? I think we might be, yes. Absolute true. Matt: Sorry. Dan: That's all. Matt: That's all right. As long as I'm not going crazy. That's the main thing. But no, you're right. I mean, with the rich and ruler, which is another story in the gospels, isn't it? Where, um, he's like, good, good master. What, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life? And he says, well, [00:31:00] maybe kept all the commandments. And he says, yeah, I've kept him all since birth. And Jesus went, no, you haven't. Here's one. I'm just gonna point it out right now. And he went, oh. And I, I think that's it, isn't it? It's the, it's the knowledge and belief that you have to come to it with Christianity, I think. Mm-hmm. That you can think of yourself like, oh, I'm, I've, I've lived a good life. But actually when faced with Christ, he just points his finger and you go, well, actually no, no, I, I've not done this. I've not done that. Or I've not done the other thing. You, you may not have gone to jail or you may not have killed anybody. That doesn't mean, you know, it depends on whose standard we measure it, I suppose, doesn't it? And yeah. Um, and that's, that's the thing in all of this, isn't it? You've got to measure it by God's standard and fundamentally, yeah, there's no, I love that quote. There's no minor tweak, there's no upgrade. Uh, we all need a fresh start. We all need to begin [00:32:00] again. Yeah. Dave has a really interesting question. What do you understand by the phrase, uh, when Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, the phrase being born again? Um, mm. It's obviously a phrase that has been thrown around the church, you know, and we've. You may have heard, oh, you were born again Christian. Uh, like it's some kind of badge of honor or something type thing. But what do you understand by that phrase? Dan: Yeah. 'cause Dave mentioned it, like, um, often it's just, um, a type of Christianity are they're born again Christians, sometimes in the news and the media. It's, it's the crazy Christians Oh, there the Born Again or the Evangelical, which I mean yeah. The crazy ones. That's, yeah, that's what we put out there. But yeah, it, it is what it, it is what it says, isn't it? That we can't, we can't get in there from our normal [00:33:00] earthly being born. We've gotta be born, um, of spirit. We've got to have a new life. That new life within us. That, that, that change. Yeah. Complete. Change. Transformation. New. Yeah. New life or the, or the old life isn't, isn't worthy of heaven. Isn't worthy of God, but the new life that he puts in us is, Matt: yeah, it is. It's, that's, um, and they, I mean, Nicodemus was a bit confused by it, wasn't it? How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? 'cause he was just like you. He, Jesus was using an analogy here and he was, I think he took it way too literally, obviously. Yeah. But he talked about being, Jesus talked about being born of the kingdom of God. And that is, that's what you're talking about, isn't it? That's the, that's the fresh dot. That's the place where you come to and you go, well, [00:34:00] yeah, okay. I need to start again. Uh, and I'll, I'll do that with, with you. Jesus. I just, I, I I need a fresh dot. Um, yeah. I thought it was, I thought the contrast actually between Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman that Dave pulled out was quite fascinating. Um, and in the middle of these two stories, you have perhaps what is one of the most famous Bible verses, which is John three 16, for God soul of the world that, um, uh, he gave his only son that whoever believed in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Um, I'm just reading it off the screen here just to make sure I get it right, quote. Um, and that's the interesting thing, isn't it? It's like, how do you get born again? You believe in Christ, whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. That's quite a, a fascinating verse, isn't it? And I've seen it, I must have seen that a thousand times before I became a Christian, but I, it never really sunk in what it, what it, [00:35:00] what it actually meant. What Dan: it meant. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The fact that God. God came, that's the reason that he came to this earth, is, is sort of summed up in that verse, isn't it? Mm. Without him, we, yeah. We can't have this life without, without him we perish. Mm-hmm. Matt: Yeah. That's the, that's, that's the interesting, that whole thing with Nicodemus, if there's a, if, if all paths lead to God, then Nicodemus is at the front of the queue. I I thought that was a really interesting statement. You know, just by judging by what Nico Deemus had done with his life. Yeah. You know, he was a religious man. He was a devout man. He was deferential to Christ, he was polite, et cetera, et cetera. Um, but Jesus still said to him, dude, this is how it, how it needs to happen. It's not so much about what you do, it's about what you believe. And um, I thought that was a really fascinating, [00:36:00] uh, I thought that was a fascinating insight actually. Um mm-hmm. Yeah, I Dan: think we've, yeah, we've talked about it, haven't we? When, uh, I've been on before that the, like Dave said, that, you know, the talk, the, the phrase or pathways lead to God. But like, I mean, I'm just saying what you've just said, but that does submit up that if that is true, he's at the top of the, he's at the top of the queue. You know what? I can't say. Or, or you can't say, oh yeah, we, we've led good lives. Because we could, he could say, well, my life was better than yours. You know, I've dedicated myself to the, to the law and to, um, to the teachings. But Jesus said he wasn't good enough. Mm-hmm. It, it, it helps me to know that I can't, [00:37:00] I can't scrape in any other way, and I just need, yeah. Mm-hmm. I need God's. Matt: That's, and that's what Dave said, wasn't it? That actually the good thing about this is 'cause it may sound like harsh, like actually no one's good enough. No one measures up, no one meets the standard. Actually Dave's comment that actually this is good news because there's nothing that we can do. Yeah, absolutely. And, and it comes back down to this whole idea of, um, of grace again, you know, we have God's grace which welcomes us regardless of what we've done or what we haven't done. And so no one is exempt from that. Yeah. Um, so he talks about, um, Dave mentioned the Samaritan woman and, uh, I just thought it was probably worth just reemphasizing again, the level of hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans cannot be overstated. Uh, and it had been going on for centuries. Not like a decade. Do you know what I mean? This wasn't a little family feud. This was warring nations. And when [00:38:00] you got right down to it, one of the key problems, one of the key reasons for centuries old division was, um, came down to the idea of the belief on where we can worship God, right? So the Jews, like, we have to do this in Jerusalem, in the temple. And the Samaritans are like, well, we've got this place over here where we can do it, and that causes this massive rift. I mean, there's more to the story than that, but um, it causes this massive rift between two groups of people from in effect the same heritage that don't speak to each other for centuries. And I can't think in the west of any nations that have been warring with each other for as long as. Those guys did, Do you know what I mean? In terms of, and the hatred and vitriol between them. Mm-hmm. Um, I just, I just can't, I could joke, I could banter and say, well, Liverpool and Manchester have had their clashes, or, you know, the English and the French have had [00:39:00] their clashes. Um, or maybe the English and the Scottish have had their clashes. Do you know what I mean? But it's kind of, Dan: yeah, Matt: we, I don't think we've experienced the, the complexity between these two parts of Israel, you know, between the, between the Jews and between the Samaritans. And that's really important because Jesus goes out his way to meat with the Samaritans as a Jewish man. So not only is he meeting a Samaritan, he's meet, he's talking to a woman, which again, I, I don't mean to sound, you know, like disrespectful here, but it in. Again, we have to understand how women were perceived and understood at the time of Christ. Right. Um, and it was bad. It wasn't great at all. Uh, women were definitely second, third, fourth, fifth class citizens. Right. They just, it just, it was just not good. And so here Jesus is breaking down the barriers of, um, [00:40:00] gender. He's breaking down the barriers of, uh, the barriers, the barriers of race. And, uh, I, I think it's extraordinary. Absolutely extraordinary. Dan: Do you know what I mean? And not only, you know, he doesn't do that, but pick a good woman, if you like. You picks a woman that's been sort of ostracized and she's the one that's getting the water in the middle of the day. Mm. So she doesn't bump into anyone else or, um, yeah. I, I love the verse that, um. When she goes back home, she says, I found a man. I met a man that knew everything that I'd ever done. He didn't tell her that. He didn't tell, he didn't recite everything she'd ever done. He just spoke those words that she knew. Oh, well, he knows that. Therefore he knows everything about me. I love that God knows everything about us, but still goes out of a, out of his way [00:41:00] to meet with us and to He went out his way. Yeah. To, to reach this woman. I, I love that. Matt: Yeah. No, that's great. I, um, I, I like the, I like the story, isn't it? Where, uh, Jesus says to you, you are right. Go call your husband. Uh, and come here. He said in verse 16, and the woman answered to him, I have no husband now. This is a really interesting, uh, point, isn't it? And I, I'm saying this slightly tongue in cheek because I feel like there have been times in my life where I have tried to pull the wool over God's eyes. Do you know what I mean? That's, yeah. That, that time and that occasion where you feel like, you know, God is challenging you about something and you are like, well, yes, but dot, dot, dot. Do you know what I mean? It's kind of, it's kind of like the [00:42:00] semit truth over here. And as I have found out over the years, and as this, as this woman has found out, uh, at the well, you cannot pull the wool over God's eyes. He knows by very definition, if God's real and God is omnipresent, you've got no chance. Right. And so there's this place of being utterly honest before God, which I, I dunno about you, Dan. It's not always that straightforward or easy to do. Yeah. Dan: Yeah. We can't, yeah. We can try excuses, can't we? Excuses on our minds. But yeah, we can get around this. I, yes, I know that's true, but, but this was the situation I was in. I know that's true. But, but yeah. Video: Yeah. Dan: Straight through. Matt: There's just no messing. Is there where she says, I have no husband. It's like, that's [00:43:00] the statement. She says, when I don't want to take this conversation any further, I think you are a holy man or religious man. This is not gonna go well for me. So I'm gonna mask, I'm gonna cover up, I'm gonna, I'm just gonna make a statement, which is actually true. Yes, but I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna volunteer any information. Right? Yeah. And that was the, that was the thing where Jesus turns around and he said, no, you are right. Saying you have no husband. He was agreeing. Yeah. Uh, for you, you've actually had five, uh, and the one you have now is not actually a husband, is it? You are husband. And, um, so what you have said is true. And I find that absolutely fascinating because at no point in that whole conversation, as far as I can tell, I mean we, it's not recorded. Did Jesus say so therefore, repent your big fat sinner. Do you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. It's not like he turned around and said, what are you doing with that guy who's not your husband? What's wrong with you? There was none of that. He just said, yeah, but I, I actually know what's [00:44:00] really going on. I know what's going on inside, and I know what's going on inside your heart and the stuff that you are not willing to admit or fess up to. I'm just gonna put my finger on it, uh, and just see what happens without any kind of condemnation and, um, that tends to be the way, right? Dan: Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't shame. It's not someone, I don't know. It's not someone in the playground shouting at saying, you know, you know, look at, look at that person there. Look what they've done wrong. Mm-hmm. He, he, he just speaks gently. He speaks gently to us, but we know we, we need, we need him. We know that he, what he's saying is the truth. Mm-hmm. Um, it says, come to. Not get away from me. Not, um, yeah, not shamed by God. Matt: He doesn't even say to her, does he? He does. He doesn't even say to her, you know what? You need to go sort your life out before you come. No. [00:45:00] Um, he didn't say that at all. In fact, he just goes on to talk about how she needs to worship him in spirit and in truth. Yeah. And I wonder if that actually, um, the, you know, we talk a lot about what does this mean, uh, to worship the spirit in, uh, worshiping the spirit and in truth, uh, for the father is seeking such people to worship him. Um, and those that worship him must worship him in spirit, in truth. Jesus said in verse 24, right? John 4 24, and I find this, I wonder if Jesus partly here is referring to the fact that she. She was truthful, but not truthful, uh, with Christ. And actually part of our worship to God as a Christian is that truthfulness, the truthfulness about our, our lives, the truthfulness about our hearts, the truthfulness about our mental state, our emotional state, how we feel, where we're up to, what we're doing, our thoughts.[00:46:00] Not trying to outrun them, but actually being truthful. Uh, Do you know what I mean? In, in a way that is utter, utterly bare and honest before God and not running away. Dan: Yeah. I, I keep thinking about, um, here on sort of American courtroom, courtroom dramas. It's the, I'll promise to tell the truth, the whole truth. Mm-hmm. And nothing but the truth. But they don't, they tell what the specific answers to the specific questions they've been asked, you know? Did you walk across the road at 10 o'clock? Yes, I did not. I walked across the road, but this happened and this happened. That's the whole truth. I'm gonna tell just that part of the truth. Um, but it's, it's, yeah, it's opening up to God because he, he knows the whole truth. So let's just admit that, um, to him, we can't hide. He's not, he, he's not gonna give out a list of questions and we can just get by, by just going, oh yes. Did [00:47:00] yes to that one. Yes to that one, yes to that one. But if it was a multiple choice, tick, tick, tick. But it's not, Matt: it's not like a score eight to percenting you pass. No, it's fascinating. Absolutely fascinating. So he goes on to say, um, the woman said to him, I know that, uh, Messiah is coming here, is called Christ. Um, and when he comes, he will tell us all things. And then Jesus said to her. Um, I am who you speak of, or I who speak to you? Am He, uh, is what it says in the Es. It's very difficult to read. Um, yeah. The message I who speak to Dan: you, go on. Yeah. The message says you don't have to wait any longer or look any further. I am he. Matt: Yeah. And this is, this is important because one of the things that I heard, uh, in my, in my early Christian years, you know, when you talk to people [00:48:00] about how you are a Christian and there's a lot of comments like, um, well, Jesus never actually did dot, dot dot, right? And, uh, one of the, the, the statements was, well, Jesus never claims to be God or the Messiah or the Son of God. And it's like, well, actually, and I didn't know how to respond to that 'cause I didn't really know my Bible, but clearly right here, Video: yeah. He says, I'm he. Matt: I am the Messiah. I am the one that you are waiting for. Um, and he claimed to be the Christ. He claimed to be the Messiah. He blatantly came out and said who he was. And actually, one of the interesting things that you can do, and one of the things that we'll start to pull out as we go through John's gospel is what is called the, I Am saying So the claims that Jesus says about himself. So he says, I am right. Last week we talked about how Jesus was full of grace and truth. He talks here about, um, how he is the Messiah. Next week he's gonna talk about how he is the bread of life. And a few weeks time we're gonna hear [00:49:00] about how he, he says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, but through me. And he makes all of these claims. Uh, and so it's important to know, right, that if you are looking at Christianity and you're looking at this faith and you think, well, Jesus. Well, he was a good guy. He was a holy guy, and people spoke well of him, but that was about it. Um, I would disagree because if Jesus wasn't the Messiah or if Jesus isn't the Messiah, the man's a liar and he's a complete utter lunatic, right? He can't be, he can't be this sort of Indescript person in the middle because he claims here to be the Messiah. Well, a good person wouldn't do that. He wouldn't be that deceptive or deceiving. So he either was or he wasn't. Uh, and that's kind of the decision that Nicodemus had to come to. Uh, that's the decision that this lady, uh, sort of came to. He, he either is this or he isn't. Um, and it's a really fascinating [00:50:00] claim, isn't it, that Jesus makes Yeah, I am. Yeah. The Messiah. I'm, I'm he. Yeah. Mm-hmm. It's just Don, Don, Don, Don, Don, Don. I need some kind of dramatic music, don't I? It's, uh, so. Um, so yeah. So he says, I am the Messiah now. Messiah. What does Messiah mean then? Dan: I don't, I don't need actual definition of what it means, um, in terms of the Hebrew or anything, but I do know it's the one that the prophets talked about, the one that was, um, talked about right through the Old Testament one predicted. Mm-hmm. The one that was coming to, to redeem us, to take us from having to obey the law and sacrifices and alter to, to, to the one that transforms us as an [00:51:00] individual, not just our, our lives and our actions. Matt: Mm-hmm. Very good answer. Very good answer. Dan: That's what, what Dave Dave's just put on there. God has wanted to see transformation in our lives. Unfortunately, many of us think he's wanting us to conform. That's wrong. Yeah. Yeah, that's very true. Matt: It's a, it's a really good statement. God is wanting to see transformation in our lives. Unfortunately, many of us thinks he's wanting us to conform, which is wrong. And it is, it's not conforming to, um, oh. It's not like God wants robots. I just, it is not like he needs everybody to be the same. If you and I were the same, that would be a very dull, uh, event for the world, I feel. Um, and the fact that we're unique and we're individual is, is just all part of God's character, isn't it? Video: Yeah. Matt: Um, and being that I think is, is quite, is quite amazing. And that transformation, and that's Messiah, right? Messiah Christ means the same thing. Um, anointed one, uh, one who was anointed [00:52:00] by God to in effect, like you say, redeem or save mankind. And the Jews at the time thought when Messiah came. That Messiah would free them from slavery and especially from the Romans, the oppression of the Romans. Um, because, you know, obviously Moses, when Moses came, took the guys outta slavery from Israel and it's like, well, okay, so we're gonna get out of slavery for the Romans. Uh, but when Jesus came, the thing that fascinates me, and the thing which Dave's talking about here, is that Jesus didn't do that. He challenged the individual, he challenges the woman at the well about her lifestyle. Uh, he challenges Nicodemus about how you get born again. And it's like, that's what Jesus did. He, he, he doesn't come and sort of free them with all this sword and all that sort of stuff. He, yeah, they're all waiting for Jesus to come and free them. And the way Jesus does that, the way Messiah does that is he challenges you personally. [00:53:00] Yeah. That was why the religious leaders struggled. It was that no, you need to personally transform, not conform to what's going on here. Right. This is not Jesus on a white horse where you get to follow and say, look, we will, right. All these years, I, I, I, I think it's quite, it's quite an amazing aspect of the character of Christ really. Yeah. Uh, that he came as humble as he did, uh, assuming that he was God, that's quite an extraordinary claim to make. Dan: Yeah. Can you? Yeah. It blows my mind that he, he allowed that to, he allowed all those things to happen to him being, God, you know, we we're starting off at John's, but we'll presumably go right through to his crucifixion and people abused him. People put him down. People, um, spat at him. And [00:54:00] he was God that me and he allowed it. That that is, it's beautiful, isn't it? That he Oh yeah. He did that for us. Matt: Yeah. And the good news is for, if you're a Christian listening to this, this is the God that we serve. This is a God that we adore, right? This is the amazingness of Christ. This is why we can say claim we are Christians, that we are in God's family, that we are born of the kingdom of God and all those kind of statements. Not because of us, but because of Christ and what he did. And for those of you who are not yet Christ followers who are outside of the church, well the invitation is, is open to you as it is to me. And you can follow, um, and you can get involved and you can have that transformation, uh, of the heart, that fresh start that Dave talked about. And so, I mean, the title of this week's live stream is A Path to God. Because not all I let be clear, as Christians, we don't believe all roads lead to God. Um, it's not, you know, [00:55:00] the analogy that people would say to me was, we imagine it's a mountain and God's at the top. Well, you can get to the top from multiple ways, multiple sides. All paths lead to God. And it's like, it's a great analogy. Unfortunately, I, I don't think it's true and that's not to be disrespectful to any other religion, but it wasn't me and it's not me who said that. I just wanna be super clear, right? Yeah. It was, it was. Jesus' said that, not me. And again, I come back to Jesus was either the son of God, he was either the Messiah or he was a complete lunatic. Now, a complete lunatic might say, yes, I'm the only way to God, but if he's Messiah and he says that I need to listen, right? Dan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. You, you quoted that the verses that we're gonna come to. Next week that Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. And that you, you see that on church billboards, um, sit around a lot, don't you? Um, but it's, it's, it's the, the [00:56:00] in it. Mm-hmm. Which is the key. It's not, I am a way, I'm not a truth, I'm not a life. It's, it's the way it, it is the only way to God. There's, there's no getting around it. It's, um, it's a tricky statement. It's an awesome statement, but it's tricky. Matt: Yeah. Yeah. It is. It's um, it's one of those uncomfortable truths. And last week we talked about grace and truth and how Jesus was full of grace and truth. And we see that again with the story here, with the, with the Samaritan woman. That he was very graceful with her, but he was also quite truthful with her. And so it is the same here, right. That actually, uh, we are full of grace and truth. Oh, is it cut out? Yeah. So we're getting some reports in that the live stream has cut out. Uh, it still seems to be okay on my end, so, uh, no idea what's going on there. Uh, and I'm just checking. Yeah, we're [00:57:00] streaming on YouTube. Yeah. So I'm, Dan: I'm still here on, on, oh, no. Live video's ended. I've got here on Facebook, so. Matt: Well, if you're watching on Facebook, I'm really sorry. Uh, do come and join us on YouTube. Um, well, to be fair, that's the end of the live stream anyway, isn't it really? Um, yes. So we, and on that bombshell, uh, that mic drop moment, um, next week, let me tell you what's, could you know what's coming up next week then? Dan: Uh, no, Matt: no, I do. I'm just checking now, whilst I asked you that question, you said no, it gave me a chance to look at what's coming up. Uh, we have Pete Farrington, um, who is doing a talk. We're looking at John's Gospel chapter four, verses 43 through 6 24. Again, you can follow along on social media with the readings. Um, myself and Anna [00:58:00] Kettle will be hosting who's an absolute legend. Um, so do come join us for that. Make sure you like and subscribe to all Things Crowd Church, and we'll let you know what's coming up and when it's all going live. We live stream the same time every week. 6:00 PM uk. That's 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. So do come and join us. Uh, it'd be great to see you. Uh, but I think. The only other thing to say is if you, if you've got any questions, any thoughts, any comments, if there's anything that we can help you with, if you'd like any Prayer requests or anything like that, uh, we, uh, are available on our website. You can reach out through our website, www dot Crowd Church or Social Media at Crowd Church. You can reach on Instagram or Facebook, assuming Facebook is working when you actually go. Yeah. Uh, it's just decided to stop working and we dunno. Um, so yeah, any questions, thoughts, comments, do come, uh, get in touch. We'd love to hear from you. This week we've been having conversations with Mike about the Trinity. Been having conversations [00:59:00] with Steve about the 10 Commandments. I mean, all kinds of people get in touch about all kinds of things and it's awesome, uh, and we love it. So do get in touch with us. Do reach out to us. We'd love to hear from you, and you can do that through our website, uh, or through social media at Crowd Church. Uh, Dan, anything else from you in the closing minutes, bud, but Dan: just right at the end of that. Um, talk in those verses. It just said, if you're thirsty, then come to me, come to Jesus. Who's gonna give you water? That's everlasting. That's eternal. We've got, I believe we've got that, got that thirst in us for God. But we can try to fit it with loads of other stuff. But God wants to give us that water that's eternal. Mm. That's not gonna, not gonna run out. We're not gonna need to strive for anything else after you've met Jesus. So Definitely. Yeah. Send you messages in. We'd love to [01:00:00] reply back. We'd love to pray for you. Um, yeah. Get involved. Matt: Absolutely. Get involved. We'd love to hear from you. Definitely. Mm-hmm. Dan, thank you for joining me this week, bud. It's been. Uh, it's been a fascinating conversation. I'm living a little journey through John's gospel, uh, and some of the uncomfortable truths of Christ. Uh, maybe that's what we should call the series, the Uncomfortable Truths of Jesus. Um, but also they're very freeing, uh, which is a beautiful, beautiful thing. So, uh, thank you for joining us. One last thing, um, Matt Crew has reminded me here in the comments. Uh, we do have a Wednesday night group, so if you would like to join in on the Wednesday nights with us, we connect on Zoom, uh, and we catch up with each other. Um, have conversations, sometimes do Bible studies, sometimes people pray. It's all kinds of cool. So if you would like that community and like to connect, why not come join us, uh, on a Wednesday night? More information is available on the website or you can reach out to us. Like I say, social media, we'll send you all the details. We would love [01:01:00] to meet you there. So. I think that's it. Awesome. Thank you everyone for joining us and for sticking with us. Uh, if you're on Facebook, uh, it's been an absolute treat, uh, to have this conversation. Dan, I will see you at probably at some point during the week. No doubt. Uh, in the warehouse. I'm sure I'll, Dan: yes, Matt: yes, absolutely. Dan: I'll goodbye to chop some metal. That's right. Okay. Real life. And if you Yeah, Matt: that's his real life. And it is like, if you have no idea what Dan's talking about, it's okay. He comes by our warehouse, uh, and chops things up. So we, we That's fine. That's probably all the explanation you really need. Uh, but no, that's awesome, Dan. I'll see you over the next few days. The rest of you, I'll see you, uh, if not before next Sunday on our live stream, 6:00 PM do come and join us. It's been an absolute pleasure. Uh, that's it from myself, from Dan. Uh, the live stream is now gonna end. Uh, so have a great week. God bless you.