Amen. Please be seated. Brother Dennis. It was the middle of the day and in the providence of God, Jesus came to town. Now for a moment, ponder this, that the creator of the heavens and the earth coming to the neighborhood, walking on the very earth that he created. What would Jesus do? What would he see? What would he say? Well, there Jesus, while he was waiting for lunch, some phenomenal things happened. Let's talk about them. There Jesus was at a rest stop in a little village at Sychar. Thus the title of our message this morning is When Jesus Came to Town. So let's talk about John chapter four, verses three through 26. We'll go through each verse. I'll group some of them together and make comments. Verse three and four. I will read it. And he, Jesus, left Judea and departed again to Galilee, but he needed to go through Samaria. Now Jesus had to go through Samaria because that was the shortest route between Judea and Galilee. This route was the best route because God in his providence had a divine appointment with one of his elect. Jesus needed to go through Samaria to seek and to save one of his lost. C.H. Spurgeon put it this way. He says, Providence directed a man to build Samaria right there by the road, but grace would constrain the Savior to move that direction. Jesus goes through Samaria on a divine mission. Jesus had purposed to encounter this woman before the world began. If you don't understand that, your God's not very big. We believe and rejoice in the grand, glorious, God-honoring doctrine of divine predestination. And all that Christ calls will be conformed to the image of Christ. That's his guarantee. When he calls you, you will be made like Christ. This doctrine is plainly taught in Holy Scripture, but this doctrine powerfully comforts the hearts of the believers. We think of the verse out of Malachi in Romans 9, 13. Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. People have fought that verse for centuries, but it's a sweet solace to the saved sinners, but it's a lament to the lost. Verse five and six. So he, that is Jesus, came to the city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there and Jesus therefore being wearied from the journey, thus set by the well, it was the sixth hour. Now Jacob had given his land to Joseph 1,800 years previously. And in God's providential care, Jacob's well had served the Samaritans for generations, for centuries actually. And it was noontime. Jesus came to set by that ancient well because he was weary. Well, considering who Jesus is or was, how can he be weary? After all, Jesus is God and by his word, he created the heavens and the earth and all things. He's going to be weary? Yes. Jesus is the only begotten son of God. He's all powerful and eternal, God in the flesh, God almighty. And yet Jesus also becomes weary and thirsty. Jesus setting down to rest was hungry. In God's providence, a visitor happened to come by. It's more than happenstance, we know that. Verse seven. A woman of Samaria came to draw water and Jesus said to her, give me a drink. This would appear as a normal everyday occurrence, the woman going to the well, but things were about to change as Jesus asked for a drink of water. This was the same Jesus who made the streams, the lakes, the seas, and who graciously sends us water or rain. And yet our Lord is thirsty. There Jesus sitting on a well, he is weary and tired, hungry and thirsty. And Jesus asked the woman for a drink of water. Well, what does this mean? This scripture is showing us that Jesus Christ is a man. Jesus Christ is the God-man. He's as much God as if he had never become a man, and he's much as man as if he had never been God. He was tempted, tested, and tried. In all points as we are, a man of sorrows and a man acquainted with grief. Christ, by his unlimited power, had done many things that were humanly impossible. This Jesus had fed multitudes and healed the sick and gave sight to the blind and even raised the dead. Yet in all that, he never performed a miracle, relieved his own pain, distress, suffering, thirst, or his own hunger. At his temptation, listen to what the devil says to Jesus when he had endured 40 days of fasting without food, And the devil said, if you are the son of God, command these stones to become bread. Well, Jesus could not have been our substitute, our savior, our representative, had he been a man only. Jesus was a man who sat down on the well, weary and tired, yes. He was weary with the journey, yes. A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. In every respect, Jesus Christ was both God and man at the same time. It's amazing. So why did this woman come to the well at noontime to draw water? Most women came early in the morning before the heat of day. They came there for drinking water, cooking, bathing, cleaning, and so on. But now the sun is at its noonday peak, and there's no one at the well. This was a common gathering place for the people in the town. They'd been coming there for centuries, and there was no one around. But their setting and resting by the well was Jesus. Who was this woman? This woman had a poor reputation of being married five times. She was living with a man at the time who was not her husband. And everybody knew her in town and they knew all about her. The woman appears to have been Embarrassed. She was embarrassed enough to come to the well when all the other women did not come. She avoided them. They would no doubt shun her, talk about her. So she came alone. But our master, oh, listen to this. Our master Jesus, who delights to show mercy to sinners, was waiting for the woman. He was waiting for the woman. Amazing grace, God waiting on a sinner. David wrote in Psalm 130, verses three and four, he said, if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you that you made me feared. Well, here our Lord is sitting and waiting on this woman Jesus came to reveal himself to one he had loved before the foundation of the world. Consider the contrast between this woman and Nicodemus. Here in John chapter four, we have the woman at the well. But back in John chapter three, we didn't read it this morning, but we have the story of Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a man of position, famous, wealthy, powerful, and very religious. Well, how do they differ? The woman at the well, Nicodemus. The woman at the well was a nobody and we don't even know her name. Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus as a man of position. He's a theologian. In a high office as a Pharisee. This poor woman, sinful woman, had been married five times. Nicodemus, a favored Jew, versus this nameless Samaritan woman. Nicodemus was a man of strict morals, integrity, and a law keeper. The Samaritan was an openly rebellious young woman. Jesus, Nicodemus sought Jesus for whatever reason, we don't know, but he wanted to discuss theology with Jesus. And this woman, she wasn't seeking Christ. Oh, but he was seeking her. There's a love story. There's a love story. Christ gave Nicodemus an impossible task. He said, you must be born again. And what is impossible with man is possible with God. But Jesus gave this woman a task that she could do. He said, just give me a drink of water. Verse eight. For his disciples had gone into the city to buy food. Jesus had sent his disciples into town to buy lunch. And yet the same Jesus had fed 5,000 with only five loaves of bread, two fish, and leaving 12 baskets leftovers. And he did that twice. The number's a little different. Yet we learn Jesus was weary, tired, hungry, and thirsty. Verse nine. When the woman of Samaria said to him, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. The Samaritan, she was shocked when a Jewish man asked her, a Samaritan, for a drink of water. She said, don't you know that the Samaritans and Jews have nothing to do with each other? So how is it that you have asked me for a drink of water? Note the humility of our condescended Lord. Jesus had spanned the great chasm between the divine and fallen humanity. You've got to think of what that meant. We'll celebrate that in the Christmas season. God coming to man. Christ became a man, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Our Lord humbled himself to be identified with his people. And I find interesting in this story, the side note that Jesus didn't go down to the local religious house, whatever that would have been to the Samaritans and talk to all the professors down there. He seeks out a sinner. There's a lesson in that. Okay, in Philippians, Paul writes, Philippians 2, verses five through eight, gives us a picture of our Lord. He says, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped or held onto. But he made himself of no reputation, taken the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in an appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Our Lord was a friend of sinners. He came and identified with sinners like you and me. And there he is sitting at the well at high noon. And Jesus says to this needy sinner, give me a drink. Verse 10. And Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gifts of God and who is it who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Uh-oh, boy, this conversation has turned a different direction under the direction of a sovereign savior. Jesus is about to reveal the greatest of all gifts to this woman who was a broken down nobody. And they're sitting and looking at her. Picture who that is. They're looking at her, it's the Lord of glory, the very fountain of life. In him, that is Christ, is life, light, truth, redemption, and everlasting glory. And this woman brings up a foolish question, something I would probably do. She said, don't you know that the Jews don't have anything to do with Samaritans? She is clueless. But Jesus said to her, if you knew the gift of God. Well, it's an honest question. What is the gift of God? Paul answers that for us in Romans 6, 23. He says, for the wages of sin is death. And boy, do we know that. but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. There's the good news. Like the woman, we're sidetracked with many unimportant issues. Matter of fact, that probably sums up the bulk of our life, quite frankly, me included. But here is the Lord of glory who is salvation or the living water. Jesus said in John 17, excuse me, John 7, verses 38 and 39, if anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. And he who believes in me and the scriptures has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Well, I want that. Well, we know from reading the scriptures, water is symbolic of salvation. Now we all need water, it's an absolute necessity of life. Water is a gift of God's provision. But we must have this water from above or we will eternally perish. He says, now, if you knew the gift of God, you would have asked me and I would have given you living water, life from above, eternal life, salvation. Verse 11 and 12. And a woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep, and where do you get this living water, and are you greater than Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" Listen, as the woman responds to Jesus, she still didn't understand, and most people don't. Nicodemus didn't understand the spiritual nature of the rebirth, The disciples didn't understand the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom. They didn't understand it was a spiritual kingdom that was not a restoration of Israel or a making of Israel great again. The woman raised four issues. She said, you don't have a bucket, the well's deep, where are you gonna get this living water, and are you greater than Jacob? So she's throwing up all the obstacles. Quite frankly, you and I are much like this. blind and clueless. But Jesus, he doesn't give up. He gonna save this woman. Christ is speaking of spiritual water, spiritual forgiveness and spiritual life. But this woman is earthly minded and still thinking about the physical, the temporal. Verse 13 and 14, and Jesus said, To her, when he answered and said to her, he said, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. That is this well down here. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. Uh-oh, that sounds like a pretty powerful thing. Christ alone. Christ alone has this living water in himself to give sinners because he purchased it with his precious blood. Christ earned it by his obedience to his Father's will as our mediator, as our representative, as our substitute. This is the reward for which the Father promised him and gave him as a result of his accomplishments. as our mediator. Jesus prayed in his prayer in John 17, high priestly prayer. He said, Father, John 17, verse two. He said, Father, you have given him at his Christ authority over all flesh. You gotta reckon with that. God the Father gave Jesus all authority. I'm not one for writing in my Bible much, but you certainly can underline all flesh. That he, that is Christ, should give eternal life to as many as you the Father has given him, that is Christ. That makes Christ pretty important. He's God. The writer to the Hebrews 9, 12, he says, not with the blood of goats and calves, that's referring to the Old Testament sacrifices, but with his own blood, that is Christ's blood, he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Jesus told the woman, if you drink this water that I give you, you will never need a drink. And if you drink of this well, you will keep, talk about the well right there in front of her, he said, if you keep drinking from that well, you'll come back day after day. And in a sense, you could write over that well, or we could write, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. Because the wells of this world, I think it's the commentary, most of us here that are in Christ, of our salvation. The wells of this world never, never satisfy. That's true of political wells, social wells, material, emotional, and yes, even religious wells. There will be a whole lot of people in hell because of religion, because they never knew Christ, never understood the shed blood of Christ. You and I will never find peace or rest or satisfaction in this world. Whoever drinks the water that Christ gives will have spiritual life, eternal life, and the nature of God. We're not born with that. It's part of the new creation. Whoever drinks from that water from above will never thirst again because they have the life of God in their soul. That's why our churches are such a mess. People never have come truly to Christ and have the life of God in their soul, and that's why they gotta have all these programs and gimmicks to get along. If you ever get the life of God in your soul, you will be a changed person, and you'll never need to drink this world's fountains of water or their wells. Well, what is this water? If you drink the water that Christ alone gives, you will have a new heart. a new nature, and you'll never thirst. You will have, as a new creature in Christ Jesus, you will have his joy, his rest, his peace, his comfort, because your hope is in him. It's not in that well, or it's not in you, or it's not in some foolish religion. It is in Christ alone. It is springing up an everlasting well. It begins here, and it will carry on out into eternity. Christ has this living water in himself to give because the Father purposed it. Christ obtained it and the Spirit, the Holy Spirit applies it. Verse 15, and the woman said to him, Something's beginning to change here, we're gonna see it. And a woman says, sir, give me this water that I may not thirst nor come here to draw. Or she hasn't been fully persuaded yet, but she's getting there. The woman wanted Christ to keep her from continuously returning to that well and drawing water every day. What Jesus was talking about, she wanted. And she said, give me this water She still doesn't understand that Jesus is talking about a spiritual life, a spiritual thirst. Oh, listen. Christ blesses his own with all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. Go to Ephesians. We're not going to turn there now, but go read first chapter of Ephesians. We have riches in Christ and inheritance reserved for us in the age to come. We only have a foretaste here. He's going to enlighten her mind, enabling her to see that her real problem on this day, at that time, noonday, is her separation from God. Verse 16. And Jesus said to her, uh-oh, You won't find this in the counseling manuals. Jesus said, go call your husband and come here. Now Jesus is going to get the woman's attention to her real need because he loves, why? His motivation is because he loves the souls of sinners. Jesus knew her real need, her loneliness and her separation from God. And Jesus tells the woman, go get your husband. Jesus knew why she was at the well by herself and not with the other women. He knew her heartache. He knew why she was there alone. He knew her sin. He knew her shame and the details of her life. But that's why Jesus crossed her path. He came, Jesus came to reveal himself to that woman. And Christ is bringing her face to face with her real problem, and that is sin. Verse 17, and Jesus answered and said, excuse me, and the woman answered and said, I have no husband. And Jesus said to her, you have said well, I have no husband. You see, her problem wasn't physical thirst, hunger, poverty, or disease. Problem was sin, that was our problem. Your sins have separated you from your God and the wages of sin is death. All have sinned and fell short of the glory of God. That's true, where do I go? Verse 18, Jesus goes on, he says, for you have five husbands and the one you have now is not your husband in that you've spoken truly. Christ, knowing the hearts of all people, probes more precisely. Jesus confronts the woman about her five husbands. Now, a religious man would say, oh, don't you do that. You'll make her mad and she'll leave. Oh, no, you don't understand the love of Christ and salvation. Jesus confronts the woman about her five husbands as the great physician, that is Christ, of men's souls. He's the great physician of our soul. Jesus tells her the truth. Once she could see, that's where he's trying to get her to, once she could see her great sin, then she will have a need of a great savior. That's what I want. Verse 19 and 20. And a woman said to him, sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. The light's beginning to turn on here. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that Jerusalem is a place where we ought to worship. At this point, the woman at the well began to realize this Jesus was someone extraordinary who knew all things, which would be an understatement. Our Savior deliberately probed the heart and exposed her adultery. The guilt she tried to suppress, Jesus deliberately stirred up. Well, that was mean. You don't understand salvation. She responded by defending her religion. Sounds familiar? She begins to take a refuge in her religious tradition of her father's, the religious ceremonies that she had observed. You see, The Jews rejected the Samaritans as heretical. The Samaritans held to the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses as scriptures, but they rejected the rest of the Old Testament. They didn't believe in the resurrection of the dead, and they rejected Jerusalem as a place of worship, among other things. Verse 21. And Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. Jesus is enlightening this woman that the things are about to change in this whole matter of worship. Where there is no spiritual life or knowledge of God, there is no salvation or worship of God. All those that are truly born of God, they and they alone are worshipers of God. Philippians 3.3, Paul says, but we are the circumcision who worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Verse 22, Jesus continuing. He said, you worship what you do not know. We know what we worship, that is the Jews, for the salvation is of the Jews. Jesus rejects the worship of the Samaritans, but something much greater was coming. Verse 23, he said, but the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth for the, oh, I love this. for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. You say, how in the world do you get that? God Almighty, who's self-sufficient, doesn't need us one bit. We add nothing to Him. And yet it says here, this is Jesus speaking. This isn't some priest saying this. He says, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. I want to be in that crowd. The long-promised Messiah, Jesus, the God-man, has come. Christ brings salvation that converts sinners into saints who will worship God in spirit and truth. Our Heavenly Father is seeking sinners just like you and me to worship Him. Now that is amazing grace. Verse 24. Jesus speaking again, he says, God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. And since we are presently confined to time and space, the concept of God being spirit, quite frankly, it's hard for us to grasp. But thank the Lord he enlightens us by the gospel of his grace. God, the Holy Spirit enables us to worship God Almighty Jesus again is clear and emphatic that his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth. True worship of God is the most important and most glorious endeavor of humanity. True worship happens when we, the created, ascribe greatness and praise to our Creator. Much of contemporary Christianity is reflective of man's contempt rather than a display of a reverence for God. Much contemporary worship is designed for entertainment and the gratification of the flesh, rather than pleasing a holy God. May the Lord, honestly, may the Lord send his Holy Spirit, enabling us to celebrate God's holiness, his excellence, and his glory. Oh, immerse yourself in God's word. enabling you to discern the difference between biblical worship and the contemporary idolatry that's going on across this country probably as we speak. If we would worship God, we must worship him by his prescribed order. It's not left up to us to come up with new inventions. True biblical worship is not an outward religious work of ritual, ceremony, or formality. Our Lord teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount that all true worship is primarily inward. Humility, faith, repentance, inward graces is not an outward show. I mean, it eventually shows up in your feet, in your hands, in your conversation. Prayer, giving, fasting are mostly done privately. between you and your God. Now you can have an auditorium full of what appears to be worshipers, but things are not always as they appear. They will stand together, they will sing the same hymns and bow in prayer and hear the same scriptures read or preached, but Only the child of God knows God, hears from him, and worships God in spirit and in truth from the heart. All others are just miserably going through the motions. And I've said this many times here, religion is hard. It's a hard task, master, but grace is glorious. All others are just miserably going through the motions, but the child of God is experiencing at foretaste of glory divine. That's what causes them to go on and they will face the fires and persecution and all manner of evil because what they have tasted and they know there's more to come and he is actually dwelling in them. True worship and prayer does not naturally send from our unregenerated heart but is wrought in our heart by grace. We worship our God because he has put it in our hearts to do the same or to worship him. David said in 2 Samuel 7, 27, he said, therefore your servant has found in his heart this prayer to you. Verse 25. And the woman said to him, she said, now I know that the Messiah is coming. who is called to Christ, and when he comes, he's gonna tell us all things. Now, Jesus is weary, he needs rest, a drink of water, and he's waiting for the disciples to pick up lunch, but by divine appointment, Christ sovereignly orchestrates a visit with this needy woman. While the woman is listening, she is wondrously being drawn to Christ himself. Immediately upon her saying that, when the Messiah comes and he will tell us all things, something marvelous happens. Verse 26. And Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he. I who speak to you am he. That's amazing. What a revelation. We know Jesus was very close to his disciples, and here Christ powerfully and wonderfully reveals himself to a woman who had burned through five husbands. Christ comes across time, took a human body, endured all manner of trials just to save this nameless woman. That's how amazing grace is. kicked to the curb by many of men. Jesus calls her to himself. Her five husbands never treated her like this. This beaten down woman was drawn to the courts of the king. She was about to become the daughter of the king of kings. Isn't that amazing? Verse 27. And at this point, his disciples came, and they marveled that he, Jesus, talked with the woman, and no one said, well, what are you seeking, or why are you talking to this woman? A lot had transpired while the disciples were out gathering food for the Master and Jesus. Heaven had come down and touched an unlikely sinner, causing her to see her need of living water. His disciples were amazed that Jesus, being a Jew, would talk to this woman, a Samaritan, publicly, considering her reputation. Perhaps the disciples had learned from experience and they knew what the Lord was doing was good in everything that he did. Verse 28, and the woman then left her water pot and went her way into the city and said to the people. Now, the woman had come to get water at midday, so she couldn't be seen by the people because of her reputation. But after her encounter with Christ, she goes off and leaves her water pot. Why? she found the fountain of living water that she had never, never experienced before. And her life was forever changed. You see, once you've tasted of the living water, she was compelled to do something. She was compelled to tell someone. Verse 29, I'm gonna read 30 as well in that. Verse 29, this is a woman speaking. She said, come and see a man who told me all the things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ? And verse 30, they went out of the town and were coming to him. This woman had to share her experience with these men or these people. Here's what happened. Christ had simply exposed this woman's sin. and offered himself the fountain of living water. No, she didn't need to read a book on sharing your faith or go off to some conference. She had met Christ and tasted of his living word that causes one to never thirst again. She had an encounter with the living Lord. That's all she needed. That's all any of us needed. She had a genuine encounter with the living Lord. Christ's purpose evangelism, and we always talk about that, how do we grow our church? Well, we need evangelism. You get people saved and people connected to the living God, there will be evangelism. You won't need a program. They will naturally do it. Christ's purpose evangelism is simply one thirsty sinner who has tasted of the living waters and in turn telling other thirsty sinners to drink of Christ the fountain of life. See, we make it awfully hard. We want to put religion in the machine. The gospel-free grace creates a new heart with a new disposition and a new passion. The old sin-enslaved life passes away. Many are perplexed to see and fail to see the simplicity that is in Christ and the gospel. The religious leader in Jesus's day, they had the scriptures, but they failed to see Jesus of whom the scriptures revealed and pointed to. That ought to be forever understood. So these people, they had their scriptures. God entrusted them with their scriptures and they missed Jesus. How in the world does that happen? Their hearts had never been opened. They never have an encounter. They only saw Jesus the man and never saw Jesus the Lord. Christ came to the very people that religion had rejected and he offered himself to them. And just like Jesus, he reveals himself to a sinner woman who was, oh, listen to this. Jesus revealed himself to this woman and she was used of God to spread the good news to her own town. You say, well, I thought Jesus just came to that town for the one woman. Well, he did. But he sees beyond that. He saw that that woman would be touched by the living God. She'd be filled with the Holy Spirit. She would understand the gospel. She would care for the souls of men and she would go out and express or share what Christ had done for her. If Christ has done that for you, then you will share with others. In closing, what we see here is Jesus really is a friend of sinners. You didn't see him down at the temple yucking it up with all the professors. out there where the need was. In closing, John 7, 37, we read this earlier, Jesus cried out saying, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. And he who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. That's a promise of Jehovah Jesus. That can't be revoked. that will not be changed. That is an absolute, that is forever settled. Christ is the fountain of life. Revelation 22, verse one. The apostle John, he says, then the angel showed me the river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. That fountain has flowed down through the centuries. It has flowed to King David, the thief on the cross, the tax collector Zacchaeus, and this woman at the well. That fountain flowed for Saul of Tarsus the Ethiopian, the eunuch, the Philippian jailer Lydia, and Cornelius. That fountain has flowed for all sinners have called and believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ down through the centuries. This woman came to the well. If you got nothing else, just remember this. This woman came to the well carrying an empty bucket, but she left with a heart overflowing with the joy of Christ and the gospel. If you get that, you've done all right this morning. This is what Christ does for empty, needy sinners. Christ creates in us his redeemed. He creates within us praise, worship, and gratitude that will carry us into the ages to come. Religion can't manufacture that. That comes from heaven, flowing rivers of living water. Christ creates in us the redeemed, praise, worship, and gratitude that will carry us into the ages to come. When Jesus comes to town, He is the friend of sinners, the bread of heaven, the very fountain of life. Amen. Let's pray. Our heavenly Father, we thank you this morning in Jesus' name, that we as your people here at Harbor City Baptist that we belong to you, and each one of us have a different story, like this lady at the well. Her life was changed, and we think of our encounter with you, the living God, the loving Savior, and you changed our life and forever set our hearts free to worship you. And so, Lord, we ask that you would take this message and stir up our hearts that we would be faithful to you in the days and the weeks ahead, as we may well share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with our family this coming week, perhaps around Thanksgiving dinner or with our family or friends or neighbors. Lord, what you've given to us is beyond measure. It's greater than we can fully comprehend, but it's enough that we understand we can't hold it to ourselves. We must share it with others. Oh Lord, therefore, I ask your blessing upon our church, especially be with those that are traveling this week, and may they find Thanksgiving, a special precious time of Thanksgiving this year, in the year of our Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.