Chain Reaction Faith | Jay Hubbard | City Light Church

Hey, what's up to our online City Light family. Man, I love you guys so much. We are about to jump into God's Word. I believe it's gonna be powerful. I believe it's gonna be relevant. And I really do honestly believe that God's gonna speak to you. So I just want you to open your heart and believe with us that God is gonna do something amazing through this sermon right now in your heart. If you have not liked and subscribed and done all the things, if you would do that, that would be a huge blessing to us as our media team tells me that it helps the algorithm. Whatever an algorithm is, I guess we want to be on it. So I love you, let's jump into God's Word. John chapter four, we're gonna go to verse one and we're gonna read, Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John. So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. Verse four is so important, it's so critical. It's one of my favorite verses in this whole portion of scripture, in this whole story. It says, he had to go through Samaria on the way to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria. I've been serving God for just over 20 years now. And there's a question that I've wrestled with over the last 20 years, and that question is this, how do you grow in your faith?

And over 20 years, I've received so many answers on how to grow in your faith. They would say, hey, young man, you need to pray more. And I would say, yes, sir, I'm gonna pray more. I'm gonna pray three times a day. They would say, hey, man, you need to read more. And I would say, yes, sir, I'm gonna read a proverb a day, because a proverb a day keeps all the bad things away. Hey, hey, you need to fast more. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, I did. Did you try a water only fast for at least three days? I'm gonna go give that a try. Hey, man, you need to serve more. You need to do more. You need to put your hands and feet to the work of the ministry. Okay, and all of that matters. All of that is really important. But what I've found after reading through this text is that before I can teach you how to grow in your faith, I first have to teach you about where your faith came from in the first place. And so today I wanna take those two questions, I wanna link them together, and I wanna teach a message to you today titled Chain Reaction Faith, Chain Reaction Faith. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for what you're doing in this church. I pray in these next few moments that you meet people right where they are.

Holy Spirit, move upon your people. Let it not be my words, let it be your words. Ultimately, at the end of all of this, let people raise their hands to receive you as Lord and as Savior. We pray all of this in your precious name, amen, amen. Also, Lord, you provide it for the Knicks. Would you provide for our Knights in Jesus' name, amen. That's all. Sorry. Sorry, I'm a big sports guy. Help us, Lord. Point number one, faith begins with divine pursuit. Jesus had to go to Samaria. See, there's a big difference between a had to and a chose to. Understanding context brings us clarity. Jews and Samaritans hated one another. In fact, disciples used to say, hey, Jesus, should we pray to God that he would just like call down fire and just wipe them all out? That's how much they hated one another. So for Jesus to say, I had to go through Samaria, means he is operating not just in his humanity, but also in his divinity. This is now God in flesh. And he says, I have to go to Samaria because in Samaria, there's a Samaritan woman. And when I meet with this Samaritan woman,

her life is going to be forever changed. See, what looks out of the ordinary to us is actually just the divinity of our Savior. And I believe that this morning, God is on a mission and he is unrelenting in his pursuit to find that one person that thinks they are so far away from God. And that moment can happen today. Jesus is on the way to you. He's on the way. He's on the way. John chapter four in verse five, it says this, he goes, eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sakaar near the field that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. Jacob's well was there. And Jesus tired from a long walk sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon, a Samaritan woman came to draw water. and Jesus said to her, please give me a drink. He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. The woman was surprised for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said, Jesus, you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink? Jesus replied, if you only knew, if you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me and I would give you living water.

I would give you living water. Thank you, Adam. Jesus doesn't come to this woman and say, hey, Samaritan woman, you're gonna have to have more faith. No, he immediately comes out of the gate and he says, if you only knew the gift that God has for you, you'd be asking me for a drink. I carry many titles in my life, pastor as one of them, husband to Nadia for 13 years and I really like those sandals. I'm glad they're platform sandals are making a comeback. I love it. One of those other titles I carry is dad. I love that title. It's dad to Zion who is nine and Zoe who is five and Zoe has me wrapped around her finger. And about a year ago, me and Zion were having what I like to call a heated debacle. We weren't arguing. So we're pastors, we don't argue with our kids. And I looked at Zion and we began what I call the debate of bedtime. I was like, hey man, it's time to go to sleep. And his response was, nah. Oh, I'm sorry, you guys think all the pastors get to just walk on water everywhere. No, no, we're normal. We're normal. And I was like, whoa, hey buddy, it's bedtime. It's time for you to go to bed.

But dad, I just wanna finish this episode of Bluey. It's only got like six minutes left. Bro, the episodes are only eight minutes long. So you're asking him to finish the whole episode. My guy, it's bedtime. You have to go to bed. Let's turn the TV off, walk upstairs, go to bed. Say, brush his teeth. I go, brush, brush, good night, good night. As I'm walking back down the stairs, I couldn't help but go, Zion, if you only knew, if you only knew that at four o'clock in the morning, my alarm's gonna go off. I'm gonna wake up. I'm gonna pick you up out of your bed. I'm gonna put you in our car. I'm gonna buckle your seatbelt and I'm gonna drive four hours south on the 15 freeway. And we are gonna find ourselves in Los Angeles, California because we are gonna go see the boys in blue play a baseball game. Zion, if you only knew what I have in store for you, you would think a little differently right now. You know, a few months ago, we were at Disneyland and I'm just on my phone. I'm on my phone, I'm scrolling and they're getting mad. And they're just calling dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad. Yes, get off your phone. Hold on a minute, I'm busy. Dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, are you working?

No, I'm busy, give me a second. Dad, dad, what are you doing? I'm booking lightning lanes for you because your dad is not standing in these long lines all day. I am a good, good father and I believe in expedition of your life. And I know you don't understand that, but if you only knew what I was actually doing, you would think a little bit differently right now. A few weeks ago, Nadia went on a girl's trip. It's her second girl's trip of the year. I'm not counting. It was her second. And Zoe woke up that morning and she was gone. And I found Zoe with the sacred hidden bag of flaming hot Cheetos. I was like, sis, where did you find those? Did you just like climb into the hidden spaces of the pantry to find this gold called a hot Cheeto? She says, dad, I want chips. I'm like, it's 7 a.m., you're not getting chips. But she's got me wrapped around her finger. So I'm like, well, do you want the avocado chips or the sweet potato chips? There's popcorners. Like, let's compromise a little bit. Let's meet me halfway. No, I want these chips. And I'm like, Zoe, you can't have chips right now

because if you only knew that in the next 30 minutes we're gonna get in the car and we're gonna drive to Cracker Barrel and I know, sweetheart, the food's gonna be a little unseasoned and that's okay, but you're gonna get your pancakes, your Fruity Pebble pancakes, and your brother's gonna get chocolate chip pancakes and then we're gonna get in line and I'm gonna pay. You're gonna ask for candy and I'm not gonna say no because mom's not at home. Zion and Zoe, if you only knew what I had in store for you, it's like Jeremiah says, if you only knew the plans that he has for you, plans to prosper you. Plans for good and not for evil, then maybe we would just look a little differently at what he's trying to tell us. If you only knew, if you only knew. Hey, what's up, family? We're about to get right back into God's Word. Just before we do, I wanted to thank so many of you who have helped us financially. Maybe you don't live in Vegas, maybe you don't even live in America, but something in your heart has been stirred to help us reach literally one of the most unreached places on planet Earth. Las Vegas is the most unchurched city in the most unchurched state, Nevada, in all of America.

We're doing everything we can to reach more people with the gospel. And so to all of you who have ever given to our ministry, thank you. To you who maybe have not, but have been impacted by this house, by the teaching and preaching from this house, I wanna ask you, would you consider helping us as we continue to bring the good news of Jesus to our region? You can go to citylightvegas.com and find all the ways to give there. I love you so much. I appreciate you. I'm praying for you. Let's jump back into God's Word. Number two, faith begins with recognition. I said I brought my preaching curls. I also have teaching curls. Can I teach you something for a moment? When Jesus offers her living water, her response is immediate and it's intellectual. She responds with what she knows because for her, knowledge equals control. Knowledge equals safety. Knowledge equals power. Remember, she's a Samaritan and she's a woman, okay? So she's trying to, and he's a Jewish man, and those two things don't mix. So she meets him with some questions. In John 4, 11, she says,

but sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket. That's a fact. And this well is also very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, you think you're greater than Jacob? Shots fired. The Samaritan woman, she is a well of knowledge. She knows her stuff. She's got it dialed. She knows what she's talking about. And here's a little bit of a hot take. I love Bible studies. I think your Bible studies are great. I think knowledge is wonderful. But if your Bible study does not lead people to love the local church, I'm talking about the four walls of the local church. If your Bible study is not leading people into obedience, to worship here in a community, if your study of the Bible is leading you to more knowledge than it is transformation, then we've missed it. We've missed it. It has to lead to a life in the church. I'll say this, faith isn't measured by just depth. I also think we can adequately, if not more efficiently, measure faith by distance. See, this woman, the Samaritan woman, she didn't need more knowledge. She had the Torah.

In fact, not only did she have the Torah, but because the Samaritans hated the Jews and they didn't like what the Jews had to say, they removed Jewish scriptures from the Torah, created the Samaritan Pentateuch, and that's where she was getting all of her knowledge for. She didn't need either of those. What she needed was an encounter with a Savior because it's measured in distance, not just depth. Knowledge without relationship is information without transformation. That's all it is. And I love knowledge. I think it's great. We're starting a college and we've accepted 10 students, and that's amazing, and we're gonna teach them all the things they need to know, but I would be doing them a disservice if I didn't teach them how to encounter Jesus. All right, all right, come on. Knowledge is great. The encounter is better. John 4, 12, she says this. She says, how can I offer, how can you offer better water than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well? This well sits on an aquifer. As Jacob blessed his son Joseph and they have this well and that well sits on an aquifer that by Samaritan and Jewish law

classifies it with purification rights as living water. And so she's looking at him going, are you sure? Everything we've ever needed is kind of right here. This is like living water. This is like mountain valley spring water. She's like this stuff is great. It's been feeding our animals and keeping us But but he's looking at her doesn't I'm talking about a different living water Something that I can only give you point number three grace sets the table and faith eats Grace sets the table and faith eats and we can have the band come back out We're gonna read a few verses here six of them in total And I believe it's really gonna change the way we think about this story Jesus replied anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again It becomes a fresh bubbling spring within Giving them eternal life Verse 15, please sir Now she's curious Now she's thinking Give me this water Then I'll never be thirsty again And I won't have to come here to get water Verse 16 is so powerful Jesus says this go and get your husband Verse 17 I don't have a husband The woman replied Jesus said you're right

You don't have a husband For you have had five husbands and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now Certainly you spoke the truth verse 19 She goes you must be a prophet You must be a prophet. I Want to help you see this story differently, I want to help you see this story through a lens of humanity Jesus isn't looking at her to embarrass her He isn't looking at her to bring any type of shame or condemnation. In fact him asking her to go get her husband Lines up perfectly culturally with what he should be doing Because you would never give a gift to a woman by yourself So culturally he is meeting her in humanity But he's also all-knowing So in his divinity, he knows the answer to the question right He knows that all these things but yet he's found her right here and and a lot of people a lot of people do this and It honestly it bugs me a little bit They preach this this message or this story and they drag this woman through the mud It is dragger You've had five husbands and the one you're with right now isn't your husband either That's six men and now you're meeting the seventh one You're so bad Many scholars actually believe that this woman is here in this situation Based on circumstances outside of her control Outside of her control she could have been barren She might not know how to cook I'm being serious. If you burn the lamb chops back then you're done. He's gone

Don't burn any ribeyes I'm dead serious. If you burn the lamb chops, you're gone. He could leave So maybe she burned a meal Maybe she was barren The text really doesn't give us an understanding of how she got here. The more important part is that he is there This woman we can we can collectively come to the conclusion that she is in a very weird season She's in a very weird season How does she get there, you know, she's in a weird season So when I wrote that I said, how am I going to define weird season? to all of you Because I'm pretty sure Webster's Dictionary Does not define word sandwiches Okay, it can define weird and it can define season but Sandwiching them together. It's a little interesting. So I called my assistant and I was like, hey chat and Chat was like hey pastor Chat calls me pastor. It's pretty cool very honoring of chat. I said, what's the definition of a weird season and chat said this Pastor J the phrase weird season is usually in an informal expression, meaning a period of life that felt unusual, difficult, uncertain, or out of the ordinary. In Christian context, season is often used metaphorically to mean a phase of life. So a weird season can mean a time when someone feels uncertain about God's direction, is experiencing unexpected challenges, or is going through significant change. See, oftentimes what holds us back from growing in our faith is not a demon, it's a season.

It's seasons of familiarity. It's seasons of disappointment. I didn't get that job. I didn't get that breakthrough. I didn't get that wife. I didn't get that husband. We haven't had that baby yet. It's seasons of self-sufficiency that goes, if God is not moving at the cadence and the time that I want him to move, I'll just do it on my own. It's seasons of cynicism and past church hurts that keep you bound and held back from the call of God that is on your life. And if we are not careful, your season will become your ceiling. Your season will become your ceiling. And what was supposed to be temporary, you will start treating it as permanent. You'll start going, this is just what I always do. I always carry the jar. I always carry it to the well. I always get the water. I always take it back. I always go to the well. I always draw the water. I always carry it back. Great theologian, John Wesley, would say this is called preeminent grace. This encounter that Jesus is having with this woman, that all the while you've been walking up that hill

to draw water, he's been drawing near to you. And you didn't even know it. That's the divinity of Jesus. That's the pursuit of Jesus, that no matter what you're doing, no matter where you are doing it, whether it's every single day at the same time, the mundane things of the season you're in, God is coming to meet you right where you are. Last time I checked, winter, it gives way to spring and spring gives way to summer and summer gives its way to fall. And then fall leads us right back to winter. And right now we're in summer. And all of you guys are like, it's so hot. The leather seats are burning me in the car, it's so hot. I can't take it anymore. And then we're gonna be in winter, it's so cold and it's so windy and my lips are chapped and I got split ends on my hair. Oh my gosh, this is awful. I can't wait till it's warm again. And then it's gonna be spring, you're gonna be like, achoo, achoo, this is awful. Oh my gosh, why do we live here? We left California for this? Oh my gosh. Seasons were never ever meant to be terminal. They're always meant to be temporary. Always.

And the beauty of it is He meets you right where you are. And then Jesus does something so incredible in this moment, it blows my mind. His ministry hasn't been going for very long at this time, but what He is about to do for this woman is what He is going to do for all of us, for all of eternity. In this moment, He looks at this woman and He knows all the chapters of her life that she would have rather skipped over. She knows, He knows all the things that she's gone through. And yet He still continues the conversation with her. He sets a table of grace and He sits down and He says, I am the Messiah, the one you've been hearing about, the one they've been talking about, I am He. Rarely would He ever do this, but He does it to her, a Samaritan and a woman. He reveals who He is to her. And my friend, I've come to tell you today, your faith grows when you receive the grace that Jesus has for you. This woman receives the grace and a lot of people like to preach this and they'll be like, oh, and then she left the jar at the well and her old life behind. And then she ran back into the town and then other people wanna preach and they're like, oh, she left that jar,

all the sin, all the issues, all the problem. Actually, if you translate it and you look at it in the Greek, the cadence of the conversation is very quick. Very quick, very quick. So when the disciples show up, she's like, oh my gosh, gotta go. So can we conclude really why she left that jar at the well? No, but what I will tell you this is the mission became way more important than the errand. The transformation could no longer be hidden. The faith was starting to grow. And this is what causes a chain reaction. When we receive God's grace, when we receive that changed life, we can go back into our cities, we can go back into our jobs, we can go back into our houses, and we can preach the testimony of the faithful that says, come and see the man who knew everything I ever knew. We, I don't need you to memorize all 66 canonized books of the Bible. That's really hard to do. That's awesome. Memorize your scripture. That's amazing. You need it. For when that friend is in a situation, you gotta bring the word of God to him. But nothing will ever beat your testimony.

Nothing will ever beat the encounter that you had with Jesus. I am not here today for all the knowledge that I've learned. I'm here today for all of the goodness that he pursued to me. You know, we don't sing that song, One Touch. We don't go, you know, one touch, all this knowledge can. One touch, everything I know can. No, no, no. It's one touch of the Father's hand. You can turn it all, turn it all around. It's an encounter. Faith is measured in distance, and you'll have that chain reaction of faith in your life when your relationship replaces religion. And you finally receive the goodness of God and the grace of God, and you go back in. You start sharing with people all that he's done in your life. If you believe that, would you say amen with me today? Amen. Praise the Lord.