The Transformation Is Real | Dave Stone

Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. My name is Derek. I am our campus pastor for our online ministry here at Southeast. And again, thank you for being here. I am so glad that you are here today. And we would love the opportunity moving forward to be able to pray for you to hear your story. And the best way to start that process and to have that happen is for you to write us here at Southeast Christian Church. You can find the address to our church in the description of this video. So over the course of the next week, grab a pen, pencil, get some paper, and mail us a letter so we can reach out and be faithful to pray for you. And y'all, we also hope that you will join the nearly 35,000 other people just like you that have subscribed to our Southeast Christian channel on the Pando app. Because when you do that, not only will you get our weekly worship services, but you get podcasts that drop every single Thursday where we get together, talk about the sermon, help apply it to our lives, to your lives, and other Bible studies we also post throughout the year to help you in your relationship with Christ. But today you are going to hear from a guy that is near and dear to our hearts. He's our former senior pastor, Dave Stone. He's going to be back today. He's going to be walking us through week three of the Kingdom is real reminding us and challenging us that transformation is real in Jesus. So y'all, if you are looking for a place to be encouraged to be challenged in your faith, today is the day this is the place to be. Yeah, we hope that your hearts are ready and let's go worship together. [Music] I'm trying to stand what I stand on you. The shame was running deep. The love was spilled on recovery. Oh honey, look at how I'm cool. My God, how can it be? I'm revving, reading. I'm standing in your victory. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the water, washed in the blood. I'm as good as things. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the water, washed in the blood. Oh, because of you. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the water, washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the water, washed in the blood. I'm as good as you. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the water, washed in the blood. Oh, because of you. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the water, washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the water, washed in the blood. Oh, because of you. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood.

Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. Oh honey, do you have been washed in the blood. ♪ Holy, holy, I'm just in the earth ♪ ♪ We are ♪ ♪ Let's see the cards ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood, I'm as good as ♪ ♪ Oh, holy, holy, I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in all because of you ♪ ♪ Oh, holy, do you love ♪ ♪ Oh, we worship you all today ♪ ♪ So where do you want to play ♪ ♪ Blessed are those who run to Him ♪ ♪ Who place the hope that conflicts in Jesus ♪ ♪ He won't forsake them ♪ ♪ Blessed are those who seek His face ♪ ♪ Then they need to fix their days on Jesus ♪ ♪ They won't forsake them ♪ ♪ Come on and sing in love with me ♪ ♪ Sing in Your love His name ♪ ♪ Come on and sing in Your voice with me ♪ ♪ He's worthy of all of our praise ♪ ♪ Blessed are those who walk with Him ♪ ♪ 'Cause hearts are set on pilgrimage with Jesus ♪

♪ And He'll see His glory ♪ ♪ Blessed are those who die of land ♪ ♪ His joy it is to give it all for Jesus ♪ ♪ And for Him only ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, all for Your glory ♪ ♪ Come on and praise the Lord with me ♪ ♪ Sing in Your love His name ♪ ♪ Come on and lift in Your voice with me ♪ ♪ 'Cause He's worthy of all of our praise ♪ ♪ Come on, come on and breathe in Your offering ♪ ♪ Sing in Your love His grace ♪ ♪ Come on and lift in Your holy head ♪ ♪ He's worthy of all of our praise ♪ ♪ So worthy God ♪ ♪ Blessed God takes you in ♪ ♪ Blessed God in the fields of safety ♪ ♪ Blessed God in the darkest body ♪ ♪ Every chance I get ♪ ♪ I bless Your name ♪ ♪ Blessed God when my hands are empty ♪ ♪ Blessed God with the praise that caused me ♪ ♪ Blessed God when nobody's watching ♪ ♪ Every chance I get ♪ ♪ I bless Your name ♪ ♪ Blessed God the weapons for me ♪ ♪ Let's God with the walls of falling ♪ ♪ Let's God, 'cause He goes before me ♪ ♪ Every chance I get, I'll bless your name ♪ ♪ Let's God free hold to the extreme ♪ ♪ Let's God free always with me ♪

♪ Let's God free always with me ♪ ♪ Every chance I get, I'll bless your name ♪ ♪ Hola ♪ ♪ Every chance I get, I'll bless your name ♪ ♪ Hola ♪ ♪ We watch Him your love ♪ ♪ Come on and pray ♪ ♪ Hola ♪ ♪ With me ♪ ♪ Sing hola ♪ ♪ Come on and live ♪ ♪ Your voice with me ♪ ♪ 'Cause he's worthy of all operate ♪ ♪ And he's trusting him ♪ ♪ Come on and breathe ♪ ♪ Your offering ♪ ♪ Sing it through the road ♪ ♪ History ♪ ♪ Come and live it up ♪ ♪ Come on and live ♪ ♪ Come on and live it up ♪ # He's worthy of all # # Our praise # # Yes you are # # He's worthy of all # # Our praise # # In every season # # Time # # He's worthy of all # # Our praise #

# Oh, hallelujah # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Maybe we've made this complicated # # # # More than it was ever meant to be # # # # Hasn't it always been about the same thing? # # # # Oh, I bring us back to simple things # # # # You be the center of me # # # My heart belongs to you # # # My Savior, all in # # # You're the one I hold on to # # # For the beauty of your name # # # My soul, I live to say #

# # Jesus, I love you # # # Teach us to discern the moment # # To serve and when to sit here at your feet # # Keep us awake to what's important # # Just like Mary # # chose the better thing # # You be the center of me # # My heart belongs to you # # My Savior, all in all # # You're the one I hold on to # # For the beauty of your name # # My soul, I live to say # # Jesus, I love you # # Oh, for you # # Are the center of me # # My heart belongs to you # # My Savior, all in all # # You're the one I hold on to # # For the beauty of your name # # My soul, I live to say # # Jesus, I love you # # Oh, I love you # # And all I love you # # Jesus, I love you # # Oh, I love you # # Let this be our prayer # # And all I love you # # Jesus, I love you # # And my whole life # # For your glory, my whole #

# For you only everything # # For the honor of your name # # And if my days tell a story # # Let it be # # Of your only everything # # It's for the honor of your # # Come on, tonight I get my whole life # # My whole life # # For your glory, my whole life # # For you only everything # # It's for the honor of your name # # And if my days tell a story # # Let it be # # Of your only everything # # For the honor of your name # # And if my whole life # # For your glory, my whole life # Once for your day Jesus In His heart dance Tell a story and let it be Of you only every day For the honor of your name I love you Oh, I love you Jesus, I love you Oh, I love you Oh, I love you Oh, I love you Jesus, I love you Oh, my whole life

For your glory my home For you only every day On a glory for your Jesus In His heart dance Tell a story and let it be Of you only every day Sing again my whole life For your glory my home For you only every day It's for the honor of your name And if I dance Tell a story and let it be Of you only every day It's for the honor of your name Oh, I love you You know how I love you Jesus, I love you Oh, I love you Come on, just tell him this morning You know how I love you Jesus, I love you And oh, I love you We wanna honor you this morning Jesus, we love you Jesus, we love you Oh, Jesus, we love you There's no one else for me But Jesus, there's no other reason I lift my life to testify Of everything that you've done

So I return my offering My love, my affection Oh, how I love you And oh, how I love you Jesus, I love you Oh, how I love you Oh, how I love you Jesus, I love you Jesus, I love you The chasm that lay between us How I've allowed you That I could not climb In desperation I turn to heaven And spoke your name Into the night Then through the darkness Your loving kindness Toward through the shadows Of my soul The work is finished The end is written Jesus, Christ, my living hope Oh, how I love you I could imagine So great on mercy What heart could rival Such boundless grace The God of ages Set down from glory

The cross I spoke gave, I am forgiven. The King of King calls me his own. Beautiful Savior, I'm yours forever. Jesus Christ, my living. O Holy, Lord, praise the one who said be free. Holy, Lord, death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's no relation in your day. Jesus Christ, your mine living. Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to breathe. And out of the silence, the roaring lion declared the grave as no claim on me. Oh, that's good news, this morning. Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to breathe. Out of the silence, the roaring lion declared the grave as no claim on me. Oh, Jesus, yours is a victory when Holy, Lord, praise the one who said be free. Oh, Holy, Lord, death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain, there's no relation in your day. Jesus Christ, your mine living. Oh, Holy, Lord, praise the one who said be free, Holy, Lord, death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain, there's no relation in your day. Oh, Jesus Christ, your mine living. Oh, Jesus Christ, my living. Father, we know your spirit is present. We feel it and we sense it and your word tells us that you are here and we praise you for that. We know we stand in your presence today and we thank you for the reality of the words of the song that we just sang.

We thank you that Jesus walked out of His own grave and the hope that that gives us that when we die, for those who have accepted Jesus, we can do the same. It's in the powerful name of Jesus, the one who is the resurrection of the life that we pray all of this, Jesus' name, amen. Wow, that was good. Last month, I endured a painful milestone. I turned 65. When I was a teen, yeah, I know you're praying, I hope you can make it the whole time through. When I was a teen, the number 65 always seemed so archaic to me. I thought that someone who was 65 years old was an elderly individual who had somehow cheated death, right? But with each passing decade, my views have evolved and now I get in the mail something every day from Medicare. I never asked them to send me anything. It's like I've got a brand new pen pal. I don't have time to read all those letters though. There's shuffleboard to play and car keys to lose and cream corn to swallow. Everything was great, healthy as can be. I woke up at 7.30 in the morning and as I walked away from my bed, I could feel that I had pulled my calf muscle somehow in the middle of my sleep. I don't even know how that's possible. I don't know how you call up a doctor and say, "You know, yeah, I pulled my calf muscle." And he says, "How did you do it?" And you're like, "I dreamed I ran a marathon." I don't know what to say, right? When I said to Beth, I said, "How do you pull a calf muscle while you're sleeping?"

She said, "You probably pulled it on one of your trips to the bathroom." (congregation laughing) Well, the older I get, the more excited I am about heaven. Philippians chapter three, verse 21, says, "The God will transform our lowly bodies into glorified bodies." Romans chapter eight, verse 23 says, "We wait with eager hope for the new bodies that he's promised us." An instant transformation sounds quite appealing. We're in a series called "The Kingdom is Real." This is a kingdom of transformation. This is not something off in the distance, out in the future. It actually began when Jesus came on the scene. And in week one, Kyle reminded us that the battle is real and that we are in the midst of spiritual warfare. And I love the way Kyle said it. He said, "You don't sit when you're in a battle. You stand. You're active. You are engaged. You're involved." And last week, Tripp Lee talked about how we need to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit and allow him to dictate our decisions and alter our actions. And today, we'll discover that redemption is real. And what Jesus offers is not wishful thinking.

It's not some fairy tale. It is possible. In fact, it is promised to us, to those who choose Jesus. And at the heart of Christianity is this. Nothing is wasted and no one is too far gone. The kingdom of God is history's greatest recycling program. It takes the broken. It takes the ruins, the discarded, and makes something new. And this week, we sit with the staggering truth that redemption isn't just a doctrine. It is a living reality available to every person in any circumstance. Repentance that is genuine leads to redemption that is real. And we love it when transformation takes place. That's why we love home renovation shows. That's why it is that on Instagram, we look at before and after pictures. But my favorite transformation, those stories, our spiritual stories, stories of redemption, when a person begins to realize that they are spiritually bankrupt. And they discover who Jesus is and what he's done for them. And they turn their life over to him. And the result is that they will never be the same again. And the Bible is filled with countless stories of transformation. And today we're gonna take a look at one of those. It's found in John chapter four. If you wanna turn in your Bible to John chapter four, we're gonna look at the story of the woman at the well.

And if you like outlines and you like to take notes, I don't have an outline for you, okay? So if you think, oh, I think I missed what he said for point one or point two. No, you didn't miss it. I just don't have an outline, all right? All we're gonna do is we're gonna walk verse by verse and we're gonna see this journey of faith in Christ that this woman goes on. And we will see her transformation. And my hope is that for the believer, it will take you back to when you accepted Christ. And for those of you who have not made a decision for Jesus, I hope it will display how that transformation could occur in your life. And I know that there are many of you who are just starting to check out his claims and his promises and his identity. And I would just say to you, please, keep digging into God's word. Keep coming to worship. Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 13 says in the Old Testament, "You will seek me and you will find me "when you seek me with all of your heart." And there are many who begin their investigation or pursuit, but when the expectations of Christ begin to interfere with their desires and wants. That's when the search becomes a little bit less intense and more half-hearted. It's not because of a lack of evidence.

It's that acceptance would require a change. And they think, I don't know how I could change. But trust me, that's where the Holy Spirit comes in. The Spirit can help you change. Now, until you're ready to wholeheartedly submit your decisions to his will, you will never total. heading back to Galilee. And we begin in John chapter four verse four. And it has a very strange phrase that it starts with. It says, "Now Jesus had to go through Samaria." I know the wording's a little bit strange because you think, "Well, he didn't have to go through Samaria." In fact, rarely did a Jew go through Samaria. The ethnic conflict between these two regions is difficult for us to put into words. Their disdain was so intense that when a Jew was traveling to Galilee from Judea, they would walk miles out of their way. They would spend an extra day and they would travel out to the east through pariah and through the Decapolis in order to avoid even seeing a Samaritan. The Jews were willing to cross the Jordan River twice when they didn't even need to cross it once. Today it would be like being in Louisville and going to Lexington, but instead of taking I-64 for an hour, you would take I-71 north up to Cincinnati and then 75 south to Lexington, all because you wanted to avoid Frankfort. That's what it would be like, all right? And my point is that this Samaritan woman and Jesus should never have met. They never should have been in the exact same setting. So why were they? It's because Jesus wouldn't allow man-made prejudices to interfere with his divine appointment to meet this woman in Samaria. It's about noon. And Jesus says to his disciples, he says, "You know what, I'm going to hang out here at Jacob's Will." Now, Jacob's Will, you'll remember when we did our series in Genesis just a few weeks back, Jacob is the father of Joseph and we just studied. And so the disciples head on into Saikar there in Samaria and we pick it up with verse 6. Jacob's Will was there and Jesus tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the Will. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "You're a Jew and I'm a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? For Jews do not associate with Samaritans." Jesus does the unthinkable. He speaks to her. He said, "Will you give me a drink?" Hey, he breaks so many social rules with that one statement.

This is a man talking to a woman. This is a Jew talking to a Samaritan. This is a rabbi talking to an outcast. And when he asked this question, she is visibly stunned because she is typically shunned. No one talks to her and she says, "Why are you talking to me?" Look at verse 10. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." Now, stop right there because on the surface that might sound just a little bit arrogant. You know, if you knew who is here in front of you, it sounds a little bit arrogant unless he's speaking the truth, unless he's just stating a fact, which he is. And what Jesus is doing, he is lovingly paving the way for things that will take place a little bit later on in this conversation. So he says, "If you knew who was asking, you'd be asking me for water." Verse 11, "Sir," the woman said, "You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?" And at this stage, this Samaritan woman is intrigued. She's leaning in. Verse 13, Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Well, she thinks he's talking about something physical while Jesus is talking about something spiritual. But the concept to her of not having to come back to get water every day and the hot Syrian son is quite appealing to her. And so the woman says to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty, and I don't have to keep coming back here to draw water." So at this stage, All she can deduce about his identity is this, that he's a man and that he is a Jew. And that's about it. That's about all that she can deduce because otherwise it doesn't make any sense. I guess it was about 20 years ago. One summer day I went to lunch with a couple of other Southeast staff guys. Matt Proctor was on staff in Dave Kennedy and we went over to Skyline Chili Restaurant for lunch. When I came in I was kind of walking around and I saw some Southeast folks, so I went over and saw them. I said hi to all the different servers and then I saw some other folks that I knew from

the community. And as I'm getting ready to go sit down with Matt and Dave, I see this young woman that's been kind of sizing me up and she kind of motions for me to come over to her. So I'm like, okay, she must be a Southeast member and I haven't met her yet. So I walked over and said, "Hey, how are you?" She said, "I know you." She said, "You're Craig Wood's brother." I said, "No, no." I said, "No, I think you've got me mistaken with someone else." And she said, "Oh, yes you are." She said, "You're kidding me, aren't you? You're Craig Wood's brother." I said, "No, no, I'm really not." She said, "Are you sure?" Well, she was rather convincing and I thought for a sec, but I said, "Well, no." I said, "I only got one brother and his name is Jeff, sorry to disappoint you." And she went back to, "You're kidding me, right?" And although she didn't seem to believe my explanation, she reluctantly said, "Oh, okay, okay." And I sat down with my buddies. I told them the story. Now, 20 minutes later, as she and her friend were walking past our table to leave the restaurant, I said, "Hey, ma'am," I said, "I do know a guy named Craig Woods. He's about 30 years old, he's taller, and he's dark-complexed." And when I said that, it was like a light bulb went off on her and a smile crept across her face and she said, "I knew it, I knew you were Craig Wood's brother." So I started laughing, she misinterpreted my laughter as part of some calculated cover-up that I had been doing. I said, "No, I'm really not." And she looks at my two buddies, Matt and Dave, and says, "He's Craig Wood's brother,

right?" And both of them in unison say, "Yes, he is." She gets mad and she starts saying, "I knew it, I knew it all along." She walks out of the restaurant saying, "I knew it." We can see her in the parking lot just during demonstratively to her friend pointing back at us and convincing her friend of how she was right all along. Her mind was made up, cases of mistaken identity are more common than you may think, especially when it comes to the divine. And so some people fashion God into what they want him to be. And they say, "Well, my God, my God wants me to be happy." And so we believe that something can't be wrong when it feels so right. Or my God will never allow me to go through financial adversity or physical disease. So when we do encounter those things, we defiantly say, "Where were you, God? I can't believe you let me down." And yet Jesus says in the Word, He says, "In this world, you will have trouble. You take heart, I've overcome the world." Or we say, "My God is so disappointed in me, and He is so mad at me for the choices that I have made. He could never forgive me." And yet we read that if we genuinely are remorseful and repentant, He banishes our sin as far as the East is from the West. It doesn't matter what type of a God you concoct or fashion. There's only one God. And this book describes who He is and what He does. But like the woman at Skyline Chilly, if in your mind you already strongly believe something, then you aren't interested in listening to the facts. You just continue to reinforce your own opinions that you have already arrived at. And that's part of what's going on here with this woman in John chapter 4. She sees Jews a certain way. She sees the religious rules of who can worship and where they can worship in a different way.

And she has no idea who it is that she's talking to. So buckle up because this conversation is about to take a dramatic turn. Verse 16, "Jesus told her, 'Go, call your husband and come back. are right when you say you have no husband, and the fact is you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." No woman marries five men and then hooks up with another without experiencing unspeakable heartache in the process. In the first century she was a woman in a man's world, and in those days a woman was more like a piece of property. They didn't have any rights, and with so many relationships abuse was quite likely not to mention plenty of hurt and humiliation from the community, which is the only explanation why she would choose the hottest time of the day to go to the well. That way she wouldn't have to endure the snickers and the whispers of the other women. And in that brief exchange, Jesus Christ is beginning to let her know that He knows about her broken heart, He knows about her emotional pain, and now He's got her full undivided attention. And so instantly she realizes, "Oh, this man knows my identity, but I don't know his." But except in Christ is a process. It usually doesn't happen quickly. So don't get discouraged when your friend is intrigued by Jesus, but not ready to get baptized. They're figuring it out. Don't give up on your spouse who is growing in their faith more slowly than you think that they should. They're figuring out Jesus. And when you yourself are stuck in a struggle or a habit and you feel the weight of your sin, get to know Jesus' identity, and as we'll see, it can eventually lead to a dramatic and drastic change in your own life. Well, after Jesus gently calls out her past relationships, she collects herself and she quickly turns to the topic of religious traditions and to politics. Have you ever been in a spiritual conversation with someone? And then out of the blue, they try to turn it into a political debate? You're like, "Well, where did that come from?" Well, the conversation is getting a little bit too personal and a little bit too close to home. And she does the same thing. But watch how Jesus turns it back to what's most important. John chapter 4, verse 19 and 20, "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet." Why she said that? Because he just said, "Well, you've been married five times, so, okay, there's something different about this guy. He knows some stuff about me. I can see that you're a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you

Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. She's referring to Mount Gerism. Mount Gerism is a place that was visible to both of them where they would be at Jacob's will. The Samaritans had even built a temple there on Mount Gerism for the Samaritans to worship her. But in 400 B.C., some time after that, the Jews came in and they destroyed it. Can you see why there's hostility between the two? John chapter 4, verse 21, "Woman," Jesus replied, "And when you see woman that's not in some derogatory term, it actually would be translated. Now, nowadays it'd be like ma'am." So Jesus is speaking respectfully to her. "Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming, and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in the spirit and in truth. He's hinting that salvation is not just going to be for the Jews, but it's going to be for everyone. And we're in this series talking about the kingdom of heaven. So what is Jesus saying to her? Here's what he's saying, "Hey, don't get wrapped up in the mountains, okay? And where is it you worship?" Because where you worship is secondary to who you worship. He's making that clear because Jesus is inviting her not to a religion. He's inviting her into a relationship. Now, you've got to get ready for this next exchange. I don't want you to miss this moment because this is the moment of the entire passage, all right? Verse 25. She's the one who brings He will explain everything to us." And then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you, and He." Jesus has waited His entire life for this moment. This is the very first time He has revealed His identity in all the places to make that announcement that you're the Messiah. He chooses a crowd of one at an old water well. And of all the people He chooses to share with Jesus chooses a woman who was a social outcast in the community and who probably didn't believe she had any value to anyone, especially to God. But she was wrong. And if today as you listen to my voice, you feel that you are worthless to this world, or that you have no real value. Then hear me when I say, "You are sadly mistaken." There's a God who loves you deeply. And to prove it, He allows His one and only son to become a pure and innocent sacrifice so that justice would be served. And just as Jesus does with this

Samaritan woman, He invites you, you, into this relationship with Him. Hey, Jesus could have sent out a press release. He could have drawn a huge crowd. He could have stood on the temple steps once everybody got there in front of hundreds or thousands of people. He could have announced to everybody, "Hey, I got news for you. I am the Messiah. The band strikes up a tune. He does a couple of miracles for the crowd. He gets somebody's lunch and he feeds multitudes of people. He gets some water. He turns it into wine just to keep the masses smiling. But no, Jesus waits to reveal for the very first time who He is to this. Overlooked, discarded woman who probably had little or no say in who it was that she'd married in the past. And she says, "I know the Messiah is coming and Jesus locks eyes with her and says, 'It's me. I'm the Messiah.'" We hear Kyle talk about one at a time. We hear that phrase a whole lot. I love it one at a time. And here Jesus gives us an example of leaving the masses for the one. Don't you just love Jesus? His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. He says, "I am He." And now the ball is in her court and her heart is pounding. How is she going to respond? Does she believe? And when he says, "I am He," at that instant, the disciples come back from town and they interrupt the moment. But as you're going to see, the scales had already been tipped. Now she was convinced of His identity. I don't know exactly where that took place. If it was through Christ's answers, if through His Spirit, it's an incomplete record. We don't know every word of their conversation. And perhaps through the specific details about her life that Jesus shared that only God would have known, she was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, this one who saw her for her potential and not for her past. The Bible doesn't go into detail and tell us specifically what He said that was so convincing, but He must have given her even more validation than she needed to make an informed decision and come to the conclusion that He was the Messiah. But here's what we do know. The Bible says, "She ran into town, shouting, come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could he be the Messiah?" And she left her water, her physical water behind. Maybe she's thinking, "I just had a taste of living water. I just had a gulp of it." And back at the well sits her full water jar. She left what she needed because she had an encounter with the one that she needed the most. And evidently, she was pretty convincing because the town immediately came out to see Jesus and they listened to Him teach for two days, verse 39 says, "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony." Now from the world's perspective, what an unlikely evangelist, but not from God's.

She came to fill a container with water and she left as a spring. Remember verse 14? Indeed, the water I give them will become She is bubbling over with living water after one short, powerful encounter. Don't miss this. This woman who spent her entire life avoiding people is now talking to everyone and telling them about Jesus. What a radical transformation. I'm gonna show you a clip from The Chosen. The Chosen is a series that is available on a variety of apps. It's been seen by 350 million people worldwide. The surveys show one third of whom consider themselves non-religious. It is the most powerful, realistic and biblical portrayal of Jesus that I've ever seen. Dallas Jenkins is the creator and executive producer of The Chosen. He and his wife, Amanda, were members of Southeast 25 years ago when they lived in Louisville. And season six comes out in a few months, but what I wanna show you is a two minute section from Jesus' conversation with the woman at the well. It's actually the concluding scene of season one, episode eight. And Jesus has already shocked her by saying you've had five husbands and now they're in this deep conversation about worship. When she brings up the coming Messiah, perhaps this is how it may have unfolded 2,000 years ago. Watch this with me.

- Don't tell the Messiah comes and explains everything and sort this mess out, including me. They don't trust in anyone. - You're wrong when you say that you've never received anything from God. - This Messiah you speak of, I am He. The first one was named Ramin. - You were a woman of purity, who was excited to be married, but he wasn't a good man. He hurt you and it made you question marriage and even the practice of your faith. - Stop it. - The second was far as out. On your wedding night, his skin smelled like oranges. And to this day, every time you pass by the oranges in the market, you feel guilty for leaving him because he was the only truly godly man you've been with. But you felt unworthy. - Why are you doing this? - I have not revealed myself to the public as the Messiah. You are the first. It would be good if you believed me. - You picked the wrong person. - I came to Samaria just to meet you. Do you think it's an accident that I'm here in the middle of the day? - I am rejected by others.

- I know, but not by the Messiah. (dramatic music) - And soon all these things because you are the Christ. I'm going to tell everyone. - I was counting on it. (laughing) - I love that line. I love that line. I was counting on it. (audience applauding) I love that scene. You know why? Because her story is our story. We were all in mess in some way. We were all broken. At times feeling discarded or questioning our value. Why would God want me? Tim Keller said the gospel teaches us that we are more flawed than we ever imagined. And yet more love than we ever thought. Possum. And this woman runs back into town because she's convinced he's a Messiah. When you encounter Jesus, you have a story to tell. And he's counting on you to share it. And tell others of the difference he's made in your life. You gotta see this progression that takes place as the evidence unfolds in John chapter four. Look at what happens.

Watch this progression. Verse nine, at first Jesus is a Jew to her. And then she says, "Sir, so he's a man to her." Verse 19, he's a prophet. Verse 25, he's the Messiah. She left carrying a story. What story are you carrying and are you willing to boldly share it with others? Let me read verse 42 for you. "They said to the woman, 'We no longer believe just because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves and we know that this man really is a Savior of the world.' And redemption becomes real for this Samaritan town where many people put their trust in the Son of God. Earlier I told you the story about going into the chilly restaurant and the woman who mistook me from being the brother of someone named Craig Woods. And I did enjoy sharing that story in a sermon here at Southeast and it went out on WHAS radio and a few other places. And for the next few weeks, anytime I'd be in a restaurant, wherever I would be, someone from church would say, 'Hey, look, there's Craig Woods' brother, you know. And it was really funny the first 30 times. But after several months, that kind of died out as overtime. People kind of forgot about that story. But several months later, our preaching department, we went to lunch at that same restaurant. And as we were sitting down, I heard a woman's voice say, 'Look, there's Craig Woods' brother and I turned around and it was her. It was that woman that started all of this. And so I walked over and I extended my hand and I said, 'Hey, I said my name is Dave Stone.' And she said, 'I know that now.' And she said, 'I heard you told the story.' I said, 'Well, I may have mentioned it to a couple of people.' She said, 'That's not what I heard.' And her check was sitting right there on the table and so I grabbed her check and said, 'Let me get this for you today.' And she said, 'Oh, no, you don't need to do that.' And Bob Russell leaned over and said, 'Yes, he does.' He's gotten a lot of mileage out of this story and he's told it a lot of times. And she was very appreciative and she was a good sport about all of it. But later I got to thinking, 'What happened? What changed her mind?' And my guess is that in the days to come, or the weeks that followed from our initial conversation, that someone whom she trusted presented her with some undeniable evidence and information as to my identity. And it tipped the scales to where she realized who I wasn't and who I was. And that's exactly what's happening here in John chapter 4 with the Samaritan woman.

And if you are curious about Christianity, then I invite you to examine the evidence, to read the Gospel of John. Or watch the chosen series and have your Bible in hand as you do. Have the intellectual integrity to investigate the claims of Christ and to decide for yourself. Hey, this is too important. And if you're already a Christian, then be inspired by the boldness and the courage of the Samaritan woman who went out and told everyone. I don't have an outline, but here's the entire sermon in the sentence. When you truly encounter Jesus, he doesn't just change your life. He changes your story, and then he sends you out to tell it. Let me go a layer deeper. Many of you are already believers in Christ, but your faith has faded and your commitment to Christ has drifted. When it comes to the self-image scale, maybe you feel a lot like the Samaritan woman at the start of John 4, and you find yourself a hostage to your past. You feel that you are a very little value, and you're constantly reminded of your poor choices in the past. Hey, let me remind you that Jesus Christ specializes in turnarounds and transformations. Redemption is real. You say, "Well, Dave, I'm not sure that God wants me. I mean, you don't know the mistakes that I've made." Are you kidding me? Of course he wants you. He allowed his son to die for you so that your sins could be forgiven by his perfect sacrifice. This communicates that he wants you. This communicates in very certain terms the extreme measures that he went to to make your redemption real. The one who knows everything about me wants me. The one who knows everything about you still wants you. Your worst chapter doesn't have to be your last chapter. Remember in that video clip. let me assure you today that if you were the only person, you're the only person on the face of the earth, Jesus would have left heaven and would he come to earth, he would have come here and he would have died on that cross for you, he would have come just for you. Let's pray. Father, in heaven, we are overwhelmed with your grace and mercy and your unconditional love, which we don't deserve, but we greatly appreciate. What I pray for those who don't know you personally, and if maybe the scales have tipped today in their mind

that they will step out in faith and that they won't leave without talking to someone about this decision that you've placed on their heart and that they will accept you and draw a line in the sand and say, "I'm all in," and they will allow your spirit to transform them. And Lord, for those whose hearts have grown cold and they've drifted from living for Christ, would you bring them back, remind them of their first love? Do a new work in them, show them that you're there, you're a God of second chances, and they live and share their faith more boldly with others than they ever have. It's in Jesus' name, we pray, amen. (congregation applauds) - She came carrying her shame, but she left with a story. I think that that was such a powerful truth. But one that speaks to all of us, she was probably telling her story to anyone who had listened, anyone who had listened to the transformational power of Jesus, and coincidentally, I think not. Today, we see her story written in scripture and now billions of people have heard this story. I think if she was here with us today, I think what she would say is, "Hey, my story's great. "I am not the same person." I completely changed, but I think what she would want to make very clear was that she would say that her story only mattered because of Jesus' story. Like because of Jesus, that is why her story changed.

I love how 2 Corinthians chapter five, verse 21, tells the story of Jesus. It says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, "so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Every week here at Southeast, we tell the story of Jesus. We call it communion, but it's an opportunity where we slow down and we remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We take the cracker that represents Christ's body that was broken for us and we take the juice that represents Christ's blood that was poured out for us. And for those of us who have trusted in Jesus, for those of us who have been baptized and have declared our faith in Christ, as we partake in communion together, what we are declaring is that God put on flesh. He dwelt among us. He died a sinner's death, a death on the cross. He died for our sin, for my sin, your sin, but he resurrected and he stands at the right hand of the Father and he extends the opportunity for you to experience the righteousness of God, to be made right in the eyes of God. And so anyone who would repent and place their faith in him, he gives them the opportunity to become a child of God. And so here in a few moments, we're gonna worship that truth. We're gonna remind our hearts of Jesus. For some of us, as we respond,

I wanna encourage you to respond in prayer. We're gonna have our prayer team come down here and maybe you're confused. Maybe you're in a very difficult season of life. My encouragement to you is would you just come forward? Like we would love to pray for you, but maybe for some of us in the room, like you're curious. You wanna know who this Jesus is? You see all the hands raised in the room. You're like, I don't have that joy. Good news, you can have that joy today. Jesus didn't just die for the whole world. You can head back to our next step room on my right, your left. We've got some amazing folks. They'd love to pray with you. They'd love to go through the scriptures and explain what it means to place your faith in Jesus' hands. We're going to worship together. We're going to take communion. We're going to pray. Let's worship our great God. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

[Music] If you give me fear in my hood Would you kill me on your mind? I'm feeling grateful for all of you You'll see all my life on my life I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you I'm feeling grateful for all of you Well, Pando family, I don't know about you But I love seeing people Place their faith in Christ And walk into the waters of baptism That we get to celebrate at almost every service here at Southeast Which sometimes we can take for granted, right? But if we've never met before, my name is Derek I'm so glad that you're here today And I'm so glad that if you are here for the first time

I can't help but think that that's not an accident Right, because I think that hearing from Dave today May have just been the thing that God needed to get across to you To create transformation in your life moving forward And here's what I mean by that Is that each of us have had, at least I hope so Each of us have had one of those women, the woman at the well moments We'll just call it Where we think that we're unseen No one understands us No one understands the mistakes that we've made But if we know Jesus And just from the story and how Dave explained it Is that God knows us, He sees us and He loves us Anyway, He loves us anyway And so for the thought that I had for you guys today I wanted to literally read a couple of the things that Dave closed with Because I would bet whether it's your first time Or your hundredth time watching with us on panda I think this will connect with you Dave said, you may ask the question Well Dave, I'm not sure God wants me You don't know the mistakes that I've made And this is what Dave said to that He said, are you kidding me? Of course he wants you He allowed his one and only son to die for you So that your sins could be forgiven by his perfect sacrifice And he reminded us again that your worst chapter Doesn't have to be your last chapter

Because redemption is real in Jesus And he closed with this Let me assure you that if you were the only person on the face of the earth Jesus would have still left heaven Come to earth and died on the cross just for you In spite of the mistakes you've made In spite of the failures and the shortcomings that we've all had in our lives Jesus loves us anyway The gospel exposes two truths that he had shared about with Tim Keller That we are more flawed than we could even hope or imagine or even believe But we're more loved than we could ever imagine or dream of And that's the encouragement, that's the challenge that I want you to be thinking about this week Is that do you believe that you have the opportunity or that you have been Forgiven and loved by a God who knows you and sees you and wants you Even despite your mistakes And so Pando family, I hope that not only now or will you be thinking about this But I hope that over the course of the week you'll be wrestling with that thought as well Because we'll be doing the same thing We're going to be talking a little more about this topic, this sermon, this upcoming Thursday Where our Pando exclusive podcast will launch and we're going to be talking about Dave's message And how we can best apply this message to our life And so I hope that you'll join us for that, you'll click on that video on Thursday But before we head out, I want to make sure that you have an opportunity Either to bow your head in prayer with us right now as we close the service Or maybe grab a pen, pencil piece of paper and we hope that it blesses you throughout the rest of your week. So whether you need to just receive this prayer or write it down, please pray with me. Jesus, thank you for being a great Redeemer.

Even when life doesn't look the way that I planned it, you are good. I trust your promises. I trust your provision. I love your word. Please protect me from temptation. Please restore what I've lost. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. I am not in control. Lord, I am waiting on you. In chaos, I need your peace and loss. I need your comfort and confusion. I need your truth. I trust you with everything. Lord, I love you, and in your name we pray. Amen. O pando, family, we love you, and we see you. But more importantly, God sees you, and He loves you. We'll catch you next week. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]