Hey, I'm glad that you came back. It's so good to be here with you. I can't believe how many are here on a Sunday evening. How awesome is this? Um, it's a testimony to your church and what God is doing here and your leadership and and pointing you towards the nations. Um, hey, I get to tell a couple stories. Really? Tomorrow night's a big story time. But but tonight, I just want to start with this. I have been excited about what God's doing in this network that we're involved in, and we're seeing churches getting planted around this country. But I've really been thrilled to see churches getting planted and movement happening towards the least reached peoples. And I've tried to engage in both, right. A national focus, but really a global one. And I've done a number of trips in the last couple of years with just some different pastors from our network. Jake, we haven't gone on one of these yet, but head to head to Nepal or to Morocco or to some place that's and just get other guys going there dreaming about what God would do. But Danny jumped in and Selena were just with me just a couple of years ago. We were in Kathmandu, Nepal, and it's amazing. I mean, from where you are in that city, if the weather was clear, it wasn't. While we were there, you'd be able to see the Himalayas, you know, and you can almost see Everest from there. It's nuts to. We flew by that mountain range on the way out. It's. It's crazy how tall those mountains are, but it is a. It is a place of vast humanity. Without Jesus. There are one point six billion people that live in the area that, that we were, um, you know, a kind of a group that they were trying to reach one point six billion. That's twenty percent of planet earth that they were focused on when we were there. And I asked how many people you have trying to reach those people. They have sixty families in in the smaller amount that they're trying to reach of six hundred and forty million. And I was just doing the math. I mean, it'd be like, you know, you get assigned, uh, your family goes and heads overseas and your family. Here's the ratio. One family to twenty seven million. You know, it's like it's astronomical. The odds, the amount of global lostness there is for the gospel in some places. I was just driving out of here and it's like, oh man, Veritas Church seems like the best church in the world. But I drove past another church and I thought, well, that's not too far away. And where I live in Gainesville, there's a lot of churches. You get to places in the world where just millions of humanity, you know, without the gospel. But but I was there with Danny, Selina and some others, and the gospel was moving in power. In fact, um, there in the Himalayan basin area where we are at, um, it's one of the fastest, uh, kind of places where the Gospels move like a wildfire. I spoke about Iran a little bit this morning. That's another place where the gospel is moving like crazy. But let me show you a few pictures of our, our, our time there. And this is actually from a different trip. I've been back a couple times. Um, we took, I took a team First that helped launch into that area, and a community guide that was with me and a and a few people, we'll just blast through theirs. Um, guys, their hearts will make you break. Yeah, that was me saying goodbye to him. I'm like, see you. But you know, a couple of them we just commissioned from our stage with one way tickets. They went through our training program and they are there maybe for life. Um, just a couple of years after this, this is Santo. Um, the amount of people being raised up one after another being reached for the gospel. He's a key leader there. And you just start taking pictures of like, oh my word, you're just just like this little girl who needs Jesus, you know, who's on this gondola? I was heading up the mountains, you know, with her. So I'm just a father and a grandpa too. So I'm like, I hope it's not too weird. I'm taking a picture of little kids. Hey, um, this little kid was the child of some long term workers. There's a couple that I think is from the Midwest that has joined their team. And here's the family. But I just took a picture of their kids because here's the deal. While they were training all these workers that were going over, I just thought, man, their kids are a part of this. Their kids are actively engaged in the mission. It's not like their kids are in some boarding school while mom and dad do missionary stuff. The family is working together. Um, it's amazing worshiping. If you've been abroad and worshiped with indigenous believers, that's fantastic. Let me pause for a second here. Um, everyone gives, you know, even every little child when you're sitting there worshiping in, in churches like this, this one is in Kathmandu. Um, you're watching literally everyone participate financially. I'm sure it's the same way here at Veritas. You know, everyone gives no, I'm just joking. But maybe, you know, maybe you guys all do. We're having a problem or we don't all give it where we're at. Um, but but it's so cute, you know, watching these kids who all have have something to give also, um, transportation is hilarious. I always think it's funny just watching how people are getting around in the world. I mean, how long is that thing going to make it? It's like it's been going over road salt, you know, in Iowa. Um, but it's still making it. I started taking pictures of, you know, how about that stylish kid, you know? And then what's with the army helmet? Is that a pan that that person's wearing? I've seen up to five people on a scooter with a baby in a basket. Uh, but here's this little guy. So I just started taking pictures of people in scooters because it's kind of fun to do. Um, you know, here's J.R., my buddy, doing his very best to share the gospel, doing three circles, rocking that you basically share the gospel everywhere you go. People are open to talking about, uh, the spiritual issues when I've traveled abroad, it's the easiest place to share the gospel on, on planet earth. Um, and here I'll just pause for a second here. We were going around just sharing with locals going on out and, and find a way to, to share Jesus. That's simple. Go with translators. And so we're just roaming around. Um, and by the way, um, we'll pause on this one for a second. Um, we share the gospel in a couple days with two hundred and thirteen people, um, our little group of five or whatever. And you know, one hundred and ninety. Maybe those slides weren't in there. Um, there's some at the temple. Yeah. Uh, yeah. That's okay. I'll share them a little bit later. Um, and maybe it's just as well. Let me describe to you, um, a few slides that weren't there. Uh, they're a bit disturbing. Pashupati temple. Um, I think Danny and Selena were among some of the ones that went there. I referenced this at least a couple of the messages, uh, this morning. It's a temple. If you can, if you can get the body there within twenty four hours of the death, they consider it a tremendous, um, advantage to burn the corpse, um, there and then put the ashes in the river. But, um, I'll never forget the contrast that was going on in my heart in a number of ways. One, just this very visceral you're smelling a body get burned. It's not a barbecue. It's not what you want to smell. You're you're smelling that. You're watching right next to this body engulfed in flames, a family weeping uncontrollably. They're so grieved. But, you know, their tears are still hopeless that nothing they're doing will do anything for this person who now steps into an eternity without Christ. Contrast. So smells. Scenes. What you hear contrasted with the field trip behind me of little children playing, who are showing up because this is like, feel like school field trip. We're at one of the best temples in Kathmandu. One of the most honored temples in all these children are running around playing, and they don't know yet that all of this is hopeless and. His family is like that one that I mentioned. Even from the Midwest just went must go. And they're working in a way with local believers training up there, not just kind of white missionaries out in front trying to make another Veritas church or another salt church. No, no, no. They're working with locals to bring Jesus to a hopeless situation. It's beautiful. I just want you to know this is happening even around our network. We're getting involved in some front lines work that's among some of the least reached peoples on earth, and that will take effort to cross all the barriers intrinsic in between us and them. But today, this evening, we're just going to look at a passage where Jesus crosses maybe more bears than that to bring hope to someone. And I want us to learn as we talk about missions and nations and focuses beyond us getting the gospel beyond us. I want us to look at a passage and see Jesus, the master missionary, succeeding where Jonah had failed. So if you've got a Bible, John chapter four, we're going to be in that the. Disciples, he left Judea and departed again for Galilee, and he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. it was about the sixth hour a woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, give me a drink. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Okay, let me pause. Verse three talks about how he had to. He left Judea and went again to Galilee, but he had to travel through Samaria. It's not exactly right. He could have done what all the other Jews did. He could have gone around Samaria. True. Like if he plugged in his phone, like, I don't know if you're an Apple Maps or Google Maps. My son's always like, dad, be done with Google Maps. It's time to get the Apple Maps. Whatever you would use, it would always take you through Samaria. If you're trying to do what they were doing, it would take you through Samaria. I mean, my word, you've got the Mediterranean on the west, you've got the Jordan River on the east. That's the most direct route. But Jews, because of their disdain for Samaria, and we'll see about that in a second. They found a way to cross a river, go up north, and then cross back across the river just to avoid it. Why? Because though Jews despised Gentiles, non-Jews, they absolutely hated Samaritans. Gentiles were bad enough. John MacArthur speaks about the disdain a Jew would have for Gentile. Maybe you've heard of this. I mean, they did all kinds of silly things. They would leave Gentile lands and knock the dust off their feet because they just didn't want to contaminate the Holy Land with with Gentile dirt. Many Jews believe that God loved Israel and actually hated every other nation. It's not what the Bible says, but that's what they believed. Some Jews believed that God created Gentiles for a purpose. To fuel the fires of hell, God would burn them alive and the life to come to fuel the fires of hell. And maybe you've heard this, but when a Jewish man or woman would intermarry with a non-Jew, a Gentile on the same day of the wedding, the family would not only not attend the wedding, they would hold a funeral. Because as far as race, religion, family was concerned, you were dead to them. They actually do the same thing for Nepali believers. I learned that they hold funerals also on the same day you wed. So Jews despise Gentiles. But guys, that's nothing. They look like friends to Gentiles compared to how they thought of Samaritans. Samaritans were so far worse because Samaritans. This is interesting to me at least. Samaritans back in the day when Assyria came in and grabbed a bunch of Jews and hauled them off into captivity. Some of the Jews did what they never should have done. They intermarried with the Gentiles. They intermarried with the Assyrians. And a Jew plus an Assyrian equals a Samaritan. And now you are a bastard child. You are a half breed. You are a mutt. You are a child of compromise in the eyes of your Jewish brothers. So Samaritans were absolutely hated because they were the products of moral compromise. This is how Jews felt about Samaritans. Why do I tell you all this? Because the love of Jesus broke through every barrier that existed so that the blessing of God would come to her. You just gotta know the love of Jesus in our hearts will help us break through every barrier between us and the person who desperately needs what we have. I said this morning, we're blessed to be a blessing, to get the blessing of God from us into the hearts of people who need it most. You will have to go across so many barriers. Jesus's love broke through them all. For this woman says he had to pass through Samaria. There was a woman there who he knew needed to encounter him. And in verse six it says, Jacob's well was there. And Jesus, worn out from his journey, he sat down at the well. It was about noon. This woman comes to draw water at noon. You might know this. It's an odd time to draw water. No one would draw water at noon and that cultural woman would draw water. She would do it in the morning or the evening because it's cool in the morning, in the evening, and all the women would come out very societal. It was just this was the time to hang out, right? This is the Starbucks of the day. This is when the women would get together. This woman breaks step with all of culture and you'd find her. Crowds and Jesus like a heat seeking missile. Jesus just is on his way to encounter her. Breaks all the rules. Ends up in Samaria, and begins talking with her. Jesus opens the conversation. Look with me. In verse seven, a woman from Samaria, it says, came to draw water. I'm just going to pick up the account. Jesus said to her, give me a drink. That was how it begins. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Now verse nine, the Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that's saying to you, give me a drink. You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. Now it's hard work bringing up the gospel to people different than you, isn't it? Is it for you? It is for me. It's still for me. But Jesus, I just want us to see him. He is the lead missionary. He is modeling for us what Jonah failed to model. Jonah hated the people God sent. Jesus loved the people. Here he is modeling for us this. The first thing he does is he has to break through an ethnic barrier. A Jew is talking to a Samaritan. I already talked about that. That's huge. And she knew it right away. How are you doing this? You're talking to me. This doesn't happen. Jesus breaks through that barrier. Then he has to break through a social barrier. He goes out of his way to break through a social barrier. Jesus, obviously a Jewish man, is talking to her, a Samaritan woman. Men don't talk to women, at least not without their husband there. That could have been viewed as somewhat scandalous. So now she's not only shocked that you, a Jew, are talking to me, a Samaritan, but that you're a Jewish man talking to me, a Samaritan woman. You're breaking all the rules, Jesus. And the final barrier he breaks in. Bringing the hope of God to her is. I don't even know what to call it. Maybe a moral barrier. He doesn't break a moral rule. But he is not only a Jewish man, but he is considered a rabbi in culture. And he is talking to not only a Samaritan who is a woman, but also someone of ill repute, a woman who has a jaded history and is currently living in immorality. Call it what you want. Maybe a moral barrier. He is going against the rules. Before we meet again tomorrow. Okay. You might have to go across some barriers. Jesus certainly did. To bring the love of God to her. Of course he did. So it's a challenge. I have to go across barriers when I talk to Madu, my Hindu neighbour. It's crazy how she manages her yard. It's nuts trying to talk to her. It makes no sense logically. I got to go cross some barriers. Workers that I've seen go across the world. They've got to learn new languages. They've got to eat food that they weren't used to eating. They've got to figure out how to interact with culture in a way that makes sense. You got to go across barriers. And some of you trying to reach people that maybe aren't like you. I mean, we're just going to have to do whatever it takes Because Jesus did whatever it takes and he leads the way. Maybe it's been a while since you've shared the gospel. That's okay. Some of you are like, I wouldn't even know how to because I walked around this. This facility is amazing. It just keeps growing. Since I was here last time and just the offices upstairs, like I guarantee you the equipping that happens in this place. Jordan, Matt, Jake, these guys, any of them train you in how to share the gospel in a way that just makes sense. It's easy for you to do. Sharing the gospel. Let me get back to John four. I want you to see how Jesus turned a normal conversation into a spiritual one. Sometimes it's just hard to turn the conversation towards spiritual things. It is for me. Watch how Jesus does it. John four verse ten. Let me just jump right back into it. Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is saying to you, give me a drink. You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. Okay, we said that. The woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Okay, he's talking about living water. And she's like, what are you going to draw the water with? Where do you get that living water? Verse twelve are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. Jesus offers her living water and she's like, give me some so I never get thirsty again. It's like, wow, this is my marriage. This is like I'm trying to say one thing. James is trying to say another. But you see what he's doing. He's just something as normal as water. He's turning it into a spiritual conversation. Some people are really good at this. They're really good at turning just normal conversations into spiritual conversations. I think it's really good if you've got a go to line to turn conversations into spiritual ones, like just practice something, practice like a good transition line. Here's, here's a couple I have, here's a couple I've heard oftentimes when you're getting to know people, they will talk about what's wrong in the world. They'll talk about things going wrong in their life, pain that they're experiencing, brokenness, family stuff like as you draw them out and you just keep asking them questions about it, and they will share a lot about what's hurting them. In the midst of that, you can, after lovingly listen to them say, can I share with you the hope that I found when I go through similar things? And if you've never gone through something exactly like they're talking about, say, I'm so sorry, I don't even know exactly what it's like to go through something like that. But can I still share with you the hope that I have found when I've gone through pain in my life? People just return. I've never heard someone say no. You draw someone out, listen to them. Invest in them. Of course you can. Maybe you go the other way. They are someone in. All they can do is talk about the Hawkeyes. All they can do is talk about the bears. All they can do is talk about the movie. All they can do is talk about their kids that they love. All they can do is talk about the thing, right? The thing that they are so happy about in life. Draw that out of them. Well, okay. What is it about the bears? Okay, tell me more. So the quarterback is back now. He's healthy again. Okay. So do you think they're gonna win or not? Like, just. And then at some point, obviously, that is so thrilling to you. Can I share with you something that's exciting to me? Well, of course. Yes. I don't know how to do it, but get into a spiritual conversation. I had a friend that was more direct than that. And I'm not saying this works every time. My friend Chad Lowman, when I was in college, he just walking down Welch Avenue on his way to Iowa State and look over nice sandals. Jesus wore sandals. Probably just like that. What do you think about Jesus? That was it. Three lines. Nice sandals. Jesus probably wore sandals like that. Here it comes. What do you think about Jesus now? See, it doesn't work for everyone. Not everyone's wearing sandals. What I'm saying is, find one that works for you. You can turn almost any conversation if you're looking into a spiritual one. God will just give you insight in the moment. If you're leaning in, well, Jesus is doing that. He's he's doing that with her, with her thirst. She wants water that will keep her away from the heat and maybe more importantly, keep her away from others knowing her secret, she doesn't know that what her soul truly thirsts for is Jesus the Savior of the world. And Jesus is trying to draw this out. And so in order for her love for Jesus, love to to meet her, he's going to draw her to this point where he points her thirst to him. John four sixteen he continues, Jesus says to her, and here we're on thin ice. Go call your husband and come here. The woman answered him, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, you are right in saying, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. Whoa! Well, that's one transition sentence right there. I mean, if the water's not working, if the sandals aren't working, just. Just pull this on someone. Go call your husband. No, don't do that. Don't do that. This is Jesus knowing what only he could know. But he still went there not to embarrass her. Isn't it beautiful how God works without shame? God works without guilt. I hope even in this morning when I'm talking about the nations and the state of giving and the state of going, you just feel no guilt. You feel no shame. You feel even if you're just like, oh my word. The ways of Jesus are so beautiful and the power of His spirit is so powerful. He's just going to get his work done. He's going to work with us wherever we're at. There's no guilt in this. When he says, go call your husband. Go call your husband. But what he is doing is he's putting his finger on the object of her worship. He's putting his finger on the object of her trust, of all of her hope. She wants a relationship. She wants a relationship with someone from the opposite sex, the delight of her soul. What she believes will most satisfy her soul, fill her up is a man. So. So Jesus, knowing what's going on in her heart, he actually goes straight towards it. She's asking questions like, Will a man choose me? Will he care for me? Will he say that I'm beautiful? Will he promised me tomorrow. Will he meet my greatest needs? Will he stay with me for a lifetime? Will this next one not abandon me? Can I find that in him? And Jesus knows that that's going on in her heart. He's not playing with her. He's trying to redirect a true longing towards himself. And that's what we're doing in evangelism. I've traveled a bit around the world, and I've learned that people are all pretty much the same. They just need to know that Jesus answers their greatest needs. How does the Samaritan respond when Jesus exposed the center of her worship? She kind of does a Jesus joke. Like she just like totally changes subjects real quick. And this happens at times. So look at this. John four nineteen. The woman in response to Jesus saying, go call your husband. The woman says to him, sir, I perceive that you're a prophet. Like she just goes off on this religious tangent. Sir, I perceive that you're a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the father. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour. The hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth. For the father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming. He who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things. Now let me just stop for a second. I saw in this passage a year or so ago something I had never seen. I saw in this passage for the first time the driving motivation for everything I'm talking about this weekend. I saw in this passage a driver to give ourselves to this. To give ourselves to the the movement of the gospel across all nations. Now, I had never seen it before, so I felt like it had always been teaching it incompletely. There is in this passage of motivation, because in this passage there is something God wants. Our God, who has no needs, actually does want something. Look with me. I'll look. Look again at John four twenty three. I think there'll be a slide. Jesus said, but the hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth, for the father is seeking such people to worship him. There's something God wants, there's something he's seeking, and it's worship. Worship. If you and I seek praise and glory. We bust into the end zone with the ball and just pull at our jersey and draw attention to ourselves. Everyone looks at and goes, you're arrogant. For God to do anything less than draw all attention to himself would be a sin. He is most glorious, most worthy of praise, and he is seeking worship. And it is our greatest joy to find it in him. He is seeking something and it is worship. Our God is a consuming fire. How many of you have ever made a fire? A lot of people, right? Even in Florida. My wife can't stop making fires. She's a pyromaniac. She learned it by living in the Midwest for so long. I am out chopping wood. It's so hot and it doesn't even need to get that cold. Jen's like, we should have a fire. I have had fires going in our fireplace with windows open and the AC on just so she can think she's back. You know, like it's happening again. Anyone who's made a fire knows how you do it. You just kindling a little, you know? I don't know. You fold up some paper, some newspaper, and just get it just right. And my goal is always one match. If I can just build it just right and just. I want to do one match. Just touch it and see if the whole thing. Just give it, give it time. Let's see if it works. Like I want the thing to go on one match. I don't know how I'm competing against everything. Well, in a fire. Here's my question. How much wood does a fire want to consume? All of it. All the wood in the world, Because our God is a consuming fire, and he desires glory from all nations that he is currently not receiving their spinning wheels on the top of mountains and hoisting flags and making sacrifices. Living for money, fattening up retirements and making their giving to God so meager. Yes, idolatry is pervasive. God is not getting the glory he deserves. He's a consuming fire, and he is after this woman's heart for her good and his glory. So the driving force of everything going on here, the driving force in global missions, is that our God is not receiving the glory he deserves, the glory he desires. And Jesus, he's not trying to give her a new religion. He's trying to give her a relationship and not with another guy, but with himself. Now look at this. John four twenty five the woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming. He who is called Christ, when he comes, he'll tell us all things. Here's the mic drop moment. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he. I am he. The one who stands in front of you is the Messiah. I am the one who people are anticipating. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I am the King of all kings. I am the Prince of Peace. I am the fulfillment of the line of David. I am the judge. I am the one who spoke creation into existence. I sustain it and with the word of my mouth I will destroy it in time. I am the I am that Moses spoke of and I I'm standing in front of you, offering you myself. God is not telling her. Deny your pleasure. He's saying, come to me and have your soul filled. Evangelism is one great invitation. The woman does something nuts. She does something Jesus doesn't ask her to do. I think this is really interesting. She goes and she does something Jesus doesn't tell her to do. Jump down to verse twenty seven, John four twenty seven, because the conversation sort of ends after this. Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman. I'm sure they did. I bet that's a big understatement. But no one said, why do you seek or why are you talking with her? I can't believe Peter didn't say something stupid right there. Um. Verse twenty eight. So the woman left her water jar. Here's what she did. She went away into town and said to the people, Come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? They went out of the town and were coming to him. Jesus never told this woman. Tell some other people about me. It's kind of the rules of evangelism. Once it's shared with you, you're morally obligated to tell ten more people. It's like some pyramid scheme. No, he never tells them. You got to do that. And yet she just kind of goes into town. She's like, I mean, this guy, I was talking to him in the water thing and whatever. And then he told me everything I ever did. Can you believe that? I mean, he's like, right over here. I'm going back. I don't know, I mean, maybe you want to come up to you and sin. The whole town is coming. The whole town is coming. What was. Wait. Let me just pause and ask this. What made her do that? She wasn't commanded to tell anyone. And yet she did. She did what we all do with what we're excited about. We tell people she did what we can't help doing when we find something exciting, we got to tell people about it. I'm doing lunch with Matt and Emily Hoffert, you know, and I just see a guy working Jimmy John's and it's like, boom, toasted, which made me think of boom roasted, which made me think of Boom Goes the dynamite, which made me think of a YouTube clip that I thought was really funny that I saw years ago, which made me have to tell Matt. Matt, have you seen the the boom goes the dynamite guy? And then I had to explain all the stuff on how I got a friend who actually knows him and how this whole thing blew up like I do what you do. I share YouTube clips. I share funny clips. I just oh my word, that was so funny. I know I've seen it like seven times already. I got time, watch it again. Share it with friends. Yeah, I thought this was funny. You're gonna love it. And something about pulling you into the center of my joy increases my joy in the very thing that I found joy in. Like, that's how it works. We do this with restaurants. Oh, have you not eaten there yet? Oh, you're kidding me. Come on. I'm not even hungry right now. I'll go eat again with you. Let's go. Oh, have you not been there? Oh, have you not heard of this? We've got a guy in our ministry, an Indian student who loves the movie Odyssey so much that he has seen it. I cannot tell you how many times and all he wants to talk about Odyssey. All the only music he's playing. Odyssey. He will send out elaborate texts of things you never saw when you watch the movie Odyssey that we all missed. Odyssey. Odyssey. Odyssey. Odyssey. He cannot stop talking about it because his goal. In fact, if you say haven't seen it, I'll stop right now. I'll go see it. Full price in the theater. Now I know it's out of theater now, but that's his world. Guys. Christians have a word for pulling people into the thing that they enjoy most. It's called evangelism. The only question is what gospel are you sharing? You can't help talking about what you love most. For some, it's just all I talk about is my kids. Because that's what I love most. Love your kids, but don't love them most. For some, it's a movie. It's music. It's a football team. Like that's what they're most excited about. What you love most is what you most easily make time for. It's what your time and your money flow towards with the least resistance. That's what you love most. That's what I love most. That's evangelism. I'm just asking, what gospel are we sharing? This woman found something in Jesus. Jesus never said, you got to say anything about this. She just did. Because all of a sudden she was finding a life in Jesus. And look what happened. Look at John four twenty nine, the result of this. For thirty nine many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me all that I ever did. So when the woman, uh, when when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days and many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, it's no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves. And we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. This is the first, I think it's the first time the phrase is used. This Jesus Savior of the world. You heard it first in Samaria, where no one comes. Where half breeds. But Jesus came. In fact, he just pitched a tent and hung out. And this woman, she couldn't stop talking. And he said, this. This guy, he's the savior of the world. Can we share our faith? Can we start with our families? Can we. Can we start with the neighbor? Guys, I'm just. There's not it's not going to be easy, but it will be blessed. It will be blessed. We've been blessed to be a blessing. Jesus succeeds. Where Jonah failed. Jonah hated the people God sent him to. Jesus loved the world. Jonah hated the people God sent him to rescue. He wanted to die after he saw the repentance. Jesus. Oh, for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God. And now he just cannot wait for us to get home praying for us regularly. He hasn't stopped serving you, creating a place that we're going to live and cannot wait for us to get home. We follow the greater Jonah, who in every way succeed where Jonah failed. Let me pray. Let me pray for us. Jesus, we worship you. You are captivating. You broke all the rules. You broke all the barriers. Um, I kind of think of some straight laced, like librarian trying to share with a biker gang. Lord, you you broke more rules than that. Um. God, you went across boundaries because you cared so much for people that were dead in their sins, that were so entangled. You went to Samaria. Others, like Danny and Selena, have gone to the other side of the earth trying to figure out how to do it. We've been blessed to be a blessing. And this whole crowd is here because they're leaning in. They're saying, I want in, I follow Jesus. We cannot say we follow you, Jesus, and fail to go to the places you were going to, and you stepped out of everything that was normal to bring the gospel to the least reached people, and that would have probably been Samaria in that day. God, I pray that from this church there would be tremendously more impact. Yes, in Cedar Rapids and across the state and country. But God to the ends of the earth, to the most needy of humanity that need you and God. I pray that you would help us not take ourselves that seriously as we botch it in our evangelism, as we try our best. Oh God, may there be a sweet spirit of encouragement and power, and may the gospel be quickly received by people for your glory and for their joy. We pray in your name. Amen.