WEBVTT 00:00:01.029 --> 00:00:07.070 Howdy. When I was younger, my mom, my sister 00:00:07.070 --> 00:00:09.650 and I were driving down a road in the neighborhood 00:00:09.650 --> 00:00:13.169 near my school. We're heading along normally 00:00:13.169 --> 00:00:18.010 when suddenly my sister says, stop, we need to 00:00:18.010 --> 00:00:21.489 turn around. And my mom and I looked at her and 00:00:21.489 --> 00:00:25.070 we asked, why? And she points back and she says, 00:00:25.289 --> 00:00:30.839 the sign, it says dead end. And we were really 00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:34.740 confused. We had driven that road before, and 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:39.179 there wasn't a dead end there. But she was convinced. 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:42.539 No, the sign says dead end. We can't go this 00:00:42.539 --> 00:00:48.140 way. So we turn around, drive back to look at 00:00:48.140 --> 00:00:50.799 the sign that she saw. And when we got close 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:55.420 enough, we finally saw the dead end sign. clearly 00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:59.619 for ourselves in big bold letters saying, road 00:00:59.619 --> 00:01:04.420 humps. And that was the day we discovered my 00:01:04.420 --> 00:01:09.079 sister needed glasses. What she thought was the 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:11.200 end of the road wasn't the end of the road at 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:15.579 all, it was just something in the road. Sometimes, 00:01:16.280 --> 00:01:20.319 the very thing that looks like an obstacle, it's 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:22.980 not the end. Sometimes the thing we think is 00:01:22.980 --> 00:01:26.980 blocking the way is actually part of the road 00:01:26.980 --> 00:01:32.159 itself. And that happens in life, too. Sometimes 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:34.459 we look at a difficult or devastating situation 00:01:34.459 --> 00:01:37.599 and think, this must be a dead end. This must 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:41.060 mean God is not providing. This must mean there's 00:01:41.060 --> 00:01:45.959 no way forward. But the Scriptures show us something 00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:49.329 surprising. Well, it looks like the obstacle 00:01:49.329 --> 00:01:52.329 may be the very place where God is about to give 00:01:52.329 --> 00:01:57.510 life. And we see that happen three times in today's 00:01:57.510 --> 00:02:02.530 message. In the wilderness, at a well, and at 00:02:02.530 --> 00:02:06.189 the cross. The people of Israel once faced a 00:02:06.189 --> 00:02:07.969 moment where everything in front of them looked 00:02:07.969 --> 00:02:11.729 like a dead end. In the book of Exodus, chapter 00:02:11.729 --> 00:02:14.969 17, the people of Israel are traveling through 00:02:14.969 --> 00:02:19.530 the wilderness. It actually sits between Egypt 00:02:19.530 --> 00:02:23.909 and the promised land, and in many ways, it serves 00:02:23.909 --> 00:02:28.110 as a kind of barrier between Israel and the power 00:02:28.110 --> 00:02:31.349 that once enslaved them. But traveling through 00:02:31.349 --> 00:02:33.569 the wilderness to get to that promised land, 00:02:34.150 --> 00:02:38.729 it's not easy. There's dust and heat, and most 00:02:38.729 --> 00:02:42.289 importantly, there's no water. So the people 00:02:42.289 --> 00:02:44.789 begin to argue with Moses, and they complain. 00:02:45.129 --> 00:02:49.360 They accuse him. They even question God, why 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.819 did you bring us up out of Egypt? Was it just 00:02:52.819 --> 00:02:57.340 so we could die out here? From their perspective, 00:02:57.500 --> 00:03:00.819 the situation looks pretty obvious. There's no 00:03:00.819 --> 00:03:04.400 water. There's only rock and dry ground and wilderness. 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:10.060 In their minds, they have reached that end. But 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:13.919 God tells Moses to do something strange. He says, 00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:17.580 Pass on before the people, taking you some of 00:03:17.580 --> 00:03:22.580 the elders of Israel, and strike the rock. Notice 00:03:22.580 --> 00:03:26.199 something important. God tells Moses to bring 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:28.800 the elders with him. Don't do it by yourself. 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:33.879 Not everyone, but enough witnesses there. Because 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:37.520 what God is about to do is something they must 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:41.960 see and testify to. So Moses walks up to the 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:45.180 rock with his staff in hand. The same staff God 00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:48.800 used to part the Red Sea. The same staff that 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:53.819 God used to strike Egypt. The elders are watching. 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:57.199 The people through them are watching. And nothing 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:01.219 about that rock looks promising. It's just stone. 00:04:02.659 --> 00:04:09.340 Hard, dry, lifeless. Then Moses raises the staff. 00:04:09.870 --> 00:04:14.129 And he strikes the rock, the sound echoing across 00:04:14.129 --> 00:04:18.029 the wilderness. Wood against stone. And maybe, 00:04:18.250 --> 00:04:23.269 maybe for a moment, nothing happens. Then suddenly, 00:04:24.250 --> 00:04:29.490 the rock cracks and water begins to pour out. 00:04:30.649 --> 00:04:33.310 Water spilling down the rock and running across 00:04:33.310 --> 00:04:37.959 the ground so the people can drink. The very 00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:40.639 thing that looked like an obstacle became the 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:45.720 place where life appeared. And maybe in that 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:50.240 moment, something else cracked open too. Not 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:54.100 just the rock, but the hearts of the people. 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:57.959 Hearts that had been hard with fear, with anger, 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:01.240 with distrust. Because now the elders have seen 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:07.310 it with their own eyes. God had not. Abandon 00:05:07.310 --> 00:05:12.009 them. A rock that could hold the waters back, 00:05:13.230 --> 00:05:18.610 but easily split with one hit of the staff. The 00:05:18.610 --> 00:05:22.730 rock that looked lifeless was exactly where God 00:05:22.730 --> 00:05:26.290 had hidden the water. What looked like the obstacle 00:05:26.290 --> 00:05:29.410 was the place where God gave life. Centuries 00:05:29.410 --> 00:05:33.050 later, another person stood at another place 00:05:33.050 --> 00:05:37.420 where water was drawn. The Gospel of John, chapter 00:05:37.420 --> 00:05:42.259 4. A Samaritan woman comes to a well in the middle 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:47.220 of the day. They are in Samaria. And that detail 00:05:47.220 --> 00:05:53.959 matters, but also the time as well. People usually 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:56.560 come to the well in the cool of the morning or 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.500 later in the evening. Coming at noon suggests 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:03.120 that she wants to avoid others. She has a past. 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:07.389 She has a reputation. She has reasons to keep 00:06:07.389 --> 00:06:11.610 her distance. And when she arrives, she finds 00:06:11.610 --> 00:06:16.329 something unexpected. A man sitting at the well. 00:06:17.189 --> 00:06:21.350 A Jewish rabbi, to be precise. And immediately 00:06:21.350 --> 00:06:25.769 she feels the obstacles. Jews and Samaritans, 00:06:25.769 --> 00:06:30.550 they did not get along. And a man, let alone 00:06:30.550 --> 00:06:33.490 a rabbi, normally would not be speaking to a 00:06:33.490 --> 00:06:37.079 woman like her. So when Jesus asks her for a 00:06:37.079 --> 00:06:42.740 drink, she's surprised, maybe suspicious, maybe 00:06:42.740 --> 00:06:46.399 even a little sarcastic, if you will. How is 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:50.420 it that you, a Jew, ask a drink from me, a woman 00:06:50.420 --> 00:06:54.759 of Samaria? In her mind, Jesus is probably just 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:58.120 another obstacle in an already difficult life. 00:06:59.459 --> 00:07:02.000 Another reminder of the divide between their 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:05.360 peoples? Another voice representing a religious 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:10.720 system that she has not lived up to. But Jesus 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:15.939 says something unexpected as Jesus is wont to 00:07:15.939 --> 00:07:20.199 do. Whoever drinks of the water that I will give 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:25.199 him will never be thirsty again. And slowly the 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:29.100 conversation begins to change. Jesus reveals 00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:35.360 he knows her life and every man in it. Not to 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:39.300 shame her, not to condemn her, but to show that 00:07:39.300 --> 00:07:43.620 he sees her completely. He knows that bad relationships 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:46.620 are not only about making bad choices, every 00:07:46.620 --> 00:07:50.379 relationship has been another trip to the same 00:07:50.379 --> 00:07:55.920 unsatisfying well. Another hope that this time 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:59.860 she would finally find security, love, worth. 00:08:00.740 --> 00:08:04.920 But Jesus still speaks with her. Still offers 00:08:04.920 --> 00:08:08.759 her life. And suddenly, as He reveals His true 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:12.600 identity as the Messiah, as the Christ, she realizes 00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:15.860 something. The man she thought was the obstacle 00:08:15.860 --> 00:08:19.579 is actually the source of the living water that 00:08:19.579 --> 00:08:23.079 she has been searching for. Her heart breaks 00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:26.360 open, and the hardened woman who came to the 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:31.779 well alone now runs back into town, telling the 00:08:31.779 --> 00:08:35.159 people, come see a man who told me everything 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:43.220 I ever did. Could this be the Christ? The isolated 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:46.580 woman becomes the witness, just like the elders 00:08:46.580 --> 00:08:50.039 in the wilderness. Because once again, what looked 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:54.179 like the obstacle was the place where God gave 00:08:54.179 --> 00:08:59.220 life. In her story, it's not as unique as we 00:08:59.220 --> 00:09:03.000 might think. People today still go searching 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:08.059 for life in wells that cannot satisfy. Some people 00:09:08.059 --> 00:09:11.639 believe success will finally satisfy them. Another 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:15.279 promotion, another milestone, another accomplishment. 00:09:16.139 --> 00:09:19.559 For a moment it feels like water, but the thirst 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:24.690 always returns. Jesus doesn't look at your accomplishments 00:09:24.690 --> 00:09:28.450 to determine your worth, though. Your worth is 00:09:28.450 --> 00:09:32.590 what you are given because of His grace. Others 00:09:32.590 --> 00:09:36.409 believe the right relationship will finally fill 00:09:36.409 --> 00:09:39.429 the emptiness. If someone truly loves me, everything 00:09:39.429 --> 00:09:43.610 will be okay. But even the best relationship 00:09:43.610 --> 00:09:47.529 cannot carry the weight of being someone's ultimate 00:09:47.529 --> 00:09:52.919 source of meaning. Eventually the well runs dry 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:58.500 again. Jesus, though, offers something different. 00:09:59.580 --> 00:10:02.240 He gives a love that does not collapse under 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:07.720 pressure. And others still, they don't chase 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:12.519 success or romance necessarily, but they do chase 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:17.789 escape. Endless scrolling, constant entertainment, 00:10:18.289 --> 00:10:23.070 never allowing silence. But distraction is like 00:10:23.070 --> 00:10:27.529 drinking salt water. The more you consume, the 00:10:27.529 --> 00:10:31.409 thirstier you become. But Christ offers something 00:10:31.409 --> 00:10:35.470 entirely different. A spring of water welling 00:10:35.470 --> 00:10:40.909 up to eternal life. That is why Jesus' promise 00:10:40.909 --> 00:10:45.100 is so powerful. He doesn't offer another flawed 00:10:45.100 --> 00:10:50.919 well. He offers living water. But when Jesus 00:10:50.919 --> 00:10:53.460 began preaching and teaching, He was not always 00:10:53.460 --> 00:10:57.559 recognized as bringing life. Many people saw 00:10:57.559 --> 00:11:02.059 Him as a problem. He challenged their authority. 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:07.139 He exposed their hypocrisy. He didn't fit their 00:11:07.139 --> 00:11:11.500 expectations. So they treated him like the obstacle 00:11:11.500 --> 00:11:14.960 to what they thought they wanted. And what do 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:19.980 people do with obstacles? They remove them. They 00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:24.039 silence them. They get rid of them. And that 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:27.419 is exactly what they did to Jesus. They arrested 00:11:27.419 --> 00:11:30.659 him. They condemned him. They nailed him to a 00:11:30.659 --> 00:11:34.960 cross. To them, it looked like the end of the 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:37.840 obstacle. The end of the troublemaker. The end 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:41.179 of the disruption. But God had something else 00:11:41.179 --> 00:11:44.879 in mind because the Scriptures had already spoken 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:50.240 about this moment. In the book of Psalms, chapter 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:53.940 118, verse 22, we hear these words. The stone 00:11:53.940 --> 00:11:57.759 the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 00:11:59.220 --> 00:12:02.340 The very stone they rejected, the one they thought 00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:05.159 was useless, the one they tried to remove, the 00:12:05.159 --> 00:12:09.299 one they broke on the tree. That stone becomes 00:12:09.299 --> 00:12:12.539 the cornerstone, the place where the whole building 00:12:12.539 --> 00:12:16.379 is built around. And at the cross, something 00:12:16.379 --> 00:12:20.519 astonishing happens. The one they thought was 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:24.279 the obstacle becomes the source of salvation. 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:29.000 Whatever they thought they were doing, Jesus 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:33.600 was the one giving Himself. He was laying down 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:36.919 His own life. And through His death comes forgiveness. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:41.720 Through His suffering comes mercy. Through the 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:45.220 cross comes life for the world. The cross looked 00:12:45.220 --> 00:12:48.740 like defeat, but it became the fountain of salvation. 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:52.220 The water mingled with the blood became the living 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:57.379 water for us all. Once again, what looked like 00:12:57.379 --> 00:13:00.460 the obstacle was the place where God gave life. 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:04.200 The rock that looked lifeless gave water. The 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:06.899 rabbi at the well offered living water. The cross 00:13:06.899 --> 00:13:10.240 that looked like defeat became salvation. Jesus 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:14.240 looked like a stumbling block, but He was a cornerstone. 00:13:16.899 --> 00:13:19.539 But yet, we still misread the signs in our lives. 00:13:20.860 --> 00:13:23.100 Just like my sister mistook road humps for a 00:13:23.100 --> 00:13:26.299 dead end, we sometimes look at our lives and 00:13:26.299 --> 00:13:29.740 assume we know what is happening. We see hardship 00:13:29.740 --> 00:13:32.399 and think this must mean God has abandoned me. 00:13:33.259 --> 00:13:35.340 We see a challenge and think this must be the 00:13:35.340 --> 00:13:38.899 end of the road. We encounter something difficult 00:13:38.899 --> 00:13:43.120 and assume there is no way forward. When that 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:48.320 happens, something even deeper takes place. We 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:52.879 begin to misread Jesus Himself. Instead of seeing 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:56.120 Him as the source of life, we start to see Him 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:59.470 as the obstacle. When Jesus calls us to forgive 00:13:59.470 --> 00:14:03.690 someone who hurt us. When Jesus calls us to humility 00:14:03.690 --> 00:14:08.070 instead of pride. When Jesus calls us to trust 00:14:08.070 --> 00:14:10.669 God instead of controlling everything ourselves. 00:14:11.730 --> 00:14:15.190 When Jesus calls us to faith instead of fear. 00:14:16.570 --> 00:14:18.549 Sometimes we look at those things and we think 00:14:18.549 --> 00:14:20.929 this is what's getting in the way of the life 00:14:20.929 --> 00:14:24.470 I want. Some people look at Jesus and think I'm 00:14:24.470 --> 00:14:28.009 doing fine on my own a stable career of financial 00:14:28.009 --> 00:14:32.370 security a respected reputation But Jesus says 00:14:32.370 --> 00:14:37.629 something unsettling apart from me You can do 00:14:37.629 --> 00:14:42.529 nothing Admitting that means admitting we are 00:14:42.529 --> 00:14:45.789 not the foundation of our own lives Christ is 00:14:45.789 --> 00:14:49.669 not coming to tear down your life He is coming 00:14:49.669 --> 00:14:51.730 to be the foundation that can actually hold it 00:14:51.730 --> 00:14:58.980 up Others like the idea of spirituality, meaning 00:14:58.980 --> 00:15:03.159 and meditation and personal truth. But Jesus 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:06.639 does not simply offer inspiration in a chicken 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:12.740 soup book. He says, I am the way. People want 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:15.799 inspiration, but they don't want a cornerstone 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:19.740 that defines the whole structure. Yet the Gospel 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:24.019 says the structure collapses without Him. And 00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:26.860 sometimes a stumbling block is grace itself. 00:15:28.059 --> 00:15:32.840 We would rather fix ourselves. Climb the ladder. 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:38.399 Improve enough. Earn our way. But the cross declares 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:41.860 something different. Life does not come from 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:45.539 what we achieve. It comes from what Christ has 00:15:45.539 --> 00:15:50.419 done for us. The rock struck in the wilderness 00:15:50.419 --> 00:15:54.100 and the Savior struck on the cross? Both say 00:15:54.100 --> 00:15:57.419 the same thing. Life comes from what God provides, 00:15:57.659 --> 00:16:01.720 not what we achieve. The thing we think is the 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:05.019 obstacle is actually the place where God is giving 00:16:05.019 --> 00:16:09.899 life. Israel saw a rock and assumed death, but 00:16:09.899 --> 00:16:12.980 the rock released water. The Samaritan woman 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:16.899 saw a rabbi and assumed rejection, but he offered 00:16:16.899 --> 00:16:20.360 living water. The world saw a cross and assumed 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:25.399 defeat. but the cross became salvation. And sometimes 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:27.779 the thing we are pushing against the hardest, 00:16:28.059 --> 00:16:32.279 the thing we think is in our way is actually 00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:35.200 the place where God is calling us to receive 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:42.000 his grace. Because the truth is simple. Jesus 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:47.580 is not the obstacle. Jesus is the way. He is 00:16:47.580 --> 00:16:51.039 the one who gives living water. the one who forgives 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:53.879 our sins, the one who opens hardened hearts, 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:58.720 the one who leads us into life. So when life 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:03.960 feels like a dead end, when the road looks blocked, 00:17:04.740 --> 00:17:08.619 when the situation feels dry and lifeless, remember 00:17:08.619 --> 00:17:13.000 the rock in the wilderness. Israel saw nothing 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:17.819 but stone. But when the rock was struck, water 00:17:17.819 --> 00:17:20.950 flowed. Remember the woman at the well. She came 00:17:20.950 --> 00:17:23.630 searching for ordinary water, but the man she 00:17:23.630 --> 00:17:27.609 met there offered living water. And remember 00:17:27.609 --> 00:17:30.750 the cross. The world looked at that cross and 00:17:30.750 --> 00:17:33.829 thought it was the end. The end of the troublemaker. 00:17:34.609 --> 00:17:37.809 The end of the road. But the cross was not the 00:17:37.809 --> 00:17:41.990 end. It was where new life began. It was the 00:17:41.990 --> 00:17:45.569 place where forgiveness began to flow. where 00:17:45.569 --> 00:17:48.369 mercy began to flow, where living water began 00:17:48.369 --> 00:17:51.089 to flow for the world, and that living water 00:17:51.089 --> 00:17:58.890 is for you. Forgiveness. Life. Salvation. Given 00:17:58.890 --> 00:18:03.529 through Jesus Christ. Because we spend our lives 00:18:03.529 --> 00:18:07.990 walking from well to well, hoping the next one 00:18:07.990 --> 00:18:12.009 will finally satisfy, but every well runs dry. 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:15.960 until we meet the one who does not just draw 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:23.079 water, he is the living water. Thanks be to God.