Sermon nuggets Mon. March 3, 2008
Theme – An effective Witness
Verses- John 4:10 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." (NIV)
LIVING WATER
The late Peter Marshall told a story of the “keeper of the spring.” An old gentleman who lived along the eastern slopes of the Alps had been hired by an Austrian village to clear away the debris from the pools of water in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. Faithfully he would remove the leaves and branches that would contaminate and choke the fresh flow of water. Years passed, and one evening at a town council meeting the salary figure for the keeper of the spring was discussed. They decided his services were no longer needed and unanimously voted to eliminate that expense from their budget.
Several weeks nothing changed. But by early fall the trees began to lose their leaves and branches were breaking off and falling into the pools, hindering the flow of sparkling water. By spring of the following year, the water had a yellowish brown tint and an odor.
Quickly, the embarrassed council had a meeting and hired back the keeper of the spring, and within a few weeks the river began to show signs of flowing faster and being cleaner.
In a sense our church has keepers of the spring- people who quietly keep the water of the church crystal clear and flowing freely. Nursery workers, VBS teachers, Sunday School Teachers, musicians, greeters, ushers, committee workers, prayer warriors, contributors, and the list goes on and on.
But another thought struck me as Jesus refers to Himself as living water. The phrase came to mean that water which flowed was always a source replenishing the supply as opposed to the pool, or stilled water which collected and didn’t have a fresh source and soon became stagnant, or dried up.
We begin this week looking at a conversation Jesus had with a Samaritan woman. He tells her there is fresh water continually flowing from Himself that never dries up nor goes stagnant.
Now I suppose there are times when our sin is like the debris that plugs and muddies it up and we need to be the keepers of the spring that addresses sin that we might have that spiritual freshness from Him.
What might muddy up the living water intended for your life?
Pastor Dale
