I had the opportunity to preach in my church a few weeks ago, and again in our satellite church today (I expanded and improved it a little in the meantime) This is the final version:

First there was message for children before they went to Sunday School, just after a song about letting the living water flow:

John 4: 13-14:

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 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.”

What is the spring of living water that Jesus is talking about? There’s a clue in the song we just sang. Yes, that’s right, the Holy Spirit. Do you know what it looks like when water starts to flow somewhere it hasn’t flowed for a long time?

As you can see, the sticks blocking the pipe don’t look too bad to start with, but as the blockage is pulled out, there are more and more tangled roots, as if they will never end, but as the lady starts to pull out more of it, you can see water starts to flow. Eventually the whole blockage is cleared, but the water that is flowing out is foul and filthy. It takes quite a long time for all that disgusting water to be washed through and the flowing water to turn completely clear, but eventually it does.

Now, that initial blockage is like the sin in our hearts that God wants to forgive and remove if we will let Him. It may not look like much from the outside, but it usually goes very deep and can be unpleasant for us when it gets removed and take a long time to really get it all out of us, and once it is removed, a lot of nasty things that were hidden deep inside of you can come out, bitterness, rage, guilt, lies we tell ourselves, it can seem like things are getting worse than when you started, but it is all part of the process of cleaning you.

What if the blockage was removed, but there was no clean water ready to flow through the channel? Then all the nasty stuff in the channel would stay there, slowly getting fouler, and other nasty things might crawl up the pipe to live in there and make things worse. This is why when you get forgiven of your sins, you also need to invite the Holy Spirit into your heart, to flow into and through you, washing and refreshing you, so you can be a source of blessing to others.

Luke 10: 1-12; 16-20:

Imagine being part of that group of seventy two: You’re healing the sick, driving out demons, preaching the good news, the Kingdom of God is finally breaking out in a way never seen before, evil is on the run, what a time to be alive! It must have been amazing, such an exciting and joyful reunion to hear all the stories from the others, we’re taking on the whole world and winning! Jesus even confirms that Satan has fallen from heaven, and we are protected from all harm! Nothing can stop us now.

We can pray for such times to come for us, as long as we are ready for the intense spiritual battle that will accompany them, but in the midst of their celebration Jesus says something unexpected.

Don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you? How can that not be a cause for rejoicing? It’s everything they ever wished for. Then he gives an even greater reason to be joyful, an eternal reason. Your names are written in heaven. You have an eternal joyful secure future, no matter what happens to you on earth. The message is clear, do not expect an endless string of victories, your source of joy is in something much deeper and more reliable, your status before the faithful promise-keeping God of the Universe.

This may be a relatively easy shift in perspective to make in principle, especially when things are going well, but it only truly tested and is much more difficult and more important to do when everything seems to be falling apart, all you can see is your own failures and the damage you’ve done, there is tension at work or at home. Your current temporary situation is far less important than your eternal destiny. There is always a reason for gratitude, there is always a reason to rejoice.

Your name is written in heaven. If you’re anything like me, or stuck in a negative spiral of thoughts, you might ask, “God, why would you let me into heaven? I would just ruin it.” This might seem like a very pessimistic question, but there is a deep truth behind it. As you are right now, you would ruin it. But the good news is, that God is changing you, cleansing you like the channel in the video, if you will only let God’s Holy Spirit do its work. Some days or weeks or months, it may seem like you’re making no progress, or even getting worse and falling back into old bad habits that you thought you’d beaten. Especially if you lose something that you’ve depended on for a long time, it can feel like you now have one leg shorter than the other and can no longer stand up straight, or have suffered a stroke and need to relearn the most basic things, like walking, talking and using your hands.

Progress in life is never a straight line, it comes in waves, when you are training intelligently and gainfully you have periods of loading, of stress, interspersed with periods of rest and recovery.

Sometimes training methods can seem nonsensical. The classical example I would give would be in the remake of The Karate Kid:

The student gets more and more frustrated and angry with the seemingly nonsensical instructions, thinking he is learning a stupid, simple lesson that he already knows, until he confronts his sensei, who shows him that he’s been drilling into muscle memory a series of defensive and counterattacking moves. It is not just a lesson in self-defense, but in humility and trust.

God’s ways with us can seem just as confusing at times. There are things in this life that we will never understand this side of eternity. The questions you need to ask is, “Do I trust my trainer? Does he know what he is doing? Does he have my best interests at heart?”

At different stages of our lives, God takes away one set of our training wheels and asks us to step up and scale the same types of obstacles in new ways, to stand more stably and properly on the true foundation of life, which is Christ. He is looking at the long-term gains of our temporary sufferings. The long term perspective is eternity, which far outweighs any suffering we can endure in this life.

All too often we don’t see it that way, and the stresses of life overwhelm us, driving us to despair, bitterness or near insanity. When those negative emotions seem to be spiralling out of control and overwhelming you, visualise that foul flow pouring out of your heart onto the ground, gradually being washed out by that flow of pure living water until it is completely clear. You can trust Him, He knows what He is doing and He has your best interests at heart.

Philippians 1: 3-6:

3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Your name is written in heaven, and He is inviting you to grow into a worthy addition to that holy community, so that you will be a true blessing to it.