Bible reading – John 7:37-39
Jesus says this just as they coming near to the end of the Feast of Tabernacles which was festival to celebrate the fruit harvest. It was a very public event and the official leaders of the church had been looking for a way to arrest Jesus because they didn’t like what he was saying.
On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.”(He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)
One of the things that interests me about water is that you don’t need very much of it to get wet. Have you ever spilt a glass of water on your desk or in your room. It goes everywhere doesn’t it?. There always seems far more water on the desktop or the floor than there was in the glass.
Or if you go out in the rain, in just a few seconds as you may have discovered earlier this afternoon you can get absolutely soaked.
Or if you play with a water gun, you don’t need to use a lot of water to get very wet indeed.
Jesus said, “Come to me all who are thirsty and I will give you a drink.”
He’s trying to help us to see that the way to be the best person we can be is if we accept his help. We don’t have to do it on our own. And just like we’ve discovered with the water, a little bit can go a long way. Including Jesus in our everyday lives and letting him be our friend is can make a big difference even if it doesn’t feel like very much.
Bible reading – John 16:13-15
These are Jesus’ words just as he is facing arrest and possibly execution. He’s having his last meal with his friends, the disciples and they are trying to persuade him that everything will be OK. He has to tell them he will be leaving.
But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said.He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you.15Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.’
Explosive force
I have an experiment fI want to show you, but first I want to read you a small extract from Acts chapter 2: 1-4
When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.
On with the experiment! Here I have a cola bottle, and when I take off the top there is a small fizz but not much action. This video clip shows what happens when you put a Mentos mint into the Coke bottle.
An explosive force!
This next video clip reminds me of those disciples, 2000 years ago after the Holy Spirit visited them with power; they were capable of doing so much more than they could have imagined.
The contrast to that explosion is of water is one of a stream gently flowing down hill. Watch this clip to get a completely different sense of how the Holy Spirit might work
In the Bible, rivers are mentioned 150 times. They give a wonderful illustration of how the Holy Spirit can work through us. In the drier, more arid areas of the world, such as Africa and India water is extremely important to survival. There are millions of hectares of land that are useless for crops because they are too dry to sustain life. However, where a river flows through these areas, life springs up in abundance. Farmers deliberately plant their crops on river flood plains, such as the Nile or Ganges because the yearly flood cycle washes life giving nutrients into the land and irrigates the crops. If we put Jesus at the centre of our lives, and let the Holy Spirit live and flow through us (like the river), the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control) will grow in us. If anyone here wants to know more about how to have the Holy Spirit in their lives or has any questions, we would be happy to talk with you after the presentation.
Closing prayer –
Wonderful Lord. Thank you that you are here with us now. I pray that we will come to realise or continue to know your awesome power flowing through us like a river with the help of the Holy Spirit. I ask that we will be able to demonstrate some of the fruits of the spirit to others in the coming week. Thank you Lord Jesus, Amen.