A Global Methodist Church
Today’s message is “The Living Water”. We are blessed to have guest preacher Dwight Johnson deliver the message today. Dwight has been involved “Haven of Rest” ministries, a homeless ministry in Akron since 1997. The scripture basis is John 4:1-42 “Jesus and The Woman of Sameria.” The story about Jesus talking with the woman at the well has never been more relevant than it is today. There were many “reasons” for Jesus to not talk to the woman at the well. In that day, it would have not been acceptable for a lone man to talk to a lone woman. It certainly would have been excusable for a Jew to not talk to a Samaritan. We have these same racial issues today, especially in The Middle East. As Jesus explains, Jesus is The Gift of God and the “water” He offers is the spring of eternal life. Jesus knew the lady although they had never met. He knew about every sin she had ever committed and yet He loved her. Jesus was not surprised by this “chance” meeting while the woman was certainly not looking to have an awkward conversation while she did her chores. Jesus wants to leave no one in sin. He offers forgiveness and sanctification for all, no matter what we have done or how much “work” we need to do on ourselves. The water Jesus offered was not the physical water that the woman was there to draw but rather the spiritual water that we all need even before we may realize it. Jesus meets us where we are because there is not one righteous enough to approach a sinless God except through Jesus. The woman at the well was embarrassed by her sinful life style. Jesus accepted her despite this and loved her enough to allow her to change after she met Him. Our lives before meeting Jesus do not matter enough to keep us away from Him or cause us to be unworthy of His saving Grace. Jesus paid that penalty for you and for me. Once Jesus met the woman with his love, she testified to everyone she met and many more believed. We are all called to do the same.
Holy Spirit to all of us that follow Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is called “The Advocate”. He is the aspect of God that is our source of comforter, our source of scripture hidden within, our voice of prayer when we have none. The gift of the Holy spirit is the best gift imaginable besides Jesus Christ himself. When Jesus Christ gave us The Holy Spirit, it was a huge change for the Church. Today, we must be committed to accepting the changes that are necessary to continue to spread The Good News of Jesus Christ. The only shot that the enemy has is to slow us down and to leave us stuck in 1924 would be one of his most useful tools. We live in 2024 and the world says we are not relevant. However, we must follow the leadings of The Holy Spirit and go out into the world, trusting in The Lord with all our hearts and leaning not on our own understanding. The original apostles had to embrace the biggest change when Jesus ascended and left them The Holy Spirit. Today is our chance to embrace the changes that He is calling us toward and find new and different ways to get His message to a fallen world.
Let's honor mothers today with a sermon dedicated to thanking God for our mothers. The message today is called "Love Ya mom!" 1st Corinthians 13: 1-7 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
A mother's job of raising her children is driven by a love for her children that cannot be matched by any other human. 1st Corinthians 13:13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Always treasure the love that your mother has for you no matter how well or how badly she has shown it. This is a great thing for which to thank God.
Today's message is "Life Changing Truth." Jesus said I am the way and the Truth and the Life. No comes to The Father except by me. Truth is not a trivial thing. This world will argue that there is no truth or that you can have a "truth" that is different from my "truth". We know there is absolute Truth. We know that The Bible is Truth. We know that all of creation was created through Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus died to pay for the sins of you and me. We know the truth. We have head knowledge of the truth but we need to KNOW the truth in our being. We need to spend time in The Word and Know Jesus to know The Truth.