INTRODUCTION: The world’s most unique festivals!
Today, we’re joining Jesus at a great festival!
JOHN 7:37-39 - 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and yelled in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink.38 Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
THE FESTIVAL’S HISTORY:
Sukkot / The Festival of Tabernacles / The Festival of
LEVITICUS 23 - celebrating Israel’s release from slavery and bondage
- candles and lights
- work forbidden
- prayers and parades
- bands and worship
- trumpets and horns
- crowds of people
- dancing, jugglers, acrobats
- feasting
- temporary shacks / booths
- and The
EXODUS 17:1-6 1 At the Lord’s command, the whole community of Israel left the wilderness…and eventually camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink. 2 So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded…3 …tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” 4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!” 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. 6 I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.” So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out of it…
The Water Pouring Ceremony celebrated the past and stirred anticipation for the future…
ISAIAH 55:1 - “Listen! Every one who is thirsty, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
ZECHARIAH 14:8 - 8 On that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half toward the Mediterranean, flowing continuously in both summer and winter.
ISAIAH 44:3 - For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children.
Jesus shouts…
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
‘Before the river can
Four Dams that Block the River of God’s Power in our Lives:
1
NUMBERS 22 - Balaam and his donkey
APPLIC: If your life is lacking the Holy Spirit’s power, it would be worth your time to see if there are ways in which you are disobeying God’s ways!
2
PROVERBS 28:13 - One who covers up his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them finds mercy.
JAMES 5:16 - Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.
APPLIC: Survey the path of the life-giving-river in your life and see if there is a dam blocking the flow called ‘Cover-Ups’!
PICTURE THIS: The Daniel Johnson Dam
3 Lack of
JAMES 1:6 - …if any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem he has only to ask God—but he must ask in sincere faith without secret doubts as to whether he really wants God’s help or not. The person who trusts God, but with inward reservations, is like a wave of the sea, carried forward by the wind one moment and driven back the next. That sort of person cannot hope to receive anything from God, and the life of a person of divided loyalty will reveal instability at every turn.
APPLIC: What would it take for you to experience a significant increase in your confidence, trust and active, risky-belief in what God wants to do in and through your life?
Lack of
Two kinds of people: Those who are
JOB 22:21-22 - “Give in to God, come to terms with Him and everything will turn out just fine. Let Him tell you what to do; take His words to heart. Come back to God Almighty and He’ll rebuild your life. Clean house of everything evil. Relax your grip on your money…God Almighty will be your treasure, more wealth than you can imagine.
APPLIC: The richest treasures are found when we
CONCLUSION:
The story of the USS Indianapolis, July 1945…