Fresh Wind, New Spirit
Part 1
Pastor Jared Nieman
Part of Fresh Wind, New Spirit
June 6, 2021
  • Psalm 51:10 (MSG) – God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails!
    • I wonder how many of you are here today who could use some fresh wind in your sails!
      • A Fresh idea, a fresh start, a new beginning
      • Fresh- newly made or obtained
    • Over the next several weeks, on Sundays and Wednesdays, we are going to be talking about the power of worship and what it can do to usher in a fresh wind in our lives!
  • As we begin this new series on worship, we need to take worship out of the box of Sunday morning and Wednesday evening!
    • Worship is not something meant exclusively for a church experience!
    • Worship is a condition and position of the heart.
    • It is not a song or a place we sing!
    • It is a manner or a lifestyle that we live!

  • John 4 – Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on the mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
    • There is great significance in this moment, in what Jesus is doing:
      • Jews hated the Samaritans
      • Not only is Jesus speaking to a Samaritan, but a Samaritan woman – not only is she a Samaritan woman but a woman with 5 husbands and living with another man
      • Even Jesus’ disciples questioned what He was doing
      • Yet, Jesus was not affected by the stigmas and rules of the world. He did all of this to reveal God’s heart and thoughts about worship
    • Verse 16: Jesus tells her to call her husband – He knows there isn’t one
    • Verses 17-18: Jesus reveals that He already knows about her life
      • Important lesson – No need to hide from God, no need to lie to God – He knows all about your life and loves you and accepts you just the same
      • His grace is sufficient for everything you need
    • Verses 19-20: Woman asks Jesus a question about worship
      • Some have suggested that she was starting a theological debate – I disagree
      • I believe that she is asking for herself. She is broken and her life is dysfunctional
        • Where does someone like her go to worship?
        • She is unqualified, unworthy, and unclean
      • She asks - “Where do I go, as I am, to worship?”

    • Verse 21: Jesus removes the religious rules and requirements
      • TPT – “Believe me, dear woman, the time has come when you will worship the Father neither on a mountain nor in Jerusalem, but in your heart.”
    • Verse 23 (TPT): – From now on, worshipping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with a right heart.
    • Verse 24: You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
      • God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth!
      • Worship- Those who have reverence and humility toward God
        • To render divine, honor
        • To recognize God’s superiority in our lives and circumstances
      • Spirit- With a sincere mind and humility
      • Truth- The faith and practice of the Gospel
        • A life conformed to the Gospel

  • Worship is both a spiritual act and a natural act.
    • God is Spirit and so are we!
      • “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Priest Pierre Chardin
      • We are Spirit beings, and we connect to God on a spiritual level.
    • Because worship is spiritual and about the position of your heart, you can worship anywhere at anytime!
      • Reality - You never cease being a spirit or spirit being!
      • Your spiritual being is not relegated to church or devotional time!
      • You are SPIRIT, all the time!
      • You can, and should worship on Monday, on the job, at the grocery store, in your car, in the shower, at home!

  • We must also worship in truth!
    • Truth is revealed in our words and our conduct!
      • Our words must match God’s Word!
    • Truth is required in worship because in worship, we discover our worth by declaring who God is and what God has done!
      • 2 Kings 17:15(NLT) - They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and they despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols so they became worthless themselves. They followed the example of the nations around them, disobeying the Lord’s command not to imitate them. Your worth is determined by who you worship!
    • Worshiping in Spirit and Truth means that the unworthy Samaritan woman now finds her worth in the Worthiest, Jesus!
      • As you worship Strength, you become strong!
      • As you worship Healing, you become well!
      • As you worship Peace, you became peaceful!
      • As you worship Freedom, you are set free!
      • As you worship Wholeness, you are made whole!
      • As you worship the one who is Worthy, you are made worthy!
      • As you worship the One who conquered death, hell and the grave, you are made victorious!
      • As you worship Grace, you are found in His grace!

  • One more definition of worship– To affect, to correct and to elevate your life!
    • As you worship, your life is affected by the Goodness of God!
    • As you worship, your life is lovingly corrected as your worth and who you are meant to be is clarified in the One you worship!
    • As you worship, your life is elevated by the One who sits above every principality and power, every demonic force, every evil work of the enemy!
    • As you worship, your encouraged, your strength is renewed and your life is elevated to the Highest form of living!

  • Later in John 4, we read of how the Samaritan woman runs back to town and told the people about Jesus and what He had told her
    • Verse 39 – Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in
    • Him because of the woman’s testimony.
      • Here was a woman – living isolated, shamed, repeating a pattern of life of pain and hurt and disappointment until she encounters Jesus!
        • When she does, her life is affected, corrected, and elevated and she runs to share her testimony of the power and goodness of God!
        • I imagine she was so overwhelmed by the kindness of Jesus and what He had shared with her, she couldn’t help but tell others!
          • We should be the same! Your testimony, your story, your experience matters!
        • Her testimony sparked a powerful revival in her community – a fresh wind was ushered in!
          • Fresh– newly made or obtained
        • She obtained a newly made life through Jesus and by worshipping Him!
        • She was restored and so were those connected to her!
    • As we worship, we are changed! As we worship, we are made better! As we worship, a fresh wind comes through our lives and not only restores us but can restore those connected to us!