If Anyone Is Thirsty, Let Him Come to Me

In one paragraph

This message came from John 7, set at the Feast of Tabernacles about six months before the crucifixion. Pastor Carl walked through the public debate over who Jesus is, the climactic appeal Jesus makes to the crowd, and the rejection that follows from the religious leadership. The passage ends with Jesus standing up on the last and greatest day of the feast and crying out an open invitation to...

Read together

1. Psalm 84 quoted at the opening to lead into worship: 'the Lord God is our sun and our shield, and he gives us grace and glory'
2. John 15:5 introduced before the offertory song about Jesus calling his followers friends rather than servants
3. Philippians 4:7 quoted in the Gideon presentation from a letter: 'the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus'
4. Isaiah 55:11 cited by the Gideon speaker as the scriptural basis for the Gideons' purpose of spreading God's word
5. John 7 the main sermon text covering Jesus at the feast of tabernacles, the popular debate about who he is, and the officers sent to arrest him
6. John 5 referenced as the story of the pool where Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, the 'one deed' he alludes to in John 7
7. John 3:16 noted as coming from Nicodemus's earlier nighttime conversation with Jesus, also where the wind and Holy Spirit passage appears
8. Deuteronomy 18:15 cited as Moses's promise that the people should look for a coming prophet, which the crowd references when they say 'this is truly the prophet'
9. Isaiah read aloud on the last great day of the feast: 'you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation,' prompting Jesus's cry about living water

Talk about it

1. The pastor pointed out that the crowd at the feast had two very different opinions about Jesus, yet most of them were afraid to say anything openly. When have you found yourself holding back what you actually believe about Jesus because of what others around you might think?
2. Jesus told the crowd that if anyone is willing to do God's will, that person will come to know whether his teaching is from God or not. What does it look like in practice to approach Scripture or a hard question about faith with that kind of willingness rather than with your mind already made up?
3. The Pharisees dismissed Jesus partly because of where he came from, and the crowd dismissed him for the same reason. The pastor connected that to the way we sometimes lower our estimation of a person because of their accent or background. Where do you see that kind of prejudice shaping how people receive or reject the gospel today?
4. Nicodemus risked his standing among the Pharisees by standing up and saying Jesus deserved a fair hearing before being condemned. What does it cost us, in our own circles, to give Jesus or his followers a fair hearing, and what does it cost us not to?
5. On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and said that anyone who is thirsty can come to him and drink, and that from the innermost being of the one who believes will flow rivers of living water. The pastor tied that to the peace Jeff the Gideon described from Philippians 4:7. What does it mean to you personally to be thirsty in the way Jesus is describing, and have you found that thirst met in him?