John 4:1-42: Mended sermon series week 1

For hundreds of years, men have searched for endless life and youthful vitality. According to tradition, the quest for youthful vigor led conquistador Ponce de Leon to Florida in search of the ever-elusive Fountain of Youth. Men have spent much of their lives searching for the mythical spring which supposedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes therein. But the search for the Fountain of Youth, as fascinating as it may be, has always been unsuccessful. Men, like Ponce de Leon, have exhausted huge fortunes searching for the solution to a longer and more youthful existence.‌‌ We even still see this in today’s society. From pills to various injections or medications, mankind seeks to evade the process of aging and death. But these attempts are pointless, for none of these things deal with the reason for aging and death. The reason men die is because of sin. It doesn’t matter how many pills you take or herbs you ingest, these items will never detoxify oneself from the venom of sin. Because of sin, men die. Romans 5:12 tells us this. Try as men may, they cannot escape death on their own attempts.‌‌ But God provided a way. In sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins God has provided a solution for men to erase the effects of sin. This solution is not simply for those who would exhaust their fortunes in search of it or spend their entire lives attempting to find it. This life-giving spring is available to all. This solution to the problem of death Christ calls living water. It is not a fountain hidden for someone to find, but the living water of the Gospel is free to all who would partake.‌‌ But sometimes we do not view it this way. We perhaps put limitations on the Gospel. We hinder its progression because of our own sinful biases and inclinations. Maybe we view the Gospel as limited. It’s limited in our own lives, in the ability to heal our past mistakes. Or it’s limited in its ability to heal the mistakes of others, so we refuse and reject them.‌‌In our passage today Jesus says that He provides the living water of the Gospel to anyone who believes. It mends even the brokenness of our sin, specifically in this text, its mends our relationships. That is the topic of our new sermon mini—series called mended. Over the next 4 weeks, we’re going to look at how Jesus heals our brokenness, and we’re going to look at four specific areas of our brokenness that Jesus heals. Today we’re going to walk through a story that emphasizes our relational brokenness, and teaches that the living water of the Gospel mends our relationships that are broken by our sin. Our text is John 4:1-42, and our big idea for this morning is:‌‌ Big Idea: The living water of the Gospel heals our relational brokenness