Jeremy and Ann Simpkins are friends of ours. We met them in 1998 when they relocated to the North East of England from down south somewhere, to start Jubilee Church Teesside.
Jeremy is an excellent speaker and heads up Christ Central Team, New Frontiers, which supports and serves over 100 churches. Jeremy and Ann now live in Manchester, UK, when they are not travelling around the world.
If you have been following my posts you will see how influenced I have been by Jeremy and his teaching. He is featured in my blog about the top seven sermons that I have heard in the last 45 years in 3-point Sermons.
Hi. I want to send my greetings to you.
I trust you are well during this very difficult time. One of the things that God has been speaking to me about is us having a thirst for him, having a hunger for him.
Being like those trees in Jeremiah 17, Psalm 1 that are planted by rivers of water, that draw up these waters and are satisfied by them, but also through that satisfaction produce much fruit in season.
I've been reminded that Jesus refers to the same kind of principles in John chapter 7. It's Jesus going up to the Feast of the Tabernacles.
During the time when the High Priest would have gathered up, drawn up water from the well of Siloam, would have been actually going to pour it out prophetically down the temple steps.
At that very moment Jesus seems to speak up. John says - and I love it - in a loud voice Jesus cried out, ' If anyone is thirsty, If you are thinking about water right now, come to me - I'm the fulfilment of this - and drink, and from within you will flow rivers of living water.'
Now Jesus says, 'Come to me. If you are thirsty, come to me.'
It starts with thirst. It starts with this hunger. It starts with this desire for God, not well if you like - no actually a deep longing.
In hot, weary, scorched, sun-baked times like we're in now we thirst for him.
Like the deer pants for the streams of water, we thirst for him.
If you are thirsty Come to me. Come to Jesus.
That's who we come to. We don't come to video downloads. We don't come to YouTube. We don't come to books. We don't come to even people, even to humans. Much as we appreciate our wonderful leaders, who have been feeding us and inspiring us during this time.
We do not come to them. We come to the risen, ascended, glorified Lord Jesus. He's the one who pours out his Holy Spirit.
Jesus says, 'Come to me, if you're thirsty and drink.'
Now, drinking is an act of faith. I think it was Luther, Martin Luther, the great reformer, who said, 'Anything we receive from God, we receive with hands of faith.'
We take it. We receive it. That's how we received Christ, his forgiveness. We received his mercy. We appropriated it, and said, 'Yes. Jesus. We thank you for everything you did on the cross. Thank you. I receive that.' Now with the same faith, we receive the Holy Spirit.
If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, come to Jesus and drink, receive.
Drinking's not a difficult activity. (Drinks some water.)
We don't need to teach children to drink. They do it naturally.
Actually God has put this natural, supernatural desire in our hearts to drink deep of the Spirit, as an act of faith.
If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, come to Jesus and drink, and then a miracle happens.
You see Jesus said, then from within you - and Jesus uses temple language. He uses a word which is associated with the temple, which refers to an inner place. From our innermost being, from our central place, from deep within, is going to flow out a river of living water.
You see the whole point of receiving the Spirit is not so that we're satisfied - that our thirst is quenched, but actually that we might be a conduit, actually we might be a blessing to others.
So my message to you today is this:
Are you thirsty? If you are, good. Then come to Jesus and drink. Receive his Holy Spirit afresh and from you, from within you is going to flow out to your family, out to your friends, out to your neighbourhood, out to the world that are waiting and asking all sorts of questions is going to flow a blessing of life.
So, may you be blessed today as you receive the Spirit, but may you be a blessing in your community. Let's be those who receive the Spirit, but also allow the Spirit of Life to flow out from us to a waiting world.
A chorus that draws us into the presence of the Lord, to come and to worship Jesus, by reminding us of his words. Gentle, meaningful and genuine.
Discover more inspiring worship and a wide selection of Christian interpretation of Psalm 23 at Top Ten Psalm 23