Live Your Purpose, Share Like Jesus | Ryan Escobar | July 12, 2026

0:00 Have you ever felt like something's missing? Maybe you're doing your best, chasing goals, staying busy, but deep inside there's still an emptiness you can't explain. What if the answer isn't finding something, but meeting someone? In this message, we'll discover a real conversation Jesus had with a woman who was searching for hope, acceptance, and purpose. Through that encounter, we'll see that no matter your past or where you are today, Jesus offers a life that truly satisfies. Watch this video and discover the hope that could change everything.

0:49 [music] I am glad to be here. I am your servant for international church planting and I am based in New Zealand. Are you glad to be here? >> Tell the person beside you, I'm glad to be here with you. >> Now, may I ask you, do you have like a favorite food or favorite drink or a favorite dessert? Do you have a favorite kind of food? Yeah. Now, for me, when I think of Japan, what do you think? Oh, my favorite food is sushi. When I think of the USA, what do you think? >> Burger. >> Burgers. What specific burger? >> In-N-Out. >> Ah, you got it. My favorite is a In-N-Out burger. Now, in Canada, what is

1:37 well known in Canada is this maple syrup. Have you tried that? Oh, I've tried it. It's good. Now, when I think of Germany, I think of >> sauces. >> Bratworth. Yeah. And when I think of Dubai, when you think of Dubai, oh, you got it. Dubai chocolate bar. Who has tried the Dubai chocolate bar? Wow. Made by a Filipino. Now, in New Zealand, what I will always enjoy and love is the roast lamb. M yummy. Now what is interesting when it comes to drinks something that is becoming more popular today even around the world is the ube latte. Have you tried that ube latte? When I was in the US Starbucks already

2:25 has ube latte. Okay. So it's becoming popular and ube is from the Philippines. Now when it comes to food and parties, have you ever tried the boodle fight? Okay, can you raise your hand? Have you tried the boodle fight? Isn't it yummy? Like you all eat it together and then you know you you share your saliva and uh you know like uh yeah, you know, and everything. Well, you know what? What's interesting is that when the disciples of Jesus went to town to get food and went back to Jesus to give the food, they were surprised that he was talking to a Samaritan woman. And this is what Jesus said. Very interesting. He said in John 4:34-35,

3:11 "My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." Don't you Don't you have a saying, it's still 4 months until harvest. I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are ripe for harvest. Basically Jesus was saying is what satisfies him, what brings him joy is not merely physical food. What brings him satisfaction and joy is being able to what? Do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. That is what brings him satisfaction. And from that verse alone, it is something that we can learn from that we too should find even

3:58 more joy in doing God's will and also to finish his work. And the verse 35 says, "Open your eyes." Okay? Because what they are ripe for harvest. We do not see it in the newspapers. Sometimes in the newspapers, we see only negative news. Correct? When we look at the news, when we watch TV, you don't see it. But you know what? in the world. God is on the move. God is working and transforming the lives of people. Okay, if you look at this map, praise the Lord, God is working through CCF all over the world. We have location CCF gatherings in Canada. We have gatherings in the USA, Middle East, Europe,

4:43 Asia, and Oceanana. Praise God. God is on the move all over the world. And with the thousands of CCS outside the Philippines, praise God, when I look and count, 99% actually more than 99% are volunteers. Amazing. They volunteer their time. Yeah. Glory to God. They volunteer their time, their efforts, and they sacrifice a lot. But I'm thinking, why do they do it? Well, we talked about last week through pastor Peter. It's compassion, splagnisumi, something. It's from your innermost part of your gut that you want to you are so moved that you want to do

5:30 something about it. And another thing is we need to have a mindset. Not only should we have compassion, we need to also have a sense of urgency. Okay? We need to have a sense of urgency because time is short and we don't know when the end of the world is. Now, there was a TV show in the 1990s. The title is early edition. I don't know if you've seen this, but basically the story line is every day this guy is going to get the newspaper, but the newspaper is for tomorrow's headlines. So he gets the newspaper and he knows what's going to happen tomorrow. And so the episodes is all about this guy looking uh trying to

6:17 prevent crime, trying to prevent tragedies and trying to prevent accidents. So he would take the risk, go out of his comfort zone and do and do the right thing to a to be able to solve all these tragedies so that it can be prevented. Now, who among you here, you know the future? You know the future. The truth is if you read the Bible, you know the future. You know that one day Jesus is coming back. So, we do know the future. Now, is it possible Jesus will come back tomorrow? Yes, it's possible. So, because we know the future, what are we going to do today? If you know that Jesus is coming

7:03 tomorrow, what are you going to do? Are you going to reach out to people even more? Are you going to reconcile with the people that have hurt you or you have hurt them? I believe if you knew the future and you really believe what the Bible said that Jesus can come anytime, we will share Jesus even more. That's why we want to talk about this. Live your purpose, share like Jesus. Can we share? Can you say that with me? Ready? Go live your purpose. Share like Jesus. So I want us to look at this with a story of Jesus in the encounter with a Samaritan woman. The first point is look for opportunities. Look for opportunities in John 4:3-6. So he left

7:49 Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. Interesting. Jesus said the Bible says now he had to go through Samaria. Now you have to understand if you look at this map. This is what Jesus did from Jerusalem going to uh going here and they he traveled through Samaria. Now if you will understand the culture before there was so much anger animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans to the point that they will not travel this route they will go around they will even cross the Jordan River because they don't want to

8:34 have anything to do with the Samaritans. The Samaritans for them are like uh imperpetually impure because they are part Jew and they were you know they intermarried with their colonizers before. So they will avoid Samaritans. But what why is it that Jesus said he had to go through Samaria? This is not because of a geographical reason. It is because there was a divine appointment. Jesus was looking at a divine appointment and that would be the Samaritan woman. In verse 5, so he came to a town in Samaria called Saikar near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there

9:19 and Jesus tired as he was from the journey sat down by the well. It was noon. Now again Jesus came to a town in Samaria. So Jesus was looking for opportunities and he knew about this. How about you? Do you look for opportunities to share the gospel? Are you really that conscious? My encouragement is look for opportunities even it if it is awkward. Even if it is awkward. Another is Jesus said that it says here that Jesus was tired. And that is actually a very wonderful statement because it shows the humanity of Jesus. But we he still looked for opportunities even if he was tired. And it was also

10:06 what time of the day? It was noon. So it was hot. Even if it is inconvenient, we still try to reach out to people. Sometimes we say, "Oh, I'm going to reach out to that someone when all the, you know, everything is easy." But it doesn't have to be. We need to have a mindset that we reach out to people even if it is awkward, even if it is tiring and even if it is inconvenient. Now I remember there was a time I attended a singles retreat many years ago. Where are the singles in the house? Raise your hands. Raise your hands. Singles. Singles. Singles. Have you ever attended a retreat? Okay. I remember we uh there was this retreat and one of the evenings one of the participants who were was a friend of mine decided that during their

10:52 free time we're going to just have a party. We're just going to get extra food and just enjoy the rest of the evening together. So we were doing that. We were enjoying relaxing the relaxing during the free time. And then while we were doing that, while we were laughing and everything, someone another participant approached me and told me, he said that he was talking to the security guard at the gate. And the security guard seems to be interested to know about God and he called me. He called me so that I can share the gospel to this security guard. Now, for me, in that in that split second, I'm thinking I'm enjoying this party. I'm enjoying this food. I don't want to share the gospel. I don't want you. Why do why are

11:41 you calling me? You do it yourself. But that's just in a split second in my mind. And then I said, what is more important? Food or share the gospel. Food? No, no, no. Share the gospel. So I went to the to the gate and then I talked to the security guard. I asked him, "Isn't your job um you know uh high risk?" He said, "Yeah, he knows he can die any time because of his job." So, we talked about it and then I transition to sharing the gospel. Do you know Jesus Christ? And then at about midnight after talking to him, this security guard prayed to receive Jesus in his heart that midnight.

12:26 Praise God. And I was thinking, what was I thinking? You know, sometimes I only want to share the gospel when it is convenient. No, Jesus is the best example. Even if it is seemingly awkward, tiring or inconvenient, we need to look for opportunities. The truth is people, your friends, your loved ones, they are more open during times when they have trials, tragedies, transitions or times of waiting. So if you know people who are going through these things, maybe God is already working in their lives and God wants to use you. Now sometimes we come up with an excuse. No, let the pastor do it. Let someone else do it. Lord, I pray that you send someone to share the gospel to my friend

13:12 or to my family members. What if God wants to use you? Okay, I think about this parable. The parable of the four Christians. The name of the Christians is are everybody, somebody, anybody and nobody. Okay? And this is the parable. There was a special job to do. Preach the gospel. Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure somebody would. Anybody could have done it. But nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was everybody's job. Everybody thought anybody could do it, but nobody realized

13:57 that everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that everybody blamed somebody. Ladies and gentlemen, my encouragement to all of us is this. Do not let the great commission be the great omission. God wants to use you. God wants to use you today. Not just pastors, not just full-time workers. God wants to use you. So, please tap the person beside you and tell them, "God wants to use you and me." All right. Now, we praise God. There are so many opportunities. Talk to the people around you if they know Jesus. if they're part of a Dgroup and even here just going to

14:44 the CCF main welcome center that is a place where people are getting saved because the gospel is being shared and we're trying to copy that in different parts of the world okay so for example in Oakuckland we also have a welcome center and you know what in that part of the auditorium people are surrendering their lives to Jesus Christ and the truth is if you want to reach out the gospel you don't need to go to Samaria today you don't even need to leave your home. Thanks to online, thanks to the internet, we have what we call the e disciplehip wherein you simply share the gospel. As long as you have an internet connection, you can share the gospel online. Hey, Romans 10:14-15 says, "How then can they call on the one they have

15:30 not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" And how can anyone preach unless they are sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news? I ask you today, what is one gospel opportunity that God wants you to look into? If I ask you, who among you here, you know someone who is not attending CCF, not attending a Christian church, and they live somewhere somewhere outside of the Philippines. Raise your hand. You know someone who is not connected to CCF but they and they live outside of the Philippines. Raise your hand. Okay. So what if you find a

16:18 way to talk to them and connect them to the nearest satellite internationally? No. And there will be a connection. You know everyone in the world is connected by some number of degrees and we can help one another reach out to even more people. So first is you look for opportunities. Next is initiate meaningful conversations. Let's look at verse seven. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink? His disciples has gone into the town to buy food." You see, when Jesus saw the woman, he did not start with a theological debate. He did not talk about apologetics.

17:03 He also knew the background of the woman. But Jesus did not immediately rebuke the woman and tell her all about the all the past sins that she did. There was humility in his approach. Interestingly, in verse 8, his disciples had gone into town, meaning Jesus was left one- on-one with this woman. And you know, there's a reason for that. for a woman to be speaking publicly to a man. They don't do that during that culture. And if Jesus was with the 12 other disciples, the 12 other men, and the woman was there, the woman would be fearful. The woman would be intimidated and might run away, and the conversation

17:49 might never happen. And it's possible also that because of that the woman might not even open up later on because it was just intimidating with all these men. So you can see that this was a divine appointment. Sometimes we think oh we can preach the gospel when we are in front of a large crowd. But the truth is it's possible even if it's one-on-one God can use you. Hey will you give me a drink? What is interesting is Jesus was trying to reach out and explain to the woman that you have many different kinds of needs and I want to meet all of them. Okay. Will you give me a drink? So Jesus wants to fill physical needs. That's his bridge to eventually share about the

18:34 gospel. Okay. And I've seen this again and again. I remember of a family. I remember of a family. Okay. The son was telling me there was a time when he was growing up. His father was working out of the country and would send money regularly to to provide sustenance for the family. But there was a time for a several months the father will not be will not send money to the Philippines and they were wondering why and there were no cell phones yet. So they were wondering why where is there no money? It will only they will only find out later on that the father who was employed in another country will not receive any salary because the employer was not paying him. So there was no

19:20 money being sent to the Philippines to that family. But what's interesting is this son would this family the son would tell me would there they had Christian neighbors and the Christian neighbors would regularly give them food. The Christian neighbors did not know the family situation, but the son was telling me, "You know what, Pastor Ryan? They didn't know about our situation, but they would give food to us just at the proper time when we had no nothing more to eat anymore." And because of that kind of kindness, when that Christian neighbor invited the family to go to church, the

20:05 family went and the son became a Christian and is now serving the Lord. That is the power of God, the power of kindness. Okay, that's the power of kindness that we can show. In verse 9, the Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. Again, there were barriers, but Jesus broke the barriers. I can think of actually three barriers that Jesus broke. First, he broke the gender barrier cuz men don't talk publicly to women during that time. Can you imagine that? He broke the gender barrier. Second, he broke the race barrier

20:53 because Jews don't want to talk to Samaritans. And third, he broke the purity barriers, the purity rules because during that time, the Samaritans were considered impure by the Jews. So for Jesus to ask for a drink from the bucket of the woman, that was considered no. No. Because if Jesus drinks from a Jew, Jesus will drink from the bucket of the woman. What's going to happen? He's going to be impure. But you know what? Jesus did not think about what people are going to say. He still initiated these meaningful conversations and he met the needs of the woman. The first need was the physical need but also some

21:38 people have relational needs. So that's why we want to reach out to all people. The goal is to reach out to all people even people from all their cultures. Okay. That's why in ICP, international church planting, we want to have multicultural gatherings, not just with Filipinos. Okay. Verse 10. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." And that living water is a spiritual relationship with God. So now Jesus was talking about her spiritual needs. Okay. Now if I ask you is life hard even

22:23 if you are a Christian. Life can be hard if you are a Christian. How much more if you are not a Christian? That is why we need to reach out to to help people so that they can have a relationship with God so that they can live this life in this present life even more. Okay. And much better. Verse 13. Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." So Jesus now talks about the eternal needs. Spiritual needs are the needs that you have with your relationship with to have a relationship with God today while

23:09 you're still living here. So it's the present life. eternal needs is about your eternity, your future needs. So God was Jesus here was meeting the needs of the Samaritan woman in different aspects. Now in John 4:15, it says the woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." Although the woman was still confused, still thinking it's physical water, she knew she wants something that will allow her to not thirst, that will something that is longlasting. Figuratively, people are thirsting today. And they believe that that thirst will be

23:55 quenched if they had more money. They will be quenched if their career is okay. They will be quenched when their relationships are good or for others they will be quenched when they get married or they're smart they have a lot of education. The truth is all these sources of uh sustenance to try to fill your thirst is temporary. The only source that can give you longlasting eternal quenching of your thirst will be a relationship with Jesus Christ. I think about this guy. His name is Jack. Jack was born in a communist country. Jack was born in China. He is Chinese.

24:43 He was born to atheist parents. growing up he did not have uh he he just went into vices, immorality and he had no purpose in life and because he had no purpose in life it led him to anxiety. It led him to depression even panic attacks. Now this is a picture of his family. Now there was a time when Jack was still uh not yet married to uh Michelle. Michelle would invite Jack to go to church. So Jack would resist. I mean, he's an atheist. He doesn't believe in God. So what he would do is he will drive Michelle to the church and then Michelle

25:29 will attend church and he will wait in the car park. He will wait in the car and will not go inside the church. But eventually with a continuous invitation finally he did. And when he attended the church, it was he felt it was as if the pastor was speaking clearly and directly to him. And he was so touched. And later on when he moved, he started attending CCF and he was so touched by the testimonies of life transformation and by the messages that was being spoken. He joined a D-group and he remembers very clearly that there was a time he was so sick that the D-group leader simply went to his place to give a soup

26:17 but he was touched because the Christian love that he experienced and praise God this atheist eventually surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. Praise God. But wait, there's more. Not only did he become a Christian, he also started to have a desire to reach others for Jesus Christ. When he was already in Australia, he moved to Gold Coast. He started gathering people with the help of other leaders. And he started CCF Gold Coast, a CCF Gold Coast house church. And it just kept on growing and growing and more people are coming to know Christ.

27:04 This former atheist is now sharing the gospel to other people. Amazing. To God be all the glory alone and he is leading our CCF Gold Coast. To continue in the verse verse 16, he told her, "Go call your husband and come back." I have no husband, she replied. Jesus said to her, you are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is you have had how many? Five husbands. And the man you now have is not your husband. What you just said is quite true. Interestingly, the approach of Jesus here was very

27:49 gracious. He did not say to the woman, "Liar, liar. I know your past liar. No, it was gracious, but there was also truth in it. Gracious, grace, and truth combined to lead her to the source that will fill her thirst. Now, when it comes to the five husbands, we really do not know the circumstances, but it is possible, especially during that time, divorce was rampant. Men can divorce their wives for anything. I don't like your cooking. Okay, divorce. It's that bad. But to have I don't know the circumstances. Maybe some of the one of one or two of the husbands died, passed away. But

28:37 whatever it is, to have had five husbands would surely have been very traumatic. It would have been a roller coaster of emotions. Yes. Getting married. Oh, my husband died. Yes, getting married again. Oh, my husband divorced me. I don't know. But I'm sure it was a roller coaster of emotions. And Jesus was there to fulfill and to meet also her emotional needs. You can see that Jesus is trying to reach out and connecting with her in all her needs. And eventually it will be obviously the eternal needs. So the physical needs, relational needs, spiritual needs, eternal needs and also the

29:23 emotional needs. We reach out and also must initiate meaningful conversations with people. Romans 1:16. Can we read this with me? Ready? Go. For I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes first to the Jew and then to the Gentiles. Okay, I kind of highlighted this. It is what the power of power of. >> So it is not you that will transform people's lives. It is not your eloquence. It is not your Bible knowledge. It is not how good you are in speaking. It is going to be the power of God that will transform people's lives. And by the grace of God, he simply wants

30:10 to use broken instruments like you and me. It is the power of God at work. As a matter of fact, the more you feel you are unqualified, the better it is. So that when lives are transformed, you can conclude without a doubt it can only be because of God. Right? It is the power of God. Okay? I remember the story about Jimmy Ryan. I don't know if you know him. Okay? I didn't know him before, but I read about this. This is his family. So this was years ago, okay? Not a well-known, not really well-known, but you know what? Jimmy Waran was a pastor for more than 50 years. And during that time, as as a pastor, I'm sure he shared the gospel to

30:56 many people already. And literally, he built, okay, he helped build more than 150 buildings, church buildings in different parts of the world. Praise God for his life. What? And Jimmy Warren might not be known because his son is more wellknown than him. His son is Rick Warren. And Rick Warren is the pastor of a church and he was the author of the most one of the most popular Christian books ever entitled Purpose-Driven Life. Now what's interesting is Rick Warren was sharing that on the deathbed of his father when his father was about to die. Okay. Actually, I think it was a few

31:43 hours or the day before his father died. He was they were around him, surrounding him and he was on the deathbed. And then suddenly, for whatever reason, they did not know Jimmy in his old age started to try to get out of his bed. And then the family was saying, "No, relax, Jimmy. You you're very sick. You cannot get out of bed." And then he's trying to struggle. And then the the family asked, "What do you need? I will just give it. What do you need? Don't get out of bed." And then Jimmy started saying, he started saying this, "Save one more for Jesus. Save one more for Jesus." Rick Warren was saying in

32:28 his testimony for the next 60 minutes, his father kept saying, "Save one more for Jesus." about 150 times. This pastor who is about to die, who has already built many buildings for the for the glory of God, who has shared the gospel for many years in his deathbed, still wants to get out of his bed to share the gospel and saying, "Save one more for Jesus. Save one more for Jesus." And I wonder if all if for us, do we have that kind of passion? Do we have that kind of desire to reach out and be used by God? As long as you are still breathing, God has a purpose for you. As long as you have are still breathing, God still

33:14 wants to use you to share Jesus to others. Amen. Now look at the person. Yeah. Can we give glory to God? Yes. Now [applause] look at the person beside you. Look at the person beside you. Are they still breathing? Are they still breathing? Yes. Okay. If they're still breathing, tell them God still has a purpose for you. >> God still has a purpose for you and God can use you. Don't think you've done enough. As long as you're still breathing, you have a purpose. So, initiate meaningful conversations. What is that one meaningful conversation that you can initiate this week? Next is you keep reaching out. Do not give up. If you share the gospel and they seem

34:01 like they don't understand, you keep reaching out. Hey, verse 19. Sir, the woman said, I can see that you are a prophet. Now, a little side lesson here. The first time the woman said something to Jesus, he said, you are a Jew. So, from you are a Jew, she now says sir and then later on says prophet. So there was a progression in her faith. So don't give up. Some people it takes time for them to understand. In verse 20, our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is Jerusalem. Now, interestingly, this is a little deflection because they're talking about

34:48 Jesus saying about, "Oh, you have five husbands." And then probably the woman got surprised. Oh, this this person knows my past. And then she deflects it and changes the topic. And the topic is the biggest theological debate against Jews and Samaritans. Okay, he's saying our ancestors worshiped on this mountain. Okay, where were they? They were in the Jacob's well. Jacob's well is situated where the view is Mount Gerazim. Okay, Mount Gerazim is that mountain for the Samaritans. This is the greatest debate. Where is the original place of worship? For the Samaritans, it is here in Mount Garazim. We are worshiping at the right place. For the

35:35 Jews, it is in Jerusalem. So the theological debate is where is the best place to worship? Where is the right place to worship? She was talking about a geographical location because during that time the location of the worship is of utmost importance. Okay. And Jesus said this woman verse 21 Jesus replied believe me a time is coming when you will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know. for salvation is from the Jews. So Jesus was saying it is worship is not about a geographical location. It is

36:23 from the heart. That is what is most important. And when Jesus said what you do not know because for the Samaritans they only believe the first five books of the Bible. They do not believe the writings of the prophets. So they have an incomplete understanding of who God really is because they only depended on the five books, the first five books of the Bible at that time, the Torah. But for the Jews, they believed even the prophets. So he was saying, you have an incomplete and a limited view of God. In verse 23, yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and in truth. For they are the kind of worshippers the father seeks. God is

37:10 spirit and his worshippers must worship in the spirit and in truth. So basically it says here yet the time is coming and has now come. Meaning because Jesus is now coming here on earth he's now come. Jesus changes everything. The worship of God is no longer confined in a place. Why? Because God is spirit. You cannot confine him in a place. He's just too big for any place to contain him. So we must worship God in spirit. Meaning it is not based on outward appearance or external uh rituals. It is worshiping God from our hearts. Do you worship God? I pray that you will worship God from your heart. Okay. So God is spirit and his

37:57 worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth. So do not give up even if they reject the gospel previously. Now here comes part of the climax in verse 25 to 26. The woman said I know that Messiah called Christ is coming. When he comes he will explain everything to us. Now let me explain first verse 25. Okay, both the Jews and the Samaritans believe in one thing. There's going to be a coming Messiah. But they have an incomplete and improper view. For the Jews, the coming Messiah is like a military leader that will allow them to

38:43 overcome the Roman government and be freed from the Romans. That's for the Jews. But for the Samaritans, the coming Messiah is a great teacher who can explain everything to them. Okay? So that's what the Samaritans believe. And look at verse 26. Then Jesus declared, I the one speaking to you, I am he. Now if you will look at the Greek Bible, it is even more dramatic. It says Jesus declared I the one speaking to you. I am. I am was the name of God when he revealed himself in the Old Testament specifically to Moses. So basically

39:29 Jesus revealed himself to a Samaritan woman saying the person in front of you is not just a great teacher. I am God himself. Wow. That is Jesus revealing himself as God. Amazing. Hey, from Jesus, he revealed himself very clearly that he is God to a woman, to a non-Jew, to someone with a dark, bad, negative, traumatic past. You see, God can reveal himself to anyone. And do not think that someone, oh that person will never worship God. Oh that person,

40:15 oh impossible. That person can never become a Christian. Have you thought of people like that? Do you know people that person almost impossible? Can I tell you nothing is impossible with God? Can you say that with me? Nothing is impossible with God. That person who's been rejecting Jesus for a long time, you'll never know. Nothing is impossible with God. And the reason I can say that nothing is impossible with God is because there was a time when I was 14 years old, I attended CCF. 14 years old, 10 years ago. No, just when I was 14 years old, I remember attending CCF in Green Belt Theater.

41:06 And I remember when people were asked to stand up to worship. So I stood up and my mom was beside me and the worship began. People were singing. But for me I was just standing up looking at the lyrics of the screen with my lips sealed just looking blankly not wanting to worship God. And I remember my mom this was more than 30 years ago. My mom nudged me prompting me worship worship God and I remember the way I re reacted. I looked at her with a very irritated look. I don't know I was just irritated and I looked at her and I didn't want to worship God.

41:51 It will be years later when my wife when my mom will tell me that that night she went down on her knees and she confessed to God. She prayed to God and she said, "Lord, forgive my son for not worshiping you. Forgive my son for not desiring to worship you." And then she prayed this,"Lord, let my son be like David, a man after your own heart, a man after God's own heart." That was her simple prayer. She never realized how God was going to answer that prayer. Since that day, I started making choices

42:38 to read my Bible, to attend any Bible studies of CCF that I can attend. I made choices to honor God. I did I I changed my career. I quit my job just so that I can serve God even more. I was willing to migrate and serve God and be used by God wherever. That story was that prayer of my mom was more than 30 years ago. And I tell you today, there's nothing else I want to do but to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That is the only thing I want to do. And I want to point people to Jesus. And I'm telling you, you keep on reaching out because you never know that person you're reaching out, that that daughter, that son, that parent that seems to be

43:24 resistant to the gospel, you'll never know if one day they too will one day be a pastor, a ministry leader, a worship leader, a discipler. You keep reaching out because God can do the impossible. Amen. >> [applause] >> Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Who is that one person that God is telling you to keep reaching out again? Fourth point is this. empower others to

44:09 do the same. Challenge others now that you're doing it, now that you're modeling it, you start empowering others to do the same in reaching out. Okay, if you look at fast forward in verse 39, many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me everything I've ever done. Okay. Um if you look at this basically when Jesus re revealed himself I am the woman left her jar ran from the well she forgot anymore she forgot already what to do in instead of you know it changed her she started running and started telling people about what about her encounter it was her

44:56 words no and then verse 40 when the Samaritans came to him They urged him to stay with him and he stayed two days and because of his words many more became believers. You see that woman's testimony, that woman who had a bad past, the woman who is an outcast, the woman who had no theological training, God used her in order for a village to get saved. So we have to think no more excuses. God can use you. Tell the person beside you, no excuses. Okay? Stories are powerful. And if you have been transformed by God, you are a

45:44 miracle. Stories are powerful. I praise God because all over the world, God is raising leaders. Okay, this is not even a complete picture of all our leaders around the world and their lives have been transformed and they are now empowered to share the gospel all over the world and they're now empowering others for the glory of God. Praise God. Amen. Amen. [applause] And you know what's interesting? One of my favorite questions when I talk to people, I ask them, "What is your Christian journey? how did God transform you? And they will share their story. And then I will ask me this one question. If Jesus never came into your life, what

46:32 would your life be right now? They will pause a little bit. And I'm telling you, the most common answers I get is this. If Jesus never came into my life, I will probably be divorced by now. If Jesus never came into my life, I will probably still be angry and I will have a lot of anger issues, even angry against God. Or I will be purposeless living a life maybe trying to just earn money and that's it. Some would say if Jesus never came into my life, I'll probably be imprisoned. And you know what? Once in a while, I've heard it more than once, some will say,

47:19 "I'll be dead by now." Because of their crimes and all of these things. You see, God is in the business of changing lives. He has been doing it in the past and until today, God transforms lives. [applause] Amen. In verse 42, they said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you've said. Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the savior of the world." This woman with a bad past, an outcast, and no training became the very first missionary to Samaria. And the Samaritan village got saved because of this woman,

48:07 because of her encounter with Jesus. God can use you in your office, in your school, in your communities. God can use you anywhere because God wants to use you today. So I encourage you, empower others to do the same. So make sure you know how to share your testimony. Do you know how? Okay. Now what's wonderful is there is training GLC has this training called evangel lifestyle. So once it gets announced make sure you attend these trainings okay for in your satellites. Another is once you share your testimony make sure you also what act like Jesus because sometimes as Christians we do not act properly

48:52 like Jesus and others get turned off. They will say if that is a Christian I don't want to become a Christian. Do you know people like that they are a bad testimony. So let's make sure we act like Jesus. Now again this is only by the power of the Holy Spirit. You cannot do this on a consistent basis simply on your own strength. Okay. Now in social media okay when you want to uh what is that? What do you press to show that you like a post? That you like a post? Do you know? >> Okay. When you like a post, it's what? It's a thumbs up sign. It is my prayer that when people look at your lives,

49:39 they will also have a thumbs up and say because of that person, I want to get to know Jesus more. Am I correct? Act like Jesus. Tell the person beside you, act like Jesus. Okay. Now, so that you will not forget. So you will not forget. Okay. I want you I want you to be a thumbs up sign. Act like Jesus. Everyone. Everyone please bear with me. Everyone raise up your hand. Okay. Raise up your hand. Thumbs up and tell say to the person beside you, act like Jesus. Act like Jesus. So that people will be interested about Jesus himself. Okay. So be wise in the way you act towards outsiders. Make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be

50:25 always full of grace. So seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone. That's why this is kind of something I want you to remember. Okay? Be like Jesus so that others will like Jesus. Okay? Be like Jesus so that others will like Jesus. Do not give people a reason to not want to know your God because of the way you behave. Again, it's all by God's grace, right? But be like Jesus so that others will like Jesus. Now, when you share your testimony and then you act like Jesus, then you meet up. You meet up. Okay?

51:12 Now, you will hear this in the next few weeks. Okay? It's what we call the Dgroup project. Are you part of a D-group? Please, may I ask you raise your hand if you are part of a D-group? Okay, raise your hand. Okay, if you're not raising your hand, we encourage you. We are a small group church. Dgroups are very important to us. Now, my our encouragement is this. Do not wait for churchwide events or satellitewide events. Then you start inviting your friends. What you do as a DGroup is that you already plan as a D-group what you can do together. We will provide you the materials such as true life materials, 2B1 couples uh materials so that you just gather your D-group, invite first timers and then it's like plug and play.

51:58 Then you can just invite friends, share the gospel and then you will watch together. That is the D-group project. Imagine with all the thousands of drgroups that we have here in this country and all over the world. Imagine if thousands of drgroups are doing the droup projects. Hey, there will be more people hearing about the word of the Lord. Hey, again also there's e disciplehip as I mentioned a while ago. You don't even have to go out of your house. And then what do you do next? You share your testimony. You act like Jesus. You meet up and you explain the good news. Empower others to do the same. Luke 19:10 says, "For the Son of

52:44 Man came to seek and to save that which is lost." So I encourage you today, empower others to do the same. I want to show you a little bit of a video testimony of someone that experienced the grace of God and is now transformed, is now being used by God. Let's show this video. I grew up in a family that believed in God. However, we rarely went to church, didn't read the Bible, and knew nothing about God's commands. I simply did whatever pleased me and chased after anything I thought would make me happy, such as money, job, promotions, and sexual relationships. I was living a

53:30 life without a purpose. Then I met Menchi. We didn't follow God's design for sex within marriage, and she became pregnant before we got married. It wasn't a simple pregnancy. She had a heart condition. At 7 months, we had to rush her to the hospital to deliver the baby. I can still remember being in the delivery room with her. By 2:00 a.m., a nurse came out and said our baby Gabe was being prepared and cleaned. I asked about my wife, but the nurse didn't answer. That was when I realized something was terribly wrong. I was told my wife had a 50% chance of surviving and my son only a 20% chance of living. I waited outside the operating room. Finally, the doctor came out and told me that my wife didn't make it and had passed away. Then I went to see my son

54:16 in the ICU. The pediatrician told me that he might not make it either. She asked whether I wanted them to stop treating him and I said no because I had already lost my wife and didn't want to lose my son too. The pediatrician later came out and said that he was safe for now and could breathe on his own. After a month and a half in the hospital, the doctor said my son could finally go home. Because of the large hospital debt, I poured out all my energy in working while my parents took care of my son. I kept asking God why I had to endure so much pain. On top of that, I feared how I would raise my son alone. I felt God hated me and didn't care about me. This led me back to my old ways and

55:02 I had multiple immoral relationships. I rebelled against God. Four years later, I married my new girlfriend, Carla. She helped me realize that I also needed to take care of my son Gibb. One day, a coworker asked me to be the godfather of his child. I said yes and later learned it was actually a baby dedication. The speaker shared the gospel and what Jesus had done on the cross for me. He said that if I accepted him as my Lord and Savior, I would go to heaven. I didn't accept Jesus that day, but something inside me sensed what the pastor explained was very right. Fast forward, that same coworker and friend moved to Australia and he invited us to migrate as well. His family showed us

55:49 kindness and we stayed at their home for a while. He invited us to join their church service and I agreed. A couple of weeks later, the pastor and some church elders invited us to dinner. They explained how Jesus died, how Jesus was buried, and how Jesus rose again for the forgiveness of my sins. It is not about religion but about relationship with God. Right then I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. By God's grace, my life was transformed. I stopped cursing and engaging in immoral relationships and I entrusted my career to God. God truly blessed me with my loving wife Carla and two sons, Gabe and Nathan. After 5 years of attending church, I kept asking myself, how come I

56:35 still don't know how to share the gospel? Searching for answers, I found an online CCFD group called scapulip which is now called e disciplehip. My dgroup leader lived in South Korea and my droup mates were from Middle East, Australia, America and Italy. That's when I came to understand the gospel better. Learned that God's purpose is to become like Jesus and was encouraged to obey Jesus command to make disciples. I was invited to join a physical Dgroup and began leading my own Dgroup here in Melbourne. We used GLC materials and witnessed transformations in individuals, marriages and families. We organized through life retreats, couple retreats, family camps and even

57:21 leadership trainings. Elevate youth and B1G singles DR were formed. The group were established in many places even outside Melbourne. As more people step up to lead, I also learned to disciple my family more consistently. CCF Melbourne began with four families and my wife and I had 70 Dgroup members. God has grown the movement to more than 500 members and over 100 drgroup leaders. Furthermore, it is a joy because my whole family is actively serving the Lord. If I had never given my life to Christ, I would have still be angry with God. still searching the world for happiness and still living without purpose. But God allowed me to experience pain,

58:07 suffering, and the lowest point of my life. So he could lift me up and I learned to trust him, to serve in his church, and to obey him by making disciples. I am Ros Calado, once lost, but now found in Jesus. I was once purposeless, but now I live with purpose to share like Jesus and bring praise to him. To God be all the glory. [applause] Praise God. Praise God. Live your purpose. Share like Jesus. Look for opportunities. Initiate meaningful conversations. Keep reaching out and empower others to do the same. You have to realize it is

58:53 worth your time. It is worth your effort and it is worth sharing Jesus and sharing like Jesus. The word of God transforms lives. The word of God transforms lives. I remember I remember about this guy. His name is Hi Fam. and Hianfam he was a Christian interpreter and after the Vietnam war he was accused of helping the Americans the CIA and therefore he was imprisoned and while he was imprisoned he was not allowed to read any English books that might influence him he was only given French books and Vietnamese books and all about communism marks and angles

59:40 marks and angles all about communism and he started that's the only thing he said, and eventually he thought, maybe everything I've been learning about God is not true. Maybe I've been lied to. Maybe God really does not exist. And that day, he said, "Tomorrow, when I wake up, I will no longer believe in God. When I wake up, tomorrow I will not believe in God. I will no longer pray." So he woke up the next day with that new resolve. But in that prison, the the commander assigned him that day to clean the toilets.

1:00:25 To clean the toilets. And so he was assigned to clean the toilets. And it was very dirty. While cleaning the toilets, he saw the rubbish bin. And when he was about to throw the stuff in the rubbish bin, you know, the filthy paper, something caught a glimpse in his eye. He saw in one of the paper, it seems like it's written in English. So this soiled paper, he wiped it, he washed off, he watered it just to remove the dirt. And then looking around, he puts it in his pocket. In the evening when everyone was already asleep, he took out the piece of paper

1:01:12 and started to read and he was surprised what the what it was. In that paper was written Romans chapter 8. And if you know Romans chapter 8, some of the verses in Romans chapter 8 says, "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For I am convinced that neither life nor death, neither angels, nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." So he was reading torn pages of the

1:01:58 Bible and it was so precious to him. The next day he went to the commander and asked the commander, "Can I clean the toilets again?" And so he did. And every day he will collect pages of the Bible soiled and dirty. He will just wipe off and we'll read it. and it became precious to him. Apparently, there was a commander that time who had a Bible and was tearing off pages to use it as toilet paper. But for him, it was so precious. The miracle of miracles, he was he got out

1:02:45 of prison and he became a refugee in another country. And what he said when he looks back, it was those it was the word of God that sustained him in the midst of all his challenges. And he realized that it was the word of God that brought real joy and happiness in his life. And that is how precious the word of God was for him. I pray that we too will realize how precious the word of God is. And beginning today, we too will share the Bible and the word of God to others. Amen. Amen. [applause]

1:03:30 As I close, in John 4:3-14, it says, "Jesus answered, everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. I don't know where you're trying to get satisfaction. Is it money? Is it relationships? Is it ambition? Is it career? But what God is telling today, anything you try to pursue apart from Christ will leave you thirsty again. But if it's Jesus Christ that you pursue, you will experience living water and you will be quenched forever. And you have that opportunity today. Just surrender

1:04:16 your life to Jesus Christ. Let's close in prayer. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord Jesus. We praise you Lord, Father God, for your goodness. And we come before you Lord right now. For some of us here, this is our moment, Lord. Father God, to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. And if that is you, pray this prayer with me. Dear God, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I acknowledge that I've strayed away. But today, Lord, I believe that Jesus Christ came down from heaven here to earth and died on the cross for all my sins. I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus is Lord

1:05:02 and Savior. I ask you Lord Jesus to lead my life beginning today and make me into the kind of person you want me to be. And Lord, we pray that beginning today, all of us will live our purpose to share Jesus and to share like Jesus. So that the world will know that the only source of true love, true source that will quench our thirst is Jesus Christ alone. Father God, use us mightily. Use us miraculously beginning today. And when things happen, when miracles happen, we can say it can only be because of you, Father God. Thank you, Lord. To you be all the glory alone. For we pray this in

1:05:50 Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. Happy missions month, CCF family. Welcome to Sunday Fastrack, where you ask real life questions and we give you biblical truths. I'm Brian Lehana from CCF Beyond, our emissions department here in CCF. And we're here today with Pastor Rescobar to answer some of your questions. Good day, Pastor Ryan. Happy missions month. Thank you for your very compelling message to share Jesus to others. Are you ready to answer our questions? >> Yes. By God's grace. >> Praise God. So, for your question number one, some people think that they don't fit into Christianity and believe God could never accept them because of their past or the choices they've made. How does Jesus interaction with the

1:06:36 Samaritan woman challenge that belief? Well, sometimes some people they can feel that way. But when I see how Jesus approached the Samaritan woman, you can really see how Jesus was so accepting. Even if Jesus knew what her past was. And if that's how you feel, you are not alone. There's so many people they feel that why will why will I approach God? or maybe I'll just approach God later on when they're already doing well in their lives. But that's not how God works. God accepts you for who you are right now. But at the same time, God loves you so much that he will not allow you to remain the same. So I encourage you get to know God little by little. And Jesus showed that he can break all barriers

1:07:22 because he wants to reach out to all people. As a matter of fact, Jesus gave this great invitation. Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. That is an open invitation from Jesus. So if you are feeling tired, if you are weary, Jesus is inviting you to come to him. So if that's how you feel, you have an invitation that I encourage you to accept. >> Amen. So for question number two, Jesus met the Samaritan woman while he was physically tired. What encouragement would you give to those who feel overwhelmed by work, family or life's responsibilities and wonder if they have the time or energy to potentially share the gospel? Yeah, that's true. We can be

1:08:08 tired and the truth is there are things that are tiring but tiring can also be fulfilling. So there are things like you work hard, you study hard, it's tiring but then you get the fulfillment when you see the results of what what happened after. In the same way, you have to see and feel the fulfillment that when you share the gospel, God is actually using you. Someone who is imperfect can be used by God and what can be the result? You are planting seeds in the lives of people and who knows it can lead to their eternal salvation and that can be worth it. So even if it's tiring, we know that what we're doing is fulfilling. As a matter of fact, there is a Bible verse said say that says, "Your labor for the Lord is

1:08:54 not in vain." And I truly believe all these years of me serving the Lord, laboring for the Lord is not in vain. Praise God. Thank you, Pastor Ryan. But wait, since it's missions month, we have two more questions for you. this time in Tagalog. For question number three, Okay.

1:09:40 Options. Amen. Okay, for last questioning training.

1:10:31 How much more CCF? Praise God. material links CCF. Gaga meeting. Thank you, Pastor Ryan, for answering our questions. And that's it for CCF Sunday Fastrack. Happy missions month.

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