Ready for a Surprise

Changed;

Ready for a Surprise

We are continuing our new series called “Changed” as we study the Gospel of John and look primarily to the people in the book whose life was changed by meeting Jesus. We will be looking at a woman who was empty and hopeless because of her sin, but was changed by her meeting with Jesus.

Verses used: John 4:1-42.

Supporting Media:

Steve's Testimony from Woodbridge Community Church on Vimeo.

Key verses: John 4:1-26

1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 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.)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.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 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.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Sermon Notes:

1. She was ready for a surprise (John 4:1-9)

She was not expecting who Jesus was, the gift he brought, or the future he had planned for her.

2. She needed a new hope (John 4:10-18)

She was trapped in her sin and the disappointment of her failed dreams, and had no options left.

3. She found a new purpose (John 4:19-26)

In place of her own plans she was free to worship in Spirit and in truth, to become the kind of person that the Father was seeking.

4. God has a surprise for all of us, who are tired of our failure and disappointment, and thirst for a drink of the living water. (John 4:27-4)

Some questions to ponder this week:

1. What is the best surprise you’ve ever received? What made it a surprise?

2. Do you picture the woman at the well as young or old? Why?

3. Why do you think Jesus revealed that he is the Messiah to this woman when he keeps this hidden from most people?

4. What things in this story surprise you about how Jesus speaks to this woman?

5. What lesson do you think Jesus’ disciples learned from what happened with the Samaritans?

6. In what ways has Jesus reached out to you like he did the woman at the well?

7. What wells have you drunk from in life that promised you satisfaction but left you empty?

8. What are some areas that you need more of the Holy Spirit to help guide you in your life? How would this change you?

9. What are some ways God is calling you to worship him in Spirit and in truth?