Welcome to Week One of Awaken, a series of messages being preached simultaneously at churches all over South Florida and especially in Broward County. A word about that, by the way. Each pastor will use the same passage of scripture and have agreed on the theme for each week, but each will put their own unique stamp on the message.
Likewise Personal Worship. We’re studying the same passage under the same general theme, but we’ve prepared these study notes in house using our usual team.
This time we’re looking at a familiar passage, the story of the woman at the well, but just the last half of the story. The complete passage is John 4:19-29. The big idea: No matter who you are, or what your background is, you have a purpose. You are called to go into your city and be an agent of transformation.
Prayer guides authored by Tracy Lautenschlager.
Index to Days 2 through 5
Day 1
Just One Question
Observe
Tired from his travels, Jesus stopped to rest around noon, sitting by Jacob’s well near the town of Sychar, which was located in the region of Samaria. While he was there, a woman came up to draw water from the well and Jesus engaged her in conversation. During their conversation, he told this woman things about herself that he could not have known unless God revealed them to him. She quickly realizes the man speaking with her was a prophet.
John 4:19-20
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
Luke 7:11-17
Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son
11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
Matthew 21:10-11
10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
This woman knew she had a prophet talking with her—a direct pipeline to God! She could ask the prophet anything she wanted and KNOW that God would hear and respond. So what did she ask? She asked about a dispute between the Jews and her people, the Samaritans, over which mountain the people should go to when worshiping the Lord. Now it’s not fair to suggest that she didn’t care at all about that dispute, she may well have wanted an answer, but it is also very likely she hoped to distract this prophet with a theological debate and turn his attention away from her personal life. Jesus knowing her secrets proved God knew everything about her life, including the shameful parts, and that made her very uncomfortable.
- If you had the means to ask God one question and get an immediate answer directly from him, what would you ask?
- How does it make you feel to realize God knows everything about you, even the parts you hide from everyone else?
Dear Lord, I’m so sorry that I try to hide from you. I try to hide my fears, my grudges, my sorrows and my sins. I keep thinking that I can fix some of them, and come to you with a better version of me. You know all these secrets, but I’m learning that I need to name them to you because it’s the only way I will begin to let them go. And you want me to let them go. You have paid the price of these sins, but you want me to both know that truth and experience freedom from them. So, this thing has been worrying me Lord, and I’m going to name it now, and trust you … . Amen.
Day 2
Don’t Change the Subject
Observe
Jesus knew exactly why she asked what she did, and he wasn’t going to let her change the subject away from herself and her need for a relationship with God.
John 4:21-24
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Philippians 3:3
3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
Romans 8:14-15
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
The Samaritans had long ago fallen into the syncretism of blending the worship of foreign gods with the ancestral God of the Jewish people. That’s likely what Jesus was alluding to when he said her people worshiped what they did not know. Regardless, he was going to avoid that argument and stay focused on her. God is spirit, he told her, meaning God is everywhere. Not just at the top of some particular mountain, nor even at church on Sundays. God is with you all the time, everywhere, and he wants you to worship him in truth (open and honest). The Samaritan woman was unwilling to open her heart to God and be honest with him about herself.
- What do you think it means to worship God at all times, wherever you are, and not just at church on Sundays? Give some examples.
- We all struggle at times with being open and honest with God, so don’t think you’re alone if that happens to you! We may even have clever theological-sounding rationalizations (“God already knows everything, doesn’t he? So we don’t need to talk about this.”). But why is it important to open our hearts to God and be honest about ourselves?
Heavenly Father, It is so good to gather together and worship you! Singing, praying, even laughing, feels like a fresh cool breeze. But sometimes my heart is just a visitor, an observer. Sometimes, the rest of my week does not look or sound like worship. So, Lord, remind me of the truth, that I am always in your presence. Make my spirit tender to yours. Open my eyes to see your work around me, and help me to praise you. Amen.
Day 3
Jesus Drops the Mic
Observe
Looking for a reason to disregard his words, the woman pushes back at Jesus. He’s just a prophet, after all, not the Messiah. Right? Wait…what did he just say?
John 4:25-26
25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Deuteronomy 18:15, 18
A New Prophet like Moses
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
John 1:19-34
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Behold, the Lamb of God
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
Jesus had other moments where he acknowledged he was the Messiah. We looked at one of them just last week, when he read from Isaiah in the synagogue and said “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” We didn’t, however, read about the crowd’s reaction. They became enraged and would have thrown Jesus off a cliff, but he (supernaturally) passed through the midst of them and went away. When Jesus was put on a very sketchy trial in front of the high priest, he chose not to answer any questions. That is, until the high priest invoked the name of the living God when asking if he (Jesus) was the Christ. Jesus answered in the affirmative and his accusers went into a frenzy, spitting on him and slapping him.
This moment is different; very kind and intimate, it strips away her defenses. Similarly, in Matthew 16 when Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ is acknowledged, it’s a very warm, personal moment.
- Why do you think the reactions of groups and individuals are so different when Jesus acknowledges being the Messiah?
- Jesus isn’t sitting in front of you to answer the question directly, so what has convinced you that Jesus is the Messiah?
Precious Savior, Thank you Jesus for revealing yourself to me and drawing me into a relationship with you. There is so much noise and confusion in the world about truth, so many angry arguments, and I often don’t know what to believe. But this much I know, that you are my Lord and Savior, and you love me, and you want me to love others also. Help me to cling to these truths. Amen.
Day 4
Friend of Sinners
Observe
The disciples return and see that Jesus is talking to a woman, and not just any woman but a woman of Samaria, and not just any Samaritan woman but one that would only sneak out to the well during the hottest part of the day when she knew no one else would be there.
John 4:27
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”
Mark 2:15-17
15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 11:16-19
16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,
17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
Things in our modern world have become increasingly divided. What you think about love, race, gender, or politics will earn you new friends, new enemies, or both. We think it’s worse now than it’s ever been, but maybe that’s just because we don’t know enough about the world at the time Jesus was here. There’s a reason why Jesus gave the Parable of the Good Samaritan as an object lesson regarding who is your neighbor. Jesus didn’t cooperate with any of that in his day. He didn’t shun women, or Samaritans, or even tax collectors. In fact, he didn’t even shun the religious leaders when they, like Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea, gave up their arrogant self-righteousness. The more you needed a Savior, the better friend you had in Jesus. He reached out to those who others shunned by showing them unconditional love that felt radical in his time.
- What could you do to show a radical, unconditional love to someone who would expect you to avoid them?
- How do you do this without compromising biblical principles?
Dear Lord, I confess that I can unfairly judge people by their appearance, their status, their address or other meaningless external criteria. As a result I pull back from them. I don’t have a chance to see you in them, and they surely don’t see you in me. But you broke through all those barriers to reach me and to reach them. Help me to love people who are different from me, who make me uncomfortable. Help me to love the people you bring across my path. Help me to love the way you love. Amen.
Day 5
Agent of Transformation
Observe
The woman is transformed and immediately shares what she found with the people where she lived.
John 4:28-29
28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”
John 2:23-25
Jesus Knows What Is in Man
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
The Jews regarded the Samaritan people as unclean. Even among a rejected and looked down upon people, this woman was an outcast. She’d had five husbands and the man she lived with now wouldn’t marry her. She’d been rejected so many times that her shame drove her to come draw water at the hottest part of the day, when there would be less chance of her running into anyone at the well. But she did run into someone and he spoke to her about living water that would satisfy her forever. Despite all her reasons for avoiding the people who had rejected her, finding the Messiah was so transforming that she left her water jar (because drinking from that water would just leave you thirsty again later) and went into her town to tell them about the Christ she’d found at the well. Our passage stops at verse 29, but verse 30 tells us she was successful. “They went out of the town and were coming to him.”
- What hinders you from sharing the message of the gospel with the people you live among?
- How do you regard the people who shared that message with you?
Father God, The events that lead me to hear the gospel and trust you as my savior were not random. It wasn’t just by chance. It was your plan for me, but someone had to have obeyed you in order for me to hear. Someone, as fearful and uncertain as me, took a step of faith and spoke your word to me. Thank you Lord! Now, use me. Strengthen me and prompt me to speak your gospel. Because your gospel changes everything. Amen.