Campfire Stories
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Who can tell me 1 of your favorite memories from a family vacation?
We love telling these types of stories because they mean something to us. We have a connection to them and we like telling people about these moments in our lives.
There’s always moments in our lives we have to tell people about.
Maybe something crazy happened at school or you saw something funny at the store
It could be anything, but when something big happens you’ve got to tell someone.
Why do we want to tell them about it?
Because we want them to know about it and experience it with us. Even if just thru a story, we want them to be a part of it.
We see this even in scripture when people have encounters with Jesus.
The way Jesus impacted their lives pushed them to want to tell people immediately after, because they wanted everyone to know so they could experience it too.
Scripture
John 4 tells us a perfect example of this.
Jesus and His disciples were traveling and they were going from one Jewish city to another.
But between the towns was a Samaritan city and Jesus made his mind that he had to go to this city 1st.
Now going to this Samaritan city was a big deal because Jews and Samaratins did not get along.
Samaritan’s saw Jews as stuck up religious people that wouldn’t let them worship God
Jews say the Samaritan’s as half-Jewish, half-gentile people that had turned their back on God
As they went to the city, Jesus told his disciples to go into the city to buy food and he would stay at the well. - Check out this video -
As soon as she realizes that Jesus is who He says He is and that God still loves her despite her past sins, John 4:28-29 tells us that she leaves her water jars and runs back to town saying “come and meet the man who told me everything I ever did. Could he be the Messiah?”
Let’s look at a couple verses:
30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Because of this woman going and telling people of her encounter with Jesus, it peaked people’s curiosity and made them want to go and see Jesus for themselves.
And once they met him, they knew He was the savior that had come for them.
Application
This story is a perfect example for us in how we should respond after we have encounters with Jesus. Jesus changed this woman’s life and she wanted everyone to have an opportunity to be changed too.
Some of us got to go to camp and had encounters with Jesus. Some hopefully have had an encounter with Jesus this summer at youth group
Maybe given your life to him and experienced salvation
Maybe you learned that He is your good Father and loves you as a son or daughter.
Maybe Jesus mended parts of your heart and healed emotional and spiritual scars.
Maybe you were physically healed, baptized in his spirit, or even called into the ministry.
It could be anything, but you’ve experienced him and you are not the same now.
The challenge to us now is to go and tell people about what Jesus has done in us. We want people to know what he’s done because if he can change me, then he can change their lives too!
Tell your story:
I want you to get in groups of 3-5 kids and give your story:
Maybe what happened at camp
What God has done in your life
And if you don’t have a story to tell, that is okay. I am glad you are here.
This is a great opportunity for you to be able to practice telling people what Jesus did in your life and how He can change your friend’s lives too!