The Noon-Day Conversation
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
This whole week has been about conversations.
Centreville Baptist Church was here on mission this week and it was a busy, tiring and wonderful week.
We saw so much accomplished this week, at our church and around the community.
We saw so much accomplished this week, and at the same time
Church I tell you, we are blessed! Over the past several years God has placed so many wonderful people around us to help us accomplish so many wonderful tasks.
We are blessed!.
This week has been all about being on mission. Seeing where God was working and what he was doing and joining Him there.
And as we have walked through this week I thought about the Scripture in John chapter 4. The woman at the well. That is a wonderful passage, but a unique one as well.
It’s the tale of a woman who was outcast, driven away by her peers because of her life and life choices. It left her wounded and avoiding contact with others. So much that she came to draw water from well at the hottest part of the day because she knew no other ladies would be there.
I want you to know there are people in our world today that are walking around avoiding others, avoiding life because they feel worthless, hopeless and outcast because of the choices they have made in life.
They need Jesus and they need us as well.
But how will they hear unless we go? How will their lives be impacted for good unless we befriend them, love them and show they Jesus loves them too.
So lets take our Bibles and lets find John chapter 4 and lets look at verses 4-10.
4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
What a beautiful passage my friends. Jesus loves the world and gave himself as a ransom for many.
Will we love the world as well?
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
says
So this leads me to my first thought today. Are you ready?
1. He Went....
1. He Went....
The very first thought I see in our text today my friends is the truth that Jesus went to where this need was located.
It wasn’t a popular place, it wasn’t a choice destination. And it certainly wasn’t the people society cared about.... lets just be honest we are talking about Samaritans!
Now in case you don’t remember the Samaritans were a mixed race of people. They were Assyrians and Israelites.
Israelites, really? Yes indeed.
let me explain this to you.... There was a time in the history of the people that the nation of Israel was divided. King Solomon’s son, when he took the throne did not listen to his advisors and he was very hard on the people. So the nation split. There were the northern 10 tribes, and then there was the 2 southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
The northern kingdom of the 10 tribes were captured by the Assyrians in 722 bc. And 10 tribes of Israel just accepted it, they never tried to regain their freedom they just intertwined their lives and families with their captors.
They became a mixed race of people… The Samaritans. And the Jews of the southern Kingdom hated them. wouldn't allow them to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritans were not even welcome to journey into their old home lands… The Jews considered them as a unclean people.... worse than the gentiles.
As such the Jews wouldn’t be caught dead in land of Samaria. Even if it meant making a journey longer and more costly, they would always journey around the land of Samaria, never pass through it.
And here is where it gets interesting my friends.
Look with me at
4 And he had to pass through Samaria.
Jesus knew there was a mission field there and he went! He made the initial effort to visit this place because Jesus knew there was a mission opportunity there.
No one else had been willing to love on these people, Jesus takes the first step because He loved them as well.
Jesus said to his disciples in “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
Jesus went, will you do as well.
A mission trip can be around the world, or across our own state like Centreville has just done with us again… or it can be in your own back yard.
But you have to go......
Now this leads me into a second thought today....
2. He Meet Her Where She Was.....
2. He Meet Her Where She Was.....
The most glorious truth about the gospel of Jesus is that it meets people where they are!
Think about people; they are God’s creation, they are wonderful and special but there is one problem, can you guess?
Humanity was ruined by sin, as such we do not seek out God on our own.
And the world around us has thousand views about God.... most are false. I say most because there are a few who have some truth, have been exposed to the truth of God’s world and so they have some small grain of knowledge.
But regardless, the vast majority will never seek us out… we have to seek them out and share the truth of God’s word with them.
lets go back to our text today my friends and lets see what Jesus was doing here on mission...
5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
John 4:
I want to you know something right off the bat, Jesus was tired, he had been on long journey. Remember, He is fully God and fully man.... But, Jesus didnt need her to help him get a drink…
Jesus is there to share with her.....
You have been placed in this world to share with those God places around you!
Wow, how wonderful !
So the Bible tells us that Jesus is there sitting, resting - but He has held off getting a drink, because He has a divine appointment waiting on him. It has been scheduled for ages! Jesus is looking for her.
God looked and found you didn’t he?
So Jesus is there waiting at the well and the Bible tells us she came, in the hottest part of the day.
I am sure you remember that women gathered water for their homes in the early morning hours before the heat of the day started. But not this lady.
Why?
Well it appears she has lived a scandalous life.. To many men in her life… I;m sure she has been called many names and made to feel unwelcome, unworthy and unaccepted in her community of Sychar.
But she comes and finds man ( Jesus) sitting there at the well…
She sees him… but she doesn’t recognize him as a local person… she is safe, he doesn’t know my story....
She didn’t know her life was about to be changed.
Here is it gets interesting.... Jesus begins talking to here..
A noon day conversation is where is all begins...
Who does God place in front of you each day … and we miss the opportunity set before us...
He places you where He can use you.... let the conversations begin.
Now this brings me to my last thought for today....
3. He Saw Her Life Changed....
3. He Saw Her Life Changed....
One of the greatest joys of sharing Jesus with others is seeing their lives changed right in front of your eyes, seeing their “New Birth” into the world and the kingdom of God.
In our text today we see lots of questions asked, but a life changed at the end.
But Jesus begins right where she is at, at the well, drawing water for her pot and he asks a request of her.
He asked her for a drink...
Now when Jesus asked for a drink, the woman was puzzled to say the least.
Look back with me to verses 7, 8 and 9
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
The woman pointed out right away one of the great problems in their society at the time, why do you ask me for a drink, you Jews have no dealing with us… let alone a woman.
She pointed out the oblivious barrier that was at hand. The division between these two groups of people.
Here is a great thought for you.... How often do people feel unwelcome or uncared for by another group. Show them they are welcome and loved!
Jesus was there to break the barriers that separate that tear people down, and he is still doing it today.
Listen to what Jesus says...
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
Now the way Jesus says this to her is captivating and it really has a way of saying this… If you really understood who I am, you would have asked me for my gift of living water.
But she didn't understand what Jesus meant by living water, and she referred to it as physical water.... listen to verses 11-12
11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”
Go back for a second and listen to the woman who is speaking to Jesus ....
Jesus is talking about water… soul quenching water, living water..... But the Samaritan women kept referring to the water from the well, and its historic significance since Jacob was the grand son of Abraham...
Finally she says, Jacob gave us this well, are you greater than he?
Jacob, we know is also named Israel by God later in life, and he is the Father of the 12 tribes… His 12 sons will become the 12 tribes of Israel.
So yes, Jacob was important to them. for the Samaritans, it was about all they had left to hang onto as a people.
But it wont get them to heaven....
Listen to this.... Having a godly mom or dad, grandparent or a close Christian friend will not get you into heaven. Only the life sustaining water of God can quench your thirst and satisfy the soul of man.
Finally Jesus says to her, the water from this well, it will never truly satisfy a person, oh it will bless you for a moment, but that is all…you will grow thirsty again.
Think of what the world offers, it satisfies for a moment, it blesses for a season but then it fades and people are left searching for the next best thing.
But what Jesus offers....it is a everlasting fountains that satisfys the soul
In fact Jesus says this water will burst forth into eternal life.
Jacob’s well might hold for water use.... but what Jesus was about to give her was no well, it was a fountain that would keep on replenishing itself, it would be fresh every day.
And all that was required was to ask....
And she does.......Sir give me this water to drink.... verse 15.
But Jesus stops her right there, just as she is ready to ask… in fact she does ask.. Give this water to drink…
And Jesus puts a question to her Call her husband.
Call her husband.
Many ask this question, why did Jesus stop her and ask her to call her husband??
Conversion is never going to happen without repentance and a truthful heart.
Verse 16 ... Jesus said to her, Call your husband and have him come here.
Now listen to her answer........
17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’;
She was truthful to Jesus, I have no husband.
But Jesus illuminates her life more.... You are correct, you have been married to 5 men previously and the one you live with now is not your husband.
Now that just blows her away, it catches her off guard for she knows that Jesus is truly someone special (verse 19), for He has told her something about herself that no stranger would have ever known.... and the conservation continues...
Look at verses 20, she asks about worship....
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.”
See here is another piece of the puzzle, the controversy between the Jews and the Samaritans.
The Jews would not allow this so called mixed breed of people to worship in Jerusalem at the temple, they said they were unclean. In retaliation, a Samaritan snuck into the temple and scattered hog bones in the temple...
Well that just made it worse.
So the Samaritans set up a false temple on Mount Dan, so this is where they worshiped.
So shes askes Jesus, where should i worship, you say there, we say here… what is the truth
Listen to Jesus response to her question
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.”
John 4:21-23
The key to what Jesus is saying is ....they will worship in Spirit and Truth....”
Jesus is alluding to his own passion, his death, burial and resurrection. Soon he would give his life as a ransom for sin. this would break down the wall of separation between God and man, it would forever!
No longer would man need a temple or a high priest to intercede for men and women becasue of sin, Jesus would become our great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek . The who dynamic of worship is about to change....
Now listen to here response in verse 25 and here was Jesus says to her in verse 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.”
Now we are told the details of her change, but we know this… her life is changed and the whole town with her...
Look at , and verses 39-43
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?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
and then......
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
43 After the two days he departed for Galilee.
Many heard and believed along with her, the Samaritan woman.
Oh man, do you see what has happened, one non day conversation saw a life changed and a community with her. Those who were considered unclean where made clean.
Jesus demonstrated the need to share, to witness and to care for the world around them...
Tomorrow God will send you out into the mission field of the world, you work, witness and conversations will have an eternal impact on a person. Make it a great conversation so that the world might see Jesus through us.
Now this morning, where are you?
Do you want to share more but feel, unable, unclean, not right for the task at hand. Ask Jesus to cleanse you, to touch and empower you for the days ahead...
Maybe you are here and you have been doing your part, but you need a church base to go out from , a church home. we welcome you
Maybe your discouraged today and need help, prayer, we will pray with you.
come today and see where God’s mission takes you.