Water

Water

John 4:4-42

Theme: Christ quenches our thirst through the anointing of the Spirit.

Purpose: To help people feel thirst and its quenching as a way of experiencing the Gospel

Image: Water

Introduction: Thirst

A.    Think about thirst--When where you really thirsty?

B.    Say the word “thirst”

1.              What does it feel like?

2.              Say it again

3.              What does your tongue and mouth feel like?

C.    Who is Thirsty?  Why?

1.              To address these questions we are going to walk through the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4

2.              Ask yourself,

a.        “Am I thirsty?”

b.       “Why am I thirsty?”

I.      Thirst

A.    Jesus

1.      The first person to say “I thirst” is Jesus

2.      Read v. 4-8

3.      Why is Jesus thirsty?  Physical

B.    Male and Female and Jew and Samaritan

1.      The next thirsty ones are groups, categories

2.      Read v. 9

3.      Males and females are thirsty because our relationships have been broken

4.      Jews and Samaritans are thirsty because their relationships had been broken

5.      We are thirsty because human community is broken, broken between the sexes, between the races

6.      Are you thirsty because of brokenness of community?

C.    The Woman

1.      But our story focuses on the woman’s thirst

2.      Why is she thirsty?

3.      She is thirsty because of a lack of understanding

a.      Read v. 10

b.      Is this why you are thirsty?  Lack of understanding

4.      She is thirsty because her understanding is shallow

a.      Read v. 11-12

b.      Is this why you are thirsty?  Shallowness

5.      She is thirsty because she is tired of the routine

a.      Read v. 13-15

b.      Is a meaningless routine without understanding making you thirsty?

6.      She is thirsty because she has been abused and is an outcast

a.      Read v. 16-18

b.      Is pain and rejection and abuse making you thirsty?

7.      She is thirsty because of her questions and waiting for answers

a.      Read v. 19-22

b.      Is confusing theology making you thirsty?  Or questions about worship?

D.    Who is thirsty?  What is your thirst?  Why?

1.      Take your crackers.  Eat them.

2.      Let the physical thirst trigger your reflections

3.      Reflect on your thirst

a.      Are you thirst?

b.      Why?

II.     Water

A.    Biblical Waters

1.      Creation

a.      Genesis 1—God orders the waters—God’s victory

b.      Genesis 2—Rivers of God’s provision

2.      Noah and the Flood

a.      Fallen creations disorder

b.      God’s deliverance

3.      Exodus—Moses

a.      Drawn out from the Nile

b.      Delivered through the Sea—God’s victory

c.      Wilderness—Water from the rock—God’s provision

4.      Entrance—Crossing the Jordan—victory and fulfillment of promise

5.      David—Psalm 23:2—still waters—blessing and rest

6.      Temple visions

a.      Isaiah 41:17-18

b.      Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12

7.      Jesus

a.      Baptism

b.      Footwashing

8.      Revelation

a.      7:13-17

b.      Revelation 22:1-2

B.    Water symbolism

1.      God’s Victory

2.      God’s Provision

3.      God’s Renewal

C.    Church’s Water

1.      What is between Jesus and Revelation?

a.      The church

b.      Mission to a thirsty world

2.      The water of the church is baptism

a.      Washing away of sin

b.      Rising up to new life

3.      The water of the church is compassion—Matthew 25:34-40

III.  Drinking

A.    What do you do when you are thirsty?

1.      You drink

a.      Think of that word a moment

b.      Say it—“Drink”

c.      How does it feel in your mouth?

(1)   Do you feel it starting in the front of the mouth and moving to the back?

(2)   Do you feel the swallow at the end of it?

2.      What other verb might you use?

a.      Obey your thirst—listen to it and act

b.      Quench your thirst

(1)   Feel the movement of that word

(2)   Starting in front and taking it back

(3)   The same with “drench”

3.      You need to feed your thirst

B.    Who is feed in our text?

1.      Jesus

a.      There is Jesus, the woman, and the disciples return to the scene

b.      Read v. 27-34

c.      Surprisingly, the first one focused on is Jesus

d.      He is feed by feeding, quenched by pouring out

2.      The disciples are then called to do the same

a.      Read v. 35-38

b.      Disciples are feed when they do the work of the Kingdom

3.      In this the woman and the whole town is drenched—Read v. 39-42

C.    What is drunk?

1.       What is the water?

a.      What is the turning point of the story?

b.      What changes us from thirsty to satisfied?

2.       The middle is verses 25-26

3.      The change is Jesus encountering us and our knowing him as the Christ, the anointed

4.      The anointing is this—read v. 23-24

a.      The anointing is the Spirit

b.      The anointing is experiencing the Father through the Son and Spirit

c.      Then we worship seeking the Father

d.      Then we are feed the living water

Conclusion: Symbolic Water—Revelations 22:17

A.       Drink some of this water as a symbol of receiving Christ and the Spirit

           1.        Fell it quench your thirst

           2.        Let it symbolize Jesus’ living water, his Spirit for your spirit

           3.        God’s provision

B.       Maybe pour a little on your head, your hands, your feet

           1.        Let it remind you of your baptism

                      a.        God’s washing

                      b.        God’s victory

                      c.        God’s renewal

           2.        If you have not been baptized, reflect on whether you should be

           3.        Save a little.  Let it remind you to share

                      a.        To offer the cup of cold water to the thirsty

                      b.        To care for those in need

C.       Now let us eat more fully at God’s table