About
Call to worship: Isaiah 55:1-7
Text: John 4:1-30
Sermon Outline:
- The setting: Jesus wearied, 4:1-6.
- The Savior of sinners, 4:7-26.
- Engaging, 4:7-9.
- Relating, 4:10-15.
- Convicting, 4:16-18.
- Clarifying, 4:19-24.
- Revealing, 4:25-26.
- The sinner saved, 4:27-30.
Prepare
Discussion Questions:
- Read 4:1-30. As time allows, read also Numbers 24:7, Psalm 36:9, Song of Solomon 4:15, Jeremiah 2:12-13, Isaiah 12:3, Isaiah 55:1-7. From where does Jesus draw for His self-disclosure and teaching for the salvation of souls?
- In 4:1-6, Jesus is said to be weary (and presumably hungry and thirsty). What does this teach us about Jesus? How does His weariness both comfort and challenge us?
- In 4:7-26, we're given to see our Lord, the Savior of sinners, seeking the conversion of a greatly sinful soul. Why would His engagement with this person be extremely unexpected and even scandalous? What does it say about Him? How does Jesus make Himself relatable to this woman? What does He imply about her? What does He imply about Himself? When it comes clear she doesn't get it, what does Jesus do in 4:16-18? How might this be taken today? How ought we to understand it? How does she initially respond to His command? How does she then respond in 4:19-20 to His personal knowledge of her? Why does she respond this way?
- Continuing in 4:7-26, how does Jesus reply to her question? What does His reply teach us? What is God? And how is this, much to our surprise by nature, determinative of both true worship and true worshippers? In the context of John, what is it to worship in spirit and truth? Jesus doesn't reveal Himself to be the Christ in Jerusalem or to Nicodemus---not like this. Why do you think He does it here, for her?
- What can we learn from Jesus' conversation with this woman, particularly as it relates to evangelism? What should we rejoice to rediscover as it relates to our conversion? In 4:27-30, how do we see new life in this woman? How ought to characterize someone who's truly met with Jesus? Does this characterize us?