Group Time | March 19
Storytellers: The Story of a Servant
March 19, 2017
Pastor Jonathan Falwell, with Dr. David Wheeler
Open:
Another week! What exciting story, game, or piece of information happened this week that you could hardly wait to share?
This week we finish the short series on the importance of sharing the story of our encounter with the living Christ. We want to focus on the story of someone who lived—more than likely—as a rejected woman, but ended up changing a village with her testimony. Is it possible our reputation could be any worse—and our testimony be any greater?
Focal Passage: John 4:1-30, 39-42
Discuss:
See the Worth of Every Person
- Read John 4:1-7. What were some of the reasons the trip through Samaria was unusual? How did the Jews view Samaritans, and women in particular?
- What was Jesus’ physical condition as He sat at the well (verse 6)? What would be “natural” in that moment?
See Them the Way Christ Sees Them
- Read verses 7-10. What did Jesus see as He spoke with the woman who came to the well?
- Read verse 11. What is significant about the lack of a dipper? How would you react if you needed to share a drink with someone who was “unclean”?
See the Value of the Message
- Read verse 10b. What was He trying to get her to ask for?
- Think: How much time each week do you intentionally put yourself in a place where you will meet people who need to hear your message?
See the Importance of Telling Them
- Read verses 28-30. What possibly took place within the woman’s heart that she would risk rejection by running back to town? If you could put yourself in her place, do you think her countenance had changed any, so as to be believed by the men of Samaria?
Do Whatever It Takes
- Read verses 40-42. What was the outcome of the extra time Jesus spent in Samaria?
- How often do you get out of your box to tell your story?
Action Applications:
- Everyone matters to Jesus! Be intentional in going to places where you will find the lost.
- Be willing to share not only your story, but also minister to needs; would Jesus have drunk from her dipper, had she gone ahead and gotten Him water?
- He gave her respect, even though she was a woman of low virtue; He “valued” her.
- Be willing to inconvenience yourself if you have an opportunity to share your story with more people, because of the one.
- Pray that God would put you in a pond where there are many fish!
Close:
As you watch a movie or read a book, do you get caught up in the story line, and live the situation? If so, you’ll be able to envision and empathize with the woman who went to the well. She probably waited until the other women had come and gone—after all, it was possible she had been intimate with several husbands in the village—and she was not a popular person. The only ones who showed her attention more than likely were the men who used her. Yet as she approached the well, there sat a Jew, who with compassion in His eyes, spoke to her as if she were of value, and asked for water. The conversation is not all recorded, but He must have made such an impression that she ran back to the town to tell those who would listen that it was possible the Messiah was in Samaria! She had a story that changed the lives of a town. If you went outside your comfort zone, would you find a group who needs to hear your story, that there is Someone who loves them, died to pay for their sins, and is not willing that any go to hell, but can receive forgiveness and eternal life? Pray God will use you to share your story!
Memory Verse: John 4:10: Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.”