John 4:1-26
ICE BREAKER
Have you ever tried to hide a flaw or a part of your story that is woven with shame?
Think about dating? What are we so nervous about? What is it we don’t want the other person to see?
Or, think of a job interview.
You want the job but perhaps you are not confident in your knowledge or your skill set. So, you hope they don’t ask “that question”.
Now think about that moment when you think you are exposed. Your cover is blown. What do you fear at that moment? Share your thoughts with the group.
Share with the group a story from your life when you were well aware of wanting to hide part of you or part of your story.
Next, share a time in your life when you shared with someone something that was hidden and to your relief you tasted acceptance rather than rejection.
Today’s story is about worship and there is tension for the Samaritan woman when she talks with Christ: will I be found out?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- What is the quality of my worship?
What is hindering me from deepening my worship–my suffering(John the Baptists’ struggle), self righteousness(Nicodemus’ struggle) or shame(the Samaritan womans’ struggle)?Please share with your group as much as you are willing to share in one or more of these areas of your life.Group leaders: Pause and remember that God loves to use the voice of people in our lives in a powerful way with this type of question. Enjoy watching Him speak through the members of your group to one another.
Remember, there is no pressure here from God.
Christ is inviting you; He is not inspecting you with a critical eye.
His hearts’ desire is to be close to you—with nothing blocking you from enjoying a deep connection with Him.
So, let Him sit with you and reveal to you what is blocking you.
He wants to come to your aid and He wants to walk a path with you to remove the issue that separates you from Him.
Growth occurs through connection with Him not through pressure on ourselves to fix it. You just can’t try harder to change.
- We all have parts of our life that we don’t want people to know about.
We tend to struggle in three common areas:shame, self righteousness and struggles in the midst of suffering.
When you are alone with these struggles the enemy is much more effective in lying to you about you and about God’s heart toward you.
Do you have a part of your life that no one knows about?
Take a step toward being known with your group or with someone in your life. Perhaps someone will want to text or email someone as their next step rather than sharing in the group.
Share with the group what step you believe God is inviting you to take.
Group leaders: consider inviting group members to remember that this is not a time for pressure. This is especially important to say if your group has not established a lot of trust at this point.
We also want to make clear that we are not pushing people to be known in the group.
- Another way to think about your quality of worship is to reflect on the condition of your heart.
Proverbs 4:23 tells us that our heart must be nourished, guarded and fought for above everything else because “everything” flows from the heart.
So, when thinking of the quality of your worship, reflect on the condition of your heart.Consider the following and how it may be impacting your heart.
Have you been able to connect with Jesus consistently lately?
Have you been too busy?
Are you driven or stressed out lately?
Have you flipped the order of priorities in your life(think of these priorities in this order: your walk with God, marriage, parenting, profession)?
NOTES AND QUOTES
Today’s story contains the following:
start up, escalation, “the turn”, response, and revelation.
The startup is seen with Christ asking the Samaritan woman for a drink.
Jewish men don’t even talk to their own wife in public let alone another man’s wife or adulterous wife.
She must have been shocked that Jesus spoke to her at all.
She is suspicious and she is defensive.
Now Jesus escalates the discussion by saying, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you,…”
Next Jesus turns the focus by telling her to go and call her husband.
She probably feels cornered or trapped by her shame.
She has something to hide and Jesus is sniffing around.
We all have parts of our life that we don’t want people to know about.
Jesus ripped away her secret when He told her that she has had 5 husbands and that the one she is with now is not her husband. He wants her heart if she is willing to give it.
She allowed her secret to be exposed and she is owning it.
Why? She knows Jesus is from God.
The very next thing she thinks of is worship.
She doesn’t know how to worship God because of her shame.
This is one of the main questions of her entire life.
In 4:21-24 Jesus speaks of worshiping in spirit and truth.
To worship in spirit is to have our inner being focused on God.
So, we must remove our deceit and our hiding in order to worship God in spirit–from our inner being.
Jesus is saying He wants us close to Him.
What stands in the way of your worship?
For John the Baptist suffering stood in the way
For Nicoedemus his self righteousness was in the way.
For the Samaritan woman shame stood in her way.
Next is the revelation when Christ says: “I who speak to you am He.”
Christ reveals Himself to an outcast!
He told me all I ever did and He loved me. He did not reject me.
