Welcome to our online youth group lesson for this week. To catch up on previous lessons, click here.
Here is a cover of a song that resonated with a number of our youth during camp ministries earlier this summer:
Prayers should continue for Pastor Paul and Sherilyn, especially as they prepare for another downsizing yard sale at the church (scheduled Aug. 20-21). Obviously, there is a lot of transition for them as they prepare for Pastor Paul’s retirement.
Continue to remember those who are struggling with cancer, the resurgence in COVID concerns and issues within our country, world and overall culture.
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First, an apology for a lack of online lesson from last week’s discussion. Time got away from us. Here is a quick recap, and some points to ponder.
The in-person youth lesson involved a one-minute video from a popular Disney Junior show (Muppet Babies) involving a Cinderella story focused on the character Gonzo and a ball. We discussed the video segment, the concept of culture and honed in on the part where the characters agree to “get rid of the old royal handbook and make a better one.” Check out the segment here:
There were a lot of themes from this one clip, and we balanced the discussion with some passages from God’s Word, but the main focus fell on the open-ended question of whether the writers of this episode were targeting the Bible directly via the “royal handbook” symbolism and what it says about where culture stands, especially considering the context of this being a cartoon targeting young children, seen by millions nation-wide.
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This week, we will focus on a popular story from the Gospel of John, involving a woman Jesus meets at a well. From John 4:5-29 (NKJV):
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of 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 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
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.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (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.”
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
28 The woman then left her water pot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
The exchange between Jesus and the woman is definitely interesting, the parallels between thirst and a need to know and follow God are unavoidable. For today’s lesson from this story, let’s look at the woman specifically, and how her persona changes from the start to the finish of the story.
To help us get a feel of how guarded and disbelieving the woman may have been in the start of this exchange, here is a clip from the popular series “The Chosen” which focuses on this story. Take notice, this is an artist’s rendering of the story, and we should always compare such material back to the original text it was pulled from. A few liberties were taken, some extra dialogue added (as you can see compared to the verses above). Still, let’s use it as a tool to watch the transformation of the woman as she talks with Jesus:
What did you notice?
It is apparent the woman at the beginning of the story is scarred from her sin, resentful, feeling alone and ostracized from others in her circle. She is skeptical of Jesus’ claims and, in a way, her faith in general. By the end her story, she is rejoicing, dropping her worldly water containers to run off and tell others about the Messiah.
What triggers this transformation? To go from someone crippled by her own sin and the internal guilt surrounding that sin to someone who seems set free from that bondage? She meets Jesus, gets to truly know Him. He is real. He is present and He cares for her despite her past mistakes.
Can you relate with the woman at any specific point of this story? Perhaps you feel rejected, depressed and bound by thoughts of feeling not good enough, that your sin is keeping you from the person you’d like to be and that things will never truly get better? If that is the case, take stock in the fact that Jesus is real, present and cares for you and “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
This God “thing” is real. Society will try to blur the lines, cast doubts and have you question the validity of what is shared in the Bible. Turn away from that attack and instead focus on those who have devoted themselves to humbly serving God.
- You have a choice. You are no longer covered by the blanket faith of childhood … as a teenager/young adult, it is up to you to fully choose to allow God into your heart, to choose to avoid negative influences that will draw you away from a relationship with Him, to choose to hang out with people who have a shared interest in honoring God and lifting you up with their words and encouragement.
- You are not alone. God is with you, even when it feels like you are alone. And, God has placed people in your life to help point you back to Him, to lift you up when you are down and who can walk this walk with you. Mindfully seek these people out .. those who are anchored in living for Him, ask for their help as you experience your own “woman at the well” transformation.
In closing, there is a powerful message of God’s transformational powers in the newest song from Micah Tyler, “Walking Free.” While watching, read the captions that share the true testimonies of people who likely could relate with the woman at the well and her experience of transformation.
