1. FROM FAILURE TO
SALVATION
JOHN 4:1-42
OCTOBER 7, 2012
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI
USA

2. Wednesday Nights for
Young Marrieds in the
Christian Life Center at
6:00 p.m.
Parenting Series
by Chip Ingram

3. BABY BOOMERS for FUN
commences
Saturday October 20th
Brandon Opry House
1000 Municipal Drive
off Hwy 80 across
from Sonny’s BBQ

4. 5:00 - Meal begins
6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Opry
Sonny’s BBQ is laying the
spread.
Cost: $15.00 per person
(Includes chow and Opry
ticket)

5. If you are not eating,
tickets may be purchased
at the door at the Opry for
$5.00.
Tickets will be on sale at
the 2nd floor kiosk today.
Duds: plaid and denim

6. If you have any questions,
please contact Patricia
Jenkins at (601) 949-1941
or pjenkins@fbcj.org.
Deadline to purchase
tickets: Monday, October
15th!

8. Next Generation Leaders
Luncheon with
Oscar Miskelly
Thursday, October 25th
CLC—11:45 a.m.
Sharing nuggets from
being a successful leader.

9. CHILI COOK OFF
Sunday, November 4
5:00-5:50 p.m.
Fellowship Hall East
More details coming.

10. The next four lessons deal
with the question:
Is there life after failure?
Next week we see
Abraham getting
impatient with God and
failing to wait on Him.

11. The October 21st lesson
deals with Miriam being
critical of her brother,
Moses, and after being
disciplined by the Lord,
she was restored to a
leadership position.

12. On October 28th, we will
study that tender passage
of how Jesus restored
Peter after he had failed
Christ so miserably
following his three
denials of knowing Him.

13. All four of these people
had life after their failures
because God worked in
their lives to move them
beyond those failures, just
as He did in King David’s
life.

14. FROM FAILURE TO
SALVATION
Background Passage
John 4:1-42
A LESSON IN
EVANGELISM

15. Focal Passages
*Recognize Your Need
John 4:7-14
*Confront Your Failure
John 4:15-18
*Tell Others About Jesus
John 4:25-26,39

16. John 4:7-26 HCSB
7 “A woman of Samaria
came to draw water.
“Give Me a drink,” Jesus
said to her,
8 for His disciples had

17. gone into town to buy
food.
9 “How is it that You, a
Jew, ask for a drink from
me, a Samaritan woman?”
she asked Him. For Jews
do not associate with

18. Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered, “If you
knew the gift of God, and
Who is saying to you,
‘Give Me a drink,’ you
would ask Him, and He
would give you living

19. water.”
11 “Sir,” said the woman,
“You don’t even have a
bucket, and the well is
deep. So where do You
get this ‘living water’?

20. 12 You aren’t greater than
our father Jacob, are You?
He gave us the well and
drank from it himself, as
did his sons and
livestock.”

21. 13 Jesus said, “Everyone
who drinks from this
water will get thirsty
again.
14 But whoever drinks
from the water that I will
give him will never get

22. thirsty again—ever! In fact,
the water I will give him
will become a well of water
springing up within him for
eternal life.”
15 “Sir,” the woman said to
Him, “give me this water

23. so I won’t get thirsty and
come here to draw water.”
16 “Go call your husband,”
He told her, “and come
back here.”
17 “I don’t have a
husband,” she answered.

24. “You have correctly said,
‘I don’t have a husband,’”
Jesus said.
18 “For you’ve had five
husbands, and the man
you now have is not your
husband. What you have

25. said is true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman
replied, “I see that You
are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshiped
on this mountain, yet you
Jews say that the place to

26. worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus told her, “Believe
Me, woman, an hour is
coming when you will
worship the Father
neither on this mountain
nor in Jerusalem.

27. 22 You Samaritans
worship what you do not
know. We worship what
we do know, because
salvation is from the Jews.

28. 23 But an hour is coming,
and is now here, when the
true worshipers will
worship the Father in
spirit and truth. Yes, the
Father wants such people
to worship Him.

29. 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

30. is called Christ). “When
He comes, He will explain
everything to us.”
26 “I am He,” Jesus told
her, “the One speaking to
you.”
John 4:7-26

31. John 4:39-42
39 Now many Samaritans
from that town believed
in Him because of what
the woman said when she
testified, “He told me

32. everything I ever did.”
40 Therefore, when the
Samaritans came to
Him, they asked Him to
stay with them, and He
stayed there two days.

33. 41 Many more believed
because of what He said.
42 And they told the
woman, “We no longer
believe because of what
you said, for we have
heard for ourselves and

34. know that this really is the
Savior of the world.”
John 4:39-42

35. Focal Passages
*Recognize Your Need
John 4:7-14
*Confront Your Failure
John 4:15-18
*Tell Others About Jesus
John 4:25-26,39

36. What This Lesson Is
About:
Failures in our past do not
mean we cannot change.
We can trust Christ to use
us after we have failed.

38. How This Lesson Can
Impact Our Lives:
This lesson can help us
see the need for Christ
and to share the life-
changing message of
Christ with others.

39. This month we will study
four ways God helps
people move from failure
to life through salvation,
direction, correction and
action.

40. From Failure to Salvation
Samaritan Woman in John 4:1-42
From Failure to Direction
Abraham in Genesis 15-17
From Failure to Correction
Miriam in Exodus 15 & Num. 12
From Failure to Action
Peter in John 18 & Acts 4

41. 2 Timothy 3:16
16 “All Scripture
is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching
(direction), for reproof, for
correction, for training in
righteousness (action).”

42. Jesus’ conversation with
the Samaritan woman
introduces us to the life-
changing message about
salvation through Him
that sets people free from
their sinful failures.

43. Recognize Our Need
John 4:7-9 HCSB
7 “A woman of Samaria
came to draw water.
“Give Me a drink,” Jesus
said to her,

44. 8 for His disciples had
gone into town to buy
food.
9 “How is it that You, a
Jew, ask for a drink from
me, a Samaritan
woman?” she asked Him.

45. For Jews do not associate
with Samaritans.”
John 4:7-9

46. *Jesus and His disciples
left Jerusalem for Galilee,
traveling by way of
Samaria.

49. Shechem
Sychar
Nablus

51. Jewish folks in those days
tried to avoid the
Samaritan route because
they considered the
Samaritan people in the
region to be unclean.

52. Jesus led His disciples
toward the Samaritan
town of Sychar, where
they stopped at Jacob’s
well, a religious landmark
as well as a source of
water (4:1-6).

54. In 722 BC, Assyria
deported the survivors of
the fallen Northern
Kingdom of Israel to
locations in Assyria
(2 Kings 15:29).

55. 2 Kings 15:29
29 “In the days of Pekah
king of Israel, Tiglath-
pileser king of Assyria
came and deported the
people to Assyria.”
2 Kings 15:29

56. In their place, the
Assyrians settled colonists
from other presumably
troublesome locations in
Babylonia, Syria, and
Persia.

57. These newcomers
mingled with Israelite
residents who had
managed to evade
deportation and the result
was a group of people
who were part Jewish.

58. They were called
Samaritans and the
province was named
after their city.

59. The new settlers in
Samaria immediately
faced trouble
(2 Kings 17:25-28).

60. 2 Kings 17:25-28
25 “When they first lived
there, they did not fear
Yahweh. So the Lord sent
lions among them, which
killed some of them.

61. 26 The settlers spoke to
the king of Assyria,
saying, “The nations that
you have deported and
placed in the cities of
Samaria do not know the
requirements of the God

62. of the land. Therefore He
has sent lions among
them that are killing them
because the people don’t
know the requirements of
the God of the land.”

63. 27 Then the king of Assyria
issued a command: “Send
back one of the priests you
deported. Have him go
and live there so he can
teach them the
requirements of the God

64. of the land.”
28 So one of the priests
they had deported came
and lived in Bethel, and he
began to teach them how
they should fear Yahweh.”
2 Kings 17:25-28

65. This began what would
become a bitter religious
rivalry with Jerusalem that
lasted for centuries.

66. The term Samaritan gained
a religious association
that eventually surpassed
its geographical
connection
(John 4:19-20).

67. For the moment, however,
the priest’s tutoring merely
had the effect of adding
the Lord to the many idols
the Samaritans already
worshiped
(2 Kings 17:40-41).

68. 2 Kings 17:38b-41a
38b “do not fear other
gods,
39 but fear the Lord your
God, and He will deliver
you from the hand of all
your enemies.

69. 40a However, they would
not listen but continued
practicing their former
customs.
41 These nations feared
the Lord but also served
their idols.” 2 Kings 17

71. *Don’t overlook the
helpful insight that Jesus
gave us about reaching
people for Him.
*With Jesus’ example, He
showed us the need to go
where people who have

72. not met Him can be
found.
*Sometimes we tend to
take the opposite
approach and believe that
unsaved people need to
come to us, but He

73. demonstrated that we
should go to them.
(duck hunters)
*This is our only chance
(while we live on this
earth) to live among lost
people.

74. According to HCSB, this
woman got to the well
“about six in the evening”
(literally, “the sixth
hour”), which would have
been the Roman way of
measuring time (v. 6).

75. Many interpreters
understand “the sixth
hour” to reflect Jewish
time calculation, which
would indicate she
arrived at noon.

76. *Either way, she came to
the well at the perfect
time for Jesus to talk with
her about her need for
living water.

77. *At the well, Jesus sat
down to rest while His
disciples went on into
town so they could buy
some food.

78. As the woman
approached the well, He
could have chosen to sit in
silence.

79. By not saying anything to
her, she probably would
have come to the well,
filled her container with
water, and returned to her
home.
*Saying nothing to her

80. could have been seen as
better for Him—talking
with her would have
required Him to forego
His rest and make the
effort to engage in
conversation.

81. Have you ever hoped that
the opportunity would
just “go away” so that you
wouldn’t have to say
anything (on a plane, in a
waiting room, to a person
living on the street)?

82. *Jesus could have chosen to
pass on the opportunity.
*But He didn’t make that
choice.
*Instead, He decided to
talk with her.
*His conversation began

83. with asking her to share a
drink of water with Him
(v. 7).
*She replied with a note of
surprise and perplexity.
*She couldn’t imagine that
Jesus would try to talk

84. with her.
*Usually, Jewish men in
those days didn’t talk to
women in such a setting.
*Neither did they want to
talk with Samaritans
(v. 9).

85. *But Jesus did not have a
problem with talking with
her.
*By taking the initiative in
the conversation, He
departed from the cultural
restrictions of the day.

86. *No wonder Jesus
constantly got into trouble
with the rules-makers.
*He considered people
more important than
rules.

87. *Society attempts to
dictate what you should
and should not do.
*Anyone who ignores
these unspoken rules is
considered arrogant and
dangerous.

88. This was especially true in
Jesus’ day when
compliance was the norm
and individuality was not
tolerated.

89. *Jews were expected to
behave like Jews and men
were expected to behave
like men.
*To do otherwise was to
invite judgment.

90. Jesus seemed to break all
the rules when He made
this simple request of a
Samaritan woman at
Jacob’s well.

91. *Who would have ever
thought that “Give Me a
drink” would be such a
provocative request?
*Jesus was defying the
stereotypes that divided
people – then and now –

92. believing that our
common need of a Savior
would unite all people,
whether Jews or
Samaritans, male or
female, righteous or
sinners.

93. The Jews and the
Samaritans had bitterly
hated each other for
centuries.
The Samaritans were part
Jew and part Assyrians so
the Jews looked at them as

94. inferior, unclean half-
breeds.
Other scholars think the
Samaritans were
descendants of priests
who defected from
Jerusalem to Shechem of

95. Samaria and built a
temple on Mount Gerizim
(which the Samaritans
claimed to be the original
location of the tabernacle).
*The Samaritans & Jews
were mortal enemies.

96. Jesus’ request startled the
Samaritan woman not
only because of the
troubled history between
their ancestors but also
because of the gender
issues of the day.

97. Men and women (even if
they were husband and
wife) seldom engaged in
public conversation.
*The reason a man would
approach an unknown
woman in public typically

98. would be to initiate an
improper relationship.
*The Samaritan woman
probably thought that was
what Jesus was doing.
*A strange man traveling
alone was probably

99. looking for some
company.
*The fact that she was
drawing water by herself
in the middle of the day
would have signaled to
any man that she was a

100. rule breaker, marginalized
by the other women.
In that day, the women
usually gathered at the
well early in the morning
to draw water and to visit
with each other for a

101. while before getting to
work in their homes.

102. So a troubled woman
would have been
ostracized by the rest of
the wives.

103. John 4:10-14
10 Jesus answered, “If
you knew the gift of
God, and Who is saying
to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’
you would ask Him,

104. and He would give you
living water.”
11 “Sir,” said the woman,
“You don’t even have a
bucket, and the well is
deep. So where do You
get this ‘living water’?

105. 12 You aren’t greater than
our father Jacob, are You?
He gave us the well and
drank from it himself, as
did his sons and
livestock.”

106. 13 Jesus said, “Everyone
who drinks from this
water will get thirsty
again.
14 But whoever drinks
from the water that I will
give him will never get

107. thirsty again—ever!
In fact, the water I will
give him will become a
well of water springing
up within him for eternal
life.”
John 4:10-14

108. Confront Your Failure
John 4:15-18
15 “Sir,” the woman said
to Him, “give me this
water so I won’t get
thirsty and come here to
draw water.”

109. 16 “Go call your
husband,” He told her,
“and come back here.”
17 “I don’t have a
husband,” she answered.
“You have correctly said,
‘I don’t have a husband,’”

110. Jesus said.
18 “For you’ve had five
husbands, and the man
you now have is not your
husband. What you have
said is true.”
John 4:15-18

111. With her interest turned
to receiving living water,
the Samaritan woman
continued to talk with
Jesus.

112. Her remarks about living
water, however,
confirmed that she still
did not have a grasp of
what Jesus had in mind.

113. *By not returning there
every day, perhaps she
had in mind the
inconvenience of her daily
trips to the well.
*But maybe she thought
about something else too.

114. *Remember that when she
met Jesus, she had come
to the well much later in
the day.
*She may have come to
the well at that time in
order to avoid the others.

115. *But going to the well at a
time when she wouldn’t
have to face the other
women posed another
problem.
*All alone, she would
have to face the failures in

116. her life she would like to
have forgotten.
*Maybe that’s why she
never wanted to return to
the well again.
*Jesus knew about her
failures.

117. When Jesus said to her,
“Go call your husband”,
she would have taken the
comment as an inquiry
into her availability.
*When she responded, “I
have no husband,” she

118. was signaling her
willingness to take the
next step in this
potentially salacious
encounter (v16-17).
*She had no idea Whom
she was addressing.

119. *He drew her attention to
her failures bringing up
her husband (v. 16).
*He had a strategic reason
for asking her to return to
her home and bring back
her husband.

120. *With His request, Jesus
wanted her to get honest
with Him about her
situation.
*Accordingly, He guided
her to confront her failure.
*In order to receive God’s

121. gift of living water, she
had to admit she had
failed in her attempt to
meet her deepest spiritual
need by herself.
*Making such an
important admission

122. meant coming face to face
with the failures in her
life.
*In her reply to Jesus
about not having a
husband, she told only
part of the truth.

123. *Obviously, she did not
want to tell Him of her
series of failed
relationships with men.
*Neither did she want
Jesus to know that the
man who lived with her at

124. the moment was not her
husband.
*But as Jesus pointed out
to her, He already knew
the whole truth about her
situation (v. 18).

125. *By instructing the
Samaritan woman to
come back with her
husband, Jesus led her to
confront her failure.
*Of course, coming to
terms with her failure

126. probably caused her
tremendous pain.
*However, joy would
awaited her on the other
side of her pain.
*She would be able to
rejoice in the blessing that

127. would come her way
because she received
God’s gift of living water.
*Her failures would be
placed behind her, and
she would never be

128. spiritually thirsty again.

129. *The well of living water
God would place in her
heart would provide her
with an eternal source of
spiritual fulfillment.

130. *Bear in mind that the
Samaritan woman’s
failure did not start with
her lifestyle of
immorality. *Neither did
it begin with her series of
failed relationships.

131. *Her lifestyle pointed to a
far more serious problem.
*Her lifestyle exhibited
the reality of her sin.
*Therefore, she failed
because she was a sinner.

132. *All people everywhere
share this same problem.
*Like the Samaritan
woman, all of us have the
same fundamental
problem with sin.
*Each of us is a sinner;

133. we deceive ourselves if
we believe we can deal
with our sin problems by
ourselves.
*Although we constantly
try to find our own way to
fill the need, we will fail.

134. *Like the Samaritan
woman, some of us think
we can find fulfillment in
relationships with other
people.
*Others of us have
convinced ourselves that

135. indulging in wealth or
possessions will help us to
deal with our spiritual
condition.
*As we discover to our
sorrow, however, self-
indulgence doesn’t fill the

136. void either.
*Only a relationship with
Christ, the source of living
water, can meet our
gaping spiritual need that
results from our sin.

138. *In what ways do people
try to self-medicate the
pain caused by their
failures?

139. *People prefer to deny the
reality of their sin because
confronting it brings them
pain.
*Being convicted of sin
hurts, so they tend to do
everything they can to

140. avoid it.
*However, the problem
won’t go away.
*Their sin still weighs
heavily on them.

141. Psalm 38:4
4 “For my sins have
flooded over my head;
they are a burden too
heavy for me to bear.”

143. 1 Peter 2:24a NIV
24 “He Himself bore (the
burden) our sins in His
body on the tree, so that
we might die to sins and
live for righteousness;”

144. *Instead of denying our
failure, we do well to
confront it by confessing
our sin to the Lord.

145. *Confessing our sin
means seeing it from the
Lord’s perspective.
*When we see our sin
through His eyes, we
recognize that we’ve been
going in the wrong

146. direction.
*That’s when we can
decide to make an about
face and turn to Him.

147. *The first step toward
Him involves confessing
our sin.
*When we make that
critical step, the pain of
our sin will be replaced
with the peace that comes

148. with His forgiveness.
*The guilt over our sin
fades away; the joy of
eternal life fills us.

149. After Jesus revealed to her
the details of her troubled
past, she realized this was
no ordinary man (v19).
*She probably thought:
“He is a Jew; I am a
Samaritan. He’s a man;

150. I’m a woman. He’s a
prophet; I’m a sinner.
Why in the world would
He ask me for a drink?”

151. *A holy man would never
risk defilement by
drinking from an unclean
bucket – a vessel that
belonged to an unclean,
immoral, Samaritan
woman.

152. *By His willingness to
drink from her bucket,
Jesus was essentially
saying that she could be a
clean vessel too.

153. *Jesus initiated the
conversation with the
woman for one specific
reason.
*For the same reason, He
engaged in conversations
with other people in His

154. ministry.
*He could tell she had a
spiritual thirst that only
the living water He alone
could offer would quench.
*As He continued to talk
with her, He brought up

155. God’s gift (v. 10).
*By referring to living
water in that way, He
signaled to her that God
had taken the initiative to
give it.

156. Romans 5:8 NASB
8 “But God demonstrates
His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for
us.”

157. *Furthermore, He
suggested that the gift He
offered her could not be
purchased.
*The Samaritan woman
could not buy it even if
she tried.

158. *By mentioning God’s gift,
Jesus took an important
step in directing her to see
her deep spiritual need
and her inability to meet it
on her own.
*God alone could give her

159. what she needed, but she
would have to turn to
Him in order to receive it.
*But she would only turn
to Him when she saw that
she had a need she
couldn’t meet by herself.

160. *Only then would she
turn to Jesus and receive
the gift He would offer.
*Helping someone see
their deepest spiritual
need can be challenging.

161. *When we share the Good
News of Christ with the
lost, we can grow
frustrated because we
cannot get them to see
they need Him.

162. *Because of their spiritual
blindness, they have
difficulty with the reality
that they need what
Christ alone can give
them.

163. *It is the job of the Holy
Spirit to convict them of
their need for a Savior
and then to transform that
need into a want.

164. *As Jesus demonstrated,
talking with people so
they can see their spiritual
need becomes a critical
step in reaching them for
Christ.

165. The Way of the Master
by Ray Comfort &
Kirk Cameron

166. *Jesus introduced the
Samaritan woman to the
truth about God’s gift of
living water.
*Immediately she showed
interest in what He said,
although she didn’t quite

167. understand what He
meant (vv. 11-12).
*Jesus had in mind her
spiritual thirst that would
be quenched when she
received God’s gift of
eternal life He offered.

168. *However, she still
thought He was talking
about literal water.
*That’s why she
wondered where He
could get that kind of
water for her.

169. *He didn’t have a bucket,
so she wondered how He
would draw such water
from Jacob’s well.
*And besides, the well
that Jacob dug seemed to
have been adequate to

170. supply water for everyone
in the region for quite a
while.
*She must have doubted
Jesus could find a better
source of water in the
region.

171. *Because she did not
understand, Jesus took the
time to talk more about
living water.
*He noted that living
water alone could quench
a person’s spiritual thirst

172. eternally.
*He also assured her that
the source of living water
would never run dry (vv.
13-14).
*The story so far displays
for us the value of

173. spending time with
people and helping them
to see their spiritual need.
*It fosters an interest in
the living water that
Christ offers to everyone
who turns to Him.

174. *It is all about creating a
spiritual thirst for God.
*Jesus made it a point to
veer off the normal path
to help the Samaritan
woman recognize her
need.

175. *Where might you need to
go to help someone see
his or her need for Jesus?

176. Tell Others About Jesus
John 4:25-26,39
25 “The woman said to
Him, ‘I know that
Messiah is coming’ (Who
is called Christ). ‘When
He comes, He will

177. explain everything to us.’
26 ‘I am He,’ Jesus told
her, ‘the One speaking to
you.’
39 Now many Samaritans
from that town believed
in Him because of what

178. the woman said when
she testified, ‘He told me
everything I ever did.’”
John 4:25-26,39

179. *Jesus treated her
questions with respect
and in a way that invited
more curiosity.
*When He responded to
her question concerning
the location of the true

180. temple of God, it was not
the response she
anticipated.
*A typical Jewish man
would have said,
“Jerusalem. Certainly not
on Mount Gerizim!”

181. *But when Jesus replied,
“neither in this mountain
nor in Jerusalem will you
worship ;the Father”(v21),
His words treated this,
immoral, Samaritan
woman as if she were just

182. as important to God as a
Jewish holy man.
*Indeed, a temple that
once divided Jew and
Gentile, male and female,
clean and unclean would
no longer define sacred

183. space in the messianic
age.
*Jesus, the new temple of
God had come to her
mountain.

184. *As Jesus continued to
talk with the Samaritan
woman, their
conversation turned to
worship.
*She brought up a debate
that fumed between the

185. Jews and the Samaritans
regarding the proper
place to worship God.
*Jesus replied by saying
that the key issue in
worshiping God did not
involve a location on a

186. map but the attitude of a
worshiper’s heart.
*God’s people worshiped
Him “in spirit and truth”
(vv. 19-24).
*In that context, the
Samaritan woman began

187. to talk with Jesus about
the Messiah.
*Like the Jews at that
time, the Samaritans had
developed an anticipation
of the Messiah Who
would come.

188. *They almost certainly did
not have all of the
information and
expectations Jewish
people had regarding the
arrival of the Messiah.

189. *Even so, they apparently
had enough insight into
Old Testament prophecies
about the Messiah to join
the people of Israel in
looking forward to the
day He would come.

190. *For the Samaritan
woman, the arrival of the
Messiah would mark the
day when all of the
debates about spiritual
matters would come to an
end.

191. *For example, the debate
between the Jews and the
Samaritans about the
proper place of worship
would be completely
resolved.

192. *When the Messiah came,
He would give the final
word on which mountain
would be the right place
for people to worship
God.

193. *She trusted Him to be
wise enough to explain
everything people
considered to be
confusing or controversial
(v. 25).

194. *Little did she know she
had been carrying on a
conversation with the
Messiah Himself.

195. *The Stranger resting by
the well turned out to be
the long-awaited Savior.

196. *She had been looking
into the eyes of the Son of
God who would pay the
price for her sin on the
cross.
See Philippians 2:10-11

197. Philippians 2:10-11 NASB
10“that at the name of
Jesus every knee will
bow, of those who are in
Heaven and on Earth and
under the Earth,

198. 11 and that every tongue
will confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:10-11 NASB

199. *There at the well, the
conversation with Jesus
had taken her from His
request for a drink of
water to His
announcement that He
was the Messiah (v. 26).

200. *He made the
announcement so she
would turn to Him and
receive the living water
He alone could give to
her.

201. *She could turn from her
failed attempts to manage
her life on her own and
give herself to Him as her
Savior and Lord.
*When people believe
Jesus wants to save them

202. from sin, they can begin to
taste living water for
themselves.
*They can move beyond
miserable lives of failures
to intimate walks with
Him who makes life

203. complete and fulfilling.
*The transformation starts
by embracing Jesus.
*By receiving Him as
Savior and Lord, a person
can know what it’s like to
drink in living water that

204. springs forth eternal life.
*Not long after Jesus
shared with her that He
was the Messiah, the
Samaritan woman left the
well and returned to the
town.

205. *She wanted to tell others
there about Jesus and her
encounter with Him at the
well.
*Even though she had just
met Him for the first time,
she did not hesitate to tell

206. people in town about her
conversation with Him.
*Pay close attention to the
Samaritan woman’s
decision to go into town
immediately and tell
people she met about her

207. encounter with Jesus.
*Her eagerness to share
her testimony reminds us
that meeting Christ results
in our enthusiasm over
telling others about Him.

208. *Like the Samaritan
woman, we become eager
to bear witness to Jesus
once we have met Him
personally.
*Having experienced His
love, mercy, and grace for

209. ourselves, we can hardly
wait to tell others about
Him.
*The character of Christ
fosters our eagerness to
introduce others to Him.

210. *He personifies God’s
love in a way that
transforms the people
who receive Him.
*When we introduce
others to Him, we know
for certain He can change

211. their lives.
*We can never
overestimate the power of
a testimony about Christ.
*While people may take
issue with what we say
about the Bible or what

212. we believe about doctrine,
they have more difficulty
denying what we have
experienced when we met
Jesus for ourselves.
*A Christian’s testimony
serves as a most useful

213. tool in sharing the good
news of Christ with
others.
*We can rest assured that
it will have a beneficial
effect on the people who
are open to hearing it.

214. *The Samaritan woman’s
testimony made a positive
impact on people in town.
*After hearing her stirring
testimony about her
encounter with Jesus, they
rushed to the well to meet

215. Jesus for themselves.
*Once they met Him,
many of them placed their
trust in Him (v. 39).
*They could see for
themselves why the
Samaritan woman

216. testified about Him.
*The story of the woman
who met Jesus at Jacob’s
well declares a life-
changing message.
*Christ will save you if
you turn to Him.

217. *He knows you, and He
will set you free from
your sins and deliver you
from your failures.
*When you receive Him
as your Savior, you will
experience for yourself

218. what it’s like to drink in
living water.
*For that reason, do not
hesitate to give your life
to Him.
*If you are a Christian,
bear witness to others

219. regarding the eternal
difference He can make.
*Share your testimony
with people in your life so
they can hear the life-
changing message of
Christ.

220. *Every Christian has a
testimony.

221. Biblical Truths of This
Lesson in Focus
• When we come to see
our need for Christ, we
find ourselves eager to
hear more about eternal
life He alone can offer.

222. • As we deal honestly
with the problem of our
sin, we see our need to
come to Christ, our only
solution for it.

223. • A Christian’s testimony
about the change Christ
has made in his or her life
can have a major
influence on a person who
has not met Him
personally.

224. • When we receive Christ
as Savior, He changes our
lives by setting us free
from our failures and our
sin.

225. *What needs in your life
has Jesus met?
*How can you use those
experiences to share the
life-changing message of
Christ with others?

226. *Sometimes we might
think we do not yet have
qualifications to share our
testimonies about how
Christ changed our lives
until we have grown in
our Bible knowledge or

227. our communication skills.
*The Samaritan woman
helps us to see that we can
begin to talk about Jesus
with other people as soon
as we receive Him as
Savior and Lord.

230. Next week:
From Failure to Direction
Abraham
Genesis 15, 16 & 17