HOOK
[Welcome everyone // Introduce yourself // Hand out Bibles]
Who here is an introvert? [Raise hands] I, too, am an introvert, and if you are like me, you probably didn’t raise your hand out of fear that someone might see you… and… want to talk to you about it—that’s the kind of introvert I am. And if you are like me, sharing your faith or inviting people to church can feel like an impossible hill to climb. Like an Everest of human interaction.
But what if I told you that sharing your faith doesn’t have to feel like scaling Everest with flip-flops and a granola bar? What if I told you that I have, in fact, invited multiple hundreds of people to church? You may find yourself wondering what my secret is… how such a thing might be accomplished!
It’s because—as one of my mentors loves to say—”there is no greater evangelist than an excited 10-year-old!” Let’s take that thought and pop it in our pocket, ’cause we’ll come back to it later.
BOOK
3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
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 waterpot, 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?” 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
[Pray for encouragement, boldness, and excitement]
LOOK
1. A Divine Appointment
3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
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.
I think the most amazing part of this passage is just how seemingly ordinary it is. There is nothing in here that makes us want to nod our heads say “amen!” Jesus stops during His travel in the heat of the day at a well and asks a local woman for some water. And yet this simple, unassuming passage with it’s simple, unassuming request will lead to the salvation of many people.
Our story starts out with Jesus heading from Judea—where Jerusalem is—in the south, along the western shore of the Jordan river to Galilee in the north. But verse 4 says Jesus “needed” to go through Samaria. This is actually incredibly interesting because most Jews of the day thought of Samaria as being unclean and worthy of avoiding. So they would cross the Jordan to the east in order to bypass Samaria altogether. So why does John say Jesus “needed” to take this route? What was so urgent—or so necessary—that it overrode cultural norms and personal comfort?
Jesus sends the disciples off into the city with the supplies—no water bucket, no help, no shade—and then makes His way to the well at noon, the hottest time of day. Why? If He was genuinely thirsty, this was the worst time to be out. Unless, of course, thirst wasn’t the only reason He came.
Here we see God’s unrelenting heart for the outsider. Jesus didn’t take the long way around like most Jews would. He took the most direct path—through Samaria. And even then, He stopped at a time when only the outsider of outsiders would be at the well.
Sure enough, such a woman did show up at a time when everyone else would be taking a siesta from the intense heat, having gotten their water at daybreak. But she didn’t want to see them. She didn’t want to be subject to the stares, and the gossip, and the sudden silence that accompanied her immediate presence. And she comes to draw water, alone, and finds a Jewish man at the well and looking for help.
He had no companion. No supplies. Nowhere to escape the heat. He came in need. Not in strength, but in weakness. Not above her, but below her—asking for help. In that moment, He gave her dignity. He showed her that she had something to offer. That she mattered. That He saw her.
Church, there are no chance encounters. Every person we meet is a divine appointment. God brings people across our path—sometimes in ways that feel routine or even inconvenient—for His purpose. He is giving us the opportunity to change and to be changed.
And here’s the beautiful thing: we don’t have to go out of our way. We don’t need a tent revival or a crusade. Jesus didn’t hand out tracts or gather a crowd. He simply spoke to the person in front of Him.
Imagine what might happen if we started looking at every conversation that way—as a divine appointment, hand-scheduled by God for the advancement of the Gospel. Would that change how we approach those moments?
2. Let It Bubble
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.”
This whole encounter is so foreign to this woman that she can hardly believe it’s real. She’s so used to being unwanted, unloved, and avoided by her own people that she can’t even process being seen—let alone spoken to—with dignity by a Jewish man. Jesus just crashed through cultural walls like the Kool-Aid Man, and all she can say is: “Why are You talking to me?”
But watch what Jesus says in return: If you knew the gift… and if you knew the Giver… you’d be the one asking.
Two things she didn’t recognize:
1. The gift of God.
2. The identity of the One offering it.
And let’s be real—we’re not much better. Like Doc Brown says to Marty in Back to the Future III, “You’re just not thinking fourth dimensionally!” We’re often so wrapped up in the natural that we miss the spiritual entirely. But Jesus points out that spiritual clarity depends on both what’s being offered and who’s offering it.
- Because knowing just the gift leads to a how problem. If I know I need rescue but don’t know the Rescuer, I’m still lost.
- And knowing just the Giver leads to a why problem. Why does Jesus matter if I don’t see my need for what He provides?
And then comes the twist: Jesus offers the very thing He asked for. He asked her for water—but now He offers water. This is what Jesus does. He asks us for what we can’t give apart from Him—so that we will ask Him for what only He can supply. It’s like when your parents gave you money to buy them a Christmas gift. He equips what He requires.
But she’s still not there yet. She’s thinking buckets and wells. She’s still caught in the physical—still assuming Jesus is talking about better plumbing. She’s got the Giver standing right in front of her, and still doesn’t understand the gift. So Jesus gently points out the deeper truth: This well? You’ll always come back thirsty.
Isn’t that every earthly pursuit? No matter how often we draw from it, it never satisfies forever. Food, water, breath—all of it is just delaying death. My son recently said, “Dad, do you realize we only have three minutes to live and breathing just resets the countdown?” Not bad theology for a kid.
And he’s right. Everything we cling to in this life is temporary, fleeting, and fragile. So yes, enjoy God’s good gifts—He gives them richly!—but don’t mistake them for living water. Don’t trade the eternal for the temporary.
So what is the living water? It’s the new life Jesus offers, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 7:38–39). The phrase “living water” was common back then—it meant flowing water, not stagnant. Water that moved, that was clean, fresh, and life-giving. And that’s the image Jesus leans into.
He says this water “will become” a fountain within—a spring that bubbles up into eternal life. That phrase in Greek means a definitive change with an ongoing effect. In other words: once it starts, it doesn’t stop.
So here’s the question, church:
Are you bubbling?
Because if the Spirit is in you, something should be flowing out of you.
3. He Already Knows Your Junk, and He Loves You Anyway
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.”
She thinks she’s ready to receive what Jesus has for her, but she has no idea how deep it goes. Jesus isn’t just offering peace and purpose—He’s offering a future with no fences, no walls, no barriers. He’s basically echoing the Backstreet Boys: “I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, what you’ve done…” [Audience:] “…as long as you love Me.”
Let’s walk through it.
Jesus tells her to go get her husband. She gives a carefully worded half-truth: “I have no husband.” But Jesus presses in. He knows her whole story—and He tells her so. Five husbands. A current live-in who isn’t her husband. And here she is, dragging herself out to the well at noon—when no one else would be there—just to avoid the shame. And even this total stranger can see right through her. She’s exposed. She’s vulnerable. Church, this girl has gotta be shook.
Her response might sound like a deflection—“I see you’re a prophet”—but it’s actually rich with meaning. The Samaritans only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament. Genesis through Deuteronomy. No Psalms, no Isaiah, no prophets beyond Moses. So to them, the final prophet—the Taheb, the Restorer—would be like Moses and would one day come to set things right.
And what would He restore? Their place of worship. Mt. Gerizim. A place the Jews had long dismissed. That’s why she brings it up. Her people had been told for generations they were wrong, dirty, lesser. This prophet in front of her was clearly a Jew. And if He really is the Restorer, why isn’t He affirming her people? You can almost taste her disappointment.
But Jesus isn’t here to affirm anyone’s religious system. He’s blowing it all up. He tells her: you worship what you don’t know—because your Bible is missing most of the story. The Jews know what they worship, and salvation comes from them. Not for them. From them.
And then He drops the bomb: worship is no longer about mountains or temples. It’s not about rituals or robes or rules. It’s about spirit and truth. God is not tied to a location—He’s Spirit. And He’s looking for people who will worship Him from the heart, wherever they are. The time is coming when you’ll never be too far. He’s always as close as your surrender.
And now, here comes the moment. This woman—five times married, now cohabiting, isolated, rejected, overlooked—says she’s waiting for the Messiah. And Jesus looks her in the eye and says: “I—the one speaking to you—am He.”
This is it. The first time in His ministry Jesus reveals His identity so clearly. And He doesn’t say it to Peter. Or to a rabbi. Or to a crowd. He says it to her.
That should tell us something.
Jesus isn’t waiting for us to get cleaned up before He shows up. He already knows the story. He already knows the drit. He already knows the junk. And He loves you anyway.
He didn’t come to collect clean, shiny, put-together people. He came for the broken, the busted, the burned-out, the ashamed.
People like me.
So here’s the question: Do you believe God loves you because you’re good—or because He is?
Do you think He loves you because you were impressive—or did He already knew your junk and loved you anyway?
4. The Power of Our Story
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 waterpot, 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?” 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
So the disciples show up—and what do they find? Jesus, talking to a woman. Gasp! I could have added that to her already long list of disqualifications, but in that culture, being a woman was nearly a disqualification all by itself. Women had no real place in the public sphere. The Jewish Mishnah—in particular, Pirkei Avot, or “Ethics of the Fathers”—says this: “He that talks with womankind brings evil upon himself and neglects the study of the Law, and at the last will inherit Gehenna.” That was the culture.
But once again, Jesus Kool-Aid-Man’s His way right through that wall. He’s not bound by stigma or worried about what people might think. He’s here for the Father’s business. And the disciples, though shocked, don’t say a word. Even this early in the game, they know: if Jesus is doing something unorthodox, there’s a holy reason for it.
And then this woman—the outcast, the reject, the one who drew water in the heat of the day just to avoid the judging eyes of her neighbors—leaves her waterpot. She runs back into town. The very town she avoided. The very people she once feared. Why? Because the Living Water has started bubbling up inside her and now it’s spilling out.
She didn’t finish her chore. She didn’t wait to get her life in order. She just went. The shame that kept her silent now made her story all the more powerful.
And church, this is the part that floors me: she didn’t go back and write a thesis on substitutionary atonement. She didn’t hold a seminar on temple typology. She just said, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did!”
That’s it. And you know what? They came! They came in droves!
Church, don’t let your lack of theological training stop you from telling people about Jesus. I’ve never met anyone who got saved because of a dissertation on ecclesiology. But I have met people whose lives were changed because someone told their story.
They’ll listen because you love them. They’ll explore because He loves you. And when you tell your story—raw, honest, unpolished—they can argue with your theology, but they can’t argue with your experience.
There is power in your story. So tell it.
TOOK
And this brings us back to what my mentor used to say. Let’s pull that axiom out of our pockets: “There is no greater evangelist than an excited 10-year-old!”
30 years ago this spring, a kid named Jesse Walsh invited my brothers to a program called Kids Klub with an organization called Metro Kids. They got my brothers’ address and added our family to their “visitation” list.
A woman named Gert—a wonderful, Godly person, who has been a cherished mentor through all the ups and down of my life—would come by every single week with a flyer to invite my brothers to come to back to Kids Klub, which they were happy to do. Well, one of those times I answered the door and Gert took note that there was a teen in the house. Wouldn’t you know, the following week she showed up with a flyer for Kids Klub and another one for the youth ministry—called “Funké Friday”… it was the 90s, names were weird.
Week after week after week she would come and tell me about the fun, the games, the people (as an introvert this was NOT a selling feature). She was relentless; determined to wear me down. Finally I bargained with her: if she promised to leave me alone about it afterward, I would attend one of these programs. We agreed and so I attended this crazy program with like 150 other teens—many of whom were cute girls! I mean, if Gert had led off this reality, it probably would not have taken so long to get me in the door!
Two years later I accepted Jesus. Then I started volunteering at Kids Klub. Then I started helping with visitation. And as a result of my time with Metro Kids I have invited many hundreds of kids, preteens, teens, and their parents to church. And I have led dozens, probably hundreds of kids, preteens, teens, and adults to Jesus as well.
But it all started with Jesse Walsh—an excited 8-year-old who invited his friends (my little brothers) to church.
One invitation by one kid led to my whole family coming to faith. And who even knows the spiderweb effect of my brothers’ tenure at Metro Kids, and my pastoral ministry. All because of one invitation in the spring of 1995.
So the final question becomes “how?”, “How do I do this?” Let’s look back through the sermon:
1. A Divine Appointment
Jesus didn’t end up at that well by accident. John tells us: “He needed to go through Samaria.” It wasn’t geography. It was mission. He had a divine appointment that day—and so do we. You’re not just randomly on your street. Or in your workplace. Or in that group chat, or at that gym, or in that classroom. God has placed you there for such a time as this. There are people all around you who are thirsty. Who are lonely. Who would never show up to a church on their own—but who would come if someone they trusted said, “Come and see.” ($1000 dollar illustration)
2. Let It Bubble
Jesus told the woman, “the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” This is what happens when we walk with Jesus. It bubbles up. It spills over. It wants to go somewhere.
But too many of us are trying to keep the lid on it. We’ve been trained to be polite, quiet, reserved. We’ve let fear or busyness or embarrassment plug the well. But don’t do it! Be excited! Let it bubble. Let it overflow into your conversations. Into your compassion. Into your courage.
You don’t have to preach. You don’t need a perfect script. You just need to be real about what Jesus is doing in you. Because…
3. He Already Knows Your Junk—And He Loves You Anyway
The woman tries to dodge Jesus’ invitation by bringing up religion, but He cuts right through to her story. “You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re with now isn’t your husband.” “In that, you’ve told the truth.”
Notice that: Jesus both exposes her and affirms her at the same time.
He sees everything. All the stuff she’s tried to hide. All the reasons she comes to the well at noon when no one else is around. All the shame and secrets and mess—and He offers her living water anyway. That’s still how He works today!
Some of you have been quiet about your faith because you feel disqualified. You’re thinking: “I’ve messed up too much. I’m still struggling. Who am I to talk about Jesus?”
But be of good cheer: Jesus already knows. And He still came for you. He still saved you. And He still wants to work through you. If anything, your vulnerability—your “realness”—might be the very thing that makes your story powerful.
Which brings us to our final point…
4. The Power of Our Story
The woman didn’t go back to her town with theological precision. She didn’t have all the answers. She didn’t even fully know who Jesus was yet. She had one thing: a story. “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
That’s all it took.
And the people came.
So let’s not keep the greatest gift we have ever received to ourselves! Take one of those invites on your seat and go give it to your neighbour, coworker, classmate, or gym bro. And say, “Hey, I’d like you to come to church with me.” Maybe even offer to pick them up and go together.
Church… I think… if we really put our minds to it, we can beat the 10 year olds at evangelism. Amen? Let’s worship our Lord together!
Benediction
(Romans 10:14-15, NKJV) 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!