In part two of this special two-part study, you’ll discover how your story can be used by God to change lives!

GETTING THE CONVERSATION GOING

Icebreaker Question: Who has been instrumental in your faith?

Memory Verse of the Week: John 4:13–14 (NIV)

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”

Come and See

In John 4, we read about Jesus’ interaction with a Samaritan woman. In their conversation, Jesus reveals He is the promised Savior and explains how He can offer her living water (salvation). Immediately after this conversation, we see how the living water the Samaritan woman received from Jesus became an overflowing fountain in her life.

Suddenly, this woman, who had a less than sparkling reputation in her community and avoided her neighbors and townspeople out of shame and fear, found both the belonging she needed in Christ and the boldness to be His witness to the very people she had avoided. “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, . . . They said . . . ‘Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world’” (John 4:39, 42 NIV). Without this woman’s witness, her neighbors might not have come to know Jesus.

Through this, we see an amazing truth that with Jesus our most profound hurt can become our most powerful story! Our greatest pain can be used to bring about great victory, and our deepest shame can be redeemed and repurposed as a tool for His glory and the salvation of many! We see this with the Samaritan woman, we see it with the blind man who said, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see” (John 9:25 NIV), and we see it with Paul, Joseph, Job, and Peter—we can see it in our own journeys, too.

Just like this woman, there’s incredible power when we share our God story with others, telling them what He’s done in our lives. More than anything else, the evidence of a changed life speaks to the glory and grace of God’s power. And in the same way this woman became the first missionary to the Samaritans, we can be missionaries in our communities. We can boldly proclaim with our lives and stories, “Come and see!”

TALK IT OUT

Below, you’ll find some key discussion questions to personally reflect on and/or discuss in your small group, with your family, or in your circle of friends.

Discussion Question 1: When was the last time someone’s need interrupted your plans? How did you respond? Did you respond like Jesus, or did you see it as an inconvenience to your plans and an interruption to your schedule?

 Discussion Question 2: In contrast, when have you interrupted others with your needs? How did they respond? How did their response make you feel?

Discussion Question 3: What is the significance of water in your life? Why does the Bible so frequently connect the grace of God to water? What does this teach you about your life?

Discussion Question 4: What does Jesus’ interaction with this woman reveal to you about personal evangelism? What does it reveal about worldly ideology, politics, race, ethnicity, gender, class, past, and any other criteria often used to build walls of division?

WALK IT OUT

Your story matters. God wants to use your past, your life, and your story to reach people with the gospel of Jesus! Today, write down what God’s done in your life! Write out your story/your testimony, share it with someone, and thank the Lord for all He’s done.