An Unlikely Evangelist Series

An Unlikely Evangelist

JN 4:21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."

Key ideas - What is authentic worship? What does it do to the worshipper? It transforms them into evangelists. Don't you wish you could feast at the table of the Lord regularly? Feasting is doing God's will, not consuming.

place of worship is irrelevant - except the place in your heart

God is seeking true worshippers, will you be one of them?

Don't make excuses, I have too much work to do, I am sick and frail, I have no husband, I am a woman, I am a Samaritan.

This woman tries to change the subject, like we all do, but worship wars are not the issue, let Jesus get close.

JN 4:27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."

32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."

33 Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"

34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying `One sows and another reaps' is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

Even his disciples needed to be transformed

No one asked “why are you talking to her” but everyone was thinking it.

What might be the significance of the little passage, Leaving her water jar (vs. 28)

Vs 29 - come see the man who told me everything I ever did! How is that exciting? Most of us want to hide all we ever did! But this woman had been in hiding, coming to the well at noon to avoid the gossip the looks. But here is a man who did not trash her though he knew everything about her.

This same Jesus comes to you with the same spirit.

No condemnation. An invitation to worship. An invitation to be free!

If Jesus was reaping, who did the sowing?

In our world, we may be doing some sowing that others will reap, and we may be doing some reaping from the sowing of others. Unpack that idea - give examples

When you hear of an evangelist leading someone to Jesus, it may be that a lot of sowing had been done previously, when we share our witness with no discernible move of the heart, it may be because someone else is to do the reaping.

We need to tell people about Jesus so that they can investigate this great news, then as they walk with Christ, they can say like those townspeople,

We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."