From Empty To Overflowing Series

From Empty to Overflowing

(Expected the Unexpected — Week 3)

John 4:5–30 (NLT)

Theme: “Sometimes the greatest gifts God gives us come through the interruptions we never planned. At a well in Samaria—and in the middle of our own lives—Jesus shows up to turn emptiness into overflowing life.”

INTRODUCTION — CHRISTMAS NEVER GOES AS PLANNED

Every December, without fail, we all make plans.

We have lists, schedules, menus, travel timelines, Christmas programs, presents to wrap, and at least one Amazon package we forgot we ordered.

Christmas is supposed to be predictable.

And yet… Christmas never goes exactly like we picture it.

And honestly?

Some of the most meaningful Christmas moments come from the interruptions.

Maybe it’s the conversation you didn’t expect.

The person who reached out that you haven’t heard from in years.

Maybe it’s the moment you slowed down long enough to breathe, and God spoke to you when you weren’t even praying—just surviving the week.

Christmas reminds us of the unexpected.

Mary wasn’t expecting an angel.

Joseph wasn’t expecting a pregnant fiancée.

Shepherds weren’t expecting an angel choir at 3 a.m.

Wise men weren’t expecting to follow a star into another nation.

But this is what God does:

He steps into ordinary moments with extraordinary purpose.

And that’s exactly what happens in John 4.

The Samaritan woman wasn’t expecting a Christmas miracle—

but she got one anyway.

Because Jesus does for this woman what He often does for us during the Christmas season:

He interrupts our routine… to redirect our story… and restore our soul.

SETUP TO THE PASSAGE

Commentators discuss that this woman was simply going about her day, making a trip she’d made hundreds of times before. But this time, Jesus was waiting for her.

She went for water.

Instead, she encountered the Messiah.

She went spiritual empty and left spiritually overflowing with living water

Just like we go into the Christmas season looking for gifts, peace, rest, meaning…

And Jesus often gives us something entirely different—

something deeper that we didn’t even know to ask for.

READ JOHN 4:5–9 (NLT)

1) Jesus Steps Into Our Ordinary Moments

She’s not praying.

She’s not in worship.

She’s not expecting a miracle.

She’s gathering water—

a chore she had done a thousand times.

And Jesus shows up there.

Not at the temple.

Not at a revival meeting.

At a well.

At noon.

At the hottest, most inconvenient time of day.

Christmas is the reminder that God shows up in the ordinary.

Not in a palace—but in a barn.

Not in royalty—but in poverty.

Not announced by kings—but by shepherds.

The Incarnation tells us:

God steps into our moments even when we think are beneath His attention.

Christmas Illustration: The Messy Living Room

You know that feeling when the Christmas season hits and you look around your living room and think,

“We were supposed to decorate today… why does it look like we got robbed?”

But somehow, in the middle of scattered ornaments, a half-decorated tree, kids fighting over who gets to hang the star, and a cup of cocoa spilled on the rug—

you suddenly get this wave of joy.

Of peace.

Of “this is my life, and I’m grateful.”

You didn’t plan the moment.

You didn’t schedule it.

It just arrived.

Jesus specializes in arriving in the interruptions.

Illustration:

You know, this reminds me of a real story published a few years ago in Reader’s Digest about a single mom in Michigan who was trying her best to make Christmas special for her kids.

Everything that could go wrong… did.

She got the tree up, stepped back to admire it, and the stand broke.

The tree fell—lights, ornaments, everything crashing onto the floor.

She fixed it, stood it back up…

and it fell again.

Three times.

By the third time she was done.

Just overwhelmed.

She stepped outside to catch her breath and wipe away a few frustrated tears.

Her neighbor—someone she barely knew—noticed her standing in the cold.

He walked over, helped her fix the stand properly, then went back to his house.

A few minutes later, he returned with a box of decorations they didn’t use anymore and said,

“We thought maybe you and your kids could use these.”

That simple, unexpected act of kindness led to a friendship…

and eventually, her first time back in church in years.

Later she said,

“I thought the tree falling ruined everything. But it ended up being how God brought me back to Him .”

Application

What if the interruptions in your life this season aren’t accidents…

but invitations—Jesus sitting at your well in the middle of your day, ready to rewrite your story.”?

Proverbs 16:9, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”

“On one normal, ordinary day, Philip wasn’t looking for a ministry moment — he was just following God’s direction. The Holy Spirit sent him to a random desert road... no context, no explanation, no plan. And right there, in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, he runs into an Ethiopian official reading Isaiah, confused and searching for truth.