Hi all!
Today’s story is from John 4.
Jesus was traveling and teaching all the people about God and He had to pass through Samaria. (Most Israelites would go AROUND Samaria because the Samaritans and the Israelites did NOT like each other.) But Jesus loves EVERYONE, so He didn’t mind going through Samaria.
One day, He got really tired of all that walking and He stopped by a well. His disciples who were with Him, went off to find some food…maybe a place to stay. Before long, a Samaritan woman came to get water from the well. (They used to not have water in their houses and would have to go to a well (a big hole in the ground) and get water and take it in buckets back to their houses.)
Jesus asked her for a drink of water. “Um…ME?! You shouldn’t even be talking to me! We’re supposed to be enemies?!” she said.
“If you knew who I AM, you would ask ME for living water!”
“Buuuut…you don’t have a cup or a bucket to get anything from this well. And WHAT is LIVING water??” she responded. “You know…this was Jacob’s well…are you saying YOU are greater than Jacob?”
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. The water I give them will be like a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (He was saying that people need water to live…but you always get thirsty again. But HE would give His love, which is more important than water. He would give eternal life…forever life in heaven with God…and once we trust Jesus, He takes away our sins, loves us forever and we never have to worry again about if we are forgiven or if God loves us. We won’t be “thirsty” for His love again, because once we trust Him, He loves us forever.)
“Sir!” she said, “I WANT that kind of water!”
Jesus knew all the bad choices she had ever made, and He even answered her questions about God. She was so amazed, she ran off to go tell all her friends.
The disciples came back and said, “You look hungry, Jesus…you should eat something!”
Jesus also told His disciples, “I have food to eat you know nothing about.”
What? Did Jesus have pizza? Was He hiding candy?
No. It was just like when He said He had living water. Jesus knows food and water are important. We need them to live! But what we need MORE is God’s love and forgiveness. That’s the “food and water” Jesus gives us. Just like food keeps us healthy and alive, Jesus’ love keeps our hearts safe and alive forever in heaven with Him.
But the disciples didn’t really understand. The Samaritan woman came back and brought all kinds of people with her. They all listened to Jesus and believed Him. “We KNOW this man is the Savior of the world!” they said.
- Jesus knows food and water are important, but He gives us something even better–His love and forgiveness, forever life with God in heaven.
- He loves EVERYBODY…even the people the Israelites didn’t like. He didn’t just come to save the Israelites, He came for EVERYONE.
- The Samaritan lady was so amazed by Jesus she told all her friends about Him. We can be sure to tell OUR friends too about how amazing Jesus is!
For our craft today, we cut a rectangle out of brown construction paper and glued it to the bottom of a piece of white paper. This will be our well. Then we took our scissors and cut a slit just above the brown “well.” We drew Jesus on one side and the woman on the other side. Then we took a piece of string and attached two sticky hearts to the bottom. (You could also use construction paper hearts if you don’t have the puffy foam stickers.) We taped our string to the top of our picture and drew a frame for the top of the well. Then we stuck the heart down into the well, so the woman could put her bucket in for water and draw it back out with Jesus’ love!
Our text reads: Jesus gave the Samaritan woman LIVING WATER. John 4
Thanks for joining us! Love to you all!
He Bids Them Come 