Small Group Edification
Edification 5
Jesus the Messiah
Introductory Notes for the Facilitator
Focus Thought
Jesus revealed Himself as the Messiah to a thirsty woman and a
hungry world.
Focus Verse
John 4:29, New King James Version
"Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
Background Notes for the Group Facilitator
Check the icebreaker information. The group facilitator might
choose to have individual bottles of water available for the small group.
Also a small marker board or poster board for recording purposes might
be useful this week.
There is tremendous opportunity for believers in the group to
realize their personal harvest field through this edification. Prayerfully
consider this time together. Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send
forth laborers into the harvest field of your local community.
Suggested Meeting Schedule
Open with Prayer
Ice Breaker (5 minutes)
Optional Worship Session (5-10 minutes)
Edification (5-10 minutes)
Discussion (20-30 minutes)
Wrap-up and Reflection (10 minutes) soft background music suggested here
Share Prayer Needs for the Week
Close the Session with Prayer
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Jesus the Messiah
Small Group Edification
Ice Breaker (5 minutes)
Bring a bottle of water or a clear glass pitcher of water. Display
the water and ask the group to list the attributes of water. Discuss water
and its properties.
Facilitator Optional TIP: Bring small bottles of water for every person in the group and
invite the group to drink the water as they list the attributes of the water.
Edification (5-10 minutes)
Jesus chose to reveal Himself to people who would receive His
testimony. Jesus was always approachable to any individual regardless
of the person’s socioeconomic status or sinful condition. Jesus used His
physical need for water as a vehicle to accomplish the divine
appointment for which He was called: rescuing a hopeless soul.
While Jesus always submitted to the laws of God, He did not
honor all the traditions of religion in that period. Talking to a sinful
woman revealed His disregard for some of the Jewish traditions. He
spoke to her even though she was a female and a Samaritan, whom
most Jews regarded as insignificant. The Jews despised the Samaritans
so much that traveling Jews would take the longer route around
Samaria, rather than travel through the country. Jesus saw an
opportunity for service and deliverance and acted on it, even though it
was not politically correct for the day and time. (See John 4:9; Matthew
10:5.)
Jesus had a divine nature as well as a physical nature. He
thirsted as any man would. Jesus had come to the well to get water to
drink. As the Messiah, He also had the ability to peer into the heart of
the woman at the well. The woman was astonished to learn that the
Messiah knew more about her past than anyone else did. Jesus wants
to reveal the darkness in our hearts as well as in the hearts of those
around us who are lost. We must be open to allow Him to work in our
lives as well as in our local communities. (See John 4:29; 6:33-35; 7:38.)
John 4:5-15, New King James Version
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.
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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.”
Discussion (20-30 minutes)
1. We must resign our wills and emotions to Jesus before we are
poised to receive His Spirit. We must make room for His gift. The woman
at the well had to repent of her sin before Jesus could fill her heart. One
of the principles in assisting grieving people through the grieving process
is to allow the hurting individual to eliminate some of the grief in order to
receive support, either spiritual or emotional. Discuss the similarities
between coming alongside the grieving and preparing to receive God’s
Spirit.
2. Jesus Christ said to the woman, “If you knew. . . .” How many
times is an opportunity for blessing right in front of us and yet we do not
comprehend it? Read John 4:10 and John 7:37. Discuss these two
verses of Scripture.
3. The woman at the well had experienced many of the world’s
pleasures, but still she had a void on the inside. Discuss the following
quote in light of the woman at the well: “They are trying to get more out
of this world than there is in it” (Charles E. Macartney).
4. When God’s blinding searchlight fell on the woman at the well,
she tried to change the subject. Read John 4:18-20. Reflect on a time
when you tried to change the subject instead of facing reality.
5. In the book Contagious Christian, author Bill Hybels refers to all
believers as being categorized into several witnessing types:
• Peter: confrontational Christian (Matthew 16 and Acts 2)
• Paul: intellectual approach (Acts 17)
• Blind Man: testimonial approach (John 9)
• Matthew (Levi): party or gathering with a purpose (Luke
5)
• Woman at the well: contagious, Invitational Approach
(John 4)
• Dorcas: saving by serving (Acts 9)
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Discuss these types and after reading the Scriptures for
each, decide which type most closely suits you and your style of lifestyle
evangelism.
6. Jesus mentioned that the field was ready for harvest in John
4:35-38. Often when one enters a harvest field, different ministry, or new
city, he reaps some results from the labor of dedicated workers who
preceded him in sowing seeds. Yet, Jesus sowed seed and witnessed a
harvest in one day. Jesus also said not to think that the harvest is four
months away but that the time is now. How does this thinking impact our
thoughts of harvest in our local city or specific ministries? Discuss.
7. In Acts 1:8, Luke specifically included the whole world in the
apostolic commission. Joel 2:28 states that the Holy Ghost will be
poured out upon all flesh. In view of these verses of Scripture, discuss
why racial and socioeconomic intolerance still exists in some local
churches. Read also Isaiah 2:2; 11:10; 55:5; Romans 9:23-24; 10:20;
Ephesians 2:12-22.
8. Describe the impact of the testimony of the woman at the well
on the entire city of Sychar. What does that speak to us in this late hour
for harvest? What could we as believers do to dramatically influence our
local communities? Pray? Commit to personal evangelism? Discuss.
Reflection and Wrap-Up
Many people in our local cities are lost and growing more
desperate for Jesus every day. There are women in the same situation
in our neighborhoods as the woman from our study today. We should
consider our evangelism type and how we can effectively harvest our
personal field. The Lord requires much of believers in these last days.
What are you doing to personally reach as many unbelievers as possible
before the trumpet sounds? We need to take a moment and ask the
Lord to equip us for evangelism in our community. Pray for the Lord to
bestow upon you courage, boldness, and faith. Then make a list of at
least three people with whom you are going to do your best to effectively
share the gospel.
Take five minutes of this quiet, reflective time while the music
plays softly in the background to examine your heart.
Take five minutes to receive any prayer needs for the week.
Close out the session with prayer.
Optional: Time of fellowship with light snacks.
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