Sermon Discussion Guide 6-19-25

Sermon Discussion Guide
The Gospel of John | John 4:1-26

Gathering Question: 
What is one way you’ve experienced God in your life this week?

Gathering Prayer
Father, by Your Spirit, would you guide us into all truth. Help us to hear and be attentive to Your voice as we work through this study. In the name of Jesus, Your Son, we pray, Amen.

Opening Questions

• What stood out to you in the sermon? 
• What insights did you gain? 
• What questions did it raise?

Read John 4:1-26

• How would you describe the woman’s attitude when the conversation first begins? How does it change?
• Why do you think Jesus chose her to reveal his identity so clearly?

Spiritual Thirst and Broken Wells

• Like this woman, we often misdiagnose our spiritual thirst as loneliness, anxiety, or a lack of meaning. Have you ever recognized those feelings as signs of a deeper spiritual need?
• Traditionally, Christian teachers have named three “wells” (or idols) of the human heart: sex (or relationships and pleasure), money (or accumulation and possessions), and glory (or fame and power and status). Which of these tends to be the one you go to most often? Why?
• Martin Luther said the human heart is “an idol factory.” What does that mean in your life? How do your idols promise satisfaction but leave you dry?

Grace that Crosses Boundaries

• Jesus crosses four major barriers in this story: gender, ethnicity, morality, and spiritual indifference.
  Which of those barriers do you think would’ve made the woman feel unworthy of God’s love?
• What barriers make you feel unworthy—or make it hard to believe God’s grace is for someone else?

From Ritual to Relationship

• The woman brings up worship locations, but Jesus redirects her to worship in Spirit and truth.
  What’s the difference between going through religious motions and truly connecting with God?
• Has religion (even well-meaning church activity) ever become a “well” for you—a way to try to earn love or feel spiritual without actually drinking deeply of God’s grace?

Living Water that Flows

• Jesus says the living water will become a spring—something that bubbles up, can’t be contained, and gives life.
  What would it look like for your spiritual life to be more like a spring than a well?
• In John 19, when Jesus dies, water flows from his side. What does this teach us about his promise of living water? 

Closing Prayer