Opening Prayer

Dear Jesus, you came to find people who were lost and thirsty. Open our ears to hear your voice today. Amen.

Scripture: John 4:5-42

Jesus was tired from a long walk. He sat down by a well — a deep hole in the ground where people came to get water. A woman came to the well all by herself in the middle of the day, when no one else was around.

Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

She was surprised. “Why are you talking to me?” she asked. In those days, Jewish people and Samaritan people didn’t get along at all. They wouldn’t even share a cup.

Jesus said, “If you knew who I am, you would ask me for water — and I would give you living water. The water from this well makes you thirsty again. But the water I give becomes a spring inside you that never runs dry.”

The woman said, “Sir, give me this water!”

Then Jesus showed her that he knew everything about her life — all the hard and broken parts. She wasn’t scared. She was amazed. “You must be a prophet!” she said.

Then Jesus told her something he hadn’t told anyone else yet. He said, “I am the Messiah — the one God promised to send.”

The woman was so excited she left her water jar sitting right there by the well and ran back to town. She told everyone, “Come and see! I met a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” And the whole town came out to meet Jesus.

What This Means

Have you ever been really, really thirsty? Maybe after running around outside on a hot day? You drink a big glass of water and it feels amazing — but a few hours later, you’re thirsty again.

That’s what the woman’s life was like. Not just with water, but with everything. She kept looking for something to make her happy, something to fill up the empty feeling inside. But nothing lasted.

Jesus didn’t come to that well by accident. He went there on purpose to find her. And he didn’t say, “Clean up your life first, then I’ll help you.” He offered her living water right where she was — tired, alone, and thirsty.

Here’s the amazing part: Jesus told this woman who he really was before he told almost anyone else. Not the important religious leaders. Not the crowds. A woman nobody wanted to talk to — she was the one who heard it first. That’s how God works. He doesn’t go to the people who have it all together. He goes to the thirsty ones.

And when she believed him, she couldn’t keep it to herself. She left her water jar behind — she didn’t need it anymore! — and ran to tell everyone she knew.

That living water? We receive it too. In Baptism, God pours his Holy Spirit into us like a spring that never dries up. You don’t have to keep earning it or going back for more. It’s already yours.

Let’s Talk About It

Eberley: Why do you think Jesus chose to reveal who he really was to this woman instead of to the important leaders in Jerusalem? What does that tell us about how God works? Also — the woman left her water jar behind. What do you think that means?

Sonja: The woman was all alone at the well when nobody else was there. How do you think she felt before she met Jesus? How do you think she felt after? What did she do when she found out who Jesus was?

Dahlia & Freddy: Jesus sat by the well and waited for the woman. Did Jesus help her? What did she do after she talked to Jesus — did she keep it a secret or tell everyone?

Remember This

Jesus finds thirsty people and gives them water that never runs out.

Closing Prayer

Thank you, Jesus, for coming to find us — even when we feel alone or forgotten. Thank you that your living water never runs dry. Help us to be like the woman at the well and share the good news with everyone around us. Amen.

Memory Verse

“The water I give will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” — John 4:14