Jesus' Gospel Conversation With The Woman At The Well

 Monday, August 31, 2026

The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw. He said to her, Go, call your husband and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have correctly said, I have no husband; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly. The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.  John 4:15-19

Jesus' Gospel Conversation With The Woman At The Well

Yesterday we heard from our guest speaker, Dr. Dean Sieberhagen, of an encounter Jesus had with a woman at a well. Through this encounter Jesus gives us an example of how we should share the Gospel with others. Dr. Sieberhagen used the PUMP Method to help us remember the four points: Make it Personal, Unpack their beliefs, Make a transition, and Present the Gospel. We can see Jesus’ example and learn from him the most effective way to have a Gospel Conversation with people in the normal rhythms of our lives. 

As followers of Jesus our job is to love God, love others, and make disciples. Jesus shows us with his life, interactions with other people, and words and deeds how much he cares about people and wants them to know the Gospel story. He gives us examples during his ministry on earth of how we are to live as his followers – learning to live and love like him – the Jesus Way. In this story we see a woman who has come to the well in the hottest part of the day. She was an outcast and with her reputation she felt much shame, and probably ridicule from others.  For this reason, she went to the well when no one else would be there – the hottest part of the day.  She didn’t expect to meet Jesus there, and she certainly didn’t expect him to ask her for a drink, and then offer her living water. We see how Jesus used 

Personal (vs. 7-9;15-16; 39) Jesus made it personal because he showed this woman that he really cared and loved her. He talked to her about her life, telling her everything about her life that he already knew and establishing his identity as The Messiah she had heard about. He met her where she was with no condemnation.  He came to the well that day and at that time on purpose just for her. She chose that time because no one else was there. Because he made it personal she listened. She paid attention when he paid attention to her. 

Unpack Their Beliefs (vs. 19-20; 25) What beliefs do they have about God? Jesus unpacked what she believed about the Messiah and worship. She was focused on where to worship but Jesus unpacked this and helped her understand that the shift was to focus on who to worship instead of where to worship.

Make a Transition (vs. 10; 21; 26) Listen for something when they are unpacking their beliefs that you can use for a transition. Jesus uses thirst and physical water to transition to living water. As we talk with them and listen to what they say God will give us the things we can use to make a transition. 

Present the Gospel So they will know how to find salvation in Jesus. Jesus presented the Gospel which was the goal. She was changed by the presentation of the Gospel and then ran to share it with everyone in the village. 

Jesus calls us to meet people at the well in the hottest part of the day. In the everyday rhythms of our lives God provides opportunities for us to connect with people and Jesus has given us the perfect example. Keep your eyes and your heart open to see opportunities as they come. Maybe there is someone in your life already that needs you to make it personal. Are they hiding or are you avoiding them? Be ready to patiently take the time to get personal with them, unpack their beliefs, make a transition, and present the gospel.                                                                                                                                                   

Gospel Conversations “The PUMP Method”

Gospel Conversations
“The PUMP Method”
Dr. Dean Sieberhagen
John 4:1-42 (CSB)

1.        Personal (vs. 7-9;15-16; 39)

2.        Unpack Their Beliefs (vs. 19-20; 25)

3.        Make a Transition (vs. 10; 21; 26)

4.        Present the Gospel (vs. 40-42)

Key Ingredients: I’m a sinner saved by grace through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

 

After the Message: 

Read John Chapter 4:1-42. Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well with compassion and saw her past, her struggles, and her deepest needs. Who do you know that needs to have a gospel conversation to hear about the grace and salvation Jesus offers, regardless of past failures and present struggles?  

He Hears Me

Thursday, August 27, 2026

He Hears Me – Psalm 28:7 Submitted by Kay Crumley

Have you ever doubted that God hears your prayers? We have seasons of despair, desperate need, or extreme loss. During those times we may cry out to God but don’t get immediate answers, or the answers we wish for. Psalm 28 is a Psalm of David. He called to God his Rock to hear his plea. What comes to mind when you hear ‘you are my rock’? That is said about those who we can depend on. Old Testament scripture often refers to God as the rock meaning dependable, permanent and perfect. In the New Testament we are told that Jesus is the cornerstone, the foundation for our trust and of our lives.  Is that how we see God? If so, that’s who we need to go to with all our sorrows and joys. He is our sanctuary, protected place of peace. He is our refuge, a fortress against our enemies. 

David asks God to repay the evil doers in his life with the punishment they deserve but to spare him from harm. Those who have done evil have no consideration for God and do not worship Him. David is different as he changes his plea for protection to worship and praise. 

6 Blessed be the Lord, 
for he has heard the sound of my pleading. 
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; 
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. 
Therefore my heart celebrates, 
and I give thanks to him with my song.

David blessed God, a sense kneeling in humble adoration and praise. He knew God heard his prayer. There is nothing that indicates anything has changed. But he was completely confident that God heard his pleading. That demonstrates trust and faith in the Lord based on past experiences with Him. We can be secure knowing that God is true to all His promises including that He is always near and hears our every prayer. 

He is our strength. In time of distress, we may feel that we cannot take another breath or step. That’s when we must rely on another source of strength. He is our shield. A shield was carried into battle for protection. It was the height of the soldier, heavily armored with dried skins and stabilized with wooden stays. In battle a group of soldiers would back into a circle with the shields together and kneel to form a tent like barrier to the approaching enemy. Think about that kind of protection being available just for the asking. God gives us strength when we need it and protects us as a shield.

We can trust Him with all our heart, the center of our emotions as well as our mind. David trusted Him because he had been helped. He experienced the help that comes from the Lord. The result is deep, heart-felt celebration. That leads to thankfulness in our hearts that may result in demonstration by singing or shouting. 

Dismissed

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, so that I may make it known as I should. Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person. Colossians 4:3-6

 

Dismissed

 

Hurt is unfortunately a part of life. In our humanness we have all felt the sting of being dismissed and likely have dismissed someone ourselves. To be dismissed is worse than someone just being rude or rejecting you. Being dismissed is a deeper level of disrespect. Being dismissed says your perspective and feelings don’t matter, and it can make you feel like you don't matter. As children of God we are called to be gentle and kind with our words. 

 

In the passage above Paul writes from prison to the Colossians, giving them lots of good advice. Paul asks for the church in Colossae to pray, not for him, but that the Gospel would still go forth. He asks them to pray for an open door for the word. Even while he is in prison in chains because of his faithfulness to the Gospel, the only thing Paul wants is for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be advanced. He wanted to be able to continue to tell everyone the Good News even if it led to more chains for him. 

 

Then Paul jumps right back into his advice on Christian living starting with how we should treat everyone, inside and outside the fellowship. The way we act and treat others is always on display. The way we speak to others is a great big part of this. People will notice a tone of voice and will quickly take it out of context. Time is of the essence, and we do not have time to waste being rude and ungracious to others. Making the most of the time speaks to the urgency that Paul always felt for sharing the Gospel. Paul lived with the urgency that Christ’s return is imminent and there is no time to waste. Souls were at stake, and they needed the hope of salvation. 

 

Gracious Speech, Seasoned with Salt

The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning grace. When we have been shown so much undeserved grace from our Heavenly Father, how can we not show grace to all around us? For a believer, grace should be a lifestyle. It doesn’t just show up in the way we speak but in every action we take. The grace of God in us becomes who we are. 

“The word ‘grace’ has, in Greek as in English, the possible double meaning of God’s grace and human graciousness.” (Wright)

 

Keeping our conversations gracious and seasoned with salt can be hard sometimes. People hurt us and are unkind but as ambassadors of Christ we are to stay gracious no matter what. That does not mean that we are supposed to accept abuse or rudeness. It means that we bring truth into grace. We can say what needs to be said with grace, seasoned with salt. 

In rabbinic tradition, the words, “seasoned with salt,” would have been associated with wisdom. Paul was reminding the Colossians they were called to be people filled with godly wisdom. He wants us to remember that their words, and ours, are used to represent Jesus. And in order to do this, we can follow His model to pursue both grace and truth together.

Hard conversations and hurt are a part of life. Someone will always test our limits on grace, but with the help of the holy spirit, we have the help we need to choose truth-filled words and present them in a gracious way. 

 

How can we as Christians be a light in the darkness when we feel covered by darkness? Because even when evil seems to get the upper hand and all feels lost, we are still called. We are still to be salt and light in the darkest of times. We are still called to be ministers to hurting people and truth bearers to a confused and deceived world. We are still called to be the hands and feet of Jesus even when we have been dismissed and are hurting. Jesus' example for us every time was reflecting his father's love and grace in the face of ridicule and rejection. 

Have you been dismissed and still feel the sting of feeling like you don't matter? The King of Kings himself was dismissed and still died on the cross for the forgiveness of those who dismissed him. he knows that pain and he is with us when we walk through it and provides the healing we need. 

 

Defined By Christ

Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.  But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices…  Colossians 3:5-9

 Defined By Christ

When we become Christians, we start down a new path in life. Most of the time when we start something new, we have to get rid of at least some of the old stuff. Starting a new life in Christ will change your life ethically. There will be things that you used to partake in, that now cannot be a part of your life if you want to start a new life and grow in Christ. Anything you used to do that is against God’s word and desire for our lives should automatically be out.

Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, 
impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry…

We are to consider ourselves dead to immorality such as impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed – which is all idolatry. The core of all sin is idolatry because we are putting these before God and anything that we replace God with is an idol. God deserves first place in our lives, and He cannot share the throne of our lives with anything or anyone if we are to have a right relationship with Him.

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices…

The list above was primarily sins that we commit outside our body – or physically. This list is more about our heart: anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech, and lying. All prejudice, racism, and slander are gone when a new heart is in control. When we give our heart to Jesus and the Holy Spirit takes us residence in our hearts, He controls our heart, our motives, our speech, etc. as long as we let Him. It is when the “old man” comes, and we give him control that we have problems. 

One other thing that we must let go of so we can thrive in our new life in Christ is shame over where we have been. If we cannot let that go, it will hinder us from growing or moving forward in our new life. Shame is powerful. It is hard for us to think that God loves us despite what we have done. In fact, He loved us when we were doing it and He knew we would do it before we even did it. He forgives us but we have a harder time forgetting and forgiving ourselves and accepting His grace. 

We must shift our thinking from finding our identity in who we were to finding our identity in who we are in Christ. If we carry shame with us, we find our identity in our shame. A shame-based identity is Satan whispering in our ear constantly while we try to pretend he is not. It is the underlying thought that we are not worthy because of what we have done. We can’t stop shaming ourselves because of bad decisions and wrong choices we have made in the past. We may not even realize that it is shame, because to us, it is truth. But the real truth is that in Christ we are new creatures, with new identities. In this new identity we are ready to grow in Him and to be used by Him. 

Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.  Colossians 3:10-11 MSG

A Sinful Woman, A Pharisee, and a Savior

Monday, August 24, 2026

Then one of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume and stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to wash his feet with her tears. She wiped his feet with her hair, kissing them and anointing them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—she’s a sinner! Luke 7:36-39

 

A Sinful Woman,  A Pharisee, and a Savior

Yesterday Pastor Jim wrapped up the Come and See series with the last message – The Dismissed. The encounter happened at the house of a Pharisee named Simon. Jesus had been invited for dinner and while he was there, a woman of the city – a sinner, came to Simon’s house because she had heard that Jesus would be there. It was common at the time for people in the city to come and watch when prominent people ate together.  She had a reputation and was known for her sin, and Simon thought Jesus shouldn’t be touching her because of her reputation. 

 

Jesus knew who she was and everything about her. He was there for her and Simon than night. She came seeking the Messiah.  She came seeking transformation.  She came seeking forgiveness. She wanted out of her life of sin and into a life of forgiveness and freedom.  She came already grateful for what He would do for her because she was desperate, and she believed. Just as in the other stories in this series we see that all are invited to come and see the truth found in Jesus. 

 

Even though Simon dismissed the woman, Jesus did not. He is the Messiah, King of Kings, ruler over all, and yet this woman with a bad reputation was invited into his Kingdom, in the same way Simon was. Jesus told a parable in response to Simon’s condemnation of the woman: Jesus replied to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. He said, Say it, teacher. A creditor had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Since they could not pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more? Simon answered, I suppose the one he forgave more. You have judged correctly, he told him. Luke 7:40-43 Jesus told Simon this parable so he would see his own sin and realize that he is a sinner like the woman. Both need what only Jesus can give and in that regard they are the same. Jesus was there to forgive the woman who came seeking change and he was there to make Simon aware of his own sin. In this story we see how Jesus recognizes the woman that has been dismissed, lifts her up, and forgives her. What can we learn from this example Jesus gives us?  

 

How can we demonstrate Jesus’ love and acceptance to the marginalized and dismissed among us? Yesterday Pastor Jim gave us some guidelines to help us follow the example Jesus left for us.  

1.    Humble yourself before God and others. – Do you struggle to humble yourself with God and others? Jesus approached Simon's pride, not to condemn him but to save him. Jesus was there for the woman and the pharisee. He reminded Simon that he was no better than the woman and they both needed Jesus.  

  
Why do we marginalize people?
Our own unhealthy sense of pride. – We marginalize others by building ourselves up by tearing others down.   

Unbiblical standards we have put on ourselves and others. Legalism and expectations of perfection that no one can reach. We marginalize those who cannot keep up.
A lack of compassion and love for others. We are selfish and our world revolves around us. We do not want to be inconvenienced or interrupted. We don’t have time for compassion. 
We have forgotten that we too were once outsiders. – We lose perspective. We forget what it feels like to be lost and without Jesus, especially when we have grown up in church and never known anything different.  

2.    Recognize all people as created in the image of God.  All of us are created in the image of God. We are all on the same level at the foot of the cross. We all have the exact same inheritance offered to us for eternity and we will all be at the same table in heaven. With that in mind we need to view everyone here on earth as 

3.    Extend mercy and grace. God has extended such elaborate mercy and grace to us how can we not extend mercy and grace to others? How much have you been forgiven by God? Think about what he has done for you. We cannot be a living testimony of what he has done for us without extending mercy and grace. 

As you go through this week remember to be humble, recognize everyone around you as created in the image of God and extend mercy and grace as you have been given. 

 

Read Luke 7:36-50. How have you judged those around you? Have you seen them as created and loved by God or as something “less”? How will you demonstrate the mercy and grace of Christ to those around you this week?  

Come and See: Encounters With Jesus “The Dismissed”

Come and See: Encounters With Jesus
“The Dismissed”
Luke 7:36-50  (CSB)

 

Key Truth: All are invited to come and see the truth found in Jesus.

Main Question: How can we demonstrate Jesus’ love and acceptance to the marginalized and dismissed among us? 

1.        Humble yourself before God and others. (vs. 36-39)

Why do we marginalize people?

a.         Our own unhealthy sense of pride. 

b.         Unbiblical standards we have put on ourselves and others.

c.         A lack of compassion and love for others. 

d.         We have forgotten that we too were once outsiders.

 

2.        Recognize all people as created in the image of God. (vs. 40-43) 

3.        Extend mercy and grace. (vs. 44-50)

After the Message: 
Read Luke 7:36-50. How have you judged those around you? Have you seen them as created and loved by God or as something “less”? How will you demonstrate the mercy and grace of Christ to those around you this week?