Study Questions: Mission Minded - The Model John 4:1-26

Date: May 28, 2006
Passage: John 4:1-26
Message: Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Series Mission-Minded – The Method

We all have a past.
Think for a moment how our past influences the way we see our selves in the present.
How has it shaped your life?
How had it shaped this woman’s life in John 4?

1. The Gospel CROSSES all CULTURAL Barriers
[v1-9]
Jesus crossed the ‘Samaritan’ barrier.
What kinds of cultural barriers do we find hard to cross?
How important is crossing cultural barriers in the task of being mission-minded?

How significant was it that Jesus asked this woman for a drink?
What are some of the things that might have gone through her mind when he asked?

2. The Gospel CLARIFIES our SPIRITUAL Need
[v10-15]
Jesus used the need for water to talk about this woman’s greater thirst.
What kind of ‘well’ are people coming to today?
What does it reveal about us?
What kinds of things are we looking for?

…living water
This was a concept that the woman couldn’t grasp.
“Sometimes we try and make the gospel so simple that we succeed only in making it bland.”
Discuss
What kind of imagery is helpful in describing salvation that comes in Jesus?

3. The Gospel CONFRONTS our PERSONAL Issues
[v16-18]
In an interview in Vogue some years ago, Madonna acknowledged her own thirst for something that satisfies—

“I’m always struggling with fear. I push past one spell of it, thinking I’m special, then find myself thinking I am mediocre. That’s always been pushing me, pushing me. Because even though I’ve become somebody, I still have to prove
I’m SOMEBODY”

How does this fear of being ‘somebody’ show itself in our lives?
What are some of the ways we try and deal with it?
How does being a Christian impact this?

4. The Gospel CUTS Across our RELIGIOUS Traditions
[vv19-26]
Often, even religion can be a diversion for a relationship with Jesus!
How does this happen?
What does it look like?

…..God is spirit and his worshippers must worship in spirit and truth [v24]
How does this cut across denominationalism and religious tradition of all persuasions?
What is it to worship in …’spirit and truth’?