Jesus, Come by Lisa Degrenia The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” – John 4:49-50
Jesus, come my son is dying so is my daughter, with skin like mahogany so is my child, pinned down in a school shooting so is my sibling, a victim of dictators and droughts
Jesus, come see my dear one with no shelter my beloved with no access to needed meds the heart of my heart who bearly survives the bombs
Jesus, come add your own petitions here for people and situations
Jesus, you hear our cries for life heal them, help them and help me help them, too
Made Well by Lisa Degrenia When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”- John 5:6
Jesus asks, “Do you want to be made well?”
Do I? Do I really?
I’ve been this way so long It’s what people expect of me It’s what I expect of me
I know this life I’m getting by
Is it good? No Is it whole? No
But I know this life It’s my normal Can I imagine another way?
Others seem to get there but not me I have no help I have no one I can’t… I can’t… I can’t…
Jesus, you imagine the new for me
You see me The me that I really am At your word I trust and stand At your word I am well
You Heal by Lisa Degrenia Jesus, we’ve been ill a long time a lifetime
Circumstances block the way to wholeness Someone pushes in to take what we need We block the way, too
You make the way, clear the way, to new life Body… Soul… Mind… Spirit Relationships… Systems… Communities… Creation …
Jesus answered her, “Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” – John 4:14-15
You Answer by Lisa Degrenia We are dry Brittle Crusty Empty
Parched with a thirst we cannot appease Tongues heavy and stuck No words escaping We are too poor Too broken Too desolate
You alone answer our silent screams You, the Lord God
You fill and flood and quench A wild river on the barren peaks An ancient fountain in the deep wasteland A still pool for resting and rooting A spring of water gushing up to eternal life
You, answer You, the Lord God, will never forsake
Fill us by Lisa Degrenia God of the Wilderness, God of the Well Your unseen work is real and near and constant like a deep, clear spring
Fill us. Fill us now. Fill us with truth the truth of you, the truth of who we are in you the truth of who we can become
Fill us with boldness to witness and testify to your victory, your companionship, your call
Fill us with strength and skills far beyond us Fill us with courage to do hard, holy things to break down dividing walls to seek and question to embrace our belovedness and place in your plan
Fill us with passion Fill us with hope Fill us with joy
Fill us till our cups runneth over
Fill us with You
Pause in silence to receive
Spirit and Truth by Lisa Degrenia Jesus said, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.” – John 4:23
People of God, Rejoice! Our Eternal and Beautiful God is near The One who meets us as we are The One who names us beloved The One who delights in our very existence Come and worship in spirit and truth
Holy Spirit, Holy One Holy Spirit, Descending Dove Alight on me that I may know your presence Anoint me that I may know your call Fill me that I may know your power Guide me that I may know your path Name me that I may know, that I know, that I know who I am And live your truth Amen
CLICK HERE for an opening prayer, prayer of confession, and pardon inspired by the story of Jesus and the woman at the well.
John 4:5-42 is read on Year A, Third Sunday in Lent.
Opening Prayer We remember the woman at the well – her questions, her truth, her witness. Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, so like her we may ask candidly, reveal ourselves deeply, and share your Good News freely. Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, so we may worship you in spirit and truth. Amen.
Prayer of Confession Jesus, we thirst We thirst for love and belonging We thirst for security and provision We thirst for truth and hope We thirst for healing for our wounds We thirst for mercy for our sin, our guilt, our shame
Time of silent confession
Assurance of Pardon Jesus, you pour yourself out for us and the world so we may be born again of water and the Spirit, so we may never thirst again
We thank you and praise you for your eternal blessing and forgiveness. Help us lead others to the well of your saving love. Amen
**** John 4:5-42 is read on the 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A
Based on John 4:1-42
The Woman of Samaria and Jesus
Jesus said, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.” – John 4:23
People of God, Rejoice!
Our Eternal and Beautiful God is near
The One who meets us as we are
The One who names us beloved
The One who delights in our very existence
Come and worship in spirit and truth
Holy Spirit, Holy One
Holy Spirit, Descending Dove
Alight on me that I may know your presence
Anoint me that I may know your call
Fill me that I may know your power
Guide me that I may know your path
Name me that I may know, that I know, that I know who I am
And live your truth
Amen
_______________
For the next few months, I’m reading a chapter from the Gospels each day. This is part of the Summer in the Scriptures reading plan sponsored by the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Click Here for the reading plan.
As part of the Facebook group, I’ve been supplying prayers based on the day’s reading. Feel free to post your prayers and observations based on the readings here or there as well.
May the grace of the Gospels, the challenge, and the call, inspire us to great faith and great good works in Jesus’ name. – Lisa <
Olive Wood carving of the Woman at the Well from Jerusalem. We brought this treasure back with us from our recent trip.
Sermon Series: There’s More to Life
Message 2 of 5: Woman of Samaria (Woman at the Well)
Scripture: John 4:3-26
Notes from a message offered Sunday, 3/31/19 at Trinity United Methodist Church, Sarasota Florida.
Rebekah Lyons testimony of God’s unconditional love. Rebekah is the mother of a child with Down syndrome.
The Woman at the Well
In the ancient world, your place as a woman was defined by your connection to a man:
Father, Brother, Husband, Son. We’re not just talking about social status- we’re talking access to what’s needed to survive.
Shelter from the extreme heat and cold of the desert
Food in your belly and clothes on your back
Loving relationships to weather you through the cruelties of life
Access to water on a regular basis
Where is her father? Most likely deceased.
Where is her brother, her sons, her children? Maybe she had none.
Where is the husband? Scripture tells us she’s had five husbands. Could it be in this harsh and cruel environment she’s lost five husbands to death? Maybe.
Could it be that because men in this time and culture controlled marriage and controlled divorce, could it be that she’s been thrown away five times? Told to go, you are not wanted.
The man she’s with now will not claim her legally. She has been shared and shamed, a survivor of cruelty and abuse.
She is an outcast in her community. We know this because in the ancient world went to the well based on their status. The most respected admired women would visit the well first, and she’s drawing her morning water at noon.
She is alone. Not in the company of the other women. Not enjoying their camaraderie and community.
This unnamed woman is barren of security. She’s been thrown away, driven away, shared and shamed, outcast, isolated.
She finds herself at Jacob’s well and today there’s a man there. He is Jewish. She is Samaritan. I imagine what is going through her mind and heart: How much more shame and disgrace am I going to get today? Jews and Samaritans don’t hang out. Am I going to hear from this man’s lips, “Half-breed! Heretic!”?
No. She hears from the lips of our Jesus respect. Good News.
They’re at a well, so Jesus uses the metaphor of water to share the Good News of Living Water, cleansing, refreshing, restoring, new birth. It is available to her.
He gives her a chance to reveal herself and she does. She’s honest and truthful. He recognizes it. The conversation could have gone any direction, at that point and she dives in deep theologically.
Jesus sees her, not what people label her. He sees how she’s been abused, her great need, her wounds, and yet he sees her giftedness. He sees her keen mind.
They begin a discussion like rabbi and to rabbi. Where do we worship and how do we worship and is there a place for me in worshiping God?
This is the longest theological discussion in the four Gospels. This unnamed woman of Samaria.
Deep down, deep down, deep down the question she is asking and the question each and every one of asks is: Does God want me and does God love me?
That is the core question. My community threw me out. They’ve shamed me and abused me. The Jews say I’m not worshiping in the right place in the right way. The Messiah is coming …
The core question: Does God want me and does God love me. The answer is always Yes! Always!
It is yes to the woman of Samaria and it is yes to us.
No matter what the world names us. No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. No matter what we’ve done to survive. The answer is always Yes!
The love of God is unconditional love. The love of God comes without judgment. “God sent his son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17)
This emptiness, this dryness, this wilderness, can only be quench by Jesus’s living water, Jesus’s saving love.
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God – Chorus of Reckless Love by Cory Asbury
This week the Towery boys found it and claimed it for themselves. Rebekah Lyons saw it in the unconditional love of her son with Down syndrome. A great gift that he’s sharing. The woman at the well finds it in Jesus and shares it as well. She becomes one of the first evangelists. She runs back to the people who’ve been awful to her and says, “I think the Messiah is at the well.” They come, Jesus stays with them for days and many are saved.
Closing Prayer from Ephesians 3
Repetition of the word love
17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Insert your name or someone else’s name as a prayer of blessing that you/they would know the unconditional love of God and place their trust in Jesus as their Leader and Forgiver (Lord and Savior).
Father, out of Your honorable and glorious riches, strengthen ___________. Fill ___________’s soul with the power of Your Spirit so that through faith the Anointed One will reside in his/her heart. May love be the rich soil where ________’s life takes root. May it be the bedrock where ___________’s life is founded, so that together with all of Your people, he/she will have the power to understand that the love of the Anointed is infinitely long, wide, high, and deep, surpassing everything anyone previously experienced. God may Your fullness flood through __________’s entire being. Now to the God who can do so many awe-inspiring things, immeasurable things, things greater than we ever could ask or imagine through the power at work in us, to Him be all glory in the church and in Jesus the Anointed from this generation to the next, forever and ever. Amen.
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