sunday sermon snippet 21 June 2026
Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (John 4:28-29)
This week’s posting of the Sunday Sermon Snippet comes from the final sermon in our mini-series on “Jesus and the Samaritan Woman,” from John 4:1-42.
In this final sermon, we study vv27-42, and I’ve entitled it “The Savior and the Harvest,” and we shall learn here two important lessons from Jesus. First, revival is always possible, and can happen through one person for an entire town. Second, that Christianity without harvesting is not Christianity; it may be something, but it is not Christianity.
See below for a snippet from the sermon…
…and if you’d like to check out the whole sermon, just click here.
Before you move into the sermon snippet, please enjoy seeing this dramatic presentation of Jesus and the Samaritan woman. (Click here if you don’t see the video below)
The Sermon Snippet
And now we’re going to pick up where that video left off, as they are walking into the small town of Sychar. And actually, what the text tells us is that the town was walking out to Jesus….
John 4:28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and made their way to him.
Ok, so this is remarkable, brothers and sisters. Absolutely stunning. I mean think of what we’ve learned of the Samaritan woman over the last couple of weeks, and the emotion you just saw on her face and heard in her voice as she interacted with Jesus, helping us step into what her life has been like because of the town, because of the people, of Sychar. Life in a small town, as a woman who had a very poor reputation. They had made life extremely difficult for her.
We know exactly what this is like, don’t we? Life in a small town, where not everybody knows everybody, but close. And interestingly most of us probably know the people who are rough around the edges, know the places they live in town or outside of town, are quite familiar with how we think they have maybe fallen short of our standards or expectations. Maybe we haven’t treated them all that well ourselves, have gone out of our way at times to avoid them, and have maybe had thoughts about them we’d prefer not be shared widely.
And so now imagine a person like that, after meeting Jesus, after being saved by Jesus because they were laid bare by Jesus, and then they responded in hope and love…imagine that person — the first thing they do — is they go to tell all the people of the town (who have made life hell for them) about Jesus. So that they could see, meet, and know Jesus too!
Imagine someone like that in our small town, running up to you, up to others, up to everybody, who have treated them that way, and saying, “Come, see! Come, see! I want you to meet a man who can tell you who you really are. He told me everything I ever did! There’s a man just outside of town who can tell you who you are. He’s the Messiah we’ve all been looking for, the one who can make all things right, and set everybody straight, and make this world into the kind of place we’ve always dreamed of. C’moooonnnn, come, and see!”
I mean, really, friends, this is so moving. Because maybe some people would think, “I’m not going to share this with people who have hurt me. Why would I want to help them, after all they’ve done to me?” And so I’ve wondered, why does she do it? I mean, we saw her running down that path into town…prancing! Positively bursting with joy because of Jesus.
And I wonder if that’s it. I mean, when you’ve truly come into contact with Jesus, when you’ve experienced a revival like that — re-vive, to live again, to come to life — when that’s happened deep down, you can’t hold that in for long. When you truly understand what life is, when you take in living water, it bubbles up in you and splashes on others. She’s come to life! And so while it is true that her changed heart means changed affections for those in her community, it’s also true to say it’s really less about them in this moment, and more about Jesus. What consumes her in the joy of her conversion and new life and having drunk living water and understood who Jesus is, is to tell that to everyone she can. And right now!
And it only gets better, friends. Ok, watch this now, watch what can happen when one person who’s experienced revival gets about the purpose for which they were created and re-vived; namely, to bring about the re-viving of others…look at what happens….
John 4:30 They left the town and made their way to Jesus.
LET’S GO! Isn’t that something? Can you imagine how she must have looked and sounded, a woman of ill-repute, a woman rejected and spurned and ostracized, to have this kind of immediate impact!? She must have been like Moses, coming off the mountain, with a glow about her, having been in the presence of God, bursting with joy and salvation.
John 4:39-42 Now many Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of what he [testified]. 42 And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”
Wow! I mean, wow! family. Do you understand what this means? This means that a whole town can experience revival — a re-viving, a coming to life — if just one person who has experienced re-viving and a coming to life goes in that life and joy and hope, prancing throughout the community, and says, in the midst of small tasks like picking up some water at the grocery store, or buying a cup ‘o joe at the coffee shop, or getting an ice cream at the Salida Pharmacy, or buying a book at Benjamin’s Books, or walking by the river, or hanging out at Riverside Park, if just one person would say, “Come, and see! Come, and see! Listen, there is a man who can tell you who you really are. His name is Jesus, and because he’s GOD, he knows everything about you, has seen you at the bottom, at your worst, and yet he’s loved you to the skies. He’s died for all your wrongs in order to make everything in you, and between you and him, right. He’s the real Messiah, and he’ll give you life right now like you wouldn’t believe, and the promise of a life forever in a new heavens and a new earth that you have only dared hope for! Come, and see!”
Revival is possible in our valley, family.
I believe, Jesus, please help my unbelief.
But Jesus doesn’t merely show us that such an outcome is possible, he shows us how…..
If you’d like to check out the whole sermon, just click here.
