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Mini-Worship
Feb.6-11, 2024
1. Center yourself (take a few deep breaths and quiet down)
2. Enter the Presence of God
(All) You, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
your name endures to all generations.
(M) He strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
(W) He grants peace within your borders;
he fills you with the finest of wheat.
(All) O come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
4. Confession:
Most gracious and merciful Lord, I enter you from the world. I want to set myself apart for a moment right now and seek your face. I ask you to remove all things that block the relationship between you and me- maybe it is a pollution, anxiety, distress, confusion, tiredness, faults, wrongs, weak feelings, blame, arguments, accusations, disbelief, ungratefulness, selfishness, greed… (anything that come to your mind). Reset my heart, feelings, mind, thoughts, and strength, O Lord of my life. In your loving presence, restore wholeness to myself again. I’ll hear your sweet words to me. Help me move on again. Thanks. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
5. Scripture Reading:
John 4:5-42
5So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. 7A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but 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.” 15The 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.” 16Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’ 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But 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. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” 26Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” 27Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” 30They left the city and were on their way to him. 31Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” 39Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
6. Thoughts to ponder
Are you thirsty for water? Why do you need water? Water cleans away the dirt. Water moisturizes the dryness. Water helps the body system functioning well. You cannot live without water.
Here this woman struggled a few basic things in life- daily labor for basic needs, being loved and to love in relationship, and search for who is real God and where she was supposed to worship God. She felt she needed a special kind of water for life: satisfying her inner being and needs forever. Does it sound like a kind of magic water? Are you looking for something like this?
Jesus said that “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 opened her heart and life to Jesus and believed in Jesus. She was transformed. She was liberated from sins- hers, others’, and society's. She became alive and lively. Her sins were forgiven. Her wounds were healed. Her sorrow was removed. Her shame was gone. Her isolation was broken. Her storms in life were calmed. She found a new satisfaction for life. She found a real herself in the encounter with Jesus. She was overflowed with joy and life energy. She freely got along with people. She found a role model whom she would tell to others over and over again. She found a bright future. She found a new way of living.
What is the water of life? First, it is Jesus Himself. He died on the cross. His blood washed away the burdens and scars of sins. We are perfect and spotlessly clean. Second, it is the Holy Spirit. Jesus said He is Life and gives the power of Spirit for doing all things. Third, it is his word. His word guides us how to live in this world in the way that brings us true happiness.
Jesus cares how/what we work/study, how/whom we love, and whom/how we worship. He has plans for us. But first of all, he asks us to come to Him, to open our lives and to acknowledge His role there. He is the very first center of our lives. All good things flow from Him. Have you already had Him?
7. Prayer suggestions:
Where do you feel stuck in your life now? What is it? Does it become your center? Bring it to Jesus and tell Him you need help. He can save, transform, and enrich your life condition. Come to taste the water of life and to know the goodness and working power of His grace.
Dear God, I confess my life struggles. I heard your gospel. I come to you. Fill me with that water of life. Cleanse me, energize me, and direct me in your words in my basic life areas: study/work, friendship and love, wisdom for everyday living. Take me into your grace and love and make the water of life leaping in me forever, as you promised. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
8. Closing song
O Lord, Speak
9. Benedictions
May the Lord fill up your garden of life with His everlasting water of life. The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. May the LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
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