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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

The Results of Our Lord’s Conversation with the Samaritan Woman

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BACKGROUND NOTES

3. 
   
   

DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

1. Worship of God must be in spirit and in truth.

2. Service to God may be sowing or reaping.
   
   

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

1. Use your personal testimony to witness.
   
   

QUESTIONS

1. What are Mount Gerizem and Mount Ebal known as?

2. To which mountain did the Samaritan woman refer (John 4:20)?

3. Why did the woman come to the well at noon?

4. What kind of worshippers is God seeking?

5. What is true worship? What is true worship not like?

6. What is the characteristic of true worship?

7. What does it mean to worship in truth?
   
   

ANSWERS

1. Mount Gerizem is known as the mount of blessing, for the blessings of God were read from its slopes. Mount Ebal is known as the mount of cursing, for the curses of the law were read from it. See Joshua 8:31- 34 and Deuteronomy 11:29; 27:12-13.

2. Mount Gerizem

3. To avoid contact with other women because of her lifestyle (but she was on schedule according to the Lord’s timetable).

4. Those who worship in spirit and in truth

5. It is from the heart and the mind and in the spirit. It is not in outward forms and ceremonies; it is not dependant on rites and rituals.

6. It is Christ-centered.

7. It involves scripturally intelligent worship.
   
   

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

1. Review this story, determining who the reapers were, who comprised the field white unto harvest, and who the sower was. Are you a sower or a reaper? Are you content in whichever role God has assigned to you?

2. Recall how the Samaritan woman witnessed: she believed, then gave her personal testimony, then invited people to come to Christ. Is this your story?
   
   

CHALLENGE

1. At times, do you find yourself depending on rituals rather than on the spirit in your worship? Remember who God seeks to worship Him. How do you worship in spirit and in truth?
   
   

KEY VERSES

• “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

• “Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” John 4:35

• “He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’” John 4:36-37