Youtube Video

Summary

Kelcey Grimes shares insights from John 4, emphasizing intentional evangelism, breaking barriers, and living as a testimony for Christ. This session explores practical ways to share the gospel in everyday life, inspired by Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman.

Chapters

00:00 Speaker Introduction: Kelsey Grimes
00:38 Personal Journey and Family Dynamics
01:46 Exploring John Chapter 4
10:44 Evangelism: Intentionality and Engagement
24:29 Case Study: The Samaritan Woman
34:25 Practical Applications for Evangelism
40:34 Conclusion and Prayer

Transcript *This transcript was automatically generated and may contain errors.*

Kelcey Grimes (00:07)
So when I was asked for a bio, I asked my husband, I was like, what is interesting about me besides I like food and being by myself? he was like, well, you enjoy biting your baby’s fat rolls and you enjoy just listen, a whole bunch of awkward things and I can do awkward all by myself. So I really didn’t need that help. But yes, so I am just so happy to be here. We were members at the South Florida congregation from 2012 through the end of 2018.

We came here right after we were married, started our family. My husband went to the school and then we moved to Sebring where he served as the youth minister for three years. And so I’m just so happy to be here. I love this school. ⁓ It changed everything for our marriage, our life, our future family, and I am just, I’m so grateful forever for it. So thank you for having me. ⁓ So there’s been a lot of talk about all our kids. Here’s my proof.

⁓ So, Avery and Riley were both born in Lakeland, so some of you might know them. They’re almost 10 and 7 now. ⁓

joined our family through foster and then adoption. ⁓ Well, we’ve had her she’s been with us for two years. So actually last time we were at lectureship Carter was the twins age and I was feeling like this I’m ready to foster again and we went home from lectureship the next week we started fostering Michaela and then in September of that year she became forever a part of our family. So and then the twins that are here they were unexpected blessings. ⁓ So yes, we added four of them.

in two years and it’s a good season. It’s a really hard season. I’m not shy about sharing that. Four, three and under is a lot. Yes ma’am.

make it and it’s going to be okay and I love talking about what God has done with our family so if you really would like to know more about them feel free to ask I would love to talk about it but not right now right now we’re going to talk about John chapter 4 so when someone says John 4 ⁓ what comes to your mind and I’m really also grateful to be in this room and not out there where it’s scary because we can talk and just enjoy each other in here so definitely Bible class style so feel free to comment ask questions if someone just mentioned

the chapter of John 4, what comes to your mind? Samaritan woman, yeah? Any specific verses or mostly just Samaritan woman? Sorry? yeah, fields white unto harvest. John? Yeah, absolutely. Yes ma’am?

I until you said that. But yes. I have. have. Thank you. Yeah. So all of these things, we’ll talk about several of these as we go. okay. How would you explain evangelism? We’ve talked a little bit about it in the auditorium today, but how would we describe it in here? This can either be rhetorical and you can write them on the back of your paper or you can share. If anyone stares at me, I’ll know you want to share.

Yes, ma’am. Seeing souls that need the gospel. Yes, sharing the gospel. seeds. Sowing seeds. And I like how you said seeing souls. So it’s not just this person in line, this person in traffic. Like, this is someone made in the image of God. This person has a soul. And seeing them that way. Yeah. How do you feel about evangelizing your friends and neighbors? I’m sorry.

It can absolutely be challenging. What are some things that make it challenging? Fear of rejection. Fear of rejection. The initiating. Initiating. Fear of losing a friend. Losing a friend. Yes, ma’am. do Not accepted. Not being accepted. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, ma’am.

Yes, and maybe you, I know I worry about forgetting what I want to say or how I want to say it, presenting it. Yes. ⁓ Is there anything that we think could help make it easier? Crane.

this. Yep. So I want to look at a few different things we can use today. So we are going to well, remember before we get started, intentionality is what turns everyday interactions into extraordinary evangelism opportunities. So as we study this section of text from John four, I just wanted like us all to remember that and we’re going to do a little bit more with that later on. So we’re going to take the time right now. No, we’re going to do this to read.

What we’re going to do later is do, as you can see on your paper, is like a case study, but in order to do that, we need to read the text so we all know what we’re talking about. So we’re going to do that together. I’ll read it since I have the fancy microphone. ⁓ We’re just going to read John chapter 4, verses 1 through 29.

So if you’ll turn with me there and feel free to make notes on your page as we go. We’ll also do it more together as we go as well. Okay, John chapter four.

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself did not baptize but only his disciples, he left Judea and departed again for Galilee, and he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, weary as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her,

The Samaritan said him,

Father Jacob, he gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.

The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. Jesus said to her, Go call your husband and come here. The woman answered him, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You are right in saying I have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one that you have is not your husband. What you have said is quite true. The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is a place where people

Jesus

said to her,

to him, I know that Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you, am he. Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, what do you seek or why are you talking with her? So the woman left her water jar and went away into the town and said to the people, come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? They went out of the town and were coming to meet him. All right.

⁓ Does anybody remember what happens next? The rest of the story? Isn’t that what the guy used to say?

Right. So she said, for those who couldn’t hear, that they all came out to see Jesus. And they said, now it’s because we have come and we’ve seen for ourselves that we believe, not because of what you have said. ⁓ What I’d like you to do is on the back of your sheet, take a few minutes and like, I mean, like maybe one minute and just summarize in just a few sentences what we just read. I’m doing a study with a group in Hebrews and that’s something they make us do every time. And it’s been really helpful and it just helps you to retain. So take a minute and just a couple of sentences.

summarize what we just read.

If you’re still writing, go ahead. I’m just gonna chime back in. So you guys keep going. What we’re gonna do, the prompt that Brian gave me was ⁓ how the Samaritan woman was evangelized and how we can use that to evangelize those around us. So what I wanna do is treat it like a case study. So there’s a method for Bible study called SOAP, which is what’s written on the top of your page. It stands for Situation, Observation, Application, and Later

prayer. So we’re going to go through that together and see if we can put together some tools to help us with this in our life. So first, S. Situation. Okay. So who are our primary characters? Don’t look.

Yes, very good. Excellent. Yes. So Jesus is absolutely a primary character. One of the verses that really stood out to me was verse six, where it says he was wearied from his journey and just the humanity in that. It’s the middle of day. He’s hot. He needs water, just like the rest of us. And so I love that detail. ⁓

We’re going to learn from Jesus. We’re not going to look at so much of him in a character type way in this study. ⁓ So the Samaritans and particularly the woman at the well. So I told my husband that I did a deep dive on Samaritans, which we all know how preachers are. Like when they deep dive, it’s like days. OK, so like my deep dive is like more like this deep. But for me, that’s really deep. So I’ll share what I learned because I didn’t really understand a whole lot of the history of the Samaritans.

lot of this is coming from Second Kings chapter 17. So as we know, the kingdom of Israel and Judah, Israel is in the north, Judah is in the south. The Israelites in the north go into captivity first into the land of Assyria. So the king of Assyria ⁓ resettled people from other nations after he took the Israelites into captivity into their region. The people did not worship God. ⁓

They were from other places. They had a mix, melting pot of cultures and religions going on. And so God sent lions as a punishment, which is terrifying. And it describes in the chapter how it killed some of them. And that is that’s a punishment for not knowing the Lord. It was interesting to me that the people tell the king of Assyria, hey, this is happening because the people that you’ve put in the land do not know the god of that land. They do not know what the god of that land requires.

And

so he sent a priest. found that, I thought that was fascinating. That’s in chapter 17, verse 26. So the priest sets up at Bethel and begins to teach the people. And they did worship God and everything else they already had. And so they were not true worshipers. They kept their idols just like the Israelites had and they had a melting pot of everything going on. And so,

Yes, they were shaping their idols as well. Later on in Ezra 4-2, the Samaritans come to the rubble bowl and ask to help rebuild the temple, but they were denied. They did not.

The Jews, excuse me, the Jews viewed them as corrupted in both blood and doctrine. ⁓ They were not looked well upon and as such they were denied from helping with the project. And this continued to escalate and cause further and further rifts throughout history. By the time that we get to our section in John four, ⁓

Jews and Samaritans would not eat or drink with each other. They would not socialize. They would trade sometimes by necessity. ⁓ And Jews, I’m sure you’ve heard this, they would travel out of their way to go through the land instead of having to go through Samaria. So there’s a lot of tensions here. Okay?

observations. ⁓ Back on your front you should have four little sections, so that’s where we’re going to go through here. I think it’s interesting that Jesus had to go through Samaria in verse four. Any thoughts on that?

how you phrase that. She said he goes where others avoid so no one is outside of the pursuit. Yeah. Okay. So the first thing Jesus does in his interaction is what? Speaks to her. how revolutionary at the time because not only was he a Jew and she a Samaritan but you also have the man and the woman component.

in both of those as well. Okay, so we asked her for a drink. He engages her in conversation. How are we going to evangelize anybody if we don’t make contact? Can’t happen, right? Right. So a very simple but a very important first step. It would have been easy, expected even for Jesus to ignore her. The rabbis of the time had a saying that says, let no one talk with a woman on the street, not even with his own wife.

So that’s Jewish women. So this woman would have been even lower social standing wise because she was a Samaritan and a woman. So just how low the day viewed women.

Okay. I have it written down here for you if you can see it, it says intentionality is crucial in evangelism. Christians must actively seek and cultivate awareness of opportunities through interaction with others. It’s not going to happen on accident. We might be able to be a good example to others without engaging in conversation and they can watch from a distance, but true evangelism, we’re going to have to be intentional about. That’s what I want to focus our study on together. Okay. ⁓ no, no, you can’t peek. Second thing.

for a drink, then what happens?

Sorry, I didn’t hear.

She she questions him. She questions him? Okay. Well, what did Jesus do next? I should phrase that better. So we asked her for a drink. Offers her water. Offers her water. Makes spiritual application from a practical need.

We’re talking about water. I’m getting thirsty again. Right. So in verse 10, I found a quote from Guy in Woods that said she was without the gift and thus far did not know the giver when he was explaining living water to her. She was confused. She does not understand what he’s talking about. This is all foreign to her and even says in the text, like, give me this water so I won’t be thirsty. ⁓ you know, they had to carry the buckets. They had to walk. She’s that walking in the middle of the day. I would want to be spared from that.

task too. Okay, so that’s what her mind is on. What does Jesus do next?

Change the subject, yeah? I have, he captures her attention with a simple yet revealing directive. What was it?

Yeah, go call your husband. So ⁓ many of us in here are married. If you are speaking to me and we’re having a conversation, then it’s going to get serious or, you know, maybe you just want to share with me and my husband. It’s not going to be weird for you to say, go get CJ and come back. He’s like, all right, let’s go get him. All right, so it’s not out of the norm.

But Jesus knew that that piece of information would trigger something in her to get her attention. And that’s exactly what it does. ⁓ What I really love too is Jesus did not scold, did not blame, did not berate, did not do anything. He just called it out. Stated facts, not in judgment. It is what it is. You have had five husbands. You are living with a man who is not your husband. That’s not judgment. That’s fact. That’s what happens.

Yes. Yes, she said it was proving who he is. It’s not just getting her attention, it’s proving who he is. Yes ma’am.

Yes, yes, absolutely. ⁓

she does also quickly change the subject. So Jesus changed the subject and then she said, hold on, I see you’re a prophet, let me ask you a question, right? And I think that is interesting that the question she asks is about worship. You know, if I know that someone is a prophet, I might think of other things I’d want to ask. She wants to know about worship and we’re gonna talk about that a little bit more. As a prophet, she knows that Jesus can finally settle the debate on whether or not Mount Gerizim is the true place of worship because to the Samaritans it was.

was,

right? And the Jews say it’s in Jerusalem and we’re going back and forth who’s right, who’s not. Let me just ask this guy, he’s a prophet. So, one other thing I learned is that the Samaritans had an incomplete view of the coming Messiah, even assuming that his name would begin with the letter which is interesting. Never heard that one before. They accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament and rejected both major and minor prophets. So this kept them from knowing many things about the nature of God, including

where and how to worship him acceptably. So she was without this information. She was doing the best she can, maybe, with what she had, but she had questions and she wanted to know. So I don’t feel like we can talk about John 4 without looking at verse 24 together for just a minute. That’s the verse where we can look at it together. It says, is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. So what does that mean to you?

with your everything. Yeah. The right way. The right way.

Yes. so if you’re going to do in truth, she said you have to have knowledge, which she didn’t have that knowledge background. So how could she do that? Yes, ma’am.

Yeah. That’s interesting because it’s even more revolutionary than it seems to us. She said that in the Old Testament, everything was physical. And in our day, everything is spiritual. And so seeing that huge shift, sometimes we lose. We don’t see the impact on that statement. Spirit or truth, is there one that you struggle with more than another? Sometimes I struggle in spirit.

I think a lot of us probably in this gathering that might be where we struggle more. I know I can be distracted, very distracted.

to blame the children, but sometimes even if they’re not there, my mind wanders or I’m not focused. So children, yes, also not children. We’re distracted. We’re thinking about other things. Maybe we don’t really want to be there. We’re not doing it with the proper heart. We have not fully humbled ourselves before God when we worship. So it’s a challenge for all of us. Yes. ⁓

So location, culture, status, previous religious beliefs are not relevant as one worships with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength, in spirit and in truth. Both are important. just had to talk about it before we moved on. OK, so the last thing that Jesus does. So we see that he asked her for a drink. He engages her in conversation. He makes a spiritual application from a practical need. He captures her attention with a simple yet revealing directive. What does he do next?

It’s really bold. he reveals who he is. So this is one of the few times in scripture we see that such a clear, direct revelation and declaration about who he is. says, I who speak to you, am he. There’s no parable. There’s no veil. I’m here. Let’s.

You know, ⁓ and she tells nobody. Yes. False. Right. She tells everybody. And I can’t help but thinking that this should be our natural response to such huge life changing information and discovery. We should want to tell everyone. The text says that that’s what she did. She ran back into town and told everyone that she that she could. The power of the gospel is not found in anything that we have.

have

done, said or accomplished, but the power only lies with Christ. And like I said, this creates a sense of urgency. We hear so much about how like today is the day of salvation. We need to be prepared. Jesus is going to come like a thief in the night. And all of that is true. And because all of that is true, an equal sense of urgency needs to be had about evangelizing the lost because that’s true for everyone. We have to respond to God’s charge in such a way. ⁓ Last thing I want to

before we move on to applications is that her testimony is so simple. The text says, she says, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Can this be the Christ? There’s no preaching. There is no convincing. There is nothing fancy. There’s just a personal testimony and an invitation. And it was effective. The Samaritans of the town believed they all come out to hear Jesus. And as they say, towards the end of our section, we now believe not because of what you have

but because you have brought us to Christ and we now see and understand with ourselves that this is the Messiah. Okay, so, does everybody have your one, two, three, four?

Yeah, okay. We’re going to use that now to make some applications for us today. So I titled this lesson the Well Way because well is going to be an acrostic and I can’t take credit for it because chat GPT helped me out a lot because the four mentioned kids, my brain cells are not what they used to be. So we’re going to use this as a tool and hopefully it can help all of us be more intentional with our evangelism. So number one.

we must be willing to cross barriers. Jesus broke cultural, religious, and gender barriers when he addressed the woman at the well. As Christians and as disciples of Christ, we need to be just as willing to do the same in order to reach those who need to hear the gospel. ⁓ I think first step in being willing to cross a barrier is we have to acknowledge that it exists. How can you be intentional in doing something if you don’t even acknowledge or see that it’s there?

And I…

Earlier was thinking a lot of the barriers that we put up are totally out of someone’s control. If you think about their age, everyone’s going to age, can’t do anything about that. The gender, God decided my gender. My race or my skin color, again, not something anyone picks. Your culture, your family background, all of these are barriers that can exist that no one has any control over.

These things are things that we need to acknowledge and then step over. So think to yourself, or maybe you want to share if you want, what are some barriers that we need to cross? Or what is most uncomfortable to you right now? I’ll let this one be just in your mind or on your paper. So just think about what are some barriers that are stopping you from evangelizing those around you? OK?

probably good. Alright, next.

Engage intentionally. This has been the topic of lessons already today, so I’m enjoying that a lot. So I’m sure you guys have heard that the Great Commission in Matthew 28 verses 16 through 20 is sometimes said to better be translated as, you are going. So go into all the world as you are going through the world to do these things. And for me as a busy mom, that’s really encouraging to me.

because I can evangelize and I can disciple my children as we’re going about our day. And we know that there’s pretext for that in Deuteronomy as well, and teaching your children and as you walk on the road and as you lie down, as you get up, all of these things. ⁓

Evangelism is who we are and what we do as Christians and it needs to be a part, even if it’s a small part, of our everyday conversations, our everyday life. ⁓ William Barclay said, Daily life and work are continually offering men opportunities to witness for Christ and to influence people for Christ and there are so many who avoid the opportunities instead of embracing them. Guilty. Right? Either maybe I don’t recognize an opportunity, maybe I choose to ignore an opportunity,

Maybe I don’t want to have an opportunity. All of these things. ⁓ So how can we take advantage of some of these daily opportunities to engage intentionally? Yes, ma’am.

Yes. Yes. She said, looking for those opportunities, asking God to lead someone to us for us to recognize the opportunity to have have eyes to see. Yes.

transparent with your testimony.

impact.

transform life to impact the others. So you’re transparent and not keep your stuff hidden all the time.

Yes, absolutely. That’s my second L. So yes. No, you’re so right because is it helpful to anyone if you say, how are you doing? I’m fine.

No, let me tell you I’m struggling with this and I’m struggling with that and maybe you are too and let’s talk about it and let’s be real with each other, right? Because it’s not helpful to sugarcoat and to not be transparent. That’s why if you want to ask me about all the diapers I change, I’ll tell you. Like they’re usually green and funky colored and you know, like, but maybe you don’t know that’s normal. Like whatever you’re going through, someone else is going through that as well. And so let’s share that. Let’s share that. ⁓

Any other way we can take? Yes, we’ll come back to what you said. Yes, 100%. How else can we take advantage of daily opportunities within our families, our friends, our jobs, our neighbors, anything? Just be prepared because you never know. Be prepared. Like, was it gymnastics class with my oldest daughter when she was probably about three? And I don’t even know how it came up, but a woman asked, because the parents sack on these little bleachers, and…

She says she wanted to start learning more.

where she should start. didn’t know where to start. she really wasn’t addressing it to any one person, know, and there were, and I have no clue what anybody else’s affiliation, religious affiliation was or anything, but there was only two of us that answered her. know, but you’ve got to be prepared and willing.

Yes, those opportunities were praying for they’re gonna hit you so she said to be prepared because you never know when an opportunity is going to present itself. Very good. Be prepared in season and out of season so you know how to answer each person like we’ve got to be ready. Yes ma’am.

Just let someone…

Yes, absolutely. She said just letting someone talk and you listen. I’m not good at that. Yes, you’re right. You can hear a lot of what they might need.

One study wonder.

get to know them and they get to know us.

Yeah, it doesn’t need to be as formal as sometimes we make it in our minds.

Yeah, so she said have your mind on spiritual things so when those opportunities come, you’re already thinking spiritual instead of not even recognizing it came around. That’s really good. Yes, ma’am.

That’s a great answer. Open your Bibles.

Yes, absolutely, it’s genuine then. Yes. I see another hand. Yes. Pay attention to your surroundings. I think so often we’re so busy rushing from one place to another to have our heads in our phones.

Christ often opens up, people might share too much with you then. So it can be hard when you’ve got little ones, but be ready to have that conversation. The babies that are crying, if they need to eat, the stuff’s in their bag. It’s four ounces of water and two scoops.

Excellent. Also, isn’t the church family wonderful? Everyone’s like, where are your kids? And I’m like, I don’t know. And I really don’t need to know because we’re among family. And I just love it. And I’m just grateful for it. OK. ⁓

to just to add to everything. Sometimes it takes practice, right? It takes practice to remember to take advantage of opportunities. It takes practice to see them. It takes practice to listen. All of these things. I know for me, I was uncomfortable saying like, thank you. God has blessed me. Or mentioning God if someone gave me a compliment or someone at Walmart said something. And it’s like, yeah, God has blessed us or this or the other. But even for me, just saying little things like that, who knows?

an opportunity and the more we do it the more comfortable those kinds of things will become. Okay, first L.

lead them to living water. So we are not trying to lead them to Kelsey. We’re not trying to lead them to Marissa. We’re not trying to lead them to Nicole. We’re trying to lead them to Jesus. Right. ⁓ So just as the woman urged others to come and see our role is to bring people to Jesus and not ourselves. ⁓ It is only through meeting, believing in and obeying him for themselves that one will truly be a disciple of Christ. So that’s really what we’re doing. We’re just invitors. We’re just trying to show them the way. Yes, we’re not

the power is not in us. Brother Kozert this morning said, you can’t get people to God unless you use God’s solution. And I just thought that was really cool because we have everybody, you know, I like this, I like that. Well, really does not matter. What does God say? What is God’s solution? If you want to be with God, you have to do it his way. And yes, I just, that was really meaningful to me. So I’m glad he shared that. So what could that look like? How can we lead people to living water? Yes, ma’am.

Exactly. So what are some ways we could plant that seed?

study. Yes, ask to commercial. Maybe send in somebody a Bible verse like hey this made me think of you maybe if there’s something you come across that’s applicable after you listen. anything else? Yes. Yes. How meaningful is that? I’m sorry she said praying with someone.

Because someone might tell you something, oh, I’ll pray for you. But has anyone ever had somebody stop and pray? It’s a whole different experience, isn’t it? Exactly. had a need. Yes, a need.

We had a brief bleeding issue when I was pregnant with the twins and we had an elder come over to the house, bring us food. Everyone was so wonderful. I was terrified to death, but it was fine. ⁓ And this elder got on our floor on his knees, held our hands and prayed for us as we were going through that. And I had never experienced that before. And that was so powerful to me. Like this man is going to bring me pizza and then he’s going to get on my floor and literally I’m going to cry.

kneel before God on behalf of me and my family. It was so wonderful. Any other ideas? ⁓

Absolutely. ⁓ That’s a good. ⁓ Yes. Yes. We have to let our light shine. You got my L. Yeah. He’s got to be seen in our lives. And as Marissa said earlier too. I’m sorry. Yes.

Exactly.

And that crosses so many barriers because maybe it’s someone who is not interested. Well, you can say that and you’re not being offensive or anything. You’re engaging intentionally. You’re pointing them to Jesus. Yeah. All of these things, such a small, small thing we can do that might open a great opportunity, like we said earlier. So lastly, let our light shine. I’m talking about our personal testimonies and letting God be seen in us. ⁓ We’re ambassadors for God. I take it really seriously the way that we speak about our brothers and sisters.

and the Lord’s Church, especially with outsiders. ⁓ I’ve been in a situation where there was some issues and ladies were visiting and we were with a member who or someone who was not a member of the church and it really bothered me. It really bothered me because we’re supposed to be ambassadors for God. We’re supposed to be speaking well of him and his people and that it’s not attractive. It’s not a good look. So if we are sour, joyless, negative, bitter, resentful and generally unpleasant, no one’s going to wonder what makes us different and they certainly won’t.

want

any part of it. Who wants to be around people like that? Nobody. ⁓ And so kind like what Mercer said earlier, we must not be ashamed or timid of sharing the difference that God has made in our own life. ⁓ In 2 Corinthians 517 it says, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. Has anyone seen the chosen?

Some people really like it. I really like it. You know, and it is a dramatized version of the events that we see in scripture. So is it all 100 percent accurate? No. But for me, it helps me see the humanity and that these were real people with real lives. And one of my favorite lines that Mary Magdalene says is I was one way and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was him. And that is true. I know. And that is true of all of us, whether you were blessed to be raised in the church

maybe the external ⁓ change is not so evident, whether you came from a different background religiously, whether, know, whatever it is, we are all new creations in Christ when we put him on in baptism. ⁓ So it’s important that we share that. We let people know, you know, your story may resonate with someone in different way than mine would and vice versa. We need to be able to say what God has done for us and the difference that he has made in our own lives in a very personal way.

So to wrap things up, Jesus shows how intentional, compassionate evangelism can change lives. He met a woman in her brokenness, offered her truth, and through her testimony brought many to belief. So just to go back over, when we do these things, ⁓ we are leading people to Jesus. And when we do them, God works faithfully through us to bring more and more people into his kingdom. So ⁓ the last P is pray. I don’t think I have.

Yeah, that’s it. There’s not a P slide. I’ll just say a quick prayer and then we’ve got a few minutes to do whatever we’re doing until whenever it is we do the next thing. Okay, I’ll pray. All right.

God, thank you. you. you so much for this congregation, for the school, for this time that we can come together as sisters in Christ and open your word and learn from you and see things that Jesus did that we can copy and emulate in our own lives to reach others for the kingdom. God, help us to be willing to cross the barriers. Help us to be intentional in our conversations and in our interactions to us for us to remember that we’re not leading them to ourselves. We’re leading them to you and that you are the true source of all

of these things and God help us to remember that you have made us all things new. ⁓

through you and us and to not be timid and not to be shy about expressing those things and sharing those things. God, thank you for all of the women and children that are here today that came to spend time. And God, I’m just so grateful for your church and for the family that provides us here on earth. And God, I know that it will continue for eternity. And I’m just so grateful to be a small part of it. Thank you so much again. And please be with us as we go through the rest of our day. Be with those who are still traveling to join us in Jesus name. Amen.

You’re dismissed.