Refuge Youth Ministry

Today, read with me in John 4 New International Version (NIV)
 
   4 Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
   7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
   9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
   10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
   11 "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?"
   13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
   15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
   16 He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
   17 "I have no husband," she replied.
   Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
   19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
   21 "Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth."
   25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
   26 Then Jesus declared, "I, the one speaking to you-I am he."
   27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"
   28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?" 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
   39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
   42 They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world." Race wars and battles are nothing new to humanity. They have been going on in one version or another for centuries. Jesus gave us an awesome example in how to conduct ourselves. The new testament makes it clear that there is to be no racial or cultural divide in the kingdom of God. For we are all one part of the Body of Christ. Here are a few things to note in this story.
      •  In meeting a Samaritan woman, he had no fear or reservation about crossing the cultural and racial divide to reach this human.
      •  He looked beyond the cultural divide to see a bigger issue, her need for salvation.
      •  Her race was not the issue for Jesus. Her sin was.
      •  His love for her and his focus on her needs disarmed her concern that they are not in the same social circles.
      •  The Samaritans accepted this massage from a Jewish leader because it spoke to their need for salvation and it wasn't covered in the same old hate that they would have typically heard.
   Throughout your life, the social climate will shift many times. There will always be new and old enemies in the world, new and old causes being fought, and new lines formed in the sand. It is important, that no matter how important the cause, we remain Christlike in our words and in our actions. It is important that we never lose site that all people need salvation. Our message cannot be harmed by the hatred in our hearts. In all things, point people to Jesus, for he is the way, the truth and the light.
   --
   Justin Marcantel
   Minister of Youth
   Pine Forest Baptist Church

Coming Events

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- - Crystal Beach Mini-Camp  July 24-26
We're very sorry to report that due to covid and weather related concerns, the beach-camp for youth has been cancelled. Justin Marcantel

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