Good Morning ... and too, God be the Glory!

I greet you in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

And there is a Word from the LORD ... so let us jump right into our text.

Turn your hearts and your Bibles to the Gospel of John“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” — John 1:1 ... chapter 4“And he must needs go through Samaria.” — John 4:4 ... beginning at verse 1. When you find it ... please say Amen.

Verse 1 ...

Jump down to verse 25.

Turn to your neighbor and say — Neighbor:
“HE MUST NEEDS GO THROUGH SAMARIA — AND SO DO YOU”

You may be seated ...

Father ... the task of teaching Your Word is once again in my keeping.

Clear my mind of distractions.

Warm my heart with compassion.

Fill my soul with faith in Your goodness and Your power.

Speak to me ... that I may speak for You.

Speak through me ... that I may speak to those who wait to hear Your unadulterated gospel.

Right now, Lord ... remove self. Remove pride. Increase in me and I decrease in You. Hide me behind Your cross.

Lord ... there is somebody in front of this word today who has been going around their Samaria for a long time. They know what is in Samaria. They know the shame that lives there. They know the faces they do not want to see. They know the conversations they do not want to have. So they have taken the long road. They have gone around. They have avoided. They have detoured.

And Lord ... some of them have decided ... because of shame ... to come to the well at the sixth hour. To come at noon. When the sun is hot. When no one else is there. Trying to avoid the crowd ... trying to avoid the whispers ... trying to avoid what others will say about them.

Their Samaria can be a broken relationship. Their Samaria can be a secret they have not spoken. Their Samaria can be the loss that still hurts. Their Samaria can be the mistake they cannot forgive themselves for. Their Samaria can be the prayer they stopped praying because they stopped believing the answer would come.

Meet them there, Lord. Sit at their well. Let them know they are not alone.

But You are a God of divine appointment. You do not send Your children around what they need to walk through ... even when the road runs straight through the valley of the shadow of death“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” — Psalm 23:4 KJV. You send us through ... because You promised to never leave us nor forsake us“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” — Hebrews 13:5 KJV. Your rod and Your staff ... they still comfort us. And on the other side of their Samaria ... You are already sitting at the well.

So speak, Lord. We are listening.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight. My Lord ... You are my strength and my Redeemer. This is my prayer. Amen.

I want to take you somewhere with me this morning.

Back ...

To a place I did not want to go.

It was October 2003.

I was a young preacher.

I had just graduated from Crichton Bible College in Memphis.

I had just completed my catechism and ordination at my home church at the time — Monument of Love Baptist Church, Memphis, Tennessee.

Under the hands of the late Pastor Lawrence Odell Hudson

God rest his soul ... a man who walked me through the Word line by line before he ever let me stand in a pulpit.

I had the call of God on my life. I had been studying. I had been teaching. I had been watching God open doors.

And I was ready.

Ready for the next step. Ready for the bigger platform. Ready for ministry to expand.

And then the orders came ...

Not from God ...

From the United States Navy.

The orders said two words that rewrote the whole next chapter of my life ...

Brunswick, Maine.

Cold. Remote. Small.

No church we knew. No pulpit waiting for me.

The Maine winter was already coming.

And I am from somewhere a whole lot warmer.

And hear me, church ...

Brunswick, Maine was 0.4% Black.

Zero. Point. Four. Percent.

Let that sit with you for a second.

And let me help somebody with the math this morning ...

If zero point four percent looked like me ...

That means ninety-nine point six percent did not.

Ninety-nine point six percent.

One out of every two hundred and fifty people I passed.

That was my Brunswick.

Nobody looked like me.

Nobody at the grocery store.

Nobody at the gas station.

Nobody at the post office.

Nobody at the base that I had not already met in uniform.

And on Sunday morning when I walked into Maine Street Baptist Church ...

Nobody looked like me there either.

And if you did see somebody that looked like you ...

It was usually from the base.

Because the handful of us that made up that zero point four percent ...

Most of us were in uniform.

That was the option. That was the community. That was the one place we knew we would see each other.

But every once in a while ...

You would be out in town ...

And you would catch eyes with another Brother or Sister across the aisle at the grocery store ...

And church ... let me tell you ...

You would light up.

You did not know them. You had never seen them before. Might not ever see them again.

But you would nod. You would smile. You might even walk across the store to strike up a whole conversation ...

Because in that moment ...

Seeing somebody who looked like you was reason enough.

That was Brunswick.

That was the beginning of the assignment I did not ask for.

And somebody in this room this morning ... knows exactly what that feels like.

Somebody in this room knows what it feels like to open an envelope ... and have a whole new chapter assigned to you that you did not ask for.

The email that changed your week.

The phone call that changed your month.

The text message that changed your year.

The moment that said to you — your plan just got rewritten.

Because understand something ...

I had a plan.

My plan had me somewhere with a bigger pulpit.

My plan had me in a bigger city.

My plan had me around more people who looked like me.

My plan had me on a stage ... not in a pew.

But God had a different plan.

And sometimes God’s plan ...

Goes right through the place your plan was trying to avoid.

I did not know then ...

That I was standing in my Samaria.

I just thought we were stuck in Maine.

Now ... I wanted to honor my church covenant.

I grew up in the Church. I was raised to find a church home wherever the Lord placed me. So when we got to Brunswick, Maine, I found the closest Baptist church I could.

Maine Street Baptist Church.

I walked in the first Sunday and I introduced myself ...

Reverend Parks.

I told them about my background.

Superintendent of Sunday School at Monument of Love Baptist Church.

Prison Ministry Coordinator.

Associate Minister.

Reverend Parks.

And the congregation smiled politely ...

And then one of them walked me over and said —

“Let us introduce you to our pastor ...”

“... Dale.”

Not Pastor Dale.

Not Reverend Dale.

Just Dale.

And they called me ...

Kelvin.

Now what I thought at the time ...

Was that was hypocrisy.

Growing up in the South, we gave titles their respect.

You called the pastor Pastor.

You called the reverend Reverend.

You called the deacon Deacon.

You called the bishop Bishop.

And if you wanted to get fancy ...

You called each other Doctor — but ONLY if you had earned a doctoral degree from an accredited seminary.

Because in the South ...

Titles were earned.

And earned titles ... got used.

And here were these Mainers ... calling the pastor by his first name.

I was offended.

Looking back now ...

That was pride.

But I did not see it yet.

Now the weeks went by ...

And nobody asked me to teach Sunday school.

I had been a Superintendent of Sunday School. Nobody asked.

Nobody asked me to preach.

Nobody asked me to lead the responsive reading.

Nobody asked me to pray the morning prayer.

Nobody asked me anything.

I was riding the pine.

And I was fuming.

Every Sunday ... bitter.

Every Sunday ... complaining to my wife on the ride home.

Every Sunday ... asking God ...

Why here? Why me? Why this?

I still did not know I was in my Samaria.

Two months later ...

The deployment came.

Western Hemisphere Operations. Operating out of Jacksonville, Florida.

Away from my family.

Away from Brunswick.

But not away from my fuming.

You see ...

A geographical change does not fix a heart problem.

I took Brunswick with me to Jacksonville.

I took the bitterness with me.

I took the title offense with me.

I took the pride with me.

Then one night ...

I came home late from the base.

I walked up to my apartment door.

I put my key in the lock ...

And the Lord spoke.

Clear as anything I have ever heard in my life.

Five words.

I can not use you.

I fell prostrate on the floor.

Right there. In that doorway.

And I cried ...

All ... night ... long.

Because I knew what He said was true.

I knew that I had been called ... but I had been building my own ministry instead of His.

I knew I had been carrying the title instead of carrying the cross.

I knew I had been offended at Maine Street Baptist for not recognizing me ...

When the One who needed to recognize me ... could not use me.

I repented all night.

Prostrate. Crying. Confessing.

Asking Him to make me usable.

And the next morning ...

God’s grace showed up in my inbox.

And here is the part I have to tell you before I tell you the rest ...

Years before any of this ...

Years before Brunswick ...

Years before Jacksonville ...

The Lord had spoken to me about obedience.

He said — post everything I give you. Give it away. Let other pastors use what I give you.

And I obeyed.

I started posting sermons on a platform called SermonCentralRev. Parks’ ministry archive at C3PT Kingdom Culture Ministries — access to sermons posted on SermonCentral and ministry resources. ... where preachers around the world could read them, study them, and use them.

No money for it. No glory for it. No name recognition for it.

Just obedience.

Almost twenty-five years of it.

And I did not know ...

That the Lord was planting seeds in places I had never been“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” — Galatians 6:9 KJV ...

For a harvest I did not know was coming.

Until the morning after the floor.

The night I fell prostrate.

The night I cried until I could not cry anymore.

The night I said — Lord, make me usable.

Three messages.

One from a pastor in South Carolina.

One from a pastor in Colombia — the country — a brother dealing with guerrilla war concerns in his nation.

One from a pastor in Ghana, Africa — who had been reading my sermons on SermonCentral and wrote me to encourage me to keep the faith and keep preaching.

Three pastors.

Three continents.

Three strangers.

All on the same morning.

All from SermonCentral.

All from seeds I had planted in obedience years before — before I knew there was ever going to be a harvest.

After the night I said — Lord, make me usable again.

You see ...

God took me to my face.

And then He lifted me up.

And what He said to me in that lifting ...

I have never forgotten.

Son ... you were more attracted to titles than you were to Me.

That was the word that broke me. And that was the word that rebuilt me.

Now let me stop right there and give you a commercial break ...

In the South ...

Titles matter.

We have Reverend.

We have Deacon.

We have Doctor.

And sometimes ...

We stack them.

Reverend Deacon Doctor.

And if there was another title we could add ... we would add that too.

And some of those Doctor titles ...

Were earned.

From accredited seminaries. Years of study. Dissertations defended. Bibliographies stacked.

But some of those Doctor titles ...

Were just handed out in church basements for a donation.

And we called them Doctor anyway.

Because we liked the sound.

And then some today ...

Even style themselves ...

Apostle.

Now hear me, church ...

I do not say this to argue with anybody.

I say this to rightly divide the Word.

The biblical apostles ...

Had one qualification that set them apart.

They were eyewitnesses of the risen Christ.

Acts chapter 1 ... verses 21 and 22“Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us ... must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.” — Acts 1:21–22 KJV tells us plainly — when they needed to replace Judas ... the requirement was that the man had walked with Jesus and seen Him risen.

Paul was the one exception.

And Paul was an exception for one reason ...

He met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus.

Acts chapter 9“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven ... And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.” — Acts 9:3–6 KJV says while he was on his way to persecute Christians ... a light shone from heaven ... and the risen Christ Himself spoke to him.

Paul saw Jesus with his own eyes.

That is what qualified him as an apostle.

Now ...

As far as we know this morning ...

Christ is still seated at the right hand of the Father.

Hebrews chapter 10 ... verse 12“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.” — Hebrews 10:12 KJV says after He offered one sacrifice for sins forever ... He sat down on the right hand of God.

He has not come back yet.

And when He does come back ... we will all know it.

So for someone today ...

To call themselves apostle ...

Without ever having seen the risen Christ with their own eyes ...

Is misleading their followers.

And that ...

Was my sickness too.

Titles.

Stacking them. Demanding them. Being offended when people did not use my titles.

Until the Lord said ... I can not use you.

And that was the commercial break.

Now let me get back to my story.

I came back from Jacksonville to Maine Street Baptist Church a different man.

Not looking for a title.

Not looking for a pulpit.

Not looking for the front of the church.

Just looking for the Lord.

And when I got back ...

They had started an outreach team.

Going out on Thursday nights.

Knocking on doors.

Witnessing to the community.

I joined.

No title. No introduction. No pedigree.

Just me. Door to door. Thursday nights.

And the Lord ...

Allowed me to be part of what He was blessing.

He used me as His hands.

He used me as His feet.

He used me as His mouth.

And more souls were led to Christ through that outreach ... than ever came forward when I stood up to preach.

Now I need to be totally transparent with you this morning ...

Because if I do not tell on myself ... I cannot help somebody else.

When I had been preaching ...

I had not been preaching to the people in front of me.

I had been preaching to the preachers behind me.

The men on the platform.

The ones who sat in the pulpit chairs.

The ones who were critiquing every line.

They were not listening to the Word.

They were grading my style.

Whether or not I could whoop.

Whether or not I could get the congregation on their feet.

Whether or not I had what they had.

And I was preaching for their approval.

Not for God’s.

Not for the sinner in the third row.

Not for the widow in the back.

For the men behind me.

You see ...

The sound was the same. The heart was not.

And that is why ...

Nobody ever joined the church when I preached.

Nobody came to the altar.

Nobody was convicted.

Because the Word was not being delivered with the peace that only comes from an unadulterated gospel.

But in that outreach ...

Thursday nights ...

Door to door ...

Nobody on the platform to impress ...

Just me and a lost soul at the threshold ...

Souls started coming to Christ.

Church ... hear me.

I did not know it yet ...

But I was doing exactly what the woman at the well did.

She had no title.

She had no pedigree.

She had no credentials.

She had a broken history that the whole town knew about.

She had been hiding at the sixth hour to avoid the people who knew her story.

But when she met Jesus at the well ...

She left her water pot.

She ran back into the very town she had been hiding from.

And she opened her mouth and said ...

Come see a man.

That is it. That was her whole sermon.

No three points. No Hebrew. No Greek. No pedigree. No title.

Just — come see a man who told me everything I ever did“The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” — John 4:28–29 KJV.

Is not this the Christ?

And that is what happened to me in Brunswick.

I had left my water pot.

My water pot was my title.

My water pot was my pedigree.

My water pot was my offense — that they would dare call the pastor Dale ... and me Kelvin.

And when I left it at Jacob’s well in Jacksonville ...

I came back to Brunswick like she went back to Sychar.

No title. No pedigree. No credentials.

Just — come see a Man.

And I learned something then ...

That I hope somebody in this room learns this morning ...

You do not need a pulpit.

You do not need brick and mortar.

You do not need a title.

You do not need a microphone.

You just need to be His hands. His feet. His mouth.

And God will take care of the harvest.

It was not years later, church.

It was last week.

I was on a fast.

Praying. Seeking. Listening.

Not because I had a sermon to preach this Sunday ...

But because I needed a word for myself.

And the Lord took me ...

To John chapter 4.

The woman at the well.

Now understand something, church ...

I opened that Bible thinking this was going to be about HER.

The woman at the well.

Five husbands. Living with a sixth. Sixth hour. Alone. Hiding.

I thought I was going to study HER story ...

And bring her story to you.

But when I sat down with that text ...

The text sat down with me.

Because the Lord said — son ...

This is not just about her.

This is about you.

And if you have been following this ministry in this season ...

You know this is the second time the Lord has done this to me.

Last week He used the woman with the issue of blood.

The woman who pressed through the crowd for twelve years of bleeding ... and touched the hem of His garment.

That was last week’s word.

This week ...

He used the woman at the well.

And I have been sitting with that ...

Why these women?

Why is the Lord teaching me through the stories of broken women who met Jesus?

And I think I know why ...

There was a time when I needed wisdom ...

I could pick up the phone ...

And call my grandmother.

She would answer.

She would listen.

She would speak the Word into my life.

There was a time when I needed wisdom ...

I could pick up the phone ...

And call my mother.

She would answer.

She would listen.

She would pray with me.

But both of them are home now.

Both of them are with the Lord.

And the voices that used to guide me ... went quiet.

I cannot call my grandmother anymore.

I cannot call my mother anymore.

But God in His tenderness did not leave me without wisdom from women who loved Him.

He took me to His Word ...

And He said — son ...

Listen to these women.

Last week He had me listen to the woman with the issue of blood.

She taught me about pressing through a crowd that kept pushing me back.

This week He has me listening to the woman at the well.

She is teaching me about an appointment I was never supposed to miss.

The voices I lost in my family ...

God is restoring through His Word.

And what He said to me through both of them ...

Is what I came to tell somebody this morning.

John chapter 4 ... verse 4.

And this time ...

It hit different.

Because I realized ...

Jesus must needs go through Samaria.

Not because He wanted to.

Not because it was the shortest way.

He HAD to.

It was a divine assignment from the Father.

You see ... most Jews of His day went miles out of the way to avoid Samaria. They crossed the Jordan. They traveled on the east side. They came back across.

Anything to avoid Samaria.

But the text says Jesus MUST NEEDS GO through.

Not wanted to.

Not chose to.

Must needs go.

Because heaven had scheduled an appointment ...

With a woman at a well ...

Who did not even know He was coming.

You see ...

That was my Brunswick.

That was the assignment I had spent months complaining about.

And that was the harvest I would have missed ... if I had tried to go around.

Now hear me, church ...

I am not the only one with a Samaria.

You have one too.

Your Samaria might be a job you did not want.

Your Samaria might be a city you never would have chosen.

Your Samaria might be a lateral move that felt like a step backward.

Your Samaria might be a pew when you thought you should have been in the pulpit.

Your Samaria might be a relationship that took you somewhere you did not want to be ... and then left you there.

Your Samaria might be a termination. A layoff. A door that closed before you were ready.

Your Samaria might be the place you are sitting right now.

And you have been going around it for months. Maybe years.

You have been crossing the Jordan to keep from facing it.

You have been taking the long way ... burning up time ... burning up energy ... burning up miles ...

Anything to avoid Samaria.

But I came to tell somebody this morning ...

God is saying you must needs go through.

Not around.

Not past.

Not over.

Through.

Because somebody is waiting at a well ...

And they need what you carry.

So open your Bible with me ...

Turn with me to where the Lord took me ...

The Gospel of John ...

Chapter 4.

And I will not keep you long this morning ...

I only have four points for you.

Point 1 — He Must Needs Go — Divine Necessity.

Point 2 — The Woman Who Came at Noon.

Point 3 — Living Water.

Point 4 — She Left Her Water Jar.

Walk with me to Point 1.

Watch this ...

John chapter 4 ... verse 4.

In the Greek ... that phrase is DEIδεῖDAYGreek — Strong's G1163It is necessary. It must be. Divine compulsion. Every time this word appears in Scripture, God is behind it.▶ Hear It. It must be. Divine compulsion. Not preference. Not convenience.

Every time DEIδεῖDAYGreekIt is necessary. Divine compulsion. Every time this word appears in Scripture, God is behind it. appears in the New Testament ... God is behind it.

Jewish travelers avoided Samaria entirely. They crossed the Jordan, traveled through Perea on the east side, crossed back. Add miles. Add days. Anything to avoid Samaria. Because John 4:9“For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” — John 4:9 tells us plainly — Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

And Jesus said — I must needs go through. ^{John 4:4“And he must needs go through Samaria.” — John 4:4 KJV} Not around. Not past. Through.

Man plans. God establishes. Your plan had you going around Samaria. God’s plan had you going through it.

Brunswick, Maine was not in my plan. None of us chose our Samaria.

But God established those steps.

And the same God who sent Jesus through Samaria ... sent you through yours.

But hear me, church ...

Samaria was not the only road God said MUST to.

Jesus carried MUST NEEDS GO THROUGH — that Greek word DEIδεῖDAYGreekIt is necessary. Divine compulsion. Every time this word appears in Scripture, God is behind it. — all the way to the cross.

Walk with me to Gethsemane.

Jesus fell on His face in that garden ...

And He prayed ...

O my Father ... if it be possible ... let this cup pass from me.

Even Jesus ...

In His humanity ...

Asked the Father for another way.

If it be possible ... let this cup pass.

And the Father said back to His beloved Son ...

The Son with whom He was well pleased“And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” — Matthew 3:17 KJV ...

No, my beloved Son.

You must needs go.

DEIδεῖDAYGreekIt is necessary. Divine compulsion. Every time this word appears in Scripture, God is behind it..

It must be.

It is a divine compulsion.

This is not a preference, my beloved Son.

Not convenience ...

You must needs go through.

Do you see what I am telling you, church?

The same word DEIδεῖDAYGreekIt is necessary. Divine compulsion. Every time this word appears in Scripture, God is behind it. that sent Jesus through Samaria to reach one woman ...

Is the same word DEIδεῖDAYGreekIt is necessary. Divine compulsion. Every time this word appears in Scripture, God is behind it. that sent Him to the cross ... to reach you and me.

He did not go around.

He went through.

I came to tell somebody this morning ...

The road you are on ...

Did not sneak up on God.

The season that caught you off guard ...

Did not catch Him off guard.

The God who said MUST at Samaria ...

Said MUST at Gethsemane.

Said MUST at the cross.

Said MUST at the tomb.

And said MUST over you this morning.

And when HE says MUST ...

Heaven ...

Is moving something.

When HE says MUST ...

Heaven ...

Is arranging something.

When HE says MUST ...

Heaven ...

Is about to meet somebody at a well.

And that somebody ...

That somebody ...

That somebody is YOU.

Now that is Point 1 ...

Walk with me to Point 2.

Walk with me to verse 6.

The sixth hour.

Noon. The hottest part of the day.

Now you need to understand something about that well.

In that culture ... women came to the well together. At dawn. In groups. To talk. To laugh. To carry water home before the heat of the day.

But this woman came alone. At noon. In the heat.

Why?

Because she did not want to be around the women who came at dawn.

She was hiding.

Jesus tells us why.

She had five husbands. ^{John 4:17–18“The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.” — John 4:17–18 KJV}

And the man she was with now ... was not her husband.

This was a woman with a story.

A reputation.

A past that walked into the room before she did.

A history that the town talked about in rooms she was not in.

So she came at noon.

Alone.

Because the well was supposed to be community ...

And she had been pushed to the edges of her community.

The one place that was supposed to bring women together ...

Was the one place she had to come alone.

Now ... that is the woman at the well.

Let me tell you about another one.

Now ... let me take you back.

Back to Brunswick, Maine ...

Zero point four percent Black.

Where nobody looked like me.

And let me introduce you to a modern-day woman at the well.

You see ...

There was a young sister on base with me.

A female sailor. E-6.

The only female aircraft mechanic on that base.

Sharp. Gifted. Trained.

She had earned her way onto the flight line. She had put in the hours. She had passed every qualification. She was good at what she did.

Hear me, church ...

There were Black men on that flight line. Nobody pulled them.

There were white men on that flight line. Nobody pulled them.

There were junior sailors in the tool room — young men with half her training, half her rank, half her hours.

Because that is what the tool room was FOR.

Junior sailors. Not E-6 mechanics.

But the old boys ...

The ones who ran that hangar ...

They did not want a woman on their planes.

So they pulled her.

They took the junior sailors OUT of the tool room ... put THEM on the aircraft ...

And they put HER in the tool room the junior sailors had just left.

Let that sit with you.

They demoted her without demoting her.

They sidelined her without firing her.

They buried her in a room full of wrenches ... while her plane went up without her.

And they stuck her in a tool room meant for someone half her experience.

A military tool room is not a promotion.

It is a small room. Walls of wrenches. Rows of gauges. Sign-out logs. Checklists. Fluorescent lights.

For somebody trained to turn wrenches on airplanes ... it is not where you want to be.

It is a holding cell with a sign-out sheet.

And every day she came out of that tool room complaining.

Bitter. Angry. Hurt.

Asking God the same three questions I had been asking ...

Why here? Why me? Why this?

And one day ...

My sister came and found me.

Walked up to me ... looked me in the eye ... and said four words.

KP. Come to the tool room.

That was it.

No explanation.

No small talk.

KP. Come to the tool room.

I went.

I walked across that base.

I walked through that hangar.

I opened the door of that tool room ...

And I found my sister sitting there.

Next to a young sailor.

And that young sailor was crying.

Uncontrollably.

I walked over. I looked at her.

I asked her what was wrong.

And through the tears ... she said ...

I do not think I am going to heaven.

Church ...

The Samaritan woman came to her well to hide from the town ... and met Jesus instead.

This young sailor had been brought to her well by my sister ... and was about to meet Jesus too.

Same divine appointment. Two thousand years apart. Same God working.

Right there in that tool room ...

I witnessed to her.

I opened the Scriptures with her.

I led her to the sinner’s prayer.

Right there in that tool room ... she was born again.

Now hear me, church ...

Because this is where the story turns.

The moment that young sailor got up off that floor ...

She left her water jar behind.

She walked out of that tool room ...

She went back to her squadron ...

And she started telling sailors about what had just happened to her.

She did not have a seminary degree.

She did not have a license.

She did not have a pulpit.

She just had a testimony.

And her testimony was the same thing the woman at the well said two thousand years ago ...

Come learn about a Man called Jesus.

A Man who told me all things that I ever did.

Is not this the Christ?

And because of her testimony ...

Other sailors started coming to that tool room.

Some came for prayer.

Some came for comfort.

Some came for salvation.

And my sister and I ...

We prayed with every one of them.

I offered the sinner’s prayer ...

And my sister was right there with me — praying, laying hands, witnessing to sailors she worked with every day.

Then another sailor walked by the open door ...

Saw us praying ...

Snickered ...

And walked away.

A week later ...

That same sailor came back.

Asking questions.

We led him to Christ too.

Then another one came.

And another one.

Five. Six. More. Souls. Saved. In a tool room.

Now hear me, church ...

Because this is exactly what happened in John chapter 4.

The text says some of those Samaritans believed because of the woman’s testimony ...

But then the text says ...

Some believed because she told them.

Others believed because they came to the well themselves.

And when they had come ...

They said back to her —

Church ...

That is exactly what happened in that tool room.

Some sailors believed because my sister told them.

Some sailors came and encountered the Lord for themselves ...

Right there at that well.

And that is how the gospel still moves today.

Some will be saved because YOU tell them.

Some will be saved because they find themselves at the well.

Both are the harvest God promised.

They were not coming to see ME.

They were not coming to see my sister.

They were coming to the tool room ...

Because the tool room had become Jacob’s well.

And at that well ... the Lord was meeting sailors.

They put my sister there to sideline her.

But God sent her there for a harvest.

Two women.

Two Samarias.

Two wells.

One was in Sychar ... coming at the sixth hour to hide from the crowd that had rejected her.

The other was in Brunswick ... reporting to a tool room at zero seven hundred because the old boys had decided she was not welcome on the flight line.

Same God.

Same Samaria.

Same setup.

Same harvest.

I came to tell somebody this morning ...

The same God who said MUST at Samaria ...

That same God said MUST over a tool room in Brunswick, Maine.

And when HE says MUST ...

Somebody is getting saved.

When HE says MUST ...

Somebody is leaving their water jar behind.

When HE says MUST ...

Somebody is running back to their city ...

Saying — come learn about a Man called Jesus.

Church ...

Do not tell me God cannot meet you at your well.

Do not tell me He cannot find you at your tool room.

Do not tell me He cannot reach you at the sixth hour of a hiding place you did not want to be in.

Because HE MUST.

He must needs go through YOUR Samaria.

But church ...

Here is what I need you to understand ...

That woman met Jesus at the well ...

But the well did not satisfy her thirst.

She had been drawing from that well for years ...

Five husbands deep ...

Still thirsty.

The well brought her to Jesus ...

But the well was never going to fill her.

She needed something the well could not give her.

She needed something deeper than water.

She needed Living Water.

Now that is Point 2 ...

Walk with me to Point 3.

Now before we go any further ...

Let me make sure nobody got lost on the way here.

In Point 1 ...

We learned that God was the one who said MUST NEEDS GO THROUGH.

Jesus did not choose Samaria.

The Father sent Him there.

Divine. Compulsion. DEI.

In Point 2 ...

We saw that God meets us at our well.

Even when the well is a place we did not want to be.

Her well was Sychar at the sixth hour.

My sister’s well was a tool room at zero seven hundred.

And God showed up at both.

Now in Point 3 ...

We are going to discover something.

That meeting Jesus at the well ...

Was not the end of her story.

It was the beginning.

Because she still had a thirst ...

That even Jesus sitting right next to her had not yet quenched.

And the thirst she was carrying ...

Is the same thirst somebody is carrying in this room this morning.

So walk with me to verse 10.

If you knew who I am.

She did not know who was sitting at that well. She saw a Jewish man. She did not yet know she was standing in front of the Son of God.

And Jesus said — if you knew who I was ... you would have asked ME. ^{John 4:10“Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” — John 4:10 KJV}

You would not have been drawing from this well. You would have been asking me for living water.

Now hear me, church ...

In the Greek ... the ordinary word for water is ἕδωρ (HOO-dor)ἕδωρHOO-dorGreek — John 4Ordinary water. The common, everyday word for the stuff you drink and draw from a well. Simple. Material. Temporary.▶ Hear It.

Common water. Everyday water.

The water you draw from the well. The water you drink. The water that runs out.

But when Jesus said living water ...

He did not just mean water that was drinkable.

In the Greek ... the phrase is ἕνας ζῶν (HOO-dor ZONE)ἕνας ζῶνHOO-dor ZONEGreek — John 4:10Literally: water that is alive. Not just drinkable water. Water that moves, breathes, and carries the life of the Spirit. A living source, not a stored supply.▶ Hear It.

Literally ... water that is alive.

Not liquid.

Not wet.

Alive.

Water that is itself living.

Water that moves.

Water that breathes.

Water that carries the life of the Spirit inside it.

And church ...

Jesus did not invent this phrase at the well.

That woman — if she knew her Scriptures — should have recognized what He was saying.

Because hundreds of years before He ever sat at that well ...

God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah and said ...

In the Hebrew ... מַיִם חַיּים (MAH-yeem KHAH-yeem)מַיִם חַיּיםMAH-yeem KHAH-yeemHebrew — Jeremiah 2:13Living waters. The exact phrase Jesus used in Greek is a direct echo of this Hebrew phrase God used through the prophets. Same water. Same Source. Both Testaments point to Him.▶ Hear It.

Living waters.

The exact same phrase Jesus would use at the well hundreds of years later.

God said through Jeremiah ...

I AM the fountain of living waters. ^{Jeremiah 2:13“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” — Jeremiah 2:13 KJV}

But you went and dug your own holes in the ground.

Holes that leak.

Holes that cannot hold.

Broken cisterns.

Now let me teach somebody this morning ...

The difference between a cistern and a spring.

A cistern is a hole in the ground.

You dig it. You fill it. You wait for rain.

It only has what YOU put in it.

And if the walls crack ... it loses even that.

But a spring ...

A spring is fed from an underground source.

A spring bubbles up by itself.

A spring does not need you to fill it.

A spring has something coming up from somewhere deeper.

That woman at the well had been drawing from a cistern her whole life.

The cistern of relationships.

The cistern of approval.

The cistern of men who might love her if she gave them enough.

Broken cisterns. All of them.

And Jesus sat down at Jacob’s well and said ...

I am not another cistern.

I am the spring.

That is the cycle she had been living.

Five relationships. Come back to the well. Still thirsty. One more. Still thirsty.

The water she had been drawing from had never satisfied the real thirst.

Because the real thirst was not for water.

The real thirst was for someone to know her completely ... and stay anyway.

I had been drawing from the wrong wells too.

The well of titles.

The well of position.

The well of being recognized.

Broken cisterns. All of them.

And prostrate on a floor in Jacksonville, Florida ...

I finally stopped drawing from my broken cisterns and asked for the spring.

Jesus said — the water I give becomes a spring INSIDE of you. ^{John 4:14“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” — John 4:14 KJV}

Not a cup.

Not a cistern you have to keep refilling.

A spring.

Something that wells up from the inside and never runs dry.

She asked for it.

And everything changed.

You see ...

The world has been selling thirst quenchers for a long time.

A long time.

Gatorade ... says it will replace what you lost.

Powerade ... says it will push you further.

Kool-Aid ... says it will make you smile.

And the next one on the shelf ... says it will do the other thing.

But here is what nobody on Madison Avenue wants you to know ...

That is marketing.

They are not selling you satisfaction.

They are selling you a bottle.

They are selling you a billboard.

They are selling you a jingle that gets stuck in your head.

And they are selling you the illusion that this time ... this drink ... will finally quench what is thirsty in you.

But Jesus said it plain in verse 13 ...

Whoever drinks of this water ... shall thirst again. ^{John 4:13“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.” — John 4:13 KJV}

The world’s water.

The world’s promises.

The world’s products.

The world’s broken cisterns.

You will thirst again.

I came to tell somebody this morning ...

The same God who said MUST at Samaria ...

The same God who said MUST at Gethsemane ...

The same God who said MUST at the cross ...

The same God said to Jeremiah — I am the fountain of living waters. ^{Jeremiah 2:13“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” — Jeremiah 2:13 KJV}

And when HE says MUST ...

Somebody is going to stop drinking from broken cisterns.

When HE says MUST ...

Somebody is going to put down the Kool-Aid.

When HE says MUST ...

Somebody is going to ask for the spring ...

And find it welling up from the inside.

Church ...

Stop going back to the cistern.

Stop dipping the empty bucket.

Stop walking the long way to the same dry well.

There is water that does not run out.

There is a spring that comes up from the inside.

There is a Man at the well who is Himself the water.

Jesus the Living Water.

Jesus the Spring.

Jesus the Fountain of living waters Jeremiah saw from a thousand miles away. ^{Jeremiah 2:13“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” — Jeremiah 2:13 KJV}

Jesus the one who said ... whoever drinks of Me ... will never thirst again. ^{John 6:35“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” — John 6:35 KJV}

But church ...

Here is where we are going next ...

Once she tasted that spring ...

Once she knew the water was alive ...

Once she realized the Man at the well was the Water itself ...

She did something that should stop every one of us in our tracks.

She left her jar.

Now that is Point 3 ...

Walk with me to Point 4.

My last and final point this morning ...

Walk with me to verse 28.

She left her waterpot.

Now hear me, church ...

This is not just some jar she forgot.

This is not a woman being careless.

In the Greek ... the word is ὑδρία (hoo-DREE-ah)ὑδρίαhoo-DREE-ahGreek — John 4:28A large earthen water jar, typically carried on the shoulder or head. More than a vessel — it was the defining tool of daily life for women at the well. To leave it was to leave the version of yourself you had been carrying.▶ Hear It.

A large earthen water jar.

Heavy. Carried on the shoulder or on the head.

But church ... this was not just a jar.

This was her daily identity.

This was the tool she carried every day.

This was how people at the well knew her.

She was the woman with the jar.

Everybody at that well had a jar.

Every woman was identified by what jar she carried.

The jar was her routine.

The jar was her purpose for being at that well.

The jar was her cover story.

And when this woman dropped hers ...

She was not just leaving a vessel.

She was leaving the version of herself she had been carrying.

She came to that well for one reason.

Water.

She made the hot walk. She carried that jar all the way from town. She planned to fill it and go home.

And she left it at the well.

Because something happened in that conversation that was more important than what she came for.

He told her everything she ever did.

Five husbands.

The man she was with now.

All of it. Out loud. At a well. In the noon hour.

He knew.

And He did not leave.

He did not recoil.

He did not condemn.

He did not look at her with the eyes she had been avoiding in town.

He knew ... and He stayed.

And He offered her living water anyway.

When you encounter someone who knows your whole story ... and still stays ...

You forget what you came for.

She forgot the jar.

She forgot the shame that drove her to the noon hour.

She went back into the town she had been hiding from.

And she started talking.

Come, see a Man.

Now church ... let me show you something.

This verse right here ...

Is why Jesus must needs go through Samaria.

Not just to meet a woman at a well.

But so THIS woman would leave THIS jar ...

And go tell THAT city.

The whole reason Jesus MUST NEEDS GO THROUGH Samaria ...

The whole reason He had to go through ...

Was this moment right here.

The jar on the ground.

The woman running to town.

The testimony going out.

The woman who came at noon to avoid people ...

Became the first evangelist to Samaria.

I left my titles on the floor in Jacksonville.

I went back to Brunswick a different man.

And God used me in a tool room.

So I have to ask somebody this morning ...

What is your water jar?

The title.

The wound.

The termination.

The bitterness.

The anger about the city you never wanted.

The resume you keep introducing yourself with.

Leave it at the well.

Jesus already knows everything you ever did.

And He is still here.

I came to tell somebody this morning ...

The same God who said MUST at Samaria ...

The same God who said MUST at Gethsemane ...

The same God who said MUST at the cross ...

The same God who said MUST at the tomb ...

The same God is saying MUST over your water jar this morning.

And when HE says MUST ...

Somebody is leaving a jar at the well.

When HE says MUST ...

Somebody is running back to the city they were hiding from.

When HE says MUST ...

Somebody is opening their mouth with a testimony they never thought they would tell.

Church ...

Leave the jar.

Leave the title you were holding onto.

Leave the story you were trying to protect.

Leave the reputation you were trying to manage.

Leave the hurt you kept rehearsing.

And pick up a testimony.

Run back into the town you were hiding from.

Run back to the people who knew the old you.

And open your mouth and say ...

Because church ... that is what happened to me.

He knew about the titles I had been chasing.

He knew about the pride I was hiding in a seminary degree.

He knew about the offense I had been carrying at a pastor they called Dale.

He knew all things I ever did.

And hear me, church ... this was not —

Not “God loved me because He did not know what I did.”

Not “God loved me because He hoped I would change.”

Not “God loved me UNTIL He found out.”

He knew ...

And He still loved me.

He loved me prostrate on the floor in Jacksonville.

He loved me walking out of that tool room.

He loved me when no one else was going to use me.

All things I ever did ... and He still loved me.

So church ...

Come ... see a Man.

Come ... see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.

Come ... see a Man who knew my whole story and loved me anyway.

Is not this the Christ?

Now that is Point 4 ...

Walk with me to the close.

He must needs go through Samaria.

And so do you.

There is a Samaria in your life you have been going around. A hard place. A season that looked like a dead end. A termination that felt like rejection. A lateral move that felt like a demotion. A cold city. A tool room. A pew when you thought you should be in a pulpit.

But God was not done with you in Samaria. He sent you there.

And on the other side of your Samaria ... there is somebody sitting at a well who needs what you carry.

Your Samaria is not your punishment.

Your Samaria is your assignment.

And Jesus did not stay at Jacob’s well past the appointed time. He fulfilled His assignment and moved on. He did not stay out of guilt. He did not overstay out of fear. He went through. He did what God sent Him to do. And He moved.

Some of us need permission this morning.

Permission to leave our Samaria.

Permission to stop drawing from the well that has never satisfied.

Because church ... I did not come to preach to just one kind of Samaria.

I did not come to preach to just one kind of hurt.

I came to preach to a congregation of people who are hurting.

Somebody in this room is hurting over a marriage.

Somebody in this room is hurting over a child who walked away.

Somebody in this room is hurting over a parent you lost and you have not been the same since.

Somebody in this room is hurting over a diagnosis you got this week that you have not told anybody yet.

Somebody in this room is hurting over a secret you have been carrying so long ...

You forgot what it felt like to put it down.

Somebody in this room is hurting over a church that was supposed to be your refuge ...

And hurt you worse than the world ever did.

Pastors who misused you.

Deacons who talked about you.

Church mothers who gossiped instead of prayed.

Brothers and sisters who abandoned you when you needed them most.

The people of God did the damage.

Somebody in this room is hurting over prayers you have prayed for years ...

And heaven seemed silent.

Somebody in this room is hurting over the bottle.

The pill.

The screen you keep opening when nobody is looking.

The thing you promised God last year you would leave ...

And you are still holding onto.

Church ...

Every one of those is a Samaria.

Every one of those is a well that has never satisfied.

Every one of those is a sixth hour you came to alone because you did not want to be around the crowd.

And hear me this morning ...

The same God who met a woman at a well in Samaria two thousand years ago ...

Is sitting at YOUR well this morning.

He knows why you are there.

He knows what you have been drawing from.

He knows the hour you came.

And He has been waiting on you.

So hear me somebody ...

You have permission.

Permission to leave that Samaria.

Permission to put down that water pot.

Permission to stop drawing from a well that was never going to fill you.

Permission to meet Jesus where you are.

God already has the next well mapped out.

A particular place. A particular time. For a particular person.

And that particular person ... might be waiting for you ... in the next Samaria.

Psalm 23:4“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” — Psalm 23:4 says — even though I walk THROUGH the valley ... I will fear no evil.

Through. Not around. Not past. Through.

And He is with you in the through.

He must needs go through Samaria.

And when He got there ...

He sat down at a well. Tired from the journey. But He sat down at HER well.

A woman came alone ... in the heat of the day ... carrying a jar ... and all the weight of a life that had not gone the way she planned.

And He did not leave when He found out who she was.

He said — if you knew who I was ... you would have asked me.

Ask Him.

Ask Him for the living water.

Ask Him for what five jobs could not give you.

Ask Him for what five cities could not give you.

Ask Him for what five titles could not give you.

Ask Him for what every well you have drawn from left you still thirsty.

Ask Him.

He is JEHOVAH JIREHיהוה יראהyeh-HO-vah yir-EHHebrew — Genesis 22:14The LORD will provide. He sees the need before you name it.▶ Hear It — the God who provides before you arrive.

He is JEHOVAH RAPHAיהוה רפאyeh-HO-vah raf-AHHebrew — Exodus 15:26The LORD who heals. Not who managed the symptoms. The LORD who heals.▶ Hear It — the God who heals what sent you to Samaria.

He is JEHOVAH SHAMMAHיהוה שמהyeh-HO-vah SHAM-mahHebrew — Ezekiel 48:35The LORD is there. At the tool room. At the well. At the noon hour. At the place you thought He could not find you.▶ Hear It — the God who is already there when you walk in.

He was at the tool room before she walked in.

He was in Brunswick, Maine before I got there.

He was at Jacob’s well before she left the house.

He must needs go through Samaria.

And so do you.

Go through your Samaria.

Leave your water jar.

And go tell somebody —

Come see a man who told me everything I ever did.

Come see a man who knew my whole story and did not walk away.

Come see a man who meant it for good when everyone around me meant it for bad.

Come see a man ...

Who walked off the road He was on ...

To come down the road I was on.

Come see a man ...

Who was tired from the journey ...

But not too tired to wait on me.

Come see a man ...

Who did not ask for my resume.

Did not ask for my pedigree.

Did not ask who my people were.

He just called me by name.

And everything I had been running from ...

Turned around and ran toward Him.

Come see a man ...

Who MUST NEEDS GO THROUGH Samaria.

Who said MUST at Gethsemane ... when He fell on His face and said let this cup pass.

Who said MUST at the mock trial ... when false witnesses came against Him.

Who said MUST at the scourging ... when the stripes fell on His back. ^{Isaiah 53:5“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:5 KJV}

Who said MUST at the crown of thorns.

Who said MUST at the nails.

Who MUST NEEDS GO THROUGH the cross ... where He hung for you and me.

Who MUST NEEDS GO THROUGH the tomb ... but the tomb could not hold Him.

He did not go around.

He went through.

Through the garden.

Through the mock trial.

Through the scourging.

Through the cross.

Through the tomb.

And on the third day ...

He got up with ALL POWER in His hand.

And who said MUST when He saw me stuck in my Samaria ...

And came and sat at my well.

He is the Alpha and the Omega.

The Beginning and the End.

The First and the Last.

The Way. The Truth. The Life.

He is the Bright and Morning Star.

The Lily of the Valley.

The Rose of Sharon.

The Bread of Life.

He is the Living Water at every well in every Samaria.

So leave your jar.

Leave your noon hour.

Leave your shame.

Leave your silence.

And go tell somebody —

Come see a man who told me everything I ever did.

Come see a man.

His name is Jesus.

Amen.

Every head bowed ... every eye closed ...

Before I give the invitation ... I want you to sit in this moment.

We have been talking this morning about a man who must needs go through Samaria.

About a woman who came to a well at noon ... and left changed.

About a God who schedules divine appointments in places we would rather not go.

And the Lord is saying to somebody right now ...

I came all this way for you.

If you are in this place today and you have never given your life to Jesus Christ ...

The Bible says in Romans 10:9“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” — Romans 10:9 KJV ...

If that is you ... pray with me right where you are ...

Lord Jesus ... I confess that I am a sinner.
I believe You died for me ... and that God raised You from the dead.
I ask You to come into my heart ... forgive me ... and be Lord of my life.
From this day forward ... I am Yours.
In Jesus’ name ... Amen.

If you prayed that prayer ... the Bible says you have passed from death unto life.

Welcome to the family of God.

Come see us after service. We want to pray with you. We want to walk with you. We want to help you find a church home where the Word of God is preached and Jesus Christ is lifted up.

And if you are reading this sermon online ...

Or listening to the audio this morning ...

I want to pray with you.

Text me about your decision.

Kelvin

(479) 339-9381

I will pray for you by name.

I will rejoice with you over the decision.

And I will walk with you into what comes next.

Before you go this morning ... I want you to leave with three things.

First — go home and read John 4 again“And he must needs go through Samaria.” — John 4:4 KJV. Slowly. Walk the road with Jesus. Ask the Lord to show you what your Samaria is. Not somebody else’s. Yours.

Second — read Psalm 23“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” — Psalm 23:4 KJV out loud. Because the valley you have been going around ... you were always meant to walk through. And He is with you in it.

Third — if there is a Samaria in your life you have been avoiding for months ... maybe years ... pray about it this week. Not a long prayer. Just a turn of your heart. Just an honest ... Lord ... help me stop going around.

The same Jesus who must needs go through Samaria ... is on your road right now.

A particular place.

A particular time.

For a particular person.

That particular person is you.

Will the congregation please stand to your feet for the benediction.

Now unto Him that is able to keep us from falling“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” — Jude 24–25 KJV ...

And to present us faultless before the presence of His glory ...

With exceeding joy ...

To the only wise God our Saviour ...

Be glory and majesty ...

Dominion and power ...

Both now and ever ...

Amen.