As part of our sermon series, Formed: Who’s Shaping Your Life?, we are providing a weekly Small Group & Spiritual Reflection Companion to help us become more aware of what is shaping us and more intentional about placing our lives in the hands of Christ.

Download the complete Formed: A Study Companion for Small Group & Personal Reflection here. Enjoy this week’s guide below:

Opening Reflection

Most of us want to be known, but not exposed; welcomed, but not examined. At Jacob’s well, Jesus crosses boundaries of ethnicity, gender, religious history, and social expectation to speak with a Samaritan woman. He neither reduces her to her past nor avoids the truth of her life.

The text does not tell us why the woman had five husbands, and Jesus offers no condemnation. Instead, he treats her as a serious theological conversation partner. Psalm 139 reminds us that God’s knowledge is intimate and creative, not merely investigative. In God’s presence, being fully known becomes an invitation to dignity, grace, and new life.

Scripture Focus

John 4:7–26, 28–29

Discussion Questions

What boundaries does Jesus cross by beginning this conversation?

How does the woman’s understanding of Jesus develop?

What assumptions about the woman are often added to the story but not stated in the text?

How does Jesus hold truth and dignity together?

Why does the conversation move from personal history to worship?

What do you make of the woman leaving her water jar and speaking to the city?

Where might Christ be inviting you to move from hiding toward truthful freedom?

Formation Invitation

Set aside ten quiet minutes and pray Psalm 139:1–5 slowly. Name one part of your life you tend to conceal from God, yourself, or trusted community. Place it before Christ without explaining it away. End by repeating: “I am fully known, and grace still meets me here.”

For Further Reflection

Read John 4:1–42. Notice how the woman’s invitation, “Come and see,” grows from an encounter in which she is both known and received.

Closing Prayer

God who searches and knows us, free us from hiding. Meet us with truth that heals and grace that restores. Teach us to see others as whole persons, never reducing them to a history, label, or wound. Let the living water of Christ rise within us and overflow in witness. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Dedric Cowser, Preaching