God Chose You – Made New
GOD CHOSE YOU – A Divine Encounter at the well
Chad Robinson | Together Church Sermon |
April 13, 2025 | Series: MADE NEW
PRE-MESSAGE – Thank you Pastor Brandon for the opportunity to speak.
Brandon discipled me in a very vulnerable space, and I am extremely grateful.
Let’s give it up for your pastors, Brandon and Rachael Werner, spiritually leading this church.
I just want to say, I am blessed and highly favored because The Lord sent the most amazing woman, Dennah.
Thank you for being my support! I’m glad I got you.
OPENING PRAYER
Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to come into this place freely and worship you. I pray that you will center our hearts on you. God, give us an ear to hear what you have to say, and I pray you will speak to each of us Individually. We don’t want to walk away saying ‘that guest speaker did a good job.” We want to walk away saying, “the Holy Spirit spoke to me.” Holy Spirit, fill this room with your presence and in our hearts. In Jesus’ Name, and everyone said….Amen!
INTRODUCTION
Excitement
I am so exited for what God gave me to preach specifically for you this morning, and I truly believe God will do speak to your hearts through this message.
I have Public Service Announcement. This is for both those that have been saved for a long time…And for those who just don’t know this yet. I’m about to say this and it’s true for both groups of people…
This entire message is about one thing, and if you don’t get anything else I say, I pray you get this:
God sees where you are, He knows everything about you…God doesn’t run from your story… He steps into it…. Because God CHOSE you!
GOD CHOSE YOU.
It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, he wants to take your story and turn it into a testimony!
Yall excited to get into the word?!? Let’s dive in.
This story of the Woman at the Well is one of my favorite stories in the New Testament.
This is a powerful moment where the God of Creation meets someone who feels like an outcast,
someone with a past,
someone with insecurities.
Her insecurities were louder than her worth.
Let me ask you:
Have you ever felt alone?
Rejected?
Like your past is too messy to be forgiven?
Like your insecurities were louder than your worth?
That was me. Even as a kid… my insecurities were louder than my worth.
Actually, I brought a photo with me.
(Picture of me as a kid)
I want you to pay attention to the belt around my waist.
When I put on that belt as a kid, I felt like one of those Superstars.
All my insecurities went away, and I didn’t have to prove myself, because I made it.
But inside, I was already struggling with insecurity.
Little did I know, I would fight insecurities into my teenage and twenties.
My insecurities were louder than my worth.
This is similar to the woman at the well. Her past was louder than her worth.
She did not know the God of creation set an appointment to go meet with her.
BIG IDEA
Before we get into the story this morning, lets get a little context on the book of John.
The story of the Samaritan woman at the well is only recorded in the book of John.
What I love about the book of John is the dialogue.
Matthew, Mark and Luke are the Synoptic Gospels. They tell similar stories.
The synoptic gospels – Syn like Synonym, Optic like Eye, they see with the same perspective.
John over here, the creative of the bunch doing his own thing.
In all four gospels, we see Jesus talking to crowds of people in various scenarios.
But I love that John tends to take a deeper dive into the conversations with individuals. John likes to highlight those individuals that Jesus seeks out and has a moment with.
The book of John has things like dedicating almost a whole chapter to a man named Nicodemus.
Which is where we get John 3:16. If you know it say it with me…
When you get to John, Jesus is going to get to the pool of Bethesda, there’s going to be hundreds of people, but Jesus pulls up next to one man and asks him do you want to be healed.
John shows that Jesus doesn’t just see the crowd, but he sees the individual person.
Can I tell you something?! Even though we’re in a crowd of a group of people, God sees YOU. The individual. GOD CHOSE YOU!
But let me tell you, it’s not because of your accomplishments or status that you have a relationship with God.
God says, this is my undeserved unmerited favor, and I’m going to spend time with YOU
because Love longs to communicate!
So we’re going to camp out here with Jesus and the woman at the well.
John 4:1-4
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judeaand went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria.
I love that it says Jesus HAD to go through Samaria.
Now geographically… Jesus didn’t HAVE to go through Samaria.
This is like saying to get from Norman to Edmond, you had to go through Midwest City.
You don’t have to, because there’s already a highway that doesn’t go through Midwest City.
Jews usually avoided that area because of racial & Ethnical tension…
They’d take the long way around just to avoid interacting with Samaritans.
But verse 4 says, “He had to go THROUGH Samaria.”
That wasn’t geography… That was divine strategy.
He had a divine appointment with this woman…
God Will Go Out of His Way to Meet YOU…. Because GOD CHOSE YOU!
Some of you are here in church because God orchestrated it….
That Message you heard
That Friend that spoke to you
That Song that brought you to tears
That Invite that got you back in church
it wasn’t coincidence….
It was Jesus Pursuing you with Purpose….
POINT 1:
JESUS PURSUES WITH PURPOSE
This is just who God is.
Luke 19:10
“The Son of Man came to SEEK and save the lost.”
He’s not waiting on you to find Him…. He’s Looking for YOU!!!
– You ever been ready to head out the door, and you misplaced your keys?
You’ll flip the couch over for those things…
That’s how Jesus seeks us…. Not casually but relentlessly….
Jesus didn’t HAVE to come visit me, but his love COMPELLED him to come visit me!
God will go through Samaria to get to YOU, because GOD CHOES YOU!
John 4:5-6
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.
POINT 2:
JESUS UNDERSTANDS YOUR STRUGGLE
Jesus, fully God…. but also fully human…. is tired and thirsty…
This is the same Jesus that John wrote about in the beginning of his book, showing the divinity of Jesus.
John 1:1-5
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was Life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Jesus IS the word. He IS the Life and he IS the Light.
That’s the same Jesus that’s also sitting at a well…. exhausted and thirsty.
Hebrews 4:15
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
– (Go Slowly here)
He gets it…. He understands you….
Sometimes in life…Things get HARD. And sometimes it feels like it would be better to give up.
When you feel tired, and exhausted, not sure if you’re able to move on. Be encouraged, because you are NOT ALONE.
And maybe, when you are at your weakest, God is able to do some of his best work.
Jesus understands your struggle.
And then the woman shows up at noon…. That’s not normal….
Women drew water in the morning or evening when it was cooler.
But she came in the heat of the day… because she was trying to avoid people.
And let me tell you, at around noon time, it is HOT.
I don’t know what its like to carry a bucket of water in Samaritan heat, but I know what it’s like in OKC summer heat.
- Story of taking shop vac buckets of water down from AC unit in the attic during the summer
So I can only imagine what it was like for her to go at noon to get water.
But she chose that, Because Shame Isolates….
She would rather deal with the intensity of the heat, than the intensity of her critics.
She was carrying shame.
But Jesus was already sitting there, waiting for her. He knew she was isolating herself,
and he met her where she was at. Because He understands.
John 4:7-9
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.)
She immediately knew something was up, because Jews don’t associate with Samaritans.
Now like I said earlier, there was STRONG tension between the Jews and the Samaritans.
Here’s a little backstory of the tension between the Jews and Samaritans for you…
– Around 722BC the king of Assyria invades the northern kingdom of Israel which was separated from the southern kingdom of Judah. He takes captive a large amount of the Israelites and skaters them, but then he take gentiles and people of foreign landand dumps them in Samaria.
Now the Jews in Judea have an expectation that even though you are living amongst people who serve other gods, that you should not intermarry them. But that’s exactly what the Samaritans do, and so the Jews would call Samaritans half-breeds.
God doesn’t have a problem with intermarrying other ethnic backgrounds, but he has a problem with marrying other beliefs. Because if your wife is worshiping Baal, she’s going to teach your kids to worship Baal.
Jesus is now sitting here with this woman which means 722 years of strife, and tension between the Jews and Samaritans.
And so she’s saying, Don’t act like there’s not a mountain of conflict between us.
But Jesus doesn’t run from conflict.
Often times its through the conflict or tension that Jesus meets us.
Its through the Tension that He gets our attention.
John 4:10-11
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?
Jesus is compelling her to not just think physically or carnally, but to think spiritually.
When Jesus first mentions living water, her response is:
“Oh, where can I take my bucket and get this living water.”
Because this would have made perfect sense to her.
There’s Living water and Dead water.
Living water simply meant moving water.
A river is Living Water. Something like a stagnant pool is Dead water. It’s not moving. Things can grow in it, it’s filled with bacteria.
Living water is moving. Jews will only baptize in rivers or with rainwater. Which is why Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river.
Matthew 3:13
Well water could not compare to spring water.
There’s a big difference between the types of water.
- Tap water, purified tap water, well water, spring water.
POINT 3:
JESUS SUPPLIES AND SATISFIES
Jesus says, you have built your whole life on well water.
And I have Living Water.
Jesus offers her Living Water….
He’s talking about her soul!!!
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.”
He’s saying, I don’t just want to Bless you… I want to Fill you!!
These words here are very powerful: Will become in him…
Jesus is saying that, this is not just water to drink, this is the Spirit who breathes LIFE into your soul!
And doesn’t just go away after an encounter.
He doesn’t just have a moment with you and goes away. He wants to reside in you. The Holy Spirit will make you a new creation from the inside out.
The God of Creation says, I will come and be a fountain of life within you, and I will place MY Spirit in you.
Romans 8:11
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
See, she had been drinking from the well water spiritually…
Let me ask you:
What well have you been drinking from?
Approval?
Success?
Perfectionism?
Those wells run dry.
We want spring water lives…. but we’re drawing from well water sources.
And can I tell you? Only Jesus truly satisfies!!!
Jesus Supplies and Satisfies
You can live your whole life drinking from well water, but Jesus offers spring water that never runs dry and lasts an eternity.
God says, I made you for more than drinking from wells that run dry.
I chose you as my own,
to offer you Spring water
that will last forever.
So after she asks for this living water, Jesus asks her a question…
And here is where he makes it personal.
John 4:16-18
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.”
POINT 4:
JESUS CONFRONTS TO HEAL
Jesus asks this question fully knowing the answer.
He already knew her whole life story…But asks anyway.
We don’t know her whole story….
Maybe she was abandoned.
Maybe the shame of her past was too strong to deal with.
But Jesus didn’t need her “résumé” to Love Her….
He wasn’t Shaming her. He was Saying….
“I see the REAL you…
I know what you’ve done…
I know the battles you face, and the scars you have…
and I’m Still Sitting Here WITH You.”
God chose you despite you.
Despite your mess ups
Despite your shortcomings
Despite your failures.
But she Did not lie… She told him straight up.
God cannot bless who you PRETEND to be. He can only bless who you REALLY are.
He wants to HEAL you so He can RESTORE you and USE you to fulfill his purpose in your life.
He wants to take Everything that makes who you are and USE it for his purpose.
GOD CHOSE YOU
God is not shocked by your flaws…. He chose you anyway…. He already knew you before you knew him.
He wants to restore you and use you for His glory.
Her response is… You already know everything about me…Who are you?
His response is… That thing you have been looking for…
That water you’ve been searching for…
That Thirst you’ve been trying to quench…
That Love you’ve been longing for…
That Acceptance you’ve been dying for..
That void you’ve been trying to fill…
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
Jesus is the answer to life’s thirst.
That Love you’ve been longing for…
That Acceptance you’ve been dying for..
That void you’ve been trying to fill…
That same Jesus who says “I am He”,
is also the same Jesus that Chose You.
John 15:16
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
He called you by Name.
He saw you where you were at.
He has been waiting for you to finally see that He Chose You.
He called you to bear fruit.
He called you to Love like he loves
He called you to be a light to those around you
It’s NOT about what you can do, but what He can do Through you.
Because God Chose you!
CONCLUSION
This Revelation that God Chose me hit home for me. Because I used to think God’s love was based on PERFORMANCE.
I could do 10 things right in a day and mess up once… and feel like I failed God…
But I had to learn this:
God’s love is NOT Earned…. It’s Received….
Grace doesn’t get taken back when you mess up….
God’s grace is NOT a currency. You cant trade good deeds for his grace.
(Show the picture of me again)
That kid with the WWE belt didn’t know it yet but….
God had ALREADY Chosen him….
I didn’t choose God first, He chose me!
God used people like:
My Parent – Showed me the way to Jesus
My Wife – Stop being mean to myself
Brandon – Showed me that It’s not about Performance
Seth – who wrote me a letter reminding me my insecurities are from the enemy.
I didn’t Choose Him. He Chose ME….
And I’m here to remind YOU today:
You DONT have to Perform anymore.
You DONT have to Prove yourself.
You DONT have to Clean up before you come to Jesus….
He chose YOU… And He’s still Choosing you.
Question for you:
Are you tired of running?
Are you tired of trying to prove yourself?
Are you tired of failing and being overwhelmed with shame?
If you’ve been drinking from dead wells, trying to find purpose and love and worth—come to Jesus. He has Living Water for you.
This story of the woman at the well is an amazing story.
But let me tell you of the greatest story ever told.
You and I were separated from the God of creation. Because He is perfect, and we are sinful.
And He loved us so much that while we were still sinners…Jesus came down.
He lived the life we couldn’t live….Giving us an example of how to live a Godly life..
He died the death we should have died, because we deserve the punishment of our sin…
And he hung up on that cross saying I choose you,
Even though some of you wont choose me…
Even though some of you will spit in my face,
Even though some of you will choose to go your own way.
I’m still doing this for you…
He chose to die for you.
It was MY Sin on that cross.
It was MY Shame on that cross.
And he didn’t stay there…. He rose from the grave, proving that death does not own Him. And showing that we can walk in new life… If we choose him too…
There’s an opportunity to Chose Jesus, today…
You’ve been choosing your own life style for long enough
It’s time to CHOOSE Jesus.
He chose to die for YOU.
Let me tell you how I know God Chose You…
He wants to make you new.
God chose you…