Encountering Jesus

If anything transformative happens to you this week, it will be because of Jesus, students at Smithville Christian High School were told at the start of the first chapel of Spiritual Emphasis Week.

Burlington pastor and speaker Karmyn Bokma used the story of the woman at the well, found in John 1:1-30, to demonstrate what happens when we have a conversation with Jesus.

There are ways to deliberately encounter Jesus, Bokma told students. We pray, we worship, we read the Bible. But there are also ways to avoid Jesus, and the woman who went to draw water in the heat of the day was definitely trying to avoid contact with other people. In fact, her first reaction to Jesus is to tell him that her religious and cultural identity meant that he should not be talking to her. 

Bokma encouraged students to look for Jesus this week, both in the expected places and in the places we don’t expect. “Jesus is already in all the places you will walk and talk today,” Bokma told students. Jesus is in places we don’t expect, or where we might even by trying to exclude him. We can try to offer distractions, or focus on legalities or societal barriers, but God sees you and knows you, just as Jesus saw and knew the woman at the well.

He knew the woman’s story and what she needed, and Jesus sees and knows you the same way, she said.

We can compartmentalize our lives, or carefully curate our social media or public identities, but our deep desire as humans – because God made us this way – is to be fully known and accepted for who we are, Bokma said.

In his conversation with the woman, Jesus goes from the ordinary (a drink of water) to the eternal, offering her living water. We can sometimes see God as someone who is an angry judge, or distant from us, or transactional, or someone we need to please, or simply someone we don’t believe in or understand.

But God is none of those things, Bokma said. When we are walking in the light, which is this year’s school theme, we are able to recognize and receive the blessings of God’s love.

• God offers us freedom. Always
• We get to hear from God.
• There is unconditional love.
• There is no condemnation.
• God is present and knows you.

Just as Jesus went out of his way to travel into Samaria, where he met with the woman, Jesus is going out of his way to meet with you.

A student praise team led in worship with House of the Lord, Reckless Love, Graves into Gardens, and Glorious Day.

Students then met with small groups to discuss questions about Karmyn Bokma’s talk. The small groups were led by senior students.

Questions for Discussion

1. What is one way that you connect best with God?  Is it through the Bible? Nature? Praying? Music? What else?

2. Brainstorm together some of the things that get in the way of us encountering God.  What are the biggest distractions or confusions that make following Jesus hard?

3. Read the story of the Samaritan woman together (John 4:1-29)

• What part is most interesting to you?
• Place yourself in the story for a minute.  How do you think the woman felt before, during and after her encounter with Jesus?
• Think to yourself: If you were to have an encounter with Jesus like that during this Spiritual Emphasis Week, what would it be like? What kinds of things would Jesus be saying to you? 
• If anyone feels up to it, share some of these thoughts with your group.

Spiritual Emphasis Week continues all week, with chapel every morning at 9. Guests are always welcome.