No matter what age children you teach in Sunday school, they need to understand the importance of asking Jesus to be their Savior and living a life for God. While sharing bible stories is an important part of teaching God's word, our main goal is to lead these children to Christ and to teach them how to lead others. So, as you teach each and every lesson from here on out, do it with one goal in mind - winning souls for Christ!
Begin your Sunday school lesson by recalling Jesus' birth. Children need to understand Jesus didn't have to leave heaven to come to earth as a baby. He chose to. He wanted to.
Jesus left his beautiful wonderful home in heaven where there was no sin, no sickness, no hurt, and no sadness to come to earth where all of this existed.
He grew up just like all children do. He was a toddler, a young boy, a pre-teen, a teenager, and then a young man.
He obeyed his mother, Mary, and his earthly father, Joseph. He learned how to work with wood because Joseph was a carpenter. He also got hungry and tired. He needed sleep just as we do.
For around 30 years, Jesus lived as any of us would have except for he never sinned. Try to imagine never doing anything wrong. It's impossible! Some people believe they have never did anything wrong, but we all do.
When Jesus was 33 years old, he died on the cross for our sins. Of course, he didn't stay dead. Praise God! After they placed Jesus' body in the tomb, it stayed there for 3 days and then a miracle happened!
He arose from the dead!
It was because Jesus died on the cross for our sins that one day we can live with him forever in heaven.
Now, here is where you will begin telling the bible story of the woman at the well.
When the woman came to the well, Jesus asked her to give him a drink of water.
She was a bit taken aback that he even spoke to her because she was a Samaritan and Jesus was a Jew. In those days, Jews were not very fond of the Samaritan people.
Jesus said to her, "If you only knew who I am, then you would have asked me and I would have given you living water."
The woman didn't understand what Jesus was talking about. Jesus had no bucket or rope to get water with, so how could he give her 'living water'?
You see, wells were often very deep and without something to draw up water with, you couldn't get to the water.
Think about it: Water was often hard to get. Women and children would have to work hard each day to get the water needed to cook and to drink. What about the water for animals? It was no easy task!
Jesus wanted this woman to understand that the water she drank would only keep her from being thirsty for a little while. As the hours passed, she would become thirsty again. The next day, she would have to come to the well to get more water to drink, wouldn't she?
Have the kids think about that for a minute.
Say to the kids, "When it is in the middle of summer and you are outside playing, you like to drink water, right? (wait for answers) But, just because you get one drink of water, it doesn't mean that you won't need another drink. After you play for a while, you'll get thirsty again, won't you?"
Of course they'll get thirsty again.
The living water Jesus was talking about was eternal life!
Only Jesus could offer this woman a way to live forever. Salvation is referred to as living water and only through Jesus Christ can we have eternal life - a life where we can live forever in heaven with him!
The woman wanted this 'living water' and ran to get others in the town to come to hear what Jesus had to say!
We should be like the woman at the well and bring others to church with us to hear about the Word of God!
If you'd like to read a bit more about 'living water', visit the website Got Questions.
Photo of well courtesy of Neogeolegend, Wikimedia Commons
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| Woman at the Well Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Photo by Carl Heinrich Bloch |
Introduction - Sunday School Lesson
Begin your Sunday school lesson by recalling Jesus' birth. Children need to understand Jesus didn't have to leave heaven to come to earth as a baby. He chose to. He wanted to.
Jesus left his beautiful wonderful home in heaven where there was no sin, no sickness, no hurt, and no sadness to come to earth where all of this existed.
He grew up just like all children do. He was a toddler, a young boy, a pre-teen, a teenager, and then a young man.
He obeyed his mother, Mary, and his earthly father, Joseph. He learned how to work with wood because Joseph was a carpenter. He also got hungry and tired. He needed sleep just as we do.
For around 30 years, Jesus lived as any of us would have except for he never sinned. Try to imagine never doing anything wrong. It's impossible! Some people believe they have never did anything wrong, but we all do.
When Jesus was 33 years old, he died on the cross for our sins. Of course, he didn't stay dead. Praise God! After they placed Jesus' body in the tomb, it stayed there for 3 days and then a miracle happened!
He arose from the dead!
It was because Jesus died on the cross for our sins that one day we can live with him forever in heaven.
Now, here is where you will begin telling the bible story of the woman at the well.
Woman at the Well - Bible Story
Today's bible story is about a Samaritan woman who came to a well to draw water out of it. Jesus disciples had went into town to buy meat, but Jesus decided to rest beside the well. Of course, it wasn't by accident he was sitting by the well. He knew a woman would soon be approaching.John 4:6-15 KJV
6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
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.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
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.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
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| Leather bucket drawing water from a well. |
What Happened in the Bible Story?
When the woman came to the well, Jesus asked her to give him a drink of water.
She was a bit taken aback that he even spoke to her because she was a Samaritan and Jesus was a Jew. In those days, Jews were not very fond of the Samaritan people.
Jesus said to her, "If you only knew who I am, then you would have asked me and I would have given you living water."
The woman didn't understand what Jesus was talking about. Jesus had no bucket or rope to get water with, so how could he give her 'living water'?
You see, wells were often very deep and without something to draw up water with, you couldn't get to the water.
Think about it: Water was often hard to get. Women and children would have to work hard each day to get the water needed to cook and to drink. What about the water for animals? It was no easy task!
Jesus wanted this woman to understand that the water she drank would only keep her from being thirsty for a little while. As the hours passed, she would become thirsty again. The next day, she would have to come to the well to get more water to drink, wouldn't she?
Have the kids think about that for a minute.
Say to the kids, "When it is in the middle of summer and you are outside playing, you like to drink water, right? (wait for answers) But, just because you get one drink of water, it doesn't mean that you won't need another drink. After you play for a while, you'll get thirsty again, won't you?"
Of course they'll get thirsty again.
The living water Jesus was talking about was eternal life!
Only Jesus could offer this woman a way to live forever. Salvation is referred to as living water and only through Jesus Christ can we have eternal life - a life where we can live forever in heaven with him!
The woman wanted this 'living water' and ran to get others in the town to come to hear what Jesus had to say!
We should be like the woman at the well and bring others to church with us to hear about the Word of God!
If you'd like to read a bit more about 'living water', visit the website Got Questions.
Photo of well courtesy of Neogeolegend, Wikimedia Commons
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