Face to Face with GRACE

Encounters with Jesus, Part 2 | March 22, 2026

One encounter with Jesus can change the direction of your entire life.

John 4:3-13 (NLT) So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way.  Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 

Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”

Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

√ JESUS MOVES TOWARD THE BROKEN.

John 4:4 (NLT) He had to go through Samaria...

√ JESUS MEETS US IN THE PLACE OF OUR DEEPEST PAIN.

John 4:15-18 (NIV) The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 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.”

√ JESUS REDEEMS OUR PAIN AND GIVES IT PURPOSE.

John 4:28-30 (NIV) Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

FACE TO FACE WITH GRACE

I. GIVE JESUS THE PLACE IN YOUR LIFE THAT STILL HURTS.

Psalm 34:18 (NLT) The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

II. RECEIVE HIS TRUTH AS AN ACT OF GRACE.

Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

III. LET GOD TURN YOUR PAIN INTO PURPOSE. 

II Corinthians 1:4 (TLB) What a wonderful God we have—he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.