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Letting In God (Faith & Trust)

A session challenging young people to think about how much faith and trust they have in God

Suitable For Ages 11 upwards

Required: you make like to have bibles for the group and paper

Session Plan
Let In God
Water without End

Start Start this session by reading your group the following story
A man found himself trudging one day through the stark, bone dry desert in the blazing sun. As he walked for hours and hours on end, he became parched and dehydrated because of the blistering sun and unrelenting heat. The miles and miles of sand offerent no moisture for him, and, as he crested every sand dune hoping to see even a tiny puddle of water, the desert only offered him more dry sand and more blazing heat to deal with.

Finally, after miles and miles of miserable journey, he was about to drop and give up, but crested a dune and saw a most blessed sight. A few feet away, stuck in the middle of the sand, was an old fashioned, hand operated water pump. As he staggered over to the old rusty pump, with its long, metal handle and curving spout, he noticed that a message was stuck to it. He reached up and removed the withered paper message that had been browned by years in the hot sun and read it. It said…

“If you are reading this, I assume that you are interested in obtaining water from this pump. At the moment the pump is not primed and will yield no water to you, no matter how hard you pump it. But, do not fret. If you follow my EXACT directions and trust me, you will obtain an endless supply of water that will fill you until you can drink no more. Please take note of the following. If you dig directly down at the base of the pump for one foot, you will find a pint of water in a glass bottle. DO NOT DRINK THIS WATER. You must use every drop of this water to prime the pump. Once you have dug up the bottle, remove the cork and pour exactly half of the water over the leather seal that connects the pump handle to the stem of the spout. Currently , this seal will not work because the hot sun has dried it out. Once it is wet again it will swell and retain its seal. It will take exactly half of the water from the bottle to be poured on the leather seal for it to swell enough to work again. Next, pour the rest of the water down the front spout of the pump to prime the pipe to the underground well. This will provide the proper suction and will begin the process of drawing water once you start pumping. Again, do not drink the water in the bottle, but use it for this process!!! Once the water begins to flow again, drink until your heart is content then refill the bottle and bury it back in the sand for the next person to use when their time comes and they are thirsty. Do not be tempted to drink the limited amount of water in the bottle and exclude yourself and everyone else from the endless supply of water that could be yours if you follow these directions. Trust me.”

Ask the group

What would you do?
Would you trust that the writer of the message knows what he is talking about and follow his directions and risk wasting the only water that you have seen in days?
Would you drink the water at hand and never find out if there is more water to be had?
Would you live for the “here and now” of do you place your faith in “a future that will yield much, much more?”

Challenge (Ask the group)
Do you trust that the message that we have read (the bible) will lead us to a future that will lead much, much more for us?
Do you get tempted to indulge in the “sure thing” of the “here and now” of this life and reject a life in Heaven?
Do you sometimes get suckered into opting for the limited “pleasures of now” and, at the same time, exclude yourself from the eternal pleasure of Heaven?
Do you trust that God will provide what He says that He will?
Are you going to waste your life and, in turn, waste that of anyone you are close to by ignoring the prize of Heaven?

Bible
Read John 4: 41-14 (to finish)

Prayer Pray for God to help us let him in and to help us trust him