sunday March 8, 2026

Fruitland United Methodist Church
March 8, 2026

*(Please stand if you are comfortably able.)

Prelude: “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah,” by William Williams and John Hughes

Welcoming the Light of Christ and inviting the neighborhood to worship.

Welcome and Announcements Pastor Jorge and Letha E.
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Today we gather as people who thirst for God.
In a world full of noise and division, God invites us again to listen.

*Call to Worship Letha E.
Come, let us sing to the Lord.
Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into God’s presence with thanksgiving.
Let us make a joyful noise with songs of praise.
For the Lord is a great God.
The maker of heaven and earth.
Today, if you hear God’s voice
May we not harden our hearts.
Come, let us worship the Lord our God.
Let us worship with open hearts.
*Sharing the Peace of Christ.

*Opening Hymn: “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” UMH 400

Scripture Reading : Psalm 95 Letha E.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.

Time with Young Christians Jorge R.
Please write prayer concerns and celebrations on yellow notepads, to be collected.

Community Expressions Pastor Jorge & Letha E.
     Sing: “Holy, Holy, Holy” TFWS 2007
     Thanksgiving and Celebration
     Prayers for Healing and Wholeness
     Our Community and World
Let us pray.

*Hymn: “Father, I Adore You” TFWS 2038

Scripture Reading: Exodus 17:1-7 Letha E.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.

Invitation to Generosity Pastor Jorge
Offertory: “I love you Lord” by Laurie Klein
*Doxology: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow . . .” UMH 95
All that we have is a gift from God.
Let us offer our gifts with grateful hearts.

Gospel Reading: John 4:5-42 Letha E.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.

*Hymn “You Who Are Thirsty” TFWS 2132

Sermon: “If Today You Hear His Voice” Rev. Jorge R.
John 4:5–45 Psalm 95

There are places where people no longer speak to each other. Neighborhoods
where invisible lines divide. Countries where borders become wounds. Families
where an unfinished conversation becomes a heavy silence.

Sometimes there are no gunshots. But there is distance. And distance can
wound the human spirit just as deeply.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus walks into one of those places. The text says: “He
had to pass through Samaria.”

It was not the shortest road. It was a decision. Because peace rarely begins by
avoiding conflict. Peace begins when someone is willing to walk into difficult
spaces with a different heart.

For generations Jews and Samaritans avoided each other. Their history was
long, bitter, religious, and political. And in that tense territory Jesus stops at a
well. He is tired. He is thirsty. He sits down.

Then a Samaritan woman arrives. And Jesus breaks the silence with a simple
request: “Give me a drink.”

It sounds like an ordinary sentence. But in that moment, it was revolutionary. A
Jewish man speaking to a Samaritan woman. A rabbi crossing a social boundary.
A religious teacher speaking to someone whose life had been marked by
questions and wounds.

Peace sometimes begins with something very small: “Give me a drink.” Not
accusation. Notjudgment. Just a request that recognizes the dignity of the other.

Psalm 95 gives a warning: “If today you hear his voice, do not harden your
hearts.”

The woman could have hardened her heart. She could have answered with
sarcasm, with resentment, with the weight of centuries of conflict.

But she doesn’t walk away. Instead, she keeps listening. She listens when Jesus
speaks about living water. She listens when the conversation touches her
personal story. She listens when Jesus speaks about worshiping God in spirit
and in truth.

Hardness of heart is a choice. Openness is also a choice. Wars begin when
hearts stop listening. Peace begins when someone decides to listen again.

The Samaritan woman was not perfect. Her story was complicated. Many
people in her town probably judged her.

But after meeting Jesus, the Gospel tells us something beautiful: “Then the
woman left her water jar.” That jar represented her daily routine, her burden,
her need. But she had encountered living water.

And she runs back to the town and says:
“Come, see a man who told me everything I have ever done.”

She does not preach a theological lecture. She simply tells her story. And many
believed because of her testimony.

Peace is not only built by presidents or powerful leaders. Peace often begins
with ordinary people whose hearts have been changed.

Psalm 95 repeats the invitation: “If today you hear his voice...” Today. Not
tomorrow. Not when everything is clear. Today.

Jesus still walks through Samaria. He still crosses cultural boundaries. He still
sits beside the wells of our lives. And he still speaks.

The real question is not whether God speaks. The real question is whether we
are willing to listen without hardening our hearts.

The Samaritan woman rebuilt a bridge. She returned to her community carrying
a message that invited people to come together.

And today the church is called to do the same.
In a world where fear grows easily and differences become excuses for conflict,
Jesus shows another way: to sit, to listen, to speak truth with grace, and to
announce hope.

Working for peace does not mean ignoring injustice. It means confronting
injustice without allowing hatred to rule our hearts.

Perhaps today we are like the Samaritan woman: thirsty, full of questions,
carrying our own stories. Or perhaps we are like the town: tired, skeptical, used
to division.

But the Psalm says: “If today you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Jesus is still at the well. He is still asking for water. And he is still offering living
water.

May we not harden our hearts. May we leave behind the jar of prejudice. And
may we, like that Samaritan woman, run to share the good news: “I have met
the one who can transform my story.”

And from that encounter, may we live and work for peace. Amen.
​
Prayer of Confession:
Merciful God,
you are the source of living water,
yet we often come to you with hardened hearts.
We doubt when we should trust
and forget the ways you have cared for us.
Forgive us, Lord.
Break the hardness within us
and open our hearts to your grace.
Let your living water renew our lives.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Closing Hymn: “Sent Out In Jesus Name” TFWS 2184

Benediction: Go into the world with open hearts. Listen for the
voice of God. Receive the living water of Christ. And be people
who build bridges of peace. In the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

*Song of Blessing: “Halle, Halle, Halleluja,” TFWS 2026

Postlude: “Rescue the Perishing” by Fanny Crosby

Rev. Jorge Rodriguez [email protected]