Who does Jesus want to meet? Jesus and the woman at the well – John 4 (Rachel Drake)
This talk was given by Rachel Drake at St Jude's Church, Southsea on Sunday 8 November 2026, Remembrance Sunday. The reading was John 4:1–19, the account of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well.
Part of the Encountering Jesus series, exploring individual encounters with Jesus in John's Gospel, this talk looks at Jesus' conversation with the woman at the well in Samaria. It considers why John thought this meeting was worth remembering, and draws out three themes: Jesus wants to encounter those who do not feel worthy, Jesus wants to encounter everyone, and encounters with Jesus bring life. Along the way it touches on the history between Jews and Samaritans, the cultural barriers Jesus crossed, and his offer of "living water" that wells up to eternal life (John 4:10–14; John 10:10).
Rachel reflects on how the Samaritan woman—excluded, alone at the well in the heat of the day—was exactly the person Jesus chose to meet, and asks who the overlooked people in our own culture might be: those on the margins, but also those who seem to have life completely together. The talk closes with a hopeful prayer that this would be a "resurrection Sunday"—a day of refreshment and new life for anyone who is weary or thirsty, whether meeting Jesus for the first time or the thousandth. Whoever you are and whatever you carry, this talk offers a warm invitation to encounter Jesus.
1 Nov 2026
Where do we encounter God? Nathanael under the fig tree – John 1:43–51 (Steve Clarke)
This talk was given by Steve Clarke at St Jude's Church, Southsea on 1 November 2026, as the opening talk in a new series called Encounters with Jesus. The reading was John 1:43–51, the story of Philip and Nathanael, with reference to Jacob's dream at Bethel in Genesis 28.
Where do we actually meet God? For centuries, God's people looked to the temple — a building of bricks and mortar — as the place of his presence. But John's Gospel points somewhere else entirely. This talk explores Jesus' encounter with Nathanael under the fig tree, alongside Jacob's dream of a stairway between heaven and earth, to show that Jesus himself is the new temple: the person in whom heaven and earth meet. The talk also includes a short clip from the TV series The Chosen, picturing Nathanael at his lowest moment.
Whether you've followed Jesus for years, are quietly curious, or are simply wondering what any of this means, this talk offers a warm invitation to consider that God is not confined to a building or a distant idea. Like Jacob, we might look back on a road full of twists and turns; like Nathanael, we might carry frustration beneath a seemingly settled life. Neither disqualifies us. The encouragement here is gentle but searching: step out from under the fig tree — the places of safety and routine — and discover that God's blessing is already waiting, right where we are, in the midst of ordinary life.
18 Oct 2026
What does it mean to be salt and light? – Matthew 5:13–16 (Steve Clarke)
This talk was given by Steve Clarke at St Jude's Church, Southsea on 18 October 2026. The reading was Matthew 5:14–16, in which Jesus tells his followers, "You are the light of the world."
The talk concludes a series on the church's vision and values, exploring Jesus' teaching on being salt and light from the Sermon on the Mount. It considers what salt meant to Jesus' first hearers — both a disinfectant and a fertiliser — and what that suggests about how Christians are called to live: gathered together as a distinctive community, and dispersed out into everyday life to help the world around them flourish. Drawing on Matthew 5, Psalm 119 and 1 Corinthians 13, it asks what it might mean to be "a church with glass walls" — a community others can see into, and which looks outward to its neighbourhood.
With warmth and honesty, Steve reflects on the rhythm of gathering and going: meeting together to worship and pray, then being sent out into work, family and community life. Along the way there are reflections on the history of St Jude's as a beacon for returning ships, the music of Ezra Collective, and C.S. Lewis on faith as the light "by which I see everything else". The talk closes with a simple encouragement: to love like Jesus loved and live like Jesus lived — and an invitation to anyone, whatever their background, to come and see for themselves.
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