​ST. JAMES PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Bible Study Companion Guide
Fourth Sunday in Lent – Year A
March 15, 2026
 
Opening Frame
We arrive now in the middle of Lent. The season has stretched long enough that its quiet questions begin to deepen. Scripture meets us again with stories that invite us to pause and look again — at the world, at one another, and at the ways God may be moving among us.
Across these readings we encounter shepherds and kings, darkness and light, questions and discovery. Some people in these stories believe they understand what they are seeing. Others slowly come to recognize that understanding takes time.
Lent often places us in that same space — between certainty and discovery, between what we assume and what we begin to perceive more clearly. These passages invite us to read slowly, listen carefully, and remain open to what may be revealed along the way.
1 Samuel 16:1–13
David Anointed
The prophet Samuel arrives in Bethlehem carrying both grief and uncertainty. Saul’s leadership has faltered, and Samuel has been sent to anoint a new king.
Jesse presents his sons one by one. Each seems strong and capable. Yet the one chosen is not among those first presented. David, the youngest, is still out in the field tending sheep.
When David is called in, Samuel anoints him with oil. It is a quiet moment within the household, not a public ceremony. Yet from that moment forward, something in David’s life begins to change.
Reflection
·      What details in this story stand out to you as you read it?
·      Why do you think the story pauses to describe each son before David appears?
·      Where do you see moments in life when something important begins quietly rather than publicly?
Psalm 23
The Shepherd’s Presence
Psalm 23 is one of the most familiar passages in Scripture. Its language speaks of care, rest, and guidance. Yet the psalm also acknowledges valleys of deep shadow and moments of uncertainty.
The psalm does not avoid difficult places. Instead, it speaks of companionship and presence while moving through them. The imagery shifts from green pastures to dark valleys to a table prepared in the presence of others.
Throughout the psalm, the voice of trust remains steady.
Reflection
·      Which images from this psalm speak most strongly to you today?
·      What do you notice about how the psalm moves between peaceful places and more difficult ones?
·      How does the idea of being guided or accompanied appear in your own life?
Ephesians 5:8–14
Living as Children of Light
This passage speaks about the way people grow into new ways of living together. The writer contrasts darkness and light and encourages the community to pay attention to what leads toward goodness, justice, and truth.
There is also an invitation to awaken — to notice things that may have been hidden or overlooked.
Many early Christians heard these words as a reminder that faith continues to shape how people live with one another day by day.
Reflection
·      What does the image of light suggest to you in this passage?
·      Where do you see goodness and truth being practiced in everyday life?
·      What might it mean for a community to encourage one another toward what brings life?
John 9:1–41
The Man Born Blind
This Gospel story unfolds over many conversations. It begins with a question from the disciples about suffering and responsibility. Jesus responds by shifting the conversation away from blame and toward what may be revealed through what happens next.
A man who has been blind receives his sight. Yet the story does not end there. Neighbors ask questions. Religious leaders investigate what has happened. Even the man’s parents are brought into the conversation.
As the story continues, people respond in different ways. Some are curious. Some are skeptical. Others begin to reconsider what they thought they understood.
The man at the center of the story tells what he experienced. The community around him wrestles with what it might mean.
Reflection
·      What moments in this story catch your attention?
·      How do different people respond to what has happened?
·      Why do you think the story includes so many conversations about the event?
A Thread Through the Readings
Across these passages we meet people trying to understand what is happening around them. Some arrive with confidence. Others are unsure. In each story, something unfolds that invites a second look.
A shepherd boy is chosen in a place where no one expected it. A familiar psalm speaks of guidance in both peaceful and difficult moments. A letter invites people to live with greater awareness and honesty. And in the Gospel story, one person’s experience leads an entire community into conversation about what they believe they see.
These stories remind us that faith often grows through questions, conversation, and careful attention to what is unfolding in our lives and communities.
Reading Together
Scripture has long been read in community. People gather, listen, ask questions, and share what they notice. Different voices bring different insights, and together those perspectives deepen understanding.
As you read these passages this week, notice what stands out to you, pay attention to the questions that arise, and listen to how others hear the story.
Practice for the Week
·      Notice moments when your first understanding of a situation changes after listening more carefully.
·      Pay attention to conversations that open the door to deeper understanding.
·      Reflect on where guidance or clarity may be appearing in unexpected ways.
Closing Prayer
Holy One, you meet us in our questions as well as in our moments of clarity. As we walk this Lenten path, teach us patience in our learning and generosity in our listening. Help us remain open to the voices and experiences that broaden our understanding. Guide us gently as we continue this journey together. Amen.


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​ST. JAMES PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Bible Study Companion Guide
for March 08, 2026 Third Sunday in Lent – Year A
“When Thirst Speaks”
 
Opening FrameWe arrive at the middle of Lent in a season of holy disorientation. The days grow warmer. The clocks shift. The world trembles with uncertainty. Scripture meets us not in stability but in wilderness. Each text this week carries the language of thirst — physical thirst, spiritual thirst, communal thirst. Beneath them all is a deeper question: what do we do when thirst begins to speak?
Exodus 17:1–7 — Water From the RockIsrael has barely left Egypt when the wilderness exposes their fragility. Freedom has not erased vulnerability. They quarrel with Moses. They test the Holy One. They dare to ask the aching question: “Is the Lord among us or not?” Thirst does not make them evil; it makes them honest. The miracle is not only water from stone. The miracle is that provision appears in the very place of complaint. What felt like abandonment becomes encounter.
Reflection:
Where do you experience communal or personal dehydration?
What questions rise when resources feel scarce?
Psalm 95 — Hardened HeartsThe psalmist remembers the same wilderness and issues a warning: “Today, if you hear God’s voice, do not harden your hearts.” The danger in seasons of strain is not thirst alone; it is interior calcification. A hardened heart narrows compassion and resists possibility. This psalm invites responsiveness rather than certainty — a willingness to remain open even when answers are incomplete.
Reflection:
What might soften what has become rigid within you?
What voice are you being invited to hear today?
Romans 5:1–11 — The Architecture of HopePaul names a daring progression: suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Hope, he insists, does not disappoint. This is not denial of hardship; it is formation through it. Peace with God does not remove struggle but reframes it within relationship. Hardship becomes soil where something steadier can grow.
Reflection:
Where is endurance shaping you?
What kind of character is being formed in this season of tension?
John 4:5–42 — At the WellAt noon, under the weight of heat and exposure, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well. Boundaries are present — ethnic, gendered, theological — yet conversation begins. “Give me a drink.” What unfolds is not spectacle but recognition. She is seen. She is engaged. She is not shamed. Living water is spoken into ordinary space. Then something shifts. She leaves her water jar. She returns to the city. She speaks. The story does not end at the well; it expands outward. Encounter becomes movement, and movement reshapes community.
Reflection:
What jars are you carrying?
What might it mean to set something down in order to move differently?
Who in your life needs to hear what you have experienced?
Theological ThreadAcross these readings we notice a pattern: a community in need, a moment of encounter, and a movement beyond isolation. Water flows. Hope multiplies. Witness spreads. Provision is never meant to remain contained. The wilderness does not have the final word, nor does conflict, nor does fear. The Holy One meets thirst not only to quench it but to reshape a people through it.
Liberative LensIn times of geopolitical instability, public anxiety, and communal fatigue, thirst becomes collective. We thirst for safety, for truth, for trust between peoples, for moral clarity. John’s Gospel refuses to let revelation remain private. Encounter becomes testimony; testimony becomes communal transformation. Liberation is never solitary. The Samaritan woman is not removed from her context; she becomes a conduit within it. What begins as personal conversation ripples outward into shared awakening.
Practice for the Week1. Notice where you feel depleted — emotionally, spiritually, relationally.
2. Pay attention to moments of unexpected conversation or encounter.
3. Consider one concrete act that moves beyond private reflection into shared encouragement.
Small gestures matter. Listening matters. Presence matters.
Closing PrayerHoly One of wells and wilderness, You meet us in thirst and do not turn away from our questions. Soften what has hardened. Sustain what is weary. Shape endurance into hope. Guide us as we return to our communities bearing what we have received. Hold us steady in this Lenten journey until even the driest places become springs.