Gospel Sparks Get the app

Never Thirst Again

Five-minute fixes versus forever water, one teen’s night of scrolling and a midnight question, and a cup that can’t hold anything

  • 🔥 Youth 14–15
  • Week 6
  • 📅 Sunday, February 7, 2027
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

Jesus Christ knows everything about me and still offers living water, and coming to Him again and again changes me from the inside, like being born again.

I can stop chasing things that only satisfy for five minutes and keep coming to Jesus Christ, who knows me completely and fills me for real.

Study it yourself firstRead John 2–4 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOpen this week (John 2–4)
Know the chapters

John 2–4 is full of beginnings. At a wedding in Cana, Jesus turns water into wine, the “beginning of miracles,” in John 2:11. In Jerusalem He drives the money-changers out of the temple. He says, “make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise,” in 2:16. Then two very different people come to Him. Nicodemus is a respected Pharisee and ruler. He comes “by night,” in 3:2, maybe so he won’t be seen. A Samaritan woman comes to a well about noon, “the sixth hour,” in 4:6–7. Jesus teaches both of them about a change so deep it’s like a new birth.

Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again,” in 3:7. He explains it means being “born of water and of the Spirit,” in 3:5. That’s baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, then a lifetime of being changed by the Savior. Nicodemus doesn’t get it right away, but John shows him growing. Later he defends Jesus in front of the other leaders, in 7:50–51. He helps bury Him, in 19:39. A night-time question can become a daylight disciple. John 3:16–17 is the Savior’s own summary of His mission. God gave His Son out of love, not to condemn the world but to save it.

Jews and Samaritans avoided each other. Even His disciples were surprised to see a Jewish rabbi talking alone with a Samaritan woman, in 4:9 and 27. Jesus asks her for a drink and offers “living water.” Then He shows He knows her whole story, in 4:16–18. He doesn’t shame her. He tells her plainly, “I that speak unto thee am he,” in 4:26. She leaves her waterpot and runs to tell the town, in 4:28–29. Later the townspeople say they believe because they heard Him themselves, not just because of her, in 4:42. For fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds, that opens up great talks. Reputation. Being fully known. Borrowed testimony versus your own. Things that satisfy for five minutes, like likes, snacks and scrolling, versus the Savior, who satisfies for good. Jeremiah 2:13 is a great cross-reference. People traded the fountain of living waters for “broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

This week ends on fast Sunday. If you teach this lesson that day, the water in the object lesson is for pouring only. Nobody drinks.

Only have 5 minutes?

Read John 3:1–5 and John 4:5–42. Play “Five Minutes or Forever?” by pointing at two walls. Read Riley’s case from the screen with its questions, then do Leaky Hands with John 4:14. Ask two Night Questions. Close by asking, “Who could I say ‘come and see’ to?” and share a short testimony.

What to bring4 items

Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.

Before class

  1. Poke five or six holes in the bottom of a cup. Test it over a sink so you know how fast it drains.
  2. Read Riley’s six case scenes once. Mark John 3:1–2, John 4:14, 29 and 42, and Jeremiah 2:13 in your scriptures.
  3. February 7 is fast Sunday, and some youth may be fasting. Nobody drinks the water.

If your class is wild

  • Riley’s case hits close to home for a lot of teens. Keep it about Riley, so nobody has to confess their own screen time.
  • The leaky cup is messy on purpose. Do it over a bowl or sink, and let a youth pour.
  • In the “Five Minutes or Forever?” hook, some items really are both. Let youth argue that. It’s the best part.
  • Be careful with the woman at the well’s past. Don’t guess at her story. The point is that Jesus knew everything and didn’t walk away.
  • On fast Sunday, some youth will be hungry and tired. Keep the energy up and the lesson short.

The 25-minute plan24 min + bonus

Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Steps that mention Teach Mode, the Sound Board or other class games refer to the Gospel Sparks app; on the web you can play Forehead Guess and Scripture Showdown from this page.

1. Hook

Five Minutes or Forever?

3 min

A walk-to-your-side sort gets everyone moving and surfaces what actually satisfies versus what wears off.

  1. SAY“Everybody up. This wall is five minutes. That wall is forever. I’ll name something. You walk to how long it really satisfies.”
  2. Call out each one. A new follower. A friend who knows the real you. Your crush texting back. Being forgiven. A viral post. Knowing God loves you.
  3. Ask someone on the smaller side to defend their spot.
  4. SAY“Some good things just wear off. Today Jesus offers something that doesn’t.”
🌪️ If people clump together, ask one person to argue the other side on purpose.

Class screen: ⏱️ How long does it really satisfy? Five minutes or forever? · Walk to your wall · Defend the middle if you pick it

2. Story

Case Study: Riley at 1 a.m.

8 min

A realistic night in a teen’s life shows why five-minute fixes leave us empty and how Nicodemus and the woman at the well point the way to living water.

  1. SAY“Meet Riley. She’s made up, but you might know someone like her. After each part, tell me what’s really going on.”
  2. Read each scene as the screen shows it. When it names a verse, a pair finds it and reads it aloud. Then ask its question.
  3. Keep it about Riley. Nobody has to share their own screen time.
  4. At the end, ask: “What’s one thing Riley did that anyone in this room could do this week?”
🌪️ If someone says, “Just delete the app,” ask, “Would that fix what she’s thirsty for?”

Class screen: 📱 Riley at 1 a.m.: what is she really thirsty for? · Six scenes · What’s really going on?

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: Scriptures for each pair (their own, a classroom set, or Gospel Library)

  1. SAY“Meet Riley. She’s made up, but you might know someone like her. After each part, tell me what’s really going on.”
  2. Read each scene as the screen shows it. Read any verse it names, then ask its question.
  3. At the end, ask: “What’s one thing Riley did that anyone in this room could do this week?”
3. Scripture

Leaky Cup, Living Water: John 4:14

5 min

A cup with holes shows why five-minute fixes never fill us, and why the Savior’s water becomes a spring inside us.

  1. SAY“Riley kept trying to fill a cup like this one.”
  2. Hold the cup over the bowl while a youth pours. It drains as fast as they fill it.
  3. SAY“Here’s the twist. Even we leak. That’s why Jesus promised something different.”
  4. Read John 4:14 together with the motions. Ask how “never thirst” is different from “a well of water springing up.”
  5. Listen for this. He satisfies, and He becomes a source inside you. Say the verse again with the screen hidden. Nobody drinks the water today.

Class screen: ⛲ A well of water springing up into everlasting life · John 4:14

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A paper or plastic cup with several holes poked in the bottom (a pencil or pen works), A pitcher or water bottle full of water, A bowl, sink or tray to catch the water

Leaky Hands

  1. SAY“Everyone cup your hands tight. I’m pouring in water. Hold it.”
  2. SAY“Now spread your fingers a little.”
  3. Everyone watches the pretend water drip through their fingers.
  4. SAY“That’s what five-minute fixes do. Even we leak. That’s why Jesus promised something different.”
  5. Read John 4:14 together with the motions. Ask how “never thirst” is different from “a well of water springing up.” Say it again with the screen hidden.

Class screen: 🤲 A well of water springing up into everlasting life

4. Talk it over

Night Questions

5 min

Youth connect Nicodemus and the woman at the well to worrying about what people think and owning their testimony.

  1. SAY“Nicodemus came at night with his questions. This is a safe place for questions in daylight.”
  2. Show one question at a time.
  3. Tell Nicodemus’s story in one breath. He came by night, later defended Jesus, and helped bury Him. See John 3:2, 7:50–51 and 19:39.
  4. After the woman-at-the-well question, share Sister Susan H. Porter’s line: “Her past and present circumstances did not determine her future.”
💬 Ask the class
  • Nicodemus came to Jesus “by night.” Why might someone your age keep their faith quiet?
  • The woman at the well was fully known and not rejected. How does it feel to know the Savior sees everything and still stays?
  • The town said, “We have heard him ourselves.” How do you go from borrowing someone’s testimony to having your own?
  • Jesus said we must be “born of water and of the Spirit.” If you were baptized at eight, what does being born again look like at fifteen?
🌪️ If nobody talks, share an honest night question you had at their age. Tell how you worked through it.

Class screen: 🌙 Night questions, daylight answers · Questions are welcome here

5. Testimony

Come and See

3 min

A quiet close that turns the woman’s witness into a personal invitation.

  1. SAY“She didn’t give a sermon. Neither did Riley. They just said, ‘Come and see.’”
  2. SAY“Think quietly of one person who is thirsty right now. Maybe lonely, stressed or searching. What’s one small ‘come and see’ you could offer them?”
  3. Give them about twenty seconds.
  4. Briefly testify of a time the Savior filled something in you that nothing else could. Point to the challenge and invite a closing prayer.

Class screen: 🌅 “Come, see a man, which told me all things” · Who is thirsty around you?

6. Wiggle break

Leave the Waterpot

2 minBONUS

A quick freeze game reviews the week’s moments and resets attention.

  1. SAY“When the music plays, walk around. When it stops, freeze. I’ll ask a quick question. The first frozen person with the answer calls the next round.”
  2. Tap Freeze Dance and ask one question per stop. Who came by night? What did the woman leave? What did she tell the town? What did Jesus call the temple?
  3. Play three or four rounds, then everyone sits.
🌪️ Feet stay on the floor. Walk, don’t run.
🧊 Freeze Dance (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 🏺 Music stops, you freeze, then answer fast! · Night visitor · Living water · Come and see

7. Game

Scripture Showdown: John 2–4

4 minBONUS

A quick team quiz reviews Cana, the temple, Nicodemus and the well.

  1. SAY“Two teams. You get ten seconds to confer on each question. Then answer.”
  2. Tap Scripture Showdown.
  3. The losing team decides whether the last question is worth double.
▶ Play Scripture Showdown on the web

Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown: John 2–4

Case study

Case Study: Riley at 1 a.m.

John 3:1–5; John 4:5–42; Jeremiah 2:13 ↗

Scenes

  1. 📱🌙 1:12 a.m. and still scrolling

    Riley is fifteen. It’s one-twelve in the morning on a school night. And she’s still scrolling. “One more video,” she tells herself. For the twentieth time. She isn’t even enjoying it anymore. She just can’t stop.

    🙌 Ask: “What is Riley actually thirsty for?”

  2. ❤️🔄 Forty likes and still empty

    Earlier that night she posted a picture and refreshed it thirty times. Forty likes. Her friend got two hundred on hers. Riley feels worse than before she posted.

    🙌 A youth reads Jeremiah 2:13. Ask: “What’s the broken cistern in Riley’s night?”

  3. 💬🤫 A midnight message: “Don’t tell anyone I asked”

    Then a message pops up. It’s from Sam, a girl in her math class who doesn’t go to church. “Random, but can I ask you something about your church? Don’t tell anyone I asked.”

    🙌 A youth reads John 3:1–2. Ask: “Why do you think Nicodemus came to Jesus at night?”

  4. 😶🤷 “Honestly? My parents believe it.”

    Sam asks, “Do you actually believe all of it?” Riley stares at the screen. Her first thought is, “My parents do.” She realizes she has never really found out for herself.

    🙌 A youth reads John 4:42. Ask: “What’s the difference between a borrowed testimony and your own?”

  5. ✍️🏃‍♀️ Riley types an honest answer

    Riley deletes three fake-sounding replies. Finally she types: “Honestly, I’m still figuring some of it out. But there’s a youth night Wednesday. Want to come and see?” Sam says, “Maybe. Yeah.”

    🙌 A youth reads John 4:29. Ask: “Did Riley need every answer to say ‘come and see’?”

  6. 🌅📖 The next morning

    That night, Riley plugs her phone in the kitchen instead of her room. Before school, she reads John 4 for the first time in weeks. Nothing big happens. But she feels calmer. And she wants to know more before Wednesday.

    🙌 Everyone reads John 4:14 together. Ask: “What would keep Riley’s well flowing?”

Key verse

John 4:14 ↗
“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
In plain words: Most things fill you up for five minutes. What Jesus gives doesn’t run out; it becomes a spring inside you that keeps going.
🙌 “Whosoever drinketh”: mime drinking from cupped hands. “Never thirst”: shake your head no. “A well of water”: hands over your heart. “Springing up”: fingers rise like a fountain. “Everlasting life”: arms open wide.

More verses

John 3:5 ↗
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
In plain words: Being born again starts with baptism and the Holy Ghost, then keeps going as the Savior changes you.
John 3:16 ↗
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
In plain words: The whole plan starts with love. God gave His Son so you wouldn’t be lost.
John 4:42 ↗
“Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves”
In plain words: Someone else’s testimony can start yours, but at some point you need to hear Him yourself.
Jeremiah 2:13 ↗
“they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”
In plain words: People trade the endless fountain for leaky tanks they dug themselves. We still do.

Forehead Guess words16 words

  • 💒 Cana
  • 🎉 Wedding
  • 🍷 Water into Wine
  • 🪙 Money-Changers
  • 🏛️ Temple
  • 🌙 Nicodemus
  • 👶 Born Again
  • 🌬️ Wind
  • 🗺️ Samaria
  • 🪣 Jacob’s Well
  • 🏺 Waterpot
  • 💧 Living Water
  • ✨ Messiah
  • 🙏 Worship
  • 🌊 Baptism
  • 🕊️ Holy Ghost
Clues for each word
  • Cana: Town where Jesus did His first miracle
  • Wedding: They ran out of wine here
  • Water into Wine: The beginning of miracles
  • Money-Changers: Their tables got overthrown
  • Temple: “My Father’s house”
  • Nicodemus: Pharisee who came by night
  • Born Again: What Jesus told Nicodemus he must be
  • Wind: You hear it but can’t see where it goes
  • Samaria: Region between Judea and Galilee
  • Jacob’s Well: Where Jesus sat down, tired, at noon
  • Waterpot: What the woman left behind
  • Living Water: Whoever drinks it never thirsts
  • Messiah: “I that speak unto thee am he”
  • Worship: Should be in spirit and in truth
  • Baptism: Being born of water
  • Holy Ghost: Being born of the Spirit
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown9 questions

  1. What did Jesus do at the wedding in Cana?
    • A. Healed the bride
    • B. Turned water into wine
    • C. Fed five thousand
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Turned water into wine John 2:1–11. John calls it the beginning of miracles.

  2. What did Jesus say about His Father’s house?
    • A. Make it bigger
    • B. Close it on the Sabbath
    • C. Don’t make it a house of merchandise
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Don’t make it a house of merchandise John 2:16. He drove out the sellers because the temple is sacred.

  3. When did Nicodemus first come to Jesus?
    • A. By night
    • B. At the wedding
    • C. On the Sabbath
    Show answer

    ✅ A. By night John 3:2. Later he defended Jesus and helped bury Him.

  4. Jesus said we must be born of water and of what?
    • A. Fire
    • B. The Spirit
    • C. The law
    Show answer

    ✅ B. The Spirit John 3:5. Baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

  5. According to John 3:17, why did God send His Son?
    • A. To condemn the world
    • B. To start a kingdom
    • C. That the world might be saved
    Show answer

    ✅ C. That the world might be saved He came to save, not to condemn.

  6. About what time did the woman come to the well?
    • A. The sixth hour, around noon
    • B. Midnight
    • C. Dawn
    Show answer

    ✅ A. The sixth hour, around noon John 4:6. Around midday.

  7. What did Jesus say His water becomes inside a person?
    • A. A river to the sea
    • B. A well springing up into everlasting life
    • C. A cup that never spills
    Show answer

    ✅ B. A well springing up into everlasting life John 4:14. A source that keeps flowing.

  8. What did the woman leave behind when she ran to town?
    • A. Her waterpot
    • B. Her sandals
    • C. Her scarf
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Her waterpot John 4:28. She found what she really came for.

  9. Why did many Samaritans end up believing?
    • A. They saw a sign
    • B. Their priests told them
    • C. They heard Jesus themselves
    Show answer

    ✅ C. They heard Jesus themselves John 4:42. Her witness started it; their own experience finished it.

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

From general conference

“Her past and present circumstances did not determine her future.”

— Susan H. Porter, “Lessons at the Well,” April 2022

Share in the Night Questions discussion, after the question about the woman at the well being fully known.

Read the talk ↗

Songs

  • I Know That My Redeemer Lives Hymns, no. 136

    A testimony hymn that fits “we have heard him ourselves.” Find it ↗

  • The Lord Is My Shepherd Hymns, no. 108

    Psalm 23’s Shepherd leads beside still waters. A good fit for John 4. Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Fill the Well, Not the Cup

Pick one leaky cup you reach for when you’re bored, lonely or stressed. Once a day this week, when you reach for it, spend two minutes with the living water first. Say a prayer, read a verse or play a hymn. Then notice what changes.

Text the parents

This week in class we read about Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well and Nicodemus coming to Him by night. A leaky cup showed why five-minute fixes never fill us up. Your teen is trying to reach for the Savior first when they’re bored or stressed. Ask them: what’s the difference between borrowing someone’s testimony and having your own?

📝 After class

What worked? Who needs a check-in this week? Jot it here on a printed copy, or in the app’s private class notes.

Got extra time?

👓 What’s Hard to See Through? · 5 min

  1. Read John 3:3 and 3:5. Without being born again, we can’t “see” or “enter” the kingdom of God.
  2. List attitudes that make it hard to see God’s kingdom, like pride and cynicism. Then list ones that help, like humility and honesty.
  3. Ask: “Which one on the hard list is sneakiest at our age?”

🪞 What Would He Say to Me? · 5 min

  1. Pairs read John 4:6–26 in chunks: verses 6–9, 10–14, 16–19, 21–24 and 25–26.
  2. For each chunk, they write what Jesus said to her. Then they write what He might say to them.
  3. Invite a few to share. For more, the manual recommends Susan H. Porter’s talk “Lessons at the Well.”

❤️ For God So Loved… · 3 min

  1. Read John 3:16–17 together, but say “me” in place of “the world.”
  2. Ask: “How does it change the verse when it’s personal?”
  3. Invite youth to share a time they felt God’s love through His Son.

🧹 Take These Things Hence · 4 min

  1. Read John 2:16. Split into two teams.
  2. Name a temple in their lives, like their phone, Sunday, body or room. Teams get twenty seconds to name one thing to take out and one to add.
  3. Point out that Jesus didn’t clean the temple because He hated the people. He did it because the place mattered. So do they.

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tap or click a reference to open it in Gospel Library. Start with the official Come, Follow Me manual; these ideas are here to help it come alive.

All Youth 14–15 lessons