December 13, 2020
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John 1:1-18
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christmas
Do you ever feel alone? Christmas is just around the corner, and for many people that means family, fun, and a few days spent in the company of the people we love. Except that, for some of us, Christmas time represents none of these things. For some, it will be a time of loneliness, trauma and great anguish. Many of us will spend this Christmas grieving for the people we’ve said goodbye to since last year. The parents we’ve lost. The friends. The children. Others may be reminded of insurmountable fractures in their familial relationships – the people we no longer speak to, the parties we can no longer in good conscience attend.
How can we experience the true light of Christmas this year? A light that overcomes our broken hearts and broken relationships? The apostle John tells us that Jesus came to light up our lives, so that we might know and be made right with God the Father. Jesus offers to be the Light of your life!
October 25, 2020
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John 17:13-26
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prayer
This week, we’re going to learn to pray, “Lord, send me,” agreeing with the Lord’s prayer in John 17.
“Lead us” and “deliver us.” This closing part of the Lord’s Model Prayer is aimed at us. It requests both direction and protection. It closes with the purpose for which we live: His kingdom and His glory according to His power, Amen. It is that part of the Lord’s Model Prayer that sends us out into the world! In John 17, Jesus prayed that His disciples would be sent into the world just as the Father had sent Him into the world. We can pray in agreement with Christ’s prayer that we are sent just as He was sent.
July 21, 2019
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John 4:1-42
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evangelism
We might summarize God’s plan for witnessing in four words: Pray, Presence, Power, Proclaim. God’s plan is that we are to pray, look for God’s presence, depend on God’s power, and proclaim God’s gospel. Today, we want to focus on the 4th and final step, Proclaim God’s Story, because there is no witness without words!
In the gospel according to John, Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah to a Samaritan woman drawing water at Jacob’s well outside the city of Sychar. After her encounter with Jesus, she immediately went back to her hometown to proclaim the story to everyone. We can proclaim the story of how we met Jesus.
May 19, 2019
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John 14:6
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jesus
What do you believe? Is Jesus the only way to God or not? How do we answer this question? Perhaps the best way is to look at what Jesus claims for Himself. What does Jesus say? In the gospel of John, Jesus told his disciples that they could only be made right with God by placing their trust in Him. We can understand why we can only be made right with God by placing our trust in Jesus.
July 1, 2018
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John 13:34-35
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three commitments
We live in a time when it is easier to stay in touch, but people are still starving for a personal touch.What’s the solution to our increasing loneliness? A loving relationship with Jesus and through Him a loving relationship with one another. Jesus invites us to follow Him and belong to His family. In the gospel of John, Christ gave a new commandment to His disciples to love one another just as He loved them, demonstrating their heart for each other. As His disciples, we can follow Christ’s new commandment and have a heart for each other.
March 25, 2018
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John 12:12-19
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palm Sunday
When Jesus made his entrance on that day, it was the first day of Passover Week. Great numbers of Jews had traveled from all over the Roman Empire to celebrate this annual Jewish festival. A great crowd greeted Jesus as he entered Jerusalem responding to him with chanting and waving of palm branches. They greeted him in a manner befitting a king, but before the week was out, the crowd would curse him as a criminal.
Did you know that your response to Jesus is the most important decision you’ll ever make? You can follow the crowd, or you can make a decision based on the witness of the Scriptures and of those who follow Jesus, or you can make decision based on what the crowd says. But be sure of this: There is a right way and a wrong way to respond to Jesus, and how you respond makes all the difference in the world, and in eternity.
In the gospel according to John, John wrote about how the people responded to Jesus as He made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the first day of passion week. We can rightly respond to Jesus as we consider how He fulfilled what was written about Him.
January 14, 2018
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John 15:1-8
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goals
We have goals like: I want to be happy. We even tell our kids, “I just want you to be happy.” Or we have goals to be rich or to own a bigger house or a new car. Older people might be concerned about leaving their mark, having a legacy. But God wants you to be fruitful. And the only way to do this is through Jesus.
The gospel of John records that after the last supper, Jesus walked with his disciples out of Jerusalem towards the Garden of Gethsemane, telling them the parable of the vine and the branches along the way. In this parable, Jesus taught them that his goal for them was to abide in him that they might be fruitful. We can fulfill Christ’s goal for our lives to be fruitful by abiding in Him.
April 2, 2017
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John 19:28-30
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crucifixion, jesus
Do you ever feel defeated? Have you ever felt as if you were a failure at everything? School, work, marriage, parenting, etc? Do you ever feel defeated by sin? Like certain sins continue to beset you? Jesus took what looked like complete failure and turned it into total triumph!
In the Gospel of John, Jesus let out a triumphant cry from the cross that He had finished the work of salvation. This salvation is a finished work, yet we still have to respond to it.
March 26, 2017
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John 19:28-29
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crucifixion, jesus
Are you thirsty today? Would you admit your thirst? What are you thirsty for? What desire goes unsatisfied, so that you thirst for it always? As Americans, we rarely go thirsty for basic needs. Food, water, clothing, housing… most of us have these needs met. Yet, our thirst remains. Have you tried to quench your thirst with material things? You spend money you do not have to purchase things that will not satisfy. Yet, the thirst remains, so you keep spending. You thirst for love and relationship, so you give your body away, and settle for sexual lust rather than waiting for covenantal love. So your thirst remains. We thirst for significance, for meaning, for happiness, yet the more we have, the more we drink from every worldly fountain, the more we thirst!
Jesus cried out with the constant cry of all humanity, “I thirst.” Jesus took on our thirst that we might be satisfied. He poured out his life that we might be filled.
March 12, 2017
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John 19:16-27
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crucifixion, jesus, relationships
Have you ever wondered whether God cares? Especially asking, “Does God care for me?” I’ve heard some say, “I’m sure God has better things to do than care about my little problems. Shouldn’t He be busy solving world hunger or peace on earth?” What do you think? Does God care for the details of your little life? Or is He too busy running the universe? In this third word from the cross, we will realize how much God cares for us. He cares for the big stuff and He cares for the little stuff too. There’s no detail too small for His loving care. In the third saying of Jesus from the cross found in the gospel of John, Jesus revealed the loving care that He had for His mother. We can know the loving care that Jesus has for us.