Jesus is careful to tell his disciples that the world will be resistant the gospel message. If the world hated Jesus, they will also hate those who follow him. This rub comes when his followers refuse to give full allegiance to anything other than Jesus. In the midst of this, Jesus reminds them that he has intentionally left them in the world to testify about him. While the world resists and even hates, Jesus calls his disciples to engage and even love.
May 12, 2024•43 min
Intimacy with God and obedience to him are inextricably bound together. If we want the full life that comes from seeing and knowing God, then we have to follow his commands. And if we want to follow his commands, we must grow in our love for him. Thankfully, we have been given the Spirit as an advocate to help us grow in our love for God and thus pursue his ways. To continually form and direct us, the Spirit teaches us and reminds us of all that Jesus has said and done.
May 05, 2024•40 min
True and full life only comes from intimacy with God. And the only way to access this kind of relationship is through Jesus. In him, we discover new creation truth and life that makes the original relationship of God and humanity possible again. Though we await this experience in it fullness, we have it now through Jesus. It is the only way to have full life in this broken world.
Apr 28, 2024•35 min
The gospel of John winds down with the beautiful story of Peter's restoration by Jesus. Peter is led to feel the weight of his sin so he can feel the even greater weight of God's grace. The forgiveness offered through Jesus overcomes our shame, sets us back on course, and transforms us to live in light of the gospel.
Apr 21, 2024•45 min
Thomas is famously and wrongly demeaned for doubt. In fact, what Jesus warns Thomas about is how to process doubt. We are all constantly moving either toward belief or unbelief. So it matters profoundly where we intentionally place ourselves to engage our questions. The church is meant to be a place where we can ask honest questions and pursue the resurrected Jesus together.
Apr 14, 2024•41 min
As Mary stands outside the tomb, twice she is asked, "Why are you crying?" Of course she is upset about Jesus, but also about what she has lost - a new life and a new identity. But with the sound of her name from the lips of Jesus, everything changes. Mary's identity is settled, her eyes are opened to see a bigger pictures and she is given a renewed vocation as a witness to the resurrection and victory of Jesus.
Apr 08, 2024•33 min
The resurrection of Jesus is not just a Christian doctrine or even simply a fact. It is the central truth to a whole new reality of life. The resurrection of Jesus means new creation. Ever the master storyteller, John makes poignant connections between the original creation and the implications of Jesus resurrection. Sin and death are defeated. Shame is gone and God is near again.
Mar 31, 2024•34 min
As Jesus welcomed the disciples to the table, he also bowed low to humbly wash their feet. But it wasn't feet he was actually offering to wash. It was hearts. Jesus has invited everyone to his table, but in order to be with him we have to be washed clean. This would ultimately happen on the cross for anyone who would confess him as Savior. Do you understand what he was done for you?
Mar 29, 2024•27 min
Upon his entry into Jerusalem, Jesus embraces the hoped fo- posture of an incoming Messianic king of Israel. However, as John has reminded us form the beginning, Jesus follows God's plans not those of men. And so, Jesus comes on a donkey announcing peace not judgment and spreads his arms open wide to the whole world, not just the Jewish nation. He accomplishes this mission of peace for the whole world by laying his life down as a sacrifice to overthrow the great oppressor of sin and defeat the g...
Mar 24, 2024•38 min
As much as Jesus loved Lazarus, he also hates death and all the chaos it brings to our lives and world. Yet, he cares for Martha and Mary in very specific ways to meet their personal needs. In raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus is engaging a direct battle with death (and sin) which will cost him his very life. Ultimately, Jesus raises Lazarus so he can take his place in the tomb and conquer death once and for all.
Mar 17, 2024•36 min
Jesus is moved by his love for Lazarus and his sisters to help him. However, if that is true, then why did he make the strange choice to wait a few days before going to them? He wants people to believe. Not just in the future or the abstract, but believe in him. When Jesus says that he is the resurrection, he is boldly declaring that he is God and he is pulling the future final kingdom right into the present.
Mar 10, 2024•42 min
Sheep are at their core incredible helpless and incredibly valuable. That's why they need a shepherd. As humans, we inherently know that we are sheep in need of a sheered. The question is which shepherd will we give ourselves to? As the Good Shepherd, Jesus reminds us that we already belong to him. He has named us and leads us because he loves us, even to the point of laying down his life for us.
Mar 03, 2024•43 min
John sets Jesus' miraculous healing of a blind man right in the midst of the continuing unbelief of the religious leaders. Their pride left them unable to see the scope of the human problem and unable to see Jesus for who he is. This is spiritual blindness, a far more crippling disability than that of the man. Jesus was offering healing to both, but it is only experienced through genuine faith.
Feb 27, 2024•43 min
When Jesus tells his Jewish audience that they can experience freedom, they are quick to dismiss him. As children of Abraham, they are already free. However, Jesus tells that that they are enslaved to sin. This is the human condition. But true freedom can be found when we remain in Jesus' teaching. He shows us who we are and how we are meant to live.
Feb 18, 2024•38 min
Jesus' brother encourage him to go to Jerusalem during the feast and gather a crowd and further his ministry. John tells us they say this because they don't believe in him. They want Jesus to prove himself. On the other hand, Jesus is seeking the glory of the Father, not his own. He speaks the words and follows the timing of the Father. For this reason, he is eminently trustworthy. As sent disciples, we are sent by Jesus just like he was sent by the Father. So we seek only his glory, not our own...
Feb 11, 2024•29 min
Though the miracle of feeding 5,000 is a blessing to the crowds, its intent is largely for Jesus' disciples. It is an invitation to join him in the new and ultimate exodus he is launching. In the past people ate miraculous bread in the wilderness, but now the bread maker is with the people. And he offers bread that will satisfy our true hunger and bring the full life.
Feb 05, 2024•36 min
Jesus intentionally crosses paths with a Samaritan woman at a well and offers her living water that would quench her thirst. Is he really capable of digging a better well than Jacob? Jesus offers full access to God who no longer is restricted to a holy mountain. Jesus is the better well that meets the deeper thirsts of our soul. His offer of living water is available to all who would believe.
Jan 21, 2024•40 min
John lets us eavesdrop on a private conversation between Jesus and a religious leader named Nicodemus who wants to know if Jesus is the promised Messiah. Jesus confounds him by saying he cannot know unless he is born again. While Nicodemus, like many religious people, spent his time building a resume fr morality and external performance, his true problem was internal. Jesus shows us all that our only hope for new and full life is a rebirth from above that brings a new heart.
Jan 14, 2024•42 min
Jesus' miraculous turning of water into wine at the wedding in Cana serves as the perfect opening to the ministry of Jesus in the gospel of John. Far more than simply meeting a temporary need for wine, this story sets forth all that Jesus intends to do. Namely, he is here to launch a new covenant that will enable new creation allowing broken, unclean people like us to be in relationship with God.
Dec 31, 2023•37 min
The incarnation is a grand invitation to come and see Jesus for who he really is and what he intends to do. He does not fore himself on us, instead he asks us what it is that we want and invites us to come and be with him. This invitation is for those who believe and those who are skeptical. And it comes with a promise to enlighten and transform us.
Dec 24, 2023•39 min
The whole ministry of John the Baptist was about pointing people to Jesus. He was a voice, but Jesus was the Word. In the same way, the church functions today as a forerunner of the second advent of Jesus.
Dec 17, 2023•39 min
The incarnation is the stunning truth that God himself came to the mess of this earth in order to set it to rights. The Word became flesh and moved into our neighborhood. Inherent in this truth is the offer of forgiveness from God to humanity. Moreover, it announces his intent to dwell with his people forever. The questions John asks us are do we recognize him and will we receive him?
Dec 10, 2023•39 min
John identities Jesus as the Word. In the Old Testament, the word of God was the active power of God in revelation, creation and salvation. This is exactly who Jesus is - the embodiment of the revelation, creation, and salvation of God. And it is exactly who Jesus needs to be if he is going to be able to bring restoration to the problem of our world.
Dec 03, 2023•38 min
Among the last things Jesus called his followers to do was to make disciples. A disciple is someone who is following Jesus with all of their life. Making disciples means being intentional about seeing our lives multiplied in others. This should inform everything we do in life.
Nov 27, 2023•40 min
One of the last things Jesus called his disciples was "witnesses." This identity has it roots all the way back into the Old Testament and God's intent for his people. Though the resurrection of Jesus, we are eyewitnesses to the new creation in our lives. So, we reclaim this identity as God's people sharing and living our stories of transformation in our spheres of influence and in so doing bearing witness to his power and salvation.
Nov 19, 2023•37 min
Using imagery from the Old Testament, Peter tells the scattered church that we are a priesthood. As priests we are a worshiping, mediating, exemplary collective. In other words, our purpose is first and foremost to worship God. But in lives of worship, we are also bring God near to others and bring them near to him while we live differently as an example of what God's kingdom ought to look like. This is not a individual call, but a corporate one - we do it together.
Nov 12, 2023•40 min
As adopted children of God, we are heirs of the full bounty of his kingdom. We have been given the Spirit of God as a guarantee of this full inheritance. This means we experience it now in part, but ultimately we will have it in its fullness. At the core, our inheritance is a vital, sustaining relationship with God himself and all the glory that comes from it. Our certainty in this full inheritance allows us to go without and even suffer in this present life.
Nov 05, 2023•41 min
In his loving grace and joy, God chose to redeem us, forgive us, and adopt us into his family through Christ! Our identity and purpose are no longer slaves to sin and fear but instead are alive again because of Jesus.
Oct 29, 2023•36 min
How did the harmony and idealism of creation descend into chaos? Humanity rejected its God-given identity in pursuit of another one. Rather than be content as image bearers, we want to be like God. At the core of this reach is a lack of belief in the trustworthiness and goodness of God. And the result is damaging to every single relationship within creation. Our only hope of restoration is in a good and trustworthy God.
Oct 22, 2023•37 min
In creating humanity, God has given us a clear purpose. We are called to fill the earth by displaying his character and glory in our lives. We are called to subdue creation by ruling and cultivating it like God intends. A major way we do this is through our vocations. And we are called to enjoy the creation along with our Creator. This is what it means to be human.
Oct 15, 2023•37 min
