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The Greatest Man Meets the Greatest Lamb - John 1:19-34

Taught on | Topic: John the Baptist | Keywords: the Baptist, baptize, baptism

Everyone is good at something, maybe even great at something. Maybe you're a great artist or a great mom or even a great leader. Jesus said that John the Baptizer was the greatest man who had ever lived (Matt. 11:11). But John knew Jesus to be the greatest One ever—past, present and future - the Sacrificial Lamb sent to remove sin. Today we discover from John the Baptist how to witness for Christ and we look at the identity and the activity of this most unusual man.

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12/6/2009
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The Greatest Man Meets the Greatest Lamb
John 1:19-34
Skip Heitzig
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Everyone is good at something, maybe even great at something. Maybe you're a great artist or a great mom or even a great leader. Jesus said that John the Baptizer was the greatest man who had ever lived (Matt. 11:11). But John knew Jesus to be the greatest One ever—past, present and future - the Sacrificial Lamb sent to remove sin. Today we discover from John the Baptist how to witness for Christ and we look at the identity and the activity of this most unusual man.
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43 John - Believe:879 - 2009

43 John - Believe:879 - 2009

"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" John 20:31.

Believe:879 is an epic journey through the book of John led by Pastor Skip Heitzig of Calvary of Albuquerque. As we explore each of the 879 verses of this gospel, we'll grow in grace and in our knowledge of Jesus Christ. From His pre-incarnate existence, to His public ministry, through His death and His resurrection we'll traverse familiar territory and embark on new adventures of faith.

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Read John's Profile on Believe879.com

  1. The Identity of John the Baptist (vss. 19-23)

    1. Negatively:

      1. Not Messiah

      2. Not Elijah

      3. Not "The Prophet"

    2. Positively: "The voice of one crying..."


  2. The Activity of John the Baptist (vss. 24-34)

    1. Putting People Under Water

    2. Pointing People to the Savior


For Home Fellowships:

  1. How does one go about discovering the purpose of his/her life? Can you say why you are here on this earth based on the gifts and callings of God?

  2. Why is knowing what you are not as important as knowing what you are?

  3. How do you witness to others around you? How vocal are you? In what ways does your life specifically point to Jesus?

Detailed Notes

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Everyone is good at something, maybe even great at something. Maybe you’re a great artist or a great mom or even a great leader. Jesus said that John the Baptizer was the greatest man who had ever lived (Matt. 11:11). But John knew Jesus to be the greatest One ever—past, present and future—the Sacrificial Lamb sent to remove sin. Today we discover from John the Baptist how to witness for Christ and we look at the identity and the activity of this most unusual man.

Great means considerably above average, remarkable, one who stands out from the crowd. While we may think of John as eccentric, odd, unconventional, out or the ordinary, Jesus says none is greater than John the Baptist. The way he lived and the choices he made made John great.  Great people decide what is important and put their focus on that.  

How can we represent Christ in an unbelieving world? What can we do to promote Christ?

  1. The Identity of John the Baptist (vss. 19-23)- A delegation is sent from the Sanhedrin (70 leaders in charge of the nations spiritual welfare)to find out who John is.  They want to protect the people form false messiahs. Multitudes were going to John for baptism and that drew lots of interest. The term "Jews" is used 71 times by John, more than the other 3 gospels combined.  He refers to them legally not racially, as a group of leaders hostile toward Jesus. Priests and Levites made up the delegation. John's father, Zacharias, was a priest, so John was a "pk" - a preacher's kid. He was a "pk" gone rogue.  He didn't just perform rituals he preached. So the delegation came to find out who he was.
    1. Negatively:
      1. Not Messiah- the delegation thought he may be the messiah, because of the heightened expectation for the messiah's imminent arrival. According to Abba Hillel Silver in the book "The History of Messianic Speculation in Israel," the messiah was expected in the second quarter of the first century CE.
      2. Not Elijah- The way he looked and the way he acted made them think of 2 Kings 8 and Malachi 4. There was a prediction that Elijah would come before the Messiah.  Even at the Passover there is still a chair left empty for Elijah.  The problem of Matthew 11, Jesus said "this is Elijah", but John said he is not.  The angel told Zacharias he would come in the "spirit and power of Elijah." John came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and Elijah-like forerunner.   Partially fulfilled the prophecy, but the real Elijah will come before the great tribulation, possibly one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11.
      3. Not “The Prophet”- According to Ancient Jewish writings Isaiah or Jeremiah would come to restore the ark of the covenant, or could refer to Deuteronomy 18: 15, "another prophet like Moses", the Messiah himself.
    2. Positively: “The voice of one crying…”- "I am the voice, not the word, the voice; a nobody telling you about a somebody; a road worker, getting the path straight for you to walk on. He could have said, "I'm the son of Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb, the greatest guy who ever lived," but he did not, he just said "I'm the messenger."
      1. Early years- John was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, a miraculous birth. On the day the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and announced his birth, he asked for a sign and couldn't speak for those 9 months. When Mary visited Elizabeth while pregnant, John the Baptist leapt for joy in her womb.
      2. Teenager, later years- John took a Nazarite vow, uncut hair, didn't touch defiled things, consumed nothing of the vine. John lived an uncontaminated life so the message could be preached clearly.
  2. The Activity of John the Baptist (vss. 24-34)
    1. Putting People under Water - baptism.  Not a Christian ritual, but rooted in Judaism. When a gentile converted they had to receive instruction, circumcision and baptism. It was ritualistic cleansing, a sign of leaving the old life to become Jewish. Baptizing those who were Jews was an outward sign of repentance.
    2. Pointing People to the Savior - John put the spotlight on Jesus.  He was in essence saying, "I am not the issue, He is the issue." John and Jesus were cousins, and because of their family relationship we can place even more weight on his witness for Christ. He was saying Jesus is God. He existed before He came to earth. He was referred to as the Son of God, a name for deity. John called him the Lamb of God, but the people were looking for a lion-like king. People don't use lambs to protect themselves. As the son of a priest using the term lamb spoke of sacrifice. (Lambs to the slaughter, Isaiah 53, and the Passover.)  People say Jesus is a good teacher, but that is not why he came, a miracle worker, but that is not why he came, the ultimate example, but not why He came.  Jesus was not what they wanted, but what they needed.
How can we make our lives count?
  1. Be aware - know who you are, and who you are not. You are not the messiah, you are not the answer, but you can take people to the one who is.
  2. Be vocal - be a voice. Tell people the gospel, don't be just an example the word needs a voice, the message needs a messenger.
  3. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist was filled from the womb, he was bold and faithful.
  4. Be a signpost pointing people to Jesus. It's not about me, point people to the real Jesus, the lamb who died for our sins.
Publications Referenced: "The History of Messianic Speculation in Israel," by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver.
Cross References: Deuteronomy 18:15, 2 Kings 8, Isaiah, 53, Malachi 4, Matthew 17:10, Luke 1:15, John 1:6,7,15,  Revelation 11

Transcript

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Believe: 879. How far will you go to find the truth? He is among us.

Thank You Father for this time we have together as we study Your Word. We believe that this Book is inspired of God, written by humans but super-intended by the Holy Spirit so that we're reading the Words of God. And as we apply them to our lives, moreover as Your Spirit makes application to our lives, we are changed week-by-week, day-by-day, and we thank You for that and we pray that, that would indeed be the case with us who are sitting here. In Jesus' name, amen.

If you were to look up at the word "great" in the Webster's Dictionary, the definition would be "considerably above normal or above average." Another definition would be "remarkable."

A person who is great is someone who stands out from the rest of the crowd. I was reading a little article that said 92 percent of baseball players who sign a professional contract with a professional team, 92 percent never see a single major league game.

Now I read it in Harper's Magazine, I don't know how reliable that is but if that is the case, that would mean that only eight percent who signed the contract would be considered great baseball players. And sometimes you'll find the word "great" attached to a name as if it's a formal name, like Alexander the Great or in the Bible, Herod the Great. And I discovered in searching: 142 different people had the name "great" attached to them. "I'm so and so...the great."

Now whenever a person adds that term to their own name connoting and denoting that they are great, it also connotes that everybody else around them is not so great. I heard about a man who went to a psychiatrist and said, "Doctor, I have an inferiority complex." Doctor ran a bunch of tests on him and said, "Well, we've ran the test and it's not a complex. You really are inferior."

And most people would never think of John the Baptist in terms of the word "great." The first word that comes to mind for a lot of people when they think of John the Baptist are words like "eccentric," "odd," "strange," "out of the ordinary," "unconventional," "interesting" perhaps but not "great." And yet, it was Jesus himself who said, "I tell you of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John." It's quite a statement because John's life wasn't very long. In fact it was short. His ministry was not very extensive. It was in one small little Middle East region. But the way he lived his life and the choices that he made, this man was great.

I'm going to read to you a paragraph, it comes from a business review, the New York Insurance Company, business review, "Great men," it says, "have but a few hours to be great. Like the rest of us, they must dress, bathe, and eat. And being human, they must make visits to the dentist, doctor, and barber, and meet with their wives about domestic matters. What makes men great is their ability to decide what is important and then focus their attention on that."

That's exactly what John the Baptist does. He decides what is important and he puts all of his focus and attention on that, and it's all summed up by what he's going to say in the paragraphs that we read this morning, when John says, "Behold the Lamb of God."

Now we've already touched on John briefly in the Gospel of John. He's mentioned in verse six and seven. And when John says, the author John says of John the Baptist, "There was a man sent from God whose name was John." We also read about him in verse 15 but now the prologue is over. And now we come to the real story as it is told of John the Baptist. And I think what we're going to discover this morning hopefully, the big lesson is how can we witness for Christ, or how can we represent Jesus Christ before an unbelieving world? How can we make a difference? How can our life be an impactful life? So that we're doing more than just breathing air and taking up space on earth. What can I significantly do that would promote Christ as a witness? Now to do that, we got to do two things and they're in your outline.

The first is about your identity and the second is about your activity. And we'll discover that using John the Baptist as the mirror. We get John the Baptist's identity and his activity. Let's go to verse 19 and we'll see the identity of John the Baptist.

"Now this is the testimony of John. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?' He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, 'I am not the Messiah.'' The same idea as the word Christ.

"And they asked him, 'What then? Are you Elijah?' He said, 'I am not.' 'Are you the Prophet?' He said, 'No.' And they said to him, 'Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?' And he said: 'I am "The voice of one crying in the wilderness; Make straight the way of the Lord."'"

So there's John the Baptizer down at the Jordan River baptizing—we'll get to that activity in just a moment, but a delegation comes from Jerusalem to find out who this guy is and why he's doing what he's doing.

Now, the group responsible for sending the delegation was called the Sanhedrin. You've heard that term maybe. The Sanhedrin was a group of 70 rulers in Jerusalem who were in charge of the spiritual warfare—I should—maybe that is true, welfare of the nation. They wanted to protect the nation from any false messiah that might arise. The only problem with that is in protecting the nation from all of the false messiahs, they protected the nation from the real Messiah who would come.

And so, they sent out a delegation because John the Baptist was getting quite a crowd following him. Multitudes of people were going down and people were listening to him and watching him. Now I doubt if anybody went out to the Rio Grande River and started baptizing people that they would draw that big of a crowd. But because of the times they were living in and because of the amount of people that drew interest, now the religious community is interested.

And there's a term I want you to notice in verse 19. You'll need to notice it now because you'll see it a lot in this book. It's the word "Jews." Jews. It's used 71 times by John in this book. More than Matthew, Mark, and Luke combined. But when John uses the term "the Jews," he is not speaking racially, he's speaking formally or legally. He's not referring to nationality, as much as John is referring to the group of Jewish leaders in Jerusalem who were hostile toward Jesus. After all, everybody around them in the baptism were Jewish. But "the Jews" here occupies a specific meaning of those hostile toward Christ.

You'll notice also in verse 19, "priests and Levites." Those are the people in the delegation to find out who John was. They were priests and they were Levites. Now that makes sense because John's dad was a priest, Zacharias, who worked in the temple. John was of the priestly line. This makes John the Baptist a PK, do you know what a PK is? It's a priest's kid, in this context. He was the son of a priest. He was a PK, a preacher's kid.

But John the Baptist was a preacher's kid gone rogue. He had left Jerusalem and he's now a preacher out in the desert and Levites and priests never preached. They just performed rituals, not John. They want to find out what his deal is. So they asked him a question, "Who are you?" And it's interesting that they asked him the question and John answers it by telling them first who he's not before he tells them who he is. He answers it negatively and then he goes positively.

So he wants to immediately set their minds at rest and he says, "I am not the Messiah." You know why he said that, because they thought he was the Messiah. And the reason they thought John might be their Messiah, their Christ, is there was such a high level of anticipation that the Messiah would come imminently in their generation.

And here's why. For years, the Jewish people had suffered at the hands of those who enslaved them: the Greeks, the Seleucids, the Ptolemies, and now the Romans. Before that, they had been taken captive in Babylon and Assyria. And so, they had for generations suffered the enslavement of people over them. They were crying out for a deliverer. And historians tell us that just about this time in history, Messianic expectation reached fever pitch.

I'm going to quote to you a book that I found, a little book called The History of Messianic Speculation in Israel written by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver. Listen to this quote: "Prior to the first century of the Christian Era, the Messianic interest was not excessive. The first century, however, especially the generation before the destruction of the second temple [that's right here, right now] witnessed a remarkable outburst of Messianic emotionalism. And when Jesus came into Galilee, spreading the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, 'The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand,' he was voicing the opinion universally held that the age of the kingdom of God was at hand." Listen to this closing statement. "The Messiah was expected around the second quarter of the first century of the Christian Era right at this time."

So he says, "Just to, just to clear the air, I am not the guy, the Messiah." So they asked him another question, "Well, are you Elijah?" Now why would they ask him that? Well, one reason is the way he looked and the way he acted. He was so bold in his confrontation and the way he dressed. I don't know if you remember Elijah's description in 2 Kings chapter eight. It says he was a hairy man who wore a belt, a leather belt around his waist. So that was Elijah, hairy, with a belt around his waist.

John the Baptist comes wearing camel's hair clothing with a leather belt around his waist. So they go, "Are you Elijah?" Well Elijah has been dead. Why would they ask a guy now if he's Elijah. And here's why. The last chapter of the last book of the Old Testament predicts that Elijah would come before the Messiah. The last paragraph, God says, "I will send my messenger, Elijah, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord." That is why even to this day, you can't go to a Passover feast, a Seder feast, but that you won't see an empty chair for Elijah, just in case he shows up at your Passover which would indicate the Messiah is here or coming.

Now, he says, "I am not Elijah." "Are you Elijah?" "I'm not Elijah." Well now we have a problem. And if you're a Bible student, you know what that problem is. Because in Matthew 11, Jesus said of John the Baptist, "This is Elijah who is to come." So you got Jesus saying of John the Baptist, "That's Elijah," and you got John the Baptist saying, "I'm not Elijah."

Moreover, before John the Baptist was ever born, his father Zacharias got a message from an angel saying, "You're going to have a son named John and he will come in the spirit and in the power of Elijah." So how do we resolve it? Well, let's see how. Let's go, turn back to Matthew chapter 17 briefly. Keep a marker where you are and go back to Matthew chapter 17.

I wanted to bring this up because I knew I would get questions about it afterwards. So to avoid that, I'll just answer them right here. Matthew chapter 17, verse 10: "And his disciples asked him saying, 'Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?'" Now watch this. "Jesus answered and said, 'Indeed Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.'" That's future tense. He's saying, "Elijah as predicted by Malachi is going to come." That's what the prophecy says. "'But I say unto you [verse 12] that Elijah has come already and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise, the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.' And then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptist."

Do you see what's happening? John the Baptist came not as the person of Elijah but as the angel said in the spirit and power of Elijah. He was an Elijah-like forerunner of Christ. And so, Jesus is saying, "Yup, he partially fulfilled that, but he didn't totally fulfill it." The real person of the prophet Elijah is going to come. And when is he going to come? Well the prophecy says in Malachi four, "before the great and dreadful day of the Lord."

Now, that's future. That's the great tribulation. And I submit to you my opinion that one of the two witnesses recorded in Revelation chapter 11 is Elijah the prophet. You just read what he does and what he says and it's very much like what Elijah said and did in the Old Testament.

So John denies it, "I am not the Messiah," back at John chapter one. "I am not Elijah." They ask him a third question, "Are you—," verse 21, "Are you the Prophet?" What prophet? Answer: the Prophet. I don't know which one it is. "'The Prophet,' and he answered 'No.'"

Now I say I don't know who it is but I can give you a couple guesses. According to some of the ancient Jewish writings, there was this idea that right before Messiah comes, Jeremiah the prophet or Isaiah the prophet would be resurrected and show up in Israel and restore the ark of the covenant to its proper place of worship in the temple. Maybe they were referring to one of those prophets as the prophet.

Here's another stab at its meaning. Deuteronomy 18, verse 15, Moses said, "The Lord God will send another Prophet like me, him shall you hear." Now we believe that and the disciples knew that meant the Messiah Himself, the Prophet who would be the Christ. But these Jewish leaders thought "the Prophet" was some other prophet who would come before the Messiah.

So by this point, they're just frustrated at John's very short negative answer. "Are you the Messiah?" "Nope." "Elijah?" "Um-mm." "The Prophet?" "Nope." And so they press him a little bit. Verse 22, "They said to him, 'Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?'" Now he'll answer their question. He won't tell them who he's not; he'll tell them who he is. I love his answer. I love it. Verse 23, he said to them, "I am—." And they probably move forward like, "Yeah? Yeah?" And he gives them the answer, "I am the voice." "That's it?" "Yup, I'm the voice. I'm not the Word, He's the Word. I'm just the voice of the Word. I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness. I'm a nobody. But I'm telling you about a Somebody. I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness," quoting Isaiah chapter 40, reaching back 700 years. "Make straight the way of the Lord." Don't you love that? "I'm just a road worker," John said. "I'm, I'm helping get that path straight that you need to walk on, to get your lives straight with God. That's all I am."

Well, John could have answered that question in a number of ways, couldn't he? Based upon what we know about him or what Jesus said about him. He could have said, "You want to know who I am, I'll tell you who I am. I am the son of the great priest Zacharias whom you know." They would have gone, "Wow, that's pretty cool." He didn't say that. He could have said, "I'll tell you who I am. I am the child who was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb; none of you can say that." And they would have said, "Wow!" John could have said, "You want to know who I am? I'm the greatest guy who ever lived." And he would have been right. Jesus said that about him. "I'm the herald of the Messiah." But in humility, he says, "I'm just a voice. I'm not the message. I'm just the messenger. The message, the Word is Jesus. I am the messenger."

Now, I want to give you a quick thumbnail sketch of John the Baptist so we can get background so we can just move on in this book. Let me just tell you about his early years. His dad was a priest, Zacharias. His mom was named Elizabeth. Both of them were old and childless and beyond the capability of bearing children. It was a miraculous birth.

When Zacharias, his dad, was performing his ritual in the temple of burning incense, as he was doing that one day, the angel Gabriel appeared to him, the big dog angel, and says, "Zacharias, you and your wife Elizabeth are going to have a son, and he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers," and gave a prophecy of John the Baptist.

Well, Zacharias sees the angel Gabriel, hears the words, and he goes, "I don't believe it." Isn't that interesting? "I want a sign." "You want a what? What is an angel talking to you?" So he says, "You want a sign, I'll give you a sign." And he struck him dumb so that he couldn't speak for nine months while his wife was pregnant. So he gets out of the temple. He's all excited as what he's seen and all he can do is go, "Mmm-mmm-mmm."

Meanwhile, and months later when Mary, the Virgin Mary, now conceived by the Holy Spirit with a little baby growing in her womb, goes to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias. As Mary goes to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, as soon as she calls out her name and comes into her house, Elizabeth, who would be the mother of John the Baptist, she's now five to six months pregnant at that time, said to Mary, "As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ear, the babe leapt for joy in my womb." That was John the Baptist. Little John the Baptist in the womb, "Yahoo!"

Well eventually, John was born. And when he was born and they asked the dad, "What are we going to name him?" They expected to hear Zacharias (you name him after the father) Zach, Junior. He scribbles out on a tablet: John. That's what the angel said, "Name him." He's not going to mess with the angel anymore. John. Well as soon as they named him that, he could speak, and this is what he said, Zacharias said, "And you my little son will be called the prophet of the Most High because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through the forgiveness of their sins." That's quite a unique upbringing.

Now, that was John as a baby. Later on, he grew up and he became a teenager, and things began to change as a teenager. Now, I can just hear the conversation. I like to just sort of humanize it and modernize it. Can you just hear? One day Zacharias and Elizabeth are having a conversation. "Honey, have you been watching how John is dressing? I mean camel's hair, come on." "Oh honey, don't worry about it. All the kids are doing it. It's just the way it goes. Leave it alone."

But John became more eccentric and was drawn toward the deserts of Judea, not the priesthood like his father, but the deserts. Moreover, we believe that John took a special vow outlined in the Old Testament book of Numbers, you can look it up later, called the Nazirite Vow, a vow of dedication. Under the Nazirite regulations, John had to let his hair grow. He could never cut his hair, so you can imagine what he would look like as he grew up never cutting his hair. He could never touch anything that would defile him like a dead person. So if his dad died, he couldn't even go to the funeral. And he couldn't have anything from the vine. He couldn't drink wine. He couldn't eat raisins. He couldn't eat grapes. It was a strict vow of separation. John lived an uncontaminated life and he wanted to do that because he wanted nothing to hinder the message he was going to preach. And if there was ever a reason for any preacher not to do certain things that are questionable, that's the reason: to live an uncontaminated life so the message can be preached in a very clear and undiluted manner. That was John, a voice crying in the wilderness. That's his identity. Let's look at his activity.

Verse 24, "Those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, 'Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?' And John answered them, saying, 'I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, [or exists or has existed before I did, even though John was older] whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.' These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing."

So we're told about his activity. He was baptizing people. He was putting them in the water. And here's what you ought to know about this background of baptizing. Baptism is not a Christian ritual. It didn't originate in Christianity but in Judaism. And when a Gentile wanted to become Jewish or they proselytize into the Jewish faith, so let's say you're a Pagan Gentile and you've come to believe in the God of Israel and you want to worship him, that's called a proselyte, a convert.

Three things were required: Number one, instruction by the scribes. They give you truth, Bible studies. Number two, you had to be circumcised if you were a male, and number three, you had to be baptized in a ritualistic cleansing that spoke of the moment you were baptized, leaving the old way of life and becoming a citizen of the Jewish community.

Well now, that's the problem. Because John the Baptizer is at the Jordan River and the people around him are not Gentiles but Jews, and he's baptizing not Gentiles coming into Judaism, but he's baptizing Jews. "Who are you? And if you're not the Messiah, why are you doing this?" And I love John's answer. He just sort of dismisses the whole water baptism thing. "I'm baptizing with water. But there's One standing among you whom you don't know." And later on, he says He will baptize with the Holy Spirit. You'll see that.

So what John was doing was an outward sign of repentance, preparing the hearts for the Messiah. But this is what he was really doing. He was pointing people to Christ. Verse 29, "The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him. And he said, 'Behold!'"

Now every time you see the word "Behold," it just means "Hey, look" or "Hey, check it out." So here's John going, "Hey, you guys, look, check it out."

"'The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, "After me comes a Man who is preferred [or existed] before me, for He was before me." I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.' And John bore witness, saying, 'I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, "Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.'" So you get the scene?

These representatives are shocked to see this crazy guy baptizing people and they demand to know "who you are" or "What are you doing?" and "Why are you baptizing?" And John beautifully points the spotlight away from him and puts it on to Jesus saying, "Look, who I am is not the issue. And this water baptism isn't the issue. The issue is the One who is coming and is here among you. Behold the Lamb of God!"

Now, John says two things about Jesus in his words, two things: one about His person and one about His mission. About His person, John unmistakably is declaring Jesus is God. When he says, "He is preferred before me," if you follow his language, the verses previous to this, that's what he said. Now he repeats it, "He existed before I ever did. He existed before He came to this earth."

Now, if you know anything about John so far, you know that's the premise of John chapter 1, the apostle John, the author John is beginning the story by saying, "Okay, I'm going to tell you about Jesus who is the Word. He was with God and He was God. And that Word, God, became a human. So Jesus Christ, I want you to know from the get-go, is God. And I call to the stand my first witness, John the Baptist." And John the Baptist gets up to the stand and he witnesses. He goes, "Yep, I agree. He is God. He's called the Son of God, [That's a term for deity as we'll discover in this book] and He is preferred before me."

Now, there's something that's marvelous here. I don't want you to miss it. If, if Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, were cousins, what does that make Jesus and John the Baptist? Cousins, like second cousins. So they were related.

Now to me, this adds more weight of integrity and testimony to the words of John the Baptist, because how many of you would ever say of your cousin, "My cousin is God." How many of you had a family reunion when your cousin walks in and would say, "Hey, look, my cousin. That's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." You won't do that, because you know them. Ain't true.

Well Jesus and John grew up together and interfaced from time to time, no doubt, they would go together at least in part up to Jerusalem and shared the festivals together. Families did that. Family reunions. John and Jesus would no doubt be playing and conversing. And yet John the Baptist is convinced, "My cousin is God. Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Verse 29, that's what he says.

Now what does he mean when he says "the Lamb"? Because from just an animal perspective, a lamb isn't an impressive animal, and the Jewish nation was looking for a king, a lion-like king, a lion of Judah. They wanted a king; God gave them a lamb. "Look, the Lamb!" "A what? a lamb? That's the one, the lamb?"

You know, people don't use lambs to protect themselves. You've never seen a sign, have you? "Beware of lamb." "Watch out, I got a lamb here. Lambo!" It doesn't exude strength: the idea of a lamb. And that's not what it's meant to exude or speak of. John was the son of a priest and priests sacrificed lambs in the temple. And to say "Behold the Lamb," all of the Jewish people would know what that means: Here is the One who would be sacrificed and John says, "For the sin of the whole world."

Maybe John, when he introduced Jesus, was thinking back to Isaiah 53. He had already quoted Isaiah 40, maybe he was thinking back to what Isaiah said: "He will be led as a lamb before the slaughter." Or maybe he was thinking back to the Passover when a lamb was killed and the blood put on the door post and lintels of the Jewish homes, and they were protected by the blood of the lamb.

Now to me this is significant. I sort of want to close before we apply this, this whole concept of the lamb. Because you know, people will say things like, "Well I believe Jesus was just a good teacher." Well you're right. He's the best. He's the best teacher. But He's a lot more than just that. And that's not the reason He came. He didn't come to earth just to teach nice things to people. Others will say, "Well, I believe Jesus was a, was a miracle worker. He made so many people happy by the miracles. Well, you're right, He did, but that's not why He came to earth. Others will say, "Well, I like to think of Jesus as the ultimate example of love and acceptance." Well He certainly was that, but that's not why He came to earth. John nails it: "Look! The Lamb who takes away sin and it's the sin of the world." He is first and foremost a Lamb. Israel wanted a king; God gave them what they needed: a Lamb.

Now I want to close with this thought. I asked a question at the beginning, "How can we be witnesses, representatives for God in this world? How can we make our lives count so that we're not just breathing air and taking up space? We're actually representing God faithfully, being a witness?" And now I want to make these four quick application points and if you're taking notes, note-take this.

Number one: be aware. Be aware. That is, know who you are. Know who you are and in knowing who you are, it means knowing who you're not. John could say who he's not and then who he is. "I'm not the Messiah. I'm not Elijah. I'm not the Prophet. I'm a voice." And that's the first step in being a witness is being aware, knowing who you are. And knowing who you're not is a good first step. And just as John said, "I am not the Messiah," I am now going to tell you something, I know it's painfully obvious, but you're not the Messiah either.

Do you know what a load that will take off anybody in the ministry, anybody who counsels somebody else, anybody who has care and compassion and wants to fix problems? Because people come to us and we think, "I got to be the answer to this person. I got to fix that person. I, I—" No, you don't. You're not Jesus. You're not the Messiah. You know Jesus. You know the Messiah. You can take people to the One who has the answers but you're not the answer. Keep that in mind. Be aware. Know who you are. What gifts God has given you. What callings God has given you.

Number two: be vocal. If you're going to be a witness for Christ, at some point, you're going to have to open your mouth and tell people the gospel. John said, "I am a voice crying in the wil—." Not, "I'm a good example. I'm a lifestyle." See, a lot of people think, well, I can't really tell people about Jesus, I'm not really good at that, but I can live the Christian life and live an example, and they will look to my example. Well that's good and I hope for all examples. But if you're a wonderful, exemplary, changed person, but you never tell people how you got that way, you're not going to help them out. They're just going to think, "Well that guy is like one in a million. He's so sweet and forgiving and loving." And then you tell them, "Oh, the reason I got this way is because of Jesus Christ who changed my life." The Word, that's Jesus, needs the voice. The message requires the messenger.

So be aware. Number two: be vocal. Number three: be filled. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. John, or Luke chapter one, verse 15, John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb. No wonder he was so bold. No wonder he was so faithful to keep preaching what he was preaching week after week, month after month at that Jordan River. Do you think John cared if the priests and Levites liked what they heard? Do you think John the Baptist really lost any sleep if they said, "I can't believe you said that. We're going to leave and go to another baptismal hole down the block where there's another preacher preaching"? I don't think he cared. He was filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Number four—so here's the first three: you are to be aware, know who you are, you are to be vocal, we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Number four: we're to be a sign post. We're to point people to Jesus. That's what John did. As they made it all about John and all about water baptism, John said, "It's not about me or what I'm doing here. My whole life and it's all about Him, that One. I'm a nobody. He's the Somebody." So be a sign post.

Here's what you're going to discover. If you start talking to people about Jesus, they're going to want to shift the conversation away from Jesus and away from them and Jesus onto something else. They'll want to say things like, "Well how come there's so many religions in the world?" You can spend hours dealing with that issue. And then when you cover that issue, they'll go, "Well how come there are so many dominations even in the Christian faith? I don't know which one to believe." "Oh gosh, okay, give me another five hours. I'll work on that one."

They want to take you away from the heart of the issue which is Jesus, His claims, His person, and how they relate to Him. So be a sign post. Point it to Him: "Hey look! The Lamb." And by the way, as you point people to Jesus, would you please point them to the real One? I mean, there's a lot of false Jesus' out there. People have—"Oh, I believe in Jesus." I always say, "Well, tell me about Him." And I discover it's not always the biblical Jesus. The biblical Jesus is first and foremost the Lamb who died on a cross for their sins. That's what John knew. "Behold the Lamb of God!"

So if you're going to talk and we should, if you're going to live and we should, if you're going to be a sign post and we should be that, point them to the real Jesus Christ and focus on His death on the cross and that's what can forgive people of their sins.

Now I've been accused and you've been accused and the whole Christian church has being accused of espousing a bloody religion. Have you ever heard that? "Oh, Christianity, such a bloody religion." Absolutely, we are. Amen! It is a bloody religion. The very heart of our faith is the blood of Jesus Christ which can cleanse a man or a woman from all sin. And if you remove the blood out of Christianity, you don't have Christianity. And John nailed it that day!

I want to close with a Christmas card. Remember a couple of weeks ago? I said I collect Christmas cards if they're really outstanding. Well, here's one. It said, "If our greatest need was information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need was technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need was money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need was pleasure, God would have sent an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness. And so God sent a savior." That was John's testimony: "It's not about me. I know who I am. I know who I'm not. It's all about Him, the God-man, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world." He can take away your sin. He can wash away your sin and you can have a brand new guilt-free, fresh-start life, but you got to let Him do that.

Don't let Jesus this season just stay a little baby in the manger. He grew up to become the Lamb to take away sin, and that's what He wants to do.

Heavenly Father, as we close this service, we pray that we, Your people, might be those loving, forgiving, embracing, yet bold and uncompromising, voices that gives a voice to the message, to the Word. That we would be aware of who we are, be vocal about the message and the truth, and we would do it in a way, Father, that we're always pointing to Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain. Lord, I pray also for those who may be here today, invited by a friend or visiting from out of town or just out of curiosity, came, just seeing the cars out on the road and coming in and maybe their life's just at that place where they need to know they're forgiven. They have a brand new start. They can have that. They can have a new life. They can have eternal life. They've been beat up by this world and enough is enough, and everything they've tried up to this point has not ended the loneliness, has not satisfied the heart, and I pray, Lord, I know that if they come to Christ—as thousands, as millions have discovered through history—Jesus will fill that empty void and give eternal life because He forgives sin. And I pray, Lord, that many today would make that decision to follow Christ. In Jesus' name, amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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10/25/2009
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Believe:879
John 20:30-31
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Is your faith in need of bolstering? Do you find yourself saying "Help my unbelief?" The book of John presents a unique, up close and personal look at the life of Christ, focusing on Jesus as God Incarnate. As we dive into a thorough study of each of John's 879 verses, we'll walk with disciples who were eyewitnesses of His ministry, His death, and His resurrection, and we'll experience abundant life in His name.
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11/1/2009
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The World's Most Important Word
John 1:1-5
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It may be difficult to say what the most important word is in any language, but not for the Apostle John. He begins his gospel with the identification of Jesus as, "The Word." Starting with the very beginning of beginnings, John shows us the fundamental truths about the Jesus that he writes about in the rest of this book. The language is simple and unmistakable and yet the truths presented are deep and extremely profound. Let's see how John presents Jesus and Who Jesus is according to one who was closest to Him.
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11/15/2009
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Step Into Son-Light
John 1:6-13
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I love early mornings when sunlight first comes up over the eastern sky. But if you’ve ever had the experience of the sun suddenly shining into your eyes (like when you turn westward while the sun is going down), it's not so pleasant. Most people wince when light is shined in their eyes. Jesus is presented here as being "the light of men" and "shining in darkness". But the world cries out, "Turn off that light!" How can Jesus enlighten your life and how will you respond to Him?
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11/22/2009
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One of a Kind!
John 1:14-18
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It is a mistake to think of Jesus as "one among many" options in the pantheon of deities. He is unique, matchless, unrivaled, singular, and incomparable. From His birth to His Resurrection, there is no one who even comes close to the majestic Christ. Jesus was One-Of-A-Kind! Let’s consider four distinct ways that Jesus was unique and what these mean to us today.
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12/13/2009
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Are You a Follower-Really?
John 1:35-42
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You can't make it through much of the Bible without coming to the word Disciple. Just the four Gospels alone use this term 228 times. Basically a disciple is the follower of a teacher: one who observes, learns, and practices what the teacher shares. We now come to the first time John uses this term in his book. So today we assess ourselves by asking, "Are YOU a follower?" Lets look at five characteristics of the first disciples of Jesus and see if they’re reflected in our lives.
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1/3/2010
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Finding the God Who Found You
John 1:43-51
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When the first disciples encountered Jesus, they chose to follow Him--only to discover that they had already been chosen by Him! Without getting drowned in that theological tide pool, let's consider and marvel at how both of these realities work together. The Bible teaches that God sovereignly elects people for salvation while at the same time teaches our responsibility to believe in Christ. Let’s see how both Philip and Nathanael encountered Jesus for the first time.
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1/10/2010
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The Wedding Guest
John 2:1-12
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How cool (and also potentially scary) would it be to have Jesus as a guest at your own wedding! The unnamed couple at the village wedding of Cana had that privilege. Jesus was the wedding guest who brought the best gift. His first miraculous sign was performed while celebrating that marriage. But far more than just attending a nuptial party, Jesus demonstrated who He was in relation to four entities: His mother, the moment, a miracle, and His men.
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1/17/2010
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Trouble in the Temple
John 2:13-22
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A hymn by Charles Wesley begins, "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, look upon a little child..." It’s a beautiful song with a beautiful thought. However, Jesus is anything but gentle and mild in John chapter two. Here in the temple at Jerusalem, He displays His righteous anger as He overturns tables and beats the religious businesspeople with whips! But Jesus was using this trouble in the temple to predict a greater sign—the triumph of His own physical temple—His bodily resurrection!
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1/24/2010
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Uncommitted!
John 2:23-25
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These three verses are some of the most unusual in the New Testament. They describe a scene in the life of Jesus that explains His popularity and fame. The response of people to the miracles of Jesus is understandable. What is not readily understandable is Jesus' response to the interested and excited crowd. Though they believed in Him, He was not too energized over their kind of faith. Understanding this will help us to understand Jesus and His mission.
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1/31/2010
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Nick at Nite!
John 3:1-8
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The meeting of Jesus and Nicodemus at night is one of the most famous and compelling stories in Scripture. This man's inner curiosity and spiritual thirst drove him to want to know more. What he heard puzzled and astonished him, but he heard from Jesus' own lips the only way to be saved. Jesus' words here divide all of humanity into two groups: those who are born again and those who are not.
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2/7/2010
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Extreme Makeover: Soul Edition!
John 3:9-21
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For years ABC has aired two different versions of a show called Extreme Makeover. One is a total body makeover designed to enhance the physical beauty of a selected individual. The other is a Home Edition that rebuilds or adds to a struggling family's residence. But only Jesus can give the soul a makeover; only Jesus can ready a person for eternity. Here Jesus answers Nicodemus' question of how a person can have the New Life that comes from the New Birth.
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2/14/2010
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God's Valentine
John 3:16
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Today we take a look at the Bible's most famous verse and probe its depth while preparing to take the Lord's Supper together. Though most everyone knows this verse, John 3:16 is much more than just a slogan; it is a summary statement of God's love through Jesus Christ. This single verse of scripture gives us the salient truths of God's plan of salvation in abridged form. Let's consider God's great plan for us as we unpack it phrase by phrase.
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2/21/2010
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To Grow Up, You Must Grow Down!
John 3:22-30
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"They that know God will be humble, and they that know themselves cannot be proud!" That's what British Puritan John Flavel once said. And that’s how John the Baptist once lived! John the Baptist and his followers provide some great applicational fodder for how Christians should get along and humble themselves before one another and God. For any Christian believer who wants to spiritually grow up and grow strong, he must first grow down.
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2/28/2010
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The Nail Everything Hangs On
John 3:31-36
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Imagine if everything you valued was in a sack, hanging on the wall from one nail. It surely must be a strong nail, or you're lost! If life could all be boiled down to one thing or one word or one most important principle, what would it be? What is the irreducible minimum for everything and everyone? John answers that here, saying that Jesus Christ is the nail that everything hangs on. He determined what has been and what will be. Thus our knowledge of Him and relationship to Him is paramount above everything else.
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3/7/2010
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Refreshment!
John 4:1-14
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You know the feeling of swallowing ice-cold water on a hot day or after a savory meal—it's refreshing! That cool, invigorating sip revitalizes you from the inside out and makes you say, "Ahh!" Well, that experience is not limited to the physical realm, but is even more satisfying in the spiritual realm when dealing with Living Water. Jesus came to give thirst-quenching spiritual life to every parched soul on the planet. When was the last time you drank deeply?
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3/14/2010
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How to Lead People to Water
John 4:10-30
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The world is thirsty and doesn't even know it, or won't admit it, or will look to be satisfied by everything else but Jesus Christ. So your job and mine is to lead them to water (living water, that is). Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman illustrates perhaps the best approach for personal evangelism to be found anywhere. Leading someone to the place of spiritual satisfaction is a process that rests upon two pillars—the pillar of attitude and the pillar of approach:
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3/21/2010
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What God Really Wants
John 4:20-24
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Worship conferences, worship seminars and worship experiences abound within the landscape of the American church, but in all these there's something that seems to be always lacking—worship is confined to the activity of singing songs. When the subject is brought up in this chapter, Jesus talks plainly and openly about true worship: what it is and what it isn't. Let's explore these few verses to discover what God is seeking after and how to be part of fulfilling that.
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3/28/2010
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Spiritual Farming 101
John 4:28-42
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Farmers live for the harvest season--a time when their crops are taken in and profits are made. But crops don’t grow on their own. Seeds must be sown and plants must be garnered by a whole group of active farm workers. God is the head Farmer and we are His farmhands, all working together to produce a bumper-crop of people who believe that Jesus is the Savior--Are you in?
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4/18/2010
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Everyone Needs a Faith-Lift!
John 4:43-54
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Like any muscle in our physical body, our faith too must be exercised in order for it to develop. Faith is developed in virtually every circumstance in life, but especially in hard times. Peter put it best, "These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold" (1 Peter 1:7). Let's look at a real-life story of one who came to Jesus in his trial and had his faith lifted to a higher dimension.
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4/25/2010
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Healing Misery with Mercy
John 5:1-16
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One of Jesus' most distinguishing characteristics in His earthly ministry was His mercy toward people who were hurting. This is not astonishing, for the prophet Micah announced that "God delights in mercy" (Micah 7:18). Jesus standing among the squalid misery of sickness and hopelessness while at a feast in Jerusalem is a perfect setting to show how Christians can show mercy to a world in misery. But be warned: not everyone will be sympathetic to your cause!
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5/23/2010
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Like Father, Like Son
John 5:16-24
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The most important question you could ever ask is not, "Who am I?" but rather, "Who is Christ?" That was the supreme question Jesus presented to His disciples when He said, "Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15). Jesus made the most astonishing claim ever when He confronted the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem here in John 5. What do these claims have to do with us today? Absolutely everything!
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5/30/2010
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Everyone Lives Forever
John 5:25-29
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My mom used to wake me up early every morning with her sweet voice saying, "Rise and Shine!" It took a few times but I eventually got up out of bed. As Jesus declares that He will be in charge of the future judgment, He too will usher the call to everyone who has died to "Rise up!" But not everyone will rise up to shine; some will rise up to suffer. Let’s consider three inevitable and unalterable truths about the future for all of us: We will all die, we will all be judged, and we will all rise again to live forever... but where?
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6/6/2010
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Why Should You Believe?
John 5:30-47
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The theme of John's gospel is "believe." The whole reason he wrote this book is so that people who read it will believe in Jesus (see John 20:31). But why should they believe? And even more applicable, why should we believe? After all, the events of the New Testament are over 2,000 years removed from us today. Jesus' confrontation with the religious leaders in John 5 tells us why we should believe. Like a skilled lawyer, Jesus calls upon four witnesses to testify to His claims and these four give the reasons for our believing in Jesus Christ.
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6/13/2010
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Lessons From a Picnic
John 6:1-14
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This story ranks in the "top ten" of the most famous miracles of Jesus Christ. In fact this is the most famous of all His miracles as it alone is recorded by all four gospel accounts. But this is far more than a Sunday school tale. This extraordinary picnic was not just a free meal for five thousand folks; it provided lessons for both ancient and modern disciples. Here are four profound truths that emerge from this lakeside lunch.
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6/20/2010
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What Storm Goers Need to Know
John 6:15-21
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Have you ever been on the ocean in a raging storm? If so, you know that a well-trained crew follows an immediate protocol until the storm is over. Their knowledge and experience about violent weather are invaluable for those who want to survive. Using the story of Jesus walking on the waves to His disciples, let’s discover a few things about the stormy trials of life.
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7/4/2010
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The Right Thing, The Wrong Way
John 6:22-29
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Our text reads that crowds of people came "seeking Jesus." That sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? And yet Jesus challenges them as to their motive because they were seeking Him (the right thing) in order to satisfy themselves only (the wrong motive). Let’s consider three monumental truths about how people interact with spiritual things in general and Jesus Christ in particular. Let’s also reconsider the starting point for anyone who wants anything to do with Christ.
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7/11/2010
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Wonder Bread!
John 6:30-50
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The Hostess Company has for years advertised that its Wonder bread "helps build strong bodies 12 ways" and that just two slices has the calcium of eight ounces of milk and the fiber of 100% whole wheat. Wow! The crowd that Jesus was speaking to would have loved that! But our Lord presents something to them far greater than what they were wanting. He knew what they needed.
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7/18/2010
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Plain Truths About the Bread of Life
John 6:51-71
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Mark Twain once remarked that "A lie can travel halfway around the world while truth is still lacing up its boots!" This section of John's Gospel has generated much confusion and misunderstanding. Even Jesus' original audience had trouble understanding His meaning, and when they did, they found the truth was difficult to bear. These "hard truths," however, are "the words of eternal life" (v. 68). Let's look at these four realities today.
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8/1/2010
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Seeing Jesus Through the Fog
John 7:1-13
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There was always a fog surrounding Jesus! It was a fog of uncertainty, of unbelief, and of conflicting opinion. He was misunderstood about both His mission and His message. His friends, His family, and His foes were often bewildered about who He was and what He was doing. That remains true even today. But in this passage our view becomes clearer. Jesus had clearly defined objectives that He reveals here and they are extremely practical for us today.
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8/8/2010
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Follow Jesus But Don't Be Religious
John 7:14-24
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Jesus clashed with religious leaders more than any other group of people. He went against their spiritual grain and challenged their legalistic ideas. Christ made it clear that He hadn’t come to establish a new religion but rather to show the way to God His Father. He didn’t give people another “system of beliefs and practices”; instead He said that He Himself was the way, truth, and life. In this public confrontation, we learn how to follow Christ in truth and not be religious.
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8/15/2010
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Standing by a Waterfall (Dying of Thirst)
John 7:25-53
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All the diverse and assorted experiences offered by this world can never satisfy the deepest longing of the human soul. What we really want isn't what we really need. The rest of John chapter 7 illustrates this truth. In the midst of a crowd of people clamoring for deep spiritual satisfaction stands the only One who can provide it. He offers them the drink that really satisfies and all but a few refuse it, preferring rather to die of thirst. How painfully ironic!
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8/22/2010
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Scribbling on the Ground
John 8:1-11
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Can you imagine what a surviving copy of Jesus' autograph would be worth today? Or what about a letter to His disciples? The fact is, there is no existing document or copy of anything Jesus ever wrote. We only have this story of Him scribbling something in transient dust on the Temple stones. Though John doesn't tell what Jesus wrote that day, his account does reveal a lot about Jesus Himself and how He interacted with three different kinds of folks.
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8/29/2010
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Blinded by the Light
John 8:12-20
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When the sun shines right in your eyes, your immediate inclination is to squint, turn away, or put sunglasses on. Light can be blinding! Though light penetrates our world, providing illumination and energy for our very existence, big doses of it can be difficult to handle. That's true spiritually as well. Jesus, by His teaching and work, illuminated this world darkened by sin. Some rejoiced in that light, able to see where they were going. But others, who'd been so accustomed to spiritual darkness, could only wince when Jesus was around.
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9/5/2010
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The Worst Way & Best Way to Die
John 8:21-30
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One person put it this way, "Death is the big flaw. Sometimes we can postpone it, lessen its physical pains, deny its existence—but we can't escape it!" Since that is universally true, why don't people take death seriously enough to plan for it? While we are alive in this world, everyone should be thinking more about the next. But what's the best (and worst) way to die?
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9/19/2010
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The Best Way & Worst Way to Live
John 8:31-36
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Everyone has an opinion on what "The Good Life" is. For some, it's financial independence. For others, it’s autonomy from government control. For still others, it’s the ability to do whatever you want whenever you feel like it. Jesus offers a different kind of freedom and a better brand of life. Here Jesus tells us what the best way to live really is: It’s the freedom to be a genuine disciple. And He tells us what the worst way to live really is: It’s the slavery of a sinful lifestyle. Today consider how free you really are and what areas of life you may still be in bondage to.
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9/26/2010
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The Devil's DNA
John 8:37-47
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Your body has 100 trillion cells. Inside each one is a nucleus and in each nucleus are DNA molecules. DNA is like an instruction manual for life with densely coded information telling each cell what to do. A simple paternity test would prove that my father was really my father. Here Jesus gives His audience a spiritual paternity test that reveals their spiritual father to be the devil himself. No matter what your physical ancestry, you can always tell one's spiritual heritage.
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10/3/2010
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Who IS This Guy?
John 8:48-59
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Jesus had friends and He had enemies. But besides those, He also had some "frenemies" (enemies who pretended to be friends). To this crowd who at first pretended to believe (v. 31) Jesus is both confrontational and controversial. This paragraph highlights three possible identities of Jesus: two of them were his enemies' accusations and one was Jesus' own claim.
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10/10/2010
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Life Hurts! Where's God?
John 9:1-12
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"Why is there so much pain in the world?" is the most frequently asked question ever! We hate it when we, or those we love, are in pain. Today we see Jesus confront a hurting world. As we do, consider these words by Elizabeth Elliot (whose husband was murdered): "If God is in charge and loves us, then whatever is given is subject to His control and is meant ultimately for our joy."
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10/17/2010
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The Truth About Your Neighbors
John 9:13-34
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Those of us who are Christians live in a sea of unbelievers who work with us, live next to us, shop where we shop, and send their kids to the same schools. Some have a mild case of unbelief disguised by religious practices. Others are more demonstrable in their agnosticism or atheism. Let's watch a local Jerusalem neighborhood struggle against faith in spite of clear evidence.
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10/24/2010
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Got Any Blind Spots?
John 9:35-41
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When you drive, you encounter "blind spots"—it could be part of your own car or it could be a tree that hides traffic on the other side. Those blind spots hinder both progress and ultimately, safety. When Jesus healed a blind man in Jerusalem, the same man was also healed of his spiritual blindness. But others who thought their spiritual perception was keen were as blind as a bat! As we consider this story, can you think of any blind spots in your spiritual journey?
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10/31/2010
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The Good Shepherd (and a bunch of happy sheep!)
John 10:1-10
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This is one of the most beloved passages to be found anywhere in Scripture. But it's not a stand-alone passage: The healing of the blind man in chapter 9 was more than a miracle. It was part of the process of Jesus forming His flock. The leadership had cast the healed man out of the synagogue. Jesus found him, accepted him, saved him, and placed him in His own fold.
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11/21/2010
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What's So Great About the Good Shepherd?
John 10:11-21
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"What's so great about being a Christian?" some people ask. The answer lies in the kind of care, provision, and protection we get from Jesus Christ, our Shepherd. Have you ever stopped to make a list of the benefits that are yours as a follower of Christ? Consider this short list of advantages that you, as a child of God, have. When was the last time you thanked Him for being your Shepherd? This would be a great week to do that!
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12/5/2010
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To BElieve or Not to BElieve...
John 10:22-42
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"In all unbelief there are two things: a good opinion of one's self and a bad opinion about God."— Horatius Bonar. It's true, isn't it? Humanism is man-centered and rejects God's existence or His relevance. But Jesus appealed to two things: the plain evidence of His supernatural works and the testimony of those who witnessed them. Jesus here asserts His deity, and the reaction is predictable—some believed while others did not believe. Which camp do you fall into?
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1/9/2011
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The Great Physician's Patient Dies
John 11:1-16
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When a doctor loses a patient on the operating table, there is a deep sense of remorse and sadness in the surgical theater. Doctors are trained to save lives but sometimes even the best trained physicians are unable to control complications that lead to death. But here we discover that Christ, the Great Physician, not only knows that His patient is sick--He allows him to die! Here are three principles about Divine Medicine that we can all learn.
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1/16/2011
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A Tale of Two Sisters
John 11:17-32
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In 1859 Charles Dickens wrote his famous work, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The story before us is set in Bethany near Jerusalem and highlights the personal relationship that two sisters had with Jesus Christ. Their broken hearts provide an excellent platform to consider how Christ deals with people in grief and loss. Let's actively probe not only their responses but ours to the incredible promise Jesus makes.
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1/23/2011
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The Strangest Funeral Ever
John 11:33-44
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According to one source, there are approximately 2 million funerals in America per year, which means that about 5,479 funerals take place every single day! Most of those funerals are pretty typical: a formal service followed by an interment. But the funeral service we're looking at was really different--and not just because of a resurrection. Here Jesus does three things that are pretty normal for most people at a funeral, but strikingly odd for Jesus.
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1/30/2011
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What to Do with Jesus?
John 11:45-57
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Any lawyer can tell you that whenever the star witness is a resurrected corpse, you have a pretty good case! But Lazarus being alive from the dead doesn’t seem to persuade everyone. And so the big issue becomes what shall we do with Jesus? The decisions made here set the clock in motion for an impending hate crime—the crucifixion of Christ. But from heaven’s vantage point, this is all part of God’s plan for redemption. Let’s see the responses and how we can make a difference.
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2/6/2011
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A Meal to Reveal the Heart
John 12:1-11
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If you were to step into the home of Simon at Bethany (Mark 14:3) on that night, you would've seen Jesus and His disciples along with Lazarus and His two sisters reclining at a low table for a meal in honor of Christ. But if you were to step into the hearts of those people, you would discover they were all very different from each other. Those inside the house and outside represent the gamut of feelings about Jesus—from adoring love to intense hatred. What a complicated meal!
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2/13/2011
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A Day, a Donkey, a Deliverer, and a Decision
John 12:12-19
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2000 years ago, on the final Sunday of Jesus’ earthly life before His crucifixion, He did the most unusual thing—He sat on a donkey and was carried into the city of Jerusalem in parade fashion. This formal presentation of Him as Deliverer was both profound and predicted. What’s the significance of such an act as this? What overarching principles emerge for us today? We’ll dig in and discover them, but today you’ve got to write them down yourself:
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2/20/2011
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Living the Right Life
John 12:20-26
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If this sermon was a book and I wanted to sell lots of copies, the title would cause it to fail. Now if it were entitled "Living the High Life" or "Living the Successful Life," then I may have a winner. But many have lived with both success and riches who didn't live right! So what is the right life? Or to frame it with a better question: What kind of life is most pleasing to God? Through a series of paradoxes, John gives us the answer—it wasn't the answer most people are looking for!
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2/27/2011
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Cross-Culture
John 12:27-36
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The term cross-culture emerges from the social sciences and typically refers to interaction of one culture or language with another. But that's not how I'm using it today. I'm thinking of it in the biblical sense, the salvation sense. Jesus' whole life was immersed in the culture of the cross and He referred to His impending death on the cross as "His hour." Let's consider today the culture of the cross of Christ: what it meant to Jesus personally and the world ultimately.
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3/6/2011
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Believe It or Not!
John 12:37-50
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Most of you reading this are believers. Some are not. Both are dangerous positions to take but for different reasons—vastly different reasons! This paragraph in John's Gospel is the summary of all that has been written, from chapters 1 through 13. It reviews the two different responses people have to Jesus and then gives us Jesus' own synopsis on faith and unbelief. Today you will be able to understand the real differences and consequences of faith and unbelief.
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3/13/2011
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A Night Unforgettable
John 13:1-5
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Some days are frozen in time because of the magnitude of an event. You will always remember September 11, 2001 and where you were when the towers fell. The night America bombed Baghdad or the night John Lennon was murdered may be permanent memories captured in your mind. This was the final night Jesus spent with His own disciples and it would be unforgettable. Let’s discover how what seem like ordinary moments can be extraordinary appointments.
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3/20/2011
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Basin Theology 101
John 13:6-17
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At the final Passover meal that Jesus shared with His closest friends, He gave new meaning to the bread and wine, using them to point to His upcoming sacrificial death on the cross. Today we share Communion as a church family and reflect on that meal, as well as the lessons Jesus was teaching His first followers. After dinner Jesus took a basin of water and began to wash the feet of his students and taught them life principles about stooping, cleansing and serving.
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3/27/2011
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Betrayed!
John 13:18-30
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Relationships can withstand an enormous amount of pressure, but betrayal is sure to end most. The old English word means to hand over or to deliver. Think of it: while Jesus was about to deliver the world from sin and its destruction, Judas was about to deliver the Savior over to His enemies. If you've ever felt betrayed by someone, this study will have special application to you.
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4/10/2011
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A Brand New Way of Life!
John 13:31-35
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To follow Jesus is to have a brand new way of life. When these twelve men sitting around the dinner table started hanging around Jesus, they had no idea just how new and different their lives would become. At this final meal on that last night, they were still learning just how new their lives should be. (Jesus can still teach old dogs new tricks!) As present-day followers of Christ, let’s consider three aspects of life that become new once we become His disciples.
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4/17/2011
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F.A.Q.
John 13:36-38
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An old Persian Proverb reads, "It's harder to ask a sensible question than to supply a sensible answer." Many times our questions to God are reactive—based on a sort of knee-jerk reaction to painful circumstances. Peter asked Jesus two questions of this sort. But whenever we ask God questions we must hang around to get the supplied answers. The questions Peter asked are similar to ones we frequently ask. Let's consider and apply Jesus' outstanding answer
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5/1/2011
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A Theology for Messy Lives
John 14:1-6
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Life can be pretty messy sometimes: plans fail, people leave, money diminishes, and taxes rise. There are plenty of reasons to be troubled these days but there are better reasons not to be! Life was about to get real messy for those disciples around that Jerusalem dinner table. At times like that, there are some basic instructions we need to fall back on so our hearts inside us won't be swallowed up by the mess around us.
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5/8/2011
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How Can I Know God?
John 14:7-11
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What a thought—that a mere human can know God! The agnostic asserts this is impossible. The atheist insists that the very idea is an arrogant and purely metaphysical pursuit. But one of the reasons Jesus came was to reveal God's character and nature clearly and perfectly! Let's consider two roadblocks to knowing God and four resources that help us know Him better.
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5/29/2011
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Privileges of God's Employees
John 14:12-14
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Most companies have benefits for employees: things like overtime pay, health insurance, and sick pay. In 2 Corinthians 6:1, Paul calls us "workers together with Him" (NLT renders it "God's partners"). We have been called to a high and lofty task—to be His representatives here on earth. You might say we're part of the "family business." So what has God called us to do? And how has He provided for us in terms of resources? In short, what are the benefits of being God's employees?
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6/5/2011
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Four Part Harmony
John 14:15-18
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Some of the best moments on American Idol aren't the solo performances, but when all the singers join together and blend their voices in harmony. There's nothing sweeter than well-trained voices blended together in first, thirds, and fifths. Spiritual harmony is much the same—when believers blend with the triune Godhead there is an alignment that results in a deep sense of fulfillment. And what is the note we are to sing in this spiritual song? It is the note of loving obedience!
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6/12/2011
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Promises, Promises!
John 14:19-26
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Someone once mused, "Promises may get friends, but it's performance that keeps them." No wonder God has so many friends! He makes promises and keeps them. On this final night that Jesus spent with His friends, as both sorrow and confusion assailed them, Jesus made several promises that would sustain them in the days, months, and years ahead. What about you? Will you dare to trust the promises of God? It's the only way to see if they really work.
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6/26/2011
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Peace Where You Least Expect It
John 14:27-31
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On countless American gravestones this epitaph could be written: Hurried, Worried, Buried. What a sad way to live! Fear, anxiety, and distress have literally become part of our national culture. Odd, isn't it? Though we have such abundance in this country, most don't experience abundant life—especially as Jesus described it. Sure, everyone has his or her share of trouble and anxieties, but let's consider one of the greatest gifts Jesus gives to followers—the gift of peace!
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7/3/2011
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Life-Lessons from Grape-Growers - Part 1
John 15:1-7
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My parents grew grapes on their little plot of land in Southern California. There weren't many, but enough for me to know that getting fruit at harvest depended on three things: the solid connection of branch to vine, the vigilant care of the workers, and the consistency of those things over time. Jesus, walking with the disciples toward the Garden of Gethsemane, gives life lessons to His men using the familiar example of growing grapes. With that analogy in mind, let's consider the three ways our relationship to God is described by Jesus.
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7/10/2011
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Life-Lessons From Grape-Growers - Part 2
John 15:8-11
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As we grow older, we mature. In our spiritual lives we should become spiritually mature. The Bible calls it being fruitful. Spiritual fruit is the indication that we're truly connected to Christ. But there are others, as we'll see today. Last week we examined how the relationship with Christ is described (Connected to Christ, Cared for by the Father, and Consistent Over Time). Today let's consider how this relationship is demonstrated. When we're rightly connected to God we'll be:
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7/17/2011
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What a Friend We Have in Jesus
John 15:12-17
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We can get through almost anything in life with friends to share our sorrow and divide our grief. A Chinese word for friend is peng-yu and it has a much fuller meaning than in English. It means "one who brings completion and sums up beauty." The ancient Hebrews saw true friendship as an ideal to pursue and a blessing to enjoy. In these final moments with His followers, Jesus uses a most tender term for their relationship—they were friends! What does that friendship look like?
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7/24/2011
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Why Does Everyone Hate Me?
John 15:18-25
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There is a flipside to being a friend of Jesus. That's true of any friendship. Whenever you ally yourself and make friends with someone, you will incur some enemies because of it. Likewise, some who don't like Jesus won't like us either—and we discover there are quite a few who don't! Let's find out why, and how we can raise our heads high and prevail.
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7/31/2011
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Two Thirds Is Not Enough
John 15:26-16:15
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We love God the Father who created us and God the Son who redeemed us, but what about the Holy Spirit? We hear His name a lot, but who is He? What exactly does He do? What does He want from us? The Holy Spirit is the "quiet One," active in the life of believers but sometimes not acknowledged as being vital. Oswald Chambers noted, "The Holy Spirit cannot be located as a guest in a house. He invades everything!" Today, we consider Him and His role in our lives.
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8/7/2011
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The Holy Hound of Heaven
John 16:5-11
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Having understood Who the Holy Spirit is (Person not just power; Deity not just dignitary) we now find out what He does in the world of unbelieving people. Since the greatest gift God ever gave to the world was His only Son (John 3:16) it stands to reason that the greatest sin one can commit is to reject the Son (John 16:9). How does the Holy Spirit both sentence the world as prosecutor and lead people away from judgment? And what role do we play in all of this?
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8/14/2011
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When Sorrow Turns to Joy
John 16:16-22
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The flamboyant baseball-legend-turned-preacher Billy Sunday stated, "If you have no joy in your religion, there's a leak in your Christianity somewhere!" That's not to say that life is all laughs. Hardly! Jesus anticipated His followers' deep sorrow. He predicted it. But He also assured them that their experience of sadness would be eclipsed by a greater experience of lasting joy.
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8/21/2011
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How to Send Knee-Mail
John 16:23-28
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Today you can be anywhere in the world and send or receive messages digitally via email. Sending email has eclipsed traditional mail for years now. Sending knee-mail is similar (you can be anywhere)—but with better results! You don't need wifi or a modem; you don't need an electronic device or a computer. Before Jesus left His disciples, He wanted them to get "online" with the Father and stay connected through the simple yet powerful means of prayer.
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9/4/2011
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I've Fallen, but I CAN Get Up!
John 16:29-33
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I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately succeed than to succeed in a cause that will ultimately fail! So said President Woodrow Wilson. Our Lord knows us better than we know ourselves and is not surprised by our weaknesses. We all fall and fail, even though we may commit to standing strong. What can we learn about ourselves and our God in such valleys? Even more, what kind of restoration can we hope for after our bout with failure?
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9/18/2011
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Holy Eavesdropping
John 17:1
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Imagine if you could sit and listen to Jesus talking to His Father—what would Jesus say to Him? In this prayer (which comprises all of John 17) we step onto holy ground. His instruction to His followers is now over. His preparation of them is done. He now turns His attention heavenward to talk directly to His Father about Himself, about His disciples, and about His future church. This prayer is unique for four reasons:
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9/25/2011
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The Gifts That Keep On Giving
John 17:1-5
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It's possible to give without loving but it's impossible to love without giving— Richard Braunstein. Part of God's nature is that He shows His love by His generous gifts. "For God so loved the world that He gave..." (John 3: 16). Here, in the opening lines of Jesus' prayer to His Father, He requests a gift from His Father and acknowledges three other gifts—two given to the Son by the Father, and one given by the Son to us. These are the gifts that keep on giving!
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10/2/2011
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How Followers Are Formed
John 17:6-10
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Okay, so which is it? Did I choose God or did God choose me? Perspective is everything! If you look at it from the divine viewpoint, you'll say God chose. If you're looking at it from a human viewpoint, you'll say we do the choosing. But why can't both be true? I suppose you can sit around, scratch your head, and try to ponder such imponderables, or you can sigh happily and say with a grateful heart, "I'm elated that He chose me!" But you should also ask yourself another question while you're at it—What am I going to do about it now?
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10/9/2011
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Missionaries or Monasteries?
John 17:11-19
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How can you leave your mark on the world? Most everyone wants to be remembered for some contribution made to society. Well, Jesus wants us to do that, too. In fact, He prays for that. God wants you to make an imprint on life's road so people will say, "Hey look! God's kids were here!" We can't do that by isolating ourselves. We have marching orders!
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10/23/2011
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Listen Up! Jesus is Praying—for YOU!
John 17:20-26
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What's God's general will for you? Look no further than this text! Now as we listen to Jesus pray for us, we also find what our priorities in life are to be. These words are the "Last Will and Testament" of Jesus Christ. So pay close attention and you'll get it right from the heart of Jesus Himself.
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10/30/2011
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I've Got It Under Control
John 18:1-11
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Sometimes life appears to be spinning out of control. Events happen we didn't plan for, people do things we didn't expect, we find ourselves in places we never thought we'd be in. But though you can't always control what happens to you, you are responsible for what happens in you (attitudes and responses). What do we really believe about God's authority and power in our lives? Is there ever a time when God can't say, "I've got it under control"?
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11/20/2011
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The Darkest Night!
John 18:12-27
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On a dark spring night in Jerusalem, it seemed everyone was against Jesus Christ. The religious system had long been opposed to and jealous of His burgeoning ministry. The mock trial designed to get rid of Jesus was only going through the technical motions to achieve their end. And Peter, Jesus' closest friend, was in a downward process of disassociating himself from Him. But in the midst of the darkest night, the sunrise of God's grace was beginning to shine!
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1/8/2012
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A King, a Kingdom, and a Courtroom
John 18:28-40
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What kind of a King is Jesus, and what is the nature of His Kingdom? And what does it mean to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done"? These are the questions faced in the text before us. As Jesus nears the cross, a nation denies His reign over them, while a Roman ruler questions Him and then cynically admits his own confusion and despair.
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1/22/2012
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How Do You Handle Jesus?
John 19:1-16
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Pontius Pilate was like every other person who has ever lived. The fundamental question of his life was, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" (Matthew 27:22). Everyone has to deal with Jesus, to decide about Him and His claims. In one setting, we can see how one man (Pilate) was influenced to deal with Jesus in three different ways. These three ways are how many people today still choose to deal with Jesus Christ.
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1/29/2012
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Execution of a King
John 19:17-22
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Regicide is the official word used for the execution of a king. Most countries reserve the stiffest of punishments for subjects or assassins who would kill their royalty. John records the execution of the King of kings on a Roman cross outside the city of Jerusalem. But the rest of Scripture reveals that it was more than an execution; it was sacrifice that brought salvation. The next few weeks, we will consider the cross in depth and what it means for the world and for us.
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2/5/2012
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The Cross on the Billboard of Eternity
John 19:23-24
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Did you know that the cross of Christ was always God's plan from the very beginning? It wasn't a reaction to mankind's rejection of His Son, nor was it an accommodation to a Roman and Jewish miscarriage of justice. It was according to "the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). Today we will take a journey back and connect the dots of God's unfolding plan of the cross throughout the ages.
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2/12/2012
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How to Love Your Mother
John 19:25-27
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A mother's love for her children is distinctive and irreplaceable. To watch a child suffer is crushing and almost intolerable for any mom. In this touching scene revealed in three verses, we not only see Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the foot of her Son's cross, we also learn how Jesus cared for His mother. Even from His place of extreme suffering, Jesus was thinking of others and His love for Mary is noteworthy for us.
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2/19/2012
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iThirst
John 19:28-29
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The world is filled with Apple's i-technology, which delivers on its promise to make connectivity and information readily accessible. But there is a deeper need within everyone, a thirst to be right with God, that no app or gadget can fulfill. How ironic that Jesus, the great Thirst-Quencher, would Himself be thirsty. It was part of the great exchange—His temporary thirst enabled yours to be quenched eternally!
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2/26/2012
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It's Done!
John 19:30
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While Jesus was doing His greatest work, He uttered His greatest words! Through the excruciating pain of a tormenting death, Jesus gave the most meaningful statements worthy of careful consideration. John records three of Jesus' seven statements uttered while on the cross. The sixth—and perhaps the most hopeful—is the one we consider today.
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3/4/2012
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Death Under Control
John 19:31-37
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Watching someone you love die is always a heart-wrenching experience, especially when the victim experiences great suffering. For the apostle John, the death of Jesus was likewise difficult-but he saw a glimmer of hope, a silver lining in the dark clouds of death. This death was long ago anticipated and was being carefully monitored from the control center of heaven. Today we see why that's important.
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3/11/2012
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Disciples on the Graveyard Shift
John 19:38-42
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You can find an unending supply of books, pamphlets, and articles on discipleship in Christian churches and bookstores. Many of them will be predictably regimented and conventional, giving solid biblical references and calling Christians to ardently follow Christ—all great stuff. But not everyone's spiritual journey is identical. Some disciples are unexpected, and so is their story. Here are two disciples of Jesus who've been in the background and now step forward to care for the body of Christ after His death. Let's allow their story to inspire us.
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3/18/2012
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A Not-Quite-Empty Tomb
John 20:1-10
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There was a lot of confusion happening on the first Easter morning. The resurrection had happened but it was neither expected nor accepted by all at first. Mary Magdalene ran to tell the disciples what she saw, and they ran to check out her report. What they saw was compelling evidence of a resurrection, but only one of them really connected all the dots. Let's see why.
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3/25/2012
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Hope Rekindled
John 20:11-18
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When people grieve, they usually run the gamut of the emotional spectrum, from denial to bargaining to despair to anger to eventually hope. Mary Magdalene was in hopeless despair as she stood weeping by the grave of Jesus. The resurrected Christ deals tenderly with this woman as he reveals Himself to her and conveys hope for her future. Let's glean some principles for dealing with brokenhearted people.
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4/1/2012
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From Closed Doors to the Open Road
John 20:19-23
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Our relationship with Jesus isn't a secret to be hoarded; it is a story to be heralded! The disciples were seated behind closed doors (sounds like a lot of churches). Jesus wanted them out, giving away what they had been given. Let's see how these early followers went from panic to peace, from perplexity to purpose, and from protection to power. It's a great journey. Are you up for it?
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4/8/2012
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Rise Up!
John 20:24-31
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The apostle Thomas has been noted for his skeptical attitude. In fact, we refer to a skeptic as a "doubting Thomas." In this message from John 20, we consider four ways Thomas was able to rise up from doubt and become a joyful follower of Jesus.
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4/15/2012
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Gone Fishing! (Relating to a Risen & Returning Lord)
John 21:1-14
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I am not a great fisherman. I don't do it often and when I catch something, it's pure luck! My dad was the opposite—he loved it and was great at it. At least seven of Jesus' disciples were fishermen and here we see them plying their trade after the resurrection. Some beautiful lessons can be discovered about how to live while we wait for Jesus to come back for us.
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4/22/2012
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I Failed! Now What?
John 21:15-19
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One of life's harshest realities is failure. The very sound of the word seems harsh to our sensibilities. We even harbor the age-old axiom, "Failure is not an option!" But failure is an option; in fact, it's a certainty. But discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping-stones to victory. In a post-resurrection interview, Jesus restores Peter with a fresh commission. If you have failed in your spiritual experience (and who hasn't), these principles will inspire.
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4/29/2012
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Final Instructions
John 21:20-25
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As John closes off his singular testimony of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, he features some closing words of Jesus and Peter about himself (John). These final sentences provide some instructions for us as we await Christ's return. How should we live in light of who Jesus is, what Jesus did, and when Jesus will return?
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There are 95 additional messages in this series.
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