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Scribbling on the Ground - John 8:1-11

Taught on | Topic: Forgiveness

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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8/22/2010
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Scribbling on the Ground
John 8:1-11
Skip Heitzig
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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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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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Outline

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  1. Jesus is Meek with People (7:53-8:2)

    1. Where He Stayed

    2. How He Taught

  2. Jesus is Masterful with Hypocrites (vv. 3-9)

    1. Their False Motives

    2. His Firm Dealing

      1. He Wrote on the Ground

      2. He Spoke to the Men

  3. Jesus is Merciful with Sinners (vv. 10-11)

    1. His Question

    2. His Command

Making it More Than a Sermon:

  1. Why do you think hypocrisy is so abhorrent to God? (See Matthew 15:7-8)

  2. What sorts of "stones" do you find it easiest to have and throw? What makes you qualified to either have them or hurl them?

Detailed Notes

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The theme of this text, as of the entire Gospel, is Jesus Christ. The focus is not the Scribes and Pharisees, not the woman caught in adultery, but how Jesus handles hypocrites, those in sin, and what He did and said.

This text is not included in all ancient manuscripts. It is not placed here in all manuscripts that do include it (placed just after Luke 21:38; John 7:36; John 7:44; End of Gospel of John).  Most every scholar believes it is biblical, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and part of Scripture. It fits the pattern of John: an incident followed by a message.

  1. Jesus is Meek with People (7:53-8:2)
    1. Where He Stayed
      1. Everyone went to his own house
      2. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives
        1. East of Jerusalem
        2. Garden of Gethsemane
        3. Jesus did not have a home to go to
      3. Humility
        1. Left heaven to come to earth – Philippians 2:6-7
        2. No place to lay His head – Matthew 8:20
        3. No family burial plot
    2. How He Taught
      1. No fanfare
      2. Took His place among men; sat on ground; let people come around Him
      3. Served, taught, and ministered to them
        1. Gave Himself a ransom for many – Matthew 20:28
        2. Came not to be served, but to serve – Matthew 20:28
      4. He was in the treasury; the court of the women
  2. Jesus is Masterful with Hypocrites (vv.3-9)
    1. Their False Motives
      1. Scribes
        1. Copied the law on scrolls
        2. Lawyers
        3. Argued the meaning of the text
      2. Pharisees
        1. Dominant religious influence
        2. 600 at the time of Jesus
        3. Controlled the religious atmosphere
      3. They are trying to trap him, ask the impossible and unanswerable
        1. Customary to "ask the rabbi"
        2. Caught in the very act of adultery
          1. Seventh commandment – Exodus 20:14
          2. One of three "biggies" (idolatry, murder, adultery)
          3. Capital punishment – Leviticus 20; Deuteronomy 2
            1. Stoning
            2. Death by strangulation (Mishna)
            3. Jews hadn't practiced capital punishment for 1000 years
            4. Romans had stripped Jews of the right to enact capital punishment
          4. Sanhedrin themselves were involved in adultery
          1. One-sided misinterpretation (where is the man?)
        3. If Jesus said no, He would go against the Law of Moses
        4. If Jesus said yes, He would ruin his reputation as "friend of sinners"
      4. The crowd probably had stones in hand; would blame Jesus
    2. His Firm Dealing
      1. Wrote on the ground – Jeremiah 17:13
        1. Kategraphen - to write a record or an accusation
          1. Kata - to make accusation
          2. Grapho - to write
        2. They continued asking Him
      2. He Spoke to the Men
        1. Powerful words
        2. Raises from a legal issue to a spiritual issue
          1. Anamartetos - unerring, faultless, without sin
          2. Only Jesus has qualification to "throw a stone"
        3. They reacted with deep conviction (the older had more to remember)
  3. Jesus is Merciful with Sinners (vv. 10-11)
    1. His Question
      1. He deals with her one on one (personal relationship)
      2. Addresses her as woman (restoring dignity)
    2. His Command
      1. Not easy on sin (sin no more)
      2. Called it sin, an offense against God
      3. A true believer wouldn't presume on the grace of God – Romans 6:1-2

Application

  1. Notice how sinners treat sinners: brutally.
  2. Notice how the Law treats sinners: sets the standard, but can't cleanse the soul. – Ezekiel 18:4
  3. Notice how Jesus treats sinners: righteousness and mercy meet in Christ. He is the substitutionary atonement for sin. – Romans 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21

Figures referenced: John RW Stott; Phillip Schaff; William Shakespeare
Cross references: Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 20; Deuteronomy 22; Jeremiah 17:13; Matthew 8:20; Matthew 20:28; Romans 6:1-2; Philippians 2:6-7

Transcript

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If you have ever written something like an article for a magazine or a dissertation for a Master's or Doctorate degree or if you've ever tried to write a book, you know what a daunting and exacting task that is. When I was first faced with my first book, I thought how in the world does somebody do this? It's a daunting task. John R.W. Stott said the nearest thing a man will ever come to having a baby is to write a book. Of course, he was a single guy when he wrote that. There was a young man who wanted to become a great writer and somebody said well define what great is. He said I want to write the kind of stuff the whole world will read, the kind of stuff that really brings people to an emotional response. I want to write the kind of stuff that makes you scream and cry and howl in anger and pain. Well he got his wish. He works for Microsoft writing error messages that come up on your computer. He moves people emotionally. John chapter 8 is probably, to most people, a familiar text of Scripture. It's one of the most loved or beloved stories of Jesus in the New Testament because it's a story of a woman brought to Him who was caught in adultery, brought by religious people and Jesus extends such mercy to her. But it's also the story of Jesus writing something. In fact, it's the only occasion the Bible ever records that Jesus wrote something down. Now it wasn't permanent. He didn't write it on paper or vellum or parchment or in a computer. He wrote it on the dust of the stones of the temple courts. It's long been blown away. But it's there nonetheless. And we're gonna focus on what Jesus did and what Jesus said to both these people who brought the woman and the woman herself. Before we do, I want to read something to you written by Phillip Shaff, one of the great historians of the church. He says Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon. Without science and learning, He shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined. Without the eloquence of the school, He spoke such words of life as never were spoken before or since and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet. Without writing a single line, He has set more pens in motion and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. I wanted to start with that quote because that goes along with what John has in mind when he wrote what he wrote. The theme of this story, along with the rest of the Gospel of John, is Jesus Christ. Who is He? What is He like? What did He say? What did He do? Why is He so great? So that's what I want you to keep in mind here, as in the rest of the Gospel of John, this really isn't a story about scribes and Pharisees who, in their hypocrisy, come to Jesus. That's included but that's not the central focus. It's not really a focus story about a woman caught in adultery, though she was and she is in the story. But that's not the principle focus. This isn't a story about let's figure out what Jesus wrote on the ground and we'll write books about it. He did write something. We don't know what it was. But that's really not the focus. The focus of the story is how Jesus handled hypocrites, how Jesus handled people caught in gross sin, and what He did and what He said. And that is why we go back to the theme of this book--Believe 879. 879 verses with that constant recurring theme of faith. So that this and other stories would elevate the Lord Jesus Christ in our daily thinking. Now before we jump into our text, verses 1 through 11 of John 8, we have a problem with the story. The problem is it's not found in all of the ancient manuscripts. It's found in quite a lot but it's not found in all of them. Moreover, it's not placed here in every manuscript. In some it is, but in other places, for instance, this story is placed immediately after Luke chapter 21 verse 38. In another manuscript it's found right after John chapter 7 verse 36. Then another manuscript, after John 7 verse 44 and still in another manuscript it's tacked at the end of the Gospel of John. Having said that, you should also know that most every scholar believes it is biblical, inspired by the Holy Spirit and to be considered part of the biblical text. Moreover, it fits the pattern of John. Have you noticed that John is developing a pattern? For instance, in chapter 5 there is an event, an incident, followed by a message based upon that incident. Chapter 6: incident, message. Chapter 7: incident, message. Same pattern here. There is an incident and then a message. If you take out the incident, it leaves you scratching your head about the message. So rather than trying to argue and spend a whole morning trying to figure out where this thing fits, we'll just fit it right where it lies and read it as part of this text in John. John chapter 8 verse 1: "But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear." I love that. "So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." Now what I'd like you to notice this morning is three aspects or characteristics about Jesus Christ in this situation. Number one, Jesus is meek with people. You'll see a fine example of that in the first couple verses. Second, He's masterful with hypocrites. The way He handles this group with one sentence destroys their argument. And then finally, He's merciful with sinners. Those three characteristics will occupy our time this morning. Now I want you to go back to chapter 7. Look at the last verse of chapter 7. It says, "And everyone went to his own house." I don't know if you're like me, but sometimes I read a text of the Bible and I go, who cares? I actually think that or I think why is that there? Why is that written? Because, I mean, you could said that about every day. At the end of every day, everybody goes to his own house. So why is that put here? it really doesn't make sense until you read the first verse of chapter 8. And that's, by the way, where the last verse of chapter 7 belongs because it says, "But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives." It's an odd way to begin a chapter, isn't it? The word 'but'? You wouldn't open a novel and have the first word 'but' because you'd go, but what? What does it refer to? But now compare them. read them together. "Everyone went to his own house. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives." Stop there. The Mount of Olives is just east of the old city of Jerusalem. The Garden of Gethsemane is on the Mount of Olives. If I ever take you to Jerusalem, if you ever come on a tour, one of the first things I'll show you in Jerusalem is the view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. Breathtaking. Stunning. The whole layout of the city was there. But here's the point of the passage. Everybody that day at the Feast of Tabernacles went home to their own home but Jesus, the God of the universe, God in the human body, didn't have a home to go to. He went to the Mount of Olives. He could've probably just climbed up the narrow, winding path, found a place to camp out, and just slept out under the stars in communion with His Father. Another possibility is that He kept going up to the Mount of Olives and just over the other side is a city called Bethany, on the Mount of Olives. It's where Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, his friends lived. He could've stayed with them. But here is a little snippet of His whole life: humility. It sort of fits in with what Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 2. He sort of summed it all up by saying Jesus, who was in very nature God and didn't think equality with God anything to be grasped or held onto, He emptied Himself and came in the likeness of men, was in the body just like of a bondservant. Here's a little example of that. Everybody went home; Jesus went to the Mount of Olives because He didn't have a place to go to. It's just another example of His humility. His whole life was like this. Have you ever thought of the humility of leaving heaven and coming to earth? Have you ever thought of what a culture shock that would be? You're in heaven, there's angels, they're singing, they're worshiping You, You're in constant communion with God the Father and then You come to this earth. It's like--culture shock! And when Jesus was born, He wasn't born in Rome General Hospital with gold sheets and the best of attendants. He was born in a feeding trough in Bethlehem. He lived His life that way. When somebody came up to Him, a would-be follower and said, we'll follow You, I'll follow You wherever You go, Jesus said well, you ought to know something. Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head. And then when He died, where did they bury Him? Not in the family burial plot. There was none. In a borrowed tomb. The tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. He didn't own it. He just borrowed it. It's probably for the best. He only needed for a weekend. But here is an example of His humility, where He stayed. Also, notice how He taught. It says in verse 2: "Now early in the morning," the language designates at sunrise, at dawn, "He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them." Did you get that? No fanfare, no press agents, no bodyguards, no angelic messengers saying, "Ladies and Gentleman! Jesus!" There's the absence of that. Here and in His entire ministry. He simply took His place among men and came in as any rabbi would and found a place and just sat on the ground and let people come around Him. Have you ever tried to imagine how He could have presented Himself? I mean, He could've had a billboard outside the city of Jerusalem: "This Week, Come to the Temple. Jesus Speaking". Uh, He could've just sort of hovered 150 feet, 250 feet up in the air over all the people in the temple, right? He could've done that, just sort of preached at them from way up there. People would go, wow! None of that. He didn't hand out flyers and say, "Come to My Bible study." He just sat down and whoever would come, came. And He served them and He taught them and He ministered to them. Humility. There's a story of a man who, in the early days of our country when only the stagecoach was the mode of transportation, he noticed that there were three ticket prices: first class, second class, and third class on the stagecoach. He peeked his head inside the coach and all the seats looked identical so he bought third class, congratulating himself that he saved a lot of money. Why buy first class? And so the stagecoach went along until it came to a steep hill and it stopped. And the driver announced, "If you're in first class, keep your seat. If you're in second class, get out and walk. If you're in third class, get out and push." Now he got it. My point: when Jesus came to this earth, He didn't come first class. He came third class. The Son of Man came to give Himself as a ransom for many. Not to be served but to serve. And this is a beautiful example here. Something else I want you to notice. Would you go down to verse 20 of our chapter? We're told exactly where He was: "These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come." The treasury is in the court of the women. I thought it would be helpful if you had a little visual example of that so here's a picture on the screen of the court. At the lower bottom is the court of the women where the treasury was. And so this is the setting where Jesus was with that crowd: the court of the women, the treasury. I bring that up because, in a minute, they're gonna bring a woman to the temple precincts. Had Jesus taught in the court of the men, they couldn't have brought the woman in. There's only two places you could've been: the court of the Gentiles or the court of the women. And He's in the court of the women by the treasury. That's where He spoke this. Let's go on, verse 3, notice His masterful approach with these religious hypocrites. "Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery," now notice this: "in the very act." Keep that in your mind. "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned." Oh, they are so self-righteous. "But what do You say?" That's the heart of it: what do You say? "This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him." Little background. The scribes were the guys who copied the Law on scrolls. They were professional secretaries. Some translations call them lawyers. They wrote and copied and wrote and copied and argued the meaning of the text and they were attached to the Pharisees who were the dominant religious influence in the land. There's only 6,000 Pharisees at the time of Jesus but they controlled the religious atmosphere. In chapter 7, do you remember the Pharisees tried to arrest Jesus but they couldn't? They sent officers, temple police, to arrest Him, to seize Him. They couldn't do it. The officers came back without Jesus and when the Pharisees said, well where is He? Why didn't you bring Him? Here's what they said: boy, can that guy preach! Nobody ever spoke like He spoke! They were just amazed at what they heard and they didn't bring Jesus so now Plan B is we have to trap Him. Let's trap Him in something He says Himself. So they bring to Him what they consider an impossible, unanswerable question. A woman caught in adultery. It was typical if you faced a problem or you had an impossible situation, you'd bring that situation to the rabbi and you asked the rabbi what should be done. So here's the situation, all made up, she may have indeed been caught in adultery but it's all a trap. And they come to Jesus and ask the rabbi about what to do. Now the problem is there is a woman. It says, verse 4, "caught in adultery". The seventh commandment is you shall not commit adultery. It was considered one of the three biggies to the Jewish people 2,000 years ago. Idolatry, murder, and adultery were the three biggies. In fact, it was such a heinous sin in God's eyes because it destroys the very fabric of the family that it's one sin in the Old Testament that they command capital punishment for. Two places: Leviticus 20 and Deuteronomy 22. Capital punishment. There's no exact wording as to how it should be carried out, although there is a little part of Deuteronomy where it says if there's a gal engaged to a guy and she goes out and has an affair with somebody else, she should be stoned. But the mishna, the Jewish commentary, they practiced something called death by strangulation. When any adulterer was caught, they even wrote about how it was to be done, they would place that person in three feet of manure, then they would put a soft cloth around the neck followed by a harsh cloth. The reason they wanted a soft cloth at the neck is this was supposed to be divine punishment. They didn't want to leave any human evidence that it was done that way. Soft cloth, harsh cloth, rope tied around the neck, two people at each end, and they would pull as hard as they could until the person died. It's actually written about in detail in the mishna. So picture the scene. Sun is rising, Jesus comes to the temple, people notice it's Jesus, gather all around Him, I imagine He had quite a crowd, and then suddenly there's a commotion as angry clergymen drag this woman and shove her into the crowd and call her an adulteress. Can you imagine how humiliating and degrading that would be for her? And then they pop the question. Why do You say, Jesus? Moses commanded death. What do You say? Now they have a problem. The problem they have is the Jews had not practiced capital punishment on adultery for 1,000 years at this time. So, so sanctimonious. She ought to be killed! Really? You haven't done it for 1,000 years and now you want the death penalty? Moreover, the Romans occupy the land. They stripped the Jews of having the right to take anybody's life in capital punishment. Only the Romans could do it. Um, one source even says that these Jewish rulers of the Sanhedrin were so involved in adultery that no one would dare bring this up--but they did. The other problem with this is, um, they have a very one-sided misinterpretation of Leviticus chapter 20. It says in Leviticus 20 if there is adultery, listen to the text, both the adulteress and the adulterer are to be put to death. So what's wrong with this picture? Where's the guy? We caught this woman in the very act! You did?! The very act?! Well it takes two to act. So where's the other guy? They just brought the woman. That is so typical the case, unfortunately, in many parts of the world and even in history. The gal gets blamed and the guy goes scot free. They brought the woman to Jesus. They believe that He is in an impossible situation, on the horns of a dilemma. Now you might think well what's the big deal? Just answer the question. Here's the big deal. If Jesus were to say well, no, don't stone her, then the Pharisees would've said ah-ha! You're going against the Law of Moses. You're going against the Bible. You're giving adulteresses and adulterers a free ride. And that would've quickly turned the crowd against Jesus. If, on the other hand, Jesus were to say yes, I agree with Moses and the Bible, stone her, that would've instantly ruined His reputation as being the friend of sinners. The compassionate Christ. The One who was merciful and forgave. The One who said, come to Me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. He might as well have said, come to Me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I'll make sure you're stoned, if He would've said stone her. Moreover, moreover, and here's really the crux of it, I believe those guys came and they had stones in their hands and they're trying to fast-track this. They probably had stones in their hands and they said, Moses commanded her to die, what do You say? If He would've said, I agree, they would've pelted stones so fast she would've died, the Romans would've come in and said, who did this? And they would've said the rabbi told us to. So Jesus would be in trouble with the Roman government. That's why they thought Jesus was on the horns of a dilemma. And notice in verse 6 what happens: "But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear." Question: what was He writing? Answer: I don't know. Doesn't say, right? Doesn't say what He's writing. But He's writing on the ground something as if He's not even listening to them. There may be a little hint as to what He wrote. I can't be sure but I do know the word catagraphan is used for writing. Catagraphan. It's two words combined. Graphan or grapho is 'I write'. Catagraphan is 'to write something against someone' and could be translated 'to write a record or an accusation against'. One manuscript even translates it that way: He wrote the sins of each one of them. So I don't know if He, like, knew who they were and just started writing their names. Like, Schlomo, March 17, and then wrote a girl's name afterwards and he would've thought, I'd forgotten all about that. How did He know? Or, Ehud, greed. Or just sort of naming the people and something about them. Can't be sure. I found, though, an interesting prophecy in Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 13. I'll read it to you: Those who turn away from You will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water. Ok, so now why didn't Jesus just answer their question? Jesus? What do You say? And He goes Hmm... hmm... hmm... didn't even answer the question. What's that all about? It's called a strategic pause. It's called making the moment your moment. Waiting for the right time. They're chomping at the bit. In fact, look at verse 7 because He didn't answer them, He just ignored them, "So when they continued asking Him". It wasn't just a onetime deal. They asked Him. He didn't say anything; He just wrote on the ground. And they said again, so what is it? He just wrote on the ground. So what do You say? So what's the verdict? And all of these incessant pleas to have her killed simply showed the crowd how hateful they were. Now Jesus speaks and this is the heart of the story and this is what I want you to see. One single sentence and it decimated their argument. It devastated them. Now this shouldn't surprise us, because when you're talking about Jesus Christ, you're talking about one powerful mouth, right? With, with one command He can create the world. With one command He will dissolve the world. So for Him to argue a little thing with scribes and Pharisees, it's like, whatever, one sentence, I don't even need a paragraph. And this is what He says: "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." That is a devastating answer to their argument. It suddenly raises the issue from a legal issue to a spiritual issue. He's not arguing about the Mosaic Law, He's not arguing about the seventh commandment, He's not arguing about Roman versus Jewish justice. He is saying, um, you lack the qualifications to be her judge and her executioner. There is one qualification that you need. If you want to do this, you have to be without sin. Anamartetes is the Greek word--without sin--and it means one who has not sinned, one who cannot sin, in fact, one scholar says it means one who has no desire to sin. As I see it there's only one person qualified in that group to do that and to be that and who's that? Jesus. All of them are disqualified. He who is anamartetes throw the first stone at her. You don't even have the desire. Now it could be, whatever He was writing, brought things to mind, maybe they had certain desires He knew about because that's where it all begins, does it not? Didn't Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount, maybe they even remember it: You've heard that it was said by those of old, you shall not commit adultery but I say unto you if you look at another woman and you lust after her in your heart, you have already committed adultery in your heart. Starts with a desire. Verse 8: "And again He stooped down and wrote," I just love this! He said what He said and He just went back to writing. He was scribbling, said one sentence, went back to scribbling. Why'd He do that? He wanted what He just said to settle in and then He's gonna watch the reaction. And here's the reaction. It was deep conviction. "Those who heard it, being convicted," it's not embarrassment, it's true conviction, "convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last." Why the oldest first? They had the most to remember. "And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst." Jesus meek with people, masterful with hypocrites. The best part of the story, the last two verses. He's merciful with sinners. "When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." First, notice that Jesus doesn't talk to her until they were alone. He always deals one on One with people. It's not like you're in a big line and He would ever call your sin out and embarrass you. Remember on that day when you did that? They're alone. He deals one on One. That's what we talk about a personal relationship with Him. This is a personal issue. Second, notice what He calls her. Woman--that's a term of respect. He called His mother 'woman' at the marriage supper of Cana. Now by calling her woman it put a little bit of dignity back in her life. He didn't say hey, harlot! Or adulteress. He said, with respect, 'woman'. What a story. The only one qualified to throw stones had none in His hands and didn't throw any. He was without sin. Now you might be thinking well, boy, Jesus is sure easy on sin. By the way, that's why some people think it was left out of some manuscripts. Some scribe, legalistic scribe, might have thought, we better not put that in there. People are gonna read that and think, I can just do whatever I want. He was not at all easy on sin. He wasn't condoning her lifestyle. He didn't say I don't condemn you. Go! He did two things. He called it sin, first of all, right? He didn't call it a hang-up or a disease or an alternate lifestyle or a mistake--He called it sin. It's an offense against God. And He also gave her a command. He said, "Go and sin no more." Not go and sin as little as possible. Go and stop the lifestyle that is marking you and that is this sin of adultery. Sin no more. Why would He say that? Because any encounter with Jesus Christ will involve transformation. You see, a true believer, after coming to Christ, would never think to presume upon the grace of God. A true believer would never say well, I'm gonna go ahead and go through with this. I know it's wrong. I know it's sinful, but I can always repent afterwards. Excuse me? Paul wrote in Romans 6: What shall we say then? Shall we sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Now who hasn't wanted what this lady got? A second chance. A do-over. A new start. A clean slate. That's what Jesus gives. In closing, there's just three little things I want you to take away. Number one, will you notice how sinners treat sinners? They treat them brutally. That's how sinners treat sinners--brutally. One group of sinners, Pharisees, religious sinners, are gonna kill this woman. They treat them brutally--especially when we can smell or see our sin on somebody else. Looks so bad on them! We don't see it on us but on them, oh, it's horrible! It's like the guy driving through the woods. He ran over a skunk but he didn't know it and he goes man, there must be a skunk in these woods. What a horrible place to live. He drives 20 miles down the road, he still smells skunks, and he goes there must be skunks everywhere in this state! No, there's one on your car, dude. You're taking the smell with you wherever you go. And when a person realizes, I have been forgiven by Christ, He has forgiven my sin. I'm no better than this harlot. He forgave me. That takes you out of the stone-throwing business really quick. Number two, notice how the Law treats sinners. The Law says the soul that sins shall surely die. That's the standard, God's holy, righteous, perfect standard. That's the Law. The Law of Moses. The Ten Commandments. The Law sets the standard but it can't cleanse the soul. But third, notice how Jesus treats sinners. "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." I think of Romans chapter 8 verse 1: There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Do you know why? Do you know how that can be? In fact let me just crystallize the question better: how is it possible that you can uphold the righteous, holy standard of God and, at the same time, have sinners who've broken that Law be forgiven? How can you have mercy and righteousness at the same time? Because righteousness and mercy meet in Christ--on the cross. He was perfect. He lived a perfect life. He died the substitutionary death. God put all of our muck and junk and sin on Christ and He took it away so that He can extend forgiveness. 2 Corinthians 5:21: God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. That in a nutshell is substitutionary atonement. That's how Christ treats sinners. She was caught. She was brought. Jesus came to blot out her sins and everyone else's. I was reading this week about writing and signatures and I discovered that the most expensive piece of writing in existence today is the writing of William Shakespeare. In fact, if you maybe in your closet have an autograph of William Shakespeare, it's worth five million dollars. And I read about things that Lincoln had written and letters of different people and how valuable they were and I thought, I would argue with them. I think the most valuable thing ever written was when Jesus wrote something in the dust of the temple stones that gave this woman a second chance. It's the gospel of the second chance.

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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12/6/2009
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The Greatest Man Meets the Greatest Lamb
John 1:19-34
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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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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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8/29/2010
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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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