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Peace Where You Least Expect It - John 14:27-31

Taught on | Topic: Upper Room Discourse | Keywords: Peace, anxiety

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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6/26/2011
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Peace Where You Least Expect It
John 14:27-31
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
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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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. Peace in a Troubled World (v. 27)

    1. The Description of Peace

    2. The Demeanor of Peace

  2. Peace in Temporal Waiting (vv. 28-29)

    1. Jesus' Return to His Father

    2. Jesus' Return to His Followers

    3. Jesus' Return is Foretold

  3. Peace in Spiritual Warfare (vv. 30-31)

    1. The Activity of the Prince of this World

    2. The Tranquility of the Prince of Peace

Pondering the Principles:

  1. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being very peaceful and 1 being frantic) how peaceful are you most of the time? What is your peace based on? Is it self-invented? Is it firmly rooted? How do you know it's His peace?

  2. What things rob you of peace? How do these words of Jesus help you?

  3. Memorize Isaiah 26:3.

Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. "The misery index"
      1. Phrase coined by 1960s economic advisor to President Lyndon Johnson, Arthur Oaken
      2. Unemployment rate added to the inflation rate
      3. National economic indicator
      4. Currently 12.67
        1. Lowest in 1953: 2.97
        2. Highest in 1980: 21.98
    2. Peace
      1. Opposite word
      2. Cure for misery
      3. The most sought after experience (more than money, fame, power, status)
      4. Google results:
        1. Peace: 791 million
        2. World peace: 112 million
        3. Personal peace: 410 million
        4. Spiritual peace: 84.1 million
      5. Nobel Peace Prize (created by Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite. Upon seeing his errant obituary, he decided to leave a better legacy)
      6. Outwardly elusive
        1. 3100 years of recorded history, 286 years (8%) peace
        2. 8000 peace treaties formed, signed, and broken
      7. Inwardly available
        1. Bible speaks of peace 397 times
        2. A real experience for those who trust God
        3. Jesus called the Prince of Peace (see Isaiah 9:6)
          1. If you want peace, get to know the Prince
          2. People sing, talk, and search for peace, but never receive the Prince
        4. Caesar Augustus heard of a man who slept peacefully each night and wanted to buy his bead: but it is about the man, not the bed
  2. Peace in a Troubled World
    1. The Description of Peace (v. 27)
      1. eiréné - peace of mind
        1. Common greeting
          1. Used three times in John 20 as a greeting
          2. Paul opens His epistles "grace and peace"
        2. Here it is a promise, not a salutation
          1. Paraphrase: "Let Me cause you to have a quiet, peaceful, restful, tranquil heart and mind."
          2. "I am leaving you with a gift -- peace of mind and heart." (NLT translation)
          3. God's promise to you in spite of circumstances
      2. Peace with God
        1. Objective
        2. Not a feeling (but may or may not be accompanied by feeling)
        3. Surrender to God on His terms: receive Christ
        4. "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, "(Romans 5:1)
        5. When Jesus is Savior, we have peace with God
      3. Peace of God
        1. Subjective
        2. Feeling
        3. Cannot experience without peace with God
        4. The experience of tranquility and rest
        5. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)
        6. When Jesus is Lord you have peace of God
    2. The Demeanor of Peace
      1. My own peace
        1. "I am going to cause you to be restful, tranquil, quiet, and peaceful inside your hearts and minds with the same kind of rest, tranquility, and peace that I have inside My heart and mind."
        2. The effect Christ has upon a life
        3. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness," (Galatians 5:22)
        4. "Peace is not the absence of trouble; peace is the presence of God." —J. Oswald Sanders
      2. At peace when the world seems to be falling apart around you
        1. Believers should have that
        2. God is not frowning at you: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
      3. Other worldly peace
        1. Only available through Christ
        2. The world's peace is temporary, transient
          1. The bliss of ignorance: unaware of the wrath poised against the unbelieving world
          2. "There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked." (Isaiah 48:22)
      4. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
        1. Stop an action already going on
        2. You have a part to play
          1. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come
          2. We are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit
        3. When you have every earthly reason to be troubled, fear is the natural response; peace is the supernatural response to trouble
      5. Jesus came to the apostles on the very thing they feared the most walking on the water of the storm  (see John 6:15-21)
  3. Peace in Temporal Waiting (vv. 28-29)
    1. Jesus' Return to His Father
      1. If you love Me, you would be happy I go to the Father
      2. True nature of love: best for the one being loved: love does not seek its own (See 1 Corinthians 13:5)
      3. Jesus left heaven, came, suffered and was going back to the Father
      4. Application: when we grieve the loss of a loved one who has gone to heaven, we can rejoice as we grieve because they are with the Father
    2. Jesus' Return to His Followers
      1. Resurrection (3 days)
      2. Pentecost, Holy Spirit (50 days)
      3. To rule the earth (still waiting)
        1. We don't like to wait
        2. The world is getting worse
    3. Jesus' Return is Foretold
      1. He promised
      2. All he said he would do, He did
        1. Betrayal
        2. Crucifixion
        3. Resurrection
        4. Return
      3. "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
      4. Fulfilled promises in the past ensure fulfilled promises in the future
  4. Peace in Spiritual Warfare (vv. 30-31)
    1. The Activity of the Prince of this World
      1. Satan: The Ruler of this World
        1. Term used in reference to Satan  (see John 12:31)
        2. God of this age (see 2 Corinthians 4:4)
          1. Adam and Eve handed him dominion when they fell
          2. "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12)
      2. Betrayal
        1. In context refers to Judas' betrayal of Christ (see John 18)
        2. Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.  Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly." (John 13:26-27)
        3. Judas is a pawn; Satan is the powerhouse
    2. The Tranquility of the Prince of Peace
      1. Nothing in Me; no hold on Me
        1. Satan cannot manipulate Jesus
        2. Jesus was crucified in obedient love to the Father
      2. As a child of God, Satan will buffet, tempt, and harass, but he has no control of you
        1. "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)
        2. We cannot say "the devil made me do it"
        3. Don't underestimate the devil; he is a powerful foe
        4. Don't overestimate the devil
      3. Bracing to bear up under trouble of the world and spiritual warfare
        1. Marriage, family, friends
        2. The peace of God
      4. Rejoice
        1. Seems out of place to us
        2. "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials," (1 Peter 1:6)

Greek Terms: eiréné - peace of mind
Figures Referenced: Arthur Oaken; Alfred Nobel; J. Oswald Sanders
Cross References: Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 48:22; Jeremiah 29:11; John 6:15-21; John 12:31; John 13:26-27; John 16:33; John 18; Romans 5:1; Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Galatians 5:22; Philippians 4:6-7; 1 Peter 1:6; 1 John 4:4

Transcript

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So let's turn to 14 John this morning, 14 John and let's pray together. Lord, we're interested in what you have to say to us. We believe you speak still today. We believe that you have preserved by the power of your spirit exactly what you wanted to say, exactly what you want to reveal and communicate to people in every generation through this book even though men's hands have taken up the pen and written words down, we believe it was under the supervision of your spirit so that we have the very words of God.

And as we study the words of our savior given to his disciples, I pray father that we would grow deeper than we have. I pray that our level with you, our spiritual walk with you would deepen. We simply ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

I've been interested in a phrase that I've heard recently. I've heard it before, but I've heard it again recently and it just sort of jumped out when on the news I heard the phrase, 'the misery index.' Have you ever heard that phrase? They're telling us the misery index in our country is on the rise. That just jumped out at me when I heard the misery index, so I did a little digging.

Back in the 1960s, an economic adviser to President Lyndon Johnson named Arthur Oaken came up with a phrase, 'the misery index' and what it is simply, it is the unemployment rate added to the inflation rate and those two become an economic indicator to how the nation is fearing, so the idea is that as inflation is on the rise and people are more and more out of work, the misery index goes up.

We're presently at 12.67 in the misery index. They say it's going up now, 12.67. The lowest our country has ever been is 1953. It was at 2.97. The highest its ever been was June of 1980, right before the 1980 elections. It was 21.98. But they're telling us, the misery index is going up. Now, there's another word besides misery that I got from the news. There's a word that jumped out at me when I read the Good News, the text we're about to read this morning, it's a word that is used a few times by Jesus himself. It's a very different word for misery, in fact, I would say, it's the opposite word. It could even be considered the cure for misery. It's the word peace.

Verse 27, Jesus speaking, he says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you, let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid. You have heard me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. If you love me, you would rejoice because I said I am going to the Father for my Father is greater than I and now, I have told you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming and he has nothing in me, but that the world may know that I love the Father and as the Father gave me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here."

Peace is the most sought after experience bar none, more than money, more than fame, more than power, more than status, people want peace. I googled peace this week. I just wrote in the word peace and I was interested to find that I received 791 million results. Fascinated by that, I typed in the word world peace, 112 million results. I kept going, I was having fun. I wrote in personal peace, 410 million results. I typed in spiritual peace, 84,100,000 results. We think about peace, we talk about peace, we yearn for peace, we visualize it, we put it on bumper stickers, we want peace. We want world peace. There is even something called the peace prize, the Nobel Peace Prize.

Interestingly, invented by Alfred Nobel, the man who invented dynamite. Oh let me tell you the story, it's fascinating. Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemical engineer and he was reading the paper one day and he saw that he had died and he didn't know this, there was a misprint in the obituary column. Alfred Nobel and he was known as the one who invented dynamite. Well that sort of shook him, he thought, "That's not the legacy I want to leave. I want to leave something better than that." So he embarked on peaceful things and developed the Nobel Peace Prize.

But peace seems so elusive. Yeah, I know we talk about it. We will negotiate for it, but how many people really experience peace, let's just get down to brass tax. In the last 3100-plus years of recorded history, there have been 286 years of peace. What that means is that in all of the recorded history we know of, 8% of world history has been peaceful, that's all. And in 3100 years, 8000 peace treaties have been formed, signed and broken. Peace seems elusive because, well peace is elusive outwardly, but not inwardly. The bible speaks about peace, some 397 times.

As a real experience for those who trust God, I am interested in the fact that Jesus is called one of his titles in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 9, he is the Prince of what? The Prince of Peace. He is not called the Prince of Hope. He is not called the Prince of Love. He is not called the Prince of Joy though all of htose titles would be befitting, but he is called the Prince of Peace as if to indicate if you want peace, get to know the Prince.

And what is ironic is that so many people will talk about peace and search for peace and sing about peace, but never receive the Prince of Peace. It's sort of like Caesar Augustus who, when he was reigning in Rome, he had found out that there was a man living on the other side of the city who though he incurred a great debt, he could never pay off, slept peacefully every night and so Caesar Augustus wanted to buy that man's bed.

You see, he thought it's all about the bed, some ancient posture-pedic Roman perfect mattress. Now, it's all about the man, not about the bed.

We have five verses in front of us and I have to tell you that the only mistake I believe I made in preparing for this message is I bit off more than I could chew. I really should just have taken smaller chunks. I have so much that I want to say, there is so much truth packed into these verses. I am going to do my best to unpack it and don't worry, I'll finish in time.

But there's just so much truth to be extracted. There's actually three experiences of peace that our savior speaks about or eludes to. The first is in Verse 27, peace in a troubled world he speaks about. To his disciples, he says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you." Peace he says to them. Peace. The word in Greek, eirene, we get the woman's name, Irene from it was a common greeting. In fact, these were Hebrews and if you go to Jerusalem today, people still will say to you, Shalom, which is peace.

Three times in John Chapter 20, Jesus will use the word peace as a greeting. He will say to his disciples after the resurrection, when he appears to them, "Peace be with you." The first thing he says, a common greeting, followed up in his Epistles, "Grace and peace." But here, in Chapter 14, in this verse, this is not a greeting, this is not a salutation. This is a promise.

I'm going to paraphrase, but this is what I believe is the best way to translate it. Let me cause you to have a quiet, peaceful, restful, tranquil, heart and mind. In fact, the New Living translation renders, "I am leaving you with the gift: peace of mind and heart."

So there's God's promise to you if you are a follower of his peace. If you're a businessman struggling to stay afloat in this herd economy God promises you peace. If you are a worker and you just want to keep your job, God promises you peace. If you are a parent and you're worried about all of the dependent mouths that look toward you to feed them, God promises you peace. If you're a student and you just want to pass the test and make it to the next grade, God promises you peace.

Peace is the promise.

It must be sad however that the bible does differentiate between two kinds of peace. Let me explain, there's peace with God and then there's the peace of God – two very different things. The first is objective, the second is subjective. The first is not a feeling or may not accompany one, the second is definitely a feeling. But you can never experience the second, that is the peace of God, unless you've experienced the first and that is peace with God.

Let me further explain. Peace with God is when you fly the white flag of spiritual surrender. You say, "I give up, I come to God on God's terms," which is the cross of Christ, "I receive Christ as my savior into my life, into my heart." Then you have peace with God. That's what Paul command in 5 Romans, "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ." But then there's the second and that is the peace of God.

That's the experience, that's the tranquility, that's the rest that Jesus is promising here. The feeling, the experience of tranquility. If you were to plug another verse into Verse 27, it would be the one in 4 Philippians, most of you know it, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God," the peace that pass is all understanding will guard or will rule your hearts and your minds.

So let me give it to you in a short statement that you can remember, it's a bit simplistic perhaps, but it fits, when Jesus is savior, that brings peace with God. When Jesus is Lord, that will bring the peace of God. Peace he promises. Not only that, look at the very second part of that verse. He just doesn't say, "Peace, I leave with you." He says, "My peace, I give to you." Literally, my own peace. He is the manufacturer of this kind of peace. He is the distributor of this kind of peace.

Again, let me paraphrase all of this together. Jesus is saying, I am going to cause you to be restful, tranquil, quiet, peaceful inside your hearts and minds with the same kind of rest, tranquility and peace that I have inside my heart and mind. Now let that just settle in for a moment. Can you ever picture Jesus as being frantic? Frenzied? Do you ever picture however way Jesus saying, "Oh no." Ever? Never. Never. And that's the legacy that he passes on to those follow Him.

That's the effect that Christ has upon a life. Paul put it this way, "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, goodness, kindness et cetera." That's the effect of Christ on the human life. Jay Oswald Sanders put it this way, "Peace is not the absence of trouble. Peace is the presence of God." In fact, I would say to that, I'd add to that. You can be at peace very deeply while the world seems to be falling apart around you. It's peace in a troubled world.

Now, you should have that. I should have that peace. For the life of me, I don't quite know why some Christians still get the idea that God is frowning at them. But as I talk to so many, that's the idea that I get. They picture God as having a furrowed brow and his arms are folded across his celestial robe and He's just looking at you going, "Tsk, tsk. Not good. I'm going to get you."

That couldn't be further from the truth, Jeremiah 29 declares, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord," thoughts of peace. Thoughts of peace, not of evil to give you a future and a hope. So He promises peace. He promises His peace. Look at it further, he promises an other worldly kind of peace. He says, not as the world gives do I give to you.

You see, you'll never find this kind of peace anywhere out there in the world. It's not to be found. Now, I do have to say that worldly people, a lot of them, may seem very peaceful and will tell you, I'm at peace and there are temporary experiences of tranquility that you can find in a beautiful morning, a romance, an experience where you go, "I am just so..." Hey, listen, a good cup of coffee will get you that.

But these are transient, momentary experiences. In fact, I would even go so far as to say, for unbelievers, any kind of peace like that is just the bliss of ignorance. What you don't know won't hurt you is the idea. It's the bliss of ignorance because if the unbeliever really understood how the wrath of God is poised against the unrepentant, they would never have announced the peace. They would live in high anxiety. Isaiah put it this way, "There is no peace says the Lord for the wicked."

So it's the bliss of ignorance. It might be transient. It might be momentary, but this promise is something far deeper and something longer lasting. Look at the very last sentence of Verse 27. It's divided into two sentences. "Let not your heart be troubled," does that ring a bell? That's how the chapter begins, right? Verse 1, "Let not your heart be troubled," but then he adds this, "Neither let it be afraid."

Now the way that's written in the Greek vocabulary, it means to stop an action that's already going on. In other words, these voices were agitated in the upper room. They're distressed. They're filled with anxiety. They're filled with fear. So he says to them, let not your heart be troubled.

Now you know what that tells me? That tells me that there's a cooperation going on. There's God's part and then there's your part. Here, I'll promise you peace, it's a very real experience. It can be yours. You can walk in it, but you have a part to play. You have to appropriate the promise. That makes sense? You have to let not your heart be troubled. You have to stop if you're filled with anxiety. Stop that and appropriate my peace.

A lot of God's promises are that way. Jesus said the Holy Spirit was going to come. But Paul will later say, being filled with the spirit. That's a commandment. So there are two parts of this. These disciples had every earthly reason to be fearful, to be agitated, to be troubled, to be afraid. Fear is the natural response to trouble. Peace is the supernatural response. And whenever I encounter that in a person's life, I'm humbled.

I was humbled this week. There's a family in our church, I don't think they'd mind if I brought them up in this context. A family that I've known since we started our first bible study before we were even incorporated as an official church. They've been with us a long time. I watched Jessica, their daughter being raised in this church.

Jessica grew up, got married, had kids; six weeks ago, we buried her daughter. It was a very painful experience for this family. Two days ago, they called me, Jessica's house burned to the ground. Yeah, you think one blow, so deep, so blighting, so devastating and then another one.

So I called Jessie who was the grandfather of that child that died, Jessica's dad. Not knowing what I was going to hear, but sort of suspecting what I would hear because I know him. The first thing he said and I wrote it down and made such an impression, the first thing when he picked up the phone and he knew it was me, he said, "Skip, we are so blessed to be called the children of God."

I thought, how can I minister to him? He is ministering to me. He said, the peace of God, the lessons we've learned, what God is doing, what we have seen –wow. He nailed it. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Why? Because in the storm that is coming your way, God will couch in that storm of blessing. Remember the story when Jesus sent His disciples out in the Sea of Galilee and then a storm arose, remember that? And then Jesus starts walking to them on the water and the bible says, they looked and they saw Jesus walking towards them on the water and they didn't know it was Jesus, which always sort of amazed me.

Well who else could it be?

And they were afraid, they didn't recognize Him. Why didn't they recognize Him? Here's my take on it. They weren't expecting Jesus to come in the storm. And that's the beauty of it. Jesus came to them on the very thing they feared the most – the storm.

You might be in one right now or you might be facing one, don't know when, it could be a possible surgery, it could be the death of a loved one, you could fill in the blank, but I'll guarantee you, if you look, you'll find that Jesus will come to you on the very thing you may fear the most. It might be His footpath to come to you and you will say, in it and through it and after it, the Lord has been so good and gracious and shown Himself."

Sailors tell us that in the ocean there is a section so deep beneath the surface of the water, they call it the cushion of the sea. No matter what's happening on the surface, no matter how big the waves are, billowing or breaking ships, if you get down far enough, it's absolutely still – the cushion of the sea. I want to live in the cushion of God's sea. Peace, my peace, not as the world gives. Don't let your heart be troubled. Don't let it be afraid.

To first experience Jesus, it talks about it in Verse 27. Verse 29 and 28, "There's a second kind of peace and that is peace while you are waiting, in temporal waiting. You have heard me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. If you love me, you would rejoice because I said I am going to the Father for my Father is greater than I." All right, Jesus is leaving and can you just imagine what they're feeling as He says, now you've heard me tell you that I am leaving, they go, yeah, I know and we're not happy about it.

Jesus makes a point, a rebuke really. If you really loved me, you'd be happy because where I'm going, I'm going to the Father. Now Jesus had left heaven. He left the glories of heaven. He left of the prerogatives of that place. He left the face to face fellowship with His Father, the glory of the angelic singing. He came to this earth. He suffered all of the limitations as a human being, the suffering, the temptation and so if you really love me, I'm going back there.

See, the nature of true love, while the bible says, 1 Corinthians 13, "Love does not seek its own." If you really love someone, you are concerned about what's best for that person, not what is best for you. So they're thinking only about themselves. Jesus says, I'm leaving. Well what about us? Well, if you really loved me, you'd be excited. You'd rejoice because I am going to my Father, but notice what else He says. "You've heard me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you." Okay, that's a thought I want to capture with you.

I'm going, but I'm coming back to you. Now, you answer that. When is He coming back? How is He coming back? I know it's a trick question, it really is. It can be answered three ways. Number one: He is coming back in the resurrection. They'll have to wait how many days for that? Three days. He is also coming back at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes. Jesus said, "I am going to send you another comforter. One just like me to take my place. That's the Holy Spirit." They're going to have to wait 50 days for that.

Then also, He is coming eventually, finally when He comes back to this earth, right? Well, we're still waiting for that. So whether it's three days or 50 days or 2000-plus years, there needs to be peace in a time of waiting for the Lord's promises to be fulfilled. Waiting.

Do you like to wait for anything? No, do you? I hate it. I hate to wait and I hate lines because I have to wait for like an hour. Ever been to Disneyland and stood in a line? It's like, is this supposed to be the happiest place on earth? Because I'm not happy in this line. Or getting on the freeway and lining up and it goes into gridlock and then somebody dares pull in front of us and gets there a millisecond before we do. Whoa. We hate to wait.

We live in the computer age and we have phones. We can get instant text messages and we can get on the internet and listen to how we talk. "Oh man, this thing is slow. I can't believe it." "This 3G stuff man is like archaic." Listen to yourself. You have to wait a billionth of a millisecond extra to get a download of information that would take you months to get years ago. We hate to wait. We need God's peace in our generation as we wait for anything, especially these promises to be fulfilled.

Let's apply this. Apply this first of all to those that you know that you have loved who have died and gone to heaven, a spouse, a child, a parent, a friend. You were at the funeral. You were deeply grieved, you are still grieved. You experienced loss, understandably so. You should. It's all legitimate.

However, that loved one is in heaven and if you really love that loved one, you'd rejoice. At the same time while you grieve, you rejoice that they're in heaven. In fact, it's the knowledge that they're in heaven that brings you peace while you're waiting to be reunited with that loved one.

And second, apply it this way, we're waiting for the Lord to return. Okay, it has been a couple of thousand years since Jesus said He would come back. He hadn't come back yet. He will. He will come back, I believe sooner than later, but in the meantime, the world is getting uglier and messier and just – I mean, bad. How can I have peace in these economic times and war is starting all around the world and just the whole Middle East thing. You're to have peace.

Now, you know why and you know how you can have peace? I'm going to show you Verse 29. I want you to see it for yourself, "And now Jesus said, now I have told you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe." You may believe.

Let me tell you how you can have peace. You look back on all of the things that Jesus predicted that the bible predicted would happen and have happened. Okay, so let's do that. Jesus predicted that He was going to be betrayed. Was He betrayed? Yup, check that happened. Jesus predicted that they were going to hang Him on a cross. He'd be crucified. Did that happen? Yeah, it happened. Check. Okay, he predicted He would rise again from the dead. It happened. Check.

Jesus also said, and by the way, I'm going to come back to this earth and rule and reign. Is He going to do that? You know how you know He's going to do that because everything He said He would do, He did. I told you beforehand so that when it comes to pass, you'll believe.

If you don't mind, turn over to Chapter 16 for just a moment. Go right two blocks. 16 John, look at Verse 33. "These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." Fulfilled promises from the past and sure fulfilled promises for the future and bring peace.

If I tell you that tomorrow, I'll pick you up at 7PM, if I show up exactly on time, and then I say, now tomorrow, I'll pick you up at 8PM and I'm there exactly on time and then I say, and the next day, I'll be there at 5PM and I show up exactly on time. Eventually, you will know that when I make a promise, I'm going to be there on time. You'll have peace. You won't live in any anxiety, "Oh, I'm going to be late. He never shows up on time."

But if I always show up on, it will bring you a sense of peace. These things I have spoken to you that you might have peace. So we have peace in a troubled world, peace in a time of waiting. We have a third kind of peace that will complete the picture for us and that is peace in spiritual warfare. Look at the last two verses of our text. Verse 30, "I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming and He has nothing in me, but that the world may know that I love the Father and as the Father gave me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here."

Who is the ruler of this world? Satan. We know that because in Chapter 12, He calls satan the same name, the ruler of this world. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul calls the devil, the god of this age or the god of this world and how did he get those titles? Why is called that? It's simple. When Adam and Eve fell in the garden, they handed the dominion that God gave to them over the earth over to satan, the usurper. They forfeited that. That's what Paul meant in Romans 5, "Through one man, sin entered the world and death drew sin and death spread to all."

So Adam, you might say, is the Benedict Arnold of the universe. He has betrayed us and we've suffered the consequences ever since. So satan is called the ruler of this world. Now, he says, the ruler of this world is coming.

To be fair in context, this probably refers to what Judas is doing. Judas is betraying Jesus and the coming of Judas with the soldiers to arrest Jesus that you'll see in Chapter 18 is probably what Jesus refers to when He says, the ruler of this world is coming.

Do me a favor, go back one chapter, 13 John, we've read it, but let's be refreshed for a moment. Verse 25, this is the meal, the upper room meal, Passover, "Then leaning back on Jesus' breast, he..." That's John, "said to Him, Lord who is it?" Who is it that will betray you is the context. Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now after the piece of bread, satan entered him and Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."

Probably at the very moment that Jesus is speaking in Chapter 14, Judas is arranging this arrest and he will come.

But Jesus doesn't say, and Judas is coming. He says satan is coming because Judas is the pawn. Back stage, the real power grab is with satan. Satan is thinking, I'm going to manipulate Judas to get rid of Jesus, but notice what Jesus says, "I will no longer talk much with you." In other words, Chapters 15 and 16 will end it all. He is done talking after that. That's all He's going to say to them, then He will be arrested and killed.

For the ruler of this world is coming and he has nothing in me, meaning, he has no hold on me. He can't manipulate me. What is about to happen isn't because of anything satan is doing, I am doing this to be obedient and loving to my father. He's in perfect control. It's part of the plan. He has nothing in me.

You can say the same thing. As a child of God, satan will tempt you, will bust at you, will harass you, will hassle you. You can say with all authority, he has no control, nothing on me. He can't harm me because the bible says, "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world, the ruler of this world. God is in you." He is greater than the ruler of this world. He has no hold on me.

You can never say, "The devil made me do it." You can never use that excuse. He has no grip, no hold, no authority. Now don't underestimate satan, he is a powerful foe, but please don't overestimate him. So many Christians do. They're so afraid of the devil everywhere. He has no hold on you. He has nothing in me and because of that, you can have peace in spiritual warfare.

In San Francisco is one of the most magnificent structures on earth, at least, I feel that. It was built in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge. The designers of the Golden Gate Bridge, the engineers knew that they had to deal with three stresses, three loads they called it. They had to deal with dead load, live load and wind load.

Dead load is the weight of the bridge itself that's keeping that there and suspended. Live load is the daily traffic that goes back and forth on the Golden Gate Bridge and wind load, as the term implies are the winds, the storms that come in and buffet and beat against that bridge. So the engineers built into that the ability for that bridge to stay anchored, bracing so it could bear up under the load.

In life, we all need bracing to bear up under the load. The trouble, the trouble that comes from the world, the trouble that comes as we wait for God's promises, the troubles that come particularly to believers who are buffeted and in spiritual warfare. We need bracings.

What are your bracings? Well, maybe your list would include, "Oh I have a good marriage." That's good. "I have children around me who love me, I have parents, I have good friends, I have a church that I am involved in." Of all that are in your list, all of those are good bracings for storms, but you need to be able to honestly add, I have the peace of God. It anchors me. Because I know who He is and I believe what He said, I have peace, it's God's peace, it's the cushion of the sea that we can abide in.

I have a minute left. I want to say one thing in a minute. I'm going to say it really fast. There's a word in our text that I want to just come in to you as an experience. It's a word that you would say is sort of out of place when you talk about trouble, it's the word rejoice, Verse 18, "If you love me, you would rejoice that I'm going to my Father. My Father is greater than I."

Have you ever thought about rejoicing in trials? In trouble? And I know, it sounds cheeky, but I mean that honestly. Rejoice. You say, "Skip, are you nuts?" Well, aside from that fact. And I mean it sincerely. Peter who is in that upper room and heard all of these would write these words much later on, 1 Peter 6, "In this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while, you've had to suffer grief and all kinds of trials." One of the ways of handling trouble that is your lot in life is to do it with rejoicing.

And what a pleasure it is to meet along life's road, those rare gems that have learned to smile even when they are blasted with troubles and what they do to lift a person up and encourage them.

Father, none of these is natural. If we were to go through our life griping, complaining, listing our woes and sorrows, we would blend in with the landscape, there would be no difference at all. No one would bat an eyebrow.

But to trust, to believe and to rejoice because of a sense of peace that is supernatural. That is the legacy of a Christ follower. You want to pass on to us your personal peace and give it to us as an abiding gift that though the world around us is troubled, that we're waiting for all of the promises yet to be fulfilled in a very uncertain time and though satan attacks us, we can live in that cushion, may that be so.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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10/25/2009
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Believe:879
John 20:30-31
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Is your faith in need of bolstering? Do you find yourself saying "Help my unbelief?" The book of John presents a unique, up close and personal look at the life of Christ, focusing on Jesus as God Incarnate. As we dive into a thorough study of each of John's 879 verses, we'll walk with disciples who were eyewitnesses of His ministry, His death, and His resurrection, and we'll experience abundant life in His name.
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11/1/2009
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The World's Most Important Word
John 1:1-5
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It may be difficult to say what the most important word is in any language, but not for the Apostle John. He begins his gospel with the identification of Jesus as, "The Word." Starting with the very beginning of beginnings, John shows us the fundamental truths about the Jesus that he writes about in the rest of this book. The language is simple and unmistakable and yet the truths presented are deep and extremely profound. Let's see how John presents Jesus and Who Jesus is according to one who was closest to Him.
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11/15/2009
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Step Into Son-Light
John 1:6-13
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I love early mornings when sunlight first comes up over the eastern sky. But if you’ve ever had the experience of the sun suddenly shining into your eyes (like when you turn westward while the sun is going down), it's not so pleasant. Most people wince when light is shined in their eyes. Jesus is presented here as being "the light of men" and "shining in darkness". But the world cries out, "Turn off that light!" How can Jesus enlighten your life and how will you respond to Him?
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11/22/2009
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One of a Kind!
John 1:14-18
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It is a mistake to think of Jesus as "one among many" options in the pantheon of deities. He is unique, matchless, unrivaled, singular, and incomparable. From His birth to His Resurrection, there is no one who even comes close to the majestic Christ. Jesus was One-Of-A-Kind! Let’s consider four distinct ways that Jesus was unique and what these mean to us today.
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12/6/2009
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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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8/22/2010
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Scribbling on the Ground
John 8:1-11
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Can you imagine what a surviving copy of Jesus' autograph would be worth today? Or what about a letter to His disciples? The fact is, there is no existing document or copy of anything Jesus ever wrote. We only have this story of Him scribbling something in transient dust on the Temple stones. Though John doesn't tell what Jesus wrote that day, his account does reveal a lot about Jesus Himself and how He interacted with three different kinds of folks.
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8/29/2010
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Blinded by the Light
John 8:12-20
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When the sun shines right in your eyes, your immediate inclination is to squint, turn away, or put sunglasses on. Light can be blinding! Though light penetrates our world, providing illumination and energy for our very existence, big doses of it can be difficult to handle. That's true spiritually as well. Jesus, by His teaching and work, illuminated this world darkened by sin. Some rejoiced in that light, able to see where they were going. But others, who'd been so accustomed to spiritual darkness, could only wince when Jesus was around.
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9/5/2010
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The Worst Way & Best Way to Die
John 8:21-30
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One person put it this way, "Death is the big flaw. Sometimes we can postpone it, lessen its physical pains, deny its existence—but we can't escape it!" Since that is universally true, why don't people take death seriously enough to plan for it? While we are alive in this world, everyone should be thinking more about the next. But what's the best (and worst) way to die?
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9/19/2010
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The Best Way & Worst Way to Live
John 8:31-36
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Everyone has an opinion on what "The Good Life" is. For some, it's financial independence. For others, it’s autonomy from government control. For still others, it’s the ability to do whatever you want whenever you feel like it. Jesus offers a different kind of freedom and a better brand of life. Here Jesus tells us what the best way to live really is: It’s the freedom to be a genuine disciple. And He tells us what the worst way to live really is: It’s the slavery of a sinful lifestyle. Today consider how free you really are and what areas of life you may still be in bondage to.
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9/26/2010
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The Devil's DNA
John 8:37-47
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Your body has 100 trillion cells. Inside each one is a nucleus and in each nucleus are DNA molecules. DNA is like an instruction manual for life with densely coded information telling each cell what to do. A simple paternity test would prove that my father was really my father. Here Jesus gives His audience a spiritual paternity test that reveals their spiritual father to be the devil himself. No matter what your physical ancestry, you can always tell one's spiritual heritage.
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10/3/2010
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Who IS This Guy?
John 8:48-59
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Jesus had friends and He had enemies. But besides those, He also had some "frenemies" (enemies who pretended to be friends). To this crowd who at first pretended to believe (v. 31) Jesus is both confrontational and controversial. This paragraph highlights three possible identities of Jesus: two of them were his enemies' accusations and one was Jesus' own claim.
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10/10/2010
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Life Hurts! Where's God?
John 9:1-12
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"Why is there so much pain in the world?" is the most frequently asked question ever! We hate it when we, or those we love, are in pain. Today we see Jesus confront a hurting world. As we do, consider these words by Elizabeth Elliot (whose husband was murdered): "If God is in charge and loves us, then whatever is given is subject to His control and is meant ultimately for our joy."
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10/17/2010
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The Truth About Your Neighbors
John 9:13-34
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Those of us who are Christians live in a sea of unbelievers who work with us, live next to us, shop where we shop, and send their kids to the same schools. Some have a mild case of unbelief disguised by religious practices. Others are more demonstrable in their agnosticism or atheism. Let's watch a local Jerusalem neighborhood struggle against faith in spite of clear evidence.
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10/24/2010
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Got Any Blind Spots?
John 9:35-41
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When you drive, you encounter "blind spots"—it could be part of your own car or it could be a tree that hides traffic on the other side. Those blind spots hinder both progress and ultimately, safety. When Jesus healed a blind man in Jerusalem, the same man was also healed of his spiritual blindness. But others who thought their spiritual perception was keen were as blind as a bat! As we consider this story, can you think of any blind spots in your spiritual journey?
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10/31/2010
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The Good Shepherd (and a bunch of happy sheep!)
John 10:1-10
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This is one of the most beloved passages to be found anywhere in Scripture. But it's not a stand-alone passage: The healing of the blind man in chapter 9 was more than a miracle. It was part of the process of Jesus forming His flock. The leadership had cast the healed man out of the synagogue. Jesus found him, accepted him, saved him, and placed him in His own fold.
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11/21/2010
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What's So Great About the Good Shepherd?
John 10:11-21
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"What's so great about being a Christian?" some people ask. The answer lies in the kind of care, provision, and protection we get from Jesus Christ, our Shepherd. Have you ever stopped to make a list of the benefits that are yours as a follower of Christ? Consider this short list of advantages that you, as a child of God, have. When was the last time you thanked Him for being your Shepherd? This would be a great week to do that!
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12/5/2010
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To BElieve or Not to BElieve...
John 10:22-42
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"In all unbelief there are two things: a good opinion of one's self and a bad opinion about God."— Horatius Bonar. It's true, isn't it? Humanism is man-centered and rejects God's existence or His relevance. But Jesus appealed to two things: the plain evidence of His supernatural works and the testimony of those who witnessed them. Jesus here asserts His deity, and the reaction is predictable—some believed while others did not believe. Which camp do you fall into?
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1/9/2011
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The Great Physician's Patient Dies
John 11:1-16
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When a doctor loses a patient on the operating table, there is a deep sense of remorse and sadness in the surgical theater. Doctors are trained to save lives but sometimes even the best trained physicians are unable to control complications that lead to death. But here we discover that Christ, the Great Physician, not only knows that His patient is sick--He allows him to die! Here are three principles about Divine Medicine that we can all learn.
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1/16/2011
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A Tale of Two Sisters
John 11:17-32
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In 1859 Charles Dickens wrote his famous work, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The story before us is set in Bethany near Jerusalem and highlights the personal relationship that two sisters had with Jesus Christ. Their broken hearts provide an excellent platform to consider how Christ deals with people in grief and loss. Let's actively probe not only their responses but ours to the incredible promise Jesus makes.
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1/23/2011
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The Strangest Funeral Ever
John 11:33-44
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According to one source, there are approximately 2 million funerals in America per year, which means that about 5,479 funerals take place every single day! Most of those funerals are pretty typical: a formal service followed by an interment. But the funeral service we're looking at was really different--and not just because of a resurrection. Here Jesus does three things that are pretty normal for most people at a funeral, but strikingly odd for Jesus.
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1/30/2011
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What to Do with Jesus?
John 11:45-57
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Any lawyer can tell you that whenever the star witness is a resurrected corpse, you have a pretty good case! But Lazarus being alive from the dead doesn’t seem to persuade everyone. And so the big issue becomes what shall we do with Jesus? The decisions made here set the clock in motion for an impending hate crime—the crucifixion of Christ. But from heaven’s vantage point, this is all part of God’s plan for redemption. Let’s see the responses and how we can make a difference.
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2/6/2011
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A Meal to Reveal the Heart
John 12:1-11
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If you were to step into the home of Simon at Bethany (Mark 14:3) on that night, you would've seen Jesus and His disciples along with Lazarus and His two sisters reclining at a low table for a meal in honor of Christ. But if you were to step into the hearts of those people, you would discover they were all very different from each other. Those inside the house and outside represent the gamut of feelings about Jesus—from adoring love to intense hatred. What a complicated meal!
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2/13/2011
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A Day, a Donkey, a Deliverer, and a Decision
John 12:12-19
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2000 years ago, on the final Sunday of Jesus’ earthly life before His crucifixion, He did the most unusual thing—He sat on a donkey and was carried into the city of Jerusalem in parade fashion. This formal presentation of Him as Deliverer was both profound and predicted. What’s the significance of such an act as this? What overarching principles emerge for us today? We’ll dig in and discover them, but today you’ve got to write them down yourself:
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2/20/2011
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Living the Right Life
John 12:20-26
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If this sermon was a book and I wanted to sell lots of copies, the title would cause it to fail. Now if it were entitled "Living the High Life" or "Living the Successful Life," then I may have a winner. But many have lived with both success and riches who didn't live right! So what is the right life? Or to frame it with a better question: What kind of life is most pleasing to God? Through a series of paradoxes, John gives us the answer—it wasn't the answer most people are looking for!
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2/27/2011
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Cross-Culture
John 12:27-36
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The term cross-culture emerges from the social sciences and typically refers to interaction of one culture or language with another. But that's not how I'm using it today. I'm thinking of it in the biblical sense, the salvation sense. Jesus' whole life was immersed in the culture of the cross and He referred to His impending death on the cross as "His hour." Let's consider today the culture of the cross of Christ: what it meant to Jesus personally and the world ultimately.
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3/6/2011
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Believe It or Not!
John 12:37-50
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Most of you reading this are believers. Some are not. Both are dangerous positions to take but for different reasons—vastly different reasons! This paragraph in John's Gospel is the summary of all that has been written, from chapters 1 through 13. It reviews the two different responses people have to Jesus and then gives us Jesus' own synopsis on faith and unbelief. Today you will be able to understand the real differences and consequences of faith and unbelief.
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3/13/2011
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A Night Unforgettable
John 13:1-5
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Some days are frozen in time because of the magnitude of an event. You will always remember September 11, 2001 and where you were when the towers fell. The night America bombed Baghdad or the night John Lennon was murdered may be permanent memories captured in your mind. This was the final night Jesus spent with His own disciples and it would be unforgettable. Let’s discover how what seem like ordinary moments can be extraordinary appointments.
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3/20/2011
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Basin Theology 101
John 13:6-17
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At the final Passover meal that Jesus shared with His closest friends, He gave new meaning to the bread and wine, using them to point to His upcoming sacrificial death on the cross. Today we share Communion as a church family and reflect on that meal, as well as the lessons Jesus was teaching His first followers. After dinner Jesus took a basin of water and began to wash the feet of his students and taught them life principles about stooping, cleansing and serving.
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3/27/2011
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Betrayed!
John 13:18-30
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Relationships can withstand an enormous amount of pressure, but betrayal is sure to end most. The old English word means to hand over or to deliver. Think of it: while Jesus was about to deliver the world from sin and its destruction, Judas was about to deliver the Savior over to His enemies. If you've ever felt betrayed by someone, this study will have special application to you.
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4/10/2011
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A Brand New Way of Life!
John 13:31-35
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To follow Jesus is to have a brand new way of life. When these twelve men sitting around the dinner table started hanging around Jesus, they had no idea just how new and different their lives would become. At this final meal on that last night, they were still learning just how new their lives should be. (Jesus can still teach old dogs new tricks!) As present-day followers of Christ, let’s consider three aspects of life that become new once we become His disciples.
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4/17/2011
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F.A.Q.
John 13:36-38
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An old Persian Proverb reads, "It's harder to ask a sensible question than to supply a sensible answer." Many times our questions to God are reactive—based on a sort of knee-jerk reaction to painful circumstances. Peter asked Jesus two questions of this sort. But whenever we ask God questions we must hang around to get the supplied answers. The questions Peter asked are similar to ones we frequently ask. Let's consider and apply Jesus' outstanding answer
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5/1/2011
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A Theology for Messy Lives
John 14:1-6
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Life can be pretty messy sometimes: plans fail, people leave, money diminishes, and taxes rise. There are plenty of reasons to be troubled these days but there are better reasons not to be! Life was about to get real messy for those disciples around that Jerusalem dinner table. At times like that, there are some basic instructions we need to fall back on so our hearts inside us won't be swallowed up by the mess around us.
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5/8/2011
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How Can I Know God?
John 14:7-11
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What a thought—that a mere human can know God! The agnostic asserts this is impossible. The atheist insists that the very idea is an arrogant and purely metaphysical pursuit. But one of the reasons Jesus came was to reveal God's character and nature clearly and perfectly! Let's consider two roadblocks to knowing God and four resources that help us know Him better.
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5/29/2011
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Privileges of God's Employees
John 14:12-14
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Most companies have benefits for employees: things like overtime pay, health insurance, and sick pay. In 2 Corinthians 6:1, Paul calls us "workers together with Him" (NLT renders it "God's partners"). We have been called to a high and lofty task—to be His representatives here on earth. You might say we're part of the "family business." So what has God called us to do? And how has He provided for us in terms of resources? In short, what are the benefits of being God's employees?
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6/5/2011
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Four Part Harmony
John 14:15-18
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Some of the best moments on American Idol aren't the solo performances, but when all the singers join together and blend their voices in harmony. There's nothing sweeter than well-trained voices blended together in first, thirds, and fifths. Spiritual harmony is much the same—when believers blend with the triune Godhead there is an alignment that results in a deep sense of fulfillment. And what is the note we are to sing in this spiritual song? It is the note of loving obedience!
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6/12/2011
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Promises, Promises!
John 14:19-26
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Someone once mused, "Promises may get friends, but it's performance that keeps them." No wonder God has so many friends! He makes promises and keeps them. On this final night that Jesus spent with His friends, as both sorrow and confusion assailed them, Jesus made several promises that would sustain them in the days, months, and years ahead. What about you? Will you dare to trust the promises of God? It's the only way to see if they really work.
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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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