He Fills Our Thirst

John 4:1-42

Welcome! Today we continue our series from the book of John, digging in to Chapter 4. Last week we looked at John Chapter 3. As a reminder, we talked about Jesus’ conversation with the Jewish scholar and leader Nicodemus. Recall that Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again, a statement that bewildered Nicodemus. Jesus went on to tell him that man must be born of water and the Spirit if he wishes to enter the kingdom of God. He also told Nicodemus the heart of the gospel, from John 3:16 and 17: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Last week we also saw John the Baptist confronted with the fact that his ministry was waning while Jesus’ was growing. John’s beautiful response began with saying, “A man can only receive what is given him from heaven.” He described himself as the friend of the bridegroom, a specific role in Jewish weddings of that time, and he described himself as full of joy in knowing that Jesus had come, and that his (John’s) role as a forerunner, as preparer, as announcer of Jesus was coming to a close.

He Brings New Life

John 3:1-36

Welcome! Today we continue our journey through the book of John, going through Chapter 3. This chapter includes perhaps the most well-known verse in the New Testament, John 3:16, which says, For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

As we dig into Chapter 3, I think it will help to first review a few things from the second half of the previous chapter. Just before the Passover, Jesus had gone with His disciples into Jerusalem, and there He drove the moneychangers and people selling animals for sacrifice out of the temple area, saying “Get out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” This of course created quite a stir, and Jesus no doubt was noticed by not only those in the marketplace, but also many of the people gathering for the Passover as well as the Pharisees and teachers of the Law.

That My Heart May Sing

Psalm 30

It’s easy to get sidetracked when you read the Bible.  You can study the Bible, memorize it, or learn everything about it in the original Hebrew or Greek.  You can systematically categorize every doctrine found in the passage and learn how to refute every objection that is brought up against it.  But we need to careful that we don’t forget the number one reason we read the Bible.  Jesus rebuked the Jews that had been persecuting Him by saying, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” John 5:39-40 (NIV ’84).

 In Jesus day there were people who had memorized the whole Old Testament.  They could recite the Bible forwards and backwards.  They could articulate their theology better than anyone else, and yet they only knew the Bible, they didn’t know God.  They thought they had eternal life because they had studied the Bible but they needed to know God in order to have eternal life.  So, our number one goal in reading the Bible is to know God.

As we read Psalm 30 I want you to take note of anything that you learned about God.  I want you to underline whatever grabs your attention.  You might find a verse that talks about what God is like.  You might find a verse that talks about what God has done or what He will do.  Just highlight anything that you can learn about God from this passage.

He Cleanses

John 2:12-25 

Before we start, I would like to take a minute to pray and ask God to really come here and fill this room and fill our hearts that we might be blessed today through His word.

We thank you, Oh thank You Lord, for our salvation for the wonderful gospel Lord.  The good news that our sins are paid for by Your death on the cross and we don't have to work our way to Heaven; Lord, that You have provided a way for us to put our trust in You and enjoy salvation for all eternity.  God, I pray that if anyone is here today that doesn't know You, that You are not Lord of their life, Lord I pray that they would be moved today to enter into a permanent relationship with You from now through all eternity.  Lord Your word is given away free, I think of the verse, "That buy truth and don't sell it."  Lord we don't want to sell truth here today we want to give it away freely.  I pray that You would bless the hearts of Your people.  Help us Lord be spiritually encouraged and strengthened for Your task at hand.  For reaching the world with the gospel, Lord, for seeing Your kingdom come.  Seeing Your will be done here on earth as it is in Heaven.  I thank You Lord for your word.  I thank You for this time here this morning and pray You would bless it.  In Your name Jesus, amen.

I had a couple of thoughts, as you know we are continuing the series in the book of John.  Carl started last week and he got up to verse 11 in John chapter 2 I think. So I am going to take John chapter 2 verse 12 through the end of the chapter, verse 25.  We only have 13 verses to go through so, hopefully they will be pretty simple and everyone will understand them and we will get out early, but I can't promise that.

He Reveals

John 1:35-2:1

Welcome! Today we continue our exploration of the wonderful book of John. If you recall, we spent the month of January looking at the first two-thirds of the first chapter, what you might call the grand re-beginning of the Bible, that opens with the famous words “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” The Word, that is, Jesus, was there in Genesis. He was there when God said, “Let us make man in our own image.” And He was there with God, and as God, through all of the historical events recorded in the Old Testament. And He was there with God and as God in the hearts and minds of the prophets and poets and everyone else who contributed to the Old Testament Scripture, led word for word by the Spirit of God.

The Mystery of the Resurrection

Good Morning!  He is risen!

Indeed, He is risen!  Praise God for the joy of Easter morning.  This is the day of all days.  This day is the accomplishing of all God's plans for you and for me.  All our hopes and dreams are fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Let's take a moment and give thanks to Him who gives us life:

Lord Jesus, what can we say that has not already been said?  You took the cup of the wrath of God and drank damnation dry.  You took all the punishment including separation from Your Father so that we might become children of God.  Thank You that we will be raised to life and not left forgotten in the grave.  In the same way, You are not forgotten as You rose out of the grave.  Praise be to Your Name.  You are worthy.  Speak now truth by Your Word, by Your Spirit.  Amen.

Last week, Carl took us through story of the arrest of Jesus up until Jesus' death on the cross.  Following his death, his body was hurriedly removed and placed in a nearby tomb due to the oncoming Sabbath.  A special Sabbath.  Passover.  That Passover day, the tomb was sealed and the guards were placed in order to prevent someone from stealing the body of Jesus.  And so it continued until Sunday morning.

The Power of the Cross

Welcome! This week and next, in keeping with the Easter season, we are focusing on the cross and resurrection of Christ. In today’s message I want to remind you of the events leading up to and including the crucifixion, and then we will look into the title of this message, the power of the cross.

I will start by reading a fairly long set of verses from the book of John focusing on Jesus’ arrest, questioning, and the events that follow. We start in John 18. 

When He had finished praying, Jesus left with His disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and He and His disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples. So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. – John 18:1-3

The Greatest Rescue

 Psalm 27

Welcome! Today, in addition to a short teaching, we will spend time remembering the Lord with the bread and the cup, as He instructed His disciples to do, and we will also have a sharing time where everyone is invited to share what the Lord has been teaching them and working around and through them in the past month. First, as we have been doing this year on communion Sundays, we will go through a Psalm together. Today we will look at Psalm 27.

Psalm 27 was written by David. David most likely wrote it reflecting on recent experiences he had gone through or was going through, especially including dealing with enemies, and although you may not have any earthly enemies you are dealing with, one of the wonderful things about the Psalms is how they find express truths packed with emotion that can be expressed by anyone, no matter what they are or are not going through. The Psalms speak to our heads through our hearts, and since the Lord wants us to worship Him with our entire hearts, souls, minds, and strength, it is good for us to not only read the Psalms, but agree with them, to say, “Yes, Lord, me too!” And this is what I would like us to do with Psalm 27 this morning. You may find some verses resonate with you more than others. If so, that’s great! Just make a note of what verses do speak to you, and use these as a basis for how you pray before we take communion. Here is how the Psalm begins:

Love, Actually

Today, we reach the end of the relationship series we started back in February. It has been an encouragement to me, and I hope also to you. If you missed one of the messages, please go back and listen online. Right now, we will complete the series looking at Love Actually. Let’s pray:

Father God, you are love. We’re all seeking and searching for love. We all want to be filled. We don’t want loneliness. I pray that You would speak to us about love, real love. Show us actually what love is. May we not be tricked by counterfeits, may we not yield to deceitful things which may satisfy for a moment, but are burned up like chaff, making us feel even more empty and discouraged than before. We need you. Speak to us, fill us, and transform us, I pray. In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Did you know there was a movie with this title, Love Actually? It was released back in 2003, and it was billed as “the ultimate romantic comedy.” It had about a dozen main characters. If you can imagine a 2 hour movie with a dozen main characters, well the story can’t help but come across as muddled and shallow. Worse than a shallow story though, the writer and director’s treatment of love itself is disappointingly shallow.

Love in Dating (and Waiting)

Welcome to part 6 in our 7-part relationship series. The entire series has been a great time of focusing on God’s love for us and our relationship to Him. We’ve also focused in depth on our relationships with others. So far, we’ve talked about love in marriage, love in family, and love in friendship. If you’re interested in those earlier topics, I encourage you to go back and listen at the message center on the church website. They all are good messages, but in particular if you have family relationship issues or friend relationship issues, I strongly recommend those two messages. (And for those who are wondering: no I did not happen to give either of those messages.)

Today’s title is “Love in Dating (and Waiting).” There are some parallels with the Love in Marriage message. If today’s message speaks to you, I also encourage you to go back and listen to that message as well.

If we let it, this dating and waiting period of our lives has the possibility to become a very anxious time. Doesn’t it? Before I was married, I remember a lot of anxiety in this area. Both before I became a Christian and after I became Christian.