Prayers can come in all shapes and sizes. Obviously the prayer in the picture above is a joke, but I have to admit that it is not far off from some of the prayers I have prayed myself.

This Sunday we will be reading what is known as the “Farewell Prayer” or the “Priestly Prayer” found in John 17:1-26. By far this is the longest recorded prayer that Jesus has in any of the four gospels. This prayer represents the last words before the religious leaders and Judas arrive to arrest Jesus. Jesus chose to use those precious moments to pray for the disciples who are with him to the end.

Let’s put ourselves in the sandals of Jesus. If you knew that you were about to suffer, what would you pray for? Who would you be praying for? What would you ask God to help you with?

If you do read these verses ahead of time, I encourage you to note the way that Jesus addresses God in this prayer. Is he referring to God as King, Lord, or something else entirely? What are his choice of words meant to teach us about our relationship with God?

We invite you to join us this Sunday at 10:00AM for our study in the book of John. Let’s see what we can learn from these verses and let’s see what Jesus wants us to hear as He journeys towards the cross.

This Sunday we will be reading John 16:16-33, where Jesus tells the disciples about the difficulties they will soon face. However, instead of leaving it as a bleak warning about what is to come, Jesus offers encouragement along with the warning. Jesus tells the disciples they can ask God for help in Jesus’ name, He promises abundant joy, and He assures them of his ability to help. Jesus knows that we will face many trials and sorrows, but he encourages us to hold on and to believe that He is powerful enough to make things right.

Does anyone else feel a sense of relief when they are able to acknowledge that life is hard?

There can be a pressure, especially in our culture, that everything should look perfect once we become a Christian. Certainly, there are many things in my life that are exponentially better than they were before I knew Christ, but that doesn’t mean that Christians are exempt from feeling pain.

Jesus tells us over and over, including in the verses we read this Sunday, that life is going to have challenges. It’s going to have many moments that are really hard to get through.

Wow. This Wonderwhat post is depressing.

I know! I’m sorry! My point is, if we can stick with this blog post long enough, and stick with the verses, we will find a promise of restoration. Jesus encourages us to hold on. He sees us. He knows this is hard for us, and He has promised to rescue us.

Which leaves us, in whatever situation we may find ourselves, wondering if we can trust that Jesus will rescue us? Can we trust that He does hear our prayers? Can we believe that He will redeem our suffering? Can we hold on, in steadfast faith, believing that Jesus has the power to set things right?

No one can answer those questions for us. We are all faced with the challenge of answering these questions for ourselves. We may even find that our answers fluctuate depending on our current circumstances.

We invite you to join us this Sunday at 10:00AM for our study in the book of John. Let’s see what we can learn from these verses and let’s see what Jesus wants us to hear as He journeys towards the cross.

I heard someone tell a story from his boot-camp days in the military. He said that one day a new recruit got off the bus with water skis and a fishing rod under his arms. Apparently, the recruiting officer told him that the boot camp was on an island (which was true), and that people could ski and fish (which was also true, if by “people” he didn’t mean the recruit, but civilians if they were allowed on the island). The recruit soon found out that skiing and fishing were not on his drill instructor’s agenda – and had he known what really awaited him on that island, he never would have gone.

Sometimes people evangelize people like that recruiter – promising that if we follow Jesus we’ll have out best life now, with plenty of fun and nary a tear….but Jesus didn’t play those kinds of games with us. He wanted us to be prepared for what a life of following him would mean.

We’re going to be reading John 15:18-16:15 this Sunday and Jesus will make just that sort of warning.

The book of Acts plays out Jesus’ prediction here – and the first 300 years of the church’s history is one of cyclical persecution. To this day you can track how Christians are persecuted and hated all over the world through organizations like Voice of the Martyrs, so I think its safe to say that Jesus wasn’t being paranoid in his predictions.

In all fairness, we have to acknowledge the many times in history that the church has been guilty of promoting it’s own brand of persecution against people of other religions or those they have deemed sinners. There is no excuse for it and it is a blight on our history, all we can do is mourn such folly. The Gospel is the final victim of that sort of stupidity.

Nevertheless, the church’s mistakes don’t diminish the reality of social conflict that comes with following Jesus – and it was sort of promised to us by him.

In this passage, in light of the world’s system rejecting the gospel, ch 15:26-27 tells us God’s response and what our intended response is supposed to be. Is it back out of the world? Is it give up and leave them to themselves? Is it to get angry and fight back? What is the response of God and his church to rejection and hatred?

Chapter 16 outlines how the Holy Spirit will interact with this world and with us.  Do you get the picture of human ingenuity spreading the gospel… or something else? What picture do you see? Who does Jesus say will lead us into all truth?  How would you understand your role, or the church’s role in this activity of God’s Spirit?

I hope this will be a challenging, albeit sobering study this Sunday! Hope to see you there!

This Sunday we’ll be looking at another, very likely familiar, passage from the Gospel of John. We’ll be reading John 15:1-17, Jesus’ famous discourse on the Vine and branches.

In our study last week, we considered how Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come and live in us. In this section we’ll be reversing that, and we’ll consider how we are called to live in Christ. Jesus employs a metaphor that is pretty straightforward to understand the principle of, but a little more tricky to identify how to apply it.

Before digging in to that application, it’s really important that we ground this text within the larger scope of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament as we’ve called it). Read Psalm 80, Jeremiah 2 and 12, as well as Ezekiel 15, 17 and 19. Also Hosea 5…oh, and don’t forget Isaiah 5. (I linked a few of them…I’ll leave you to look up the rest) The thing is, a grapevine or a vineyard was often employed by the Hebrew prophets to describe Israel and her connection to God.

What might it mean that Jesus is now applying that same metaphor to himself, even identifying himself as the true vine? How might that help us understand how his word pruned his disciples? Does that shed any light on v6, where Jesus warns about not remaining in him. Clearly, Jesus intends a shift in perspective about who God’s covenant people are.

On a more localized level, we can apply this metaphor to our own lives. Still, how do you understand the idea of remaining in Jesus? What do think the practical meaning of bearing fruit is?

Note that v12 and v17 bracket everything Jesus talks about with a repetition of the command he gave back in ch 13. In fact, v9-17 have a repeated word, what is it? How does Jesus describe love in v13? Does this give us any indication as to what a fruitful life might look like?

While this may be a familiar passage, I really believe we can discover a lot in Jesus’ words to us. I’m looking forward to digging into this together – hope you can join us!

Over the years I’ve heard people wish again and again that they could have been alive during the days that Jesus walked the earth. Often this desire is expressed when facing something perplexing about our faith, and the assumption is, if I could just see Jesus and ask him I wouldn’t be confused right now.

That, however, is flawed thinking. One consistent element of all the Gospel accounts is the confusion and misunderstanding Jesus’ disciples experienced. There’s no evidence given in the Gospels that Jesus’ disciples had an easier time of believing than we do. In actuality, maybe just the opposite. Those who were closest to him were so unsure about him that betrayal and denial were still ready options. When push came to shove their lack of certitude about him made it easier for all of them to run and hide rather than stand with him in his arrest.

One could argue that they didn’t start taking shape as solid believers until after he wasn’t with them physically. That’s something to really ponder for a while, isn’t it?

The reason for that may be found in the passage we’ll be reading this Sunday, John 14:15-31.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “If you keep my commandments I’ll love you”. The only “if” of this statement is connected to our love for him. Obeying isn’t a condition required in order to be loved…it’s a symptom of a condition of love. How does living by Christ’s teachings reveal love?

Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit to us in this passage. Jesus seems to indicate that our journey with him will be that much more stable because he’s sent the Holy Spirit in his stead. Now, instead of being with the Holy Spirit as he’s operated through Jesus, he will be in us, guiding, teaching and helping us on our way. That indicates a quantum leap in our journey. Think of it – a 24 / 7 Counselor and Friend within us, available to us at all times. He will teach us and guide us and empower us. What of life’s puzzles and dilemmas do you bring to the Helper? How has His presence in you provided guidance for your life?

Just as he’s about to be arrested and crucified – with the launch of the church in view with all of the persecution and turmoil it has faced throughout history – Jesus says he will leave us with peace. How can we understand what he’s saying? How can we be peaceful even when there is turmoil surrounding us?

The characteristics of this relationship with God are profound. God IN us manifests in our lives as love, discovery and peace. For as much as I’d really like to see Jesus, I still think we’re better off where we are right now.

This should prove to be an interesting (albeit heady) exploration this Sunday. Hope to see you there!

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.  ~ Jesus

How hard or how easy is it for you to live this encouragement out in real life? Do you ever feel overwhelmed by a troubled world or your own difficulties? Have you ever found yourself frustrated by verses like the one above because, try as you may to believe, your troubles seem relentless? I know I certainly have.

We’re going to be reading John 14:1-14 this Sunday, where Jesus issues the directions quoted above. It is couched in the section commonly called “Jesus’ farewell address to his disciples”. Judas has gone out to betray Jesus to the authorities and Jesus has made it clear that he will soon be gone from them. All in all, the evening has really turned into a bummer. Can you imagine the distress and confusion that is beginning to mount in the midst of this group?

So Jesus gives direction – truth to calm their troubled hearts. His encouragement isn’t given in a promise to make all the troubles go away – but rather, in providing a fresh perspective from which to view the looming wave of adversity.

This section is interesting because it contains three familiar passages that have often been isolated and often misperceived. Something we’ll take a look at as we go on Sunday.

Jesus’ first encouragement is a promise about his Father’s big, big house, with lots and lots of room (if you were a Christian youth in the 90’s, you’re welcome for the ear worm that should be playing in your head right about now). We mostly take this as a picture of heaven, which I think the idea may include, but it has more a sense of the bigger picture of redemption, which is unfolding right now in our lives.  How does thinking about the way that God redeems broken things provide a sense of encouragement and assurance in times of trouble?

This section also contains another of Jesus’ clear self-identifications as being united with God the Father. To see Jesus is to see what God is like. To trust in Jesus is to find the way home to God. Jesus actually promotes an intentional trust; “DON’T let your hearts be troubled” – don’t live there, don’t form your identity from your difficulties. Instead, we’re called to trust Jesus in an act of our will. What are some ways we can intentionally trust Jesus when all hell is breaking loose? Can you identify ways in which that intentional trust would promote assurance in your heart?

V13-14 are problematic verses in this section, in that they have inspired a certain level of materialism within one section of the church which tends to leverage Jesus’ words to name and claim good fortune for themselves. What might it mean to ask for something in Jesus’ name? Is that a magic incantation, or the html tag needed to close a heavenly code….or something else entirely? If someone requested something at your workplace in your name, what would that mean? How might the promise of Jesus’ authority on earth bring us assurance in times of difficulty?

I’m looking forward to exploring these verses together – I hope you can join us!

When a person has on a garnet and gold shirt with a feathered spear emblazoned on the chest, you can get a pretty good idea what college team they root for come football season. Same thing when someone stretches their arms out front, right arm over left and begins moving the arms up and down, you can easily guess what reptilian mascot they pull for. People’s loyalties will often have identifiable distinctives.

But what about a loyalty to Jesus? How can people tell that a person is committed to Him? Some believe that they have to be outspoken about their moral convictions and fight every impure aberration they encounter in order to demonstrate that they are, indeed, a Christian.

Some people are so zealous they could be described as being “in your face” about their faith – all in an attempt to be identified as belonging to Christ. Did Jesus give us any clues about how we could be recognized as his disciples, his followers?

The answer is yes. He told us very clearly, with words that are both ridiculously easy to understand and ridiculously hard to do.

We’re going to be reading John 13:18-38 this Sunday, finishing up the chapter. In this section we have three points – 1) a betrayal is forecast and the betrayer identified, 2) Jesus gives a new commandment, and 3) Jesus forecasts Peter’s denial. Jesus’ command is sandwiched between two revelations of faithlessness – which I believe is intentional to provide a contrast for his command.

When Jesus revealed that someone would betray him, what were the disciples uncertain about? Did they show any predisposition to assume Judas was the betrayer? It seems like Judas blended in with the gang quite well – so with that in mind, how much do you think  an outward show of conformity has to do with rightly representing Jesus?

When Jesus told them all he was leaving to a place they couldn’t follow, Pete zealously announced that he would go anywhere – he would die for Jesus. Jesus had some disconcerting news for him about events that would happen later that night. How much did outspoken zeal have to do with rightly representing Jesus?

V34-35 – what did Jesus say would be the identifiable distinctive of his followers? Is this romantic love, or sentimental love, or something else? How easy or hard is it for you to love people who are unlovely – those who’ve hurt you or offended you? How does loving people like Jesus loves us help us understand the process of loving others? This will be a challenging, albeit, hope-filled study – and I hope you can join us for it this Sunday at 10 am!

Imagine you’ve been asked to a dinner party for the small company you work for. As you’re waiting for dinner to be served and people are sitting and chatting, your boss has quietly gone to the corner of the room and stripped down to his underwear and with a jug of bottled water, starts going down the line of guests and begins washing their feet.

Besides being the basis for a huge lawsuit – how would something like that make you feel? Would it unnerve you? Would you protest this action?

We’re going to be reading John 13:1-17 this Sunday, and the events described above sort of play out in our text. Sometimes we pass this strange display off as a cultural thing, something that everyone was accustomed to – but there is no evidence that supports that assumption. Actually, just the opposite. Foot washing happened, but by and large, guests at a home would wash their own feet. Jewish servants were not even required to do this sort of humiliating and intimate thing. Only gentile slaves were known to do something like this.

John sets the stage for this event by saying that Jesus had become aware that all things were in his hands…that is, he wielded the supreme authority of God. So, with that knowledge, what was the first thing Jesus did with those hands?

I don’t have a lot of questions to prod you with this week – just that image to ponder. If Jesus is our greatest revelation of God…who IS God as we see him on display in this section? What is this God asking of us, based on the last part of the passage?

This is humbling, challenging and potentially life-altering stuff. Hope to see you this Sunday.

This Sunday we will be reading John 12:44-50, which contains the very last thing Jesus says to the crowds during his three year ministry before the cross. After this, Jesus’ words will be reserved for the disciples, the religious leadership, and the people who watch him as he is crucified. Various crowds have been following Jesus for the last three years, and he has but a few moments to speak to them for the last time.

Up to this point in the story, Jesus has proven himself through miracles, healing, wisdom, and compassion. If it were me, I would be tempted to tell Jesus not to waste anymore time trying to explain who He is. I would say, if they don’t get it by now, they are not going to get it. Thankfully, Jesus is better than that. Thankfully, Jesus doesn’t give up that easily.

With only a few moments left, what do you think Jesus will say to these crowds? Do you think Jesus will retract any of his previous statements? Or do you think that Jesus will reinforce them?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I have been preparing my teaching this week. If this was my last time speaking, what would I want to say? What would I want people to walk away believing? Is it really possible to change someone’s mind with just a few words? And how do we make those words count?

We invite you to join us this Sunday at 10:00AM for our study in the book of John 12:44-50. Let’s see what we can learn from these few verses and let’s see what Jesus wants us to hear before he journeys towards the cross.

Have you ever heard an audible voice from heaven giving you direction? I never have – though I know people who have had that type of experience. I used to think that if I could just hear God shouting out of the clouds letting me know he was there that I would never doubt again.

We’re going to see from our passage this Sunday that its really not that simple. Well be reading John 12:27-43. This passage includes a supernatural event like I described above, but it certainly doesn’t have the result one would expect.

As we read this passage let’s consider the reactions of the people towards Jesus. I believe there are some pitfalls we can observe and try to sidestep in our own journey to discover more of God and his ways.

For one thing – there were three distinct reactions to the voice from heaven. One, of course, was John who obviously heard the voice of God clearly enough to record for us what the voice said. What were the other two reactions? What do you suppose made the difference in what people heard in that sound from the sky? I find it interesting that there is often so much ambiguity when we encounter the divine. I think if a person is determined to do so, they can always find a way to rationalize what others perceive as a supernatural event. God seems intent on moving in such a way that he’s easily hidden if someone is determined not to see him. I also think there’s a bit of heart-testing in that ambiguity. How open minded are you when it comes to God encounters?

The other thing that I notice in v34-36 is a doctrinal barrier. In v34, the people don’t actually say “it’s written in the Scriptures“…what do they say instead? How would you explain their problem with Jesus and their understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures? How well do you know the doctrines that you hold to as non-negotiables? What are your doctrinal convictions based on – what is written, or what you’ve learned? In what ways could God get obscured by our doctrines. How can we be faithful to our convictions and still be open minded?

Finally, the last verse of this section (v43) is very telling. How can loving the praise or glory that comes from men (that is, the validation and affirmation that we crave so deeply) end up interfering with our loyalty to God? What measures can we take to prevent that from happening in our own experiences?

Should be an interesting study – hope to see you then!