Tag: joy

The Sign in the Wine

Rob Woodrum3 Comments

 

Our passage for this Sunday is John 2:1-12 as we continue our study in the Gospel of John.

It’s a very famous story – Jesus doing the remarkable thing of transforming ordinary water into extraordinary wine. It is the opening story in a section of stories that have the theme of the old being replaced by the new.

According to v11, why does John include this story in his gospel?

The function of a sign is to reveal where something is – this sign that Jesus does reveals, according to John, the glory of Jesus. His glory is the reality that he is the Son of God bringing God’s reign of grace and truth to this world (1:14).

So – of all things, Jesus chooses THIS setting and THIS miracle as his first sign to reveal what the kingdom of God is coming to do. I find that really interesting. What does this sign reveal to you about the nature of God’s inbreaking kingdom? How does it compare with the way the church represents the kingdom of God – is there a difference?

Think about the nature of water and the nature of wine – what can we discern about God’s presence in the world that is revealed in that contrast? Think about the amount of wine that Jesus creates – what does that tell us about the life God has in mind for us?

The water jars were used for ritual purification. Jesus looks at those reminders of human uncleanness and re-purposes them completely. What lesson does this sign teach us about the nature of what God is up to in our lives?

Have there been times in your life when the wine ran out? How about now? What does this sign encourage you to do about it?

Hope to see you on Sunday!

We Got a Reason to be Stoked

Rob Woodrum12 Comments

Do you ever find yourself just going through the motions of what you perceive is expected of you as a Christian?  Ever find yourself in a joyless funk where you feel like you’re just going through the motions of faith?  Every once in a while, its really good to get back to the heart of what this life of following Christ really has going for it…to sort of shake us out of our malaise and reignite our passion and excitement for the kingdom project Jesus started whilst on earth.

Our passage in Luke will be chapter 10:17-24 this Sunday.

As the 72 (or 70, your choice) return from their mission, they are pretty stoked.  They give a reason for that joy, and Jesus affirms it, and that is…Jesus WINS.  If Jesus wins, who loses?  Why is that a reason to be joyful?

We do have Jesus qualifying their stokedness…reminding them that they don’t want to look at what they’ve done, nor even what they may do as being the SOURCE of their joy…what IS the source?  Why is that a reason to be joyful?

In so many ways, this journey Jesus takes from Galilee to Jerusalem is a picture of the church age, and even the end of the story.  It’s a good ending, an ending prophets and kings were longing to see fulfilled in their day.  If the story has a good ending, then all adversity that happens in the meantime is simply part of the adventure.  To me, that seems like a good source of joy. What about you?