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Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN
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There Is Nothing New Under The Sun
Jan 27, 202500:39:10Tap to summarizeEcclesiastes 1:1-11 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? 4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. 7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. 8 All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. INTRODUCTION Welcome back to Ecclesiastes. Last week I preached my first sermon on Ecclesiastes. In it I tried to give you all the lay of the land in order to set you up well to get the most out of our time in this book. To that end, there were three main parts to the sermon. First, concerning the author, “the Preacher,” I said that the book is purposefully anonymous, certainly in the voice of King Solomon, and ultimately from God (12:11). The second section concerned the main themes of Ecclesiastes. Those are vanity (usually referring to mystery), the sovereignty of God (which is true, but also makes the mystery of life even more mysterious), and under the sun (life on earth, under the curse). And third, I mentioned that the main message of Ecclesiastes is that all of life appears mysterious, but there is more than meets the eye. I attempted to sum all of all of that up with the simple phrase: Vanity below, glory above”. This morning we’ll get into the text itself. More specifically, we’ll get into some of the details of the vanity observed by the Preacher under the sun. The big idea of this passage is that there is great mystery in understanding how life can have real meaning when there is nothing new under the sun and everything comes back around again. Above the sun, though, we’re able to see that God is making all things new and the rhythms of this world are profound means of grace. The main takeaway is to enter into the rhythms of God’s design as the means of grace they are. THERE’S NOTHING IS NEW UNDER THE SUN The main vanity banner over this section is the simple fact that no matter what we do, life just keeps moving on in cyclical fashion. In that way, in a certain under-the-sun sense, all of life is a treadmill; always moving, always working, not really getting anywhere. The Preacher insists that our own lives and bodies and nature all point to the around-and-around-and-around way things work. There is nothing truly new under the sun. Everything that we experience is simply a “coming back around” of older stuff. Consider Your Life (3-4, 11) For many people, two of the main areas of life are work and family. The Preacher invites us to consider the cyclical vanity of each. Consider your work (3). 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? We spend so many hours, over so many days, for so many years working. Sometimes we do so for pay and sometimes for free. But what do we really gain from any of it? The treadmill runs constantly and quickly at our house. We cut buckthorn, spray the stems, and burn the branches; only to have it pop up in another location soon after. I spend a couple of hours mowing the grass every week or so and it just grows back. We shovel the snow, only to have it snow again. We cut vines, only to have them spring up ten feet away. We plant new trees each year, only to have emerald ash boar and oak wilt take out half of the existing trees. We pick the Japanese beetles off our raspberry bushes and apple trees only to have them come back with a vengeance the next day. How about your work? I know several people at Grace who get paid to experience the same kind of cycle that we do at our house. I know others of you who work in the tech industry. You generate report after report after report; or write code, fix code, write code, fix code; or install software, address the new issues the new software creates, maintain the software, and then start all over. Others experience the same cycle driving packages around; fill up a truck, deliver the contents of the truck, go home, and start all over again tomorrow; always more packages, never less. Moms, how many diapers have you changed, messes have you cleaned up, and exact same instructions have you issued, day after day after day. And on and on and on. Very little of what we produce under the sun lasts for long and none of it lasts forever. The best of our efforts require constant maintenance and most require regular replacement. And what is gained in all that cyclical labor? A paycheck to buy stuff, which requires another paycheck to maintain the stuff. A paycheck to buy enough food and drink to eat until our next paycheck comes to buy more food and drink. A paycheck to go on a vacation to rest up so we can go back to work to save up for our next vacation. A paycheck to save up for kids’ college, so they can get a job, to save up for their kids to go to college. A paycheck to allow us to get into a bigger house, with more room, only to require more paychecks to fill those rooms and repair more things that break in them. Under the sun, our labor is a treadmill that never stops and never really gets anywhere. Consider your family (4). 4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. Older folks, look around the room. Unless you’re behind a pillar, it should be pretty easy to see that there are several pregnant women. I’m might seems otherwise, but on the grand scale, it wasn’t that long ago when your home was your mother’s womb. Likewise, it wasn’t that long ago that you were struggling to learn how to walk and talk; run and read; play sports and make friends. Look around the room again. You’ll see a gaggle of distracted, naïve, invincible teenagers. You were just there too. And then came early adulthood where everything was new and exciting and a bit scarry. Most of you dated, married, and had kids, then older kids, then empty nest, and then your kids had kids. Your body slowed down, retirement neared, retirement past. Soon, most of your life was behind you. And then, one day, as the Preacher will soon explain, you will return to dust even as the cycle of life continues on without interruption without you, just as it has for generation after generation after generation. Very few of us have clear memories of just three generations before us—our great grandparents. Almost none of us know anything significant at all about the generation before that, much less the hundreds of generations that we came from before that. As hard as it might be to hear, in 75 years, the memory of nearly all of us will be basically gone from the earth. And around and around it goes, even as it has gone and will continue to go. That’s the essence of the final verse in our passage. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. Under the sun, our families are in a cycle that never stops and never really gets anywhere. Consider the World Around You (5-7) It’s not just our lives though that run on a cycle. Consider the world around you as well, says the Preacher. Consider the sun (5). 5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. Day after day after day we look to the east to see the sun come up, and it does. The angle varies throughout the year, but day after day and month after month, we watch it move across the sky toward the west only to see it eventually disappear behind the horizon. And then it begins again. Always moving, never getting anywhere. Lap after lap after lap. Consider the wind (6). 6 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. The wind functions in much the same way. It is always blowing and never getting anywhere. Even as we watch the jet stream on a weather website, there is no end to the cycle. The arrows move to some degree, but eventually it always ends where it started. Consider the rivers (7). They too prove the Preacher’s point. 7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. The sun, the wind, and the rivers of earth—nature itself—testifies to the cyclical nature of the world under the sun. In the Preacher’s context, Jerusalem, the Jordan River poured gallon after gallon after gallon into the Dead Sea. Day and night, week and month, year and decade of wa...
Transcribe →Vanity Below, Glory Above
Jan 20, 202500:49:22Tap to summarizeEcclesiastes 1:1-2 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. INTRODUCTION Good morning, Grace. To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve been this excited to start preaching through a book of the Bible. I think the main reason for my extra excitement is that in a truly unique way (which becomes apparent almost immediately when you begin to read it) Ecclesiastes directly, unblinkingly, honestly, and unashamedly addresses two of the most significant questions for all mankind. It addresses two questions that most of us have felt in our bones for our whole lives. Questions that are at the heart of all the pastoral counseling I’ve done, every bump in every relationship, every pursuit and loss of pleasure, and every believer and unbeliever’s longing for understanding: 1) What is the world like, and 2) What can we do about it? More specifically, regarding the first question, Ecclesiastes observes, asks, and attempts to answer (over and over and over): Why is life often so frustrating, so disappointing, so confusing, so inefficient, so lonely, so discouraging, so unjust, so short, so tragic, so harsh, unpredictable, so fleeting? Why is it often so hard to experience any prolonged joy, peace, clarity, perspective, or contentment? And perhaps even more importantly, Ecclesiastes also attempts to answer the question of what we ought to do about the fact that the world is like that? How should we/can we live in a world like the one we’re in? On one level, there is a heavy, heavy dose of sobriety in Ecclesiastes. It just isn’t a happy book. Nevertheless, I’m excited to spend the next (not sure how) many months working through it with you all because it provides great clarity, which is a far greater gift than fleeting happiness. What’s more, it provides clarity for everyone. If you are a Christian, you will find immense help in this book to understand the world around you, your experiences in it, as well as how to live an abundant life within it. If you are a skeptical, board teenager or young adult, you will quickly find that Ecclesiastes explains why you are always trying to find something fun, but that the fun is never quite as fun as you’d hoped and never lasts as long as you want. And, at the exact same time, if you are the most ardent atheist, you will find that Ecclesiastes deals with the world as it is in a way that you’ll certainly find refreshing. It does not deny, but affirms many of the exact things that drive you to disbelief in God. It joins you in your sense of skepticism and futility, but it doesn’t stay there. The main message of Ecclesiastes is that under the sun, all is vanity, but there is more than meets the eye in God’s world. The Preacher gives us glimpses of what the rest of the Bible (the NT in particular) makes crystal clear: above the sun is glory beyond imagination. Sin has made it so that we cannot see above apart from God’s help. God’s grace has made it so that we can live below in fullness of joy. The main takeaways are to ask God to help us see the glory above and to live according to His promises as we wait for His answer below. THE PREACHER There are three main parts to this sermon. We’ll consider the author of Ecclesiastes, the main themes of Ecclesiastes (the perspective of the Preacher), and the main message of Ecclesiastes. Having started at the end (with the main message and takeaway of Ecclesiastes), let’s back up a bit. I want to show you where I got that from the text, beginning with the author. Of that, I’d like to point out five things. The Preacher First, Ecclesiastes begins by naming the author (sort of). As we heard Jen read and as you can see on the screen behind me in v.1, Ecclesiastes contains “the words of the Preacher”. That title (and no other) is mentioned six other times as well. The word “Preacher” is a translation of the Hebrew, “Qoheleth.” “Ecclesiastes” is the Greek translation. That might sound familiar to you (beyond the title of this book). “Ecclesiastes” comes from the same root as “Ecclesia,” the Greek word that we translate “church”. The basic meaning of the root (in both Hebrew and Greek) is “assembly” (which is what a church is). The literal meaning in both the Hebrew and Greek is something like “assembly addresser”. And because the term has religious connotations, the idea is “One who addresses a religious assembly.” That’s why the ESV translates it “the Preacher.” In other words, “Qoheleth” (the Preacher) is almost certainly not a person’s name, but a title. Traditionally Understood to be Solomon That leads to the second key regarding the author of Ecclesiastes. Who is “the Preacher”? It’s an understatement to say that there’s been a lot of discussion and debate on this question. The traditional view has been that King Solomon was the Preacher. This idea derives from numerous passages. “The son of David, King in Jerusalem” (1:1). “I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem” (1:12). “And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven” (1:13). “I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge” (1:16). And when we compare the things the Preacher did in 2:4-9 with the description of the things Solomon did in 1 Kings 3-4, and the proverbs of Ecclesiastes with the Proverbs of Solomon, it’s hard not to make the connection. Whether Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes or not—that is, whether He is the Preacher or not—it is clear that whoever did purposefully wrote with Solomonic wisdom and voice; that is, Ecclesiastes is clearly written from the perspective of Solomon. That is not to say that the author (if not Solomon) was attempting to deceitfully pass himself off as Solomon, only that he understood that Solomon was the best person to speak to the issues at hand. This was not uncommon in the ancient world. Purposefully Anonymous I think the next two points are far more important than definitively answering the questions of who the Preacher was. The third thing to see in the way of authorship, then, is that Ecclesiastes is purposefully anonymous. We can rest easy not knowing for sure who wrote it because, under the inspiration of God, a title is used (“the Preacher”) where a name could have been provided. If we needed to know who, specifically, wrote Ecclesiastes we would have been told. In that way, Ecclesiastes is like the NT book of Hebrews. Inspired by God The fourth point and the most important aspect of the authorship of Ecclesiastes, however, is found at the very end of the book. In 12:11, we’re told, “The words of the wise … are given by one Shepherd [that is, God Himself].” It is often helpful to know the human author of the books of the Bible, but the most important thing, every time, is the fact that they wrote under God’s inspiration. That seems to me to be of particular importance in Ecclesiastes because it’s such an unusual book and because Ecclesiastes asks questions that we need the rest of God’s Word to answer. Frame Narrator There’s one more item of note here. You may have noticed that 1:1-11 and 12:9-14 (along with 7:27) are written in third person (he, the Preacher) while the rest is written in first person (I, the Preacher). Some have suggested that the beginning and end were written by someone that scholars call the “frame narrator,” someone who compiled and framed up the words of the Preacher. This matters on some level when it comes to interpretation (which I’ll point out at the very end of the book), but what matters most, once again, is that whether there is one human voice or two in Ecclesiastes, the most important and guiding voice is God’s. Ecclesiastes is in the Bible not because of the wishes of the Preacher, Solomon, the frame narrator, or anyone else under the sun. It is in the Bible because it is the Word of God, maker of heave and earth. Grace, as I mentioned earlier, I have a particular affinity for Ecclesiastes because of its blunt honesty. I resonate with this book because the author keeps pushing. As I read Ecclesiastes, and as I encountered the Preacher’s peeling back layer after layer, I kept cheering him on. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” But I’ve always responded with, “Yeah, but I know parents who did and kids who didn’t.” Early on, that made me nervous. My assumption was always that the word of God was right and I was wrong, but I wanted to understand better. That seems to be the disposition of the Preacher as well. I wasn’t sure at first if that was OK, but books like Ecclesiastes helped me to learn that there is a way to honor God in seeking understanding. THE PREACHER’S PERSPECTIVE One of the biggest questions—probably the biggest, actually—that we need to settle on in Ecclesiastes is the main message of the book. What’s Ecclesiastes all about? I shared some of my thoughts on that at the beginning, and I’m going to come back to it in greater detail at the end, but in order to get there we need to consider the Preacher’s perspective. How does he see the world?</p...
Transcribe →This Is Grace, Part 2: What we Believe, Teach, and Do
Jan 12, 202500:48:20Tap to summarizeGood morning! My name is Colin Rueter, one of the pastors here at Grace. My sermon this morning is part two of “This is Grace.” Last Sunday, Pastor Dave walked us through the good news of Jesus, the Gospel and our Statement of Faith. The gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, is what unifies all Christians. The Statement of Faith from the EFCA (denomination) is the next level of distinctives from other churches. Do we remember the four parts of the Gospel? GOD, MAN, CHRIST, RESPONSE This morning, I have the privilege to share more specifically what makes Grace Church more refined in belief: our mission statement, the building blocks of being a disciple here, and our core values. Pastor Dave was at the wide end of the funnel, the low-hanging fruit of Christianity, and I am now narrowing down to the distinctives of Grace Church. This is what makes Grace distinct from other churches. We are not saying we are better or that we are the true church, the aim is distinctives for us as Grace Church, key aspects that we speak to, aim for, and treasure from God’s word. These have come about, primarily, from the church seeking to say: “Who are we and what do we believe?” and putting those down in writing. The aim of what we do is to present one another mature in Christ – in order to do that we need some guidance from God’s word with specifics for us at Grace Church in Wyoming, MN in the year 2025. It is interesting doing this as a new pastor, because I am learning to know these better, love them deeper, and share them with joy to others. But as Susan and I prayed about next ministry steps, we looked for specific values and theology, specific doctrines and methods in ministry, where I could thrive as a pastor and enter into the Lord’s work faithfully. We have that here, projected in the mission statement, practically set in the core values. So, whether you have been a part of Grace for years or months, or this is your first time, our prayer is that you would know, love, and share the mission and values of Grace with the utmost joy as you share the Gospel with others. Pastor Dave’s aim from last week: Firmly establish us in the truths of God so that we might live out our faith with greater confidence, clarity, joy, and unity. Main Point: At Grace Church, we would be unified on specific truths of God for our faith from His word to reach maturity in Christ. As we grow in our love for these truths within the family of Grace Church, we pray it will lead us to joyful obedience as we reach Wyoming and the ends of the earth with the Gospel. This morning, I would like to walk through three specific aspects of Grace Church: 1) Our Mission; 2) Building Blocks; 3) Core Values #1) Our Mission ‘Become a People Treasuring Christ and the Building of His Kingdom’ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44 The mission statement is in place to give us a specific aim within the Great Commission, which is the mission of every church over all time. Grace Church exists in a specific time, a specific location, and thus, our mission must be Grace-specific. The key in the mission is to become something – what? A people who treasure Christ – He is our supreme worth, treasure, most valuable possession, our hope, and our joy. We not only treasure Christ, but we treasure Him building the Kingdom. We don’t build it, He does, we act as citizens and ambassadors within that Kingdom…but Christ builds it. Matthew 16:18 – “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” 2 Cor. 5:20 – “We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Hebrews 11:10, 13-16: “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God…These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” To help guide and guard the process of fulfillment of the mission, we have something called Ministry City. Ministry City is a way of putting “flesh on the bones” of the mission. I am not going to explain it in depth here this morning, but I want to share that this structure exists to guide, protect, and bring clarity to what we do for ministry, how we do ministry, and that it is grounded in the word and aims to bring glory to God. #2) Building Blocks 1) Membership [Acts 20:28; Romans 12:3–13; Hebrews 10:24-25] Baptism: Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 2:38–41; Colossians 2:9–13 One act of obedience as a Christian is to be baptized. From this act of obedience is the step to covenant membership – we call meaningful membership – into a local church body. If you are interested in this step, talk to Pastor Dave, myself or one of the elders. It is meaningful because it is more than just getting to vote or snagging a cool mug. It is a commitment to a specific people in a specific time and place for God’s purposes. Membership is not you deciding what church suits your preferences, but seeing the good hand of God in connecting you with brothers and sisters that He has chosen for you. This is good, both for the church and for you. This is a practical and important step to work out the over 50 ‘one-anothers’ in the New Testament. 2) Sunday Morning [Acts 2:42; Ephesians 5:19-21; Colossians 3:15-16; 2 Timothy 4:2] This is primarily the worship service that you are sitting in now. I am including Berea in this as a privilege to sit under teaching within the scriptures and interact with others as a means of grace for our spiritual well-being. Please come, as you are able, to Sunday school for kids and Berea for teens on up. Sunday morning is, primarily, this service. Being here, as you are able, to sing, pray, confess sin, and sit under the proclamation of the word is God’s kindness to you each week. It is a means of grace to sit next to your brothers and sisters each week. Sunday morning is the best way to be present with this family, to be seen and see others. You can truly be and are a blessing to someone here this morning. As we live our lives with one another, as your story is shared and you’re prayed over, your presence here at Grace us a blessing, a sign that God is at work and His grace empowers. More could be said, but I will simply say don’t neglect this gathering, brothers and sisters. The local church is a gift, a visible gathering of the blood-bought people of God to lift His name high and a means of grace to transform us more into the image of His beloved Son. 3) Discipleship Groups [Matthew 28:16-20; Colossians 1:28-29; 2 Timothy 2:1-2; Hebrews 3:12–14] We call these DG’s. Every church has language unique to them, we are no exception. A building block of being a healthy church at Grace means we have an arena of shepherding and discipleship. In these smaller groups outside of a Sunday, an elder oversees each group, fellowship happens, prayers are spoken, care is given, love is seen. The elders have the opportunity to interact on a smaller level with people that God has given them to know, lead, feed, and protect. It is our privilege as elders to engage the souls among us. It is a privilege to interact as people of Grace outside a Sunday to act upon the “one anothers” in scripture on a micro-level. If you are not regularly going to a DG, make it a priority after establishing being here on a Sunday. If you need a ride, ask. If you can’t make one night of the week work, ask an elder about another evening group to join. We want and need you plugged in. 4) Everything Else (Every other ministry that occurs within Grace Church: G2g, Masculine Mandate, Adorned, etc.) Every other ministry at Grace falls into this category. This is simply an area of various ministries that we have here. Like any ministry, we pray about, evaluate, and act upon whether they help us fulfill our mission and the Great Commission. As elders, along with the ministry leaders, we want to do ministry well for the sake of the saints and the glory of God, not because we have always done a particular program. Does it help us make disciples….? #3) Core Values We at Grace Church earnestly desire and prayerfully strive to be a purposeful church. This is why we have a mission, guiding principles (Ministry City), and why Core Values are written and spoken of. More than just ideas drawn from a hat, these are specific values that we see in the word of God, values that we treasure, and values that each of us here at Grace should aim at and grow in. …God-Centered</...
Transcribe →This Is Grace – What We Believe, Teach, And Do
Jan 5, 202500:42:51Tap to summarizePhilippians 2:1-5 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus… INTRODUCTION Good morning and happy new year! The Lord is kind to give us rhythms of life as a means of renewal. He’s woven them into the very fabric of reality—with each morning, each week, each new season, and each new year. Many of those have come together today; I hope in such a way that you all feel a fresh burden to follow Jesus in faith and a rejuvenated hope in His promises. In that way, it is good to embrace the God-given rhythm of the new year with new resolve to begin (and stick to) a Bible reading plan, share your faith more consistently, use your gifts to strengthen the church in a new way, actively keep a prayer journal, find some specific way to consistently help the vulnerable, make a plan to fast regularly this year, memorize a larger passage of scripture, and, as Roxie just read, and as we’ll focus on this morning, seek to be of the same mind as your brothers and sisters at Grace. Again, we all feel an added draw to grow in Christ right now by God’s design. Let’s lean into that. One way we want to help with that (especially same-mindedness) is by spending the next two sermons laying out a some of what defines us as a church—both doctrinally and practically. Our main aim in doing so is to more firmly establish ourselves in the truths of God so that we might live out our faith with greater confidence, clarity, joy, and unity. Before I pray and we dive in, I’d like to say a brief word about how we chose to structure the two sermons. This morning, I’m going to stay at a high level. That is, I’m going to share with you some things that our church is built upon (the gospel and the main points of our doctrinal statement). These are things that all true churches will agree upon. What I am going to share today is jam packed with life-giving, life-altering, life-directing glory, but there is very little about it that is unique to Grace Church. Then, next Sunday, Pastor Colin is going to share some things that are distinctive about our church (our mission statement, philosophy of ministry, the building blocks of our ministry, and our core values). We believe every one of them is deeply rooted in God’s Word. Therefore, many churches will agree with many of these things, but all of them are worded in more-or-less Grace specific ways. The picture we want you to have in mind is that of a narrowing funnel. I’m starting today at the widest part of the funnel (things all Christians believe) and Pastor Colin will finish next week at the narrowest part of the funnel (things that are most distinctive of us at Grace Church). The key to all of this is that we firmly believe that everything we’re about to share is either explicitly taught in God’s Word or a practical implication of something that is. As such, we hope to make that easy for you to see. What’s more, we hope to make it all easy to love and apply, with one mind. We couldn’t possibly exhaustively cover all of the topics we’ll introduce in the next two weeks in two hundred sermons. What we can (and, Lord willing, will) do, though, is to briefly introduce each point, share the primary biblical texts that they come from, and offer brief pastoral reflections on why they’re worth treasuring and striving to live more fully in light of, together. THE GOSPEL Again, the widest part of the “Christian funnel” is the gospel (which means “good news”). To be a Christian is to have heard and believed in the gospel. No gospel, no Christian. (A quick aside—that I’m pretty sure I’ve shared before—for those of you who, like me, did not grow up as believers…When I was first approached by some people in a campus ministry, they asked me if I believed the gospel. I had never been asked a question like that before. I didn’t know what they meant. All I could think of was the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), but their question didn’t quite fit that. I had no idea what “the gospel” was. Thankfully, they shared it with me. Even more thankfully, the Spirit gave me ears to hear for the first time in my life.) What, then, is the gospel, the good news that someone must believe to be a Christian? In one sense, it’s the simplest thing in the world. It’s something every child can understand. 1 Timothy 1:15, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” At the same time, the gospel is so awesome that it will take an eternity to unpack. Truly, learning the fullness of the gospel—the good news of Jesus—is what we will be doing forever in heaven. In just a minute, I’m going to share a very simple version of the gospel. But first, I’d like to draw your attention to three resources for those of you who want to dig deeper than we’ll go today. First, on December 15th, in one of my last sermons on the Gospel of John, I unpacked the gospel as thoroughly as I ever have in a single sermon. That might be a helpful place to start if you want to know more (it’s on our website). Second, we have more than a hundred copies of a book called, “What Is the Gospel?” We’d love to give you one for a fuller explanation still. The four points of the gospel that I’m about to share with you are from that book. And third, we have something we call a “discipleship track” that focuses on unpacking the gospel in terms of both knowledge and implication. It is designed to help one person unpack the gospel with another over the course of several weeks. If you are interested in being taken through that track, please let us know and we will be glad to pair you up with someone. Again, then, what is the good news that all Christians have in common; that we need to know and believe in to be a Christian; that constitute the substance of the faith necessary for salvation; that we are of one mind concerning? It’s easily understood, remembered, and explained with four simple terms: God, man, Christ, and response. God (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 103:19; Psalm 88:14; Isaiah 33:22) The gospel always, always begins with God. None of the rest of the gospel (or the Christian life or life in general) makes sense apart from the God of the Bible. All reality (including the gospel) is inescapably rooted in the unchanging nature of God. And while God’s nature is inexhaustible, there are four particular attributes that anchor the gospel: Creator, King, righteous, and judge. The Bible opens with the simple declaration that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). God made all that has been made and so all that has been made belongs to God. It’s His. We’re His. Not only did God make the heavens and earth (and all that is in them), but He also rules over the heavens and earth (and all that is in them as well). David sang of this great truth, “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19). All creation must do what God says for He is King. If God were anything other than what He is, that would be terrible news. If everything belonged to God and was obliged to submit to God, but God was lazy or mean or dumb or evil, then we would be in the worst kind of trouble (like a cosmic, eternal version of the worst human government). But because God is who He is, it is the best news of all. In particular, God is perfectly righteous. He is right in all He is and does. His every command is not only binding, but it is best. It is good. It is wise. It is perfect. Of this, another of the Psalmists celebrates the fact that “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of [God’s] throne… (Psalm 88:14). God is Creator, King, righteous, and the judge of all. He is continually evaluating His creation’s conformity to His righteous rule. The prophet Isaiah declares, “…the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver…” (Isaiah 33:22). No corner of creation has ever escaped the watching eye of God for one fraction of a second. Again, Grace, the beginning of who we are as a people, as a church, as Christians is rooted in the nature of God. Man (Genesis 1:26; Romans 3:23) God created all mankind in His image (Genesis 1:26) to glorify and enjoy God forever (Isaiah 43:7). That is, as our creator and King God assigned to all of us meaning and purpose. And as our righteous judge He perfectly evaluates whether or not we are in keeping with His decrees. For all who live in perfect conformity with God’s design and rule, there is eternal life and perfect fellowship (1 John 1:3). But the wages of any measure of disobedience is eternal death in perfect punishment (Romans 6:23). Tragically, all mankind since the first man (Adam) has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This means that since Adam, all mankind has been born into condemnation and death. What’s worse, not only are all people dead in our trespasses and sins, we are powerless to do anything about it. We are stuck in our death (Ephesians ...
Transcribe →John’s Gospel – A Recap And Reflection
Dec 30, 202400:48:54Tap to summarizeJohn 21:25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. INTRODUCTION Good morning, Grace. I hope you all had a joyful, Christ-honoring Christmas. Because you asked… two of the harder aspects of my job are starting and finishing preaching through a book of the Bible. Starting is hard because it takes an exceptional amount of work and thought and prayer to get my head around the whole of the book—which is a prerequisite to handing any of it well. And finishing is hard in a way that is similar to having a child graduate and move out—it’s hard to overstate the emotional, spiritual, and chronological investment it takes to make it through an entire book (especially one like John). If anything, it’s an underestimate to say that I’ve spent well over 1000 hours of my life in John’s Gospel since we began. That’s over 40 full days of feeling the weight of being responsible to faithfully and accurately exposit the Word of God for you all. At the exact same time, however, spending thousands of hours preparing to and preaching through whole books of the Bible is by far one of the most rewarding aspects of being a pastor as well. What a gift it is to be able to sit in the very words of God, aided by the work of others over the centuries (commentaries), day after day, year after year, experiencing God’s presence and grace through His words, being continually renewed and reshaped by them, and then sharing them with a people I love. I wish everyone could experience this weight of glory. And with all of that, this is my last sermon on John’s Gospel (at least as a part of this series). In it, I intend to give a quick overview of the Gospel and then highlight a few of the main themes that God especially used to challenge and strengthen us from it. My hope in doing this is to encourage you all by taking one more look at the unique glories in John and to strengthen you all to live more and more fully—following Jesus—in light of those glories. THE BIG PICTURE OF JOHN’S GOSPEL Again, there are two main parts to this final John sermon. We’ll spend some time loocking back at the big picture of the Gospel and then we’ll consider some of the particular ways God was gracious to us in it. To help you see the big picture of John, we’ll revisit its main purpose and primary divisions. Right from the start, I want to simply tell you what I think the big picture of John is. We see it in the final verse of the Gospel, our passage for today. 25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. What, then, is the big picture of John’s Gospel? The big picture is that Jesus is glorious beyond measure. In one way, shape, or form, every word of John is an unfolding of this fact. Grace, the thing to grasp, should the Spirit be pleased to help, is that even in humbling Himself in such a way that He took on flesh; even in humbling Himself such that He allowed Himself to be misunderstood, dismissed, rejected, despised, mocked, and beaten; even in humbling Himself by allowing Himself to take on the shame of death by crucifixion (Philippians 2:8); the big picture of John’s Gospel is that even in this humble state, in just 30 years, Jesus’ revealed enough of His glory that an entire world of books could not contain it. The big picture of John’s Gospel is an invitation to behold, believe in, and worship the One whose glory cannot be exhausted by all eternity, much less a mere world’s worth of books about it. Today, thirty years after I came to faith in Jesus, this is still—I think—the biggest burden I have in life and ministry: Helping people to recognize the fact that their view of God, their understanding of Jesus, however big it is, is far, far, far, far too small. That’s what John is mainly about, that’s what my life is mainly about, and John’s Gospel invites you all to be mainly about that as well. The Main Purpose Again, I think you’ll see that clearly as we consider John’s main purpose and primary divisions. As I mentioned in my very first sermon on John’s Gospel, John wrote his first letter so that his readers might know that they have genuine faith in Jesus. That is, John wrote 1 John to give assurance of salvation to those who those who truly believe in Jesus. But that begs the questions of who Jesus is, what exactly we need to believe about Him, and why we would believe those things. That’s where John’s Gospel comes in. It was written, John tells us in chapter 20, “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” The main purpose for the Gospel of John, according to John, is to help his readers understand and accept the shocking fact that Jesus is the Christ that God had long promised to send. And that, in order that they (we) might believe upon Him and have life. That is, of course, no small thing. Considering this from any other perspective might be necessary to really grasp how spectacular of a claim this is. In other words, imagine getting a letter from Pastor Colin that opens with the line, “I am writing to convince you that John Caneday is the savior God promised to send.” Even though John is a very godly man, there’s no way Pastor Colin could possibly convince you of that claim, is there? What could it possibly take? Well, that’s exactly what John did. He was a “nobody” writing to convince everybody that another “nobody” (Jesus) was the Christ. Again, what could he possibly say to convince anyone? As I mentioned a minute ago, that’s the entire thrust of his Gospel. That is the big picture of what John was trying to do with every word on every page—describe the unmatched glory of Jesus such that believing in Him as the Christ not only seems plausible, but inevitable. The Primary Divisions So how did John go about describing the measureless glory of Jesus in order to achieve his purpose? On a literary level, he did so by writing his Gospel with four main “sections.” I don’t mean to suggest that John has four distinct chapters or that it has the kind of divisions we might find in a modern history book. What I do mean is that the Gospel has four discernable areas of focus and that by recognizing them, we are best able to grasp the big picture John was trying to communicate. Specifically, there is an introduction in John 1:1-18, a long description of Jesus ministry on earth in 1:19-12:50 (sometimes called “The Book of Signs”), an account of the passion week in 13:1-20:31 (sometimes called “The Book of Glory”), and then a sort of conclusion in chapter 21. In the introduction, as I’ll come back to in a few minutes, John put most of his cards on the table in just a small handful of verses. The climax of John’s Gospel is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. His main point in his conclusion was to solidify that by describing His continued ministry to His followers in His glorified state. In a book that is 21 chapters, the introduction and conclusion make up one-and-a-half of them. That leaves nineteen-and-a-half more chapters. In them we find the two main sections. And in them, we find John’s “proof” for the claims he made in the introduction and the “evidence” he offered to accomplish his purpose. If John was going to convince his readers that Jesus really is the glorious Christ, that they should believe in Him as such, and that by doing so they would gain eternal life, he was going to have to make a very compelling case. And so he did. In the Gospel’s two main sections, the book of signs and the book of glory, John recorded the aspects of Jesus’ life on earth—story after story, teaching after teaching, miracle after miracle, response after response—that most clearly demonstrate His nature, glory, and purpose. The Claims of Jesus As we consider the big picture of John’s Gospel—that Jesus is glorious beyond measure—and John’s primary purpose in writing his Gospel—to convince His readers to believe in Jesus as the Christ—we would do well to consider the claims made about and by Jesus. Let’s begin at the beginning, in the Gospel’s introduction (1:1-18). There we’ll quickly see that the claims John makes about the glory of Jesus are staggering. John’s first awesome claim about Jesus is that He is the very “Word” of God. That is, in referring to Jesus as “the Word,” John was indicating that Jesus is the full and final revelation from God. Jesus is the manifestation of God’s power and wisdom. Jesus would speak only that which is true and He would perfectly accomplish all of the purposes for which He was sent. That’s quite a claim, but John was far from done. Echoing the first words of the Bible (Genesis 1:1), Jesus was, John wrote (1:1), “in the beginning” with God. From the very first act of creation, Jesus was with God. More than that, though, as spectacular as that is, John claims that Jesus was not merely with God in creation, but that He was God’s instrument of creation, “All things were made through him, and without him not anything was made that was made” (1:3). More than that, Jesus was the life by which all life came and the light by which all things are seen (1:4). More than just the physica...
Transcribe →The Lord Equips His Servant
Dec 22, 202400:32:35Tap to summarizeExodus 4:1-17 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” 10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” 13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” 14 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16 He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. 17 And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” Before looking more closely at Exodus 4, I want us to pause and consider what God has called you to. I don’t mean this specific moment—but in your day-to-day life. Are you a follower of Christ? Are you a student, a son, a daughter, a husband, a wife, a father, a mother, an older man or woman, an employee, or a manager? God is calling you to responsibility. Are you obeying that call to follow Christ, or are you excusing yourself from duty? Our last time looking at the book of Exodus, we saw Moses encounter God at the burning bush in the wilderness of Midian, at the mountain of God. God approached Moses in the flame of fire to call Moses to the task of saving the Hebrews out of Egypt. The Hebrews had fallen into slavery and oppression after their fathers sojourned in Egypt during the famine of Genesis 41-47. Moses had sought to save them in chapter 2, but the people rejected him. At the burning bush, Moses asked the Lord, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?’” (3:13) God replied by saying, “I AM WHO I AM.” God then told Moses how he would work to accomplish the salvation of the Hebrews and bring them up into “a land flowing with milk and honey.” (3:17) God told Moses, “Go and gather the elders of Israel together” (3:16) and he assured Moses, “they will listen to your voice.” This brings us to this morning’s text. Moses is still at the burning bush, listening to the LORD’s instructions. The passage is organized into two main sections: verses 1-9, which I will call the “dialog of unbelief.” The second section, verses 10-17, is the “dialog of eloquence.” In each section, Moses presents an objection to the LORD, and the LORD, in turn, answers him. I want us all to see how God used Moses despite his objections and weaknesses. The outcome of Moses’ mission was in no way dependent upon him. Moses was God’s servant and was fully equipped to fulfill God’s task. Just as God equipped Moses, so he also equips us today. The Dialog of Unbelief The first section, the “dialog of unbelief,” begins with Moses’ statement of disbelief. In chapter 3, God told Moses, “Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me… And they will listen to your voice…” (3:16, 18) As we see, though, in chapter four, Moses does not believe God. He says, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’” God had spoken clearly and promised that the elders of Israel would believe him. But Moses did not believe. Yet God was gracious to him and did not reprove him. Moses will later learn that God is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (34:6). Moses experiences this grace here, though he may not have realized it then. Rather than reproving Moses, God offers three signs that he is to use to demonstrate his authority as God’s messenger. These signs transformed one thing into something else. The staff in Moses’ hand would become a serpent. His hand, once inside his cloak, would become leprous. The water Moses would take from the Nile would become blood when poured onto the ground. This three-fold demonstration to Moses would comprise three witnesses to confirm Moses’s divine authority. God asks Moses, “What is that in your hand?” It is an interesting rhetorical question, for God knew what it was, as did Moses. But Moses responds, “A staff.” The LORD commanded it be thrown upon the ground, and Moses did so. He is teaching Moses to obey. The LORD asks, and Moses responds. The LORD commands, and Moses does. The staff, once thrown upon the ground, “became a serpent.” This was no mere likeness of a serpent, for Moses ran from it. It frightened him! The LORD again commands, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail.” Moses again does as commanded: “it became a staff in his hand.” Immediately, the LORD instructs Moses on its meaning, “that they may believe the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” The sign was meant to authenticate the message. The lesson continues, “Again, the LORD said to him, ‘Put your hand inside your cloak.” Moses again follows orders: “when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.” Snakes are one thing. I hate snakes! I don’t want anything to do with them. But I think I would like this much less! I can almost picture his face full of horror and wonder as he considers what will happen to his hand and who he is talking to?! The LORD doesn’t seem to leave him pondering his condition long. He commands Moses, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” Again, Moses is learning to obey the LORD. He does as commanded, “and when he took it out, behold, ‘it was restored like the rest of his flesh.” This sign also has a purpose— “if they will not…listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.” (4:8) Again, the sign was meant to authenticate the message. The LORD now offers the third sign, “If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” Notice that this sign may only be performed in Egypt. Moses cannot attempt this one now. He seems to understand that the God who performed the first two signs will not fail to perform the third. This “dialog of unbelief” ends with growing belief. Moses seemingly believes the LORD will ensure that the elders of Israel in Egypt will believe him, accepting the final sign in faith. Yet not all is well. In verse ten, we begin the second main section of the passage—the “dialog of eloquence.” The LORD has diffused Moses’s disbelief, but he has another excuse prepared. Do you know someone like this? Maybe you are like this yourself? It is so easy for us to sneer at people in the Bible. God just performed two incredible signs after appearing in a burning bush—and Moses makes up excuses to disobey? The reality is that we’re not all that different than Moses, or almost anyone else in the Bible, for that matter. The Dialog of Eloquence Well, Moses has another excuse handy. “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” The second half of our passage is the “dialog of eloquence.” For someone claiming he is “not eloquent,” Moses sure does a lot of talking. His voice is the primary human voice in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy! So why does Moses use this excuse? Some commentators argue that Moses suffers from “some kind of speech defect, such as stammering.”1 Others say Moses is following the “Ancient Near Eastern” custom of “exaggerated humility.”2 One or both of those may be true, but I don’t think either theory really explains what is happening in this scene. Moses does not want to go and do what God is commanding; he is stalli...
Transcribe →You Follow Me! (Part 2)
Dec 15, 202400:49:02Tap to summarizeJohn 21:22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” INTRODUCTION Good morning, Grace Church. It is a providential gift from God that we are at a point in John’s Gospel that allows us to lock in on Jesus’ call to follow Him as we prepare to celebrate His coming. To that end, I wonder how many of you realized that the call to “Follow Me” is one of the very first (1:39, 43) and last (21:22) things Jesus said in John’s Gospel. I don’t want to make more of that than I should, but I also don’t want to make less of it. To make too much of it would be to assume that’s all there is to John’s Gospel. But to make too little of it would be to miss the fact that in a very real way, John did mean for us to read everything in between as unpacking what Jesus meant by “Follow Me”. And in a very real way, that’s at the heart of the rest of the Gospels along with the rest of the Bible as well. Not to make too much of it though. And in that way, as I mentioned in the last two sermons, following Jesus is one way to describe the essence of the Christian life. To be a non-Christian is to have rejected the call to follow Jesus and to be a Christian is to have accepted it. But what exactly does that mean? Answering that question is the heart of this sermon. That is, the main focus of this sermon is unpacking Jesus’ words to Peter, “You follow me!”. Once again, therefore, the big idea of this passage is that following Jesus is the primary call on all of our lives. And the main takeaway, therefore, is to learn what it means to follow Jesus and to do so in faith. Before I pray, let me encourage you to consider all of this carefully as we move closer and closer to Christmas. As I hope to help you see, the significance of Christmas—it’s meaning, purpose, and aim; the reason it’s worth celebrating—is tied up in Jesus’ simple words, “Follow Me.” If Christmas is worth celebrating, it’s because we’ve already decided to follow Jesus. FOLLOW ME Once again, one way to talk about the heart of the Christian life, about what it means to be a Christian, is in terms of following Jesus. This idea first began to crystalize in my mind many years ago when, as a newer pastor, I was wrestling through how to tell others what the Bible says about what it really means to be a Christian and to live as Jesus intends. Many people, when they think of Christianity, think of all kinds of things like belief in God and Jesus and the cross and forgiveness and going to church and reading the Bible and pastors and saying prayers and following rule s and Christmas and Easter and going to heaven. However, as I hope to help you see, while each of these things do have a place in Christianity, they can only be properly understood under the umbrella of following Jesus. Jesus’ First Call Was to “Follow Me” The first thing I want to do in the way of explaining and defending this idea is to help you see that Jesus’ first call on the lives of His first followers was, “Follow me”. For example… Jesus calling Simon and Andrew – Matthew 4:18-19 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus calling Matthew – Matthew 9:9 (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27) As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. Jesus calling Phillip – John 1:43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ” Follow me.” Jesus calling an anonymous “disciple” – Matthew 8:21-22 (Mark 1:17) Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” Jesus calling anyone – Matthew 16:24 (Mark 8:34) … “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Jesus calling a young man – Matthew 19:16-21 (Mark 10:21, Luke 18:22) And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” … 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Jesus calling another anonymous man – Luke 9:59 To another he said, “Follow me.” I wonder if you’ve ever considered how prevalent that call really is. For some reason, we don’t often talk like that when we talk about living out the Christian life, so it might be a bit of a surprise to find out that Jesus’ initial invitation to people was never to ask Him into their heart or pray the “sinner’s prayer”. It was simply, “follow Me.” Jesus Continued Call on the Lives of His Followers Was to “Follow Me” More than just the initial call, though, “Follow Me” was Jesus’ continued call. That is, for Jesus, it not only defined the beginning of the Christian life, but it also defined the continued Christian life. Matthew 10:37-38 (Luke 9:23) Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. After years of following Jesus, Jesus’ call to Peter remained the same – John 21:19 [Jesus] said to [Peter], “Follow me.” And again in v.22, our passage for today “You follow me!” To be sure, Jesus called His followers to repent (Matthew 4:17), believe (Mark 5:36), have faith (Mark 11:22), love (Matthew 22:36-39), glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31), etc. However, these, and all the other callings that Jesus issued are contained in the two simple words, “Follow Me.” Indeed, Jesus main call on the lives of His first followers—from beginning to end—was, “Follow me”. Jesus Call to Us Is Still, “Follow Me” I hope it’s easy to see that during Jesus’ earthly ministry, His main call to everyone, from beginning to end, was “Follow Me.” But how about today? How does that relate to us now? The rest of this sermon is meant to help you see two things: (1) The essence of Christianity is still a call to follow Jesus and (2) How to respond. This means, once again, that Jesus did not then, and does not today, merely or primarily call people to believe that there is a God or pray a certain prayer or to come to church a certain number of times each week or to read a certain number of verses in our Bibles each day or to stop doing bad things or even to believe certain true things. Instead, He primarily calls us to follow Him with all that we have and all that we are; to follow Him wherever He leads and whatever it costs; to follow Him by becoming like Him in His life and in His death; to be reconciled to the Father by following Him; to inherit eternal life by following Him. FOLLOWING JESUS TO THE CROSS During Jesus’ time on earth, the call was literal. He was actually calling people to live and minister with Him. It was more than that, but it wasn’t less than that. But what does it mean today? And how do we begin? While we believe the Bible teaches that the essence of Christianity—beginning to end—is following Jesus, we also believe that the Bible talks about this as a sort of two-part journey: (1) Following Jesus to the cross and (2) Following Jesus from the cross to eternal life. Let’s begin at the beginning. If you hear the call to follow Jesus and want to respond, what does that mean? Where do you start? Likewise, if you want your neighbor or friend or kid to follow Jesus, where do they begin? There are not multiple answers to this question. There are not several starting points. Everyone, always, begins in the same place. There Is a God Who Is Infinitely Glorious (Nehemiah 9:5-6; Romans 11:33-36; Psalm 29:1-10) The primary call on all our lives is to follow Jesus and this call, for everyone, always begins at the cross. If we are to follow Jesus, we must begin by meeting Him at the cross. And the road to the cross begins with an understanding of who God is. In the most fundamental sense, God is infinitely glorious; that He is supremely and unendingly and inexhaustibly beautiful, majestic, powerful, praiseworthy, splendid, fierce, mighty, wise, and good! The Bible is filled with passages that speak to this. Nehemiah 9:5-6 “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 “You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is...
Transcribe →You Follow Me! (Part 1)
Dec 8, 202400:38:06Tap to summarizeJohn 21:20-23 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” INTRODUCTION Two of the harder aspects of my job are starting and finishing preaching through a book of the Bible. Starting is hard because it takes an exceptional amount of work and thought and prayer to get my head around the whole of the book—which is a prerequisite to handing any of it well. And finishing is hard in a way that is similar to having a child graduate and move out—it’s hard to overstate the emotional, spiritual, and chronological investment it takes to make it through an entire book (especially one like John). If anything, it’s an underestimate to say that I’ve spent well over 1000 hours of my life in John’s Gospel since I began. That’s over 40 full days of feeling the weight of being responsible to rightly preach the Word of God to the people of God. At the exact same time, however, spending thousands of hours preparing to and preaching through whole books of the Bible is by far one of the most rewarding aspects of being a pastor as well. What a gift it is to be able to sit in the very words of God, day after day, year after year, experiencing God’s presence and grace through them, being continually reshaped by them, and then sharing them with a people I love. I do wish there were some way you all could experience the same thing. With that, as you can tell, we’re almost done in John and it’s now official that I’ll be preaching through Ecclesiastes next. I’d encourage you all to begin reading through Ecclesiastes over and over. As you do, I’d also encourage you all to pray through it, asking God to help you understand it, in order that you might be duly transformed by it. One more thing…make a list of everything that stands out—questions, observations, encouragements, etc—and teach your kids to do that as well. And with that, let’s go back to John for one of our last times. In chapter 19, John records Jesus’ crucifixion. In chapter 20, John tells of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and His resurrection appearances to many of His followers. Throughout chapter 21, John continued recounting Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances, interactions, and teaching. In the first 14 verses of 21 (which Pastor Colin preached on two weeks ago), Jesus found several of His disciples at the tail end of an unsuccessful all-night fishing trip. In two remarkable acts, Jesus miraculously filled their nets with fish and kindly provided a beach-breakfast for His exhausted friends. At some point during the course of the early morning meal, Jesus pulled Peter aside in order to restore and recommission him. Jesus restored Peter from his three-times denial of Jesus and recommissioned him to provide pastoral/shepherding care for Jesus’ followers. In our passage, Jesus and Peter were still talking, but this time Peter noticed someone listening in. In the course of this ongoing dialogue, we find four clarifications (who was following them, what was he doing, what difference did it make to Peter, and—back on the subject of death—when would the following man die). In the clarifications we find a number of important applications for us as well. In all of that, we’ll see that the big idea of this passage is that following Jesus is the primary call on all of our lives. The main takeaway, therefore, is to follow Jesus. CLARIFICATIONS As I mentioned, the bulk of the passage answers questions that are asked (or at least implied) in the passage. That is, Peter wonders about and Jesus clarifies four different things. As we dive in, I can’t help but to wonder how many times have you may have wished you could get Jesus to clarify things for you in real-time like this. Jesus, I’m not sure how to help this person. What do I do? Jesus, how do I honor you with this diagnosis or ailment or disability or loss or difficulty? Jesus, why is it so hard for me to know what to do with myself? And when I do know what to do, why is it so hard to stay on task? Would you help me? Jesus, I’m having trouble understanding what your Word means. I’m trying, but I just can’t seem to figure it out. How do I live it out faithfully when I’m not sure if I have it right? Jesus, my kids are out of control or money is tight or my marriage is hard or it’s hard not being married or my job is oppressive or I’m lonely or … On one hand, of course, we don’t have the same exact experience as Peter did in this moment. On the other and more important hand, however, we have something better (Jesus told us this explicitly—John 15:26). We have the Spirit in us and the completed Bible. Along those lines, one of the most important biblical truths you can learn is that the Word and Spirit of God are living and active (Hebrews 4:12). That means we really are talking to Jesus when we pray and He really is talking to us when we read His word. In other words, in this passage, in His willingness to answer Peter’s questions and explain things to him, we have a remarkable example of Jesus’ kindness and patience on display. But equally significant is the fact that you and I have even greater access to Jesus’ kindness and patience today. Talk to Jesus, therefore, in prayer, knowing that He hears you even more fully than any person in this room can. And read His Word, therefore, knowing that in it, He is speaking to you with more insight and intimacy than anyone in this room can. Who Was Following? (20) With that, the first (kind and patient) clarification is found in v.20. It’s not clear exactly where Jesus and Peter were in relation to the other disciples as they talked, but it is clear that someone had crept up towards them while they did. 20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” The key to this clarification concerns John’s descriptions of himself. As both the narrator/interpreter of the story and a participant in it, John presents himself both anonymously and intimately present. Never once did he mention himself by name while he consistently described himself at the center of the main events of Jesus’ life and ministry. John wanted to be simultaneously non-distracting from the story and clear on the fact that he was eminently qualified to tell the story. Both show up in his choice of monikers. His main self-designation is “the beloved disciple” or “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 20). In this passage and the next, he added two more descriptions to even further enhance his anonymity and qualification. In v.20, he highlights not only that he is (familiarly) “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” but also that he is the “one who also had leaned back against [Jesus] during the supper and had said, ‘Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?’” John described himself as the one who was privileged to sit nearest to Jesus, to lean on Him, and to have His ear. In a similar manner, as we’ll see in v.24, he said of himself, “This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.” He was the one witnessed the things he’d written about from such an inside perspective that “we know that his testimony is true.” Again, in writing his Gospel, John determined to remain anonymous throughout the entire Gospel, while simultaneously revealing that there was, perhaps, no one more qualified to tell and interpret this story of Jesus. Who did Peter see when he turned around during his walk with Jesus? He saw John, the author of this Gospel. Why is that significant? It’s significant in that it meant that John was constantly nearby as an eye/earwitness to the things he wrote about. Why was he so close? Because he was loved and trusted by Jesus. Why does that matter? It matters because it means we can trust that what he wrote was true and that it was written for the glory of Jesus. In coming to recognize all of this from Jesus’ first clarification, from v.20, we are able to better recognize and receive John’s Gospel as the remarkable gift from God that it is. It is no small kindness that Jesus allowed John to walk so near Him, in such love, so that He might record and interpret the most important benefits in all history for our benefit. Are you rightly grateful? Do you rightly thank God for this? Do you read it as you should—eagerly, confidently, transformationally, obediently—consistent with what it is—the account of a man inspired by the Holy Spirit to write of things he personally witnessed at the side of the Son of God who loved him dearly? The Gospel of John is an awesome gift from God to us. John’s first clarification—a description of himself—helps us to see that more clearly than ever. What About This Man? (21) The second main clarification is found in the next verse. 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about...
Transcribe →Do You Love Jesus More Than?
Dec 1, 202400:42:52Tap to summarizeJohn 21:15-19 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” INTRODUCTION I have three quick introductory notes I’d like to share. First, I want to thank Colin for his sermon last week. It was a good reminder of the humanity and kindness of Jesus. It will be a real joy and blessing to have him here as our shepherd in the coming weeks. Second, I want to thank Matt for his Ebenezer message. The twin ideas of murmuring being the opposite of thanksgiving and it being a good indication that something is wrong in our hearts has come up over and over in both my own mind and in conversation with others. It was simultaneously convicting and encouraging. And third, let me encourage you to really embrace the advent season. To keep our eyes on the glory of the coming of God into the world as a man, means continually swimming against a stiff cultural current. Every day we are bombarded by ads, attitudes, shows, and traditions that seek to profit from the generic, largely secular “Christmas spirit,” rather than point us to the glories of the incarnation. And that’s only the things outside of us. Inside we are bombarded with selfishness, laziness, worldliness, and idolatry. Jesus’ birth is something truly worth celebrating, more than almost anything else in our lives. But doing so (for all the reasons I just mentioned and more) requires intentionality, purpose, determination, and above all, God’s help. We want to help with all of that. Practically, you’ll notice several “Advent Activities” mentioned in News and Notes and around the church. I encourage you to prioritize them as a means of tuning your heart. What’s more, we have the devotionals (and samples of more) on the back table. Take one and gather your family and friends around it each day. And, of course, by God’s design, each worship service is one of the most significant means of incarnation-appreciation grace available. With that, we’re about to get back into John’s Gospel and Jesus’ continued revelation of His resurrected, glorified self to His disciples. The big idea of this passage is Jesus’ loving and gracious restoration and recommissioning of Peter. Jesus’ love for Peter led to His forgiveness of Peter, to Peter’s love for Jesus, and to Peter’s glad willingness to shepherd Jesus’ flock. The main takeaway for us is to receive Jesus’ love, to love Jesus above all, and to follow Jesus in loving ministry. Let’s pray for this sermon and those yet to come in John (probably three more after this week) to be faithful to the text, life-giving, and Christmas-celebration-fuel to all who hear. DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN _____? Jesus opens His restoration and recommissioning of Peter with a question that seems fairly simple on the surface, “Simon [Peter], son of John, do you love me more than these?” Before we come to the meaning of “these,” we need to begin with the fact that there ought to be no clarification which would change the answer. In other words, no matter what Jesus meant by “these” when asking Peter, “Do you love me more than these,” the answer ought to have been a resounding, emphatic, unhesitating, unwavering, unqualified, YES! And so it is for us, Grace. When we are confronted with the question, “Do you love Jesus more than___,” we must not let the question finish before yelling, “Yes. Whatever it is, YES.” It is what God requires, “What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). It is the greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). It is because Jesus is the greatest treasure, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field (Matthew 13:44). It is possible because God first set His love upon us, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Above all, God set His love upon us by sending His Son to save us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Because of these things, in a very real way, it must not matter what Jesus meant by “these”. Do you love Jesus more than your stuff? Yes! 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20). Do you love Jesus more than your family and even your own life? Yes! “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). Ask the Lord to be gracious to you, Grace. Ask Him to fill you with ever-increasing love for Him, for setting your love upon Him is what you were made for. He is what you were made for. Our very nature is such that to love something higher than Jesus is to be perpetually unsatisfied. Our very nature is such that to love Jesus above all is the one and only place of true life and joy and peace and rest. Do you love Jesus more than anything and everything? By the grace of God, more and more each day! DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN THESE? (15-17) You may remember that in Pastor Colin’s sermon last week, he pointed out that Jesus cooked breakfast for several of the disciples after they’d spent the night fishing. John set the context for our passage by explaining that it picks up where that one left off, stating, “When they had finished breakfast…”. More than likely, then, this is not a scene in which Jesus and Peter were off by themselves. More than likely, the disciples mentioned in 21:1-14 are still within earshot. No Love by Comparison With that in mind, “Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’”. There are several possible things Jesus could have meant by “these.” The most likely, by most accounts, is that Jesus was asking Peter if he loved Him more than the rest of the disciples loved Him. “Peter, is your love for Me greater than their love for me?” On the surface, it’s an odd question. But something important was happening here. Peter had denied Jesus after repeatedly making claims of a unique and superior devotion. Peter consistently spoke up first when it came to matters of obedience and commitment. Up to this point, Peter seemed to believe that his love for Jesus was greater than “these.” For instance… After a particularly difficult teaching, many who had been following Jesus turned back. Jesus asked the disciples if they were going to turn back too. It was Peter who replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). When Jesus went to wash the feet of His disciples, Peter stood up among the disciples and said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet” (John 13:8). And when Jesus rebuked him for his obstinance, Peter instantly recanted, saying, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” (John 13:9). When Jesus told the disciples that He was going away (to be crucified) and that they couldn’t follow, Peter again stood up among the disciples and said, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37). At Jesus’ arrest, it was Peter who “drew [his sword] and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear” (John 18:10). And most clearly of all, although John doesn’t record it, the other three Gospels all tell of Peter’s reply to Jesus insisting that after His crucifixion His followers will fall away. To that accusation, Peter cried out, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away” (Matthew 26:33). The point of all of this is the simple fact that Jesus seemed to be revealing to Peter that his love and devotion was not meant to be measured in comparison to the other disciples. The pride that led Peter to have done so previously was the same pride that led to his denials. By His question, Jesus was trying to root that out of Peter. Peter’s love and devotion to Jesus was meant to be fully given to Jesus because Jesus was worthy, not because of how it stacked up against the others. (We ge...
Transcribe →Friendship With the Risen King
Nov 24, 202400:37:31Tap to summarizeJohn 21:1–14 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. My name is Colin Rueter, honored to be one of the pastors here at Grace Church. We are continuing our walk through the Gospel of John this morning, so please turn in your bibles to John 21. Have any of you told a story and, as you are coming to the end, remember an additional piece to that story and you say something like, “Oh, wait! There’s one more thing!” Here, it seems that John was closing his gospel account, with the closing remarks in John 20, vs 30 and 31, with the purpose of his writings. I hope you all were helped last week as Pastor Dave walked through the recounting of the story and the amazing reality for those who believe: Life in Jesus’ name. As John writes about the many things Jesus did, he admits that there were many other things Jesus did that are not written in the book. After he does this, he continues by sharing one more account of the Risen King to His disciples. This is an intimate and important interaction with 7 of His followers… . His friends. In John 15, Jesus says this to His disciples: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” It is this point that I think we need the reminder: Jesus is our friend who interacts with us, shows us compassion, and with whom we will sit with in eternity soon. Jesus is King, yes. He sits upon the throne in heaven, with the earth as His footstool, yes. In addition, He is present, He sees you, His grace sufficient because if you believe in Jesus – trust in Him alone – you are His and He cares for His own, none can snatch you from His hand, and there is no condemnation for those in Jesus. The beauty of this friendship is vital to our theology. We rightly exalt the Lord; we praise Jesus as Holy King and Savior… . but we miss the vital truth that we have been brought into a relationship with Him – to worship Him, yes – but also to be close to Him and be known by Him. From this, we show the watching world what a relationship with Jesus is: showing grace to one another like He has to us. Right now, as Jesus’ friends, we are to love one another. The main point of this passage is: Jesus cares for His people as a true friend and King, with compassion, grace, and fellowship. We are breaking this text up into three parts The Disciples together The King appears Breakfast as friends 1) The Disciples together [vs 1-3] It is important to remember that they went to Galilee because Jesus told them to (Matthew 28:7, 28:10, 28:16). This event in John 21 happens before the Great Commission at the end of Matthew 28. They had spent three years together and so it makes sense that they remain in the relationships that have been built over that course of time, through the events they have navigated, with support for one another in the mysterious place they are in. Jesus is risen, we were told to wait for Him in Galilee… but what now? Uncertainty now, unlike the coming Day of Pentecost where they receive purpose and power. Such is the life of a follow of Christ. Living with one another, in and out of mysteries of life, trusting and growing in our trust of Jesus and the power of the Spirit. So, in verse 2, we find seven disciples together: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee (James & John), and two others of His disciples. We don’t know who the two other disciples are, assumptions can be made, but I don’t think the point of remaining unnamed is to create a game of “who are they?” Jesus had many disciples, He had 11 close ones (plus one who betrayed), 3 of whom He was closest with, but there are two who remained unknown by us, yet mentioned by John because they are known by Jesus. One commentator said this: “They may represent the anonymous and hidden multitudes of faithful souls, whose names are never published in human documents, whose deeds are never reported in human reports. To these Jesus manifested Himself as surely as to the others who are named.” Maybe you will never be known in world history as a follower of Jesus, maybe only known by this family at Grace, but rejoice that your King knows you and sees you. These disciples gathered makes me think of the phrase: Birds of a feather flock together – not just in prayer meetings or worship services, but as we will see, doing life. This is key, friends. We gather on Sundays, yes, vital. But the work of the Church is more than one day a week, more than prayer meetings and Sunday worship. We should hang out with one another – on a beach, in a garage, in our living rooms. It is why connecting with your DG (discipleship group) is so important for the sake of being shepherded and being a blessing to others. If you don’t see one another besides Sundays, there is no way you can love one another the way Christ loves you. So, Peter and the others were hanging out, maybe at the beach discussing what has occurred over the last days. Peter, as the sun sets, decides he is going fishing and the others said, “Sounds good, we’ll go with you!” Their reasons for fishing are unknown, John does not say. We can theorize: they were hungry, they were thinking they could earn some money since the time of charity for the ministry had ceased since the cross, maybe simply out of boredom. I DON’T think it was a sinful response, they were not rejecting a command of Jesus, they weren’t straying from where they should have gone, like Jonah. These were friends who, wile waiting for Jesus, did a familiar activity in fellowship and that would bring God glory. So, don’t justify sin, but also, see the freedom in Christ to fish, knit, write poetry, cook/grill/smoke meat, throw the baseball around with friends/kids… for the glory of God, even while you may be waiting for Him and His direction for you. So, night comes, they shove the boat out into the sea and fish in the pale moonlight. One of John’s favorite themes is light and darkness. Darkness representing worldliness and the absence of God’s presence, while light represents righteousness and God’s presence. This should cause you to look at verse 3 a little differently: “They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” In other words, they went fishing by themselves, at night, and Jesus is nowhere to be found. But light is coming. Awake all night, hungry, living in mystery, and the disciples head back to shore empty-handed. Here is where Jesus meets them. This is glorious. 2) The King appears [vs 4-11] I say King here because Jesus is in control here, as He always is, ruling with grace and love. Jesus meets them in a common place, the sea, where they had been before. The previous resurrection appearances in John’s Gospel were each unexpected. This occurrence also seemed to be unexpected; the disciples did not know that it was Jesus (vs 4). It’s wonderful to think that Jesus showed up at their place of leisure and in the time of disappointment in their efforts. He was interested in all their life, not just wh...
Transcribe →