By knowing the written word of God, we come to know the Living Word of God — Jesus Christ. A sermon series from the Gospel of John.
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The Word Part 14
Message preached on April 29th, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
This week we read a story where the scribes and the Pharisees brought before Jesus a woman who, it says, “was caught in the act of adultery.” They insisted Jesus tell them what should be done with her, not because they didn’t know what the Law of Moses said should be done, but rather as a trap. Would Jesus discredit himself by not following the Scriptures, or would he violate Roman rule and laws? Neither, as it turns out. In the end, this woman wasn’t the only one whose guilt would be laid bare before Jesus. There is a remarkable story of forgiveness and grace here, as well as a potent warning against the self-righteousness judging of others.
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The Word Part 13
Message preached on April 22nd, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
John chapter seven could be characterized as the place where true faith and self-interest collide. We see two examples of people who were interested in Jesus for their own reasons. His brothers (half-brothers, the other sons of Mary by her husband Joseph) were interested in Jesus because they saw him as an asset to be used. “The Jews” (presumably the religious leaders) were also interested in Jesus because they perceived him to be a rival and wanted to eliminate Him. So true faith, we would say, empties itself of self-interest and exaltation, replacing it with God-interest and exaltation. This is reinforced later when Jesus says we will know whether or not His teaching is from God when our will is to do God’s will.
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The Word Part 12
Message preached on April 15th, 2012 by Carter Brown.
The sixth chapter of John’s Gospel covers a lot of familiar ground. Two of the most famous miracles performed by Jesus are found here: The feeding of 5,000 with only a few loaves and fishes, and Jesus walking on the water. One of the iconic “I am” statements is found here also, “I am the Bread of Life.” So there is a lot about this chapter you will find familiar, if you have spent much time in church or Sunday school. If you look beyond just what the stories say, however, and examine what they mean, you will find that Jesus is addressing a couple of very uncomfortable topics. He’s speaking to both those in His day and (through John’s record) all of us today about the contentment to remain as we are, and about our focus on ourselves and others.
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The Word Part 11
Message preached on April 8th, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
Following His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus encountered two disciples fleeing what must have seemed to them to be the collapse of this new faith. The scriptures tell us that Jesus prevented them from recognizing Him so He might ask them what they were discussing. When they revealed their despair over what had happened to Jesus, He chastised them, and then showed them how Moses and all the prophets had declared that these things had to happen to the Messiah. In Genesis chapter 22, we have one of the most poignant and clear examples of such a declaration, the story of Abraham and his son Isaac. We’ll study this example of resurrection faith as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord!
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The Word Part 10
Message preached on April 1st, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
In John chapter 5, Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, provoking a confrontation with Jewish religious leaders. Once He had their attention, He delivered a message declaring who He was (the Son of God, and thus equal to God), and about the resurrection and judgment that was to come. Jesus addressed their anger and disbelief by explaining that if they had believed Moses, they would believe Jesus, because Moses wrote about Him. Did Moses write about Jesus? If so, where? We’ll look at one fascinating, and often passed over, example from Exodus chapter 15.
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The Word Part 9
Message preached on March 25th, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
Our God heals! Those are comforting words, aren’t they? When we, or a loved one, are sick or injured, we want to know that God will heal us. The fact is, though, God doesn’t always heal how we want Him to, nor does He always heal when we want Him to. What the Scriptures teach is that God doesn’t heal according to our purposes — God heals according to His purposes. Is that still a comforting thought? This week we read about Jesus healing a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. As the story unfolds, we’ll get to see the purpose behind Jesus performing this miracle of healing and we can ask ourselves, do we have faith that His purpose is always good?
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The Word part eight
Message preached on March 11th, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
This week, we see the follow-up from the Samaritan woman’s excited plea for the her town to “come and meet this man.” Jesus spent two days with the Samaritans, and many believed in Him. Then Jesus returns to Galilee where He was warmly welcomed, but for all the wrong reasons. John presents a very probing question for us all to consider: Why do YOU seek Jesus?
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The Word part seven
Message preached on March 4th, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
Our series from the gospel of John exploring the life and teachings of God’s Living Word, Jesus Christ, continues with the story from John chapter four about Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. His message to her then, and to us today, is that we can only find an eternally satisfying life in Him.
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The Word part six
Message preached on February 26th, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
Our series from the gospel of John exploring the life and teachings of God’s Living Word, Jesus Christ, continues with the story from John chapter three about Nicodemus coming to speak with Jesus under cover of night. Tom Hendrikse takes you inside the mind of Nicodemus and leads us on a fascinating journey through the Old Testament symbols and their meanings–information Jesus said Nicodemus should have already known, and information Jesus wants us to have as well.
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The Word part five
Message preached on February 5th, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
From John chapter two, we read the story of Jesus driving the merchants and the money-changers out of the temple. There is a lot to learn from this passage. Jesus is furious about where this commerce is taking place, and the connection between the temple then and the temple now ought to cause each one of us to sit up and take notice. Tom takes us through this passage bite by bite, stopping to taste all the metaphors and images John has put here so that we might learn their meaning.
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The Word part four
Message preached on January 29th, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
This week, we hear the story of the first miracle Jesus performed in public, the changing of water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana. It is a familiar story, but there may be things you miss if you read through it too fast. Tom slows us down and goes through the metaphors and images, savoring each one, to get at what’s really happening in this story. Yes, there is water and there is wine, and yes, there is a wedding feast with a bride and bridegroom. However, the water isn’t only water, the wine isn’t just wine, and there are more than one bride and bridegroom in view.
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The Word part three
Message preached on January 22nd, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
Our study from John’s Gospel continues with a message on Jesus beginning to assemble the group of twelve men who would become His apostles. In the beginning, some of these men had been followers of John the Baptist up until the arrival of Jesus, and some of John’s other disciples complained to him about Jesus taking over. John’s response was to remind them that his mission was to point people to Jesus, and seeing people go to Jesus made his joy complete.
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The Word part two
Message preached on January 15th, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
Our study from John’s Gospel continues with a message examining the life and ministry of John the Baptist (not the same John as the author of this book, in case you wondered). Jesus said Himself that among those born of women, there was no one greater than John the Baptist. What made him great? Pastor Tom Hendrikse explains that it came from him knowing who he was not, and then knowing clearly what his mission was.
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The Word part one
Message preached on January 8th, 2012 by Tom Hendrikse.
This week we are beginning a new study, taking another step on our journey to Know the Word and Live the Word. This wasn’t just the mantra for 2011, something we would do and be done with it, but it is the unending pursuit of the Christian life! Because it is through this pursuit that we come to know the Living Word that is Jesus Christ. Knowing the Living Word is how we can live a life, by faith, that more and more begins to resemble His. Today we consider that the Word that was with God in the beginning, Who brought order out chaos and light into the darkness at the creation of this world, is the same Word who became a man and lived among us, to bring order and light into our lives!
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