04 | Born Again

John 3:1-21

John 2.23-25 tells us that Jesus “knew what was in man” and therefore he didn’t “entrust himself to them.” Jesus’ encounters over the next few chapters - Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, a Gentile official, the lame man at Bethesda - all make clear Jesus’ penetrating insight into human motivations. In John 3, Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, comes to Jesus at night, and gets his world flipped upside down. Jesus challenges his narrow understanding of God’s kingdom, reveals the evil of his religious striving, and proclaims a way of salvation so simple that it utterly baffles Nicodemus. But it is in this context of rebuke and challenge that Jesus gives us the most timeless summation of his mission: In deep affection for the world, God gave his Son, opening the kingdom of God for all who believe, now and forevermore. How will we respond?

July 5, 2020 - Steve Hart

03 | Glory for the Excluded

John 2

John continues to paint a picture of the extraordinary and unpredictable ministry of the Messiah. Jesus lived most of his life in a place of poor reputation, quiet until he steps into focus, calls some unlikely disciples, and begins to minister in unconventional ways in offbeat places. In our text this week, Jesus gives a small-town wedding a miraculous abundance of really good wine and in a fit or holy zeal cleanses the temple of an unjust marketplace. He sets the tone for his ministry & kingdom: finding the lost and disrupting the religious, offering belief in his name to everyone without partiality, putting his glory on display for the excluded.

June 28, 2020 - Gabe Shippam

02 | Jesus Calls Disciples

John 1:35-51

John begins his eyewitness account of the life and ministry of Jesus with a massive claim: in Jesus of Nazareth, the uncreated Creator, the God who formed all things and holds them together, showed the world what he is really like. It is a massive claim! And his first move, his first step toward revealing himself, is to gather a group of followers - unlikely and unpromising! - and invite them to “come and see” who he is and what he came to do. Here is a basic description of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus: to submit to him, learn who he is, and believe what he came to do, together.

June 21, 2020 - Steve Hart

01 | Believe

John 1

What is the object of our belief? Is it the same as the readers of John? How do we grow the weight of our belief? John presents us with an object of belief that is different than we currently have. If our belief is in this God that is presented here, we will get to watch our lives and world change.

June 14, 2020 - Scott Cooley