Sermons on John (Page 3)

John 13:21-38 As we enter back into John 13 this week, we join the disciples in an upper room in downtown Jerusalem on the night before Jesus goes to the cross. Jesus astonishingly begins this final teaching by serving his disciples in the act of washing their feet. Next, Jesus will explain this act even more, but framed in the language of love, and not just any kind of love, a “just as” kind of love. What is even more astonishing is that this teaching happens in the context of heart-wrenching rejection. Join us this Sunday as we explore this “just as” kind of love.

John 13:1-20 We return to our studies in the Gospel of John this Sunday, a Gospel that invites us to Come and See who Jesus really is. Our text this week is the well-known text of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. Would it be even more well-known, because it is in this scene where Jesus turns everything upside-down. He defines Lordship (even deity!) in terms of a towel, then defines what it means to be people of the towel. Join us this Sunday as we explore the foot-washing event by the foot-washing Lord.

John 1-12 The Gospel of John is like a pool that is “shallow enough for a child to wade and deep enough for an elephant to swim.” As we enter into the Thanksgiving holiday, we are thankful to be swimming with elephants in the Gospel of John. In the past two years, we have explored chapters one to twelve of this Gospel. And, what we have seen is the unparalleled majesty of Jesus. Indeed, no one has ever said the things he said, and no one has ever done the things he’s done. And, through it all, we’ve discovered how thankful we are for who Jesus is and what he has done! “We give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever” (Ps 136:1). Join us this Sunday as we review some of the highlights from the first twelve chapters of John, while combining the service with elements from our typical Thanksgiving service.

John 12:12-22 Jesus now enters Jerusalem as the great king. However, he rides on a donkey, not a war horse. He is not surrounded by an army or by captured slaves, and yet, the crowds still lay down palm branches and shout “Hosanna.” They think he will be a national liberator. Yet he rides in on a donkey, fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy as one who brings “peace to the nations,” not who conquers the nations (Zech 9:10). Indeed, here comes our king, and he will be a kind of king the world has never seen. Join us this Sunday as we celebrate Palm Sunday in October.

John 12:1-11 In John 12, Jesus goes back to the place of hostility, to Bethany near Jerusalem, where he has an intimate meal with his friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus. In the middle of dinner, Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with very expensive perfume, worth an entire year’s wages. Out of extravagant love, joy and thanksgiving for Jesus, Mary acts with abandon in her worship of him, and she fills the entire house with the aroma of life. Authentic worship of Jesus, our Savior and King, is never merely private. It always spills over onto others. Join us this Sunday to explore this amazing scene.

John 11:45-57 This week we see the fallout of the raising of Lazarus, and it is not good. The Religious Authorities meet to decide the fate of Jesus. And what we see are defining characteristics of “religion,” and they are ugly: a desire for power, a desire for control and a desire to exalt self. John interprets the response of the Religious Authorities by pointing us in the right direction, we are not children of religion, rather we are “children of God.” Over against the ugliness of religion, we are invited into a beautiful relationship of love as children of a good, good father.

John 10:1-18 It is amazing how the language of shepherd and sheep still connects across cultures and across generations. Even in the hyper-high-tech world of California, the image of shepherd and sheep has not lost its captivating power. This Sunday we will continue our studies in John where Jesus claims, “I am the good shepherd.” He then explores the relationship he has, as the good shepherd, with his sheep. Join us as we study this famous discourse and appropriately respond by taking communion together as his sheep.

John 8:21-58 Although this week is Palm Sunday, we will stay in the Gospel of John, chapter 8 this week.  And, we come to holy ground.  As Moses took off his shoes when he stood on holy ground, so should we as we enter this text.  Jesus has already claimed to be the giver of living water and claimed to be the light of the world.  In this text, he claims to be the great I AM – during the Feast of Tabernacles!  Come this Sunday as we explore the background to this great claim as well as the implications of this great claim.

John 8:12-20 The Feast of Tabernacles is now over.  After a week of joyful festivities, including the morning water drawing ceremony and the evening lighting ceremony, the focus now shifts to the following day.  Jesus has just poured a shower of grace and mercy over a woman caught in adultery.  Presumably that evening, where the lights of the Temple had been ablaze each night of the previous week, Jesus makes another great claim, “I am the light of the world.”  Into that dark night and into this dark world, Jesus says he is the light.  Come and join us this Sunday as we explore this extraordinary claim.