Sermons by Shawn Reese (Page 4)

John 15:1-11 We will continue our studies in the Gospel of John this Sunday, where we will explore a text that sits at the very center of our faith. Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” It’s impossible to overstate the importance of this text for understanding the nature of our faith. Join us on Sunday as we discover what it means to be in Jesus, what it means to abide and what it means to bear fruit. And, we will have a dramatic recitation of this wonderful text by Jeremy Jones.

John 14:25-31 This Sunday, we return to the Gospel of John where Jesus will teach us more about the Holy Spirit. Here at PBCC, one of our family values is “Life in the Spirit.” On our website, we say the Spirit “is who connects us to Jesus, enables us to know him and empowers us to make him known.” After exploring this text, we may need to re-word that description because the Spirit is doing much more than what we have listed there. Join us Sunday as we learn more about the ministry and effect of the Holy Spirit.

John 14:15-24 Join us this Sunday, as I share with you about a friend of mine. We have been friends for a few decades now. I try to make time for my friend on a regular basis, and when I do, my friend provides strength and joy and peace and wisdom and comfort to me. The really great thing about this friend is he is always with me and never leaves me. I am of course speaking about the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. He is the friend we have with us on the Jesus Way.

John 14:6-14 Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life, the only way to the Father. I invite you to follow me on my way. I invite you to do life the way I do life, because the way I do life is truth and is life.” So, what can we expect if we choose to follow Jesus on his way? What can we expect along His way to the Father? Join us this Sunday as we explore Jesus’ initial words for what life looks like along his way.

John 14:4-6 We return to our studies in the Gospel of John this Sunday where Jesus makes maybe his most audacious claim yet. He says he is the way, the truth and the life. Notice he doesn’t say he is a way, a truth and a life. He says he is the way, the truth and the life.” He even says he is the only way to the Father. These are indeed enormous claims! Join us this Sunday as we explore these bold claims.

John 14:1-3 We continue our studies in the Gospel of John this Sunday in the upper room where love continues to be the central theme. From the words of institution celebrating the love revealed at the cross, to the washing of feet celebrating the love of service, to the new commandment celebrating the “just as Jesus” kind of love, this week we will celebrate the love of marriage. Specifically, we will celebrate the deep love of Jesus, the bridegroom, for the church, his bride. Jesus will go to prepare a place in his Father’s house, and when he is ready, he will come back and take his bride to be with him where he is. Join us this Sunday as we explore some of the most wonderful promises in all of Scripture.

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.