Clovis Hills - Weekend Messages

WE WANT INFORMATION, JESUS POINTS TO TRANSFORMATION.

2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 

6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 

7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 

8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

John 3:2-9

14 Just as Moses lifted the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.

John 3:14

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

John 3:16-18

Big Idea: John writes so that we may see Jesus as more than a reformer but as the Son of God. Jesus disrupts the temple activity to show his identity as the Son of God.

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover,Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”[c]18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.[d] 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

John 2:13-25        

"I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations."

Isaiah 56:7 

The disruption reveals Jesus’ authority

Jesus’ response reveals his power

Jesus’ knowledge reveals his omniscience 

1. Authority Override 

2. Actuality of the true temple 

3. All Knowing Jesus 

Today we are going to look into the book of John and see what is called the first sign. John’s gospel account is laid out in a really cool structure. It is the first of Seven Signs that point to Jesus being the Son of God. 

Turning water into wine, Healing the official's son, healing the paralytic, feeding the 5,000, walking on water, healing the blind man, raising Lazarus. 

31 But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:31

Here's what I want you to hold onto today:

The water into wine is the sign.

A sign. 

Not because it was less than miraculous. It absolutely was miraculous. But John wants you to know: don't stop at the sign. Follow the sign. Let it point you somewhere.

But the sign is pointing you toward three things:

1. Who Jesus is. 

2. Why Jesus came. 

3. What Jesus offers.

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

4 “Woman,[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” John 2:1-5
A sign always points to the greater thing.
WHO HE WAS v. 1-5, 11"The sign reveals Jesus' identity."

John 2:1-5

Wedding feast. Wine runs out. Cultural shame for the family. Mary brings it to Jesus.

Notice Jesus' response in v.4: "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come."

This sounds cold to modern ears. But "Woman" is a term of respect in that culture—He uses it again at the cross when He entrusts Mary to John (John 19:26).

John 2:11

APPLICATION:

The sign points to this: He's not a genie. He's a King.

2. WHY JESUS CAME v. 6-10"The sign reveals Jesus' mission"

John 2:6-10

Before Passover, before Sabbath, before meals—you wash. It's the system. The ritual. The religion. And it was never enough.

You washed your hands and went right back to being the same person.

• Jesus doesn't add more water to the jars. He transforms them.

• This is the picture of the gospel:

• He doesn't just improve the old system. He replaces it with something entirely new.

• He doesn't make you a better version of who you were. He makes you new.

THIS IS A SIGN POINTING TO SOMETHING GREATER:

In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah is describing the Messianic Banquet—the end-of-all-things feast when God finally restores everything.

Isaiah 25:6-8

Isaiah is describing the Messianic Banquet—the end-of-all-things feast when God finally restores everything.

Aged wine. The finest. Death swallowed up. Tears wiped away.

And Jesus shows up at a wedding in Cana and quietly produces 120-180 gallons of the best wine anyone has ever tasted.

He's not just filling jars. He's announcing: I am the fulfillment of Isaiah 25. The banquet has begun. The Messiah is here.

Why He came: Not to patch up the old. To inaugurate the new. To launch the feast that never ends.

3. WHAT HE OFFERS v10"The sign reveals what's available to us"

"What he is saying is, 'I come as Lord of the feast. Yes, I come to do self-denial. I come to suffer, and I come to be humbled. If you follow me, you will too. There will be plenty of self-denial and suffering and humbling too, but these are just means to an end. Here's the end. As Master of the banquet, as Lord of the feast, I am come.'" — Timothy Keller

John 1:19-34 NIV

Big Idea: It’s not about you, it’s about Jesus. Use your life to point to Him.

Backround: John the Baptist was a rock star!  A prophet living in the Jordan River Valley who had a big following.  People from all over would come to listen to his message of repentance and baptism.  John had his own disciples, who would later become Jesus’s disciples.  Also, John the Baptist was a relative of Jesus.

1.    John knew who he wasn’t

With everyone trying to figure out who they are, John starts with who he is not.  “Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.  He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the messiah”.

How many times have we put ourselves in position to get credit instead of “Beholding the Lamb”?

2.    John knew who Jesus was

-The Lamb of God

-The sin-bearer

-Greater than John

-Pre-Existent

-The Chosen One

3.    John knew what Jesus Does

“Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” John 1:29

John demonstrated how we “Behold the Lamb”

-          Know who you are not

-          Know who Jesus is

-          Know what Jesus has done

John 20:31

John 1:1-14

1. WHO IS JESUS?

John 1:1-5

John calls Jesus "the Word." In Greek, that's Logos.

Now, if you were a Greco/Roman listener hearing this, your ears would perk up. Logos was a big deal in Greek philosophy—it meant the rational principle that ordered the universe, the divine reason behind everything.

If you were a Jewish listener, you'd think of how God SPOKE creation into existence. "And God SAID, 'Let there be light.'" The Word of God was God's creative, powerful self-expression.

John takes both ideas and says, "That Logos? That Word? He's not an 'it.' He's a 'He.' And His name is Jesus."

So who is Jesus according to these first five verses?

• Eternal ("In the beginning was")

"In the beginning WAS the Word."

Not "in the beginning, the Word came into being." Not "in the beginning, the Word was created."

WAS. Already existing. Already there.

You know how when you show up late to a party and everyone's already having a good time? Jesus showed up to creation and said, "Oh, this? I was here before the party started. Actually, I planned the party. I AM the party."

Jesus is the eternal Word who has always existed, but He entered time so you could enter eternity.

Divine ("was God")

"The Word was WITH God, and the Word WAS God."

This is one of the clearest statements of the deity of Christ in all of Scripture. John is saying two things simultaneously:

• The Word was WITH God (distinction—two persons)

• The Word WAS God (unity—one essence)

This is the Trinity in seed form. One God, existing eternally in three persons. Father, Son, and Spirit.

Now, I know the Trinity can feel like theological gymnastics. Three in one? How does that work? And honestly, if you fully understood it, it probably wouldn't be God. The finite can't fully 

John Lennox: Consciousness, Energy cant be defined but you believe in them?

• Creative ("all things were made through Him")

"All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."

John is emphatic here. ALL things. Not some things. Not most things. EVERYTHING that exists was made through Jesus.
The mountains? Jesus. The oceans? Jesus. Giraffes? Jesus. (And honestly, giraffes alone prove God has a sense of humor. "Let's make a horse... but give it a six-foot neck and a purple tongue." Divine creativity right there.)

The Word who spoke creation into existence became part of creation to save it.

The same voice that said "Let there be light" would one day say "Lazarus, come forth." The same hands that flung stars into space would be nailed to a Roman cross.

• Life-giving ("in Him was life")

"In him was life, and the life was the light of men."

This is important: Jesus doesn't just HAVE life. He IS life. Life isn't something He possesses; it's something He IS.

And that life brings light. In a world full of darkness—moral darkness, spiritual darkness, the darkness of not knowing why you're here or where you're going—Jesus shows up as light.

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

I love that. The darkness TRIED. It's been trying since Genesis 3. And it's still trying today. But it hasn't won. It CAN'T win. Because light always defeats darkness. Always.

You don't walk into a dark room and watch the darkness push the light out. You flip the switch, and darkness flees. That's what Jesus does.

So who is Jesus? He's eternal, divine, creative, and life-giving. He's not a good teacher. He's not a moral example. He's GOD in the flesh.

2. WHAT DID JESUS DO? (vv. 6-14)

John 1:12-13

Jesus doesn't just offer forgiveness (though He does). He doesn't just offer a ticket to heaven (though that's included). He offers FAMILY.

Jesus didn't come to give you religion. He came to make you family.

You cant earn your way in to God’s family, you recive your way in.

You don't become a child of God by birth, bloodline, or willpower. You become a child of God by believing.

You receive. You believe. And God does the rest.

1 Kings 18:16-21
1. Some gods never answer

And here's the tragic irony: The more your god doesn't answer, the MORE you sacrifice to it. The prophets of Baal started dancing. Then shouting. Then cutting themselves. Why? Because when your god doesn't work, you think: "I'm not doing enough. I need to try harder."

I heard someone once call it “ the treadmill of false worship.”

2. One God always answers

1 Kings 18:36-39

Because it is not about how much you pray, it's about WHO you pray to.

prayer isn't about convincing a reluctant God to do what we want. Prayer is accessing the power of a God who WANTS to answer, who LOVES to reveal Himself, who DELIGHTS to turn hearts back to Him.

3. When God answers, hearts change

4. The FIRE we really need

Acts 2:1-4

At Carmel

• Fire Fell on the Altar

• Fire Consumed the Sacrifice

• Fire proved God’s power

• The people's hearts changed temporarily

  At Pentecost

  • Fire fell on the PEOPLE

  • Fire filled them with GOD’S SPIRIT

  • Fire proved God’s PRESENCE

  • Fire changed them PERMANENTLY

"The prophets of Baal cut themselves trying to get their god's attention. How much are you bleeding for things that can't save you?"

1. UNITED PRAYER RELEASES EXPONENTIAL POWER

Matthew 18:19-20

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

2. CORPORATE PRAYER BUILDS SPIRITUAL UNITY

3. COLLECTIVE PRAYER CARRIES SHARED AUTHORITY

Acts 4:29-30

4. COMMUNAL PRAYER ENCOURAGES WEAK FAITH

James 5:16

Matthew 6:9-13

1. START WITH WHO GOD IS, NOT WHAT YOU NEED

"Prayer doesn't start with your problems—it starts with God's perfection."

Starts with Our Father (intimate)

Not "Dear Sir" or "Almighty Judge" or "Distant Creator." Father. 

But notice: He doesn't just say "my Father"—He says "OUR Father." Prayer is never just about you. You're part of a family. When you pray, you're praying with millions of other sons and daughters.

• In Heaven (Close but transcendent)

• "Hallowed be your name."

• To "hallow" something means to treat it as holy, set apart, sacred. Jesus is saying, "Before you ask God for anything, WORSHIP HIM FOR WHO HE IS"

Application:

Most of us pray like this: "God, I need this. God, fix that. God, help me. Amen."

"Worship recalibrates your heart before you ever open your mouth."

When you start with "hallowed be your name," you're reminding yourself:

• God is bigger than your problem

• God is wiser than your plan

• God is more loving than you can imagine

God does not need buttered up… He doesnt need our affirmation. This part is for you

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

"Prayer isn't about getting God on board with your plans—it's about getting you on board with His."

After worship comes surrender.

"Your kingdom come."

A kingdom is wherever a king rules. Jesus is saying, "God, let Your rule and reign expand. Let Your authority be recognized. Let Your kingdom advance."

"Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

In heaven, God's will is done perfectly, immediately, joyfully. No resistance. No delay. No compromise.

This is where prayer gets dangerous. Because when you pray "Your will be done," you're giving God permission to:

• Close doors you wanted open

• Open doors you wanted closed

• Take you places you didn't plan to go

• Use you in ways you didn't expect

"'Your will be done' is the most powerful—and most terrifying—prayer you can pray."

We want to pray, "God, bless my plans." But Jesus teaches us to pray, "God, I surrender to Your plans."

We want to say, "God, make my life comfortable." Jesus says, "Pray that God's kingdom would come—even if it costs you something."

Question for Reflection:

What would happen if you actually meant it when you prayed, "Your will be done"? What would you have to release? What would you have to trust God with?

"Give us today our daily bread."

"Anxiety lives in tomorrow. Faith lives in today."

But Jesus says, 'Nope. Daily bread. Every. Single. Day.'

Why? Because God wants you to wake up every morning and say, 'I need You today.' Not 'I needed You last Tuesday and I'm still running on that.'"

"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."

"You can't receive what you refuse to release."

After dependence comes forgiveness—and this is where it gets uncomfortable.

"Forgive us our debts..."

We've all sinned. We've all blown it. We've all hurt God, hurt others, hurt ourselves. We all have a debt we can't pay.

"...as we also have forgiven our debtors."

Wait. What?

Jesus just made your forgiveness conditional. He's saying, "God will forgive you the way you forgive others."

This is non-negotiable.

Matthew 6:14-15,

The prayer ends with a battle cry.

"Lead us not into temptation..."

"...but deliver us from the evil one."

You wouldn't walk through a minefield alone. You wouldn't go into a warzone unarmed. So why do you think you can fight spiritual battles without God's help?

Prayer is how you call in reinforcements. Prayer is how you access divine protection. Prayer is how you say, "God, I'm in over my head. I need you to fight for me."

"The battle is real, but so is your Protector."

1 Corinthians 10:13

God will make a way. He will provide escape routes. He will deliver you.

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."
2. SURRENDER YOUR AGENDA TO GOD'S PURPOSE.3. DEPEND ON GOD FOR TODAY, NOT TOMORROW
4. RECEIVE FORGIVENESS AND RELEASE OTHERS
5: ADMIT YOU CAN'T WIN THIS BATTLE ALONE.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

1. PRAYER CONNECTS YOU TO GOD'S POWER

John 15:5

2. PRAYER CHANGES YOUR PERSPECTIVE

Philippians 4:6-7

When you pray, problems don't necessarily get smaller—you get bigger

You start seeing with God's eyes, not just your circumstances

You begin to see God clearer… JESUS GETS BIGGER

”Every Year you grow you will find me bigger”

3. PRAYER CLARIFIES YOUR PURPOSE

Psalm 37:4

Prayer aligns your wants with God's will

The more time you spend with God, the more you think like Him

Application: What you focus on in prayer reveals what you value

fasting clears space for God…. Where you were hungry… you pray….

Use this fast to help eliminate the noise in your life.

4. PRAYER CULTIVATES YOUR CHARACTER

Romans 8:28-29

Romans 8:28-29 - God is conforming you to Christ's image

Unanswered prayers often protect us from our immature requests

Prayer isn't about getting what you want; it's about becoming who God wants

"God is more interested in changing you than your circumstances."

Start a "prayer rhythm" - same time, same place daily

Keep a prayer journal this week - write down what God is doing IN you

The P.R.A.Y. method: Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield

Pray about what you should fast as we approach 21 days

Intervention: The Act of stepping into a situation to change its course, especially to prevent harm or improve an outcome.

Galatians 4:4-7

There are two important things when it comes to an intervention: Timing and Purpose

Galatians 4:4-7 reminds us that’s what Christmas is all about.

1.    God Intervenes at the right time (v. 4) (Timing)

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a women, born under the law”

The phrase “set time” used here is the Greek word Pleroma.  There is only one other place in the New Testament that the word “Pleroma” is used. Ephesians 1:10. Ephesians is referring to the second coming.   

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…”

2.    God Intervenes to Set Us Free (v. 5-7) (Purpose)

“To redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.  Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’.  So, you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”