In John 14-17 we read this promise from Jesus that, as followers of him, we will do even greater things than he did! How is that possible? Jesus did amazing miracles, he healed people, walked on water, raised people from the dead, and he himself died on a cross and then rose from the dead 3 days later, and we're supposed to do even greater things than him?? What did he mean by that and how’s that possible? That’s our topic for this morning, as we look to John chapters 14-17 to understand what he meant and how that’s possible.

For the past 2 years, Covid really made us feel NOT in charge. This virus couldn’t be controlled and it still can’t be controlled. It mutates, it spreads and it seems to go wherever it wants. It doesn’t matter if you were young, healthy, old or immune compromised, it decides how hard it will hit you and it will decide if you get mild systems, harsh symptoms or just plain kill you. Governments were brought to its knees with covid. Scientists were baffled and still trying to catch up with Covid. Humanity was and still is NOT in charge. What were the general feelings? Anger. Fear. Confusion and hopelessness. Like covid, when something or someone can determine whether you live or die, let’s face it, we are not in charge of our lives. Death is the common denominator in all of us and anyone or anything who has control of death, is in charge. We’re not for we can’t control it. However, like the folks we will be exploring today in this chapter, they want to be in charge yet John reveals to his readers and us that really, they weren’t because death is not controlled by them. Let’s begin.

What’s truth? During these past couple of years of Covid, we’ve been bombarded with incoming evidence from medical and science communities, statistics from health authorities and governments and anecdotes from social media and news outlets. Recently, because of the ongoing pandemic and constant recording and testing, we now have evidence that can be labelled as facts such as: it is a fact that covid vaccines do help reduce your chance of having severe illness when you catch covid; It is a fact that wearing good masks and social distancing can prevent catching covid Etc etc. However, we also come to realize during these past years that facts do not necessarily mean they’re true. With ongoing anti-covid mandate and anti-vaccine protests throughout our country, what may be true to you may not be true for someone else. Let’s simplify. It’s fact that at this moment, our temperature in Vancouver is right now 13 degrees Celsius. That’s a fact. What’s true for me, is that this is REALLY cold weather but for someone from Winnipeg, this is actually weather for shorts and t-shirts. To them, it’s not true that it’s really cold outside. Here’s my question that I’ll be elaborating and hopefully provide an answer for you today. For the past 17 chapters, Jesus laid out all the facts to his disciples, the Jews and the crowds. Yet Pilot asked a really good question, albeit his intent was out of mockery and want to write off Jesus, but yet profound, “What is truth?” And, just to wet your appetite, here’s an appetizer: It’s really up to you. Say what? Isn’t Jesus TRUTH? Is He for you? Or is he just merely a historical fact? How do you know? Let’s begin

It’s so hard to say sorry and really mean it especially when I know that I’m right and they’re wrong. When I know that the victim was me and the perpetrator was them. When my friends, colleagues, family members and best buddies agree that I was right and they were wrong and those perpetrators should say sorry first. Do you know what’s even harder? To be the first to say sorry and to be the first to forgive AND to show generosity to them all at once. Why is it so hard to do that? Because, it’s in the name of justice and fairness right? Because that’s how the world should operate. That’s the norm. Today, as we embark on a famous story where Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. We are given one simple message from Jesus: If you claim to be His follower, eat some humble pie and follow him.

What do you really want? And if that person gives you what you want, would you trust and believe them? Clearly in the clip I showed you, the crowd did and if you’ve seen the movie, it didn’t turn out that well. We are embarking on a chapter that contains 2 popular narratives: Jesus being anointed with perfume by Mary and Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey with crowds of people waving and putting palm branches on the ground singing "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" You might say, wow, this crowd really believes and trusts Jesus. They just adore him! But, what we read in the remaining verses in this chapter, the crowds did not believe or trust Jesus. Why? Because Jesus didn’t give them what they wanted. Question for us today: If Jesus doesn’t give us what we want, do we believe Him or trust Him?

So what topped the news this past week that deserves my Christian opinion? A recent survey done by Angus Reid Institute showed that "Many Canadians now believe Catholicism, evangelical Christianity and Islam are more damaging to society than beneficial, a new survey shows, as people across the country continue to turn their backs on religion." Are we damaging? I will offer my Christian opinion tomorrow at noon!

Global News Article: https://globalnews.ca/news/8759564/canada-religion-society-perceptions/

Angus Reid Survey:https://angusreid.org/canada-religion-interfaith-holy-week/?fbclid=IwAR0GQnA6_8PJnJSQjfX__tCqBqVGs8MNoj-3hnRj2sETKccvAYbpNp1sqa8

Let’s talk about leadership. I was in corporate management for a good number of years prior to pastoring and running a non-profit and the word “leadership” had always been the topic of lunch and learns, seminars and especially, business consultants hired by companies to guilt trip us. While I was taking my project management course at UBC, almost every session had a component to talk about leadership. The question that all these courses, seminars, lunch and learns, TED talks and consultants try to answer was always this: What makes a good leader? Then, I get a common answer: a nebulous, open to interpretation, non-succinct, typical catch all phrase to substantiate the executives’ existence: Servant leadership. So many books written on servant leadership and yet every one of them sounds like the other. Today. Hopefully. As we explore chapter 10. Let’s see how Jesus defines leadership and maybe, he can provide us with a fresh look at how we, Christians, can be good leaders wherever we are.

So what topped the news this past week? SANCTIONS! And not just sanctions but the pain at the gas pump because of them. So how should Christian respond? Jonathan offers his opinion

It’s interesting in this movie clip that the reason why Lucy’s older siblings did not believe her was because of her claims were seen as illogical. Yet, the professor, rather than quickly writing off Lucy’s claims, he approached it with interest and curiosity almost giving us the impression that even though he’s an academic and well learned, he still has space to entertain things that he can’t explain logically. I sometimes see myself in Lucy’s older siblings as well. It may not be talking with children though I do catch myself being tempted to see their stories as fiction too quickly but I catch myself not taking seriously those who may not be educated in the fields I think I’m somewhat have experience in such as theology, bible, management etc. That I’m more eager to interject and correct them as opposed to intentionally listening to them and respect their opinions and ideas because in my mind, I know better. Their opinions and suggestions are illogical. Today, we see the Pharisees behaving like Lucy’s older siblings. They are convinced that they know everything about the law, the expected messiah and how sin and suffering works yet Jesus says it is because they are convinced that they know, because they made no room to explore and take interest on different views and things that may go beyond their logical mind, Jesus calls them blind. Are we blind? Let’s begin

Ambition. Good or Bad? How can we tell? Jonathan and Henry continue their GospelX series as they explore another 1990's X-men animated episode entitled "Family Ties". Enjoy!