As Jesus closes his farewell speech to his disciples, he makes the surprising statement that it is to their advantage that he leaves them to go to the Father. Amidst skepticism on their part - and ours - we consider the nature of this advantage, discovering that ours is the advantage of the Spirit, the advantage of access and the advantage of assurance.

By way of two pictures - the vine and the branches and the man and his friends - Jesus makes two important points as he continues to prepare his disciples for his departure.  One, through faith his disciples are united to Christ.  Two, by virtue of that union, his disciples have power to bear fruit in abundance.  When we remember that as the image of God bearing fruit is the work for which we were created, these words take on special significance and we are encouraged all the more to abide in Christ.

As Jesus continues to comfort his disciples on the night before his death, he turns their attention now to another helper who will come to them, even to live in them.  He speaks of the Holy Spirit.  In this study, we consider the promise of the Holy Spirit, the person of the Holy Spirit, the purpose of the Holy Spirit, the procedure of the Holy Spirit and the peace of the Holy Spirit.  It all comes to this - as believers we have the personal presence of Christ with us, strengthening us and causing us to stand as he points us to Jesus.  Truly, we are never orphans.

As Jesus continues to comfort his disciples in light of his impending death and departure from them, he gives them two amazing promises. First, he promises that because he goes to the Father they will do greater works than he has done. Second, he promises that because he goes to the Father anything that they ask in his name will be done. We consider these promises, wading through common misunderstanding that we might hold fast to the wonderful news that because Jesus has ascended, his people are never abandoned.

Sometimes being told that we can not do something stirs us up aggressive and defensive responses. Our inability is always troubling, and that drives us to overcome or, at least, to hide it. In this passage, we hear Jesus tell his most eager disciple, and us, about something that we can not do. In light of that, we consider what we are doing with our inability. We see what we can not do - go home; what Jesus can and will do - take all of his little children home, and what that calls us to do - rest in faith on the One who is able. What are you doing with your inability?

In this passage, we hear two very important voices speaking: the voice of the Father and the voice of the Son. Both voices give us a picture of the kind of death Jesus was about to die…a God glorifying, sin atoning, victory winning, people drawing death. We hear these voices with the goal of becoming a people with a big, big cross.