We all long to have more than a mundane life. We want to leave and impact on the world and have a sense of joy as we do so. In Jesus last words to His disciples, He gives them a beautiful picture of His role, the Father’s role and their role as they live their lives for His glory. If we are going to have spiritually vibrant lives, we, too, will apply these truths.

The Holy Spirit is the manifest Presence of God in the world and the Person whom indwells those who trust in Christ. The Spirit is a faithful Friend, a patient Teacher, an Administrator of loving discipline, and the Giver of God’s power for obedience to His commands. Through the Holy Spirit, the love of God is poured into our hearts so that our hope in Christ does not put us to shame (cf. Romans 5:5). When we live a life of obedience to God, the Holy Spirit moves in and gives us more of God in our lives!

Jesus came to manifest the glory of God, giving true sight to blind eyes. His vicarious life, suffering, and death, opened a “new and living way” (Hebrews 10:20) for people who were formerly “without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12) to come into the Father’s presence. Jesus is the way to the life that is truly life, and all He asks is for us to believe!

Have you ever been surprised by a gift? Your reponse is “For me?!” “Really!?” This is usually because you are shocked at the amazing gift and the selflessness of the other person. In the same way, Jesus gave us the gift of hope that can be overwhelmingly surprising when we embrace the Gospel. He came so that we can have hope of knowing God now and being with Him for all eternity.

The Gospel is a message of liberation from the taskmaster of fear and distrust and the slavish drive to protect oneself. In Christ, God showed His extravagant, unconditional love for us and offers us an abundant life full of the fruit that truly and eternally satisfies. We don't have to obsessively look out for our own good any longer; we are freed to receive God’s love and care and give ourselves away to others.

Special guest speaker Daniel Henderson

We often think of surrender as “Failing” or “Giving up” to a superior power. We see it as being weak on our part as something or someone else dominates us. But what if we thought of it differently? What if we saw surrender the way Christ did? There is power to abandoning our life to Christ and a it is only then that we will find true purpose. 

The Gospel of Jesus leaves no room for self-reliance. When we believe in Jesus, we move from darkness to light and are given eternal life in place of our deserved destruction. In this passage, Jesus tells us to go with His power, light, and hope into the Word, believing and telling others about our ultimate reality of life in God.

Jesus proclaimed that He was the one true God, but He never forced anyone to believe. Each person had to decide for themselves. In the same way, we, too, are faced with a decision: will we see Jesus as worthy to be sought or treat Him as a hobby or safety plan. In this passage we redefine what it means to seek Jesus and surrender to Him.