We all want to make good decisions in our lives. And not just good decisions, but the right decisions. So we ask a bunch of questions, and explore, and wonder, and investigate, and research, and talk to friends about it, bring it up with our small group.

But when it comes time to actually make the decision and move forward, we often let our fear of making the wrong decision, of ruining our lives or letting other people down or of disappointing God, keep us from making any decision at all.

In our passage this week, Jesus reassures us that even when we are thrust into making a decision or a transition that’s hard and overwhelming and strange, we still know our shepherd, and the shepherd knows us. And the one who protects, keeps us secure, and goes out before us to lead the way, is inviting us to follow in confidence that Jesus will see us through.

Death isn’t something we like to think about very much.  It’s hard. It’s confusing. It reminds us of things we don’t like thinking about and things we don’t like feeling: that we don’t have control. That we are mortal. That our bodies will fail. That we can’t love someone enough to keep them alive. We feel pain. Loss. Helplessness. Anger. So we avoid thinking or talking about it.

And yet, when his friend Lazarus dies, Jesus doesn’t avoid it. Instead, he takes time to grieve, and to connect with those grieving around him. And he confronts it - he stands between death and Lazarus, and declares that life wins.

Because death isn’t the end of the story. We may be helpless to combat the forces of sin and death that are leveled against us, but Jesus can take each of us in his strong arms and carry us through death, into life, where no one can snatch us from his hands.

At some points in our lives, most of us will experience what it’s like to be “otherized” - or alienated - because of something about us or something we do that makes us seem different from a group. And being otherized is painful.

Yet, most of us have also been responsible for otherizing someone else, because of something we don’t like about them, or because they seem too different from us.

This week, we dive into a story about otherizing - about a blind man who has a close encounter with Jesus through a miracle. Even though he truthfully testifies his experience of God, people discount his testimony because he doesn’t fit in their paradigm. And consider whether we, like the people in our story, will continue to otherize those around us and miss out on the opportunity to rejoice in God’s glorious works in their lives.

Oftentimes, we are presented with something that is true, but if that truth is confusing, or unexpected, makes us shift our worldview, or challenges our perception of ourselves or the world around us, we decide that it’s easier to keep believing the “truth” we’ve always known, instead of the truth that’s right in front of us.

But what happens when the truth right in front of you is Jesus? In our passage this week, we witness three different groups miss out on what Jesus is doing in front of them. Three groups of people who choose to believe their own story, rather than consider that there might be a new story Jesus is trying to bring to light.

This week, we consider the ways that we miss out on Jesus too, and how we can open ourselves up to see the light of truth.

We can be quick to assume that our way of doing things, our preferences, are the right way, even the most holy. And we see these assumptions arise among Jesus' brothers, the disciples, the crowds, and religious leaders in our passage this week.

Yet Jesus shows us that if we can’t see past our own assumptions about the right way to do church, or the “best” theological education, or who belongs in God’s Kingdom, or who is right about a particular issue, we might miss out on seeing Jesus for who he really is, and on opportunities to love others around us the way he did.

The world is full of mysteries and things that we don't always know how to explain. Like how do homing pigeons find their way back home, or how exactly does bitcoin work? Or what is a soul? What exactly happens when you pray?

In this week's sermon, we travel down the rabbit hole of one of Jesus' most confusing revelations about who he is and what it means to believe in him. The question is, even as we don't understand, will we still trust Jesus, and accept his invitation to a wonder that we cannot explain?

Have you ever had a moment in your life where you felt inadequate either because of the resources available to you, or because you felt personally under-qualified to manage a particular situation? Or when you were so overwhelmed by a challenge or a loss that you thought it might consume you?

We all face moments like these - moments that feel impossible.

In our passage this week, we see Philip presented with an impossible situation. And consider how Jesus’ response in the midst of that impossible situation is a promise for us today. A promise that we can trust in him to be our sustenance - our bread of abundant life.

Signs always have a message. Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, a miracle for the man and a warning to the religious people care about God and care about doing what is right.

We can get so used to our customs, rules, our way of doing life that we miss God, and misrepresent God to others.

In this sermon we explore the difference between brandishing Jesus as weapon and following Jesus as a disciple…the way that Mister Rogers did.

Have you ever felt like life is a puzzle you just couldn’t solve? Or maybe like the box was given to you with some of the pieces missing? And even if our personal lives aren’t missing too many pieces, it only takes a few notifications, a few twitter feeds, a few breaking news flashes to see that the world we live in is a very broken, incomplete, fragmented version of what we know in our hearts it could be.

This Christmas Eve, we wrap up our sermon series rejoicing in the peace that Jesus brings. His birth doesn’t just shepherd in the kind of peace that comes from the end of a fight, or the peace of a silent night - he brings a peace that restores brokenness to wholeness. A peace that takes our old puzzle pieces and transform them into even better ones. Rejoice, rejoice, the Savior comes!

After Gabriel appeared to Mary, she knew she was going to bear the Messiah, but she still had to wait through Jesus' childhood, teen years, and young adulthood to see how it would all play out.

Today, we know how it played out - with Jesus dying on a cross and rising again, defeating sin and shame and death. But we are still waiting for the day when Jesus will come again.

This week, we look to Mary's Song as an encouragement in our waiting for the final fulfillment of God's promises. And consider how we can actively participate in helping to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.