Living Spring Podcast

This week we finish our study of the Gospel of John with Jesus restoring Peter on the shore after his three denials. With grace Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him and calls him from shame to shepherd, and with truth He tells Peter how he will die and gives the one command that runs through the whole book, Follow Me. We learn that our failure is not our finish, that comparing our path to anyone else's only brings the question "What is that to you?", and that the Jesus who qualifies us is writing a story for the rest of our lives that we would be amazed to read.

This week we close out the Book of John by looking at the second half of John 20:31, that by believing we may have life in His name. We walk back through the encounters of Nathanael, Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the royal official, the man at the pool, the woman caught in adultery, the man born blind, and Lazarus, and see that in each one Jesus, full of grace and truth, brings life on His timeline instead of ours. We are invited to ask where we see ourselves in these stories and to believe that the One who says I Am the resurrection and the life wants to breathe new life into every area of ours.

This week we look at the bookends of John and review the "I Am" statements Jesus makes throughout the book, from telling the Samaritan woman in chapter 4 that He is the Messiah, to calling Himself the bread of life, the light of the world, the gate, the good shepherd, the way, the truth, and the life, the true vine, and the resurrection and the life. We see that these claims echo God's words to Moses at the burning bush, and that Paul, Hebrews, and Revelation all affirm that Jesus is fully God, the same yesterday, today, and forever. We are asked the question Jesus put to Martha, "Do you believe this?", and we reflect on whether we trust Jesus as King over our finances, our time, and our whole lives, and not only as a Shepherd or a Light.

This week we look at Mark 10:13 through 16, where Jesus welcomes the children and says the kingdom of God belongs to those who receive it like a child. Jesus is not praising the good behavior of children but their powerlessness and dependence, and we see how the disciples, the rich young ruler, and even we ourselves try to earn or control the kingdom instead of receiving it with open hands. Through the faith of Bartimaeus, the woman who touched his cloak, and people in our own community, we are invited to let go of pride and striving and come to Jesus ready to receive.

This week we continue in John 17 with Jesus' high priestly prayer, where He prays not only for the eleven disciples but also for everyone who will believe through their message, which includes us. Jesus asks that we would all be one, and unity here is not agreeing on everything, it is agreeing on the main things, that we are broken people and sinners saved by grace. He gives us the same weighted glory the Father gave Him, an eternal perspective that lifts us above our circumstances, so that the world may believe and know that the Father sent Him.

This week we welcome guest pastor Brandon as we turn to John 17, the High Priestly Prayer, and ask a simple question: who has God entrusted to us? Jesus shows us five ways to be responsible with the ones we are given, revealing the Father to them, praying for them by name, protecting them, telling them the truth, and sending them out on mission. We are stewards rather than owners of these people, so faithfulness matters more than outcomes, and we find that our own growth in holiness comes as we live for and love the ones God gave us.

This week we move into John 17, where Jesus prays aloud in front of His disciples and shows us what to do when the pressure comes. Looking back to John 1, we see the Word who was with God before the beginning, who dwelt among us full of grace and truth, and who now tells His disciples that in the world we will have tribulation, a squeezing by systems that do not care about us, but that we can take courage because He has overcome the world. Jesus then defines eternal life not as a ticket to heaven but as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, a relationship that begins now as we abide in Him and continues unbroken into eternity.

This week we continue our journey through John, arriving at chapter 16 as Jesus prepares His disciples for the reality of His departure. We look at how Jesus warns that the world, the cosmos of systems opposed to Him, will hate us just as it hated Him, whether that system shows up as anxiety, materialism, consumer debt, or the pressure to perform. We are reminded that even though Jesus is leaving His disciples' physical presence, He has already overcome the world, and something better is coming for those who follow Him.

This week we welcome Don and Amy Rogers of Empowering Lives International back to the stage where their journey with our church began over 30 years ago. Don and Beatrice, a Kenyan staff leader, share how God is transforming villages through clean water wells, addiction recovery, and a wave of police officers coming to Christ. We are reminded that ministry is not about our own ability but our availability, as His power works through us far beyond what we ask or imagine.

This week we continue exploring Jesus's final words to his disciples in John 14, focusing on his insistence that following him is fundamentally about a relationship with God, not merely about securing a place in heaven. Jesus tells his troubled disciples not to worry, for he is preparing a place for them and will return, calling them to be with him starting now rather than waiting for eternity. When Thomas asks how to know the way, Jesus answers that he is the way, the truth, and the life, inviting us to understand that becoming a Christian means adopting God's kingdom perspective and dying to ourselves to follow him daily.