Minister Aaron Hill continues this week focusing on Jesus' prayer in John 17, a prayer he calls "The Most Important Prayer." In this prayer, Jesus emphasizes the He and the Father are One. They are One in message, One in mission, and One in love.  

It will not be by our knowledge or our efforts that unity will be established. Only God can do that. 

In the second part of verse 11, Jesus prays "Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one." When Jesus is glorified, the Father is glorified. 

May we daily seek to glorify the Father and the Son.

As minister Aaron Hill continues his series on the gospel of John, he points out that Jesus' prayer in John 17 is one of the greatest prayers ever prayed. This is the first of a series of three sermons on this prayer.
Today Hill focuses on the first five verses of the chapter as Jesus prays for Himself. Typically, when we pray, we bow, but that is not what Jesus does. He lifts His eyes and looks up to heaven. In fact, that was a normal posture for prayer at that time. Looking up indicates confidence in what God is doing.
When Jesus asks God to glorify Him in these verses, He is not seeking self-exaltation. Rather He seeks to glorify the Father just as the Father has glorified the Son and given Him authority over all flesh so that He may give eternal life to everyone the Father has given Him.
He doesn't speak of eternal life as we sometimes conceive it. Eternal life is not living forever free of pain and trouble, though that is part of it. Jesus says in John 17:3 that eternal life is knowing the only true God and the One whom He sent - Jesus Christ. Eternal life is not just about the benefits we'll receive. It is knowing God and Jesus glorified through everything that He did. Jesus had glory with God before the world existed, and He gave up glory to come to Earth to reunite humans with God.

“You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” In this world, we are assured of trouble, but in Jesus, we can have peace, because He has overcome the world.

Minister Aaron Hill continues his series on the Gospel of John beginning in John 16:26. Jesus often used figures of speech to speak to His disciples, but Jesus tells them that an hour is coming when He will no longer do that. When is the hour? It is the time of His resurrection. In that day, Jesus’ disciples will gain a direct link to the Father that they and we did not have. They would be able to address the Father in Jesus’ name, just as we can do that today! The Father loves us because we have loved Christ. 

There is a special kind of love between God and His people; there is a special love between Christ and His bride, the church. The world can’t offer peace. Only Christ can offer peace because He has overcome the world.

Minister Aaron Hill continues his series on the gospel of John in John 16: 16-24. Jesus tells His disciples that Him going away for a little while is a good thing. They don't understand what He means, yet in John 16:20, Jesus tells them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy." Do we have joy from the Lord? Sorrow can only turn to joy in the Lord.

As minister Aaron Hill continues his series on the gospel of John in the sixteenth chapter, we find the disciples still reclining at the table with Jesus, and Jesus is telling them that His leaving will be of advantage to them. We can imagine their confusion. How can His leaving be a good thing for them? Jesus goes on to explain how the Spirit that God will send will guide them into all truth. Though confused, they must trust. Do we trust even if we don't understand fully? 

As minister Aaron Hill continues his series on the gospel of John with John 15, talk about love leads to a conversation about hate. Jesus tells His disciples that the world hates. The world hates His disciples because Jesus chose them out of the world. Because the world is in darkness, it hates those who live in the light of Jesus. The world hates Jesus' followers because they hate Jesus, Satan being the driving force behind this hate. The world hates because it does not know the Father and because Jesus convicts the world of sin. With all the hate in the world, how should we respond? We testify; we bear witness to Jesus. 

What does it mean to have a friend? What does it mean to be a friend? Love must be involved. There can be no friendship without love. Real love is not a warm, fuzzy feeling. Jesus said, "No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). Jesus has told these disciples to love as He has loved them. He does love them enough to give up His life for them and for us. We don't love like Jesus loves all the time, but Jesus does! He has chosen us. He has laid His life down for us, and He tells us that we are His friends if we do what He commands us to do (John 15:14). Doing what He commands produces fruit that lasts. Bearing fruit proves that we are His disciples. “This is what I command you: Love one another (John 15:17). 

As he continues his sermon series on the gospel of John, minister Aaron Hill notes that Jesus makes several "I am" statements in this book.

I am the bread of life, 6:36.

I am the light of the world, 8:12

I am, 8:24, 28, 58

I am the door, 10:7

I am the good Shepherd, 10:11

I am the resurrection and the life, 11:25

I am the way, the truth, and the life 14:6

I am the true vine 15:1

His claims are both inclusive and exclusive. Jesus often speaks in figures of speech, one of these being His comparison of Himself and His followers to being the vine and the branches. He says that those who don't bear fruit will be cut off. Those who do will be pruned so that they may bear more fruit. To abide implies a continuous state. Our abiding must be continuous because outside of Jesus, we can do nothing. 

Some words in scripture are cloaked in much nuance. The word peace is one of those words. Peace is often sought, but it is not often easily achieved. The only way to the peace that we seek, the inner peace, assurance, calmness, and security that we crave, is through Jesus. Minister Aaron Hill reminds us that Jesus does not give peace as the world gives peace. Continuing his series on the gospel of John, he takes the listeners through the last part of chapter 14, letting us know that because the devil has no claim on Jesus, since we belong to Jesus, neither does he have a claim on us. “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful (John 14:27).

This Christmas Eve message from guest minister Robert Peek focuses on peace. He reminds us that there are three ways to look at peace. We may seek peace with God, the most essential peace, a peace Jesus' blood can give us. We may try to find peace within our hearts, and we may need to make peace with others in our lives. Whether we define peace as an absence of hostility and conflict or the presence of harmony between ourselves and others, peace is important to all of us.