Mineral Springs Church of Christ Podcast

Many in the world will say, "If I saw a miracle, I would believe in God." Or, "If God appeared to me and spoke to me, I would believe." But, would that belief prompt these people to want to change their lives? Perhaps not. Minister Aaron Hill continues his series on the gospel of John by exploring the reliability of Jesus' witness. John 5:30-37 reveals the strength of that witness. Both Jesus' works and His Father bear witness to Jesus' own authority and witness. John the Baptist bore witness to Jesus as well, but Jesus' testimony doesn't stand on the testimony of a man. Jesus' witness saves; John's did not. Jesus does not stand or fall based on what we say. Jesus' signs signal who He is . Jesus' witness saves. Are we willing to trust in His saving testimony?

The phrase when pigs fly  has entered our language as a way to say that an occurrence is impossible. In reality, many would use the saying to discount Jesus. The Son of God came to earth, born of a human mother? When pigs fly! Jesus died on a cross, was buried, and rose from death to life on the third day? When pigs fly! And, yet, that is exactly what happened. Jesus came to earth, lived, died, and was resurrected, and He came to offer us life. In his continuation of the study of the gospel of John, minister Aaron Hill expounds on John 5:25-29 and concludes that, yes, pigs will fly!

Continuing his series on the Gospel of John, minister Aaron Hill focuses in this lesson on John 5:19-24. The Son and the Father and their relationship is the main focus of this passage. Whatever Jesus does, He does what the Father wills. The Father created; Jesus created. The Father gives life; the Son gives life. The Father touches everything we see, touch, and feel; so does the Son. The Father has given all judgment to the Son. If we don't honor the Father, we are not honoring the Son. We may have messy pasts, but God has offered us life. We can go from spiritual death to spiritual life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24).

The gospel of John has been the topic for several weeks. In today's message guest Robert Peek discusses the purpose of John's gospel. He wrote what he did to make sure we might believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that believing, we might have life through His name.

What a difference a day makes! What a difference three days made! On a Friday Jesus was arrested, beaten, crucified, and buried, but when Sunday came, God demonstrated that He had not abandoned His Son. He rolled the stone away, and Jesus arose. Death was swallowed up in victory. In this Easter Sunday message, Elder Eddie Beene tells the audience how we can experience that victory by making Jesus the focus of our lives.

How much rest do we need? It is said that average adults need at least seven hours of sleep a day, but sometimes life doesn't allow us to rest as we need. We are not consistently well-rested. Minister Aaron Hill continues his series on John by returning to the text in chapter 5 and exploring the response of the Pharisees to Jesus' healing of the lame man on the Sabbath. Their objection was to Jesus working on the Sabbath by healing the man and to the man carrying his bed once Jesus had healed him. So, what was so special about the Sabbath? Hill returns to Genesis to give an explanation of the Sabbath and what it meant to God, what it meant to the Jews, and what Jesus' role is in restoring rest.

Where do we look for healing? Minister Aaron Hill recounts the story of the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5 as he continues his series on the gospel of John. The paralyzed man was only one of many who had gathered near the pool that day in hopes of receiving healing. That man, like all the others, was looking to the water of the pool to make him whole, but the man's healing came in the form of Jesus. Though the paralyzed man can walk once more after his encounter with Jesus, Jesus' purpose was not physical healing. He wants the man to see that he needs spiritual healing as well, and there is a warning here for those who fail to receive Jesus. Just as that man did, we often look to the wrong places and people for healing; we trust in the wrong things, but Jesus can heal even when our focus is in the wrong place. That is grace. We haven't done anything to deserve what God offers us. 

The Jews viewed Jesus differently in comparison to the way outsiders viewed Him. Jesus’ own people, the Jews, wanted to kill Him early on, yet the Samaritans in John 4 believed in Him. Minister Aaron Hill continues his studies on the book of John showing how Jesus’ own people did not seek Him for who He was but for the signs and miracles He could perform. 

Toward the end of John 4, Jesus makes His way back to Cana of Galilee. How does that make sense. He is leaving a place where the people accepted Him and leaves to go to a place where He has been rejected. Oddly enough, when He returns to Galilee, the people there do appear to accept Him. Their reasons, though, are not pure. They have heard about and seen many of the signs and wonders He has done. They don’t necessarily want to see Jesus; they want to see Him perform signs. When an official comes to Jesus asking that Jesus come and heal his son to which Jesus replies, “Unless you peoplesee signs and wonders you will never believe!” When the official asks Jesus to come so that his son won’t die, Jesus tells him to go home, that his son will not die. Jesus doesn’t agree to the official’s request to go home with him to heal his son. He just tells him to go home, assuring him his son won’t die. The official accepts Jesus at His word and returns home to find that his son has been healed. He turned from seeking a sign to seeking Jesus. Are we still seeking signs, or will we be content to seek and follow Jesus? 

We often have a sense that we need to dress ourselves up to come to God, yet God would rather have our honesty. We don’t have to hide our pasts from God. Jesus knows our past and present. We don’t have to fix ourselves before we come to Jesus. It is to Jesus we come to be fixed. Continuing in John 4, minister Aaron Hill expands on the story of the Samaritan woman. Jesus knows her past, and he has living water to offer to her. She asks questions about the physical – where worship should take place – but Jesus’ response focuses on the spiritual. Jesus tells the woman that true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: “God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Jesus is not harsh with her even as she focuses on the physical, even though she has a past she likely wants to forget. He is patient. Neither should we be impatient with those who seek relationship with Christ.