More Than Bread

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Jackie Hill Perry says this about Jesus, “He is so much greater than the greatest thing and so much more glorious than the most glorious glory the eyes could see. Knowing this, He becomes the aim of all our doing.” He is so much greater. As we finish up John 3, the words give us an opportunity to simply ponder the greatness of Jesus and ask (and maybe even answer) the question, "Jesus are you the one?"

Because if the answer is yes. I can't think of a more important question to answer. Because if he really is the one, if he really is who he claimed to be, then he is the single most significant person who ever lived (and still lives)! He is preeminent in everything.

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John 3:16 is probably the most famous verse in scripture. And not only is it famous, it's great! It gives a one-sentence tweetable summary of the good news that leads to a great life on the Jesus way. It's the beginning of our journey on the way of Jesus, the very beginning. And what is at the beginning? God's love. Like I said in the last episode, "you are God's beloved masterpiece." And few short verses describe the love part of beloved masterpiece, than John 3:16.

You are relentlessly pursued by a lavishly gracious God who is all-in on you. And just so  you don't miss it. You aren't the only one. In fact, you probably have an enemy or two, who is loved like that by God, as well. I needed to hear that! Who knows what you might discover in this greatest, most famous verse?

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As we journey on the Jesus-Way, we are going to unpack four different portraits of a Jesus-apprentice. A Jesus-Apprentice is a Beloved Masterpiece, a Courageous Leader, a Bridge-Builder, man our country needs bridge-builders today and an apprentice of Jesus is a front-yard missionary. Those last three, courageous leader,  bridge-builder and front-yard missionary, there's a lot of doing in those right? And the Jesus-way definitely involves an all-in doing. But beloved masterpiece, that's a bit more about being...not just what we do, but who we are. And do you understand that who we are is all wrapped up in what God is doing.

You are God's beloved masterpiece! A unique creation loved passionately and persistantly by a God who is all-in on you!

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In John 3, a man comes to Jesus looking for something more. He sensed in his spirit that Jesus might show him the way to something more. But Jesus' words confused him just a bit. Jesus said, if you want something more, "You must be born again." What in the world does that mean? It means that in Jesus, God offers us something more that's so radically different that it's like being born all over again; like starting over and being delivered into a whole new world, for a whole new life. It's not just more of the same old, same old. It's not just like before only better. It's not cosmetic or marginal; you are on your way to a breathtaking,  supernatural, eternally new life. 

Are you looking for something more?

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Here's a principle of joy on the Jesus-Way, it's so key. If we want joy, if we want to
live our one and only life overflowing with joy, don't miss this principle. It's found in the first of Jesus' miraculous signs; turning water into wine. Here's the principle. When the wine runs dry and you come to Jesus looking for joy, we can ask for anything as long as we are willing to surrender everything.

Mary told the servants, "Just do whatever he tells you to do." Are you willing to do whatever he asks? This is an issue of surrender. Am I willing to surrender control? When we ask for a miracle we honor God's hand by the size of our request, but we honor his heart by our willingness to do whatever he asks. 

That's how we find joy on the Jesus-Way! 

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Jon Ortberg writes, "God is the happiest being in the universe."  God also knows     sorrow, but the sorrow of God is a temporary response to a fallen world. The sorrow will be banished when the world is set right. Joy is God's basic character. Joy is God's eternal destiny. God is the happiest being in the universe." Perhaps few things are more essential for the life we long to live than the essential of joy.  An unexplainable, uncontainable, contagious and outrageously overflowing joy that doesn't require a changing of my circumstances, or a looking away from pain. It's a joy that comes in spite of the hard.

So perhaps throughout this episode and after it, our simple prayer would be "God give me that joy, overflowing joy!"

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At the heart of every Jesus apprentice is a growing passion for Jesus. A growing certainty that there is none greater than Jesus. A Jesus apprentice, ultimately lives like everything is worth-less than knowing Jesus. Anything that comes between Jesus and me is a loss. No matter what it takes, I want to know Jesus. So ask yourself, "What's keeping me from following Jesus with all my heart?" As I will share in this episode, sometimes what we treasure most about ourselves is the very thing that's keeping us from the Jesus Way.

So I want to invite you to come and see...

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Don't miss this one! It's a bit different because this last week was our CWOW Sunday and snowmegaddon! I know she's my wife, but Lynn has an amazing and authentic relationship with Jesus and in her conversation with Pastor Stacy, she shares about what that relationship "conversational intimacy" looks like. It's a bit different than my regular episodes, not a lot of scripture, not a lot of me, but a lot of Holy Spirit inspired story of a life lived, chasing after Jesus.

Listen all the way through, the end is pretty powerful!

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As I was working on this episode, I couldn't get a song out of my head. It's a simple song that I learned in church as a kid. "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..." In John 1 we find that Jesus is not only the Word of God, He is the light of the world. And when His light shine the darkness cannot win. But if you can get past the grand metaphors and visions of light battling darkness, at the heart of John 1 is a messy love story. 

In the midst of our darkness and our mess, he relentlessly pursues you. Even as you walk the Jesus way, His heart is relentlessly pursuing you.

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  Ask yourself this question, "Whose words do I love? Who gets my ears?" I can't love Jesus' words if I'm never in His Word (the Bible). So how much of it have I read? How often did I read it this week? Do I treasure it? Do his words saturate my soul? Do I let His Words convict me? Guide me? 

Here’s the deal, I can’t be an apprentice of Jesus if I never listen to the word. In other words, the first step is as simple as, open the book. This may take a little planning. The good news is that God will meet you wherever you are at, whatever your plan. But you have to open the book. It's hard to walk in His ways, if I don't listen for His voice!