Redemption Hill Church

This Sunday we continue the passion story with John 19:17-42. John was the only one of the twelve that was with Jesus all the way through the crucifixion. This passage us brings us up close to the scandal and glory of the cross. Matthew recorded that Jesus “cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.” John was close enough to hear that Jesus said, “It is finished.” This Sunday we will explore the question: what, exactly, is finished? What did the cross accomplish? Why did Jesus have to die, and why is this seen as his glory in John?  

This Sunday we step back into the Gospel of John with John 18:28-19:16. After Jesus was arrested in the dark of night, betrayed by Jesus and abandoned by Peter, He was eventually sent from the High Priest’s house to Pontius Pilate. Pilate was the Roman governor responsible for maintaining order in Jerusalem and the surrounding area. And so Jesus was pulled before the governing power of the city. The one whose followers and friends had identified as the Messiah, the Christ, the one in the line of David whom God had promised and had finally come to deliver God’s people, now stood trial.

This passage shows us the clash of two kingdoms with stark clarity. Throughout it we can see that the glory of Jesus is not the same as the glory of humanity, that the kingdom of Jesus is not the kingdom of this world, and that the call of citizens in one kingdom do not have the same values or ends as the other.

The hour has finally come. Jesus and His disciples crossed the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives. They settled into a familiar place, a garden called Gethsemane. Among the olive trees on the hillside, in the dark of night, a group of guards and soldiers arrived, led by the one Jesus had dismissed from dinner, Judas Iscariot. They came to arrest Jesus.

We land in John 17, also known as the High Priestly Prayer, as the drumbeat of the cross is getting louder. All of Scripture has been leading up to this hour—and all of Scripture after this, points back to this time. Jesus is preparing Himself for what’s ahead. The Garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal, the humiliation, the violence, unimaginable pain, and death.

This week we get back into it with John 16:1-15. This chapter brings us directly into the night that Jesus was arrested and betrayed. After sharing a Passover meal with His disciples, and dismissing Judas Iscariot, Jesus took time to teach and care for His friends. This “Farewell Discourse” captures Jesus love, care, and hope for His followers. In our passage for Sunday, Jesus talked explicitly about the Holy Spirit, the One He would send as a Helper for the disciples.

The Holy Spirit can feel mysterious and confusing to many of us. For Jesus, the Spirit is the greatest gift that he could possibly send. It is the Holy Spirit who exposes our need for a Savior, who opens our hearts, minds, and ears, and who indwells us with the presence and power of God. This Sunday we will take time to consider the work of the Holy Spirit in our world and in our lives.

This Sunday we closed out the Dwell series by studying Exodus 31:1-5. This series has worked to set our hearts and focus as a church on God’s call to us to Dwell in our city as An Enduring & Faithful Presence, investing our lives into the good of the city, trusting that in its good, we will find our own as well. We have looked particularly at investing ourselves financially into God’s work through the church. This week we will expand that view to see how God specifically gifts and calls us as individuals, equipping us with what we need to be part of His work for the sake of God’s glory.

This Sunday will continue with 2 Corinthians 9:11-15. As we continue to look at our call to Dwell as An Enduring and Faithful Presence, we have heard the call to give ourselves first to the Lord, and focused on the shaping influence of God’s grace on our own hearts as we think about resources that God has given us and how to best steward and invest them. This Sunday we continue with a call to Give to God’s Glory. Our giving has to flow from God’s work in our hearts and we can see the impact of our giving in the work God is doing. We get to join God in His work as we respond to grace and in that we get to see an increase of thanksgiving, worship, and prayer in others. So, this week we will look at the impact of giving to God’s glory.

As we continue to look at our call to Dwell as An Enduring and Faithful Presence, we have heard the call to give ourselves first to the Lord, and seen what it looks like to give God’s way. This Sunday we continue with a call to give in abundance. The call in Scripture is not an exaction or some kind of church tax. God calls us to give out of what we have and to do so generously. A lot of our posture toward generosity – in time, talents, and treasure – comes down to our own mentality. On Sunday we will see the difference in outcomes if we operate from a scarcity mentality or from an abundance mentality.

This Sunday we will continue with 2 Corinthians 8:10-24. Chapter 8 begins with the all-of-life calling that we give ourselves first to the Lord. In this passage, Paul gave directions to the church in Corinth about how to handle money, and how money would be handled as Titus came to take the collection for the church in Jerusalem. It gives us important guidance on how we ought to Give God’s Way.

This Sunday we head to 2 Corinthians 8:1-9. Chapters 8-9 are the most extended teaching we have in the entire New Testament on handling money and, more specifically, on giving to God’s work. Money is an uncomfortable topic for many, maybe even you! I get it. There are all kinds of reasons it can be uncomfortable, but money is an important topic. Often, the desires of our hearts can be seen most clearly in our bank accounts. If the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, then it is important to understand what it looks like to steward all of God’s gifts well. Our passage on Sunday gives us a rooted and gospel-rich look how we ought to understand money.