Some close friends of Jesus lost their brother, Lazarus, who had died. By the time Jesus got to them, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Martha went out to meet Jesus, and she was confident that if Jesus had been there, Lazarus could have been healed, but now it seemed to late. Jesus reassures us all that He is the resurrection and the life. This Sunday we get to dig into this passage and see that in the midst of our own sorrow and uncertainty, Jesus can bring our future hopes into present reality.

Jesus continues the imagery of shepherding and sheep. The people who heard Him teach still could not grasp the things He said with clarity and precision. This passage exposes the difficult reality that the same group of people, with the same background, culture, and lens for the world, still can land in opposite places when it comes to Jesus. Some people will never believe because they have misplaced expectations and misguided interpretations. If we are sheep that belong to Jesus, though, we will hear and follow His voice.

Jesus used three metaphors to continue to tell the people in Jerusalem who He is and what He came to do. All three in this passage center around shepherding and sheep. Most of us didn’t grow up around sheep, and probably don’t know the first thing about shepherding life and work. Even still, the passage is very clear on teasing this out for us as we look to Jesus. Understanding the shepherding motif is important because it pops up throughout the New Testament as we consider a life following Jesus and a life in the Church, the flock of the Good Shepherd.

As Jesus called His first disciples, He called them to leave everything to follow Him. He gave a glimpse of the reality of Christian discipleship. Pastor Eric will help us to see that Jesus calls us not just to an individual pursuit, but to join Him in transcendent Kingdom work.

This shows us the 6th of 7 signs of Jesus through John’s Gospel. While leaving the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus and His disciples came across a man who had been blind from birth. That led to some theological debates and assumptions, trying to decide and determine the cause-effect relationship of sin to his blindness. As He does throughout the Gospels, Jesus confronted the assumptions, did the unexpected, brought healing and light, and caused some good trouble with the religious leaders of the time.

This brings the time Jesus spent at the Feast of Tabernacles to a close. After making some fiery statements to people in the Temple courts, that their father was the Devil, the conversation got increasingly heated. By the end of it, people were picking up rocks and getting ready to throw them at Jesus. This week we will explore what made them so angry and try to look at our own hearts. I am excited to walk through this passage together. It is so rich, and it ties some sweeping themes that carry through the whole Bible together, showing how it all points to Jesus.

Jesus continued His conversation with the people in the Temple courts, where He had said, “I am the Light of the World.” This passage raises a tough rebuke from Jesus. As the people claimed that Abraham was their Father, Jesus challenged them that their lives didn’t reflect that lineage. In this passage Jesus expanded His teaching on walking in darkness or having the light to show that our lives will inevitably reflect our spiritual realities and the lineage we find ourselves in spiritually.

This passage will serve as a diagnostic for our lives. Jesus shows the stark difference between walking in darkness and having the light. It is a passage that is both challenging and encouraging. The whole section is framed by Jesus’ statement, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The book of Ephesians is a small book that is packed from beginning to end with the gospel. This small gospel-packed book is also insanely practical in shape and structure. There is a rhythm to the apostle Paul’s writing here that once noticed, cannot be avoided. The first half of the book is loaded with gospel truth, explanation, and doctrine. The second half of this book seems to be concerned with gospel living, application, and duty. Christian truth and Christian living. Not just one or the other, but both, one naturally flowing from out the other. This week, Pastor Rich walked us through Ephesians 3:20-21 and cast a biblical vision for praise as we declared God Is Able.

This Sunday we come to a very interesting passage in John’s Gospel. It is a beloved story that may be one of the most well known stories of Jesus’ life and ministry, both within and outside of the church. Part of what makes this section interesting is that your Bible will almost certainly have brackets around John 7:53-8:11. The note in the ESV says, “[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53-8:11.]” That reality brings up a lot of debate about whether this passage should be considered Scripture, or preached at all. I hope to talk briefly about how our Bibles have been put together and whether they are trustworthy, and then to peach through this passage, showing that the character of Jesus that is shown in this story is easily connected to other passages we have studied in John so far. In a shorter version of all of that, we will see that Jesus has mercy on sinners.