The FIVE Sermons

Matthew 27:27-31, ESV
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters,[a] and they gathered the whole battalion[b] before him. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

John 13:1-8, 12-15, ESV
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”

12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

In this season of “social distancing”, how can we model Jesus washing the feet of His disciples?
How have you experienced true joy through serving others?

John 5:1-15

In what ways have you ever felt in-valid? How has this process of social distancing and virus prepping caused you to struggle with feelings of being in-valid or to consider these feelings and fears in others?

Why do you think it’s important to own your part in the process towards healing and wholeness?

The man thought he needed the pool to be healed. He was wrong. What he needed was Jesus. What things have you put your trust in that have eventually proven themselves incapable of producing wholeness in you? How has the past week or two called into question things that promised ‘healing’ but have again been exposed as frauds?

How can we ‘see’ and respond to the needs of others during this unique, challenging time?

John 8:1-11

A woman is caught in sin. Humiliated and disgraced she is dragged before Jesus. The crowd is shocked and silenced as a question is raised by her accusers: “The law says stone her to death. What do you say Jesus?” Their question is disingenuous. They don’t care about the law and they don’t care about this woman – all they care about is finding reason to condemn Jesus. This woman is simply a means towards that end. But Jesus, despite appearing backed into an inescapable theological corner, responds calmly, with authority and grace: “Let whoever has no sin throw the first stone.” The temple crowd waits with bated breath, wondering what will happen next. One by one their stones hit the ground, not because they’ve been thrown but because they’ve been dropped. As the stones hit the ground, the woman’s accusers depart one by one. It is a powerful moment only outdone by what Jesus says next: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:10-11, ESV). This week we’ll unpack the incredibly amazing truth that the only one worthy of casting a stone chose not to.

Mark 12:28-34

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Wave after wave of religious opposition had come Jesus’ way and like a powerful seawall, Jesus didn’t break – the opposition broke upon him. Eventually a more honest question is raised: What’s the most important commandment? Jesus’ response is powerful, telling and dynamic. His response simplified is, “The Lord is One. Love God. Love people.” While we might be tempted to glance at the simplicity of those words and rush onto what’s next, we must not miss the complexity within the simplicity. We must not miss the power, challenge and beauty contained within this command. This week we’ll unpack what it means to love God with everything we’ve got, consider how this affects our other relationships and pray through what it means to be a people all in on the God who is one for the sake of the world.

Matthew 16:13-16

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

When life is most confusing, Jesus calls us to be most like Him.

On the night before Jesus’ crucifixion and death, Jesus speaks a powerful word over the very people who will soon abandon and deny him: Love each other as I have loved you. In the midst of their turmoil and confusion, in the midst of their doubt and uncertainty, Jesus commands them to live a life of love, modeled not upon their own concepts of love, but upon the love Jesus had demonstrated in their own lives. He is the standard. His love, not our own, is the measure of how we are to love each other. And Jesus says when we love one another like this, like Him, something amazing will happen – the world will recognize us as His people. As we wrap up our Newness series, may we be willing to take Jesus at his word and love one another as Christ has loved us for the glory of God and the sake of the world.

God has given us everything we need to face anything that comes our way.

After calling us to imitate God and walk in love with each other (Eph. 5:1), Ephesians 6 takes things up a notch. There’s a fight alright, but it isn’t with each other. We are not enemies. Instead, Paul urges us to recognize that our fight is spiritual in nature and spiritual battles require spiritual weapons. Maybe one of the reasons we feel burned out and overwhelmed is that we’re fighting the wrong battles with the wrong tools and wondering why life feels and looks as it does. May this weekend remind us that God really has equipped us with everything we need to face any and every challenge and in the end,to stand.

Jesus is the new ‘thing’ God promised so that we could become new creatures in Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 a startlingly beautiful promise is made: if anyone is in Christ they are a new creature. That’s as true for you as it is of anyone who puts their hope and faith in Jesus. God does for us what we could never do for ourselves; he makes us new. Sometimes we don’t feel new. Sometimes we don’t look new. Sometimes we don’t really live like we’ve been made new. But one of the best gifts we can give ourselves and give the world is to allow the power of God’s word to ring true in our hearts even when it doesn’t sound true in our ears or look true to our eyes. If anyone is in Christ – NEWNESS! And when the beautiful reality of this promise overwhelms our hearts, there will be no space left for our hearts to be overwhelmed by anything else.

“Behold, I am doing a new thing… I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

New things can be great and all, but sometimes new things are awkward, difficult and even scary. Sometimes our fear of the unknown is even greater than our fear and frustration with the present, known issues and brokenness. Because of this, there are times we’ll actually settle for the status quo, as broken as it might be, rather than risk stepping out into unknown change. The problem with this way of living is that according to Isaiah 43, God is in the business of doing new things. God is in the business of bringing change, but if our fear of change gets the better of us we might miss out on the new thing God is doing. If you’re tired of missing out on what God is up to, take heart – He’s making a way through the wild and stirring up rivers in the desert. God is in the business of doing the impossible, so may our fear take a back seat to faith as we drink deeply from the River and walk confidently in the Way God has made for us.