In this moment of reflection and prayer, Pastor Kathy encourages us to embrace the suffering of the cross so that we can fully celebrate the victory of Easter.

How does a disciple of Jesus grow to look more like him? By staying connected to Jesus, our source of life. Jesus says that he is the True Vine and that his followers are the branches that are attached to him. He shares these words so that we would remember to "abide" in him through our seasons of life in order that we would bear good fruit that makes a difference in the world. This rhythm of growth involves abiding in Jesus, pruning what prevents our flourishing, and bearing fruit that lasts. Listen to this reminder to draw our life, strength, and love from the only True Source.

SLIDES/RESOURCES --

-- SCRIPTURE FOCUS // JOHN 15.1-8 (NRSV): “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

-- How does a disciple of Jesus grow to look more like him? By staying connected to Jesus -- our source of life.

-- As with any relationship, it takes time + presence to develop.

Our relationship with God is not a series of sprints but a daily, step-by-step journey of learning to trust, love, and know the One who gives us life.

-- The rhythm of a life connected to Jesus involves...

- Abiding (in Jesus)

- Pruning (what prevents our flourishing)

- Bearing (fruit that lasts)

-- We need reminding that Jesus is the true vine because we can all to easily attach ourselves to false ones.

-- To "Abide" means to remain, stay put, dwell, make our home in...

-- "Abiding" is not a task to accomplish but a relationship to tend.

-- Where in your life do you feel restless?

- In your prayer life?

- In your relationships?

- In your down time?

- In your family?

- In your time with devices?

- In your work?

- In your acquiring of "stuff"?

-- The places in which we struggle are the places we've got to move from avoidance to abiding in Jesus.

We need to be aware, to surrender, and to allow Jesus to gift us with life, acceptance, and deep rest where we've only felt restlessness before.

-- More than just surrendering things, pruning involves surrendering myself.

Trusting God knows what I really need to see him more clearly and more fully live.

-- "Maturity is the fruit of a long and focused journey toward realizing that everything good can only be truly enjoyed in the only One who is truly good. The ability to more fully abide in Jesus and appreciate every good blessing is unhurried fruit of a believer's journey toward wholeness." ALAN FADLING // AN UNHURRIED LIFE

Jesus is spending the last hours with his disciples encouraging them in the shadow of the cross. Where do they go from here? Do they even know the way? Jesus reassures his anxious, fearful friends -- "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." It turns out that the way to eternal life with God isn't a philosophy, religious checklist, or magic ritual. The way to ultimate reality in this life and the next is a Person named Jesus Christ. Whatever your facing next, you can trust Jesus to get you through.

SLIDES/RESOURCES:

-- FOCUS SCRIPTURE // JOHN 14.1-10 (NIV):

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

-- Trust and hope are the antidote to fear and worry. Remember God's power and presence in the past to transform your present.

-- The way is a Person to be followed.

The truth is a Person to be trusted.

The life is a Person to know.

-- THINK ABOUT WHAT'S AHEAD OF YOU THIS WEEK...

// In what way is Jesus inviting you to walk in his way?

// What truth does Jesus want you to hear?

// Where do you need to surrender something to experience Jesus' life?

Jesus describes himself as The Good Shepherd in John 10:11-21. And because he is the loving and caring shepherd, he would lay his life down for his sheep. This is a prelude to Jesus giving his life on the Cross for all of us. He knows his own sheep well and they know him. But he also recognizes that there are other sheep who are not in his flock and he says he will go after them and bring them in; so there will be one flock and one shepherd. Join us as we look back at John 9 to get the background of why Jesus took the time to tell one of the most impactful parables, that of the Good Shepherd.

There is no shortage of voices clamoring for our attention. Voices in our culture calling us to follow, trust, or buy. Voices in our head prodding us with (false) reminders of who who aren't and what we'll never be. What voice do we listen to? Who can we trust? Who can we follow? Where can we find real, actual, ultimate life and reality?

SLIDES/RESOURCES --

-- Jesus reinterprets Israel's history, symbols, and hope and then reorients all of it around himself.

-- SCRIPTURE FOCUS // “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.

9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

// JOHN 10.1-10 (NIV)

-- First, the "What?"

Then, the "When?"

Along the way, the "Why does this Door matter for us?"

-- When Jesus says that he is the Door (or Gate) -- he means that he is the One appointed by God to call, lead, protect, and give life to the flock.

-- THE "BIBLICAL LENS" // Then this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep? 3 You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. 4 You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost.

Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. 5 So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. 6 They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.

// EZEKIEL 34.1-6 (NLT)

-- Issue 1: Who is a legit Shepherd?

Issue 2: Who is a legit Sheep?

-- Real sheep...

Know,

Listen,

Follow.

-- Issue 1: Who is a legit Shepherd?

Issue 2: Who is a legit Sheep?

Issue 3: There are a bunch of pretenders

-- QUOTE // "Listening to that voice with great inner attentiveness, I hear at the my center words that say:

'I have called you by name, from the very beginning. You are mine and I am yours. You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests. I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother's womb. I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child. I have counted every hair on your head and guided you at every step. Wherever you go, I go with you, and wherever you rest, I keep watch. I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger and drink that will quench all your thirst. I will not hide my face from you. You know me as your own as I know you as my own. You belong to me...wherever you are I will be. Nothing will ever separate us.'"

HENRI NOUWEN // LIFE OF THE BELOVED

Imagine you're walking down a path at dusk with a group of fellow hikers. Suddenly, a Guide with a light appears offering to take you onward to your destination. Some trust him and follow. Others resist and settle where they stand. This is in some way the predicament in which Jesus finds the religious leaders and crowds in John chapter 8. Who is this "Light of the World"? What does he mean by this statement? Can we trust where he's leading? Is he really who he says is? Does he really offer the life that only God can give? Listen and explore these questions facing our world today.

SLIDES/RESOURCES --

1-- SCRIPTURE FOCUS: When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” // JOHN 8.12 (NIV)

2-- There are 7 Signs Jesus performs and 7 "I Am" statements Jesus says in John's Gospel.

They are written to point us on a journey toward one destination: finding life in Jesus.

3-- What might Jesus mean when he says "Light"? Light reveals and guides.

4-- What might Jesus mean when he says "...of the world"?

Isaiah 42.6

Isaiah 49.6

= God's servant will reveal and guide a dark world to salvation.

5-- When did Jesus say this? During the Festival of Tabernacles. (Bible Reading tip: The "When" is so important, especially in the Gospels)

6-- What is the Festival of Tabernacles?

// Jewish people took a pilgrimage to Jerusalem

// They stayed in tents to remember God's leading in the wilderness

// Gentiles invited to worship at certain time.

// Anticipated the day when God's Messiah would bring all nations to the holy city.

7-- The light is on the move, you've got to join yourself to him and follow him into life or find yourself settling in the darkness.

8-- The religious people don't really know the Father because they've rejected the Light he sent and settled for their religion instead.

9-- Jesus is challenging our own assumptions as a light revealing and exposing what we really value.

This Lent, will we be let Jesus shine a light on what we're settling for?

10-- 9.1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi,who sinned,this manor his parents,that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” // JOHN 9.1-5 (NIV)

11-- The Light has moved beyond the Temple into the world, giving new life to those trapped in darkness.

12-- 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world,so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

// JOHN 9.35-37 (NIV)

13-- Don't miss the Light because you think you've already got everything figured out.

There is just so much more to see if you let him reveal and guide you along the journey.

This is the first message in our Lenten series "Jesus Is..." where we explore Jesus' 7 "I am" statements recorded in the Gospel of John. Throughout his Gospel, John records these statements and signs in order to point his readers to one destination -- believing in Jesus to find life in him. We need reminding (especially in the season of fasting, prayer, and preparation for Easter called Lent) that our life comes from God. We tend to wander off the path looking for satisfaction in all kinds of other places. In John 6, Jesus declares, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." Let's see what it might look like to find our fulfillment in the bread of life.

-- There are 7 Signs Jesus performs and 7 "I Am" statements Jesus says in John's Gospel. They are written to point us on a journey toward one destination: finding life in Jesus.

-- 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by

believing you may have life in his name.

// JOHN 20.30 - 31 (NIV)

-- 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”26 Jesus answered,“Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

7 -- 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

8 -- 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that

comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

// JOHN 6.25 - 35 (NIV)

-- Jesus is the bread that gives life to a hungry world.

-- 2 crucial questions raised by this conversation...

1. What does it mean to be fed by God?

2. What does it mean to feed on Jesus?

-- Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festivalwas near.

// JOHN 6.1- 4 (NIV)

-- 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes

from the mouth of the Lord.

// DEUTERONOMY 8.3

-- 1. What does it mean to be fed by God?

 Look beyond the gifts to the Giver.

 The gifts God gives sustain us but only he can satisfy us.

 What does it look like for you to go to him with your places of need first?

-- "What we say 'No' to in Lent is not about missing out on something good. It’s really about opening up space to remember what is truly and more deeply good. I could choose some form of fasting for Lent. I could decide to fast a certain day or two each week. I would do this not to prove something about my heroic spirituality or self - discipline. I would do this to learn

the wisdom of Jesus: I do not live mainly by the bread I eat. I live mainly because of my communion with God. The absence of bread has a way of highlighting the presence of God...The “No” we say in Lent makes room for a bigger “Yes” to God along the way.

// ALAN FADLING (In his Unhurried Living Newsletter week of February 14, 2018)

-- Jesus moves from the obvious (br ead as an everyday staple) to the symbolic (bread as God's heavenly gift) to the straight up mystical (bread as a person to be eaten).

-- Whether it's the Exodus, the Sabbath, the Temple, the Messiah, the Law...

Jesus reinterprets Israel's history, religion, and hope and then reorients all of it around himself.

-- 2. What does it mean to feed on Jesus?

 Believing in such a way that has taken root -- that's been consumed --into your life.

 Believing in such a way that finds life in Jesus' flesh and blood given in sacrifice for the world.

 Believing in such a way that keeps coming to the table with open hands toward the only one who

satisfies.

We are living out a life with God. And that commitment and passion requires us to be pro-active, surrendering to the Will of God.

Like the caterpillar’s life of morphing into a butterfly, we find ourselves going through the process of being changed to be more like Jesus.

It is work, every day work as we “renew our minds” in the things of God and strive to work out our relationships with our spouses, our children,

grandchildren, and co-workers. Life is filled with disappointments, failures, and challenges, but allowing God to move in us and through us, we find ourselves transformed.

Looking at the Apostle Peter, we discover God’s grace and mercy. We see how Peter’s failures were part of his life, but allowing Jesus to continue to teach him and affirm him,

he learned that he could be used to further God’s redemptive plan for all peoples of the world. We gain insight and understanding from this sermon of our own vulnerabilities and failures,

but are encouraged to continue pressing into God.

How do we live in a broken and violent world? This is the question we're confronted with each new tragedy splashed across the news. Our fifth core practice is Bring Peace. We commit to partner with God in his mission to bring his "shalom" (holistic peace and well-being) to our neighborhood. There is no shortage of hostility, difficulty, and scarcity in our world. That's why we want to be focused and intentional about bringing God's good news to all. How do we contribute to our community's flourishing? How do we participate in God's kingdom work? We start by looking at Jeremiah's stunning mission of peace and message of hope to God's people in a hard time.

-- SCRIPTURE FOCUS: Jeremiah 29.1 - 11 (NIV)

This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders

among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had

carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

(This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.)

He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom

Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.

Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,”

declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

-- Jeremiah offers God's people a mission of peace for a hard people and a vision of hope in a hard place.

-- Core Practice 5: BRING PEACE : We commit to partner with God in his mission to bring his Shalom (holistic peace and well - being) to our neighborhood.

-- Shalom= wholeness

welfare

well - being

-- Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

JESUS // MATTHEW 5.9 (NIV)

-- How beautiful on the mountains

are the feet of those who bring good news,

who proclaim peace[ shalom ],

who bring good tidings,

who proclaim salvation,

who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

// ISAIAH 52.7 (NIV)

-- In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. I will also

bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

HANANIAH // JEREMIAH 28.1 - 4 (NIV)

-- Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us.

Happy is the one who seizes your infants

and dashes them against the rocks.

// PSALM 137.8- 9 (NIV)

-- Inclusion in Scripture does not always mean prescription for our lives.

// CORE PRACTICE 5: BRING PEACE

-- Jeremiah's guidance...

 Build homes

 Plant gardens

 Eat produce

 Get married

 Have children

 Become grandparents

 Populate Babylon

= Live well where you are for as long as you're there

-- "I believe that by the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead we can expect to achieve the welfare, peace, and justice that he intended for our cities, nation, and the world. Shalom is possible. But achieving shalom is the very difficult work that must be rooted in relationships. "

LEROY BARBER // Embrace,102.

-- How do we bring peace?

 Pray for our neighbors and neighborhood

 Listen to others

 Give our time

 Invest our resources

 Meet needs

 Bridge divides

 Reserve judgments

-- Time + Peaceful Presence = Kingdom Shalom

As a culture we are working more, sleeping less, and stretching thin. That's why it is so vital for our church to create space in our lives for rest, renewal, and relationships. As our fourth core practice, we commit to make time for God and others for transformational relationships to grow. We want to be intentional about spending time with the Creator who invites us to his table to be transformed. We also want to be intentional about building vibrant relationships with others. Listen as we explore an incredible story of how Abraham and Sarah received life-changing news because they made time to host the Divine around an everyday table. What are some ways you can create space in your life this week?

SLIDES/RESOURCES:

-- Scripture focus: GENESIS 18.1-15 (NIV)

-- Core Practice 4: We commit to make time for God and others for transformational relationships to grow.

-- "Margin is defined as space between your current situation or performance and your limits. Margin is a buffer or gap, a place of reserve for reflecting, relating, recharging your batteries and focusing on the things that matter most." [When there's a lack of margin in your life...] "You have a little margin for anything or anyone who is not already in your schedule. If anything out of the ordinary happens or a special opportunity presents itself, you have little capacity to respond to it. If God wants to drop a miracle in your life, you do not have room to receive it." RICHARD SWENSON // MARGIN

-- By creating space for his divine visitors, Abraham created space for God's message to be heard and for God's blessing to be received. And it didn't happen at an altar, temple, or as a result of some ritual...it happened around the table. The Divine visits us where we are in our everyday spaces. The question is, do we have space to pause and welcome what God has for us?

-- What are some ways you can create space and “turn down the noise”? Here are some examples...

At a business in Omaha: 5 minute pause for silence

For TNC: Rhythm of Life worksheet

For kids: "Special Attention Time"

For screens: Where and when do you go "Screen Free"?

For developing relationships: How often this month will you eat with others this month?

What else might you try this season?

-- Hearing God takes...

Time

Attention

Affirmation

-- Scripture: GENESIS 21.1-7 (NIV)