The Price Chapel Podcast

One of Jesus' most famous statements, "I Am the way, the truth, & the life" leads us to ask some important questions of our own spiritual journeys. Many people come to faith and many leave because of crises. So, what does crisis do to our faith? If your crisis of faith leads to a confident faith it will result in a confirmed faith. One of Jesus' disciples, Thomas; his faith lead to distrust and when distrust is matured it becomes abandonment. Jesus holds up one of Herod's officials as a man of faith when he trusted that Jesus healed his son. Jesus makes some difficult claims for a modern audience; that he is the only way to salvation, that he is the source of truth, and that he is the life that holds all things together. In this one statement, Jesus claims exclusivity as the way, the truth, and the life that we all need.

Jesus makes the bold claim that he is “the Resurrection and the Life,” to two of his friends who are mourning the loss of their brother. It seems insensitive until he does the unthinkable, resurrecting his dead friend, Lazarus. We learn 5 important things from this statement and story of resurrection; Jesus has the power of resurrection, Jesus’ resurrection power is already in us (believers), there will be a bodily resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous, our resurrected bodies are made for God’s new world, and the resurrection is the rest of the story.

Jesus says "I Am the Good Shepherd" in John 10. The problem we face is that fear easily overtakes us when we don't feel protected. Packed within this metaphor Jesus demonstrates through his life a ministry that he sees, pursues, and rescues his people.

In John 10 Jesus says, "I Am the Gate" using the metaphor of a sheep pen which provides safety and security to the flock, enabling the shepherd to care for his sheep to describe how we find life and faith within the shelter only he can provide. Our problem is that there are forces at work in our world that put us at risk of life being stolen from us, not just our mortal lives, but a fulfilling life. We can experience this life only through Jesus because he is the gate through which we find it.

Jesus makes the statement, "I Am the Light of the World" in John Chapter 8 in the middle of an identity crisis. Not his own identity crisis, but one that his audience is working through. His audience was the festival goers and the religious leaders in the Temple courts in Jerusalem. And they think they know who Jesus is and where he's from, but Jesus begins to reveal his true identity, challenging what they know, and his audience is divided on whether to believe him. Their hearts were hard and they are blind to the light standing in front of them. We suffer similar blindspots in our lives when we are so certain, that Jesus cannot challenge, hone, and shape our hearts and our lives.

Jesus says "I Am the bread of life" in John 6:35. This statement is uttered right after the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. This "I Am" statement is the first of its kind. Jesus says this because the people are looking for another miracle handout. The crowd wants more food, but they missed the point of the miracle. It was an illustration, a sign, symbolizing the sustenance we have in relationship with God. We often carry the same expectation as the crowd, "Jesus give me what I want." But Jesus is in the business of giving us what we need; namely, relationship with himself.

The Gospel of John is an intricate theological work. The author weaves the Biblical theme of seven into the story of Jesus' life and ministry in ways that give us clues for who Jesus is and what his ministry does for us. This series dives into the seven "I Am" statements of Jesus and the seven signs/miracles that accompany them.

The last message in our series on Price Chapel's core values, we dive into our value for Sending People Locally, Regionally, and Globally to share the good news of Jesus with all people everywhere. Here we look at the five healthy traits of a sending church and unpack how we can join God on mission in our world.

One of the best leadership hand offs from one generation to the next in all of scripture occurs between the Prophet Elijah and his eventual successor Elisha. Elijah mentors and models what it means to be effective as a prophet of God for the Jewish people. As we consider how we invest in the next generation these two have some important lessons for us to learn.