Last time we saw that every gift comes to the church through Jesus. In this message we continue our journey understanding what unity in the Spirit in the bond of peace looks like and how it is achieved by looking at two pertinent gifts–apostles and prophets.

As we have seen, Paul has called us to be eager to maintain unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The marvelous thing about this unity is it is a unity that doesn’t erase diversity. In this message we begin the journey of seeing how Jesus has gifted His church to be a unity of diverse people.

In this message we look at two passages: 1) “The Father is greater than I” 2) “the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me.” What does Jesus mean when He says, “The Father is greater than I.” And what exactly does it mean that “the ruler of this world is coming”? How is the evil one the ruler of this world? What are the implications of this for unbelieving humanity? How is he coming? How does he rule today? These and many other questions are answered. The message concludes with a comforting synthesis of these two great passages.

Jesus says, “Peace I give to you, My peace I leave with you.” The moment we put our faith in trust in Christ we are brought into peace with God. And though this peace (positional peace) can never be improved, things come into our lives which often disturb our inner peace (what I call pilgrimage peace.) In this message I first show how Jesus brings peace and why we should pursue it. And from there show how our growth in grace can improve our pilgrimage peace.

After briefly explaining the context, we begin a discussion on the peace that Jesus offers and how unique and different it is from anything the world can offer.

In this message we look at three parallels that I believe really help us as believers in Christ to understand what is going on in these sacred verses, 1) Jesus’ life from the Father/ our life from Jesus 2) Jesus’ union with the Father/ our union with Jesus 3) Jesus’ love and obedience to the Father/ our call to love and obey Jesus.

In our text this morning Jesus gives us a powerful word. It is a word that casts off fear and anxiety. In this message we look at how we are to understand and apply this word that we may find security in an hour when so much fear, insecurity, and anxiety abound.

In our text Jesus says, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.” In this message we look at these words to discover 1) what Jesus means by being glorified 2) how is Jesus glorified right then and there 3) how Jesus is glorified 4) how the Father is glorified 5) what the practical implications are for those of us who believe.

The virgin birth of Christ is one of the cardinal non-negotiable truths of Christianity and it is an integral part of the Christmas season. The goal of this message is two-fold: 1) to show how to develop and defend the doctrine of the virgin birth 2) to be brought into the joy and wonder of this great truth.

The title, “A Powerful Apologetic,” needs some introduction. By “apologetic” I mean a defense of the biblical faith. The title could alternatively be: “A Powerful Defense.” But I leave it as it is because it is 1) a defense given by Jesus 2) a defense of Christ’s claim to be none other than Yahweh–The Great I Am. Jesus gave this apologetic to His disciples to strengthen them through a dark hour and He has recorded these things for us to strengthen us the same.