When Pinocchio lied, it was apparent from his growing nose. What if the same were true about our adversary? Would the world still buy into his manipulation? Is there even a method for detecting such lies? Yes, the Bible! In John 8:37-47 & in our sermon, "Lies of Our Adversary" Jesus rebukes satanic manipulation by declaring: "Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies."

In 1990 Junior Reid & the Soup Dragons had a song titled: "I'm Free". Some of the lyrics included, "I'm free to do what I want any old time". Sure, we're free to do what we want, just not any old time. This is because temporary freedom is blind to eternal enslavement. We know from John 8:31-36 that Jesus is our only source for "True Freedom," which is not temporary, but eternal! So, yes, you are free to do what you want, but just know that the time it takes to live out your fantasy of freedom is limited.

Sunlight is responsible for all life, including the air we breathe & a plethora of other life sustaining necessities. The sun can be an underestimated source of power. For example, not only does it produce life, but it also has the ability to destroy that which comes into its direct path. Jesus' testimony in John 8:12-21 proclaims that He is "The Light of Life". Not only does His Light guide us toward eternal life, but also eternal seperation for those who reject His testimony.

It can be argued that many governments operate as judge, jury & executioner. Whether it's present day or centuries past, this behavior is nothing new. In fact, the Romans allowed the Jewish leaders to behave in such a manner. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is under a tremendous amount of antagonism by the Jewish leaders. In fact, in John 8:1-11, they even attempted to entrap Him in order to be His "Judge, Jury & Executioners".

Artist are commissioned to design memorials of various kinds for the purpose of commemoration & remembrance. These memorials take the form of statues, plaques & architecture. As Believers, the cross acts as a memorial to commemorate the sacrifice that Jesus made for our sinfulness. In fact, the true meaning of the cross represents Jesus death, burial & resurrection for "For Our Injustice". Amazingly, all of this was predicted some 700 years prior by the prophet Isaiah in 53:1-12.

We all have different perspectives in how we view our world. But does that perspective, dictate truth? Does absolute truth exist, beyond our own perspectives?Join us this Sunday, as we study John 7:37-53. In these verses, we find Jesus making an absolute truth claim about Himself, and then we see a few different reactions to that truth claim. This causes division amongst the people. But we will see, that the real battle is not really between the people, but “Perspective vs Truth”.

From the Home Shopping Network to Amazon, retailers will market their products in order to create a false sense of urgency. We hear & read descriptions that say, "Hurry Now, Last Chance, Ends Tomorrow". Count down timers, supply & demand, as well as free shipping are employed to entice sales. These marketing strategies are successful for generating sales of products that are wants, not needs. However, there is a need for all of humanity; eternal salvation. In John 7:25-36, Jesus utilizes these same methods when speaking of salvation. Essentially, He is saying, "Act Now, Before It's Too Late".

The Messiah's Message - John 7:14-24 - Matthew Niemier by Villas Grace Church

We've all heard the expression, "use your time wisely". So, in any 24 hour period we're all allotted the same amount of seconds, which is 86,400. So, what's the wisest use of your 86,400? According to Scripture, Jesus wisely used His allotted time by dedicating Himself to discipleship. Join us this Sunday for our sermon "God's Time," from John 7:1-13 where we'll be encouraged to use His time wisely by dedicationg ourselves to discipleship that leads to salvation.

Consistency is one of the most difficult achievements for fallible humanity. We even struggle with inconsistency when conducting some of our our most skilled processes. The same is true about our faith. Either we're faithfully inconsistent, or consistent with our faith. The same was true of the many who followed Jesus early on in His ministry. Join us this Sunday for our sermon "Fickle vs. Faithful" from John 6:66-71, where we'll witness Jesus large crowd of followers dwindle to only twelve.