Sin is behind all human suffering and all brokenness in the world. Jesus makes it clear that sin originates in the heart. It produces darkness and bondage. Oftentimes, we detour and deny, unwilling to admit that the problem isn’t “out there” but actually within our very own hearts. The problem is grim, but the solution is grander than you could imagine - Jesus Himself is Light and Freedom.
Most scholars believe that John 7:53-8:11 was not originally part of the Gospel of John. It didn’t begin appearing in manuscripts until nearly 400 years after John wrote his Gospel. Why then do you still read it in your Bible? More importantly, if there are texts that shouldn’t be in the Bible, is everything up for grabs? Can you really trust your Bible? The answer is a resounding yes. And for good reason. Beyond being able to fully and completely trust your Bible as the written Word of God, there’s also something profoundly important we can learn from the passage in question. Even if it wasn’t part of the original manuscripts, there’s a reason the Church has maintained it for 1500 years.
This week, we’ve published the manuscript of last Sunday’s sermon online. Give it a read and learn how to approach a text like this and how to grow in godliness through it.
Responses to Jesus’ teaching during His ministry varied widely- from confusion to amazement to outright anger. As Christians, the message at the heart of Jesus’ teaching, the Gospel, produces the same range of reactions today. No matter the response to the Gospel, we can be confident in it because it’s a message backed by the authority of God and filled with the grace of God. Listen to last week’s message from John 7:14-52.
One of the most repetitive and significant themes in the Gospel of John is “the world”. It’s a theme whose overtones aren’t exactly positive. Jesus uses sin, darkness and even evil to describe it at times. Surprisingly, in John 7:1-13, Jesus even hints that His own brothers belong to the world. Understanding this theme helps us to understand the Gospel of John. It helps us to understand our neighbors. It helps us to understand ourselves. Most importantly, it helps us to understand and appreciate the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana exists by God’s grace through the partnership of other churches. One of those churches is Sovereign Grace Church of Tucson, Arizona, where Kyle and Kelsey Houlton moved from to live in Santa Ana. This past Sunday, we had the privilege of hearing from that church’s senior pastor, Derek Overstreet. He preached from Titus 3:3-7 about the God-glorifying doctrine of grace alone.
The feeding of the 5000 is one of the most famous of all the miracles of Jesus. It’s also a miracle that Jesus performed to teach His followers, us included, something about Himself. It’s important that we understand exactly what He was trying to teach us. If we come away from that story thinking that Jesus wants to “multiply” our food, money, friendships, or any other temporal thing, we’ve missed the point. Jesus offers something far greater.
This past Sunday, we continued our series in the book of John with John 5:16-47, where Jesus, for the first time in John’s Gospel, testifies concerning exactly who He is and where He’s come from. His opponents understood exactly who He was claiming to be: God. Not only does He testify to this identity, but He points to four additional witnesses. The question we and His opponents are left with is, “which witnesses will you choose to listen to?”
It’s remarkable how often Jesus is referred to Kindly, whether He’s called “a good teacher”, “a great example to follow” or even “the most well-known person in history”. The Galileans of John 4:43-5:15 received Jesus in a similar way - they “welcomed” Him.
However, Jesus’ response to their welcome reminds us that He didn’t come to be merely welcomed. He didn’t come to be popular or famous or seen as respectable or even as a miracle-worker. He came to be believed in as the Messiah - the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”.
It's one of the most well-known and widely discussed stories in the New Testament. But, like so many stories in the Bible, we often miss the point. Guest preacher Grant Sigafoos helped us to understand that Jesus invites those who are outside the covenant to community to know God and then invites them into His mission of making God known. '
In the very last encounter with John the Baptist in the Gospel of John (3:22-36), we see his ministry and influence declining, yet he makes the astounding claim that "my joy is now complete". He would be executed a mere matter of months later, but he died a joyful man. The same joy is available to all who've placed their faith in Christ and it comes as a result of an unexpected equation that involves the increase and glory not of self, but of another.
