After nearly a year in the Gospel of John, we’ve finally, and somewhat sadly, concluded all 21 chapters. Though the journey through the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus has completed, our walk with Him as Christians will continue until the day He returns. Listen to last week’s message to discover what the resurrected Jesus’ priorities are for those who seek to continue to follow Him.
This year, we'll be spending the first Friday of every month fasting together and praying for a particular topic. Church members who fast for all 12 Fridays will be invited to a year-end party to celebrate the answers to our prayers. If fasting is new to you, here are some instructions.
This month, we’re praying for the Gospel to remain central in our church. Here are a few ideas to guide your prayer:
Pray that God would guide the hearts and minds of leaders in the church to be wholly dependent on Christ in their leadership, knowing that “Gospel-centrality” does not simply happen by accident
Pray that the message of the Gospel would continue to infuse the songs we sing and the sermons we hear
Pray that, by the power of the Spirit, God would help us each to be able to more readily and more fully apply the Gospel to our real-life situations and those of others around us
Pray that new members and guests would come to understand the fullness and the beauty of the Gospel and so be equipped to tell it to others
Pray for the Gospel to bear fruit in our neighborhood - through the making and maturing of new disciples of Jesus Christ
Let’s be honest. Small groups are not always convenient in our schedules. They come at the end of a busy week. You’re tired. You have 100 other things on your mind. A night in would be so welcomed …
If that’s you, you’re not alone. BUT in moments of distraction and fatigue, what we discover on almost every occasion is that nothing refreshes and rejuvenates like God’s Word and rich fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ.
Our small groups are context in which the Gospel is applied to real life - to the very real life situations that press so hard on your heart. We need friends to help us make that application. We need friends to help us redirect our attention away from ourselves and our circumstances and toward the one whose grace is sufficient for you in every circumstance.
This week, go about your busy and oftentimes stressful week with Friday in mind. Whose needs can you be praying for? What can you be praying for God to do at your small group meeting? What that the Lord has been teaching you can you come prepared to share with someone else?
See you at small group. Prepare to be surprised and refreshed by God’s grace.
This all-important question has implications for everyone. Every single one of our neighbors. All of your friends and family.
This series will be one spoken in the language of the common person. It will address doubts and suspicions with honesty and respect. It won’t be a series filled with “Christianese”. Invite your friends and neighbors to this discussion concerning the message of the Gospel and what it has to do with any one of us.
During this past Sunday’s message, we read John’s account of the crucifixion. John’s priority was to demonstrate Jesus; sovereign control over even His own death. How was this demonstrated? As Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures over and over again even in His dying moments. The Romans and Jews and Satan were all playing right into God’s hands. Two of the most prominently quoted Old Testament passages are Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.
Your “homework” for this week is to read through both of these passages. Meditate on them. Listen for the echoes of the cross. See the wisdom of God. Marvel at the sovereignty of God over history. Allow your understand of them to help you appreciate the magnificence of God’s unbroken plan of salvation that began millennia before the cross itself.
The crucifixion of Jesus. It’s both cruel and gracious. Horrific and beautiful. Shameful and infinitely victorious. It was the moment when Satan seemed to have struck the final death blow to God’s purposes, yet, in all actuality, when Jesus struck the final deathblow not only to satan, but sin and death itself. Listen to last week’s sermon and learn about the history-altering, life-transforming reality of the cross of Christ which makes a claim on every single one of our lives.
Our sermon series in the Gospel of John began in July of 2018. Now, almost a year later, it’s drawing to a close. It’s been a profoundly rich experience of meeting Jesus afresh every Sunday. God has revealed His Son to us that we might “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing, you may have life in His name.” As the series draws to a close, here are a few suggestions to help you finish well:
Read through the entire book one more time to remember where we’ve been
Listen again to the sermon that God used to affect your perspective/behavior/faith/habits most significantly
Review your sermon notes
Prayerfully consider and thank God for the gift of His Word in the Gospel of John
When Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana was established a year and a half ago, we were a small group of people believing that God had called us to plant a church near Downtown Santa Ana. Since then, God has spread the joy of His Son to new believers and to new laborers for the harvest. This past Sunday, we welcomed four more men and women to that number. We praise God as we watch Him accomplish His mission of salvation and as we experience the privilege of gaining new brothers and sisters to live with us in the joy we’ve received from our Savior.
Bring a chair and a lunch to go. Maybe even bring an extra lunch for someone who didn’t bring one. Come prepared to enjoy one another’s company in the joy of Jesus. Discuss the sermon. Meet a new Santa Ana neighbor. Build friendships with those whom you love. Head to the second street promenade immediately following the service.
Associating with the cause of Christ is often neither situationally beneficial nor convenient. Pontius Pilate, as he stood with Jesus before him, had the task of issuing a verdict and a sentence. He knew Jesus was innocent. Yet the crowd falsely accused him of treason against Caesar. An innocent verdict could be political suicide. This moment in Pilate’s life was inconvenient. It was one case among hundreds he’d rule on. Seemingly insignificant and terribly inconvenient. Yet in the grand scheme, it was Pilate’s eternity that was being weighed in the balance. In our lives, we experience many moments when siding with Jesus is just flat inconvenient, but in the scope of eternity, is far better than siding with anyone else. Listen to last Sunday’s sermon from John 18-19.
