Sermon Central
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John
Contributed by Tom Fuller on Nov 5, 2007 (message contributor)
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1. Who Is The Word?
Contributed on Nov 5, 2007
You might have a lot of questions about who Jesus Christ really is. John helps us understand the voice from the heavens. Are you ready to listen?
In the book and movie by Carl Sagan Contact a loner scientist hears a voice from the heavens, and then tries to convince others that in this voice is a message of great importance. Now Carl Sagan, while he was alive, did not believe in God. In fact the movie goes to great lengths to portray anyone ...read more
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2. Who Are You?
Contributed on Nov 12, 2007
When the Pharisees approach John the Baptist demanding to know his credentials John never responds with who he is, but who he knows and who he represents. Learn the value of being an agent for Jesus Christ.
How do you want people to think of you? I guess it depends on the situation-and your age. When I was younger I wanted to be cool, and I was so not. Today I could be thought of in many roles: husband, son, father, pastor, writer, or musician. When I’m with other pastors I could want to be thought of ...read more
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3. What Are You Seeking?
Contributed on Nov 18, 2007
How do respond to a change in your environment? When Jesus comes on the scene he forces us to think in new ways. Learn how his early disciples dealt with the coming of a big change: the Messiah.
How do you want people to think of you? I guess it depends on the situation-and your age. When I was younger I wanted to be cool, and I was so not. Today I could be thought of in many roles: husband, son, father, pastor, writer, or musician. When I’m with other pastors I could want to be thought of ...read more
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4. What Is Jesus To You?
Contributed on Nov 26, 2007
We all have expectations of who Jesus is and what He is about. Are yours correct? Jesus’ family, friends, and even His enemies had misconceptions about His real purpose.
What is Jesus to you? It’s an honest question. A recent online poll found that 37% said Jesus may or may not have even existed and that there is no way to know for sure, 23% said that the gospels are a bunch of fictional tales, 16% say that he may have existed but so many myths have grown up around ...read more
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5. Honest Conversations With God
Contributed on Dec 3, 2007
A man comes to Jesus with an open heart and mind. The Lord reveals to him some of the most amazing truths found in the Bible. Is it time you had a good, honest, talk with God?
Do you ever look for something so hard that you can’t find it? Maybe it’s just my age kicking in but sometimes I’ll lose something in the most obvious place possible. I think so hard about where I put it that I forget to look in the most likely place. I figure that I would have remembered easily if ...read more
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6. The Outcast
Contributed on Dec 10, 2007
Do you ever feel like you have to keep everyone at arms length because you just don’t trust them? Perhaps you feel like who you are is just not acceptable. Jesus comes to such a person in John 4 and engages them in a patient yet revealing dialog that chan
Picture this: Your political beliefs put you in the small minority. The majority party, in fact, shuns you. Socially you are considered not really part of the nation because your ancestors were immigrants. Spiritually your stands made you unpopular, and leave you confused. Morally you have made ...read more
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7. Are You Disabled?
Contributed on Dec 17, 2007
You may appear as if you have it all together but inside be disabled spiritually. Jesus meets two people and shares with them how to become abled. Which group are you in?
Disabled (adj) crippled; injured; incapacitated. 1. to make unable or unfit; weaken or destroy the capability of; cripple; incapacitate: 2. to make legally incapable; disqualify. When we use the word "disabled" we normally think of someone who has a physical weakness. And in John 5 we meet ...read more
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8. Jesus Builds His Body 12 Ways
Contributed on Dec 31, 2007
Are you looking for short term fixes to your life or long term solutions? Are you looking for a leader to get you out of a jam or a savior to bring you into peace?
Years ago there was an ad campaign by a certain maker of bread: "Wonder, it builds a body 12 ways" or something like that. I sort of pictured this incredibly wonder-ful food that after you ate it you turned into Superman or something. In reality it was bread made of white flour. The problem with ...read more
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9. Jesus The Bread Of Life Part 2
Contributed on Jan 7, 2008
If there is any source of real lasting life anywhere other than in Jesus the Bread of Life then you should take it. But is there?
Those of you who attend our fellowship know that I lost my mother in law this week. She died just one day shy of her 89th birthday. We spent her last evening singing her favorite hymns and reading Scriptures about being transformed and a citizen of heaven and ushered her into the kingdom. But I ...read more
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10. Removing The Filters
Contributed on Jan 13, 2008
Often times where someone comes from or how they sound alters how we hear them. This was the case for those hearing Jesus. But if you really listen to his words they do deeper than you can image.
You’ve heard the ad "People judge you by the words you use. To make a powerful impression you need a powerful vocabulary. You need Verbal Advantage." Though this is true I think we also judge people by how they say words and where they come from. We hear an accent in someone and we think "Deep ...read more
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11. Revelation
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
Just how much does Jesus know about you and what does he do with that information? A woman and some Pharisees find out but his response is very different between those who need forgiveness and those who want it.
In the movie "Conspiracy Theory" Mel Gibson believes that the government knows all kinds of things about him and are tracking his every move so that he doesn’t uncover some super secret plot they are trying to cover up. For most of the movie you believe that Gibson is just plan wacky but then all ...read more
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12. Lost In Translation
Contributed on Jan 27, 2008
How well do you know Jesus, really? Jesus probes some Jews who say they believe but don’t. Jesus says the truth will set us free, but sometimes we are speaking a different language and so can’t understand what he is saying at first.
How well do you know Jesus? Some of us grew up in church and think we know him. He’s the guy who walked on water and changed water into wine and started that Golden Rule thing. Others know Jesus as a good man who gave us a lot of good advice on how to live. To others Jesus is love guy-love your ...read more
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13. Now I Can See
Contributed on Feb 3, 2008
A blind man who gets sight and insight, and religious leaders who think they understand but are blind! Learn how to cope with the Lord waiting to answer prayers.
Our bodies are an amazing creation. Millions of cells working together in perfect harmony (well, most of the time). We breathe, our hearts beat, our organs function-all with nearly no input or oversight from our conscious brain. One of the senses we take most for granted is our sight. Your eyes are ...read more
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14. Preparing Jesus, Preparing For Jesus
Contributed on Mar 3, 2008
This chapter provides some real contrasts between real and trumped up worship, real belief and real betrayal. It is all a part of preparing Jesus for the cross and preparing us to receive him.
John places Jesus at Ephraim, a village north of Jerusalem. Between the end of chapter 11 and here, Jesus travels back to Galilee, heals the ten lepers (Luke 17), talks to Zacchaeus (Luke 19) in Jericho on his way back to Bethany. It’s only six days until the Passover, and Jesus’ crucifixion. ...read more
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15. Love & Betrayal
Contributed on Mar 11, 2008
Are you ashamed to be served by Jesus? Be careful how you answer. As Jesus demonstrates what real love is, he also recoils at real betrayal.
In the February 20th issue of Time Magazine, Joel Stein writes the cover story about George Clooney the Hollywood TV actor turned movie star. Stein recalls asking Clooney for an interview. What he got was Clooney himself coming over for dinner. “He’ll eat whatever’s cooking” his publicist said. The ...read more
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16. The Real Holy Spirit
Contributed on Mar 30, 2008
Many of your ideas about the Holy Spirit are wrong. What is the real role and purpose of Jesus representative on earth in your life?
The Holy Spirit is the best kept secret in Christianity mostly because His purpose and role have been misunderstood. The Holy Spirit is not a grand show master who makes it possible for you to do really cool stuff, or at least appear really cool so people are impressed. The Holy Spirit actually ...read more
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17. Pruning
Contributed on Apr 6, 2008
Jesus uses the picture of a vineyard to teach us about how to have real life, good fruit and benefit from the Lord pruning our lives.
We live in the midst of Oregon wine country. Traveling down any rural road around Newberg and Dundee yields a plethora of tourist signs leading to vineyards and wineries with hard to pronounce names. Gentle hillsides that once grew part of the world’s largest crop of Christmas trees are now covered ...read more
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18. Becoming A Sprinkler
Contributed on Apr 13, 2008
Jesus moves from talking about being in the vine to abiding in his love, words, and joy. Learn about what it means to have so much of Jesus in you that you just can’t keep it in any more!
The themes in this chapter are: abiding in the vine, pruning, bearing fruit, experiencing love, joy, a new type of relationship with Jesus, persecution, and the witness of the Spirit speaking out of our lives. We’re going to talk about abiding mostly—abiding in Jesus, in His Word, His love, His ...read more
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19. What's In Your Bag?
Contributed on Apr 21, 2008
As followers of Jesus we all have difficulties that face us in life. In John 16 Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit comes to help us not only overcome but be at peace when life feels anything but peaceful. We just need to reach into the bag!
I have something in my trunk that I carry with me at all times. Actually for a long time it was two bags. I created these bags when I worked as a television reporter. Setting out for work each day I never knew where I would be sent that day—what story I might have to cover. I had to be prepared for ...read more
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20. The Real Lord's Prayer
Contributed on Apr 27, 2008
What is on Jesus’ heart when he prays for himself, and for you? How could this change your prayers?
When someone communicates to us a need in their life, we as Christians have an automatic response. We say, “I’m praying for you.” Now that is a fine response if we actually do it. Many times what we really mean is “I’d like to pray for you, lifting you up to the Father, but in reality I’m going to ...read more
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21. Handling Jesus
Contributed on May 4, 2008
Six groups or individuals think they can "handle" Jesus. Their reactions are similar to ours when we encounter the truth of Jesus Christ. Which group are you in?
The time for Jesus teaching is over. Now is the time for others to act on the truth that He revealed. Six groups of individuals try to handle Jesus in one way or another. Chapter 18 is about the arrest and trial of Jesus. The time for talking has almost ended, the time for action is here. This ...read more
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22. What Was Jesus Thinking On The Cross?
Contributed on May 11, 2008
Most of us know the crucifixion story and what it means. But have you ever considered what Jesus was thinking and feeling on the cross? It may surprise and comfort you.
Chapter 19 of John is the culmination of Jesus’ life. It is the high point in the story of the universe. Everything before leads up to this event and everything after points back to it. Much of the debate here seems to revolve around whether Jesus is a king and of what? That’s a question each ...read more
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23. A Slow Fade In
Contributed on May 19, 2008
The reality of the resurrection dawned slowly on those involved. Each was missing a crucial piece of the story. How does Jesus put the story of His new life together for you?
In broadcasting or film making there are several types of ways of getting from one scene to another. Two of the most common are a cut and a fade. In a cut one scene is suddenly replaced with another. In a fade one scene fades out to black and is then slowly replaced with another that fades back up ...read more
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24. Restoration
Contributed on May 26, 2008
Peter blew it, that’s for certain. He denied the Lord three times. But in Chapter 21 we see the gentle way Jesus restores Peter to fellowship and purpose. He does the same for us.
Do you ever fail Jesus? John the Apostle said “1 John 1:8-9 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” One of the most common experiences we as Christians share is the reality that we will fall. No matter how hard we try we will do things that are against he ...read more