Christ The Life Giver Series

Christ the Life Giver

John 1:10-13

Rev. Brian Bill

December 16-17, 2023

I’ve mentioned before that fellow pastors are some of my favorite people. It’s a joy to partner in gospel ministry with our pastors at Edgewood and with other pastors in the community. One of my favorite shepherds is Ed Hedding, the senior pastor at Pleasant View Baptist Church in Bettendorf. He’s a man on mission with a genuine love for the lost in our community.

One of the ways Ed serves the QCA is by teaching a World Religions class at Scott Community College. This week, he sent me an extra credit paper written by one of his students, who recently watched one of our worship services online. I have his permission to share some of it but will not use her name, though I hope she comes in person some time.

After describing some bad experiences with the church, she grew up in, she mentions her desire to get closer to God, “It is something that deep down I really care about. I have been struggling a little to get back in touch with my faith, but I still carry it in my heart.”

Listen to how she summarized her encouraging experience at Edgewood.

From the start of the service everyone that spoke or performed songs seemed very kind. They genuinely seemed happy to be there, and it made me a little more intrigued. It started off with such a positive atmosphere. Even though I wasn’t physically there, I could just tell that space was warm and welcoming.

They all sang so beautifully, and the music was very…heartfelt. I feel like with them opening up, playing these beautiful songs just sets the tone for the worship and it was so welcoming. They had all the church members rise and join them in singing.

From my perspective, I’ve always just felt like sometimes main worship leaders (she’s referring to the preacher) tend to make themselves look like they are perfect. When [he] was speaking, I believed everything he said. He appeared to be very honest and open and by using his own life as an example, the things he was preaching made more sense. He made you feel like Jesus still loves you even if you have messed up in the past. He did this with so much expression and energy. It just made the service so much more interesting to watch. [He] talked for around an hour (!) and then the service was done.

I really liked what they did. It made me feel welcome and almost sad. I miss attending church, and this seemed like such an upbeat and kind one. I feel this experience gave me a new perspective of what church can be like.

After watching this, I wouldn’t mind attending church again. It just gave me a taste of the comforting and happy atmosphere, and I truly miss it. Even through a screen I felt closer to God.

One thing that I really took away from this service was that going to church can be a positive experience. Most of the experiences I’ve had going to church were so much less uplifting of my spirit. I want to be able to have a positive experience and…feel closer to God. I would definitely attend this church in person.

While many today don’t seem interested in God, or even have animosity toward Him, it’s refreshing to know others, like this student, are being drawn to Him, longing to feel closer to God.

We see these different kinds of reactions in John 1:10-13: “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

We’re continuing in our series called, “Before Bethlehem” from the opening verses of the Gospel of John. Two weeks ago, we learned how Jesus had His birth in Bethlehem, but not His beginning, because He has always been. Last weekend, we celebrated how Jesus brings life into our deadness and light into our darkness.

Here’s our main idea for today: When you receive and believe in Christ, you become a child of God. Let’s walk through this passage verse-by-verse.

1. Jesus is not recognized by most. Verse 10 may be one of the saddest verses in the Bible: “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.” The majority of people simply ignored the incarnation of Immanuel, not recognizing that “He was in the world.” As we learned in verse 3, Jesus created the world, and yet the world just seems to yawn at Yeshua. When the Creator condescended and came into our world, His creation was not captivated: “…the world did not know Him.” The KJV reads, “…the world knew Him not.” To “know” means, “to apprehend, recognize, or know relationally.”