God Is With Me Series

“God Is with Me”

John 14: 15-18

July 16, 2006

Intro: Bob and Lynne weren’t what they would consider good neighbors, but when they saw a moving van in front of the house across the street, they decided to change their ways. Lynn prepared some homemade bread and together they approached the house.

-When someone answered the front door, Lynn said, "Hi. We wanted to welcome you to our neighborhood. Here’s some bread for you." The woman who answered the door said, "Thank you very much for your kindness. Uh...this is embarrassing. You see, we’re not moving in. We’re moving out. We’ve lived here 8 years.”

-Can you imagine anything much more embarrassing than that? I’m sure their neighbors felt real special! But you know what? I think there are a lot of us who feel God is like Bob and Lynne in that He’s forgotten we’re even here. Some people feel like God doesn’t even know who they are.

-That’s why we’re continuing the series “On Star…On Board” this week. We’re all familiar with “On Star.” It’s a device you can get in a GM vehicle that allows you to communicate w/someone at all times. If you get lost, you can push the “On Star” button and an operator will come on and give you directions.

-If you need your car unlocked, you can call the “On Star” operator and thru a satellite he’ll unlock your car. So as you ride in your car you have a feeling that you’re never alone.

-It’s my hope you’ll discover that as you travel along in this life that you have an “On Star” device as well. You have one who will keep you company and give you direction and guidance all thru life. Who is it? It’s Jesus.

Sermon Idea: Today in our passage of Scripture we’re going to see Jesus sharing w/His followers that He is always w/them; that He’ll never abandon them or leave them alone. It’s so easy to feel alone and abandoned. It’s especially easy, when you’ve gone thru some trying times, to feel like God has forgotten who we are. But as we look in the Bible today, we’ll find out that God is deeply interested in staying in touch w/us.

TEXT: JOHN 14: 15-18

Bckgrd: At this point Jesus had let His disciples know that He was getting ready to die and that one of them was going to betray Him. As you can imagine they were devastated by this news. I’m sure a lot of thoughts were running thru their heads but it’s apparent they were thinking that if Jesus died then they’d be all alone. Their hopes would be crushed.

-But it’s here Jesus reassured them by letting them know that He wasn’t going to forget them, that He wasn’t going to leave them. So how was Jesus going to die, be raised from the grave, ascend to heaven, and yet still be w/the disciples; still be w/His followers?

-It’s here we see Jesus explain how He will still be w/us. You may ask, “How is God w/me?” He’s w/you b/c He’s sent:

DIV. 1: A COUNSELOR (vv. 15-16)

Exp: Jesus was very aware that He wasn’t going to be on this earth much longer. As a matter of fact John 13: 1 says, “It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father.” Obviously this put His followers in a precarious position b/c any time a leader leaves, it creates a vacuum; it causes a sense of instability.

A. Can you imagine having the “On Star” system in your car for a long time and then all the sudden have it taken from you? Can you imagine what that’d be like? It’d be disconcerting b/c you had direction and answers right at your fingertips. But now it’s taken away.

1. I’m sure a person used to using “On Star” would feel a little lost w/o it. They’d feel a little vulnerable. Well, the same thing would be true w/the disciples. When Jesus said He was leaving I’m sure there was as sense of instability and uncertainty. But Jesus relieved their fears by letting them know He wasn’t just leaving them to face this world all alone.

a. He told them in v. 16 that He was going to give them another Counselor. The word “counselor”=one who represents you at court and stands at your side to plead your case. You may be thinking, “The only people who need defense counselors are criminals! And I’m no criminal!”

b. While that may be true according to the laws of man it’s not true according to the Laws of God. You see, if we break just one command of God we’re considered to be guilty of breaking them all. James 2: 10-“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” And the Bible teaches that there will be a day when we’ll stand before God in judgment.