Saturday, March 27, 2010

John 2: 1-11

Jesus attends a wedding at Cana in Galilee with His mother, Mary, and His disciples.
When the wine runs out Mary tells Jesus.
Jesus tells Mary His hour has not yet come.
Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.
Six 30 gallon stone water jugs on stand by for Jewish purification rites.
Jesus tell the servants to fill these to the brim with water and they obeyed.
Jesus told servants to take some to the master of the feast to taste.
Master of the feast is impressed by quality of wine.
Master compliments bridegroom for saving the best wine till the end of the wedding feast.
Custom was to serve the best wine first then bring out the lower quality wine.
This was the first of Jesus' signs in manifesting His glory.

I.   Wedding Attendees      John 2: 1-5
II.  Water Jugs                  John 2: 6-9a
III. Wonderous Miracle     John 2: 9b- 11

AIM: God uses the ordinary things of life to transform into extra-ordinary!

Subject Sentence:  Jesus, wedding attendee, using ordinary water jugs performs wonderous wine-changing miracle.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

John 1: 43- 57

Jesus found Philip and said, "Follow Me." Philip found his brother Nathanael and said, "We have found...Jesus... come and see..."

Jesus found and called Philip but Philip felt that he had found the treasure of knowing Jesus. His first natural response was to find his brother whom he loved and share this treasure of Jesus with him. In sharing the treasure we invite others to come and see for themselves who Jesus is.

Nathanael's response, 'can any good thing come out of Nazareth? I thought this showed a bit of self righteousness from a Jew who knew the culture etc. yet he came to see Jesus. Yet Jesus saw Nathanael's response to Philip as honest, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit."

Nathanael met the One who knew him (from before the foundation of the world). There was an immediate acknowledgment of "knowing" Jesus was the Son of God, the King of Israel. This reminded me of John 6:45- and they will be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from God the Father comes to Me." and John 10: 27-29- My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me..."

Jesus had seen Nathanael under the fig tree through the eyes of deity and Nathanael "knew" this meant Jesus was God and believed. Now Jesus would reveal more things to him in the spiritual realm..."You will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." Nathanael's eyes had been opened, his heart was opened and he "knew" Jesus. I wonder what joy, what anticipation, what wonder must have filled him that day.

A life of joy, anticipation and wonder awaits those who love Jesus!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

John 1: 40- 42

Two disciples of John the Baptist followed Jesus that day... One of them, Andrew, went and found his brother Simon Peter and told him they had found the Messiah, the Christ. Andrew then brought Simon Peter to Jesus.
  • He first found his brother-- I remember when I first got saved, even though I didn't fully understand what had happened to me and what it all meant, I couldn't wait to tell my family and friends what had happened to me. I knew something had happened- something inside me changed! I knew I had been forgiven of my sin- I felt clean, pure, free- and I wanted my family to experience this also. I wanted them to come to Jesus because Jesus had done this for me. My family did not come as Simon Peter came. They thought I was crazy. Eventually two members of my family came to meet Jesus. One of them followed for awhile and then stopped following, stopped believing, stopped obeying His Word. The other is still following, still believing, still seeking to obey His Word. My friends forsook me but God gave me new friends, a new family and how I praise Him.
  • Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter. He gave him a new name, a name which represented his new nature.
Our part is to bring people to Jesus. We are God's witnesses. When He does His work in us the natural overflow is to tell others about Him. We are to point the way to Jesus. We tell them He is the only Savior who can forgive their sin rescuing them from the power and bondage of sin, which tells them they are in need of His saving power. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin- makes them aware of their sinfulness, of their judgement because of the sin. The Holy Spirit convinces them of Christ's righteousness as the only One who can forgive them, showing them He is the only Savior. When this happens they are genuinely born again. If the Holy Spirit does not do this work in them it does not matter if they pray a prayer, go to an altar, or get baptized. They may be able to clean themselves up for a while in the excitement of the moment but in the long run they cannot continue the facade. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit living Christ's life in us that we can continue to follow Him. I wish people understood this vital truth- it would help them not try to do so much in the flesh.
Jesus changed me, He gave me a new name, a new position, a new purpose, a new life.....
from sinner to saint
        lost    to found
       dead   to  living
       fickle   to faithful
       slave   to  free
       dark    to  light
get the picture?
all to the praise of the glory of His marvelous grace...