JOhn: Seeing god

To anyone who believes in Christ, death can no longer kill you. Listen as Dave speaks to Christ’s great victory over death through his crucifixion and resurrection.

Last week, we heard of Jesus’ capture and trial on his road to the cross. Listen this week as Dave leads us through Jesus’ crucifixion as we continue on to Easter.

After entering Jerusalem , Jesus foretold of his own death. Within a week, he stood before Pontius Pilate and a Jewish mob, led by the Pharisees, demanding his crucifixion. In this sermon, Georgia walks us through the trial, highlighting and explaining the weight and meaning of this event.

Peter, the rock upon which Jesus built the church, denied Christ three times on the night before the crucifixion. How could such a devoted follower do this? And what does Peter do with these failings? Listen as Dave speaks to Peter’s denials of Jesus.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas leads a large group of soldiers to arrest Jesus. Listen to Dave as he unpacks Jesus’ words and actions in this sacred moment as we move closer towards the crucifixion.

In the week before Jesus’ crucifixion, he shares with the crowd in Jerusalem that he will die. Listen to CJ as he unpacks this moment, Jesus’ experience and the glory that God has planned.

What is the cost of glory? The cost of witnessing glory? The cost of advancing glory? Experiencing glory? Listen as Dave examines how John expounds upon this in John 11.

In John 10, Jesus gave his last public defense of his ministry before preparing for the cross. Listen to Dave explain the reasoning Jesus used to those listening at the temple.

Throughout the gospels, Jesus revealed his divinity through signs. Those who witness them either came to faith in him or revealed their unbelief. The Pharisees increasingly opposed Jesus, but what about the crowds that witnessed the signs. After all that they have seen, why didn't the crowds overwhelmingly believe in Jesus? Listen to Dave as he examines this question.

Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Listen to Georgia as she speaks to Jesus' words.

The text for the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8 is not included in the earliest manuscripts of the Gospel of John. Many biblical scholars do not consider it to hold the same scriptural authority that the rest of the text in the gospels do. Listen to Dave as he speaks about how to hold this text in relation to the rest of scripture as well as the story of Jesus.

Jesus said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." Do you know of this thirst for God? Listen to Dave as he expounds on Jesus' words.

If God is so good, how come the world is so broken? If God is so powerful, why is there still violence? Does not the existence of suffering prove that God is either not all good or not all powerful? Listen to Dave as he explains Jesus’ response to this issue after the feeding of the five thousand.

How do you know when to believe the claim that a person makes about him or herself? Jesus believes himself to be the Son of God. A bold and incredible claim. Listen as Dave speaks to Jesus’ claim and how to evaluate his claim.

The Pharisees approach Jesus and question his relationship to God, the Father. Jesus responds in a different tone than he normally does. Listen to Dave as he unpacks Jesus’ change in posture and what he says to them in response.

Listen as Georgia leads a discussion on John 5:19-29.

In Jerusalem, there was a pool called Bethesda, where a multitude of blind, lame, and paralyzed laid. Among them was a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. This man expressed his need to Jesus and was met with a miraculous response. Listen to Adam as he talks about this miracle and the importance of neediness in God’s kingdom.

The Samaritan woman went out to the well in the hot of the day, hoping to be avoid people. Instead, she was met by Jesus. Listen to Dave as he explains their conversation and how the words Jesus spoke, changed her life.

John 3:16 is a verse that many know, Christian and non-Christian alike. But when Jesus first spoke these words, they came as a surprise to his listeners. Listen to Dave as he unpacks six surprises in John 3:16-32.

Undercover of the night, Nicodemus met with Jesus, seeking to ascertain more about him. Jesus told him that to see the Kingdom of God, one must be born again. Nicodemus was confused. Listen to Dave as he explains Jesus’ statement and the need to be born again.

It wasn’t until Jesus rose from the dead that Jesus’ life and teaching began to really make sense to his disciples. One scene in particular, the cleansing of the temple in John 2, came alive for them. Listen as Dave explains what it meant when Jesus said, “Tear down this temple and in three days I will raise it again in three days.”

The gospels record Jesus' miracles in order to confirm both Jesus' authority and Jesus' mission. He gives sight to the blind to show how the gospel opens our eyes. He raises the dead to show how the gospel defeats death. But why then, for his very first miracle, does he turn water into wine? Listen as Dave explains the message behind the miracle.

The first disciples of Jesus were the Early Adopters of Christianity -- willing to sign on to faith in Jesus before it made sense to them and before it was even particularly helpful. As followers of Jesus in San Francisco, the least Christian city in the country, what can we learn from their bold faith? Listen as Dave recounts five qualities of Jesus' first disciples from these early stories of faith.

Upon seeing Jesus, the first thing John the Baptist says (as the Ideal Witness) is “Behold, the Lamb of God!” What would this have meant to his first listeners, and what should it mean to us now. Nick Parsons explains what it meant and why it matters, and why we, too, should drop everything to follow Christ.

God's Kingdom grows through faithful witnesses and John the Baptist is the ideal witness. He knows who he is, who he's not, and who Jesus is. It is vitally important that we, as God's witnesses, know who we are and who we aren't.

The Gospel of John was written not only to emphasize how Jesus was God, but that Jesus was God Made Flesh. This claim is both amazing and unsettling! Listen as Dave explains the fourfold scandal of the incarnation, and why it's still good news.

If the Bible had elevation, John 1 might be Mount Everest. The Apostle John begins his biography of Jesus before there even was a beginning, when Jesus was simply God. In John 1, we learn that everything that can be said about God can be said about Jesus. He is God, Creator, Life, and Light.