Tag: John

Posted on

A Dark World – John 17:14-18

Should we ever intentionally enter dark spaces? There are many places in this world that do not glorify God and that are built in fact to do the very opposite. The scriptures regularly warn against friendship with and coming under the influence of evil people, across both the Old and New Testament.

But we need to be careful not to turn these warnings into excuses to ignore the call of the Holy Spirit or the example of Jesus Christ. In this passage, Jesus explicitly tells the Father that He is sending the disciples into the world. He asks that they go deep into the darkness of the world, but remain protected.

We are called into unfamiliar territory and places where we face rejection and even temptation. We need to be careful with that last one in particular because we still need to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and not put ourselves in places that are setting us up to fail.

At the same time, we are not called to live inside a holy huddle – we are not called to stay in our own homes and interact only with our own families and possibly a few people we know we agree with. We are called to be ambassadors of reconciliation, and we cannot do that from within our own room.

We have the message that those around us can be given forgiveness and favor. What do we do with that privilege? Jesus models intimate conversations and soft words that span ideological and political perspectives.

Where is the Spirit leading you? Take some time to be in two-way conversation with God and see where He leads you. You may experience rejection and temptation so put on your armor of God. The darkest rooms are the ones most in need of light.

Let us pray for one another as Christ did, and encourage each other as we bring the message of Christ’s forgiveness and favor into a dark world.

— Sermon Notes, Alison Robison, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, January 29, 2023

Posted on

Blessed are Those Who Have Not Seen & Yet Have Believed – John 20:26-31

Whatever the state of your life, whatever difficulties and hardships, whatever sins beset you, whatever challenges you face – if you believe in Jesus Christ, Jesus in this passage calls you blessed. Blessed even beyond those disciples who stood with him bodily.

This is the entire purpose of John’s gospel – “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” This is where we place our hope, not in earthly trends or capabilities or politicians.

We see here in this passage also one of the clearest statements of Christ’s divinity in the whole New Testament, as Thomas throws himself at the feet of Jesus. It seems clear that Thomas was kept from that first meeting with the risen Christ so that he could serve as a stand-in for all of us who doubt, for all of us who protect ourselves with cynicism, fear and hardness of heart.

In John 11, as Jesus stands at the tomb of Lazarus, he promises Martha that he is “the resurrection and the life.” Martha responds with the same words John writes here.

The first thing Jesus says when he appears to his disciples is “peace be with you.” The second thing he does is provide identification, by way of his hands and feet. Just as when he was walking on the water, his disciples initially thought he was a ghost, but he responded in both that case and his first appearance after his resurrection with “it is I.”

The wounds that serve as his identification also serve as a sign of his peace, and the peace with God that he made possible through his death on the cross, the propitiation provided as foretold through the Passover Lamb.

The third thing Jesus provided to his disciples and to us is liberation from fear. We see how this plays out in Acts 5, where the disciples have gone from locked away in their houses from fear to rejoicing in the opportunity to suffer for the name of the risen Christ. We are offered that same liberation.

As we go out from this Easter Sunday, back into our routines, let us keep in mind that we are blessed, for we believe without having seen, and we have a glorious future.

– Sermon Notes, Rick Mitchell, Island Baptist, Camano Island, WA, April 17, 2022

Posted on

Jesus Wants You to Have Joy – John 2:1-12

Jesus here in his first miracle, the first of seven signs recorded by John, is making a first impression. He is beginning his ministry in a way that tells us something about how his ministry is going to go.

John begins this story with the words “on the third day”, calling back to the creation story and ahead to the resurrection. The third day was the traditional day for a wedding, and the wine involved has many roles and connotations, and it was very important to the wedding celebration.

In a shame/honor culture, running out of wine would not just have been an awkward event, but potentially a shameful event that could have stained their reputation for the rest of their lives.

So Mary asks her son to fix it, but he replies enigmatically “it is not my time.” He means that a public miracle would begin the countdown to his death and resurrection, but Mary is unmoved and tells the servants to do what he says. So Jesus does a miracle quietly, creating the best wine the emcee had ever drunk.

This is the beginning of the symphony of seven signs John writes about, which will crescendo with the raising of Lazarus. It is a miracle almost entirely devoted to joy. 

Jesus wants us to have joy. Salvation is not just about getting a ticket punched at the end of your life, but rather about the Kingdom of God, age all the joy that comes with it, coming into our lives here on earth.

We don’t one why the wine was gone. Maybe the groom was poor, or they were irresponsible, or maybe it was because the disciples crashed the wedding and drank it all. But it clearly doesn’t matter to the purposes of God, or to the joy that He wants to bring to us. 

Our religious selves might have responded differently. We might have had Jesus preach about how he is the water that satisfies, or that the wine of his blood brought salvation, or that he is the bridegroom and we are his bride.

But Jesus didn’t preach a sermon. Instead, he specifically took the jars set aside for the religious ritual of purification and turned it into wine for celebration. He could have done it any way he wanted, but instead he took something set aside for dry religiosity and turned it upside-down – setting the tone for the rest of his ministry through the end of his earthly life and even up through today. 

– Sermon Notes, Tim Schaaf, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, January 27, 2019

John 2:1-12

Something went wrong with the bible. Please make sure that you are requesting a valid passage! If this problem presits please contact joshuawiecorek@outlook.com
Posted on

Who is John the Baptist, and who are you? – John 1:19-34

John here shifts from the 50,000 foot view steeped in cosmic philosophy, into “story mode.” We zoom into a story that takes place over three days, the story of Jesus’ baptism and the beginning of his ministry. This is a story also told in the synoptic gospels, but with notable differences.

John jumps right into the story, but we can learn more about John the Baptist in Matthew. He lived in the wilderness and ate locusts, which were considered clean under Mosaic law, but was still weird. He wrote camel-hair cloak, which sounds fancy but is in fact a poor person’s garb, in the style of Elijah and the other prophets. He was born miraculously, to an elderly priest and his wife. He is like a character out of the Old Testament.

Why is this person, John the Baptist, in the bible? Why is he covered across the gospels? In Matthew 11, Jesus makes it clear: John is the exclamation point at the end of the age of prophecy, coming after a long time of silence. He himself was prophesied about 700 years prior, as a “voice crying in the wilderness.” He himself was apparently a captivating speaker, making a significant impact with his message of repentance.

John was an important prophet whose words carried weight. He also made it clear to his own disciples that Jesus was the one who he was prophesying about.

The “Jewish leaders” broadly speaking are the key villains of the gospel of John, and this is our first glimpse of them. In true “know your enemy” fashion, they wanted to know what and who he was.

Even then, they saw parallels between John and Elijah, and even though John specifically denied being Elijah, Jesus later called him Elijah. While John was not the reincarnation or return of Elijah, he filled the role of Elijah in prophecy (in Malachi).

But he wouldn’t tell the Jewish leaders this, or answer their questions at all, instead pointing ahead to Christ. John does this both because this is his role and because it is his entire identity and purpose.

Here we also get a call back to the opening of the gospel, calling out Christ’s eternal nature, noting that he was “greater because he was before.” Additionally, we get foreshadowing of what is to come, calling Jesus the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The connection between a lamb and the removal of sin would have been very clear to the Jewish people there – John correctly identified Jesus immediately, not just as the son of God, but as the one who would die in order to mediate the sin of all humanity.

This would have been rather confusing, though, because the notion of Jesus being a great leader and being a sacrifice would not have lined up in the minds of the people.

Despite being Jesus’ relative, it appears that John did not actually know Jesus by sight. Instead, God gave him specific criteria by which to identify him – seeing the spirit descending on him like a dove.

This also gives us some application: we also must correctly identify Jesus. John was not viewing Jesus through the filter of what he needed in his life,but rather through the truth of who he actually was. Others saw him as a threat to their power or a chance for political liberation, looking at him through their own filters. We have the same temptations.

The answer may be to follow in the footsteps of John the Baptist who humbled himself and emptied himself of his own identity to the extent that the question “who are you?” returned the answer “someone greater is coming!”

  • Sermon Notes, Aaron James, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, January 13, 2019

John 1:19-34

Something went wrong with the bible. Please make sure that you are requesting a valid passage! If this problem presits please contact joshuawiecorek@outlook.com
Posted on

John’s Perspective on Christ – John 1:1-18

When you look up at a night sky away from cities and light pollution, and see all the billions of stars, it can give you perspective on our small size in the midst of the massive universe. It is an indication that there is much more in the universe than we run into in our day to day lives.

John’s gospel is very much about perspective. It provides a very different perspective than Matthew, Mark and Luke, the synoptic gospels. John is all about Jesus’ nature: who He is and how he relates to other people. John’s gospel is the most clear that Jesus is 100% God. It has a developed Christology that may be the result of being written later than others, once Christians had an opportunity to reflect on the implications of everything.

The gospel opens with the startling assertion that this man Jesus, son of a carpenter from a small town in Palestine, was present at the creation of the universe. He is the one who hung those stars in the sky, speaking of perspective. This is a key belief of Christianity, and also one opposed from early days, by Arians in the fourth century and by Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. But the gospel of John makes it very clear that Jesus was fully divine and fully man. We sometimes take for granted the wildness of this claim. Imagine working as a construction worker next to someone who claimed to be God.

The opening of John echos the opening of Genesis. “In the beginning…” In Genesis, God speaks a word and brings the world into existence. In John, Jesus himself is the Word. In Genesis, light is the first thing created. In John, Jesus himself is the light. In Genesis, Elohim is clearly set apart as the only God, the creator of the universe and far greater than the gods and goddesses of the surrounding cultures. In John, Jesus is the exclusive path to Elohim.

John also opens with a clearly universal message – that path, though exclusive, is open to all. Unlike the Law, which came through the same Torah where we find Genesis, Jesus is full of the grace and truth we need in order to follow that path. This is the perspective John provides.

How does looking at the world from this perspective impact us when times are good or when they are bad? We live in a time-oriented culture, which can mean that we run from activity to activity and lose this bigger perspective even when times are good, and certainly when times are bad. As we as a church go through a difficult season, we need to acknowledge and talk about the pain and grief we are going through. But we also should have perspective that the same Jesus who created the stars created Seed Church, and He is full of grace and truth.

As we open 2019, consider what you have always wanted a church to do and be? Do you have a dream or vision of a ministry at the church? Things will change in the world and in our church, and change is hard. But one thing that will not change is the perspective outlined here in the opening of John. Jesus is the creator of the universe, and He offers us the opportunity to become Children of God.

– Sermon Notes, Dave Lester, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, January 6, 2019

John 1:1-18

Something went wrong with the bible. Please make sure that you are requesting a valid passage! If this problem presits please contact joshuawiecorek@outlook.com
Posted on

The Leftovers – John 6:1-15

John’s intention in this account is to minister to the mature Christians, as opposed to Mark’s account, which was written for the catechumens. It is a foretaste of the Kingdom of God. No one will be dissatisfied – as we pray in the Lord’s prayer.

This is also a message for all generous people who have given their time, talent and treasure to the Kingdom of God, both priests and laypeople. What gifts and blessings have your received from God? If you do not appreciate what you have, how can you share it?

The disciples did not appreciate the little food they had because it did not seem like enough. Jesus, though, did appreciate it, and it turned out to be more than enough. The generosity of a little boy was turned into a miracle, with basketfuls of leftovers.

Bread must be broken in order to be shared. That is how it fulfills its mission. We are reminded of this every time we receive the bread and wine.

Why did Jesus have the leftovers gathered? The leftovers are all those who have given of themselves to the Kingdom. And they will be gathered up by God in the end. This is what is so beautiful in this gospel.

– Homily Notes, Church of St. Katherine of Alexandria, Riverside, CA, July 29, 2018

John 6:1-15

Something went wrong with the bible. Please make sure that you are requesting a valid passage! If this problem presits please contact joshuawiecorek@outlook.com

Posted on

What Does it Mean to be a Disciple? – John 4:1-10

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? This story tackles this question, with Samaritan woman as a model of discipleship.

At this time, Jesus is heading north out of Jerusalem after having knocked over tables and whipped people at the temple. It says that he “had to” go through Samaria. This could mean that he was specially directed to do this specific thing. More likely, though, this was a providential event – he has to go through because it was the quickest way and he was in a hurry. God used this mundane event to change an entire town.

So we find Jesus at a well asking for help. This is strange in a number of ways. He’s a single Jewish man at a Samaritan well, without any way to get water, asking a Samaritan woman to help out. Jesus quickly uses the water situation to create a metaphor.

Well water was stale, unmoving, while “living water” is water that moves, down from the mountains and hills. The idea that there is a secret source of pure, moving, living water was of great interest to her. Jesus uses her physical need in order to highlight her spiritual one.

Traditionally, this woman has been understood as a “loose woman” but given the penalties for adultery and her apparently positive reputation in the town, that may not be the case. More likely, she is stuck in an abusive system, divorced and discarded multiple times by men, and she is currently betrothed yet again.

Notably, when the discussion here moves from the physical to the spiritual, the woman does not lose interest. She recognizes her need in this area, and expresses her limited understanding of what God’s plan is, specifically bringing up a key point of contention between the Jews and the Samaritans. Jesus tells her that something new is coming that will deprecate both understandings. She also has some understanding of this, and knows from Old Testament prophecy that this is the sort of thing the Messiah will do – and then Jesus reveals that he himself is that messiah.

About this time, the disciples return, typically clueless and unclear on what Jesus is doing. The woman then runs off to tell about this remarkable man, even leaving her water jar, possibly her most valuable possession. Her paradigm has fully shifted from the physical to the spiritual. The disciples still don’t know what is happening and try to get him to eat.

Jesus, however, is still focused on the spiritual side. As he sees the people of the town streaming towards him, likely still dressed in their white work tunics, he shows the disciples what they should be focusing on: “look, the fields are white for harvest.” The goal is making disciples, bringing lost people to forgiveness and acceptance of Jesus.

Jesus invited the woman to meet the real God. He offered her freedom, showing her where in her life she was a slave. He helped her discover a greater purpose than carrying water. She then went on to make a difference, not through her own powers of persuasion, but rather as a conduit for what the Holy Spirit was already doing.

These are the same things we try to do as a church. We offer an opportunity to encounter the living God. We try to be a mechanism for bringing freedom from sin into people’s lives through sanctification. We help each other discover our purpose and develop meaning in our lives. Understanding this purpose is key to seeking freedom, providing a direction for our sanctification. Finally, we live out that purpose, and go out and make a direct impact on the lives of others.

– Sermon Notes, Brent Rood, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA

John 4:1-10

Something went wrong with the bible. Please make sure that you are requesting a valid passage! If this problem presits please contact joshuawiecorek@outlook.com

Posted on

Servant Leadership – John 13:1-16

Jesus was the greatest leader in history, and in this passage he demonstrates his divine method of servant leadership. He knew, John tells us, that his time on earth was coming to an end. We know from the Garden of Gethsemene that he had a real level of fear and anxiety around the crucifixion. He also knew that he loved his disciples, and would love them through all of what would come.

This included the one who he knew would shortly betray him to torture and death. He knew he was the second person of the Trinity, and was shortly to reclaim his place among the godhead – and yet his final acts were those of service to those far below him. And so he washed his disciples’ feet.

Keep in mind that this was a culture that wore sandals and walked along roads lined and caked with feces. A servant might be asked to wash your feet, just like a janitor might unclog a disgusting toilet, or a hospice nurse might clean bedsores.

And so when Jesus wraps the towel around his waist and goes to wash Peter’s feet, Peter rejects it. Someone so high doing something so low for someone so low offended Peter’s understanding of leadership. But Jesus explains that to reject his act of service is to reject his very self. This is a direct parallel with the cross – those who reject the service of Christ on the cross are rejecting Christ himself.

So Peter, who wouldn’t know a metaphor if it hit him in the face, begins to strip down to get washed from head to toe. (Ultimately, Peter will take the image of Jesus wrapping himself in a towel for this act of service and make it core to his image of the Christian life – “clothe yourself in humility.”)

Jesus forestalls him, and instead notes that all of them are clean because they have (or will have) accepted his act of service, with one exception. Judas will reject that offer of service and this remains unclean.

He then moves farther ahead in time, speaking to the church era when these men will found and lead congregations around the world. He calls on them, when they find themselves in positions of leadership, to lead as servants, to take the picture he has painted of servant leadership and replicate it down through the ages.

Within the Christian life, leadership is serving. The distinction between ruler and scavenger is non-existent in Christ. If we refuse to serve our wives, for example, by changing diapers or washing dishes because that is “her job” then we have already missed the point. If we serve from a selfish motivation, picking those services that are enjoyable or that let us claim special status, then we are not truly serving.

True Christ-like service draws no distinction between public and private service. Nor does it have a need to calculate results, whether external or internal. It is not driven by feelings or whims. It is action-oriented and Christ-focused. Once you have the right mindset, the challenge is actually doing it, without those external motivators.

It is difficult to give up the power and control that worldly leadership offers. Serving rarely pays off from a material point of view. Serving may well mean you perform worse, whether in a job or wherever else. Serving means making sacrifices to make those around you succeed, not you yourself.

– Sermon Notes, Brent Rood, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA

John 13:1-16
Something went wrong with the bible. Please make sure that you are requesting a valid passage! If this problem presits please contact joshuawiecorek@outlook.com

Posted on

Marianne Goddard Memorial Service – John 14:1-6

In general, when Jesus is telling people not to be worried, frightened and troubled, it’s because he is talking to people who are worried, frightened and troubled. But he always followed such instruction with a relational assurance – a relationship with him is the reason and the capability for following such a command.

Remember that was not a conversation with people who understood what Christ was saying  in light of the cross, the epistles, the church and the creeds. Instead, it was radical, scandalous and downright blasphemous.

But Jesus himself is the Way – and we saw Marianne Goddard follow that Way in her life. And Jesus was himself Truth – the person of Jesus was the Truth of Jesus. In a world of shifting and conflicting truths and falsehoods, Marianne lived with Jesus as her truth.

And Jesus himself is the Life, and the only passage to the Father. Jesus came to proclaim the “upside-down kingdom.” To lead you must serve, to win you must lose, to live you must die. Today, we mourn and miss Marianne. It is a loss that aches. But Marianne knew Christ as her Way, her Truth and her Life, and through the gift of faith she received through grace, she now lives in glory in the presence of her Savior.

May her life serve as a call to us. If we also know Christ as our way, truth and life, may it serve as a reminder of what we aspire to. If we do not, let us see her beckoning us to know Him as she does.

– Notes from the Memorial Service for Marianne Goddard, Jeremy Taylor, Temple Baptist Church, Portland, OR

John 14:1-6
Something went wrong with the bible. Please make sure that you are requesting a valid passage! If this problem presits please contact joshuawiecorek@outlook.com