The Gospels record 37 miracles of Jesus, and 28 of the 37 (over 75 percent) involve him healing people. Jesus healed friends, strangers, and even opponents. He continued to heal people until the very end of his life. In his last hours, he heals the high priest’s servant sent to arrest him. Chronologically, this passage is the first healing miracle of Jesus. And what was the purpose? That we would believe: “The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.” (Jn 4:53)   Take-Home Message: Jesus heals so that w ..read more

Radical encounters with Jesus cause us to do radical things for Jesus. The Bible is full of examples, such as Paul’s miraculous conversion and immediate preaching in Damascus (Acts 9:20-22). Perhaps nothing captures this better than the Samaritan woman testifying to her town after encountering Jesus at the well. God rewarded her radical faith— her boldness led to a revival!  Take-Home Message: Encountering Jesus changes you.  The Woman at the Well: Part 2 - An Unlikely Witness (27-30) - The Disciples’ Confusion (31-33) - The Disciples’ Lesson (34-38) - An Unlikely Harvest (39-42) &n ..read more

God could do things in ways that we would expect, but He often doesn’t do that. Why? Because if God did things in expected ways, that would be a story about us. But God does things in unexpected ways so that we know it is a story about God. Part of God’s unexpected plan is to pursue the most unlikely people, and Jesus illustrates this in His pursuit of the Samaritan woman.   Take-Home Message: Jesus reveals Himself in unexpected ways at unexpected times to unexpecting people.   The Woman at the Well: The Background (1-4)   What caused such division between Jews and Samaritans ..read more

If Jesus had left the comfort of Heaven and lived a life of royalty on earth to save us, that alone would be the world’s greatest act of humility. But Jesus went far beyond that. He left Heaven and took the form of a servant, humbling Himself to the point of death on a cross. This is unfathomable humility and love. In the face of such greatness, what can we do but fall on our faces and worship? For Jesus is superior to all.   Take-Home Message: Jesus loves you so much that He left Heaven to save you.   Jesus left Heaven to be…  Rejected by man (31-32). Glorified by the Father ..read more

“It is not enough for the skeptic, then, to simply dismiss the Christian teaching about the resurrection of Jesus by saying, “It just couldn’t have happened.” He or she must face and answer all these historical questions: Why did Christianity emerge so rapidly, with such power? No other band of messianic followers in that era concluded their leader was raised from the dead—why did this group do so? No group of Jews ever worshipped a human being as God. What led them to do it?... How do you account for the hundreds of eyewitnesses to the resurrection who lived on for decades and publicly mainta ..read more

A funeral for Jesus Christ ..read more

Don’t jump from Palm Sunday to Easter.  You need to spend time this week thinking about the week that Christ went through for our salvation.    Message: Luke 19:41-44  When He drew near to the city, He wept over it saying: “Would that even you would know this day the things that made for peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the day will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and tear you down to the ground. You, and your children with you. They will not leave one stone upon another, be ..read more

“Many, through wishing to be great, have failed to be good.” (Spurgeon) John the Baptist was a great man, Jesus Himself said so (Mt. 11:11). But John the Baptist was great because he served God and others rather than being consumed with himself. He did not seek the place of honor or the highest position, he humbled himself and pointed others to Christ. John 3:30 sums up the entire attitude and greatness of John- “He must increase, but I must decrease.”   Take-Home Message: If you want to be great, be a servant.  John the Baptist Exalts Christ: The Context (22-24) The Discussion ..read more

John 3:16 may be the most quoted and/or the most memorized verse in the Bible.  But in some ways, the verses immediately following it may bring more clarity about God and the ways of God, than any others!  John 3:16  For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that who so ever believes in Him, will not perish, but have eternal life.  John 3:17-18     But God did not send His son into the world to condemn it, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is cond ..read more

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” -C.S. Lewis   People feel empty, and because of that, they are searching. Nicodemus represents the quintessential searcher: he had a lot to lose, but he couldn’t stay away from Jesus. His journey is a story of leaving this world behind and taking hold of that which is truly life. Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night, and he finds the Light of the World. Take-Home Message: My search for satisfaction will only end when Jesus is found. You Must ..read more