Jesus has just spent three amazing years with his disciples. They heard firsthand the teaching of Jesus that confounded skeptics and gave life to those that accepted His words. They witnessed the Miracles of Jesus where people were restored and nature obeyed his very words. Life with Jesus was so amazing the disciples might have wondered, how could this get any better? Then in the opening verse of John 14 Jesus tells them the best is yet to come. Now the disciples had a hard time accepting that the best was yet to come because Jesus had just told them he would be leaving them, and they were “troubled.” The disciples had become focused on what they thought Jesus would or should do at that particular time. The thought of Jesus leaving brought up emotions they were not prepared for and they were troubled. It was necessary for Jesus to suffer, die, rise to life again and return to the Father in order for them to receive the gift of Heaven: the best that is to come.
We can be like the disciples by focusing only on what we think Jesus can do for us in the here and now. And while things like His presence, peace and strengthening are amazing during this life, in the gift of Heaven we know the best is yet to come! Christians become troubled when we only focus on the circumstance of the world we live in. Do you ever have emotions you are not prepared to deal with and find yourself in a troubled state of mind? Jesus invites us to see that He and the Father can be trusted because they have a wonderful plan that concludes in Heaven, with the best that is yet to come. Join me this Sunday as we look at the promise of Jesus that the best is yet to come.

The word “Glory” means to extol virtue or to magnify good qualities of a person or thing. We get the image of seeing something from its very best perspective. When you walk into the showroom of a car dealership the new cars they want you to buy are displayed to demonstrate all their best qualities: you see the glory of the car. When a person is being nominated for a position, whether it be to the PTA or as the President of the United States, to convince people to vote for them their virtues are extolled: you hear the glory of the nominee.
Our text in John 13:31 – 38 begins with Jesus saying, “Now is the Son of Man glorified.” When it comes to the glory of God, we might think of His works seen in creation, the miracles recorded in Scripture, or even the poetic description of God in the Psalms. But that is not where the Glory of God is at its greatest. The highest virtue of God and the greatest qualities of God are seen in the cross of Christ. In every other segment of society the cross is seen as a symbol of torture, punishment and defeat. In God’s economy the cross is the opposite of defeat. The cross of Christ is God’s victory over sin, death and the Devil. The cross of Christ is glorious because the perfect love of God is on full display.
Jesus follows His statement regarding the glory of God with a new command for his followers to “love one another, as I have loved you.” This command adds a new twist to the Old Testament command to simply love others as yourself. To love as Christ loved requires sacrifice for the benefit of those we seek to love. In the remaining verses of the chapter Jesus describes how his followers will glorify God after He returns to heaven, followed by a serious threat to our attempts to glorify God.
As we work our way through the Gospel of John I didn’t have a master plan (I think God did) to be on this text for our One Church Service, but I can’t think of a better passage for us on this occasion. As the service closes we will celebrate the Lord’s Table which points us back to our text in John 13. In communion we see both the glory of the cross that brings the unity of the Church and the love that results from that. Join us on Sunday as we explore the Glory of the Cross.

Our text in John’s Gospel this Sunday exposes Judas as the betrayer of Jesus. Judas is a perplexing personality in the Gospels. Judas spent the better part of three years with Jesus where he heard Jesus preach, saw the miracles of Jesus, and had the opportunity to know Jesus in private settings. Yet, when the moment of decision came, Judas rejected Jesus?
A reason Judas is a troubling personality in the Gospels is because we wonder, “if it happened to him, could it happen to me?” This Sunday, as we work through the passage, I hope you will be able to see and understand how Judas got to the place where Satan entered him and he did the terrible thing that he did. Judas stands in contrast to the other 11 disciples who, in spite of their faults, accepted Christ as the Savior of their souls. Through this passage we can better understand the security we have as a result of accepting God’s offer of Salvation in Christ and the relationship we have with Him because of that.
The life of Judas is a cautionary tale to anyone who is putting off accepting God’s offer of Salvation in Christ. Judas repeatedly held Jesus at a distance as he pursued his own path to achieve his own goals for life. His heart became hard to Jesus. The Gospel is a call to surrender to God’s offer of salvation in Christ, which includes an acceptance of God’s will for our lives. If you have been putting off trusting Christ, learn from what happened to Judas, and receive God’s gracious offer of salvation in Christ. Join me this Sunday as we see What Happened to Judas?

Because we live in a beach community most of us have some experience with washing our feet: When you go to the beach your feet are covered in sand so washing them before you get into your vehicle or enter your home is a good practice. Most other regions of the country people never wash their feet apart from when they take a bath or shower. However, in the ancient near east, foot washing was a part of everyday hygiene and was practiced to prevent the contamination of the living space, especially where people would eat. In John 13 the practice of foot washing takes on a spiritual meaning for the disciples as well as for the church today.

The act of foot washing was usually done by either a servant or the person of the lowest social status among the group. It was an act of service to others. Jesus assumes the role of a servant to His disciples and washes their feet before the last supper. Jesus concluded the foot washing by saying “you should wash one another’s feet.” We will see on Sunday that the clearest application to the spiritual life is that of serving each other in the efforts of personal sanctification. You need other Christians to help you grow in becoming more like Christ, and at the same time they need your help. The point is we need to serve others, but we also need others to serve us. 

I have participated in a few foot washings over my life where someone would wash my feet and then I washed someone else’s feet. Both were a challenge for me. To wash another person’s feet was foreign to me and let’s be honest about feet; they can smell bad. But what I found more difficult was to let another person wash my feet. I was self-conscious and wondered how my feet smell? When it comes to sharing in the sanctification process with other Christians let’s be honest; it can get a little messy. But that is what Christ has called us to do as a community of faith. Are you willing to do the gritty but glorious work of washing another’s feet? Are you willing to humble yourself and let another person come wash your feet? Foot Washers are needed. Join me this Sunday as we dive into John 13 and the practice of spiritual foot washing. 

I generally make a long term plan for what I will preach and rarely will I deviate from that plan. Sue came to me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to preach on love for the Sunday before Valentine’s Day, and as you know, I have a hard time saying no to her. My message this Sunday is Love, True Love, from 1 John 4:7-12. 

The apostle John writes a lot on the subject of love and especially so in his epistles. In our text this Sunday he makes a statement about love that reveals the very nature of God: “God is love.” John actually states it twice in the 4th chapter. It’s not that God gives love, or shares love, or is loving. No, God is love, meaning love defines His very nature and His nature defines what love is. We would all agree that showing love is not something only reserved for Christians. I personally know many very loving non Christians and at the same time I know some Christians that are not very loving.  However, to truly love, as God defines love, you have to be on the receiving end of God’s love yourself in order to show love to others. Christ is not only the source of all love but He is the great demonstration of love through His death on a cross, providing the example of how we are to love: with sacrifice and for another’s benefit. The application of that love must be seen in marriage relationships, parent-child relationships, in the Body of Christ and from Christians to the unbelieving world around us. Join me this Sunday for a look at Love, Ture Love.

Have you heard about the group of frogs who were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other Frogs gathered around the pit.  When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead.  The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it OUT!  You see, this frog was deaf, unable to hear the others’ pleas. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time. The right motivation matters.

When it comes to serving it is not uncommon for people to lose interest and stop after a while. In 2 Corinthians 4 the Apostle Paul warns about the potential to “lose heart” or become discouraged while serving. The devil is active in his efforts to discourage people from serving and one of the ways he does this is by giving wrong motives for serving. He’s ok for a person to serve for a short time with poor motives, because he knows it will not last long. In our text this week Paul offers correct motivation for serving in the church. With the right motivation it is amazing what a person can do as they serve. Join me this Sunday as we find healthy motivations for serving in the church.