Podcasts about Farewell Discourse

In Week 2 of our series through the Farewell Discourse in John's Gospel, Pastor Gabe teaches from John 14:15–31 on Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit. As Jesus prepares His disciples for His departure, He assures them they will not be left alone. We're reminded that through the presence of the Holy Spirit, God is with us—guiding us, comforting us, and filling us with His peace.

In Week 1 of our new series through the Farewell Discourse in John's Gospel, Pastor Gabe teaches from John 14:1–14 and reminds us that when the future feels uncertain, Jesus remains steady, present, and trustworthy. As Jesus prepares His disciples for His departure, we're reminded that peace is not found in having all the answers, but in trusting the One who holds the future.

Our Current Situation Jonathan Parnell Download Acts 1:1-11,In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”Acts 2:1-4,When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.Today, on Pentecost Sunday, it has seemed good to the elders to have a sermon that addresses our current moment. Now, if you've been around for the past few months, you know that we've not ignored our situation — we have tried to ‘keep our eyes on the base' ahead of us, and every now and then we've said things behind this pulpit, and I've written things, to try to guide us through these days. But what makes today different is that I want to address everything a little more ‘on the nose,' as it were. My hope is to be as clear as possible. I want to tell you three realities about our current moment: Where we areWhat we're facingHow we respond And if you're a guest with us this morning, I need to explain that we normally do what's called expositional preaching. It's the central part of our worship, which is the heartbeat of our church. Every Sunday, we open the Bible and preach through a passage of Scripture. My goal as a preacher is to simply tell you what God says. We do that by conviction, because we believe what we most need, and the power to change our lives, is the word of God. And we're in the word today, here in Acts 2, but we're just gonna spend most of our time, not on exposition, but on application. You'll see what I mean. Let's get started.The first reality of our current moment … I want to tell you …1. Where we areRight away, it's this: we are currently in the promised age of the Spirit.We are in the part of redemptive history when the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the people of God. The gospel is advancing. Jesus is building his church — And that's what I tell my grandfather every summer when I seem him on our family trip to North Carolina.Twenty-three years ago, when I believed God was calling me to be a pastor, my grandfather was one of the first persons I told. He is a godly man who has had a deep influence on me, and I try to see him at least once a year. And every summer that I've seen him for the last decade, he always asks me, “Son, how's the church?” And for several years now, the first thing I say is: “Grandaddy, the gospel is advancing. Jesus is building his church.” And he just smiles.Well, this morning, from Acts 2, I wanna tell you the short story of why that's true.The Story of PentecostThis is where the Day of Pentecost comes in. Pentecost is the foundational event in the Book of Acts, and Luke wants us to see the connection between Pentecost and the ministry of Jesus. Look at Acts 1, verse 4. Luke writes, And while staying with them he [Jesus] ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me…”Notice that when Jesus gives his disciples instructions for receiving the Spirit, he starts it by saying “you've heard me talk about this.” Jesus has taught on the Holy Spirit before, and we've heard this teaching! The Holy Spirit is the big topic in the Farewell Discourse, in the Gospel of John. We've heard Jesus say:John 14:16, “… I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth …”John 15:25, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”So as we come into the Book of Acts, we already have an expectation: the Spirit proceeds from the Father — he is the promise of the Father and Jesus will ask and receive from the Father to give the Spirit to us. And so we are ready for this. Now jump over to Acts Chapter 2.Acts 2, verse 1 — it is the Day of Pentecost — 50 days after Jesus's resurrection, about a week and a half after Jesus's ascension. And the disciples have done what Jesus instructed; they had been waiting in Jerusalem; they were altogether, and then verse 2: … suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.The promised Spirit has come!And it leaves the onlookers amazed and perplexed, so Peter ‘stands up' among the disciples to explain what's going on. This is significant: Because Peter had fallen — which we saw last week: in his worst moment he denied Jesus — but he is now restored and standing among his brothers. And, filled with the Holy Spirit, he preaches the best sermon ever. He says that Jesus, who had been crucified, is now raised up, and, verse 33:Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.Notice how this ties it altogether. We know the behind-the-scenes here, because Jesus told us: Jesus has asked the Father for the Spirit, to give him to us. Jesus has received the Spirit from the Father, and now, on this Day of Pentecost, Jesus has poured out the Spirit on his people. This is so significant that it marks the official transition from the old covenant to the new. This moment commences what the apostle Paul calls the “day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). That's another way to talk about the ‘promised age of the Spirit' or the ‘messianic age of salvation.'Witness and OpportunityThis age means at least two things:First, it means that we are Jesus's witnesses.The Spirit who bears witness to Jesus, bears witness to Jesus through us. We've talked about this recently: the work of Jesus in this world has not ended, but it's continued now by his Spirit through his people. We are not of the world, but Jesus has sent us into the world, and he tells us in Acts 1:8, “you will be my witnesses.”We are here to be life and light to a dead and dark world by pointing to Jesus.And secondly, this age of the Spirit means what Peter says in Chapter 2, verse 21 … that right now, because the Spirit is poured out, “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from; your background, your mistakes, your name — none of it matters. If you call on the name of Jesus Christ — if you ask Jesus to save you, he will save you. This is more amazing than we can begin to comprehend! It is the real headline today — just like it was the real headline yesterday. In fact, this has been the real headline everyday for the past two thousand years! Ever since Acts Chapter 2, the real daily headline is: TRUST CHRIST AND BE SAVED!That is where we are. That is the truest situation we're in. The grace of God is abounding all over this world! And so get in on the grace while you still can. That's where we are. Now, #2 … what we're facing …2. What we're facingIn a word, what we're facing is opposition — which is not strange.First, it's not strange because opposition is a kind of trial — and trials of various kinds are a means that God uses to produces in us steadfastness (James 1:2–4). This is part of the way that God shapes our character and deepens our hope (Romans 5:2–5). This is how he brings to completion the good work he began in us (Philippians 1:6).Another reason opposition is not strange is that, in light of churches throughout history and churches all around the world, countless local churches face opposition. It's just how it is! From the moment the Spirit is poured out in Acts 2, the church advances through both power and resistance.If anything, the opposition and challenges we're facing make us more at home with world Christianity — and more at home with the Book of Acts — than we ever were before.And so, ultimately, church, we're gonna be okay. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and we will see his face one day, and until then our Heavenly Father watches over us in such a way that not a hair can fall from our heads apart from his will, and in fact, all things must work together for our salvation. Hey, we're blessed! And we need to remind ourselves of this everyday, over and over again. And the Holy Spirit helps us to do that! He ministers hope to us through this Book!And at the same time, as we live in this hope, we should not downplay the opposition set against us, especially not the parts that are unlawful, harmful to our families and children, and that put other churches at risk.I think about a good friend in college … he spent a whole summer in West Africa, in the bush, doing a missions project, and one of the individuals on his team was so eager to suffer for Jesus that they decided not to the bring a toothbrush for the entire four months. And this person experienced all the things you might imagine you would if you don't brush your teeth for a long time. And one of the lessons my friend learned is that “Jesus is most likely okay with a toothbrush.”The lesson is that although suffering for Jesus is normal — and the Bible teaches us to expect it — that doesn't mean that we seek it out or accept it without any concern.For example: God has instituted earthly authorities, known as government, as a means to create and guard ordered societies. According to Romans 13, we should expect our government to punish wrongdoing.What happened to us on January 18 was wrong, period.And much of what continues to go on out here on Sunday mornings is also wrong.And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, then great. Keep it like that. There are ways to get into this space without having to walk past these people who hate us. I'd encourage you: avail yourselves to those ways.But to be clear: out front, over the past few months we have experienced, and have evidence of, chargeable offenses. People have said things and behaved toward our church members with the intent to cause harm and induce reasonable fear. They want to make our coming to worship as uncomfortable as possible so that we would stop coming. (Their goal is to shut us down, just like the people who desecrated our worship service on January 18.) But, the more serious issue is that, so far, our city and state officials are doing nothing about it. And that's the bigger problem. The world hating us is expected — Jesus told us they would. But our local government should enforce the law equally, for all people, including for Baptists … including for Evangelical Christians … but they're not doing that.So that's what we're facing, here in our little slice of the world, in the Twin Cities, in this promised age of the Spirit poured out.Now #3, I want to tell you …3. How we respondNow before I say anything here about our response, I first want to commend you and thank you for your response so far.And I want to give a special thanks to our security team. These men have done so much over the past several months to protect us from physical harm and to promote safety, and I thank God for them. I encourage you, when you get a chance, express your gratitude to these men. And for our entire church, corporately, look, your response has been remarkable. Over and over again the fruit of the Spirit has been manifested in you: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.I've seen it in you! So thanks be to God, and may this fruit abound more and more!Now, as we look forward to a new season, and the opposition drags on, I want to tell you about a three-part strategy that's trying to taking everything into account. With God's help, these are three actions that we can take in these days.1. We will pursue wise and lawful means to hold our opponents accountable for wrongdoing. We are continuing to document everything, and we're doing our best to work with the St. Paul Police and city officials to get the law enforced. This means that we, as your pastors, gotta be a little persistent. We have to kindly bother them, and that's what I plan to do.I hope to have an audience with Mayor Her, and I want to appeal to her. And I would say:Mayor Her, on April 20th this year, in your address on the state of St. Paul, you said that you are committed to listening and to acting and to lifting St. Paul higher to its full potential, but I wonder: Do you include Evangelical Christians in that commitment? Or, do you only care about people you agree with? You have left us to wonder this. These are serious questions that we need to ask. That's one part of our response.Here's the second:2. We will increase our fervent prayer.I know many of us have been praying, and many other churches have been praying for us, and I want to encourage us to keep on, and even pray more. Look, we know, Ephesians 6:12, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.Our opposition is fundamentally spiritual, and therefore our response must be fundamentally spiritual. We put on the armor of the Lord, which includes praying at all times in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18).And so the plan is to equip our greeters and security with some guided prayer points to carry with them as they're serving, and I would like to build a small team of prayer warriors to pray as our people are coming to worship. I will send more communications about this, but just know it's coming. We're gonna pray more. I'm reminded of the quote, goes back to Oswald Chamber. He says:“Prayer does not equip us for greater works — prayer is the greater work.”3. We will remember the real headline. Now I've already told you the real headline, but it's probably not one that you're gonna find in your feeds. The real headline today — and everyday until Jesus comes back — is that THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS BEEN POURED OUT!TRUST CHRIST AND BE SAVED!Church, Jesus is real. Jesus is alive — and he is not anxious about anything. He's not worried about our future. Right now he's reigning from the Father's right hand. He has all authority in heaven and on earth, and he has many in these cities who are his people. We are in the promised age of the Spirit, the age of salvation. And that means that anybody from anywhere — it doesn't matter who you are or where you're from or what you're past is — if you call on the name of the Lord you will be saved!And because this is true, church, be filled with the Holy Spirit and take the next step on mission — Have that gospel conversation with your neighbor or coworker. Invite people to church! — hey, if you think people are not gonna wanna come because of the opposition, just test that out. Invite people to come see for themselves who we truly are.In these days when our opponents want to shut us down, I pray that God doubles our size. I pray that he multiplies us! I pray that he sends us out! We don't want less mission — we want more. More prayer. More courage. More witness. More disciples made.More of the glory of Jesus overcoming us and overflowing through us! The promised Spirit is here! And he is at work. In a couple of months, God willing, I'm going to see my grandfather in North Carolina. And he's been following what's going on. He keeps up on us. But when I see him, he's gonna ask me, “Son, how's the church?” And I'm gonna say, “Granddaddy, the gospel is advancing! Jesus is building his church!”And he's gonna smile because he knows it's true. This is the time in which we live. May God be glorified through us!And that's what brings us to the Table. The TableAt this table each week, we enter into a ritual that Jesus gave to his church. It's for Christians.So if you're here and you're not a Christian, if you have not put your faith in Jesus, this is an opportunity to do that. On this day, in this moment, I invite you: call on the name of Jesus, put your faith in him, and be saved. Now, for Cities Church and all who trust in Christ, let us remember him — let's remember his death and resurrection for us, and let's remember the hope we have in him.

What does God actually call you?Not the names your shame gives you. Not the names your anxiety gives you. Not the names your failures, wounds, scruples, or self-hatred have taught you to answer to.In this episode of St. Anthony's Tongue, we linger with some of the strange and tender names God gives the soul throughout Scripture, especially in the Song of Songs: my dove, my darling, my sister, my perfect one, along with bride, friend, little flock, and temple.This is not about cute religious nicknames. It is about Catholic mysticism, identity, prayer, and the healing of the soul. God does not flatter the soul. He tells the truth about it. And sometimes the truth is more merciful, more intimate, and more beautiful than we are prepared to receive.We'll explore the Song of Songs, the Farewell Discourse, the words of Christ in John 15, “fear not little flock” in Luke 12, and what it means to stop answering to names God never gave you.God never called you failure.God never called you disgusting.God never called you a lost cause.God never called you too much or not enough.So what does He call you?Let's talk about the secret names God gives the soul.

This week in worship we are guided by Jesus' words in the Gospel of John, a section called the “Farewell Discourse” where Jesus prepares the disciples for life in his absence. It can be a somber text, but this week we read Jesus' words with a hopeful lens, made up of memories shared with those we have loved. Sue Madsen will offer our Mother's Day Reflection and a donation to Centrica Rose Harbor Place will be made in her honor. Learn more about this hospice facility below. We'll also recognize our High School Seniors during First Steps and a special video at the end of worship.Link to Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6rr4x4FGokLink to Start of Reflection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6rr4x4FGok&t=2580sIf you are new to our faith community and are interested in learning more, please go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Welcome to First Congo Online - First Congregational Church of Western Springs⁠

This week in worship we are guided by Jesus' words in the Gospel of John, a section called the “Farewell Discourse” where Jesus prepares the disciples for life in his absence. It can be a somber text, but this week we read Jesus' words with a hopeful lens, made up of memories shared with those we have loved. Sue Madsen will offer our Mother's Day Reflection and a donation to Centrica Rose Harbor Place will be made in her honor. Learn more about this hospice facility below. We'll also recognize our High School Seniors during First Steps and a special video at the end of worship.Link to Livestream: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6rr4x4FGok⁠Link to Start of Reflection: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6rr4x4FGok&t=960sIf you are new to our faith community and are interested in learning more, please go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Welcome to First Congo Online - First Congregational Church of Western Springs⁠

Jesus Is in Control Jonathan Parnell Download John 18:1-11,When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” 10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) 11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”Back in John Chapter 10, Jesus said something really important we should keep in mind. He said, Chapter 10, verse 18:No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.In other words, Jesus has told us in advance that he's in complete control of his suffering that will come, and in Chapter 18 that suffering is no longer future tense. The suffering that Jesus has talked about begins to unfold rapidly, in real time. Notice here how verse 1 sets the scene for us: Jesus has finished the Farewell Discourse, and his prayer for the disciples in Chapter 17, and now he leaves the Upper Room, and they go outside to a garden.So this is a new setting — and all the Gospel writers report this to us, but John includes some details here that the others don't. And the reason is because John has a direct theological agenda: He wants readers to know that what Jesus said back in Chapter 10, verse 18 is true — the arrest of Jesus is not a haphazard collapse into chaos, but it is the controlled descent into chaos for our sake. John's point is that Jesus is in control — that's his main idea here, and he makes it clear in at least three ways. That's what I wanna show you this morning: three ways Jesus is in control during chaos …1. Jesus knew all that would happen to him. John tells us this directly in verse 4. He says Jesus knew “all that would happen to him” — and the keyword there is the word “all.” This implies that Jesus didn't just know the outcome — he didn't just know where he'd end up — but he knew all the details that would take him there, including the details of Judas's betrayal. That's the focus in this passage.It's fascinating that John gives us more details about Judas than any other Gospel. First, it's just in the mention of Judas … Five different times in this Gospel when John names Judas, he says, “Judas, who would betray him.” He said that way back in Chapter 6, and again in Chapters 12 and 13, and he says it twice in this passage, in verses 2 and 5 — which means John says this about Judas even as the betrayal is taking place (see John 6:71; 12:4; 13:2; 18:2, 5). Why does John do this? Well, I think most basically it's because John wants us to never forget who Judas is, but it's also because he wants us to see Judas through a certain lens: John wants us to see that everything Judas does is fulfillment, not surprise. The case in point is that John gives us these premeditation details of Judas — that's what I'm calling them, “premeditation details.” Look at this in verse 2. After Jesus and his disciples went to the garden in verse 1, verse 2 says:“Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.”Don't miss how dark and sinister this is … Judas knew where to find Jesus. Judas had left the Upper Room in Chapter 13, and maybe by this point he had come back to the Upper Room and found it empty, or maybe he didn't. Either way, at some point, Judas thought, “I know where he is.”And he knew where Jesus was because of their friendship.He knew Jesus was in the garden because he had been there with him many times before. The garden was a favorite spot for Jesus to pray and teach his disciples, and Judas had prayed with Jesus there. He had been taught by Jesus there. Jesus had brought him there, and now Judas used that against Jesus.I hate Judas. I hate him. I hate him like I hate the devil. Can you believe what he did?More details in verse 3 are important.Judas had procured two groups of men to come with him. One was a band of soldiers (which would have been Roman soldiers), and the other was a group of officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. Now the the English Standard Version translates the first group “band of soldiers” but another word for it is “detachment of soldiers” (that's how the New International Version translates it). And what's interesting is that the Greek word behind “detachment” or “band” was an actual category of soldiers in the Roman army. Historical documents from the First Century tell us about it. A detachment was 200 soldiers. That's what the word means.Now, there's a chance that the full 200 soldiers didn't come along here, but my guess is that more soldiers came with Judas than we typically picture in our minds.Because in addition to this relatively large group of Roman soldiers, there were also Jewish officials. (This group would have been like the temple police who worked for the high priests and Pharisees.)And together, these soldiers and police, had lanterns and torches and weapons. So we gotta picture this correctly: this is not a small group of ragtag cavemen with clubs, but this is a sizable fraction of the Roman army together with Jewish police, and they're well-supplied, and they're led by Judas to this place only Judas knows about. This was calculated evil.John tells us in verse 5:“Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.”Do you see how despicable this is? There's deeper meaning here:The Roman soldiers represented the Gentile world; the Jewish officials or police represented Jesus's own people; and Judas represented Satan himself — because John told us in 13:27 that Satan had entered into Judas. So, understand what's going on here: In this group that came to arrest Jesus, it represents all of creation conspiring against him. All of humanity, Jew and Gentile, and the demonic realm — they have plotted together and set themselves against the Lord and his anointed.And Judas, standing with him, would have thought he was so smart. He would have had the smuggest look on his face.And the only thing that does not make this an absolute knockout win for Judas — like the only reason Judas has not just pulled one over on his Rabbi — is that Jesus knew about it the whole time.Every single time Jesus had been in this garden with his disciples … every single time over the last three years he prayed there with them and taught there with them … every time they “took sweet counsel together” as friends — every single time Jesus had ever seen the face of Judas in this garden, he knew that Judas would do this. Every moment in the garden before this moment, he knew this moment would come. Because he knew all that would happen to him. See, Jesus is in control.Here's another way we see Jesus in control during the chaos …2. Jesus was straightforward about his identity. I want you to notice both what Jesus says and the way he says it. First, what he says. When they tell Jesus they're looking for Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus says in verse 5, “I am he” — John tells us again that Jesus said this in verse 6, and Jesus repeats himself in verse 8. So three times in this passage, we read the words: “I am.” And in the Gospel of John, we know this is intentional. When Jesus says this, he is declaring himself to be God. He's revealing his true identity — He was before Abraham! He is one with the Father! He has been sent into the world by the Father!Jesus is, again, claiming the divine name: Jesus is the “I am.” Amen!But now notice the way he says it. Years ago, I got a book on public speaking titled, “The Way You Say It.” (I got it to help me with an accent I used to have. That's what the book is for.) But the underlying premise of the book is that the way you say something matters. The words matter the most, but the tone and context make a difference. Speech is dynamic like that.Well, we can't actually hear how Jesus says what he says here, but we can pay attention to the context. John gives us some key details here, so let's follow closely with what he says: In verse 4, there's this long group of soldiers, with their torches and weapons, and show up in this garden where Jesus and his disciples are. John says Jesus “came forward and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?'”They say “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus says “I am he.”Notice how straightforward this is. Rows of uniformed soldiers and police came looking for Jesus, and when they got to Jesus, he asked them what they're doing. Can you picture that? All these soldiers and police and Judas are standing together, and Jesus is the one who does the talking. And literally, they must answer to him. It gets better.When Jesus declares his identity, when he says “I am he,” verse 6 says “they drew back and fell to the ground.” Which I think means exactly what it says. All of these soldiers fell down before Jesus. Verse 7, “So he asked them again…” which implies that he asked them right away — Jesus keeps talking to them while they are still on the ground. Let's back up for a minute. I need you to use your imagination here. Picture this scene: It's night. Jesus and his disciples are in the garden. Suddenly, a swarm of Romans soldiers and Jewish police, and Judas show up with torches and weapons, and Jesus steps forward to say “Who you looking for?” They say, “Jesus of Nazareth.”Jesus says, “I am he.” And swoosh!They all fall to ground like dominos, and while they're laying on the ground, Jesus says, “Who you looking for again?”This is almost comedy. It's incredible!If we could just freeze this scene — if we could snap a photo of this scene and show people, everybody who sees the photo is gonna know who's in charge.And it ain't Judas. It ain't the Roman soldiers. It ain't the Jewish officials.Jesus Christ is in control. John is showing us this in how Jesus was so straightforward about his identity. He's doing the talking. He's asking the questions. Because he's in control.One more. A third way we see Jesus's control during the chaos …3. Jesus was resolved to be the better Adam. Remember the setting here. All this is taking place in a garden. And this absolutely is meant to be an allusion to the Garden of Eden. I mentioned before, John has a theological agenda. (The other Gospel writers use the name Gethsemane, but John uses just the word “garden.”) He actually tells the whole story of Jesus's passion in view of a garden: John mentions a garden being close to where Jesus was crucified — in Chapter 19, verse 41. He mentions a garden again in Chapter 20 after Jesus is resurrected — spoiler alert here: but when Mary sees the resurrected Jesus, she thinks he's the garden keeper (see 20:15).And guess what? He is.And it starts in this passage. What's happening here is a redo of the Garden of Eden when Satan tempted Adam. Now's there's a few differences in this redo, and one is that Peter's here. And Peter, so far, is just watching all this happen. He hasn't said anything. But then we get to verse 10. And this is one we all need to see. So y'all help me out. Find Chapter 18, verses 10:Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”Two questions:What is Peter doing?What is Jesus doing?First, PeterWhen Peter draws his sword, he was ready to go out fighting. Peter has already said, Chapter 13, verse 37, that he would lay down his life for Jesus, and he thinks this is it. Look: he's no match for these soldiers. He knows that. They have weapons too, and a lot more of them.So either Peter is ready to die, or maybe he expects Jesus to keep speaking — because he just saw all these soldiers fall to the ground. He remembered what that voice did to the storm that night on the sea. All Jesus has to do is say the word, Peter knows. So maybe Peter swings his sword, and then looks at Jesus like, “Well? Go ahead…”But Peter was mistaken. D. A. Carson says Peter was “as clumsy as his courage was great, and his tactic as pointless as his misunderstanding was total.”He was confused, but we know all he was trying to do was help out. Peter was willing to die for Jesus to advance the cause; he didn't understand that first Jesus must died for him to accomplish the cause. This is what Jesus is doing. Jesus tells Peter, verse 11:“Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”Jesus corrects Peter not on the goal, but on the method. Jesus will indeed triumph over all his enemies, but the way matters. And the way of Jesus's triumph is to drink the cup.It's not a violent overthrow of earthly powers, it's a blood sacrifice for helpless sinners. It's not military conquest, it's substitutionary atonement. Victory soon, but suffering first.Something different in the Gospel of John compared to the other Gospels is that John leaves out the temptation narrative of Jesus when he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. And I think it's because, with Genesis 3 on his mind, John reframes Jesus's big temptation to be here in the garden.Because Satan was crafty again in this garden. Defiance and betrayal appear again in this garden. Obedience or disobedience are the options again in this garden. Life and death are on the line again in this garden. What is Jesus doing? He is resolved to be the better Adam … and rather than fall, he descends, not in a vain attempt to augment his life, but in a willingness to lose it, not to subject a world of life to death, but to bring a world of death to life. Where the first Adam fell, the better Adam is faithful. Jesus has never been in more control. The cup he is about to drink is the cup the Father has given him. And those simple words at the end of verse 11 make it the most clear: this is not a haphazard collapse into chaos — our heavenly Father is writing the story. Is evil at work in this story? Absolutely. The Roman authorities had a hand in this. The Jewish leaders had a hand in this. Judas, led by Satan, had a hand in this. But who gave Jesus the cup? Who gave him the cup?The Father gave him the cup. The Father is accomplishing his plan, the plan of the Trinity. Jesus is in control. And For UsAnd look, that was true for Jesus's passion, and it's true for our situation right now — for whatever situation you might be going through. Everything in our lives — listen: every single thing in our lives — occurs beneath the will of God, and he has promised, whatever we got, he will work it together for our salvation. It doesn't make bad things less bad, but it gives us that bigger picture, which can be so easy to forget. Jesus loves you, and Jesus is in control. And this morning, very simply, I want to call you to rest in him. Rest in the truth of his love and power. And for some of you, that means conversion. Put your faith in Jesus today. I know some of you might be right on the fence — I get it. I've been there. Believe in Christ today, and be born again. We're having baptisms on May 31 — believe and come be baptized. For others of us, Christians in the room, you believe in Jesus but your vision of him has been a little clouded. We just need to see him again with the eyes of our hearts, and I pray that you would.Even as we come to this Table.The TableAt this Table we remember the passion event of Jesus — that he died for us and was raised, which is the most vivid display of his love and power. Glory in the gospel this morning!

Wednesday, May 6, 2026 - John 15:18-16:33 | World's hatred, persecution, Spirit's role in conviction and guidance, sorrow turned to joy, overcome the world.

Notes John 14:1-14 Acts 7:55-60 Summary This episode explores the profound teachings of Jesus in John 14, the significance of Stephen's martyrdom in Acts 7, and the early church's expansion amidst persecution. It emphasizes living in love, trust, and faith despite challenges, and how these stories inspire contemporary faith practice. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Context of the Readings 02:46 Exploring John 14: The Way, Truth, and Life 06:01 Understanding the Farewell Discourse 08:54 The Importance of Trust and Faith 11:48 The Relational Aspect of Knowing Jesus 15:10 Living in the Abundant Life 17:53 The Command to Love One Another 21:00 Greater Works: The Church's Mission 23:55 Stephen's Martyrdom: A Lesson in Truth and Forgiveness 27:10 The Impact of Stephen's Death on the Early Church 29:57 Faith and Fear: The Tension in the Church 32:54 Conclusion and Reflections on the Readings

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 - John 13:21-14:31 | Jesus shares His farewell discourse, marked by Judas's departure and a new commandment to love one another. He offers comfort to His disciples by promising to prepare a place for them and declaring that He is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus also assures them of the coming of the Holy Spirit, who will guide and strengthen them.

John 17:6-13,“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”John 17 is one of the most amazing chapters in the Bible because the entire chapter is a prayer of Jesus — and it's a prayer he prays for us. We know this because of what Jesus says in verse 20. He says to his Father:“I do not ask for these only [that's the eleven disciples], but also for those who will believe in me through their word [that's us, his church].”By the grace of God, we believe in Jesus through the gospel that has been passed down to us in the apostolic word (that's the New Testament!). So when Jesus prayed in John 17 — yes, the eleven disciples were right by his side and he prayed for them — but he also had us in mind.Which means: what Jesus prayed in John 17 he prays for us — and notice I'm saying “prays for us” in the present tense.For this to make sense, I think we need to understand something important about prayer itself. In Revelation 5, when the four living creatures and twenty-four elders bow down in worship to Jesus, John makes a curious statement about prayer. He says that each of these worshipers are holding “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”It's a minor detail on one hand, but it's also a clue that the prayers of God's people are collected. I think it tells us something about prayer that we can know by experience: it's that our prayers don't ever expire, but they accumulate.The more we pray, over time, those prayers shape us into a certain kind of person. The prayers themselves can change, in maturity and clarity, but basically we all become the kind of person who prays the way we do.Maybe a better way to say it is that our prayers stay with us. When we pray about something, we don't ever just ‘check the box' and move on — because prayer is not ‘one and done' sort of thing. The way we pray, even in private, gets represented by us everywhere we go. Everywhere we go, we go as persons who are praying a certain way.And we even talk this way as a church. A lot of times we'll say something like “Yeah, I'm praying about that” or “I'm praying for you” — we use the present tense. We understand that our prayers stay with us. That's true of us … and that's true of Jesus, like right now.I want you to know that the prayer Jesus prayed in John 17 is still operative. It's not a mere record of the way he prayed once upon a time. It's not left behind in the dust of history. But this is a prayer that reflects the heart of Jesus this morning. Jesus carries this prayer with him, and he wants all of this for us now like he wanted it when he first prayed it. We know the word of God is living and active! — I want you to know this prayer in the word of God is living and active!I want you to know that Jesus is praying this for you today!There are three things he's praying that I want to show you.1. Jesus is praying for us to be kept. I'm not sure what you think when you hear the word “kept” but it's got a rich biblical meaning. And it's really an image. For God to “keep you” means he holds onto you and cares for you. He doesn't let you go and he provides for what you need. That's what we hear in Psalm 121 when the psalmist says: The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. (Verses 5–7)Or it's like when God says of his servant in Isaiah 42, verse 6:“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you …” That's an image. He's saying: I'm looking out for you. I'm protecting you. I'm gonna get you where I'm leading you. In the New Testament, we see this in places like 1 Peter 1:5, “by God's power [we] are being guarded [or kept] through faith …” Or Jude 24, which we sing sometimes, “Now to him who is able to keep you … be glory!”Theologically, this idea of being kept is about endurance. It is part of a doctrine known as the “perseverance of the saints.” That doctrine teaches that those whom God truly saves he faithfully preserves. If you are in Christ, you will make it! That's the doctrine, and we see it in action in this prayer. Doctrine in ActionNotice first how Jesus describes who he's talking about. Jesus calls believers those whom the Father has given him. We can see that right away in verse 6. Jesus says, “I have manifested your name [Father] to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me …”Jesus says that's who he's praying for. Verse 9:“I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.”This is a big deal. Jesus is doubling-down on a distinction: there is the world here, and then there are those out of the world that the Father claims as his own and gives them to the Son.Where Are You?Here's an important question: How do you know where you are? Are you of the world? Or has the Father given you to Jesus out of the world?That's a good question. I was thinking about this the other day. I was on the road, sitting at red light, and there were seven cars at the intersection turning left in front of me, and I decided I would just look at the face of each person as they drove by. I think people are fascinating. So I'm looking at each person, and they're all different; they're all going somewhere; they all got stories, and I thought: “I wonder which of these people have been given to Jesus?” That one? That one? That one?Here's the thing: you can't really tell by just looking at people, but I know the answer: The ones who are given to Jesus are the ones who believe in him. That's what it means to keep Jesus's word in verse 6. Or, in verse 8, to “know in truth” who Jesus is. We're asking the wrong question if we're asking: “Have I been given to Jesus or not?”The question is: “Do you believe him?” If you believe in Jesus, you are given to Jesus, and if you are given to Jesus, you are kept by Jesus. Because he's praying for that. Right now. This means, for Christians in the room, we are gonna make it! We need to remind each other of this more often, especially in the face of hostility. Church, we will endure. We will make it through. Jesus is praying for us to be kept. 2. Jesus is praying for us to glorify him. This is a very simple sentence in verse 10, but I'd love for you to see it. Everybody help me out and find verse 10. Chapter 17, verse 10.“All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.”This is the first time Jesus has ever said this. Now he's talked about his glory before, at some key places in the Gospel. He opens verse 1 of this prayer asking the Father to glorify the Son so that the Son may glorify the Father. We saw that last week. Jesus is saying:Father, make me shine, so that you shine!Magnify me so that people see you! And Jesus is referring to the cross and resurrection. That is the most vivid revelation of God's heart! It's what the entire ministry of Jesus was been building toward — when Jesus was lifted up as our sacrifice and then raised from dead to defeat sin and death! Jesus is glorified in his cross and resurrection! He's told us that. But verse 10 is the first time Jesus has ever said that he's glorified in his disciples. It's a remarkable statement. Now Mediated Glory!Last week, Pastor David Mathis walked through “the story of Jesus's glory.” He showed us that Jesus has: Pre-world glory, Incarnate glory, Crucified glory, and Resurrected glory.Today, we add one more: Mediated glory. Now, like today — after his resurrection or because of his resurrection — Jesus shines through the work he does in his disciples. Including us.Because he's not here anymore, remember? But we are. That's what he says in verse 11 — Jesus is now in heaven with the Father, but we are here, with his Spirit. And that means that now we have become the living theater of his glory in this world. Jesus is now seen and heard, and known and loved, through the nature and witness of his church.That is how he is glorified in us. We might have the impression that to glorify Jesus means we must accomplish some grandiose thing; we might think we must do something super radical that gets people's attention — but that's not the case at all.We glorify Jesus, first, simply by the reality of who we are as believers. We trust him. We are born again to a living hope.I told you last week, church, we are living miracles. Our very being — and our being together — is because of the work of Jesus Christ. He is glorified in us by our existence.And then, also, he is glorified in us when we bear witness to him — when we join his mission to make his glory known. This part is astounding. …We get to really and truly display Jesus to others. We get to acknowledge him by our lifestyles, and give him in our relationships. We get to point to him and tell of him. Our Eager Expectation and HopeChristian, look: Jesus can be glorified in you through what you do. Isn't that amazing? You can make your Savior shine! You can show him, in all kinds of ways — starting with the meditations of your heart … to the words of your mouth, from serving your family well … to sharing the gospel with the lost, from small acts of faith … to costly acts of love, from resisting temptation … to enduring hostility with a smile on your face — we can do things that glorify Jesus. And don't you want to? Just for the wondrous fact that Jesus is happy about it. That he truly shines.I believe that if we could see the smile of Jesus upon us, we could do anything. I pray as a church that our ambition would become like the apostle Paul's, who said in Philippians 1:20, “it is my eager expectation and hope that … Christ be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”That's it. Whatever it takes! Jesus be glorified in us — and Jesus is praying that! Jesus is praying for us to glorify him. 3. Jesus is praying for us to have his joy.Take a look at verse 12. Jesus prays:“While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”Jesus says again here what we've already seen — he keeps his own. He guards his people. Judas, however, ‘went out from them because he was never truly of them' (1 John 2:19). It was foretold in the Scripture. Jesus was not surprised by this. It was no failure on his part.He has been faithful to the mission the Father gave him, and he says again in verse 13 what he's been saying this whole time: I'm coming home. Another Purpose StatementJesus is going back to his Father, and we're staying here — and he wants something for us here.In fact, Jesus makes another purpose statement about the Farewell Discourse.Notice in verse 13 he says, “these things I speak in the world that they may have…” — it's a purpose statement.The “these things” includes this prayer he's praying, but he's thinking about everything he's been teaching. Jesus is praying that everything he's been teaching will accomplish a purpose. I want you to tell me what it is. Everybody look at verse 13, Jesus says: “these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy.” He already told us he wanted us to have his peace, now he tells us he wants us to have his joy!Now you gotta go back to those people who asked you about the Farewell Discourse a couple of weeks ago, and you gotta tell them that Jesus wants us to have peace and joy! That's what he says. He wants his joy fulfilled in us.He said the same thing in Chapter 15, verse 11. He said there:“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” He wants our joy to get filled up with his joy. The Joy of JesusWe can say for sure here that Jesus is not talking about generic joy. He says “my joy.” So what does that mean?What is the joy of Jesus that he wants us to have?The joy of Jesus that he wants us to have is joy in the glory of the Trinity. It's joy in the love that the Father has for the Son, and the Son for the Father, and Spirit who is the very presence of that joy. The joy of Jesus is truly joy in God himself — it is non-derivative, infinite, independent, and inexhaustible. That's why it's so good. It's what we could call “big picture joy” — and I mean that in the most profound way you could ever imagine it. Biggest possible picture joy.Which means: it's a joy that has the ability to look beyond the immediate. It can look beyond even pain and suffering. Now this is really important: I'm not saying that this joy ignores pain and suffering. It does not pretend those things don't exist. They do. This joy can say: “Father, it if be possible, let the cup pass from me!” (Matthew 26:39).This joy can say: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)This joy can say: Father, this hurts. I don't want it. Make it stop. Bring me through it. This joy doesn't ignore pain and suffering, but it's able to see to the other side. “For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). Big picture joy — the joy of Jesus — is a joy in front of us so glorious that it reaches back into our lives now and makes us make it. We're gonna make it because of this joy — and if I keep going, I'm describing the ministry of the Holy Spirit. But let me say this: Jesus wants you to have his joy — He prays for you to be kept. He prays for you to glorify him. He prays for you to have his joy.The InvitationAnd this morning, I would like for us to close with an invitation: Would you open your heart to the joy of Jesus?I mean this, first, for non-Christians: If you're here and you've never put your faith in Jesus, you are currently without this joy. You do not have Christ, but I'm inviting you to have him. Right now, you can pray: Jesus, I'm done walking down this path I've been on, save me. Trust in Jesus Christ. And for all the Christians in the room, for Cities Church: don't we want more of the joy of Jesus? For many of us, the burdens have piled up. We're weighed down. Life is heavy. We need that big picture joy! We need the joy of Jesus — and I'm inviting you: open your heart to him again. Ask for a fresh filling of his joy this morning. And you can do that at this Table. The TableAt this Table we remember the death of Jesus for us! He welcomes us again into his fellowship, into his joy. If you are a Christian, this is for you. Receive his bread and cup today and may the Lord Jesus restore to you the joy of his salvation. He's praying for you.

John 16:25–33,“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”Let's start this morning with the last verse — verse 33 — when Jesus says, “I have said these things …” The “these things” is referring to what he has just said (in the most recent verses), but he also has in mind the entire Farewell Discourse going back to Chapter 13. Remember it's still Thursday night, and Jesus has been teaching his disciples this whole time to prepare them for a world where he is physically absent. The next chapter, Chapter 17, is a concluding prayer that Jesus prays, but the teaching part of the Farewell Discourse concludes here with Chapter 16, in verse 33. And so when Jesus says “these things” in verse 33, he's talking about all of that teaching. Which means: what he has just said, and all of what he has said going back to Chapter 13, is for the same purpose. Jesus tells us that purpose in verse 33.He says, “I have said these things to you, [so that] in me you may have peace.”It's very clear: The reason Jesus has been saying what he's been saying from Chapter 13 through Chapter 16 is so that in him you and me may have peace.Now we know! So tomorrow at work or school when someone asks you, “Hey, what's the purpose of the Farewell Discourse?” — you know the answer! You say, “The purpose is my peace.” Jesus wants me to have peace in him. Can you believe that? Can you believe that Jesus really wants you to have peace?That's what our passage today is about. Jesus shows us three ways he gives us this peace, and for the sermon, that's what I want to show you. Looking at verses 25–33, I'm going to tell you three ways that Jesus gives us peace in him.1. Jesus gives us peace by showing us the Father's love (verses 25–28).It's gonna take us a minute to get there, but let's start at verse 25 again. Jesus says, I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. There are three things to track with here: First is how Jesus has been speaking.Second, is why that is about to change. Third, the effect of the change.Has Been SpeakingAs for how Jesus has been speaking, he says it's been in “figures of speech” — which is a super broad category. The word there can refer to all kinds of speech like proverbs, parables, maxims, similes, allegories, fables, and even riddles. Last week that's what Pastor Marshall called what Jesus says in verse 16. It's like a riddle. It makes you think a little bit. Another example is verse 21 when Jesus talks about childbirth — You know when a mother is preparing to give birth, there's a lot of pain, but then after the delivery she's happy to have the baby — we heard about that last week. That's an image, a picture, for how to think about your sorrow turning to joy. Your sorrow is gonna have a baby!That kind of speaking falls under that category of “figures of speech” and Jesus says that's how he's been doing it. He's that kind of teacher. (And Jesus was a brilliant teacher. He's the best teacher to ever walk this earth.) About to ChangeBut the way he's been speaking is about to change. He's going to start telling us plainly about the Father. And that word for plainly could also be translated boldly or frankly (it is a glorious word in the Book of Acts). And to understand what Jesus means by it, we need to understand the timing of this change. When he says “the hour is coming” in verse 25 and “in that day” in verse 26, he's talking about after his death and resurrection, when the Holy Spirit is sent. The coming plainness of his teaching is owing to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has told us this, 16:13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak… [which means whatever he hears from me he will speak].Jesus is saying that the Holy Spirit's ministry continues his ministry.This is a major theme in this section: Jesus being physically absent does not limit his ministry, but actually, because of the Spirit, his ministry is magnified! His message, his truth, will go broader and deeper than ever before. That's what to expect “in that day” — the new day of the Spirt, after Jesus's death and resurrection.And church, Jesus was right. You know one thing different about the year 2026 from the year 30? In 2026, far more people have understood the truth about Jesus than when he first spoke these words in the year 30. Jesus was right. It's a fact. His message has advanced more. His ministry has been magnified more … after his death and resurrection, because of the Spirit. That's the change. The Effect of the ChangeAnd the effect of the change is the access we now have to the Father. That's the difference all this makes. That's what it's all about — our relationship to the Father.Jesus is of course our way to the Father, but he really does bring us to the Father — he brings us into real relationship with the Father as his children. Romans 8:15 — we have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry “Abba! Father!” Jesus has made this reality, which means: the Father doesn't need to use Jesus as an administrative assistant.Recently, I needed to contact someone who would be considered a “high-profile person” (they probably get a lot of emails). But I had the person's direct email, so I used that, and I got a reply. But it was from an assistant, speaking on behalf of the person. And I understand. I get it. There needs to be layers of distance and certain restrictions of access. But now for us, with the Father, there is no such distance. There are no such restrictions. Because of Jesus.By his death and resurrection, through the sending of the Sprit, Jesus has truly made us sons and daughters of God, and therefore we get to pray to God as his sons and daughters. And God welcomes us that way. Jesus says, in verse 27, “the Father himself loves you.”And that is so important for us to hear. Sometimes people can make the mistake of thinking that the Father is determined to show us wrath, but it's the Son who is constantly standing in between us and the Father. As if the Father is all frown, and the Son is all mercy.But that's wrong. The Bible is clear. Jesus is clear. The Father himself loves us.Don't forget: the coming of Jesus to this world was from the Father! The death of Jesus for us was the demonstration of the Father's love! Ultimately, Jesus is gonna bring us with him to the Father's house.That's what all this is about. That's what Jesus wants us to know. He is showing us the Father.How deep the Father's love for us!How vast beyond all measure!That he should give his only SonTo make a wretch his treasure!The Father himself loves you, Christian. The Father loves you, Jesus says. And him showing us this gives us peace. 2. Jesus gives us peace by not giving up on us (verses 29-32).Verse 29 is the disciples' reply to Jesus. And I appreciate that John doesn't mention any of them by name, but this is reflective of the whole group. They all said verse 29.And it's not just what they said, but how they said it. I'll do a paraphrase, but track with the tone. Basically, they reply: Oh! Finally, Jesus! We get it now! We know what you mean! Now that you're talking so plainly, we understand exactly who you are and what you're saying — Except they didn't. There's an irony here. The disciples are still confused, but now they think they get it (which is almost a worse place to be). Don Carson comments,“No misunderstanding is more pathetic than that which thinks it no longer exists.”These guys, all of them, are still missing it, and Jesus calls them out. He says in verse 31, “Do you now believe?” We translate it in English as a question, but literally it's the statement: “Now you believe.” The idea is that Jesus is saying it with exasperation, like: Now you believe! It has an unconvinced ring to it. Jesus sees right through their self-declared understanding, and he really bursts their bubble in verse 32: “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.”He says: Now you believe! Is that right? In a matter of moments, you're all going to run. You're all gonna leave me. And if we were in Jesus's shoes, we could imagine how easy it would be to resent these guys. It's one thing to know they're going to leave you, but then to hear them flex like this … that they would posture themselves as if they're so devout, but you know it's all a bag of wind — that is the world's most favorite take-down. The world dreams of embarrassing people like this, and Jesus could do that here. But you know what he does?The very next thing he says is that he wants them to have peace. These guys! People like them, … like us. …You may remember, some weeks ago in John 14, we noted that in this section of the Farewell Discourse, John seems to feature the weaknesses of the disciples. He highlights several of them by name, and they're all at least a little bit off (we see that here). And we saw that one thing John is making clear is that the only kind of disciple there can be is an imperfect disciple. And I hope we can see now that such a statement says more about Jesus than it does us — it says more about his patience than it does our weakness. Oh the patience of Jesus!They will scatter, he stands fast,They will falter, he will last;He bears with them, weak and slow,Refusing still to let them go.Jesus is not done with these guys, and he's not done with us. I mean that for us — each of us. Even those of us who are hyper-aware of our failures. Some of us just live there all the time. We always feel like we never measure up. We constantly miss the mark. And then we feel badly for feeling badly. We just cannot imagine ourselves being anything more than a miserable sinner.But do you realize that these same men in Chapter 16 who are still scratching their heads about Jesus are gonna end up changing the world? Like within a year of this moment! Look, we have to stop underestimating what it means that Jesus will never give up on us. If you're still here, he's not done with you. Psalm 138:8,“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.”He would never. And isn't there peace in that? Jesus gives us peace by showing us the Father's love, and by not giving up on us, and then third …3. Jesus gives us peace by overcoming the world (verse 33).This is verse 33, the final verse in Jesus's teaching here, and it's a verse to memorize. I at least want everybody to see it, so help me out and find verse 33. John 16, verse 33. Verse 33: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.”Again, that's the purpose. We've seen that, but now listen … Jesus says:“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”This statement from Jesus is so amazing that I hardly know what to do with it. It is so precious and powerful and clear that I just don't want to be in the way. The statement has three parts: Fact, Exhortation, Bigger Fact. Part 1, the fact is: in this world you will have tribulation. Some translations say trouble. It means affliction or distress. And it's important to note that it's tribulations in this world and of this world. There's no such thing in heaven. This is only the case here, in this world. I appreciate what John Calvin says. He writes:Under the term “world,” Christ here includes all that is opposed to the salvation of believers, and especially all the corruptions which Satan abuses for the purpose of laying snares for us.That stuff happens here. It will happen in this world, Jesus tells us. But then he exhorts us. Part 2, the exhortation is: “But take heart.” And that's a perfect translation. The word means to be courageous, but it lands more like an encouragement than an order. It means: Steady yourself! Be of good cheer! Take heart! — that's the idea, and it's what we're supposed to do in the face of tribulation, which, if we stopped here, would make no sense. Because everything in us wants to flee tribulation. We want to protect ourselves! We don't want trouble! So how can Jesus say “take heart”? …egō nenikēka ton kosmonI have overcome the world. Fact: in this world you will have tribulation. Exhortation: take heart because there's a bigger fact to the fact of this world — Jesus has conquered the world.That's what the word means. To overcome means to conquer. And it's not a hypothetical conquering, or a merely psychological conquering. This is an objective conquering. Jesus Christ has won the decisive victory over this world and everything it could ever bring against us — and that makes a difference for how we live in this world.It's like ESPN Classic.If you don't know about ESPN Classic, it's basically an entire channel of old sports games. And I actually know the guy who came up with the idea. True story. It was 2003, he was a big Ohio State football fan, and Ohio State beat Miami in a epic Fiesta Bowl game. It was one of those nail-biters, a close game, a tough game, but Ohio State won in double overtime. Well, after the game, my friend had the idea: I wanna watch this game again now that I know the outcome. I should get the license to this game and burn it on a DVD.He got the license. He made some DVDs and he sold them like that! Then he said, Hmm, let me try that again. So he got more old games, from more teams, from more sports, and in no time that became his job, and then later he sold the idea to ESPN Classic.Come to find out: sports fans really like to watch their team in games they already know they're gonna win! In fact, it's a much more encouraging experience, because during the game they get to take heart. The setbacks still happen — the mistakes are still there, the bad calls are still there — but they get to watch the game knowing the end of the story. That's what Jesus is saying here: Look, you're gonna have tribulation in this world. Setbacks are gonna still happen in this world. But I've conquered the world. The world does not have the final say. I do. I have won the victory. So take heart.Take heart when you get a megaphone of hatred in your face.Take heart when you are slandered and threatened and opposed. Take heart because no matter how bad it gets in this world, the only kind of world Christians can live in is a conquered world. And that gives us peace. That is peace in Jesus. Not peace in this world. We don't have peace in the weather — it's a raging storm out there — but we have peace in our Shelter. There are going to be battles, but we have peace in the bigger fact that every battle we will ever face is a battle Jesus Christ has already won.Father, thank you that Jesus has won every battle for us, and that includes, first, the battle for our souls against the enemies of sin and death. Thank you that Jesus died on the cross for us, in our place, to set us free from our sin and the wrath we deserve. Thank you that through faith in Jesus, the freedom he has won for us becomes ours. Thank you that we can truly share in his victory even in this world. And that, Father, is cause to rejoice and be glad, no matter our circumstances, no matter the setbacks. Jesus is our Rock. By your grace, we trust him — by your Spirit, help us to trust him more, in his name, amen.

In this sermon, Pastor Jonathan Parnell expounds upon John 16:25-33 where Jesus tells us that the purpose of the Farewell Discourse is so that in him we may have peace. How does he give us peace in him?

Taught by RJ Umandap on Sunday, March 22, 2026

Send me a Text Message!It would probably be a good thing for you to read on your own all of John 14-17 multiple times as you listen to the next 5-6 episodes. These four chapters are Jesus last words before he gives his life for a world in trouble. So imagine this, you're with Jesus, sitting by a fire in a cabin, or talking a walk in the afternoon. You're walking through a vineyard and you don't know it but Jesus is sharing his last words before he dies on a cross. Most scholars call these four chapters, Jesus "Farewell Discourse." I think it's anything but his farewell discourse. These are not last words, they are beginning words; summation words maybe, transition words definitely, but not last words.This is Jesus locker-room challenge before you go out and play the most important game of your life. This is your favorite teacher at commencement looking you in the eye and saying, "You got this." It's your OBGYN doctor, saying, "push, it's time to push. I know it hurts, but something good is coming."I hope these next few episodes covering John 14-17, truly encourage you!

In life, we all experience unmet expectations, natural suffering, and even human evil. When it happens, we all ask the same question: Why? Why did you let this happen, God? Why should I trust you, God? The disciples were asking the same questions when they faced the death of their hero and the end of their movement. Jesus answered their questions with the Farewell Discourse in John, starting with a deep and rich theology of the nature of God.

John 15:9-17,As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.Christianity is unlike every other religion in a lot of different ways, but one of the biggest differences is that Christianity is not really a religion at all, but it's a relationship.Maybe you've heard that before — ‘Christianity' is more than a religion, it's a relationship. I first heard that phrase years ago during some training about how to share the gospel. In my context at the time, pretty much everybody claimed to be Christians, and that actually made spiritual conversations harder … and really short — because if you started the conversation by asking, “Are you a Christian?”, most people would say Yes. But they were saying Yes to a religion.They were saying that they theoretically believed a few things, tried to behave a certain way, and checked the “Christian box.”But ‘Christianity,' according to the Bible, is much more than all that! At the very center is one's relationship with God — it's a relationship created by God, broken by our sin, and then restored by Jesus for those who believe.So a better way to start a spiritual conversation was to ask someone what they thought of Jesus himself — What do you think of Jesus Christ?What if I asked you that this morning? What would you say?There are a few good and true things that might come to mind — Jesus is Lord; He's King; He's the Savior of the world; He's the Treasure of my heart — all these are true (and they're all relational).But maybe one of the most biblical answers that doesn't come to mind right away is that Jesus calls us his friend.What do you think of Jesus Christ? He calls me his friend. Don't you want to be a friend of Jesus?The goal of this sermon is to tell you how. Looking at this passage in John 15, we're gonna answer the question: How do you become a friend of Jesus?There are three ways. First is this …1. He calls you his friend. (verse 15)This is the first thing we need to see, and it's the most foundational. What we need to understand is that being a friend of Jesus is not a self-declared title. We don't get to ‘up and decide' that we're friends of Jesus anymore than we get to decide that we are friends of LeBron James (the second greatest basketball player of all time). Now you can try to do that, but I don't think you'll get very far … if you flew to Los Angeles, drove to LeBron's neighborhood, and walked up to his gate. You hit the buzzer and say, “Hey, it's [me], I'm a friend of LeBron.” No chance you're getting in. Because the person you say you're a friend of has to claim you as their friend. That's what makes verse 15 so amazing. Look at verse 15. Jesus says:No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. And Jesus just tells us this — we didn't even ask for it — Jesus just tells his disciples, and he tells us, I have called you friends. And by itself, we might not be impressed by this … because we all have our own ideas of friendship, informed by our own experiences. So I'm glad that Jesus doesn't leave the meaning of friend up to us, but he fills it out. He puts it in color. More to the MeaningHe tells us that a friend is different than a servant. And this is where we need to pause for a minute. Jesus says he doesn't call us servants anymore, although we are still his servants. In fact, being a “servant of Jesus” is the most common self-designation of the New Testament writers. The apostle Paul says this about himself five times, and also James, Peter, John, and Jude. They all refer to themselves as servants of Jesus — and they were … we are. So here in verse 15, Jesus is not eliminating the reality of our servanthood, but he is deepening the relationship from his point of view.We are servants and friends — and so how do we hold these together? This was a big question for me … because I talk to Jesus everyday and felt like I needed to sort this out. So consider it like this:When we describe who we are, we rightly say we are servants of Jesus, but when Jesus describes who we are, he says friends. That's the way it should be: We say to Jesus, “I'm your servant.” Jesus says to us, “You're my friend.” And the reason why Jesus says that is in verse 15. It's because a servant doesn't know what his master is doing. A servant has no right to know. A servant just does what he's told.But a friend gets let in on what's going on. And that's one way to think about the whole Farewell Discourse in these chapters. That's what Jesus has been up to on this longest Thursday night ever. He is making known to the disciples all that the Father has made known to him. And he's doing this because he wants to, not because the disciples deserve it. This is verse 16:“You did not choose me, but I chose you.” Jesus, on his own initiative, chose to reveal himself to the disciples.Like Abraham and MosesIn theological terms, this is special revelation: Jesus has revealed God to his chosen disciples. And this is fascinating: because what Jesus does here fits with the ‘friend-of-God concept' in the Old Testament. In the whole Bible, before John 15, there have only been two people who were called friends of God: Abraham and Moses. In Isaiah 41:8, God says of Abraham:But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest seas … I have chosen you ...He hears in that special choosing.And back in Exodus 33:11, we read about how God would speak to Moses at the Tent of Meeting, and verse 11 says, Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.We hear in that revelation.So if we were putting together a theology for friendship with God from the Old Testament, we'd say that Abraham and Moses were called friends of God because they had this special access to God: God chose them and revealed himself to them. And in John 15, Jesus says we're his friend on the same basis — because he specially revealed himself to us. And that's where we are in this new location of redemptive history. This is where Jesus has brought us. To be a Christian means that, like Abraham and Moses, Jesus has brought us on inside. He has let us in on the mind of God! We can know God's thoughts! Because Jesus tells us. And that's why he calls us friends.That's the first and most foundational way you become a friend of Jesus. He calls you his friend.How else do you become a friend of Jesus?2. You abide in his love. (Verse 9)This is clear in verse 9. Jesus says in verse 9: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”Now Jesus has already told us to abide in verse 4. In verse 4 it's, “Abide in me.” Here in verse 9 it's “Abide in my love.” Those are not two different things — Jesus is just saying the same thing two different ways. To abide in him is to abide in his love. And for the first time in this Gospel, he tells us something about his love that is truly astounding.It starts with that the Father loves him — and Jesus has been saying this the whole time: John 3:35 — “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.”John 5:20 — “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.”John 10:17 — “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life…”One of the clearest messages in this Gospel is that God the Father loves God the Son. It's an eternal, powerful, perfect love beyond human comprehension. We can only marvel … before the foundations of the world, in all of eternity past, in the pure joy of the Holy Trinity, the Father has loved Jesus! We know that. And we also know that Jesus loves us. That's the glorious truth that emerges so clearly in the Farewell Discourse. For last several weeks, we've been hearing from Jesus how much he cares for us. In fact, at the beginning of this long Thursday night, back in Chapter 13, verse 1, John introduces this section by telling us that Jesus, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Jesus loves us — we know that.So these two things: We know the Father loves Jesus. And we know that Jesus loves us. We know this before verse 9, but in verse 9 this is new: Jesus tells us that he loves us as the Father has loved him. The two things come together. We learn that Jesus's love for us is patterned after, and flows from, the Father's love for him. That eternal, powerful, perfect love the Father has for Jesus is how Jesus loves you and me. And look, let's be honest. We don't really know what that means. We can't comprehend this. It's too much. We can't fully understand this love, but we must abide in it. Jesus says so. Remain in this love. Stay put in this love.Daily Assurance of His LoveIf you do — if you just stay put in the love of Jesus — you will never go wrong. Jesus tells us this, but our own experience often points in same direction.Over the years, I've learned that I get my wobbliest when I lose sight of Jesus's love for me. I'm convinced that the most critical need in my daily experience as a Christian is to be assured of the love of Jesus. I think this is an aspect of how the Spirit ministers the realness of Jesus to us, and I learned this from the apostle Paul … Because in Ephesians Chapter 4, Paul prays for the church — for us — that, according to the riches of God's glory, that God would strengthen us with the Spirit's power to comprehend the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. That's what Paul says. Paul prays that we comprehend more and more the incomprehensible love of Jesus. That is God's power in our lives.And in my own life, it works out like this … the more I am assured of Jesus's love for me and how much I don't deserve it, then the more I am humbled and filled with joy, and then the more I am poured out in love for others, and then the more I magnify the glory of God. That's my testimony. Any kind of meaningful fruit in my life has come from abiding in the love of Jesus. I know I'm no good for you apart from that. I'm no good for my wife, for my children apart from that. We are all no good for anybody apart from the love of Jesus. Stay put in that love. How to Stay PutBut how exactly? How do I stay put in the love of Jesus? Well, Jesus tells us in verse 10:“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.”That's simple enough. And we've already seen some of this back in Chapter 14: that our obedience to Jesus demonstrates our love for Jesus — We learn here that our obedience to Jesus is what it means to abide in him.In other words, abiding in the love of Jesus means we do what Jesus says. And this is not fine print we're supposed to ignore. It's right there, right beside the abiding. If we keep his commandments (if we do what he says), we will abide in his love. These two always come together: salvation and discipleship. And we need to make sure to get this right in how we give Jesus to others. Sometimes, I think in an effort to make Jesus seem more appealing to people, Christians can emphasize his love but downplay his moral demands … as if his moral demands are not part of his love. We gotta understand that Jesus telling us how to live is part of his love for us. He saves us to lead us, not to leave us to ourselves. This is why true faith in Jesus always includes repentance from sin. Faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin. Every time we turn to Jesus, we are turning from something else. And that is always good news. It's always the best thing you can do. And if you're concerned that obedience to Jesus is a burden, just look what he says in verse 11. He says, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”The real question is: Do we want the joy of Jesus, or are we gonna keep chasing the lesser joys of this world?If we want the joy of Jesus, abide in his love, which means doing what he says, which means … he calls us friends. See how this comes together? Verse 10: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.”Verse 14: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”Abiding in the love of Jesus (and doing what Jesus says) are one thing — and that's how you become a friend of Jesus.Now, the third way you become a friend of Jesus …3. You love his other friends. A couple of weeks ago we talked about what's in view when Jesus mentions his commandments. It's not just the quotations of Jesus in the Gospels, but the commandments of Jesus are really the entire biblical testimony. It's the whole hog of God's moral will revealed in Scripture which is summarized in love — love for God and love for neighbor. The Bible teaches us to show kindness and goodwill to all people (Matthew 22:37–40; Romans 13:9). This is called neighbor-love. It's all background and baseline to what Jesus says here, and it's important to keep in mind because it helps us understand that the love Jesus is talking about in verse 12 goes a level deeper.And this is one you gotta see. So everybody find verse 12 for a minute and help me out. Chapter 15, verse 12, Jesus says:“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Our Supernatural LoveSo Jesus has narrowed the object of love and the kind of love it is. The object of love is not all people everywhere — he's not talking about neighbor-love. He's talking about one another.As we've seen back in Chapter 13, this is love for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And as for the kind of love we have, Jesus says, is the love he has for us. Which, remember, is the love that the Father has for him.This is dense, but track with what Jesus is saying: Jesus loves us as the Father has loved him. Jesus tells us to love one another as he has loved us! Which means: the love of Jesus for Christians becomes the love of Jesus between Christians. This is next level. The love we share as brothers and sisters in Christ is love that finds its source in the Holy Trinity. It is supernatural love. It literally is not of this world. And that's why divisions in local churches, among Christians, should grieve us. So often it's because we've adopted the world's way of thinking.Framework for DivisionTo help here, let's step back for a minute and I want to give you a framework for how to think about division overall. Think about it in three tiers: there's disagreement, then dispute, then division.Disagreement is simply when we think differently about something (happens all the time). Dispute is when the thing we disagree about merits formal mediation (we need to deliberately talk it out). Division is when you cannot find either agreement or acceptance, and so parties must separate.Got those three categories? Y'all wanna know why our world is so polarized? It's because in our world, every disagreement is automatically a division. Our world just flattens the whole thing. Because why not? Life is more comfortable that way. Where there is no bond of love between people, you don't put up with discomfort — that's the world's way of thinking. And so often — not all the time — but often, when there are divisions in the church, it's because we have adopted the world's mindset. We think our disagreements have more power than the love of the Trinity that we share. We Are a ChurchThis is why the polarization of local churches should grieve us. And it's why we don't do it here.Over the years, we've had people divide from our church because we're not woke and because we're not MAGA. Which is true. We are neither. Because we're a church. … a church.And that means, yes, we stand firm with moral clarity: Abortion is murder. Every human is created in God's image and has wonderful dignity. Marriage is between a man and woman. There are only two sexes, male and female, and they're different. If one's highest allegiance is to anything other than Jesus it's idolatry.None of that's political. They're just facts according to the Word of God, and we believe them like we believe in oxygen.That's part of what it means to be a true church — and it means that we are friends of Jesus. The love we share is Jesus's love for us, which is sacrificial, verse 13 — it's love sacrificial enough to endure disagreement. To bear with one another, forgiving one another as the Lord has forgiven us (see Colossians 3:13).To be a friend of Jesus, it means you love his other friends.Don't you wanna be a friend of Jesus? First, he's gotta call you his friend.Second, you abide in his love (do what he says).Third, you love his other friends.And all these things are true of us only by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's what brings us to the Table this morning — because where else do friends go?The TableWhat we do here when we eat the bread and drink the cup is often called communion. It's because we are together sharing in our common union to Jesus. We are, at the same time, remembering the death of Jesus for us, and that it's his death that brings us together and keeps us. We are brothers and sisters together of Christ. He calls us friends.And if that's you, if you've trusted in Christ, we invite you to eat and drink with us. His body is the true bread. His blood is the true drink. Let us serve you.

Believing in Jesus does not mean understanding the path in front of us. It means trusting Him when the path leads somewhere we would never choose, knowing the cross has already secured the outcome. The Farewell Discourse begins when the door closes and Jesus prepares His own to live from what He has finished.

Believing in Jesus does not mean understanding the path in front of us. It means trusting Him when the path leads somewhere we would never choose, knowing the cross has already secured the outcome. The Farewell Discourse begins when the door closes and Jesus prepares His own to live from what He has finished.

John 14:15-31,15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. 25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.Twenty-two years ago I stumbled into the habit of private worship every morning. I would get up early, make some coffee, and spend time reading God's word and praying. It's been the most transformative habit of my life — I've never stopped doing it. But about six years ago, I added a new part to it. The first thing I do now, right before I read the Bible, is I seek the mercy of God and give him thanks. I confess my need to God for his mercy and then I thank God for a specific way he has shown me mercy. And it can be all kinds of things … Sometimes it's Father, thank you for coffee. This is a good cup of coffee! Sometimes it's Father, thank you that I slept okay last night. … Thank you for that meeting yesterday … for that conversation … for that thing I learned in that book … and on and on.If we spend time thinking about it, we have so much to thank God for. But the one thing I have probably mentioned the most, over the last five years, and especially over the last three weeks, is actually a person — it's Father, thank you for the Holy Spirit!I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life.He proceeds from the Father and the Son, And with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. And in our passage today, in John 14, Jesus introduces us to the Holy Spirit. For the sermon I just want to tell you three things that Jesus tells us about him. 1. The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son. We're at verse 15, but recall the context here. It is still Thursday night — the longest Thursday ever — and Jesus is in the middle of his Farewell Discourse. Back at the end of Chapter 13, for the first time, Jesus told his disciples that he's leaving. He is preparing them for a new location within redemptive history — his disciples are about to live in a world where he is physically absent. And this is troubling to them — they are in a troubled-heart situation, and Jesus wants to encourage them. We saw that in Chapter 14. Jesus tells them not to let their hearts be troubled; because his going away is for their good; and he's going to come back for them. Jesus is their way to God; he's God's way to them — and he still has greater works that he's gonna do through them.And that's where we ended last week, in verses 12–14. Jesus introduced two stunning realities about life for believers after his death, resurrection, and ascension. Two Stunning RealitiesThe first of those stunning realities is that those who believe in him — us — will do greater works than he did in his earthly ministry. And we clarified last week that this work is not work that we do ourselves. It's not work in our own strength or isolated from Jesus, but it's work that Jesus is doing through us. The second stunning reality is that Jesus says whatever we ask in his name, he will do it. These are two big claims, and they raise some important questions. Questions like: How exactly will we do greater works?How do we know if we are praying in Jesus's name?Well, the answer to these questions is the Holy Spirit. I couldn't help but talk about the Spirit a little bit last week — Jesus is going to talk a lot about him over the next two chapters — but the first thing we need to know is that the Spirit is sent by Jesus and the Father. The Father and the Son are both ‘in on' the Spirit's coming. Listen to the ways Jesus tells us this …In verse 16, Jesus says the Father will give the Spirit, but it is because the Son asks the Father. In verse 23, speaking of the Spirit's presence in a believer, Jesus says that we, he and the Father, will make our home with him. In verse 26, Jesus says the Father will send the Spirit — but Jesus says it is “in my name.” Later, in 15:16, Jesus says that he will send the Spirit from the Father. So, who sends the Spirit? Where's he from? ‘The Father or the Son?' The answer is Yes.The Holy Spirit has always been active within the Trinity, and at work in creation, but after Jesus's ascension, the Father and Son act together in sending the Spirit on a new mission.Now, why is it important for us to know this? Why does it matter that the Father and Son are together in this?The most obvious reason is that Jesus emphasizes it. Jesus wants us to know this, and I think it's because we need to understand that the Spirit is not some ‘Plan B' in redemptive history. We should not think Jesus introducing the Holy Spirit in this section is some kind of backup option. It's not like things went sideways with the mission of Jesus and now the Spirit is a reinforcement. Not at all. Instead, the sending of the Spirit is according to God's eternal playbook from before the foundation of the world. This is the next step in the Triune God's resolve to bring salvation and magnify his glory. The Spirit is from the Father and the Son.Here's the second thing Jesus tells us about the Spirit.2. The Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus in our lives. The keyword we need to see here is that word “Helper” in verse 16:“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.” The Greek work for “Helper” is the word Paraclete — and it's a title for the Spirit that we only find in John — four times in this Gospel (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). And it's a glorious word, but it doesn't have a direct translation into English. A couple of translations, the English Standard Version (the one I use) translates it as “Helper.” But the King James translates it “Comforter.” Another translation says “Counselor.” Several translations say “Advocate” (NRSV; NEB; NIV). And really, the meaning is a combination of all those words, but the one idea that's clear in all those translations is the idea of presence. The Paraclete comes alongside.Jesus says in verse 16: the Paraclete, the Spirit, will be “with you forever.”He “dwells in you and will be in you” — verse 17.In the same way Jesus was with his disciples, the Spirit will be with his disciples — as the Spirit of Jesus. And Jesus is going to show us this in a powerful way, but first I want to zoom out for a minute and take the whole New Testament into account.New Testament SurveyThe New Testament talks a lot about the Holy Spirit, and two key ways he's referred to…One way is that he's called the promise of the Father (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4; Galatians 3:14). This speaks to the fact that the Spirit is according to God's plan. He's the fulfillment of a promise we see in the Old Testament. The other way to talk about the Spirit is to call him the Spirit of Jesus. In Acts 16:7, Luke says “the Spirit of Jesus” guided their missionary travel. In Romans 8:9, Paul says the “Spirit of Christ” shows that we belong to Christ — the Spirit of Christ is Christ in you. Galatians 4:6 — “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.” Philippians 1:19 — Paul says he is helped by “the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”So, biblically, theologically, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is so closely identified with Jesus himself that it is right to call him the Spirit of Jesus. Jesus himself tells us this first. The Wonderful AnotherLook back at that word “Helper” in verse 16 and notice the word right before it: another. The Father and Son are sending another Helper. So the Spirit is a new helper, but he's of the same kind as a Helper who came before him. So who is that first Helper? It's Jesus. Jesus was one Paraclete, and now the Spirit is another Paraclete.This means the Spirit is not a replacement for Jesus, but he is the continuation of Jesus's work in a new way. But the Son and Spirit are not just united in their mission, they are united in their essence as God. Both are fulfilling the mission of the triune God to be with his people — the Son is God with us; the Spirit is God in us.This is why Jesus can say to his disciples, verse 18: “I will not leave you as orphans” — Jesus says I'm not really leaving you! He's actually magnifying his presence among them. Get this:The Paraclete is first Jesus himself with his people in person, confined to flesh and blood and dirt; and then the Paraclete is the Holy Spirit in his people — he is the promise of the Father, the Spirit of Jesus, who indwells everyone who trusts in Jesus … he speaks, consoles, guides, teaches — just like Jesus did. Ministering RealnessOne way to say it that connects with language we use is to say that the Holy Spirit ministers the realness of Jesus in our lives.That's the way we should understand Paul's experience toward the end of his life. We know that's where Paul was when he wrote his final letter to Timothy. Paul says in Chapter 4 (of 2 Timothy) that the “time of his departure” has come: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (4:7). And then Paul recounts for Timothy the relational brokenness that laid behind him, and he's honest about how lonely he felt when he awaited trial in Rome; he says “no one came to stand by me” (4:16). But then in verse 17 he says: “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me.”And he's talking about Jesus there. Jesus stood by Paul and strengthened him. And I've long imagined what that was like. Did Jesus step through the wall of Paul's room and wrap his arm around his shoulder? Sometimes I wish Jesus would do that for me — Just be physically in the room and help me like you did Paul! But is that what he did for Paul?I don't think so. What happened for Paul is that the Holy Spirit — the Spirit of Jesus — was so present and so powerful for him that Paul can say it was like Jesus himself standing by him. The Spirit of Jesus manifested the realness of Jesus for Paul — and I want you to know: we should settle for nothing less in the Christian life. That's the aim of our discipleship. The mission of Cities Church is to make joyful disciples of Jesus who remember his realness in all of life. And when we say that, we're talking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit! Because Jesus tells us the Holy Spirit is his presence in our lives.Third thing Jesus tells us …3. The Holy Spirit empowers our love for Jesus in his world. For this third and final point, we need to come to grips with a repeated theme in this passage. Four different times Jesus tells us there is a connection between loving him and keeping his commandments. It's easy to track, first in verse 15, right away:Verse 15: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”Verse 21: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.”Verse 23: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.”Verse 24: “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.”And then verse 31 — what Jesus says about our love for him also applies to his love for the Father. Jesus says, verse 31:“I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.”This theme is the clearest thing Jesus says. It's straightforward; no way around it. If you love Jesus, you do what he says. Well what does he say? What are his commandments?What Are His Commandments?The answer here, in short, is the whole Bible. It would be a mistake to truncate what Jesus says as being only the red-letter parts of the Gospels. It's much more than that. Instead, the commandments of Jesus, his word, is the whole revelation of who Jesus is, which blooms into the apostolic testimony, also called the New Testament, which is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.What Jesus says is the whole Bible. Which means: to really love Jesus means your life is shaped and guided by Scripture. The single word for this is obedience. Trust and obey, for there's no other wayTo be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obeyWe used to sing that song when I was kid growing up in church. It's not rocket-science. We all understand that any kind of real love involves more than only sentiment. It can't be just a feeling. And proof that we know this was yesterday — Valentine's Day.Valentines is an old American holiday. It took off in the late 1800s because a woman named Esther Howland had this idea to mass-produce romantic greeting cards. It became a custom that men would send the ladies they were courting a card. Now 150 years later, fellas, if you did it right: you got a card, and chocolates, and flowers, and a dinner reservation — or some combination of that. But we all know that what you cannot do on Valentine's Day is only say “I love you.” Some activity is expected. Love requires demonstration.Love is not less than affection — affections matter — but there's more. There's activity — and the activity that verifies our love for Jesus is obedience to him in this world. Getting Obedience RightAnd listen: the order of that sentence is really important. We are called to obedience to Jesus in this world. It's not obedience to the world for Jesus. Because get this: the world has its own commandments. There's all kinds of commandments the world says people must keep if they're really about love — like I think we're supposed to acknowledge that we're on ‘stolen land' right now and we're supposed to specify our pronouns, and make certain kinds of statements, and check certain boxes. The world has its own commandments — Recently, someone who hates Jesus told me they wanted to talk to me about our optics for Jesus. … And I said, “No thank you.”Jesus does not need us to try to make him look good by doing what the world tells us to do. Jesus calls us to do what he says in a world that will hate us … a world that will revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely (see Matthew 5:11). We're not called to manage that. We're called to obey Jesus, come what may in this world.And obedience like that is hard, with the pressures around us. How do we do it? How do we obey Jesus here?The answer is: The empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.The Spirit Empowers UsThe love we have for Jesus — and our obedience that demonstrates that love — does not come from our own strength, but it comes through the gift of the Spirit in our lives. I think that's part of what Paul is saying in Romans 5:5. You've heard these verses before: … we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.And the question is what does Paul mean when he says “God's love” — is this the love of God for us OR our love for God. Well, I think it's first God's love for us, but it also includes our love for God, which must always come next. Our love for God is essential to our character — that's why we ultimately will not be put to shame — Because our love for God is actually a gift from God himself. Our love for God is from his Spirit who seals us and keeps us. Theologically, we understand the Holy Spirit is the bond of love between the Father and Son. This is mysterious, and we wrestle with what Scripture says here; we'll see what Jesus says in Chapter 17. But the Holy Spirit, who is the personal love that flows between the Father and Son, is poured into our hearts as the love that unites us to Jesus.Our love for Jesus, demonstrated by our obedience, is empowered by the Spirit. Peace Even HereThe good news we should hear is that our love for Jesus, which he commands, is love his Spirit creates. When Jesus tells us to obey him, he is not pointing us to an impossible ladder — but he's ensuring the divine supply we need for all things that pertain to life and godliness. Jesus doesn't tell us ‘make me bricks without straw' — but he says: We are making our home in you … I'm with you forever … even in this world … even in troubled-heart situations. This is the only way we can have peace. Jesus says, verse 27:“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”That is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to us …Sent by the Father and the Son.Serving the realness of Jesus in our lives.Empowering our love for Jesus in this world. I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit. Aren't you? Thank you, Jesus, for the Holy Spirit. I want more of him! That's what brings us to the Table. The TableJohn shows us, in this Gospel, and in his letters, that love is demonstrated. Our love for Jesus is demonstrated in obedience, but that always follows God's love for us first. John says that we love because God first loved us, and we see that love definitively at the cross. Paul says that in Romans 5 … “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (NASB).That's the best news in the world. If you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, you become a Christian by believing that. Jesus Christ died to save you, a sinner. Believe him. For those of us who do believe, at this Table we rejoice in Jesus and his gospel. If you trust in Jesus, we invite you to eat and drink with us, and give him thanks.

In John 13:31-38, we encounter Jesus in an upper room on the eve of his arrest, delivering what scholars call the Farewell Discourse—his final instructions to those he loved most. What strikes us immediately is how Jesus frames his impending crucifixion: not as tragedy, but as glory. Five times he uses the word 'glorify,' revealing that the cross is the ultimate display of God's character—his holiness, grace, justice, sovereignty, and humility all radiating from that brutal instrument of execution. This challenges our natural understanding of glory. We expect brilliance and honor, yet Jesus shows us glory in brokenness, power in sacrifice, and divine character in suffering. The cross becomes our grand central station, the place we continually return to when we question God's love, doubt our standing with him, or need our worship refueled. But Jesus doesn't stop with explanation—he pivots to instruction. Calling his disciples 'little children' with tender affection, he elevates the command to love by making himself the new standard. No longer is self-love our measuring stick; now we're called to love others the way Jesus loved us—sacrificially, mercifully, graciously, even when it's uncomfortable, inconvenient, or unreciprocated. This love becomes our defining trait, the bold headline of our faith, making Jesus visible to a watching world through how we treat one another, especially those with whom we disagree.

John 13:31-35,“31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.' 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”“Can I ask you something? Is, is this heaven?” And Ray said, “No, it's Iowa.”That was one of my favorite parts of a book I wrote when I was a little kid. This is a true story. When I was a kid, I had this small blank notebook and I wanted to write a book in it, so I wrote a story about man in Iowa who had a big cornfield in his backyard, but he mowed part of it down to build a baseball field, and a bunch of old-timey baseball ghosts came out there and played ball together. I titled the book “Field of Dreams” — that's what kids did in the early 90s before all the screens! They plagiarized.Y'all ever heard of the movie Field of Dreams? It came out in 1989, starred Kevin Costner. Great movie. And really one of my favorite parts in the movie is the scene at the end, when Ray, the main character, reunites with his dad. His dad had died years before, but his ghost had come back to play ball. They're standing on the baseball field, and his dad asks him: “Is this heaven?” And of course the answer is No — everybody watching the movie knows the answer is No. But what's great about Ray's answer is that he doesn't just say it's not heaven, he says it's Iowa. He tells him where they are.And that's the same thing Jesus is doing for his disciples at the end of John 13.Jesus is telling his disciples where they are, and it's a turning point in the Gospel of John — and really, it's a turning point in the history of the world.And what I'd like to do this morning is unpack one sentence for you that captures the essence of what Jesus is doing. It's a simple sentence. Goes like this: Jesus is giving his disciples a new commandment for a new location. A new commandment for a new location. That's what I want to show you in this passage, which means I'm going try to answer two questions. First, What is the new location? And second, what is the new commandment? That's the outline.1. What is the new location?Let's start here with the setting. Longest Thursday EverIn verse 31, we are still on that same Thursday night that started in verse 1. In fact, for most of this year in the Gospel of John — through chapter 18 — we're gonna be in this same Thursday night. It was the longest Thursday night ever.We saw at the start of this chapter that Jesus washed his disciples' feet; then he explained the meaning of why he did that; then last week we saw the betrayal and exit of Judas. And that's a big deal for this setting.John wants us to know that who is in the room matters for what Jesus is about to say.Think about this: from verse 1 through verse 30, it has been Jesus and his twelve disciples, but then after verse 30 the twelve become eleven because Judas leaves. And John puts an emphasis on this. He tells us:Verse 27: after Satan entered Judas, Jesus says to him: “What you are going to do, do quickly.”Then verse 30, “After receiving the morsel of bread, [Judas] immediately went out.”Then verse 31 starts, “When he had gone out.”John wants to be clear that Judas is gone, which means now it's only Jesus and his true disciples. His Best FriendsAnd we're gonna get to the big picture, but before we do, I think it's good to slow down for a minute and try to be in this room, on this Thursday night. I agree with one author who has said:“While [Jesus's] universal motives in his passion and death are stressed by theologians, his immediate human motives are not well explored. (Podles, 79)Those “immediate human motives” have to do with the fact that, after verse 30, the men Jesus is with are his real friends. Now that Judas is gone, Jesus is with the men he loved to the uttermost — and they're men who love him. Some have said that the closest analogy to the relational dynamic here is a military comradeship.This is a band of brothers, and Jesus is their captain. And I think that's a good perspective to have as we look at what Jesus says.Maternal-Like CareJesus's tone changes in verse 31, and what drives him is care. Jesus cares for his disciples, for his real friends, and he shows that care by giving them advance knowledge of what's about to happen — because Jesus knows it's not going to be easy. This actually reminds me of my mom (she just celebrated her birthday this past week, and I thank God for her). But one thing I appreciate about my mom (now) is that, when I was a kid and had a doctor's appointment, she never told me I would not get a shot. I remember that's what I'd always ask her — we'd be on the way to the doctor's office, and I'd be sweating bullets — Mom, am I getting a shot? And of course, I wanted her to say No. She never said No. I always thought if I was around a doctor I might get a shot.It was a brilliant parenting move: because my mom would have rather me be surprised by relief than shocked by false hope — and it taught me to trust her. And Jesus is doing something similar here. His best friends are about to step into a new location and Jesus wants to prepare them. So he says: You are about to be in a world where I am not, and I won't be here for the sake of glory.That's the new location — it's not a new literal place; it's not a different geography. It's a new location in the history of redemption: the followers of Jesus are about to live in a world where Jesus is physically absent — but he's physically absent for the sake of glory.Over the next four chapters — what's called the Farewell Discourse — this is main idea that Jesus explains: he's physically absent, yet presently glorified.Physically AbsentHe starts this in verse 31, but I want you to see the absent part first in verse 33.And this is one I want everybody to see. So help me out, everybody find Chapter 13, verse 33. Verse 33:“Little children” In the original this is just the single word “children,” but it's a term of endearment and affection. I think a better translation is to say “Dear children.” Jesus is leaning into their closeness. Verse 33:Dear children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.'Jesus has said this twice already to the unbelieving crowds: John 7:34,“You will search for me but not find me. And you cannot go where I am going.”John 8:21“I am going away. You will search for me but will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going.”So Jesus has said this to the crowds, now he's saying it to his closest friends. And what's he talking about? Where is he going?Track with me here: Jesus is talking about the whole gospel event — his being lifted up! This is his cross, his resurrection, his return to the Father. Jesus started talking about this as early as Chapter 2! He has said he will die and be raised and ascend to the Father's right hand — it's just that now this is not something in the future, but it's finally unfolding. It is in motion!And only Jesus can do this. Only Jesus can go there.Which means he won't be with his disciples any longer. He's leaving them. And that means his disciples are about to live in a world where Jesus is physically absent.And that could be devastating, right? It could be the end of the whole thing.Are they on the verge of a tragedy here? Is this a total loss? Is this a defeat? Because it sounds like it is! It will certainly look like it is tomorrow, on Friday.But Jesus is telling them in advance because he wants to make sure they know what his leaving is truly about: It's just the opposite of defeat. It's about triumph. Jesus GlorifiedThat's what Jesus is saying in verses 31–32. I'm gonna read these verses again, and just count how many times Jesus mentions “glory.”Verse 31:When [Judas] had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.Five times! (Repetition means emphasis — the emphasis is glory.) This is how we should think about Jesus leaving, according to Jesus! That is what he says it means.That's really why we call it Good Friday — because that's how Jesus taught us to think about his death. …A friend and I were talking recently about why we call the day that Jesus was crucified “Good Friday” — because that's kinda ‘inside baseball.' It doesn't really make sense to people who are less familiar with the gospel. Shouldn't we call it Horrible Friday? Well, yes, if we look at it through a microscope, but see, Jesus teaches us to see the whole thing altogether.And when we do, we see that Jesus's lowest moment was when his highest glory began to unfold … there is no death without resurrection; there is no resurrection apart from death, and his enthronement is the final word. All of that is the Son of Man being glorified and God being glorified in him!And that is the ultimate reason the followers of Jesus live in a world where Jesus is physically absent.And this matters for us now! What Jesus is saying in John 13 is as relevant for us this morning as it was when these eleven disciples first heard it, because we live in that same world. This new location for the eleven is the only location we've ever known: a world where Jesus is physically absent, yet presently glorified.So then how do we live in this world? Jesus tells us where we are. It's not heaven. But how does he want us to live in this new location?Well, he gives us a new commandment — a new commandment for the new location.This is the second part of the sermon.2. What is the new commandment?And the answer here is about as straightforward as it gets. Everybody look at verse 34, and help me fill in the blank. Verse 34: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another …”Isn't that amazing? Here we are, in this new location within redemptive history, and the first thing Jesus tells us about how he wants us to live in this world is that we're to love one another.And this is amazing, but I'm concerned that we could be either not very impressed by this or confused by it. We either hear the word “love” and it doesn't really move us, or we hear the word “love” and think it means something different from what Jesus means. This is a modern problem we face because we live in a society that has so diluted the meaning of love. My dad says that “love” is the most over-used, under-used word in the English language, and he's right. And that's a complexity! Jesus has left us in a world where he is physically absent, he told us to love one another, but how do we know what love is? So did Jesus prepare us for that?Yeah, he did. Look at the whole of verse 34. Verse 34 again:“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”Jesus reports himself here, tells us twice to love one another, because he knows we need help understanding what love really is!And so he tells us, once and for all! If you want to know what love is, he says, look at me! Love one another just as I have loved you!This is important. Listen: We learn from Jesus how to love one another.So how does that look?How does Jesus-like love actually look in real life?In closing, I want to tell you three things our love must be if it's Jesus-like love.If we will love one another like Jesus loves us, it means 1. Our love will be particular.I want to remind you that the love Jesus is talking about here is love that his disciples have for one another. This is not the common benevolence that we should have for all peoples everywhere. We call that neighbor-love, and it's commanded. We seek everybody's ultimate good in God.That's what we mean when we say we seek the good of the Twin Cities. We love these cities — we're not giving up on the cities. We want everybody in these cities to know God. But there is a particular kind of love that we have for our fellow blood-bought brothers and sisters in the family of God. And by “particular,” I don't mean stingy, I mean focused. This is family-love. There's neighbor-love, but this is family-love. That's what covenant membership intends to clarify: of all the people (and even all the Christians), in these cities, of whom do we have most assurance that they are truly in Christ? Well, it's those whose profession of faith we have corporately affirmed — it's our covenant members. So when Jesus commands us to love one another, we should hear that command as starting here, first. This is love for a particular people — the household of faith, our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we will love one another like Jesus loves us, it means 2. Our love will be sacrificial. Jesus's love for us meant, of course, the ultimate sacrifice — he went to the cross to bear the weight of our sin; he suffered the wrath of God in our place. That was the ultimate sacrifice, but it's not where his sacrifice started. Jesus's entire life was a sacrifice — the very fact that he became a man tells us that. Jesus was continually spending and being spent for us. It was constant cost.But think with me here … just because something has a cost, it doesn't mean it's sacrifice. What makes a cost a sacrifice? It's when the pain of the cost is considered worth the good of the goal. The pain of the cost is worth the good of the goal.This definition of sacrifice applies to a lot of things, big and small.This is why you get up early in the morning to read your Bible. You consider the pain of losing 30 minutes of sleep is worth being shaped by the word of God. The good of the goal is worth the pain of the cost.So what good for Jesus made his pain worth it?Well, it was not that the people he loves feel better about themselves. That's how a lot of people in our society confuse the meaning of love. They think love is mainly therapeutic — it's about making people feel better. But that's not what Jesus was aiming for. Now of course Jesus cares about our suffering — he binds up the brokenhearted! (Psalm 147:3) — but listen: his ultimate aim is not our transient ease … it's our everlasting joy in God!The cost was worth it for Jesus because he wants to bring people to God — that's the purpose of his love. That's the good of his goal. He wants his disciples to be happy in all that God is for them — because that is what magnifies the glory of God and satisfies the human soul. Real love ultimately wants the beloved to know God, and sacrificial love seeks that at a cost. Because the cost is worth it.Last point: If we will love one another like Jesus loves us, it means 3. Our love will be identifiable.This is verse 35. Jesus says:“By this” — by what? By loving one another the way Jesus loves us — “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”Jesus is saying that everybody — all people — will be able to recognize us as the people of Jesus because of how we love one another. People will see our love here and say, They must be Jesus-people. Does it surprise us that Jesus says this? Because there are many marks of a Christian! The apostle Paul talks about eight other fruits of the Spirit. He tells us that faith and hope also abide! They're important too! There's a lot of important stuff.And yet, the primary, public identity marker that we belong to Jesus is love.Our love for one another is what speaks the loudest in this new location … in this world — in what seems to be an ever-darkening world — Hey, nobody is looking around here asking, “Is this heaven?”Everybody knows this is not heaven. But our love for one another is meant to be a glimpse of heaven. We live in a world where Jesus is physically absent, but he is spiritually present through his church. And his glory shines through our love for one another. And that's what brings us to the table.The TableI want to be clear that the love Jesus commands is not a love that we ourselves can manufacture, it's actually the overflow of his love for us. John writes later in 1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us.” Paul says, “God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit he's given to us” and this is love that God has shown us in the cross (Romans 5:5, 8). And here at the Table we rest in his love.If you trust in Jesus Christ, if you have known the love of God, I invite you to eat and drink with us this morning with thankful hearts.

We're back for the next chapter of our journey through the Gospel of John!In Part Five of Abide in His Love, we'll dive into John 14–17 — some of the most intimate, powerful words Jesus ever spoke. These are His final teachings to the disciples before His Passion… and they're meant for us, too.What does it really mean to remain in Christ?How do we bear lasting fruit in our everyday lives?What does Jesus tell us about the Holy Spirit, obedience, and friendship with God?Join Jenna and Steph for a live Bible study as we unpack Jesus' Farewell Discourse and High Priestly Prayer, learning together how to stay rooted in love, prayer, and purpose.Grab your Bible, invite a friend, and let's abide in Him.

In the Farewell Discourse, Jesus makes a promise to the disciples. He tells them they will not be alone. He gives them the promise of the Holy Spirit

Dr. Stephen Kim continues his teaching from the Gospel of John, “The Farewell Discourse” addressing the Doctrine of Christ's Return & the Rapture of the Church. Slides 07.06.2025

Dr. Stephen Kim continues his teaching from the Gospel of John, “The Farewell Discourse” in chapters 13-17. Slides 6.29.2025

Join Catholic evangelist and bible teacher, Hector Molina as he explores the Mass Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C) and John's account of the Jesus' Farewell Discourse and the "New Commandment" given to his disciples.Mass Readings:Acts 13;14, 43-52Psalm 100John 10;27-30"A Walk in The Word" podcast is a weekly bible study and reflection on the Sunday Mass readings led by International Catholic evangelist and bible teacher, Hector Molina.PODCAST HOMEPAGE: https://awalkintheword.buzzsprout.comYOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/c/hectormolinacatholicevangelistSupport: Are you enjoying these videos? Become a Patron and partner with me in spreading the Good News! www.patreon.com/hectormolina/You can also show your support for the podcast by visiting: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hectormolina#fifthsundayofeaster #5thsundayofeaster #newcommandment #loveoneanother #sundaymassreadings #catholiclectionary #catholic #sundaygospel #sundaygospelreflection #catholicbiblestudy #awalkintheword#catholicpodcast #bibleinayear #wordonfire #sundayhomily #hectormolina

Join Catholic evangelist and bible teacher, Hector Molina as he explores the Mass Readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter and John's account of the Jesus' Farewell Discourse and the promise of the Counselor (Holy Spirit) made to his disciples.Mass Readings:Acts 15;1-2, 22-29Psalm 67John 14;23-29"A Walk in The Word" podcast is a weekly bible study and reflection on the Sunday Mass readings led by International Catholic evangelist and bible teacher, Hector Molina.PODCAST HOMEPAGE: https://awalkintheword.buzzsprout.comYOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/c/hectormolinacatholicevangelistSupport: Are you enjoying these videos? Become a Patron and partner with me in spreading the Good News! www.patreon.com/hectormolina/You can also show your support for the podcast by visiting: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hectormolina#sixthsundayofeaster #6thsundayofeaster #thepromiseoftheholyspirit #sundaymassreadings #catholiclectionary #catholic #sundaygospel #sundaygospelreflection #catholicbiblestudy #awalkintheword#catholicpodcast #bibleinayear #wordonfire #sundayhomily #hectormolina

A review of the last few days of the lectionary readings

A review of the last few days of the lectionary readings

In this episode, we explore how Acts 15 fulfills the promises and preparation of John's Farewell Discourse. The Eleven, equipped by Jesus, now act with unity, authority, and Spirit-led clarity. This isn't devotional theory—it's redemptive history unfolding.

In this episode, we explore how Acts 15 fulfills the promises and preparation of John's Farewell Discourse. The Eleven, equipped by Jesus, now act with unity, authority, and Spirit-led clarity. This isn't devotional theory—it's redemptive history unfolding.

Jesus' Command to Love: The Hardest and Holiest Calling Jesus gives us His commandment to “love one another,” . . . . . . emphasizing that true love, as exemplified by Jesus, is the most difficult yet most essential commandment. Rather than focusing on religious rituals like daily prayer or tithing, Jesus calls for radical, sacrificial love modeled after his own. The Homily underscores that love is only possible through the Holy Spirit and involves humility, equality, and self-giving. The Early Church It also recounts the early Church's struggle with integrating Gentile believers, particularly at the Council of Jerusalem, where leaders chose not to impose the full burden of Jewish law on Gentile converts . . . except out of love and respect for others' consciences. The Church's journey through subsequent theological disputes (e.g., Jesus' divinity and nature) illustrates that doctrinal clarity often takes centuries, but division still persists today between “conservatives” and “progressives.” The Homily calls for unity in the Church through love empowered by the Holy Spirit, rather than through labels or legalism Listen to this Meditation Media. Listen to: Jesus' Command to Love: The Hardest and Holiest Calling ----------------------------------------------------------------- Maestà : Italian Artist: Duccio: ( 1311) Jesus giving the Farewell Discourse to his eleven remaining disciples after the Last Supper, croed image from the Maestà by Duccio, c. 1311 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gospel Reading: John 15: 12-17 First Reading: Acts 15: 22-31 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Quote From the Homily And yet love is possible only because of the spirit. He says to us, how do we love one another? Look at me the way I have loved you.

In this episode of the Sermon Brainwave podcast, Profs. Karoline Lewis, Matt Skinner, and Rolf Jacobson discuss the readings for the sixth Sunday of Easter, focusing on the Farewell Discourse in John, the role of the Holy Spirit, the call to Macedonia in Acts, and the significance of Lydia as a key figure in the early church. They also explore the imagery in Revelation 21, emphasizing the communal aspect of eschatological existence and the promise of God's presence. Commentaries for the Sixth Sunday of Easter can be found on the Working Preacher website at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/sixth-sunday-of-easter-3/commentary-on-john-1423-29-6. ⏰Timecodes⏰ 00:00 Introduction to the Sixth Sunday of Easter 01:58 Exploring the Farewell Discourse 05:54 The Role of the Holy Spirit 10:10 Acts 16: The Call to Macedonia 13:58 Lydia: A Key Figure in the Early Church 19:55 Revelation 21: The New Jerusalem 25:59 End *  *  * Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share to stay connected with more insightful lectionary discussions! Reminder: We have commentaries for the Revised Common Lectionary, the Narrative Lectionary, and Evangelio (Spanish-language Gospel). We're here for you, working preachers! Learn more by visiting https://www.workingpreacher.org/. Watch this episode on YouTube at https://youtu.be/7jCeGf9WB_s.

In this episode of the Sermon Brainwave podcast, Profs. Karoline Lewis, Matt Skinner, and Rolf Jacobson discuss the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, focusing on love, community, and the significance of the Farewell Discourse in the Gospel of John.  They explore how Jesus' command to love one another is foundational for discipleship and how this love is to be embodied within the community. The discussion also touches on the cultural barriers faced by early Christians, particularly in the context of Peter's encounter with Cornelius, and concludes with reflections on the themes of praise in Psalm 148 and the promise of a new heaven and earth in Revelation. Commentaries for the Fifth Sunday of Easter can be found on the Working Preacher website at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-of-easter-3/commentary-on-john-1331-35-6. ⏰Timecodes⏰ 00:00 The texts for Fifth Sunday of Easter 01:52 The Theme of Love in the Farewell Discourse 07:04 Community and Mutual Love 09:31 Peter's Vision and the Inclusion of Gentiles 15:09 God's Radical Shift in Fellowship 16:11 Praise and Creation in Psalm 148 18:14 Revelation: New Heaven and New Earth 20:20  Outro *  *  * Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share to stay connected with more insightful lectionary discussions! Reminder: We have commentaries for the Revised Common Lectionary, the Narrative Lectionary, and Evangelio (Spanish-language Gospel). We're here for you, working preachers! Learn more by visiting https://www.workingpreacher.org/. Watch this episode on YouTube at https://youtu.be/c7dt4Y8Lv5o.

The Farewell Discourse

All believers in all times can find hope in Jesus' final words to the disciples.

Pastor Jason concludes our Farewell Discourse series with John 17.

In this new series we will explore reasons we can Trust what Jesus says. Today's lesson is out of John 14. “Don't let this rattle you. You trust God, don't you? Trust me.” (John 14:1 Message). John 14-16 is called the “Farewell Discourse”—last words before Jesus' arrest/death. What Jesus does with his final words, is attempt to move his disciples from being troubled to becoming trusting.