Jonah is a great story including a great city, a great tempest, a great fish, a great revival and a great closing question. Yet, Jonah is ultimately about a great God with an exciting global vision. In Psalm 46:10b He describes His vision this way, “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” So, let’s not waste our lives or our coming together as a church running from God’s call or dabbling in secondary pursuits. Whether He wants us to go, pray, give, support, send, mobilize and/or encourage, let’s join Him in His chief glorious, global and great endeavor!
Sermons by Dean Wertz (Page 18)
The Bible teaches that there are many rewards given to God’s children. Yet, it also teaches that not everyone is a child of God. Are you? Am I? How can we become children of God? If a 10-year old asked you how to become a child of God, what would you say? On this Sunday after Christmas we learn from the Apostle John, who spent three years with the Incarnate Jesus, God’s answer to the question, “How can we become a child of God?”
Peace is the global focus on this fourth Sunday of Advent. Peace is a good feeling produced by the Holy Spirit when conflict is replaced with loving kindness in our relationship with God, our relationships with one another and within our own souls. Though peace on earth is offered to all, today we discover from relatives of Mary that those who recognize Jesus as Lord will experience sustained divine peace.
Joy is the global focus on this 3rd Sunday of Advent. Since God is the most joyful person in the universe and He has gifted us with joy for our interior lives, today we consider what true joy is, a few thieves of joy and the key to obeying His command to “Rejoice!” in the calm and stormy seasons of life.
After investing 12 weeks learning from Jesus’ teaching in the vineyard it has become clear that abiding in Jesus is essential for God’s glory, the world’s good and our joy. In this final message in The Abide Project we reflect on how we have been affected by Jesus’ invitation to abide and how abiding together can help us grow in our close, dependent and continual relationships with our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are all born with unfulfilled souls. Fortunately, Jesus reveals a path to divine and full joy! Today we consider, when Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” is “my joy” referring to his or his abiding disciples’ experience of joy? What does it look like to have “full” joy? And, why is he concerned about his disciples’ joy on the night before his crucifixion (v. 11)?
When Jesus promises that his “Father is glorified” by those who bear much fruit, proving to be his disciples, what is he intending to communicate and why is he concerned about his Father’s glory on the night before his crucifixion (v. 8)?
When Jesus promises, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (v. 7) is he issuing a blank check for this type of prayer?
Fruit is God’s blessing to the world. So, it is a great metaphor for the works God desires to do in and through you. In this message we will grapple with questions from John 15:4-5. Why does Jesus promise “much fruit” through those who abide in him? What is the warning issued to his followers when he says, “As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me” (v. 4)? Since non-abiding people do good things, why would he say, “apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5)?
After setting the stage for His vineyard teaching in John 15:1-3, Jesus invites His true followers to “abide in me.” What does this word abide mean? Further, what does it look like for followers of Jesus to abide today? In this message we consider the various uses of “abide” throughout John’s Gospel including Jesus’ own abiding relationship with His Father to see more clearly what abiding in Jesus can look like for us.