Jesus used many metaphors in his teaching, perhaps none so vivid as the vine metaphor in John 15. What was he trying to convey, and why does it matter for us?
(Preaching through John’s Gospel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 30, 2018. Yes, we are missing a portion of the text because the sermon from Sept. 23 was not recorded. Oops.)
Previously we examined what it takes to be a messenger of Jesus. This week we examine the contrast in Judas; what leads a person down a path of betrayal, and how are we in danger of the same?
(Preaching through John’s Gospel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 9, 2018.)
John 13 has two interwoven, interacting themes: Judas’s betrayal of Jesus, contrasted with Jesus’s preparation of his disciples to be his messengers. This week we will look at the second; what does Jesus expect of his messengers and what qualities do we need to possess if we want to be one?
(Preaching through the Gospel of John. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 2, 2018.)
As we zoom in on the last week of Jesus’ life in the last half of John, we begin by examining all the various ways people responded to him, and compare that to how people respond to him today.
(Preaching through John’s Gospel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on August 19, 2018.)
We know that God works in the world, but what does that actually mean? How does He move in the lives of people to accomplish His will? In John 11-12, we gain a little bit of insight into the answer to that question, as we see the inner workings of the gospel plan in motion.
(Preaching through the gospel of John. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on December 18, 2016.)
Shepherding language and analogy is somewhat common in scripture, yet we don’t really have that sort of experience in our culture. When Jesus calls himself “The Good Shepherd” in John 10, what does that mean for us, his sheep?
(Preaching through the Gospel of John. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on December 4, 2016. The first 4 minutes of audio were unrecoverable.)
This country is deeply divided, in part I believe because of the dangers of confirmation bias. What is confirmation bias, and how does it affect our lives? We see a perfect example in the attitude of the Pharisees in John 9.
(Preaching through the Gospel of John. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on November 13, 2016.)
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen at all? In one particular case, for one particular tragedy, we get to know the answer for certain. As we consider the story of the man born blind in John 9, what can we extrapolate for our own lives?
(This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on November 6, 2016.)
What makes a true thing true? What are the qualities of truth? And what does our response to truth have to do with anything? As we consider a hard saying of Jesus in John 6, we must come to grips with the difficult sayings of scripture in general.
(Preaching through the Gospel of John. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on October 2, 2016.)
Following the miracle of the feeding the five thousand in John 6, Jesus commands the crowd to seek “the food that endures.” Embedded in this teaching is a question: why do you follow Jesus? What is the “food that endures” and how is it different than the “food that perishes”?
(Preaching through the Gospel of John. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 25, 2016.)
Watts in the Word 