On Wednesday we read John 11:1-44. It’s the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It’s not just a story about an incredible miracle, Jesus reinforced that the Kingdom of God is a present and future reality. When Jesus told Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha replied, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Martha understood that God’s glory would be made known on the last day because Jesus had said it earlier (John 6:39-40). However, Jesus corrects her and says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live…” Jesus clarifies her understanding of the Kingdom of God. It’s both a present and future reality. Every time we see God’s glory in the present, we are getting a glimpse of the future Kingdom of God that will come on the last day. At small group, we laid hands on Holly and prayed for healing for her borderline diabetes.

You guys are really doing a great job memorizing these Bible verses! This week’s memory verse is Matthew 4:23.

Matthew 4:23 (NIV)
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Matthew 4:23 (NLT)
Jesus traveled throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues, preaching everywhere the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed people who had every kind of sickness and disease.

Brian

John 14:23
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Last week we learned from John 15 that we are to obey this command from Jesus, “Love each other as I have loved you.” John 14:23 says that our obedience will result in the Father loving us. When I initially read this, I said to myself, “What? I thought the Father loved the whole world before we loved him!” That is true, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world…” Is the Bible contradicting itself? Not at all!

The love that is described in John 14:23 isn’t the result of our own religious efforts. This love is God’s “grace” (or favor/special blessing) that is poured out to those who abide in Christ. Paul talks about this love in Ephesians 1:5-6, “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will… to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Did you catch the last part? Grace is freely available to us because it is found “in the One he loves.” The “One he loves” is Jesus! Since the Father loves the Son, and we abide (or remain in) the Son, we are loved and become his adopted sons.

Think about the Father/Son relationship for a moment. When the Father wants to leave something for his children, how does he do it? If we read on in Ephesians 1:13-14 it says, “…you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance…” Father’s will leave things for their children with an inheritance! According to Ephesians 1:14, the Holy Spirit was given to us as a “deposit” to guarantee our inheritance. A deposit is the equivalent of a promise. Jesus has promised to return for us because he left the Holy Spirit as a deposit.

When we read the rest of John 14:23 it says, “and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Not only did the Father and the Son leave us a deposit; they put that deposit within us in the form of the Holy Spirit! Ephesians 1:13 says, “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” This seal is God’s signature of ownership and it has been stamped on our hearts when we make Jesus our King.

The topic of Wednesday’s small group was “As I Have Loved You” and the passage was John 15:9-17. We talked about Jesus’ love, what is means to remain in his love, how obedience/loyalty relates to love, how the ultimate expression of love is dying for another person, and how God chose to love us before we loved him. Here is the memory verse for this week. As always, there’s a goodie bag at stake!

John 14:23 (NIV)
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

John 14:23 (NLT)
Jesus replied, “All those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and live with them.

1 Peter 1:21
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

There are two words in this passage that are very similar, “Believe” and “Faith”. If we look at this passage it the original Greek, these words are both derived from the same Greek word “Peitho” which means “to trust, have confidence, be confident.” To have faith in Jesus means to trust him as you would trust a parachute. Would you jump out of an airplane wearing a parachute if you didn’t trust that the parachute would save you? It’s easy to intellectually believe that a parachute could save someone because we’ve all seen how parachutes work. But when the parachute is strapped to your back as you stare thousands of feet down to earth, your intellectual belief of parachutes isn’t enough to jump out of the plane. It takes full confidence and trust! We need to trust Jesus with our life as we would trust a parachute with our life. We need to put on Jesus Christ and be confident in the jump to come.

The Vineyard High School students will be heading down to Cincinnati, Ohio to King’s Island on July 8th. The price is $60 and that covers all your transportation, your ticket to the park, and your ticket to Spirit Song. The concert is featuring: Newsboys, David Crowder Band, Tobymac, and Pocket Full of Rocks. If you want to sign up call the church 614-277-2700 and ask for Jason Coker. If you have any questions, leave a comment.

Oh, and for those of you who are saying, “$60, that’s crazy!” Well, if you want to go on your own then you can expect to pay:
$50 – King’s Island ticket and concert ticket and service fee
$10 – Parking at King’s Island
$18 – Gas (roundtrip)
——
$78 Grand total if you go on your own.

So, we’re saving you $18! Going with a group is cheaper than going on your own.