John 17: 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. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are…
John 17:9-12 is both a comforting and challenging portion of scripture. We hear Jesus praying some sweet prayers for us, but believing the things that Jesus prays is the challenge. Be honest with yourself. There are times that you feel alone and unprotected and perhaps even completely ineffective as a believer. But Jesus says different. This is His prayer. John 17: 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have…
As always, it was a sweet day of worship yesterday. We prayed, we sang, we studied, and we rested under one central truth: God is good and generous. That may seem like an obvious truth, but I will tell you just like I told you yesterday: Our faith in God’s goodness and generosity is tested in difficult times. Well, fortunately, we get to see Jesus detail for us God’s generosity. In John 17, we read this… John 17:6 “I have…
First of all, please know how great it was to see so many of you at worship. We were blessed with joyful worship (I could hear you guys out there), and we were blessed with several guests at worship as well. More than anything, I think we were challenged well by John 17:1-5. We are moving into what is called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. This is where Jesus prays for the disciples, and He prays for us as well. In…
This past Sunday at Evident Grace, we looked John 16:15-33. Those verses include Jesus’ well-known declaration, “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.” And while these words include a tremendous promise, Jesus has so much more to say surrounding them. So, we looked at this Big Picture Question: How do the words of Jesus give us peace? And…
This week’s sermon tackled one of the most difficult topics in our lives: waiting. Simply, God commands waiting and promises blessings when we obey. Yet, we want what we want when we want it, and that wanting makes waiting nearly impossible. Towards that end, we asked this Big Picture Question: Big Picture Question: Why is waiting a good thing? And we attempted to answer that question in this way. Waiting is a good thing because when we wait… We understand…
Wow, Labor Day Sunday, the pastor with no voice, and the sermon that nearly ate all of us. If you weren’t with us, you were greatly missed. Thankfully, we had lots of EG family returning from vacation and several first time visitors. By God’s grace, I hoarse-croaked through the songs and sermon (still no idea why I lost my voice). Why did the sermon nearly eat all of us? Well, I first began the sermon two weeks ago, and I…