Jesus' Prayer (John 17:1-26)

John 17:1-26; Key Verses: Jn 17:24

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am..."

There are three words that may help us "balance our Christian lives" ("Ortho" in Greek means "right," "correct," "true," or "straight."):

• orthodoxy (right or correct beliefs/doctrines/theory/opinion).
• orthopraxy (right or correct practices/action/activity)
• orthopathy, (right or correct suffering/emotions/passions).

This may be like saying that we Christians need to get at least three things right: God, our life, and our emotions. Among the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12), we might add "Blessed are the balanced." In Jesus' magisterial prayer we see Jesus expressing the full range of his orthodoxy, orthopraxy and orthopathy.

Your Grief Will Turn To Joy (John 16:1-33)

John 16:1-33; Key Verse: Jn 16:20b

"...your grief will turn to joy."

To preach about the Holy Spirit is quite enigmatic and confounding. My first title for this sermon was "The Holy Spirit Convicts and Guides" with Jn 16:8,13 as key verses. Next was "The Holy Spirit is Fully God, Yet Distinctly Different from God the Father and God the Son." But this title is clearly too long and cumbersome. Finally I settled on "Your Grief Will Turn To Joy," with Jn 16:20b as the key verse. My theme and thesis is that authentic Christian life, which is the work of the Holy Spirit, must have grief because of our sins, and it must have joy because of the marvelous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

True Christians Bear Fruit (John 15:1-27)

John 15:1-27; Key Verse: John 15:8

"...that you bear much fruit."

Are you remaining in Jesus? Bearing fruit? What are the fruit that God was us to bear? How do we Christians bear fruit? Consider this: Christian life is not activity without dependency, or inactivity with dependency, but activity with dependency simultaneously.

John chaps. 13-17 is known as Jesus' Upper Room discourse, where Jesus shares his most intimate thoughts with those he loves. The cross was only one day away. Within hours, Jesus would be betrayed, arrested, falsely tried, beaten, tortured and hanging on the cross abandoned. In less than 24 hours, he would be dead and buried. These were the last words the disciples would hear Jesus say to them before he died. {John 1-12 center on the rejection of Jesus by the world and by his own people/nation (Jn 1:10-11). John 13-17 center on those who received him (Jn 1:12).}

Believe in Jesus (John 14:1-31)

John 14:1-31; Key Verse: Jn 14:1  "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me."
Do you have any sense of unease as you face the new year 2013? What do you do when you are troubled and distressed? How do you overcome and navigate the difficulties, complexities, hardships and sheer unpredictability of life? We shall consider these questions as we learn how Jesus helped and comforted his disciples who were at the end of their rope and were seemingly inconsolable. The scene is the upper room where the disciples had gathered with Jesus before he was arrested. Judas had been dismissed (Jn 13:30) and Jesus began his address to the remaining 11, explaining that he would soon leave them (Jn 13:33,36). The disciples were bewildered, troubled, confused and filled with uncertainty, anxiety and trepidation (Jn 14:1a). Their world was about to be shattered and coming apart at the seams. Anticipating their devastation, Jesus spoke to comfort them.