In today’s passage we are continuing our study of what is called the Upper Room Discourse.  It spans several chapters, and yet it all occurs in just one evening; Christ’s last evening with His disciples before He is crucified.  In this talk that Jesus gives, He tells His disciples that He will be leaving them very soon, and that where He is going they cannot now come. Of course, they are very troubled by this revelation.  And Jesus knows that they are upset over this. So He says to them not to be troubled, but that He will return for

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In several of my past sermons, I have established the principle that the Christian’s relationship with Christ is like that of a husband and wife in marriage. Paul says in  Ephesians 5:31, “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.”  So marriage, as defined by God, is an illustration of the church’s relationship with Christ. In any marriage relationship, the foundation is love. I’m sure that everyone here

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Jesus said God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. I quote that verse here almost every week.  But I think that we need to elaborate on this doctrine that God is Spirit.  The Greek word for spirit is pneuma. Pneuma is the root word from which we get our word pneumatic. It means air, or a breath of air.  So a spirit is like the air.  A spirit is unseen.  It isn’t composed of matter that you can touch or see.  The best way we can describe it is a spirit

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When I was a boy, I remember my Dad, who was the pastor of our church, saying that his favorite song was “Mansion over the Hilltop.”  I guess it’s what’s called Southern Gospel and Elvis Presley, of all people, really popularized it by recording it in the early 60’s. I say it’s Southern Gospel because the lyrics use the word “yonder.”   My dad wasn’t a very good singer, but when the church would sing that song, he really seemed to enjoy it. The lyrics were not the most doctrinally correct perhaps, but the sentiment was sound.  It went something

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What we have presented to us in the first 17 verses of this chapter, is what I have called an animated parable. A parable is a story that is given to illustrate a spiritual truth.  And so what Jesus is doing by washing the disciples’ feet is providing a living illustration, or an animated parable, in order to teach a spiritual truth.   Now that is important to understand.  Because the illustration is not the object of our attention, but the illustration serves to present a lesson.  There are some that take from this text the idea that we need

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Just a couple of months ago I was driving behind a great big John Deere combine tractor which was going down the road, moving from one field to another, and it reminded me of a verse of scripture, which to my mind is one of the saddest verses in the Bible.  It is found in Jeremiah 8:20 which says,  “Harvest is past, summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Every year around the end of fall it seems that this verse comes to mind.  Once Labor Day passes, it is obvious around this town that the summer season has

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The Bible says that God’s ways are not our ways.  Nor are His thoughts our thoughts.  And in John’s gospel we see ample evidence of that.  In fact, John shows that what man might think is logical,  natural, and common sense, may not be the truth of God. The truth of God is often counterintuitive.  A classic example of this is found in verse 25, as Jesus says, “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.”  Jesus said that same statement slightly differently in Mark 8:35

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In the Christian church today, I think we are sometimes guilty of saying things, repeating phrases, or even going through certain ceremonies, which are part of our tradition, but which we don’t really understand.  For instance, you may have heard the word “hallelujah” in church.  We may sing or say this word in various liturgies or songs.  Yet a lot of us may not know what it really means.  It’s a Hebrew word which means “praise the Lord”.  “Amen” is another one we hear often.  Amen is another Hebrew word, which means “truly,” or “so be it.”   Today in

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