For many Christians, the passion, or the events surrounding the crucifixion of Christ, are very familiar. We’ve heard countless messages on the crucifixion and even possibly seen movies or plays depicting it. Not to mention, there are four gospel accounts in the New Testament. However, not all the gospels offer the exact same details. One might include some things which others leave out. In John’s gospel, he includes some details which others have not, but at the same time, he has left out some events that others included. So the tendency among preachers and expositors is to fill in the

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In the last few weeks we have been looking at the various aspects of apostasy. Apostasy, as you know, is the act of turning away from the truth. We started out examining the apostasy of the church in the example of the disciples at the arrest of Jesus. Peter’s denial of Christ exemplified the apostasy of the church. Then last week we looked at the apostasy of the world, particularly as evidenced by religion and politics. The Jewish religious leaders under Annas exemplified apostate religion, and Pilate illustrated apostasy in politics. Today we are going to look at one last

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Hillary Clinton achieved a great measure of notoriety during the Benghazi Hearings for her response to questioning regarding what really happened during the massacre, by asking her accusers, “What difference does it make?” Some would say that this statement of seeming indifference at the loss of the US Ambassador’s life and three embassy personnel’s lives was a key factor in her recent loss in the election. And while that incident has very little to do with today’s message, as I studied the text this last week, and considered the importance of the truth of Christ upon our lives, I found

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As I have previously pointed out, John isn’t presenting a blow by blow account of the arrest and trial of Christ. By the time he is writing this epistle, the other three gospels have already presented all of the chronological events in detail. Instead, what John is doing is specifically highlighting certain events in order to illustrate particular principles which he is attempting to teach. And as we have seen from our previous studies, John is very focused on presenting the gospel as the truth of God. He quotes Jesus reaffirming this principle again and again in statements such as

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My message today is titled, “Fight or Flight.” And I hope that the reason for that being so named would be evident from the content of the verses we just read. On the one hand we know from this text and the other gospels that all the disciples fled as a result of this incident, and on the other hand we see Simon Peter trying to put up a fight by taking out his sword and cutting of the ear of the high priest’s servant. Hence I have called it, Fight or Flight. Psychologists tell us that fight or flight

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For the last few weeks we have been studying the prayer of Jesus on the night before His crucifixion. And as we have noted, there are three levels to His prayer; He prays first for Himself, then for His disciples, and then for those who will be saved in the future (that is the church at large). But in addition to that purpose, there is an underlying application to His prayer, which is not only for our edification, but for our education. We can learn from Christ how to pray effectively in a way that will please God, and we

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Last week we began to look at what is the longest prayer of Christ that is recorded, and perhaps the most instructive of His prayers. It is instructive from many different perspectives. The prayer can be broken down into three main sections; vs1-5 Jesus prays concerning Himself, vs 6-19 Jesus prays concerning the disciples, and vs20 -26 Jesus prays concerning the church. And as we saw last time, one of those perspectives is that Christ’s prayer teaches us to pray. His prayer as recorded in the first five verses is an example of effective prayer, prayer that is pleasing to

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For a myriad of reasons, New Year’s Day compels people to think of making resolutions for the new year. I’m not alone, I think, in usually deciding to begin a new exercise program. Actually, mine started the day after Christmas. December 26th is my birthday, and that is usually reason enough to try to turn back the clock. So New Year’s Day is just further incentive to make good on my resolution for better health, or lose weight, or whatever. And I think that such calendar prompts are helpful. It helps to measure time, to take note of your situation,

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As those of you who are regulars here have come to realize by now, I do not go out of my way to preach topical messages on holidays. So, as such, I do not have a “Christmas message” per se for you this morning. That being said however, I feel that today’s message does speak to the real meaning of Christmas that unfortunately is often obscured by the focus on just the birth of Christ. The real message of Christmas I feel is that Jesus came to be the Savior of the world. Not just some sentimental nostalgia about a

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The Christmas season is supposed to be a season of joy. It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. That’s what we are told, at least, in tradition and song. And yet I would suggest that for a lot of people, Christmas time is anything but joyful. For many people that are financially strapped, it is a stressful time. And for many who have lost loved ones, it is a sorrowful time. I think our expectations during this holiday are part of the problem. Perhaps because of the media’s portrayal of what we should be the Christmas

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