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John 18:15-18

by Lon on March 7, 2011

Continuing our journey through the book of John

15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard,16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

17 “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.
He replied, “I am not.”

18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

Who is this other disciple?  John referred himself in the third person sometimes, but what intrigues me is whether this disciple as identified himself as so.

When the servant girl asks Peter if he’s a disciple too, could it be that the other disciple had owned up to his affiliation with Christ?

Are there times when you’re caught, unable to acknowledge Christ?  Sometimes it’s easier to blend among the rest and warm ourselves by the fire isn’t it?

Another perspective on this is if we time sliced this incident, Peter spoke the truth.  In the moment he said he wasn’t a disciple he wasn’t.

And what does that say of us and our daily actions?  Are we disciples?  followers of Christ?  Betrayers of Christ?  Or some mixture in-between?

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John 17:1-5

by Lon on February 8, 2011

Continuing our journey through John

1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

We know God can hear our prayers, even the ones deep within our hearts – yet why would Jesus look to heaven and pray?  Is there some connection between our physical posture and our attentiveness to God in prayer?

Would you dare ask God to bring glory to you?  To ask for authority?  What would you do with glory and authority?  Would it be for the good of God and of others?

Do you have some notion of what ‘eternal life’ is?  Jesus spells it out as clearly as possible here ‘Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.’ – Does this differ in anyway from what you’ve known to be eternal life?

And where were you before the world began?

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John 8:42-47

by Lon on July 19, 2010

Continuing the story of Jesus according to John

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?

47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

I recently read an article quoting a scientist in reference to a greater cosmic consciousness in the universe and said “Even if it were true I wouldn’t believe it”

While we talk often about despising hypocrisy and seeking truth – there can be times where something in us just doesn’t want truth.

There’s something that goes far beyond what we say and what we do (though it greatly affects both).  At our very core there is something we cannot simply will into existence.  There is a person within us that can only be transformed by it’s maker – and this shapes everything.

To whom do you belong?  What is your maker like?  For what purposes were you fundamentally created?

Maybe there are some things we can hear from God only in the context of belonging to him.

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John 7:25-44

by Lon on June 15, 2010

Continuing our online exploration of the gospel of John

25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ?

27 But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” 
28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him,

29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” 
30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.

31 Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?” 

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. 
33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me.

34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 
35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?” 
37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. 

40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” 

41 Others said, “He is the Christ.” 
Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee?42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.

44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

This passage is loaded with tension.

There are questions of who Christ is.

There are men who want to seize by force, yet it seems something divine disables them.

There is faith and doubt.

There is a continuous play on words, re-framing of how people view things.

What do you do with a Christ like this?  One loaded with questions, metaphors, and mysteries?  It’s easy to sign a statement of beliefs, but what about believing in a living, breathing moving target like Jesus?

What does it mean to believe in Christ?  What does it mean for him to be our Christ?

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John 5:1-15

by Lon on March 23, 2010

Continuing our study through the gospel of John

1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews.2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie–the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty?eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 

7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. 
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,

10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” 

11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” 

12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” 

13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 
14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Who are the lame, the blind, and the paralyzed today?  Literally or metaphorically.

Where do they gather today, and why?

Jesus approached the man with a question, not a presumption.

Ponder the NIV translation of the man’s condition as ‘invalid’.  A better translation may be infirmity, frailty, or weakness.

Jesus caused a man to break the ‘sabbath’ in the healing.  How do you respond when ‘good works’ are done by others who don’t fit within your paradigm?

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Acts 10

by Lon on May 11, 2009

Acts 10

Cornelius – gave alms generously and prayed constantly to God without knowing his name was Jesus

What does this say about how we interact with those around us?

Indwelling in the grace of God has nothing to do with your ‘works’ but how do you help introduce someone to the King, who already seems well acquainted with the kingdom?

v36 The message God sent to his people – peace by Jesus christ – he is Lord of all.

What does/would this look like today?

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Living the Resurrection

by Lon on April 13, 2009

Have you been celebrating the resurrection of Jesus throughout this week?

Have you been sipping champagne?

Have you remind yourself that you are living a new life?

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Jesus in the Burbs…

by Lon on October 27, 2008

This is a massive topic that I believe we were only scratching the surface on at our last gathering.

Some further questions and reflections

What are some attributes that come to mind when you think of the suburbs?

What are some of the idols in the suburbs?

Reflect on the following terms as it relates to the suburbs
- Families.  Affluence.  Cookie cutter houses.  Independence.  Waste.  Avoidance of interruptions.  Fragmentation.

Reflect on injustices that you’re aware of in our world.

Reflect on Luke 16:19-31

Why is there a separation between the nameless rich man and Lazarus?

Note how that in this scene no one is in heaven or hell due to doctrine or belief statements

Could it be that the ‘gate’ that the rich man put up, created an unreachable ‘chasm’ within his own heart?

Could it be that the rich man needed Lazarus just as much as Lazarus needed the rich man?

Note how the rich man continues to argue with Abraham and speaks of Lazarus in the third person telling him what he should do?  Why might his attitude in such torment be like this?

Suburbanism is also invading the suburbs.  Do some research on the term gentriciation and it’s implications.

What would it look like for the Kingdom of God to manifest in the suburbs?

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