Sunday we continue in the gospel of John by looking at two healings the author puts side by side. The first healing is of an official's son who is ill, near to death. Jesus tells the father to go home and assures him that his son will live. We discover that his son recovers, and the fever left at the same hour Jesus spoke to the father. The second healing is a man unable to walk for thirty-eight years. Jesus tells him to take up his bed and walk, which he does immediately.

Both of these healings are a sign of Jesus’ deity, but they also show us God’s love for people of different races and social standing. When John records that God loves the world, Jesus demonstrates that by his ministry to a Samaritan woman, an official, and a disabled man. God does not show partiality!

These healings also demonstrate the kind of response that John is looking for from his readers. How should we respond to Jesus’ grace? Believe.

Join us Sunday as we consider these back to back healings and what they reveal to us about Jesus. Come and see impartial grace!

As Jesus concludes his conversation with the Samaritan woman, she goes into town to invite the community to investigate Jesus, his disciples return with food. They urge Jesus to eat, but he’s not done teaching. He wants them to see what he sees. According to John, the disciples were marveling that he was talking with a woman. Jesus wants them to look past her gender, ethnicity, and beliefs to see the person. 

The harvest is food! When a farmer sows, waters, and then reaps his crop, he gathers food that feeds his family. Jesus is harvesting those given to him by the Father (John 17:6). This is what sustains him. This is food!

After Jesus explains the harvest, Samaritans come to him and believe. As a reader, John wants you to believe in Jesus because of the grace he extends this community. He wants you to see yourself as the Samaritan woman (and the members of her village) who believed. But John also wants us as disciples to see the people around us (especially those who are personally offensive to us) as God’s fields ready for sowing and reaping.

Join us Sunday as we consider the Lord and his harvest.

Sunday, John takes us into a conversation that Jesus had with a woman from Samaria. It begins as a simple conversation with Jesus asking her for water. Because he is crossing Jewish purification lines and long standing animosity between the Jews and Samaritans, the woman is quite surprised. Even more surprising, Jesus compares the water from the well with the living water he could provide to her. 

The water she drew came from a well that she attributes to Jacob who purchased the land from Shechem (Genesis 33:18-20). Jesus compares the water he can provide with the water Jacob provides his descendants. What Jacob provides needs to be drawn from daily, while the water Jesus provides is “living” because it is spiritual. Jesus is superior to Jacob!

Then the conversation turns to the proper location for worshiping God, and Jesus challenges both the Jews' and the Samaritans' concepts of God and the worship due his name. John the apostle continues to leverage these conversations to challenge his readers to come and see what Jesus knows about God and offers to those who believe in him. 

So join us Sunday as we consider this boundary crossing conversation that’s filled with hope in the grace of God.

Our next text is a beautiful statement of our belief regarding Jesus. John the baptizer is dialoging with a Jew about purification when the conversation turns to Jesus. After all, Jesus is quickly gaining more followers than John, his disciples are actually baptizing more people than John. What does John think about Jesus eclipsing him?

John the baptizer reiterates his previous statement that he is not the Messiah but came to prepare people for his arrival. He’s actually elated that Jesus’ influence is increasing and his decreasing because Jesus is the Son of God. God sent him, gave him the Spirit without limit, and has made him responsible for all creation. This text presents all three persons of the Trinity in their function. 

Here is where John the author closes the deal, saying, “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” He’s inviting you to believe in Jesus. This would be even more powerful for his Jewish readers who knew John, and were possibly baptized by him. While we are removed from this historical scene, receive the witness of both John the Apostle and John the Baptist: Jesus has descended from heaven to rescue sinners from the God’s judgment.

Sunday we consider probably the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16. You can probably quote it without thinking about it. Have you ever considered it in its context? Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus the Spirit’s regeneration to life. Faith in Jesus, the Son of God, is evidence of the Spirit’s work. Just as Moses called people to look to the bronze serpent for healing, whoever looks to Jesus in faith is given eternal life. Then comes verse sixteen, “For God…” Notice the first word, “for.” This word connects these two sections.

 In this paragraph, John makes it clear that God sent Jesus to rescue the world (sinners), not to condemn it. In fact, the world already stands condemned because it hasn’t believed and rejected Jesus because it is evil. Evil people, dead in their transgressions and sins, avoid exposure by the Light. The verdict is that they can’t come to the light unless the Spirit of God grants them new birth. But all who have been “born again” are comfortable in the presence of God because God is present with them.

Join us Sunday as we consider the grace of God for us.

Sunday, John will bring us into a familiar interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus. This interaction follows on the heels of John saying that while some believed in Jesus, Jesus did not reciprocate because he knew their hearts. Their faith was not a work of God’s grace, but a human response to seeing something supernatural. John uses this interaction to make a point that faith is a work of God’s Spirit. Jesus says, “you must be born again.” (John 3:7) Here the word “again” can also be translated “above.”

Being “born from above” refers to the Spirit’s work of regeneration, or the new birth. Jesus teaches, even as he interacts with people, that unless the Spirit of God grants the new birth, genuine faith is impossible. How do we know the Spirit of God is present at work? That’s where Jesus’ illustration of the wind comes in. You don’t know where the wind comes from or is going, but you know when it’s present because things happen (leaves blow, your hair is messed up, etc.). So it is with the Spirit, you know when he’s present because people believe and receive eternal life. Have you been born from above?

Sunday, John takes us to the Passover of the Jews. You probably remember most of the setting of the first Passover (Exodus 12). The Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians. On the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, the people are to kill a lamb and place its blood on the doorposts and the lintel of the homes they gather in. The lamb with the bitter herbs and unleavened bread was to be eaten entirely (or destroyed) and the people were to prepare to leave Egypt. This meal was followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread until the twenty-first day of the month. God even tells them what to say to their children every year when they celebrate the Passover together, “you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” It is the central Jewish ceremony, even today.

Jesus enters the temple, during the preparation of the Passover and what does he find? Money changers and merchants selling ceremonially pure animals. Now, none of this was sinful. After all, the people were traveling from different parts of the county and needed to purchase animals for sacrifice. In addition, they needed to change their currency into acceptable currency for the temple offering. The problem was the placement of these merchants within the temple, probably in the court of the Gentiles. Jesus rebukes them all, overturning their tables and driving out their animals. He says to the pigeon (dove) merchants, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” (John 2:16)

The temple was to be a place of communion with God, not a ceremonial Wal-Mart. What’s amazing is that Jesus refers to himself as the temple after the religious leaders challenge his displacement of the merchants. The temple was a temporary place of mediation between God and man. It was a shadow of a reality fulfilled in Jesus. Join us Sunday as we consider our great High Priest and the only mediator between God and man: Jesus Christ!

Sunday we move into chapter two and Jesus’ first miracle, turning water into wine. It’s more than a miracle according to John: it’s a sign. John’s word choice is important, because it doesn’t merely indicate a miracle, but something that speaks of a reality. Imagine driving down the road, and you see a flashing sign that says “bridge out ahead.” The sign points to a reality ahead. John highlights this first miracle of Jesus, because it is a sign of a reality ahead.
 
John brings this out through the narrative. There are pots for purification, that once filled with water are made wine for a wedding feast. Stunning new covenant imagery. In addition, the conversation between Jesus and Mary points to the moment the new covenant becomes effective. Jesus says, “My hour has not yet come.”  The Lord’s hour refers to his suffering and sacrifice for his people that provides the cleansing we require. All of this is symbolized by Jesus turning water into wine.
 
Yes, there’s more to this miracle than just a supernatural event, it’s a sign of the new covenant in Christ Jesus. So, join us Sunday as we consider this amazing text.

As we move to the next section of John’s gospel, we’re introduced to the disciples who followed Jesus. Once again, John the Baptist identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God, this time to his disciples. Immediately, two of his disciples followed Jesus, Andrew and probably the author, John. He presents these events because he wants you to follow Jesus. Twice in the narrative we have the invitation, “come and see,” once from Jesus and once from Philip. But the text is more nuanced than that.

When Andrew and John begin following Jesus, he asks them and important question, “What are you seeking?” John presents that question to his readers so that they can evaluate what they are seeking as they come and see Jesus. Some might be seeking a “rabbi,” a teacher who will give them answers to life’s problems. Some who seek Jesus are looking for relief from political persecution (Jews vs. Romans). The gospel presents Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” the promised descendant of King David, the Son of God and the Son of Man.

As we consider this text and you consider Jesus, what are you seeking?

June 22, 2020

Dear Church Family,

As you know, Sunday, June 21, 2020, it was announced in a YouTube video (youtube.com/eastcobbpres) that we will be hosting worship in the gym beginning July 12, 2020 at 10am. We are excited about worshiping together on a limited scale in the gym. While this isn’t a full “regathering,” it will be a joy to see each other again and join our voices in praise to the Lord. We need the grace God has provided in gospel community.

Coming together in the gym will provide the most space for us as we follow the guidelines and best practices for groups our size. We will practice physical distancing, wear masks, and offer hand sanitizer. Full instructions will be published, including a video demonstrating what to expect when you come. For those unable to wear masks, a section will be prepared, but we ask that this group not sing, unless masked. In order to be able to welcome those who are most at risk, we ask everyone who worships with us on campus to follow these instructions and best practices.

Online worship will continue to be made available at www.eastcobbpres.org/live.

Worshiping together will create many opportunities to serve the Lord’s church. Staging the gym and welcoming worshipers to our campus in a healthy and orderly way will require a number of volunteers. You can visit eastcobbpres.org/together and fill out the form at the bottom to let us know you’re able to help, and stay tuned for online sign ups for specific volunteer needs. These will be published on our website, Facebook page, and in the weekly newsletter. Right now, a small group of people in the worship and technology sectors of our ministry are carrying the real weight of serving. It’s important that we come alongside them as we come back together.

Seating will be limited, and we will need all those who plan to join us on campus to register in advance to reserve a seat. These links will be made available on our website and in the weekly newsletter. Families will be seated together, and parents will need to keep their children with them at all times. Both entrance to the gym and dismissal at the conclusion of worship will be done in an orderly way to maintain our best practices while you are on campus.

We look forward to beginning the process of coming back on campus and look forward to seeing you.

God bless,

Pastor Tim Locke