In John 11, Lazarus is raised from the dead. There are several significant aspects of this story. The first is the bravery of Jesus to go back to the region where He was almost stoned to death. The second is Jesus’ demonstration of great love and compassion by entering into the broken situations of others. In this instance, He not only entered in, but he participated and wept alongside Mary and Martha. Finally, Jewish culture believed that a person’s spirit was “locked out” of their body after four days. So, for Jesus to bring Lazarus back from the dead was a true act of God. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson shares a first-person narrative of John 11:1-44.
In the second half of John 10, Jesus is on trial once again by those who don’t understand him. He is attacked and threatened with questions (and stones) about his identity and purpose. Jesus brilliantly answers their questions by elaborating on what it means to be the Good Shepherd and to be his sheep. And in doing so, he will show us what it means to have open hearts and minds to hear his voice and follow him today. Listen in as guest speaker, Joey Ross, teaches on John 10:22-42.
In John 10, Jesus likens himself to a good shepherd. This metaphor may be hard to understand in today's times. Some of us have seen sheep in a field or perhaps even pet one at a petting zoo, but we lack understanding of what a shepherd really does. Palestinian shepherds led their sheep. Most sheep were raised for wool, so shepherds had a ten to twelve year relationship with their sheep. It was common for shepherds to name their sheep, and they were extremely valuable to them. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches about the abundant life that is found under the protection of Jesus, our Good Shepherd.
All of us have a story of life change to share. Some have trusted Jesus already, but for others their conversion story is still being written. Today we’re studying a story of a man who blind from birth and then healed by Jesus. It’s a story that should be encapsulated in joy, but instead the man is confronted by the religious leaders after his healing. He is interrogated instead of welcomed into the family of God. Finally the man meets Jesus and learns about having spiritual eyes to see the truth around him. Today we’re going to discover that although Jesus can heal physical eyesight, he more importantly heals spiritual blindness. Listen in as Pastor Neal teaches on John 9!
As Jesus continues to minister in the temple courtyard, he finds himself in a confrontation with the religious leaders. While the confrontation seems to be a religious dispute involving Jews, their leaders, and Jesus claims, it goes much deeper. The text makes it clear that the deeper dispute involves two very different families—one claims the devil as its Father, the other claims God. Ultimately, every person belongs to one of these two families. And as we shall see: Your family determines your destiny, and Jesus determines your family. Listen in as Pastor Doug Meye teaches on John 8:12-59.
Relationships can be difficult and challenging. Sometimes they end "happily ever after" and other times they end more like a train wreck. Today we’re going to study the story of a woman who made a bad relational choice. She might have made this choice once, several times, or for several years. We don’t know all the details, but she ends up getting caught. Her bad choice puts her in a place that she never imagined she would be.
Today's story involves the religious leaders treating an adulterous woman with no compassion. In John 8 we’re going see how Jesus's reaction to her differs from the religious leaders. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches us how the compassion of Jesus invites us to drop our stones.
Last week, in the first part of John 7 we saw that three different groups of people were confused about Jesus. As we continue in John 7, we’re going to see that Jesus' teaching hasn't cleared up the confusion. As we go through our passage today, keep your eyes open for Jesus' interactions with three groups of people - the crowd, the guards, and the Pharisees. We’re going to see how each of these groups' confusion actually creates more confusion. Yet, amid their confusion, hope arises as many come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches on John 7:25-53 and how when confusion abounds we can look to Jesus for the truth.
In today’s passage different groups of people are talking about Jesus. One of those groups is His family. Jesus’ brothers grew up with Him and saw Him perform miracles. Another group is the religious leaders of the day who saw Jesus heal a lame man. Then there’s the crowd who has secondhand information about Jesus. The common thread amongst these different groups together is that they are all confused about who Jesus really is. Everybody is talking about Jesus, but no one seems to have truthful information about who He is. They are divided, but Jesus reveals the truth to them.
In John 6, Jesus feeds a large crowd and then crosses the Sea of Galilee. When the crowd comes and finds him, He tells them that He is the Bread of Life and that he didn’t come to just give out physical bread but rather offer his flesh and blood so that his people could have eternal life. The various reactions the people had to these statements are primarily characterized by a misunderstanding of Jesus’ use of "bread" as a metaphor. Listen in as Pastor Teller Emmer teaches on John 6:25-71.
After a short break for the summer, we’re resuming our study of the life and ministry of Jesus from the gospel of John. Have you ever experienced or witnessed a miracle? Today, as we look at John 6:1-24, we’re going to see the miraculous power of Jesus at work in feeding a crowd and rescuing the disciples from rough waters. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches that the miraculous power of Jesus meets our every need.