John 12 serves as a connection between the first 11 chapters and the last 9 chapters of the gospel. Chapters 1-11 of John focus on the miracles of Jesus. Then in John 12, the focus shifts to worship and believing. Jesus is teaching in Jerusalem during the busiest time of the year. Numerous people have traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. While in Jerusalem Jesus teaches about believing in God. In today’s passage, we’re going to see increased curiosity in Jesus. He gives the crowd an encouragement to believe while they still have the light; yet there are those who still struggle to believe. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson shares that this passage reminds us that our beliefs drive our actions.

John 1-11 focuses on the life, ministry, and miracles of Jesus. In those chapters we’ve seen Jesus call the disciples, Jesus feed thousands of people, and Jesus heal the blind and raise the dead, and the Jewish leaders are not happy. John 12 serves as a transitional chapter from the miracles of Jesus to the final week of Jesus’ life on earth. In chapter 12, John focuses our attention on the coming King. We see Jesus anointed by Mary and praised by the crowd. It’s evident that the good news of Jesus is spreading far and wide. Listen in as Pastor Neal teaches us how your understanding of Jesus drives your worship of Jesus. 

In the second half of John 11, we read about the response of the Jews to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, the religious leaders’ reaction, and Jesus’ withdrawal to a place near the wilderness. This Sunday, we heard about the history of Israel between the Old and New Testaments, the origin of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Sanhedrin, and how events hundreds of years before Christ’s birth affected the plot to kill Jesus. Listen in as guest speaker, Teller Emmer, explains that this passage shows us that God uses ungodly people to enact His plan, and Jesus works in his own timing. 

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.