Hello Advent Family,

Have you ever felt desperate? Perhaps you have been in a situation where it felt like there was no hope?  Time and again in the gospels Jesus helps those in this exact situation.  John 4 contains the story of a royal official who felt desperate and turned to Jesus.  Let’s look at the story together today.  

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. 48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” 49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. 54 This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

At first glance this may seem like just another story of a healing Jesus performed.  It is significant to me that the official doesn’t seem to believe in Jesus until he realizes that his son was healed at the exact time Jesus said he would be. Jesus could have gone with the man but it seems to be that He could heal with His words that seems to impact this official and his family.  Jesus knows the things that we need in life to give us greater faith.  Sometimes He walks us through times of desperation and leads us to greater faith on the other side.  I know He has done that in my life.  Hold tight to Jesus and watch and see the great things He will do in and through your life.

You are, as always, In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

Hello Advent Family,

Today’s passage is a little bit longer but I encourage you to go to John 4 and read the whole thing.  Jesus interacts with a Samaritan women and shares the gospel with her and many from her village believe in Jesus as a result.  It is very interesting that Jesus’ first big group of converts in the book of John are Samaritans (whom the Jewish people hate).  Let’s look at the passage together today.  

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Jesus, many times in His time on earth, breaks the rules for the sake of the gospel.  Jews didn’t associate with Samaritans.  Rabbis would never speak to a woman especially one with a reputation such as this one.  Jesus repeatedly shows His love and care for those in the margins of society.  It is often those whom He chooses to show the greatest love to.  He isn’t easy on this woman.  He confronts her sin in a way that I’m sure is unsettling for her.  Yet he lovingly shares the gospel with her and leads her into a relationship with God.  Jesus is the example for us of not just proclaiming the gospel but living it as well.  I pray that we would follow His great example and love others the way He models for us. 

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

Once Jesus begins His public ministry He hits the ground running.  John 3 shows us one of His first interactions with a Pharisee who is curious about Jesus.  He is cautious and sneaks away at night to interact with Jesus but immediately acknowledges that Jesus comes from God.  Let’s look at their interaction in John 3 for the whole interaction read verses 1-21.

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

The Pharisees and religious leaders were worried that Jesus came to make a new way and to change the existing order.  The reality is that Jesus came to make a way period.  Even the greatest of the Pharisees could not stand upon his own righteousness.  God sent Jesus to save the world.  When we put our faith in Him life works.  It won’t always be easy, in fact we are promised trouble in this world but we are also promised Jesus.  Jesus promises to be with us always and promises that we will get to spend eternity in Heaven with Him.  This is one of the greatest promises in all of the Bible.  While the Pharisees struggled to accept and embrace this promise so many have over the years.  Share this promise with the world so that others can embrace this amazing gift as well.  

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

One of my favorite parts of the book of John is the way that he writes feels like he is sitting beside a campfire simply recalling some of the highlights of Jesus’ ministry on earth.  While he sometimes continues the narrative of a story other times he places two stories next to each other with no direct connection.  This is the case in John 2.  After turning the water into wine we get a story of Jesus going to the Passover and cleansing the temple.  He does this on two separate occasions and this is the first.  Let’s look at it together today.

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus goes to Jerusalem for Passover and what He finds there angers Him.  Passover is a time to remember the deliverance of God, a deliverance that is His ultimate reason for being on earth.  Instead of worshipping and remembering the goodness of the Father the people have used the fact of a full Passover crowd to make money.  They are using Passover for financial gain instead of taking the opportunity to worship and remember.  This righteous anger that Jesus displays is not sinful but is appropriate.  He sees a wrong in the world and it grieves Him so He responds.  Bill Hybels calls this concept Holy Discontent.  The question for us is where do we have Holy Discontent?  Where do we see wrongs in the world and what are we doing about it?  When we see things in the world that are wrong we are right to be upset about it.  When we are able we are called to right the wrongs we see and share the love of Christ with a world that needs it. 

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

I have always thought it was interesting that Jesus’ first public miracle was at a party.  A wedding feast where they ran out of wine.  To many this might not seem very significant but it would have been a big embarrassment for the host to have run out of wine in the midst of this wedding celebration. Mary feels for the host and asks for Jesus to help.  Let’s look at the story together from John 2. 

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

For me one of the biggest takeaways of this story is that Jesus cares. He doesn’t just care about the big things He cares about the things that are big to us in the moment.  He could have easily waited for a blind person or a leper to be His first public miracle but He showed that He has compassion on someone throwing a party.  He cared enough about their embarrassment to turn water into wine and to turn it into really good wine.  No matter how small it might seem to you Jesus cares about what you are going through today.  Take some time and talk to Him about it today.

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

Have you ever been so impressed or amazed by something or someone that you immediately became their free marketing director?  In high school we had a very good baseball team.  We received state and even national recognition and had several players from our team get drafted into professional baseball.  Despite all that talent there was one kid who stood out.  He was faster, a better hitter and honestly had a better arm than pretty much everyone else on our team. We would always talk about how good Chris was to other people.  I was certain that he was destined to the Hall of Fame.  He did end up with a pretty good MLB career and even led the National League in hitting one day but that is besides the point.  We all talked about him to others because we were so impressed by him.  This is the way John the Baptist was when it came to Jesus.  Everywhere he went he talked about the one who was coming, Jesus.  He was preparing the way for His arrival.  Let’s look at John 1 together to see a glimpse of this today.

Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” 24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

John’s enthusiasm was disturbing to the religious leaders.  They ultimately put a stop to him because he so powerfully pointed people to Jesus.  The reality is that John simply knew about what Jesus was going to do but we know the whole story.  We know about His life, death, burial, and resurrection.  We know how He healed the blind and raised some from the dead.  We have a job and a responsibility to spread the word about Jesus just as John did and we have even more information to share.  If we can talk about how good someone is at baseball or music or business, we can certainly share the news of Jesus.  He truly is the savior of the world!

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

When I was in the 6th grade my Bible teacher was Ms. Schry.  She was also the art teacher but I was far more interested in Bible class.  She was a great teacher that made learning the Bible fun.  I also remember that she required us to learn John 1:1-14 as a memory verse.  It seemed hard at the time but that gave me an appreciation and an ability to memorize long passages of scripture. (which has come in handy in my line of work).  I’d like to take the next few weeks and walk through the book of John together and the best place top start is with that memory passage I learned so many years ago.  Let’s look at it together today. 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

There is so very much truth packed into these few verses.  Jesus is God.  He is the Word.  He is the creator.  He is the light of the world.  He is our Savior.  He became flesh so that we could believe in Him and become children of God.  This passage has a bit of everything (even mention of John the Baptist).  This intro sets us up for the action packed life of Jesus and the book of John.  John contains the most claims from Jesus, Himself about His divinity.  It contains all 7 of the I AM statements from Jesus.  I find that each time I read through the book of John I am struck with different and amazing things about Jesus.  As we walk through it together I encourage you to read it on your own and ask God to show you Jesus in a fresh new way. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever thought about succession?  When you are gone who will fulfill the role/s that you have currently?  This is an incredibly important concept in companies and organizations.  It was important to Moses as well.  When he is told by God that he will not lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land Moses asks God to raise up a new leader.  Let’s look at the passage together in Numbers 27. 

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the land I have given the Israelites. 13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14 for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.) 15 Moses said to the Lord, 16 “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community 17 to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” 18 So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him. 19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. 20 Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. 21 He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.” 22 Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. 23 Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.

Moses cares enough about the rebellious people he has been leading to ask God to provide someone to shepherd them.  Some leaders are intimidated by the idea of succession but the best leaders are constantly looking toward it.  Moses is such a leader for the people of Israel.  He wants an opportunity to invest and pour into the next generation of leadership.  This is exactly what Jesus does with His disciples.  Jesus knows that it will be them who build the early church so He spends 3 years investing and pointing into them.  Whatever and wherever God has us we should be doing the same.  Investing and pouring into the next generation is God’s plan of discipleship for His people.  I challenge us all to identify those that we can pour into and mold to be the “next”.  God wants to continue to do great things through the next generation that we pour into.  Who knows you just may find a Joshua.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever been in a situation where you learned an important lesson from a surprising source?  Perhaps someone who you should be teaching ends up teaching you.  We have probably all experienced this at some point in our lives but perhaps none more surprising then the story we find in Numbers 22.  Let’s look at it together today. 

Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” 29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” 30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” ”No,” he said. 31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. 32 The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”

Balaam has been asked to go and place a curse on the people of Israel and obviously God does not want him to do this.  God uses a donkey to teach Balaam an important lesson.  Balaam has impure motives and seeks after the riches and glory that would come with the job he has been asked to do.  He is blinded by this and cannot see the danger as the Angel of the Lord is in front of him.  God humbles him by allowing the donkey not only to see this but then to speak and win an argument with him.  Balaam ends up being taught by his donkey (insert joke here).  There are some obvious takeaways for us today.  First we can learn from anyone and everyone.  I often find that children can be great teachers and reminders of some of the great truths of God.  The second thing is that if God can use a donkey to deliver His message He can certainly use all of us.  We all need to be willing to deliver the messages that God gives us and puts on our heart.  If we don’t he may use some jackass to do it (I couldn’t resist).

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever found yourself practicing sort of obedience?  You were maybe obeying but doing it with a bitter heart.  Or perhaps you obeyed but not fully.  Moses has an instance of this as he is growing weary of leading the people of Israel and he is tired of their complaints.  Let’s look at it together in Numbers 20.

Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” 6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” 9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

I have often thought of this story as a harsh punishment from God.  Moses has led these ungrateful people for years and now he does not get to lead them into the Promised Land.  Two things struck me that changed my opinion.  First it was never really Moses leading them it has always been God.  God has led the people all the way with a visible presence of a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day.  Moses has simply been the lead follower.  God has honored Moses in many ways along the journey and done for him special things that he has done for no one else.  Secondly when God asks Moses to speak to the rock the understanding is that God will receive the glory and credit for the power.  Moses, by hitting the rock is doing things his own way and is taking the credit for himself.  He is tired of the grumbling at him and wants the people’s favor at this moment more than he wants the favor of God.  This is a trap it is easy for any of us to slip into.  When we long for the favor and approval of others instead of the favor and approval of God we get ourselves into dangerous situations.  We need to live our lives for an audience of one – Jesus.  When we live life that way we avoid the mistake of Moses and we allow God to lead us to the places He wants us to go.  So don’t hit the rock.  Listen to God and live your live for His approval alone. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave