The World Did Not Know Him

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:10-11
January 8, 2023

John 1:10-11: He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

Sermon Outline

1. The fact that the world did not know him

• Before public ministry

• During public ministry

2. Why the world should have known him

• World should have known him because it was made through him

• World should have known him because he was in the world

• World should have known him because he came to those in the best position to know him

3. Why did the world not know him?

• World was spiritually blind

• World was resistant

4. Applications

• For the believer

• For the resistant

And the Word Became Flesh

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:1-3, 14
December 25, 2022

John 1:1-3: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John 1:14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Sermon Outline

1. Background

• In the beginning was the Word (logos)

  • Pagan understanding of the Word

  • Jewish understanding of the Word

• John personalizes the Word

2. Surprisingly, the Word came to earth in a lowly, humble fashion

• The Word became "flesh"

• How John describes the Word living among us

3. The Word came to earth with splendor and magnificence

• We see this from the idea of "tent”

• "We have seen his glory"

• How was glory seen in the Word?

John the Baptist Introduces the Word

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:6-8, 15
December 18, 2022

John 1:6-8, 15: There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light

(John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'")

Sermon Outline:

1. The idea of a "witness"

2. John the Baptist's witness

• Manner

• Role

• Message

3. Lesson #1: Don't over-value God's witnesses

• John the Apostle disabuses the notion that John the Baptist was the pinnacle

• Application

4. Lesson #2: Don't under-value God's witnesses

• Don't under-value God's witnesses in general

• In particular, don't under-value witness of the two Johns

5. Lesson #3: It's not enough to merely hear the gospel; you must do something with it

The Word as Light and Life

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:4-5
December 4, 2022

John 1:4-5: In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Sermon Outline

1. In him was life

• The Word is the reason any life existed

• The Word is the reason any joy in life existed

• The Word is the reason any spiritual life existed

2. That life was the light of men

• Makes things possible

• Brings joy

• Shows things as they really are

  • Better than we think

  • Worse than we think

3. The light shines in the darkness

4. The darkness has not overcome it

• Definition of "overcome"

• The point

The Word in the Beginning

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:1-3
November 20, 2022

John 1:1-3: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Sermon Outline

1. In the beginning...

• The Word existed
  B. The Word was with God
  C. The Word was God

2. The "Logos" (Word)

• Pagan understanding of "The Logos"

  • John: "Let me tell you about this Word"

• Jewish understanding of "The Logos"

  • John: "Through the Word all things were made"

3. Summary

4. Applications

• God smiles on creativity in presenting the gospel to non-Christians

• You cannot reach God except through Jesus

• Your savior is mysterious

• To stand before him...

  • In judgment: indescribably awful

  • Accepted: thrilling beyond words

Help with Being Holy: The Means of Grace — The Bible

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 17:17
September 4, 2022

John 17:17, NIV: "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."

John 17:17, NLT: "Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth."

Sermon Outline

1. The "means of grace"

• The meaning of grace

• The paradox of grace

• An illustration of the paradox

• The means of grace

2. Who, exactly, needs to be sanctified by the Bible?

• The twelve apostles

• Jesus (while he was on earth)

• Your holiness is linked with your familiarity with the Bible

3. What did Jesus mean by "your word"?

4. How the Bible helps you with holiness

• Most basic: information about what really counts

• God breathes life into that information

5. Challenges to reading the Bible

• "I already know what's in the Bible."

• "I don't understand it."

• "I'm a poor reader."

• "The Bible doesn't seem to help."

6. Closing Appeal

Benediction

Acts 20:32: “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Let Us Die With Him

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 11:1-16
May 29, 2022

John 11:1-16: Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus. "Lord, the one you love is sick."

When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."

"But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?"

Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."

His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him"

Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

Sermon Outline

1. At some point, Christian disciples -- especially leaders -- will be asked to "die" as they follow Christ.

• Dying can be literal

• Dying can be figurative

• What dying looked like for Paul

• What dying might look like for you

• Dying is unpleasant

2. When small group leaders die, they are dying "with Jesus."

• As you face frustrations, weariness, tensions... Christ is facing these things in you

• Christ feels your pain especially as you die in ministry

3. Small group leaders encourage each other to die.

• It's one reason we're in church today

4. When followers of Christ are willing to die with him, God uses them despite their weaknesses.

• Was Thomas strong?

• How did it end for Thomas?

Washing Each Other's Feet

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 13:12-17, 34-35
May 15, 2022

John 13:12-17: When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

John 13:34-35: A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Sermon Outline

1. Does Jesus want us to literally wash feet?

• I can't prove he doesn't, but I suspect not

  • Reason #1: Jesus often uses figurative language

  • Reason #2: The Bible is sensitive to people's culture

  • Reason #3: The literal meaning is easier than the figurative meaning

2. Christ teaches me to wash other's feet by becoming a slave

• John 13:34 = "Be a slave of other as I have been your slave."

  • "Slave" in this case is a Greco-Roman slave, who was treated almost like a member of the family, not like chattel, as in the Antebellum South

• I'm to be a slave even if I hold a high position

3. Jesus calls this a "new command."

• Not totally new (Leviticus 19:18), but a new importance was given to it

• A new reason was given for it

• A new degree of self-sacrifice is given in it.

4. As a slave, whose feet am I to wash?

• I'm to wash the feet of Christians I'm familiar with

• I'm to wash the feet of Christians who are different from me

5. 4 questions to ask myself:

• Where do I sit in church?

• Who do I talk with?

• Where, and for whom, do I pray?

• How do I use my home?

Caution: We don't serve in order to be washed. We are washed in order to serve.

The Vine of Life

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Speaker: Joshua Olson
Scripture: John 15:1-14
May 8, 2022

John 15:1-14: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Sermon Outline

1. Why is abiding in Christ important?

• It's a matter of life or death

• Apart from Christ, we can do nothing of eternal significance

• Abiding in Christ will result in full, sustaining, life-giving joy

2. What does it mean to abide in Christ?

• Abide in his love.

Christians as Washed

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 13:1-11
May 1, 2022

John 13:1-11, NIV: It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

Sermon Outline

1. Jesus and his disciples prepare for the Passover.
a. Jesus and "his own"
b. Jesus will leave "his own"

2. The threatening world the disciples will stay in versus the love of Jesus
a. The threat of Judas Iscariot
b. The threat of Satan
c. The calmness and love of Jesus

3. Jesus washes their feet.
a. The physical setting
b. 1st Century Jewish culture

4. The meaning of the washing
a. Humility and cleansing
b. The salvation that Christ has worked in Christians

Seeing Again the Glory of Resurrection

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: John 11
April 17, 2022

Sermon Outline

1. The surprise of Jesus' priority love and delay

• Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus

• Jesus, when he heard Lazarus was ill, stayed where he was for two more days

• Jesus, knowing Lazarus' resurrection would deepen the disciples' faith, lovingly delayed going to Bethany

2. The Surprise of Jesus' Person

• He renews us inwardly

• He secures us eternally

• He sympathizes perfectly

• He confronts us kindly

3. The surprise of Jesus' plan

• No mention of Lazarus' response

• The tears of Bethany are a preview of the tears of Calvary

Philip's Faith Tested

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 6:1-6
July 25, 2021

When It Is Too Good to Be True

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Speaker: Joe Whalen
Scripture: John 4:1-42
June 6, 2021

The Good Shepherd

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: John 10:11-21
December 27, 2020

When Jesus Gives Sight to the Blind

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Speaker: Joe Whalen
Scripture: John 9
September 20, 2020

"But What About John?"

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 21:18-24
April 19, 2020

Ten Men, Easter Night

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 20:19-23
April 21, 2019

Known by the Shepherd Where Sheep Flourish

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Speaker: Matt Carter
Scripture: John 10:1-18
October 21, 2018

The Prophet to Come

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 6:14-15
August 26, 2018

A Dangerous Love

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Speaker: Dave Royes
Scripture: John 12:43
April 29, 2018