Stopping to Think

 The following post is adapted from a Communion Meditation given at Remsen Bible Fellowship on 11/7/2021. Remembrance In Luke 22:19, Jesus tells us that when we come to the communion table we are to do so, "in remembrance of me." In this post, I want us to fix our minds on, to remember, one particular passage . Let's examine the words of Jesus in John 19:28-29.   "28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth." (ESV) As we briefly consider these verses, I want to organize our thoughts under two headings, plan and pain. Plan First, plan. Note in verse 28, John tells us that Jesus spoke. His words were not mere incoherent cries., they were words intended to bring a particular result - the fulfillment of Scripture. Psalm 69:21 says,   "for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drin...

I previously posted some interaction with a particular part of this commentary here.  The Gospel According to John by D.A. Carson My rating: 5 of 5 stars DA Carson has been my go-to for the past two years of studying John's gospel. The combination of wise and scholarly interaction with commentators both contemporary and historical, the rich exegetical insights, and the commitment to applying the text as the word of God to the people of God set this commentary apart from the others that I used. View all my reviews

John- Moody Gospel Commentary by J. Carl L. Laney My rating: 3 of 5 stars Useful cultural and background data; exegesis was pretty thin. Homiletical helps at the end of each chapter were of varying helpfulness. I didn't dislike it, but I probably wouldn't pass it around to friends looking to preach from John's gospel. View all my reviews

  Preface:  This isn't "writing" per se, this is the first of three posts that will be lesson outlines from the VBS our church is conducting this week. The titles are,  Where Did I Come From? , Am I Important , and How Can I Be Okay? My hope in sharing is that if you work with kids, or simply are interested in answering these questions for yourself, you will be edified. How Can I Be Okay? Gold bean bag Do you ever feel broken? Like something inside of you just isn’t right?  The last couple of days the kids have been working on a verse, Gen 1:1, In the beginning, God created… The Bible starts not with people, not with some slog beginning with an immense hydrogen explosion, but with God. A speaking God. A God who speaks life into being What did God call his creation? Very good ( v31 ) Part of that very good creation was an image-bearer: people Kids, who made everything? God! So, who made you? God! So, who’s the boss? God is! Right, God is the boss. And he gave people a...

Preface: This isn't "writing" per se, this is the first of three posts that will be lesson outlines from the VBS our church is conducting this week. The titles are, Where Did I Come From? , Am I Important, and How Can I Be Okay ? My hope in sharing is that if you work with kids, or simply are interested in answering these questions for yourself, you will be edified. Am I Important? Have you ever felt small and unimportant?  Did you know you are important to God? God cares about little things and little people, because God values all people.  What did we talk about yesterday? Creation Who remembers what the most important part of creation was? People; Gen 1:27, 31.  Gen 2: 7-9 , how did God make man? Where did God put him? 15 , why did God put him in the garden? Remember how people are supposed to take care of God’s world? 16-17 , God gives them a rule. How many rules? 1 rule! What is the rule? Remember that, it’s important. 18-23 , God didn’t want Adam to be alone, so wha...

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously wrote, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." That makes for a great pintrest quote or opening line to a blog. But does it reflect New Testament reality? The short answer is "yes." Matthew 10:34-39 34  “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Mark 8:34-38 34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny...

 Here is a link to the sermon I preached at our church last week, The Lord Revealed . The sermon text was John 21:1-14. Here is a follow up blog post to that sermon, from earlier this week: A Missed Point

"Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them...When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, 'Lord, what about this man?' Jesus said to him, 'If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!'" John 21:20a, 21-22   The Setting Here on the shores of Lake Galilee, Jesus has found 7 of his disciples fishing. He doesn't identify himself to them, but rather asks them a question, "have you caught any fish?" (v5). Which seems rather insensitive, because they haven't. But if you know the story, he more than makes up for this jab to the rib cage. Jesus tells them to let down their net on the right side of the boat, and the resulting haul of fish is overwhelming to the point where they can't get them aboard the boat. Jesus here reveals himself to the disciples. This is One who knows all, who provides , and who is their Lord. But for Peter, Jesus is also something else. Jesus is the all knowing, perfect ...

The Backdrop Yesterday I was preaching from John 21:1-14. I was going without notes, which used to be my typical modus operandi, but is something I hadn't attempted in a long time. For the most part I felt pretty good about how it went-until I afterward remembered that I had teased a later point in the sermon (twice!) and then neglected to make that point. Maybe there is more wisdom to taking a full manuscript to the pulpit than I accounted for. In any case, in case you haven't followed the above link and listened to the whole sermon, the thrust of the sermon was this: In the first half of John 21 , we are meant to see Jesus revealing himself to the disciples. I argued that Jesus was revealed in at least three ways, namely:     1) Jesus has perfect knowledge     2) Jesus is the source of true provision     3) Jesus is Lord The Missed Point The case of negligence, or at least of failure to follow through, took place under point two. It might be an exagge...

Here is the link to last Sunday's sermon from Remsen Bible Fellowship.   https://remsenbible.blogspot.com/2020/07/what-is-this-book-for.html Title: What's This Book For? Text: John 20:30-31

  After this  Jesus revealed himself  again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and  he revealed himself  in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.    Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, an...

What was the Apostle John aiming for when he wrote the gospel which bears his name? The apostle tells us in chapter 20, verse 3 1, that everything he has written was so that we might believe, and that by believing you may have life in his [Jesus’] name. Having considered the content of the belief (that the Messiah, the Son of God, is Jesus), we should ask what is the belief itself? What does it mean to believe in Jesus? What it's Not Reading through John’s gospel, one thing clear: he is not seeking a mere intellectual assent. Saying, oh yes, that’s what I think! is not the sort of belief he is driving for. John 2:23-25 , Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. Jesus looks at the belief of those who have seen him do signs, and yet he does...

Why did the apostle John write the gospel which bears his name? In John 20:30-31, we read his answer:  Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Which would seem to indicate that John's intention is to answer this question: Who is Jesus? The answer he provides: The Christ (or the Jewish Messiah , the anointed one from God), the Son of God.    However, in an article published in the Journal of Biblical Literature in 1987 (and then more briefly in his excellent commentary, the Gospel According to John ), D.A. Carson makes the argument that we ought to understand those words in a slightly different order. His argument essentially boils down to this: in v31 , the Greek phrase, ἵνα πιστεύητε ὅτι, translated so that you may believe that  refers not to who Jesus  is...

“ God creates by speaking; but His speech is not like our speech. His speech is not the reverberating of atoms (for when God first spoke there were no atoms!). His speech is His creative action and revelation of Himself, especially through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.” 1 Today we are going to start our look into God the Son, the Word of God. Our study will split into two parts, first taking a shorter look at the Son as He eternally has been with God, and then next week taking a more extended look at His coming to earth, His work here, and where He is now. I want to emphasize here again, that these videos are only giving you the tip of the iceberg on these subjects, an introduction. There is so much more we could say, and hopefully as we cover more ground some of these things will start to fit together better in your mind.  Continue Reading here...  

"Untold numbers of professing Christians waste their lives trying to escape the cost of love. They do not see that it is always worth it. There is more of God's glory to be seen through suffering than through self-serving escape." John Piper Commonplace Monday is a series of posts wherein, on Monday mornings, I share short quips, sentences -perhaps as much as a paragraph- which I have collected in my various commonplace books and files. If I wrote down or recall where it came from I will certainly give attribution. However, sometimes I write down things and not where they came from. So if you see anything like that here and recognize it, that's what comment sections are for. Anyhow. Hope you enjoyed week's installment.

'Tis the season. The season of what? Well, of Christmas time, you might say. If you are in the mood for elaboration, you may be inclined to continue in such a way: the season for giving, the season for love, happiness, joy and cheer. Family, friends, good food, good drink, presents, a big fat elf, and maybe a little snow. Aaaaannnnddd, probably shouldn't forget that baby in a manger business. That's good too. If you like basketball, you might add the Christmas day games, but who watches the NBA on Christmas? Or ever? Anyhow. The sense you get from talking to most folks is that this is a season of joy. And of course for many, it is. Amidst all of the stress and the crunch and the rush, there is an undercurrent of I love spending this time with my family  or, I love presents-giving and receiving them! or, Christmas Eve is my favorite church service all year  or,  what makes the Christmas spirit brighter than Fireball and a Backwoods cigar? There are a lot of things to be ...