Sunday Gathering - John 1 : 1-18 - Andy Holingum - Sermon Only

Andy Holingum opens a new series through the Gospel of John with the prologue, John 1:1-18 — the passage he calls the “big introduction” before John gets into the detail of Jesus’ life. He begins with some context for the book: John is one of four eyewitness accounts, and he differs from the others. There are no parables in John; his emphasis falls much more on the miraculous and the supernatural, because he is writing to convey that Jesus truly is the Son of God. It was written late in the first century, the last of the four Gospels to be written, with John in Ephesus.

The sermon then works through the passage as a series of foundations. Jesus is in the beginning and he is the Word; he was with God; he was God; through him all things were made; in him was life, and that life was the light of men. Andy is candid that the opening verses outrun our understanding — “whoa, stop messing with my head, John” — and argues that standing in wonder at what we cannot grasp is itself the right response, and part of why we worship.

He then turns to the darkness. John describes the world without Jesus as a dark place, and says the darkness has not understood the light. Andy’s observation is that we get used to darkness — the way you don’t notice a garden getting dark until you go indoors, switch a light on, and look back out. Jesus is the true light, and he came to his own though his own did not receive him; yet to all who did receive him he gave the right to become children of God. Receiving, he insists, is more than knowing about Jesus. It is encountering him as a person, and it is a seismic shift in who we live for. The sermon closes on verse 14, the Word becoming flesh and making his dwelling among us.

Bible passages

• John 1:1-18 — the whole passage, read in full at the start
• Genesis 1 — creation, alluded to in “through him all things were made”; Andy says the creation account is Jesus speaking it out
• John 10:10 — “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”, quoted ahead of the series
• Hebrews 12:2 — “for the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame”, quoted on why Jesus came
• John 1:14 in Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase — “moved into the neighbourhood”, quoted from The Message

Key points

• Jesus is the Word: he communicates who God is
• Jesus was in the beginning — there was never a “before” Jesus, unlike everything else we can speak about
• He was with God, and he was God: three foundations in a single verse, and more than we can grasp
• Through him all things were made — creation came by Jesus speaking it into being
• In him was life, and that life was the light of men; he still speaks life into the dead places of our hearts
• The world without Jesus is darkness, and the darkness has not understood the light
• We get used to darkness and stop noticing that we are in it
• Jesus is the true light, giving light to every person coming into the world
• He came to his own and was not received — this is the root problem of humanity
• Yet he came anyway, with no guarantee how people would respond, and he calls us to the same servant mission
• To all who received him he gave the right to become children of God
• Receiving is encounter plus a changed life, not simply adding Jesus to everything else
• The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us — God did not stay distant

Calls to action

• Come to the front for prayer if your Christianity has become routine or boring, and ask Jesus to rekindle passion for him and for his mission
• Pray for Jesus to speak acts of creation into our lives, our families, the church, and into Jordanthorpe, Batemoor and Lowedges
• Receive Jesus as a person rather than merely knowing about him — a seismic shift in who you live for
• Recapture the servant heart of Jesus in mission, expecting to be shouted at, sworn at and dismissed
• Ask honestly: is your life full?

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/fIDCUY6X75Y