Ep. 01
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
Key points
Calls to action
Watch the video: https://youtu.be/fIDCUY6X75Y
