WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.900 Morning everybody. So, if you've got a Bible, you might want to find the book of John, which 00:00:05.900 --> 00:00:10.720 is in the New Testament, the second half of your Bible, and it's the fourth book in. 00:00:11.360 --> 00:00:16.960 So we're going to be, as Nick says, starting a great series going through the Gospel of 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:22.260 John. I don't know about you, but sometimes in our home we end up discussing how things 00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:25.820 that are happening in the world, or things happening in the community, or things happening 00:00:25.820 --> 00:00:32.400 in the church even, affect our understanding of Jesus and colour it and shape it and that 00:00:32.400 --> 00:00:37.920 kind of thing. And then every so often, and then that starts to kind of give us a bit 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:42.940 of a distorted view of who Jesus is and what he's about. And then every so often what we 00:00:42.940 --> 00:00:49.840 do is we come back to scripture and we get that distorted view realigned and recorrected. 00:00:50.360 --> 00:00:55.620 And this morning's passage is no exception to that, right? This is a fantastic introduction 00:00:55.620 --> 00:01:00.800 brilliant at the start of a new year brilliant at the start of a new series brilliant at the 00:01:00.800 --> 00:01:08.020 start of a new book we're getting the opportunity to realign actually who is this Jesus that we 00:01:08.020 --> 00:01:14.580 worship and that we sing about and that we pray to you know how can Neil stand here and talk about 00:01:14.580 --> 00:01:21.440 at his grand old age going on new adventures with Jesus you know because that is the kind of God 00:01:21.440 --> 00:01:28.300 that he is. And so we're going to be looking at this in John chapter 1, 18 verses. I've got 10 00:01:28.300 --> 00:01:36.560 points because this chapter is so rich, all right, in describing who Jesus is. And it's kind of like 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:42.040 the big intro before John gets into all the detail of Jesus' life. It's like one of those films or 00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:46.640 one of those books that gives you the big picture to start off with. And then it's going to dive 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:50.660 into the detail as we go through it. And that's what we're going to see in the coming weeks. 00:01:50.660 --> 00:01:55.340 we're going to see the detail of Jesus' ministry and life on earth. 00:01:55.440 --> 00:01:59.160 But this morning, we're into this wonderful introduction. 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:02.100 Just a bit of blurb first about the book itself, 00:02:02.220 --> 00:02:04.740 because if this is new to you, 00:02:04.860 --> 00:02:09.060 then John is one of four people that give us eyewitness accounts. 00:02:09.140 --> 00:02:11.060 The next slide, Grant. Cheers. Thank you. 00:02:11.380 --> 00:02:14.480 John is one of four people that gives us eyewitness accounts 00:02:14.480 --> 00:02:18.540 of what Jesus did when he was here on earth 2,000 years ago. 00:02:18.540 --> 00:02:22.920 and just like if you go away on holiday with a group of mates 00:02:22.920 --> 00:02:24.920 and then you all come back 00:02:24.920 --> 00:02:29.000 you all have a slightly different take of what happened on that holiday 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:31.400 and you all have a different view 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:33.720 because you view things through your own eyes 00:02:33.720 --> 00:02:36.500 and your own experiences and your own way of looking at life 00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:39.200 and so these four people that have written for us 00:02:39.200 --> 00:02:42.900 about the lifetime of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John 00:02:42.900 --> 00:02:45.660 all give a different take on what happened 00:02:45.660 --> 00:02:49.900 in that period of Jesus' ministry on earth 2,000 years ago. 00:02:50.040 --> 00:02:52.560 So, for example, if you read Matthew, 00:02:53.220 --> 00:02:56.620 Matthew tells a lot about the parables of Jesus. 00:02:57.380 --> 00:03:00.660 So the parables are those stories Jesus told 00:03:00.660 --> 00:03:03.720 to get across what it means to follow him, 00:03:03.720 --> 00:03:05.560 to get across what it means, 00:03:05.860 --> 00:03:07.560 what the kingdom of God is all about. 00:03:08.040 --> 00:03:10.940 But if you read John, you won't find a parable. 00:03:11.930 --> 00:03:13.710 At least I hope you won't, because then I've got that wrong. 00:03:14.490 --> 00:03:15.830 So now you can all look when you get home. 00:03:16.170 --> 00:03:17.170 But he doesn't do that. 00:03:17.390 --> 00:03:19.930 So John's emphasis is much more on the miraculous. 00:03:20.530 --> 00:03:23.750 John's emphasis is much more on the supernatural power of God 00:03:23.750 --> 00:03:26.470 working through Jesus because he's trying to convey 00:03:26.470 --> 00:03:30.290 a sense of Jesus truly is the Son of God 00:03:30.290 --> 00:03:34.990 and getting across that from more of a miraculous perspective. 00:03:34.990 --> 00:03:38.850 And so we'll see that as we go through the chapters in the coming weeks. 00:03:39.370 --> 00:03:41.690 It was written towards the end of the first century. 00:03:41.690 --> 00:03:44.670 It's the last of the four Gospels that were written. 00:03:45.450 --> 00:03:47.690 John was in Ephesus at the time. 00:03:48.030 --> 00:03:53.810 I say John, that is the perceived wisdom of the intelligent theologians way beyond me, 00:03:53.890 --> 00:03:56.230 that this was written by John, Jesus' disciple, 00:03:56.690 --> 00:03:59.910 the same guy who wrote the three letters of John at the end of the New Testament 00:03:59.910 --> 00:04:02.410 and the book of Revelation at the end. 00:04:02.490 --> 00:04:04.530 So that's all I want to say about that. 00:04:04.590 --> 00:04:07.410 But that gives you a little bit of context, hopefully, for John. 00:04:07.550 --> 00:04:11.360 So let's read the passage and get into it. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:16.480 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 00:04:17.290 --> 00:04:19.230 He was with God in the beginning. 00:04:19.790 --> 00:04:21.630 Through him all things were made. 00:04:22.010 --> 00:04:24.710 Without him nothing was made that has been made. 00:04:25.090 --> 00:04:28.650 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 00:04:28.650 --> 00:04:33.370 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 00:04:34.070 --> 00:04:35.870 There came a man who was sent from God. 00:04:36.370 --> 00:04:37.590 His name was John. 00:04:38.130 --> 00:04:42.390 Confusing, because that's not this John who wrote the book that we're talking about, all right? 00:04:42.450 --> 00:04:46.610 He's talking about, John is writing about John the Baptist when he says that. 00:04:46.850 --> 00:04:48.110 There came a man sent from God. 00:04:48.190 --> 00:04:49.790 His name was John, John the Baptist. 00:04:49.790 --> 00:04:56.490 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 00:04:56.950 --> 00:04:58.350 He himself was not the light. 00:04:58.450 --> 00:05:00.210 He came only as a witness to the light. 00:05:00.530 --> 00:05:05.890 The true light, Jesus, that gives light to every man, was coming into the world. 00:05:06.470 --> 00:05:09.490 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, 00:05:09.650 --> 00:05:11.390 the world did not recognize him. 00:05:11.630 --> 00:05:15.050 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 00:05:15.050 --> 00:05:18.970 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, 00:05:19.170 --> 00:05:22.370 he gave the right to become children of God. 00:05:22.790 --> 00:05:26.730 Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, 00:05:27.150 --> 00:05:30.410 or a husband's will, but born of God. 00:05:31.260 --> 00:05:34.440 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 00:05:34.440 --> 00:05:39.880 we have seen his glory the glory of the one and only who came from the father full of grace and 00:05:39.880 --> 00:05:46.220 truth John testifies concerning him he cries out saying this was he of whom I said he who comes 00:05:46.220 --> 00:05:52.540 after me has surpassed me because he was before me from the fullness of his grace we have all 00:05:52.540 --> 00:05:58.140 received one blessing after another for the law was given through Moses grace and truth came 00:05:58.140 --> 00:06:05.100 through Jesus Christ no one has ever seen God but God the one and only who is at the father's side 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:12.640 has made him known wow I mean there are like 10 15 20 sermons in this passage alone it is so rich 00:06:12.640 --> 00:06:19.260 in terms of conveying something of Jesus and this passage does away with the kind of transient 00:06:19.260 --> 00:06:25.960 temporary lightweight concept we might have about who Jesus is and it's John is throwing at us at 00:06:25.960 --> 00:06:32.580 the beginning, a mass of information, a mass of stuff about who this Jesus is that he's going to 00:06:32.580 --> 00:06:39.040 go on and talk about for the rest of the book. Next slide please, Graham. So 10 points quickly. 00:06:39.200 --> 00:06:46.020 Number one is Jesus is in the beginning, he is the word. Jesus is in the beginning and he is the 00:06:46.020 --> 00:06:53.900 word, John says. So he describes Jesus as the word. He communicates who God is. That's why he uses that 00:06:53.900 --> 00:06:58.260 word he communicates who God is but the key thing I just want to pull out of this to start off with 00:06:58.260 --> 00:07:04.460 is Jesus is there in the beginning so we can go Angie and I can go back and we can talk about 00:07:04.460 --> 00:07:09.760 the days before we had a granddaughter we can go back and talk about you know in the beginning when 00:07:09.760 --> 00:07:13.960 we have kids but there's always a before we can talk about when we got married but there's always 00:07:13.960 --> 00:07:19.840 a before you can talk about your life but there's always a before John is using this phrase not to 00:07:19.840 --> 00:07:24.360 say that Jesus was there in the beginning of what I'm talking about, he's using this phrase to say 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:32.580 Jesus existed at the very beginning. There was never a time when Jesus did not exist. He's always 00:07:32.580 --> 00:07:38.740 there. And we can talk about, so if we talk about, you know, how did the universe come about 00:07:38.740 --> 00:07:43.620 scientifically, you know, we can talk about a Big Bang, but we're left with questions about, well, 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:48.740 what happened before that? Where did the materials come from that made the Big Bang? What caused 00:07:48.740 --> 00:07:54.760 that to happen there must have been something before but john is saying there is never a before 00:07:54.760 --> 00:08:02.180 jesus he's there at the beginning and i'm gonna do i'm gonna try a bit creative we'll see how we 00:08:02.180 --> 00:08:09.760 get on i'm not exposing you there but i want you to imagine this chair is like the foundations that 00:08:09.760 --> 00:08:17.020 john is setting out and what he's telling us about is jesus is there at the beginning but the next 00:08:17.020 --> 00:08:22.400 thing he tells us about, in the very next phrase, the word was with God. He tells us 00:08:22.400 --> 00:08:29.660 that Jesus was with God. So not only is Jesus there at the very beginning, but at that very 00:08:29.660 --> 00:08:36.470 beginning, he was with God. Two things he's telling us straight away. Jesus is at the 00:08:36.470 --> 00:08:43.510 beginning and he's with God. But the next thing he tells us, is that not only was Jesus 00:08:43.510 --> 00:08:45.860 with God, Jesus 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:47.920 was God. Whoa, stop messing 00:08:47.920 --> 00:08:49.420 with my head, John. It hurts. 00:08:49.860 --> 00:08:52.060 It's difficult, isn't it? Jesus is there 00:08:52.060 --> 00:08:53.900 at the beginning. He was with 00:08:53.900 --> 00:08:55.700 God, and he was God. 00:08:56.360 --> 00:08:57.940 And on my left, I think it already, 00:08:58.140 --> 00:08:59.460 and we're only in verse 1, right, 00:08:59.860 --> 00:09:01.880 of this whole book, and my left thinking, what is 00:09:01.880 --> 00:09:03.700 he talking about? How do we do this? 00:09:04.280 --> 00:09:05.880 And what we're going to see here, 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:07.760 particularly in the beginning of this passage, 00:09:08.160 --> 00:09:09.780 is there are aspects of who 00:09:09.780 --> 00:09:11.780 Jesus is that we will never 00:09:11.780 --> 00:09:13.800 fully grasp. And we 00:09:13.800 --> 00:09:22.840 are left standing in wonder and awe and worship at the mystery of who God is. There is plenty 00:09:22.840 --> 00:09:30.300 coming down the road that we can understand and we can grasp, but there are also aspects of God 00:09:30.300 --> 00:09:37.400 and aspects of Jesus that just leave us. We are in awe of you, Lord, and our tiny finite minds 00:09:37.400 --> 00:09:43.340 cannot grasp everything about you. Wonder of wonders, you know, and that's why we worship. 00:09:43.800 --> 00:09:48.310 and that's why we love him and that's why we stand in the door and it's a humbling thing 00:09:48.310 --> 00:09:57.780 to stand to stand and realize this is who jesus is there at the beginning he was with god and he 00:09:57.780 --> 00:10:03.260 was god and then he goes on next point uh groan next slide thank you through jesus all things 00:10:03.260 --> 00:10:11.520 were made through him all things were made without him nothing was made that has been made all that 00:10:11.520 --> 00:10:17.800 stuff we read in Genesis, it's Jesus speaking it out. That's what John is telling us. Jesus was 00:10:17.800 --> 00:10:24.540 there at creation speaking it out. He is the one. It was made by him and made through him and made 00:10:24.540 --> 00:10:29.960 for him. So I need another chair. Quick, Dan, I'm going to make this one. So this is the fourth kind of 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:37.080 foundation John is telling us about Jesus. Before we get on to the real stuff that we all know and 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:43.940 love. You've got to remember this now. He was there in the beginning. He was with God. He was God, 00:10:44.300 --> 00:10:51.720 and he is the one who spoke creation into life. Jesus is the one who brings creation. Jesus is 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:59.840 the one who speaks into the chaos, and creation is established. And so John begins to describe this 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:07.600 almighty, all-encompassing, you know, we run out of English words to grasp the awesomeness of God 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:14.580 and the awesomeness of Jesus and who he is and the power that is his and everything about him 00:11:14.580 --> 00:11:22.800 like that. And I kind of, you know, it's like, you can look at in a book, can't you, at a picture 00:11:22.800 --> 00:11:28.340 of a waterfall, a big impressive waterfall, you know, like Niagara Falls. You can look at a nice 00:11:28.340 --> 00:11:34.460 picture in a book and all you're doing is just using your eyes looking at the picture and yeah 00:11:34.460 --> 00:11:40.780 that's going to be big isn't it it's impressive it looks impressive but I tell you if you go there 00:11:40.780 --> 00:11:48.330 if you go there it's a completely different thing because the whole experience all your senses 00:11:48.330 --> 00:11:54.690 are taken up with the noise the thunderous roar of the water coming over you get drenched by the 00:11:54.690 --> 00:12:01.150 spray completely, that enormous amount of water that is constantly going over the top and never 00:12:01.150 --> 00:12:06.110 stops and never stops and never stops, unless it freezes of course, which does happen, but it's 00:12:06.110 --> 00:12:12.330 going over the top and nothing can stand in its way. And the contrast of being there and experiencing 00:12:12.330 --> 00:12:17.930 that in the full of your senses compared to just simply looking at a picture, that's something of 00:12:17.930 --> 00:12:29.030 what John is trying to do here as he introduces us to this Jesus. Next one, in him was life, 00:12:31.570 --> 00:12:39.730 in him was life and that life was the light of men. You see, Jesus, he spoke creation into life 00:12:39.730 --> 00:12:46.610 because he is life himself. He still speaks life today into the dead places of our hearts 00:12:46.610 --> 00:12:48.490 and into the chaos of our lives. 00:12:48.570 --> 00:12:51.090 And the challenge that John puts straight here is, 00:12:51.210 --> 00:12:51.750 do you want life? 00:12:52.410 --> 00:12:53.410 Do you want life? 00:12:53.810 --> 00:12:58.410 And you need to encounter Jesus because he is life with a capital L. 00:12:58.870 --> 00:13:01.010 It is in him that we find life. 00:13:01.390 --> 00:13:03.610 And he still speaks into the chaos today 00:13:03.610 --> 00:13:06.550 and carries out that creative act. 00:13:06.830 --> 00:13:08.990 It's like, have you ever seen The Truman Show? 00:13:10.060 --> 00:13:12.280 So The Truman Show, if those haven't seen it, 00:13:12.280 --> 00:13:14.680 it's a great film with Jim Carrey. 00:13:14.840 --> 00:13:15.920 That's kind of incidental. 00:13:15.920 --> 00:13:18.820 but he's born on a soap opera 00:13:18.820 --> 00:13:21.220 and he lives in a soap opera 00:13:21.220 --> 00:13:25.020 and the whole programme is around the fact that 00:13:25.020 --> 00:13:28.680 they keep him in a place where he thinks that is real life 00:13:28.680 --> 00:13:32.660 and eventually he starts to twig that maybe it isn't 00:13:32.660 --> 00:13:35.800 and so there's a big lake in this soap opera 00:13:35.800 --> 00:13:37.980 and he gets on a boat and he sails to the end of the lake 00:13:37.980 --> 00:13:39.020 and he hits a wall 00:13:39.020 --> 00:13:42.120 and then he escapes and discovers what it's like 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:43.660 that is what it is like 00:13:43.660 --> 00:13:45.180 our life is like that 00:13:45.180 --> 00:13:51.020 that we live in this bubble of a soap opera, of reality TV, 00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:56.460 but actually there is so much more, and that is found only in Jesus. 00:13:56.660 --> 00:13:58.120 That is John's contention. 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:00.900 That is what we grasp with as Christians as we follow him, 00:14:01.100 --> 00:14:04.240 that we want to discover that life that Jesus brings. 00:14:04.300 --> 00:14:08.820 So we pray to Jesus to speak acts of creation into our lives. 00:14:08.940 --> 00:14:12.420 We pray to Jesus to speak acts of creation into Jordanthorpe 00:14:12.420 --> 00:14:14.960 and Batemore and Low Edges and around here. 00:14:15.180 --> 00:14:20.420 We pray for Jesus to speak acts of creation into our families and into the church. 00:14:20.900 --> 00:14:25.020 When we eventually get to John chapter 10, we will discover Jesus said, 00:14:25.520 --> 00:14:30.780 I have come that you may have life and have it to the full. 00:14:32.040 --> 00:14:32.920 Is your life full? 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:36.600 Is Jesus bringing you fullness of life, that richness? 00:14:37.780 --> 00:14:41.020 Or has Christianity become boring? 00:14:41.970 --> 00:14:43.270 Wow, am I allowed to say that? 00:14:43.270 --> 00:14:49.850 you know because if we're honest then actually we're not all in the place where neil and sheena 00:14:49.850 --> 00:14:54.910 are looking for adventure and opening to god to hearing that and maybe some of us need to be you 00:14:54.910 --> 00:15:01.510 know and our christianity can become boring it can become routine our day-to-day reality of life can 00:15:01.510 --> 00:15:06.850 be separated from what we're doing here on a sunday morning but jesus comes to give us life 00:15:06.850 --> 00:15:11.670 there's got to be more to it than that there's got to be a way of discovering who we worship 00:15:11.670 --> 00:15:13.670 and sing our songs to and pray our prayers to 00:15:13.670 --> 00:15:16.750 and read the Word about has something to say and to do 00:15:16.750 --> 00:15:19.230 in the very nitty-gritty, earthy stuff 00:15:19.230 --> 00:15:22.430 that we go through day by day, week by week. 00:15:22.490 --> 00:15:24.630 He has come that we may have life. 00:15:25.350 --> 00:15:26.670 And so our prayer should be, 00:15:26.830 --> 00:15:28.110 O God, O God, O God, 00:15:28.650 --> 00:15:32.990 let me see and experience and have and embrace this life 00:15:32.990 --> 00:15:35.190 that you have come to give. 00:15:35.270 --> 00:15:38.650 Next one, the light shines in the darkness. 00:15:38.650 --> 00:15:41.690 So Jesus is the light shining in the darkness. 00:15:41.830 --> 00:15:43.270 The interesting thing about this, 00:15:43.890 --> 00:15:46.250 and maybe one of the challenging things John tells us, 00:15:47.570 --> 00:15:51.150 is he describes this world as a dark place. 00:15:52.400 --> 00:15:54.820 The world without Jesus is darkness. 00:15:55.860 --> 00:15:57.640 And we'll see why that is in a minute. 00:15:58.760 --> 00:16:03.020 And so he describes Jesus coming to this world 00:16:03.020 --> 00:16:06.440 as like this light shining in a dark place. 00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:09.460 And yet, as we know, the darkness has not understood it. 00:16:10.020 --> 00:16:12.020 And it doesn't take much for us to realise that 00:16:12.020 --> 00:16:14.140 if we try and talk to people about Jesus today 00:16:14.140 --> 00:16:15.840 or we look at what's going on. 00:16:15.940 --> 00:16:17.000 You know, it's hard work. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:19.560 The darkness has not understood it, how true that is. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:23.160 And yet all of us were born into that darkness. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:26.120 All of us did not understand at one point. 00:16:26.280 --> 00:16:29.600 All of us had to respond to the light that was shining. 00:16:30.500 --> 00:16:33.700 And this analogy of light and dark will resurface as we go through John. 00:16:33.700 --> 00:16:35.080 You see, it's not... 00:16:35.080 --> 00:16:37.980 And it's a really stark, stark statement, isn't it? 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:44.380 And I've had debates with you before about how can you describe the world as a dark place without Jesus? 00:16:45.550 --> 00:16:46.970 But that's what John is telling us. 00:16:47.090 --> 00:16:51.090 And that's the reality of a creation that has turned its back on God 00:16:51.090 --> 00:16:55.990 and living in the consequences of those decisions and the mess that that creates. 00:16:56.370 --> 00:16:59.930 And so Jesus comes as a light to shine in that darkness. 00:17:00.070 --> 00:17:02.350 You see, it's not that Jesus is another religion. 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:05.720 It's not that Christianity is just another option. 00:17:06.260 --> 00:17:10.700 It's not that Jesus even can be the one who comes and fixes your problems. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:14.440 Sometimes I worry that we give that emphasis a little bit too much. 00:17:14.760 --> 00:17:17.640 It's not that you can add him to other things in your life. 00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:19.360 It's very stark. 00:17:19.940 --> 00:17:24.760 We live in darkness, and we do not understand the light. 00:17:28.370 --> 00:17:32.610 Sometimes for us, even as Christians of decades standing, 00:17:32.990 --> 00:17:36.890 we can feel that, yeah, yeah, I get that about darkness, 00:17:36.890 --> 00:17:38.010 but of course we're not like that 00:17:38.010 --> 00:17:40.290 but the problem about darkness is sometimes 00:17:40.290 --> 00:17:41.510 is we get used to it 00:17:41.510 --> 00:17:44.470 so in the summer 00:17:44.470 --> 00:17:45.610 if you can remember summer 00:17:45.610 --> 00:17:48.570 so Angie and I might be doing 00:17:48.570 --> 00:17:50.090 a bit of gardening outside 00:17:50.090 --> 00:17:52.590 and it's getting late and I'll always say 00:17:52.590 --> 00:17:54.510 yeah come on let's go in, let's go in, it's enough now 00:17:54.510 --> 00:17:56.310 and Angie being Angie will go no no no 00:17:56.310 --> 00:17:57.090 we can get some more done 00:17:57.090 --> 00:18:01.030 and so eventually we'll go in and we'll go into the house 00:18:01.030 --> 00:18:03.090 we'll put the light on and then we'll look out the window 00:18:03.090 --> 00:18:04.570 and go blimey it's dark 00:18:04.570 --> 00:18:05.410 how did we see anything 00:18:05.930 --> 00:18:07.950 Because we get used to it, don't we? 00:18:07.970 --> 00:18:11.470 Because our eyes are very clever and adjust as much as they can. 00:18:11.750 --> 00:18:15.230 And so we get used to it and we don't realise actually we're in darkness. 00:18:16.280 --> 00:18:20.200 And so John is saying, you know, he's describing this place that we live, 00:18:20.280 --> 00:18:23.640 this world, this society, as a place of darkness. 00:18:23.760 --> 00:18:25.820 And Jesus is the light that shines. 00:18:25.860 --> 00:18:27.020 He's very stark. 00:18:28.100 --> 00:18:29.380 Next one, Graham. 00:18:29.740 --> 00:18:34.120 Not only is there a light shining in the darkness, but Jesus is the true light. 00:18:34.120 --> 00:18:38.220 So there are many voices out there clamoring to be the way to live life 00:18:38.220 --> 00:18:39.080 and the way to do stuff. 00:18:39.080 --> 00:18:43.900 But John is really clear telling us Jesus is the true light 00:18:43.900 --> 00:18:48.800 that gives light to every person coming into the world. 00:18:48.900 --> 00:18:50.900 There is one true light. 00:18:51.120 --> 00:18:54.280 I gather last week there was a power cut in wood seats. 00:18:55.180 --> 00:18:57.820 I saw a bit on the prayer thing about it. 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:00.900 The thing about a power cut, isn't it, is it's unexpected, 00:19:01.220 --> 00:19:02.060 so you're not prepared. 00:19:02.060 --> 00:19:06.300 and suddenly you're in darkness if it happens at night time. 00:19:06.500 --> 00:19:08.380 And then you're stumbling around aren't you 00:19:08.380 --> 00:19:11.400 and you're trying to find doors and you hit a wall 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:13.800 or you're trying to find a wall and you go through a door by mistake 00:19:13.800 --> 00:19:17.020 and you trip over things because you're fumbling around trying to find candles 00:19:17.020 --> 00:19:19.260 if you've got any, do you remember where I put the candles 00:19:19.260 --> 00:19:21.640 and where did I put the matches and you can't see 00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:24.760 and so you're fumbling around, that is the nature of darkness. 00:19:25.760 --> 00:19:30.100 But when the light comes on you can see all the obstacles. 00:19:30.860 --> 00:19:32.940 You can see the mistakes you were making 00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:34.560 when you were going to the wrong place 00:19:34.560 --> 00:19:36.460 and you didn't mean to go there, you meant to go there. 00:19:36.840 --> 00:19:38.520 And the light has that effect. 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:41.620 And so Jesus is the true light that shines 00:19:41.620 --> 00:19:44.340 and brings that understanding and gives light 00:19:44.340 --> 00:19:46.320 and tackles the big issues of life. 00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:48.740 Saying, why am I here? What is going on? 00:19:48.800 --> 00:19:50.320 How do I make sense of my life? 00:19:50.380 --> 00:19:51.380 How do I make sense of what's happening? 00:19:51.740 --> 00:19:56.420 Jesus is the true light that shines into the darkness 00:19:56.420 --> 00:19:58.600 and brings those things. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:19:59.660 Next one, Graham. 00:20:00.100 --> 00:20:07.340 racing through this. Now Jesus is not recognized or received. Verse 10, he was in the world and 00:20:07.340 --> 00:20:12.820 though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was 00:20:12.820 --> 00:20:21.360 his own, but his own did not receive him. See, though we are made in his image, though we are 00:20:21.360 --> 00:20:28.720 created, remember the foundations John laid, though we are created by him, though we were created for 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:36.520 him such was the nature of the world that we turned our backs on him and we failed to see him 00:20:36.520 --> 00:20:42.820 and people say don't they and we say I don't need God I don't want God if I do want a God then I'll 00:20:42.820 --> 00:20:48.640 make him something that I can manage and can live quite happily with and I'll decide what God does 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:54.840 and doesn't do you see but John is telling us the root problem of humanity is that we do not 00:20:54.840 --> 00:21:03.540 recognize Jesus. And if we do recognize him, then we don't receive him. We reject him because we 00:21:03.540 --> 00:21:12.480 don't want to surrender because we like our bit of darkness. That's what he's saying. And yet there's 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:19.940 an incredible contrast in these verses to me that talks about the mission Jesus has come on 00:21:19.940 --> 00:21:27.270 and therefore the mission that he calls you and I to in this world. 00:21:27.270 --> 00:21:34.970 And the contrast is we've got this powerful God that I suppose theologically we call the omnipotence of God, 00:21:35.050 --> 00:21:37.390 this all-powerful God who can do anything. 00:21:37.630 --> 00:21:42.570 As we've said here, we've got Jesus who was there in the beginning, who was with God, who was God, 00:21:42.770 --> 00:21:47.010 who created everything that we see and experience around us. 00:21:47.010 --> 00:21:49.950 and that is the power of God 00:21:49.950 --> 00:21:51.770 and he created this humanity 00:21:51.770 --> 00:21:54.030 which turned their backs on him 00:21:54.030 --> 00:21:56.260 if you had the power 00:21:56.260 --> 00:21:57.980 to create something 00:21:57.980 --> 00:21:59.420 that was yours 00:21:59.420 --> 00:22:02.660 and then that something turned its back on you 00:22:02.660 --> 00:22:04.580 and pretended you didn't exist 00:22:04.580 --> 00:22:06.140 and stuck two fingers up 00:22:06.140 --> 00:22:07.780 and had nothing to do with you 00:22:07.780 --> 00:22:09.340 what would you do with it 00:22:09.340 --> 00:22:14.300 and yet Jesus 00:22:14.300 --> 00:22:16.520 comes to this humanity 00:22:16.520 --> 00:22:18.380 that has rejected him 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:25.100 He comes to this humanity that lives in the consequences of that rejection of God, 00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:30.900 the mess, the chaos, the disaster, and the pain, and the anguish. 00:22:31.950 --> 00:22:36.060 And he comes to that to reach it again. 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:40.120 And it's interesting to me, he comes to that, and we'll get to it again in a minute, 00:22:40.340 --> 00:22:42.940 he comes to that humanity with no guarantees. 00:22:43.740 --> 00:22:48.760 He's left the glory that was his, and he's come down to earth. 00:22:48.760 --> 00:22:53.400 and come to that humanity with no guarantees of how people will respond. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:56.720 He's come to that humanity that will blaspheme against him, 00:22:56.880 --> 00:22:58.340 that will swear against him. 00:22:58.600 --> 00:23:02.440 He comes to that humanity that ultimately puts him to death. 00:23:05.860 --> 00:23:11.900 And yet he comes because he hopes and longs for people will turn to him. 00:23:11.980 --> 00:23:13.940 He comes because, as we read in Hebrews, 00:23:14.300 --> 00:23:18.020 for the joy set before him he endured the cross and despised his shame. 00:23:18.020 --> 00:23:21.280 He comes because he knows men and women will respond to him 00:23:21.280 --> 00:23:23.540 and he loves having those brothers and sisters 00:23:23.540 --> 00:23:26.300 and he's calling them to come. 00:23:26.380 --> 00:23:28.920 And so he comes and it's just like that mission. 00:23:29.120 --> 00:23:32.900 He calls us to that same act of service as mission. 00:23:33.740 --> 00:23:37.740 You know, we cannot expect everything to go hunky-dory. 00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:39.640 We will be shouted at. 00:23:39.980 --> 00:23:41.100 We will be sworn at. 00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:43.120 We will be told what a load of rubbish. 00:23:43.660 --> 00:23:45.600 All of that and we should expect that. 00:23:45.800 --> 00:23:49.420 But what we need to recapture is that servant heart of Jesus 00:23:49.420 --> 00:23:52.640 in coming to this world. 00:23:53.970 --> 00:23:54.690 Next point. 00:23:55.230 --> 00:23:58.630 To all who received him, we read in verse 12. 00:23:58.790 --> 00:24:01.870 To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, 00:24:02.110 --> 00:24:04.650 he gave the right to become children of God. 00:24:04.750 --> 00:24:07.570 Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, 00:24:07.670 --> 00:24:10.770 nor of husband's will, but born of God. 00:24:15.310 --> 00:24:17.450 You see, what does it mean to receive Jesus? 00:24:18.840 --> 00:24:21.660 It's got to mean more than knowing about Jesus. 00:24:22.460 --> 00:24:25.340 I can bore you silly going on and on and on 00:24:25.340 --> 00:24:26.680 about Meg and our granddaughter, 00:24:27.650 --> 00:24:29.050 or about our daughters, or about Angie. 00:24:30.010 --> 00:24:31.770 And I can tell you all about them, 00:24:32.010 --> 00:24:33.550 and you'll know about them, right? 00:24:33.590 --> 00:24:36.890 But when you meet them and encounter them in person, 00:24:36.890 --> 00:24:38.830 it's a completely different thing. 00:24:38.830 --> 00:24:41.270 So there's something about receiving Jesus 00:24:41.270 --> 00:24:44.230 that is encountering him as a person. 00:24:44.470 --> 00:24:46.010 But it's much more than that as well. 00:24:46.070 --> 00:24:48.850 It's a seismic shift in who we live for. 00:24:48.990 --> 00:24:51.670 No longer living for ourselves, but living for Jesus. 00:24:52.730 --> 00:24:55.490 It means it's got to be more than a box-stick exercise. 00:24:55.690 --> 00:24:57.710 It's got to be more than turning up on a Sunday, 00:24:58.110 --> 00:25:00.070 putting hands in the air, singing songs. 00:25:00.170 --> 00:25:02.830 It's got to be more than praying even for that. 00:25:03.030 --> 00:25:05.830 It has to be something that changes our lives, 00:25:06.110 --> 00:25:08.550 that causes us to make different decisions 00:25:08.550 --> 00:25:10.410 from before we knew Jesus, 00:25:10.630 --> 00:25:14.050 that causes us to start to live by a different set of values 00:25:14.050 --> 00:25:15.730 than before we knew Jesus. 00:25:15.730 --> 00:25:18.110 It has to have that impact on it. 00:25:18.390 --> 00:25:20.590 When we receive Jesus, that is what it's about. 00:25:20.590 --> 00:25:23.710 John is not talking about just adding Jesus to everything else you do. 00:25:23.930 --> 00:25:26.730 He's talking about a revolution that goes on in your life 00:25:26.730 --> 00:25:29.990 because you have encountered the author of life. 00:25:31.750 --> 00:25:32.910 Okay, we're running out of time. 00:25:33.090 --> 00:25:34.290 We'll do one more. 00:25:34.390 --> 00:25:36.630 The next one then, Graham, please. 00:25:37.550 --> 00:25:40.110 Yeah, so, verse 14. 00:25:40.590 --> 00:25:43.470 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, 00:25:43.710 --> 00:25:45.170 and we have seen his glory. 00:25:45.530 --> 00:25:47.890 The glory of the one and only who came from the Father, 00:25:48.090 --> 00:25:49.310 full of grace and truth. 00:25:49.310 --> 00:25:52.910 You see, Jesus, you know, if you've got Eugene Peterson's The Message, 00:25:53.550 --> 00:25:54.890 this is a well-known verse, 00:25:55.290 --> 00:25:59.310 God became flesh and moved into the neighborhood, hence the picture, right? 00:26:00.120 --> 00:26:04.320 This God, with all of this stuff, all of this power, 00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:09.200 left that behind and came and lived in the neighborhood, 00:26:09.740 --> 00:26:11.780 came to us, became a baby. 00:26:12.020 --> 00:26:15.220 He moved from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows 00:26:15.220 --> 00:26:18.760 in order that he may reach the lowest of lows in this world. 00:26:18.760 --> 00:26:24.900 And he surrendered his power and his glory and his majesty and came to this earth 00:26:24.900 --> 00:26:28.660 and causes us to be men and women who do the same, 00:26:28.760 --> 00:26:31.980 who leave the comfort that we have and the security that we have 00:26:31.980 --> 00:26:36.040 and walk out into the mission field to tell people about Jesus 00:26:36.040 --> 00:26:40.840 and to serve and to, in that sense, ourselves, 00:26:41.040 --> 00:26:46.360 let go of those things that are, you know, our power bases, if you like, 00:26:46.360 --> 00:26:47.640 at what we feel good at, 00:26:47.700 --> 00:26:50.700 and to walk into the way that he has called us to. 00:26:50.760 --> 00:26:53.020 You see, God hasn't remained distant. 00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:57.000 He hasn't remained a God on a throne so far away. 00:26:57.300 --> 00:26:59.940 And this is what makes Christianity so unique. 00:27:00.280 --> 00:27:04.080 All the other religions of the world are about trying to reach God, 00:27:04.320 --> 00:27:06.680 doing things to get there, trying to get better. 00:27:07.260 --> 00:27:09.450 But Jesus says you can't do that. 00:27:10.190 --> 00:27:14.750 And so Jesus has come down to us in our mess, 00:27:14.750 --> 00:27:17.610 in our sin, in the state of our lives 00:27:17.610 --> 00:27:19.610 and offers us life. 00:27:20.390 --> 00:27:20.850 That's why we're saying, 00:27:21.010 --> 00:27:22.990 you laid aside your majesty 00:27:22.990 --> 00:27:26.410 and gave up everything for me. 00:27:27.070 --> 00:27:28.770 You know, he reached down to us. 00:27:28.790 --> 00:27:30.290 He has not stayed distant. 00:27:31.110 --> 00:27:34.430 You know, and he has come down to you and me 00:27:34.430 --> 00:27:36.710 and he's pitched a tent in your back garden 00:27:36.710 --> 00:27:38.650 down your street 00:27:38.650 --> 00:27:41.830 that you may see the glory of Jesus 00:27:41.830 --> 00:27:44.030 at work in your life 00:27:44.030 --> 00:27:46.270 and that I may see it in my life. 00:27:46.330 --> 00:27:47.270 We're going to wrap it up there 00:27:47.270 --> 00:27:48.810 because we're running out of time. 00:27:48.910 --> 00:27:49.810 But just as we finish, 00:27:51.070 --> 00:27:54.710 I do want to give opportunity for prayer this morning. 00:27:55.530 --> 00:27:57.490 You know, maybe some of the things I've said, 00:27:59.830 --> 00:28:00.590 actually two things. 00:28:01.030 --> 00:28:02.510 One is, you know, I talked about 00:28:02.510 --> 00:28:03.650 maybe for some of us, 00:28:03.730 --> 00:28:05.190 Christianity has become boring. 00:28:05.990 --> 00:28:08.190 And actually hearing somebody say that is releasing 00:28:08.190 --> 00:28:11.730 because you kind of want to be honest about it. 00:28:12.050 --> 00:28:13.670 And there's an opportunity this morning 00:28:13.670 --> 00:28:14.490 to come to the front 00:28:14.490 --> 00:28:19.110 and let's pray and let's find together this Jesus who offers life, 00:28:19.990 --> 00:28:22.430 who offers, you know, to lift us out of that. 00:28:22.530 --> 00:28:26.090 Maybe we've got into a routine, maybe it's become dull, 00:28:26.390 --> 00:28:27.730 maybe we've lowered the bar, 00:28:28.230 --> 00:28:30.290 and I believe Jesus wants to meet you this morning 00:28:30.290 --> 00:28:35.790 and rekindle passion for him in your life that stirs and shakes 00:28:35.790 --> 00:28:37.390 and passion for his mission. 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:41.760 The other thing, I just think this morning as we were worshipping, 00:28:41.760 --> 00:28:44.020 I just had a picture of 00:28:44.020 --> 00:28:45.800 a toffee apple 00:28:45.800 --> 00:28:47.420 which is a bit weird 00:28:47.420 --> 00:28:50.360 actually I had this yesterday 00:28:50.360 --> 00:28:51.760 and I thought that's a bit bizarre 00:28:51.760 --> 00:28:52.900 but it came back this morning 00:28:52.900 --> 00:28:54.620 and it's like 00:28:54.620 --> 00:28:58.020 we want our Christianity to be sugar coated 00:28:58.020 --> 00:28:59.800 we want it to be nice 00:28:59.800 --> 00:29:02.320 but actually when we bite into it 00:29:02.320 --> 00:29:04.060 we discover the apple 00:29:04.060 --> 00:29:04.960 underneath is rotten 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:06.680 and you know that horrible taste 00:29:06.680 --> 00:29:10.760 and for some of us 00:29:10.760 --> 00:29:12.820 we feel we want our Christianity to be 00:29:12.820 --> 00:29:14.880 sugar-coated and make it nice for 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:16.910 us. But the challenge this 00:29:16.910 --> 00:29:18.890 morning is Jesus is so 00:29:18.890 --> 00:29:20.850 much more than that. So much 00:29:20.850 --> 00:29:22.910 more than that. So maybe the band 00:29:22.910 --> 00:29:24.630 can come back. We could sing.