Passage: John 2:12–25
Theme: Jesus Is in the House
From the confrontations that take place in this text, notice what results for Jesus:
1. Jesus responds passionately to those who make the house/work of God about financial profit.
2. Jesus retains the authority to do what he did because he is the true temple of God.
3. Jesus receives the shame of sinners because he is the true Passover lamb.
Responses that Jesus’s actions generate:
• Complete rejection
• Realization of the truth that leads to belief and transformation
• Superficial belief that misses the Truth
Sermonic Theme: Those being transformed by the glory and grace of Jesus take seriously their commitment to the true temple of God.
Application Questions:
1. What stands out to you about Jesus from this story?
2. How may we be susceptible today to turning the house of God into a place for personal profit?
3. What two things do the disciples “remember” in this account (vv. 17 and 22)? What does this indicate about scripture? About belief? How may this apply to you?
4. What do vv. 23–25 indicate about belief in that many “believed” but Jesus didn’t “believe” them? How are you assured that your belief is believed by Jesus?
January 26, 2020
Series: Glory + Grace :: Jesus is in the House
January 26, 2020 • Pastor Phil Burggraff
March 8, 2020
March 8, 2020 • Pastor Phil Burggraff
Theme: Transformed View of God’s Work Passage: John 5:1–18 We need our view of God’s power transformed … (vv. 1–7) …from religious superstition …from our ability to make things happen …to Jesus Christ as the center of God’s work (8–9) Warning: We can miss the work God is doing by 1. Succumbing to outside pressure (10–15) 2. Trusting in traditional, idiosyncratic religious practice (16–18) Main Idea: Those transformed by glory and grace demonstrate that God’s work centers on Jesus Christ by trusting and submitting to him. Application Questions: • In what ways can we as Christians be susceptible to religious superstition? How have you wrestled with these in your own life? • Do you struggle with a trust in yourself to make things happen, even spiritually? How so? • From this scene, how does one allow Jesus to be the center of God’s work in their own life? • Why do you and I still struggle with succumbing to outside pressure in contrast to following the commands that Jesus calls us to? • How do we still miss the work of God by trusting in traditional religious practices? What can we as individual believers and the church as a whole do to recognize and confront these tendencies?
March 1, 2020
March 1, 2020 • Pastor Phil Burggraff
Theme: Transforming Faith Passage: John 4:43–54 Contrasting Faiths seen in this story: 1. Faulty Faith: a. A welcoming faith based on the works Jesus can do, not on who he truly is (45). b. A desperate faith based on what Jesus can do for me in my present need or crisis (46–49). 2. Saving Faith-based simply on the word from the Word (50–53): a. Believing the Word b. Following the instructions by the Word c. Experiencing Life from the Word d. Further believing that bears fruit of belief in the Word Main Idea: Those being transformed believe Jesus simply for who he is and follow what he commands with the result that they experience the life that he offers. Application Questions: • In what ways does a faulty faith that welcomes Jesus for what he can do manifest itself in our church-going culture today? • How have you had at times a faulty faith that seeks Jesus for how he can meet a present need? What did this look like in what you did for God or how you responded to God? • What are we to make of the two experiences of “believing” by the royal official (v. 50 and 53)? How might these affect our view of faith or help us define better what faith is in the life of a believer?
February 23, 2020
February 23, 2020 • Pastor Phil Burggraff
Theme: Transformed Water, Worship, and Mission Passage: John 4:1–42 Notice what his encounter with a Samaritan woman teaches us about Jesus: 1. Jesus provides water that eternally satisfies (7–14). 2. Jesus sees and knows our predicament (15–18). 3. Jesus represents the place in which true worship occurs (19–26). 4. Jesus calls his followers to see the mission field God has prepared for them (27–38). 5. Jesus truly is the Savior of the world (39–42). Sermonic Theme: Those transformed by glory and grace focus their worship on God’s work through his Son by carrying out his mission of pointing any and all people to Jesus. Application Questions: • What stood out to you about Jesus from this story? How can you apply what you see of Jesus into your own life? • What does Jesus’s statement about worship in vv. 19–24 teach us worship isn’t and is? How might this affect your own worship or involvement in corporate worship? • Like the disciples (vv. 27–34), how are you blind at times to what is spiritually going on? In what ways does this passage convict you about your involvement in God’s mission? • From this passage, what encourages you to carry out the mission of pointing people to Jesus?