The Gospel of John - Living Truth Church

It's Not Over

November 17, 2024 • John 21

The Bible is not a book you read and then put on the shelf. Whether you read the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John... the Jesus’ story doesn’t end there...

Life In His Name

November 10, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 20

I left you with a teaser last week saying that there’s only one thing more sure than the death of Jesus… Well, we come to that today.— It is the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus Christ fulfilled hundreds, even thousands of years of prophecies...

It is Done As it is Written

November 3, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 19

As we come across the finish line of the Gospel of John, we realize that this is the greatest love story ever told. — Jesus has brought His message to the Jewish people, and now it is time for Him to die. He has prepped His disciples for the fact that He’s gotta die… it is the will of the Father, but there’s no way they really comprehend the way things are going down. - We’re now at the point in the story where He’s made it through the Kangaroo Court. The Roman governor Pontius Pilate could tell that Jesus was obviously no criminal, and these were a bunch of trumped-up charges.— So he tries to dissuade the angry Jewish mob to no avail. They are determined to crucify Jesus, or there will be a revolt, and Pilate can’t (won’t) take that chance. So we pick up in Chapter 19 as Jesus is delivered for crucifixion.

Q&A

October 27, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 18

At this point, Jesus could not have told His disciples anymore to encourage or prepare them for all that was about to occur. It’s time. We’re going to do something a little different as we make our way through chapter 18. We will look at all the questions and answers mixed inside the passage.

Settled

October 20, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 17

After putting the disciples on notice that life was about to be turned upside down, causing them to be visibly “troubled”, He said, “I have overcome the world.”—We pick up in the aftermath of that conversation...

Take Heart

October 13, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 16

John 16 // Last week, we went over the last of the “I am” statements from Jesus and read where He told them to abide in Him so they could persevere in ministry. Our “intro” today will be from the last half of Chapter 15.

Abiding in the True Vine

October 6, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 15

John 13-17 was Jesus' private teaching to His disciples taking place in the Upper Room less than 24 hours before He was crucified. So, we are looking at some of Jesus’ most important words to His inner circle. All believers should read and meditate deeply on these promises. In general, John 14 deals with our Hope in Heaven, and John 15 deals with our Help on Earth. The location of the talk in John 15 and the following is debated. Because of Jesus' last words in John 14 "Get up, let us go from here,” some think the words in John 15 and following were spoken as they walked through Jerusalem on the way to Gethsemane. Others feel they didn’t leave the room right away. It was a slow go, and they didn’t actually leave the upper room until John 18:1, which says, "When Jesus had spoken these words, He went with His disciples over the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples." So whether they are slowly getting up to go…or milling around outside, Jesus begins with the last of the “I am” statements recorded in John...

Help Is On the Way

September 29, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 14:15–31

We have been talking a lot about Jesus… the Gospels tell His story. But as His time on earth comes to a close…He lets His disciples know that the mission does not end with His departure…in fact, things are just getting started. The best is yet to come.

Trust Me

September 22, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 14:1–14

As Jesus is troubled in spirit…He knows what looms. The disciples don’t know exactly, but I bet they do not like the way He is beginning to talk. Surely, they could see in His body language that He was visibly troubled. I suspect He wasn’t one to hide His feelings. So, He has told them that He is about to go away, and they can’t go with Him. In fact, He told them that things were about to get so bad Peter would deny Him three times before the night is over.

Jesus' Love

September 15, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 13

We finished last week's message with Jesus trying to draw people out of darkness, making it clear that He is the Light of the world. He has come to save people from darkness. Those who reject Him will be judged for that. Those who believe receive eternal life. He couldn't have made it more simple. We pick back up in Chapter 13...

A Terrible Testimony

September 8, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 12:12–50

The large crowd was filled with anticipation, and now they were excited as Jesus was about to enter. They prepare the way of the king with branches of palm trees (explain), crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” They sure sound like they are all in...

The Testimony

September 1, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 12:1–11

The plot thickens to kill Jesus as the Passover draws near. Passover celebrated the Jewish exodus from Egypt and their freedom. So they would come from all over to Jerusalem to celebrate because the temple was there. This annual celebration commemorated the original Passover when the Angel of the Lord passed over the homes of those who marked their doorposts with lamb's blood. The Passover lamb is a substitute for the firstborn, and without the lamb's death and the spreading of its blood, families would lose their firstborn.— If you are a new believer, let me just say this upfront— Jesus is the Passover Lamb. SO THIS PASSOVER AND THIS PASSOVER LAMB WAS WHAT ALL THE OTHER PASSOVER CELEBRATIONS IN THE PAST POINTED TO. We don’t know for sure what time of year Christmas was, but we know the crucifixion of Christ was in the spring…at this time because He is the Passover Lamb. And God had given Israel specific instructions in Exodus 12 about the Passover.

What Next

August 25, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 11:45–57

Jesus brings Lazarus back to life. What’s next? How do people who had been wrestling with who Jesus was respond? — Do they fall at His feet and call Him Lord? I mean what do they do?

Raising Belief

August 18, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 11:1–44

Jesus has been going through what seems a never-ending back-and-forth dialogue with the religious Jews, plainly telling them that He was the One to come, the One they were looking for, the Messiah, and they kept demanding a sign…a greater sign. He told them they had enough to go on (it ought to be embarrassing, even a blind man believed). So we turn to John 11, where we will see that all doubt should be removed as Jesus will perform His seventh of the seven signs/miracles John records.

Hard To Believe

August 4, 2024 • Pastor Norm Sullivan • John 10:22–42

In our study last week, Jesus told the people that He was both the Door and the Good Shepherd. Tie that in with everything said about Jesus and everything that He has said about Himself in the previous nine chapters, and He makes His point clear that He is the only way to the Father…to eternal life…to be saved from the wrath of God’s judgment on sinners.— We learn that not only do people have trouble with reading comprehension, but in their case also oral comprehension.