How many things did you try to build your life on before Jesus? How many things did you try to nourish your soul with before His grace? What did you try to satisfy your heart with before you believed?

Before Christ, you can build your life on a number of things: a career, a family, an academic resumè, entertainment, the news– you name it, someone has probably tried it. But whatever that thing might be is like a sandcastle… it crumbles and amounts to nothing.

Tonight, I walked into the kitchen and into a swarm of fruit flies. There are not a lot of household pests that get under my skin the way fruit flies do. I see them and I feel like I’m breathing them in, they’re crawling on my skin; I get itchy just thinking about it.

The best trap for fruit flies is putting some dish soap in the bottom of a container, then a little apple cider vinegar and water before shaking it up. The trap is even better when you put a piece of plastic wrap over top and poke some holes in it, this way, when the flies crawl in to the trap, they can’t easily get back out.

I made four loaves of bread this weekend– unleavened bread to be exact. Sam has always wanted to use real bread in Sunday communion and so I offered to give it my best shot.

I researched recipes until I found something that seemed as intentional as possible. I made test loaves, one with regular, all-purpose flour and another with whole wheat flour. I decided to halve the recipe to make a thinner loaf, to use a cast iron skillet to try and char it a little, and sprinkled a little salt over top of the finished product, just to add a little bit of taste.

We all have those life-moments where we’re trying to make something work that just won’t work. Maybe you’ve been busting your butt at work, trying to get a promotion that keeps passing you over. Maybe you’re trying to connect with a family member that just seems to like to push your buttons and it seems like you’ll never have that harmony you crave with them. Maybe you’re trying to conceive a child, but no matter how diligently you track your body or how many diets you try or how many doctors you see, that little plus sign keeps evading you.

Calling your father to the stand might seem like a weak defense. In most cases where a father is involved in their son’s life, they love him and see the best in him. We’ve all grown up and had a parent gas us up when we’re down. They say we’re smart, or beautiful, or creative, or awesome, and the common response is, “You HAVE to say that. You’re the parent.” 

And yes, our parents can have rose-colored glasses when it comes to our abilities or aptitudes. But they also know us better than most people. A good parent has been there for it all. They’ve seen every report card, every dance recital and soccer game; they’re there for every skinned knee, birthday, and hard knock. So a good parent would know your character, your history, and be an advocate for you.

Have you ever seen a trial where the only witness to take the stand is the accused? Have you ever read a research paper where only one source is used? Have you ever made a big purchase based on one review?

No. The trial would be weakly argued, the paper would probably fail due to lack of evidence to support your claim, and one review is not enough to know the full scope of a product.

Central Park is the biggest landmark in New York City– literally. Looking at a map of Manhattan, it’s impossible to miss the 843 acres that make up this huge, green rectangle in the middle of a city made of concrete, metal, and glass. There are so many iconic corners of the park that have been in movies, TV shows, and music videos.  But probably one of the most recognizable places is the Bethesda Fountain.

Many people in the modern church want to see miracles the way the early church saw them. They want to see awesome healings, amazing displays of supernatural power, and unexplainable wonders that make you think, “This has to be God.” 

That’s how many people make their entire ministry– by claiming to perform or portraying some mysterious, mystical miracle.

Is evangelism a long-game or a spontaneous thing? 

Lots of people will say it’s a long-game. You build a relationship and slowly share Christ as a trust is built with that family member, friend, or coworker. You intercede for that person. You love them and ask that God would draw them near to Him, making it possible for them to one day believe and follow the Lord.

In Numbers 21, we find the nation of Israel wandering the wilderness and waiting to get into the land God promised them. While traveling a road called Hor that ran along the Red Sea, the people began to do what people do best: complain. The Bible says they spoke against God and Moses, saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” (Numbers 21: 5, NIV)

If you were to read the Gospels in the Bible side by side, you’d find lots of similarities throughout. Matthew, Mark, and Luke especially tend to report the same events of Christ’s ministry on earth. This especially helps us to cross-reference and gain lots of perspective on the same lessons and miracles that Jesus gave to us. And each Gospel in kind shows its own emphasis on Jesus.

But each Gospel is uniquely different, each one offering us completely new insights into the life of Jesus and offering some stories not found in the other accounts. This particular day recorded in John 2 sounds familiar, and yet is not. Here, we find Jesus in the temple during Passover and upon finding merchants and money-changers in the outer courts, He passionately cleanses the temple. In other words, He kicks the opportunistic businessmen out of the temple, clears out their animals being sold for sacrifice, and breaks up their tables and stalls to clear space for worshipers to offer sacrifices and pray.

In John 2, Jesus attends a wedding in which the wine runs out. In those days, it was a party foul to host a wedding and not have enough wine for the whole party. When the wine runs out, Jesus’ mother, Mary, asks Him to intervene and sends a few servants to help Him rectify the situation. Jesus tells the servants to fill up the waterpots that were being used for the purification ritual for the wedding ceremony. The servants fill up these six stone jars that each hold about twenty to thirty gallons.

When we think of ourselves in light of who God is, how do we see ourselves? Do we consider ourselves children and heirs? Do we see ourselves through the lens of the salvation Jesus won us and extended to us? Do we view ourselves as conquerors and overcomers? Do we see busy servants that are continuing Christ’s work through the talents God gifted us with? Do we see ourselves the way John saw Himself: humbly and in light of how seriously we fall short of Jesus’ magnificence?

Could you imagine being Zecharias? He encountered an angel in the temple that told him he was going to be a father in his old age. His first reaction was doubt and he lost his voice as a result. This rendered him a mute for the entirety of his wife’s pregnancy; and as he watched the evidence of this miracle grow within his wife– the very proof he asked the angel for when he found out about his son– he was unable to rejoice in it with his words. During Elizabeth’s delivery, Zecharias could not offer her words of comfort or encouragement. In the first days of John’s life, Zecharias watched God’s marvelous plan unfolding in real time, in the midst of it and yet somehow sidelined at the same time.

I wanted to return to John, chapter 1 this week to finish up the little section that we’d been reading through together. I know, these opening verses seem so simple in nature, but they were really radical at the time they were written, and they really peel back parts of the gospel that might seem overplayed to us at times today.

We’ve been traveling through the opening verses of the first chapter of John, going section by section to break down this beautifully complex introduction to the Gospel. The above verses continue to use this analogy of Jesus being the Light coming into the world, illuminating the Truth to those that accept it. Last week, we went into the section of verses that spoke about John the Baptist, and how his ministry bore witness to the light of who Jesus was going to be. John, himself, was not the light but he was a witness to the coming Light.