This Week: John 9 (and Christmas?)
Posted Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 6:19 AM
We continue our discussion on the gospel of John. If your schedule allows, spend some time to read and reflect on the passage before life group this week.
This Week: John 8:1-58
Posted Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 6:16 AM
We continue our discussion on the gospel of John. If your schedule allows, spend some time to read and reflect on the passage before life group this week.
This Week: John 6-7
Posted Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 6:15 AM
We continue our discussion on the gospel of John. If your schedule allows, spend some time to read and reflect on the passage before life group this week.
This Week: John 4:46-5:47
Posted Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 6:13 AM
We continue our discussion on the gospel of John. If your schedule allows, spend some time to read and reflect on the passage before life group this week.
This Week: John 4:1-45
Posted Thursday, November 3, 2011 at 6:11 AM
We continue our discussion on the gospel of John. If your schedule allows, spend some time to read and reflect on the passage before life group this week.
This Week: John 3:22-4:29
Posted Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 6:10 AM
We continue our discussion on the gospel of John. If your schedule allows, spend some time to read and reflect on the passage before life group this week.
This Week: John 3:1-21
Posted Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 6:07 PM
We continue our discussion on the gospel of John. If your schedule allows, spend some time to read and reflect on the passage before life group this week.
This Week: John 2:1-25
Posted Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 4:04 AM
We continue our discussion on the gospel of John. If your schedule allows, spend some time to read and reflect on the passage before life group this week.
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This Week: John 1:35-51
Posted Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 5:30 AM
We continue our discussion on the gospel of John. If your schedule allows, spend some time to read and reflect on the passage before life group this week.
This Week: John 1:19-34
Posted Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 4:48 AM
We continue our discussion on the gospel of John. If your schedule allows, spend some time to read and reflect on the passage before life group this week.
Just a Little Deeper: John 1:1-18
Posted Monday, September 26, 2011 at 5:00 AM
The first verses in John, often referred to as the Prologue, act as a window into the rest of the Gospel of John: John touches on his key points that he will address later in the gospel. In a sense, these verses would act much like a movie trailer would today, it gives you just enough information for you to determine if you'd be interested in seeing how the movie (or gospel, in this case) builds those ideas out. Take a look at the parallels between the Prologue and the rest of the gospel of John:
| | Prologue | Gospel |
| The pre-existence of the Son | 1:1-2 | 17:5 |
| In him was life | 1:4 | 5:26 |
| Life is light | 1:4 | 8:12 |
| Light rejected by darkness | 1:5 | 3:19 |
| Yet not quenched by it | 1:5 | 12:35 |
| Light coming into the world | 1:9 | 3:19; 12:46 |
| Christ not received by his own | 1:11 | 4:44 |
| Being born to God and not to flesh | 1:13 | 3:6; 8:41-42 |
| The ‘one and only’ Son | 1:14; 1:18 | 3:16 |
| Truth in Jesus Christ | 1:17 | 14:6 |
| No one has seen God, except the one who comes from God’s side | 1:18 | 6:46 |
This Week: John 1:1-18
Posted Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 5:46 AM
We continue our discussion on the gospel of John. If your schedule allows, spend some time to read and reflect on the passage before life group this week.
Just a Little Deeper: John 1:1-5
Posted Monday, September 19, 2011 at 3:46 AM
So some of this we may have alluded to yesterday, but let's take just a little deeper look at the passage that we discussed yesterday...
Don Carson, in his commentary The Gospel According to John, believes that though the author of the gospel of John is very much aware of his Greek audience, the author is intending to unpack the works, life, and importance of Jesus to the Jewish community at large. From the very first verse, John intends that his gospel be read with the emphasis that the words and deeds of Jesus Christ are the deeds and works of God. Nothing is more obvious than the opening phrase, "In the beginning," which immediately draws ones thoughts to the Genesis 1 passage describing how God created the world.
Working from the context of John's gospel being written primarily for a 1st-century Jewish audience, then we can best understand this gospel (or the New Testament, in general) in the light of the Old Testament; Jesus is present and active in the Old Testament. Before John even identifies Jesus by name, he identifies him as "the Word." If John's gospel is to be better understood in the light of the Old Testament, then where would 1st-century Jewish minds be drawn, especially if John's goal is to strongly identify Jesus and God as one? There are three strong candidates for where Jewish thought would go upon hearing someone so closely identified with God and named "the Word": God's activity in creation, revelation and deliverance. Take a look at the following verses and how "the Word" was used in the Old Testament:
- Creation - Genesis 1; Psalm 33:6
- Revelation - Jeremiah 1:4; Isaiah 9:8; Ezekiel 33:7; Amos 3:1
- Deliverance - Psalm 107:20
If John intended his readers to see Jesus as creator, what practical difference does that make in my daily life? If Jesus is to be seen in the light of God's revelation, what implications exist to my daily interactions with Him? If the deliverance of God is synonymous with Jesus, then how does my routine change?
Note: Any information of any note was gleaned from the commentary mentioned above.
Upcoming Study: The Gospel of John
Posted Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 10:55 AM
This Sunday, tomorrow to be more specific, our church begins an emphasis on the gospel of John that will take us until Easter Sunday. Pastor Stephen will begin with a sermon about the gospel author's purpose for writing the gospel, and the life groups will spend the next two Sundays studying the background of John and his gospel. We will finish our current study in time to sync back up with the other life groups when they start working through the gospel itself, but it is important that we understand who John is so that we will better understand his message. Below is a teaching that will help us understand more about who John was, and hopefully help us gain more insight as we proceed the his gospel.
Additionally, if you'd like to study ahead, here's an outline of the first few weeks:
- Sept. 18 - John 1:1-5
- Sept. 25 - John 1:6-18
- Oct. 2 - John 1:19-34
- Oct. 9 - John 1:35-51
A Change from the Norm this Sunday (Aug. 21)
Posted Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 10:28 AM
Just a reminder, but we will not be having our regular life group meeting this Sunday. Instead, our group will be meeting in the gym to listen to Dr. Ross @ 9:30 talk about discipleship in the home.
Hope to see you there.
4th Sunday Fellowship (May 22) - CiCi's in Saginaw
Posted Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 2:14 PM
As a life group, we are designating the fourth Sunday of each month to meet and eat for lunch after church. You don't have to make a reservation, but we will coordinate a casual restaurant (with plenty of high chairs) where you order when you get there, sit, eat, and can feel free to move around and visit the different people who come.
This Sunday: CiCi's Pizza in Saginaw
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NOTE: If you have any suggestions of where we can meet in the future, we'd be happy to hear them. Just leave a comment on this post.
This Sunday: Living When Dying is Gain
Posted Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 5:38 PM
"For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." (Hebrews 13:14)
This week we continue the church-wide study based around the book, "Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream". Join the discussion as we explore how risky a life we as Christians are challenged to live.
Your Assignment: Read through Chapter 8 and pray about its implications for you before Sunday morning. Also, if you are interested, the passage of scripture that we'll be studying is Matthew 10:24-39.
Additional Resouce: Sermons by David Platt corresponding to this topic. LINK
4th Sunday Fellowship (Apr. 24) - Rosa's
Posted Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 6:03 PM
As a life group, we are designating the fourth Sunday of each month to meet and eat for lunch after church. You don't have to make a reservation, but we will coordinate a casual restaurant (with plenty of high chairs) where you order when you get there, sit, eat, and can feel free to move around and visit the different people who come.
This Sunday: Rosa's Cafe
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NOTE: If you have any suggestions of where we can meet in the future, we'd be happy to hear them. Just leave a comment on this post.
This Sunday: There Is No Plan B
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 5:34 PM
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)
This week we continue the church-wide study based around the book, "Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream". Join the discussion as we are reminded that God made a way of salvation solely through Jesus.
Your Assignment: Read through Chapter 7 and pray about its implications for you before Sunday morning. Also, if you are interested, the passage of scripture that we'll be studying is John 14:1-6.
Additional Resouce: Sermons by David Platt corresponding to this topic. LINK
Follow Up on Compassion and A Resource
Posted Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 2:34 PM
Hope everyone's week is going well. I wanted to follow up on our discussion this past Sunday morning and more concisely drive home the main point: if we say we trust Jesus for our salvation, then our response is one of outward love and compassion. We are to love God (Matt. 22:37), we are to love others (Matt. 22:39), and we are to love our enemies (Matt. 5:43-47). We talked this past week that disciples of Jesus are most known by their love for one another (John 13:34-35). More specifically, the most evident work of faith in us is our compassion toward the least of our brothers and sisters in Christ (Matt. 25:31-46).
Though the Matthew passage we covered this past week dealt more specifically for our outward expression of love and compassion for needs of our fellow Christians, but we are encouraged throughout scripture to assist the poor, sick, orphaned, and widowed, among others. I hope each of us individually identify this as something that we need to be doing and that as a group we can encourage and challenge each other to give of our time and money as a result of the faith in Jesus that we have.
Also, I know there was some discussion about being able to research organizations so that we can be better stewards of our resources, specifically money. Charity Navigator is the website that I mentioned as just one resource that I know is out there.
If you know of any other resources for researching charitable organizations, or if you know of any reputable organizations that are extending God's glory globally, feel free to leave in the comments here or on facebook.
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