Grace Baptist Santa Clarita: Service Podcast

God has called a people to Himself through Christ and according to God’s infinite wisdom, this people, the Church, is used by God’s grace to spur us on towards God-glorifying living.

Knowing God uses His Word to shape us, and is the Shepherd whose relentless love provides, protects, and guides us, still does not mean we will be immune to trials and tragedy, despair and despondency. But are we left to overwhelming sadness without hope? Psalms 42 and 43 give us both the freedom to express our despair and the path to turning it into joy and praise.

The Lord Almighty is our Shepherd, and He shepherds us: With relentless love ...

Why do we make such a big deal about the Bible? Do we really need to know how it works, what it says, and why God has given it to us? Can’t we just look up stuff when we need it? The answers are found in the very first Psalm which the organizers of the whole collection put at the beginning for a reason: Those whose lives are rooted deeply in the Word of God will find spiritual stability and spiritual prosperity in this life, and more importantly, in the life to come!

This week, we see the conclusion of Jesus’ defense before the religious elite. As the trial ensues, Jesus identifies key witnesses that validate His position as God the Son/ Messiah. Jesus’ defense becomes offense as He lays into the religious leaders who do not believe the Scriptures because they do not approach them rightly. Consequently, they do not understand them, especially the fact that the Scriptures speak of Jesus as Messiah. They are an “echo” chamber, receiving glory from one another. The one who witnesses against them is Moses, whose words point the reader to Messiah.

Hatred for Jesus is rising as He heals on the Sabbath and even claims God to be His Father. Jesus responds to the hatred of the Jewish leaders by providing a defense to His works and pulling back the curtain to allow us to see the relational and missional unity that exist between God the Father and God the Son.

In John 5, we see Jesus demonstrate His next sign of power and authority, the healing of a lame man. The actual healing of the man is not the Jewish people’s primary concern. Rather, it is the offense taken at Jesus’ command to pick up his mat and walk on the Sabbath. Jesus will demonstrate that He is LORD over sickness and the Sabbath, which ultimately communicates that He is equal with God.

After spending a couple days in a Samaritan town and being received as the Savior of the world, Jesus returns to Cana in Galilee where He is welcomed primarily because of the works He has performed. Jesus is then met by a man who is in a desperate position as his son is on the verge of death. This sick son becomes another opportunity where Jesus can reveal His glory as the One who brings ultimate healing in a new kingdom.

For many of us, our efforts at evangelizing those we love and live around leave us feeling like failures. If success in mission is characterized by results, then most of us fall short. But in John 4, Christ calls us to a better perspective. Christ redefines success for us. He reminds us that we cannot save anyone. He reminds us that success in following Him and proclaiming Him is not tied to our results but to our faithfulness.

The sequence of events that began with Nicodemus now concludes with Jesus’ investment in a Samaritan woman. In this amazing story, we see John’s theme of “whoever believes, receives” played out in real life. Jesus, waiting by a well, takes advantage of an opportunity to engage in conversation. Before the chapter ends, a woman and her village are changed forever. What do we learn? Simply this: Those who drink of living water come to prize worthy worship and engage in everyday witness!

For the last time we hear from John the Baptist as he reminds us just what maturity looks like when we are tempted to be jealous of someone else’s success. The answer? All things are under the sovereign plan of God, and our best option is to fulfill the role He’s given to us, and not worry about whether or not anyone is noticing. After all, our greatest joy will be found when we make Jesus the star, and use our lives as a spotlight directing people to Him.

After reporting Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus, John, the author, gives a short but powerful explanation of the motive behind God’s redemptive mission and its sobering message. Simply put, it is the incomprehensible love of God that motivated Him to send God the Son into our world as the Savior. Yet, His coming not only brought salvation, it also exposed the dreadful state of all mankind. Thankfully, the depths of our guilt are surpassed only by the magnitude of God’s loving provision of rescue, for all who believe. God’s great love amazes us even as the reality of His justice in condemning sin must sober us. Together these two truths help us take the Gospel, modeled in our lives and shared with our lips, to all who have not yet seen the light.

In Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus, we are given His first declaration about how it is that sinful people can be accepted before God and granted eternal life. In Nicodemus, we see a scholarly Jewish teacher, who was both a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, Israel’s religious ruling body. Yet, he is blinded by his own worldview and cannot see the glories of being born again through God the Spirit, apart from works or merit of his own.

This week we see Jesus heading to Jerusalem for Passover. As He enters the Temple, He demonstrates His glory in the most righteous way possible. The Jews expected a political liberator or national champion, but Jesus, the Messiah, comes as the righteous judge who will emphatically teach them about true worship and true belief. Ultimately, Jesus becomes the self-witness to His resurrection from the dead!

This week we see Jesus attending a wedding, an everyday human event; but His interactions with people aren’t always everyday human interactions. In this section, Jesus displays His glory by producing the first miracle of His ministry. The power He demonstrates turns water into wine and communicates the abundance of His Kingdom to those behind the scenes.

This weekend we explore the basic idea of discipleship. What does it mean to follow Jesus? We’ll learn the basics from John’s Gospel, as he narrates Jesus’ interaction with Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael. In simple narrative fashion, John calls us to hear, follow, confess, and witness, as true disciples of Jesus. Turns out discipleship isn’t a second level of commitment to the Lord. It is the only way of being committed to Christ, His church, and His mission.

In the first installment of his testimony, John the Baptist declared his position as a “voice” proclaiming the preeminence of the Word made flesh … Jesus Christ. Yet, as a “voice,” John the Baptist played a key role in announcing the coming of the Messiah as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”! In this second installment of John the Baptist’s testimony, he first announces Jesus’ Messianic identity and then declares His divine activity as the One who will “baptize with the Holy Spirit.” What John the Baptist’s water baptism symbolizes externally (repentance from sin) Jesus’ Spirit baptism affects eternally (taking away sin’s stain and guilt).

John’s Gospel makes great use of witnesses who have seen and heard Jesus and are now able to confirm His deity and mission. First up in the courtroom of public opinion is John the Baptist. In a sequence of 3 episodes, we find John the Baptist helping us understand the primacy of Jesus Christ, the reality that being in Christ shapes our identity, and lastly, the privilege of being a servant of the Lord, joyfully engaged in His mission.

John wrote his gospel to confront the confused and doubting with the truth about Jesus of Nazareth. Make no mistake, Jesus is fully and eternally God in the flesh. That’s what makes His coming into creation so incredible. In Jesus we see the Creator of all things come into our sin-drenched world and live His life and give His death to rescue every believer from the sin, shame, and the wrath of God. What a privilege to know the One who has brought the fullness of God’s saving grace!

We begin an amazing journey through John's Gospel. So far this year we've talked about the privilege of partnering with Jesus in the exciting adventure called the Gospel. We've walked with Jonah, the reluctant evangelist, and reminded ourselves of the beauty and power of the Gospel story, recognizing the need to "carry it around in our pockets" in the normal rhythms of daily life. Now, we need to remind ourselves just how wonderful the Lord Jesus is! As we walk through the pages of John's Gospel we will encounter him as God in the flesh, the great " I AM" and the One whose life, death, and resurrection proclaim that he is Lord of all, and the only source of eternal life.