I Am The Gate In this poetic passage of Scripture, Jesus weaves in and out of several images. He is the Gate, the Gatekeeper, and the Shepherd. This week, we will consider what it means for Jesus to be the Gate. A gate shows us how to enter correctly. A gate keeps people safely inside, but it also keeps people outside. Is Jesus a gate of exclusion? A gate of inclusion? This name is one we are invited to wrestle with, to ponder, and to give deep consideration. How will this name shape us? John 10: 1-10
Sermon Title is "I Am the Light of the World" Scripture is John 8:12-20 Summary: Jesus proclaims that He is the Light of the World. If we follow Jesus, we will never walk in darkness. What does that mean for us when we walk through dark times? Grief, illness, and the traumas of this world still come to us. How does the Light of the World change us as we walk through darkness? And do we impact the darkness as we follow the Jesus? This week we will consider what it means to have the Light of Life in dark times.
Jesus claims his divine status by using the familiar "I AM." He tells people, I Am The Bread of Life, then demonstrates what that means. He provides for the physical needs of over 5000 people, then foils their plans to make him king. He has a greater task than providing for their wants of prosperity. His task is to be the bread that is broken to bring us new life.
When Moses asks God for a name, he is given, "I AM WHO I AM." It is a name that is frustratingly mysterious. God declares all being, all power. God isn't boxed in with any human descriptions. Instead, God identifies with past actions to Israel's ancestors, current actions in the burning bush, and by describing future actions as things that have already happened. God is above and beyond time, space, and dimension. We serve a God who wants to be known and helps us to know them better.
12/15 Title: Do the Good That Is Yours to Do Text: Luke. 3:7-16 Summary: Faith isn't just about lofty ideas or perfect theology; it's about how we live, how we treat others, and how we trust God, however momentous or mundane the moment in our lives Keywords: Joh the Baptist, brood of vipers, snakes in the grass, bluntness, hopes and fears, O Little Town of Bethlehem, repentance, act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God, share, honesty, power, abuse of power, contentment, generosity, integrity, Holy Spirit, alarm clock, caffeine, hope, goodness
