Gospel of John

“In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

John 3:3

It is hard to believe that Easter is here already. Easter reminds me of family, warm weather, dinner with friends, and dying eggs. But beyond the family traditions and festive gatherings, Easter is a great time to reflect on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us all.

This week I had the chance to hear a sermon about Easter and was reminded of something very important. We observed part a movie that visually displays the death that Jesus died for us. The imagery was dark, deep, and painful at times to watch. After viewing the film, we took communion, and then watched a few more clips which displayed the end of the story. We saw Jesus being crucified, buried, and then resurrected. Certainly a roller coaster of emotions were running through me, but I kept silent in my chair afterwards, along with everyone else.

The speaker stood up and asked us why we still sat quietly. It’s easy for me to overlook Jesus conquering death, being “born again.” This weekend is a time of celebration for anyone that has put their trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus. My challenge is to not stay seated anymore. Stand up, applaud, sing, dance, just do something that communicates the joy of being born again.

- Matt Simmonds

Gospel of John

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of the once calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

John 1:13

I talked to a group of middle school students on the topic of motives a few weeks ago. I asked them questions like why do we go to church and why should we read our bibles? I then pointed out the foundational reasons why we do those things.

As I studies motives I began to reflect on my life. What are my own foundational motives? What makes me wake up in the morning and attack my to do list? Why do I choose to spend time doing particular activities? Am I making wise decisions? Do I make those decisions for the right reasons?

John the Baptist was a great example of a man that was deeply grounded in righteous motives. He was sort of an interesting character but he lived and extraordinarily selfless life. In the verse above John states his mission to “Make straight the way of the Lord.” John was in charge of preparing for Jesus to begin his ministry. All the followers of John the Baptist would eventually become followers of Jesus. Think about working all your life to develop a business, all the while knowing that at the most fruitful and lucrative time it would be taken away.

John the Baptist developed followers that were continually pointed towards Jesus, “he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie” (Jn. 1:27). This week let us think about our motives. How can we give God all the glory for our accomplishments, earnings, and the work that we spend often countless hours on? Are we willing to give credit where credit is due?

- Matt Simmonds

Gospel of John

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

John 1:12

Last week we read an excerpt from C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity. I challenged you to reflect on who you truly believe Jesus to be. I believe there is no other question more important that who we believe Jesus actually is.

In preparation to our final regular season message to men playing in our Open Basketball League, I listened to Fact or Fiction, a sermon series that Joe Coffey preached a few years back. One of my favorite parts of the series is the introduction when Joe confronts the common thought that in order to believe in Christianity, “you have to take your brain and put it on a shelf and just trust in your heart, with blind faith, against all odds, against all evidence, like a child that believes in Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy.”

Joe responds to this by saying he believes nothing is farther from the truth. The Fact or Fiction series gives evidence, facts, and explanations to questions many of us have asked before. (If you are interested in a copy, email matt.simmonds@hudsonchapel.org)

In the verse above it talks about those that believe in “his name.” His name is actually referring to everything that is true about Jesus or essentially the totality of his person. As we look at the life of Christ through the Gospel of John, we want to you challenge your heart and mind. The story of Jesus’ life is loving, sacrificial, unique, bold, and sometimes confusing. We want you to wrestle with the stories and to decide for yourself what kind of impact it will have on your life.

Today my challenge is to start asking questions again. Maybe you became a Christian years ago but when asked why you believe in what you believe it’s hard to give an answer. Maybe you have given up on answering the questions that you were once so curious to find out. Or maybe you haven’t decided whether Jesus is who he said he was. Wherever you’re at, I encourage you to start investigating. I admit, I have left many questions unanswered myself and it’s time I started asking those questions again.

- Matt Simmonds

Gospel of John

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:1

Be prepared for a journey as we read through the Gospel of John written by a man that walked side by side with Jesus, the most controversial man that has ever lived. The apostle John writes about what Jesus did, what Jesus said, and the people’s response to Jesus.

In John 1:1 the “Word” is actually referring to Jesus, which is later revealed in verse 14. Jesus was with God from the very beginning of creation and Jesus is the Character that we will focus on as we study John in the months to come.

As we begin to study the life of Christ, I encourage you to wrestle with the following passage given by C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity. No matter what facts or lessons we learn together as we read the gospel of John, the most important question that we must ask ourselves is who do we really believe Jesus is?

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”