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