Posts Tagged ‘John’

I’m walking through John in my personal time with God, and chapter 7 has been loud to me this morning.  Jesus has said many things about himself throughout this book.  But one of the main things he’s described and repeated over and again throughout this book is the fact that he’s SENT.  A quick tour of John provides this:

• 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
• 3:19 – Light has come into the world.
• 4:34 – My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
• 5:23 – Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
• 5:30 – I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
• 5:36 – For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.  And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me.
• 5:38 – …and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.
• 6:29 – This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.
• 6:38-39 – For i have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
• 6:57 – As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
• 7:16- My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
• 7:18 – but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.
• 7:28 – He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.  I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.
• 7:33 – I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.

Hey RiverStone and Friends,

Hope your week is going great and that you are actively engaging this week in disciple-making at home, at work, and/or where you play.  We tend to make disciple-making difficult; but what we see God calling us to do is to simply SHARE Christ and SHOW the teachings of Christ.  If you need more instruction on how to do this, please let us know at RS, and we’ll be happy to help guide you.  Simply email me at cdearman@riverstonechurch.org for more information and training.  I’m excited about what God is up to, and that’s what I want to talk about a bit more today.

I want to reinforce the truth that God is the one who is at work, ultimately, using our SHARING and SHOWING, to bring people into the salvation of their souls through faith alone in Jesus Christ.  He is the one who is responsible for people coming to faith in Christ, not us.  We are responsible for the SHARING and SHOWING.  But God is responsible for the SALVATION!  Does that free anyone up?

You may be asking, “Where are you getting that from?”  You may be saying, “I’ve been taught all my life that if I don’t lead the person to faith in Christ that I’ve shared with, then I haven’t done something right.”  That’s the temptation to think that we’ve failed if we don’t see results.  That’s American culture screaming at us, and not the Bible.  The Bible is clearly pointing us to the truth that God is the one at work behind all of disciple-making.  Look at these texts with me:

• Matthew 28:19-20 - Who is all-powerful?  Because he is all-powerful, what is the “therefore” saying to us?
• John 12:27-32 - What does Jesus say is our responsibility?  What will he do as we do our part?
• Joshua 1:7-9 - What does the Lord call Joshua to do?  What determines Joshua’s success in his mission from God?
• Mark 4:26-29 – What is man’s responsibility?  Who is responsible for the seed taking root and growing?  How should the man sleep at night knowing he’s done his job?

In these verses, we get a robust theology that God is at work, that God is the source of success, and that God is responsible for outcomes as we are responsible for obedience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ps4quZz58 (listen to this and praise God for being Sovereign!)

Dig Deeper,

PC