A new Sunday School program for adults will begin on Sunday, September 8th at 9:00 a.m. in our church library. The group will meet every Sunday, and will be studying the Gospel of John.
Most of us have been confronted by the book of John. In worship services we have heard sermons based on it. We may have participated in liturgies or dramas drawn from the Gospel of John. The words of John have comforted us at funerals and given courage in times of uncertainty, anxiety, disappointment, and stress. So John’s Gospel is already a part of us, already a present help.
We shall approach the Gospel as a personal message of God – through the unknown author John – to the church and to us. We want to concentrate on bringing out the permanent values of John for us today. So, when we read John’s Gospel, we should be primarily concerned with what arises in our minds and hearts as we read, with what the Holy Spirit says to us through the printed page. The Word of God is a living, personal Word that reaches us in the depths of our being.
The Word is Jesus Christ, God’s personal self-communication to us. In this study, therefore, we should think of John’s Gospel as a personal letter of God, telling us about Jesus Christ and his mission of love for us and for the whole world. John’s Gospel is God’s Word already spoken to our desolation. It is the proclamation that God, through Jesus, shows us our core sin, and then God raised up Christ to forgive us and show us how to love others as God loves us unconditionally.
The study should help us get a sharp focus on the whole of the Gospel of John. The aim of the Gospel is stated clearly in 20:21: to encourage its readers “to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” But what does it mean to “have life in his name?” Hope you use this time and opportunity to be inspired in many ways.
Most of us have been confronted by the book of John. In worship services we have heard sermons based on it. We may have participated in liturgies or dramas drawn from the Gospel of John. The words of John have comforted us at funerals and given courage in times of uncertainty, anxiety, disappointment, and stress. So John’s Gospel is already a part of us, already a present help.
We shall approach the Gospel as a personal message of God – through the unknown author John – to the church and to us. We want to concentrate on bringing out the permanent values of John for us today. So, when we read John’s Gospel, we should be primarily concerned with what arises in our minds and hearts as we read, with what the Holy Spirit says to us through the printed page. The Word of God is a living, personal Word that reaches us in the depths of our being.
The Word is Jesus Christ, God’s personal self-communication to us. In this study, therefore, we should think of John’s Gospel as a personal letter of God, telling us about Jesus Christ and his mission of love for us and for the whole world. John’s Gospel is God’s Word already spoken to our desolation. It is the proclamation that God, through Jesus, shows us our core sin, and then God raised up Christ to forgive us and show us how to love others as God loves us unconditionally.
The study should help us get a sharp focus on the whole of the Gospel of John. The aim of the Gospel is stated clearly in 20:21: to encourage its readers “to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” But what does it mean to “have life in his name?” Hope you use this time and opportunity to be inspired in many ways.