All you have to do is read this text to see how seriously Paul took the Lord's Supper. It was definitely not something that he would tacked on to the end of a service. Karl Barth wrote that the greatest preaching that is done in the church is baptism and the Lord's Supper. It is important. It is a time to reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice.
I. Verse 26 - It is a time to remember His sacrifice for us. Isaiah 53: 6-7 predicted it. Ephesians 5:2 - It was for you and me. II. Verses 27-28 - It is a time to examine our own lives. 2 Corinthians 13:5 Have you heard the song that tells about the rooms that we have in our lives. When we invite Jesus into our lives, we should invite Him into all of the rooms. Which rooms are your trying to keep Jesus out of? III. Verse 33 - It is a time to take other people into account. Read verses 20-22 Love other people. Treat other people right. This is a time for you remember, to examine yourself, and take heed about how you treat other people.......
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Verses 1-5 can serve as an introduction to the theme.
I. Verses 6-9 – First people give because they see a great cause and purpose. (You can name some great causes and purposes for giving to your church. Hint: missions) II. Verses 10-13 – Second because they have been made to see the greatness and generosity of God. (Hmmmm, let me, who could help their congregants see the greatness and generosity of God?) III. Verses 14-19 – Third, they give because God has enabled them to give. (I know, I know, you have a lot of “poor people” in your church because of these hard times. And these are hard times. But follow some of these people to Wal-Mart or Dillards or even my favorite, Dollar General, and see if they are really destitute. Some might be, but not as many as would lead you to believe.) IV. Verses 20-22 – Their giving elicits great praise and joy when they see that the cause is really great. Our cause is greater than the building of the temple in Jerusalem, which was destroyed by Babylon in 585. Ours is the cause of Jesus Christ and his call for us to be His Church to infiltrate His needy world through various means. Christian stewardship makes this possible This new year is a blank page on which we will write. The question is what will we write? Paul gives some advice that is appropriate in helping us write things on it that will be positive.
I. "Forgetting those things which are behind..." The Past A, Forget past failures. B. Forget past successes. "Don't rest on your laurels." C. Forget past sins for which you have been forgiven. (Hebrews 12;1) D. Forget past disagreements and grudges. II. "Reaching forth..." The Present A. Reach forth in daily prayer. B. Reach forth in daily Bible reading and study. C. Reach forth in thinking of other people. In other words, spend some time this year thinking about somebody besides yourself! D. Reach forth for victory in your Christian life. III. "Press toward the mark for the prize..." The Future A. Press toward the prize of doing God's will in your life. B. Press toward the prize of serving God in every area of your life. C. Press toward the prize of loving God and people. D. Press toward the greatest prize of living with Jesus in heaven eternally. You have just received some good advice from scripture for your new year. Will you take it? This outline will not have a lot “meat on the bones,” but it should kick off a Christmas idea for you. I call it “A Merry Christmas.” I think that the text gives us an idea of what a real merry Christmas would be.
6. Vs. 18 - The story brings out wonder…. All of this should make a “merry Christmas” and we need to be reminded of the wonder of it. Bro. Joe “Christmas According to John” John 1:14
“And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John does not record the pageantry of Christmas like Matthew and Luke, but he does give us the Christmas narrative in just one verse. What John does is give us the theological significance of the coming of Christ into the world. I will illustrate what I mean in the post. John points out that the “word was made flesh.” This, of course, is about the incarnation, or the infleshment, of the Son of God.” The Good News Bible, which had some success in the late sixties and early seventies, translated this as “the word was made a human being.” While I was not exactly carried away with that particular Bible, I thought that this translation made a vivid point about the word becoming flesh. He was made flesh through the virgin birth, as predicted in Isaiah 7:14. It also stands out that when the word was made flesh, His crib was a manger – a feed trough. The miracle was that God came down to man – period. John points out that He “dwelt among us.” This is a reference to the fact that Jesus lived a normal human existence in a family. The family that Jesus came to was a common family, a carpenter’s family. He lived a common life among common people. This is good news for all of us common people out here, for Jesus indentified with us in His coming. Jesus experienced life in every way, except for sin. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are , yet without sin.” It has to be comfort to us that our Savior understands our struggles. In a parenthetical statement, John informs us that “we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” Of course, we can refer to the great miracles that Jesus performed, such as, walking on water, turning water into wine, healing the infirm, stilling a storm, etc. John, however, along with Peter and James, beheld His glory at the transfiguration. This was not seen by anyone but those three disciples, but it had to be a life-changing experience for them. Thank God that it was recorded in the Gospels for us. What happened there was indescribable, but it did show forth the great glory of Jesus. It is my opinion that what they got a glimpse of was a heavenly vision of the Son of God. No one else has seen Jesus like this, but one day all believers will. John shared with us that Jesus was “full of grace and truth.” In John 14:6, Jesus referred to Himself as “the way, the truth, and the life.” He revealed the truth about God in His teachings that are recorded in the New Testament for us. He revealed the grace of God by His treatment of people, which is also recorded in the New Testament for us. The New Testament makes it plain that Jesus treated all people the same, the rich and the poor. Jesus healed poor people, like Bartimaeus; He healed rich people like Jairus’ daughter, which He actually raised from death. He walked among the poor and the rich. One of His most famous conversions was Zacchaeus, who was a wealthy tax collector. Indeed, Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, was “full of grace and truth.” I understand that we usually think of the Christmas story in terms of shepherds and Wise Men, which Matthew and Luke wrote about, but John, in his usual fashion, got right to the point of who and what the incarnate Son of God was and is. Bro. Joe |
All of these materials are free of charge. There is no copyright on them and you are free to use them as you see fit. I am happy to be of assitance to you in your preaching/teaching minstry.
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