“God is love.”  We read that twice today in John’s first letter.  We read it in Chapter 4, verse 8, and verse 16.  “God is love.”  This is a very much-loved sentence of the Bible.  You can find this phrase on T-shirts, books, posters, coffee cups, and bracelets.  You can also find this phrase coming from the lips of believers and non-believers alike. “God is love.”

            When we hear the phrase “God is love,” we must ask whether John is making a statement of truth or giving us a definition.  What do I mean by that?  If we conclude John is giving us a definition, then “God is love” means “God = love.” If that is true, then we would be inclined, as many do, to see God as passive, permissive, or unquestioningly understanding.   We would see God then as accepting sin or offering love as a sentimental feeling. That is the mindset we get if we believe John defined God by the single word, love.

            However, if we see “God is love” as a statement of truth, we need to know how that truth works together with other statements about God.

• God is Light (1 John 1:5).
• God is Spirit (John 4:24).
• God is Faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9)
• God is Just (2 Thessalonians 1:6)
• God is Gracious and Compassionate (2 Chronicles 30:9)
• God is Mighty (Job 36:5)
• God is Sovereign (Daniel 5:21)
• God is Merciful (Daniel 9:9)

I think you get the picture.  There are a lot of “God is” statements in the Bible. By one count, there are 99 such statements.  Each of them is true.  Each of them differs from the others.  It seems unlikely that when John said, “God is love,” John meant those words as the single definition of God, but rather as another profound truth about God.  The use of many statements about God tells us that the spoken and written word cannot adequately describe God.  They are, at best, an effort to express what God is like, and the collection of “God is” statements still falls short of the mark. God knows that is true.

            John would agree that the single statement, “God is love,” while true, is incomplete.  John said that God showed us what is meant by “God is love” in this way: “God sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him,” and that God “sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9,10). God, who is Just, Mighty, Righteous, Spirit, Faithful, Merciful, Light, and Love, chose to show “God is Love” by sending his one and only Son to the world as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus, God’s only Son, was sent to earth to die for our sins so that we could have life.  I have tried to let that thought sink into my head without shuddering, and I cannot do it.  As much as I think I may love, I cannot conceive that I could express that love by willingly yielding my son over to death to show the depth, breadth, height, and width of that love.  I would not do it, but God did it for me, and God did it for you.  John said God did not send the Son in response to our love for God, far from it.  God sent the Son because God loved us first.  The Apostle Paul went so far as to say that God sent his Son when we were enemies of God.  Romans 5:10, “For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” God acted first and showed Godly love by sending his Son to atone, to take the punishment, for our sins.

            God’s love through the Son was universal, meaning God did not and does not withhold His love from anyone.  However, the life-giving power of God’s love was conditional. The atonement by His Son for our sins, the essence of God’s love, only affects those who believe in His Son.  While God’s love is available to all, it only takes root in those who believe in His Son. Scripture says, “16 For God so loved the world (universal giving) that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him (conditional) shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (universal). 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned (conditional), but whoever does not believe (non-believers) stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18).  God’s love extends to all his enemies, and those who receive God’s love by believing in the fullness of His Son, Jesus, are no longer God’s enemies but become God’s children.  All others who remain God’s enemy.  God meant this when He inspired John to write, “God is Love.”  This is why so many people are sadly mistaken when they believe “God is Love” means God is passive, permissive, or unquestioningly understanding.  They see God then as accepting sin or that his love is a sentimental feeling.  That is just wrong.  God, who is Just, Mighty, Righteous, Spirit, Faithful, Merciful, and Light, loves universally but will not accept us as His children if we do not first accept His love and live following His Son.

            From this sacrificial understanding of “God is Love,” John wrote, “ 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we (believers) also ought to love one another (other believers)” (1 John 4:11). God’s love received and effected in us ought to cause us to love others who have also believe simply because they too are believers.  I spoke about this briefly last week.  John was not discussing a “love everyone in the world” mentality here.  John was talking about loving other believers.  It might be a relief that I do not have to love people who have decided to reject God’s love, who choose to remain enemies of God, and who persecute Christians.  I could choose to love people in the world, but I do not have to love them.  But the effect of God’s love within me ought to cause me to love other Christians just because they are Christians.  Having to love everyone who is a fellow Christian is a sword with a sharp edge. We can choose to love someone in the world, but we have no choice in loving another Christian.  God has accepted them, and as John said, God’s love is complete in them (1 John 4:12b).  Therefore, we ought to love them.  I can tell you from my own experience that there are some Christians who can at times be hard to love.  You might feel the same way, but I ask that you not look around the sanctuary to see if they came today.  Jesus said, and John reiterated, we must love them.

            How do we love other Christians, including the difficult ones? John said, “He has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13). We can love with the power of the Holy Spirit and not through our own doing.  John said to live this life, yes, to thrive as a Christian, you must continually acknowledge Jesus is the Son of God who paid for your sins and that God lives in you and you in God (1 John 4:15).  This is our starting point.  We begin our life in Christ and living it out with the power of the Spirit by interpreting everything through the cross.  Once you accept Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for your sins, meaning Jesus is your Savior who bore your sins on the cross, you exit the world of darkness and enter the light of Christ.  In that light, you have entered a new life.  It is a life in which you now have God living within you, He has given you His Spirit, and you are forever in the embrace of God.  And this transformation of your life occurs because God is love.

            John said, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us” (1 John 4:16). When we love other Christians, we do so knowing that we share the same Spirit of God and are in God's embrace. So our love towards them is about showing our love for God.

            I once spoke with a man who was the father of a few children.  He told me he wanted to be a good father to his children and for them to know he loved them.  He asked me what I thought about different things he wanted to do with his children to show his love.  Some of those things involved fun activities, while others involved discipline.  He was conflicted about how to be a good father and to show his children that he loved them.  Part of this man’s conflict arose because his relationship with the children’s mother was often argumentative and troubled.  I told this man that if he wanted his children to know he loved them, he should love their mother.  To love their mother would be the most convincing sign to the children that he loved them.  If you want God to know that you love him, love those He loves.  Love one another.  It may be a poor analogy, but the principle holds true.

            “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus” (1 John 4:16b-17).  That is a powerful and humbling statement.  God is love. If we live in love, then we are like Jesus in this world.  God’s love drew us to Christ.  Accepting Christ as a sign of God’s love brings us into a new relationship with God that is free from condemnation.  In that relationship, we are to live in love with God and others who have also accepted Christ.  Living lovingly brings a proper image of Jesus to the world, which remains in darkness. You are a light.  Your witness is intended, and life lived in love is intended to draw others to Christ.  The fact that you have the Spirit of God within you is intended to draw others to Christ.  But do we? Do we serve as a light to others? Do we appear as Jesus to others?

            What might we then do to check ourselves to see if we appear like Jesus? Of course, we can ask ourselves some of the most obvious questions.

• Do I forgive my brothers and sisters in Christ like Jesus forgave me?  Or do I only forgive those offenses by a brother or sister that I could see myself doing?  “13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).
• Do I serve other brothers and sisters in Christ like Christ served?  Am I generous and sharing my time, treasure, talents, and tears with other Christians as Jesus did?  Invite those who cannot repay you for your kindness.  “Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14).
• Do I pray for other brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week?  When I say grace at my daily meals, do I also bring to mind and pray for those who have asked for prayer in the worship service?  “Pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

I think you get the picture and probably have heard such things before.  But do we fully love our brothers and sisters to do the hard work Jesus did as well? What do I mean by that?

• Do I love like Jesus and help my brothers and sisters correct their understanding of theology?  Am I willing to say, “Brother, you have it wrong about God,” or, “Sister, we are called to be merciful, not punitive.”  Jesus loved enough to correct his disciples often so that they would bear good witness to others.
• Lastly, and perhaps one of the most challenging forms of love, do I love like Jesus and help my brothers and sisters stop sinning? Am I willing to follow the commands of Christ and speak privately to a brother or sister engaged in sin that they might be restored?  This is hard work.  Jesus repeatedly told people who sought to follow him, “Stop sinning.”  Jesus said, 15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over” (Matthew 18:15).  I can tell you that helping someone through sin is an extraordinary act of love.  You risk much, but it is sweet when we care enough to help someone stop sinning.

John ended this letter section with these words, “Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (1 John 4:21). God is love.  God showed His love through the cross.  God loves those who accept the work of the cross and place their faith in Jesus.  That means God loves you and me.  We then must love one another and be like Jesus in this world.  Amen and Amen.

          What does it mean to thrive?  The dictionary definition is to grow vigorously.  What does it mean to thrive as a Christian? Thriving as a Christian means growing vigorously in a life of abundance, grace, and purpose, reflecting God's love and pursuing His will. It involves actively growing spiritually, mentally, physically, and in relationships, while contributing to the world through unique talents and gifts. Thriving means trusting God's plan, accepting His grace, and finding joy in His provision.  What is the ultimate objective of thriving, of growing vigorously?  Our lives would be transformed into the very image of Jesus.

          The Apostle John wrote at least three letters to his church, seeking to help the members thrive and become like Jesus. In his first letter, John repeatedly used one word to describe the image of Jesus they were to seek.  That word was righteous.  To be righteous was John’s simple moral image.  John described the righteous or righteousness as one who lived in the light of Christ.  It was a life separated from the darkness of evil.  It was an image centered upon the truth of Jesus, separated from the antichrist's lies.  John described that image as one born from above, not an image one could acquire through one’s efforts.  That birth from above came about through the love of God.

          John wrote, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1).  John reminded his readers, and now us, that all things good come from God, and the best thing God could do for us was to make us His children.  What does John mean by being called children of God? One commentator put it this way. In antiquity, the mother was considered the one who gave birth to a child.  It was, however, the father who gave life to a child.  In antiquity, the father decided whether a newborn would live or be abandoned.  The mother gave birth, but the father gave life.  John’s words, “we should be called children of God,” follow that ancient context in that God had chosen to be the giver of life to us and call us His children. We live because God is the giver of life, calling us his children.  We see this thought in John’s gospel, “12 But to all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). 

How often have we thought about that point?  Our existence, as God’s children, is only through the will of God.  What is it that moves God to be our life givers? John said it is simply the love of God. We will have more to say and think about God’s love next week.  But for today, we see that John was making clear that the foundation of our thriving, the foundation of our life, is not our own doing; it is God’s.

          This is such a simple truth, yet many people miss it.  Too many people I meet believe that being a “good person” is the key to thriving and is the key to heaven.  I once counseled a woman, a casual Roman Catholic, who was concerned about death. This woman said, “I just hope I have done enough good things to get into heaven.”  I said, “Oh, I can answer that question for you.”  She said, “You can?”  I said, “Certainly.  You have not done enough good things to get into heaven.  No one can.  Eternal life is not something we can earn.  Eternal life is a gift from God that we must accept.”   After that exchange, we had a good conversation about accepting the love of God to become His children, and in that, we have eternal life.

          What, then, does God require of His children? John shared with us these thoughts, “7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he [Jesus] is righteous” (1 John 3:7).  What God requires of His children is to be right, practice righteousness, in the same manner that Jesus did.  To thrive and grow vigorously, we must live our given life in the pattern of righteousness of Jesus.  What then is that pattern of right behavior?

          John gave us some key things to consider. First, John said, “8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin” (1 John 3:8-9a).  We must first reject sin just as Jesus rejected sin.  I thought, “John, could you have started with something a little easier than not sinning?  Could you have started with something like being kind or compassionate?  Why must you start with the fact that we must not sin?” John could not start anywhere else because John needed to make clear we were called out of the world, out of the darkness, into the light, from the impurities of sin, and into the holiness of God.  Therefore, sin cannot be part of our lives. 

How do we reject sin as Jesus did?  In what way did Jesus show us how to reject sin?  It was in this way.  Jesus lived, spoke, and acted in ways that glorified God.  This is how Jesus rejected sin.  Jesus' approach in every setting of every day was to do what glorified God.

Some people wear wristbands with the initials, “WWJD,” meaning “What Would Jesus Do.”  They do so as a means of guiding their thinking about a decision.  This is not a bad approach to life.  But if you like wearing wristbands, I think there is a better one to wear, “DWGG,” meaning “Do What Glorifies God.”  I believe this is a better thought because every time Jesus spoke or acted, he did so to glorify God.  If we make our decisions consciously by doing and saying what glorifies God, then we have necessarily rejected sin.  To reject sin, we should learn to pause momentarily and say to ourselves “DWGG,” “Do What Glorifies God,” or more simply “GG,” “Glorify God,” and then act or speak accordingly.  To glorify God is to reject sin, practicing righteousness just like Jesus did.

          Secondly, John said, “11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:11-13).  John referred back to the book of Genesis and the first human murder in which Cain killed his brother Abel.  “Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.  The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.  6 Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right [reject sin], will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right [reject sin], sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’  8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’  While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him” (Genesis 4:2b-8).  Abel had glorified God, and Cain had not.  God spoke to Cain and said, “All is forgiven.  Just practice righteousness, do what is right.”  Cain would not reject sin.  Cain would not glorify God.  When the chance came, Cain, representing worldliness, killed his brother, Abel, who represented righteousness.  In his letter to his church, John said, first reject sin, practice righteousness, and then love one another, love other believers in Christ.

          My experience has been that most Christians do not understand that the call here is to love other believers specifically. Far too many Christians believe these words mean we should love everyone.  John’s point is that the foundation of God’s children is their love for each other. 

We might ask, “Is it bad to love everyone?”  The answer, of course, is “No,” it is not.  But what tends to happen when we approach life with a “love everyone” approach is that we don’t love anyone.  Too often, the “love everyone” approach leads Christians to be critical of other Christians while being kind to those they do not know.  One pastor said the “love everyone” approach results in the condition that “The Christian army is the only army that shoots and buries its wounded.”   It is a tough statement, but I have witnessed greater grace given to people of the world than to brothers and sisters in Christ.  That is not what John says we should do as God’s children.

While struggling with imperfections, the church, brothers and sisters of Christ, and children of God should be unique in their compassion and support for those of the church who are hurting or struggling. The church should be seen as a place of healing and forgiveness, even when its members fall short. Jesus said to his disciples, “34 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).  Our love, Jesus said, and John reiterates in his letter, must be poured out onto our brothers and sisters of the church.  It should be unmistakable to the world that we love each other.  This is right.  Doing so glorifies God.  When we love each other, we all thrive in Christ.  We cannot neglect our outreach, but outreach to the world should be founded upon a loving right relationship with each other.

John pressed this point further, saying, “16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18).  Righteousness, acting as Jesus, requires us to be generous with each other.  We must be generous with our time, talents, treasure, and tears towards each other first and foremost.  We must reject sin, practice righteousness by doing what glorifies God, and then love each other generously.

Finally, I want to address one more point about doing what is right.  John said, “1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world” (1 John 4:1-3).  We need to test the spirit.  What does John mean?  Very simply, we must test whether what we receive from others about Jesus is true by the truth of the Scriptures.  You cannot and should not accept the authority of anyone, including me, as preaching the truth.  What is shared with us must be valid according to the Scripture.  Why Scripture?  Because Scripture tells us, “15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which can make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:15-17a).  We must understand that some would like to lead us astray.  It has been that way since Adam and Eve with the deceiver.  We must test what is said to us against what God’s Word tells us.

What does it mean to thrive?  Thriving as a Christian means growing vigorously in a life of abundance, grace, and purpose, reflecting God's love and pursuing His will.  What is the ultimate objective of thriving, of growing vigorously?  Our lives would be transformed into the very image of Jesus.  We will become people who reject sin and do whatever glorifies God. We will become people who love brothers and sisters of Christ, displaying to the world the joy of the Lord and what it means to be a Christian.  We will be discerning.  We will know what is true and misleading because we will check everything against Scripture.  This is the life that God desires for us.  In such a life, we do not exist, but we thrive.  Amen and Amen.

          The end is near.  How many times have we encountered the doom and gloom message that the end of the world as we know it is upon us?  Some years ago, people spoke about the end of time when the Mayan calendar ended in 2012.  In 1843, a New York state man, William Miller, predicted that Jesus would come, and time would end.  It did not. Miller concluded his calculations were off.  He revised his calculations to a new end time date of October 22, 1844.  People gathered on that date at Ascension Rock and waited, but the end did not come.  Is there anything Biblical about describing the end as near? The answer is yes, but perhaps not in our context.

          From our reading today from 1 John 2, John said to his church, “This is the last hour” (1 John 2:18).  Did that mean John thought the end was about to happen?  The answer is no.  The apostles did believe that Jesus would return soon, but they did not know what soon meant.  The way we should understand the phrase “This is the last hour” is that they were living in the time between Jesus’ ascension and Jesus’ return.  This means that they, and now we, are moving closer to the end and Jesus’ return.  And because we are in that “in between” time, we need to be acutely aware of some dangers. The primary threat to the Christian believer in the “in-between” time is from the persuasive deceivers who John calls the “antichrists.”

          In our context, when we hear the word “antichrist,” we are prone to consider the Book of Revelation, the mark of the beast, and the beast himself.  But that is not at all what John was speaking about.  The only time the word “antichrist” is used in the Bible is by John in this, his first letter, and then once again in John’s second letter. Nowhere else will you hear the word “antichrist.”  We should understand, then, what John meant.  The word “antichrist” comes from the combination of two Greek words, anti (ἀντί) from which we get the English word, anti, and christos (Χριστός) from which we get the English word, Christ or anointed one.  So, an antichrist is anyone who is “anti-Christ,” or who opposes Christ.  That is the true meaning of the word antichrist.  We will also find that John aims this word at people who are corrupt and hostile to Christian interests, coming from the church as false teachers engaged in heresy.  John’s use of this word is consistent with John's many sharp contrasting images in his gospel and his letters.  John used such contrasts as “light and darkness, believers of the truth and liars, and now followers of Christ and the antichrists.”  We need to keep in mind that the antichrists John concerns himself with are people who were once part of the church but left the church to preach and to teach something other than the Christ of Scripture.

          Why does John even write about antichrists, and why should we care?  John wrote about the antichrists, and we should care because antichrists are persuasive people, often very friendly people, who lead people from faith, from the road to salvation, to a dark end.  We should care to know who these people are because they are so effective at leading people astray.  We should care to know because, in knowing, we become closer to God.  We should care to know because, in knowing, we become more discerning.  In knowing, we thrive as Christians.  Don’t we want to thrive and not just exist?

          What then did John share about the antichrists to help his church thrive?  John said, “18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard, the antichrist is coming, and even now, many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:18-19).  John addressed this portion of his letter to his “Dear children,” as a pastor concerned for his church.  John felt a personal responsibility for the spiritual welfare of those who were part of the church community in Ephesus.  “Dear children, this is the last hour,” meaning we are between Christ’s ascension to heaven and his return to earth.  When will Jesus return?  John did not know.  None of us knows.  But among us now are many antichrists, people who are saying things that oppose the teachings of Jesus about himself and righteousness.  These antichrists were not strangers who moved in from another place. They were not ugly or sinister-looking people.  These antichrists worshipped in the church, were part of a Christian fellowship, and, likely, were part of the community and neighborhood in which John’s church members lived.  They were known to John’s readers; they may have been family members or friends.  But they broke bonds of spiritual fellowship with the church because they opposed Christ and what he stood for.   John went so far as to say that the departure of these people from the church was done to expose them and their beliefs, thus protecting the church.

          John’s words gave a lot to consider. People had left the church and organized themselves with a message different from the one the apostles had experienced and taught. For example, we spoke last week about how people left the church and taught that Jesus was divine but never human and never died on the cross for the forgiveness of sin.  John’s words were intended to instruct and comfort his church that these people never genuinely believed in Jesus, and their departure from the church was necessary to protect the church.

          In our context today, it can be difficult to accept someone leaving the church who had worshipped with us.  When someone leaves, we might be inclined to think, “Did I say something to offend them?  Did we not meet their needs?  What is wrong with us that these people left us?”  These might have been some of the thoughts John’s readers experienced when family or friends left the church.  But John’s point was “19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19). Sometimes, God moves people to leave the church to protect the church. 

Let me give you an example to consider.  A pastor of a progressive Christian group was recently asked, “Did Jesus die for anyone?”  This pastor said, “Jesus didn’t die for anyone.  Religious leaders killed Jesus because they did not like Jesus’ preaching that we must love one another and welcome the marginalized people of society. Jesus died because Jesus was a social activist.”  Using John’s words, this pastor is an antichrist because this pastor preaches against Christ.  Please understand me.  Jesus did preach to love one another, and Jesus did seek the lost.  But Jesus did not die because he was a social activist. This pastor has left the church's teachings that Jesus died for our salvation, for the forgiveness of our sins. Scripture says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the older Jewish leaders, the leading priests, and teachers of the law. And he will be killed. But after three days he will be raised from death” (Luke 9:22).  This pastor meets the definition of an antichrist, and if you had a pastor who believed and preached such things, it would be good for you if that person left the church because they are an antichrist.  For us to thrive as Christians, we must be able to hear the Word of God proclaimed without alteration.

John continued, “20 You have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist, denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life” (1 John 2:20-25).  If your faith in Jesus Christ is genuine, then you have been anointed by Him, the Holy One, and you know the truth.  If you know the truth of Jesus through the explicit instruction of the Bible, then you can and must tell the truth about Jesus.  John said those who deny the nature and teachings of Christ are antichrists because they don’t know the truth, and will not have eternal life with God.  Some may think John was being extreme here.  But that is not the case.  The apostle Paul said, “3 The time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching. But people will find more and more teachers who please them. They will find teachers who say what they want to hear. 4 People will stop listening to the truth. They will begin to follow the teaching in false stories. 5 But you should control yourself at all times. When troubles come, accept them. Do the work of telling the Good News. Do all the duties of a servant of God” (2 Timothy 4:3-5).  Paul foresaw a time when people would willingly, even joyfully, listen to people who preached against Christ, or antichrists. 

I read some other commentaries recently by pastors of mainline denomination churches. One said, “Jesus died for everyone and not just for those who would believe in him.”  That is false.  We know from John’s Gospel that the good news is limited to those who follow Jesus.  “16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  Another pastor said, “Satanists, as satanists, should be affirmed because satanists are in the world to make it more just.”  This pastor is an antichrist because he preaches that there is redeeming value in following Satan.  What I find deeply troubling about some of these pastors is that they remain part of mainline churches, giving legitimacy to what they say.  This is why it is vital for each person who claims Christ to speak the truth about Christ and challenge teachings that seem or are against Christ.

What then are we to do in response to God’s word found in John’s letter concerning antichrists?  I think there are three things for us to consider.

First, we must accept that there are many antichrists among us today.  The idea of antichrists is not just some end-times consideration.  The idea that there are antichrists among us today is a reality.  Many people left the Church and now preach seductively against the person of Jesus Christ, trying to turn him into something he never was. Too often now, these people masquerade as pastors, church leaders, and congregants.  We do not need to be living in the days prophesied in the Book of Revelation to see antichrists at work.  The antichrists exist today, and we need to be aware of their allure.

Second, Jesus told us there would be consequences for people who preached against him.  Jesus expressed these consequences in a parable.  The king had invited many people to a wedding banquet for his son. Those invited had gathered.  “11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.  13 Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matthew 22:11-13).  The false disciples will be identified and cast out from the kingdom of heaven.  We want to dress in the wedding clothes that Christ gave us so that we are prepared to be in the presence of God.

Finally, you know the truth.  Jesus said, “31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  You who follow Christ are free.  Free to speak the truth that you know.  And speak the truth we must, for it is the truth that will bring joy and fellowship, not just for ourselves but for those who hear the message of truth and respond.

Knowing God and avoiding the antichrists are essential to our thriving as Christians and being a beacon of light and hope to a world that is so otherwise dark. Amen and Amen.

            The year was 1200.  The Roman Emperor Frederick II believed humanity was born with a language at birth, and that language must be either Hebrew, Greek, or Latin.  Frederick was just not sure which language our birth language was.  So, Emperor Frederick ordered several newborn babies to be hidden away immediately after birth.  He gave them shelter and assigned women to feed the children, clean them, and bathe them.  However, the emperor ordered that the women not make any sounds or gestures of any kind in the presence of the babies.  The emperor believed that by doing so, the babies would grow and speak the language instilled at birth.  Does anyone know what language the babies came to speak?  It was not Hebrew, Greek, Latin, or any other language at all because every baby died.  They did not die due to lack of food, shelter, clothing, or bodily care.  They died because they had no hope.  They died from a condition sometimes called “failure to thrive.”  The experiment showed we are not just a walking stomach, an object to be talked about, an article to be handled, or an entity to be sheltered.  We require hope to live.  Without hope, there is no life.  The foundation of hope for Christians is Christ Jesus. 

How, then, do we thrive as Christians? This question is at the heart of Apostle John’s first letter. I want us to look at John’s letter from the context of thriving as Christians.

John’s first letter was written to an early church in crisis.  The church had experienced persecution from the Jews and then the Romans.  That persecution began in Jerusalem and resulted in the stoning of a man named Stephen.  The persecution resulted in the death of John’s brother James by an executioner’s sword.  The Book of Acts chronicles the beatings that Paul experienced due to persecution. Whether known to John or not, by the time he wrote this letter, he was the lone surviving apostle of Jesus Christ. All the others had been killed due to persecution.  The church was no stranger to persecution.  Despite the persecution, or perhaps as some believe, because of the persecution, the church grew.

What was the heresy?  Then, in addition to persecution, the church faced a new crisis called heresy. We don’t use the word "heresy" very often anymore. Heresy is a religious belief that differs from the accepted set of beliefs.  Persecution comes from outside the church seeking to shrink it.  Heresy comes from within the church seeking to divide it.  The early church faced both.  John’s letter dealt with those within the church seeking to divide it with heresy.

Within the church, an idea began to form and spread. The idea was that Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus was divine, but that Jesus was never human and, therefore, Jesus never died.  There was no virgin birth.  The person called Jesus only appeared to be human but was not human at all.  Jesus did not go to the cross; someone else died on the cross in Jesus’ place, with the leading candidate for that role going to Simon of Cyrene, who the gospels said at one point was made to carry Jesus’ cross.  The blood of Simon, or perhaps someone else, was shed on the cross, but not Jesus's blood. This idea was born because people could not accept that God would die for his people.  The technical term for this heresy is Docetism and the heresy was tearing at the foundation of the early Christian church.

Knowing this bit of history, we turn to 1 John 1. John wrote, “1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete” (1 John 1:1-4).  John’s opening words did three things.  First, the words made clear that Christ taught He had two natures: the Son of God and the Son of Man.  Second, the apostles uniformly testified to the truth of Jesus’ dual nature. Third, accepting the truth about Christ brought people into fellowship with God and other believers.

John began by stating Jesus' dual nature was as the Son of God and the Son of Man: “That which was from the beginning” (1 John 1:1a), called Jesus “the Word of Life” (1 John 1b), and was He “with the Father” (1 John 1:2b).  These words are strikingly like the opening words of John’s Gospel, “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1-2). John emphasized the divine nature of Jesus as being with God and as God in the beginning.  The church and the heretics accepted the divine nature of Jesus. 

But John then said of this same Jesus, “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched” (1 John 1:1), “we have seen and heard” (1 John 1:5), and we are purified by “the blood of Jesus” (1 John 1:7b).  John was describing human physical traits and human senses by which John and others observed firsthand that Jesus was, in fact, human.  Moreover, this divine Jesus and human Jesus was the one who bled upon the cross for the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus was divine and human, and John knew it.

Secondly, John said that he and other apostles “proclaim” (1 John 1:1, 3) and “write” (1 John 1:4) these truths about Jesus without hesitation or reservation.  There was no division among the apostles, and each proclaimed, wrote, and testified about Jesus, knowing full well that doing so made them targets for persecution.  As I mentioned a few minutes ago, John was the only member of Jesus’ inner circle who had not been executed for making such claims.

Lastly, John said he spoke the truth to bring fellowship to others. John desired others to fellowship with him because John’s fellowship was with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3).  Fellowship is a deep sense of togetherness among people who have a shared set of binding yet loving convictions. Let me illustrate a moment from my life from this past weekend. I spent time with many of my first cousins as we celebrated my sister’s and my brother-in-law's lives. While it was nice to get reacquainted with some cousins I had not seen in decades, there was still a distance that could be closed with those who are atheist.  In the Book of Amos, we would read, “3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?” (Amos 3:3).  Clearly, the answer is no.  Two will not walk together unless they agree to do so.  When I spoke at the memorial service about the hope believers have in Christ, it was clear that my cousins who are atheists were not walking with me. Thus, while we had friendly conversations, we did not have fellowship because, as John said, our fellowship is with God and his Son Jesus Christ.  That is not true of atheists.  John was laying the foundation that those who had been in the church but now denied the person of Jesus had broken fellowship not just with other believers but with God and his Son Jesus Christ.

            John addressed the divided situation within the church in a pastoral manner, seeking to clarify his authority, the risk he was willing to take to proclaim the truth, and the substance of the truth so that the church's people would thrive. John then gave them the message again, emphasizing the risk heretics faced in denying the truth about Christ.

            John wrote, “5 This is the message we have heard from him [Jesus] and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). The point here is quite sharp and absolute.  People will be found either in the light of Christ or in the darkness of evil.  You are either in fellowship with Jesus or you are not.  There is no gray area.  People who fellowship with Jesus thrive in a Godly sense and have eternal life with God. Those who are not in fellowship with Jesus do not thrive and will have eternal separation from God.

            John made this point even sharper.  “6 If we claim to have fellowship with him [Jesus] and yet walk in the darkness [deny his nature], we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:6-7).  If you claim you follow the teachings of Christ but you deny truths about him, John says you are a liar to claim fellowship with Jesus because you are not in fellowship with Jesus.  In John’s context, people claimed the divinity of Christ, denied the human nature of Christ, and yet still claimed to be in fellowship with Christ.  John said you cannot deny the blood of Jesus that bought you salvation and say you are in fellowship with that same Jesus.

            Finally, John said, “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:9).  Perhaps, John specifically had in mind here that if those who deny the humanity of Christ believed they had not sinned, then they need to think again. Saying untrue things about Jesus, all the while claiming to be a Christian, is a sin.  It is an affront to God.  But John gave some good news here, “9 If we confess our sins, he [Jesus] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).  We can be in fellowship with Christ through confession of our sins to Him. If we have made a mistake, Jesus, and only Jesus, can fix it for us.  That is the good news of the gospel of Jesus.

            This is such an important point that John did not want anyone to miss it, so he repeated it, “10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.  1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He [Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 1:10, 2:1-2).  John wanted to preserve the fellowship of believers and invite new people to join, as well as those who had been led astray, to come back into fellowship with Jesus.  John wanted people to have hope and to thrive as Christians.

            John began his first letter to combat a heresy within the church while the church separately experienced persecution.  The church universal continues to experience persecution.  In the United States, there is a persistent but low level of persecution. We are fortunate that the government is prohibited from engaging in persecution by the Bill of Rights of the Constitution.  However, the church, particularly in the United States, faces many heresies that have divided the churches, leaving many in darkness.  One of the major heresies of today’s American churches is the opposite of Docetism, called Arianism.  Arianism is the belief that Jesus was human but was not divine.  It is the mirror image of Docetism that John wrote about. A survey done in 2015 showed that 44% of all Americans believed that Jesus was only human and was not or likely not divine.  Many of these people regularly attend churches.  This is a belief of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Progressive Christian movement, and the United Universalists, and increasingly, it is the view of some churches of mainline denominations.  The Word of God tells them all these people are not in fellowship with God and his Son, Jesus Christ.  These groups will not thrive, do not possess hope, and end in darkness.

            To thrive as Christians, we must know what believing in Christ means.  At the highest level, there are five things I would like us to test ourselves on today about our own beliefs.  To thrive as a Christian, you and I need to:

1. Belief in one God, existing as three persons—Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit—equal in essence, distinct in role (Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14).
2. Jesus is entirely God and fully man, born of the Virgin Mary, who lived a sinless life, died for humanity’s sins, and rose bodily from the dead (John 1:1, 14; Philippians 2:5-11).
3. Salvation is a gift from God, received through faith in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, not earned by works (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:1).
4. The Bible is divinely inspired, authoritative, and sufficient for faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
5. Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead, and believers will be resurrected to eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:20-23, Revelation 22:12).

You can certainly add more to this list and make it better. However, these five beliefs seem essential to agreeing with Jesus and fellowshipping with Him. These beliefs will keep you on the same road with Him, moving toward the same destination. These beliefs allow us to fellowship through the joys we share and the trials of life.  If you struggle with any of these beliefs, we should talk and see whether it is a matter of how I expressed something or that your struggle runs deeper.  As John said, knowing the truth and believing in it is shared so that we can have fellowship with the Father, his Son, Jesus Christ, and each other.  When we can do that, then our joy will be complete.  Amen and Amen.

The Jewish ruling authorities complained to Jesus.  They asked Him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”  Jesus told them plainly with his miraculous healings that He was the Messiah.  Jesus told them plainly He was the Messiah when He raised Lazarus from the dead.  Today, Jesus removed all suspense and any doubt that He was the Messiah in the way He entered a place called Jerusalem.

Jesus began this day in Bethany, likely at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.  The village lies on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, a short distance from Jerusalem.  The fragrance of pure nard, a perfume, was still upon Jesus’ body, a reminder to those closest to Him that He had been anointed for burial.  Today, Jesus would journey to the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus had been to the Temple many times. Jesus was in the Temple as a newborn baby, a young child, and as an adult.  At the Temple, Jesus engaged scholars in deep theological discussions, healed people, and taught the people the sweet truths about God.  But never once was Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem and the Temple described for us.  The Scripture just said, “In the temple courts,” Jesus did something or taught something.  Today would be very different.  Today, all four gospel writers offered detailed descriptions of Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem.  They used over 1,100 words to describe Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem.  They used about half as many words to describe Jesus’ miraculous birth.  Today, everything was about the manner and reason Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem to go to the Temple.  Jesus’s manner of entering said just one thing: “Your Messiah has come.”

Mashiach (ma’-she-ack).  Messiah.  The Messianic Era would usher in a Jewish leader, "the anointed one", a righteous man from the bloodline of King David.  The Jews believed the Messiah would rebuild the Temple, gather the Jewish people from all corners of the earth, and return them to the Promised Land.  The Messiah, it was thought, would be a political leader who would deliver the Jewish people from the Romans by military force.  The idea that God’s Messiah would redeem the souls of humanity was not something widely believed.  When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the Jewish people had been without a king for about 25 years.  Instead of a king, the Romans appointed a governor, Pontius Pilate, who was in Jerusalem with his Roman soldiers to keep the peace during the Jewish festival. The most significant Jewish leader then was the high priest, Josef bar Caiaphas, the wealthy son-in-law of the former high priest, Annas.  Caiaphas lived luxuriously in Jerusalem, and he had vowed to kill Jesus to keep everything the same.  Into this setting of high expectations by the people for a Messiah, the vow of the high priest to kill Jesus, and the desire of the Roman governor to keep things free of turmoil, Jesus, anointed for burial, decided the time was perfect for him to make a grand entrance to Jerusalem.  Jesus’ hour had come.

The tradition for Jewish people for the Passover festival was to walk into Jerusalem.  Instead of walking, Jesus sent two disciples to bring a colt, a foal of a donkey, for him to ride into Jerusalem.  Jesus’ use of a colt that no one had ridden before echoed the prophesies of Zechariah, who said, “9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).  Zechariah’s prophecy foretold that one who entered the city of Jerusalem on a donkey was Israel’s king chosen by God.  Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem on the day all others walked made Jesus’ claim unmistakable, “Your King, Your Messiah, has come!”  Riding in this manner was also the way Solomon entered Jerusalem for his coronation as king.

The people saw the imagery created by Jesus.  John wrote, “12 The great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’  ‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’”  (John 12:12-13).  Hosanna is a plea to God to save us.  Palms were waved and cloaks thrown on the road before Jesus to give honor to their king. The people were ready.  At long last, their king had arrived.

John wrote, “17 Now the crowd that was with him [Jesus] when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him [Lazarus] from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he [Jesus] had performed this sign, went out to meet him [Jesus]” (John 12:17-18).  The excitement of the crowd had never been higher.  Those from Jerusalem and those in Jerusalem on pilgrimage were overjoyed. The religious leaders saw Jesus’ arrival and the swelling crowds of cheering people.  John wrote, “19 So the Pharisees [the religious leaders] said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!’” (John 12:19).  As the joy of the people rose, so too did the fear of the religious leaders. Jesus appeared unstoppable, and this “Jesus’ Movement” direction was unpredictable.  The religious leaders saw only one outcome: the Romans would come in force, casting the religious leaders aside, seizing the temple, and destroying the nation.  The religious leaders felt that time was running out and that they must act quickly and kill Jesus.

Jesus’ disciples enjoyed and participated in the joyous arrival in Jerusalem.  Yet John wrote, “16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified [killed and raised from the dead] did they [Jesus’ disciples] realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him” (John 20:16).  Jesus entry to Jerusalem riding upon a donkey was the final unmistakable claim that He was the Messiah, but not the kingly Messiah the people envisioned. Jesus was not a military warrior coming to sweep away the forces of the nations.  Jesus came to proclaim peace to those who would humbly follow Him.

• “He will proclaim peace to the nations” (Zechariah 9:10b).      “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

Jesus came to save His people.

• “The Lord their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock” (Zechariah 9:16)  “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).  “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11).

Jesus came to pour out the spirit of grace.

• “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace” (Zechariah 12:10).  “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Jesus came to do all these things, but his followers saw a king, and evil men saw Jesus' entry as an ending to their power and personal glory.

• “They will look on me, the one they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10b).  “Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22:6).  “Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water” (John 19:34).

Jesus came to be that good shepherd, but evil men struck the shepherd to scatter the sheep.

• “Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered” (Zechariah 13:7a).  “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me” (John 16:32).

Jesus came to bring peace, salvation, and grace.  Yet Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem evoked such anger, jealousy, and inner conflict that those who had power would seize Jesus, pierce Him, and strike Him down.  Jesus came to bring peace, salvation, and grace, and the people detested him (Zechariah 11:8b).

          Jesus understood the corruption of human thoughts opposed to God.  Upon his arrival in Jerusalem, Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.  27 Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”  (John 12:23-28).

          Jesus, still with the scent of the burial perfume nard about his body, had entered Jerusalem not triumphantly but peacefully so that He could die, fall to the ground, and glorify God.  That is why Jesus entered Jerusalem.

          Jesus entered Jerusalem not triumphantly with swords, loud clashing, or roll of stirring drums but quietly armed only with deeds of love and mercy, responding to the word “Hosanna,” “save us.”  Jesus came offering a simple message of salvation: “Lose your life to me, and I will save it for all eternity.”

          Jesus entered Jerusalem not to be served as a regal king or to be pampered and waited upon.  Instead, He came to give grace, serve others, and invite his followers to serve with Him.

          Jesus entered Jerusalem looking for and searching for just one person: you.  Jesus came looking for you to give you peace, salvation, and grace.  When we read today's Scripture about Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem, did you envision yourself there?  Were you there among his followers, waving palms and laying your coat on the road before Him?  Were you there among the city's residents calling out, “Who is this?” Were you there among the non-believers wondering what the fuss was all about?  Were you there?

          Perhaps you were not there and did not see yourself in the Scripture.  That’s all right.  Because Jesus is here today, in this very room, and He is doing the same thing He did when He entered the city of Jerusalem all those years ago.  He is looking for you, and Jesus is offering the same thing He offered when He entered Jerusalem on the way to His resurrection.  Jesus offers peace, salvation, and grace.

          Peace, shalom, is not just a phrase that Jewish people say to each other as a greeting and a parting message.  Shalom, peace, is a sense of being whole and well-being.  Shalom, peace, is an understanding that God loves you and that, despite the difficulties you may encounter or the frailness of our bodies, everything will be all right.

Fourteen years ago this week, Becky went to the hospital to visit with her dear cousin, Jean, at the hospital.  Jean was very ill.  Jean was anxious to speak with me.  I sat beside her and she said clearly, “It is going to be OK.”  The inflection of her words led me to believe she was asking a question.  I told her, “Yes, Jean, it is going to be OK.”  I have not seen many people nearing death, but I was sure that evening Jean was very near.  I believed that Jean wanted to know whether everything would be OK if she died.  After a moment, she said again, “It is going to be OK.” I told her again, “Yes, Jean, everything will be OK.”   She looked away.  Although she remained anxious in her body, I believe she was calm and reassured in her spirit.  She had peace.  At that moment, my thoughts turned to the Gospel of John Chapter 14 verses 1 through 4. Jesus was speaking to his disciples just before his arrest.  “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”   Jesus said to the disciples and us, “Everything will be OK.”  A few hours after we left Jean, she breathed her last. Just as He promised, Jesus was there to take Jean home and everything was OK.  Jesus is looking to offer you peace.

          Jesus offers salvation, which in Hebrew is yeshu'a.  It is the word from which we get the English name, Jesus.  Yeshu'a, salvation, is being rescued or saved from the state of sin, suffering, and spiritual death.  Jesus can offer salvation because He had no sin, yet died on the cross carrying your sins.  In that exchange, Jesus took your record of sin and failure and gave you His clean record instead.  Jesus meant this when He said, “15 Everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:15).  Jesus was that kernel of wheat that must fall and die so that many more may be produced. Jesus has His arm stretched out for you that you may be saved.

          Finally, Jesus offers grace, hesed.  Grace is what Jesus offers to protect and sustain us even when we don’t deserve it. Even when we accept Jesus' offer of salvation, we will still fall short and need grace to cover our failures. Jesus offers you hesed, grace. And all He asks in return is that you offer grace to others.  We are to provide a portion of the grace we have received to those struggling in life, whether it is their fault or due to difficult circumstances.  We are to offer a portion of the grace we have received to those who have failed us.  They need our grace as much as they need God’s grace.

          Jesus is here looking for you.  He offers peace, salvation, and grace.  If you have received him, Jesus has handed you a triumphal entry to the kingdom of God. If you have not received him before this moment, you have a choice to make.  You too can have a triumphal entry to the kingdom of God by receiving Jesus and his offer of peace, salvation, and grace.  Or you can leave here empty-handed.  The choice is yours.  Let us pray that you choose Jesus as your king, the true Messiah who offers peace, salvation, and grace. 

          When I worked for the federal government more than 11 years ago, I frequently flew to Washington, DC, for the workday. While in the city, I used the Washington Metro subway system, an efficient way to move about. Different colors marked the segments of the subway system.  Four segments met at L’Enfant Plaza.  From that station, a traveler could go in one of four directions or return to where they had begun.   But once you chose, you were committed to seeing things through.

          Today’s segment of our journey with Jesus to His resurrection reminds me of traveling to L’Enfant Plaza.  Today, many segments of Jesus’ journey come together at one point, which is a critical decision point.  It is the point of seeing things through.  This would be true for Jesus, Jesus’ disciples, and the Jewish high priest and ruling council.  The point of intersection was not Jerusalem or Rome, places of power, but in a cemetery and a home in a village called Bethany on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives.  Today, the village of Bethany has an Arabic name, al-Azariya, translated to English as “The Place of Lazarus.”

          Few stories in the Gospel of John are more powerful than the story of Lazarus, yet we know very little about Lazarus.  We had never heard of Lazarus until his sisters, Mary and Martha, told Jesus that Lazarus was severely ill.  We have no words from Lazarus.  We are told that Lazarus was a disciple of Jesus and that Jesus loved Lazarus, but we know nothing about Jesus’ relationship with Lazarus.  We don't know anything about Lazarus’ character.  We only know about his sisters, Mary and Martha, yet everything about Jesus’ journey to the resurrection will turn on a man named Lazarus. 

          When the story of Lazarus began, Jesus and his disciples had left the area of Jerusalem because the Jewish ruling council was seeking to arrest and kill Jesus. Jesus had returned to the River Jordan, where He began His public ministry after being baptized by John the Baptist.  While there, messengers came to Jesus from Martha and Mary saying, “Lord, the one you love is sick” (John 11:3b).  The sisters asked nothing of Jesus.  They left it up to Jesus how to respond to the news.

          Jesus responded, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” (John 11:4). Jesus’ response should not surprise us. When Jesus encountered a man blind from birth, His disciples wanted to know, “Who sinned, the man or his parents?” Jesus said, “3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3).  After Jesus had changed water into wine, John said it was to reveal God’s glory. At the heart of Jesus' mission was to show the glory of God.  Jesus' saying that Lazarus’ illness would be used to show God’s glory is no surprise.

          Two days passed after receiving the news of Lazarus’ illness, and Jesus told his disciples it was time to return to Judea. In protest, Jesus' disciples reminded Jesus that the Jews in Judea wanted to stone him.  Jesus said they must go, as Lazarus was now dead. Jesus added, “For your sake, I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him” (John 11:25).  Whatever Jesus planned to do would benefit His disciples.  Jesus and His disciples were moving forward to the critical intersection point in the village of Bethany.

          Upon arrival in Bethany, Lazarus’ sisters Martha and Mary met Jesus.  To Martha, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).  On His journey to the resurrection, Jesus made several claims. 

• To Nicodemus, Jesus spoke of himself as the Son of Man and claimed, “Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:14b-15).
• To the man crippled for 38 years, Jesus cured him and claimed God’s power to heal.
• To the high priest, Pharisees, and crowds in the Temple at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus said, “38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:38).
• To the man born blind, Jesus said before he healed him, “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).

To all these claims, Jesus added, “I am the resurrection and the life” and, “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. (John 11:25-26).  Each step of Jesus' journey to His resurrection expanded Jesus’ claims and showed God's glory and power in ever greater dimensions.  Now, on the outskirts of Bethany, Jesus commanded His disciples and mourners to go to the cemetery where Lazarus was laid.

          John wrote, “38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 ‘Take away the stone,’ he said.  ‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days’” (John 11:38-39).  The details here matter.  Lazarus was dead for four days.  Religious scholars tell us the Jews believed the spirit of the deceased stayed near the body for three days and then would depart.  Historians tell us that tombs were left open for three days before being closed in case the individual had not died.  The three days of an open tomb prevented accidentally burying someone alive.  It was now four days.  There is no doubt among Martha, Mary, and the mourners that Lazarus was physically and spiritually dead.  Lazarus’ body was undergoing rapid decay in the Judean climate.  Against these concerns, Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”  Lazarus was dead, to be sure, but Jesus claimed belief in Him as the resurrection and life would result in seeing the glory of God.

          John wrote that the protests about the odor ended.  “41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’  43 When he [Jesus] had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice ‘Lazarus, come out!’ 44 The dead man [Lazarus] came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face” (John 11:41-44).  The magnificent glory of God was displayed, restoring life to the body of a man who was dead and decaying and restoring the man’s spirit to that revived body.

          Joy overwhelmed the mourners, and belief in Jesus exploded among the witnesses, including many people close to the Jewish high priest, setting off a panic among the Jewish ruling council.  Jesus’ foes on the council shouted with a sense of danger, “48 If we let him [Jesus] go on like this, everyone will believe in him [Jesus (and not us)], and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation” (Jesus 11:48).  For Jesus to be recognized as greater, they would have to become lesser. This Jesus’ foes would not do.

          The same is true today.  Jesus’ foes will not agree to become lesser in the presence of Jesus.  We spoke of this last week.  The issue is one of autonomy, not of the body but of the will. This is a belief that absolute security can be gained by one’s efforts through the accumulation of wealth, fame, and good works.  To be a believer requires submission of our will to Jesus, following Him, serving others, and walking humbly, all of which speak to becoming lesser so that Jesus can be acknowledged as greater.  Today’s nonbelievers will not yield their spiritual autonomy, and neither would significant members of the Jewish ruling council, even with the evidence of God’s glory displayed through Jesus.

          A man named Yosef bar Caiaphas entered the mounting hysteria of the people in power. In English, we would say the man’s name as Joseph the son of Caiaphas.  In Scripture, he is known as Caiaphas, the high priest, the most recognizable man in the leadership of the Jews at the time of Jesus.  Caiaphas was the high priest for 18 years between 18 AD and 36 AD.  His tenure as high priest overlapped the rule of Judea by the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate for the 10 years between 26 AD and 36 AD.  Caiaphas and Pilate understood how power worked in Judea and how to keep the delicate balance between the Jews and the Romans.  To the Pharisees, upset as Jesus' rapidly rising influence with the raising of Lazarus, Caiaphas thundered, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish” (John 11:49b-50). “53 So from that day on they [Jewish ruling council] plotted to take his [Jesus’] life.” The chief priests also “made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him” (John 12:10b-11).  The die was cast.  The chief priest, on account of what had been happening with Jesus and what happened in Bethany with the raising of Lazarus from the dead, decided that he and his colleagues could no longer win against Jesus.  Whoever this Jesus was, the chief priest was always second to Jesus.  The chief priest knew he could not afford to lose, otherwise he would be useless to Pilate. And so, Caiaphas decided to prevent a loss; he would kill Jesus and perhaps even Lazarus.

          There would be one final segment to the intersection of Jesus, his disciples, and the Jewish authorities in a small village called Bethany.  John described in Chapter 12, “1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (John 12:1-3).  Jesus said, Mary did this because, “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial” (John 12:7a).  Upon the occasion of celebrating life, the life of Lazarus, Jesus, aware the Jewish council was plotting his death, confirmed that He would soon die.  It would be from the village of Bethany, to the east of Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives, that Jesus would spend his last days.  He knew that and plainly told his disciples he would soon be killed.

          Mary’s anointing announced Jesus' death.  Mary wiping the perfume with her hair caused the whole house to be filled with the smell of the anointing.  No one who entered the house could avoid asking why the scent of nard was there. The reply would have been, “The Master said He has been anointed for his death.”

          In the little village of Bethany, Lazarus’s raising from the dead, the disciples' following of Jesus, the Jews' decision to kill Jesus, and the anointing of Jesus for his death intersected.  At this intersection, the people celebrated Lazarus’ death, ending in life, the high priest plotted to murder Jesus, and now Jesus talked about Him going from life to death.

          What do we do with this scene from Bethany? We must realize that our lives have a starting point, many intermediate stops, and an endpoint. This is true for everyone.  None of us had any choice in our starting point.  We did not decide when our lives would begin or to whom we would be first held. We were just born.  Throughout our lives, we make decisions that determine our intermediate stops.  Those decisions might involve where we go to school and work, who we associate with, and what we may accomplish.  And then there is the endpoint.  Someday, our lives will end.  This is true for everyone. 

We must also realize that God chooses to move through each person's life.  Why does God decide to touch our lives?  Who are we that God should bother with us?  Scripture tells us that God moves through our lives because God loves us. God does not love us because of our decisions and accomplishments.  God loves us because we have a starting point, a birth.  God loves you because you were born and possess His image within you. God loves you as well because you have an endpoint.  And God knows that unless He does something for you and me, our endpoint is an eternal death without Him.  This is true for everyone.

Because God loves you, God sent His Son, Jesus, to change your life, to give you and me words of life, and to invite us to follow Him to a new endpoint, not of eternal death but of eternal life.  But here is the thing.  To make our endpoint eternal life and not eternal death, Jesus said something extraordinary.  Jesus said, “I must die so that you can live.”  Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead so that we would know Jesus’ words are true, “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will live” (John 11:25a).  Caiaphas, the high priest, chose to plot Jesus’ death believing that it was better for one man to die than all.  “51 He [Caiaphas] did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God” (John 11:51-52a).  Mary anointed Jesus with nard.  Jesus said, “She saved this perfume for the day of my burial” (John 11:7). These three points intersected in a little village called Bethany, and  pointed to the truth of Jesus’ statement, “I must die so that you can live.”

We will participate in the Lord’s Supper in a few moments. We will take the bread and the cup, symbols of Jesus’ body and blood. They are another way of Jesus saying to you, “I must die so that you can live.” 

What is your endpoint?  Jesus came into your life and died for you.  His work is complete.  Have you done your part to change your endpoint?  Have you accepted His death, and do you live for Him?  Let us pray.

          Ethos, logos, and pathos are three Greek words that the ancient philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) taught his students to use when presenting a convincing argument.  Aristotle taught that speakers first must establish their ethos, character, credibility, or authority to speak on a subject for their words to persuade others. Second, the speaker must reveal the logos, meaning the content of their words, to the listeners.  Finally, the speaker must have pathos or emotion to share the ideas through moving stories.  Jesus was not a student of Aristotle; he did not need to be. Jesus was the Son of God and certainly conveyed his message on the journey to the resurrection with ethos, logos, and pathos.

          Jesus’ supreme character, credibility, and authority were displayed through miraculous healing. Jesus’ words, commands, and touch healed people who were desperately ill or demon-possessed.  Even members of the Jewish ruling authority who were suspicious, resentful, and disliked Jesus had to admit that Jesus did things that never happened in Israel. Jesus had the attention of friend and foe alike.  Everyone wanted to hear what Jesus had to say.

          Jesus’s logos, his message, was simple.  God fulfilled his promise of a new covenant through His Messiah, His Son.  Anyone who believed in Jesus would not perish but have eternal life.  Jesus described the transformation of a sinner into a saint as a second birth, a canceling of sin, a life fed by Jesus, and a thirst for righteousness quenched by Jesus.  Some believed that Jesus had the words of life.  Others could not accept what Jesus said.

          When it came to pathos or emotion, Jesus again displayed a range from righteous anger in clearing the temple to compassionate care in raising a child from the dead. Jesus taught with emotionally charged stories or parables and elicited his listeners' excitement, conviction, anger, and joy.

          Today, on our journey with Jesus to His resurrection, we will witness Jesus’ ethos, logos, and pathos. Today’s moment with Jesus is pivotal, occurring in the Temple. It began with a request that Jesus plainly state whether He was the Messiah and ended with searing anger and murderous rage from His detractors. Through this moment, we are left with the choice of who Jesus is and whether Jesus has the words of eternal life.

          We come into this moment at the time of the Feast of Dedication.  This celebration's current and common name is Hanukkah, which means “to dedicate.”  The Feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah, was established to celebrate the revolutionary conquest of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabeus in 164 BC from the power of Antiochus Epiphanes.  Upon the conquest of Jerusalem, Maccabeus cleansed the Temple of all pagan worship and re-dedicated it to the worship of Yahweh.  Maccabeus relit the menorah in the Temple, and instead of burning for just one day, the menorah burned for eight days.  The Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, celebrates the deliverance from pagan rulers and the restoration of rule under God.  The festival carried with it an excited sense that God would send His Messiah as a person like Judas Maccabeus.  The Messiah would be a warrior-king, leading Israel to new conquests and freeing it from the Romans.

          With this backdrop, John tells us, “22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly’” (John 10:22-24).  The Jews, meaning the Jewish ruling authorities, felt the pathos or emotion of suspense.  The Jews were nervous, anxious, uneasy, and edgy, wanting to know the answer to this timeless question, “Who is Jesus?”  The Jews had seen Jesus's power to heal, inspire the crowds, and teach with authority.  The Jews were captivated by Jesus’ ethos and his character.  What confounded the Jews was Jesus’ logos, His message. The Jews could not accept what Jesus was saying.  Jesus challenged the Jews’ understanding of God, righteousness, rituals, the Law, sin, heaven, hell, and eternal life.  Jesus challenged the Jews’ understanding of the Messiah.  The Jews were amazed at Jesus’ teachings and yet wanted to kill him because of what the Jews saw as Jesus’ disregard for their beliefs and practices.  Jesus frustrated the Jews because the Jews could not write off Jesus as just another misguided religious zealot.

          Understanding the conflict of the Jews at this point, we should pause for a moment and acknowledge that not everyone here believes in Jesus Christ in the same way.  Some people here today may not believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, Lord, or Savior.  Why do people not believe in Jesus?  There are a few reasons for us to consider.

          First, people do not believe the evidence.  They see the Bible as unreliable.  This should not surprise us.  We have seen and will see again that some people who saw Jesus refused to believe the evidence of Jesus’ claims.

          Second, people have had negative experiences with Christians or a church.  They cannot believe in Christ because of the behaviors of Christ’s followers.

          Third, and I think this is the biggest reason today, people disagree with Jesus’ teachings and His logos because Jesus’ teachings conflict with their sense of autonomy. What do I mean by that?  Autonomy is the idea of each person deciding what is right and best for them.  It is a sense that I must stand apart from anything that might control me.  The concept of bodily autonomy has become a big part of American life.  Arguments of bodily autonomy are central to abortion rights advocates with such slogans as “My body, my choice.”  This is an argument from autonomy.  People opposed to all vaccinations desire bodily autonomy, with the right to refuse any vaccination required or recommended by the government.  This is an argument from autonomy.  How does that autonomy play in believing in Christ? Jesus said a lot of things that conflict with autonomy.  Jesus said:

• “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).  You must be part of Jesus; otherwise, with autonomy, you accomplish nothing.
• “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and be following Me” (Matthew 16:24).  You must deny yourself; that is, denying your autonomy.

People today are unwilling to deny themselves anything or believe they cannot accomplish anything apart from Jesus.  They will not give up their autonomy.

Finally, personal pain prevents acceptance of Christ.  People blame God for their suffering and, by extension, blame Jesus for their suffering.  They emotionally refuse to consider doing anything that ends their separation from God, whom they have come to hate.  The longer they hate, the more they will feel justified by their hate, and the less likely they will ever turn to God.

Everyone here knows and loves someone who denies Christ for one or more reasons.  But it does not need to be that way with you.  You are here because God moved you here.  God wants you to receive Jesus fully.  This is why we spend time exploring the ethos, logos, and pathos of Jesus so that we will believe and be saved.  This is the situation Jesus was facing in the Temple during the Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights when the Jews who struggled to believe Jesus said to Him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly” (John 10:24b).

Jesus said, “25 ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one’” (John 10:25-30).  What did Jesus reveal here?

First, Jesus revealed plainly that He had told the Jews He was the Messiah.  Jesus said, “I did tell you and you can see that I am the Messiah by the works I do in my Father’s name, which prove who I am.”  Jesus said openly he was the Messiah to some people, said it indirectly to others, and did miracles only God could do.  The prophecies of the Old Testament foretold the things Jesus said and did.  There were no surprises.

Second, Jesus revealed the Jews were not hearing what Jesus said because they had not been given to Christ by God.  They were not his sheep.  Jesus then said that the distinguishing characteristic of Jesus’ sheep is that they know and listen to his voice.  The point here is that Jesus’ disciples saw Jesus’ ethos, Jesus’ character, they heard Jesus’ logos, Jesus’ words, and they had pathos, a shared passionate belief in Jesus.  Because the disciples have accepted Jesus, they were under Jesus' care as their shepherd. In that care, the disciples would enjoy eternal life that could not be taken from them.  The Jews could have been part of Jesus’ flock, but they did not believe; they refused to accept Jesus’ ethos, logos, and pathos. The Jews refused to believe the evidence of Jesus’ claims out of a combination of pride and arrogance.  As a result, the Jews would not experience the shepherding care of Jesus, including eternal life.  Jesus then said that because the Jews were not part of his flock, the Jews also had no part with God because Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

At this, John wrote, “31 Again his [Jesus’] Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”  33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:31-33).  Jesus had answered the Jewish authority’s plea, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly” (John 10:24).  Jesus answered plainly, “I and the Father are one.”  The Jews plainly understood Jesus’ words, “You claim to be God.”  Yes, friends, that is the gospel truth.  Jesus is God.

Amid the beautiful columns of the Temple, Jesus made clear who He was, is, and always will be. Jesus was God living among the people, and here, at the Feast of Dedication, He brought God's glory back to the Temple. This was a key moment in Jesus’ journey to His resurrection. People could not deny Jesus’ identity except by closing their eyes and minds and refusing to believe.

We then must ask ourselves what this pivotal moment means to us. If you are here and believe in Jesus’ plainly stated claims that He is the Messiah and that He and the Father are one, then you are open-minded.  You have approached the truth and accepted it.  In that truth, Jesus became your shepherd, and you are under his protection and care.  You cannot be snatched out of His hand.  Like all people, you will have moments of struggle in this life, but you do not struggle alone.  Jesus is with you in the struggle.  Most importantly, you have eternal life with God because you believe and follow God in this life.

We are called to share the good news of Jesus with others who are not here today.  We want to encourage them to come and see, hear, and believe in the truth that they, too, could become part of Jesus’ flock.  Some will come if you ask them.  However, the world is also full of closed-minded people who will reject your encouragement.  Closed-minded people will reject Jesus and likely will reject you.  That’s OK.  Closed-minded people rejected Jesus to His face.  As we will see in the weeks ahead, closed-minded people killed Jesus.

Why did closed-minded people kill Jesus?  I think the reason can be illustrated by today’s pivotal moment from the Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah, the Festival of the Lights. The celebration centered on the clearing of the Temple, so that the glory of God could be revealed again. The lights miraculously burned bright for days.  Now, Jesus had entered that Temple, declaring the glory of God was present.  But closed-minded people would not accept Jesus’ claim.  Why is that? John explained,  “19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God” (John 3:19-21).  Closed-minded people scream to put out the light and remain in darkness.

You’re here today because you are open-minded, desiring to be part of the flock under the care of Jesus.  Welcome.  Let’s enjoy the light of Christ together.  Amen and Amen.