Minister: Rev. Olon M. Lindemood

April 14 and 15, 2012

John 1:1-14

The Word Became Flesh

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life,^* and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.^*

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own,^* and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,^* full of grace and truth.

NEW!

1. of recent origin, production, purchase, etc.; having but lately come or been brought into being: a new book.

2. of a kind now existing or appearing for the first time; novel: a new concept of the universe.

3. unfamiliar or strange (often followed by to ): ideas new to us; to visit new lands.

NEW!

 NEW!

New Testament

  noun

1. the collection of the books of the Bible that were produced by the early Christian church, comprising the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, and the Revelation of St. John the Divine.

2. the covenant between God and humans in which the dispensation of grace is revealed through Jesus Christ.

NEW!

MATTHEW  1: 1

“An account of the genealogy^* of Jesus the Messiah,^* the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

MATTHEW 1:18

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah^* took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

MARK 1:1-3

The beginning of the good news^* of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.^*

2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,^*
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,^*
who will prepare your way;
³ the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight” ’,

MARK 1:14,15

Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news^* of God,^{* 15}and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;^* repent, and believe in the good news.’^*

LUKE 1:

1Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, ²just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, ³I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first,^* to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.

NEW!

You ready for the NEW?

The scriptures are for us to read.  They are for us to live … they are the stories of our faith…

This are the NEW…

¹ Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^[d]

Yes… Be born again!

NEW…

Fresh?

Which kind of new is for you to be reading?

“Lately come” “Now Existing” “Unfamiliar / strange”

Or … just paying attention to the Good News! … Which Gospel you gonna read this week?

As for me … Mark … simple … precise.  Alive with the Immediate nature of Jesus claim on us to live NEW…

Or … John’s Gospel… Those who live in Darkness are going to live in the Light …!

Words: Will­iam H. Park­er, 1885. Parker wrote this hymn for his Sun­day school stu­dents at the Chel­sea Street Bap­tist Church, New Bas­ford, Not­ting­ham, Eng­land.

Music: Stor­ies of Je­sus, Fred­er­ick A. Chal­li­nor, 1903 (MI­DI, score). Chal­li­nor wrote this tune for a com­pe­ti­tion spon­sored by the na­tion­al Sun­day School Un­ion in Lon­don.

Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;

Things I would ask Him to tell me if He were here;

Scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,

Stories of Jesus, tell them to me.

First let me hear how the children stood round His knee,

And I shall fancy His blessing resting on me;

Words full of kindness, deeds full of grace,

All in the love light of Jesus’ face.

Tell me, in accents of wonder, how rolled the sea,

Tossing the boat in a tempest on Galilee;

And how the Maker, ready and kind,

Chided the billows, and hushed the wind.

Into the city I’d follow the children’s band,

Waving a branch of the palm tree high in my hand.

One of His heralds, yes, I would sing

Loudest hosannas, “Jesus is King!”

Show me that scene in the garden, of bitter pain.

Show me the cross where my Savior for me was slain.

Sad ones or bright ones, so that they be

Stories of Jesus, tell them to me.

Or … The Hymn of Promise and Dr. Ron Sleeth.

Luke 5.31-6.2

³¹Jesus answered, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; ³²I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.’

The Question about Fasting

33 Then they said to him, ‘John’s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.’ ³⁴Jesus said to them, ‘You cannot make wedding-guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? ³⁵The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.’ ³⁶He also told them a parable: ‘No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, “The old is good.” ’^*