Sermons on John

Trinity Sunday – May 26, 2024John 3:1-17          Today in our church calendar, we celebrate Trinity Sunday –  and we’re given, from John’s gospel, the story of Nicodemus and the very well known piece of scripture from John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”          The story of Nicodemus is a story about God’s love for the world.…

7 Easter – May 12, 2024John 17:6-19             For this seventh Sunday after Easter, the Revised Common Lectionary always gives us a portion of Jesus’s “High Priestly Prayer”. It’s the culmination of his farewell discourse to his disciples.  The setting is the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday.  Jesus has just washed his disciples’ feet, foreseen Judas’s betrayal, predicted Peter’s denial, promised his disciples the Holy Spirit, and offered them urgent words of instruction.  Time is running out, and Jesus knows…

6 Easter – May 5, 2024John 15:9-17          Last Sunday we heard about vines. Jesus used a vivid image of a branch abiding in a vine. If the branch were to separate itself from the vine, it would wither and die. But if it simply stays connected, the vines aliveness flows into the branch and bears fruit through it. So, if we abide or remain in vital connection to Christ, the Spirit will flow with God’s aliveness in and through…

2 Easter – April 7, 2024John 20:19-31          “Do not doubt, but believe” Jesus tells us today.  This story about Thomas is given to us every year on the Sunday after Easter.  It is a resurrection story filled with the reality of human life. Thomas is asking to see the wounds of Jesus….the mark of the nails in his hands and the mark on his side.  Thomas wanted to see Jesus’ wounds and put his fingers in them. And, Jesus…

5 Lent – March 17, 2024John 12:20-33          “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  The setting is Jerusalem, the occasion is Passover, and the people making the request are Gentiles, visiting the city for its traditional religious festivities.  “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” It sounds so simple. A straightforward request. But is it, really? Is it ever? Maybe it’s one of those questions that asks more than we could ever realize. Perhaps it’s an example of “be careful what you wish…

4 Lent – March 10, 2024John 3:14-21          We have an interesting pairing of stories today – one from the Old Testament Book of Numbers, and one from John’s Gospel.  In the Old Testament story, the Israelites, having lost patience yet again with the hardships of life in the desert, speak out against God and Moses.  “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” they ask.  “For there is no food and no water,…

3 Lent – March 3, 2024John 2:13-22          All four gospels include an account of Jesus’ disruption at the temple. Matthew, Mark and Luke all place this story at the end of Jesus’s ministry, sandwiching it between his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the parable of the tenants. John, however, puts the story at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, after the changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana, which makes it one of his first public acts.          Both of these…

2 Epiphany – January 14, 2024John 1:43-51          Epiphany is a season of light and revelation, a season of searching, discovering, finding, and knowing.  What can we learn from the penetrating and grace-filled vision of God in these days?  If Jesus were here right now, looking at what we’re looking at, what would he see?           In our reading from John’s Gospel, we encounter a skeptic named Nathanael who thinks he knows exactly who God is and how God operates. Nathaniel…

3 Advent – December 17, 2023John 1:6-8, 19-28 Our gospel for today tells us more about who John was NOT rather than about who he was: he wasn’t the light; he wasn’t the Messiah; he wasn’t Elijah; he wasn’t the prophet.”  Who, then, was he?  Well, he was a witness and he was a voice – a voice telling people to prepare for someone else, someone whose sandal thong John was unworthy to untie. He was a voice of one…