Sermon Text: John 18:28-19:16

John 18:28 Then they *led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.
John 18:29 Therefore Pilate went out to them and *said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”
John 18:30 They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.”
John 18:31 So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death,”
John 18:32 to fulfill the word of Jesus which He spoke, signifying by what kind of death He was about to die.
John 18:33 Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
John 18:34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?”
John 18:35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?”
John 18:36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
John 18:37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
John 18:38 Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?”
And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and *said to them, “I find no guilt in Him.
John 18:39 “But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews?”
John 18:40 So they cried out again, saying, “Not this Man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber.
John 19:1 Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him.
John 19:2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him;
John 19:3 and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face.
John 19:4 Pilate came out again and *said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.”
John 19:5 Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate *said to them, “Behold, the Man!”
John 19:6 So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate *said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.”
John 19:7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”
John 19:8 Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid;
John 19:9 and he entered into the Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
John 19:10 So Pilate *said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?”
John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
John 19:12 As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.”
John 19:13 Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
John 19:14 Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he *said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”
John 19:15 So they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate *said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”
John 19:16 So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.

Sermon Text: John 16

This Sunday the Guest Preacher is George Whitefield. The sermon is based on John 16. I think it is an excellent sermon.

This is our third historic sermon. The focus is the Holy Spirit. I think it will be very very encouraging. Please plan to join us!

John 16:1 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling.
John 16:2 “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.
John 16:3 “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.
John 16:4 “But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
John 16:5 “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
John 16:6 “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
John 16:8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
John 16:9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;
John 16:10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;
John 16:11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
John 16:12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
John 16:13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
John 16:14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.
John 16:15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
John 16:16 “A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.”
John 16:17 Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?”
John 16:18 So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”
John 16:19 Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?
John 16:20 “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.
John 16:21 “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.
John 16:22 “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
John 16:23 “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.
John 16:24 “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.
John 16:25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father.
John 16:26 “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf;
John 16:27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.
John 16:28 “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.”
John 16:29 His disciples *said, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech.
John 16:30 “Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.”
John 16:31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?
John 16:32 “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Union Leader on Religion in NH

The news about the church the last few days has been brutal.

Take this article from the Manchester Union Leader. The Church in NH is in a free fall. Very very sobering news indeed.

Pray for the church in NH, it seems we could use it a lot.

Washington Post Article on Religion

Actually it was conducted by Trinity College in CT. Very interesting, the quote that got me was....

"Northern New England has surpassed the Pacific Northwest as the least religious section of the country"

Click to read the Article

Sermon Text: John 18:12-27

John 18:12 So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him,
John 18:13 and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.
John 18:14 Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.
John 18:15 Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest,
John 18:16 but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in.
John 18:17 Then the slave-girl who kept the door *said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He *said, “I am not.”
John 18:18 Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.
John 18:19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching.
John 18:20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret.
John 18:21 “Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what I said.”
John 18:22 When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?”
John 18:23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?”
John 18:24 So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
John 18:25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.”
John 18:26 One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, *said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?”
John 18:27 Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

Spring Forward

This is your friendly reminder that this weekend we are moving the clocks forward one hour. So don't be late for church!

How some things do not change

When I first entered ministry, I worked at First Presbyterian Church in Michigan. The building they are located at was built in 1929, completed right before the Great Depression.

To pay for the building, the church offered chicken pot pie suppers on Saturday Night in the fellowship hall, and then invited folks to come up to the Sanctuary to watch Movietone News.

After seeing the news, the minister would give a short synopsis of the sermon and invited folks to join them the next morning.

The church thrived during the Great Depression.

And now I am seeing a repeat.

Just read this in the news this morning. How some things do not change. Maybe there is a lesson for the church.