John 18:12-27: Peter's Denial of Jesus

TVCC Students,

We love getting to spend Wednesday nights with you all. It is our joy to see you hunger and thirst for heavenly things. Last night we took an intense look at Peter's denial of Jesus and compared/contrasted it with Judas' betrayal of Jesus. Here is a recap...

~John 18:12-17: Whereas Peter had once been so bold when He was in close proximity to Jesus, his faith and devotion to the Lord faltered when he became distanced from the Lord (even for a short time). Our proximity to the Savior is directly related to how strong our faith is. Peter needed to be near to the Savior in order to draw strength from Him. We, too, need to be near to the Savior (the Author and Perfecter of our faith- Hebrews 12:2) in order to draw strength from Him so that our faith my stay strong.

~Jesus had told Peter in chapter 13 (vs 36-38) that he would fall away. Not until the Spirit would come to dwell in our hearts after the ascension of Jesus would we be able to be with the Lord continually. Peter would eventually have the Spirit residing in him and he would go on to do great things for Kingdom of God!

Q: We have the Spirit of the Lord within us when we are reborn by faith in the Savior but we must put forth effort to strengthen our relationship with the Lord through prayer and reading His Word. What prevents you from being near to the Savior and growing in "proximity" to Him? What changes do you need to make so that you can be nearer to Him this week?

~John 18:18-25: Just as Judas had stood with the enemies of Jesus (vs. 5) as Jesus was being betrayed, so Peter was now surrounding himself with the betrayers of Jesus as he was warming himself by the fire. Being surrounded with enemies of the Lord played a huge part in how weak Peter's faith was. Bad company corrupts good character (1 Corinthians 15:33). 

~Romans 12:9-16 gives a great description of what the lives of professing believers should look like. We should abhor evil and cling to good. We should be loving others more than ourselves. In trying to live this way, we MUST be surrounded with others who are desiring to do so too. 

~Proverbs 1 calls us to take great care with who we surround ourselves with- calling us blessed if we do not walk in the counsel of wicked nor stand in the presence of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers. Who we surround ourselves with DOES make a difference in how intimate we are with the Lord!

Q: Who are you surrounding yourself with? Do the people that you are surrounding yourself with bring glory to the Lord or do they deny Him through lives of disobedience? Just like Peter, if you consistently hang around those that are not strengthening your faith, you will fall and eventually become like them. We must continually be around those that encourage our faith so that the body of Christ can build itself up. Do you need to make some changes in who you surround yourself with in order to protect your relationship with the Lord?

~John 18:26-27: Peter being surrounded by the enemies of Jesus led to the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy in chapter 13. Peter denied Jesus a third time and a rooster crowed. When we look at the account of this scene in Luke 22 (vs 54-62) we come to see the great difference between Judas and Peter. Judas denies the Lord completely and his guilt leads him to commit suicide thus he never repents and comes to the Lord for forgiveness. He dies in his sin. Peter denies Jesus for the third time and once the rooster crows he realizes his sins and is led to godly sorrow that eventually produces repentance and a restored relationship with the Savior. A broken heart and contrite spirit are the desires of the Lord for us when faced with our sin... He will not despise this but will offer forgiveness and restoration (Psalm 51:17). 

~John 21:7 gives us an even greater picture of the restoration that Peter had with the Lord. After repenting of his faithlessness, He sees Jesus from a distance and dives into the lake fully clothed in order to be near to His Lord. When confronted with his sin, Peter repented and returned to His King and experienced a powerful life of faith as he continued to pursue Jesus and live for the kingdom rather than the fleeting pleasures of this life.

~Acts 4:1-12 we also see the boldness of Peter. As he continued to walk in the power of the Spirit through faith in Jesus and surround himself with godly people (the other disciples with the same goal- to honor Jesus with their whole lives), He was able to boldly proclaim the gospel in the midst of the enemies of the Lord. What a great life he lived for the kingdom when he was in close "proximity" to the Lord!

Q: Are you spending time daily in the presence of the Lord through reading His word? Remember that the closer you are to Him the stronger your faith will be when you are tempted to deny Him. We need His Spirit to be strengthening us daily for the battles that we will encounter. Remember that we are in a spiritual battle everyday and we need the armor of God (Ephesians 6).

Dear students,

We hope that you realize that we will all at times have experiences like Peter where we deny the Lord. We are human and are still faced with temptations on a daily basis. We must remember that what set Peter apart from Judas was that he REPENTED and RETURNED to the Lord. It is never too late. If you know this week that you have been walking in opposition to the Lord we encourage you to follow in the footsteps of Peter. Repent and return. The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness (Psalm 145:8 and Numbers 14:18)! We love you and are praying for you this week! Find rest in Him! 

Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest."

With hope,

~Sonny and Casi

John 18:1-11

TVCC Students,
We are so thankful to get to worship with you! This past Wednesday was such a great reminder of the power of God and His Word! Here is a recap...

~John 18:1-3: About 600 men came with Judas to arrest Jesus. Obviously they knew that they were not dealing with some lowly man- they just had no idea that His plan was to go with them willingly to die on our behalf.

~John 18:4: Jesus "knew all things" including the full fury of the wrath of God that was coming towards sinners. Even knowing to the FULL extent both the physical and spiritual wrath that He was about to endure... Jesus WENT FORTH! What a courageous Warrior is our Lord. He did not shrink back at the coming Cross but went forth SO THAT we might be with Him and the Father eternally!

Q: When you think of Jesus do you see Him as your victorious Warrior that "went forth" to the Cross on your behalf? How should His boldness and courage change the way you live this week?

~John 18:5: After Jesus is told that the soldiers are looking for Him, He responds with a phrase only used for the Lord in the Old Testament... "I AM." When Moses had been asked who was sending him to free the Israelites from Egypt (Exodus 3:13), he is told to tell pharaoh "I AM" has sent him. This shows us the eternality and self sufficiency of God. Jesus is here telling everyone again, "I AM THE LORD" and this truth is followed with great power!

~John 18:6-9: When Jesus told them that He is the I AM- power came forth from Him and knocked them (all) off their feet. Again, this would have been about 600 men... all knocked off their feet when Jesus' powerful words "I AM" came out!! The Word of God is so powerful!!! In Job 38 and Mark 4 we see that even the wind and the waves obey Him! What a powerful God we serve that the foundations of the world were created by His Word!

Q: What things in your life need to change this week that would reveal that you intimately know and love the Lord who spoke creation into existence and who knocked about 600 men off their feet by His Word!? Are you living in a way that displays His power in your life? Is there anything that the Lord has asked you to do lately for Him that you have not done? (If creation responds in obedience to Him, how much more should we, as His bride, trust and obey Him?)

~John 18:10: Even at this point, Peter was not fully understanding the plan of the Lord. As His followers we can at at times not fully know what He is doing but rest assured He will correct us! Jesus goes on to explain to the crowd and His disciples that He is embracing the coming cup of the wrath of God ("shall I not drink the cup?"). Again we are reminded here that Jesus' life WAS NOT taken from Him, He laid it down SO THAT we might be brought into an intimate relationship with Him. He knew our wretched state and the wrath that we deserved and He stepped up as our victorious Warrior to give us freedom as He took our penalty for us! He was not living for temporal pleasure or comfort but was living with eternity in mind.

Q: Are we living with eternity in mind or are we living for temporal comforts here? What changes do you need to make this week to live with a more eternal mindset? Please read Colossians 3 as you consider this.

Q: Is Jesus worth it to you for your life to look a little weird and awkward to others? Sometimes Jesus calls us to do things that don't let us fit in with the world and make us stand out for Him... are we willing to do what He calls us even if our comforts might be shaken? Is there anything right now that you feel the Lord calling you to do that might make you look a little bit "weird" or even "radical?" How are you responding to His calling?

Dear students,
We love getting to spend time seeing the Lord working in your lives. We pray that this week you will meditate on Jesus as your winning Champion who swooped in and rescued you from the wrath that you deserved. He went forth to the Cross so that you might have eternal life and intimacy with Him. Spend time with Him this week and ask Him how your life can be lived with a more eternal perspective. We love you and are praying for you all!

With hope,
~Sonny and Casi

John 17:20-26

TVCC Students,

As always, we loved getting to worship with you this past Wednesday. It is a joy to us to see you all coming to have fellowship with one another and to grow in intimacy with your Savior. This past Wednesday we finished up John 17- Jesus' prayer on our behalf. Here is a recap...

~John 17:20: Jesus is making intercession here for those people that would one day believe in His Word. What a wonderful thing to know that as satan stands continually accusing us, believers can rest assured that Christ stands to make intercession on our behalf based on the life that He lived (and died) for us (Hebrews 7:25).

~Jesus talks about the "Word" that will bring others to know Him. The gospel has power! The fact that the sinless Lord left heaven to come and die on behalf of unworthy sinners so that they might have eternal life... this is simply amazing and changes people forever. Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that the Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword and pierces even our soul and spirit.

Q: Do you realize that the Lord lives to make intercession for you that whenever you are feeling accused and condemned that He is making intercession for you? There is now NO condemnation for us that are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) and we can walk in the newness of life that He died (and rose) for us to walk in (Romans 6:4)! In what ways have you lately felt accused and need to change your thinking so that you can walk in he new life offered by Christ?

Q: Do you realize the power of the Word of God to change lives? Are you letting the Lord change you through His Word on a daily basis? What changes do you need to make in your life to be able to be more submitted to the Word of God?

~John 17:21: This is the goal of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection- that we might be with Him and the Father so that the world may see the glory of the Lord. 1 Peter 3:18 reminds us of this truth: Jesus died to bring us to God. The cross is not just about us escaping hell... it is about us walking in an intimate relationship with the Lord as Adam did in the garden before the fall.

Q: What does your relationship with the Lord look like? Do you have an intimate relationship with Him where you are in continual communication with Him? What is holding you back from having a deeper relationship with Him now? We encourage you to throw off anything that is a hindrance to your relationship with Him (Hebrews 12:1-3)... nothing compares to the greatness of intimately knowing Him.

~John 17:22-23: The "glory" that Christ has given us is Him in and with us. 2 Corinthians 4:6 says that God has shown in our hearts and given us the knowledge of His glory in the face of Christ. Our glory is Christ in us- being co-heirs with Him!

~Jesus was praying that His future disciples would really know who they were and the glory that they were given. When we know who we are and that this world is not what we are living for, we are able to display to this world the glory of the Father- that they may know Him too... we are sometimes so earthly-minded that we are of no heavenly good!

Q: Are you living with your mind set on eternal/heavenly things so that the world will see Christ in you (Colossians 3:1)? What changes do you need to make so that you will be free to focus on eternal and not temporal things?

~John 17:24: Again we see the intimacy that Jesus desires for us to have with Him. Unity with Him and the Father is the most important thing that we could pursue and enjoy. He had such a zealous love for us that He gave His life so that we could be with Him. How much more should we have zealous love for the Father and others?

Q: Do others see your life and see a zealous love for the Lord?

~John 17:25-26: God is screaming out to the world about His glory and it is most beautifully seen in the life of Christ- in Him giving up His life that His people might walk in closely with Him. A. W. Tozer speaks so much in His books about the eternal world waiting on our response to His presence. God wants His children to be with Him!!

Q: How will you respond to His calling for you to be with Him and enjoy Him this week?

Dear students,

We pray that through this in-depth study of John 17 you will really see how much the Lord desires for you to have an intimate relationship with Him. We cannot emphasize this enough- He did not just die to free you from hell but so that you would share in His glory and walk closely with Him as He had originally intended in the garden. We encourage you to meditate on His Word this week and to be in intentional fellowship with other believers that are encouraging to your pursuit of Christ. We love you and are praying for you!

With hope,

~Sonny and Casi

John 17:6-18 Jesus' Prayer for His Bride.. part 2

TVCC Students,

We are so thankful to continue learning through the book of John. It was wonderful last night to go through Jesus' prayer for His Bride and to be reminded of His protective and passionate love for us. Here is a recap...

~John 17:6: Jesus is praying for those who were given to Him by the Father (for His Bride, the Church). When Jesus says that He "manifested" the Father to us, that word means to "show." Jesus, by coming to earth, is showing us who the Father is. Jesus is the image of the Father and by looking to Him, we can know the character of the Father (John 1:18, Colossians 2:9)

Q: Do you realize that when we look into the life of Jesus, we are really coming to know the Lord who created the universe? How diligent have you been lately to look into the life of Jesus that you might know Him and the Father?

~John 17:6: Jesus is praying for those that were given to Him "out of the world" and that are "Yours" (the Father's). Here we see two important truths about us...

              1. We were taken out of the world. Colossians 1:12 says that Jesus rescued us from the domain of darkness and transfered us to the Kingdom of the God. Through His death on our behalf,  we are co-inheritors with Christ and have an inheritance that is beautiful and undefiled, reserved in heaven for us (1 Peter 1)!

              2. We are the Father's. While we were yet sinners, the Father extended grace and life to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus on our behalf. The Lord created us (Psalm 139) with all of our desires and longings and needs and only He can fulfill us completely through an intimate relationship with us through Jesus.

Q: Do you realize the lengths that the Lord went through to bring you back to Him? We were enemies of the Lord and He rescued us! Only He can fully satisfy the desires that He put within us. Have you been trusting the Lord this week with the desires that He gave you? In what ways have you been trying to fill your desires on your own, apart from Him? 

~John 17:6-7: Jesus is speaking of His disciples and He calls them men who have "kept" God's Word and believed that Jesus is who He says. Despite all of their failures and times of doubt, their overall faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Sin-taker made them men who "kept" God's Word. Our relationship with God is not based on our works but on faith in Christ's work on our behalf!! The disciples knew their weakness and knew that Christ was the answer- the One they had been waiting for! They saw in His everyday life the fulfillment of all of the prophecies of the Scriptures...

             "Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush a fire with God. Only those who realize it take off their shoes... the rest just sit around and eat blackberries."

Q: Are you someone who sees even the small moments as opportunities to know the Lord more or are you "eating blackberries?" In what ways (small and large) have you seen the Lord working this week to grow you and to display His glory through you?

~John 17:8-12: Jesus is praying here that His Bride would be protected. He had been with His disciples and would be leaving them. He had been their Shepherd and Protector but was now going to entrust them to the Spirit (after His resurrection). He was praying that they would be unified with each other and with Him and the Father. We are one with the Father and Son when we abide in Him and His Word (John 15:1-6).

Q: What changes do you need to make in your life that you might "abide" more with the Lord? What is keeping you from being One with Him and the body of Christ? Do you have any unforgiveness or bitterness with the body of Christ that you need to repent of this week? We encourage you to do that and be at peace with the Lord and the body of Christ.

~John 17:13: Jesus wants us to know the joy that He is offering us. 1 Peter 1:3-19 tells us that our inheritance in Him is full of inexpressible joy and glory. We should not be living for this world but for the full intimacy with the Lord that awaits us once this life is over! This is the fullness of our joy!

Q: On a day-to-day basis are you living for eternal things or for temporal pleasures that this world is offering? What does it look like for you to live with an eternal mindset? What does your life look like when you are living with an earthly mindset?

~John 17:14-16: Jesus prays that His Bride would be kept from the evil one. The evil one works from the fleshly nature that is within us as well as with the outside world around us. Satan knows our inside weaknesses and the external pressures that can be used to sway us from devotion to the Father and he uses every opportunity to keep us from living for His glory. 1 Peter 5:8 says that satan prowls around like a lion seeking someone to devour. This is why we MUST be abiding in Him through His Word, fellowship with the Body of Christ, and prayer. We are in a spiritual battle!

Q: In what ways have you given in to both internal and external things that have drawn you away from intimacy with the Lord?

~John 17:17: Jesus asks that we would be sanctified in His truth, His Word! 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that we are being transformed into the image of Christ by beholding His glory. By being with Him through meditation on His Word, we will be continually transformed into His image with this ultimately fulfilled when He returns!

~John 17:18: Jesus is saying that just as He left the security of His home with the Father to be "sent out" into the world, so too are we called to be "sent out" to declare His glory and salvation to this world (Matthew 28).

Q: In what ways are you declaring His glory to the world? Does both your life and the things you speak about reveal that you are living for Jesus?

Dear students,

As always, we are so thankful to get to worship and go through God's Word with you. We love getting to grow with you. We pray that you will abide with Him this week and represent Him well to the world. We love you!

With Hope,

~Sonny and Casi

John 17:1-3: Jesus' Prayer for His Bride

TVCC Students,

It was so wonderful to worship with you all last night. It is such an encouragement to us to see you all engaging in genuine worship and intimately loving the Lord. Last night we went through John 17:1-3 which is the beginning of Jesus' prayer for His bride (the body of Christ). Here is a recap...

~John 17:1: Jesus communicates with the Father. If Jesus, the Perfect Son, takes time consistently to speak and listen to the Father, how much more should we, as imperfect children made righteous through Jesus, spend time both listening and speaking to the Father on a constant basis?

Q: Are you spending time with the Lord on a continual, daily basis? What changes do you need to make in your life this week so that you can have more time that is wholly devoted to your relationship with the Lord?

~John 17:1-2: Jesus is saying that the time has come for His purpose to be fulfilled. The culmination of His life was in purchasing His Bride (those who would believe in Him as their Lord and Sin-taker). Jesus was looking not only at the Cross to come where He would make His Bride clean, but to the resurrection where He would be able to have an intimate relationship with those who are His through faith in His atoning sacrifice.

Q: Do you realize the lengths that Jesus went through in order for you to have a relationship with Him? He gave the ultimate sacrifice for His Bride- He gave His life! What changes do you feel the Lord calling you to make so that your life will reflect that you are indeed His Bride and that you love Him?

*Jeremiah 2:11-13: We often forget the state that we were in when Jesus came to purchase us with His life. None of us were worthy of being called His Bride. All of us were like Israel in the book of Jeremiah. We have all forsaken the Lord to create our own gods/security systems that are broken and offer no fulfillment. In the Lord we were all offered fountains of living water and we all exchanged that living water for stagnant water that we tried to create with broken systerns. All of us have fallen short (Romans 3:23) and were in need of the death and resurrection of Christ on our behalf to restore us back to a relationship with the Source of living water!

*Jeremiah 3:12 calls Israel to return to the Lord as He is gracious and His mercies are new every morning. The Lord has always wanted His Bride to be close to Him. The call is the same for us today. Return to the Lord. If you have never come to acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you are trusting in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on your behalf, we encourage you to do that now (and please know that we would love to talk with you about this decision). If you are already a believer in Jesus but have been wandering from Him and returning to your broken systerns instead of living off of His living water, we encourage you to repent and return to Him. His mercy is new every day and He wants you to have an intimate relationship with Him.

Q: What is preventing you this week from forsaking your broken systerns that you have created and returning to the Source of living waters that desires an unhindered relationship with you? We encourage you to ask the Lord to help you overcome anything that is separating you from Him this week.

~John 17:3-4: As earlier stated, Jesus' main goal was to bring us back to the Father through the Sacrifice of Himself on our behalf, for our sins. This verse sums it all up. Eternal life that Jesus is extending to us through His blood is that we would intimately know Him (as a husband knows his wife) and the Father. He does not just want us to know a bunch of facts about Him... He died so that we would have a relationship with Him!

Q: How is your relationship with the Lord? Just as all of our earthy relationships take time and intentionality, so does our relationship with the Lord. We need to set aside undistracted time to get to know Him and to listen to His heart expressed through His Word. What changes do you need to make so that you might have more time to spend growing in your relationship with the Lord?

~John 17:5: This act of mercy (Jesus' death on our behalf) brought Him eternal glory. Though the world would look on His death as a shameful and pitiful act, the Father viewed this as the most glorious  event. Many times the world looks on merciful, God-honoring acts as shameful and pitiful but we must remember that we were called to love as we have been loved.

Q: How are you doing at loving others the way that Christ loves you- with unconditional continual love? Are you holding grudges or living in unforgiveness towards anyone at this time? If so, we encourage you to bring that to the Lord prayer and ask to love as you have been loved. Living a life of mercy and forgiveness towards others will show the world how great your God is!

Dear students,

We are so thankful to get to worship with you every week. It is a blessing to see you all growing in love for the Lord and each other. We encourage you to spend time praying to the Lord and listening to Him as He speaks to you through His Word. We know that this will strengthen your hearts as you grow closer to Him. We love you!

With hope,

~Sonny and Casi

John 16:25-33

Dear TVCC Students,
We all made it to spring break!! As we said on Wednesday, even though it is Spring Break we will be having Life Service and small groups as normal. This past Wednesday Sonny taught us from the end of John 16. It was encouraging to be reminded that even when we are weak and faithless, He remains faithful and that we have direct access to the Father through faith in His Son Jesus. What an indescribable gift!! Here is a recap...

~John 16:25-26: Jesus is revealing something new to His disciples. Since the instatement of the priesthood, the Jewish people did not have direct access to the Lord. They would have to go to a priest, have him offer a sacrifice for forgiveness of sins, and usually wait for the priest to reveal what the Lord was desiring to say. It was a lengthy process. Jesus, as the fulfillment of the law, the sacrificial system, and righteousness made a way for us to have direct access to the Father. When we believe in His death and resurrection on our behalf, we are now able to come directly to the Father as Jesus' righteousness is imputed to us (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Q: Have you trusted in the death and resurrection of Jesus on your behalf that you might have direct access to the Lord? If so, what things in your life do you feel that He is calling you to change so that you might have a closer relationship with Him? Are you spending time daily with Him in prayer and in His Word so that you might have a closer relationship with Him?

~John 16:27-28: Jesus tells the disciples that because they have loved Jesus, they are loved by the Father (John 3:35-36). Just as in our lives, when people love our children, it is very easy for us to love them.

~John 16:29-30: After all of His teachings, the disciples FINALLY get it! They affirm that He knows all things and that He is from God. They are here confessing that the believe Jesus for who HE and the Father say that He is. They are laying aside all of their notions of how God would do things and affirming that they believe in Him fully as the Messiah. It is important that we realize that when we pick and choose things about God that we would like to believe we are making a god in our own image (Deut 4) and serving an idol, not the true God. Authentic, life giving faith is rejecting all of our false views of God and submitting fully to Jesus as the Lord (and thus submitting to the Word of God to reveal to us the character of God).

Q: Do you believe that the Word of God is our standard to reveal the true character of the Father and Son? Are you submitting yourself fully to the Word and ready to reject any of your false views of God that might go against Scripture? Just as it would be impossible for us to have a relationship with someone while not accepting anything about who that person really is, we cannot have a relationship with the Lord if we do not take Him entirely for who He says He is in His Word. We encourage you to make sure that you have not created a god in your own image and that you are serving the Living and True God!

~John 16:31-33: Jesus was encouraging the disciples that though their faith in Him was strong at the moment, they would soon be tempted and fall away. In this life we will fail often but Jesus' encouragement was that He has overcome the world! Our faith does not depend on us but on the Lord. He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion, despite our failures (Philippians 1:6)! We will do well to remember this too- we will be weak but thanks be to God that our salvation does not depend on our goodness but His grace (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Q: Not long after the disciples professed great faith in Jesus did they turn from Him in a moment of weakness. In what ways have you turned from Him in moments of weakness this week? We encourage you to remember that He is the Author and Perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2). Confess your shortcomings and doubts this week and return to Him.

Dear students,
We are so thankful to get to worship with you on Wednesdays and Sundays. We pray that you will remember that even though we all stumble and fail at times, His grace is not dependent on us. Once we have trusted in the death and resurrection of Christ on our behalf, we are eternally secure and nothing can take us from the Father's hands. Do not let satan tempt you this week to feel that your weaknesses make you unable to come to the Father. Confess your sins and return to Him, claiming His righteousness as your own through faith. This is the desire of that Father- that you would be near to Him through faith in His Son! We love you and are praying for you this week!

With hope,
~Sonny and Casi

John 16:1-11- The Helper

TVCC Students,
I am sorry that we have missed a few weeks of Life Points. We are back on track now! Last night we went through John 16:1-11 and were greatly encouraged to meditate on the Helper that has been given to believers in Jesus Christ. Here are the highlights from last night...

~John 16:1: The phrase "being made to stumble" is a phrase that was also used in discussing a "bait stick." Jesus was warning them of the "bait" that satan would soon be using the ensnare and discourage them. In order to resist this bait, Jesus would be sending them the Helper.

Q: Do you realize that satan is out to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10) and that he prowls around like a lion seeking someone to destroy (1 Peter 5:8)? If we do not realize that we are in a battle, we will very easily take the "bait" that satan is offering that will keep us from living for the glory of the Lord.

~John 16:2: Persecution comes to all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12) and those that persecute Christians will think that they are doing a good thing. Persecution can take many forms- we are in a battle against our flesh (which is mainly internal) and against the ungodliness of this world (which is external). If we are not fighting any battles for the sake of Christ, we need to evaluate our faith and see if we are really His.

Q: Do you have genuine faith in the Savior or are you just nominal Christians who just acknowledge facts about Christ? What battles are you fighting to live godly in this life?

~John 16:3-4: Christians will be persecuted because unbelievers do not know the Son and they persecuted Him first. When He was here, all of their hatred for God was poured out on His Son. Now that He is in heaven, the hatred of the enemy is on His body (believers in Christ). We must remember that just as He suffered for loving the Father, so we will suffer as we love the Father and the Son.

~John 16:5-11: When Jesus went back to the Father, He sent the Helper to aid us in our striving against sin and darkness. We need the Helper because we cannot live righteously without Him. No one asks for help for something that is easy for him (like lifting a small book) but we ask for help when we cannot do something on our own (like lifting a piano). We need to realize that we NEED the Holy Spirit daily in order to overcome this world and to be conformed to the image of Jesus.

~The word "helper" that he is using here is a form of the word used in the Old Testament for "wife." It implies and intimate relationship. Jesus wants us to have an intimate relationship with the Spirit and receive help from Him on a continual basis.

Q: Do you have an intimate relationship with the Lord? Are you continually asking for the Spirit to help you in your weaknesses that you might bring glory to the Father in your life?

Dear students,
We are so thankful for you all and we are always encouraged to have you all in small groups Sunday nights to hear what the Lord is teaching you and to hear how we can be in prayer for you. We encourage you to be in community with other believers this week and to spend time with the Spirit of the Lord. Ask continually for His help. We encourage you to spend time meditating on the Word of God and to listen to Him in prayer. We love you!

With hope,
~Sonny and Casi