John 1: Life and Light

Dear TVCC Students,

We are officially finished with Hebrews and on to the book of John! We are so blessed to be able to worship with you all every Wednesday. I know things always get hectic in this season after Spring Break, but hang in there! Here is a recap from last night...

*John 1:1-3

~Before there was ANYTHING created, Jesus was with the Father

~Hebrews 13:8: Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is outside of time and we can trust Him completely with today as well as our future.

~Just as words are used to describe things, so Jesus is the Word of God. He is the perfect "description" of who the Father is (Hebrews 1:3)

*John 1:4

~Jesus came to solve the 2 problems of humanity- 1. death and 2. darkness; Jesus is LIFE and LIGHT.

*John 1:5

~The darkness did not "comprehend" (overtake) the light. There is a spiritual battle going on- darkness vs. light; Jesus came as the Light and the darkness could not overtake Him. Jesus is victorious!!

*John 1:6

~John the Baptist was not the light and knew it. He knew his purpose- that he was here to proclaim the coming of the Light. We would do well to follow the example of John and submit all of our pleasures and desires to the Lord and trust that what He does in our lives will be used to proclaim His glory.

Q: How often do we live as though we are the center of the universe and get agitated when things do not go exactly as we plan? Do you live as though Jesus is everything and your life is constantly pointing others to Him or do you live as though YOU are te center of the universe and everyone should bend to your wishes and desires?

John 3:30

"He must become greater; I must become less" (NIV)

*John 1:11

~Jesus came to His own, to His creation that He had spoken into existence and they (we) didn't receive Him and even wanted Him dead. All of mankind is born into the sin of Adam- born with an evil heart that is rebellious towards the Lord and wants nothing to do with Him...

~Genesis 9: Every intent of man's heart is evil from his youth...

~Jeremiah 17:9: The heart is wicked and deceitful above all things...

~Ephesians 2: We are all children of wrath

~Romans 3:10: None are righteous

~All of this is to remind us that we ALL have initially rejected Christ... not until He extends grace to receive His gift of salvation are we able to receive His gift and thus become born again.

*John 1:12

~Those who receive the gift of God and believe (or take refuge) in His Name (in who He is- our Lord and Savior) become children of God. Wow! Praise Him for taking us from darkness to light!

~We can do 2 things with the coming of Jesus...

1. We can reject Him and continue to take refuge in ourselves (which leads to an eternity in hell)

or

2. We can receive His gift of salvation, taking refuge ONLY in Him and what He did on the cross for us (leading to eternal life)

We encourage you all this week to evaluate your lives. Are you taking refuge in Jesus or are you trying to be your own refuge? Are you continually walking in thankfulness for the coming of Jesus and His death on your behalf? He came to bring us back into a right relationship with the Father. What thankfulness should we have for that!! We love you all so much and pray that you will spend time worshipping Him throughout the week. We hope you can make it to our house on Sunday night to encourage and strengthen each other in our pursuits of Christ. Again, we love you!!

~Sonny and Casi