Text:\u00a0 John 1:14-18<\/p>\n
There are some persons it\u2019s very good to know.\u00a0 Work somewhere for a while and people will tell you.\u00a0 Get to know that person.\u00a0 He or she can help you, guide you, give you good advice.<\/p>\n
When I was thinking about college, I didn\u2019t have a clue.\u00a0 Neither did my mom or dad who had not gone to college.\u00a0 But our next door neighbor was a superintendent of schools.\u00a0 He was glad to help.\u00a0 He asked us a few questions and then gave us a list of colleges to investigate.\u00a0 He sure saved us a lot of time and effort.\u00a0 He was a good person to know.<\/p>\n
We all have people like that in our lives.\u00a0 Those who helped us at a critical time.\u00a0 Those that helped change the direction or gave direction to our lives.\u00a0 They made a difference.\u00a0 Maybe a big difference.\u00a0 It was or is important to know them.<\/p>\n
Today the apostle John holds up such a person before us.\u00a0 One who made an awesome difference in his life.\u00a0 Not someone who might be good for you to know, but someone who is absolutely essential for you to know.\u00a0 I pray that you may know him a little better when I say Amen. \u00a0And I pray that you come to know him a whole bunch more in 2014.<\/p>\n
Know Jesus
\n<\/b>I.\u00a0 Know the Word made flesh
\nII.\u00a0 Know his fullness for you
\nIII.\u00a0 Know God<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the very first verse of John\u2019s gospel he makes this unusual statement:\u00a0 In the beginning was the Word.<\/span>\u00a0 Then in verse 14, he tells us the Word became flesh<\/span>.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how many times I\u2019ve read that and thought it strange for him to call Jesus the Word but I didn\u2019t really dig in to see what John was saying.\u00a0 I moved right on to something else.<\/p>\n Not today.\u00a0 Let\u2019s talk about the Word<\/i>.\u00a0 In Greek, it\u2019s Logos.\u00a0 The Logos became flesh.\u00a0 And here remember that John was intending this Gospel not just for his fellow Jews, but also for the Gentiles, the Greeks, the Romans, the Asians.\u00a0 The Logos or Word doesn\u2019t mean much to us but it said something to all those people.\u00a0 It got them thinking from whatever their starting point was.\u00a0 The Jew would remember that by the Word of the Lord were the heavens made.<\/span>\u00a0 The Greek mind might think of the Logos as the essential principle before all else.\u00a0 But for both of them the Word was the starting point of all things.\u00a0 They would both agree, in the beginning was the Word<\/span>.<\/p>\n There John met them with his gospel.\u00a0 And here John takes us by the hand to know the Word.\u00a0 He helps us to see that the Word is more than a principle.\u00a0 The Word is more than a powerful expression of God that created this universe and everything in it.\u00a0 John wants us to know that the Word is a person, a living being and the source of life.\u00a0 The Word was a person and that person was not just with God at the beginning.\u00a0 The Word was God.<\/span><\/p>\n The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.<\/span>\u00a0 This is a tremendous mystery. An offense to some.\u00a0 A truth others refuse to accept.\u00a0 A mystery to us all. \u00a0The mystery of the incarnation.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 human body would live all the fullness of God. \u00a0And think of that word, dwelling<\/i>.\u00a0 It comes from a word that means tent.<\/i>\u00a0 You know, that cloth shelter we put up against the rain and wind.\u00a0 \u00a0You might say, Almighty God humbled himself to tent in our weak human flesh,– but not to shelter himself.\u00a0 \u00a0He came as our flesh and blood brother to shelter us from our death, the wages of our sin.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the other day I went to the ICU and pointed a dying man to Jesus- the Word made flesh.\u00a0 For Jesus came as our brother to suffer our death, to conquer it and give us life.\u00a0 Know Jesus.\u00a0 Know the Word made flesh. <\/b><\/p>\n We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and only<\/span>.\u00a0 John was there to see Jesus suspend the laws of nature and change water into wine.\u00a0 He was there on that mountaintop as Jesus\u2019 face shone with the brightness of the sun.\u00a0 He was there in that room after Jesus\u2019 death when Jesus came among them risen from the grave.\u00a0 And he was there with the others when Jesus ascended back to heaven. \u00a0Know Jesus.\u00a0 Know the Word made flesh. <\/b><\/p>\n Another John knew him too .\u00a0 John the Baptist. Listen. \u00a0He cries out, saying, \u201cThis was he of whom I said, \u2018He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.\u2019<\/span> \u201d It\u2019s a bit tricky to follow John there.\u00a0 But understand when he says, he was before me.<\/span>\u00a0 Not before John the Baptist as in weeks or months or years.\u00a0 Jesus was before John from all eternity.\u00a0 If John did not know that before, he sure knew it after he baptized Jesus and heard the Father say.\u00a0 This is my beloved Son.<\/span>\u00a0 He knew Jesus.\u00a0 He knew the Word made flesh.<\/p>\n And now it comes back to you.\u00a0 What does this mean to you?\u00a0 How shallow our faith can be.\u00a0 And we can let all kinds of stuff distract us and steal the joy that is here for us.\u00a0 I know.\u00a0 I do it too.\u00a0 But whatever it is, does it really matter?\u00a0 When all is said or done does it really matter when compared to something so big and wonderful as this?\u00a0 So look where the Holy Spirit is calling you.\u00a0 Know Jesus.\u00a0 Know the Word made flesh.\u00a0 Know his fullness for you<\/b>.<\/p>\n Fullness,<\/b> that\u2019s a word that goes with the Holidays.\u00a0 Fullness.\u00a0 What you feel when you push back from the table after eating that second piece of pie.\u00a0 Fullness. For Christmas, someone gave me a great big bucket full of popcorn, three different kinds.\u00a0 That caramel corn is great.\u00a0 Yet as full as it was, that bucket is now running on empty.<\/p>\n How different our Jesus.\u00a0 [He] came from the Father full of grace and truth (14)<\/span>\u2026 \u00a0For the law was given through Moses grace and truth came through Jesus Christ<\/span>. (17)\u00a0 What picture comes to mind with Moses?\u00a0 One is this.\u00a0 Moses coming down that mountain with those two tablets of stone.\u00a0 On them God has inscribed his commandments, what it means to be righteous before him.\u00a0 But we know what that Law says about us.\u00a0 Not that we are righteous but that we are people soaked to the skin with the guilt of our sin.<\/p>\n But Jesus came from the Father full of grace and truth.<\/span>\u00a0 Not half full and you supply the rest. And not full for a time and then empty like my bucket of popcorn.\u00a0 But full of grace and truth.\u00a0 Think of his Supper.\u00a0 It\u2019s all about that.\u00a0 Whenever you come.\u00a0 It\u2019s about the grace of God\u2019s forgiveness purchased with the body he offered on a cross and the blood He shed for you.\u00a0 His supper is about grace and truth.\u00a0 The truth of what Jesus gives you.\u00a0 His body and blood to assure you that you are forgiven, that all is well. Know his fullness for you. \u00a0Don\u2019t pass it up.\u00a0 Something so precious. <\/b><\/p>\n And not just in his supper.\u00a0 In his gospel, know his fullness for you.<\/b> There he comes to us again and again with grace and truth.\u00a0 <\/b>When we are troubled or lonely, he reminds us, I am with you always.<\/span>\u00a0 When we fear death, we can remember his promise.\u00a0 Because I live, you also will live.<\/span>\u00a0 And can\u2019t we say the same as John? .\u00a0 From the fullness of his grace we have received one blessing after another.<\/span> \u00a0Grace upon grace.\u00a0 Know Jesus,<\/b> dear friend.\u00a0 Know his fullness for you.<\/b>\u00a0 Know Jesus,<\/b> dear friend.\u00a0 Know God.<\/b><\/p>\n I know lots of people, but then again I don\u2019t really.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 I went to school with some of them years ago.\u00a0 I served with some of them in the Coast Guard.\u00a0 I palled around with some of them.\u00a0 But most of them I haven\u2019t seen in years.\u00a0 I know them, but not really.<\/p>\n What does it mean to know God?\u00a0 Well it means much more than knowing that he exists.\u00a0 That there is a god.\u00a0 It means much more than knowing he created us and this world.\u00a0 To know God, to really know him, means much more than that.<\/p>\n But how? \u00a0We can\u2019t go and talk with God face to face.\u00a0 In fact, the Bible says, no one can see God and live.\u00a0 Of course if you know your Bible, you know there were times when God gave a vision of himself, to Moses and others, \u00a0a partial glimpse.\u00a0 But what John writes here is true.\u00a0 No one has ever seen God<\/span>\u2026 So how can we know him?<\/p>\n The night before Jesus died for us all, his disciples were upset and confused.\u00a0 At one point Phillip said to him. Lord, show us the Father.<\/span> \u00a0In other words, reveal him to us. Remember Jesus\u2019 answer?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you know me Philipp even after I have been among you for such a long time.\u00a0 Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.<\/span><\/p>\n We know God when we know Jesus.\u00a0 For Jesus was not just an important prophet.\u00a0 He was not just a great religious teacher. Listen again:\u00a0 8 <\/sup>No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,\u00a0 who is at the Father\u2019s side, has made him known.<\/span> \u00a0Here again we have a great big mystery.\u00a0 Don\u2019t try to figure it out.\u00a0 Keep it simple. \u00a0Know Jesus.\u00a0 Know God.\u00a0 Know the Son, you know the Father who sent him.<\/p>\n So this is our assignment for 2014.\u00a0 Not from me, your pastor, but from the God the Holy Spirit who gives us these words:\u00a0 Grow.\u00a0 Grow in the grace and knowledge of your Lord and Savior, Jesus<\/span> Christ.<\/span>\u00a0 Know Jesus.\u00a0 Grow in his Word.\u00a0 Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Text:\u00a0 John 1:14-18 There are some persons it\u2019s very good to know.\u00a0 Work somewhere for a while and people will tell you.\u00a0 Get to know that person.\u00a0 He or she can help you, guide you, give you good advice. When I was thinking about college, I didn\u2019t have a clue.\u00a0 Neither did my mom or dad who had not gone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":509,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions\/509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}