2 Cities Church Podcast

Big Idea:  We have to be able to endure hardships. John 16:1-15 We have to be able to endure hardships. 1. Stand your ground. John 16:1-4 “I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling. They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God. They will do these things because they haven’t known the Father or...

Big Idea:  You can’t live entirely in 1 city and follow Jesus at the same time. John 15:18-27 You can’t live entirely in 1 city and follow Jesus at the same time. 1. Love amid hatred. John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen...

Big Idea:  Love alone is stronger than death. John 15:9-17 Love alone is stronger than death. 1. Love unites eternally. John 15:9-10 As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 2. Love delights fully. John 15: 11 I have told you these things so that my...

Big Idea:  Only the seed never planted cannot grow. John 15:1-8 Only the seed never planted cannot grow. 1. A farmer’s sweat is the best fertilizer. John 15:1-4 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the wor...

Big Idea:  No amount of force can make peace inside you. John 14:18-31 No amount of force can make peace inside you. 1. Peace comes from being let into a new family. John 14:18-21 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you...

Big Idea:  Jesus gives His disciples assurance He will never leave them alone. John 14:12-17 Jesus gives His disciples assurance He will never leave them alone. 1. Jesus answers their fears. John 14:12-13 "Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I...

Big Idea:  It doesn’t matter how often you stumble when you’re following the way home. John 14:1-11 It doesn’t matter how often you stumble when you’re following the way home. 1. Don’t let fear cause you to lose the way. John 14:1-7 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am goi...

Big Idea:   Soli Deo Gloria John 13:31-38 Soli Deo Gloria 1. Letting his glory shine. John 13:31-32 When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 2. Led by his glory. John 13: 33  Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will look...

Big Idea:  Body armor can’t stop the wound of a friend. John 13:21-30  Body armor can’t stop the wound of a friend. 1. Love and ‘trouble’ go together. John 13:21-25 When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in his spirit and testified, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples started looking at one another—uncertain which one he was speaking about. One of his disciple...

Big Idea: Humility is the bedrock of humanity! John 13:12-20 Humility is the bedrock of humanity! 1. Be the first to serve . John 13:12-17 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have w...

Big Idea: Mom’s love can turn finger painting into a fine work of art. 1 Samuel 1: 1 - 28 Mom’s love can turn finger painting into a fine work of art. 1. Mom is passionate. Samuel 1: 1-8 There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the se...

Big Idea: You are God’s family treasure. John 13:1-11 You are God’s family treasure. 1. Accepted completely. John 13:1 Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2. Held securely. John 13: 2-3   Now when it was time for supper, the devil had already put it into t...

Big Idea: Even Jesus can’t make closed eyes see. John 12:37-50 Even Jesus can’t make closed eyes see 1. You’re blind when you chose to ignore. John 12:37-40 Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said: Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Thi...

Big Idea: God reset your clock to 00:00 on Easter morning! John 12:20-36 God reset your clock to 00:00 on Easter morning! 1. Your Identity was reset!. John 12:20-26 Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival. So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip...

Big Idea: Who sits at the top of your pyramid of power? John 12:12-19 Who sits at the top of your pyramid of power? 1. The Roman government. John 12:12-13 The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord—the King o...

Big Idea: Light must fight the darkness. John 12: 9-11 Light must fight the darkness. Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus. 1. Don’t look for co...

Big Idea: The heart of worship is a worshipping heart. John 12: 1-8 The heart of worship is a worshipping heart. 1. Worship requires total sacrifice to the Father. John 12: 1-3 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate wi...

Big Idea: You can’t run fast when tied to a dead faith. John 11:45-57 You can’t run fast when tied to a dead faith. 1. Don't put religion before Jesus. John 11: 45-48 Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and were saying...

Big Idea: Suffering teaches us 1 powerful lesson about King Jesus! John 11:21-44 Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I...

Big Idea: The resurrection and eternal life are represented in Jesus Christ. John 11: 1-21 The resurrection and eternal life are represented in Jesus Christ. 1. Delay doesn’t mean denial. John 11: 1-6 Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazar...

Big Idea: Ignoring the warning signs could be a sign of war. John 10: 31-42 Ignoring the warning signs could be a sign of war. 1. Don’t shoot the messenger. John 10:31-33 Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him. Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?” “We aren’t stoning you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for bla...

Big Idea: Jesus paints with permanent ink. John 10: 22- 30 Jesus paints with permanent ink. God’s sheep are safe in Christ. God’s sheep are secure in Christ. God’s sheep are strong in Christ. God’s sheep are sure in Christ. God’s sheep are sealed in Christ. Next Steps I need to be adopted into God’s family today. I will not worry about the future. I will live tomorrow through Christ’s strength.

Big Idea: Jesus is the good Shepherd. John 10: 1 - 21 Jesus is the good Shepherd. 1. Learn the voice of the Good Shepherd. John 10:1-6 "Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own...

Big Idea: Disciple = Discipline Matthew 6: 16-18 Disciple = Discipline 1. When you fast. Matthew 6: 16-18 “Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to...

Big Idea: Covering your eyes doesn’t make the truth go away. John 9: 35-41 1. I once was blind, but now I see! John 9:35-38 Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?” he asked. Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” “I believe, Lord!” he said,...