Edgefield Church Nashville – Sermons

Paul?s prayers for his friends offer us a wonderful model for how we should pray for each other.

Paul?s prayers for his friends offer us a wonderful model for how we should pray for each other.

Part of our calling as Christians is to reflect the light of Christmas until Jesus comes again. John tells us that the old command, the command to love one another, has been made new because the light is already shining and the darkness is passing away. So how must we love one another if we are to walk in the light of Jesus?

The Advent season is an opportunity to reflect on why we need Jesus, on why the news of his coming is such wonderful news. John frames our need and what Jesus offers us in the images of light and darkness. We need Jesus because we are the people walking in darkness?the darkness of sin and the darkness of sorrow. And Jesus has come to us as the light no darkness can overpower.

The Christian life is a team sport. We will either accomplish the goal together, or not at all.

Jesus ends his time with his disciples in prayer. What requests does he make to His Father and what relevance do they have to us?

In his last conversation with his closest friends before his execution, Jesus promises real sorrow overcome by lasting joy. But why should we believe this joy is possible? And how can we connect with it?

The Spirit helps us see ourselves for who we really are?our sin, our self-righteousness, our misjudgments about what is good?and the Spirit helps us see Jesus for the all-satisfying glory that he is.

Paul?s prayer for his friends shows us the model response to the gospel, the model messenger of the gospel, and the model community created by the gospel.

If you?re a follower of Jesus, you have been chosen by God to live your life on his mission with the promise of his power.

In this text Jesus implies that understanding and anticipating the hatred of the world for Jesus and his followers is crucial for faith that lasts. But what does Jesus mean by the hatred of the world? And how should we deal with the hatred of the world?

When it comes to growth as a Christian, Jesus leaves no middle ground. Those who abide in him bear fruit, and those who don?t abide in him wither and die. It?s either/or. So what does it mean to abide in him? And what sort of fruit comes from those who do?

Jesus teaches that if we love him we will obey him, and if we don?t love him we won?t obey him. The key to our behavior?what we do?is in the affections?what we love. That?s why Jesus?s promise of a Helper, the Holy Spirit, is such good news. The promised Spirit is also a promise of a new heart moved by love for Jesus.

Jesus promises his followers a place of rest and belonging that only he can provide. Connecting with that promise is the key to lasting peace now.

The primary mark of a genuine follower of Jesus is a love for others that reflects Jesus?s love for us. So what does this love look like?

Jesus serves us, so we serve each other.

Why was Jesus so widely rejected by his own people? That?s the question John takes up as Jesus?s public ministry draws to a close. And his answer is crucial for us as we face unbelief in ourselves and in those around us.

Jesus came to win glory?the glory of his death, the glory of his Father, and the glory of all those who trust in him.

These three stories point us to the irony we have to recognize if we want to understand Jesus and what it means to follow him: he is the death-defeating king who conquers by dying, the champion who wins by losing, the one who gains his glorious throne by embracing the shameful cross.

To see the glory of Jesus?to fully believe in him and rest in his power?we must see him in light of the problem he came to solve, the problem of death. And when we?ve seen the glory of Jesus?when we?ve tasted the sweetness of what he offers by his life, death, and resurrection?we come to see the problem of death in a whole new light.

If we want to understand the full significance of Jesus and what he came to do for us, we have to look squarely at the awful reality of death. It?s in the context of this most basic human problem that the glory of Jesus shines most brightly.

Following Jesus as shepherd means he?s more than an accessory; his call demands your whole life. But the same shepherd who demands our lives also gives life to all who rest in him.

Jesus claims that he is the door into the good life?a life of safety and satisfaction. He claims that everyone else offering the good life will ultimately bleed you dry, not fill you up. And he claims that he will deliver where all others fall short because he is the Good Shepherd who loves his sheep enough to die for them and who?s powerful enough to conquer death for them.

Only Jesus can give us true sight.

Moses?s life gives us an important window to see faith.