Seasons Church (Prattville, AL)

Closing out the Conversation from the Upper Room series, Jesus prays specifically for three different requests.  In this message, we discover the first prayer which is for Himself - but not in the way that we might consider praying for ourselves.  Instead, Jesus prays personally to the Father for His restoration to glory, so that He might bring glory TO the Father.   Is this how we pray today?  Do...

The final words Jesus speaks to the Disciples in the Upper Room give us incredible clarity to what was truly on His mind.  It is the revelation and unpacking of the resurrection that Jesus goes into great detail on - but not the mechanics.  No!  Jesus speaks life, peace, and calm into these men who He loves, so that they (and by studying it, we) would understand that what we are facing now is NOT...

The work of the Holy Spirit has three goals, and none of them are related to propping humanity up or allowing us to stay the same once we have encountered God's grace!  The good news in this work of the Holy Spirit is that we are not left without hope to face life's every challenge.  Jesus promises a great return for our labor if we will remain faithful, but will we?  Will we continue to...

Jesus words to His disciples become more and more relevant to the Church (right now) IF we will take the time to read, to understand, and to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance on how we should live, daily.  We may willingly admit that we are called to abide in Jesus - but abiding without having a testimony is useless because the joy of our testimony comes from our enduring in faith of Christ!  A...

Continuing our series in John 15, we must never miss the clarity of Jesus:  He is the vine - and God  (the Father) is the gardener.  This amplification of truth must be at the heart of all believers, helping us to draw into a closer, more intimate, relationship with a God who loved us so much that He would send His Son to die for us.  It is in these words that we can be strengthened to live, and i...

Receiving the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift God could ever give humanity, especially since Jesus is teaching that He would no longer be physically present with the Disciples.  This encouragement, and this gift, is also extended to those who would submit to Him today to have joy, peace, and security.  Jesus promises an Advocate, a Companion, who will walk with us through each of life's chal...

In John 14, Jesus told the disciples (and us) specifically where He is going – AND He has invited us to come and  be where He is - in this physical, created place ( abode ).  He then follows this up with the most declarative statement spoken in the New Testament that the ONLY way to get there is by the way He provides.  The question for all of us now is, "Will we listen and follow?"  God...

Continuing our series, "Conversations from the Upper Room", we see a very important aspect of the kind of relationship Jesus calls His disciples (and us) into with Him.  The real challenge to this relationship comes in our choosing to deny Him, just as Judas did, and what the eternal implications of that action are for us.  In examining this, we must be willing to ask ourselves, "Is...

In the opening study of this new series, we find Jesus's public ministry has concluded, and now He and the disciples have retired to the Upper Room to celebrate what would be their final Passover together.  In this message, we are presented with a very real and relevant challenge for today:  "How well are you serving others like Jesus demonstrated?"   The first lesson from the Upper...

Completing John's examination of the public ministry of Jesus, we see a tie in not only understand why people refuse to believe, but the prophetic vision that this would happen from Isaiah.  One thing that we must take note of is the unique "bookends" of Jesus's ministry that John gives us when we tie in John 3:16-21 with John 12:44-50.  It is our prayer that as we conclude thi...

Seeing Jesus for who He is matters if we are ever going to choose to be His, completely.  Seen here at the end of His "public ministry" the encouragement is clear:  Choose to walk in the light that He brings, else we will continue to live in the darkness of the world!  If we will refuse to walk in the light that He provides, then the only other alternative we have is darkness.  What will...

If God would make it abundantly clear to an Old Testament prophet the coming of the Messiah, and then have it fulfilled to the very day, what makes us think that He cannot handle what troubles us?  Will we be faithful to turn to Him for everything we need?  Continuing our journey in John, we walk through the significance of the Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as seen through the eyes...

Jesus' presence in Bethany (after the resurrection of Lazarus) forced the people to respond to Him and challenged their way of thinking about God.  Some worshiped and believed, while some rejected and even stayed unchanged.  What do you say to Him when He calls?  Are we willing to show a sacrificial love towards Him because He is worthy -- or is our response more about what Jesus can do for u...

Concluding our sermon series (from John chapter 11), "The Good Shepherd", we examine the initial plot to kill Jesus by the religious because of one critical thing:  He represented a threat to their power and authority.  Digging deeper, we must realize one critical truth that still affects us today:  There really are only two groups in this passage!  There are those who opposed God's...

One of the most encouraging statements Jesus said is that, "He is the resurrection and life..."; demonstrating for us that everything He promised to give He will - IF we will believe it and come to Him for our salvation.  The raising of Lazarus is a wonderful example of His authority over Death, and in that miracle performed ~2,000 years ago believers today are asked to lean in closer fo...

The death of a beloved friend is always heartbreaking, no matter where we are in life. Even Jesus experienced the deep sorrow of losing someone He loved.  But because we know the whole story, we can - and must - rejoice in what faith in Jesus truly means.  Sadly though, sometimes our faith becomes confined by what we believe God can (or should) do.  The events leading up to the resurrection of Laz...

Jesus's claim that infuriates the "religious" of His time is simple:  He says that He is the Great Shepherd – the Son of God - and to this He makes 4 statements to amplify and prove it.  As we continue our series in John's Gospel (focused in Chapter 10), the text asks us one very important question that each of us must also settle in our own hearts:  "Who do we say Jesus i...

Today we begin our new sermon series in John 10 called, "The Good Shepherd".  A pivotal truth of this scripture is founds in knowing that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, sent by a God who loves us; and once we understand who He is we can learn about His purpose, which is to rescue those who have been deceived into believing that sin is acceptable to God the Father.  Salvation from sin...

Concluding our sermon series, "Gaining Spiritual Sight" from the Gospel of John (chapter 9), we see Jesus not only heal the man born blind, which causes him to worship Jesus, but we also see Jesus openly challenge the religious in their thinking that they cannot "see", because they believe their own ceremonial things have made them right with God.  It truly is a challenge to al...

In Part 3 of our series, "Gaining Spiritual Sight" , Pastor TJ Conwell walks us through the exploration of three specific questions that we should be able to pick up on and ask of ourselves (and others):  1: Can you testify to what Jesus has done in your life?  2: Are you growing in your understanding of who Jesus is?  3: Will you boldly share your testimony?  Even though the blind man d...

The confession of what happened to this man is so simple and clear, that we must be willing to ask, "When we boil it all down, is our testimony also this repeatable?"  Continuing in our series, "Gaining Spiritual Sight, we begin to examine the after-effects of Jesus's incredible miracle to heal a man born blind, and see the simplicity in his testimony that he was one way - he m...

Jesus heals a man's sight because He was in desperate need - but in that healing it meant that the man had to respond to Jesus's command.  How committed are you to following Christ when He calls you to act?  Right now, wherever you are hearing this message, we must remember that if we are ever going to grow in our faith, we must be men and women who are willing to listen for, to comprehe...

People often reject what challenges them.  Primarily, this is because our rebellion clouds our discernment, our pride often chooses denial over repentance, and our own spiritual blindness causes us to miss what God is doing.  Jesus covers all three of these critical items by calling them to understand who He is, with some of the most direct answers spoken to date.  Simply, He responds to their acc...

If we will not love the things of God, or even have love for God Himself, how can we possible call ourselves "followers of His"?  This is the main point Jesus is attempting to drive home as He continues His conversation (and response) to the criticisms being hurled at Him from the religious.   In sharp contrast, if we would be submissive to the things of God, would we not be showing the...

People often lived ( and still do ) by the false concept that somehow being from a certain bloodline means that you are good - and that you don't need a Messiah to forgive your sins.  Jesus's teaching, in the Temple, is 100% contrary to this lie and He is attempting to correct their bad theology by declaring they need to believe, and from that believe we are called to abide (dwell, to li...