Read With Me, Please

Jesus speaks to a woman in public...a woman who is Samaritan? Is this a scandal? What was he thinking? Read along as we consider the scene from John 4. Just as he transformed water into wine at a wedding earlier in the story, now he plays with water again. This time at Jacob's well in Samaria. He speaks of a water that quenches thirst for eternity. What could this mean? And how might you gain access to such a wellspring of life-giving water? The deeper, soul question is for what do you thirst...

Time to stop and review the Nicodemus discussion. We need to go back to the beginning of John chapter 3, to read again the words of being "born again." Now we enter the discussion and begin to see that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And this way is simulateously wide and vast and welcoming and yet, as unique as Christ's own self. It is a wide highway and a narrow way, a ladder to heaven, but a way with angels ascending and descending. The way of everlasting life requires transforma...

Why does Jesus clear the temple courts? Overturning their tables and scattering their money? Later on, why does Nicodemus come to Jesus at night? Under the cover of darkness? And what does it mean to be "born from above" or "born again"? Read along as Matthew guides us through the Gospel of John. In these verses, Jesus visits Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, clears the temple courts, and has an interesting encounter with a powerful Pharisee named Nicodemus. Matthew is the Past...

Season 2 Continues! Read along as Matthew guides us through the Gospel of John. In this episode, Jesus begins to attract disciples. The invitation is often, "Come and see." What will you see if you take the first step towards following this Jesus? What will discover if you open your heart to listen and explore and ponder who this Jesus may be? Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathanael one by one, or two by two, are brave enough, curious enough, open enough to see something of God's truth and beauty an...

Season 2 Continues! Read along as Matthew guides us through the Gospel of John. In this episode, we read about John the Baptist and his role in anticipating the Messiah. The religious leaders of the day are curious, or even concerned, about who John the Baptist was--was he the Messiah? And so they come and question him in the wilderness near the Jordan River. The theme of sight (knowing and believing) is prevalent in this verses. John sees Jesus and testifies concerning him. He sa...