We testify to what we know

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Preacher: Lincon Hardouin

Verses: John 3:1-17

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There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus. Undoubtedly, this was no ordinary man, he was not a common member of society, he was not what we would call ‘an average Joe’. I am sure that Nicodemus enjoyed many of the privileges that came with being a high flyer, an influential member within his community, a leader of the Israelite people and not just any leader, but as John tells us, a member of the Jewish ruling council – that is a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was of course an assembly of seventy-one ‘elders’, also known as rabbis or as judges, appointed to sit as a tribunal with the role of acting as a political and judicial council headed by the high priest – in essence, they had the role of a Supreme Court. I would imagine that any single person found to be a member of the Sanhedrin would be well known, powerful, and influential and would be considered to be an all-round ‘good leader’.

 In the chapter before this one, Jesus makes a very clear statement, not only to the leaders of His time but also to all the people who had witnessed this statement when He walks into the temple, is disgusted and heartbroken by what He sees, clears it out and then, as John records in 2:16, says, “How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” I am certain that Nicodemus had witnessed this, or at the very least, had heard about the actions of Jesus. We also know that Nicodemus was well aware of the miraculous signs and wonders Jesus had performed while in Jerusalem, and so he seeks out Jesus under the cover of darkness, and it is in this moment that Nicodemus’ understanding of faith is challenged far beyond what I think even he, a well-educated, influential and well-respected man, expected.

The Revealing of Jesus

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Preacher: Gordon Hay

Verses: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 and John 1:29-42

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What is the gospel message? Mark Dever has summarised it like this[1]:

        God is our holy Creator and righteous Judge;

        we have all sinned against Him, offending His holy character, alienating ourselves from Him, and exposing ourselves to His righteous anger;

        He has sent Christ to die the death that we deserved for our sins;

        that Christ’s death and resurrection is the only way to be reconciled to the one true God;

        we must respond to this Good News by repenting of our sins and believing in the Gospel if we would be forgiven by God, reconciled to Him, and saved from the wrath to come.

Last Sunday Lincon preached a powerful sermon on God’s amazing grace, drawing on Ephesians 3. How the mystery of Christ had been revealed by the Spirit and how, in Christ and through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. How God’s grace is revealed in the Scriptures.


[1] “So how do we begin positively? For starters, put yourself in the background, and preach Christ crucified. Clarify what the true Gospel; is, what the required response is, and what it means to be a Christian. Make sure people know that God is our holy Creator and righteous Judge; that we have all sinned against Him, offending His holy character, alienating ourselves from Him, and exposing ourselves to His righteous anger; that He has sent Christ to die the death that we deserved for our sins; that Christ’s death and resurrection is the only way to be reconciled to the one true God; and that we must respond to this Good News by repenting of our sins and believing in the Gospel if we would be forgiven by God, reconciled to Him, and saved from the wrath to come. Make sure people know that they must persevere in a lifestyle of repentance and belief, displaying an increasingly loving and holy lifestyle that proves that we are His disciples. (John 15:8; cf. Matt 7:15-23; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13; 1 John 3:14; 4:8)” Extract from: The Deliberate Church: Mark Dever and Paul Alexander. P44, middle paragraph. 

v. I am the Resurrection and the Life

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Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: John 11:25

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The raising of Lazarus from the dead is the climactic miracle of John’s gospel, the last of seven miracles inserted just before the beginning of the final week of Christ’s earthly ministry.  Moreover, it contains the fifth of seven ‘I am’ saying of Jesus viz. “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will live, even though they die and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:26).  It also contains the shortest verse in Scripture: “Jesus wept” (v35).  As such it highlights both the divinity of Jesus, his power over life and death, as well as his humanity, his ability to grieve in the face of loss.

 Jesus was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled” (v34) in the face of death and loss.  The word in the original depicts the snorting of a horse at the prospect of battle or staggering under a heavy load.  Jesus was familiar with grief as we are, “A man of sorrow and acquainted with grief” (Isa 53:3).  As one commentator put it, “He gathered up into his personality, all the misery resulting from sin, represented in a dead man and broken-hearted people round him”.

iv. I am the Door

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Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: John 10:7

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The children’s chorus I sang so many years ago is so appropriate when we consider Jesus’ statement “I am the door of the sheep” (v7)

                         There’s a way back to God

                        from the dark paths of sin

                        There’s a door that is open

                        And you may come in

                        At Calvary’s cross is where you begin

                        When you come as a sinner to Jesus.

 Jesus’ great statement is made in the midst of opposition from the pharisees after the Feast of Tabernacles.  They took exception to Jesus healing a man born blind.  Some scholars argue it was made during the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) some three months later, celebrating the re-dedication of the temple by Judas Maccabeus after its desecration by the Greeks.  This context suggests that Jesus’ admonition about false shepherds is not directed to the pharisees alone but all false leaders who lead people astray.

iii. I am the Good Shepherd

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Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: John 10:11

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Of all the ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus, ‘I Am the Good Shepherd’ is perhaps the most loved of all.  More often than not we use the word good in an offhand manner – ‘he is a good person’, ‘we had good time’.  I’m reminded of the film ‘As Good As It Gets’ when a far from good cranky script writer played by Jack Nicholson pays a long suffering waitress the ultimate compliment, “You make me want to be a better man”. 

Unlike English, Greek has two words for good.  The first speaks of moral goodness.  But as someone has observed, it is possible to be ‘morally repulsive’.  Some people are so upright and uptight that others are repelled rather than attracted by their ‘goodness’.  The second refers to authenticity – beautiful, winsome, lovely, attractive.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd in both senses of the word, not simply a good shepherd, one of many in a similar class, but the good shepherd unique, one and only.  Compared to Jesus we who are shepherds in a lesser sense, under shepherds if you will, scarcely seem to be that at all.  Who of us could call ourselves a good shepherd, let alone the good shepherd?  Yet intuitively we know Jesus to be both and we love him for it.