Growing Together Blog

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Thursday, 11 March 2010 22:49

The Gospel of John is beautiful in its profound simplicity.  Jesus’ words in John 16:28 – “I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father” – can be used to understand what John has done.  In chapters 1-10, we see Jesus who “came from the Father.” The stories and signs John chooses expose us to the Son of God revealing the Father through His works and words.  In chapters 11-21, we see Jesus “returning to the Father.” The events and signs John records show the Son of God glorifying the Father through the cross and tomb.

As we approach the Easter season, examine the flow of John 11-20.  These chapters are “framed” by two resurrections – Lazarus (11) and Jesus (20).  The thread running throughout is the glory of God as His plan from all eternity is fulfilled in the sacrifice of His Son on the cross.  And we could summarize this section with the statement, “Jesus’ death brings life.”  Examine what happens chapter by chapter as Passion Week approaches and unfolds before us.

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Friday, 05 March 2010 14:40

How Close Are You to Jesus? That heading caught my attention as I was looking through a publication called Revive.  How can you measure that?  Are there things that I can do to encourage intimacy with the Savior?  The editors of that magazine provided a list of questions for personal evaluation.  Here are just a few for us to consider.

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Friday, 26 February 2010 14:52

Ask yourself a hard question: “If you as a Christian had been living in Holland during WWII and the Nazi occupation … if you had heard of Hitler’s “final solution” to exterminate those who were considered to be a threat or inferior … if you knew that for Jews living around you it was either “hide or die” … what would have been your “personal solution” to this dilemma?

For a watchmaker named Casper ten Boom and his family, it was their choice to hide the Jews from the threat of the death camps even at the risk of their own lives.  Casper’s two daughters, Betsie and Corrie, showed equal compassion and courage with Corrie later saying that they were simply “the skin on the hands of God” that brought protection to those souls.

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Written by Administrator Friday, 19 February 2010 14:07

Here’s a thought-provoking parable from Pastor Mark Dever:

“Nose and Hand were sitting in the church pew talking.  The morning service, lead by Ear and Mouth, had just ended, and Hand was telling Nose that he and his family had decided to look for a different church.

‘Really?’ Nose responded to Hand’s news.  ‘Why?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Hand said, looking down.  ‘I guess because the church doesn’t have what Mrs. Hand and I are looking for.’