Finding Faith In A Fallen World

Investigating God #12

Finding Faith In A Fallen World

Steve W. Reeves

steve@wschurch.net

stevesermons.blogspot.com

 

INTRODUCTTION:

A. Ted Turner is the founder of such media empires
    as CNN, TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies. He   
    is the largest land-owner in the United States, a former owner of the Atlanta Braves
    and has a net worth of 2.2 billion dollars. Several years ago the New York Times ran
    an article describing how Turner, who once thought about going into ministry, lost
    his faith after his sister died of a painful disease. Turner said, “I was taught that God
    was love and God was powerful, and I couldn’t understand how someone so innocent
    should be made to suffer so.”
    1. Perhaps you have known someone like Ted Turner who once believed in God but
        lost faith because of a tragic event.
    2. Maybe you are struggling with your faith. Maybe there are questions you have not
        been able to answer or situations you do not understand.  
    3. You may be like a growing number of people who have no interest in God and
        think that church is a waste of time. According to a Pew Forum survey, 34% of
        millennials identify themselves as atheists or having no particular faith.
B. Is it possible to find faith in a fallen world?
    1. To answer this question I want to examine the life of a man who experienced good
        times and bad times.
    2. The man’s name was Job. Even though the book of Job is found in the section of
        The Old Testament known as poetry (along with Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
        and Song of Solomon) it’s likely that Job lived during the time depicted in the
        book of Genesis. There is no mention in the book of Job about Israel or the law of
        Moses which suggests that this man lived prior to that time.
    3. Job lived in a land called “Uz.” We do not know the exact location of this country in
        ancient times but it was in the east beyond the Jordan River, perhaps as far north
        as modern-day Syria or as far south as modern-day Iraq or Iran. 
    4. The time and place of his life are not important. The message of his life is
        important.
C. May I introduce you to Job?
    1. Consider his character. Job 1:2 says he was blameless, righteous, feared God and
        turned away from evil.              
    2. Consider his content. According to verse 3, he had, “7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels,
        500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was
        the greatest of all the men of the east.”
    3. Consider his children. Verse 2 says that Job had seven sons and three daughters.
        These children had a good relationship with one another. They would come
        together regularly for a time of celebration.
    4. Notice his commendation. On an occasion when the sons of God (angels) came
        before the Lord (verse 6) Satan came before God from roaming about on the earth
        (verse 7; cf. 1 Peter 5:8). In verse 8 God said, “Have you considered my servant
        Job? I have no one like him, blameless and upright.” God thought highly of Job.
D. The name “Satan” means, “accuser.” Notice the accusation Satan makes against
    Job. To paraphrase, “The reason Job has faith is because you have sheltered him. If
    you take away his blessings he will deny you in a split-second.”
    1. What did Job do? Did he lose his faith? Did he deny God?
    2. The answer can be found in just one verse tucked away in the first half of this
        book. In Job 13:15, after being bombarded by tragedy Job said, “Though He slay
        me, I will hope in Him.” This was a bold declaration of faith.
    3. Let’s consider the type of faith Job possessed.
   
I. FAITH IN TIMES OF SUFFERING
    A. God responded to Satan’s accusation by allowing him to afflict Job. Initially, God
        did not allow Satan to harm Job physically.
        1. Have you ever experienced a day when the normal suddenly ceased and
            everything became chaos. In the 1990’s I was selected as one of the first group
            of chaplains for the Arkansas State Police. One of my responsibilities was to
            accompany troopers to notify next of kin when someone had died or been killed.
            I have seen people react stoically while others fell to the ground in grief.
        2. On one of these days, Job’s life was turned upside down. He received word that
            all of his flocks of sheep, camels and oxen has been wiped out. Nearly all of his
            servants were gone. He went from being wealthy to having no assets. 
        3. Then there came the devastating news that a violent storm had destroyed the
            house where his children had gathered for dinner. All of them had been killed.
        4. His finances were gone. His family was gone. What about his faith?
        5. In spite of everything that Satan threw at him, Job remained devoted to God. 
            a. Notice verses 20-21, “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head,
                and he fell to the ground and worshiped. ²¹ He said, “Naked I came from my
                mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord
                has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”   
            b. Verse 22 of chapter 1 is particularly noteworthy, “Through all of this Job did
                not sin nor did He blame God.”
    B. As if the events of chapter 1 were not enough, chapter 2 reveals how Satan
        came before God a second time to accuse Job.  This time to afflict Job by
        physically.
        1. God told Satan how Job, “still holds fast his integrity.” Satan challenged God to 
            allow him to afflict Job personally. God agreed on the condition that Job’s life
            was to be spared.  
        2. Job was covered with painful, disfiguring boils from the crown of his head to the
            soles of his feet. They were so bad that, according to verse 12 Job’s friends did
            not recognize him. Job was miserable. He took broken pieces of pottery to lance
            and scape the infection that covered his body.
    C. In all of this agony Job’s faith did not falter.
        1. Though he was laid low by grief and his body was ravaged with pain Job relied
            on the principles by which he lived his life.
        2. Job maintained his integrity. When his wife urged him to curse God and die, Job
            said (in 2:1) “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed
            accept good from God and not accept adversity?”
    D. You and I live in a fallen world. Satan is still at work.
        1. Paul wrote that the course of the world is “according to the prince of the power
            of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience”
            (Ephesians 2:2).
        2. He urged Christians to “put on the full armor of God, “For our struggle is not
            against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the
            world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the
            heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:”12).
        3. Peter warned, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil,
            prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
        4. It is possible to find faith in a fallen world.
 
II. FAITH IN TIMES OF SCORN
    A. Notice Job 19:14-15, “My relatives have failed, And my intimate friends have
        forgotten me.¹⁵ “Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger.
       I am a foreigner in their sight.”
       1. In the midst of his suffering, Job had three friends come to help him. Their
           names were Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar.
       2. They took turns talking to Job. The longer they talked you wonder if they were
           friends or enemies. They accused Job of sinning. After all, they reasoned, why
           was he being punished?
    B. Have you ever had someone say something about you that was not true?
        1. In Job 4:7-8 Eliphaz said, “Remember now, whoever perished being innocent?
           Or where were the upright destroyed? ⁸ “According to what I have seen, those
            who plow iniquity And those who sow trouble harvest it.”
        2. In other words, “Job, you must have sinned.” This was the common theology of
            the day.
    C. It’s one thing to have your friends accuse you but what happens when people
        closest to you hurt you. Even Job’s wife told him to “curse God and die.”
    D. When you are trying to live right there will always be someone who is going to
        criticize you. They may make fun of you, ridicule you, mock you, lie about you and
        persecute you.
        1. Jesus was betrayed by one of his closest associates. He was denied by the very
            man who told him he would die with him.  
        2. Paul was forsaken by Demas (2 Timothy 4:10).
        3. Job did not allow his faith in God to be destroyed because of the actions of
            others.  
 
III. FAITH IN TIMES OF SEARCHING
    A. Do you ever ask, “Why?” Don’t think that Job did not ask this question. He
        certainly did.
        1. Job was not aware of the discussion between God and Satan.
        2. Job had never read the book of Job.
    B. Notice Job 23:3-5, ““Oh that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to
        His seat! ⁴ “I would present my case before Him And fill my mouth with arguments.
          ⁵ “I would learn the words which He would answer, And perceive what He would
        say to me.”
       1. Job was searching for answers. He wanted to sit down and have a conversation
            with God.
        2. Yet, according to verses 8-9, he searched for God but could not find Him.
            a. Have you ever wondered, “Where is God?”
            b. Have you ever asked, “Where is God?”
    C. In the midst of his suffering and scorn Job did not give up on God. He kept
         searching and kept asking. God heard.
        1. In chapter 38:4-6, God said, ““Where were you when I laid the foundation of the
            earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, ⁵ Who set its measurements? Since
            you know. Or who stretched the line on it?⁶ “On what were its bases sunk?
           Or who laid its cornerstone?”
        2. God was saying, “Job, I am sovereign.”
    D. A close friend of mine was diagnosed with lymphoma. In the midst of his
        treatments as his body was ransacked with illness he told me, “For me the
        question is not ‘why’ but ‘what.’ What can I learn from this experience to make me
        into a better man and a better disciple of Jesus Christ?
 
CONCLUSION:
A. Are you going through struggles that are causing you to question your faith in God?
    1. Are you or someone you love experiencing suffering or scorn?
    2. Are you searching for answers that you cannot seem to find?
B. The message of Job is that God has not forgotten you. He is aware of the larger
    scene of eternity. Like Job, you can put your hope and trust in Him.
C. Will you come to Christ today by confessing your faith in Him, turning away from sin
    and being baptized (immersed in water) into His death, burial and resurrection? We
    welcome you.
 

Faithful Love

Investigating God #11

Faithful Love

 Steve W. Reeves

 steve@wschurch.net

stevesermons.blogspott.com

 

INTRODUCTION:

A. In the city of Miami, Florida, a woman named Judith Bucknell was murdered.  She
    was the 106^th homicide for that particular year. Judith was 38 years old. She lived in a
    fashionable luxury community called “Coconut Grove.” She had a good career, wore
    stylish clothes, drove a new car and by all accounts seemed to be the epitome of
    success. What made Judith’s situation unique was the discovery of her diary. In those
    personal pages she revealed her insecurity. She feared getting old, getting fat and
    getting pregnant. She was not happy. Her life had gone from one relationship to
    another. She wrote, “Why can’t I find someone to love me?”
    1. The need to feel loved is universal. From the day we are born until the day we die
        each of us needs security, significance and satisfaction. We need to feel loved.
    2. It is difficult to feel loved in a society that is becoming increasingly isolated.
        a. Electronic communication and social media have created a world of impersonal
           relationships.              
        b. Instead of speaking to one another face to face we rely on texting, Facebook,           
            Instagram, Twitter or Snap-chat. Conversations are transmitted by e-mail.
            Education is received through distance learning and on-line classes. Groceries
            can be ordered on-line and delivered to your home. You can shop from home
            with Amazon and Wayfair without every communicating with another person.
    3. In the loss of social interaction many people feel unloved, isolated and lonely.
     4. This year the state of Arkansas mandated that public-school teachers receive
        training in teen suicide prevention. Did you know that suicide is one of the leading
        causes of death among young people and the elderly? A high school principle
        conducting one of these workshops emphasized the importance of letting every  
        student know they are loved.
B. My objective in this message is to communicate to you the enormous extent of God’s
    love for you.
    1. There is a passage of Scripture that communicates this objective.
    2. In the New Testament book of Ephesians the writer, Paul, expressed his prayer or         
        all Christians. Those living in his time and those living in our time.
    3.In Ephesians 3:14-19 he wrote, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
 
       ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, ¹⁶ that He
        would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with
        power through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
        through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to
        comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and
        depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may
        be filled up to all the fullness of God.”
        a. Paul wanted his readers to “know the love of Christ” and be filled with “fullness
            of God” (vs. 19). Notice how he bowed before the Father (vs. 14), that they might be trengthened through the Spirit (vs. 16) so that Christ might dwell in their
           hearts by faith (vs. (vs. 17).         b.
        b. Consider the four dimensions of love mentioned in this text.
 
I. HOW WIDE IS GOD’S LOVE?
    A. You can never get around God’s love.
        1. Wherever you go God’s love is there.
        2. You can no more escape God’s love than you can escape God Himself.
        3. The Old Testament account of Jonah reminds us that we cannot ruin away from
            God. Jonah tried to run away from God’s call by going as far away as possible
            (Tarshish).  You can run from God but you cannot hide!
    B. There is no place you will ever go that God’s love is not available.
        1. You may feel lonely, isolated, ignored, rejected, unappreciated, overlooked, or
            homesick. God’s love is right there. 
        2. In today’s world of satellite and digital TV there are hundreds of channels! This
            had not always been the case. When I was growing up we had just four
            channels. If your TV was not tuned to the proper channel you had a screen full
            of static. It wasn’t that programming was not being transmitted. The difficulty
            was with the receiver.
        3. If you are not experiencing God’s love the difficulty is not with the transmitter.
            Your receiver (heart) needs some fine tuning.
 
II. HOW LONG IS GOD’S LOVE?
    A. Is there an end to God’s love? Does He ever stop loving us?
        1. In an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, Opie brought home a report card with
            straight “A’s.” His “Pa” was so proud he bought Opie a new bicycle. Then Opie
            found out the teacher had made a mistake. He made an “F” in math. He decided
            to run away. When his “Pa” caught up with him Opie said, “I was going to run
            away until I could make you proud of me again.”
        2. A lot of people are this way about God. We think we have to earn God’s love by
            keeping rules, being good, coming to church, reading our Bibles, not cussing,
            not cheating, not stealing, not viewing porn or having sex outside of marriage
            and not doing drugs. If we do any of those things we think, “It’s no use, God
            doesn’t love me.”
        3. In his book, Where Is God When I Hurt, Phillip Yancey tells of a man who had
            struggled with alcohol for years. When someone asked, “Do you believe in
            God?” he replied, “Yes, but I don’t think God believes in me anymore.”
    B. There is nothing you have done or will ever do that would make God stop loving
        you. His love never ends.
        1. The world’s love is temporary.
        2. The world’s love is here one day and gone the next.
        3. God’s love is so passionate that He takes extreme measures to show you.
            a. Perhaps you’ve seen someone extend a marriage proposal on a billboard or
                on television or on a banner trailing an airplane.
            b. God’s love proposal to you was extended on a cross by His Son.
 
III. HOW HIGH IS GOD’S LOVE?
    A. Here’s what Paul wrote in Romans 8:37-38, “But in all these things we
        overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that
        neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things
        to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be
        able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    B. Several members of our youth group and their chaperones recently made a trip to
        Colorado where the climbed Mt. Arkansas. The summit of Mt. Arkansas is 13,500
        feet. I admire those who made this trek.
        1. Some of you are facing some formidable mountains in your life right now.
        2. For you who are freshmen in college the entire experience might seem a little
            overwhelming and intimidating.
        3. For some entering your senior year you may be wondering what lies beyond
            college.     
        4. Wherever you are in life’s journey there are mountains to face.
    C. God’s love is higher than any challenge you are facing. In Joshua 1:9 as Joshua
        prepared to assume leadership of Israel following the death of Moses the Lord
        said, “Do not be troubled or dismayed for I, the Lord your God, am with you
        wherever you go.”
 
IV. HOW DEEP IS GOD’S LOVE?
    A. Have you ever felt low?
        1. The lowest spot in the state of Arkansas is the Ouchita River at 55 feet above
            sea level. By comparison Searcy is 245 feet above sea level.
        2. The lowest spot in the United States is Badwater Basin located in Death Valley,
            California. It has an elevation of 279 feet (85 m) below sea level.
        3. The lowest spot in the world is the Dead Sea in Israel. It has an elevation of
            1,391 feet (424 m) below sea level.
        4. The lowest spot in the sea is Challenger Deep, at the bottom of the Mariana
            Trench, 36,201 feet below sea level.
        5. Even at the lowest point on Earth God is still there. If God is there, His love is
            there.
    B. There is no depth to which you can sink in your life that God’s love cannot reach.
        1. You may be laid low physically be sickness or disease.
        2. You may be low emotionally due to depression or discouragement.
        3. You may be low spiritually because of sin.
        4 You may be low in your marriage, financially, in your job or in bondage to an
            addiction.     
        5. I want you to know that no matter how low you may be God’s love can plunge
            the deepest depths and rescue you.
 
ONCLUSION:
A. Judith Bucknell never found the one thing she wanted more than anything. All of the
    wealth, luxury, status and pleasure could not fill the hole in her heart. The reason is,
    as Augustine said, “we have a God shaped hole” that can only be filled by Him.
B. May I encourage you to turn to Jesus Christ for the love you need both now and in
    eternity.

The God Man

Investigating God #10

The God Man

Steve W. Reeves

steve@wsschurch.net

stevesermons.blogspot.com

INTRODUCTION:

A. In your opinion, what is the most significant event in the Bible?
    1. Creation (Genesis 1:1)?
    2. The Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 17)?
    3. The giving of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20)?
    4. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:1-3)?
    5. There is one event that is intrinsically related to all of these. It is the birth of Jesus
        Christ.
B. Each of the four Gospels approach the birth of Jesus from a different perspective.
    1. Matthew, written to a Jewish audience, goes into great detail about the genealogy
        of Jesus and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
    2. Mark, written to a Roman audience, does not give us any information about the
        birth of Jesus. Mark is fast-paced and action oriented, moving from one event of
        Jesus’ life to another. He opens with the baptism of Jesus.
    3. Luke, written to a Gentile audience, gives more information about the specifics of
        Jesus’ birth and the events preceding it, than any other Gospel.
    4. Many years after the synoptic Gospels had been written, John wrote his account of
        the life of Christ. John describes the birth of Jesus in a very different way. In
        essence he used just four words in Greek or English. They are the most profound,
        significant words in all the Bible. Without them nothing else makes sense. Without
        them there would be no hope. In John 1:14 we read, “The Word became flesh.”
C. How would you describe the birth of Jesus if you took away the iconic scenes of the
    shepherds in their fields at night, the star of Bethlehem, the angelic chorus singing,
    “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will to men?”
    1. You would have John’s account of the incarnation.
    2. God becoming man. The creator becoming creation. The master becoming a
        servant. The King subjecting Himself to the perils of humanity.   
    3. He did all of this and yet He never surrendered His divine essence. He was God
        In the flesh. He was the “God Man.” His name is Jesus.
D. The prologue to John’s Gospel in John 1:1-14, provides us with essential information
     about the God Man.
 
 
I. WHO IS HE?
    A. John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
        Word was God” (John 1:1).
        1. In the New Testament there are two words translated “word.”
        2. The word “rhema” used in Romans 10:17, “faith comes by hearing and hearing
            by the word of God.” This is used to describe that which has been spoken or
            revealed.
        3. The other “word” is “logos” used here in John 1.
    B. What did John mean when He referred to God as “logos?”
        1. This was a word that was familiar to Jews and Greeks.
        2. To the Greeks “logos” described the powerful force by which the universe
            existed. It was the force that gave meaning and reason to life.     
            a. Do you remember the movie, “Star Wars?” In the first episode there was a
                character named “Obi-Wan Kenobi” who taught Luke Skywalker about, “The
                Force.” The Force was an impersonal, mystical entity that ran through the
                universe.
            b. In the 5^th century B.C., the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, used the word
                “logos” to describe the unifying principle of the universe.
            c. This was the view Albert Einstein had. He believed in the existence of God but
                said it was impossible to know God.  
        3. The Jews were also familiar with “logos.” The Jewish historian Philo of
            Alexandria used it more than 1500 times in His writing.  Since the Jews
            understood God (YHWH) to be the one who made the world and everything in it
            (Acts 17:24), “logos” became synonymous with God.  This is why John said, “He
            was with God and He was God.”   
    C. If you ask people who Jesus is you will receive many different answers. I recently
        saw a “man on the street” interview in which people were asked this question.
        1. Many believed He was a good teacher.
        2. Most believed in the historical existence of Jesus. One person commented that
             He was a “mythological, historical” character.
        3. Very few held the opinion that Jesus was God.
        4. The New Testament stands on the evidence of Jesus as the Word that became
            flesh. In the New Testament and for Christians today, this is a theological “non-
            negotiable.”    
            a. Hebrews 1:1-3, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets
                in many portions and in many ways, ² in these last days has spoken to us in
                His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made
                the world. ³ And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation
                of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power”
            b. In John 20:28 Thomas, upon seeing the risen Jesus, declared, “My Lord and
                my God.” 
            c. Jesus is given titles used only for God. He is called the “Holy One,” the first
                and last,” the “Alpha and Omega,” the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
            d. He received worship. Angels did not receive worship. Men did not receive
                worship.
    D. All of this evidence points us back to John 1:1-14, “In the beginning was the Word
        and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” “The Word became flesh.”
 
II. WHEN DID THE WORD BEGIN?
    A. John 1:2 says, “He was in the beginning with God.”
        1. Was there ever a time when God did not exist? God is the one who created
            time.
        2.If Jesus was there at the beginning with God, He is also eternal.
            a. In John 8:58 Jesus told the Pharisees, “Before Abraham was born, I AM.”
            b. Compare this with Exodus 3:13-15 where God told Moses that He was, “I AM” 
                for all generations.
    B. The Word was not created by God. The Word was with God and was God.
        1. Verse 3 states, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him
            nothing came into being that has come into being”
        2. Do you see the similarity in John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1. It is no accident. John
            wanted his readers to understand that when God created the heavens and the
            earth, the Word that would become flesh was there.
        3. The Word was the source of light and life according to verse 4. Notice that Jesus
            referred to Himself as the “light of the world” (John 8:12) and the life (John
            14:6). This was not a coincidence.
        4. Does our world need some light and life? We are living in times of darkness and
            death. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:17, “For our struggle is not against flesh and
            blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this
            darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
        5. There is only one way to dispel darkness. Light. There is only one hope in death.
            Life. Both are found in “The Word.”  He is, “the true Light which, coming into the
            world” (John 1:9).
 
III. WHAT DID THE WORD DO?
    A. The Word became flesh. Compare John’s statement with Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew
        1:23, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with
        child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel” Matthew adds, “which
        means, “God with Us.”
        1. Because of His enormous love for humanity God clothed Himself with flesh and
            blood.
            a. In Colossians 2:9 Paul said, “In Him the fullness of Deity dwelt in bodily form.”
            b. In Philippians 2:6-8, the great Chritological hymn of the New Testament
                declares, “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard
                equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form
                of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in
                appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point
               of death, even death on a cross”
    B. The Word dwelt among men.
        1. We do not have to guess about God. We do not have to wonder or speculate
            about His character. All we need to do is look at Jesus.
        2. How did He treat people? How did He act? What was important to Him? What
            made Him angry? What brought Him joy?
        3. How did He demonstrate love (1 John 4:9-10).
    C. The Word revealed the glory of God.   
        1. John continued in verse 14 by writing, “we beheld His glory. Glory as of the
            only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
        2. Everything Jesus did brought glory and honor to His Father.
 
CONCLUSION:
A. Each time I prepare to preach I try to ask myself a question about the message. “So
    what?” “How is this message going to impact me?” “How will it impact those who hear
    it?” In this case there are two options mentioned in the text.               
    1. Option 1 (verse 10-11). “He was in the world, and the world was made through
        Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and those who were
        His own did not receive Him.”
    2. Option 2 (verse12), “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
        become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”
B. As another school year begins many of you will be answering questions as you
    complete tests and assignments. There is no greater question than this. “What will
    you do with Jesus?”
C. We would like to encourage you to respond to Him in faith and obedience today.