John 14

Retrieving Luggage from a Burning Plane

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I used this illustration in yesterday’s sermon.  It comes from the story of the Emirates Airline plane crash in Dubai on August 3 of this year.  The plane crashed while trying to land, catching fire and burning off its roof.  Tragically, one firefighter died, although, in His mercy, God spared all 300 passengers and crew.  Here’s the link to the story, including a video that was taken on board the plane while people were trying to escape:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36963112

The most shocking and scary thing in this video is people halting their escape, in order to retrieve luggage from overhead compartments.  Not only that, in their delay they are hindering the escape of other people!  My passage yesterday was Matthew 24:15-35, where Jesus speaks of the coming destruction of Jerusalem (in 70 AD), as well as the tribulation that is still in our future.  In that passage, He tells people to focus on what is most important.  At the moment of danger, instead of going back into your house to get material things, RUN.  Save your life.  The message and application for us is clear: value your life and your soul over the things of this world.  Don’t remain in the burning plane to get things that don’t matter!

The plane analogy can be taken a bit further, as well, to demonstrate our evangelistic mandate.  On a plane, if you sit on the exit row, you are taking responsibility for saving the lives of those around you.  You know the way out, and by sitting there you are committing to point people to that way.  As Christians, we are sitting on the exit row!  We know the only Way out of judgment (John 14:6) – through the mercy found in Christ’s cross.  Value your soul above anything in this world, as well as the souls of others around you.  Help them to find Jesus, Who is the only Way out of the fire of judgment.

This illustration could be used for any passage that deals with materialism, setting our minds on things above (Colossians 3), or evangelism.

 

Tags: Matthew 24, Matthew 28, John 14, 2 Corinthians 5, Colossians 3, Jude 22-23, Evangelism, Priorities, Materialism

Prayer Guide – John 14:27-31

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Click below for the prayer guide I am using on John 14:27-31 in tonight’s prayer meeting.  I’ve been working through portions of the doctrinally-heavy section of John’s Gospel right before Jesus’ arrest.

John 14, 27-31 – Prayer Meeting 07012015

Tags: Prayer, Prayer Meeting, John 14

Prayer Meeting and a Prayer Guide

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In our church’s Wednesday night prayer meeting, we have changed things lately in order to make it more of an actual prayer meeting.  In my experience, many churches call their Wednesday night meetings a prayer meeting but actually do about 75% Bible study and add some prayer request time at the end.  The prayer time ultimately ends up being primarily for the sick (which is important, of course); it doesn’t usually include much time praying for God to work in and through His church in that local context.

So, we’ve tried to change that recently.  We’ve prayed through Acts 2:41-47, John 12:23-36, and John 13:31-35/14:1-6.  I break up the passage into smaller chunks, explain each section for about 3 minutes, and then ask each table to use my suggested prayer points to guide their prayers based on the text.  We’ve received positive feedback from attendees, and I’ve genuinely enjoyed it.

I’m going to post some of these prayer guides for anyone who wants to use them.  They’re nothing revolutionary, but they might save a busy pastor some time.  Feel free to reproduce them.  I also think they would work for personal times of prayer.  Let me know if you find them helpful or how I can improve them.  God bless you!

 

John 13, 31-35 and 14, 1-6 – Prayer Meeting 05062015

 

 

Tags: John 13, John 14, Prayer, Prayer Meeting