Today is our annual Thanksgiving Sunday. In today’s message, we are going to learn why those who believe in Jesus have much to be thankful for and why we can have hope and joy in a messed up world.

Sometimes it takes great courage to speak the truth. We’ll see that in the sermon today. It also takes strong character to hear and absorb the truth. This we won’t see. Today we’ll be challenged to think about which response better describes us and consider who it is who is really controlling our lives.

Not all of us enjoy thinking about the after-life. That’s because we have questions about what comes “after life”.  Today’s passage gives us a glimpse of what to expect and warning we would do well to not ignore.

The woman caught in adultery and Jesus writing in the sand is one of the most beloved stories found in our Bibles today. This story is not without some controversy but regardless of the tension, there is still a lesson to be gained from this account.

Our message today from John tells of a crowd, when face-to-face with Jesus, had a mixed response to Him. It will challenge us to examine ourselves as we prepare to come “face-to-face” with Jesus on this communion Sunday.

In the middle of the book of John, we find a short passage describing a time when Jesus goes “undercover”. In this narrative, John includes an “undercover view” of what the crowd really thinks about Jesus which challenges us to examine ourselves and ask, “What do I think about him?”

When it comes to deciding what is truth, sometimes it pays to be like Sherlock Holmes: “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” Today’s passage will challenge us to approach Christ’s teaching with that exact same attitude.

Sammy from Galilee is going to share a story he experienced with Jesus from the first century.

For many people, religion, their religion, is how one comes in right relationship with God. The irony here is that by focusing on one’s religion, one oftentimes misses the very person, and consequently the goal, our religion says we have met.