Encounters with Jesus: The Grieving Sisters (Randy)

This week, we continue our Encounters with Jesus series with a lesson called The Grieving Sisters. As things escalated with the Pharisees and other religious leaders, Jesus’s dear friend Lazarus died. Against the warnings of his disciples who didn’t want him to go anywhere near Jerusalem for fear for his life, Jesus made his way to Bethany where he encountered Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, who were distraught over their brother’s death. Both asked why he hadn’t gotten there sooner, not fully realizing what Jesus was about to do. Then, in one of the most dramatic episodes in the Bible, Jesus calls Lazarus out from his tomb.  The exchanges point to the fallen state of our world and what God has done about it, and how we, too, can be much like Mary and Martha without fully comprehending what Jesus can do in our lives.

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Encounters with Jesus: The Insider and Outsider (Chris)

This week, we continue our series, "Encounters with Jesus."  The eyewitness writers of the Gospels record powerful accounts of how Christ engaged the people with whom he came into contact.  Each episode reveals something important about Jesus and something instructive for us.

Chris leads us as we look at two powerful conversations from the Gospel of John.  In a short span of time, Jesus spoke with a powerful male insider (John 3) and a distressed female outcast (John 4).  These mirrored exchanges reveal answers to two fundamental questions: what is wrong with the world, and what should we do about it?

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Handout

Encounters with Jesus: Skeptical of Jesus (Randy)

We will kick off our new series called Encounters with Jesus, inspired by Tim Keller’s book by the same name. This first lesson, “Skeptical of Jesus,” is based on Nathanael’s reaction when he first heard about Jesus. Our scripture will be John 1:1-5,14, 43-51.  What gets in the way of seeing Jesus for who he really is? How does that impact our faith and our lives? How can we overcome it? As Philip responded to Nathanael at the time, “Come and see!”

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