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“Behold the Man!”
John 19:5 Pilate brings Jesus out before the crowd and the religious rulers as an appeal to let Jesus go because Pilate found nothing to charge against Jesus. Different translations write it differently, such as “Behold the man” or “See the man” or “Here is the man”. These all aim at the meaning that this is the man they are putting on trial: one who has been flogged and beaten, one whom Pilate views as not being a threat. The Sanhedrin and crowd view Him differently. But Pilate’s statement of “Here is the man” actually becomes quite accurate in pointing to Jesus as King. Here are some things to Behold about Jesus:
No wonder God the Father wants us to behold and see His Son! He is the Lamb of God who suffered greatly as an innocent man on our behalf. So, my brothers and sisters, let us come and behold Him. He is the man! Please read the first half of John 20 for Sunday. Pastor Andy 
Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
John 19:5 “[He] suffered under Pontius Pilate.” Line from the Apostles’ Creed Pontius Pilate was the Roman Governor to whom the Jewish leaders brought Jesus to be crucified. He initially told them to deal with it themselves (John 18:31). Upon their insistence, he interviewed Christ. In this fascinating conversation/examination he has with Jesus, Pilate goes from simply doing his job (18:33) to wondering what truth is (18:38, there is debate if it’s a sincere question or a sarcastic/flippant response to Jesus) to hearing Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God and trying to release Him (19:7-12). In short, Pilate is another person coming face to face with Jesus and having to reconcile who He is and what they must do in response to Him, much as we have seen throughout the book of John (i.e., Nicodemus, the Woman the Well, the Blind Man and his parents, etc.). Pilate was confronted with the Truth right before him. He sought to release Jesus several times and even had Christ flogged so as to present Him pitifully to the crowd. He wanted them to see Christ as their King (even though it would seem he didn’t fully appreciate who Christ was) and said, “Behold the man!” That remains a powerful statement, these two thousand years later. Who Pilate meant for folks to behold, we are meant to behold as well. We are meant to see Him and to respond to Him, just as all of the folks who encountered Jesus did in the book of John. Jesus even said that those who are of the truth will know His voice and listen (18:37). If you already know Jesus and His voice, keep seeking Him and listening! If you don’t know Jesus, please examine your life and see if it seems like Someone is trying to get your attention. If He is, please take the time to respond to Him and examine who Jesus is. For in truly beholding Him, seeing who He really is, and trusting Him, we are saved (Rom. 6:23). And, as we further behold Him, we are transformed to become more like Him (2 Cor. 3:18). While Pilate meant it as a plea to the crowd to have mercy on Christ (which they didn’t) and also as a sarcastic commentary on Christ, “Behold the man” is exactly what we need to do. As a worship song says, “Come and behold Him, the One and the Only.” Brothers and Sisters, let us behold the man! In Christ, Pastor Andy Please read John 19 for Sunday. 
Have you ever heard of TSM? That’s an acronym I came up with for “Total System Meltdown”. That’s what happened to Peter the night that Jesus was arrested. Despite his earlier statements that he would follow Jesus unto death, Peter ended up denying Christ three times that night. I think this “Total System Meltdown“ happened for several reasons. Here are a couple of them but this in no way is an exhaustive list:
Ultimately, I also think Peter denied Jesus because he simply didn’t listen to Jesus when the Lord kept warning him of what would happen. We put ourselves in a heap of trouble when we fail to listen, respond to, and obey Jesus’ words to us! Thankfully, Jesus specializes in forgiving, healing, restoring, and lifting up those who have “Total System Meltdowns”! Friends, that’s you and me! It’s not just Peter who needs the grace of Christ but every moment of every hour of every day we need His grace to cover us. Thank the Lord Jesus Christ that He has done that for us and has brought us into the kingdom of the Father! Please read John 18:28-19:16 for Sunday. Blessings, Pastor Andy 
The message Sunday ended with a question, two actually. If you were praying your last prayer, who would you pray for and for what? Who came to mind? Why do you think that is?
Let’s look again at who Jesus prayed for during His last prayer before the betrayal and arrest. He prayed for Himself – for His disciples and for all future believers. His desire to pray for Himself is to be glorified as the Father is so that the Son may glorify the Father. Then ALL the rest of those He prayed for are people He loves and cares for, deeply. You are a part of that! Need I remind you that in John 17:23-24 Jesus prays that you know that God loves you just like He loves the Son – and Jesus prays to have you in heaven one day. We think about praying for those people whom we love, whom we are worried about, if it is our last prayer because they hold a special place in our hearts. They mean something in our lives. You mean something to Jesus. You have a special place in His heart and when He was ready to surrender His life over to the world – He thought of you and His desire for you to know that you are loved and wanted in Heaven. It is that love that God gives us that we are called to use, to love one another and bring unity to the Church body – which in turn creates curiosity and wonder in others to ask us why you are the way you are. We are then to point them all to Christ – Christ then points them to God. NewLife, if any of you struggle with this idea that Jesus’ desires for us to know that we are loved by God as God loves Jesus and that we are wanted in Heaven – keep reading John 17 over and over again. Mediate on the words of Jesus. Jesus wants you to know how profoundly you are loved and wanted. You are no mistake – you are part of Jesus’ plan and team. He doesn’t pray us all out of the world – He prays for protection over the evil one. Praying for you all, Kyle 
Jesus gave instructions and warnings to His disciples to prepare them for His imminent death and return to His Father. He told them these things so that they (and we) would not stumble and fall away (John 16:1), but instead take heart in Him (John 16:33b).
Here’s a list of some of the things that Jesus said to His disciples from what I shared on Sunday. These are taken from John 13-15:
Jesus goes to tell His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit, who would “take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14b). So then, it’s important that we pay close attention to what the Holy Spirit is telling us, because He shares the very words of Jesus with us. He does this to teach and train us, to prepare us for the works Jesus would have us do (see the list above), and to be obedient to Him. Don’t let that little word “obedient” get in your way. As we abide in Him and He in us, He enables us to do what He wants and to obey Him, because that’s how we show the world that we love Him. This takes us back to where we started for today: He wants us close to Him and not falling away. He did what it took to bring us to Himself. Let’s honor Him in love by not only receiving Him but loving Him by doing what He says. Blessings, NewLife! Pastor Andy Please read John 17 for Sunday. 
Y’all, welcome to the University of Adversity. Around here, we say that we are “Formed in the Fire” because Jesus uses the things of adversity to form us into His image. In a way only He can, He uses these fires to refine us (Prov. 17:3). We have the opportunity to become more like Jesus when we approach life the way He commands us to live: loving the Father and those around us. We also have the opportunity through the big and daily trials to become more like Christ (James 1:3) . We can become better or bitter, through the choices we make and through the reactions of our hearts to the world around us. This is exactly why Jesus commands us to “Abide in Me and I in you” (John 15: 4). It’s through Jesus that we can not only endure but overcome in life and bear fruit as we abide in Him. That’s how He can promise us His joy as we love one another (John 15:11-12) because it’s by Him living His life through us that we can do these things. As Paul reminds us, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13). Therefore, we must be careful to make sure we’re asking Him everyday to fill us with His Spirit and be sure to abide in Him throughout each day and night. As we do this, we’ll show that we know and love Him, which brings glory to the Father. Amen!
Keep Abiding in Him! Pastor Andy Please read John 16 for Sunday. 
NewLife,
When it comes to pruning, there is the trim than can be used, there’s bigger cutting, and then there’s an all out shaking of a tree. On the same week when we walked through the first half of John 15, studying what it means to abide/remain in Christ, we had such severe and significant weather that whole trees were pulled up by their roots. As I drove through town yesterday and today, I saw multiple trees that had been pulled out entirely like that. It was sobering, to say the least! I know many of y’all lost trees or had significant damage to your homes and property. The majority of us have been without power the past couple days. All of this, can have a pruning effect on our lives. It shows us and reminds us of our need to abide in Christ so that we have the ability through Him, to walk through difficult times. His abiding presence in us enables us to live fruitfully and minister to others in these difficult times. In fact, a praise in the midst of all of this is that we were able to move forward with W3D and had a very great time with the students today! The theme was for today “Jesus brings power“. It was a powerful, reminder to the students and all of us that even when we don’t have power (meaning electricity), we can still lean on Him and draw our lives from His powerful presence. Friends, let’s keep doing that each day this week! Seeking His power with you, Pastor Andy Please read John 15:9 through the end of the chapter. God is powerful! 
It was the night of His upcoming betrayal. He had just washed the disciples’ feet and now, Jesus was giving them comfort in the face of His death and departure. All of eternity would be forever changed in the next few hours and He wanted them to be ready, just as He wants us to be ready. So, Jesus gave instructions and truths that would shape the lives of the disciples then and ours now. All of this is in John 14.
Jesus began by telling them, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled”. He was telling them they had a choice in how they would respond to what was happening within them, even as these events would unfold. He then told them to “Believe in God. Believe in Me.” Our hope hangs on our trust in God the Father and His Son - and in the Holy Spirit, whom He would be sending soon and has since sent to be with us! He then goes on to list reasons for them to believe in Him. These same reasons are the things that comfort our hearts and will transform our lives. Here’s a brief list:
Please read John 15 for Sunday. Pastor Andy 
Greetings NewLife!
Jesus allowed Himself to serve as the lowliest in a room of His disciples – a group of individuals who were devoted to His teaching, devoted to His cause and devoted to Truth. Yet, they watch Him kneel before each of them and serve them in such a way – it shocked them. Then as He sat back down when everyone’s feet were clean, He told them all to do the same. In order to wash someone’s feet we have to allow ourselves to be humble and take on the lowliest position in the room. We have to do the unthinkable amongst our peers. To truly do as Christ has asked, we must put others first and ourselves last. In John 13, we see this beautiful picture of humility when Christ washed the disciples’ feet. Then, just a few verses later, we read about Jesus’ new commandment, that we are to love one another. This love is vital because it is how Jesus is seen in us. Verses 34 and 35 of John 13 state: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Emphasis mine) I challenged you all regarding washing feet – not necessarily literal feet of each other, though that is possible – but how is God calling you to serve others? What is God asking you to do that makes you as humble as servant status? No matter what it is – we are called to love one another. Love answers to love. I plead with you all – let us be used by the Spirit to fulfill John 13:35. "By this (loving one another) all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Let us love so that others see Christ. Let them all know we are Christians by our love. Not our music, sermons, food, comfortable seating . . . But God please, let them all know WE are Christ followers by our love. Love Pastor Kyle 
On Sunday, we saw that Jesus stated that His hour had arrived and that He had come to earth for this purpose: to be lifted up from the earth and to draw all people to Himself (John 12:23,27,32). This is the glory of Jesus! In His humiliation, in suffering and death on the cross, we see His glory, not just in His Resurrection and Ascension. In view of this, we are to live for the glory of God. We studied several passages on this and I challenged us to pick one of these verses and meditate on it this week. Here are the verses:
How do you respond to the glory of Jesus? To Him be glory forever! Pastor Andy Please read John 13 for Sunday. 
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