The Rhythm of Life (2 of 3)
Series: More
Craig Smith
John 21:1-14
I. Introduction
I want to talk to you today about what God wants from you. This past weekend, on Easter, we saw that the empty tomb isn’t really empty. The body of Jesus isn’t in it, but it’s not really empty...it’s actually full of all the things that we want most, all the more we instinctively know we were created for. More peace, more joy, more hope.
And all of those can be oursa by faith in Jesus. But is that really all it takes to get the more we’re longing for? I don’t know about you, but there’s a part of me that’s tempted to believe that God gives us all those things on an installment plan. Like the down-payment is faith, but then there’s an installment plan where we pay off all those things a little bit at a time. Because we know that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is, right? [Illustration: time share presentations...it’s not really a free night at a nice hotel...they’re intent on getting you to pay it off (at a MUCH higher price...over the next 15 years. ]
And I think we bring the same expectation to our relationship with God. But is that true?
I want to take you to a story today that has really challenged the way I naturally think. It’s a story about something that happened right after Jesus’ resurrection...you’ll find it in John 21:1 if you want to start making your way there. [recap resurrection story, making the point that Jesus didn’t stay with his disciples...he went off somewhere and did something, but we don’t know what it was...but apparently he was gone long enough that some of the apostles went home!].
II. Main Body
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. (John 21:1-2)
By the way, this is kind of an interesting group of guys. And on one level, Joh ...
Series: More
Craig Smith
John 21:1-14
I. Introduction
I want to talk to you today about what God wants from you. This past weekend, on Easter, we saw that the empty tomb isn’t really empty. The body of Jesus isn’t in it, but it’s not really empty...it’s actually full of all the things that we want most, all the more we instinctively know we were created for. More peace, more joy, more hope.
And all of those can be oursa by faith in Jesus. But is that really all it takes to get the more we’re longing for? I don’t know about you, but there’s a part of me that’s tempted to believe that God gives us all those things on an installment plan. Like the down-payment is faith, but then there’s an installment plan where we pay off all those things a little bit at a time. Because we know that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is, right? [Illustration: time share presentations...it’s not really a free night at a nice hotel...they’re intent on getting you to pay it off (at a MUCH higher price...over the next 15 years. ]
And I think we bring the same expectation to our relationship with God. But is that true?
I want to take you to a story today that has really challenged the way I naturally think. It’s a story about something that happened right after Jesus’ resurrection...you’ll find it in John 21:1 if you want to start making your way there. [recap resurrection story, making the point that Jesus didn’t stay with his disciples...he went off somewhere and did something, but we don’t know what it was...but apparently he was gone long enough that some of the apostles went home!].
II. Main Body
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. (John 21:1-2)
By the way, this is kind of an interesting group of guys. And on one level, Joh ...
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