We believe that through Jesus, God gives all people the opportunity to know they belong to him.  But what does it mean to belong, to truly know that we are God’s loved daughters and loved sons?

During the weeks of October 11, 18, and 25, we’re going to visit an old place to explore the answer.  We call it “Heidelberg U.”

Our Senior Fellowship meets on Thursday, October 8, 2:00 p.m., Landsmeer Retirement Center Dining Hall. Join us for coffee, tea, home-baked goodies by Ann, and special guest, Dr. Timothy Huffman. Tim leads the Actuarial Science Program at Northwestern College and will share how this course of study is preparing young women and men to be Christ’s presence in the field.  Change the …

We believe that through Jesus, God gives all people the opportunity to know they belong to him.  But what does it mean to belong, to truly know that we are God’s loved daughters and loved sons? During the weeks of October 11, 18, and 25, we’re going to visit an old place to explore the answer.  We call it “Heidelberg …

This week’s message takes us to the end of our five weeks in John 3 and 4.  We’ve enjoyed Jesus’ conversations with a religious man seeking Jesus and with an unnamed woman Jesus was seeking.  We found that we are truly free of a past we can’t change and a future we can’t control when we receive our true identity in Christ.  

A long time ago, a singer sang these words, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24). 

What day was he talking about? This little line looked forward to the day that Jesus would become the cornerstone of God’s people’s lives, the day when people would understand that Jesus is their Savior. 

So, in essence, that day could be this week.

This past Sunday’s story in The Gospel Project for Kids was “The Conquest of Jericho.” Last week, your kids learned that the Israelites crossed the Jordan River on dry ground. They were finally in the promised land! They only had one thing left to do: conquer the land and drive out the inhabitants. The people who lived in Canaan worshiped false gods.

This week worlds will collide around a watering hole outside a small Samaritan town.  At this “village pump” Jesus will engage in a very personal conversation.  It looks like a clash of cultures on many fronts: he is a man, she is a woman; he a Jew, she a Samaritan.  Men and women, Jews and Samaritans, do not talk in private, let alone in public.

This past Sunday we continued our journey with The Gospel Project.  Sunday’s Bible story took place chronologically after the death of Moses. The Israelites had reached the edge of the promised land. God called Joshua to lead the people, and He promised to be with Joshua every step of the way. God would lift up Joshua in front of all the Israelites so they would know that God would be with Joshua just as He had been with Moses. The Israelites reached the Jordan River during flood season. With the river overflowing its banks, the Jordan River would have been as difficult to cross as the Red Sea! God gave Joshua specific instructions concerning the crossing, and Joshua obeyed.

This Sunday we come to John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son…”  A man named F.F. Bruce wrote several decades ago that this is “the best-known and most often preached text in the entire Bible. It is a masterly and moving summary of the gospel, cast in terms of the love of God.”

And there is one word that grabbed my heart more than any other in my preparation: “Whoever…”

For five weeks this fall, the Holy Spirit is taking us slowly through John 3 and John 4.  We’ll hear some of the most quoted words in the Bible – “You must be born again…” and “For God so loved the world…” and “…never be thirsty again.” 

We’ll meet two people who appear different but deep down are the same.  One is a Jewish male from a prominent family and who is highly religious. The other is an unnamed woman with a checkered past. He seeks Jesus out at night. Jesus seeks her out by day.