The North Church Women

John 6 Pam Larson

Our Bread of Life & Sovereign Savior

John 6

• V1-15 The Bread FEEDS the crowd-showing his identity, his person (the bread, our provider, true host, serving us)
  • Sovereign Satisfier and Sustainer!

• V16-21 The Bread is in the boat- showing his presence
  • Sovereign over the Sea
    
    
• 22-71 And then the remainder of the chapter, Jesus tells us WHO he is …. the first “I AM” statement of Jesus … “I AM the Bread of Life.”
  • Sovereign in Salvation
    
    
• And then all the implications when he unpacks that … like increasing hostility and unbelief.

Jesus does not just give us bread, (presents) He IS the Bread of Life and has promised to be with us, (presence) to never leave us.

He is our sovereign sustainer, satisfier.

He is sovereign in salvation.

O taste and see Jesus for who he is, and find your satisfaction in Jesus above all things.

John 5 Jacque Boldt

Last week, in Chapter 4 we saw two examples of believing Jesus’ WORD in the Samaritan woman and her town, and in the Roman official whose son was at the point of death, contrasted with the people of Galilee who would not believe “unless [they saw] signs and wonders.” (v.48)

In this week’s SETTING, Jesus is back in Jerusalem, for an unspecified feast.  In the RISING ACTION, we’re going to see a healing that takes place on the Sabbath, and CONFLICT with the Jewish leaders, CLIMAXing in the Jewish leaders desire to kill Jesus--because they don’t believe his WORD.  Then, in the FALLING ACTION*, we see Jesus explaining from where his authority originates which leads to the challenge: prove it! In the RESOLUTION, Jesus gives multiple witnesses to answer this challenge, confirming his identity as the Son of God/Son of Man to whom such authority is given.

*This section is structured as a chiasm, a literary tool where the parallel passages move inward to highlight the central point. Note:

• Verses 19 and 30: Jesus affirms that he does nothing on his own, but only the will of the Father/what the Father is doing.
• Verses 20 and 28-29: Jesus addresses “marveling” at great works, like healing, and even greater works like raising the dead to judgment.
• Verses 21-23 and 26-27: Jesus, like the Father, has life in himself, and has been granted by the Father to execute judgment, that he might be honored as the Son of Man
• The Center: Verses 24 and 25: Jesus affirms that the hour has come when those who hear his voice and believe him have passed from death to eternal life.

Jesus presses the issue of his identity that the Jewish leaders might be saved, and that we might be saved.  We serve a God who confronts us with our unbelieving, self-oriented hearts, so that we can repent and believe, and in believing in the truth of Jesus’ identity--have eternal life.  Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? It is only in believing that we have life.

John 4 Amy Katterson

John 4:1-6: Context: When and Where and Why

John 4:7-26: Conversation: Jesus Speaks to a Thirsty Woman

John 4:27-42: Conclusion: Jesus, the Woman, and the Disciples Sow and Reap a Huge Harvest 

John 4:43-45: Context: When and Where and Why

John 4:46-50: Conversation: Jesus Speaks to a Desperate Father

John 4:51-54: Conclusion: Jesus’ Sign and the Father’s Faith

John 3 Pam Larson

John 3 New Life in Jesus

Unbelievers or new believers are often directed to read John. Certainly, John 3 is a "must read" chapter of the Bible. Look at the "must statements" in John 3 and see how they relate to John’s aim “that we may believe!”

• First section, verses 1-13…..WE must be born again (7)…. We must BELIEVE
• Second section, verses 14-21….JESUS must be lifted up (14)
  • … and we must look to him and believe!
• Third section, verses 31-36…..JESUS must increase (30)
  • … John is a faithful witness who points to Jesus and wants us to believe… HE is above all!
• and John (and I) must decrease (30)
• Last verse (36) summarizes in this way: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

 

John 2 Jacque Boldt

Jesus replaces the emptiness of Religious Rites as the Better Bridegroom

Jesus replaces the Sacrificial System as the Lamb of God

 

Jesus is the True Temple

 

Believing Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God gives eternal, abundant life

John 1:19-51 Pam Larson

Welcome to the Bethlehem North Women’s Bible study podcast for September 25 & 26, 2018! Both of our live recordings for this podcast had technical malfunctions, so Pam recorded this after class.

Hello to our listeners from around the US and over 15 other countries. We are so glad that you are joining us in our study of the Gospel of John this year.

Seeing and Sharing Jesus, the Lamb of God (John 1:19-51, 9/25&26, 2018)

• 19-34 JOHN … sharing about Jesus
  • SEE, the Lamb of God!
• 35-51 JESUS … disciples SEE and share and follow Jesus

John 1:1-18 Pam Larson

Here are the words we followed to see the layers John used to structure his “overture.”

1-with God…... (1:1–2 connection with 1:18)

2-through Him…..(1:3 connection with 1:17)

3-receive…..(1:4–5 connection with 1:16)

4-John/witness…..(1:6–8 connection with 1:15)

5-response…..(1:9–10 connection with 1:14)

6-his own…..(1:11 connection with 1:13)

7-receive… believe (1:12)

8-children of God/born of God (1:12)

Here is a beautiful Poem by D.A. Carson on the Incarnation of Christ 

John Introduction - Pam Larson

Welcome to our study of the Gospel of John! What a joy to be gathering together and sharing what we are learning!

I am praying that the Gospel of John will speak to you wherever you are today. Ask God to open your eyes through His Spirit to give you understanding and life in his name. May you SEE Jesus, in all of his glory and may you trust in Him, believe Him with all your heart!

2 slides from the introduction to John: 

 

Week 6 Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb (by Pam Larson)

Glimpses and references to the promised Lamb of God are scattered throughout the Old Testament.

• The whole Bible tells the story of Jesus.
• Every story, every genealogy, every page, every detail speaks of our Redeemer.

To trace God’s beautiful story of redemption, we can follow a thread, a red strand that is woven throughout the Bible....looking for the lamb of God.

Where is the Lamb?

Behold the Lamb!

Worthy is the Lamb

Week 5 Ruth Chapter 4 by Abigail Dodds

Here is the outline for Ruth 4:

1)   Boaz Sets the Stage

2)   Boaz Strikes a Bargain

3)   The People Prophesy

4)   The LORD Gives A Redeemer 

We had three application points:

1-   God does it all. 

He chooses. He plucks people out of Moab. He makes a people out of those of us who are not his people. That’s all of us in here. We are all Moabites, in one sense. We are far off from God, without hope. But God brings us near through the most peculiar circumstances. He redeems us, he gives us a new name, calling us daughter. He chooses to redeem a people and it looks, from a human standpoint, like he is getting a really bad deal with us. Just like it looked like Boaz should have reconsidered his options. But God he goes ahead makes us his bride, against all human wisdom. He makes the unlovable, lovely, by his beautifying love. God does it all. 

2-   God’s people act like God’s people. 

This may seem to contradict the first one. If God does it all, who cares how we act? Let’s not focus on Ruth or Boaz, let’s just focus on God. But part of focusing on Ruth and Boaz’s worthiness and honorableness is that it actually glorifies God. We get to see what it looks like when God is working in the life of his people and what obedience is like. 

They show us what it looks like to be Israelites on the inside. It doesn’t look like staying a Moabite. It doesn’t look like sin. It looks like honoring others and humble submission, and costly leadership. And so, if it’s true that God does it all and that God’s people act like God’s people, that means that God is at work in us causing us to work really hard. And we should praise God for that. We should praise God for God and we should praise God for Ruth and Boaz and Naomi. 

3-   God’s purposes for your story go way beyond your story. 

It was true of Ruth and Boaz and Naomi and it’s true of us. We are not in the upline of Jesus, but we know this: we are his downline. We are his descendants and heirs. We are born of him, the very children of God. We cannot know his purposes for our lives, but we must not live like they end when we die. We must be working for goals 1000, 10000 years from now. DO you have that in your flowchart of goals? 

What aroma do you want to pass down to your spiritual children? That aroma may far outlast the remembrance of your name. What godly, Christ-like, inheritance are you bequeathing to the people around you? Your children, your nieces and nephews, the kids in Sunday school, your neighbors, your co-workers, your friends? Remember God is faithful to a thousand generation of those who fear him. Who will come after you in the line of Jesus?