On Sunday, May 4, 2025, at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on John 14:25-26 and 16:12-15. This message was part 2 of the “Fired Up” sermon series.  Below you will find questions related to the message for personal reflection or group discussion.  You will also find audio and video from the message to listen to/watch, download or share.

Sermon Questions:

1. Pray
2. Read John 14:25-26, 16:12-15
3. Have you ever had the chance to interact with the artist or author of a favorite song, book, or work of art?  If not, who would you LIKE to talk to about something they have created?  When you interacted with this person (or if you could interact with them) what did you/would you ask them?  How would you anticipate that interaction increasing your appreciation for the art they produced?
4. In this morning’s message, we talked about how Jesus highlighted the Holy Spirit’s role in the formation of the New Testament.  What stood out to you most from this study?  Does the Spirit’s role in the formation of the Holy Spirit INCREASE your confidence and appreciation of the New Testament?  Why or why not?
5. What would you NOT KNOW ABOUT were it not for the New Testament?  Take a moment to thank God for the gift of the New Testament.
6. What is your plan for reading the Bible over the next 60 days?
7. We shared a set of prayers mentioned in “The Bible Recap.”  Consider taking a few minutes and praying these prayers before your Bible reading over the next 60 days. These 4 prayers:  (1) God, give me wisdom, knowledge & understanding as I read.  (2) Let any knowledge gained help me love You and others more, not puff me up.  (3) Help me see something new about You that I haven’t seen before.  (4) Direct my steps according to Your Word.
8. What stands out to you most from this message?  Any particular takeaway?

To access these questions in pdf format click here.

 

To listen to message offline, click the link:

Fired Up #2 5.4.25

 

To listen online, use media player below:

 

To watch online use YouTube:

 

About a month ago Shane Bernard and Shane Everett (Shane & Shane) came to Wildwood with their band to lead a Sunday evening time of worship.  It was a great evening, and God was glorified in that time together.

I have listened to Shane & Shane’s music for years, and Wildwood sings many of their songs (or their arrangements of songs) each Sunday.  They are truly a gift to the Church at large for which I am greatly thankful to God.

As the Shanes spent time at Wildwood that evening, I was blessed by their ministry both on and off the stage.  Off the stage, we got to have dinner and interact a bit about life.  On the stage, I got to hear Shane Bernard share his personal wrestling with the lyrics of Psalm 23, and how the Lord was teaching him through this Psalm to not “want” but to rest in the Good Shepherd who satisfies.

It truly is a special moment when you get to spend time with an artist or author and hear “behind the music.”

I was thinking about this today as I reflected on John 14:25-27 and 16:12-15.  Last Sunday we began a new sermon series entitled “Fired Up: The Holy Spirit & the Believer.”  In this series we are seeing what Jesus has taught us about the Helper (the Holy Spirit) that He sent to be with us after He ascended to the Father in Heaven.  In last Sunday’s message we talked about the present (the Holy Spirit) that Jesus has sent for our present (our current experience) to help us in the Christian life.  We ended that message by asking “how does the Holy Spirit help us?”  This Sunday, May 4, we will begin to answer that question by looking at ONE of the ways the Spirit helps us: by guiding us into Truth.

The Scripture is God’s Word.  Though men wrote the words down, these men were carried along by God’s Spirit in what they wrote.  After guiding the writing of the Scripture, the Holy Spirit then remains in a permanent way in the life of the Christian helping them make sense of what was inspired in the biblical text.

To say it another way, it is truly special when we get to LIVE with THE ARTIST and THE AUTHOR of Scripture every day.  We get access to God both “on” and “off” stage and learn more of what is “behind His music.”

Hope you can join us Sunday at Wildwood Community Church in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 worship services.  See you there … and bring friends!

On Sunday, April 27, 2025, at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on John 14:1-6, 16-20.  This message was part 1 of the “Fired Up” sermon series.  Below you will find questions related to the message for personal reflection or group discussion.  You will also find audio and video from the message to listen to/watch, download or share.

Sermon Questions:

1. Pray
2. Read John 14:1-6, 16-20
3. In John 16:7 Jesus told His disciples that it was to their advantage that He go away and send the Holy Spirit to them.  Jesus was saying that it was better to have the Spirit inside of them than to have Jesus beside them.  In what ways do you think this is true?  What questions do you still have about His statement?
4. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, showed great concern for His disciples’ future in John 14:1-6.  Jesus was making THE TRUE WAY for all who believe in Him to experience everlasting LIFE.  In what ways has Jesus prepared YOU for YOUR eternal future?
5. Jesus also shows great concern for the disciples’ PRESENT (and for our present as well!)  He sends the “Helper,” the Holy Spirit, to strengthen and encourage us in this life.  What did you learn about the Holy Spirit from Jesus’ comments in John 14:16-20?
6. In John 14, there are many things that point toward the Trinity.  What stands out to you most about the Trinity from our discussion today?  What questions do you still have about the Trinity?
7. If the Holy Spirit is God, and the Holy Spirit is in all believers in Jesus in a permanent way, then we have access to God WHEREVER WE ARE, we are never alone, and our bodies are a temple for the Holy Spirit today.  Any specific applications come to your mind about these conclusions drawn today?
8. What stands out to you most from this message?  Any particular takeaway?

To access these questions in pdf format click here.

 

To listen to message offline, click the link:

Fired Up #1 4.27.25

 

To listen online, use media player below:

 

To watch online use YouTube:

 

Can you imagine what it would have been like to be one of Jesus’ original 12 disciples during the time of His earthly ministry?

Healed the blind man?  Saw it.

Raised the widow’s son from the dead?  Witnessed it.

The Sermon on the Mount?  Listened to it. (And in a day before podcasts, and assuming Jesus probably preached this or a similar message many times, you actually had parts of it probably memorized.)

Saw Jesus walk on water?  Joined Him.

I can think of many other examples … but it would have been wild!  Not to mention the joy of simply living life in the presence of the incarnate Son of God!

We can only imagine what this would have been like … but the disciples?  They lived it in real time.  Given the spectacular nature of this experience, just imagine how perplexing this statement from Jesus to the disciples would have been in the hours before He headed to the cross, “I (Jesus) tell you (disciples) the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away.” (John 16:7a)

Wait … what!?!?!  Did Jesus just say what I thought He said?  That it would be advantageous TO THE DISCIPLES if He left?  That somehow OUR SITUATION today (where Jesus ascended to heaven) is advantageous to the situation of the disciples during the era of  Jesus’ earthly public ministry?  C’mon … seriously?

If you want an explanation for why Jesus said this, keep reading … “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.  But if I go, I will send Him to you (John 16:7).”

What Jesus was saying was that it was better to have the Holy Spirit (the Helper) inside of all of us who believe than to have Him beside a group of 12.  This is also why Jesus would tell His disciples in Acts 1:4 to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came before them embarked on the Great Commission together … they needed the Helper for the task God had called them to.  And so do we.

Friends, this Sunday at Wildwood Community Church, we will begin a new sermon series called “Fired Up: the Holy Spirit and the Believer.”  Over the next 7 Sundays (leading up to the day of Pentecost) we will explore the identity of the Holy Spirit and the implications of His ministry for you and me.  This Sunday we will kick off our study with part 1, looking at a few of Jesus’ statements in His “upper room discourse” about the importance of the Holy Spirit for the Christian.  This may be a topic you want to explore more … it certainly is a topic Jesus wants you to learn more about.  So we will take a look at His revelation on the topic together on Sunday.  See you in our 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 services … and bring friends!