I AM the Way

Introduction

Recap Series

I AM the bread of life

I AM the Light of the world

I AM the Good Shepherd

I AM the Resurrection and the Life

Today - I am the way the truth and the life

have you ever felt the anxiousness of being lost

it starts off as kind of, “I am not sure that I am going the right way, but we will see where it leads.”

then you know you’re lost and you think to yourself, “but we will figure it out.”

then after some time you realize, you are definitely lost, you do not know where you are going and you are not sure that you will make it out!

happened to Heather and I in Chicago one year

coming out of the football game, we thought we could get to the highway going this way, we could see it

so we kept going thinking we would find it

then we could not see the highway, realized we were lost on the south side of Chicago and the pictures of things that you only saw in movies were playing out in front of us

we were scared enough that at a red light, there were trash cans in the middle of the intersection on fire with some men warming themselves around them

Heather very nicely requested that I not stop at the stop light next to these gentlemen and just keep driving

John 14:1–6 (CSB)

1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.

4 You know the way to where I am going.”

5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

PRAYER

the work of Christ frees us from anxiety and trouble that this world brings on our hearts

Relief for Our Troubled Hearts

Anxiety, a feeling of fear, is natural

there is a part of our brains that tell us that we should be concerned about

like a natural reflex when somebody jumps at you and you get scared

Jimmy tried to scare me a few months ago, and I about hit him

not because I was mad, but because of my reflex

nobody blames the disciples for feeling troubled

Jesus was a wanted man by the religious elite, they wanted to kill him

they come in to celebrate the passover and Jesus washed their feet

they enjoy the meal together and Jesus warns them that one of their very own will betray Jesus

Afterwards he tells them of what is to come, they say they will not leave him, Jesus tells Peter that he will deny Christ three times that very night

John 14:1 (CSB)

1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

It is natural to feel anxiety, trouble, or stirring in our hearts

troubled = stirring

used one other time in the book of John in the story of the man that was waiting by the pool where it was believed that if you got in when the water was stirred, you would be healed

this is how Jesus describes hearts of those who follow him

there is a stirring in their hearts, a fear, or trouble

we can all relate to this feeling

we don’t really know what is happening, but what we see does not look good

and we are not sure how all of this is supposed to work out

if you were here last week, we are not sure how this is supposed to work out for his glory, or our good

we all know what it is like to think that feeling might not end

regardless of the doom that you are facing

doesn’t matter how it measures up to mine or theirs or ours

whatever trouble you have in your heart today can feel overwhelming

God does not desire for your heart to stay in that place

“Don’t let your heart be troubled

In the same loving way that God does not desire for us to stay in our sins, he desires us to not fret over them as well

do not let your heart be troubled is not simply a nicety that Jesus throws out, but an understanding that our anxious hearts can overtake our lives

when trouble comes, we tend to listen to our hearts and that is not a good thing

the world says follow your heart, the bible says that the heart is deceitful above all else

if you think about it for a moment, it is true

I cannot think of another person that has lied to me more than myself

I would love to say this was a problem that I addressed when I was a youth pastor, but now that I work with adults I do not ever see it

but everyone has some sort of insecurity, anxiety, trouble that comes to them it is how we deal with it that is different

His cure for this stirring is to look to him

This sounds too simple to be true… believe in Jesus

believe = entrust, Describes the act of believing or trusting something on the basis of its truthfulness and reliability.

The miracles that the disciples witnessed, and others that were there when they happened, were meant to show that Jesus was sent by the father

evidence of who he was, not simply relying on words

now their being told… what you witnessed let that be the voice you hear in you moment of doubt and trust me and my father

we are told the same… do not let your heart be troubled, believe! Trust in the Father’s love for you and the work that the son has done

Assurance for Our Troubled Hearts

We are an untrusting people and want a little assurance before we jump into things

I once went rock climbing and repelling, with youth kids

it is one thing to have them tell you that the rope can hold you, but that does not necessarily convince you

even if it is a hundred pound girl that goes in front of you and they use the same rope and tell you that it will work for you as well

in the fact that he did some miracles… no,

for them it was what he was going to do, for us, what he has done

John 14:2–3 (CSB)

2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.

There is plenty of room

Have you seen people run in at the beginning of an event to get the best seats

I have been to a lot of pastor’s conferences, I enjoy going and listening to the preaching and teaching

at the beginning of a session you have all these people crammed by the door so that they can rush in and get the best seat they can

when it is youth ministry, that was as close to the front as you could get

pastors conferences it is most leg room and easiest way to get out if you have to use the restroom because they also give out free coffee

there is always a group… two or three people run in and save a row or more of seats that are pretty good, then the people come walking in at the last minute with the best seats

room = dwelling place

I love this, because it is not just who is going to sit in a good seat for a while…

we will live with him, dwell with him,

where he is we will be also

Jesus did not use them and go back to the father

there is plenty of room where he is going

his desire is that we will be there with him,

our assurance is that he is preparing the place

He is preparing the place

this is not a carpenter building a place - please do not teach that Jesus is up there right now building your mansion, he was a carpenter on earth and he loves to build things

there ARE many rooms

the preparation is the cross

it is now prepared

We can now be with the Lord

Love for Our Troubled Hearts

I love the honesty of the Bible

nothing better than Thomas saying, we have no idea where you’re going, how can we know the way?

that should give us a little comfort… those who followed him daily did not grasp the fullness of what he was doing

here we are, thousands of years later easily misunderstanding what is taking place

many voices that will tell you things that sound good, that will be more than happy to tell you what to believe

I heard an episcopal priest this week say that God never intended you to follow some book of books that some random group of people put together

they were flawed people, writing about some historical accounts from their point of view

John 14:6 (CSB)

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

We are not left to wander searching for a way

when people perceive that God is quiet, they begin to look for another solution

Israel on Mt. Saini

Moses had been gone for some time, so what did the people do, make us an idol to follow

over and over in the OT we see this… the Israelites would follow, then they would get comfortable, then they would rebel

we are no different if we think God is not making a way for us, we will chase after the next shiny thing that catches our eye

we will begin to trust in ourselves, our works, other gods or idols

they can come in all sorts of things; money, works, idols

The way is exclusive and freeing

the way to eternal life is narrow

narrow in number - meaning there is only one way

he does not leave room for your truth, your preference

this is not a choose your path to him

God is not on a mountain allowing the people to come up whatever path the choose

God came down and made a way for his people, and has said this is the only way to get there

it is not easy

Jesus told his followers that the road was narrow and difficult that leads to the father

the easy road leads to destruction

this frees us to just walk that path

we do not have to be troubled wondering where we will end up

we have hiked in many places

I am an over preparer for hiking - I am taking a big backpack full of things for protection, food and water

we once went hiking in Utah and thought that it was a short little trail around a rock, because of the rain the night before the trail was washed out, we get lost and spend hours wandering in the desert of Utah with little to no water

Jesus has freed us from all of this, he has prepared the way, provided the way and leads us through it so that all we have to do is trust in him, follow him

This is where we truly find life

life now that we can live for him and glorify him

life to come where we will dwell with him for eternity

Exalting Jesus in John Reflect and Discuss

Reflect and Discuss

1. What is the underlying philosophy of religion? How is this different from the gospel?

2. How does the Old Testament display the failure of religion?

3. What does the Bible teach that all religions also acknowledge? What symbol does God give of this in the temple?

4. Why is Christianity exclusive?

5. What is so offensive about Jesus’s statement of exclusivity?

6. How will Jesus’s followers do greater works?

7. In what ways has Jesus’s promise of greater works been seen?

8. What does it mean to pray in Jesus’s name?

9. Why are Jesus’s words on prayer good news we can believe?

10. What can we believe about Jesus based on his words on prayer?