1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,200 My name is Scott. 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,680 A little bit about me. 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:08,280 I, would you open the cap? 4 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:09,840 Yeah, and you set it right here. 5 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,800 I've been in a power chair now for nine years. 6 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,880 I had a bad fall at work and suffered a spinal cord injury. 7 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:23,900 So I use a power chair. 8 00:00:23,900 --> 00:00:27,420 A couple things about my spinal cord injury are, 9 00:00:27,420 --> 00:00:31,360 one, I have a really hard time staying warm. 10 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,440 And is anyone else in here a little chilly? 11 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:36,680 Or is it just me? 12 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,820 Dad's shaking his head no vigorously, my dad. 13 00:00:40,820 --> 00:00:44,560 So I already turned the temperature up a little bit. 14 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,680 So if you get warm in here, it's my fault. 15 00:00:49,620 --> 00:00:54,620 Don't think it's on anyone else, or it's by coincidence. 16 00:00:54,620 --> 00:00:57,260 You may need to sweat a little bit 17 00:00:57,260 --> 00:00:58,900 for me to get through this. 18 00:01:00,460 --> 00:01:03,060 So we suffer together. 19 00:01:04,900 --> 00:01:09,900 And so we'll grind through together and we'll get there. 20 00:01:10,260 --> 00:01:14,420 I also stay tilted back in my chair pretty far. 21 00:01:14,420 --> 00:01:17,620 That helps me regulate my blood pressure. 22 00:01:17,620 --> 00:01:19,940 So that's why you'll see me reclined. 23 00:01:19,940 --> 00:01:23,560 And I drink quite a bit of water. 24 00:01:27,300 --> 00:01:30,140 I'm not capable of drinking regular water. 25 00:01:31,180 --> 00:01:33,540 So I drink flavored water. 26 00:01:35,580 --> 00:01:38,660 I drink Diamond Mountain Dew and flavored water. 27 00:01:38,660 --> 00:01:40,740 I'm allergic to regular H2O. 28 00:01:43,100 --> 00:01:45,540 I want to say a couple things. 29 00:01:45,540 --> 00:01:50,380 One, I really appreciate Steve being here today. 30 00:01:50,380 --> 00:01:52,100 Steve, how many years have you been 31 00:01:52,100 --> 00:01:54,360 leading worship in the Quad Cities? 32 00:01:59,060 --> 00:02:03,180 18 years leading worship here in the Quad Cities. 33 00:02:03,180 --> 00:02:05,620 And so I'm so grateful for that. 34 00:02:05,620 --> 00:02:09,260 When Pastor Greg told me that he and Pastor Jen 35 00:02:09,260 --> 00:02:11,220 were gonna be gone today, I said, 36 00:02:11,220 --> 00:02:15,580 okay, you know, that's cool, but can we please find somebody 37 00:02:15,580 --> 00:02:17,140 to lead worship? 38 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,980 Because you cannot replace what we just had 39 00:02:21,980 --> 00:02:23,500 in here this morning. 40 00:02:23,500 --> 00:02:28,260 And Pastor Greg had offered to do like a recorded worship 41 00:02:28,260 --> 00:02:31,140 and some things which would have worked okay, 42 00:02:31,140 --> 00:02:34,700 but you really can't replace what Steve did 43 00:02:34,700 --> 00:02:35,780 for us here this morning. 44 00:02:35,780 --> 00:02:38,100 So I'm really grateful. 45 00:02:38,100 --> 00:02:41,620 And it takes a special person to just step in 46 00:02:41,620 --> 00:02:45,380 to a church that you haven't led worship in before 47 00:02:45,380 --> 00:02:47,540 and just be able to plug and play. 48 00:02:47,540 --> 00:02:49,740 And he did a great job at that today. 49 00:02:50,660 --> 00:02:54,540 And it was also awesome to have Chris 50 00:02:54,540 --> 00:02:57,720 bring in his personality and his freshness 51 00:02:57,720 --> 00:02:59,500 and his attitude today. 52 00:02:59,500 --> 00:03:01,780 Can we just give him some thanks as well? 53 00:03:01,780 --> 00:03:08,780 It really helps when you're sharing the word 54 00:03:08,780 --> 00:03:11,420 to have some energy when you get up here. 55 00:03:11,420 --> 00:03:13,460 And I feel that today that both of them 56 00:03:13,460 --> 00:03:14,460 were able to bring that. 57 00:03:14,460 --> 00:03:17,600 So I'm really, really grateful for that. 58 00:03:19,020 --> 00:03:22,420 So I appreciate all of that. 59 00:03:22,420 --> 00:03:24,420 I do miss Pastor Greg. 60 00:03:25,340 --> 00:03:28,440 The last time I preached, when I came up, he booed me. 61 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:33,440 And that may have been my favorite greeting of all time. 62 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,040 Because for someone to boo you, 63 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,520 they have to know you pretty well. 64 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:45,160 To throw a boo, they have to know 65 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:46,880 that they're not gonna throw you off 66 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:49,280 and that they're probably gonna laugh. 67 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:51,920 Or it's really awkward. 68 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,160 So Pastor Greg is in Des Moines today 69 00:03:55,160 --> 00:04:00,160 with his son Wally, and they're enjoying some time together. 70 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:01,960 So I'm really grateful for that. 71 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,160 And as has already been said today, 72 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,440 I'm really glad that they get to do that 73 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:08,800 and that we still have a good crowd. 74 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,480 We're still having fun and we still trust 75 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,840 that God's able to work in our midst today. 76 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:14,680 Amen? 77 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:15,520 Amen. 78 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,560 Every once in a while for some energy, 79 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,680 I asked Chris to throw on a let's go. 80 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:21,520 So can we practice? 81 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:22,360 Let's go! 82 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:23,200 Yeah! 83 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:25,400 Let's go! Yeah! 84 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:29,880 That's the new amen. 85 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:31,560 You can still do an amen, 86 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,200 but that's the new amen that he's bringing. 87 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:35,640 So I appreciate that. 88 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,360 Today I wanna talk about the gospels 89 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:43,560 and we're kicking off a series on John specifically. 90 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,040 But I wanted to talk about the gospels for a moment. 91 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:49,240 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John 92 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,960 are the order that they appear in our Bible. 93 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,280 And the gospels are the foundation 94 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:59,080 for the New Testament, 95 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,640 but really for our understanding of the whole Bible. 96 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,240 Because as we as Christians understand the Bible, 97 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,360 it's focused on the life of Jesus. 98 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,520 There are lots of other places in there that are important, 99 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,360 but it all is focused on the life, 100 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:19,560 the death, and the resurrection of Jesus. 101 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,280 So why do we have four gospels? 102 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:24,480 Why don't we just have one? 103 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,040 We have four gospels because it's valuable 104 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:33,040 to have four different perspectives on the life of Jesus. 105 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,840 Each gospel writer had a different personality. 106 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:39,720 Each gospel writer was writing 107 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,360 for a little bit different purpose. 108 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:44,840 Each one was probably writing 109 00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:48,240 to a specific church or group. 110 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,400 They're actually letters. 111 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:54,760 And each one was writing at a little bit different time. 112 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:57,080 And they each had, 113 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:59,320 I think I've mentioned their own personality. 114 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,520 So if there were four people in this room, 115 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:03,960 not to make it about me, 116 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,880 but for a moment I'll do it for the example, 117 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:11,600 to say, hey, I wanna write to you about Scott. 118 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,800 You would each say something a little bit different 119 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,720 about how you know me, how long you've known me, 120 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:22,000 who you were telling my story to, 121 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:23,840 and what the point of that was. 122 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:26,640 If it was for a newspaper article, 123 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:29,400 you would speak about it differently 124 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:34,400 than if it were for like a book or something like that, 125 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,640 or for if it was just a general introduction. 126 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:39,720 Hey, I wanna let you know about this person 127 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:41,120 you're gonna be meeting. 128 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,080 Here's a little bit about him. 129 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:49,080 Some of it would depend too on what part of my life 130 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:50,760 you know me from. 131 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,560 One thing that's always interesting to me is 132 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,600 whether someone knew me before my injury 133 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,640 or after my injury, 134 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:03,160 because for the vast majority of you in this room, 135 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,560 you know me as someone that uses a power chair, 136 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,880 and you know me as someone who is a quadriplegic. 137 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,080 There's some people in the room, my parents, 138 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,320 who've known me my entire life. 139 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:17,360 And so they have a lot different perspective 140 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:21,520 on where I'm from, who I am, what I'm like. 141 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:25,280 Oh, and I also wanna give a shout out. 142 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,560 There's two special people here today. 143 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:33,560 One from Oklahoma, my niece, Lily, 144 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:38,280 and also my nephew, Grayson, who's here from Kansas. 145 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:40,640 So can we welcome them today with a hand? 146 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:45,640 So it's really neat that they get to be here today as well. 147 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,920 So each person has a different perspective. 148 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,680 I have a picture of me holding my nephew Grayson 149 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,880 before my injury, and it was just a few months before that. 150 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:03,440 So to me, that's a special thing 151 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,000 that I have that picture of me holding him. 152 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,280 But throughout his life and throughout my niece's life, 153 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,880 they've known me as Uncle Scott that uses a chair. 154 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:15,440 So I just bring that up to say, 155 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:18,960 the different phases of life that someone knows you in, 156 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,960 that they've heard about you in, that they've seen you in, 157 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,000 change how they talk about you, 158 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,720 the stories that they tell about you. 159 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:29,600 So when we ask that question, 160 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,100 why are the gospels different? 161 00:08:32,100 --> 00:08:36,560 Why do they tell different stories in different ways, 162 00:08:36,560 --> 00:08:38,640 sometimes in a different order? 163 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:41,280 They knew Jesus in different ways. 164 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:44,320 Some of them knew him personally. 165 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:48,000 One of them we know did not, Mark did not. 166 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:49,920 And then even those who wrote them 167 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,600 that we understand to be his disciples 168 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,380 had different relationships with him. 169 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:58,680 John writes about himself in the third person 170 00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:01,600 as the one who Jesus loved. 171 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:04,680 He had a special relationship with Jesus. 172 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:07,320 That's how he thought of himself. 173 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:10,700 So that's a little bit about the gospels. 174 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:16,120 Now, when we get through that, 175 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:20,560 and we're gonna talk about John a little bit in particular, 176 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:23,200 I'm gonna use an analogy for that, 177 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:24,240 but before I do that, 178 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:26,880 let's go back to the friendship for a moment 179 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:29,120 and let's hear some of the traits 180 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,400 or some of the interests that you look for in a friend. 181 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:37,120 I think I heard Star Wars up here, 182 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,400 and we're joking, but that's also true. 183 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:42,280 Is that fair to say? 184 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:43,640 It's a common interest. 185 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:45,840 There's some people in this church that I know 186 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:47,880 I can talk to Star Wars about, 187 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:51,240 and especially if there's a new series, a new episode, 188 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:53,040 I kind of edge over toward them to say, 189 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,600 hey, what did you think about this? 190 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,800 I think I saw an advertisement for a show called Acolyte. 191 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:01,720 Okay, I didn't know that that was coming out 192 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,360 until just last night, so that was cool. 193 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,360 And Andy's nodding his head vigorously, 194 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:12,080 so he's just outed himself as an adult nerd, 195 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,680 which I'm very proudly one as well. 196 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:17,640 I read the books. 197 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:19,800 That's how much of a nerd I am. 198 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:21,440 I read the books about the characters 199 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:23,600 that don't even exist in the movies. 200 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:26,240 So that's me. 201 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,920 What about other folks, an interest or a trait? 202 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,080 I was over, I was listening in, 203 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:35,960 and Joe, did I hear you say acceptance? 204 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:37,800 Yeah, that's a trait that he looks for. 205 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:39,520 That's really important. 206 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:41,760 What about other folks? 207 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:43,120 Something in a friend. 208 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,160 Silly, yes, I hear that. 209 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:50,360 I would say my answer would be a sharp sense of humor. 210 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:53,640 That's why I like Pastor Greg. 211 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:54,800 He's willing to boo me. 212 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:56,360 I love that. 213 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:58,120 That's a good trait in a friend. 214 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:00,400 I think I heard loyalty. 215 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,280 Where did I hear that from? 216 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:05,080 Okay, Robin, thank you. 217 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:09,000 Now you were watching online last week, right? 218 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:11,400 Maybe? 219 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:12,360 Probably, okay. 220 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,080 I say that because I was listening. 221 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,480 I was here, but I think I might have went out 222 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:18,960 because I was cold, surprised. 223 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:20,400 So I think I saw you on there. 224 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,400 So it's always great to see people 225 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:24,240 who are watching on Facebook too. 226 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:27,800 Any other traits or interests? 227 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:30,720 Let's do one more. 228 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:31,680 Authentic. 229 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:32,840 Authentic, all right. 230 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,120 That's been a really big one, 231 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,800 especially probably maybe in the last 20 years, 232 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:39,960 we've heard that word a lot. 233 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:44,400 Authentic, someone who's willing to be real with you 234 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,280 and share with you where they're at. 235 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:55,000 All right, very good. 236 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:58,640 Now I wanna look at the gospel writers. 237 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:00,920 I wanna look at Mark, Luke, and John 238 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:02,520 and their personalities a little bit, 239 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,360 as they might be. 240 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:11,200 Now I am, as I often do, taking wide liberties here. 241 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,400 So I wanna put that out there upfront. 242 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:19,400 These are examples at times a bit silly, not exact, 243 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:24,080 to help us have a conversation and have an understanding. 244 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:28,120 But we have to keep in mind that it's, 245 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:29,360 I'm taking some liberties. 246 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:32,160 Now, Scott, why would you do that in a sermon? 247 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:33,720 It has a certain amount of risk in it. 248 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:35,120 Yes, that's true. 249 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:39,640 But another friend of mine, Jesus, told parables, right? 250 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,840 He would talk about God's word through telling farming 251 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:47,840 stories, through telling fishing stories, things like that. 252 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:52,120 And as we know, when you talk about God's kingdom as a tree, 253 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,800 there's gonna be some flaws in that example, right? 254 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:59,480 We can only take it so far before we go, 255 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,880 all right, we're talking about a tree, okay? 256 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,720 But he was willing to do that and take some risks 257 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:07,440 to communicate his message. 258 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,600 And so I'm gonna do a little bit of that today. 259 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:12,480 Now I'm going to talk about Mark 260 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:15,840 as if Mark were my friend. 261 00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:19,640 Mark and I would probably get along pretty well. 262 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:22,520 And I'm doing this according to the style 263 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:25,120 of how he wrote his gospel. 264 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,880 Mark is a straight to the facts person. 265 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:33,400 He's not as worried about giving you background information. 266 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:35,720 He jumps right into it. 267 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,320 When he wrote his gospel, he started it with, 268 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:42,520 this is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 269 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,360 And he goes, boom, he starts talking about John the Baptist, 270 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:48,160 and he starts discussing Jesus' ministry. 271 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:50,720 He gets right into it. 272 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,400 He's willing to end a sentence abruptly. 273 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:59,480 He is even ends his gospel very abruptly. 274 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:01,400 There's not a lot of transition there. 275 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,400 And he focuses more on the action of what Jesus is doing 276 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:09,360 than long sections of what Jesus said. 277 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:12,640 So I think Mark and I would get along for those purposes. 278 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:16,400 I like to say things in as short a way as possible. 279 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,200 At times, of course, sometimes I'm long-winded. 280 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,560 But oftentimes I like short conversations. 281 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,240 I like conversations that are very much to the point. 282 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:29,840 I don't mind when someone ends a conversation 283 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,320 by just saying what they have to say and walking away, 284 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,680 because I'm prone to do that myself. 285 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:40,760 When I'm with friends that I'm close with, 286 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:43,120 and especially ones that help me 287 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,120 quite a bit around the house, 288 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:46,960 they know my personality. 289 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,360 They know I'm not trying to be bossy or order them around. 290 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:52,160 So it's short and quick. 291 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:54,840 Please move that there. 292 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:56,160 Please do that. 293 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:57,280 Do this. 294 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:58,640 Then we're gonna do this. 295 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:00,080 Thank you very much. 296 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,480 When I don't know somebody as well, 297 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:04,960 or they're maybe a little bit more sensitive person, 298 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,200 I say, you know, I'd really appreciate it if. 299 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:09,840 Would you please do? 300 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:10,680 And that's good. 301 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:12,600 That's an important way to build a relationship. 302 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:14,720 But I think Mark and I would get along 303 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,400 because there probably wouldn't be a lot of that. 304 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,040 There probably wouldn't be a lot of pleases and thank yous. 305 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,720 There probably wouldn't be a lot of long conversations. 306 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:25,680 Now, Luke, 307 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,000 Luke started his gospel by saying, 308 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,360 I've researched, I've looked through every account, 309 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:33,800 and now I'm going to write to you 310 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,960 and tell you everything that I've learned. 311 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:40,160 And Luke goes back before Mark does, 312 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:44,520 Luke researches not only Jesus and John the Baptist, 313 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,760 but the prophecies about them before they were even born. 314 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:50,920 And then he tells about when their mothers were pregnant. 315 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,920 And then he tells about when they met each other, 316 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:56,200 they were cousins. 317 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,880 So Luke, also he likes to go in order. 318 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:02,840 He does a lot of research and he goes through 319 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:04,520 and he tells the story. 320 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,280 I think I would get along really well with Luke, 321 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:09,040 especially if we were having more 322 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:11,600 of a historical conversation. 323 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:13,720 We were giving context. 324 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:17,240 You can trust that he's going to use more words 325 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:18,840 than my friend Mark would, 326 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:20,400 but it's for a good purpose. 327 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,000 He's always headed somewhere. 328 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,080 He has a plan in his mind. 329 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:29,760 Now, John, oh, John. 330 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,000 We would probably have the least in common. 331 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,080 John is more of a poet. 332 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:42,600 John, he was willing to use a lot of words 333 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,560 to say what he has to say. 334 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:48,960 John is the kind of person I think where if I would say, 335 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,120 John, can you explain to me what you meant 336 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:52,080 when you said that? 337 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,520 He might say, well, what did that mean to you? 338 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:01,360 That is one of my least favorite questions in the world. 339 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,240 And I think, you know, I was listening to, 340 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:07,600 when someone does an interview with a song artist 341 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:11,680 and they ask that question, what was that song about? 342 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,560 You know it's coming, but I still can't stand it. 343 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:16,640 Well, I just want that song to be about 344 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,480 whatever it's about to that person. 345 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:21,680 Okay, that's great, but what did you mean? 346 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:24,680 What were you actually writing about? 347 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:25,800 What were you thinking about? 348 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:27,920 That's what I'm interested in. 349 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:29,360 What's the history of it? 350 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:31,840 What people were in mind? 351 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:34,800 But a lot of times you don't get that from an artist. 352 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,240 And I think from John, it would be hard 353 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:39,200 to get that from him. 354 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,040 When he tells his gospel story, 355 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:45,760 he starts back before the beginning of the universe. 356 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,640 That's the kind of guy John is. 357 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:53,080 He goes so far outside of the box. 358 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,560 It's worth it in its own way. 359 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:58,440 And we'll get to that here in a moment. 360 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,440 We're starting a series on John. 361 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,920 But he takes a completely different route. 362 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,040 Now I'm gonna take my liberties even a little bit further. 363 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,080 I'm going to say what their Facebook posts 364 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:13,360 would have looked like. 365 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,720 All right, we're stretching it, but we're getting there. 366 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,040 How would Mark, Luke, and John say happy birthday 367 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,720 on Facebook to their figurative wives? 368 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:26,760 Okay, their imaginary wives. 369 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:30,760 Mark, I think he would have gone this route. 370 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,240 Happy birthday to my wife, I love you. 371 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:35,760 I'll stop. 372 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:37,480 That's it. 373 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,120 He goes on, he posts, he tells her he loves her, 374 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:42,160 he moves on. 375 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,680 All right, here's how I imagine Luke might have posted it. 376 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,760 Happy birthday to my wife of 15 years. 377 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:51,800 I love you so much. 378 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,440 Here are some pictures of our life, our journey. 379 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:59,680 And by the way, here's an article about marriage 380 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,720 that you may enjoy to read that's been helpful to us. 381 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,880 It's a research base, it gives a history. 382 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:10,440 He gives you a small homework assignment. 383 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:14,480 And it's more sentimental, but it still has, 384 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:19,480 it's chronological, it has a point, and he goes through. 385 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:21,600 Now John might have said, 386 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:25,640 our story reminds me of a Greek play. 387 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:30,000 And I'm sorry this post is going to be so long. 388 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,360 And whenever I read that, I flinch. 389 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:36,000 But our true friends will read our whole story. 390 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,920 Leave a comment if you want to. 391 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,520 Now he's done so many things I don't like already. 392 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,800 He's already started with something I have no idea 393 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:50,160 what he's talking about, a Greek play. 394 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,520 And it's one of those posts where you have to click it 395 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:54,720 to see the rest. 396 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:59,000 And then you have to click the three dots after that 397 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:00,760 to see the whole thing. 398 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,080 And I'm like, this is not what Facebook is for. 399 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,120 It's not for short essays. 400 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:10,960 But he's gonna go on, and then he's even going to do the, 401 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:13,760 leave a comment, right? 402 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:15,960 My true friends will read this whole thing 403 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:16,800 and leave a comment. 404 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:18,360 And I'm going, okay. 405 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:20,480 So now you're saying if I don't read the whole thing, 406 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,560 I'm not a true friend, and I'm supposed to leave a comment 407 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:25,360 to show you that I really read it. 408 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,320 Now to some, that's romantic. 409 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:31,760 Romantic, right? 410 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,920 His wife, maybe that would be the most meaningful to her. 411 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,640 He's going to express himself in a more long form way. 412 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,440 He's gonna use more words. 413 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:43,520 He's gonna compare it to something. 414 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:46,640 But it's not my vibe. 415 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,360 If you look at my last Facebook post to my wife 416 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:52,960 on her birthday, I'm pretty sure it was, 417 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,400 happy birthday to my wife, I love you. 418 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:57,240 Okay? 419 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,480 Which I think she's okay with. 420 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:01,920 She's come to expect. 421 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:03,640 That's not a surprise to her. 422 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:07,640 But they're each different. 423 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:10,920 They're each unique, and our personalities line up 424 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:11,840 differently with them. 425 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,560 And so I've left out Matthew just because I didn't have 426 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:16,640 as much time. 427 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:23,040 And I like Mark and Luke more, and I had to include John 428 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:27,520 because that's who the series is about. 429 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:29,000 Personality, right? 430 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,280 So that's a little bit about the gospels. 431 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,520 But we need different voices, don't we? 432 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,640 We need different voices to stretch us. 433 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:49,640 If I only, if I just read the book of Mark again and again, 434 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:50,840 I would enjoy it. 435 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:54,840 But I would miss a lot, wouldn't I? 436 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:59,800 I would miss what John has to say about the Holy Spirit. 437 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,880 I would miss what John has to say about Jesus' 438 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,360 special relationship with his disciples and how he 439 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:12,360 prepared them for his death and resurrection. 440 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:14,480 I would miss John 3.16. 441 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:18,960 For God so loved the world that he sent his only son. 442 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,400 And there are a lot of other great verses that are in there. 443 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:27,240 And the story of Lazarus is in there, which is one of my 444 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:29,680 favorite passages of all time. 445 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:33,960 So I'm really glad that there's those different voices, 446 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,440 those different ways of saying things. 447 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:40,680 And even though John is different, and our personalities 448 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:45,280 would probably be different in person, he tells us a story 449 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:47,360 in a different way that we need. 450 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,800 Some of us because we relate to it most, 451 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,520 because it makes the most sense to us. 452 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,160 And some of us because it's a little bit outside 453 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,840 of our comfort zone or what we're used to. 454 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,400 And we need that too. 455 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:07,240 Now I want to go now and I want to read 456 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:13,600 the beginning of some of chapter one of John. 457 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:18,440 In the beginning was the word and the word was with God 458 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,040 and the word was God. 459 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,280 He was with God in the beginning. 460 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,720 Through him all things were made. 461 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:31,360 Without him nothing was made that has been made. 462 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,000 I had a friend in college who read this in high school 463 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,600 for the first time and he said when he read it, 464 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,520 he was in a room by himself but he stood up and clapped. 465 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,960 Because it's so beautiful, it's so well written, 466 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,800 it's so powerful that it's worth standing up 467 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:50,240 and clapping for. 468 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:55,200 In the beginning was the word and the word was with God 469 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,720 and the word was God. 470 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:03,760 John is going back to tell the story of Jesus before Adam, 471 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,920 before the Garden of Eden, before creation. 472 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:12,120 He's even going so far back that he's telling the story 473 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:17,120 before the first Adam, A-T-O-M of the universe. 474 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,240 He's taking us to a place and reminding us 475 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:24,160 that Jesus' story starts before we ever heard 476 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,200 the name Jesus, back before there was ever 477 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,680 a single prophecy about him. 478 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:35,080 He was with God and he was God. 479 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:40,080 John has absolutely no doubts whether Jesus was the Messiah. 480 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,560 No doubts whether he was the son of God. 481 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:48,160 He doesn't feel like he needs to take us down a path 482 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:51,080 in order to help lead us there. 483 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:54,240 He makes it very clear. 484 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:58,040 I wanna read a little bit more of chapter one. 485 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:00,000 He said, the word became flesh 486 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,840 and made his dwelling among us. 487 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:05,440 We have seen his glory and the glory of the one 488 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,000 and only son who came from the Father 489 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,760 full of grace and truth. 490 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,960 And two more verses, in him was life 491 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:20,360 and that life was the light of all mankind. 492 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:23,320 The light shines in the darkness 493 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,320 and the darkness has not overcome it. 494 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:29,280 Let's go. 495 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:34,280 Amen, amen. 496 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:40,760 John tells us some powerful words about Jesus, 497 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,280 about who he is and what he's about. 498 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:48,000 He's the light that nothing can overcome. 499 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:52,920 He is God wrapped in flesh 500 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:57,920 and he has called us to be sons and daughters, 501 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:01,520 to be welcomed into his family, 502 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:05,520 to be children who are then given his spirit. 503 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:10,440 John is gonna have a lot to say to us in the weeks to come. 504 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,280 I wanted to share with you a little bit 505 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,760 about who he is in personality, 506 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,800 what makes his gospel a little bit different, 507 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:21,440 and where he starts. 508 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:25,040 In the beginning was the word. 509 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:28,640 Jesus starts all the way back 510 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,720 from before the beginning of the universe. 511 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:33,560 He is God. 512 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:38,520 He is the light that no darkness can overcome 513 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:41,400 and he lives in us. 514 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:47,440 He gives us that light that no darkness can overcome. 515 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,480 No darkness can overcome.