You Have Found Favor With God

Fear Not! You Have Found Favor With God

Dave Riddle - 12/17/2023

Key Passage: Luke 1:26-38

Grace

- Luke 1:28

- Greetings: Be of good cheer. Root word: grace.

- Favored one: to provide someone with special honor. Root word: grace.

- “Grace to you, oh highly favored one”

- The same message Paul has for the Ephesians.

- The same message is given to each of us in the good news of the gospel.

Mary Was Very Perplexed

- Luke 1:29

- diatarasso: very disturbed. Disturbed wholly. Agitated with alarm.

- The only time this word is used in the Bible.

Don’t be afraid. You have found favor with God

- Luke 1:30

- The message Gabriel shares with Mary is not one that most people would have associated with favor.

- Unplanned pregnancy

A natural, reasonable, very human reaction

- Luke 1:34

- Compare to Zechariah’s reasonable reaction in Luke 1:18

A supernatural, outlandish, very divine answer!

- Luke 1:35

I am the Lord’s servant

- Luke 1:38

- The Lord’s slave

- May it be done as you have said

- Blessed assurance.

- Trusting, believing, submitting to God’s way.

- Even when it seems far fetched.

A Fruitful Life Requires Death

A Fruitful Life Requires Death

Dave Riddle - 2/19/2023

Key Passage: John 12:20-33

Greeks Come Looking for Jesus

• John 12:20-22

Jesus’ Time Has Come

• John 12:23

• Compare to “my time has not yet come” in John 2, John 7, etc.

Fruitful Life Requires Death

• John 12:24-25

• Just as Jesus had to die to provide life, we have to die to our sin to have a fruitful life.

The Father Honors The One Who Serves

• John 12:26 - if anyone serves me, he must follow me.

• It has been said that “follow me” is the whole of a Christian’s duty, and “to be where Christ is” is the whole of their reward.

“My Soul is Troubled”

• John 12:27

• Troubled = tarassō (Greek) - stirred up, agitated, inward commotion, to take away one’s calmness of mind.

• Like a blender bottle 

Jesus knew what was coming

• John 12:30-33

Don’t Let Your Heart Be Troubled

Message begins around 32:30

Don’t Let Your Heart Be Troubled

Dave Riddle • 04/24/2022

Key Passage: John 14:1-15

Don’t let your heart be troubled

• John 14:1

  • Troubled = tarassō (Greek) - stirred up, agitated, inward commotion, to take away one’s calmness of mind.

• John 12:27 - “now my heart is troubled”

  • Jesus faced this too!

    • Not a sin issue.

The answer for a troubled heart

• John 14:1 - “believe in God, believe also in me “

  • Believe = pistueo (Greek): to think to be true. To be persuaded of; to place confidence in. To have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing). To believe.

I’ve got a spot for you 

• John 14:2-4

  • A place for you

  • “You will be with me!”

  • you know the way to where I am going.

Wait… where are you going?

• John 14:5 (HCSB): “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where You’re going. How can we know the way?”

  • Thomas sets it up on tee for Jesus

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life

• John 14:6

  • No one comes to the Father except through Jesus

Know and See

• John 14:7

  • Know = ginōskō: to know experiential, in contrast to oida, which means to know intuitively or perceive.

  • See = horaō - to stare at. to see, i.e. become acquainted with by experience, to experience.

They Miss the Point

• John 14:8

  • They still don’t get it.

• John 14:9

  • Philip… you still don’t know me?

  • The one who has seen (horaō) me has seen the Father.

• John 14:10-11

  • There is such a close relationship between Jesus and the father that you can’t separate them.

A Surprising Promise

• John 14:12 - Don’t miss this!

  • The one who believes in me will do even greater works than me.

    • Not exclusively referring to miracles, but instead referring to the entirety of His life.

    • Why? The Holy Spirit is coming.

      • The impact of the ministry of the church goes worldwide as a result of the power of the Spirit.

I Will Do It

• John 14:13-14

  • Ask in my name, and I will do it.

    • Jesus is not a divine vending machine or our personal Genie.

    • When we are aligned with Jesus’ mission and motives and allow God to use us He will do incredible things.

Keep My Commands

• John 14:15 - if you love me, you will keep my commands.

  • Keep = tēreō - to attend to carefully, take care of.

How often do we stress over things that have little eternal significance?

• Everything we do is rooted in our faith and trust in Jesus as leader of our life.