John: The Way, the Truth, and the Life
Pastor Fletcher preaches from John 13:36-14:14, continuing Jesus’s teachings at the Last Supper. Discussion points: When Jesus encounters troubled hearts he reminds them of eternal realities, the character of God in heaven is shown through Jesus on earth, we must be able to respect others without always agreeing with them, Jesus makes an exclusive claim to be the only way to God.
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Scripture reader: [John 13:36-14:14] Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him where I am going? You cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. Let not your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God, believe also in me, in my father's house are many rooms if it were not. So would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am, you may be also and you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you're going. How can we know the way Jesus said to him? I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my father also from now on. You do know him and have seen him.
Philip said to him, Lord show us the father and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long? And you still do not know me, Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the father. How can you say show us the father? Do you not believe that I am in the father? And the father is in me. The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the father who dwells in me does his works, believe me that I am in the father and the father is in me. Or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Truly, truly, I say to you whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do in greater works than these will he do? Because I am going to the father, whatever you ask in my name, this I will do that. The father may be glorified in the son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Preacher: Do you guys remember the boys soccer team that got stuck in a cave in 2018 in Thailand? What a story who's seen the documentary on Disney? Plus a few, not many, I watched the documentary just because I had heard it was a great documentary. I had heard the story, thought I knew the story and then I watched the documentary and I'm enthralled by this thing. I mean, it is just captivating the story of these boys that got stuck in this cave in case you haven't heard the story or you or you don't know it very well. There were 11 boys or 12 boys who were exploring, yeah, 12 boys in their coach and they were, exploring a cave system in Thailand and they were all, soccer players.
It was a soccer team and they, we're exploring this, exploring this cave system, they wandered deep into a cave like really deep, like, like over a mile, two miles, three miles. I think it was, it was a good amount of distance, but then they didn't know that it was going to rain and then monsoon season was coming. And when it starts raining in Thailand, these caves fill up with water. And so the chambers that they had walked through now were full of water. There was no way to get through these chambers. And so as they were going through these chambers, they, they got in there and they just got stuck in the cave. as they're in the cave, the, the waters come down, they have no way to get out.
And so at first the parents are just like, why are these children stuck in this cave? Where, where are the children. We don't know where they are. And the way that they found the, the children is that they found their bicycles lined up outside of the cave and they said, well, they must be inside of that cave. And so they start to do some exploration. But the problem is there's only a select few people that are crazy enough to go scuba diving through a cave system over miles and miles. I mean, in portions of this cave, it is a small tunnel about this big where they have to crawl through there and the people that do this are crazy.
I mean, it is a high dollar hobby for people who are adrenaline junkies and have too much money on their hands. It's like an anesthesiologist from Australia or a professional rock climber from Austria or it's just people that are just a little bit crazy and have a lot of money and they all know each other and literally there's only a couple dozen of them in the world that is the type of hobby that this is what an elite club. And these are the guys, there just happens to be one of these guys in Thailand. And so he's like, well, I'm gonna start exploring the cave and looking for the kids and once they figure out that the kids are in the cave, all the national media starts paying attention. They're like, we don't know where the kids are. They might be dead. Who knows?
They know that if they do find the kids, there's only gonna be a few options. Once they realize that the kids aren't in the immediate portions of the cave, they wrote that there's only going to be a few options for the children to be able to get out of this cave as they get deeper and deeper into it. The first option would be that they teach the children how to do cave scuba diving. That was not a good option. Ok. These kids at this point have been in the cave for like 10 days without food. They're going to be hungry and weak and they are not going to be able to learn how to do cave scuba diving a hobby that only the craziest of crazy try because it's deadly and dangerous and extremely difficult, very, very difficult on the body to, to be able to do this.
Another possible solution that they could do if they can't teach them how to scuba dive their way out of there is maybe they could drill a hole down into the cave. But this also proved to be very difficult because you remember those Chile Chilean miners that got stuck in the hole in the cave. Different story. Ok. I got these confused in my head for a little while. Different story that took like months to drill that hole to get the Chilean miners out of the hole in the ground. Ok. So, drilling a hole down to these children who are starving in a cave cavern, not going to work. Plus the air is running out in there. Oh, boy.
So I guess the third option, the next one isn't going to be possible either because the next option is just shuttle food to the children and let them wait in the cave for months until the rainy season is gone. And then let the children walk out of the cave the same way that they came in. Also not a possibility. Elon Musk had an idea. He said I will build a submarine that you can load the children onto and then you can take them out, which has to be the most Elon Musky idea I've ever heard in my entire life. But that also wouldn't work because a submarine would not be able to make it through all the the cavernous crooks in the cave and everything they knew that if they were to find the children, there would only be one solution to getting them out. And it's a crazy one.
The divers would make their way in there. That one guy who's the anesthesiologist who also is a cave diver would also go in there. One person in the world, he would tranquilize the children so that they could not move. So they were completely asleep. They would affix a scuba mask to each of their faces and then tie them up to a rope and, and attach them to the deep cavern divers and let them pull the children out of cave. And then as they get to the sections of the cave where you have to walk, they would put the children on the stretchers and carry the children through the stretchers.
And about halfway through the anesthesiologist would have to readminister the drugs because they weren't strong enough to get them all the way out. This is a several hour scuba diving mission and then by the time and then they have to do this one after another, after another. It's the only way out. Could you imagine the children? It's actually there's a video and it's, it's powerful. You can look it up on youtube later and, and with the, with the in the video, you see the, the moment the divers discover the children. It's a powerful, powerful moment because the children are far deeper in this cave system than anyone imagined. And they finally, they feel like they've just gone too far. Like why are we even doing this? They're about ready to give up.
They finally get to a section. They see one little light as they pop their head open in this cavern and they swim over and it's all 13 of them just huddled together on a small little platform like this little bitty bit of the stage here. They're just all huddled there together, slowly starving, but they are so happy to see the diver. Can you just imagine? It's a very short interaction that the diver comes up and he's like, hey, how many of you are there? And they're like all 13 of us, we're all here and he's like, hold on a minute. I have to go, but I'm coming back and there will be many more who come with me and we're going to get you out of here. That was his promise of rescue to these children. There's only one way out of your kids. Don't worry about it, don't worry about how we're gonna do it. We're gonna come back and we're going to get you out of here.
And this is a modern day parable, a true one for what Jesus is communicating to his disciples right here in the upper room. Last week, we continuing our series in the book of John, we covered the first teaching of the upper room discourse, which is this kind of extended meditation that Jesus gives to his disciples. just before he, he is led to the cross to die. This is the night before he was betrayed. And last week he gave his disciples. It's kind of his farewell discourse. It's like him laying down what he wants his, his children in the faith to understand and to know. And as he gives his farewell discourse to them, the the main thing that he wants them to know is to love one another that this is the new commandment that he has given to his disciples to love one another as he has loved them.
And as he gives that he, he says, I'm about to go away from you. But here's what I want you to know, love one another. And so the disciples are not listening at all to what he's teaching them. And it's like, excuse me, question, where are you going? That's, that's what the disciples are doing. He just has to field a series of questions as if his disciples are a second grade classroom question. How do I get there? Question? Why can't I follow you? They each have their own questions and we see that Jesus is communicating that, hey, I'm about to leave. But don't worry, I'm gonna come back and when I come back, I'm going to bring you with me one day and when you come back with me, I'm going to, I'm going to have the place ready for you.
There's a way out of this situation. I'm gonna prepare the way for you to get out of here. I'm gonna prepare all that goes into it. I'm gonna bring you with me. You commit, you have contributed nothing to this. You have contributed simply the mess that you have found yourself in. I'm going to contribute the path out of the mess just as the scuba diverse communicated to the children. Let's dive into these questions and consider what Jesus is teaching us. This morning. Peter interrupts Jesus first. He says, question, where are you going? That's what Peter wants to know. He, he's like, yeah, love good. Ok. Next, where are you going? That's, that's what he wants to know.
And Jesus answers Peter where I'm going, you cannot follow but you will follow afterward. Peter said to him, question, why can't I follow you? I'm willing to lay down my life for you and Jesus answered. Will you lay down your life for me? It's just dripping in irony. In this moment, Jesus says, he's preparing to lay down his life for his disciples. Peter offers to lay down his life for Jesus. But Jesus knows that in the reality that Peter is going to deny him three times in the coming hours and that one day Peter would lay down his life for Jesus, but only after Jesus lays down his life first.
Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. Now, this is probably a bit concerning for the other disciples in the room because they know that Peter is the most bold of them all. And if Peter is going to deny Jesus, what does that mean for me? What's going on here? And so Jesus restarts his speech. OK? He's restarting his, his farewell discourse here. And he says, let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. Jesus is the best. I just want you to see that, that if there's ever a night when Jesus should just be attending to his own emotional needs. It's this one he's about to head to his execution.
And what he does is he sees hearts that are troubled and he offers comfort. He always has time for the emotional needs of his followers. He comforts guides and instructs them even in the moment of his personal anguish. He says, let not your hearts be troubled. What is a troubled heart? A troubled heart is a heart that lives in fear, troubled heart is a heart that lacks peace. I know that the situations are different for us and here this morning, but many of us may be coming to Jesus with troubled hearts.
Today, we might feel like we are in an underground cavern of our own emotional neediness trapped with nowhere to escape, whether it's a health issue, whether it's a family drama, whether it's financial problems, whatever it is that for many of us this morning, we have troubled hearts. When Jesus sees troubled hearts, he reminds them of eternal realities. When Jesus sees troubled hearts, he reminds them of eternal realities. Church is your heart troubled this morning. You need to be reminded of the eternal realities that Jesus has provided for us. Jesus knows that heaven is actually the longing behind all of our longings. It's where our hearts are yearning for. So when he sees that his children, when Jesus sees that his children need comfort. He reminds them heaven is real. I'm going there to prepare a place for you.
Listen to how he describes it. Jesus says in my father's house are many rooms if it were not. So would I have not told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am. You may also be. Now, if you're like me and you're a child of the late 19 hundreds, then you might be thinking of that audio adrenaline song. Come and go with me to Yeah, come and go with me too. There we go. Oh You guys. It's a Yeah. Yeah. we sang that. It's a big, big house with lots and lots of room. It's a big, big table with lots and lots of food. It's a big, big yard where we can play football. It's a big, big house. It's my father's house.
Now as a kid, I grew up poor. So this sounded really good to me to have a big, big house like that. I had this vision of Jesus going to the suburb in the sky and fluffing the pillows and vacuuming the couch and making sure it's nice and ready for me. I didn't like football, so I kind of left that part alone. Ok? I was like, maybe he's got a Nintendo, but I can also play, but it sounded pretty good. The reality is a lot better than that though. A lot better than that. What's he actually saying? He's not saying that he's going to fluff the pillows. He's saying that, hey, I'm about to prepare the way and I'm about to go to heaven and when I'm there, it is ready for you, it's ready for you because I'm gonna make the way ready for you through my death and resurrection. It is ready for you and I'm waiting on you and I'm going to bring you back there.
What he's saying is actually so much more significant than just that God's place is rich. Ok? It's so much beyond that. We, I think that the song is fun but it, it, it kind of emphasize, emphasizes more on the stuff in the father's house than the fact that the father is there. Heaven is a place. But more than that heaven is a home. I actually really like it when families are, are going house shopping and they say we're shopping for a home, we're going to look at some homes because they know that what they want isn't actually a house, but they want a place where they feel like they can belong, what is home. When I say the word home to you, what comes to mind different things for different people? I am very sure by the Lord's grace, many of us grew up in homes with loving parents where we could come home and be ourselves. Just be the goofy that we all are ok where we are safe and secure a home is where you belong.
Maybe you think of your childhood home warm and inviting any psychologist will tell you that a, a home is absolutely required for you to be psychologically healthy. A home is absolutely required. Man. This ties in great with foster care, doesn't it? That was unintentional. But by the Holy Spirit intentionally, hm, a home is absolutely required for you to be psychologically healthy. No child should grow up without a place where they feel like they belong after a long day of work or difficulty in school. What do you say? I just wanna go home where I can rest where I can be myself where I don't have to worry or stress.
And that's what Jesus has promised, but it's so much better than our little homes. Each of our homes just points to this reality that we're going to my father's house, my father's home, not only will I belong, but I'll be completely approved by the one whose approval matters the most. And that's how Jesus describes heaven. He, he knows the disciples are about to have a very difficult day. He's about to be crucified and Jesus says, don't worry, I have a place for you, a place where you'll be accepted, a place prepared for you. Heaven is actually the longing of our hearts that's behind all of our other longings. As Augustine says, our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you. And to be with God is the longing of every human heart, our desires, whatever they may be for, for power or approval, for success or security, they find their satisfaction in our God in heaven.
And Philip knows this. Philip's question is my favorite of all the questions they get posed by the disciples. Philip show us the father and that is enough. So he's still not getting it. He still doesn't understand it, but he at least knows the right questions to be asking. He knows what he should understand. And he says, show us the father. And that is enough. That is the point, that's the point of heaven that God is there and that He approves of us and delights in us. And then we get to share in His glory forever. And that is enough.
If you're not a Christian here this morning, I would assume that the idea of spending eternity with God in heaven does not sound like a very appealing reality to you. And that's because that if you don't have an accurate idea of who God is, there's no way that's going to sound like a good thing. When our secular world tries to describe God oftentimes the idea that comes into our mind from the secular world is that God is a selfish, greedy trigger happy, terrible being. And so if you imagine God to be cold stodgy, greedy, this menacing figure, of course, you do not want to spend eternity with him.
But we have good news that, that is not the way that God is described by Jesus or by the Bible because what Jesus responds when he says this to Philip is, he says I have been with you so long and you still don't know me, Philip. What you know to be true about me is true of my father. The character of Jesus perfectly represents the character of God. And who do we think of Jesus as being but kind, patient, loving, sharing, selfless in heaven? That is the God that we get to be with. And he shares his character with us. First John, the same author of John wrote the letters and first John and in verse in chapter three, verse two, it says, beloved, we are God's children now and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be made like him because we shall see Him as He is.
Heaven is a place. And more than that, it's a place where God dwells. And it's where God shares is divine love with us is the answer of every longing heart. It's a place of acceptance and delight. And the obvious question that the disciples asked is if such a place is real. If Jesus, if you are going somewhere and you're preparing this for us. Which sounds delightful. How do I get there? What's the way you see? The, the disciples? They're so, thick, dull. It's just like they don't understand what Jesus has done. They're still caught off guard by, by what he's teaching them because they don't expect Jesus to be talking about an eternal reality of the kingdom of Heaven. He, they expect Jesus to establish a real political kingdom on earth.
But the reality is so much better than that, so much better than that, so much more inclusive and, and, and wonderful for each of us because it is a eternal kingdom, kingdom of heaven. And so the, the disciples say, hey, if this is real, how do I get there? I wanna know how to get there. And Jesus describes where he's going. The disciples are very confused. They don't even realize that Jesus is talking about heaven. Jesus says this and you know the way that I'm going, you know, you know the way to, to the place where I'm going. And Thomas being Thomas being who he is, which is very analytical and oftentimes bold and courageous, but also will speak his mind. He's question. Lord, we do not know the way you are wrong, Jesus. We do not know the way and how can you say that we know the way and Jesus responds to him. I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.
Now, what I just said is quite possibly one of the least politically correct statements that I could make this Sunday morning. But don't get mad at me. It's Jesus. Ok. Jesus is saying it. I'm just quoting Jesus at the moment. He says I am the way, you know the way Thomas because you know me and I am the way out of here. Now. You might think, especially if you're not a Christian here this morning or if you're still kind of exploring faith, you might be thinking, how dare Jesus or, or you, Fletcher, say that there's only one way to God. Isn't that mean? And you might even say, look, I have friends who practice other religions and they are so sincere and so devout and honestly, are just like better people than many of the Christians that I know and that is true. Ok. I'm not going to argue with that, that many Christians do not represent the teachings of Jesus as well as many non Christians. There are plenty of non Christians that are very kind people sincere and devout.
But here's the thing, I'm not saying that you have to say that these people are just quantitatively worse people than we are. That is not what Jesus is communicating, nor am I saying that you have to disrespect them because that's not what Jesus is saying. Either. You can respect a person, honor them, love them and disagree with them at the same time, that feels very, culturally, not the way that we like to think about things, but it's true, you can respect someone and disagree with them. At the same time, you can even say that there's things in their belief, belief system that you don't think are accurate. And sometimes for us who are Christians, we can look at someone who's not a Christian and look at their belief system and say, I respect aspects of what you believe.
And I think that they reflect what Jesus teaches because you're made in the image of God and all religions in some way have an echo of the reality of who God is in them. But I don't believe you have the whole truth to this because I believe that God has revealed his whole truth through the person of Jesus. We see Paul using that strategy. OK. So don't come at me later on this one, we see Paul using that strategy. He walks around in the book of Acts. And sometimes he says, look, I can see that these things you're doing, you're trying to find God. But let me give you a name to who you have worshiped without a name. Let me tell you more about who this person is because I have the full revelation of who God is.
Every religion is making competitive truth claims about the way that the world works. I want you to see that, that all religions teach very different things. Some things overlap and we can respect those things. But it is very intellectually lazy for you to say that all religions basically teach the same thing that is for you to say, I am too challenged to do the research to find out what these religions are, are actually teaching. And instead it's easier for me to say, oh, they're all teaching the same thing and then to just not worry about it. But when you look at what the scriptures are actually teaching and what these other documents are teaching, what these other religions are teaching. They are not all teaching the same thing.
It's actually very disrespectful. What if you walked into like a walk to a Imam today and said, you know what? I think your teachings are basically the same as Buddhism. Well, that's not gonna go well for you because they're not, they're not. What if you walk to the, the Buddhist temple? The the and said, I think you're teaching the same thing as Hinduism. They're like, no, I ha I'm not for you to say that they're basically teaching all the same things. It's just intellectually lazy. Islam, Hindu Christianity, Buddhism, even Mormonism all teaching very different things. They're teaching competing systems of belief. Now you might be thinking about it like this and this is a common way for people to think about it.
Secular pluralism thinks about it this way. This is the way that most of our scientific brothers and sisters will often think about things you might think about it. Like the elephant illustration. You've heard this illustration before where religion it's told from the viewpoint of a narrator who says now religion is like five blind men trying to describe an elephant. And so they're put into a room with the elephant, each of the blind man or a woman or they're each touching a different part that all the peoples of the earth, all just representing different you know, whatever. They're all touching a different part of the elephant and they're all trying to describe what an elephant is like. And so you have one of the blind men touching the trunk of the elephant as an elephant is long and slender and movable like a snake. You might have another member of the the, the blind men consortium who is touching the, the ear and says that an elephant isn't like that at all. An elephant's flat and flimsy and kind of like a fan that you would fan yourself off with.
Another one of them might be touching the leg and say no, an elephant is round and sturdy like a tree trunk. And the other one might be touching the side and said you guys are crazy. This elephant is immovable like a wall and the last one might be touching the tail and say an elephant's like a, like a rope just long and, and thin. And the story is told to say that they were all right and all wrong at the same time that all the religions are this way that they all have a piece of the truth, but none of them has the whole truth.
But the thing with the story is that there is someone in the story who has the whole truth and as the narrator who assumes that he can see the whole elephant. And so there is someone in this who has the whole truth and who has an exclusive truth. And as the narrator saying, I can see it all and I can see that each of you are wrong and that I am actually right. And that all are just pointing to what an elephant is actually like because I know what an elephant is actually like in our world. The secular pluralists think as though they see the whole elephant and all of us religious people are just dumb and only see a piece of the truth.
The pluralists like to fashion themselves as the humble position saying, oh, I don't really want to say that anyone's right. But in reality, it's an arrogant position who says that everyone is wrong except for me who is right above them all, they might be against the exclusivity of one religion over any other. But this is actually an exclusivism from the cultural elites of our society. In a New York Times op ed Nicholas Christoph said this, we liberals champion tolerance except for conservatives and evangelical Christians. We want to be inclusive of people who don't look like us as long as they think like us friends.
Everyone, everyone, even if you're trying not to make a truth claim, everyone is making a truth claim about the nature of the universe and reality. Everyone, there's no way around this. I love the way that Neil Neil Degrasse Tyson says it to Colbert because he says the good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe it. And Rebecca mclaughlin clipped back. I, I love this. She said that's not unique to science. That's the good thing about truth is that it's true, whether you believe it or not, it's not science, it's truth and everyone is making a truth claim. And so Jesus here is making the truth claim. He's saying I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. It is an exclusive claim.
He's saying, look, there's only one way out of this cave of your own doing that you find yourself in the sin problem that you find yourself in. And it's with me, you can try the other methods to get out of here, but they will, they will fail. I have to carry you out of here. You can't even contribute to the carrying, you're going to be like the unconscious soccer boy as I carry you out of this mess that you have found yourself in. I am your only way out of this cave and you have to trust me. That's all I ask is that you trust me. And if you trust me, I'll do all the work, I'll get you out of here and I will take you to the place where your heart is longing.
And that is the message of Jesus. If Jesus really is the Son of God, if he came to pay for the sin of the world, he teaches that faith in what he has done is our method of rescue. This is an exclusive claim. But at the same time, it's radically inclusive because it's not limited to any ethnicity or people group as the disciples thought it would be. They thought he was setting up Israel. No, Jesus has a much bigger inclusive claim than that, which says all those who will trust in me and find their faith in me, repent of their sins. Follow after me with their lives. I will deliver all you have to do is believe if Jesus is the way the truth in life.
How does that change the way that you are living? That's just the last question that I want you to ponder for just a moment. You've probably heard similar sermons to this before. If you've been in the church for a while and if you're new we're really glad to have you and we hope that it's, persuasive. Although I, I doubt that, you know, me talking about Jesus being the exclusive way to God for 10 minutes is really gonna convince many people that are far from that. But I hope it does and I hope that it starts many of the conversations that you might need to have over the coming days and weeks because it is an important topic.
In fact, if we're saying it's the truth, it might be the most important topic for you to consider. But some of you, there's different ways that you can think about this. Some of you have been approaching Jesus as a way, a truth and a life. But you realize that he's the way the truth and the life you come face to face with reality that He is God. He's not just some moral system, he's not just some system of morality that you might follow to get yourself out of the trouble that you are to have a better life, but he is actually God and that he desires to have a relationship with each of us.
And then some of us have been trying to find our own way, our own truth and our own life personal to ourselves. You've been looking for happiness and joy and life in ways that Jesus isn't connected with. You've been finding your own way through life on the you have on the one hand religion that says Jesus is a way, a truth, a life, a way that I'm going to live my life to hopefully get to God. On the other hand, you have your religion saying I'm gonna live my way, my truth, my life. And Jesus again is calling you dear brothers and sisters to see him as he is because as you see who Jesus is, you know, the father and he has gone to prepare a place for us and that place is good and that place is a big, big house where you have a spot to belong. He's prepared a room for you. He loves you dearly and wants you near to him and he wants to share his character, his goodness, his compassion, his kindness. He wants to shine all of that on you as a personal God for whom he has come to save it.
Leaving the sermon. If you, if you go from here and you and you just try to argue these things, I, I would encourage you not to do that. Actually, I would encourage you to go from here. Sometimes you need to have these conversations, but I would encourage you to go from here and listen to where Jesus is putting the emphasis. OK? What he's trying, what he wants to talk about as he's talking about these things is love. He's saying love one another. And the disciples are like question, question question. and he explains himself as you do. So when you go from here, go in love and as you have questions sometimes about your faith and you need to bring up issues of the faith, especially if we're saying is the truth.
Let the questions come and answer the questions, but always doing it in love. Not just because you have the truth and other people are wrong. And so that they're worse than you don't think about it like that. Think about it like I love people. I want them to know Jesus because it's a joyful thing. But the way I'm going to do that is always in love for many of us this morning, you might be, you might have that heart, that trouble, rest assured rescue is coming. He's coming. Our rescuer has told us that he's preparing a place for us and he's coming back to bring us with Him where you find yourself is temporary. We have an eternal hope.
So we're going to have an opportunity to respond to Jesus and that eternal hope that he's given to us this morning. I wanna encourage you if you've been treating Jesus as a way, a truth and a life or if you've been looking for your own way, your own truth, your own life, I encourage you to respond to Jesus and ask him to fill you with the fullness of God this morning. Then you might see Him as he is we're going to have some counselors, some prayer counselors in the back who would love to pray with you. And even if you just take this next song as we're preparing ourselves communion to consider that. How do I need to treat Jesus as the way the truth in life? How can I respond to him? And maybe today is just a step in that direction and that's OK. Hey, you don't get anywhere without taking one step at a time, right? It's just one step.
On the night that he was betrayed on the night before he was betrayed - it this night on this night that we're studying right now - Jesus took a loaf of bread with his disciples at the table and he broke it and he said, this is my body broken for you. And he took a cup and he said, this is my blood shed for you, do this in remembrance of me.
And so each week we have an opportunity to receive this reminder of what Jesus has done for us, that these eternal realities have been accomplished by Jesus, that his body was broken for us, that his blood was shed for us. Let us now stand and prepare our hearts to take this meal.
Jesus, as we come to the table where you've initiated this. And as God, we, we come to receive a new, the, the good news that you have done it all that you've paved the way out of the cave of our own mess and that we get to follow you through no work of our own Jesus. We pray that you would be very real to us in this time and that we would trust in you as our way of truth and life. Jesus. You have done such a wonderful cosmic thing. We thank you for living the life that we should have lived for dying, the death that we should have died and for being available to us even now and for preparing the way for us and for delivering us from our own mess, our own sin, Jesus, would we place a greater trust in you today and for those whose hearts are troubled, we pray that you would give them the comfort of the eternal hope that we have in you. In Christ name we pray, Amen.