{"id":31313,"date":"2024-05-26T22:00:46","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T05:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john-12_12-19-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-05-21T13:12:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T20:12:50","slug":"john-12_20-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john-12_20-26\/","title":{"rendered":"What It Means to Really Serve God"},"content":{"rendered":"

John\u00a0 12:20-26 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 12:20-26.\u00a0 I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

John 12:20-22 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 20-22:\u00a0 Here we see not just Jews but Greeks wanting to see Jesus.\u00a0 It\u2019s a reminder that Jesus didn\u2019t just come to be the long-awaited Messiah the Jews were waiting for.\u00a0 Even more Jesus came to be the saviour that the entire world needs.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus would talk about having \u201cother sheep that are not of this pen\u201d that he must bring in also (John 15:16).\u00a0 That\u2019s also why Jesus reached out to a Samaritan woman in John 4, a Roman centurion in Luke 7, and a Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:22.\u00a0 After Jesus\u2019 resurrection Jesus would commission his disciples to go and make disciples of\u00a0all<\/em>\u00a0nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).\u00a0 That\u2019s because\u00a0no matter what your background, nationality or culture, Jesus is the saviour we need.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John 12:23-24 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 23-24:\u00a0 Here Jesus is predicting his soon coming death and how, like a seed buried in the ground,\u00a0when Jesus dies, his death will make life possible for many like never before<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

John 12:25 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 25:\u00a0 What does Jesus mean by this statement?\u00a0 He means that if you truly want to experience life to its fullest and keep it for eternal life, you need to \u201chate your life\u201d; that is,\u00a0don\u2019t selfishly hang onto your life for your own sake.\u00a0 Rather, give your life away like Jesus did.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0If you love your life so much that you\u2019re not willing to give it away, you\u2019ll end up losing it and missing God\u2019s greater purpose for putting you on this earth.<\/p>\n

John 12:26 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 26:\u00a0 From this verse I learn two things:<\/p>\n

(1) God values those who serve Jesus (\u201cMy Father will honor the one who serves me\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0Are you someone who is all about getting what you want from God and from the church like a spiritual consumer, or do you use what you have \u2013 your time, your talents, your energy \u2013 to serve Jesus and His church?<\/strong><\/p>\n

(2) Serving Jesus is not just about getting busy doing things\u00a0for\u00a0<\/em>Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Serving Jesus is about following Jesus and becoming more like Him in the way you live, love and lead<\/strong>\u00a0(\u201cWhoever serves me must follow me\u201d).\u00a0 It\u2019s about becoming more like Jesus in your attitude, your values, your decision-making, your priorities and your conduct. We of course can\u2019t do this on our own.\u00a0 We need to help of the Holy Spirit working in us, transforming us from the inside out.\u00a0 May God help us to become more like Jesus in all these ways.<\/p>\n

Jesus, You are the Saviour that every person needs, no matter what their background, nationality or culture.\u00a0 Thank You that by Your death You made life possible for each and every one of us.\u00a0 In response to Your love, may I not just be a spiritual consumer in my church, but a servant who humbly serves You and Your church.\u00a0 May I become more like You in the way I live, love and lead.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 12:20-26.\u00a0 I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

John 12:20-22 (NIV)
\n20\u00a0\u00a0Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.
\n21\u00a0\u00a0They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”
\n22\u00a0\u00a0Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.<\/p>\n

On verses 20-22:\u00a0 Here we see not just Jews but Greeks wanting to see Jesus.\u00a0 It\u2019s a reminder that Jesus didn\u2019t just come to be the long-awaited Messiah the Jews were waiting for.\u00a0 Even more Jesus came to be the saviour that the entire world needs.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus would talk about having \u201cother sheep that are not of this pen\u201d that he must bring in also (John 15:16).\u00a0 That\u2019s also why Jesus reached out to a Samaritan woman in John 4, a Roman centurion in Luke 7, and a Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:22.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31313"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31316,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31313\/revisions\/31316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}