Here we wrap up our series with Jesus' claim to be the True Vine. Jesus has an intimate conversation with his disciples on the way to being arrested and crucified about what it means to truly abide in Him and bear fruit. This gives us true joy and satisfaction in Christ that results in our lives bringing glory to God. If you want to stay close to Jesus, bear fruit, be sure you're his disciple, and bring God glory, then John 15:1-11 is for you.

This week, we look at one of the most controversial claims of Jesus. We will see that while this truth fuels our proclamation of the Gospel and is one we shout from the rooftops, it finds its origins in this private conversation between Jesus and His disciples. It doesn’t begin with Jesus standing in the Temple trying to disprove the naysayers. It begins with these words to his terrified, weary, broken followers: "Let not your hearts be troubled." If your heart has ever been troubled, these words in John 14:1-7 are for you.

Here we see the second half of Jesus' explanation of his parable in John 10:1-5. The claim we will see Him make in verses 11-16 is, "I AM the Good Shepherd." That means we are sheep, which can sound a little insulting until you realize that despite our weakness and sin, the Good Shepherd came to lay down His life for us. We close rejoicing in our Shepherd, who gave His life so we might be a part of the sheepfold of God.

Today we dive into John 10 to see that Jesus claimed to be the Door. What does that mean, and how does it affect our lives? This is a sermon for those who have been hurt by false religion, confused by the numerous religions claiming to have the truth, or are struggling with fear or lack of contentment. We will also see how we have often misread one of the most famous verses in Scripture.

We welcome guest speaker Chris Bonts, missional strategist and church planter for the Jacksonville Baptist Association (JBA). A native of Jacksonville, Chris has been in ministry for more than 20 years serving as a senior pastor, campus pastor, church planter, and church consultant. He works closely with the churches of the JBA to recruit, identify, mentor, and resource church planters across Jacksonville.

This week we look at one of the most shocking sermons Jesus ever preached. It even caused thousands of people to stop following Him. Here we will see that Jesus isn't interested in watering down the truth so we might be more comfortable accepting Him. His call is for us to believe so we might partake of Him as the Bread of Life. We will examine the crowds' response to this claim and learn what Jesus meant by "whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood, abides in Me."

Here in John 11, we number five of the seven “I AM” statements Jesus made about Himself in the Gospel of John. As we celebrate Easter and Christ’s resurrection, it is important to see that Jesus claimed to not only be able to raise the dead, but calmed to be the very source of resurrection and life itself. This is perhaps one of the boldest statements of His deity that we can find. He solidifies this claim immediately by raising Lazarus from the dead; something nobody around thought to be possible. What makes this passage even more compelling is that Jesus asked Martha to believe in Him as the Resurrection and the Life even before performing the miracle of raising her brother. Faith in Christ must go deeper than believing He can perform miracles.