A single sentence, “in a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”, and a whole book rises before your eyes. From such famous openings the preacher leads us to the boldest beginning of all: the prologue of John’s Gospel (John 1), where the Word is there before creation and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. In one sweep the message moves through creation, the rejection of the Son, and the grace that in Jesus stops being an idea and is given a face. Listen and see why, for the aged John, this one story meant absolutely everything.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- John opens his Gospel with "In the beginning was the Word," echoing the first words of Genesis. According to the sermon, what does this new beginning tell us about who Jesus is?
- The speaker explained that for Greeks "logos" meant the divine reason holding creation together, and for Jews the word was how God accomplishes His will. What new thing does John add by saying the Word is a person and is God?
- If God has always lived in relationship with the Word, and we were created through relationship and for relationship with Him, how does that change the way you see your own life and its meaning?
- The world did not recognize Jesus, just as the speaker did not immediately recognize his own wife in the store. In what situations is it easy for you to overlook Jesus' presence in everyday life?
- "In Jesus, grace has a name and truth has a face." What does it mean to you that grace and truth are not abstract ideas but a person who gives us Himself?
- The aged John says of Jesus, "To me He is everything." As you prepare for Christmas this week, how can you give Jesus more room and let His light shine on a specific dark area of your life?
