As a reminder, we’re still in the middle of the nighttime meeting between the Pharisee Nicodemus and Jesus and their discussion continues through verse 21. John 3:16 is what comes after Jesus explains to Nicodemus the work of the Holy Spirit.

Next week, I’ll preach John 3:16-21. But it certainly seems appropriate to stop and reflect on this one verse, because it’s the most well known verse in the entire Bible. Whether you’ve grown up in church or not, you’ve probably heard someone quote John 3:16 at some point or another.

The bulk of our passage deals with the work of the Holy Spirit. Honestly, when was the last time you heard a sermon on the Holy Spirit?

There’s a lot of confusion over what exactly the Holy Spirit does. If someone asked you what the Holy Spirit does, what would you say?

Typically you don’t think of John 3 as a class on the Holy Spirit, but that’s really what it is.

In order to put faith in Christ, you must first be born again.

“Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them.’ The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.” Psalm 126:2-3

Reflecting on the past several weeks since launching public worship on Easter Sunday, I can’t help but echo the psalmist. The Lord has done great things!

It’s really no secret that the American church is in decline. Only 47% of Americans claim to belong to a religious house of worship. We’re not even talking about regularly attending, we’re talking about people identifying themselves with a particular house of worship. Not even Christian for that matter; that includes the other major world religions as well. So really, it’s less than that.

As if that isn’t bad enough, even those who attend church don’t even have a biblical worldview. In fact, a large minority of those who participated in Ligonier’s State of Theology held heretical, unchristian, unbiblical views.

30% of American Christian evangelicals believe that, “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.”

Jesus turned water into wine, which unequivocally proves that it’s permissible for Christians to consume the occasional alcoholic beverage. Should I just close up the Bible and say ‘amen’ so we can all leave now?

Obviously, I’m kidding, but isn’t that typically why this portion of Scripture comes up in conversation? Maybe it’s just my conversations. Nevertheless, in my mind at least, the wedding at Cana is so frequently used as a proof text in the Christian alcohol debate we don’t even know the real point of this passage anymore. Why exactly did Jesus turn water into wine?

A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of traveling to Birmingham, Alabama for the Gospel Reformation Network’s (GRN) National Conference.

The GRN is a conservative/confessional network within our denomination – the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) – whose purpose is to cultivate healthy Reformed churches. They emphasize biblical fidelity, confessional integrity, the ordinary means of grace, intentional evangelism, and personal discipleship, among many other things. Being a part of this network has been a blessing to me, especially in the midst of starting a new church in the Roanoke Valley.

There are a lot of similarities between last week’s passage and this week’s passage. In last week’s passage, Jesus called disciples. In this week’s passage, Jesus called disciples.

The similarities are even closer when you consider the fact that both passages have one disciple tell another about Jesus. Andrew told Peter about Jesus. Here we read that Philip tells Nathanael about Jesus.

This past Sunday while Pastor Jake was away, we had the privilege of hearing Rev. Doug Hart preach on John 1:35-42.

I’d be willing to bet that all of us have some degree of guilt and shame over things we’ve done in our past. Have you ever just been laying there in bed, trying to fall asleep when all of sudden one of your worst moments floods your mind? And you’re just laying there thinking to yourself, why did I do that? Why did I say that? Why didn’t I do x, y, or z? We all have regrets.

The internet is full of advice on how to deal with guilt and shame. I just randomly picked three. Here are three ways to deal with guilt and shame.

Originally college wasn’t intended to be a time to figure out your purpose in life. But in many ways, that’s what it has become. It’s become a season to figure out what you want to do with your life. Apparently there was a point in time where folks went to college knowing exactly what they wanted to do. What was that like?

But a lot of people even go to school thinking they want to do one thing only to later learn they made the wrong decision. And many folks end up doing something that has nothing to do with the degree they earned.

People change their minds a lot because they doubt what they’re doing. Who can’t relate to that? Even people who have done the same thing their whole lives have to go through a season of doubt. We all wonder from time to time, “am I doing the right thing?” “Is this what I’m supposed to be doing with my life?”

The first book we’re going to look through together is the gospel of John. The gospel of John is probably the most well-known gospel. Not only that, but the Apostle John is very explicit in his purpose. John says that he wrote it in chapter 20 so “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Direct. Clear. Simple. That’s where I want this body to begin - with the gospel. I want all of us to have a clear understanding of the good news of Jesus Christ.

And so, I’m excited to get started in the book of John. Just so you know, we’re going to be in John for the next several years. This will probably be a two to three year project. But let’s continue to pray that the Lord will bless each of us through it.

Glory to God for a very encouraging first service! Thank you to everyone who came to worship with us on Easter Sunday and who prayed for us. It was a special day that we’ll look back on with gratitude for years to come.

There are so many cliches that tell you and me how to live our lives: “Carpe diem.” “Live life to the fullest.” “Make the most of every moment.”

These cliches assume that this life is all we have and therefore we must squeeze every drop out of it. All there is, is the here and now, so you better make the most of it. Seek all the pleasure you can find. Accumulate all the wealth you can.

But Jesus gives us a very different perspective.

One of the challenges of work, often, isn't the work itself. It’s prioritizing the right tasks. Task triage is always harder than the tasks themselves. It’s true for our careers, our personal lives, and the church as well.

Acts 2:42-47 is such a beautiful passage because it encourages and reminds the people of God to put first things first. To continue to prioritize the right things.

What a whirlwind of a month! Many exciting and encouraging things have happened in the 5 months since we moved back to Virginia to plant Providence Presbyterian Church, but March has been especially full of big developments and updates in the life of this new church.

Over the past month we wrapped up our Vision Gatherings, nailed down a meeting space, have been busily preparing for our first worship service on Easter Sunday, and continued to exceed our Year One support goal. Praise the Lord!

These Vision Gatherings are an opportunity to dig a little bit more into what will be our central commitments of Providence Presbyterian Church. In this second gathering, we discussed what it means to be a prayerful church.

These Vision Gatherings are an opportunity to dig a little bit more into what will be our central commitments of Providence Presbyterian Church. And so, we need to begin by putting first things first. What is more important for a church than committing itself to Biblical fidelity? Shouldn’t being a Biblical church be our first priority?

This past Sunday we hosted the last of three informational meetings for Providence Presbyterian Church.

In this third meeting, Jake shared the vision for the church plant, including what Sunday worship will be like, how we hope to foster community and fellowship among those in the body of Christ, and our plans for outreach and evangelism. These are his notes from the meeting.

This past Sunday we hosted the second of three informational meetings for Providence Presbyterian Church.

In this second meeting, we discussed denominations and specifically why we are a part of the Presbyterian Church in America. These are Jake’s notes from the meeting.

I feel like I need to begin each newsletter with a big thank you!

We’ve been encouraged by the support we’ve received from you over the past several months and we’re grateful for how the Lord has blessed us through your prayers. He continues to go before us in planting Providence Presbyterian Church and this past month has been especially exciting.

We’re currently in Phase Two of the gathering stage.

• Phase One was preaching in the evenings at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

• Phase Two is hosting informational meetings and vision gatherings.

• And Phase Three will be launching corporate worship.