Sunday, October 22, 2023

Remain – John 15:18–25

It can be a hard thing to be associated with someone who isn’t that popular, or worse, who is outright hated. Growing up in a 49ers household, it was made incredibly clear to me that we were the good guys, and the Dallas Cowboys were the worst of the worst. It was the greatest of offenses for someone to wear Dallas gear anywhere near us, and I can remember my step-dad good naturedly hassling more than a few fans with the horrible blue star.

I can remember going into middle school and deciding in an instant that I did not like the otherwise smiling and friendly face of a child in a Cowboys t-shirt. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say I hated them for it, I was pretty far into the not-friendly category with them, all because of that Cowboys shirt.

In our passage this week, Jesus will explain to his disciples that because of our association with him, it won’t just be some grumpy middle schoolers who are not friendly with us, it will be the world that hates us. There are some real considerations to be made here, and some important questions to be asked: “Why do they hate Jesus? Does that mean they’ll definitely hate me? What is it about Jesus that’s so polarizing?”

While some rivalry between sports teams isn’t a huge issue, the question of how we interact with the world because of our association with Jesus can have life-altering consequences. Join us this Sunday as we talk about what it means to be associated with Jesus, and how we’ll be seen by the world because of it.

See you Sunday!

Service times are at 9:00 & 11:00. If you can’t make it in person, you can watch live at those times.