What would we do without cell phones?  Those things are great - when they're working right!  There's nothing more aggravating or frustrating than when your cell phone beeps at you letting you know the battery is just about to die.  Argh!!!  We just love to be connected.

We also know the importance of life connections.  There is great power in being connected.  Jesus claims and promises such connection by giving us His big, bold claim in John 15 that points us toward stick-to-itive, keep going commitment.

Your journey through life can be confusing, challenging and stretching.  It often leaves us wondering and fearful.  The path we choose will make a big impact in our lives.  What is the patch to happiness and a fulfilling life?  In John 14, Jesus says He is the Way.

Weeks six in the series celebrates Easter and the resurrection of Jesus!  (John 11)

Remember The Lord of the Rings?  What would it be like in your life to have your own Gandalf; someone who would show up in the nick of time and save the day?  Someone who could step in and speak powerful wisdom and speak hope into your life?  You are invited today to meet just such a person, and learn all you ever wanted to know about shepherds, as we read  John 10.

Week four in the series.  John 8.

Did you ever get the feeling that you're hungry for something real, deep, and soul satisfying?  In this third message of Encountering the Real Jesus, we look at John 6 in which Jesus says He is the Bread of Life.

Week two in the series.  John 6:16-21

Sitting across from someone I've just recently met, my relational nerves, deep down inside, quiver just a little. Though on the outside I seek to project "I'm calm, cool and collected," inside the butterflies flutter.  A brand new person in my world.  What's he like?  Will we enjoy each other's ideas?  I hope there's not some hidden agenda.  Is he genuinely real, authentic enough to open up?  Can I laugh with him at something that's rather trivial but seriously funny? A cup of steaming hot coffee warms my hands and helps calm my nerves as the conversation begins to unfold. We share basics; we chat about our kids. Then we laugh over some goofy shared experience, and before long, we share a little deeper. It's proving to be a real good encounter, and I find myself saying inside, "I think I like this guy."  And I'm sensing we'll become even better friends in the weeks and months to come.
 
Most encounters work something like that.  You're nervous; You interact; Your knowledge of one another increases; Your trust grows.  And over time, your relational strength can keep growing.  It's the same as we encounter Jesus.  Starting this Sunday and across the coming weeks thru Easter, we will experience a Sunday series entitled Encountering the Real Jesus.  Flowing from St. John's biography of Christ, we will be exploring Jesus' own claims about who He is and the personal impact He can make in our lives. This week, we'll watch his encounter with the Samaritan woman beside the ancient well (John's Gospel, chapter 4).