The Word Became Flesh and Pitched His Tent Among Us

In one paragraph

This service was the second Sunday of Advent, and Pastor Ray preached from the prologue of John's Gospel, John 1:1-18. He focused on the gap between the transcendence of God and the incarnation of Christ, and what it means that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Three personal stories about men he had walked through the Gospel of John anchored the message in lived experience. Pastor Ray...

Read together

1. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God
2. John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God
3. John 1:3 All things came into being through Him; apart from Him nothing came into being
4. John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind
5. John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not grasp it
6. John 1:6-7 A man sent from God named John came as a witness to testify about the light so all might believe
7. John 1:8 John was not the light but came to testify about the light
8. John 1:9 The true light coming into the world enlightens every person
9. John 1:10 He was in the world, the world came into being through Him, yet the world did not know Him
10. John 1:11 He came to His own and His own people did not accept Him
11. John 1:12-13 As many as received Him, He gave the right to become children of God, born not of blood or will of man but of God
12. John 1:14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth
13. John 1:15 John the Baptist testified that He who comes after me existed before me
14. John 1:16 Of His fullness we have all received grace upon grace
15. John 1:17 The law was given through Moses but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ
16. John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only Son has explained Him
17. John 7 Jesus teaching at the feast of tabernacles, discourse with Pharisees and scribes
18. John 8 The woman caught in adultery and Jesus extending grace; Jesus declaring I AM before Abraham
19. John 14:6 Jesus says I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me
20. John 20:31 These things written so that you might believe and believing have life in His name
21. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, compared to John 1:1 to show the Word preceded creation
22. Psalm 19 Day after day, night after night, creation declares the glory of God
23. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Advent reading: may the Lord of peace give you peace at all times and in every way

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray walked through John 1:1 and pointed out that 'in the beginning was the Word' comes before Genesis 1:1 in a chronological Bible. What does it do to your understanding of Jesus to think of Him as present and active before creation itself?
2. The sermon described God as transcendent, 'lying beyond the ordinary range of perception,' and then showed how He closed that distance by becoming flesh and pitching His tent among us. Where in your own life have you most clearly felt the difference between a God who is far off and a God who is near?
3. Pastor Ray said that in John's Gospel, belief comes first, and what you believe shapes what you do. It is not a list of do's and don'ts but a matter of receiving Christ as He presents Himself. How have you experienced that order, belief before behavior, in your own walk?
4. All three stories Pastor Ray told involved someone being handed the Gospel of John and being told to read it for themselves. What role has reading Scripture on your own, outside of a sermon or group setting, played in your faith?
5. The man with the 'Trust No One' tattoo was pointed toward this church by someone he called mama, who told him to find somebody who would tell him about Jesus. Who in your life played that kind of role for you, and who might you be playing it for right now?