“Expository preaching isn’t about imposing our ideas onto Scripture—it’s about letting Scripture speak for itself. When the main idea of the text becomes the main idea of the sermon, God’s Word shapes both the preacher and the people. In this year-end conversation, we reflect on how faithful, verse-by-verse preaching has formed our understanding of the gospel, challenged us through difficult passages, and deepened our appreciation for God’s redemptive plan revealed from Genesis to Revelation.”

John the Baptist had one message for the crowds: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" In this sermon on John 1:19-34, Pastor Ben Smith examines John's testimony of who Jesus is. John pointed to Jesus and declared two essential truths: Jesus is the Lamb of God, and Jesus takes away your sin. The wait is over. The promise has been fulfilled. Behold the Lamb of God.

"The Word became flesh to reveal the glory of God, the grace and truth of God, and to provide for sinners to be saved from the wrath of God. See the birth of Jesus for what it is: the eternal God, coming in the flesh to be in the presence of man to reveal His glory."

Salvation is not determined by man's worthiness but by God's authority. It is impossible for sinful man, blind in sin, to receive and believe on Jesus for salvation. But God, rich in mercy, grants with His power and authority, by grace alone, for sinners to receive and believe in faith on Jesus and to become children of God. From beginning to end, salvation is entirely the work of God—a truth that brings both humility and unshakable hope to all who trust in Christ.

The confidence you have in a promise is dependent on the one who guarantees the promise. The assurance of the gospel is singularly founded on the personhood of Jesus. Being the incarnate eternal God through whom all things were created and in whom the eternal redemptive plan of God is fulfilled. Jesus is not limited by the fragility of man—He has always been, He is, and He will always be. The hope of the gospel rests on God alone. And this is the hopeful word of verse 5: even though the world opposes the light, it will not overcome the light. Like the sunrise that dispels the grip that darkness has on the world and demands that it surrender in defeat, so is the glory of the light of the gospel. Darkness is presently warring against the light, but it will not overcome it.

The resurrection of Jesus is more than a historical event. The resurrection of Jesus is a confrontation of faith. Do you believe that He is the resurrection and life?

This interaction between Martha and Jesus is dripping with emotion. Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, had a close and affectionate relationship with Jesus. Verses 33-36 tell us that when Mary met him, accompanied by many mourners, he was deeply moved, and when he came to the tomb, he wept. The sisters are grieved by the loss of their brother and disappointed that Jesus had not arrived in time to heal him from his sickness.

There is a tendency to read this passage and focus primarily on the emotions. However, God is doing more than ministering to emotions in this passage. In God’s providence, he was providing an opportunity to demonstrate His glory and call his disciples to a deeper faith and belief.

Martha acknowledged that she believed in the resurrection on the last day, but this belief was academic and did not influence how she experienced the grief of the moment. Jesus called her to personally believe that he alone is the source and power of resurrection and eternal life. Many people, like Martha, acknowledge Jesus's resurrection, but what does it mean to have faith and belief that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? This passage exposes the insufficiency of knowledge alone and the requirement of faith and confession.

Having faith and belief that Jesus is the resurrection and the life is:

• More than an acknowledgment of fact.

• Believing that in Jesus alone is salvation.

• Confessing Jesus as Christ and Lord.