Hello Dear Church,
I hope and pray you are all doing well on this wonderful Thursday afternoon! As you all know, we will be starting our journey through the gospel of John this next year. I am starting to get very excited about it! For me, the gospel of John has been deeply influential during some some pivotal seasons of my life. I hope that this next season in John will be as beneficial to us all!
So as we’re starting to work our way through John, I think it would be wise to prepare ourselves for it. After all, we will get out of it what we put into it. So, let me give some recommendations for how to prepare for the book of John
1. Read through John. If you’ve never spent time reading through the Gospel of John, spend some time reading through it in one session. I’ve done this a number of times in the past month. I’d recommend picking a translation you don’t always use (try Blue Letter Bible for suggestions), and sit down and spend an hour reading through John.
2. Memorize parts of John. If you like to memorize Scripture, or even if you don’t, try memorizing parts of John. I think a great place to start is John 1:1-18. The cadence is easy to remember and it is profound. Memorization helps us internalize.
3. Find a good book on the gospel of John. If you’ve never read through a book on the gospel of John, try reading one. Can I recommend one? A classic is JC Ryle’s Commentary, and a more modern one is RC Sproul’s. Either of these books will help you understand John’s Gospel (and they’ll look great in your library).
What we get out of the Bible is what we’ll put into it. I believe, putting some time into studying the Gospel of John more deeply will yield fruit for years to come!
In Christ,
Pastor Matt