Faith Talk - March 23, 2025

Sunday: March 23, 2025
Series: His Hour
Sermon: My Hour Has Come: Serve Him

John 12:28 – If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

In John 12:20-36, Jesus announces the arrival of "His Hour" – the pivotal moment when His glorification through death and resurrection would begin. The presence of Greeks seeking Jesus signals that God's plan of salvation extends beyond Israel to all nations. Through the powerful metaphor of a grain of wheat dying to produce a harvest, Jesus explains the nature of His mission: victory through sacrifice rather than conquest.

This passage reveals the challenging requirements of true discipleship, calling followers to die to worldly attachments, embrace suffering for God's glory, and live for eternal purposes rather than temporary pleasures. Even as Jesus acknowledges His own troubled soul facing the cross, He remains resolute in His mission, confirmed by the Father's audible voice from heaven.

The sermon concludes with Jesus' urgent invitation to respond to Him as "the light" while He is still present, emphasizing that the time for decision is now.

• Main Points:
  Jesus' glorification comes through death and resurrection
• Following Jesus means dying to self and serving Him, even through suffering
• The time to believe in and follow Jesus is now, while His light is visible

 Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus, who willingly suffered for our salvation and showed us the path to eternal life. We are grateful that He was glorified through His sacrifice and that through Him, we can become children of light. We ask for Your help to die to our worldly desires and to embrace Your eternal purposes, even when it means suffering or sacrifice. Give us the courage to follow Jesus faithfully and to serve Him wholeheartedly. We commit to living for eternity rather than temporary pleasures, trusting that You will honor our faithfulness just as You honored Your Son. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Plant seeds together in small cups or a garden area and use it as an ongoing object lesson about Jesus' teaching. As you plant, discuss how the seed must be buried (die) before it can grow into something new and fruitful. Each day as you water the seeds and eventually see sprouts emerge, talk about how this relates to dying to self and living for Jesus.

Keep a growth journal where family members can write or draw ways they're trying to "die to self" each week. When the plants produce fruit or flowers, celebrate together how God multiplies our small sacrifices into something beautiful when we surrender to Him.