This is the last in the series Encounters with Jesus.
In my PG, we meditated on the feeding of the 4000 and I wondered what kind of fish they were. Ron Layman said they were Tilapia because at Christmas he wanted to have Jesus’s favorite food so he looked this up. To know this got me into the story.
My invitation is during Lent, continue to come back and read through these encounters with Jesus. We are going to talk about Christ on the cross today. We know he’s no longer on the cross and we are going to talk about him on the cross to meld grief and gratitude until Easter when we will talk about the resurrection.
Last week, Michael talked about the rich young ruler and meditated on this passage. Today we will do the same. If you feel comfortable, close your eyes. Imagine a seed in your hand and you put it in the dirt and cover up. You have some water. The seed sprouts over time and makes a plant and there is a branch coming toward you and there is a fruit. You take a bit and taste the fruit. What kind of fruit did you eat? Apple, apricot, orange, peach….
The Cross Continued
The Village Church’s sermon podcast is more than just a weekly message. It is an invitation into the great and ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Pastors Eric, Mark, Susan, Daniel, and other leaders open the Scriptures not as a collection of abstract ideas but as the living, breathing witness to God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Each episode is a call—not merely to listen, but to take part, to step forward into the life of faith with renewed vision and purpose.
Week by week, the pastors and leaders explore the deep rhythms of Christian discipleship—prayer, fasting, generosity—not as isolated duties but as part of a larger, richer, and more beautiful whole. They unpack these ancient practices in light of Jesus himself, the one in whom heaven and earth have come together. But they also turn their attention to the realities of everyday life—relationships, finances, the struggles and joys of being human—demonstrating how the gospel is not merely about what we believe but about how we live as God's renewed people in the present age.
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