Last week, we began a new series that continues in the Gospel of John. We’ll be in this Gospel through Easter and John is an important but challenging text for us. It tells the story of Jesus but it also demands a response both from the characters in the text as well as from us. I mentioned in last week’s sermon that John is different from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark , and Luke); there is less overlap, less commonality, less similarity in the order and content. Partly this is because the Gospels have different goals. Luke begins his Gospel by explaining that he is attempting to tell an “orderly account;” he’s striving for the maximum factual truth – he's a historian whom you can almost imagine verifying sources and fact-checking every aspect to get the details perfect. Yet John’s Gospel is not any less true – it merely has a different focus. John writes in chapter 20: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”  
In this series, we will study many different stories and sayings and the exact topic will vary. However, this is John’s great goal that as we read this Gospel, first that we will believe Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, and second that we may find life in His name. I hope that you’ll all join us this series as we gradually unwrap the amazing gift of Jesus Christ and I pray that we’ll each find life in His Name!