3/6/2022

Scripture: John 18: 38-40

Subject/Theme: Give Me Jesus

Pastor LaVeeshia Pryor of St. John AME Church- Frankfort, KY 40601

As babes in Christ we struggle with what it truly means to have a relationship with Christ. And we are still trying to ween ourselves from worldly things although many of us have grown up in the church and we are still trying to find ourselves as we grow in God.

We desire to learn and grow in the Lord. We have no problem telling people about a good meal that we have had and we ought to talk about the Goodness of God in the same way. 

Unfortunately we are living in a season where we are allowing Satan to quench our thirst instead of having a steadfast and deep relationship with God. We need to grow into a deep relationship with God like the fanning of flame it will grow. Give me Jesus not mere things of this world.

Choosing Jesus means choosing repentance: Jesus is tenderly calling us to repent. And some do not like to confess because that means they need to recognize that they have done something wrong and they don’t want to do it. We all have blemishes in our past, but thanks be to God we are not where we used to be.

Choosing Jesus means we have to love our neighbors as we love ourselves: this is not optional and even when we don’t want to, we must treat people as we would want to be treated. We need to do better at treating people with kindness and goodness. We need to stop dragging our sisters and brothers down in the mud. The church should not treat people like they are treated out in the world. The church should offer Love, Kindness and Compassion-Lord help us.

Choosing Jesus means we become the best versions of ourselves. You know how you lived before Jesus came into your life. Now that you know Jesus you do things differently because God has delivered you. The closer we get to Jesus the more he anoints us and loves us.

The crowd in this scripture chose the Father of a son and not the son of our father. Their hearts were hardened and they chose a murderer over Jesus. And Pilate asked the crowd three times if they wanted Jesus or Barabbas and chose Barabbas. Ask the Lord to soften your heart and remember to choose Jesus. We need to get back to our roots and get back to loving the Lord intentionally.

Amen