Dear Lakeside Family,

Bring in the new! Lakeside NT:24 is here. I pray that you will join in reading this year. I believe this small habit, will have a profound impact on your faith journey. In as little as five minutes of reading and a brief reflection you can begin to understand God's heart a litte more! We are reading through the book of John right now. Here are some things to pay attention to as you begin reading from the author John:

1. Pay attention to key vocabulary like light and darkness, word, witness, testify, truth, and family language (mother, father, womb, birth)   
2. Pay attention to I am statements that are only found in the fourth gospel.
3. Take notice of the use of the word, signs. John 1-12 is called the book of signs and Jesus performs seven signs during those passages. “Signs” is used instead of the word for miracles in the Gospel of John.
4. Notice the intimate conversations in the Gospel of John. Jesus has a lot more one on one conversations. Jesus’ mother at the wedding of Cana, Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the man ill for 38 years. These one on one encounters are unique to the Gospel of John.

Jamie Clark-Soles, Professor of New Testament,  provides a southern translation of John 20:31 and explains the whole point of the Gospel of John:

"But these things are written so that y'all may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing y'all may have life in his name" (20:31, my trans.).

"Everything from 1:1 through 21:25 was written not merely to inform us, but to transform us. John does not aim to provide an objective account of people and events in order to add another tome to the annals of human history. No, this is persuasive speech; and if this Gospel has its way with us, we will feel directly addressed by God in Christ and receive the abundant life that belongs to us as members of God's own family."

I pray that your heart will be transformed, not just your brain informed this year. In Jesus name, Amen. 

David