LEFC Pastor's Report - 2025 In Review

Lanse Evangelical Free Church exists to glorify God

by bringing people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ

through worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service.

Celebration Sunday September 2025

The Annual Pastoral Report

Pastor Matt Mitchell

Year in Review: 2025

Dear Church Family,

Serving King Jesus as your pastor is one of the greatest privileges of my life. Thank you for giving me another year to preach the Word, equip the saints, and shepherd the flock of Lanse Evangelical Free Church. 

Ours has been a long and fruitful partnership. Our congregation is nearly 134 years old, and I have been the pastor for more than one fifth of our church’s history. And I’m not done yet! I am eager to see what the Lord might do in and through us in the coming year.

Serving the King in New Territory

In my pastoral report this time last year, I emphasized the new territories that we had recently entered in ministry together and laid out a vision of “Serving the King in 2025.” I’m pleased to report that, by God’s grace, that’s truly what we did. Read through the pages of this document, and you will be encouraged to see many of the ways that our church family rolled up our sleeves and served the King of Kingdoms over the last twelve months. These are some highlights:

Ark Park Pavilion

Probably the most obvious new thing that happened for LEFC was the construction, dedication, and utilization of our brand new pavilion for the Ark Park! We are praising the Lord for this sheltering structure that is now giving us a new place to foster relationships both for the church family and our community. The Ark Park Pavilion is a perfect complement to the playground which we launched twenty-five years ago and the Lanse Free Fridge which just celebrated its first anniversary of helping our neighbors to feed one another. Thank you to our trusty Facilities Team who coordinated all of the efforts to erect it, and thank you to everyone who gave over the previous five years to fund this project. You were serving the King!

Serving Neighbors in Kentucky and Lanse

In July, we sent a ministry team to eastern Kentucky to serve the King by serving precious people whose homes had been devastated by flooding in 2022. The eleven of us (in our bright green t-shirts) lived in an EFCA church building for a week and traveled up and down the “hollers” doing construction and re-modeling led by ReachGlobal Crisis Response missionaries (in blue t-shirts). The motto we learned that week was “People Over Projects.” 

After we returned, some of our team, along with others from the congregation, served the King by serving a homeowner here in Lanse who needed help cleaning up garbage that had been dumped in a ravine behind his house. I hope we can do more to serve others locally, regionally, and globally in the days to come. 

New Logo

For over a year now, a diligent group of our staff and leaders have been working on ideas for a new logo to express the essence of our church in one simple recognizable image, and we hit upon an acorn with a cross embedded in it. We hope it captures the idea of life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. The cross is red to symbolize what our King did for us in His sacrificial death, and there is a green leaf shooting from the top to symbolize our spiritual growth together as a church family.

The acorn fits with our location here in the woods of central Pennsylvania, and it corresponds with the tree logo of the EFCA down to using some of the exact same colors. Thank you to the team who worked on conceiving it, especially Jeff Schiefer, our resident graphic artist, who donated his time and expertise to crafting this deceptively simple and deeply meaningful logo for the church.

Every Good Deed and Word

For the second half of 2025, I endeavored to pray 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 for every family in our church directory:

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

I prayed those words especially for our hard-working church staff and leaders.

Jordyn Skacel has led the growth and development of our Family Ministries in the last year. Read her report in these pages to learn about the many events, programs, outreaches, retreats, classes, and resources that have helped parents to lead their families into a life-changing relationship with our King, Jesus Christ. We are blessed to have a lot going on for families right now. And she’s still just getting started. There is much more to come!

Cindy Green continued to clean up our many messes and help us to be good stewards of the building that the King has given us to share and use for ministry.

Jenni English kept us all pointed in the same direction, providing clear church communications and orchestrating all of the details of the church office. After two years of faithful service, Jenni is now transitioning out of this role as her family has moved out of state. She continues to run the office from afar while she trains her successor. Thank you, Jenni, for all of your service for us and for our King!

As we prayerfully searched for Jenni’s successor, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the Lord was answering two prayer requests at the same time. Ever since we learned the sad news that the Quehanna Boot Camp and SCI Rockview would be closing, we had been praying for the many in our community and church who are affected. And the Lord led Keith Hurley who had been employed at Rockview to apply for the administrative assistant position for us which he will assume, Lord-willing, in early March. We look forward to seeing what our King will do in and through Keith in that new role.

I was privileged to serve the King alongside the other elders of our church–Keith Folmar (2025 chairman), Cody Crumrine (2025 vice-chairman), Keith Hurley, Curtis Quick, and Abraham Skacel. I believe that the King encouraged our hearts and strengthened all of us in every good word and deed done in His name in 2025.

Even More Growth

We continued to grow in 2025 in church participation, setting new records for attendance in Sunday morning worship. We averaged 171 people per Sunday, a 4.2% increase over the previous year (which was a record in my time here as your pastor).  We have grown significantly in attendance since the pandemic (up 24% from 2019), but we’ve been learning that the average attendance numbers don’t tell the whole story of just how large our worshiping community has become. Our attendance team tracked 467 individuals who came at least one Sunday in 2025! The previous year was 411 which had been another record.) The lowest attended Sunday was February 9th (121 people), and the highest attended was Resurrection Sunday (April 20th) with 254 people counted (more than the previous year). Perhaps the best number to focus upon is that we had 247 people who attended on average once per month in 2025.

We grew in membership, as well, taking in five new official members: Macy Mitchell, Roye & Cayli Houston, and John & Kara Suhoney. With a few departures and counting our five associate members, our membership now totals 96–which is also a record in my time here as your pastor.

Clearly we are continuing to grow which is encouraging because it means we have more people to bring into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ and more people to send out to make disciples of others. This growth is also challenging in many ways because it brings new complexity, logistical problems, space considerations, and scheduling issues. We are “a growing family in a smaller house,” and we don’t all know each other! Let’s endeavor to set new records in 2026 for making new connections, learning each others’ names, and serving one another in love. 

Pastoral Ministry

This was a very active year for me in ministry. Being the solo vocational pastor of such a lively and growing flock means that I always have something valuable to do and also that I have to learn to prioritize my time and to empower others to serve the King, as well.

Preach the Word (2 Timothy 4:2)

In 2025, I chose to lead our church into several daunting yet delightful books of the Bible which I had never preached through before with an overarching focus on eschatology. We began the year in 2 John and 3 John and then dove head first into the wild and wonderful Book of Daniel, focusing on the prophesy of “The King of Kingdoms.” After that, we studied both of Paul’s letters to the Church of the Thessalonians putting special stress on the “Eternal Encouragement” that we can enjoy and pass to others today. Near the end of the year, we reveled in the rollicking Tale of Queen Esther that raises the searching question “Where Is God?” and then answers it indirectly yet overwhelmingly in story form. I am so glad we are living in a comedy and that there is no such thing as chance! Lastly, during the holiday season, with the classic carol, “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” on our lips, we studied what the Bible has to say about the arrival of the Son of the Most High and prayed for His soon return–“Come, Lord Jesus!”

Abraham Skacel, Cody Crumrine, Keith Hurley, Chip Wolfe, Caleb Lucien, Jim Panaggio, James Laird, and District Superintendent Kerry Doyal also fed us nourishing meals from God’s Word in 2025.

Equip the Saints (Ephesians 4:12)

I spend a lot of time in meetings and sending messages to empower, equip, and guide our staff and leaders to develop our ministries. I continue to be encouraged at the beautiful blend of new and older members who are working together to do effective ministry at LEFC. Check the roster for any of our ministries, and you will see the names of both younger and more seasoned volunteers listed. Ministry is a team sport, and while I do also get into the game as a player, increasingly my primary role on the team is to be a coach and a cheerleader. 

I also get to invest in equipping ministry beyond our local church family. In 2025, I got to teach on the Tale of Queen Esther and Resisting Gossip for the School of Discipleship at Miracle Mountain Ranch. I continued to serve as the Chairman of the Allegheny District Constitutions and Credentials Board. I got to assist five pastors get their ministry licenses in 2025, and there are more candidates for credentials right now than we have ever had in the process. Once again, I coordinated the Stay Sharp Theology Conference and answered theological and governance questions for churches who are considering affiliation with our association of churches. I also led an ongoing district pastors’ gathering that meets near Pittsburgh several times a year.

On the national EFCA level, I continued to serve as the Book Review Coordinator for the EFCA Blog. We published three book reviews this year including one by our own Cody Crumrine! I also continued as a member of the EFCA Spiritual Heritage Committee which met both at EFCA One in Des Moines and also at my alma mater, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), one last time at their campus in Illinois. TEDS announced this year that they are moving to British Columbia to become the seminary of Trinity Western University, our sister school in western Canada. This seems to be a good move for TEDS as they continue to serve our King by raising up well-educated leaders for His global church.

One highlight of national ministry for me this year was being included on the interview team for the new EFCA Director of Pastoral Theology and Care. As a long-serving local EFCA pastor, I know how valuable it can be for our churches to have someone in that key role, and it was a joy and privilege to get to interview candidates and to provide my input on the selection. The new director is Scott Barber who works closely with Greg Strand and will also be teaching at Stay Sharp in March. 

It is no secret that I love the EFCA, and at the end of the year, I got to shoot a video for the national office extolling many of the things I deeply appreciate about their ministry for us. 

Thank you for allowing me time to serve our King outside of the West Branch area. 

Shepherd the Flock (1 Peter 5:2)

In 2025, I had the honor of spending more meaningful time with the people of our church family. Thank you for inviting me to visit your homes and workplaces, to sit in the audience or the stands cheering on your talented kids at dance recitals, drama productions, musical concerts, and all kinds of sporting events. It is a great privilege to sit by a hospital bed or stand by the casket of one of your loved ones. I truly love getting to be present for both the high times and hard times for our flock.

I had the solemn privilege of leading two memorial services in 2025–John Walter (who had died in late 2024) and Christine Miller. That is  probably a record for the fewest I’ve ever led in a year.

This year, I had the joys of officiating for Roye and Cayli (Bundy) Houston’s and attending Chad and Meizhen (Belko) Green’s weddings. I also got to speak at George and Betty Leathers’ fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration.

We had a record number of babies (6!) born to people connected to our church in 2025! I had the privilege of helping four sets of young parents dedicate their little ones to the Lord.

In November, I was honored to play a part in baptizing three followers of Jesus–Whittaker Crumrine, Jon Michaels, and Holly Michaels.

I can’t be there for every special moment, but as your shepherd, I love getting to be present for every one that the Great Shepherd allows me.

Speaking of shepherding, my own pastor, Kerry Doyal, is on a much-deserved sabbatical from December 2025 through February 2026. He has done a fabulous job of shepherding me these last six years, and I’m glad he’s getting a break. Pastors need pastors, too, and I have one of the best. 

Thank you all, as well, for loving and supporting me and my family. This flock takes good care of its shepherd, and Heather and I are extremely grateful.

Vision for 2026 - Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

I don’t have a grand plan for 2026. 

I know some of the things we hope to accomplish this year. You can get a glimpse of them from the other parts of this annual report. We hope to partner with up to three new missionaries to reach out with the gospel both in the United States and around the world. We hope to send youth to WinterCon and Challenge. We are gearing up for another excellent Family Bible Week and Fall Retreat. The Facilities Team is going to upgrade the playground and try out a pickleball court. There are all kinds of new things in the works, but I don’t have a detailed plan for everything we’re going attempt together this year.

I have, however, settled on what I’m going to preach first, and that is the Letter to the Hebrews. The unnamed author of that New Testament letter is concerned that his readers are tempted to take their eyes off of Jesus and go back to their old ways. So the author reminds them just how superlative and superior Jesus is to every other option. Jesus is greater than anything else and therefore is worthy of our continued contemplation. In chapter 12, he writes:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrew 12:1-2).

I can’t think of a better focus for us in 2026 in all that we do as a church than to keep our gaze fixed on our King. He is worthy!

In His Grip,

-Pastor Matt

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LEFC Pastor's Report: 2024 in Review

Lanse Evangelical Free Church exists to glorify God

by bringing people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ

through worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service.

Celebration Sunday - October 2024

The Annual Pastoral Report

Pastor Matt Mitchell

Year in Review: 2024

Dear Church Family,

I am incredibly grateful to be your pastor. It’s difficult to believe that this is my 27th annual report for you. We have been on a wonderful adventure serving King Jesus together for over 26 years now. Thank you for entrusting me with the responsibility of shepherding this flock. It is a great joy and a privilege which I do not take lightly.

I find that writing my report each year helps me to gain a much-needed perspective. It’s easy to focus only on what’s right in front of me and miss what the Lord has done in the past and might be doing in the future. This last year we celebrated our 132nd anniversary as a church. We have been very blessed in so many ways, and it’s important to stop, give thanks, and reflect.

New Territory

In many ways, 2024 was a year much like previous years for LEFC. We didn’t experience extreme disruption. We didn’t change how we do everything. Our leaders led. Our ministries ministered. Our bills got paid. We met on Sundays. We focused on worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service. We kept the main thing the main thing. There was a lot of steadiness in ministry for which I am very grateful.

And yet, this past year, we also entered into a lot of new territory as a congregation.

Jordyn Skacel - Director of Family Ministry

Perhaps the most obvious new territory is that we called our first Director of Family Ministry. After a long and twisty search process, we were led by the Lord to an ideal candidate! Jordyn Skacel was installed in August in this brand new part-time role, and I am eager to see what the Lord is going to do through her leadership over our ministries to children, youth, and parents in the days to come. Jordyn and her Family Ministries Team have already led us into new territory with an Egg Hunt outreach in the spring and a discipleship retreat for families in the fall! 

Jordyn is a terrific addition to our existing church staff, and we are all enjoying collaborating together. Jenni English completed her first year as our administrative assistant and brought both a trustworthy dependableness and an innovative approach to how we get things done in the office. Cindy Green continued to cheerfully clean up our messes and help manage our facility. Leading a busy staff this size is new territory for me, and I would appreciate your prayers as I grow in my abilities as a manager. 

Malawi Team

Keith, Stephanie, and Mary Beth definitely entered new territory when they flew across the Atlantic Ocean to share God’s love and our love with the people of Malawi. Our Malawi Team served alongside our missionaries, Fred and Cindy Cressman, and their friends at Community Impact Malawi. Thank you for prayerfully supporting them on this new venture. It was a stretching experience for them and for us which I expect to have long-lasting impact both in the “warm heart of Africa” and in the warm heart of Lanse Free Church.

Lanse Free Fridge

We also certainly entered into some new territory when we decided to offer a community fridge and pantry at the Ark Park to give our neighbors a good place to share God’s good gifts with each other. I love how the Lanse Free Fridge communicates our love for our neighbors and facilitates healthy community relationships. I was delighted to see how it took off right from day one! As with all new territory, there will probably be some unexpected problems along the journey, but our church family and our community have already clearly embraced this fresh concept. I am thankful for Holly and Cody’s determined vision for combating food waste and hunger, meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of our neighbors. I look forward to seeing where the Lord leads us all next!

Participation Growth

In 2024, we entered into new territory for the number of people who participate regularly in worship together as Lanse Free Church. Our average attendance at worship grew another 15.4% to 164 people per Sunday. That’s the most people we’ve ever had worshiping with us in my time here as your pastor (the previous “record” was 149 people per Sunday in 2013). In the last three months of 2024, we were averaging 171 people per Sunday. The lowest attended Sunday was October 13th (103 people) and the highest attended was Resurrection Sunday (March 31st) with 250 people counted (50 more people than the previous year). We certainly are growing.

Even though those numbers are very encouraging, they don’t really tell the whole story of just how big our worshiping community has become. We have many more than 164 people who call our church “home.” It seems like it’s almost a different 164 people each Sunday! Our attendance team tracked 411 distinct people who came onto our campus on Sunday mornings in 2024. (The previous year was 293, a 40% increase!) Some of those were one-timers or out-of-town guests, but we had 257 different people who attended on average at least once per month.

With this new territory of growth also comes new challenges. Things become more complex. It’s hard to keep track of everyone. It’s harder to foster community. A bigger group means bigger problems. Last year, in my annual report, I highlighted King Jesus’ new command to us that we must love one another as He has loved us. I’m grateful to report that I saw our church family love one each other in big and small ways throughout the year! From simply greeting one another and praying for one another’s needs, to funding the teens’ trip to Challenge, through the building of the Lanse Free Fridge and the sending of the Malawi Team (along with a love-gift to feed Malawians that was four times our goal!), to being patient with one another and bearing with one another, our church family followed our Lord’s example of sacrificial love (John 13:34-35).

It’s familiar territory for me, but I am so proud to be your pastor.

Blessings Upon Blessings

2024 was a year of joyful weddings. We celebrated the blessing of marriage with seven brand new couples: Reece & Hannah, Jim & Janell, Peter & Macy, Jeremiah & Jordan, and Casey & Emigh. That has got to be some kind of a record for LEFC, and several more twosomes got engaged!

The Lord is blessing our church family with more babies. Darren and Judy were given Ada, and Abe and Jordyn were blessed with River. And there are at least three more on the way in 2025!

The Lord blessed us with ten baptisms this year! We celebrated the sign of salvation with Landen, Treiton, Keagan, Katie, Maria, John & Kara, Alexis, Cayli, and Janell.

We were blessed to be led by faithful church leaders in 2024. I had the privilege of serving alongside a bang-up team of Elders: Keith Folmar (chairman), Cody Crumrine (vice-chairman), Abraham Skacel, and Keith Hurley. I enjoy attending Elders’ Meetings, praying with each other, and working together to provide vision and leadership for the congregation. On top of that, we, along with our wives, take turns meeting with the young people for Snack and Yack on Sundays to help them get the most out the sermon. 

All of our various ministry teams had faithful leaders who carried the responsibilities on their shoulders, including some who have done it for many years. Read the rest of this annual report to get a snapshot of what the Lord was doing through them in 2024.

One of the more unusual blessings of 2024 was the “Great Clean Out” and “Challenge Thrift Store.” All of our ministries worked together to get rid of the things we’ve accumulated over the years to free up space for ministry and to share the leftover useful items with those who wanted them in exchange for a gift to send our teens to the Challenge Conference. Everybody benefitted!

I’m pleased that our teens got to return to the 2024 Challenge Conference after missing the last few. And I’m very encouraged that they came back from the mountain top with a serious desire for serious growth in seriously following King Jesus together. May that be true for us all.

Pastoral Ministry

I love what I get to do as your pastor. I especially enjoy the variety of activities I get to engage in, most of which fall under three main headings: preaching, equipping, and shepherding.

Preach the Word

I love to study and teach God’s Word. Thank you for setting me to this task, for listening closely on Sundays, and for applying the preaching to your own lives.

In 2024, we completed our sermon series on The Gospel According to John. From John chapters 6 through 21, we learned more about how there is true, abundant, and eternal Life in Jesus’ Name! I also got to share John’s message that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life at the 2024 West Branch High School Baccalaureate. The timing of the Gospel of John sermon series was interesting because we ended up centering on the Cross and the Empty Tomb during the holidays when we often focus on giving thanks, the coming of Christ, and the Incarnation. The juxtaposition was striking and brought out new significance to the whole story! At the end of the year, we had a brief though illuminating study of the Bright Star of Bethlehem–predicted in the Torah, fulfilled in the Gospels, and fully realized in the Apocalypse. Jesus is stellar in every way.

We were blessed with nourishing preaching from other solid Bible teachers in 2024. Our own Joel Michaels, Abraham Skacel, and Keith Hurley, our missionaries Donnie Rosie and Fred Cressman, district pastor Joel Zaborowski, and our district superintendent Kerry Doyal all taught us something vital, encouraging, and challenging this year.

Equip the Saints

It’s a good thing I like meetings because I spend a lot of time at them. I also spend a lot of time reading and sending messages to church leaders to support our ministry teams in doing their important work. I love supporting ventures like the Wild Game Dinner, Men’s Breakfast, Family Bible Week, Good News Cruise, Malawi Team, Lanse Free Fridge, and so many more. 

I’m very encouraged to see so many of our newer members stepping into ministry and even leadership roles! As we grow, we have a beautiful blend of younger and more seasoned leaders working together which is incredibly important for the future of our church. 

Also as we grow, my role as an equipper is changing. Now that we have Jordyn directing our Family Ministries, I do less direct work in that area and more empowering her to do it. At the same time, I get to stay involved in things like Snack and Yack and writing many of the “dessert” recommendations for discipleship-minded parents in The Family Table newsletter.

 

My equipping ministry extends beyond our immediate church family, to our associational family of churches, the EFCA. I continued to serve as the Chairman of the Allegheny District Constitutions and Credentials Board in 2024. I got to participate in a double credentialing council for two pastors in one weekend back in March and assist a handful of churches who want to associate with us by reviewing their governing documents. I also got to help lead the Stay Sharp Theology Conference, and Heather and I were privileged to be the speakers for the 2024 Pastors and Wives Retreat in October. 

On the national level, I continued to serve as the Book Review Coordinator for the EFCA Blog and as a member of the EFCA Spiritual Heritage Committee (SHC). In October, the SHC met on the campus of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, our EFCA seminary in Illinois (and my alma mater!). It was good to see the progress our school is making especially at raising up well-educated leaders for the global church. As a member of the SHC, I also got to provide editorial input for Evangelical Heritage: From Immigrants to a Church of All People—The Story of the Evangelical Free Church of America by Dr. David M. Gustafson which is set to be published early in 2025. Evangelical Heritage is the second book in the essential EFCA trilogy to help readers understand the theological, history, and unique ethos of our beloved association of churches. 

In September, I got to visit Valley Church in Des Moines Iowa to speak to their large ministry staff about cultivating a gossip resistant church. Valley Church will be the site of EFCA One next summer. Thank you for gifting some of my time to our wider family of churches.

Shepherd the Flock

As your pastor, I love to be involved in your lives. Thank you for inviting me to watch your kids’ games, concerts, and shows. (I’m glad I have a season pass at West Branch!) It’s a privilege to visit you in the hospital, to share a meal with you, or provide you some counsel.

Because it was such a year of weddings, Heather and I did a lot of pre-marital counseling. At one point, we were making appointments with three different couples! That’s a record for us and a great joy.

The Lord gives, and He also takes away, including deeply beloved church members. In 2024, I led funerals and memorial services for LeRoy Nearhhood, Conlee Isaacson, Robert Lockman, Jr., Jonalie Evans, Randy Killion, and Roper Houston, Sr and spent meaningful time with John Walter in his last days. I also walked alongside couples who had experienced the pain of miscarriages and infant death.

Shepherding can be hard but is holy work. Thank you for allowing me into your lives to represent the Great Shepherd (John 10:14-18).

A Personal Note

This year was significant for Heather and me as we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. We traveled out west to visit our son Andrew who is a wildland firefighter in Washington, to visit Heather’s Canadian family, and to vacation where we got married on June 18, 1994. 

Even more significantly in 2024, we gained a delightful daughter-in-law as our son Peter got married to Macy on August 10th! We have been praying for Macy for twenty-one years, long before we knew her name. I had the privilege of officiating the ceremony for the new Mitchells, and their wedding reception culminated in a giant spray of fireworks–a perfect symbol of their rocketing joy and ours. We couldn’t be happier.

Our daughter Robin spent 2024 preparing for a career in animal care and veterinary medicine. She took an excellent internship at a animal rescue and rehabilitation center in Washington and then also moved to Indianapolis to pursue a degree as a vet tech.  

Our son Isaac flew across the ocean for a short-term Bible, theology, and ministry course at Capernwray Hall in England. We’re excited to see where the Lord leads him next.

My parents, Chuck and Anita, sold their house in Ohio and set up a home in our area. We’re looking forward to having them around a lot more in the warm-weather months.

Thank you for praying for our whole family this last year. We feel loved and fully supported. Thank you, also, for continuing to strongly support the Allegheny District which supplies me with my pastor. Kerry listens to me closely (and frequently!), and he speaks wisdom into my life. Pastors need pastors, too, and I have one with a servant’s heart.

And thank you, once more, for providing my three-month sabbatical back in 2023. The positive effects of that deep rest still carry on strongly today. It was the re-set that I truly needed. I am blessed to be your pastor, not just because I love taking good care of you, but because you take good care of me.

Vision for 2025 - Serving the King

The first word that came to my mind when I thought about the year we are now facing was “serving.” 

In 2025, we have a number of things planned that call us to serve others:

- We are planning to serve the people of Hazard Kentucky who were severely affected by flooding a few years ago by sending two ministry teams on two different weeks this coming summer.

- We are planning to serve our neighbors with the first full year of the Lanse Free Fridge. It’s so popular right now that we need to raise a small army of “fridge checkers” to keep it tidy and update its social media.

- We are expecting to serve many families through new initiatives that Jordyn and her team are cooking up.

- We are hoping to erect a pavilion at the Ark Park to serve our congregation and our community with an improved place to gather and enjoy each other’s company outdoors yet in the shade.

In fact, all of the hopes and dreams you read from each of the ministries in this report will require people to serve for them to become a reality.

Thankfully, serving is one of the things our church does best! We have a church that overflows with humble servants who put others ahead of themselves and Jesus first. Serving is not new territory for Lanse Free Church.

Yet, as our church family is growing so much more, this may become difficult in some perplexing ways. We may experience growing pains which require serving others in ways we wouldn’t do naturally. 

Amazingly, our own King showed us how to do it. Jesus said that He did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). So my encouragement for all who participate in our church is to follow our own King’s example by finding where our service is needed and stepping up and kneeling down to fill those needs.

And to do it for the glory of the King of Kingdoms! I’m glad we’re starting 2025 focused on the vision of the matchless eternal kingdom that has been given to our Lord (Daniel 7:13-14). May His kingdom come and His will be done in Lanse Free Church as it is in heaven and will be on earth (Matthew 6:10).

A Vision for 2045?

Earlier, I said that writing my report helps me with perspective. So does reading my old reports! I recently re-read my pastoral report from twenty years ago that reviewed our ministry together in 2005. It was intriguing to see how much has changed from then and how much has not. In 2005, we were growing in attendance and focused on making disciples, we took in several new members, we got a new administrative assistant, I preached through an Old Testament book (Exodus) and spoke at the West Branch Baccalaureate Service (for the first time), Keith & Heather got married, and we paved the parking lot! It was a big year for LEFC. Perhaps the most interesting point of comparison with today was that we were seriously contemplating a search for a second staff person in the realm of...family ministry!

Fascinatingly (at least for me ☺), at the end of my report about 2005, I shared a vision for ministry in 2025. That sure seemed like a long way off! That year, Heather and I had set a goal of serving here for another twenty years for a total of 27 if the Lord should lead and tarry so long. That is now a goal we will reach, Lord-willing, this coming June.

[By the way, our current goal (not a promise, but a goal) is to serve here at least until I retire–if the Lord allows and you all continue to think it is best.]

Back then I wrote, “I desire for the church to grow in quality, quantity, effectiveness, and influence because of that kind of pastoral longevity.” And, praise God, I believe we have! I also offered a twelve-point list of hopes and dreams that I had for LEFC by 2025 and published them on my recently launched “weblog.” I am deeply encouraged that I can see how more than half of them have come to fruition in meaningful ways.

Looking back like that makes me think about looking forward another twenty years to 2045. If the Lord tarries and gives us that time together, I will have had a 47-year ministry here and be 72 years old. 

I’m sure that in 2045 our ministry together will look very different in many ways. Will we have a new lead pastor (or pastors!)? I hope so! I’ll probably be retired, or at least part-time. Will the children of our current leaders be the leaders then? Will I have preached through all of the books of the Bible (probably not, as I have so many left!)?

At the same time, I hope nothing essential will have changed in 2045. I hope that LEFC will still be keeping the main thing the main thing. I hope we will have the same mission and message. I hope that we will be making disciples with a life-changing relationship with King Jesus. I hope that our families will be thriving because of some of the investments we are making right now. I hope the Bible is being believed and taught in our pulpit, classrooms, and living rooms. I hope we are reaching the world. I hope that we are serving our community. I hope we have hundreds of visitors to our Lanse campus each year, playing on our Ark Park, eating at the pavilion, and maybe sharing free food at the Free Fridge.

And I hope we’re also doing these things in ways and levels I can’t even imagine right now.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

As I wrote back then, “Who knows the future? Only God does. Thankfully, we belong to Him through Jesus Christ. So we can expect good things from His gracious hand.”

In His Grip,

-Pastor Matt

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Life in Jesus' Name - The Gospel According to John

Thank you, Jeff Schiefer, for creating the graphics for the "Life in Jesus' Name" messages.

A sermon series on The Gospel According to John preached from August 2023 to December 2024 for Lanse Free Church.

01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
29. "Father, Glorify Your Name!" - John 12:27-36
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:6
33. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
34. "Show Us the Father" - John 14:7-14
35. "If You Love Me" - John 14:15
36. "I Will Ask the Father" - John 14:16-24
37. "My Peace I Give You" - John 14:25-31
38. "I Am the True Vine" - John 15:1-11
39. "You Are My Friends" - John 15:12-17
40. "If The World Hates You" - John 15:18-6:4
41. "When He Comes" - John 16:5-15
42. "After a Little While" - Joh 16:16-24
43. "Take Heart!" - John 16:25-33
44. "Glorify Your Son" - John 17:1-5
45. “Holy Father, Protect Them" - John 17:6-19
46. "That All Of Them May Be One, Father" - John 17:20-26
47. "Who Is It You Want?" - John 18:1-27
48. "Here Is Your King" - John 18:28-19:16
49. "It Is Finished" - John 19:17-42
50. "While It Was Still Dark" - John 20:1-18
51. "Peace Be With You!" - John 20:19-31
52. "It is the Lord!" - John 21:1-25

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“It is the Lord!” [Matt's Messages]

“It is the Lord!”

Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

December 8, 2024 :: John 21:1-25  

It was probably the strangest breakfast meeting ever.

I like to think about John chapter 21 as kind of a post-credits scene after a good movie. 

You know what I mean? You’ve watched a great movie, and it was very satisfying at the conclusion, everything came together nicely, and then the credits roll. But you just stay sitting there in the theatre, with a smile on your face, because you’ve heard there might be something more. You don’t get up. You don’t throw away your popcorn. You wait for the next bit, the something extra.

The Gospel of John began with a prologue. An amazing summary statement foreshadowing what was to come, John 1:1-18. The Gospel of John ends with an epilogue that ties up loose ends, carries the story up past its conclusion, and sets up what was going to happen next.

And it all goes down at the strangest of breakfast meetings.

Let’s take a look at John chapter 21.

Remember where we are in the story. Jesus has been crucified and buried, but then has been seen alive again by Mary Magdalene, and the disciples. Twice! The second time including Thomas who said to Him, “My Lord and My God!”.

And John has told us why He wrote the book. Last verse of the previous chapter.  He wrote this book “...that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Which sounds a lot like a conclusion! But don’t stand up. Don’t throw away your popcorn. There’s more. Chapter 21.

“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. [That’s the Sea of Galilee up in the north. The one Jesus walked across in chapter 6.] It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus) [The Twin], Nathanael from Cana in Galilee [remember him from chapter 1?], the sons of Zebedee [James and John], and two other disciples [probably Andrew and Philip] were together” (John 21:1-2).

How many is that? Seven of them. They’ve headed back home after the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They have seen the Risen Lord and been sent on a gospel mission. But what are they doing? They are fishing. Look at verse 3.

“‘I'm going out to fish,’ Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We'll go with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.”

Now, there’s nothing wrong with fishing itself, right George? Maybe they were hungry or bored or restless while they were waiting for more details of their marching orders. We don’t know. Perhaps they needed to make some money, and this was their livelihood for at four of these guys. So, perhaps they needed to go fishing.

They fish at night because that’s when the fish are often biting and so that they can sell the freshest fish in the morning. But it’s called “fishing” not “catching,” right, Abraham? That’s for a reason. These experienced fishermen go all night without a bite. Their nets are empty that night. And then the morning came, and so did Jesus. Verse 4.

“Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. [Just like Mary in the garden.] He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven't you any fish?’ ‘No,’ they answered.”

That’s always the question for a fisherman, isn’t it? No, they have no fish to sell. Nothing to show for a whole night’s work. Verse 6.

“He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.”

Wow! That’s a miracle. All of sudden, they are straining at the nets because they can’t pull the whole thing into the boat.  And John knew what that meant! Verse 7.

“Then the disciple whom Jesus loved [I think that’s John] said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.”

That’s “so Peter” isn’t it? I don’t think Peter’s thinking straight. He puts on more clothes to jump in the water. Maybe he was stripped down for work and wanted to be presentable to his Lord. Anyway about it, he’s gung ho! He does the cannonball into the lake and swims the length of a football field to get to shore. Verse 8.

“The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.

When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. [Jesus has His own fish! And He’s made breakfast. The strangest breakfast meeting there ever was. V.10] 

Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ [Wink, wink. Wonder how all of that got there?] Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. [Another miracle!]

Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord” (vv.8-12).

I grabbed the title of this sermon from verse 7. What John said in the boat that caused Peter to jump out of the boat.

“It is the Lord!”

“It’s Him! I know it’s Him. I can tell. It’s obvious. From the miracles. From what He asks. His voice. His heart. It is the Lord!”

#1. ACTUALLY ALIVE AGAIN.

Jesus is alive. He is not still dead, and He is still alive. That resurrection thing was not a temporary deal. This is later, and He’s still alive. And it’s obvious that it’s Him. At first, they don’t recognize Him, but by verse 12 they all knew. They all “knew it was the Lord.”

“None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you.’” They knew!  They knew they were having breakfast with Jesus. The real Jesus! The actual factual Jesus who had been dead but is now alive. “It is the Lord!”

And He’s not just meeting them at breakfast time, He’s making them breakfast. When I preached this passage before on May 7 in the year 2000, I put across the top of the sermon notes page, “Dead men don’t make breakfast!”

Jesus is actually factually miraculously alive again, and it makes all of the difference.

Can you imagine what this breakfast was like? The smell of the fish grilling over the burning coals? Wet old Peter with his hair and beard matted down and glistening with water. Everyone just staring at Jesus. And Jesus serving everybody their food. Look at verse 13.

“Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead” (vv.13-14).

The third time when a bunch of them were all together.

“After he was raised from the dead.”

You see, that really happened! This isn’t a fable or a myth or a just story. This isn’t fiction. This is history. 

I think that’s the point of the 153 fish in verse 11 Christians have had all kind of theories of what is intended by the number  153 in verse 11. There are all kinds of theories out there, some better than others. But here’s what I think the point of the number 153 is in verse 11:

I think it means that there were 153 fish.

Literally. That’s how many there were. Fishermen count that sort of thing because that’s how they make their money. They know how many there were. And it was a lot! It was a miracle.

And if it symbolizes anything, it just symbolizes blessing; the blessing that comes when you obey Jesus. If simply just obediently throwing your net over on the other side of the boat will yield 153 fish, imagine what will happen if you obediently try to go fishing for men?! 

“Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). But with Jesus all things are possible.

One time, I had a quiz in seminary, and I was asked how many fish there were in John 21:11. And the answer was 153. John thought it was important enough to include that detail so here it is.  The Holy Spirit thought it was important enough to include that little detail, so here it is. But the big reason it’s important is because that’s how many fish there actually and that means that Jesus is actually alive again. To me, it has the mark of an eyewitness to it. And if John gets the little details right, it makes it all the more plausible that he got the big detail right.

“It is the Lord!”

Actually factually miraculously alive again. And handing out breakfast to His followers. A little delicious foretaste of the kingdom to come!

But there was more to this strange breakfast meeting. Jesus has an agenda, specifically for His follower Simon Peter. They have some unfinished business. Look at verse 15.

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?’”

It is the Lord...

#2. ASKING IF WE TRULY LOVE HIM.

Obviously, He was asking Peter here, but I don’t think it’s too big a jump to get to us.

“Do you truly love me?”

Jesus said to Peter, “Do you truly love me more than these?”

And, of course, the interpretive question is, “These what?” These fish? “Do you love me more than 153 fish, Peter?” Or these fishing implements? Nets, boats, the whole fishing business. “Do you love more than your old life, Peter?” Or it could be “these other disciples.”  “Peter, do you love me more than Thomas, Nathanael, James and John, and these other two guys?”

I tend to think it’s “more than these other disciples do.” “Peter, you said that you loved me more than anything. Not long ago, you  said that you would lay down your life for me, Mr. Rock. But when the time came, you denied that you even knew me. And you did it three times (see John 18:15-18, 25-27). Next to a fire of burning coals...Kind of like that one right there (see John 18:18). Do you remember that?”

Peter does remember that, and he’s ashamed. But he also knows that he does love Jesus, and that Jesus knows it. Verse 15 again.

“‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’”

Hmm. He doesn’t say, “Feed my fish.” Though He could have. He reaches back to John chapter 10 when He said that He was the “Good Shepherd” and that His people are His sheep. That’s us!

And Jesus says that if Peter actually factually loves Jesus, then he will feed Jesus’ lambs. Peter will take care of God’s people. He’ll be an under-shepherd, a subordinate shepherd to the Chief Shepherd.

 

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He asks again. Verse 16.

“Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me?’ He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’”

By the way, there’s a few different words here for “love” and for “sheep” in the Greek, but I don’t think He’s making a big point with that. It’s just stylistic to use varied vocabulary when you want to get a major point across. 

“Do you truly love me?” He’s not just asking if Peter has affection for Him. He’s asking if Peter cares more about Jesus than anything else. He’s asking if He is Peter’s number one priority. And He’s asking Him three times, probably because Peter denied Him three times, and He’s giving Peter the chance to undo all of that. V.17

“The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’”

That was hard for Peter, but it was good for Peter. He had to own His failures, and he did. And then He got Jesus’ forgiveness! That’s it. From this point on, Peter is fully restored. From this point on, Peter has a leading role once again. He says, “Lord, you know all things...” Which is very true! He’s knows all the bad, and he knows all the good. He knows that Peter does love Him. And Jesus says, “Feed by my sheep.”

Now, those words are very important to me because of my calling to be a people-shepherd myself. Just like Peter, I’m supposed to take the Word of God and feed it piece by piece, like I’m doing now, to the flock entrusted to my care. And I do it, just like Peter, because I love Jesus. I love you guys, too! But I love you because I love Him. And He knows it. He knows all things. And He knows that I love Him. And He’s called me to “Feed His sheep.”

But this truth is not just for pastors. It’s for all who love Jesus. You can tell if you love Jesus by whether or not you love His people. 

Do you feel the logic here? “Do you love me? Do you truly love me? Then love my lambs.” It’s not enough to say that we love Jesus. We need to love Jesus by loving His people.

What did He say? Right before He predicted Peter’s denials in chapter 13, Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. [This has been our church's theme for 2024.] By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you [Say that you love me?! Nope. If you have fish symbol on your car? Nope. If you post Christian memes all day long on social media? Nope. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you] love one another” (John 13:34-35).

How’re we doing at that? How’re we doing at loving other Christians? And not just the ones that are like us or are easy to love. But the ones that are different from us and difficult to love? You know who I mean. Their faces come up in your mind when I ask! How’re we doing at loving other Christians? Because one key way know that we actually factually love the Good Shepherd is that we actually factually love His sheep.

“Feed my sheep.”

And that’s what Peter does. For the rest of his life, with his ups and downs, he’s dedicated to shepherding the flock of God. And then he will die for Jesus.

Talk about a strange breakfast meeting! At this breakfast, Jesus tells Peter how he’s going to die. Look at verse 18.

“I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’” (vv.18-19).

On one level, that must have been encouraging. Jesus (who is back from the dead!) just told Peter that He is going to live to be an old man. But He’s also told him that he’s going to lose his freedom and his life. You “will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.' Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.”

Historical tradition indicates that the Apostle Peter was crucified upside down. According to the tradition, Peter refused to be crucified right side up because he didn’t feel worthy of dying like His Lord did. That’s unverified, but it speaks volumes, doesn’t it? Jesus knew that Peter would die as martyr for Jesus. And now Peter knows that Peter will die as a martyr for Jesus. How’s that for a "post-credits" preview of what’s to come?!

Verse 19, “Then he said to him, ‘Follow me.’”

It is the Lord!

#3. CALLING US TO FOLLOW HIM.

Even to our deaths. Are you ready to do that? Are you willing to do that? Do you believe that Jesus is worth that? I do! I believe that because Jesus is alive today, He is worth dying for today. And He is worth following with my life. And, sometimes, that’s like a thousand little deaths every day. Dying to self and selfishness and living for Jesus and His kingdom. We are not all called to be martyrs, but we are all called to follow Him. And that’s the point of the next section.

Jesus is calling us to follow Him in our own particular paths. Look at verse 20. Apparently Jesus and Peter have gone for a little walk after breakfast and John and probably the others are following close behind. Verse 20.

“Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved [John just can’t get over how much he was loved!] was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, ‘Lord, who is going to betray you?’) When Peter saw him, he asked, ‘Lord, what about him?’” (vv.20-21).

“You’ve told me how I’m going to die. What about John? He’s the fast one. He beat me in the race to the tomb the other day. Is he going to be beat me to his own grave? Lord, what about him?”

That’s a dangerous question, isn’t it? When we start comparing ourselves and God’s plan for us with someone else and God’s plan for them?

“Jesus, why does that Christian go through cancer and I am healthy?

Jesus, why do I lose my job because I was a witness for you and that follower is allowed to share about you on her coffee-breaks?

Jesus, why does that disciple have a strong healthy family, and I am supposed to navigate this dysfunctional one?

Jesus, why does that believer always seem to be losing money, and I am amply supplied for?

Lord, what about him?”

Jesus says back, in effect, “None of your beeswax.” Verse 22.

“Jesus answered, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.’”

“None of your business.”  What is that to you?  “You must follow me.” 

You. In your own path. I’ve got a path for him, and I’ve got a path for you. Don’t worry about his path.

Don’t fall into the comparison trap. “You must follow me.”

And don’t miss that He says, “until I return” or “until I come.” There’s another "post-credits" preview of coming attractions! Jesus is going away one more time, but He’s coming back! He’s coming back! And until then, we follow Him with our lives and, if needs be, our deaths. “You must follow me.”

Now, in verse 23, John clears up a misconception that some people formed when they heard about what Jesus said in verse 22.

“Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?’ [I’m not going to tell you what’s going to happen to John right now. That’s between me and John.] This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true” (vv.23-24).

“We know it because it was me who wrote it! I lived it, and I wrote what I lived. And I want you to believe it. Because if you believe in Jesus, you will have life in His name! He is actually factually and miraculously alive again! And He is asking us to love Him. And He’s calling us to follow Him. And He is so worth it! I can’t tell you how worthy He is! I couldn’t fit it all into this book! I didn’t even try!”

Here’s how John ends the book. Verse 25.

 

“Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

“He is infinitely greater than what I have told you in these pages! He is everything I’ve told you.

He’s the Bread of Life.

He’s the Light of the World.

He’s the Gate for the Sheep.

He’s the Good Shepherd.

He’s the Resurrection and the Life.

He’s the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

He’s the Vine, and we are the Branches.

He’s the Word. 

He was with God, and He is God!

And He’s become flesh and made His dwelling among us that first Christmas.”

“We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

And He has died for our sins. It is finished.

And He’s back to life to give us life. He has overcome the world.

This is not the end of the story. It’s the new beginning of the rest of the story that will never end!

“It is the Lord!”

“O come, let us adore Him.”

***

Messages in this Series

01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
29. "Father, Glorify Your Name!" - John 12:27-36
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:6
33. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
34. "Show Us the Father" - John 14:7-14
35. "If You Love Me" - John 14:15
36. "I Will Ask the Father" - John 14:16-24
37. "My Peace I Give You" - John 14:25-31
38. "I Am the True Vine" - John 15:1-11
39. "You Are My Friends" - John 15:12-17
40. "If The World Hates You" - John 15:18-6:4
41. "When He Comes" - John 16:5-15
42. "After a Little While" - Joh 16:16-24
43. "Take Heart!" - John 16:25-33
44. "Glorify Your Son" - John 17:1-5
45. “Holy Father, Protect Them" - John 17:6-19
46. "That All Of Them May Be One, Father" - John 17:20-26
47. "Who Is It You Want?" - John 18:1-27
48. "Here Is Your King" - John 18:28-19:16
49. "It Is Finished" - John 19:17-42
50. "While It Was Still Dark" - John 20:1-18
51. "Peace Be With You!" - John 20:19-31

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“Peace Be With You!” [Matt's Messages]

“Peace Be With You!”

Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

December 1, 2024 :: John 20:19-31  

The title for this message just jumped off the page at me because Jesus says it three times in this one short passage. Verse 19, verse 21, and again in verse 26. 

“Peace Be With You!”

In the Greek, John wrote, “Eiraynay humin.”

But that’s probably a translation of what Jesus said in the street language of the day.  He probably said it in Aramaic, something like, “Shlama Alaykhu.”

Which is related to the Hebrew that Jews still use today all over the world, “Shalom Alaychem.” 

“Peace be with you.”

Why don’t you say that to your neighbor, if you are so bold?  “Shalom Alaychem.”

By the way, the traditional response is to say it the other direction back at them, “Alaychem Shalom.” "And with you peace.”

I think that when the Lord Jesus said these words, His disicples really needed to hear them. Because they were scared.

Now, remember where we are in the story. Jesus is alive again, but not very people know that.

Everybody knows that Jesus was dead. Everybody in Jerusalem knows that Jesus was crucified. He was arrested in the darkness, put to trial in a series of unjust courtrooms, sentenced to death by the Jews for blasphemy (because He claimed to be the Son of God and God the Son) and sentenced to death by the Romans for claiming to be a King. The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate had a placard nailed above His head on the Cross in three languages that proclaimed Jesus was the king of the Jews.

Everybody knew that Jesus was dead. He was killed by crucifixion.

His executioners made sure that He was dead. Not only had they nailed Him to the Cross, but they stuck a spear in His side, and there was no response. Blood and water came flowing out of his dead body.

He was buried. Like we said in the Nicene Creed this morning. Placed in a new tomb in a garden as it was getting dark on Friday evening. And then nothing happened on Saturday. Nothing but grief and mourning.

But then on Sunday morning while it was still dark, Jesus rose from the grave! 

Last week, we read about how Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty and the stone in front of it rolled away. And we read about her running to the disciples, and two of them running back to the tomb to see for themselves. Peter and probably John the gospelwriter. And John believed! And then Mary saw. Mary saw with her own two eyes that Jesus was alive!

But that’s a pretty small circle of people who know. Mary has run back to the disciples once again and said, “I have seen the Lord!” (v.18). But the rest of them have not.

And they are, frankly, scared! And you and I, I think, would have been, too. After what they have seen this weekend?! “After what they did to our Lord?! What’s to stop the Jews and the Romans from doing it to us? I know what Mary said, but what are the chances that it’s true?” Look at verse 19. 

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’”

“Eiraynay humin.”

“Shlama Alaykhu.”

“Shalom Alaychem.” 

“Peace be with you!”

They probably needed to hear that. Now, not just because they were afraid of the authorities out there, but now because there was a resurrected Man in their midst!

“What is going on?!!! Where did you come from? The doors were locked! You were dead!!!”

“Peace be with you! Don’t be worried. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be scared. Have some peace. I am here.”

I’ve got three points to summarize our passage today, and they are all reasons to have real peace. Here’s the first one:

“Peace Be With You!”

#1. BECAUSE THE PRINCE OF PEACE IS ALIVE AGAIN.

The very first thing that Jesus does after bursting in on them and saying, “Peace be with you!” is show them His scars. Look at verse 20.

“After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.”

“See here? Look at my hands. Here’s where the Romans put the nails. Yes, it is me. I’m not a ghost. I’m not an apparition. This is not a dream. Look here at my hands. Look here at my side. This is where the executioners stuck that spear. You can still see exactly where it went in. I know that this is scary, but it is real. I am alive. 

“Peace be with you!”

Because the Prince of Peace is alive again.

Just a couple of nights ago, Jesus had a lot to say about peace, didn’t He? He promised to give them His peace. Remember that? It was back in chapter 14 which we studied in July, but He just said on Thursday night. This is Sunday evening! He said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (Jn. 14:27).

And now He appears four days later and says, “Peace be with you!” 

And that peace is possible because of His scars. I never thought about that until this week when I was studying for this message. He says, “Peace be with you!” and then shows them His wounds? He’s not just saying, “It’s me.” He saying, “Look! I have purchased your peace. Everything is okay...It is finished.” [Meditate on Isaiah 53:5 and how the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.]

“Peace be with you!”

Or how about memory verse right now? That same night right before His arrest. Last thing He said to them. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have [WHAT?] peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33). And here is saying, “See! I have overcome the world!” You can have that peace now.

And what better response to that could there be than joy? V.20 again.

“The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.”

I’ll bet! I can’t imagine. “He is alive. He’s really alive.” They are crying. They’re dancing. They’re shaking their heads.  They go from the lowest of fear and grief to skyrocket to the highest of joys and happiness!

He predicted that, too, didn’t He? Remember that same dark night, He said, “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy...I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (John 16:20,22).

We can and will rejoice because the Prince of Peace is alive again!

That’s why we worship on Sunday mornings. Because every Sunday reminds us of the resurrection. And our eternal joy.

“You’re my Prince of Peace, and I will live my life for you!”

And that’s what He asks us to do in the next section. Jesus is going to send His disciples (and by extension you and me) on a mission. He starts by saying it again. Verse 21.

“Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’”

“Peace be with you!”

#2. BECAUSE THE SENT-ONE IS SENDING YOU WITH THE SPIRIT.

Now, there’s a lot packed into these three verses. I thought about just preaching them all by themselves. This is like the Gospel of John’s version, of the Great Commission. And it’s glorious.

First, He says again, 

“Eiraynay humin.”

“Shlama Alaykhu.”

“Shalom Alaychem.” 

“Peace be with you!”

And they need to hear that because the next thing He’s going to say is that they have to go out into the world on a mission. They can’t stay huddled up behind locked doors. They have to go out into the world, and they are going to have to speak up out there. 

“I am sending you.” He’s come back from the dead, and He’s making demands. “I am sending you.”

“I’ve got a mission for you, and it is not optional.” They are going to need that peace. Because the world is not a safe place. And the world is not entirely receptive to their message. But regardless, they have to go.

And so do we.

Raise your hand if you are on a mission from Jesus. Every follower of Christ should be raising their hand. We are all missionaries in this room. We’re not all foreign missionaries. We’re not all supported missionaries like the ones whose pictures hang on our back walls. I’m praying that the Lord will raise up more missionaries like that from the folks in this room. 

But all of us are here are sent. We have a mission. It’s called the Great Commission. We have a message. It’s the gospel. It’s our mission to make disciples through that message of the gospel.

“I am sending you.”

He’s sending you and me into our little mission fields. Whether that’s your workplace or your school or your neighborhood or wherever the Lord sends you each and every day, you are supposed to live on mission for Him.

“I am sending you.”

But notice that Jesus doesn’t ask us to do anything He’s not willing to do first. He’s not just the Sender. He’s been sent Himself. Did you catch that in verse 21?

“Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Who is the great missionary there ever was?

Hint: It’s not Jim Elliot or William Carey or Hudson Taylor or Fred and Cindy  or Peter and Deb  or Abe and Jordyn Skacel or John and Becky or Chip and Kim or even the Apostle Paul! As wonderful and used of God as all of those missionaries were. Who is the greatest missionary there ever was?

It’s Jesus, right?

I love that we’re reading verse 21 as Christmas approaches.  Because that’s what Christmas is. It’s a rescue mission.

The Father sent the Son.  

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (Jn. 3:16-17). That’s the point of Christmas!

The Father sent the Son. Now, the Son is sending us.

Jesus predicted that, too, didn’t He? He prayed it to the Father that same night before Cross.

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 7 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (Jn. 17:15-18).

That’s dangerous. But He has gone before us and give us His peace. And more than that, He gives us His Holy Spirit to go with us and in us. Look again at verse 22.

“And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

Notice “and with that.” There’s a connection between “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you...” and Him blowing on them.

I know that’s weird. This is the only time that He does that in any of the four gospels. He does a lot of weird things, but this is the only time He blows on them.

The Greek word is “emphuseo.” You can hear things like “Emphysema” that are probably related words in English.

What was Jesus doing? There’s a lot of debate about that among Christian scholars, and there’s a number of possibilities including that this was the moment that these disciples first received the Holy Spirit to live in them permanently. That’s possible. [Read John 7:38-39 and think about it carefully.]

But I tend to think that it’s prophetic and symbolic of what Jesus is going to do in 50 days from right then. He’s promising to send the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and saying what it’s going to be like. A rushing wind.

A wind that gives new life like the breath of God breathing life into the first human in the book of Genesis (2:7) or in the book of Ezekiel blowing new life into the skeletons in the valley of dry bones (37:10). Same kind of use of language.

He’s prophesying of the coming of the Spirit that He also just promised on Thursday night:

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).

“Receive the Holy Spirit.” “You don’t have go out there on your own. I’m sending you, but I’m not sending by yourself. God the Spirit is going to go with you and in you.”

“Receive the Holy Spirit.” What a holy moment! The Risen Jesus promising the gift of the Spirit for the new missionaries. The Sent-One is sending them into the world.

And here’s their message–the forgiveness of sins. Look at verse 23.

“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now, that almost sounds like He’s giving the disciples the ability to dole out personal forgiveness and it affect divine forgiveness, but we know that’s not how it works. I think He’s just saying that He’s giving the disciples the job of telling people about how to be forgiven through Him. He’s saying that the disciples have to take the message of the gospel to the world, and if they believe the message of the gospel, then they will be forgiven, but if they reject the message of the gospel, then they will not be forgiven.

And it’s our job to tell people! “If you forgive anyone their sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

If we keep the message of the gospel to ourselves, how can anybody be saved?!

That’s a big responsibility. And it’s not optional.

But we are not alone. Jesus has gone before us and He sends His Spirit with us.

Who should we tell? Who should we tell this week? Who are you going to tell? Don’t be worried. Don’t be scared. Jesus has given you the Holy Spirit. “Peace be with you!” Go and tell them Who Jesus is and what He’s done.

Jesus says it one more time.

He shows up again about a week later.

Which, by the way, I’m always wondering what Jesus did in between these appearances. We don’t know. That’s one to ask Him someday in the Kingdom. “What did you do on Sunday afternoon, Jesus? What did you do between the two weekends?”

We also don’t know why Thomas wasn’t there that first Resurrection Sunday. Perhaps he was running for the pizza. Had to take over the treasury now that Judas was gone. Don’t know.

We just know that he missed this whole thing we just read. Look at verse 24.

“Now Thomas (called Didymus [Twin]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ [It was awesome! We are so happy!] But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it’” (vv.24-25).

I don’t blame him. Thomas was a brave man who loved Jesus. Remember when Lazarus died, and Jesus wanted to go into dangerous territory to visit the family? Thomas was like, “You got it, Boss. I’m ready to die with you.”

And Thomas (I don’t know what his twin was like, but Thomas) asked good questions and wanted to know it straight. Just a few nights ago, Thomas had said, “Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" (John 14:5).

And we know what Jesus said to that. But then they took Jesus away. And they killed Him.

And Thomas wasn’t there to see Him back from the dead. And he just wanted more proof. It’s not that he didn’t believe in resurrections. He saw Lazarus come back from the dead! But not from a crucifixion.  And not with his own eyes.

“You guys might just be hallucinating. You want it too much. I will not believe unless I see it myself. Unless I touch Him myself.”

“Show me.”

I like to call him, “Missouri Thomas.” That’s my nickname for him because Missouri is the “Show Me State.”

"Seeing is believing," says, Missouri Thomas. I don’t blame Him. But he probably should have been believing his friends who were eyewitnesses. And he probably should have remembered that Jesus had promised to come back from the dead.

But Jesus was gracious to Missouri Thomas and showed Himself to him personally. Look at verse 26.

“A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them [this time]. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’”

“Eiraynay humin.”

“Shlama Alaykhu.”

“Shalom Alaychem.” 

“Even you, Thomas. Peace be with you!”

And then He gets in a little dig. In love. But a rebuke nonetheless. Verse 27.

“Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’”

An even better translation would be, “Stop unbelieving and believe.” He’s not telling Thomas to stop asking questions or examining all of the evidence. He’s telling Thomas to stop making excuses, stop being an unbeliever, and to put His faith in the Truth. “Stop unbelieving and believe.”

“Because it’s all true! I am alive. And now I’ve proven it to you. Don’t make excuses. Start believing now.”

And Thomas does. Verse 28.

“Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”

What a moment! I don’t think Thomas even touched him. When he saw Jesus with his own eyes, he hit the floor!

“My Lord and my God!”

Notice that Thomas is saying that He believes everything that the Jews and the Romans killed Jesus for. He is a King. He’s the Lord! And He is divine. He is God! It’s not blasphemy if it’s true.

“My Lord and my God!”

Notice, also, that Jesus does not try to stop Thomas from worshiping Him. He’s not like, “Oh, oh, oh, Tom, Tom, Tom. No. Stop! I’m just a man. Stop with the ‘my God’ stuff.”

No, Jesus just receives that worship as due Him. That is Who He is. That is His name. And Thomas believes in His name.

Jesus says that believing with seeing is good, but there is something better. Look verse 29.

“Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”

“Peace be with you!”

#3. BECAUSE YOU ARE BLESSED IF YOU BELIEVE.

Especially if you believe without seeing first. One day, we will see Jesus. And we long for that day. John says in his first letter we will become like Him when we see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).

Jesus wants us to see Him in all of His glory (John 17:24).

But right now, we don’t see Him. Nobody in this room has seen Him yet. And yet we believe in Him and “...are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for [we] are receiving the goal of [our] faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9). 

That’s blessing. So the believing people in this room are more blessed than Missouri Thomas. Isn’t that wild? I would think that Thomas was more blessed than I am. (And he was in some ways.) But there is a special blessing during this age for those of us who have not  yet seen yet have believed.

Is that you? Do you believe?

Believing is seeing and seeing blessing.

Because you know what happens when you believe? You get life. Verse 30 and 31 which we studied before the very first Sunday of this series.

“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (vv.30-31).

I love how John starts talking directly to us in this purpose statement for the whole book. He says, “I have written this so that you may believe.” 

Believe in Jesus. Believe that that He is the Messiah, the Christ, the Promised One who came that first Christmas. Believe that He is the Son of God. “My Lord and my God.” That is His name. And that by believing in that name, you will have life. Life abundant and life eternal.

That’s blessing!

If you believe that without yet seeing with your own eyes, but just believing what you’ve been told by reliable eyewitnesses like Mary Magdalene and Missouri Thomas and John the Gospelwriter then you will have life.

Of course, the opposite is also true. If you do not believe, you will not have life. And you will not have peace. Because peace is found only in Jesus.

“Peace be with you in Him!”

***

Messages in this Series

01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
29. "Father, Glorify Your Name!" - John 12:27-36
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:6
33. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
34. "Show Us the Father" - John 14:7-14
35. "If You Love Me" - John 14:15
36. "I Will Ask the Father" - John 14:16-24
37. "My Peace I Give You" - John 14:25-31
38. "I Am the True Vine" - John 15:1-11
39. "You Are My Friends" - John 15:12-17
40. "If The World Hates You" - John 15:18-6:4
41. "When He Comes" - John 16:5-15
42. "After a Little While" - Joh 16:16-24
43. "Take Heart!" - John 16:25-33
44. "Glorify Your Son" - John 17:1-5
45. “Holy Father, Protect Them" - John 17:6-19
46. "That All Of Them May Be One, Father" - John 17:20-26
47. "Who Is It You Want?" - John 18:1-27
48. "Here Is Your King" - John 18:28-19:16
49. "It Is Finished" - John 19:17-42
50. "While It Was Still Dark" - John 20:1-18

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