Sermon Central
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The Frog Spa Series
Contributed by Troy Borst on Jan 30, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: The end result if we stay in the world is death. Spiritual death. Separation from God. In this passage, John the Baptist came as a witness to the True Light and showed people the way to Jesus. He was a witness for Jesus. Jesus is salvation.
THE FROG SPA
#John1
READ John 1:6-9
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
As we take a look at this passage today, I want you to notice these phrases that the Apostle John writes to us:
“his name was John”
“he came as a witness to testify concerning the light”
“He himself was not the light”
And then Verse 9: “The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”
You might say, well you wanted us to notice pretty much the whole passage… well you are correct. Each phrase and each repeated word and every verse in this passage is packed with meaning for us. Let’s dig into these verses today, but first… a story…
THE FROG SPA
Maurice was excited to get to go to the spa day that his boss had purchased for him out of the blue. The boss even chipped in for a taxi ride there. There didn’t seem to be a reason for it so he had concluded that for once his boss was being nice and wanted to make him hoppier. His boss was rarely nice. Maurice was a hard working amphibian. He spent his days hopping from lily pad to lily pad bringing messages from Big Boss Leaper to the rest of the frogs and tadpoles in the area. There was a fly shortage in the swamp so there had been a lot of messages lately. He had been working very hard.
Maurice arrived at the spa ready for a day of rest and relaxation and recreation and reduction of stress. He found it interesting that when he arrived at the spa there was a protester outside the gates. The protester, who looked wild-eyed and a little strange, was shouting “Look, this place is dangerous… turn back now” and held up a sign “Don’t jump on the bandwagon.” That frog was very strange, but nothing could damper his mood… not even an annoying protester calling out for him to pay attention.
He arrived and immediately the pampering started. He had bacon and cheese covered french flies and a croak-a-cola shoved in his hand and was given a fluffy robe that smelled like exotic spices, but felt good on his skin. They put open toad sandals on his feet and led him to a big room with a TV. He sat down in the big room on a cushy lily pad and his favorite Soap Hopera… ‘Days of our Flies’… was on the TV. Oh yeah, he was going to enjoy this day!
After ‘Days of our Flies’ was over, Maurice the frog decided to hop on over to the snack bar area since he was still hungry. It was a buffet! What a place! After this day at the spa, he would probably gain a few pounds… which seems what the spa attendants wanted. He could see outside the window of the buffet that lots of other frogs were also having the time of their lives and relaxing well. Some were playing croak-et, some were playing basketball making jump shots, and everyone was having a good time. He also could see outside the gates of the spa that the protester was still there.
He was jumping up and down yelling at all the frogs in the spa. “Get out, the end is near!” “Come with me and be saved!” “Pay attention and get out now!” “Come this way!”
It wasn’t long until a bell sound went out through the whole spa and all the frogs headed to the main floor to the main spa area. It was a large round metal looking pool. There was a diving board and all the frogs took off their robes, jumped on the diving board, and went on in to the pool. Maurice just followed the crowd. He usually just followed the crowd. Maurice jumped on in the large round metal pool and enjoyed the water and relaxation.
Maurice had not been in the pool long when he started to sweat a little. It felt good. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but very nice and soothing. In fact, the spicy smelling robe he had taken off had made his skin feel soft and the pool made him relax even more. Everyone was enjoying the pool, but Maurice was feeling warmer and started to feel a little sleepy. All the frogs just were resting and relaxing in the pool.
The water got warmer and no frog seemed to notice.
