Recap of 9/9/12 (John 12:28-50):

1.  In Jesus last public teaching before the cross He teaches that the essence of life is to live: sacrificially, putting others ahead of ourselves; courageously, accepting God’s will, living for His glory despite whatever suffering may come, to risk “place, profit, and prestige” to identify openly with Jesus; and by faith, responding to Him, exercising faith for salvation and day to day living.

2.  This prayer by Eugene Peterson expresses perfectly what Jesus was seeking to communicate about life in John 12:25,26: “May I never, God, forget that You are my Lord and I am Your creation; that however wonderfully you have made me, you have not made me to live to myself or for myself, but to You and for others, even as Jesus Christ did.”

3.  According to William Barclay at the heart of Christian life and faith are three paradoxes: 1) death to personal aims and ambitions leads to life and real usefulness to God; 2) “only by spending life do we retain it”; and 3) “only by service comes greatness.”

4.  Barclay explains courage in this way:  “Real courage does not mean not being afraid.  It means to be terribly afraid, and yet do the thing that ought to be done.”