SCRIPTURE READING MARK 8:27 27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

MARK 8:27 27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

HOW PEOPLE SEARCH FOR JESUS: 1. Tradition.

MATTHEW 15:7-9 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.

HOW PEOPLE SEARCH FOR JESUS: 2. Their intellect.

I CORINTHIANS 2:4-5 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

HOW PEOPLE SEARCH FOR JESUS: 3. A personal encounter.

JOHN 9:17, Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.” 25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

II TIMOTHY 1:12 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

II CORINTHIANS 5:17 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

JOHN 1:14 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

I AM PROCLAMATIONS: 1. I am the bread of life. He offers you real fulfillment.

JOHN 6:35 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

I AM PROCLAMATIONS: 2. I am the light of the world. He offers real forgiveness.

JOHN 8:12 12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

I AM PROCLAMATIONS: 3. I am the gate. He offers real friendship.

JOHN 10:9 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

I AM PROCLAMATIONS: 4. I am the resurrection. He came to offer you a real future.

JOHN 11: Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”