Bartlesville First United July 5, 2026 "Road Work Ahead"

Devotional

Day 1: Jesus: The Person Who Joins Your Journey

John’s gospel shifts focus from themes to a person: Jesus isn’t a concept to study but a presence to welcome. He steps into our stories, not as a distant figure but as the Word made flesh who moves into the neighborhood of our lives. This isn’t about knowing facts but embracing a relationship. The call is to move beyond admiration to surrender, letting Jesus reshape your journey from the passenger seat. [57:06]

“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” (John 1:14, MSG)

Reflection: Where have you settled for knowing about Jesus instead of knowing him? What practical step could help you invite him into a specific struggle or joy today?

Day 2: Pointing Beyond Ourselves to the Greater One

John the Baptist refused to let curiosity about himself distract from his mission: directing others to Jesus. He modeled humility, insisting he was only a voice preparing the way. His life whispers a challenge—are we pointing to our accomplishments or to the One who holds all things together? True purpose lies in making him visible, not ourselves. [55:45]

“John told the truth when he said, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ They asked him, ‘Then who are you? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘No, I’m not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ ‘No.’ Then they said, ‘Who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us.’ John replied in the words of Isaiah: ‘I am thunder in the desert: “Make the road straight for God!”’” (John 1:20–23, MSG)

Reflection: When do you subtly crave credit or recognition? How could you redirect someone’s attention to Jesus this week?

Day 3: The Heavenly Hitchhiker Who Asks to Ride Along

Jesus isn’t waiting at a distant finish line—he’s the companion thumbing a ride into your daily chaos. He doesn’t demand a spotless vehicle or a perfect itinerary. His presence transforms the journey, not by critiquing your driving but by sharing the wheel. The question isn’t whether he’s worthy to join you, but whether you’ll trust him with the road ahead. [58:21]

“Jesus said, ‘I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me.’” (John 14:6, MSG)

Reflection: What part of your life feels too messy to invite Jesus into? How might his presence shift your perspective on that chaos?

Day 4: Daily Invitation: “Jesus, Hop In and Guide Me”

Faith isn’t a one-time transaction but a rhythm of opening the door. Each morning offers a chance to hand Jesus the map—not just for grand decisions but for ordinary moments. Name the specific detours you’re facing: stress, distraction, loneliness. He’s less interested in fixing your route than in being your compass. [01:09:02]

“But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, he made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves. These are the God-begotten, not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten.” (John 1:12–13, MSG)

Reflection: What specific area (e.g., patience, priorities, fear) do you need to pray, “Jesus, guide me here today”? What’s one way you could listen for his direction?

Day 5: Heaven Sent a Who to Walk With You

God didn’t send a rulebook or a philosophy—he sent a person. Jesus is the ultimate “Who” who hears our smallest cries and steps into our story. Just as Horton protected the Whos, God dignifies our fragility by joining it. You’re not navigating life alone; the One who shaped the stars walks beside you, whispering, “A person is a person—and I’m here.” [01:11:14]

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9–10, ESV)

Reflection: When have you felt overlooked or insignificant? How does Jesus’ choice to “become small” for you reshape that feeling?

Sermon Summary

John’s Gospel brings the whole route to Jesus. Creation showed who made the world and why being created is good. Sin showed the detour and the brokenness that explains why things are not as they should be. Covenant, rescue, Torah, and prophets all pointed down the road toward the one place where the road becomes a person.

John 1 does not simply point at Jesus as a theme. John testifies that Jesus is a presence, a power, a gift, and a promise. The Word who was with God in the beginning has become flesh, so that God comes close in time and space and says, “This is what God is like.” The baptism story becomes the place where John the Baptizer names Jesus as the one who brings more than water, more than a fresh start, more than a marker on the road.

John the Baptizer knows who he is not. John refuses to let religious leaders confuse his role with the road itself. John is not Elijah, not the one, not the answer. John is a road sign, pointing away from himself toward the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the one who takes care of sin and baptizes with the Spirit.

Jesus is the junction, but not merely an intersection once upon a time. Jesus is the route, and Jesus is also the guide. Knowing facts about Jesus is good, but knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing Jesus himself. The call is not just to be impressed by Jesus, but to have Jesus “riding shotgun,” guiding commitments, challenges, money, screen time, anger, relationships, and all the places where life gets a little close.

The image of the heavenly hitchhiker says something plain and wonderful. Jesus does not thumb a ride because he needs a lift. Jesus comes close because the human heart needs the lift. The Lord of the universe says, “Can I get in?” and once he is in, he does not simply say drive faster, drive better, work harder. Jesus joins the road so that his presence is enough by God’s grace.

Horton Hears a Who becomes a little window into John’s Gospel. God heard the tiny voices of brokenness in the world and did more than listen. Heaven did not send a what, a how, a where, a when, or even a why. Heaven sent a who. Jesus is that who, and now that who sends other who’s into the lives of children, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and hurting people, so that their lives can say, “Behold the Lamb.”

Key Takeaways

1. Jesus is the junction. John the Baptizer refuses to become the center, because his whole calling is to point beyond himself. The real turning point is not a religious personality, a spiritual mood, or a holy moment by itself. Jesus is the road where God meets broken people and the guide who leads them from there. [55:33]
2. Knowing about is not enough. Facts about Jesus matter, and learning all one can is good, but information is not the same as communion. A person can know the language, attend church, and do religious looking things while still keeping Jesus outside the car. The deep question is whether Jesus is admired at a distance or welcomed as the living Lord who rides along and guides. [57:06]
3. Jesus rides because life needs him. The “heavenly hitchhiker” image turns power upside down in a beautiful way. Christ does not ask to enter because he lacks anything, but because human life lacks him. His presence is not a demand to drive harder, but a mercy that makes the road navigable by grace. [58:21]
4. Heaven sent a who. God’s answer to the world’s brokenness is not merely a system, a method, a location, or an explanation. Heaven sends a person, the Word made flesh, because the ache of the world requires more than instructions. Jesus is God drawing as close as possible, not to label pain from afar, but to enter it and redeem it. [67:57]
5. Not the one, still sent. John knows the freedom of saying, “I am not the one.” That truth releases people from being experts, fixers, or saviors. Yet the Spirit still sends ordinary people as signs, living witnesses whose actions say that Jesus is the one who can be trusted. [69:46]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[46:28] - No Prop Needed for Jesus
[48:20] - The Road Leads to Jesus
[50:32] - Jesus Junction and John 1
[52:05] - Baptism, Water, and Spirit
[54:32] - John Says Who He Is Not
[56:04] - The Lamb and the Road
[57:06] - Knowing Jesus, Not Just Facts
[58:21] - The Heavenly Hitchhiker
[60:21] - A Story of Fear and Love
[63:02] - Impressed or Sold Out
[65:13] - Horton Hears a Who
[67:57] - Heaven Sent a Who
[68:33] - A Daily Prayer for Guidance
[70:40] - Sent as Who’s to Others

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
John 1:19-34 (ESV)
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” 24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

Observation Questions

In John 1:19-23, how does John the Baptist respond when asked about his identity? What specific titles does he deny?
What does John the Baptist say about Jesus’ role in comparison to his own baptism with water (John 1:26-27, 33)?
According to the sermon, what does the image of Jesus as a “heavenly hitchhiker” illustrate about His relationship with us? [58:21]

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think John the Baptist emphasizes who he is not (e.g., “I am not the Christ,” “I am not Elijah”) before explaining his role? How does this clarify his purpose?
John says Jesus “baptizes with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33). What might this imply about the difference between ritual actions (like water baptism) and the transformative work of Jesus?
The sermon describes Jesus as both “the road and the guide.” How does this metaphor challenge the idea of faith as merely agreeing with facts about Jesus? [57:06]

Application Questions

The sermon contrasts knowing about Jesus with knowing Jesus personally. What practical step could you take this week to shift from learning facts about Him to inviting Him into a specific area of your life (e.g., relationships, screen time, or anger)? [57:38]
John the Baptist says, “I am not the Christ” (John 1:20). Where do you feel pressure to be “the answer” for others instead of pointing them to Jesus? How could you practice humility in that area?
The “heavenly hitchhiker” image suggests Jesus wants to join us in daily life. What part of your routine (commute, work, chores) feels disconnected from God? How might you consciously invite Jesus into that space? [58:44]
The sermon says, “Heaven sent a who” to heal brokenness. Who in your life needs to experience Jesus’ presence through your actions or words? How could you intentionally “behold the Lamb” to them this week? [01:10:40]
Reflect on the prayer, “Jesus, hop in. Guide me today in ______.” What specific area (e.g., patience, forgiveness, generosity) do you need Him to guide this week? Write it down and pray about it daily. [01:09:02]

Sermon Clips

56s

#KnowJesusPersonally

“The the the call is not just to know more about Jesus. Now, let me let me be careful and quick to say, it's good that you learn all you can about Jesus. Read everything you can but there's gotta be some place where knowing about Jesus simply is not enough. It's the path to something more. You must know Jesus himself. Day in and day out, walking with you, being with you. Jesus is the route, and he's also the guide. Jesus isn't just a one time intersection in your life. At the risk of sounding a little bit irrelevant maybe irrelevant too, but I hope not. At risk of sounding a little bit irreverent, it occurred to me as I thought about this, yeah, this is not just about an intersection. It's about a person. Right? It's about a relationship.”

60s

#AllAreWelcomeInJesus

“Heaven, John tells us, has heard the voice of the who's in this world, and god, like Horton, has acted to make a difference, but heaven did more than just hear the who's. Heaven did not send a what, not something labeled god, that would be an idol. Heaven did not send a how, not a list of complicated rules and and five easy steps or a series of processes to follow. Heaven did not send aware. God was not limited to one place in time and space even though god began in Jesus in first century Nazareth. Heaven did not send a win. You don't have to be in a particular country at a particular time to be able to get in on this. All are welcome.”

59s

#YouAreSent

“You're the one who can say through your life, through your spirit, through your actions, behold the lamb. Here's the one that you can trust. are a who that God has sent into the life of a child, into the life of a hurting friend, into the life of that coworker or that neighbor who tells you that story, that person you have coffee with, that family member. You're a who that God has sent. So let me end with apologies to doctor Seuss. All that Horton could do was hear a who, but heaven did what Horton could never do. Heaven sent a who, and now that who that heaven sent is sending me and sending you.”

61s

#RideWithJesus

“``Imagine Jesus as the heavenly hitchhiker that you meet on this route. The one standing there and saying, could I as you're going through all this stuff with creation and brokenness, I just could I get in? Could I could I just could I ride with you? Imagine the lord of the universe, god in the flesh, thumbing a ride with us, not because he needs a lift, but because we the lift. That's what I think John is saying. Jesus is not just standing at the end of a road waiting for us to figure it out. He's saying, can can I get in? You don't know how much you need. I don't need the ride. You need me in there with you.”

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Bartlesville First United July 5, 2026 "Road Work Ahead"

Devotional

Day 1: Jesus: The Person Who Joins Your Journey

Day 2: Pointing Beyond Ourselves to the Greater One

Day 3: The Heavenly Hitchhiker Who Asks to Ride Along

Day 4: Daily Invitation: “Jesus, Hop In and Guide Me”

Day 5: Heaven Sent a Who to Walk With You

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Bartlesville First United July 5, 2026 "Road Work Ahead"

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