Our church has recently been studying the Miracles of Jesus, as recorded in the Gospel of John. Over the course of eight Sundays, we're talking about eight major miracles or signs, as listed here below:

1. Changing Water to Wine at the Wedding Feast in Cana (Ch. 2)
2. Healing the Official's Son on the Way to Capernaum (Ch. 4)
3. Healing the Invalid at the Pool of Bethesda (Ch. 5)
4. Feeding the 5,000 at the Sea of Galilee (Ch. 6)
5. Walking on the Sea of Galilee (Ch. 6)
6. Restoring the Sight of a Man Born Blind (Ch. 9)
7. Raising Lazarus from the Dead at Bethany (Ch. 11)
8. The Miraculous Catch of 153 Fish (Ch. 21)

This past weekend, we came to chapter six -- where we start to come across some very interesting parallels between this series of miracles or "signs" recorded in the Gospel of John and another series of identity statements spoken by Jesus throughout the Gospel of John. In these identity statements, Jesus makes rather bold declarations about who he is and what his identity means, philosophically and theologically. So it's worth listing these eight major "I am" statements as well, spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of John:

1. "I am the bread of life." (John 6:35)
2. "I am the light of the world." (John 8:12; 9:5)
3. "I am the gate for the sheep." (John 10:7, 9)
4. "I am the good shepherd... [who] sacrifices his life for the sheep." (John 10:11, 14)
5. "I am the resurrection and the life." (John 11:25)
6. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6)
7. "I am the true grapevine." (John 15:1, 5)
8. "I am (the one known as 'I AM')." (John 6:20, 8:28, 8:58)

Some of the parallels may be more obvious than others -- but look at the way the miraculous signs confirm or anticipate the identity statements! It's really remarkable to notice the way that they match up (though not always sequentially):

1. The first miracle matches up with the final identity statement: Changing Water to Wine at the Wedding Feast in Cana anticipates the statement "I am the true grapevine."
2. With the Healing of the Official's Son (who is near death) on the Way to Capernaum, Jesus demonstrates the statement, "I am the way, the truth, the life."
3. When he heals the Invalid at the Pool of Bethesda (situated directly next to Jerusalem's Sheep Gate), Jesus demonstrates his later statement: "I am the gate for the sheep."
4. When Jesus feeds (at least) 5,000 people with a full meal of fish and bread, here in chapter 6... It correlates very nicely with his identity statement later in chapter 6, doesn't it? "I am the bread of life."
5. The first time Jesus spoke the powerful identity statement, "I am" (implicating himself directly with the most sacred name known to any Jewish person), guess what he was doing: He was Walking on top of the Sea of Galilee!
6. When Jesus Restored the Sight of the Man Born Blind, bringing light and vision where there had only been darkness and blindness, it was a real-life enactment of his identity statement, "I am the light of the world."
7. Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead in chapter 11, and what identity statement does he make in chapter 11? "I am the resurrection and the life."
8. His post-resurrection appearance to the disciples -- in which he out-fishes the career fishermen with a Miraculous Catch of 153 Fish and then teaches Peter about the need to feed and care for his "sheep" -- closely parallels Jesus' statement that "I am the good shepherd... [who] sacrifices his life for the sheep."

Isn't that beautiful to notice the literary structure of John's Gospel? It's not always obvious at a first reading, but the more you look at the parallels, the more beautiful the story becomes! It makes sense, then, that John uses the word "sign," where we tend to use the word "miracle." Certainly, John wouldn't deny that the events were miraculous, but I believe he deliberately chooses to say that they were "signs" -- or indications of something else. Isn't that interesting? The miracles of Jesus were signs pointing us to the (deeper, more meaningful, more significant) identity of Jesus!

Exactly nine years ago, our family moved to the Netherlands. As you can see from the photographic collage here above, we've changed and grown a lot from year to year. What an adventure it's been!

One of my colleagues is getting married and moving on from her day-to-day responsibilities with our ministry here in Amsterdam, so we decided to mark the occasion with a special Staff Day. The celebration started at the end of the school day, when the team greeted our kids with balloons and cheers.

After balloons were distributed and affixed to each bicycle in our group, we loaded up and biked to a local bowling alley to spend the afternoon goofing off together.

My team lost (who knew that Marci, Linda, and Naomi were such bowling sharks?!?), but we still had a really good time together.

After bowling, then, we all rode back to our family's home and enjoyed a lovely dinner together -- followed by lounging about and having some deeper conversation. It really ended up being a lovely day.

To me, the whole experience underscored the point that we're not just colleagues; we're family. We know and appreciate each other deeply, after having experienced much joy and sorrow together over the past decade of working together. I could never completely explain the connection in words -- but somehow the pictures from our time together help to capture the beauty of this "Family of Colleagues" (a greater collection of images can be accessed in the Family Pictures section of the website). God has given us a tremendous gift with this group of friends / sisters / colleagues.

I was a witness. The temperature hovered just above the freezing point. The wind whipped across  the harbor. Still, a young Iraqi refugee wanted to be baptized, to proclaim his newfound faith in Jesus. So we went to the Steenhoofd, in the docks west of Amsterdam's Centraal Station, and we cheered him on as he got dunked in the frigid waters of the IJ River.

I was there for moral support as much as anything -- back-up to one of our church's pastors-in-training who did the actual "getting-wet" part. But I was glad to be there. I love baptisms in Amsterdam. We've done them in the Nieuwe Meer (big lake just south of the city). We've done them in the reflecting pool on the Museumplein. We've done them in swimming  pools. We've done them in the North Sea. We've done them in bathtubs, even. Every location has its own charm because it's a part of a unique story that's being written in the life of a unique individual --  just like the stories of the Ethiopian official who got baptized in a roadside pond (Acts 8:26-40),  or the textile merchant who was baptized in a river just outside of Philippi (Acts 16:13-15).

After today's baptism, we gathered around the new believer and spent time praying for him. We thanked God and prayed for His blessing. But we were blessed already... by a new moment of God's grace imprinted on our memory

A portion of our ministry space was flooded a couple of Sundays ago, and it was not my finest moment in ministry. Raw, seeping sewage is not usually an ingredient for feeling fruitful and fulfilled.

I was grumbly. I was mad. I didn't want to be "the responsible one."

I didn't want to be the one with the keys to the building, the one who had to make sure that we figured out a plan for replacing the damaged floors that had to be ripped out. I didn't want to be the one with experience in laying laminate floors and organizing teams of volunteers. I argued that I had better things to be doing than measuring, cutting, fitting, and finishing the floors. I complained that there wasn't anyone else who could just take the project and run with it, while I carried on with the rest of my pastoral responsibilities. In short, I bemoaned my lot in life. I was a bitter, bitter man.

But then, thank God, I got some perspective.

Fortunately, with a bit of time and prayer, I started to see the flooring project as an opportunity to serve the church, develop other leaders in the church, and actually have some fun in the process, too! We got a great boost when Nicole and Michel took on some of the work in making plans and coordinating communication about the flooring project. Marc and Marcus helped with gathering the necessary materials. Marci and Sonja stepped in nicely, to help with the initial clean-up and floor preparation. David and Sasha knocked out the entryway in a single evening. Marijn and I got to do half of the Kids Room, and then David and Anthony finished it, while I laid the plints around the edges and Sasha put some of the furniture and plumbing implements back together.

Together, we completed the job with remarkable efficiency, and I actually found myself genuinely enjoying the process. It was fulfilling to do something very practical and tangible with other people from the church -- seeing something through from beginning, to middle, to end. It was refreshing to connect with others from the church, as we worked together and took coffee breaks together. We talked about summer vacations, relationships, careers, and faith. And in the end, we were all enriched by the experience. I hope that we don't have to do it again any time soon, but even if we do, I take comfort from the fact that I'll get to do it together with these people.