While I love going to church every Sunday, I have to admit that I look forward to our One Church – One Service Sunday’s with a little more excitement. It is a blessing for me to see the entire congregation, together at the same service as we will this Sunday. This Sunday we will WORSHIP in song, we will PRAY, I will TEACH, we will celebrate COMMUNION and then after the service, stay for some FELLOWSHIP around light refreshments. These are the five activities of the early church in Acts 2, and we will practice all of them this Sunday . . . with our entire congregation.
Sunday I will preach from John 17:1-5 where Jesus begins His High Priestly Prayer by praying first for His relationship with the Father to be glorified. Think about that word “glory” for a minute or two. What do you think of when you think of something that has glory? The Olympics are an opportunity for athletes to reach for glory in their sport. In a month we will have an election where the winner will be given the glorious position of being President of the United States. If you have been to a wedding recently the bride is dressed in such a way to bring glory to her personhood and appearance. What is the glory of God? The beauty of creation reveals the glory of God. At the time of Jesus’ birth, the Angels spoke about the glory of the baby Jesus. As glorious as both of those are, they are not the ultimate glory of God. The ultimate glory of God comes through the events of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. From a human perspective there is nothing glorious about crucifixion, yet that is where the glory of God is its greatest. Why? There is glory in the cross because it is only through the redemptive sacrifice of Christ that mankind can be given eternal life and a relationship with a holy God. In this prayer Jesus points out that the Father has “sent” Him for this purpose: to glorify the father through the redemption of mankind. And that purpose is passed onto the church today. As a church that seeks to know and fulfill the purpose of God, we must be reminded that our purpose is to share that glorious message with the world around us – that life, and life eternal are only found in Jesus Christ.
We are One Church – One Purpose.