"A Future and a Hope" (April 2025)

 “For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord, plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (rf. Jeremiah 29:11 MEV)

 

            This is the month in which we as Christians celebrate the event that above all shows us the love of God in its fullness. Easter Sunday recognizes the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead after having given His life as payment and propitiation for our sins. Because of what Jesus did on the cross and in His resurrection, those of us who believe and trust in Him for salvation now truly have “a future and a hope”. Through His merits and sacrifice, we have the promise of being with Him for all eternity. This is the blessing that every individual Christian will experience eventually.

            Not only does the Lord give this promise of “a future and a hope” to His individual followers, He also does the same for us corporately. Indeed, Jeremiah spoke to the whole of God’s people in the kingdom of Judah when he shared God’s “plans” for them during difficult times. He does the same for His Church today.

            As a fellowship of believers here at St. John’s, God is unfolding His “plans for peace and not for evil”. He has led us to a group of fellow believers in Christ in the Covenant of Evangelical Presbyterians (ECO) with whom we could join and work to grow in and share the Gospel of Jesus. It was by His leadership that this group has come to our attention and now we are at the threshold of a new chapter in our ministry in Kannapolis. The ECO looks forward to partnering with us and to working together to mutually benefit each other. Through the ECO, we have been offered by the Lord “a future and a hope”.

            On Sunday, April 6th, St. John’s will be tasked to vote to officially join the ECO and become a part of a growing and vibrant denomination that is founded upon the full authority of God’s Holy Word and which has proven itself to be faithful in its service to Christ. Let us together take this opportunity to embrace with exuberance and joy this new path by which we can glorify the Lord and better serve those around us in the love and Spirit of God.

Corporate vs. Individualist Perspective (March 2025)

 “For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the many parts of that one body are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we are Jews or Gentiles, whether we are slaves or free, and we have all been made to drink of one Spirit. The body is not one part, but many.” 

(rf. I Cor. 12:12-14 MEV)

 

            As humans, especially as Americans, we are programmed from birth to believe strongly in our individualism. Though we often laugh at the antics of toddlers and find their behavior cute, when toddlers learn the term and concept of “mine”, they believe it fervently and will act accordingly, especially if someone attempts to take what they believe belongs only to them. Sometimes sibling rivalry begins with the simple clash of each sibling evoking the concept of “mine” (i.e. not being willing to share or play together).

            On the contrary, the Bible teaches us that, though we are important as individuals to God, He is more concerned and centered upon the whole rather than the parts. When He works out His will in the world, though He undoubtedly uses individuals to accomplish tasks, He does so for the benefit of the larger group, not just for the instrument of use. 

            We see this at work in the Bible’s terminology. As in the text quoted above, Paul uses the concept of the “body of Christ” when referring to the Church because the Church and its benefit and blessing are the focus of God in Christ in the New Testament (and to the present day). Even in the Old Testament, God referred to the Israelites as “My people” (ex: II Chron. 7:14). Jesus makes it clear that He as the Good Shepherd “gives His life for the sheep” (rf. Jn. 10:11), speaking in terms of the whole herd of sheep, not just one. Even our individual salvation is shown to be a result of Christ’s mission to “save His people from their sins” (rf. Matt. 1:21), an obvious reference to the whole and not the individual.

            If we are to fulfill all that God wants us to do while here on earth, we need to move our thinking to fit the Scripture’s truth, angling from individual to corporate in focus. We need to be more concerned about God using “us” rather than God using “me”. Such a change in perspective would also cause a change in action as we shifted attention from what benefits or blesses “me” to what will bless His Church as a whole. Once all of us complete this necessary change, we will see God begin using His Church in new and powerful ways to reach a world that desperately needs His truth and love.

"Greater Love" (Feb. 2025 Draft)

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

(rf. Jn. 15:13 MEV)

 

 

            Love is an interesting word, indeed. We often bat it around with little thought as to its real meaning. We say, “I love my team, I love my pet, I love this color, I love my spouse or children”, using the same word to speak of different types of relationships. In time past I have noted that the Greek language uses different words for different types of love, such as phileo for brotherly love, eros for love within an intimate relationship, and agapeo for the unconditional love that God has for us. Greek provides a clearer picture of the love in question.

            In the passage above, Jesus gives His disciples an example of the greatest love imaginable in human understanding—a self-sacrificing love. The object of this type of love in context (“for his friends”), of course, relates directly to the followers of and believers in Christ. As His children, we are also considered “his friends” (rf. Jn. 15:14-15). As such Jesus was willing to give His life in place of ours, sacrificing Himself willingly so that in His death we might have life. We’ve seen this type of love exhibited between human beings before: a parent willing to face a wild animal or criminal with no thought of his or her own life in protection of the children; a soldier who throws himself on a live grenade to keep his buddies from getting hurt or killed. There are many examples of this type of love and these actions throughout history. What makes Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself on the cross even more potent is that He gave His life, not only for those disciples whom He loved without measure that had been with Him for three years of ministry, but also for the myriads of people who had not known Him personally, those who would make up His body, the Church, over centuries of time.

            Since we have been provided this paragon of self-sacrificing virtue by Jesus, we need to recognize that this is the love we should also share with those who are our “friends”, including our families, obviously, but others beyond as well. Only when we are willing to sacrifice ourselves, our wants, dreams, visions and desires, even our own lives so that others will be blessed can we ever approach the love that Christ has for us. This is the calling of God upon each of us as His children. It is by sharing this kind of love with others that they can see clearly the love He has for them. Let us then commit ourselves to displaying this Christ-like love that the world may experience it as we have.