“GOD IS LOVE / JESUS IS LORD”
©Thomas B. Cundiff
PSALM 100
Make a joyful noise
to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
Know that the Lord
is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
For the Lord is
good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
JOHN 3: 16-18
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
life.
‘Indeed, God
did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the
world might be saved through him.
Those who believe in
him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already,
because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
I.
God is love! Jesus is Lord! And is
there any doubt that we are here because God loves us? And through Jesus Christ, his life and death
and resurrection, we know in heart and mind this love? Is there any doubt that we are here to worship
God in the context of the faith, hope and love of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ?
This is not to say we don’t
struggle with these affirmations. We live
our lives longing to understand Jesus’ Lordship and God’s love. We long for a deeper understanding of what it
means to believe in Jesus. We struggle
with what it means to be a church that believes we are the “living and vibrant
body of Christ” in the context of this world in which we live!
So basically three themes come
together to compliment each other:
(1) God is Love…
(2) Jesus is Lord….
(3) In the church we learn that these things are
true!
It is my guess most of us know
these scriptural affirmations that support these three themes:
John 3: 16 “For God so
loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him
may not perish but may have eternal life.”
Matthew 21: 37-40 that asks “…. which is the greatest commandment in the
Law?” Jesus replies: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.’ This
is the first and greatest commandment. And
the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these
two commandments.”
I Corinthians 12:27 “Now you are the
body of Christ and individually members of it”.
II.
In entering into some conversation
this past week with a friend this question is asked: What makes us unique as Christ’s church? The answer? We are not a social agency. We are not a club. We are church. This is not my church. This is not your
church! We are Christ’s
church.
What makes us different? Unique?
Special? The obvious answer is God’s
love s known through Jesus. We are a church
because we believe in Jesus and all he teaches and all he represents. And as Christians and as the church we want to
learn more about and how we reflect this love.
There is no doubt in my mind that others who worship or visit this
church experience the love of God known through Jesus Christ.
We are a people of God – the church,
gathered, proclaiming, worshiping, adoring, praising, listening, obeying,
serving, following, Jesus Christ who motivates and challenges and unites us
together….for we truly believe we are the “ONE , UNITED, FAITHFUL, LIVING AND VIBRANT BODY OF CHRIST!” We are also a church God sends into the
world to make disciples of others….in the name if the Father and son and Holy
Spirit. Another scriptural reference:
Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the
Holy Spirit.”
To speak personally for a few
minutes. A lot of you, members of this
church, have influenced me as your pastor. One of those persons who embraced God’s love
and Jesus’ Lordship was the late Vernestine
Jones. She passed from this life to
be with our / her Lord in July 2008.
Vernestine was active in the church. She served on several committees including the
search committee that called me to be your pastor back in 1985. She is missed!
In thinking about Vernestine, along
with others who have gone to be with God, is this thought: The personality of this church is made up of
those who are the members of this the “body of Christ” – the church. The personality of this church is made up of
those in whom the foundation of this church was built. Vernestine is one of those persons.
One of my vivid memories with Vernestine
was a particular meeting of the Mission team. I am sure if
I went back through my notes I could find the actual date of that meeting. I can still see in my mind where she was
sitting at the table in the John Knox Room—immediately to my left. While I don’t remember the specifics of what
we were talking about, I think we were talking about SUMMER MAGIC. I remember Vernestine made a passionate, heart-felt
plea for us to not abandon our children in our mission programming. We need
to always be a church that finds ways to be intentional in sharing God’s love
with all the little children who enter this place.
Vernestine, as a Christian and
educator, lived her life sharing God’s love with children. I am pleased to report that this church continues
to have as a core mission objective: Sharing
God’s love in a variety of ways with the children in this community.
I also remember inviting Vernestine
to lead us in worship back in 2006 with this as our theme: LOVE. On that day she preached and played the piano
and sang Jesus Loves Me, this I know! This worship service was one of my all-time most
memorable worship experiences.
In all truth, I experience this
same LOVE, moving in and through this church on a regular basis:
When you enter into the building
and start greeting one another each and every week…..
When we gather and sing and prepare
our hearts to hear God’s Word.
When some of you step forward to
speak – as Virginia Lyons did a few weeks back – sharing some of her praise in
faith….
Whenever you share your joys and
concerns….or share some of your favorite “faith stories” publicly or in private
conversations.
When I hear of ways you have shared
God’s love with others through phone calls and visits and the writing of notes…..
When I hear about your helping out
a friend with a ride to church
When I learn of many things that
are being done in caring for this church building…..
And in our continuing to make sure
this church is opening its doors for children through the Mark Neumeier Youth
Center, Women of Colors and the Kappa Leadership League joining with us in
worship today…..
THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND , WHEN YOU ENTER THIS CHURCH ON
SUNDAYS, WE ARE All GROUNDED IN GOD’S LOVE THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST…..LOVE WE ARE COMMITTED TO SHARE AS A CHURCH
WITH ALL GOD’S CHILDREN.
For nearly a century and a half we
have been gathering to worship as the Warren Avenue Presbyterian Church ! One century and a half! 148 years to be exact! Surrounded in God’s Love and in the name
of our Lord Jesus our Lord.
GOD only knows the challenges and changes
we have addressed throughout these 148+ years.
GOD only knows the issues and
challenges we have had to face in our personal lives.
GOD only knows the broken hearts,
the tears of pain that have been shed within these walls.
GOD only knows the baptisms and
weddings --- and funerals – the joy and
the grief we have experienced in the context of knowing we are always going to
be the living Body of Christ….eternally always part of the living Body of
Christ. In other words, those who
have gone before us are still with us!
IV.
To quote a recent article by an
editor of Christianity Today,
Mark Galli, “…Christ calls us to a life
of love. And a life of love for the most
part means attending to the tedious details of other’s lives, and serving them
in sacrificial ways that most days feels, well, not exciting at all. Rather than sweeping the kitchen, cleaning
the toilet, listening to the talkative and boring neighbor, slopping eggs onto
a plate at the homeless shelter, or crunching numbers for another eight hours
at the office—surely life is meant for more than this.” Galli then goes on to put all of these life-experiences
under one umbrella in quoting the Apostle Paul who says:
I
Corinthians 13: 7 “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures
all things.”
V.
So much from our lives we bring into
this sanctuary each and every week to share with God! And two things never change:
GOD LOVES US and JESUS IS LORD!
In sharing with you again, as I
have for many years, my own personal definition of love: “Love
is that which binds us together and builds us up.”
May God continue to be the glue,
the adhesive that binds us together as friends and neighbors – past and present
– as a congregation. And as Christ’s church.
May God continue to lift, us and inspire us and build us up…..through
faith in Jesus Christ our Lord!
In God’s love through faith in
Jesus Christ our Lord – and in remembering all those who have gone before us –
may we continue to find ways to share God’s binding and uplifting love with others.
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