God's People = God's Presence

    Pastor Jonathan at the Summit Church today shared his second message from the series "Where is God?"  In this series, he emphasized "God's People = God's Presence".  That when Jesus was spending his last night with his disciples he prayed a prayer in JOhn 17:20-26 that we might be one.  That includes all believers even us today.  It says that he prayed that we might be one that the world might believe.
   The plan that Jesus put in place is that through the power of the Holy Spirit the church today is to be the feet and hands of Jesus in the world.  The word Christian actually means "little christ".  We are suppose to reflect that we know Christ by doing the kind of things that he would which includes things like helping the poor, homeless, the sick, the needy, those who can't speak for themselves.  And when the church has been at its strongest, the world has seen the church do this.  When the church is dysfunctional it forgets its goal and focuses only on itself.
   It isn't just a matter of us trying harder though.  Because someone could hear this message and think of all the time we fall short.  All the times when we don't do what we are suppose to.  Galatians 5:22-25 lists the qualities called the fruit of the Spirit.  These fruit are not the result of working harder.  Which might be the conclusion of someone who heard this sermon, "I'm not like that, I need to work harder."  Because these fruit are the result of trusting in God to transform us from the inside out and not simply pretending or wearing masks acting like we are something we are not.
   The Summit church has a mottor which is to "Receive and Share the Love of Jesus".  The key is that it starts with receiving the love of God.  That means that we spend time with God and allow him to change us from the inside out.  The light that we reflect is like the moon.  it is a reflective light.  it is reflective as we spend time with God and in His word and allow His presence to change us from the inside out.  We receive it because we are changed primarily as a result of being in his presence and by his power

watch the message here
http://tsc.churchonline.org/

Popular posts from this blog

Some thoughts about the church in Corinth

The wise men Matthew 2

Introduction and chapter 1 of 1 John notes