There is a brand new product
on the market which can make you rich by reading the Bible. The Bible money
code contains secrets, hidden in the Bible, to help you play the stock market
and win. If you wish to buy this code at
discount, see me after the service.
Throughout the history of
God’s people, there have been many “so called” self-promoted bible experts, who
claim to have discovered hidden truths from the Bible. Most such speculation is fraudulent; but in
today’s Gospel, there is a biblical number code which I take seriously.
Prior to today’s Gospel, the
Gospel tells us that Jesus had appeared to his disciples 2 other times. This third occasion, he told them where to
fish after a night of catching nothing.
To their surprise, they hauled out the largest catch they had ever
had. And Luke tells us that that their
nets contained 153 large fish.
Jerome, a biblical
commentator from the 4th century, is perhaps the most revered
biblical scholar of all Christendom. In
writing about today’s passage, he cited scientific study from the time of
Christ, which claimed that there were153 species of fish in the known
world. Jerome believed that this number represented
not the fish of the world, but the all peoples of the world. So, according to
Jerome, this number expressed God’s love for every single person. Each person is important to God.
IN today’s New Testament
reading from Paul, this same theme is echoed by Paul, who was the virtual
founder of the church. Please open your bulletin to page_____, and look the
First reading from the Book of Galatians. Let us read that together, saying, “In Christ’s family there
can be no divisions into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Everyone
is equal. God shows no partiality. Every person is important to God . This is
true, because we all share a mutual
relationship with Jesus Christ. “
· One of the most unique aspects of
Christianity, in contrast to other world religions, is that Jesus Christ is the
great equalizer. All people are not only
welcome, but are actively sought to join the universal fellowship of the
church. Now, of course, most of us
understand that Christ’s love is not dependent upon ethnicity, race, gender, age
or nationality. We get that. And our founding fathers and mothers took
this biblical principal to heart, when our nation was established.
· However, it is in the local church where
this mutuality and inclusion is supposed to take place, not as a general
concept, but in each of our relationships with one another. You see, in the Bible Jesus calls us His friends,
and he wants us to be friends, together, in Christ---to be friends with one
another.
· So, are you friends with the people of
CCQF? Being friends with the people of CCQF doesn’t mean that you have a small
group of friends. Being friends with the
people of CCQF means that you treat all our people as you would treat a friend.
If you would
please turn to the front cover of your bulletin, you see that one of the ways
that Jesus is calling Christ Church to shine the Light of Christ’s Love is through
new friendships. Now, we have made some
great strides in this area.
· Three years ago this church was much
smaller. Three years ago there were more
factions in the church. Three years ago
there were parishioners who did not feel welcome in this church, and so they
stopped attending.
So, what
happened? Well, your church leadership
decided to make significant changes to promote reconciliation, to avoid
needless arguments and divisive partisan politics. We grew to better understand
that our church exists not primarily for our members alone. Rather, our Church
has been called to shine the light of Christ’s love through a community of
friends in Christ into the world around us.
As a result of God’s with us, there are approximately 3 to 4 times more
of you worshipping with us today, than was the case 3 years ago. Jesus did that through us and He deserves a
clap offering of praise.
Okay, so what is
next? Do we rest on our laurels, or is
there something more? It seems to me
that CCQF is being called to make a renewed and expanded commitment to facilitating
the growth of new friendships at CCQF.
You see, Jesus is not satisfied. Jesus will not be satisfied until these two
things happen more frequently:
1.
Every
person needs to have one or more friends here at church. Church is not just
about worship, but it is about relationship—and not just relationship with
Jesus, but with one another, too. Christianity finds it fulfillment by sharing friendship
in Christ. Studies show that if a newcomer has not made at least one or more friends
within the first 3 months of so, that that newcomer may drift away. So, facilitating
the making of NEW friendships is key.
2.
Secondly,
every person needs to be needed by cheerfully serving the church.
Our
church would be dead, if not for the any of you who volunteer. So, cheerful service is important from that
vantage point. But also, cheerful
service is key to making new friendships. Would you please open your bulletin
to the cheerful service section on page_____?
YAs you can see, many people have been cheerfully serving recently. And all there ministries have one thing in
common—in each case, new friendships were made by serving together.
So,
there is a message here for those of your newer to our church, as well as those
of you who have been around a while. And
this message is best demonstrated by our
circle of friendships.
1.
The
basic level of friendship is knowing the other person’s name. This is why we promote the use of name tags. You
see, to know a person’s name is to demonstrate that you care for the person. Nobody, including the rector, can remember everybody’s
name. So everybody—wear your name tags to make us a friendlier parish.
2.
Once
you have read the person’s name, engage in a conversation about what work she does, who is in his family,
where do they live. Now such
conversations can take place when you cheerfully serve with others; but we
provide this opportunity for such conversations
every Sunday, during our Coffee Hour-Refreshments and Friendship times.
· Here is the deal. If you never stay for coffee hour, then you
are less likely to make new friends.
Sunday worship is not about making friends. Sunday worship is about worshipping Jesus. While worship is the main course of the meal,
Coffee hour is the dessert.
· I
know most of you and I can tell you that there are some wonderful folks here at
church, who would love to be friends with you.
But if you rush off all the time, then you are depriving yourself of the
full Christian experience.
· Now, this is true for newcomers but also
for those of you who love this church, and demonstrate it by your cheerful
service. Every single ministry in this church could benefit from more helping
hands. But if you ministry leaders and
helpers do not meet people, then you are liable to sit around and complain because
you have too much to do---when there are people here who might help you if you
got to know them enough by asking. So go
shake somebody’s hand and introduce yourself.
Friendship in
Christ is wonderful, and in my opinion, it finds its full flowering in Small
groups, which are intentional safe fellowships designed to reach a deeper level
of friendship, as we see in the inner most circle. This depth of fellowship is truly wonderful,
and we will discuss it at another time.
So to you, my friends,
I ask. Do you want to become a closer
friend in Jesus? Then make a new friendship
with one of his children here. Just as
human children can tell us volumes about their parents, so God’s children,
here, can teach you more about the height, the depth & the breadth of
Christ’s love for you. Amen.
--The Rev. John
Donnelly, May 4, 2014
Christ Church Quaker Farms
