I just want to lift up praise to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ for his goodness and provision and most of all his love. Today, the church we’ve been attending celebrated their third anniversary. The church ate a meal together, listened to testimonies of thankfulness, heard special music, and we got to perform a drime to DC Talk’s “In the Light.” The Holy Spirit enveloped the room. We sang worship to our God that was so sweet and full of praise. Then, through the leading of the Spirit, the pastor changed his preaching from a sermon on Mark 6 to sharing the gospel of Christ and explaining God’s grace.
As he explained to those present the differences in Christianity and most religions, he talked about his own journey to Christ. He talked about how he grew up in church and thought Christianity was the same as other religions because it required you to do good and then you would be rewarded. Then he told how studied the gospels to see if Jesus really lived and taught this way. He discovered that Jesus was not religious. He discovered that he healed the sick, showed love to the poor and downhearted, and gave up his life. He said the thing that puzzled him the most about Jesus was his death. Jesus was a good, kind, loving man. He was perfect. He always did good and never did wrong. In Buddhism, you are taught that good actions are rewarded and bad actions are punished. He could not understand how a man who did so much good died in the most horrible way possible. Why did that happen to him? He did not deserve it?
The pastor went on to explain how Jesus suffered, died and then rose again on the third day. It hit me like a ton of bricks. How do we live our lives as Christians and so often forget what Jesus paid for us? It was a needed reminder for me. I was filled with love for my Lord who died for me. As the pastor continued, he explained about why Jesus died. He told how it took a perfect man to die for our sins so we could be forgiven for them. He told us about the freedom and love found in Christ. Then he told about Jesus’ last words to his disciples before he ascended to Heaven.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them all I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
Jesus is with us always. He never leaves us. He is there in good and bad. He is there when we weep and when we laugh. He was here today in church. As the pastor gave the invitation, somewhere around 10 people came forward to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. Like I said, “God is good.” We have new brothers and sisters in Christ, and I just wanted to rejoice in that.
