Christ Crucified

I want to share with you
very simple gospel message in my closing
message with you as your pastor because
when all has been said and done it is
about Jesus who leads us to the circle
on the other side I want to read with
you then a scripture from 1 Corinthians
chapter 2 I'll read the first 10 verses
and then we'll talk about that a little
bit together this morning if you please
the Apostle Paul says when I came to you
brothers I did not come with eloquence
or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to
you the testimony about God for I
resolved to know nothing while I was
with you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified I came to you in weakness and
fear and with much trembling my message
and my preaching were not with wise and
persuasive words but with a
demonstration of the spirits power so
that your faith might not rest on men's
wisdom but on God's power we do however
speak a message of wisdom among the
mature but not the wisdom of this age or
of the rulers of this age who are coming
to nothing now we speak of God's secret
wisdom a wisdom that has been hidden and
that God destined for our glory before
time began none of the rulers of this
age understood it for if they had they
would not have crucified the Lord of
glory however as it is written now I
have seen no ear has heard no mind has
conceived what God has prepared for
those who love him
but God has revealed it to us by his
Spirit and then he goes on in the rest
of the chapter to talk about the
illuminating effect of the Holy Spirit
in the life of the Christian community
most of you don't know this but when my
family and I first arrived here in July
of 1980
five I was pretty disillusioned with the
state of the church and by church I mean
the institutional church and the reason
for that was that prior to coming here
to Maranatha in Belleville I had
pastored as most of you know to previous
congregations one in Alberta and one a
Nova Scotia and in both of those
congregations as I proclaimed the good
news of Jesus Christ God saw fit to do
some powerful work in people's hearts
and lives people were changed
unbelievers were converted the churches
grew what didn't happen was that the
institution of the church was able to
change in ways of renewal that I believe
reflected the scriptures and the reason
for that was that in both of those
congregations there were power brokers
who had a vested interest in the church
remaining what it was some of you have
heard me tell the story the first
congregation there were two elderly
ladies they were sisters nobody liked
them very much they didn't like each
other but five years in and it took me
that long to discover it five years in I
discovered that they pulled all the
strings behind the scenes and they had
the congregation in their hands and they
were not about to let it change into a
biblically functioning community it all
came to a head one New Year's Eve when a
returning son of the congregation stood
up in one of our sharing services and
and he stood up and he said how glad he
was to see a church that had been so
dead come alive and I went oh no
because I knew what that would do
and indeed that proved to be in that
congregation the beginning of the end
because change was not an operative word
in the life of that community in the
next congregation again the Lord did a
lot of amazing things we have some
people present here this morning from
that congregation who have come and
joined us last night as well as today
number of people from there watching the
services online things in that
congregation really came to a head one
day when we had a profession of faith
service and I've told you this story
before we had 17 people joining the
church five adult baptisms and I make
mention of that because those five were
not raised in Christian families but had
come through faith to faith through the
ministry like it was a glorious it was a
glorious moment until one of the men in
the congregation and you'd know him if I
mentioned his name because he's fairly
familiar in some Searcy circles stood up
in the balcony and I can see it like the
day of yesterday he stood up to protest
and to proclaim that he could not agree
with councils decision to allow these
people to become members of the church I
have never been so angry in my life with
what I consider to this day to have been
a very holy anger thank you very much
but it also proved to be the beginning
of the end in the life of that
congregation this man previously had
come to council now listen to this with
a eight and a half by 40 notes that's a
legal sheet of paper with objections to
myself and to the church filled both
sides that's a lot of objections council
went through every last one of those in
great detail decided that none of
had merit and then some council member
suggested that we should nominate him as
elder in the church and I said my dear
brother where is your head because you
know there's there's a mindset among
some people that if you can't beat them
let them join you as if that's going to
change them and so by the time we came
here in 1985 ja ich Steen I remember the
day so well because it was Jonathan's
birthday and we all got sick as getall
when we got here as you know I didn't
have much hope for institutional change
because by then I had discovered how
resistant even Christian communities are
to becoming everything that we are to be
in Christ Jesus our Lord and so by then
I had laid aside every agenda that I had
ever had about what I thought the church
needed to be and how it needed to get
there and I determined like the Apostle
Paul does in this passage to have no
message but the message of Jesus Christ
and him crucified and some of you have
been around long enough to remember
those days and as I preached Jesus who
he was how he lived how he died how he
rose from the dead guess what happened
God showed up Saints were edified
sinners were built up and the church
began to blossom with a life that only
God could give I give the credit to that
not only to the Lord but also to the
Ministry of your previous pastor and get
Kate and the shoulders that he stood
upon in turn as the ground had been
prepared for God to do his work and as I
look back on those days I realize all
too well that what the Lord did in those
early days in the life of this Congress
was not just simply the fruit of me or
my ministry or the kind of giftedness or
the leadership that the Lord had raised
up in this congregation but it was
really the message of the cross doing
its amazing work in releasing the power
of God to transform not only lives but
also institutions and that's what Paul
talks about in this particular passage
when he says let's read it again the
verses 2 to 5 of 1 Corinthians chapter 2
I resolved to know nothing while I was
with you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified I came to you in weakness and
fear and with much trembling a message
in my preaching were not with wise and
persuasive words but with a
demonstration of the spirits power so
that your faith might not rest on men's
wisdom but on God's power
Paul says I came to you in weakness and
fear and with much trembling now we
don't usually think of the Apostle Paul
being a man who trembles in fear because
of his weakness do he we think of Paul
as the brave apostle of the gospel the
one who just plowed ahead regardless of
whatever we don't think of him as being
a man afraid to speak trembling in fear
and it helps to remember that Corinth to
which this letter is addressed was a
major port city it was rife with sexual
immorality we know historically and it
was filled with very intelligent and
powerful people who had all kinds of
ideas about how to do life not only that
but by the time he gets to
Corinth and we've talked about this
previously in terms of his missionary
journeys he'd already had the snot beat
out of him in Philippi he had been
chased out of Thessalonica in Athens he
had engaged the philosophers with
limited success in terms of conversion
so now he comes to Corinth with all
their money and all their power how in
the world do you take on that culture in
the hope of winning people to faith how
do you compete with the intellectual
mindset of the Corinthians and he
decided that he wouldn't compete I mean
some people have argued that the reason
that he talks this way is because he had
discovered in Athens that trying to
argue with the Philosopher's wasn't
bringing them to faith we don't know if
that is true or not some people think
that other people disagree but at any
rate he came to Corinth and he decided
to do one thing only and that is to
preach Jesus and him crucified and as he
did God worked many of the Corinthians
who heard him believed and were baptized
and not only that as they were baptized
in water they were also baptized in the
Holy Spirit God poured out his grace
upon them and the net result was they
were enriched in every way in all your
speaking and in all your knowledge
because their testimony about Christ was
confirmed in year and here's the point
here's the point of this passage and
here's the point that I'm trying to make
this morning when push comes to shove
people's lives are not changed simply by
clever arguments persuasive words or all
the logic of the world as to why they
should come to God have faith in Christ
and yield their lives to Jesus isn't
I mean a lot of us have tried to
persuade people and they keep on keeping
on going in their ways of unbelief like
what changes people is an encounter with
Jesus Christ crucified and risen because
that is what releases the transforming
power of God and that's why Paul says I
resolved to know nothing while I was
with you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified and in the time that remains
thinking back to Nathan last night
wasn't that choice I mean he just nailed
it so nicely oh that was good I'm gonna
give you a three way I'm gonna give you
three ways in which the preaching of
Christ crucified releases God's saving
grace and I warn you one of my points
has three sub points so keep that in
mind to Christ crucified releases God's
power first of all because the message
of the Cross reveals our true human
condition now the Bible says all have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of
God the Bible makes no bones about the
fact that we're sinners alienated from
God but you know as well as I do that
most people do not in fact have a very
keen awareness of their sin did you know
that most people in fact think they're
pretty I haven't ever met anybody who
thinks he's perfect but I've met lots of
people who think they're not so bad
after all because what we do is we
compare
our selves to ourselves and to other
people and we can always find people who
are a lot worse than we are and so the
net result is that most people have no
idea what it is to be a sinner but then
along comes Jesus really spoils the
partying because Jesus you see is the
fulfillment of the law he is the
fulfillment of the prophets he is the
full embodiment of God's will if you
want to know what it looks like to love
God above all in your neighbor as
yourself then look at Jesus and any
biblical portrayal of the true Jesus
shows up our scene and our dirt doesn't
that compare to him we don't love God
above all we don't love our neighbors
the Catechism says we're in fact prone
to hate God and we're prone to hate our
neighbor when push comes to shove it's
all about me and that is not a very
pleasant message that very many people
are very eager to proclaim it's it's a
little bit like you know how you
sometimes you're in a darkened room and
then then you get a ray of sunlight
coming through some crack in the
curtains or in the window and all of a
sudden in that ray of light what do you
see nothing but dust and you say to
yourself my goodness I'm breathing this
in all the time let me just get rid of
the light then I won't see the dust
that's what a lot of people do with
Jesus Jesus shows up our true condition
not only but the cross of Jesus gives us
God's opinion of our true condition and
God's opinion of our true condition
isn't very favorable we read in Romans 1
verse 18 the wrath of God is being
revealed from heaven against all the
godlessness and wickedness of men who
suppress the truth by their wickedness
and an Ephesians
to the three Paul says speaking of
himself and Jew and Gentile all together
we were by nature objects of Wrath if
you want to understand what God thinks
of the natural human condition then look
at Jesus on the cross because the Bible
says quoting from the Old Testament
cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree
and the wrath that was unleashed on
Jesus on the cross is an indication of
how God feels about all of the human
race including the best of the best of
the best of us because we're alienated
from him that's the message of the cross
that's where the gospel begins that's
what it means to proclaim Christ and him
crucified it is to say he died on the
cross in my place I am a sinner people
don't like that very much in case you
haven't discovered that job even
Christians don't like that very much I
remember one time in one of the churches
that a pastor do we had a a family who
had I believe five sons and those sons
were well let's just say they were not
following in the ways of the Lord and
they were causing quite a bit of trouble
some of them for their parents and and I
was doing a series of messages on
raising children pretty good series the
messages I thought but I could tell it
was getting under the skin of the father
who was also one of the elders and he
was getting more and more irritated
about what I was saying about raising
children one Sunday morning I'll never
forget this he walks into the council
room he picks up the bulletin he picks
up the bulletin he sees the title and
the title of my message that particular
Sunday morning was rebellious
adolescence pretty fitting description
his kids just for the record he snorted
in anger through his bulletin down as I
recalled and he said I'm out of here
I don't know that he ever came back
because you see the message of the Cross
it's offensive
there's no nice way to tell somebody
you're a sinner did you know that
there's no nice way to tell somebody
you're not good enough from God's point
of view there's no nice way to tell
somebody that if they don't believe and
if their family doesn't believe is we
saw number of weeks ago you're gonna go
to hell because God's wrath abides on
year but from the Gospels point of view
that's where salvation begins because
what happens when we own our sin in our
misery we pave the way for faith in
Jesus and we experience God's saving
power listen to what Paul says earlier
in Chapter 1 the message of the Cross he
says is foolishness foolishness to those
who are perishing but to us who are
being saved it is the power of God and
that power is released here combined
three sub points I'll try to be quick
that power is released and experienced
in three ways number one we are by the
sacrifice of Jesus made right with God
oh praise God he has reconciled uses
Paul Colossians 1:20 - by Christ's
physical body through his death to
present you holy in his sight without
blemish and free from accusation to be
reconciled to God means that God's wrath
has been satisfied he is no longer angry
I have become his friend
and for me to become a friend of God and
I trust you know this two things have to
happen the issue of my sin has to be
dealt with and number two I have to be
declared righteous before God both of
those are made available through the
death and the resurrection of Jesus
because when Jesus dies on the cross he
pays the penalty for my sin and now I no
longer have to pay the price for my sin
I am forgiven but I'm not only forgiven
he doesn't only die on the cross he
rises from the dead and in rising from
the dead he presents his righteousness
to God as my righteousness and that's
what Paul means in Romans chapter five
or four twenty five when he says
concerning Jesus he was delivered over
to death for our sins
and he was raised to life for our
justification what happens when we own
our scene what happens when we quit
making excuses what happens when we say
to God yes I fallen short of your glory
I deserve your wrath and I deserve your
judgment but I believe that Jesus died
for me and that he arose for my
justification the curse is turned to a
blessing Paul talks about that quoting
from psalm 32 when he says in Romans 4 7
blessed are they whose transgressions
are forgiven whose sins are covered
blessed is the man we can add woman who
sinned the Lord will never count against
him sometimes you and I as God's people
we fail to recognize the amazing thing
that God has done in declaring us
righteous before here do you know
that if you're in Christ today you can
stand before God without any wrinkle
blemish or any such thing because in
Christ that I've often said this you're
as good and as righteous as you're ever
going to be
that's justification by faith and it
means God is on your side and all the
power of the universe all the power of
God is now available to you because he's
become your father in Christ Jesus our
Lord if only we understood it if only we
could live it our lives would never ever
be the same
but gets even better because the next
thing that happens is that we receive a
new ability to love for God here's the
scripture you've heard many times when
2nd Corinthians 5:17 if anyone's in
Christ he's a new creation the old has
gone
the need is calm why is it so hard for
us to love God above all and our
neighbor as ourselves it's because we
are the offspring of Adam and Eve we
have inherited a fallen nature and that
fallen nature is so corrupt so incapable
of being everything that God wants it to
be that it can just be patched up with
new wisdom and better ideas and more
training and more cultivation from God's
perspective it has to be removed and
replaced by new life the life of Jesus
and that's what happens when in faith
were joined to Jesus not only are our
sins forgiven but we receive a new
nature we're joined to Christ in his
death on the cross deactivating
potentially our old selves that we have
inherited from Adam we are raised with
Christ in the newness of life we receive
the life of Jesus living in
and by the power of Jesus living in us
as we walk after the spirit life begins
to change we bear fruit of righteousness
of being a Christian is never a matter
of trying harder to be better it's very
much a matter of recognizing I have new
life in me I have the life of Jesus and
even as my old life gravitates towards
sin the new life that I have in Christ
gravitates towards God so that I have an
increased longing and an intensity to
know him and to love him with all of my
heart and soul that's why Paul continues
to say as he does in Ephesians 4:22
2:24 put off your old nature which
belongs to your former manner of life
it's corrupt through deceitful lusts be
renewed in the spirit of your minds
but on the new nature created after the
likeness of God in true righteousness
and holiness we not only get our sins
forgiven but we get new ability we get
new grace so that our hearts move
towards God as opposed to away from him
Paul's own life is a good example of
that before he met Jesus what was he
like he was a persecutor of the church
he was one nasty dude and he did a lot
of damage but then other way to Damascus
he could he got struck by an encounter
with the Lord Jesus Christ and he was
transformed from an enemy of God into a
devoted disciple and a devoted apostle
and I look over this congregation and
you know I know so many of you and I
know so many of your stories and there
is nothing that makes my heart glad er
then when I see that in having come to
Christ you not only have had your sins
forgiven but he's been changing our
hearts
he's been changing our lives and through
this process of sanctification we begin
to increasingly reflect the reality of
Jesus isn't that what the church is
supposed to be like and it's not how
God's presence becomes manifest among
the nations of the earth by a
transformed and a disciple people Oh
doesn't mean we're perfect it doesn't
mean that our anger doesn't flare up
sometimes it doesn't mean that we fail
or don't fail but where Christ is really
real our lives begin to bear the fruit
of the Spirit as opposed to the works of
the flesh isn't that true
one more wage is very quickly before we
move on this power of Christ is made
manifest in the fact that we receive
biblical wisdom for notice the passage
was on he says we speak a message of
wisdom among the mature but not the
wisdom of this age or of the rulers of
this age who are coming to nothing we
speak of God's secret wisdom a wisdom
that has been hidden in that God
destined for our glory before time began
he says God's secret wisdom what's God's
secret wisdom hidden for previous
generations it's God's intention through
faith in Jesus to transform the world
and restore it to what he wants it to be
and it stands in sharp contrast to the
wisdom of the world I won't take a lot
of time to explain it but I have to show
you this I have to show you this
the world knows that it's broken and the
world thinks it can fix its brokenness
by drawing upon its own resources using
its own wisdom and its own philosophies
to try to make the world better isn't
that true all you ever have to do is
listen to political campaigns people who
are running for office and you will hear
every time and again how they picture
themselves and their particular parties
as the messiahs who are going to save
the countries and enter and we don't
minimize the fact that God uses people
but the biblical message is that the
wisdom of man is foolishness in the
sight of God why because it doesn't deal
with our core issues
it doesn't reconcile us to God the
message of Scripture the secret wisdom
that had been hinted at in the Old
Testament that had been seen from a
distance by the prophets the wisdom of
God in Christ is that in the person of
Jesus God would deal with the issue of
sin he would restore us the relationship
with God he would give us the power of
the Holy Spirit and through the power of
the Holy Spirit he would usher in new
life new relationships a new creation
that eventually would replace the old
creation that's the wisdom of God that
wisdom of God is foolishness to Greeks
it's a stumbling block to Jews because
the Jews couldn't handle a messiah that
would suffer and die instead of coming
like a reigning king and the Greeks were
so cultured and so in love with human
skills and human wisdom that they wanted
nothing to do with the Jewish Messiah
who proved to be the wisdom of God
and here's what happens when you and I
humble ourselves before God acknowledge
our sin but our faith in Jesus and
receive his Holies
Barrett he gives us the Holy Spirit he
gives us a spirit of wisdom and
revelation and knowledge in him and
suddenly the world begins to make sense
from God's perspective you know what
amazes me about these circles is that
for however many times I've used them in
this community there are still some
people who will come to me and say I
don't get it
and I'm I'm not saying that critically
but here's the thing about spiritual
wisdom if sermons don't make sense to
you if reading the Bible doesn't make
sense to you if spiritual things leave
you cold and you can figure out why
anybody would want to raise their hands
in church or sing from their heart for
the praise of God the problem isn't that
you're not smart enough the problem
isn't that you're not trying hard enough
the problem isn't that you haven't got
it in you to be what you need to be the
problem is you've got to come to Jesus
in true repentance in faith you got to
cry out for a spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of him
because no matter how smart you are
you'll never figure it out unless God
shows it to you that is incredibly
offensive to smart people jesus said I
thank you Father
you've hidden these things from the wise
and the understanding and you have
revealed them to babes you know what's
the significance of that that it doesn't
matter who you are you don't have to be
smart you don't have to be educated you
don't have to be rich you don't have to
be you know somebody in the world in
fact that could sin against you if you
read the earlier chapter you just have
to know that you don't know you know
what I've always been grateful for my
life looking back over the years I've
always known I wasn't smart enough to
figure it out that's the truth and I've
always known that unless God gave me
understanding and gave me a revelation I
would
not know what biblical truth lies let
alone presented to anybody else and
jesus said if you ask you will receive
if you knock it will be open and if you
seek you will find you know what else
this means sometimes people say to me oh
this is way over the kids's hints you've
heard that glad the kids are here this
morning you know why we underestimate
the spiritual capacity of children
because it's not simply a function of
intellectual understanding it's a
function of a relationship with Jesus
and even a child with a relationship
with Jesus sometimes there's a lot
smarter than an adult who doesn't know
Jesus do you know that I remember as a
child sitting in church and in those
days services were so long that we hit a
singer-song during the sermon just to
make the time passed I want you to know
you don't know how lucky you are
I remember powerfully being impacted by
words that were spoken don't ever
underestimate the capacity of your
children to receive from God the Bible
says little child will lead them all
right the message of the Cross shows our
true human condition shows us what the
problem is message of the Cross shows us
the solution to the problem which is
faith in Jesus crucified and risen from
the dead
one more point before we're done the
cross of Jesus the message of the Cross
also gives us hope we speak God's secret
wisdom verse 6 and 7 again over 7 a
wisdom that has been hidden and that God
has destined and I noticed those next
three words for our glory before time
began for our glory
what does that mean our destiny is to
share the glory of God Paul repeats it
in Romans 5:1 and to were justified by
faith we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ through him we have
obtained access to this grace in which
we stand and we rejoice in our hope of
sharing the glory of God what does it
mean to share the glory of God it means
that everything God has in terms of
ultimate authority ultimate power
ultimate whatever you want to make it
that he has already given to Jesus at
his right hand he has given to you and
to me through faith in Jesus Christ we
are destined for glory and because Jesus
has conquered has overcome death sits at
the right hand of God the Father there
is nothing in all the universe that can
stop us from receiving the glory of God
that means death has been overcome and
it means that no matter what
difficulties we face in the course of
this life nothing but nothing can ever
separate us from the love of God it's
going to end well individually and for
the whole universe because Jesus Christ
Fey's death overcame death sits at the
right hand of God the Father in glory is
coming again in majesty and in power and
one day the dead in Christ will hear his
voice they will awake and they will hear
the words well done good and faithful
servant you've been faithful over little
I will put you over much I remember some
years ago standing at the bedside of a
woman in this congregation who was dying
of brain cancer and you know how we talk
a lot about the power of God and God's
desire to heal and to restore and and
how we receive the firstfruits
holy spirit already in this life and
when you stand at the bedside of a woman
who's got terminal brain cancer in God
has not heard the prayers for healing
it's easy to be discouraged that it's
easy to say well God what use is it and
I remember it as the day of yesterday I
had this moment of Revelation as clarity
that said to me look even if she were to
be healed today she would die again just
like Lazarus what he was raised from the
dead he would die again but the promise
of the gospel is that God will raise her
on the last day and give there an
inheritance we talked about this the
other week that is imperishable
undefiled and unfading kept in heaven
for you doesn't matter how tough it gets
God has promised to be there sustain us
in the middle of all of this and bring
us through or else he will raise us up
on the last day and nothing that we have
ever suffered for Jesus will have ever
been in vain because the promises of God
are yes and amen
in Christ Jesus our Lord that is the
message of the cross
a couple of concluding remarks
this is implications it means the most
important thing in all of the universe
is for people to be in union with Christ
if it is true that people without Christ
go to hell and we talked about this in
recent weeks then the most important
thing in all of the universe is that
people hear the message of the gospel of
Jesus you know I have a sober
responsibility more than that in Christ
are HID all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge and everything that you and I
need for time in eternity to love God
and to love our neighbor individually
and corporately already has been granted
to us in the person of Jesus and if we
will make it our business to abide in
him to walk with Him to own our failings
our shortcomings and our sins and draw
upon his grace he can take us by the
hand and lead us through our journey
with enough oil in our lamps to keep us
birding until the final day that we
stand before him may I share with you in
these closing moments a little bit of my
own journey in that regard you know the
Apostle Paul later on in the book of
Acts chapter 26 he says I've had God's
help to this very day so I stand here
and testified a small and great alike I
am saying nothing beyond of the prophets
and Moses said would happen that Christ
would suffer and as the first to rise
from the dead will proclaim light to his
own people and to the Gentiles bear with
me a moment as I bear witness at this
juncture of my life and journey about
the faithfulness of God I was I think
about 14 years old when I felt called to
the ministry
I remembered like today of yesterday
because I was in the stable milking cows
with my father and he asked me what I
wanted to be when I grew up and before I
knew what I was saying I said I think I
want to be a preacher I have no idea
where that came from because I don't
ever recall previously contemplating
that but I do remember thinking looking
forward that preachers get to preach and
that if you have to preach twice a
Sunday for lord knows how many years how
are you ever going to find enough to
talk about I know you think that's funny
but that was a huge obstacle to me and
now it's 45 years I mean it's many more
years that 45 years later since I was
ordained and here's my testimony to you
this morning never ever has the lord
lacked in giving me what I needed to
give to his people never ever has there
been a question of having oil in my lamp
in fact the opposite has been true my
biggest trouble over the years and Dave
will tell you because he and I have
talked about this occasionally two or
three messages would come to me and
which one am I
supposed to preach and that's not
because I'm so smart it's because if the
Lord has called me to this then he's
also equipped me to this and I hate to
give you secrets but he gives me my
sermon outlines in the bathtub on
Tuesday morning that's you know put that
image out of your mind
but that's the reality and it's never
failed you're welcome but here's the
point if you're in Christ and he has
called you to your particular phase of
life and anointed you with his gifts
whatever it is that he has called you to
he will give it to you when you need it
to build up God's people that's my point
and that's not only true for each of us
individually it's also true for us as a
congregation we don't know what the
future holds and you know the calling
committee has been doing its job and
they're looking at a number of different
options and next week Dave will probably
share some of those with you going
forward but I can tell you this God
loves his church and he loves me or NASA
and he's got a plan on purpose for
Maranatha and he has already and he will
raise up the gifts and the people that
are needed to do whatever it is that he
wants you to do to fulfill the mission
that he has for you as a church and I
hope that in the course of that mission
you will never lose sight of the fact
that we are surrounded by a world of
people who are lost and going to hell
and will need to be invited to share in