June 29, 2003
HOLY SPIRIT BLESS US
Matthew 28: 18-20 (The Great Commission)
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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.
Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Praise the Lord! Celebrate Jesus is at hand. In just a couple of weeks, we will be joining our brothers and sisters in this very timely and surely a rewarding activity for all of us who chose to be one among the called in God’s Kingdom.
Every year during the Florida Annual conference, one of the most awaited moment is “ The Service of Licensing, Commissioning and Ordination of Pastors” which is conducted by the Bishop himself.
In this worship service, the Bishop will emphasize to the newly ordained ministers that their primary role in the ministry of God is to become witnesses for Jesus Christ by living a life worthy of their calling which is in accordance with the biblical standards.
This was so because Jesus Christ himself showed this pattern.
The eleven disciples received from Jesus Christ the task to become the great commissioners. Jesus himself charged his disciples to engage themselves in evangelism.
Jesus Christ said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Jesus had the same power as God because Jesus Christ is also God.
So therefore people can rely upon Him completely.
We have “Celebrate Jesus Mission” because we Methodist Christians believe, that Jesus Christ must be exalted and must be the center of our life.
The most neglected and forgotten Name must shine once again in this community because, we all believe and recognize the truth that people need the Lord Jesus Christ.
The disciples received one of the most important statement or instruction recorded in the Bible, “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,”
This statement still applies today. It is directed to us- the people of God even though these very words were spoken by Jesus 2000 years ago.
Why? because peoples need for a Savior and Redeemer and Lord way way back then is still the same today and tomorrow.
People are searching for the truth. People are longing for something that is missing in their lives. People are looking for someone to fill the vacuum within them and that vacuum is a God shaped vacuum that only God can fill in and His name is Jesus-
the reason for the “Celebrate Jesus”.
Its funny and sad but it’s probably true, “Pollsters report that 72 percent of Americans don’t know their next-door neighbors.”
Bill McKibben, in "the Age of Missing Information", Signs of the Times, February, 1994.
I hope that the people of Emmanuel UMC are not included in those figures.
Our Lord Jesus Christ and our Church- The Emmanuel United Methodist Church is in need of great commissioners- men and women, young people and children alike who will carry out the “Great Commission”.
Why? because according to the report from the conference statistician, as of December 31, 2002, Dr. Ransom Casey-Ruthland disclosed that, “total membership declined from 334,053 at the end of 2001 to 332, 124 at the end of 2002.
This is a drop of 1,929 members or 0.58 %. In the prior year, 2001 the decline was 1,185 members or 0.35%.
Does it sound Alarming to you? Yes I believe it is. Bishop Claude E. Payne in his book Reclaiming the Great Commission, said that “the United Methodist are losing approximately forty thousand members per year and have shrunk from 11.1 million to 8.5 million over the last 30 years.”
My fellow believers, where did our members go? I know some of them went home to their final destination. Some of them went home to the Lord already.
But we know for sure that the decline in our membership is not only because of death. There are other reasons...
But for those of you who were here every Sunday for couple of years now, at least you know who are those people attending our services.
Did you ever realize or asked yourselves why is it that brother or sister so and so is no longer attending our Church services?
Do you know those members who have stopped or quit attending our church?
We should know and we should have at least done something to bring them back.
That is why we have “Celebrate Jesus” so that through the invitations and witnessing that will take place during those days, the Holy Spirit will convict them to open their hearts to be responsive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I tell you my brothers and sisters in Christ, each one of us is a very important person in the Kingdom of God. We have a very vital role that we can all do, just a simple smile can make a great difference in people we meet.
I’ve experienced so many times that when I go to Wal-Mart or to the Mall, many people can hardly wear their best smiles. You smile at them and they will not even respond and you will be tempted to think if it’s because you did not use Colgate white strips to whiten your teeth or you may wonder if when you smiled, you forgot to put on your dentures.
One bottled water can surely make a big difference. Much more the cleaning of bathroom of certain business establishment or distributing bulbs or cookies and other things. These acts of kindness will surely make people wonder why we are doing such things.
Probably some of you will not be able to join the team to go house to house but certainly, you can do the other things.
You can pray for the success of this life changing activity.
You can donate bulbs, water and other things needed that will contribute to the success of this celebration.
We all are capable of sharing something to help. What matters now is… are we willing and available to do it now? Now is the time for you to do it because the need is now.
I would also like to tell everybody that “Celebrate Jesus” is just the beginning of a more fulfilling, more challenging ministry.
Celebrate Jesus is just going forth to reach the people for Christ and bring them into the fellowship- to our church.
What’s next is teaching them to observe all things that Jesus have commanded us to do and then baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Very simple, very basic things to do and yet too hard to fulfill for most people.
My dear brethren, Jesus made a perfect statement for us to carry out because at the very end of His statement is a promise, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Isn’t it wonderful that the one who promised to be with us til the end is the One who controls everything - He is the Omniscient (All-knowing)God, Omnipresent (All present) God and the Omnipotent (All-powerful) God.
The One who promised us is the God who is concerned about all the details of our life.
Do not be afraid nor discourage He is with Us- Our Emmanuel!
(ill) There is young salesman who was disappointed about losing a big sale, and as he talked with his sales manager he lamented, "I guess it just proves you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink."
The manager replied, "Son, take my advice: your job is not to make him drink. Your job is to make him thirsty."
So it is with evangelism. Our lives should be so filled with Christ that they create a thirst for the Gospel.
People of Emmanuel United Methodist Church,
Are we living a life that makes people thirsty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Amen.
