As many of you know, this week two from our community at Saint Barnabas passed from this life. It was perhaps the most fitting week for them to do so, as both Christian souls will celebrate Easter in the presence of our Lord. As we walk the way of the cross this week, we are reminded of the outcome, resurrected lives through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord. In the funeral service, everything points back to the new life we have in baptism and promise of life unending through faith that reconciles us with God.
Yet, it was not just they who reminded me of the outcome of this week. I saw it through the loving hearts and hands of the community of Saint Barnabas that surrounded these families. The outpouring of support pointed to the very love that Jesus Christ embodied. His love and compassion was seen in his apprenticing of the apostles, his friendships with Lazarus, Mary and Martha, and his healing hand upon the countless souls who sought him out.
As I witnessed the love of this amazing community of faith that we call Saint Barnabas, I was reminded once more that we have so much to offer. It is found and known by many who call this church home. Countless times I have heard individuals share that this is what drew them to stay. It is what keeps them coming back. It is a bond that ties us together.
With Easter approaching it has led me to think of how much this delights the Lord, yet how many more are in need of such a community. The world needs the Church. The world needs us. So many look for what we have at Saint Barnabas in so many different places, never to find it. We have something incredible at our church.
However, in order for them to find it, we need to take it out to them. We need to seek them out, bring them in and help them discover it. When others witness it, they too will come to see the embodiment of what God desires for His Church. Without us, how can they to find it?
Sadly, they look for such community, such love, such belonging almost everywhere else. It takes our asking with Christ-like confidence and love to help them to discover it in the only place they can do so fully. It comes through countless invitations, a relentless desire for others to discover what we have, and a persistence in prayer for them that is unrelenting. It comes through personal relationships and investing in the lives of others. The church grows one person at a time. If each of us were passionate for others to know what we know, to have what we have, we could not help but share it. The results would be exponential.
God desires that the love we have would overflow to those who have yet to discover it. His heart is that the heart we have for one another would extend beyond our walls. As we come to recall and relive this week, He came in the person of Jesus Christ for all. He desires that each and every one who walks this earth may come to know Him.
It is my prayer that the love we possess for one another will spill over into the community around us, so that they may come to find it too. Many have yet to discover the great love Jesus has for them. May we embody His great love for them and bring them into the joy and life He freely gives to each of us.
Yet, it was not just they who reminded me of the outcome of this week. I saw it through the loving hearts and hands of the community of Saint Barnabas that surrounded these families. The outpouring of support pointed to the very love that Jesus Christ embodied. His love and compassion was seen in his apprenticing of the apostles, his friendships with Lazarus, Mary and Martha, and his healing hand upon the countless souls who sought him out.
As I witnessed the love of this amazing community of faith that we call Saint Barnabas, I was reminded once more that we have so much to offer. It is found and known by many who call this church home. Countless times I have heard individuals share that this is what drew them to stay. It is what keeps them coming back. It is a bond that ties us together.
With Easter approaching it has led me to think of how much this delights the Lord, yet how many more are in need of such a community. The world needs the Church. The world needs us. So many look for what we have at Saint Barnabas in so many different places, never to find it. We have something incredible at our church.
However, in order for them to find it, we need to take it out to them. We need to seek them out, bring them in and help them discover it. When others witness it, they too will come to see the embodiment of what God desires for His Church. Without us, how can they to find it?
Sadly, they look for such community, such love, such belonging almost everywhere else. It takes our asking with Christ-like confidence and love to help them to discover it in the only place they can do so fully. It comes through countless invitations, a relentless desire for others to discover what we have, and a persistence in prayer for them that is unrelenting. It comes through personal relationships and investing in the lives of others. The church grows one person at a time. If each of us were passionate for others to know what we know, to have what we have, we could not help but share it. The results would be exponential.
God desires that the love we have would overflow to those who have yet to discover it. His heart is that the heart we have for one another would extend beyond our walls. As we come to recall and relive this week, He came in the person of Jesus Christ for all. He desires that each and every one who walks this earth may come to know Him.
It is my prayer that the love we possess for one another will spill over into the community around us, so that they may come to find it too. Many have yet to discover the great love Jesus has for them. May we embody His great love for them and bring them into the joy and life He freely gives to each of us.
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