We come today to the end of a first-century sermon written by an author trained in Jewish rabbinical tradition. He wrote this to a congregation of Jewish Christian believers, probably residing in Rome. He has encouraged them to remain faithful to Jesus no matter what. And he wants them to understand that knowing and following Jesus is far and away better than any religious tradition they can ever find anywhere else.
Let’s go back for a moment to the afternoon of Tuesday, August 23, 2011.
This was the report from ABC News:
“The strongest earthquake to hit the East Coast of the U.S. in seven decades damaged landmark buildings in the Washington, D.C. area, while rattling the nerves of tens of millions, just three weeks ahead of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks …
God’s callings are always accompanied by His enabling. He will never call us to do something without also enabling us to do it. Many times the Lord asks us to do something that is impossible. And then, working in us, by His Spirit, He proceeds to do the impossible. The person who receives the most from God’s grace is not the one who has the most forgiven, but the one who is the most transformed.
When I got to Horizon in San Diego in 1983 it seems to me like the perfect church. It’s still unclear, but it may have gone downhill from the moment I started attending. Honestly, we’re probably all aware by now that the perfect church doesn’t exist. Still the Bible does give us an idea of what we should shoot for – things we can do to make our own church better. As churches go, the one in Thessalonica was pretty good, so this chapter gives us a number of characteristics (I counted 14) that a model church ought to have.
Central Reflections 