Greetings Flag Branch members and friends and thanks for taking the time to join me, Pastor Jordan, for some Fine Points from Sunday’s service and message “Reconciling The World”.
Reconcile means to mend, repair or restore a relationship between individuals. Differences and points of contention are set aside, neutralized or removed in order to establish a viable and optimal relationship.
The United States is losing, and some are saying has already lost, its technological, political and economic edges it has held over the rest of the world since the end of the 2nd World War to the People’s Republic of China.
China reportedly successfully test fired the world’s first hypersonic missile – something the US and others have been trying to do but haven’t been able to so far. China was able to contain and control the spread of the coronavirus in a nation of a billion thousands of times better than the United States and has administered over 2.2 billion does of vaccine to its’ population, while the US struggles with daily deaths and infections.
The point here is that the United States, once the undisputed world leader by almost every measure, is in a decline while China is poised to overtake the US as the world’s most dominant power.
Much of this change in global leadership can be blamed at the internal strife now taking place in the US that has only been intensifying in the last few decades. The roots and seeds of racism run deep and they manifest themselves in many places and different ways.
But the main effect is that it keeps preventing the citizens of the nation to see themselves as a common family of humanity which works for the common good of everyone and living out the words in the preamble of the Constitution.
There is a need for reconciliation in America. There is a need for reconciliation in the world. The good news of the gospel is that God has been reconciled with man through the blood of Jesus Christ. He is no longer holding our sins against us when we accept His offer of peace.
That peace offering is contingent upon us doing for others what He has done for us. Forgiving others as He has forgiven us. Loving others as He has loved us. To love others and treat others as if they were ourselves. This is the message the Church is charged with bringing and demonstrating to the world.
Sadly, when this nation and world needs this message as much as ever, too many in the church are sending and portraying a different message than the one Jesus commissioned the church to carry. In many cases, we who claim Jesus as Lord are being drawn in and fighting battles and waging wars Christ never called us to fight.
Our only task is to present the gospel to a fallen world in both word and deed, not make or ensure it heeds it. Yet somehow some of us have gotten the idea that it is our responsibility to do more than that and we are being used to fight against the same people we are sent to reconcile.
Charity begins at home. If we here in the United States, the true church and believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ, can get back to our true calling and purpose of reconciliation between God and man and man and man, then this nation may serve as a model for the rest of the world.
If successful, one day our planet may stop spending billions of dollars on ways to destroy one other instead of spending billions on ways of helping each other live the kind of lives we all want for ourselves.
You can hear the complete sermon by clicking the sermon title above. You can also see and listen to our previous Sunday School, Missions and BTU sessions by clicking this link. Be sure to download our mobile app on your phones and mobile devices to get the latest news, updates and shortcuts to all of our ministries, functions and activities.
Click the SS Daily Bible Readings for an excellent devotional and preparation for the upcoming Sunday School study. Don’t forget to leave a comment or question down below. As always, remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
