Dearest e-votees-
Due to a family situation that needs my undivided attention next week I am posting this e-vo early.
May you be blessed this day.
Peace,
Karl
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Due to a family situation that needs my undivided attention next week I am posting this e-vo early.
May you be blessed this day.
Peace,
Karl
----------
10 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. 12 What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. 18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:10-18, NRSV
Did you know that Jesus prays for you in the Bible? Check it out:
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
John 17:20-21, NRSV
Jesus longs for those who believe in him to be one. Jesus prays specifically that we would be one just as Jesus and the Father are one. He prays this so that the world may believe that Jesus was sent by the Father.
Christians have a well-deserved bad rap. The world looks at us and sees us staking our claim as camp Paul or camp Apollos or camp Cephas. The world sees us drawing our lines between Catholic and Protestant; those who speak in tongues and those who do not; [insert church-rifting distinction of your choice here], etc., etc. The world hears our shrill, self-righteous rhetoric and they want to cover their ears. We allow the important but relatively minor differences in piety and style trump the call and God's deep desire for us to be the body of Christ. We divide Christ. We crucify Christ anew when we allows ourselves and our sin to so bitterly separate us from our brothers and sisters. We shun the unity granted to us in baptism. We grieve God and push against Jesus' very prayer.
Jesus' work on the cross was to break down division between us and God. It was to level the ground between the self-righteous and the self-loathing. It was to heal the rifts and draw us together. It sounds like foolishness in our earthly and perishing wisdom. But it is that very work on the cross that saves us. Healing, unification and restoration are the power of God at work. Thanks be to God.
God, bring Jesus' prayer to bear on our lives. Teach us anew how to be your body. Amen.
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. 18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Christians have a well-deserved bad rap. The world looks at us and sees us staking our claim as camp Paul or camp Apollos or camp Cephas. The world sees us drawing our lines between Catholic and Protestant; those who speak in tongues and those who do not; [insert church-rifting distinction of your choice here], etc., etc. The world hears our shrill, self-righteous rhetoric and they want to cover their ears. We allow the important but relatively minor differences in piety and style trump the call and God's deep desire for us to be the body of Christ. We divide Christ. We crucify Christ anew when we allows ourselves and our sin to so bitterly separate us from our brothers and sisters. We shun the unity granted to us in baptism. We grieve God and push against Jesus' very prayer.
Jesus' work on the cross was to break down division between us and God. It was to level the ground between the self-righteous and the self-loathing. It was to heal the rifts and draw us together. It sounds like foolishness in our earthly and perishing wisdom. But it is that very work on the cross that saves us. Healing, unification and restoration are the power of God at work. Thanks be to God.
God, bring Jesus' prayer to bear on our lives. Teach us anew how to be your body. Amen.
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