2022-Mar-06 10:00AM

Liturgy

We are the family of God.
Philippians 2:1-2 is the same text Rev. ten Haff preached on his first sermon on Nov 3 2019.
Paul's letter to the Philippians was written when Paul was facing life in prison, or even death. Paul wanted to capture what he thought might be his final words.
When Rev. ten Haff preached this, no one knew exactly what was coming, and how much the church would be tested.
In a number of ways, we are not united, and we are failing the test that COVID has presented.

All of the people were united by Christ.
Paul's confidence is not in the Philippians; his confidence is in the work that Jesus is doing.
Paul reminds all of us of our only comfort in life and death. There is nothing we could have done to earn forgiveness.
At the same time, this is just the beginning. We must take up faith, and follow Jesus and the example he gave us for how to live.

"Make my joy complete by being like-minded".
Christians are, of course, allowed to be different in the things they do in life. This is part of the beauty of life. Each of us is different and unique.
However, we are to be united in Jesus. We are to set our minds on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.
Over the past couple of years we have all developed opinions on what is important. But not all of these things truly matter. This cannot continue.
In the same way that siblings fighting brings pain to God the Father, so too does in hurt God when Christian brothers and sisters do not get along.
We must learn to love and care for one another in the same way that God loves and cares for us.
It is better to be wronged than to be right.
It might appear at times that we are at a point where we cannot recover. But love for one another will cover a multitude of sins.