Jesus Prays for All Believers

 Introduction:

 Who was your favorite teacher?  Why?

 Have you ever taught someone something and he or she “got it”?  What was that like for you?

 What images come to mind when you think of the term “unity”?

 Observation:

             For whom is this prayer?

             How have these believers believed?

             What has Jesus given them in v. 22?  Why?

             How long has the Father loved the Son?          

 Interpretation:

 How is each generation of believers responsible for sharing the Message?

 What kind of unity exists between the Father and the Son?  How is it possible for believers to have that same kind of unity?

 How should this unity affect others?

 What does v. 24 reveal about Jesus’ heart for you?  For the world?

 Application:

 How have you believed through the apostles’ Message?  Who shared the Good News with you?  Who shared it with them?

 How do you treat believers from different denominations?  How can you tangibly demonstrate more unity with them? 

 How can you participate as Jesus continues to make the Father known?

In 1871, Horatio Spafford tragically lost his son, and in October of that same year the Great Chicago fire destroyed almost all of the real estate investments he held.  Spafford was a wealthy Chicago Lawyer who was a devout Christian man and good friends with D. L. Moody. 

In 1873, Spafford sent his family on a trip to Europe for a much needed respite after enduring such tragedy; he would join them later after completing some work.  Days later he received word that the ship his family was on had sunk; his four daughters were lost at sea and only his wife survived.  As he traveled the long boat journey he penned this song:

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, 

When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,  

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Refrain:            It is well (it is well),with my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, 

Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, 

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!  

My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more, 

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:  

If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life  

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

And Lord haste the day, when my faith shall be sight,  

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,  

Even so, it is well with my soul.

While I have never experienced tragedy of this magnitude, the recent days have been filled with great sadness as we approach our departure from St Paul’s. I think of all that I could say, all that I want to say and this song sums it up well.  IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL!  No wind, rain, colliding ships, or anything the enemy attempts, can undo what the Lord has planted in me over the past eleven years.  Nothing can take away the joy that I have had teaching, challenging and leading you, or the growth that has happened in you over the past eleven years.  This is because:  "the favour of the Lord God is upon you and His goodness surrounds you like a shield."(Jan Nel).

Psalm 30:5 says: "For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favour lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." This is God’s promise to us if we will always see him in the storm, if we would choose to trust and follow him through the storm. His favor far outweighs any momentary sorrow. Will you trust Him with me for the future? Will you become a lover of His word and a doer of His will? Will you revel in His joy and peace.  If so, you will face any challenge life can throw you with this refrain:  “BE IT CHRIST HENCE TO LIVE; IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL!”

Be Blessed,

Dan

The Rev. Daniel C. Morgan

Rector-elect, All Saints Church, Dale City VA.

• Repentance
• Obedience
• Action

Where is your relationship with the Lord? Is it first?

Do you see every moment as a teachable moment?

Turn away from the things that are distracting you from God.

• Repentance
• Obedience
• Action

Where is your relationship with the Lord? Is it first?

Do you see every moment as a teachable moment?

Turn away from the things that are distracting you from God.

II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;  the old has gone, the new has come!”  

When we begin with Christ there are two major realities at play:  first, we are transformed and we live a new life in Him;  second, we are daily being renewed so that our growth and development each day is drawing us closer to His likeness every day.  We can no longer look back and say we look just like we did yesterday, because in Christ, TODAY, we are new creatures!

As we begin our new adventure, I have every confidence that what God is calling the Morgan family to, and St. Paul’s to, will be met with His life-giving Spirit, His dynamic growth, and His joyful presence.  It is our responsibility to live into the new thing that He is calling us to, and not to hold on to the stuff of the world that tends to keep us from moving forward in growth.  The future will always stretch us, but God will always meet us there if we are willing to go where He calls us.  It is there that He will bless us and pour out His favor and anointing.

The passage concludes with this:  “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ’s behalf:  be reconciled to God.” [II Corinthians 5:20].  If there is anything that I could hope to have encouraged in you over the past eleven years, it is to be right (“reconciled”) with God.  If you are right with God, you will naturally draw others into reconciliation with Him.

Let us grow together;  let us love with wild abandon;  and let us be His ambassadors.

Richest Blessings in Christ,

Dan

The Rev. Daniel C. Morgan

Associate Rector

Putting the cart before the horse.

The scriptures today are about doubt.

Job Ch 42 verse 1- 6, Revelation Ch 1 verse 1 -19, John Ch 20 verse 19 -31

Are you so fixated on what you think is right you are not able to hear from God?

Have you submitted to Him in such a way the you are willing to seek the truth over all things?

Do you think God is big enough to answer your deepest questions?

“Grace and Peace to you from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” [Phil 1:2, 1 Cor. 1:2]  Paul addresses the churches’ greatest need in his opening sentences of his epistles (and again in closing others).  We need to be handlers of Grace and Peace.  That’s not an easy task when all the stresses and strains of life are designed to pull us away from acting, thinking, hearing, feeling or speaking from the root of Grace and Peace.

There is a sacrifice that is necessary in order to have Grace and Peace be the center of who you are and how you function.  God has to have a point of entry to each of your days so that He has the chance to fill you and drive you and encourage you so that what spills out of your mind and mouth are words and actions that are grace filled and peaceful.

Paul says in Philippians 3:20-21: “ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” If we are to be transformed into His likeness then we must do everything in our power to be immersed in His grace and peace.  Therefore, I implore you to consider a disciplined Holy Week.  Consider the Cross and all that leads up to it from the Triumphal entry today on Palm Sunday through the resurrection.  We are to enter into His Victory, His final teachings, His last supper, His feet washing, His torture, His separation from the Father and then we can revel in His Resurrection Power.  It is here we will find Grace and Peace.

Blessings

Fr. Dan

Rev. Daniel C Morgan

Associate Rector