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Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Jesus Christ is Lord

 



            In the past two weeks I attended a family reunion, joined 1000 Cooperative Baptists at the CBF annual gathering, packed for the trip of the year, and then canceled that trip the night before leaving due to contracting COVID. I also spent the most miserable July 4th ever, chilled and coughing. Because we humans are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14) and because antivirals work, I am on the mend.

            What conclusions come to mind as I ponder the last couple of weeks? Jesus Christ is Lord. I know, I know, that’s the core Christian confession. That is true in all circumstances, times, and places. And for me that’s the point. I love the thirty family members I visited. Some are very serious about their faith, and for others, Christianity is an ancillary part of life. I love being a Cooperative Baptist even as I heard many with whom I disagree get a lot of microphone time at the gathering. If I get to take the long-planned trip with my sons, it will be in God’s hands. If COVID had not come along, the last two plus years would have been different.

            The ‘if’s,’ the hiccups, the times when things go sideways; life is unpredictable, but the goodness of God, the Lordship of Christ, and the hope we have is unshakable. I intend to lead our church in doing a serious self-inventory. What’s our identity? What do we value most? Are we willing to do what needs to be done to grow as a Church? Who are the people who will make up our church family over the next decade? We will give serious thought to these questions. We will pray and strategize our way forward.

            No matter what happens, one thing is certain. In Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God has come near. In Him you can have forgiveness of sins and life in His name. I hope those last two sentences become so commonplace that everyone who attends our church can rattle them off on a moment’s notice. And, I pray that besides reciting these lines, our family will come to a deep understanding of what it means to say, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”


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