For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. – Ephesians 3:14-17

If you read this space often you know that occasionally (around every six weeks) I feature a link to a message from Wake Forest Presbyterian Church. Sometimes it’s because the sermon is so inspiring I just had to share; sometimes it’s because – even though we never collaborate – the content adds perfectly to the conversation I’m having on this page; sometimes it’s because the preaching communicates far beyond what I could manage here, no matter how well I might write.

Then, sometimes (and this was the case Sunday May 14) it’s all three, and I am simply doing a public service by encouraging you to take a few minutes to listen!

Looking into the Promised Land!

The title of Sunday’s sermon was “A Prayer for Wake Forest Presbyterian Church” – but the content is timely, and applicable, and crucial to absolutely any faith community, anywhere, at any time.

The theme paralleled the main idea from the blog I had posted that very morning (“The Leaves of the Tree are for the Healing of the Nations“); the setting was Moses looking out over the Promised Land (I had just shared some slides of that very view at church Friday evening); then Rebekah’s level of vitality and engagement while preaching this week, as well as her storytelling, was at its very best.

If you’re someone who has lost enthusiasm for church, or who subscribes to the false narrative that Presbyterians don’t have any passion for Jesus, or who isn’t exposed to great preaching very often, then you owe it to yourself – and your faith – to check out this message (it starts around time stamp 10:00 on the link).

How Wide and How Deep:

Usually I can do a fair job of keeping the lid on my emotions at church (I really don’t like to have to dab my eyes or to deal with wet cheeks in public); but Rebekah’s story about “The Young Mothers’ Class” was so poignant, and the way it all came together at the end of the sermon so breathtakingly inspiring, that I had to work hard not to leak any more than just a little.

But it’s okay, God is continually challenging me to get over myself, and I am always moved by the power of a great story. Fact is, we all need to take a few bricks out of the walls we build around ourselves, and especially to dismantle the barriers we place between the deeper parts of our emotional core and the reach of God’s love. Sometimes conviction can leave us vulnerable, and feeling less in control.

But we belong to God, and this important truth sets up the second part of the reading from Ephesians: 

“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (18-19).

How can we possibly grasp how wide and long and high and deep Christ’s love is if we don’t let God in? How can we be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God if we keep ourselves closed so tightly?

Do we really want to be the kind of disciples Jesus invites us to be? Do we really want to be the kind of churches Jesus is calling us to be? Do we really want to be filled to the measure of all fullness? Do we have any interest in entering the Promised Land?

If so, then we’re going to have to disassemble our defenses and trust God; we’re going to have to believe; we’re going to have to live our faith like we mean it…

(If you’d like to listen to the message, click here)