John 15:8 “This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
This is the day that the Lord has made! We will rejoice and be glad in it! And we are very happy that you have come to join us today. We want to be of help to you in any way we can. We desire to assist you to develop a living and loving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That is the main reason why we are gathered today. Loyalties or allegiances are important! We want our family members to be absolutely committed to us. We choose friends who can be counted on because they really love us and will be faithful until the end. The same thing is also true in our relationship with God. God is fully committed to us. He will always be available when we want to draw near to him. But the question is: Are we loyal or devoted to him? Can he count on us to stay with him until the end? Today, right now, the Lord is calling all of us to examine our relationship with him! Is the Lord the leader of our lives, or do we treat him as if he is the follower? Do we ask him for his instructions for us every day, or are we the ones giving him orders what we want him to do for us? And when things don’t go as planned or desired, do we allow God to teach or correct us, or are we the ones scolding God or blaming him as is he were our servant and we are his bosses? Today, the Lord is calling you and me to change our relationship to him! Now this will be different for each person, but since no one is living in perfect love toward God, all of us will need to do it. Some of us need to change our relationship to God for the first time and in a big, major way. They need to surrender the control of their lives to the Lord and become Christ’s followers or disciples. And some of us who claim to be Christ’s disciples already may need to surrender areas of our lives which we either have not specifically surrendered to God yet, or have given to God some time ago but have taken back from him. Jesus is Lord or Ultimate, Absolute Ruler! There is no other way to relate to him because that is what he is. But there is no reason to fear. In fact, there is really every reason to rejoice. In the first place, the Lord Jesus wants us to surrender to him only the things that are destructive and not good (that includes selfishness or rebellion in our hearts). And most importantly, when we follow Christ as his disciples, we are saved and transferred from Satan’s kingdom to his (Christ’s) kingdom. Once we belong to him, he will take care of us (and he is the best master, Father, Shepherd, etc. there has been or will ever be). Your life is provided for and secure when you are a loyal follower of Jesus! God’s rich blessings for you and for your family today! Lathur Badoy