How many Baptists should you to take with you fishing? The answer: 2. If you take 1 he will drink all your beer, but if you take 2 they won’t drink any. HA.
Now for the real punchline...
Baptists, Methodists, Nazarenes, and on and on you go. We poke fun of each other. We establish beachheads in order to argue who’s right and who’s wrong. Funny thing is, we’re ALL ON THE SAME TEAM!
If Jesus is our Lord, then we can have fellowship. It’s not complicated. It’s one of the reasons I truly appreciate the local Pastors in our valley. We meet regularly, read our Bibles together and pray for one another and this valley. Sure we don’t always agree on everything, but we agree on Jesus!
Isn’t that a part of the heart of Jesus’ prayer here in John 17?
John 17:20-23 (NIV) “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
I believe when we work together in this valley we make an ever great impact. Our unity says more than a thousand sermons on getting along.
Today, would you take a moment and pray for another church in town? Maybe it’s a church you pass everyday. It could be a church where friends of yours are involved. Just pray. Pray like everything depends on it......because it does!
Please share your thoughts and comments each day as we do this TOGETHER. If you’re reading this in your blog reader or email, please click on the title of the blog and you’ll automatically be directed back to the website blog so your thoughts will be public.
3 comments so far
I totally agree pastor John!! We are all one in Christ and I love that we can share that! I love Jesus's prayer here and will pray that we can continue to work together as one and spread the word of Christ to others in the valley....
John 17:14 -17 "I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil. They are not of this world, Even as I am not of this world. "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" Before I ever really surrendered my life completely to God this was not that evident to me but as a christian now I really feel this way from others that really dislike or (hate) me because of my belief. I have had to learn to let it go and God will deal with them but it also doesn't really matter to me anymore what people think because as vs 17 says "Sanctify them through the truth: thy word is truth" I know the truth and know that God is on my side;)
I missed my pastor's meeting this morning because I was at the "State of the Valley" breakfast. But, I saw pastors there too. WE'RE EVERYWHERE! HA
As I read John 17 today, I could feel the anguish that Jesus felt as He prayed for his disciples and all the believers. I was brought to tears as Jesus said in verse 24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." Jesus poured out his heart to His Father because He knew what needed to be done to save the world.