A Birthday to Remember

“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.” [i]Today Bobbi and I are both in our fifties. We smile fondly as we both remember our daughter’s first birthday party in our new home in Gahanna in the summer of 1997.[ii] (Allena is now a twenty year-old college student.)

At this event, there were lots of guests, gifts, and festive decorations. All Allena was concerned with was experiencing her birthday cake as she smeared it all over her face, and who knows where else? (See picture below. Bath time immediately followed after this memory was captured.)

At one, Allena was no longer an infant but a toddler. She was eating solid foods, and taking beginner steps in communicating her wishes to us (as she also began walking).

Like my daughter’s growing pains, the church I attend, CenterPoint Church Gahanna (CPG), recently (10/2/16)
 celebrated their one year anniversary.  My house of worship seeks to be a place of encouragement that’s relevant to the life of its members; relational (with other peoples present); responsive to God’s calling in aiding the Gahanna community (and the world); and real (in its commitment to those in need).  [iii]

The CenterPoint tree (of churches) has three major branches (Gahanna, Westerville, and Lewis Center). It has been CPG’s goal (from its beginning) to proclaim the message of a loving Savior that cares for the needs of everyone. A philosophy like this results in lives changed permanently (for the good). "The church is the great lost and found department."[iv]

Jesus felt the topic of unity was so important for His followers (Christians), that it was on His mind as He prepared to die (for your sins – past, present, and future). John 17:20-26 (CEV) gives us a unique look into the mind of the Son of God.

 

^“I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me.  I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.

 I have honored my followers in the same way that you honored me, in order that they may be one with each other, just as we are one.  I am one with them, and you are one with me, so that they may become completely one. Then this world’s people will know that you sent me. They will know that you love my followers as much as you love me.

Father, I want everyone you have given me to be with me, wherever I am. Then they will see the glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the world was created.  Good Father, the people of this world don’t know you. But I know you, and my followers know that you sent me.  I told them what you are like, and I will tell them even more. Then the love that you have for me will become part of them, and I will be one with them.”[v]

1.  Being unified in our goal to serve God means more people can believe in Jesus.

“I am the Vine. You are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant.” (John 5:5)

"Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow.

So one hundred worshippers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become unity conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified.

The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The whole church of God gains when the members that compose it begin to seek a better and a higher life." [vi]

2.  Being unified in our goal to serve Jesus means more people can know His love.

“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples; when they see the love you have for each other.” (John 13:34-35)

“Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the Lord. “No, I am far away at the same time.” (Jeremiah 23:23, NLT)

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” [vii]

3.  Being unified in our goal to serve Jesus means more people can call Heaven, “their eternal home.”

“But to all who believed Him and accepted Him; He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn – not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.” (John 1:12-13, NLT)

In every individual’s life, I Corinthians 14:33 provides this unfaltering promise about the Almighty’s character: “God doesn’t stir us up into confusion; He brings us into harmony….” In the life of a church, it is vital there be a flourishing community (of believers searching for God’s will). The renowned Bible scholar, A.W. Tozer, makes this profound observation:

"One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organizations do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. The first requisite is life, always."

Allena, Our Little Party Girl

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[i] This quote is by George Harrison.

[ii] This post is inspired by the sermon “Being One,” Pastor Dave Jansen, October 2 2016, CenterPoint Church Gahanna, Gahanna, OH.

[iii] Adapted from the CenterPoint Church “Information/Get Connected”  brochure.

[iv] This quote is by C.S. Lewis.

[v] All scripture is taken from The Message unless otherwise indicated.

[vi] This quote is by E.M. Bounds.

[vii] This quote is by Abraham Lincoln.