This week, Pastor Matthew led us in a sermon called ‘A New World;’ studying the book of Philemon.
Philemon shows us that the Gospel is not just about how people get saved, but a message about the Lordship of Jesus and therefore our everyday lives and decisions. Before we are anything else, we are Kingdom people which puts us in partnership with others. This partnership often extends to those who do not look, think, or act like us which is why we need to live out the life-changing work of reconciliation in our lives. If we are to reach the full measure of Christ, we all need to come together, and grow together in love by listening to the Holy Spirit. As this partnership does good work, it produces in us good things such as new ways of thinking, new ways of living and new ways of being.
Just as Philemon and Paul were bound together by love, partnership and respect we too must be living examples of the Christian practice of reconciliation, as it is the music which will heal our world. The Church is the only body who is equipped to carry this out as we are the ones who have first-hand experience of it in Jesus.
Reconciliation has a cost, but it is powerfully explosive if we give ourselves to it.
