Vision 2020 – Part 2

REFLECTION QUOTES

“The special mark of the modern world is not that it is skeptical, but that it is dogmatic without knowing it. The moderns believe without knowing what they believe—and without even knowing that they do believe it.”

~G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), English writer and literary critic

“If your heart beats for Christ the king, then your heart will beat for the advance of the His rule.”

~Rhys Bezzant, Dean of Missional Leadership at Ridley College (Australia)

“To me science is a flirt with the unknown. We’re trying to figure things out, but there’s so much going on right now, all around us, that’s invisible to the eye, and science is kind of is a bridge to this mystery, and by walking on this bridge we kind of have a better sense of who we are.”

~Marcelo Gleiser, Dartmouth professor, as quoted in the Valley News 3-20-2019

“Our pleasure and our duty,
Though opposite before;
Since we have seen his beauty,
Are joined to part no more:
It is our highest pleasure,
No less than duty’s call;
To love him beyond measure,
And serve him with our all.”

~John Newton (1725-1801), English clergyman and abolitionist

“To see the Law by Christ fulfilled,
And hear his pard’ning voice;
Changes a slave into a child,
And duty into choice.”

~William Cowper (1731-1800), English poet, one of the most popular poets of his time

SERMON PASSAGE

Matthew 28:18-20, Ephesians 1:15-23, Ephesians 4:10-16 (ESV)

Matthew 28

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Ephesians 1

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 4

10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.