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Not Impossible!

For nothing will be impossible with God.
Luke 1:37

Yesterday, during Sunday school, we discussed the main point of the sermon: by faith in Jesus’ name we can see the impossible happen. We listed some “impossible” challenges ECC faces. Here is the list:

  1. Bridge the gap between the congregations. (expounded below)
  2. Form a culture of raising up people from within to serve in the ministry or the mission field. (Acts 20:31-32; Eph. 4:11-16.)
  3. Impact our neighbors at MAPS. (Matt. 28:18-20, Acts 1:8.)
  4. Be a greater light in our surrounding community. (Matt. 28:18-20, Acts 1:8.)
  5. Change the direction of American culture. (Matt. 5:13-16; Isaiah 58:6-12.)
  6. Be a peace maker between the police and the African American community. (Matt. 5:9; Rom. 12:16-18.)
  7. Bridge the political spectrum among us so we can have a practical impact and voice. (Rom. 12:1-2; Prov. 27:17.)
  8. See beyond politics to approach needs from God’s point of view. (Rom. 12:1-2; Prov. 27:17.)

These are all important and difficult, if not impossible for us to do. We focused on #1, bridging the gap between the congregations. We agreed it would be a powerful witness for Jesus if others saw we cared that much for each other to grow our unity. It would, also, demonstrate the power of God to overcome the gaps. For the gaps are deep not only because differing cultures and languages but we, also, we lack the structure and organization to come together, we live in different communities (bubbles), have different goals, different life experience and there are generational differences as well. None of us questioned God can do this.

But, is this what God wants? We concluded the answer is yes. We saw unity was in Jesus’ heart in his last prayer as he faced death, John 17. Jesus died for it, Ephesians 5:25 and Acts 20:28 God not only cares for the health and unity of the universal church but, also, for the local church, like ECC. Paul, in 1 Corinthians, confronted that local church because it was divided. He said: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” 1 Cor. 3:16-17. Wow! This is serious.

So, our unity is not impossible because God wants it! This is important to remember because we can easily loose our unity. We need to intentionally build and preserve our unity - “Faith to Faith, Life to Life, Generation to Generation.” May our love for one another be in our hearts as it is for Jesus. May our growing unity bear witness to those around us that we are Jesus’ disciples, John 13:34-35. It’s not impossible!

So, it is for the other challenges we listed. They are not impossible either because they are God’s will. This is logical and biblical. I challenge you to look at the list again to read and reflect on the passage beside on the side of each. Dig deeper and see that God would enlist us to be his agents of transformation in our church and in our world.

I encourage you to meditate on Israel’s need for persistent faith to conquer the Promised Land since it took them decades while they faced enemies, warfare, and setbacks.