Resumé, Request, Blessing, Mission

May 17, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Acts, Alliance, anxiety, Bible, blessing, Broadway, Christ, christianity, church, faith, fear, God, humility, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, John Partridge, Methodist, mission, Ohio, Peter, promise, purpose, request, resume, Street

Resumé, Request, Blessing, Mission

May 17, 2026*

(Seventh Sunday of Easter)

By Pastor John Partridge

John 17:1-11 Acts 1:6-14 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

If you are like me, many of you have changed jobs from time to time. As a young person, the first time you apply for jobs, the process is intimidating, unfamiliar, awkward, and uncomfortable. But the second time the process feels more familiar, and by the third or fourth time, you understand the process well enough to feel the flow of it, to anticipate what will happen next, and almost read the minds of the people interviewing you. There is a current that flows between the initial contacts that are made and the work that is performed after you are hired to do the job. And, as I read our scripture passages for today, it is that flow that came to mind, and that process that you will see as we read, digest, and understand the path that the disciples, the followers of Jesus Christ, and we ourselves follow from the time we meet Jesus until he sends us out to do the work of God’s kingdom. We begin this morning by reading John 17:1-11, as Jesus prays with, and for, his disciples before his arrest and crucifixion.

^17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ²For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

⁶“I have revealed youto those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word. ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power ofyour name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

As Jesus prays to his father, it is as if he reads his resume and reminds God of the work that he has done during his time on the earth. And afterward, he requests that God return him to the glory that he had with God before the world began. Next, Jesus prays over the resume of his disciples, as if reminding God of who they are, what they have done, and what Jesus had taught them and given to them. And again, afterward, Jesus requests that God would protect them so that they would be unified in spirit, purpose, and mission for the kingdom work that they would be sent to do.

But, before that could happen, Jesus concluded his time on earth, ascended into heaven, and returned to his father. But only a moment before he did so, he made a promise and assigned a mission to them, both the promise and the mission have been passed on to us. We hear this in the words of Acts 1:6-14:

⁶Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹⁰They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

¹²Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walkfrom the city. ¹³When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. ¹⁴They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Jesus is plain in saying that there are limits to God’s willingness to share the details of his plans for the future. While he called the disciples in the first century, and calls us today, it is not for us to know when God will choose to do the things that God will do. The important thing is that God promises to give us the power to do the things that he calls us to do, and that our mission is to carry his story and message of hope to the ends of the earth. Like the disciples, we cannot simply stand around, looking up at the sky, waiting for Jesus to return. Instead, we must wait in anticipation, and busy ourselves with the work that must be done until the time of his return.

But doing the work to which God has appointed us will not always be easy. In his letter of 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11, the apostle Peter gives the people of the church some advice on how we should live in order to accomplish the work of the kingdom, saying:

^4:12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

^5:⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

⁸Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

¹⁰And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. ¹¹To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Peter reminds the people of the church that they should not be surprised that an ordeal of suffering had come to test them. Instead, rather than complain, flee, or quit, he encouraged them to rejoice that they cold share their suffering with Jesus and be happy that they would be rewarded on the day of Christ’s return. If we are insulted because of our faith in Jesus, Peter says, that is a sign that the Spirit of God’s glory, and the Spirit of God itself rests upon you.

Moreover, rather than being proud, or arrogant, that you are a follower of the Jesus and a follower of the most high, creator God, humble yourself before God and let him lift you in praise as he sees fit at a time of his choosing. Instead of worrying and being anxious about your life, trust the God that cares for you, and let him carry the burden of your anxiety and fear. Your job is to be alert to the manipulations of the enemy because he prowls the earth looking for ways that he can deceive, subvert, mislead, and consume the followers of Jesus Christ. Resist these temptations that are so common in our culture and stand firm in the faith that you share with many who are suffering. In the end, although God may allow you to suffer temporarily, he will ultimately restore you in body, mind, and spirit.

As we have seen in our scriptures today, there is often a process with God just as there is when we seek employment. God has seen our resume and Christ himself has prayed that God would protect you and bless you so that the followers of Jesus Christ might be one with God and be united and unified in purpose. We won’t always know the plans that God has for our future, but God promises to give us the power to do the things that he calls us to do. Our lives, as the followers of Jesus Christ, are not guaranteed to be filled with roses, and rainbows, and unicorns, but may often have its share of discomfort, suffering, insults, and fiery ordeals. But we rest in the knowledge that as we suffer, we share in the suffering of Jesus, and we are invited to humble ourselves, and let him carry the burden of our anxiety and fear.

Our calling is to stand firm in our faith and to resist the enemy of our souls, to be alert for his attempts to deceive, mislead, and tempt us to wander from the path of truth. Our mission is to carry the good news of Jesus Christ and his message of hope, healing, and restoration to the ends of the earth.

Just like finding a new job and building a career, it isn’t something that happens overnight. It is a path. It is a process. And it is a journey that we must choose to travel…

…one step at a time, one day after another, until at last we meet Jesus at the throne of grace.

Until then, let us do as the disciples did so long ago, let us pray together, worship together, and work together to rescue the lost, and do the work of God’s kingdom.

*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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How You Fit in God’s Big Picture

May 3, 2026May 3, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Acts, Alliance, big picture, Broadway, chosen, Christ, church, faith, fit, forgettable, Frank Willis, God, holy nation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, John Partridge, Luke, Methodist, minor, Ohio, Peter, royal priesthood, Street, unimportant, unnoticed

How You Fit in God’s Big Picture

May 03, 2026*

(Fifth Sunday of Easter)

By Pastor John Partridge

John 14:1-14 Acts 7:55-60 1 Peter 2:2-10

Have you ever read a book, or watched a movie, and considered what the story would look like to one of the minor characters? You know what I mean, the people who, at the end of the movie appear in the credits without even having real names but simply listed as “Woman on the street” or “Cop #3.” But minor or not, there was a larger story swirling around them and sometimes, despite being unnoticed, their presence and their contribution made a difference to how the story turned out. In the Star Wars saga, hardly anyone talks about Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, but they were the ones who raised Luke Skywalker from infancy to adulthood and who shaped his morals, ethics, and sense of justice. Without them, the story falls apart.

And I doubt that few, if any of you would recognize the very real name of Frank Willis. Frank Willis was an ordinary man, living an ordinary life that led him to be invisible to the world around him both before and after one singular event that, by itself was unremarkable but led to the fall of one of the most powerful men on the planet. While working as a night security guard, Frank Willis noticed a piece of tape. That’s it. That is the thing that made Frank Willis famous. A piece of tape. One evening, while making rounds that he had made a thousand times before, Frank Willis noticed a piece of tape where it should not have been. A piece of tape that was preventing a door from locking properly in the Watergate building in Washington D.C. Frank reported his findings and the subsequent investigation forced the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Most of us spend our lives feeling as if we were unnoticed people on the street, important to our families, but minor characters in the world around us. But that isn’t what scripture says. Scripture is clear that each of us, no matter how unimportant we might feel, has a vital role to play in the drama that God is creating. Like Aunt Beru, or Frank Willis, while our screen time might seem short, the part that we play has world changing implications in the big picture of God’s story. And we see that in our first scripture this morning in John 14:1-14 when Jesus says:

^14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ²My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴You know the way to the place where I am going.”

⁵Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you really know me, you will knowmy Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

⁹Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. ¹²Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

To begin, there are two big “asks” that we need to discuss. The first is when Jesus tells his disciples that they should not only believe in God but also believe in him. We tend to skip past that without thinking, but this is important. This is something much bigger than asking someone to listen to, or to follow a teacher. Jesus is literally asking his disciples to believe in him in the same way that they already believe in God and therefore describing himself as an equal to God. In saying this, we are left with only two choices: either Jesus is the son of God and a member of the Trinity, or he is, as the Pharisees accused, a blasphemer and heretic that must be ignored at all costs.

The second big ask is when Philip asks Jesus to “show us the Father” as if that is a simple thing. You should remember that Elijah, in 1 Kings 19, and Moses, in Exodus 33, were allowed to be in God’s presence, but even then, Elijah covered his face with his cloak, and Moses only saw Gods back because anyone who saw God’s face would die. So, Philip asking to see the Father was no small thing, but Jesus expanding on the idea that he and God were equals, says that because they have seen him, they have already seen God.

But next comes the part that connects to you and me when Jesus says, “whoever believes in me will do the works that I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these…” My friends, we may think of ourselves as ordinary, unimportant, and forgettable characters on the world stage, but Jesus’ opinion of you is quite different. Jesus says that if you believe in him, you will, not can, will, do even greater things than he has done, and that is no small thing. That is world changing, powerful, amazing stuff.

And some of what we just read is confirmed as another minor character becomes what we often describe as the first Christian martyr, Stephen. We don’t really know much about Stephen except that he was a follower of Jesus and knew the disciples personally. But despite otherwise being a somewhat ordinary and unremarkable follower of Jesus, Stephen is given some amazing and impressive gifts that we will see as we read his story in Acts 7:55-60.

⁵⁵But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen looked up, and rather than seeing the sky, we are told that, being full of the Holy Spirit, he looked up, was given a vision, and saw heaven itself, he saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. The second gift that we see comes as the witnesses throw the stones that will kill him, and Stephen has the grace to pray for the forgiveness of his own murderers. For us, once again, the message we can find is that even minor characters are given important gifts. Because we believe in Jesus Christ, and because we are therefore filled with the Spirit of God, we too can be given visions by God and can see the truth in the world around us even when it is obscured by culture, influence, money, and power. Moreover, even minor characters can be unnaturally filled with grace and forgiveness even when surrounded by people that despise everything in which we believe.

And finally, as we read 1 Peter 2:2-10, we are reminded that we are more than unimportant, minor characters because we belong to something that is bigger than ourselves. Peter explains this saying:

²Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”

⁷Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”

⁸and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Peter says that like newborn babies, we must crave the food that will make us grow and mature because we know that God is good. And Peter continues by saying that as we come to Jesus, we should understand that we, as individuals, are being built into a collective, just as individual bricks are built into something bigger. Just as individual bricks collectively become a house, we, as the followers of Jesus Christ, are becoming a holy priesthood that collectively offers sacrifices that are acceptable to God. The people around us who have rejected Jesus and who struggle and stumble over values, ethics, and attitudes that are shaped by the teaching and the example of Jesus, are struggling precisely because they are disobedient to the message and witness of Jesus.

But here, in the church, we are becoming something else as we answer God’s call upon our lives. We are not alone. We are not insignificant, unnoticed, unimportant, minor characters because in the big picture of creation and God’s redemptive plan for the world, you are a chosen people, hand picked to do the work of God’s kingdom and to act as agents in accomplishing God’s goals. You are a royal priesthood who are, collectively sacrificing to give gifts that are acceptable to God. You are not just a small group of friends and worshipers of Jesus Christ who gather at Christ Church in Alliance, Ohio, you are being built into a spiritual house that is bigger than yourself, a house that is bigger than your imagination, because you are a part of a holy nation, a people devoted to Jesus Christ, and a special possession of God. You are a people who do the work of Jesus Christ and who praise him for rescuing you from sin and darkness and calling you into a new life filled with joy, grace, hope, mercy, and light.

That’s a lot of words. But I want you to hear and to remember the heart of what has been said.

You are not alone.

You are not insignificant, unnoticed, or unimportant.

You are a part of something bigger than yourself; a stone being built into God’s spiritual house.

You are an important and vital part of God’s plan of redemption for the world.

You don’t have to believe me, believe scripture. You don’t have to believe dogma, believe God.

You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people chosen by God.

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From Chaos to Confidence

April 5, 2026April 19, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Acts, Alliance, Bible, Broadway, Christ, church, Colossians, creation, culture, Easter, faith, Genesis, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, John Partridge, Methodist, Ohio, Paul, resurrection, testify

From Chaos to Confidence

April 05, 2026*

(Easter Sunday)

By Pastor John Partridge

John 20:1-18 Acts 10:34-43 Colossians 3:1-4

Easter can still be surprising if we look at it from a different angle than we usually do. And one way to do that is to consider Easter as an act of God’s creation. That may seem unusual but bear with me and this message will become clear before we’re done. In the first words of Genesis, we hear these words:

^1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

And, as easily as this passage comes to our memory, consider that the Hebrew that we translate as “formless and empty” is tohu va-bohu which implies an environment understood by the ancient world as one of terrifying disorder, such that in some modern translations, this phrase is being rendered simply as chaos. The world in the beginning was a place of terrifying chaos, and from it, God created order. And again, while the parallels might not be immediately apparent, bear with me as we begin this morning by remembering the first Easter morning that we read in John 20:1-18:

^20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ²So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

¹¹Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹²and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

¹³They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

¹⁵He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

The actions of the players in this story may not seem all that strange to us in the twenty-first century, but in the context of the first century, everything understood to be culturally normal is turned on its head. Women were believed and understood to be unreliable such that, under Roman law, the testimony of a woman in court was only considered to be dependable if produced under torture. But here, while the women are understandably emotional, they are the ones doing the work that must be done while the men have remained at home paralyzed with grief. Similarly, we are told that the disciples, who had walked with Jesus for three years, still did not understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead. These men were baffled, confused, and emotionally incapacitated to the point that they follow the leadership of Mary and the other women. Moreover, Jesus’ first appearance isn’t to any of his trusted friends and disciples, but to the women whose testimonies would automatically be doubted. From the perspective of the disciples and the people in story, everything here is upside-down and utterly chaotic. If the disciples had chosen to invent a story about the resurrection, this is exactly the kind of story that they would have avoided at all costs because it would have been completely unbelievable. To the original audience, this story is utter chaos.

But just a few weeks later, when Peter confronts a crowd of people in the temple courts in Acts 10:34-43, he says this:

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. ³⁶You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

³⁹“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, ⁴⁰but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. ⁴¹He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Peter admits that it all seems crazy. He knew that the women saw Jesus first, that the men were the ones who were overly emotional and paralyzed by grief, and he finally sees the truth, he now understands that God’s plan doesn’t automatically follow the prejudices and favoritisms of human culture. Despite the chaos, despite turning the preconceived assumptions of culture on their heads, Peter admits that they stood as witnesses to the truth of the story that they shared and the message that they preached. The story that Peter and the disciples were preaching was chaotic, crazy, culturally disconnected, and felt uncomfortable and wrong to many who heard it, but nonetheless, they stood up and swore that this was the truth that they had witnessed.

But where does that leave us? Why does it matter? And what does it mean for us?

And as we read Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, he connects the dots for us. Reading from Colossians 3:1-4, we hear this:

^3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is yourlife, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Paul summarizes the story that the disciples told. Because Jesus died and rose to life again, and because we have chosen to follow him and to put our trust in him, we too have been raised from the dead. But, because have, and because we have this hope for the future, God calls us to live our lives differently from the people around us. We are called to focus on God’s kingdom and not on the things that our earthly cultures label as important. More importantly, we have confidence that when Christ returns, we will live with him in the glory of his kingdom.

Just as God’s presence in the story of creation transformed chaos into order, the resurrection of Jesus on that Easter morning two millennia ago has transformed the confusion and chaos of our culture into a calm assurance for our future and for eternity.

What began as chaos has been transformed, through faith, into confidence.

Our mission is to remember, and to live out, the words of Peter that we heard in Acts 10. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. We are called to preach, and to tell the world, not because we seek power, or influence, or because we want to manipulate people for our own selfish purposes, but because we choose to share the peace, confidence, assurance, and love that we have found, and because we want to help others to escape the chaos of our culture.

Happy Easter everyone!

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An Ending, and a New Beginning

January 11, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Acts, Alliance, baptis, baptism, baptism of Jesus, begin, beginning, Broadway, Broadway Street, Christ, church, end, ending, faith, God, Gospel, Isaiah, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Partridge, John the Baptist, Luke, Matthew, Methodist, ministry, mission, Ohio

An Ending, and a New Beginning

(Baptism of Jesus)

January 11, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 42:1-9 Matthew 3:13-17 Acts 10:34-43

If you have ever read a book, watched a television episode, or a movie, that was a part of a series, you have likely found yourself at the end of the story that both concluded the story that you had been experiencing and also established the beginning of the next book, show, or movie. Television serials of an earlier era would often do this quite deliberately and end with a phrase like, “Tune in next week when…” or “How will our hero escape certain death?” or something similar. It is that sort of story that we find in our scriptures this morning, beginning with a story in the Old Testament and ending in the New Testament, and with an interesting transition that we find in the gospel of Matthew and the baptism of Jesus.

We begin this morning with yet another prophecy foretelling the coming of Israel’s messiah in Isaiah 42:1-9 where God says:

^42:1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
    and he will bring justice to the nations.
²He will not shout or cry out,
    or raise his voice in the streets.
³A bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
⁴    he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
    In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

⁵This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
    who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
    who gives breath to its people,
    and life to those who walk on it:
⁶“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles,
⁷to open eyes that are blind,
    to free captives from prison
    and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

⁸“I am the Lord; that is my name!
    I will not yield my glory to another
    or my praise to idols.
⁹See, the former things have taken place,
    and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
    I announce them to you.”

We know from other prophecies, that the messiah of Israel was to be a powerful king, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and even here, several times, Isaiah’s words emphasize that the messiah would bring justice to the world. But Isaiah also says that the messiah will be filled with so much gentleness and tenderness that he would not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick. Either of these could be destroyed by a breath, and so this establishes that the messiah would be strong and powerful, but also tender and gentle. Isaiah continues by saying that God will make the Messiah to be a new covenant for the people and the light in the darkness for the Gentiles. And then writes the words that Jesus would later send to John the Baptist to assure him that he really was the promised messiah, that the eyes of the blind would be opened, the captives set free, and light brought to those who sit in darkness.

And then, after anticipating the arrival of the Messiah for thousands of years, in Matthew 3:13-17 we find the end of one story and the beginning of another as Matthew says:

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

John, rightly, insists that there it doesn’t make sense to baptize the messiah but that the messiah should be baptizing John. And, as much sense at that makes, Jesus makes a different point, and that is that both of them have a mission to fulfill. God had called John to prepare the way for the Messiah, and by baptizing Jesus, John symbolically concludes his ministry and completes God’s call on his life. At the same time, the baptism of Jesus by John, symbolizes the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and, because of the participation of the Spirit of God, establishes the baptism of the Spirit that Jesus would later pass on to his disciples and other followers.

But what does all that mean to us thousands of years later?

Luke, the evangelist and gospel writer answered that question when he wrote to his patron, Theophilus, in Acts 10:34-43, and tells this story:

Luke describes this watershed moment by saying that the story of the gospel began in Galilee in Judea, and began only after John’s preaching about baptism, and when God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power. The result, Luke says, is that because they were witnesses of what had happened, witnesses of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, they had been commanded to preach to the people and testify about Jesus. And, just so that we don’t miss the point, Jesus’ command to preach wasn’t just because Luke and the other disciples had witnessed the events described in the gospel accounts, but because they understood both the story of the gospels and the connection of that story to the messiah that Israel’s prophets had foretold. Luke says that the final reason that Jesus commanded them to preach to the people was because that they knew that by believing in Jesus, the people would receive forgiveness for their sins and be invited to become a part of God’s eternal family.

The reason that Luke and the disciples were commanded to preach to the people wasn’t just because they were eyewitnesses of the events that unfolded in Judea two thousand years ago, but also because they knew an important truth that people of the world desperately needed to know. And that is why Jesus’ command to Luke and to the disciples has been passed down from one generation to the next until it has, today, fallen upon us. Because we know the story, because we understand the ancient prophecies about Israel’s messiah, and because we know that by believing in Jesus the people around us can receive forgiveness for their sins and become a part of God’s family, we too are commanded by Jesus to share what we know with others.

Many people consider John the Baptist to be the last of God’s prophets and we witness the end of his calling and mission at the baptism of Jesus. At the same moment, however, we see the beginning of Jesus’ mission. The end of one story is the beginning of another. But like an episode of a television or movie serial, we witness that same handoff as we pass the good news of Jesus Christ from one generation to the next. Like the prophets of ancient Israel, like John the Baptist, Luke, the disciples, and other followers of Jesus, we have knowledge and understanding that the people around us do not have. And, like them, and like generations of others, we are called and commanded by God to share what we know so that others can come to faith in Jesus Christ and become a part of his eternal family.

The baptism of Jesus isn’t just the symbol of the end of John’s ministry.

It symbolizes the beginning…

…of yours.

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Obsessed With Christ

July 6, 2022July 6, 2022 PastorPartridge Podcast, Sermon Acts, Alliance, breath, Broadway, Christ, church, fire, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Methodist, obsess, obsessed, obsession, Ohio, Partridge, Pentecost, spirit, Street, tongue, tongues, United, wind

Obsessed With Christ

June 06, 2022

Rev. Chris Martin

Always willing to dive back into worship preparation and preaching, my dear friend Rev. Chris Martin jumped at the chance to preach on Pentecost Sunday so he could fill in for me as Patti and I visited our son Jonah in Texas. I do not have the text of this message, but feel free to watch the video or listen to the podcast and find out why we should all be… Obsessed with Christ.

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Click here to watch the video: https://youtu.be/1NsihTQKz28

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Past Pain, Present Gifts

May 29, 2022July 26, 2022 PastorPartridge Podcast, Sermon Acts, Alliance, beating, blessing, Broadway, Christ, church, future, gift, gifts, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, kindness, love, Methodist, Ohio, pain, Partridge, past, present, purpose, Revelation, revenge, share, Street, struggle, struggles, surprise, thrashing, unconventional, unexpected, United, unusual, violence

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Past Pain, Present Gifts

(formerly – Violence, Division, and Unexpected Gifts)

May 29, 2022*

By Pastor John Partridge

John 17:20-26 Acts 16:16-34 Revelation 22:12-17, 20-21

Mary Todd Lincoln was crazy. Okay, that’s not entirely true. Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of President Abraham Lincoln, was a sufferer of an undiagnosed mental illness and was extraordinarily difficult to live with. By making a long-distance examination from historically documented accounts, historians of today guess that Mary Todd Lincoln may well have suffered from bipolar disorder and, in an era far removed from a diagnosis, let alone a treatment of any kind, her disorder often made life in her household unpleasant.

Other husbands of that era might have, and sometimes did, have their wives and family members with such a disorder committed to an insane asylum. Many of them clearly were not insane by our modern standards but were simply so difficult to live with that they were removed to the care of someone else. Abraham Lincoln didn’t do that. He loved his wife Mary, he cared for her, and he found it within himself to withstand her rages, outbursts, depression, and other manifestations of her disorder.

Our nation benefited from his suffering. Historians speculate that the mental fortitude of Abraham Lincoln, forged and strengthened through years of caring for Mary, and enduring the suffering that went with it, made him singularly qualified to stand against the stress, arguments, negotiations, and other mental and emotional difficulties that were thrust upon him during the American Civil War. Anyone who had not lived through what he had already endured, might not have been able to cope with the demands of the presidency in that era.

In an odd sort of way, his suffering was a gift.

But what does any of that have to do with us? Well, before we get to that part, let’s begin at the beginning and remember when Jesus explains what the purpose of life will be for his disciples and all who would choose to follow him. We hear that story in John 17:20-26 as Jesus prays…

²⁰“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that 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. ²²I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

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.

²⁵“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶I have made youknown to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

In this short prayer, there are a few things that I want to highlight. First, Jesus asks that our relationship with God be the same as his, that just as God is in Jesus, we might also be in them. More specifically, Jesus says that he passed the glory of God that had inhabited him, on to his followers so that we might be one, in the same way that Jesus and God are one. And because of the glory of God that dwells within us, and because of our unity of purpose and togetherness, that the world would know that God loves us.

Second, Jesus asks that his followers would be able to come to where he is, and to see his glory. And third, that Jesus’ purpose in revealing God to us, was so that we might be filled with the love of God. And we can see that this last one, combined with Jesus’ command to go into all the world and preach the good news, tells us that God’s goal is not to rule the world, but to fill the world with his love.

But how do we do that? How do we reveal God’s glory and God’s love to the world around us? Certainly, there are more ways to do that than we can count, but one particularly dramatic way is found in one of Paul’s missionary journeys recorded in Acts 16:16-34 where we hear this:

¹⁶Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” ¹⁸She kept this up for many days. Finally, Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment, the spirit left her.

¹⁹When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar ²¹by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. ²³After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” ³²Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. ³⁴The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

I cannot even begin to count how many sermons can be, and have been, written about this passage. But for today, I want to look at two specific things. First, that this earthquake was extraordinarily specific. It was strong enough to wake everyone up and to shake the foundations of the prison, but where earthquakes ordinarily collapse buildings and jam doors shut, this one unlocks and opens doors, opens padlocks, loosens chains, and releases feet bound in iron stocks. That is particularly specific and not at all the way that earthquakes and other natural disasters usually work, and this is how we see God in the story.

Second, when the jailer discovers that this has happened, he draws his sword to kill himself rather than be tortured to death, which was what usually happened to anyone who allowed a Roman prisoner to escape. But Paul hears the sword come out of its sheath, knows what the jailer intends to do and calls to him that everyone is still there. Once again, this must be an act of God. Even if Paul and Silas convinced the other prisoners not to escape, the chances of no one leaving are so slim that this is also evidence of God’s hand because they were all there.

And the jailer comes to faith in God because he saw, with his own eyes the hand of God at work in the world on behalf of Paul and Silas. He witnessed that the doors were unlocked, the chains loosened, and the iron shackles unbound, and he witnessed the power that kept a jail full of prisoners from escaping when the doors stood wide open. And he experienced the simple act of human kindness that Paul showed to him. All that Paul had to do to escape was to leave. All that Paul had to do to get revenge for the beating that was inflicted upon him was to remain silent. But Paul did not remain silent. He did not try to escape or to pursue revenge. Instead, Paul showed kindness to the jailer.

And he, and his entire household, were saved.

And we connect the dots by remembering the words of Jesus that we find in John’s Revelation contained in chapter 22:12-17, 20-21. Jesus said:

¹²“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

¹⁴“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.

¹⁵Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁶“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give youthis testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

¹⁷The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes, take the free gift of the water of life.

²⁰He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

The important idea here are that there will be a judgement but that anyone can come into the kingdom of God. Everyone is invited and sharing the gift of eternal life is a gift that each of us can give to all the people that we care about.

God’s goal is to share the message of the gospel throughout the entire world so that the world is filled with God’s love. Paul brought that jailer and his family into the kingdom of God simply through an act of kindness when anyone would have understood his desire for revenge. And sometimes, suffering and pain are the doorway through which we must pass in order to receive an unexpected gift.

Abraham Lincoln’s struggles made him strong enough to bless a nation.

Paul and Silas’ suffering allowed them to rescue the jailer and his entire family.

What can you do this week, to point others toward the kingdom of God?

How might the pain of your past bless others in the present, or in the future?

How many of the people around you might you give the gift of God’s love?

And how many of those people are separated from eternal life by one… simple… act of kindness?

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

An Unexpected, Unconventional, Unorthodox God

May 22, 2022July 26, 2022 PastorPartridge Podcast, Sermon Acts, Alliance, Broadway, Christ, church, eternity, fear, follow, God, Greece, heaven, Holy Spirit, intimidation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jewish, John, lamb, listen, love, Macedonia, Methodist, mission, obey, Ohio, Partridge, Revelation, Street, throne, unconventional, United, unusual

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An Unexpected, Unconventional, Unorthodox God

May 22, 2022*

By Pastor John Partridge

John 14:23-29 Acts 16:9-15 Revelation 21:10, 22 – 22:5

Have you ever thought about the gods of the ancient world?

I remember taking mythology in high school and although many of my classmates didn’t like it, and seemed to think that it was weird, I found it to be interesting, and I enjoyed it. But, although those ancient Greek and Roman gods, as well as the gods of Israel’s neighbors, are not something we think about often, they can add to our understanding of the God of Israel that we find in the Old and New Testaments. The reason that the gods of the ancient world add to our understanding, is because when we spend all our time studying and discussing the God of Israel, we are deceived into thinking that Israel’s God was normal. So, let’s be clear, Israel’s God is not normal.

The gods and goddesses of the ancient world, like Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Mars, and the rest, often behaved badly, cheated, had affairs and illegitimate children, acted on whims and were often moody, and unpredictable. These gods ruled by intimidation and fear and demanded sacrifices and gifts simply to appease them. Failing to appease them could mean that they would be angry and refuse to help. The same was true for Baal, the god of the Philistines, as well as other gods of that region such as Chemosh, Dagon, and the fertility goddess Ashtoreth. These gods demanded sacrifices, sometimes blood or human sacrifices, to ensure safety or a good harvest.

But Israel’s God was different. From the beginning, particularly as we watch the story of the family of Abraham, the God of Israel begins his relationship with his people from a position of love and compassion. God cares about his people and their children and does good things for them long before they do anything for him in return. We see this difference illustrated in the gospel of John 14:23-29 as he shares these words of Jesus:

²³Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

²⁵“All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

²⁸“You heard me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.

Jesus says that if we love him, we will obey his teaching. Jesus doesn’t say that if we fear him, we will obey, or if we want a successful harvest, or if we want safe travel, or if we want to appease an angry god, then we should do these things. Jesus says that our obedience should grow, not out of fear or intimidation, but out of love. And, when Jesus explains that he is leaving, he promises to send the Holy Spirit to teach us all things and remind us of everything that Jesus said to us. The Spirit of God is sent, and does its work, before we even have the opportunity to do anything in return. Moreover, Jesus says that the gift that he leaves with his followers, is not a gift of victory, wealth, abundance, or safety, but instead is the gift of peace and the absence of fear.

In the world of history, and among the gods of the world, our God is unconventional. In fact, our God is so unorthodox, that even those who have dedicated their lives to following and to studying, are still surprised by the way God chooses to do things. In Acts 16:9-15, the Apostle Paul, and those who traveled with him, were surprised because, once again, God chose to turn their preconceived notions of orthodoxy on their heads. Luke records this story:

⁹During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. ¹²From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony, and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

¹³On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. ¹⁵When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

There are several things in this story that are surprising and/or unexpected. In Paul’s vision, he is called to Macedonia by a man and so he almost certainly expects to find one there when he arrives, but no one introduces themselves, and unlike the stories we’ve heard in recent weeks of both Paul’s Damascus road experience and Peter’s call to preach to the Gentiles, no one in Macedonia introduces themselves, and God does not direct them to anyone specifically. Failing that, Paul and his team wait until the Sabbath and visit the river because traditionally, persons of the Jewish faith would meet at the river, likely because it was peaceful, but also because it was “living water” and provided a means of purification before worship.

But when they walk along the river, with every expectation that they would find worshiping Jews, they, again, find no men. They do, however, find some women, and one of them, Lydia, is either Jewish, or was otherwise sympathetic to, and a follower of, Israel’s God. Lydia also is a business owner, a person of some wealth, and the head of her household. She listens to Paul’s message, comes to faith in Jesus Christ, asks to be baptized, leads here entire household to faith and baptism, invites Paul and his team to stay in her home, and becomes the leader of the new church movement in Macedonia.

None of this was what Paul or the other Jewish men expected, none of it was traditional, none of it followed the pattern of orthodox Jewish thinking, but it illustrates that our God often works in ways that are unexpected and unconventional. And that pattern continues throughout scripture and even to the end of time described by John in Revelation 21:10, 22 – 22:5 where he says:

¹⁰And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

²²I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

^22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ²down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Once again, this is a passage that we’ve read so many times that we no longer notice that there is anything unusual in it. Through sheer repetition, the extraordinary is reduced to boring and yawn-inducing normality. So, let’s back up and consider why John’s description is so unorthodox and unconventional. John’s vision begins normally enough as he is carried to a great high mountain to see the Holy City of God. That was normal. The Temple in Jerusalem, as well as the Parthenon in Greece, and many other Jewish and pagan temples and places of worship are found on mountaintops because if the gods lived somewhere “up there” in the sky, then, logically, human beings were closer to the gods when they were on the top of a mountain, right?

But this mountain was not stationary but was coming down out of heaven. Other than superhero movies and other works of fiction, mountains don’t come down out of the sky. Even stranger, is that the Holy City doesn’t have a temple. In John’s world, and in ours, every major city had a temple of some sort, and one would assume that a holy city would have one. But no. No temples, no synagogues, no cathedrals, no churches, zip, nothing, nada. And the reason, is because that God himself, and the Lamb, his Son Jesus Christ, are the temple. Why go to church to worship Jesus when you can meet Jesus face-to-face?

And if that wasn’t enough, there is a river that flows out of the throne of God, trees that provide food to eat all year-round, gates that never close because there is no fear of an enemy attack, a tree that offers healing to people and nations, a day that never sees nighttime or darkness, and everything about it represents a place of goodness, righteousness, and purity that is without fear, and where life, the city itself, and everything in it, is designed, and expected, to last forever.

In every generation from Adam, to Abraham, to David, to Jesus, the disciples, Paul, and to us today, our God is different. Human beings have always tried and have always failed to put God in a box. Our God doesn’t demand obedience, as a payment in exchange for services. Our God loves us, first, last, and always. Our God asks us to follow him, asks us to love him, and asks us to serve him, not because we fear him, but because we’ve grown to love him, trust him, and be grateful to him for the love that God has already shown to us even before we knew him, and even when we were completely unlovable.

Our God isn’t like other gods.

Our God isn’t like the box that we try to squeeze him into.

Our God is unexpected, unconventional, unorthodox, and loves us first, last, and always.

And, when we have felt his love for us, only then can we hear him asking if we might love him in return.

And so, the question that I ask you today is this, do you love God? Do you love God enough to follow him, and to trust him? Do you love God enough to obey his instructions and commands?

And, if so, will you love the people around you, people you don’t know, people who are different from you, people who think differently than you, people who you might not even like very much, people in other communities, other states, and other countries? Will you love them so much that they can feel God’s love for them?

Because only then, will they be able to hear his voice.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

The Fire of Change

May 15, 2022July 26, 2022 PastorPartridge Podcast, Sermon actions, Acts, Alliance, Broadway, challenge, challenges, change, Christ, church, covid, denomination, fear, Gentiles, God, Holy Spirit, Methodist, mission, Ohio, Partridge, Pentecost, Peter, schism, shortage, shortages, spirit, split, Street, supply chain, Ukraine, United, war

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The Fire of Change

May 15, 2022*

By Pastor John Partridge

Acts 11:1-18

Last week I shared a little about what is happening in our United Methodist denomination and what may or may not happen in the future. We are still at a place where much can change, and the situation could be quite different after the next General Conference in 2024. In the end, we still have no idea how that might affect us here at Christ Church but regardless of what happens, we can anticipate that whatever happens, there will, eventually, be some significant, and dramatic changes.

And it was last week’s conversation that struck me as I read this week’s scripture from Luke’s account of the Acts of the Apostles contained in Acts 11:1-18 where he says this:

^11:1 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him ³and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: ⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance, I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. ⁶I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds. ⁷Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

⁸“I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹“The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ ¹⁰This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

¹¹“Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. ¹²The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. ¹⁴He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

¹⁵“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. ¹⁶Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

As I read this, I noticed something that we often skip past, and when I thought about it, that one thing reframed how I thought about the entire passage. The thing that we often fail to notice is in the very beginning when it says who had heard about what Peter was doing. It says that “the apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles” had received the word of God. When they heard these stories, they summoned Peter and criticized him for preaching to uncircumcised men or, in other words, Gentiles or, you know, those people. That doesn’t seem too surprising, but remembering that among the people having this conversation with Peter were the apostles, the eleven disciples of Jesus, and the other believers who were among those men and women who personally knew Jesus, their presence then becomes important to understanding Peter’s explanation of what he did, what he saw, and what happened.

And then we get to verse fifteen, Peter says that as he was speaking to the Gentiles that had gathered in Caesarea and “the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.” And this is where it’s important to remember who was there. It was the disciples and the early followers of Jesus that were listening. When Peter says that the Spirit of God came upon the Gentiles just as it had come upon them, we remember that on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit came with a “sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” And so, when Peter tells them that this is exactly the way that it happened to the Gentiles, this is what they all remember and I’m certain that’s why this passage concludes by saying, “When they heard this, they had no further objections.”

I’m certain, that the day, and the events, of Pentecost were something that none of them could ever forget. And hearing that the same thing had happened to the Gentiles immediately eliminated any other objections that they might have had as faithful, orthodox, and practicing Jews. It was obvious that the world was changing in ways that none of them had ever expected, or even imagined. But the message was also clear, that God was at work and that God could be found within those changes.

Today we are facing profound challenges and a world that is changing in ways that we never expected or imagined. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed, and continues to change, the world around us. The war in Ukraine has sent ripples of change around the world that has impacted fuel prices, supply chains, caused shortages in diapers, baby formula, fresh vegetables, sound system components, paper, floor wax, and all sorts of other things. And as we continue to watch the unfolding drama within our own denomination, regardless of where the future may carry us, the one thing of which we can be certain, is that we will see profound change.

But as we face these changes, and as we leave the old “normal” behind us forever, there remains one thing of which we can always be certain.

God is at work in the world and God can always be found within the changes.

Rather than worrying and living in fear, let us instead look for God, look to see what God is doing in the world, and seek to understand what work that God has for us to do as we move forward into a new normal.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

A Master of Magnetism

May 8, 2022July 26, 2022 PastorPartridge Podcast, Sermon actions, Acts, Alliance, Broadway, Christ, church, Dorcas, eternal life, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, magnet, magnetic, magnetism, Magneto, Marvel, Master of Magnetism, Methodist, Ohio, Partridge, Peter, rescue, resurrection, Revelation, shepherd, Street, Tabitha, United, X-Men

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A Master of Magnetism

May 08, 2022*

By Pastor John Partridge

John 10:22-30 Acts 9:36-43 Revelation 7:9-17

If you have ever watched any of the movies from the Marvel universe, you are familiar with Magneto, Master of Magnetism, the principal villain of the X-men movies. Magneto is one of the most powerful mutants in the world and can move, bend, or otherwise manipulate anything made of a magnetic metal and leads an army of other mutants who seek to overthrow the governments of the world that are ruled by normal, non-mutant, humans. But, when we think about his position and his abilities, we realize that Magneto has two kinds of power. First, and most obvious, is his ability to control magnetism, but the second is in his ability to persuade, cajole, manipulate, threaten, and otherwise control the army that fights with, and for, him. The first is an ability of physics, but the second is an ability of persuasion that we would typically call a magnetic personality.

In scripture, we certainly won’t find any mutants that can manipulate the laws of physics, but we do find some critically important examples of human and spiritual magnetism. We begin this morning by reading from the Gospel of John 10:22-30 where Jesus explains the spiritual magnetism that belongs, uniquely to him.

²²Then came the Festival of Dedicationat Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. ²⁴The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

²⁵Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, ²⁶but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one.”

Jesus had made any number of statements, that we find throughout the Gospels, in which he made his claim as the promised Messiah, but the leaders of Israel always found ways to deny that it was true, deny that Jesus said what he said, or tried to explain away the things that Jesus had done. But here Jesus simply says that this actions, done in the name of God, are testimony to who he is, and those that follow him, and who have become his sheep, listen to what he says. Anyone who is a genuine follower of Jesus, listens to his teaching and in exchange, those followers will have eternal life. The magnetism of Jesus is drawing the entire world to him but not everyone will choose to listen.

But in the story of Acts, Luke tells us how the magnetism of Jesus breaks out into the world even after Jesus returns to heaven. And one example of that breakout is seen in Acts 9:36-43 as Peter performs a miracle.

³⁶In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. ³⁷About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. ³⁸Lydda was near Joppa; so, when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

³⁹Peter went with them, and when he arrived, he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

⁴⁰Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes and, seeing Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. ⁴²This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. ⁴³Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

Joppa wasn’t much of a harbor, but it was vitally important because, until Herod and his engineers build an incredible artificial harbor at Caesarea, Joppa was the only seaport in all of Israel. And it was because of that seaport, that much of the world met Israel in that place and it was for that reason that this city was important as the message of the gospel began to spread outward from Jerusalem, Judea, and to all the world. It is also worth noting that the word “disciple” (used to describe Tabitha) is the only appearance, in the entirety of the New Testament, that we ever see the Greek language, feminine form of that word. The implication is not certain, but this singular appearance of that descriptive word might imply additional importance to this woman.

Tabitha, or Dorcas, was always doing good, always helping the poor, and from the gathering of people who came to mourn her, seems also to have always been doing things to help the widows of Joppa. As we remember and honor mothers on Mother’s Day, we might easily think of Tabitha as a mother to mothers or as a mother to all women. But, hearing that Peter was nearby, two men were sent to urge him to come and join this mournful gathering. We don’t know if they dared hope that Peter could perform a miracle, or if they only hoped that he might bring comfort to their community, or to lead in the time of mourning, or to preside over Tabitha’s burial. But whatever their hopes might have been, Peter came, prayed, told the dead woman to get up, and she did. Peter did what only Jesus, and one or two of Israel’s greatest prophets, had ever done.

Peter had raised the dead.

Not surprisingly, news of this travelled.

People talked. It became known that the power of Jesus Christ did not die with him on the cross but lived on in the lives of his followers. And because of Peter’s actions, and because of the power of God that had worked through him, the church grew. The church grew because of what they had seen in the actions of the followers of Jesus Christ.

The message of Jesus, heard through the actions of his followers, was magnetic.

And all these things, and all of scripture, leads to the events found in John’s Revelation (Revelation 7:9-17) where he saw this:

⁹After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

¹¹All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

¹³Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
    will shelter them with his presence.
¹⁶‘Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
    nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

In all of that, for me, today, three phrases are worth noting. First, that the people gathered around the throne of God were not uniformly Jewish, or even Mediterranean. The people who will be a part of that multitude were from everywhere. There were people from every country, every ethnic group, who spoke every language ever spoken on the face of the earth. And all of them, from the first to the last, from the least to the greatest, worshipped and gave praise to God.

The second phrase that stands out is the acknowledgement that the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, was at the center of God’s throne and that Jesus would be the shepherd of everyone who had gathered there.

And third, that this group of people, having come out of the great tribulation, who suffered and died during that tribulation, would not only follow Jesus, but that he would lead them to “streams of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

This picture of the end of days reminds us that what Jesus said was true. That his sheep know his voice, they follow him, even through tribulation and death, but even in death none will perish, not one person will be stolen from the hand of God, and every one of them will receive eternal life.

Jesus is the Master of Magnetism.

But what about you?

Will you be a Master of Magnetism?

The message of Peter, and the resurrection of Tabitha, teaches us that the power of Jesus Christ did not die on the cross, but lives on in the lives of his followers.

The church grew because of what the people around them had seen in the actions of the followers of Jesus Christ.

Let me say that again.

The church grew because of what the people around them had seen in the actions of the followers of Jesus Christ.

The message of Jesus, heard through the actions of his followers, was magnetic.

And so, the question of the day is this:

What will you do, what actions will you take, so that the people around you can hear the message of Jesus Christ through you?

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Second Chance. Last Chance.

May 1, 2022 PastorPartridge Sermon Acts, Alliance, Bayard, Broadway, chance, chances, East Rochester, Easter, followers of Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, Paul, Peter, Revelation, second, Street

Second Chance, Last Chance

May 01, 2022*

By Pastor John Partridge

John 21:1-19 Acts 9:1-20 Revelation 5:11-14

If you’ve ever followed the results of a sports tournament, and even if it was a chess tournament, you will remember that there are different structures for those competitions. In some, like the NFL championship, once the post-season starts, losing one game removes you from the competition entirely. But in others, like some team sports in the Olympics, losing just moves you to a second bracket and, although winning the gold medal is out of the question, winning that second bracket could still mean that your team could win bronze and appear on the medal podium.

A few years ago, after I had preached another message about second chances, my friend John Cassidy gave me what he had labelled as the “second chance flyswatter.” It lives up to its name because John melted a big hole in the middle of it.

Sometimes there are second chances.

As the followers of Jesus, we often say that we worship the God of second chances, and that we are a people of second chances. None of us here are perfect and all of us are here because, through his grace, and through the suffering of his son, Jesus Christ, God has given all of us a second, third, or fourth chance. And often, we’ve been given a lot more chances than that.

But how many chances do we get? Is there a point when our luck, and God’s grace, will run out?

Before we answer that, let’s go back to the story of Easter and remember the events of John 21:1-19 where it says…

^21:1 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: ²Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So, they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

⁵He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

⁶He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

⁷Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. ⁹When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶Again Jesus said, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷The third time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

In this reading, we witness Jesus as he appears, for the third time, to the disciples. Even though they had seen Jesus after his resurrection, and even though the disciples were still spending time together, Peter isn’t sure what he’s going to do with his life and decides that he’s going back to work, back to his boat, and bring in some money to pay the bills. But Jesus has other plans. Even though Peter denied Jesus three times, heard the rooster crow, and felt like an utter failure, Jesus still intends to use him. On a beach in Galilee, Jesus meets the disciples, performs a miracle, forgives Peter, invites him back into ministry, and launches him, and the other disciples out into the world… again. Just because Jesus died and rose again, and just because Jesus is no longer physically walking with then twenty-four each day, doesn’t mean that their ministry is over. It’s a second chance. And it’s a huge second chance for Peter, who felt like a failure, had given up hope, and was ready to go back to his old life and disappear.

Jesus still has work for them to do.

But the story is bigger than that. In Acts 9:1-20, we hear the story of Saul, an enforcer for the Pharisees who was hunting down Christians for what he, and the chief priests of Israel, saw as believing, and preaching, false doctrines.

^9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest ²and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

⁵“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. ⁶“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything.

¹⁰In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

¹¹The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

¹³“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. ¹⁴And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. ¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

¹⁷Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

Saul wasn’t Peter. Saul didn’t deny Jesus and feel like a failure. Saul was the enemy of Jesus and everything that he stood for. Saul held the coats of the men who stoned Jesus’ follower Stephen to death. Saul believed that any and all teachings about Jesus were false doctrines and he was hunting down, arresting, and dragging the Jewish followers of Jesus back to Jerusalem for trial. He wasn’t just a paper tiger, he was a real, and serious, threat and even the leaders of the new Jesus movement were afraid of him.

But God doesn’t just stop Saul. God doesn’t just protect his followers from Saul. God gives Saul a second chance. Jesus reveals himself, shows him the truth, changes Saul’s heart, and transforms him into one of the most potent preachers, teachers, and influencers of all time.

But is there an end to God’s patience?

Will there be an end to the opportunity for second chances?

We find the answers to those questions in Revelation 5:11-14 and also discover what it means for each one of us.

¹¹Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹²In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

¹³Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

¹⁴The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

As I read these words, the critical bit that stood out for me was “¹³Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lambbe praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!””

Every human being that has ever lived, plus every rabbit, worm, eagle, mountain lion, and every other animal that lives above, on, or under the earth, bows down, worships Jesus, gives praise to him, and recognizes that he will rule forever. And the elders of the church, and what might just be the four most powerful creatures in all of creation, bow down and say, “Amen” which means, literally, “I agree.”

This is the end. This is where the first creation ends, and judgement begins. This is the point at which there are no more second chances. Up until this moment there might have been a chance for a second chance. But afterwards, there will be only judgement.

Three times, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. But Jesus gave him a second chance.

Paul had declared himself an enemy of Jesus and had dedicated his life to stamping out Jesus’ teaching as well as the followers of Jesus. But Jesus gave him a second chance.

There is nothing that you have done, will do, or could do, that would make you ineligible for a second (or a three hundred and forty second) chance in this lifetime. But once this lifetime ends, that door closes. Every one of us has a limited time to choose Jesus. And, like Peter, those of us who have chosen Jesus have work to do. Like Peter, and like Paul, once we have accepted Jesus, we become a part of his ministry to reach the lost and to save the world.

One day, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. But our mission is do the best that we can, to share the good news so that as many of our friends, family, and the people around us are on the right side of God’s judgement. The Good News of Jesus Christ can’t be kept a secret.

We have work to do.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Pastor Partridge

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A Master of Magnetism

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Second Chance. Last Chance.

Second Chance, Last Chance

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