Broadway Street

Three Thousand Years of Call

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Three Thousand Years of Call

January 18, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 49:1-7                          John 1:29-42              1 Corinthians 1:1-9

If you’ve looked at the title of today’s message, you will have noticed that I used the world “call.” We do that a lot in church. We talk about the “call” of God, or being “called” to ministry, or even being “called” to a secular vocation of one type or another. But what does that mean? Most of us who have been in the church for any length of time probably have a feel for what we mean by a call, or a calling, even if we might have trouble writing down a dictionary style definition. At least a part of our problem grows out of us being users of the English language, which is grammatically bizarre, and while it is sometimes scientifically precise, in other cases, like this one, it leaves us with more than a dozen different dictionary definitions, and common usages, for the same word.

I could say that I called someone, and it could mean that I dialed them, messaged them, or spoke loudly so that they could hear me. I could say that I called my dog, Natasha, and it could mean that I wanted her to come to me, or that I was telling you that Natasha was the name that she had been given. If I said that I had called on one of our shut-ins, I might have used the telephone, or it might mean that I had visited them. If we saw that the weather was terrible on Sunday morning, to say that we had called, or called off, the service means that we had cancelled it. To call for an investigation is to demand one, and to call in a card game communicates a similar sort of demand. To call a meeting is an invitation, calling a strike is more of an order, but to call the stock market is to make a prediction. If we say, “I would call it an even dollar,” describes an estimate, the quarterback’s call in a football huddle is a selection, and a military call to active duty is a summons. And if that isn’t enough, most of these have several variations as well.

Are you confused yet?

So, what do we mean when we say things like “the call of God”?

As we consider that, let us begin by reading a bit about God’s call of his prophet Isaiah and his prophecy of God concerning Israel’s coming messiah almost three thousand years ago in Isaiah 49:1-7, where it says:

49:1 Listen to me, you islands;
    hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
    from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
    in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
    and concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
    Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
    I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
    and my reward is with my God.”

5 And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel to himself,
for I amhonored in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength—
6 he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

7 This is what the Lord says—
    the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you and stand up,
    princes will see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Isaiah says that God had called him, which we understand as having placed a call upon his life, even before he had been born. In calling Isaiah, God gave him the ability to speak powerfully and equipped him to represent God’s kingdom. But things didn’t always go well, and sometimes Isaiah felt as if his work and his labor was all for nothing, but he was content in knowing that the reward for his faithfulness was in God’s hands. But at the end of this passage, God says that having received the call from God, meant that God had chosen Isaiah. The call of God wasn’t and isn’t random. God knows everything that there is to know about his creation and so God’s call upon our lives is thoughtful, deliberate, and individually tailored to who we are and who we will become.

We get some additional insight into the call of God from the stories of John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostle Peter. We hear that story as John introduces his own followers to Jesus in John 1:29-42:

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So, they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

There are several things going on here as it relates to the call of God. First, because the mission to which John was called is ending, when he sees Jesus, he points to him and announces to his disciples, and anyone else nearby, that Jesus is the one that he had been sent to announce. Further, he goes beyond his calling and testifies that he had personally seen the Spirit of God come down from heaven and that it was Jesus who would baptize others with the Holy Spirit. This act connects John’s followers to Jesus and passes their calling from following John to following Jesus. Two of John’s disciples were the brothers, Andrew, and Simon, and when Jesus met Simon, he declared that Simon would be called Cephas, or in English, Peter. In this case, the phrase, “you will be called” is a naming, and not a call of God. However, anyone reading the story would know that God had already placed a call, or a summons, on Peter’s life and that call had just passed from following John to following Jesus, so, at least two dictionary meanings are in play.

Isn’t English great?

And so finally we hear from the Apostle Paul to speaks, not only of his own call, but of the call that God has upon every follower of Jesus, including you and me. We read these words in 1 Corinthians 1:1-9:

1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul says that God called him to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and we know that Paul’s conversion story and subsequent call by God, also with a name change, on the road to Damascus was particularly dramatic. But Paul goes on to tell the people of the church in Corinth something about their own call. Paul says that the people of the church were called to be God’s holy people, together with those everywhere who follow Jesus. Paul goes on to say that because God has called them, that they have been enriched with all kinds of speech and knowledge as a means of confirming what they had been taught. Further, the people of the church have been, as a group, been given all the spiritual gifts as they wait for the second coming of Jesus so that they can stand firm in their faith. Paul then repeats his message that the people of the church in Corinth, and thus every follower of Jesus Christ, has been called into fellowship together with one another and with Jesus Christ.

So, let’s review what we have seen this morning about the call of God.

First, God had known everything about us since before we were born, and as such, God’s call is not generic or random but rather, thoughtful, deliberate, and individually tailored to who we are and who we will become. Second, being called by God means that God has specifically chosen you to be a part of his kingdom work in the world in which you live, and among the people that you know, encounter, and interact with every day and he has equipped you to do that work. Third, just a Simon Peter was called to follow John, and then Jesus, the calling that you have today may change. Just as the person you were ten years ago may not be the person you are today, and the skills with which you are equipped, the place that you live, and the people that you know might be different than they once were, what God calls you to do may be different as well. Fourth, you are not alone. Just as Isaiah, John the Baptist, and the Apostle Paul were called, so has everyone, everywhere, who has put their faith in Jesus Christ, though each call is as individual and unique as the life of the person involved. Fifth, because of God’s call, your life had been enriched in every way with all kinds of speech and knowledge, and that enrichment confirms the teaching that you have received from your parents, pastors, and Sunday school teachers. Sixth, along with your calling, God has given each of us spiritual gifts that he intends for us to use as we wait for the return of Jesus Christ. And finally, God has not called you to be alone. This is different from when I said that you are not alone in being called, but that God has not called you to work, or to live, or to live out your calling, alone. God is faithful and not only calls us to do his kingdom work, but he also calls us into community and into fellowship with one another and with Jesus Christ.

And so while our understanding of God’s call overlaps several dictionary definitions, and while the English language doesn’t do us any favors, I hope that our scriptures and our time together today will help us to better understand what we mean when we say that each of us are “called” by God.

And remember, every one of us has work to do, and the work to which we are called is as unique as we are, but none of us are ever called to do that work alone.

Please LIKE and SHARE!

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.

*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.™

Photo by sgomez84 on Freeimages.com

An Ending, and a New Beginning

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
    or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A 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.”

5 This 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,
7 to 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.
9 See, 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:

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

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

16 As 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. 17 And 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:

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how 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, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He 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. 42 He 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. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

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.

Please LIKE and SHARE!

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.

*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.™

Peace and the Over-Shepherd

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Peace and the Over-Shepherd

(Christ the King Sunday)

November 23, 2025*

By Pastor John Partridge

Jeremiah 23:1-6                     Luke 23:33-43                        Colossians 1:11-20

C.S. Lewis once said that we simply cannot say that we accept Jesus as a great moral teacher but not accept that Jesus is God. Lewis explained it this way in his book, Mere Christianity:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Going in a different direction to explain Lewis’s point, if you haven’t yet done so, I strongly recommend reading the classic novel, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. This book was originally published in February 1678 and has been rewritten in modern languages many times since. It was in reading this book that I first encountered the term “under-shepherd” which refers to those people, such as pastors and lay leaders but also sometimes kings, who lead and guide the flocks of God’s followers and who therefore serve under the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. And it was this word, and this understanding, that came to mind as I read our scriptures for today. We begin by reading from Jeremiah 23:1-6 as God condemns the spiritual and political leaders that have led Israel and Judah astray and caused them to come to harm. Jeremiah writes:

23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord. 3 “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

5 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will raise up for Davida righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
    and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved
    and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.

It doesn’t take a genius to understand that God is not at all happy with the failed shepherds that had been, and were still, leading his people. By their actions, and their inaction, they had caused God’s people to lose their faith, to be defeated and captured by their enemies, and to flee to wherever they could to find safety. God goes as far as to say that Israel’s leaders had driven God’s people away from him by their failure to adequately care for them and, for doing so, God intended to punish those leaders for their evil. But God wouldn’t stop there. God also announces his intention to gather those who remained faithful, from all of the nations to which they had been taken or to which they had fled, bring them back to his pasture, and enable and empower them to be fruitful and increase in number. God would then appoint replacement shepherds who would protect them and keep them safe. In addition, God then promises that there will be a day when he would send a new king, a new over-shepherd or chief shepherd, who would rule wisely, with justice and righteousness, and who would rule over both Judah and Israel, and who would be known as both Lord and Savior.

At this point, we all know who Jeremiah was describing, but we can hear Luke’s answer to the prophecy of Jeremiah as we hear the way that he describes the events of Jesus’ crucifixion in Luke 23:33-43 where he says:

33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the Jews.

39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

As we consider this conversation, we realize that the man described only as “the other criminal,” after only a few hours on the cross next to Jesus, has grasped something that even Jesus’ disciples struggled to understand. This man looks to Jesus and asks that he remember him when Jesus comes into his kingdom. (pause) In that moment, the man known as the “other criminal” understands that Jesus has power and authority far beyond an ordinary human being and beyond that of chief priests and kings. And having made this request, Jesus answers that before the day was over, they would meet again in paradise. Although it is unlikely that the “other criminal” made any connection between Jesus and the person described by Jeremiah, I think that Luke certainly made that connection and uses this story to tell the world that Jesus is the Chief Shepherd, King, and eternal savior of God’s people.

Paul obviously understands this, and goes one step further in his description of Jesus and of Jesus’ authority as he writes to the church in Colossae in Colossians 1:11-20, saying:

11 May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified youto share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Paul says that because of the work of Jesus Christ, God has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his people, rescued us from darkness, and brought us into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Because of him, we have been forgiven of our sins and redeemed from sin and death. Further, Paul says that Jesus is in control of all that exists and is the force that keeps everything in the universe from coming apart. Jesus is the head and chief shepherd of the church, the first to rise from the dead, and through him God created a path for all people to restore their relationships with God. It was through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that God is able to bring peace to our lives and to the world.

To summarize, God got angry that the under-shepherds that he had sent to oversee his people broke trust with both God and the people, and God promised that he was going to make things right first by sending replacement shepherds, but would also, eventually, send a new chief shepherd, king, and savior. Luke makes it clear that Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise, and Paul expands on this and explains that Jesus not only oversees God’s people but also oversees the entire universe and holds it all together. It is Jesus that has rescued us from sin and death, it is Jesus who has made it possible to receive a portion of the inheritance of God’s people, it is Jesus who has made it possible to repair our relationship with God, to make our home in God’s heavenly kingdom, and it is Jesus who has made peace possible, both in our lives as individuals, but also between the peoples of the world.

The message of scripture is clear. Jesus simply cannot be reduced to a description of “just a great moral teacher” because God’s promises, and Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, make it abundantly clear that he is much, much more than that. Jesus is the Chief-Shepherd, the king of the universe, the savior of the world, and the source of all peace.

Please LIKE and SHARE!

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.

*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.™