Go!

Koinonia

September 4, 2022 • Pastor Ray Viola • Matthew 28

The last words of Jesus before He ascended up into heaven are the marching orders of the church. After 3 years of His Spirit anointed teaching, preaching and miracle-working signs and wonders, what was the singular command that Jesus Christ gave to His church before He ascended up into heaven?

Matthew tells us, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matt 28:19-20). Mark tells us, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Luke tells us, “Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). John tells us, “but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31).

Lastly, Jesus tells us just before His ascension, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Jesus came into this world on a redemptive mission. He came to seek and to save the lost. He came to redeem the fallen sons of Adam. “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day” (Luke 24:46).

When we read these final words of Jesus before He returns to the right hand of His Father, we are hearing Him pour out His heart’s desire to His bride, the church. Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37). The Lord is looking for laborers to reach the harvest of souls. As we observe The Lord’s Supper this morning, may we never forget that as followers of The Lord Jesus Christ, our primary mission here on earth is to be a witness for Jesus Christ.

As you go about your daily lives, look for any and every opportunity to proclaim the truth that Jesus Christ has died, was buried, and has risen from the dead. And that for all those who turn to Him for the salvation of their souls, they will receive the gift of eternal life now. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (John 5.11). Selah

A Fire to Warm and a Torch to Shine

November 17, 2024 • Dylan Ocorr • Acts 4:31–35

The Christians are the only light for culture. There is no other hope to brighten up a dark world than for the redeemed of the Lord to rise up and shine. But what does that look like exactly? How does the heat and light of the gospel flood into a cold and dark world? When the believers prayed for boldness in Acts 4, it wasn’t a simple prayer for a little more courage than they had before. It was a desperate plea to God to help them keep their flame lit. They were faced with a serious problem - Peter and John (their leaders) were threatened by those in power. So they turned to God with one accord and prayed that he might strengthen them to continue to obey and preach the gospel. The result was two-fold. They (1) boldly proclaimed the word of God to the outside world, and they (2) built a vibrant Christian community. In other words, they cultivated a blazing fire around which they gathered with their brothers and sisters in Christ, and they lit a blazing torch which they carried to the outside world. There was a fire to warm them and a torch they shone on the world. When the smoldering embers of their spiritual light were threatened, the Holy Spirit fanned their community and evangelism into a ferocious flame. They had a strong base and a strong attack. They lit themselves and the world. This community was no ordinary social group. It was characterized by a radical selflessness and profound sense of unity. We find these same words - “selflessness” and “unity” - used in the secular world. But when they are used (or rather, simply mused) in those circles, they are thought of in a much lower grade. An ancient hieroglyphic compared to the vivid picture of an overpriced TV from Best Buy. The selflessness and unity of this Acts 4 community would send shockwaves through the world today. Much like how a caveman might respond to seeing the glimmer of a new 60-inch Samsung. A Christian community, properly set ablaze, will shine with stunning distinction against the bleak communities that the world offers. In the US Army survival manual, there is a chapter on building a fire. The last sentence of the intro to that chapter says this, “Remember, weigh your need for fire against your need to avoid enemy detection.” Fires provide all sorts of benefits to those who are around them, but they also draw the attention of the enemy. The stronger the fire, the easier the target for the enemy. Thus, the plea for boldness and power, of necessity, accompanies a people who have a well-flamed community. That’s how the light works. It repels the wolves and attracts the sheep. And there are yet many “other sheep that are not of this fold” and Jesus will “bring them also and they will listen to His voice”. So let us inflame ourselves by the Holy Spirit, so as to bring in as many who are fleeing from the darkness as possible.

The Only Light for Culture

November 10, 2024 • Dylan Ocorr • Matthew 5:14–16

With the 2024 election over, you may feel that you have your ‘man’ in the White House. You may feel thrilled at the possibility of the US government over the next 2-4 years. You may feel that a major victory was just won for the sake of the pro-life movement and the Biblical sexual ethic. But don’t rest on your laurels! It is a grave mistake to feel that a political victory is a complete victory. Even if all the right laws were to be passed, Christian Supreme Court Justices appointed, state constitutions re-written for the glory of God, and the Chick-fil-a sauce recipe was leaked… there would still be work to be done. The laurels are not yet complete. They are yet to fully blossom. Don’t rest on a rose bud, you’ll crush it before it blooms and snuff out its glory. Jesus said that the Christian people, those who have been born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, are the light of the world. The only hope for a dark world is light. And the only light that exists is that which the Christian carries in his spirit. Too often we forget this glorious truth and think the “light” of God to be housed in some ideal or doctrine. We consume ourselves with talk of laws and policy, as if those legal statutes carry the light of God in them. They do not. They may point to the light, but they are not the light themselves. WE are the light. Those who are born again by the Spirit of God, are alone the light of the world. Shall we fight and advocate for righteous legislation in our land? A thousand times ‘Yes!’ For when the laws of a nation reflect the glory of God, they clear the skies for the sun to shine. They weed out the garden for the rose to bloom. Any Rochesterian knows the daily slog produced by those long and cloudy wintry months. Our moods swing low, seasonal depression rises as the sun hides. But those occasional February days, when the clouds part and the sun gleams off the perfect white snow - they remind us that there is a sun, that it is warm, and the dreary days will soon end. Righteous laws have the same effect. They clear away the moral and social fog. They warm up the soul and remind us of God - that there is a real moral standard. But they only clear the way for the light to shine clearly. And what is that light which righteous laws make room for? It is the light of the transformed soul. It is the light of the “glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” to which a person has been totally awakened to. If that light does not shine like a “city on a hill”, then what good are the laws? What good is the clearing of the skies if the true light is but a dim whimper of a single candle. LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE! You are the light of the world. No doctrine or law can light up the dark world, but only you! Only the soul that has been transferred from the “kingdom of darkness” and “brought into the light” can emit the light that the world needs. The laws may clear the skies, but you must shine the light. You are the light of the world.

Rise Up, O Man of God!

June 16, 2024 • Pastor Ray Viola • Titus 2:6–7

On this Father’s Day 2024, listen to this promise from Scripture regarding the man who fears the Lord. “Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments” (Psalm 112:1). There is a ubiquitous story told in prison ministry circles that speaks to the state of fatherhood in our day. One year, a group decided to provide cards for inmates on Mother’s Day. The response was overwhelming, as nearly all the inmates showed up to sign and send cards to their mothers. The event was so successful that the group decided to do it again on Father’s Day. Almost no one participated. The point of this story? Well, it depends on who you ask. However, at the heart of the discrepancy is fatherlessness, both in terms of the men who are absent from their children’s lives (a major indicator of future incarceration, and a whole host of other maladies), and in terms of the culture’s slow, steady slide into the abyss of radical feminism and anti-masculinity. It’s a two-edged sword; (1) fathers are not there, and (2) the culture argues increasingly that they are not necessary. The Biblical laws of design, like the laws of God in nature, are timeless. The law of gravity that “began” when God created the universe are arsenal today as they were then. One of the greatest and most damaging aspects in today’s culture is the subtle (or not so subtle) undermining of the biblical teaching of manhood and fatherhood, and we are seeing the deadly consequences it is having in our society. I believe that our Heavenly Father is calling ALL men of God, and in particular fathers to rise up and hold up the biblical standard of being a husband and father. The Christian marriage, family structure and design as is seen in Genesis was created by God. This creational order was established according to the infinite wisdom of God at the beginning of the creation of the world and is fundamental to the order of both the state and the church. When this order is violated or rebelled against, the outcome is confusion and chaos. In God's creation order He has made man to be the head of the Christian home for functional purposes. Headship does not mean that God values man more than a woman, and it most certainly does not mean that husbands should be a dictator. I have put together an acronym for the name Father. F- He Fears God. A- He Adores his Wife. T- He Teaches his children by example and precept. H- He Chooses to be a vessel of Honor inside and outside of the home for the glory of God. E- He Exercises himself unto godliness. R- He Reflects the character of the Lord Jesus Christ in word and deed. My prayer and heart’s desire for every father is that God’s Spirit would ignite within each of our hearts a renewed passion for Jesus Christ, with the overflow of that passion being the fruit that manifests the biblical design for a husband and father as a man if God that brings glory to the name of Jesus Christ. SELAH