Yesterday at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in downtown Fort Worth, I preached a message titled “Called to Share, Invited to Belong” based on Matthew 28:16-20. And, we celebrated Goofy Glasses Sunday, an annual fundraiser benefitting the Community Eye Clinic.
Sermon
You can watch the sermon below or read the manuscript.
Excerpt
This passage of Scripture is important. It is given by Jesus as a way of empowering his disciples to continue his ministry. And this is a large group that includes all of us.
More than anything, it is an invitation to lead highly relational lives and a call to be authentically ourselves in all relationships. For those of us who follow the Way of Jesus, being Christian should be a core part of our identity.
And our identity is as a specific kind of Christian – as those who are part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). As we start our exploration of the Jesus’ Priorities, we do so from this vantage. This is why I invited us to read the Preamble to the Design aloud together before coming to the table today. While Disciples do not have any creeds, we are united by this affirmation.[1]
And as Disciples, frankly, we are well suited for this new world. We are a people who trust that belonging can be discovered in the act of showing up, of sharing bread, of walking alongside one another. We are a people who make room for questions, who refuse to confuse certainty with faith, and who believe the Spirit is still at work shaping us together. And, we are a people who value unity over uniformity, who practice a radical welcome, and who find our center in Christ rather than in creeds.
[1] We read the Preamble from the Chalice Hymnal (#329). The full document, “The Design of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)” is available on the denomination’s website at disciples.org/our-identity/the-design/