Passing the Mantle: Embracing New Hope’s Call

``Jesus surrenders his life for you and me in order that we can know his life, that we can know his power in order as Paul says in Galatians, in order that we may be clothed in him. We are clothed in his righteousness. [01:41:32] (27 seconds)  #ClothedInRighteousness

And we read in the gospel of John that Jesus gets down from the meal and he takes off his outer cloak. And he wraps a a towel around his waist and he gets on his hands and his knees and he washes the disciples feet. Now theologians will say that there is something symbolic, something powerful that Jesus is doing when he takes off his coat. [01:40:22] (24 seconds)  #HumbleServant

As we see the story of Christ from that moment, the next day he will make his way up Golgotha where he will be stripped naked. And to be raised on a cross, those hands that served his disciples will be pierced at the cross. And there, bleeding naked, breathing and gasping, his final breath dying. [01:40:57] (35 seconds)  #SacrificialLoveOfChrist

We stand as a church under the call of Jesus Christ. That is our call. If you are in Christ today, you are filled with his presence by the power of the holy spirit. And Jesus Christ has been very clear in his call to all believers. So this is for all of us now. We have all been called. Where the spirit of God was just for a few back in the Old Testament, the spirit of God, through the work of Jesus Christ, is available to all of us. And Jesus gives us a command, and he gives us a commission. [01:36:55] (32 seconds)  #CalledAndFilled

His command is to love, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. That is a call for every one of us, to fulfill that command. We are to be a people who love. [01:37:27] (17 seconds)  #LoveGodLoveNeighbor

We are filled with the love of Christ mediated through the power of the Holy Spirit. We receive it. We know it. We experience, as Paul says in in Romans chapter eight. We are to be a church, a people filled with love, and we are commissioned. Matthew 28. Go then. Go into the whole world, making disciples and baptizing in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. We are commissioned to love and to go. That is our call. That is our coat. [01:37:44] (39 seconds)  #GoAndMakeDisciples

New Hope, a significant moment for us as a family as we move down here. And I am so excited. We are so excited to be here. Our sense of call and our sense of purpose has only grown as we have walked the journey over what has been an extended season. So it is so good to finally let the air out and be here today. What a joy. What a joy to be with you. And I look forward to serving amongst you and with you over this forever well, not forever. [01:18:18] (39 seconds)  #NewHopeNewBeginnings

And we see in this story with Elijah that there is something about the coat that he is wearing that speaks about a bigger story. If you go back and you can read the story of Elijah, you see that this coat keeps coming up. He tucks it in his belt as he runs. He covers his face with his coat in the midst of the presence of God. He uses the coat to enact supernatural miraculous power from God. See, he wears a coat, but it's not just a coat. It's more than that. It's the story of God. It's the voice of God directing and leading the people of Israel. There is power in the coat that he wears because it's wrapped up in a bigger story. It's not about Elijah. It's actually about God. [01:28:23] (58 seconds)  #MantleOfGod