Title Come! Stay! go!
Contents
Text/ Matthew 11:28, John 15:4, Matthew 28:18-20
I think that the great stream of Jesus' words to us is flowing down in three directions. The first is the call to Come to Me! The second is to abide in me! The third is the command to go! If we do this as an expression of the church community, we can name it a gathering church, a mature church, and a scattered church.
1. Come! < The Gathering Church >
Jesus constantly calls us to come. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden (John 6:35). On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink (John 7:37) Allow little children and do not forbid them to come to me (Matthew 19:14). Blessed are those who hear the voice of Jesus saying to come.
Those who came to hear the voice received the <The Great Sermon on the Mount>, those who came as lepers received the gift of cleansing, and those who had troubled and troubled souls came to Jesus and saved living water from within. got the life of Today, our Jesus calls us to come. He calls all fathers and mothers in this world who are struggling with their children to come. The poor who suffer for their daily bread are also invited to come. Young people who wander and toss and turn while asking about the meaning of life are also invited to come. Jesus has the truth. Jesus has power. Jesus has life. Therefore, Jesus is earnestly calling to come.
This proposition, “Come!”, means that the church must first become a <gathering church> when speaking ecclesiology. As the original word of the church, ekklesia, means, the church is <a gathering of those who are called>. It is true that if we unite we live and if we separate we die. Look at the lessons the wood fires teach. Wood fires are extinguished when scattered and burnt when gathered. Our Lord tells us to come first. Obey this word.
2. Stay! < The Church of Maturity >
After Jesus said, “Come!”, He did not tell us to just sit around and watch the people who obeyed His words. If you have come, now < abide in me! > said. I am the vine, and you who came to me are now the branches of the vine that are attached to me. To live by being attached to Jesus and being supplied with the life force, power, and truth is what it means to live in me.
In Bangye-ri between Munmak and Wonju in Gangwon-do, there is an 800-year-old ginkgo tree, Natural Monument No. 167. It is a large tree that can only be seen by a dozen people around it. The ginkgo leaf attached to the tip of the ginkgo tree is 4-50 meters away from the root. But the ginkgo leaves at the end are also shining blue. That is what it is to abide in Jesus. The power of the blood of Jesus is constantly flowing into me, so that my soul is fresh and sparkling, it means that I abide in Jesus.
The proposition of <Remain in me> is that, speaking of ecclesiology, the gathering church must mature. As you can see in the book of Revelation, there are churches that gather and flirt. There are churches that gather and fight. There is a church that gathers and boasts of strength. The message of <Remain in me> is to gather together and grow into a church that is not devoted to the Word, prayer, and praise, and is equipped with the power that comes from Jesus.
3. Go! < The Scattered Church >
Jesus did not say that it was over with calling us to come and giving us the full power in Him. One thing remains. One thing is that they come to Jesus and receive forgiveness of sins through the power of the blood, mature and grow in Him, heal diseases, and cast out demons.