John 17 teaches the United Methodist Church to look for ways to unite

For the United Methodist Church, we can always turn to scripture as the source of our authority when there are questions about our future as a denomination. First, you have to allow the scripture to have a place of authority in your life and believe that it is the word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit to bring people to Christ.  I yield to the Holy Scripture and do give the scripture authority in my life as the living word of God. The scripture is clear on what is a sin and what is not. It is also very clear on how the church is to respond to sinners, which by the way includes all of us(for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God). The church has a primary work to work for the cause of Jesus Christ to ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead our church in how to reach people who do not know Christ to follow him and become faith filled disciples of Jesus Christ. Coming to Christ means a willingness to confess sin, repent of sin, and turn our lives fully over to the care of God, trusting in God to be the one who gives us eternal life through the son, Jesus Christ our Lord. We do believe that the blood that Jesus shed on the cross paid the price for all sin for all time.   Read the lectionary passage of scripture for today, June 1, 2014. John 17: 1-11.  Jesus Christ prayed for the Father to unite the church as Christ was at one with his heavenly Father.  How did our church get the to place where we argue about what is sin and what is not? Somewhere we dropped the ball when it comes to understanding that the scripture does have authority in our lives and that as John  Wesley said, it does contain all that is necessary for us to understand salvation.  As a denomination, we spin our wheels if we allow anything, or anyone to keep us from being crystal clear in our focus on what the work of Christ is to be about.  Every person needs Christ. Every person needs the love of a church family. We do believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to salvation and eternal life.  Rather than trying to figure out how to love people who have sin in their life right where they are in the name of Christ, not judge them; we are too quick to launch into a debate on which sin is worse than another sin. I urge my denomination to get back to the Bible. Sin is sin when you read the pages of scripture. All of us stand in need of repentance, a Savior, and atonement, made possible only by the shed blood of Christ.  What if we put our whole heart and energy behind thinking about how to connect people, in whatever state of sin they may be in, to a loving, and forgiving Christ who will forgive sin, and change lives, and heal the wounds of our hearts.  Enough of the wild goose chase to find something to argue about when people are literally dying and going to hell without Christ.  Put loving in the name of Christ first on your to do list, then I really do think we have some room to grow, for God himself to work on making us holy. I know I am still a work in progress. I am going on to perfection, but I am not there yet. We still believe in sanctification. We still believe in grace.  God is doing work right now in our heart and in our lives to make us more like Christ. God works to convict of sin, to bring repentance to our hearts, pours out the forgiveness, and helps us understand just how much He loves us. For too many years as a United Methodist pastor, I have listened to people take sides on one issue or another.  For the most part, we are missing the boat on what should be the fight and that is for the souls of people who live apart from Jesus Christ.  We are not  passionate enough in our beliefs about heaven and hell that we will push any other issue to the side and keep salvation of lost people as our first priority.   That is a true test for any United Methodist Church. Put the saving work of Christ first and then see what God does to teach us about how to love people, understand people, serve people without judgment, and proclaim from our own witness how Christ does make all the difference.
   I serve a traditional United Methodist Church, with traditional worship. Today, someone spoke up and gave a testimony, yes a living word for our living Savior, and it came due to a medical miracle yesterday for this man's daughter.  That is not our usual event, however, knowing the great news that had unfolded as a result directly from God's hand, I was not surprised.  To our church I want to say, be prepared to give an account for the hope that lives within you. It is from Christ, so in our work and our walk, let's bring him the glory. Today in John 17, Jesus was able to say to his Father. I have glorified you and I have completed the work you sent me to do.  To the United Methodist Church, let's get it straight about what is our most important work, the saving of souls for Jesus Christ, and be able to say the same to the Lord on the day God calls us home to be with him forever. I want to be able to say to God, "I have finished the work you gave me to do to bring glory to your name." What about you? We have much work in front of us to do together, in Jesus name, and for his glory.