reflections
GIVING THANKS FOR REACHING A MILESTONE
BY DINO MICIANO
Today we give thanks to the Lord for reaching another milestone for NetWork Christian Church. We are humbled to have experienced serving the Lord and our community for the past 30 years. We thank you for joining us as we celebrate this day. We hope that you will continue to pray with us and maybe stay with us, for as long as God allows, in order to fulfill His purposes through our Christian community.
God’s purpose through our community is summed up in NetWork’s slogan - “Connecting People to God and to One Another.” It is inspired by Matt. 22:37-39 - “37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
These two commandments define what we are to do as a Christian community.
Jesus commission to his disciples in Matt. 28:18-20 reads – “18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
If Christ, In Matt. 28:18-20, commissions us to “make disciples”. . . and if the two greatest commandments found in Matt. 22:37-39 define what a disciples is and does . . . then discipleship boils down to this – it is having a relationship first with God by living according to His commands and sharing that love relationship to others. It’s all about loving and meaningful relationships. John 13:35 – “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
That is NetWork’s aim.
If discipleship is just gaining bible knowledge then we have missed the mark. It should result in a relationship with God and with one another.
After Peter denied Jesus, the Lord appeared to Peter days after the resurrection. He confronts Peter not by asking the disciple if he had been reading his bible or going to church. He asked Peter – “Do you love me?” To Jesus discipleship means having a relationship.
Everything starts with teaching about God and His commands but the end result should be about loving God and loving others.
May God find us faithful in fulfilling all that He has called us to be and do until His return.
A Happy 30th Anniversary NetWork and to God be all the glory!
Dino Miciano
Pastor
NetWork Christian Church
