Born Again - Response to the Word (at St Christopher's Episcopal Church, Sunday, March 1, 2026)

 

(I ask for your grace in this delivery - it is a critical message that will exceed the recommended 15 minute time frame. The topic of being born again is essential to understanding your salvation. So here we go...)

Born Again – The Fundamental Doctrine in Salvation (John 3)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God… Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”  

How many of us--who are not in the medical profession--have seen a child being birthed? It’s a moment of awe isn’t it? We know all about the process, but to see it happen, oh how miraculous! How emotional! Jesus uses that circumstance of a woman in labor allegorically in John 16 as he describes God’s work of salvation; remember, in the first century there was no such thing as epidurals – women gave birth in pain in vertical positions to allow gravity to assist in the birth. That is still a practice in some parts of the world.  Her pregnancy – while beautiful – is often uncomfortable when sitting or sleeping, limits a mother’s mobility and balance sometimes. Her body changes not just in shape but also in function. Every part of her body is impacted. So -- all throughout the pregnancy – from conception to full term, who physically has been doing the work of nourishing and caring for the child in the womb?

         Right – the mother! It is an act of love and sacrifice. And when her time has come to give birth, it is called labor for a reason! It is painful Mothers – AMEN? The mother groans, pushes, groans and moans, pushes, steadily and repeatedly, and the energy and effort become a difficult struggle, the pain heightens; both pregnancy and the immense strain and stress of childbirth happens and yet she cannot stop the process. She doesn’t stop. When the child finally enters the world, mom is so excited to see the precious babe that the struggle was worth it. She no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So how much effort did the baby have to put forward? Did he or she consciously say I want to get out of here – let me hurry up the process? Or just the opposite, I don’t want to leave this home, so I’m going to stay! No, the child does not control the birth process, does not aid in nor direct the process. The woman does all of the suffering, all of the anguish, all of the groaning and moaning and pushing, in order to birth her child. And then, when the child is birthed, it screams and is discombobulated, confused  because he or she is no longer in the comfortable home that was well furnished for them. All of the bright lights, the sounds, the different hands are so foreign to him or her and makes the crying sometimes more intense! But after a while, when hearing the mother’s voice and heartbeat the child begins the process of acclimating to its new life.
Similarly, Jesus, our Lord and Savior, also groaned, moaned,   list it   so that following His struggle, we too could be birthed.

Garden of Gethsemane the cup.  Jesus' sacrifice was greater than we can imagine. His horrific torture, then nailing Him to a cross was only part of the sacrifice. On that cross hung not just a person, but a bearer of EVERY SIN EVER DONE BY EVERY HUMAN AND WOULD BE DONE UNTIL THE SECOND COMING. The weight of all of those sins made Jesus grotesque to the Father. So much so that it shadowed --in Jesus' human experience--the presence of the Father. In Habakkuk 1:1-4, 13 the Spirit says that God cannot approve sin, He doesn't look upon it with approval. Perversion of justice, violence, etc. -  God is Holy, God is Righteous. The uncountable sins Jesus bore placed Him at odds with the Father; Jesus would cry out at His darkest hour, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?) No one else could effect the redemption required for our salvation. (Hebrews 9:11-15,18-22) In our Triune God’s divine plan of salvation, He alone does all of the work, He choreographs the timing and the circumstance. He determines the means of grace for our salvation: sola scriptura--Scripture alone (the Word of God with which we are sanctified and trained for eternal life); sola fide - justification, i.e., being declared righteous by God: that it is by Faith Alone that we are saved, and that is not of our own; and, sola gratia - by Grace Alone does God save us, not based on works or actions on our part.  We are incapable of adding anything to salvation. Jesus says that you are not a Christian unless you are born again, even if you choose to call yourself Christian. HARD SAYING. Not everyone who says Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus clearly says to all who profess to be a follower of Christ.

In our text, we are introduced to Nicodemus: he was an important guy. A Pharisee, and member of the authoritative Jewish body called The Sanhedrin. He doesn’t approach Jesus in the street in daylight hours, but makes his way in the dark of night to speak to Him. He gives Jesus accolades as he lets Jesus know that, "well, I am an important guy who holds you in respect and…” Jesus stops the flow of flattery; see, Jesus knew that Nicodemus wanted to know if Jesus was going to restore the kingdom at that time. He tells Nicodemus straight out: “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above” And Jesus continues: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus, who spent years ingesting the Mosaic law and the ‘add ons’ the Pharisees thought fit, was clueless. Jesus softens the delivery with an illustrative explanation - “Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’  The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” In other words, you cannot see the actual birth or regeneration, but you see the effects. 

So what does it mean to be born again? Let me tell you what it is not: it’s not being 'refreshed' as a Christian or 'revived' after a long absence from worship. Being born again is not an 'altar call'. It’s not the words/rituals by a religious leader. No. How many persons present know that they have been born again? How do you know? When I was 14, I was encouraged to get baptized – full immersion baptism. I had followed the rules of the denomination and they thought I was ready for this. But, it wasn’t until 45 years later, 45 long years – in God’s timing – that I was born again. Baptism did not effect my regeneration; no words spoken over me effected my regeneration. It was the work of God alone through His Holy Spirit that 'resurrected' me from spiritual death. It only happens once. How many times can you be born physically? 
     Following the saying that the Gospels proclaim Jesus, and the epistles explain Jesus, Paul by H.S. offers clarity in this act of regeneration or being born again.

[Read Ephesians 2 one through 10 to everyone and make comments as I do so.] If you have your Bible, turn with me so that you can make notes.  Reads vss 1-3. We were physically born spiritually dead in our trespasses and sin – King David recognized in Psalm 51 that he was a sinner in his mother’s womb – a baby, yet he like everyone before and after him born into this world he was born with the deadly sin passed on by Adam. We all were born spiritually dead,  separated from God - which was the initial consequence of Adam's and Eve's sin - spiritual death. We were born from our mother's womb spiritually dead; it wasn't discovered on any hospital equipment in the delivery room - it is a condition shared by every person born since the fall of Adam and Eve, whether we wish to acknowledge it or not – see God already has!  We had no interest in God in our spiritually dead estate, no interest in His word, no desire to know God, but rather live for ourselves – to satisfy our immoral desires. We were under the influence of the sinful world culture and power of the devil. God says that because of that we were to Him children of wrath! A few weeks ago we read in Corinthians that there were persons in that church who were spiritual, having been born again into Christ, and also those who had not been so, who were referred to as unspiritual. Yet here’s the best part of passage--verse 4. But. God. Turn to your neighbor and say But God.” Whenever you see text that says But God, you can expect God to be doing, saying or initiating something beyond our power. READ 4 ….And then we come to the clincher, verse 8. Some of you may know this verse by heart so feel free to speak it out loud. God The Holy Spirit tells us: …read 8;The Holy Spirit comes into us to make us alive spiritually and to give us the faith to accept Jesus as our Lord. We can't raise ourselves from the dead. Jesus did not say to Lazarus – could you at least open the door so that we can call you out of the tomb…Lazarus, first take off the cloths you’re wrapped in and when you’re ready say Amen.  No, no. Lazarus had no part in his resurrection. Was only when Christ brought him back to life, Lazarus was able to obey Jesus’ call to come out.  EXPLAIN SPIRITUALLY DEAD CANNOT HAVE FAITH.

We do not have the power. God does not send us a calendar appointment that says on March 3 be ready to be born again. You can’t get ready, YOU ARE SPIRITUALLY D-E-D – you don’t know when it will happen. And this is a very critical point because there are denominations that do not teach this important Bible doctrine, rooted in scripture, that comes directly from Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And it's really important to understand that by grace you have been saved through faith that wasn't your own doing, because you did not have faith= you were dead. God had to put His Holy Spirit in us to make us alive to Him. ADAM AND EVE WHAT GOD SAID TO THEM. If you eat of this fruit….. and from the instant that they rebelled against God they became spiritually dead. They realized it, felt ashamed and hid from God. From that point in time until Jesus comes again, all people born are physically born spiritually dead. (Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit - He was the only fully human, fully God individual who was born spiritually alive!!) If we were not born again we’d still be children of Wrath deserving eternal death.  There was nothing we could do or say that would take us from spiritual death to spiritual life. Verse 10 says that in His act of regeneration, He has given us purpose - we’re created in Jesus for good works – that is, we have received special gifts—spiritual gifts and talents, so that we can be Jesus in this world, to tell out the gospel to others, to make disciples. Isn't it really important to understand Bible doctrine if we are going to make disciples of people? Amen?

And then we come to the next hard saying of Jesus to Nicodemus and to us all: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” For years, even centuries, theologians have shared varying interpretations of what the water could be.  3 prominent ones: Some say that it represents the water of baptism. BCP, Pastor Prince, me and others I’m sure, says that (1) baptism is an outward sign of the inward grace of God - it is a symbol of the internal work of regeneration and a public declaration that the person has received Christ as Lord.

(2) the amniotic fluid of the physical birth of a human. Premise—we’re born humans and based on that, we can be born again. (that may not hold since mammals with four legs also have wombs with babies in amniotic fluid)
(3) the water of God's Word. Next week our Gospel read is from John chapter 4, where we see Jesus seeking out Samaritan woman.Meets up with her at Jacob’s well, and He says – Give me a drink. She’s astounded -- you're a Jew, you're not supposed to be talking to me. And Jesus said, If you knew who was asking you, He would give you living water, and you will never thirst again. Jesus associates Himself with Living Water. Also in Eph 5, Paul is led by Spirit to write to the church about the spiritual life of the family. He describes the children, the wife, and then he talks about the husband. Husbands are to love their wives just as Christ loves His bride, the Church, that He laid down His life for her & who He sanctifies by cleansing her with the water of the word. Husband is to imitate that in his own family. Cleansed by the water of the word. Jesus, of course, is the word, and His words are backed with Holy Spirit and Divine power . Rom. 1:16 gospel of Christ power of salvation. He is the Way The Truth and the Life. Thus differing interpretations;

But the important take away here, brothers and sisters, is that regeneration is not an act of our own. It is impossible for us to achieve. These are hard sayings, one of the reasons being that different denominations have differing views on salvation, yet the clear truth can be found in scripture and if that truth is not taught then as someone told me recently, I’ve got so many other options to choose from to guess what it means!

After the instantaneous miracle of regeneration we enter into a new life in Christ, in union with Christ. Psalm 23, Matthew 7:14—paths of righteousness, narrow road. God provides what we need to live this new life. Like the baby who gets acclimated to his/her new life outside the womb and grows, gaining knowledge and skills, the Holy Spirit guides us, trains us in godliness, and nurtures us with scriptures in our spiritual growth. 

The born again experience is different for everyone: There may initially be joy. May be frustration at times - metaphorically it's like living in a certain house and certain neighborhood for years and suddenly finding yourself in a different kind of house and different kind of neigborhood. As time goes by, something inside you begins changing. You start wanting to know God. You start desiring to be in His word. You start the struggle of sanctification, about which Jesus prayed for us on his last night in his human journey that we would be sanctified by the truth. When we are born again, we become joined with Christ, that is, in union with Him.

As noted previously, it was 45 years between my baptism and my being born again. God never left me nor forsook me, even tho I was not the sterling character calendar girl for the cover of Spiritual Living Magazine. Because I wasn’t – I was still spiritually dead. yet He never left me nor forsook me, even when I was living in my trespasses and sins. And I am so grateful. It took me almost a year afterwards to begin to get grounded in the word and it was sometimes a confusing time because I had to shake off the false teaching that had been drilled into me.  And it may be true of others –a period of adjustment under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we begin to engage in spiritual disciplines – God’s means of grace that He uses as instruments in our new life in Christ:  Bible study, (the Holy Spirit will help you understand those things that didn’t make sense before you were regenerated), the prayer relationship with the Father, and the Holy Spirit himself indwelling us. How many of us know this: that we serve a Triune God, and according to Jesus’ words in John 14, that the Father Son H.S. will come to us and live inside of us who are born again. And we will bear fruit worthy of the gift of new life in Christ.

       Friends, this is our Blessed Assurance. We are heirs of salvation because we have been made alive, regenerated, born again by the Holy Spirit, who even at this very moment is working a work in us!

 

Thank you for your gracious patience. This was not an easy topic that one skimps through, but it is a vital one. So thank you. Let us pray.

Forgiveness – My Story [Inspired by the crucifixion of Christ as told from the perspective of an unnamed thief circa 31AD]

      

Seven hours is a long time when you’re in trouble. 

I keep goin’ over this in my head ‘til it hurts – “how did I wind up here?” 

*Sigh*. I’m guessin' it started when I was a youth – I got mixed up with some fellows –one of’em was the son of my mother’s sister; they were bullies and stole stuff from people who were naki, real weak. It was scary first time, but when you poor and your pockets all of a sudden got coins in'em, the fear just goes away--like a scared bird--when you hear them coins clinkin' together - mmmh – you feel rich! But, uh, if I was gonna tell the truth – course not somethin’ I be sayin’ to my partners, I really was scared each time we stole stuff from people cuz I kept asking myself, how many more times can we get away with it? But later, when there wunt nothin’ to eat, hungry took over fear; no sech thing as free food. 

Ev'rythin' was goin' good enough...somedays you gettin' enough for some food and somedays you be gettin' enough for food and shoes, and even a decent robe! Then one day, this rich man who look like he was a lawyer or sumthin was gone on the road that goes from the Engedi in the wilderness all the way to Jerusalem and Samaria. You see, there’s this little spot on the road up between the mountains so travelers can’t see what’s in front of ‘em or behind’em. It’s real wind-ee, you know? So this rich lookin' ol’ man had a bunch-a bondsmen – so you know he had coin -  they went afore him with this noisy rattlin’ cart fulla loot; couldn’t hear much by that noise. Too many of’em to try to steal from that stash. But, when they gone afore enough so you couldn’t see’em and they couldn’t see you or them master, we made our move. One of our gang gagged the ol’ man an’ pull’him down off his donkey; you could hardly hear his little whine. The fellow what’s grab’him kept him down, while the rest of us pick’d his pockets an’ stole the purse hangin’ on the animal. When we got our plunder, the fellow who was holdin’ the ol’ man down told him not to make any noise or else… we ran back to the thicket where we been hiding. I was shaking ‘cuz we never in all the time we be doin’ this – we never hurt somebody to make’em bleed; I mean the ol’ man was alive but he was scared-er than me. Never been so scared in my life! This was the most hard we e’er done to somebody – they just usually throw their money at us and run. Now, I’m the one who runnin’. I also thinkin’ – when we first started working this shohd, this robbin’, we bein' just glad to get a coin here, a coin there, but, y’know, we was “lucky” – we got away erry time! An’ we stole from a lotta people. This one, this time though -- I swore on my father’s head this gone be my last time. We could sell alla stuff we had store, an I buried some coin for me when nobody lookin’. I beg’ the gang to lay low for a while ‘til this blew over. Are greedy leader  he laughed at me. He always greedy – we threw fists once ‘cuz he wanna take mos'of da plunder, but this time he says layin’ low might be a good idea. Says we won’t be stealing for a while. I liked the sound of that, and it made me feel good an' comfutable to hear'em say so. 

Well, he was right, but not the way I wanted him to be right. 

We made it to our reggla cave where we like tuh go ‘cuz it hides from the main road. But this time, some kind of way, they found us. Where’d we mess up? We tried runnin’, but the soldiers come up on us. Guess we muss’v  run outta  “luck.” Our leader and one of the other fellows tried  fightin’ their way out – I kept tellin’em to stop, stop man, then one of’em hit one-uh the soldiers and him an’ the leader tried gettin’ way to the wilderness; in the end, though, well--they didn’t make’it. I tried to bribe the soldiers with the purse – they like bribes, but they wont having' it today for some reason. The soldiers then tie' me up with leather straps and rough rope; they make me walk all da way to Jerusalem. I knew what was comin’. Jewish men never gets a fair trial no matter what. The Romans always wanted to make an example of criminals. Ha - muss’v been my turn.

Seven hours is a  l o n g  time. A long time. 

I got hanged onna stake next to two other fellows – one was a rebel who tried-duh get some other Jews to go up on the Roman governor. He be a thief too like me and he was very angry. The other man was this Rabbi I heard ‘bout – he been upsettin’ all da villages, and making the Pharisees mad. The soldiers ha'done a number on him – he was beat up bad, and looked like they tortured ‘im; he looked half dead. He really muss’v done somethin’ wrong for all that! The fellow on my other side started cursin’ him, callin’ him a blasphemer. An’ sayin’ he was God anna  new king! I tol’ the beaten up man “if yous a god, get us down offa these crosses!” I added my own cursin’ ‘cuz I was angry I got caught an’ now here I was. Hangin’ on a crossbeam. I asked him, “if you god then why you hangin’ on a crossbar like us? Why they treat you so bad? What kind of god are you?” Only, I wished right then he was God, ’cuz seven hours is a long time to hang on a crossbar ‘n’ stake.

The day wored on, an’ the sun’s heat made the air feel like it’s full of needles. The angry fellow kept on with his rilin' on the tortured man; kep’ callin’ him Yeshua, which kina made me laugh ‘cuz the name means “God saves.” Yeah, right. So I’s in and out of consciousness. But one of those times I start thinking about it -- then I 'emember seein’ this Yeshua walkin’ with a crowd some time afore all of this. . .hey! He’s da one that healed the lame man! That man’s legs were all messed up – he’s always beggin. I’s on the edge of the crowd but I saw most of it with my own eyes. Thought it was a scam though… It was hard to remember who this Rabbi was ‘cuz I mean his face so messed up. An’ I heard him mumblin’ words I just barely make out over the angry fellow’s yellin’ – like, he was talkin’ to somebody and tellin’em that the people should be forgiven. 

Seven hours is a long time to hang on a crossbar and stake… 

So I come to ag’n. Angry fellow looked all used up. The Rabbi, Yeshua, was really lookin' bad and in lotsa pain. But his words—his words about forgiveness was still ringin’ in my ears – I saw what he done; I was even one of the people that the wild man John baptized. For repentance. I, I remembered seein’ Yeshua near the river one day and the wild man John said that Yeshua was the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Someone even said that He was The Messiah!! Was it true? Could it be true? I prayed for the first time in a long while that it could be true an’ that I was next to somethin’ or somebody divine. 

I was in the seventh hour on this cross and know’d my life would soon be over... 

Then Angry fellow woke up and tried to yell at Yeshua again—pantin’ with each word. With the little bit of force I had left I told angry man “to stop cuz this man, Yeshua, is innocent. We’a payin’ for our sins, but this man he’s not sinned.” I heard myself say those words like an echo. Was I still alive, then? I looked up, then the Rabbi Yeshua looked at me with eyes that seem to look all the way into my soul.  An' I felt somethin' like I nevah be feelin' before. I felt peace!  There was something ‘bout them eyes. 

With slow breaths I ask the Rabbi, the Messiah: ‘Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And the Lord, the Lamb, hangin’ next to me, and still lookin’ in my eyes said, “Truly I will remember you and you will be with me in Paradise.” 

I was forgiven! I am forgiven! I wanted to shout it out loud, but it came out in gasps. I prayed to God in heaven “toda, thank you” and tol’ the Rabbi, The Messiah Yeshua, with tears in my eyes, “toda , toda,” and I wont sure why; I just knew inside somethin’ had happened I didn’t deserve. 

See: seven hours is a long time to hang on a crossbar ‘gainst a rough wood stake only knowin’ ‘til right now, my last hour, my life had no meaning. This seventh hour changed everything—I was forgiven by Him.

Then the soldiers broke Angry man’s legs and he cried out loud cursin’ the emperor; he died just a little while later. An’ then a soldier stuck a spear in The Messiah’s side and water and blood came out. When the spear went in, I heard’im scream what should have been a scream heard all over Judea!, but his voice was thick with pain and the scream a whisper. After a short while, He said real soft strainin’ his voice, ‘I am a-thirst,’ then another soldier ran and got him a sponge soaked in vinegar, but a'fore he could suck good on the sponge, I heard him say, “It is finished.” And he died. 

Seven hours is a long time to hang nailed to a rough wood cross. 

I heard a soldier say that this Rabbi Yeshua, My Messiah, was truly the Son of God. And then I knowed -- I knowed for sure I was forgiven an’ I was gonna see my Lord in Paradise! 

An’ then it was my turn. In my head, my face was smilin’; I had spoken with the Son of God – the Son of God!! uhg! the soldiers broke my legs, then the world around me became dim, dim, then dark.

Seven hours is a long time to hang on a rough wood cross. But, 

Paradise is forever! 

                                                               ~The beginning~

                    ~by an unnamed thief at Calgary in Judea circa AD 31~

Special Mid-Summer Bible Conversation on Hard Sayings in the Bible (Reserve Question B - bear our cross)

 

Reserve B, Jesus said that we each would need to bear our cross daily (Luke 9:23; also 14:27). What it means and what it does not mean:

• In the days that Jesus walked the earth, what did the people understand a cross to be? Jewelry, a logo? No–it is an instrument of torture and execution. 
• In Jesus’ particular circumstance, what did the cross mean?  --For Jesus to be on the torture stake or cross signified the sacrificial death for which He came to earth to live as a human. It was only through such great sacrifice that Jesus could effect the restoration of relationship with our Creator. 
• What does that mean to us in reference to the cross? Look at 1 Corinthians 6. Paul under the guidance of the Holy Spirit was writing to the Corinthian church a strong letter of admonition because of the practices in which they were engaged – practices that were immoral and unloving. He had to re-tell them, and explain to them what it actually meant to be a Christian. That it could only happen because Jesus died for them. But it wasn’t a death like the deaths they were accustomed to. Jesus’ death was one of sacrifice to redeem mankind from God’s wrath because of our sin estate. 
• Also, because it was a redemption and not a ritual, i.e., something of value was exchanged for releasing or libertating someone, look at what Paul is led to write in verses 19-20.  We do not own ourselves, we have no absolute rights to ourselves. As those who are saved and are being sanctified, that life of submission to Christ is what we are to be living daily according to Luke 9:23 (also see Romans 12:1-2). 
• What it does not mean, but what we have been taught to think it means: When Jesus instructed us to bear our cross, He wasn’t talking about people getting on your nerves or having problems, or even having chronic problems with this or that, chronic health issues.  No. Jesus expects those who are saved to be living their lives for Him – sacrificing ourselves, destroying our pride and so-called “rights” to independence. Eve coveted independence, to be her own "captain"; look where that got us. We are instead to live a righteous and holy life – which is opposite of what persons in the world do, which is the essence of the answer in Question E.

Therefore, let us not cheapen Jesus' instructions to us about bearing our cross; do not diminish the seriousness of Jesus' statement with a somewhere-along-the-line made up definition that our cross is some nagging problem or person. Is that why Jesus came to earth?

 

Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, Donald S. Whitney.*
Question 3 – Are You More Loving?

As written at John 13:34-35, Jesus said that love is the clearest mark of a Christian. “By this all will know you are my disciples.” The author states that if we are growing in our love for others – especially in our love for Christians – then we are growing as a Christian.

The chapter offers a number of scriptures on the importance of love being the mark of Christians that are worth meditating upon:

·       John 15:12,17;

·       Romans 12:10, 13:8;

·       1 Corinthians 16:14; Galatians 5:14; Ephesians 5:2

·       1 Thessalonians 4:9; Hebrews 10:24, 13:1

·       James 2:8; 1 Peter 1:22, 4:8

·       1 John 3:11,23; 1 John 4:21; 2 John 5

Love is the badge and character of Christianity; without growth in the most important Christian distinctive – love – then we are “nothing”. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

When love grows colder, our sin increasingly manifests itself and we look more unlike Jesus. We lose patience, we are prone to be unkind, envious of others; when we are challenged about our lack of love, we quickly list all of the personal sacrifices and other proofs of our love (1 Corinthians 13:4). As our hearts harden or we become bitter, we become less courteous, we begin to look at our “rights” as more important than others’ and their needs, we are more easily angered, and more inclined to find fault in others, keeping score of their offenses (1 Corinthians 13:5).

So what kind of love are we to have? The author picks a scenario of loving family – nothing means more to them than their children; loving family means spending holidays together, sharing meals and other acts of intimacy; loving friends means being devoted to one another, and as the family circle and friendships grow, our love grows as well – correct?

The author answers: The Bible alone – not our own hearts – should be our standard both to define love and to describe it in practice (compare Jeremiah 17:9). We often classify as love what the King James Version of the Bible calls “natural affection (Romans 1:31 and 2 Timothy 3:3 KJV). In normal circumstances, parents love their children, family members love each other, and people love their friends and are good neighbors; this is true of both Christians and non-Christians. This is because God made humankind in such a way as to be able to naturally love certain people. Sometimes it seems to us that true love is at its height when we find others attractive and they are pleasing to us. Yet our love and happiness is regulated by whether the person continues to please us. There is also a “quid pro quo” kind of love. When our love is reciprocated, then, surely, that is true love, right? Yet with all of the emotion that may be expressed in those kinds of love, we cannot measure our growth in Christlikeness by these kinds of love.

The Greek language has different words for different kinds of “love” illustrated in part above: philia – deep friendship; eros – a romantic or carnal love; ludus – playful love; pragma – a longstanding affection; storge – a familial love; philautia – love of self; and agapé love – sacrificial love. Jesus, during His humanity, would have had a storge love for his family, a philia love for His friends – natural affections. However, when He gave the command to love one another, the word for love that He uses is agapé – a sacrificial love. It was that kind of love that brought Him to earth and placed Him on the cross. He did not come just to heal short-lived bodies, but to save sinners who are held captive by sin and its resulting forever death. By Jesus’ death on the cross we experience the love of God unto eternal life. One of the most loving things we can do for anyone is to give them the words that can lead to immortality in a radiantly glorious body, to not just speak the words, but sacrificially do the deed (1 John 3:18).

Growing in love, becoming more loving, we will want to examine whether our agapé love for other Christians is growing stronger (1 John 3:14). Secondly, has our love for the lost grown? Jesus’ experience with the rich young ruler, allowing him to admit that despite all the ‘perfect’ keeping of the commandments, he fell short of loving God and loving others. Jesus did not compromise His salvation message—He made it clear that the man must first forsake his ‘god’ – i.e., his possessions, and put Christ first. The author poses questions (paraphrased): Do we share the gospel message with the lost in a way that they can hear it; do we season our message with the salt of love? The more we begin to look like Jesus, the more we manifest the fruit of the Spirit and the more loving we will be to everyone, even our ‘enemies’ (Luke 6:27,32) Thirdly, when we examine our love for family, do we see observable growth, or are we living like enemies with our family members? Do we use harsh, harmful words, do we belittle one another, do we beat on one another either physically or psychologically? Do we become easily offended or put off when we cannot have our way? Do we act with gratitude to one another, and would our family members readily say, without compulsion, that we love them more and more?

The Bible says that the motive of Christian love at its best includes something that nonbelievers are incapable of knowing, as found at Romans 5:5, which tells us that “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Love begins with God; to love like Christ is to reverse every instinct in our fallen natures. The author, quoting Maurice Roberts in his article “The Supreme Grace of Christian Love,” published in The Banner of Truth, February 1989, relates that true Christlike love is against the grain of nature. Under the amazing power of grace in us through the Spirit, what our humanity cannot do, true Christians must do. Mr. Roberts notes in his article that he’s known Christians for whom the emphasis of their lives is growing in orthodoxy and knowledge; love is only relative. He further says that while God’s love is a gift to us through the Holy Spirit, it is not a spiritual gift like the gifts described in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4 – given to some and not to others. All true Christians receive God’s gift of love; we are accountable to Him in how we use it and grow in it. Do we pursue being more loving (1 John 4:8), meditating on this gift of God described in the scriptures noted above and any others we may find in the Bible on God’s love? Do we love like our Father loves? Does our love look like we belong to God the Father? Do we delight in imitating God (1 John 4:7; Ephesians 5:1-2)? Are we willing to identify those relationships where we most need to grow in love and to take the initiative in showing love in those relationships, not expecting anything in return? If we are choosing to imitate Christ, then we must be the initiator. Jesus did that.

*The foregoing represents my personal reflections on a study by Dr. Donald S. Whitney, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. (2001. By Donald S. Whitney. NAVPRESS. ISBN 978-1-61747-187-2) Quotations and excerpts are from that source, unless otherwise identified. For the 2023 Lenten season I provided these thoughts to my local congregation's Bible study group. The questions are not, however, constrained by a particular liturgical season, holiday, or age group: these are questions every Christian may find useful in fulfilling God's command at 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!" The church at Corinth looked a lot like many of our churches today.

Holy Week - Jesus Last Days on Earth and The Cross, Death and Resurrection

 I have created slide decks that were converted to MP4. (the PDFs will be distributed separately)
The first two - about Nisan 8-12 - are linked to  below.

Slide Deck 1 -- Nisan 8-10

Slide Deck 2 -- Nisan 10-12

The next slide deck has two links in it that are not accessible through the movie: 

(20+) Watch | Facebook and a link to the first Passover: Exodus 12 NASB - The Passover Lamb - Now the LORD said - Bible Gateway

These slides go from the close of Nisan 12 to the Last Supper and the. Two separate slide decks will follow; one dedicated to John 14-17, which will be posted, and a second, "The Stations of the Cross", which will be made available as a PDF.

Blessed Are The Pure in Heart, For They Will See God

 

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. What is a pure heart? Does it mean that we must have not one iota of “bad stuff” in our heart? No! Otherwise, no one could meet this requirement! God describes the human heart, shaped by Adam’s sin DNA, as deceitful above all things. (Jeremiah 17:9)  Ouch! Our All-Knowing God also informs us that we are not able in our humanity to fully escape the effects of that damage; Psalm 51:5 tells us that we, like God’s servant David, are born with sinful hearts. Even as babies we cannot have pure hearts!

Do you know the Abraham of scripture, whom God called out of the land of the Chaldeans to become the father of a nation that would be called Israel? Guess what – he messed up. Yep, he messed up kind of big time; his heart chose not to wait on God and instead chose to go where God said not to go. He temporarily stepped out of God’s will, the consequences of which fell hard on him and his nuclear family, and even continue through to our times and actually impacts us! Despite his serious disobedience in that instance, though, God would still come to call him friend! Similarly, those disciples who were considered close to Jesus, his traveling buddies so to speak – who even set aside their regular work and income, and personal schedules to follow Him all throughout Judea, parts of Samaria and Galilee for three years, even they had issues. Some of them were doubters, some had a militant edge, a number of them by their actions told Jesus, “I’m out!” when He was arrested. Still, Jesus would call them His friends – and Jesus does not pick friends willy-nilly! And look at what the apostle Paul says about himself, he who is considered one of the great apostles, faithfully carrying out God’s will to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles, risking his life to do it, so that even to this day, we are experiencing the benefits of Paul’s faithful evangelism: this faithful person who, in God’s grace, saw Divine things that no one else in scripture experienced in that way -- even he struggled with sin!)

So, then, how is it that these faithful persons can be said to have “pure hearts” and see the God of their salvation, the God of promise? How is such a thing possible? It is only through Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins – His death on the cross, a single act – that could make it possible. Jesus’ sacrifice – the Blood He shed for us – had the power of canceling our sin debt, wiping out the condemnation of our souls and protecting us from the wrath of God, because He, Jesus, would cover, i.e., take the guilt of all our sins on Himself. His sacrifice not only liberated us from the body of sin, as Paul calls it, but also opened up the way to God for us, to “see” God as He reveals Himself in His Word, when we repent and accept the invitation contained in the Gospel to believe Jesus is our Lord and Savior. It is possible because when we allow Christ’s blood to “operationalize” in us, when we surrender our hearts – i.e., our wills and presumed right to be boss of our souls, the Holy Spirit, placed in us by God, cleanses or takes away the power of sin in believers’ lives. Then, when we submit to His cleansing work, our hearts will be shaped and trained in righteousness. We will be able to “see” God with spiritual eyes as noted above and experience Him in ways that persons without the Holy Spirit cannot (Psalm 51:1-2,10-12; Romans 6:9-11,17-19; Galatians 5:16-17,19-25; Ephesians 1:3-19). The Holy Spirit enables us to choose obedience – both to repent of sins we know we committed, and those that the Spirit has to reveal to us; to seek and do those things that please God. The process to make us pure before God is called sanctification[1] , which begins at the moment of salvation, and continues throughout our earthly lives until we look like Christ. So how else does the Holy Spirit cleanse and purify our hearts? He works in us through the Holy Word of God, prayer, and circumstances – along with faithful believers in community – to gradually ‘knock off the dirt’ of a life once controlled by a sinful nature. He motivates us to live a clean, moral life, to be “living sacrifices”, and to pursue God’s will in our lives. A pure heart is a heart like Christ’s. This world and our sin nature makes keeping our hearts pure hard work. We must work and submit to what the Spirit is doing for us per above in shaping us like Christ - that’s the purity God seeks. Nothing else this world has is going to shape our hearts in a way that pleases God! If we are to be living sacrifices to God, then our hearts are to be a temple to God. The pure in heart delights in all things God and seeks above all things to please Him. (Psalm 1:1-3; 37:4; 112:1; Ephesians 5:8-10)

For they shall see God. Can we see God with our natural eye? No – no one can. So why does the scripture say that if we live purely before God that we will see Him? Well, the answer to that question is two-fold. First: As the Holy Spirit begins changing us to be like Christ, as our hearts grow in obedience to Him, we begin to spiritually “see” God through Christ and how He has revealed the Father in scripture.  We see Him spiritually by faith as we grow closer to Him. As we continue submitted to God, we will come to see the image of God in others and in the glory of God. As noted in Ephesians 1 above, we are adopted by God as His children at the time of our salvation; the child can see his/her Father!! Secondly:  When we are ‘translated’, that is, when God exchanges our human form for one that is incorruptible, we will be able to gaze on the full beauty of the Lord our God, we shall see Him face-to-face and fall at His feet in worship! For only the pure in heart will gain the heavenly kingdom of God and see Him.  

 

Explore

·       Has anyone experienced this: the water company (in my area it is the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, aka WSSC) is doing work on your street and needs to shut the water off for several hours (yikes! But it happens). When they have completed their work, they notify the residents in the area that for the next several hours they should boil their water. Why do you think that is? What could happen if you choose not to follow that recommendation?

·       Again, the foregoing discussion is a lot of meat to chew on. As you go through it, what part(s) stand out for you in a way that you had not thought of before?

·       Lastly, an audit: When we consider the purity that we are called to,  

o   what do we allow into our hearts – the “throne” God’s temple, for a temple is a place where God is worshiped? What kind of media and gaming do we participate in? Does it honor God and His character? Does what we read and what we view with our eyes honor God and His moral standards for us?

o   See our bodies as God sees them – as sacred. Sacred things are treated modestly and honorably. Does how we intentionally dress or not dress, exposing certain body parts – does it honor God? That is, when a person looks at how we dress or expose certain body parts, does it draw him/her toward Christ so that our outsides reflect who we are to be in Christ?

o   Does our conduct toward one another align with God’s Word?

o   What is worship? Do we worship God daily? 

o   The big question is: Do we really want to see God?

Bonus: Let Praises Rise - Trey McLaughlin & SOZ; Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord - Michael W. Smith

---

[1] Sanctification: a process of being transformed into Christ’s image by the work of the Holy Spirit in you. He directs you into the things of Christ - His words, His character, His lifestyle; when we submit to His work in us, not only will we see His transforming power in us and over us, but also will the angels in heaven, and the world around us. Sanctification is a life-long process -- beginning at the time of our salvation until we are raised up by Christ to be with Him.

PRIDE - The Invisible Trap

[Following is a sermon I preached August 2022. The actual delivery may have been altered - which is what happens when the Holy Spirit is directing!]

The Anglican Pentecost Lectionary cycles present lessons and readings that go to the heart of Biblical doctrine, sometimes are “weighty”, uncomfortable. We’ve certainly had these in this cycle of lessons. Today’s is one of those. Let us pray. Father, you have admonished us: let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church. By your grace may we do, so in Jesus Name. Amen

PRIDE. How many have heard this proverb: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” A haughty, arrogant spirit, feeds on praise and recognition, seeks to be exalted, boasts of accomplishments-look how great I am, I’m better than others and above reproach, others are beneath me, justifies us by who we know and what we do – the excessive pride that is conceit in one’s self. Today’s texts not talking about the pride that means the joy in doing a good job, or the delight and blessing of children that the Bible calls the pride of parents - No, not at all. They are referring to the pride where the heart attitude is that of a sense of superiority. One preacher called it the ‘gospel of me’ where the driving ‘ism’ is to exalt me, what makes me feel good, what makes me happy, self-satisfied, what gives me pleasure cause I am entitled. This ‘ gospel of me’ attitude is pervasive in our culture and has crept into the church (one minister says it’s knocked down the doors of the church); it's a destructive pride. The prideful haughty spirit can be contagious, and its presence in the church creates chasms, breaks the unity of the Body, which Jesus has called out to be a community of one-ness and love.  Pride like in the parable (Pharsee&tax collector) about those who trust in and promote themselves to others and even to God as very righteous, simultaneously judging others worthy of contempt.  Friends, such pride is gateway to an anti-God, antichrist attitude and deeper sinful conduct. Pride does not require a certain status in life: rich, poor, middle class, upper class, heads of corporations, heads of families, political leaders, religious leaders, youths and teens, young adults, middle-aged adults, senior adults, black-white-brown, yours truly – no one is immune to pride. It is like the pretty weeds of the nightshade family – they have pretty blossoms and berries, but are toxic and deadly as they mature. Pride that is left to grow in us becomes more toxic, more deadly, destroys relationships with family, friends, and most importantly with God. We are all susceptible to adopting a prideful attitude or conduct. Why?

Because of the first act of rebellion by humans. Adam’s and Eve’s sin was the consequence of pride – acting out their belief that they could be like God. They chose to believe a lie that appealed to the opportunity of independent self-rule  rather than obedience to God. And when confronted with that sin, Adam pridefully replied that it was because of the woman that God gave him – as if she were an inferior product – that woman, that God made, gave me the fruit of the tree and I ate it! Not my fault! We chuckle, but the truth is that we all inherit this tendency from Adam as part of his sin DNA. Prideful people want to be their own boss, truly believe that God is obliged to satisfy their needs and wants because they deserve it. They practice a modern-day Gnosticism that says they own their bodies and can do whatever they want with them, that as long as they feel some kind of “spiritual” connection to the universe, they’re good. 

Our 1st reading today, written by a Jewish scribe who lived nearly 200 years before Christ, who borrows from holy scripture addressing the human condition saying, “the beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord; the heart has withdrawn from its Maker. For the beginning of pride is sin, and the one who clings to it pours out abominations.” Heavy statement.
Friends, human pride is devoid of the Fear of God; it is a forsaking of the LORD; it has dire consequences. But, the antithesis of human pride is humility that is founded in the fear of the LORD. 

That’s the overarching theme in today’s texts-- submission to God in humility, fearing God and reverencing Him alone. Our fear of the Lord should lead us to humble ourselves, should lead us to remember and empathize with, pray for, serve and support the Body of Christ throughout the world. Our reverential fear should leads us to obey God regarding sexual purity in a world that literally worships and takes pride in sexual immorality of all kinds. Like Balaam in the Bible, who was an agent of devil that led a prideful Israel into gross sin, satan still uses pride like a weapon against believers. In the Luke reading, Jesus words are uncomfortable, maybe even offend; He tells us,"all who exalt themselves will be humbled". He goes further, asking us if those we tend to bless are those who can do something FOR us. He admonishes that we are not only to bring blessings to, but to also invite persons who are poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind the outcasts – we’re to reach out to them to bless them w/o payment, w/o prerequisites but with hospitality and provision. That’s why God placed us here, placed our church in this place to bless the community and those in need, to go beyond the doors of our building in a sacrificial way – how are we doing w/that? Think about it:  Did not the One who is our Sustainer and Deliverer, our Provider, once see us as outcasts, undeserving of mercy? 

 This gospel of ME: I am entitled I deserve, am better than, this arrogance of pride is so easy to come by: we breathe it, we hear it, we taste it daily in the spirit of the world around us. It insidiously entangles us, wraps us in layers of self-deception.   Have you ever awakened from sleep to find your feet tangled up in the bed coverings? You struggle to break free, kicking off all the covers eventually. That is the kind of situation pride puts us in Hebrews 12:1-2a in the lectionary a couple of weeks ago speaks to that. "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us [the writer is referring to what we call the 11th chapter's Bible honor roll of faithful believers who model for us what our faith must be like; so since we have this model of faith before us], let us also lay aside every encumbrance [weight] and the sin which so easily entangles us..."

We are told to recognize that we are entangled by a seemingly imperceptible sin --a sin such as pride, and that we must get rid of it—it’s anti-God, and blocks our spiritual growth, gets us off the path of our marathon faith journey. How are we to rid ourselves of such a sin? Look at verse 2: we are instructed to  humbly submit ourselves, our lives to the originator and perfector of our faith, our Lord Jesus Christ, and do what He would have us do.. The LORD cuts to the chase at Philippians 2:3 (and we thought the gospel lesson in Luke was hard), where He says we are to “do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.” Wow. This is one of those scriptures in the Bible that we try to read fast and not hear. But friends, this is NOT a passover scripture—this scripture is integral to who we are in Christ!  Do nothing – what does nothing mean? Nothing right? Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard OTHERS as better than yourselves;  totally opposite view of how the world thinks and functions. So then, do we conclude that Christians are better than the world?  NO! Romans 3:23 reminds us that We are sinners like everyone else. But we are to be different. God calls us to be different: He has placed the Grace of God in His children; we did not place this grace in us, we didn't call ourselves, we didn't become "a Christian" in our own power. NO. We received the Spirit of Christ in us and the faith that Jesus planted in us - primarily so that we cannot boast as having achieved this on our own, the Holy Spirit in us who seeks to transform us to be, to look, to speak, to 'smell' different from the world. This grace that leads us to share and live sacrificially, to invite others to grow with us in Christ - this reality should soften our hearts in humility rather than puff us up in pride. See - the longer devil’s worldly system persists – the more pronounced our “difference” must become. Hard stuff to hear, isn't it? 'Siblings', brothers and sisters in Christ, the gospel of ME cannot co-exist with the fear of the Lord and God’s people need to stop acting like it can! The Holy Spirit says at 1 Peter 5 that God opposes the proud - He will not even listen to the prayers of the proud! Look: Christ did not die on that cross to make us happy and self-absorbed, self-satisfied, entitled – He died to make us holy, to have in us His power of salvation, to submit to and be sanctified in and by the Spirit Who empowers us to die to wordly passions – to grow in holiness. To God’s glory – not ours. There was minister years ago who God had used powerfully to preach His oracles, and who, after such powerful sermons, the Holy Spirit instructed him to withdraw to a quiet place, to sit in full submission and prayer to God to protect his mind and heart from any tendency toward pride in how God used him in such a powerful way. He obeyed.

This Fear of the Lord, deep reverence and awe of God, knowing and believing deep inside of us that only God is deserving of all praise, honor and glory. That for us to try to appropriate even a smidge of such pits us against God! This reverence and awe, this full commitment to the sovereignty and authority of God and His Word is the fear of the Lord that we are to develop within us and live throughout us to push pride out. That is what our texts are telling us today, and what they have been telling us for a while now – that we are to CULTIVATE this fear and reverence. We pray the words each Sunday; we sing  the words each Sunday. Pride has no place in the life of a believer. It smothers, it chokes the fear of the Lord in us.  

So: Do we have a healthy fear of the Lord, a humility before Him? To borrow a phrase, do we ‘cop a plea’ like Adam, and say the pride that we live in and practice isn’t our fault – no: it’s the family I came from, the community I lived in, or it's the culture that I was raised in. I just do what they do! I had a co-worker who was a regular church-goer, still is. She used to say years ago (but I have not heard it recently, hallelu) that the reason she curses like a sailor is because her mother and aunt - regular churchgoers, always did. Will our testimony of it’s not my fault hold up before an Almighty Holy God? If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom –Do we submit to the wisdom of God by applying His word to our lives? Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we’re prone to pride. It is so essential to believe and obey God, and submit to His holiness. It must be our goal over our self-satisfaction. Need to realize how much God loves us/hates sin especially pride. God had created this beautiful angel in heaven with the capacity to praise and worship Him in extraordinary ways, but the angel allowed a jealous pride to develop within him and challenged his Creator. We call him satan. God created humankind in His own perfect image and loved them, yet they succumbed to a destructive pride, that broke that unity and from which we continue to suffer. God hates pride in His children because of its destructive and harmful nature. 

I need to tell you this true story and then I’ll be about done.    A minister once shared a time he had allowed pride to creep up in him. He had overcome a serious speech impediment from his youth, had completed college and pursued the ministry, was a fierce force to be reckoned with on the tennis court. He had “worked his way up” from a poor preacher who sometimes did not even have food to eat, to become a senior pastor of a large church, to travel in that role and do mission work, preach regularly on the air and was the recipient of much praise and honor. He said that all of it got into his heart and mind. He was consciously and unconsciously becoming more and more entangled by the pride that had begun to take root in him. But God -- But God would not let him continue in that way (how many know that God loves us too much to let us go down a path of self-destruction without intervening?). God knows the trap that pride is to humans and He saw the cords getting tighter on his child. One day when playing a hot game of tennis, the minister went for a lob and stumbled, tripped, and twists his ankle. Anybody else know what that feels like? It is so painful - hurts for days! But the minister was oblivious to the connection of falling less than glamourously on the court, winding up in such a humbling situation, feeling more righteous for going after the ball than recognizing where that action led him to (makes you think of Nathan and King David, right?). So with one leg injured, and limping around, he nevertheless continued blind to his sinful pride – which seemed to take on yet another level. So one day, driving with the one foot, he gets into an automobile accident and now the other leg is out of commission. This is true!! Some days later, following the accident, he is at home trying to sort out before God all that was happening to him. And somehow he had become separated from his crutches - they had fallen away from him and were no longer in arms’ reach. Can you guess what happened next? He says he had to get down on the floor, on his stomach, hands and knee, crawl and drag himself towards his crutches. He's crawling and dragging and, as he does so, a gospel song by Nicole Mullen – "I Get on My Knees" began playing and in that moment his eyes were opened. Surprise and remorse. He realized that since he himself had been choosing not to bow in humility before His Lord, the Lord brought him to a place where the only choice was to be on his knees. On his knees in deep regret and humility before his Lord. On his knees in submission to begin the healing process of removing the pride from his heart, mind and soul that had damaged his relationship with Jesus. 

Our All-Knowing, All-Wise God repeatedly warns us to humble ourselves before Him to battle the sin of pride. He further tells us in Philippians 2 that we cannot take this matter lightly – we must labor, struggle to work out these things that cause us to stumble through the power God gives us. He enables us to choose to submit to His will, He enables us to walk humbly. He enables us to nurture our union with Christ by regular Bible study, unceasing prayer, fellowship with other believers, through service to others and seeking God’s kingdom above our own. 

We may never have considered that we could be harboring within us seeds of pride that can damage our witness and relationship with Jesus. Like getting vaxxed against chronic viruses, we need the protection of spiritual discipline that our Pastor has been admonishing us during this season of Pentecost to embrace: spending more time w/Gd and intentionally serving Him in worship and in outreach to others. Like today - we can find scriptures in our favorite Bible app that warn about pride, commands us to be humble and meditate on those. We must often - daily - seek out God’s perspective, praying the prayer at Psalm 139 for God to search our minds and hearts so that we can know where we have allowed pride to get a hold on us. Listen to what He would have us do, then commit ourselves to live in harmony with His will for our lives, walk humbly w/God.  In Jesus’ name let us pray prayer from BCP for self- dedication and submission to God’s will. 

61. PRAYER OF SELF-DEDICATION [AND SUBMISSION], Book of Common Prayer, p. 832 (adapted from the traditional language at that page to reflect contemporary language)

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to You, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly Yours, utterly dedicated to You; and then use us, we pray You, as You will, and always to Your glory and the welfare of Your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

And let the church say Amen.