In the county library among these books, I think of the word "character." Paul speaks to Jesus' character. Jesus' name, His character, ends division.
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FULL TRANSCRIPT:
I'm here in the Susquehanna County Library with one of my best buds, my foster son. And I'm looking at these library books and I think of character. I also think of the scripture we have this Sunday, First Corinthians. And in this text, like last week, people considered a person's name to be more than a simple label to identify that person; they believed that something of that person's identity was tied up in that name. In other words, a name expressed a person's essential character.
So when Paul says, "Through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ... " he invokes the power and authority of Jesus Christ to address a key issue in Christian character, division.
These library books remind me of a story that my buddy and I just read by Leo Leonni who wrote the fable, "It's Mine!" In this story, these three characters -- Milton, Rupert and Lydia -- argue over what's theirs. Division is present. But in the presence of Jesus Christ, there's no division. There is love and unity.
Join us Sunday as we continue love and unity. And until then, God bless you and amen.