March 1, 2026
Beloved of God,
Reflecting on the impact of the one man Adam and the one man Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:18, “Just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.”
God so loved the whole world that He gave Jesus, His one and only Son, that by Him all who put their trust in Him may be saved. No one is outside the circle of God’s care and concern.
Note, however, how God achieves His purposes for everyone. He works through One so as to reach out to all and to bring in as many as are willing to come. By means of the individual, God serves the universal – that is, all the people of the earth.
As we consider what God is saying to us by means of the March 1 sermon, a sermon on God’s call to Abram (later, renamed Abraham, meaning “father of a multitude of nations”), we will see how God chose a single man to bring forth a chosen and blessed nation, or family, by whom “all the families of the earth shall be blessed”. That means that the nation of Israel does not exist just for itself but for all people groups of our big world. That is why God in Isaiah 49:6 chides the nation, saying, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribe of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” In other words, the Israelites have only fulfilled one half of their calling if they just take care of each other. They are to pass on to the folks outside their community the light of God’s righteousness and love.
The church of Jesus consists of those who have been adopted into the family of God as additional new Israelites (Romans 2:28-29, Galatians 6:16 and 1 Peter 2:9-10). That means that the church has the same mission as Israel. The church is also to pass on to others (outside the particular family it is) the light of God’s righteousness and love. The church also exists, not just for those who are already members of it, but also for those who are not members of it, in order to reach out to, to serve, and to invite everyone to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord” (Psalm 34:8).
The last Sunday of this month, March 29th, is also the first day of Holy Week, that period of the year that is second only to the Christmas season for prompting people to consider going to church for the first time in a very long while or perhaps for the first time ever.
Let us then fulfill our mission by reaching out beyond our church family and inviting others to taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Warmly in Christ,
Rob & Adele Langworthy
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