Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church     
 
Linda Pokrajac - "A Legacy of Life - John 17:6-19"

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Preaching:
Linda Pokrajac 
 


 
This Sunday
May 8, 2016



Sermon Title:
"A Legacy of Life"



Scripture:
John 17:6-19




Linda Pokrajac
May 5, 2016
 
Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:
 
It's Thursday morning as I write this, and God has put many things on my heart, one of which is that I should have a definitive sermon written on the above scripture for Sunday morning. And I'm not there yet! I have known for several months that I would be preaching this Sunday, but as Pastor Tim said a few weeks ago in his sermon, we don't preach what we want to preach but what God wants us to say based on careful study of the scripture. So as I had a comfortable outline of what I thought I might say to you on Sunday, this morning, with some anxiety on my part, the Holy Spirit has convicted me to go another direction with the scripture!
 
The sermon title is "A Legacy of Life" and it's Mother's Day. Our mothers have given us a great gift - physical life, and they often leave us tangible legacies when they leave this earth - perhaps some item like china or jewelry or even money. Jesus' great gift to us is His own life, and He leaves us a significant legacy of life - the intangible legacy of eternal life. In a beautiful prayer in John 17, Jesus gives us much to think about as we journey through our physical earthly lives toward the legacy of eternal life.
 
May 8 is the last Sunday in a season in the life of the church, the Easter season, and the church historically goes back in time and looks at Jesus' heartfelt prayer to His Father on that last night of his life as He was with his disciples in the upper room. Why would the historical church want us to look at that specific scripture, something that happened before Jesus' death and resurrection on a Sunday six weeks after those events occurred? I believe we are directed to this scripture because next week, May 15, is Pentecost (in addition to being Youth Sunday at MLEPC!). Pentecost is the day when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and the birth of the church. Jesus' prayer that promises the legacy of life - eternal life - tells us what we can expect from our physical lives as we live in this world as His followers. In the midst of a world that is becoming increasingly counter to the Christian way, Jesus promises protection, joy, and sanctification in the truth for our physical life.
 
As we look at the coming season in the life of MLEPC, we have a busy summer ahead of us. We continue to host Fired Up Friday once a month and look to our week of Vacation Bible School as huge outreach opportunities for our Children's Ministry. Our youth will go on mission to Bluefield, WV. We'll have Mission Possible 9, a concentrated week of service in July that will show God's love to hundreds of people with hundreds of our church members and friends participating. And then a team of around 15 missionaries will go to East Kano, Kenya, and continue our work there to spread the gospel message. Another important note for May 15 is that we will receive our Pentecost Offering, which will provide funding for our summer mission opportunities. Please pray about supporting our mission work this summer through that offering as you are able.
 
And Jesus' prayer in John 17 is an important prayer to hold on to for the summer, because what He prays IS our MLEPC Mission Statement. In the first part of His prayer, He prays upward to God for himself, as He longs to return to His Father to enjoy the life with Him that He had before the world began. And as we reach upward to God with our physical lives, we do so with grateful hearts knowing that we have the legacy of eternal life because of Jesus. We reach upward to God in worship and prayer to strengthen our relationship with our heavenly Father. And then there's the part of the prayer we will be looking at in depth on Sunday, where Jesus prays for his disciples. As we move into the mission field, another component of our mission statement is reaching inward to each other in fellowship and discipleship. This middle part of Jesus' prayer in John 17 is what Jesus prays for His disciples - the increase of joy, and He prays for our protection from the world. Jesus also prays for our "sanctification in the truth," that we may always look to scripture and the life of Christ for wisdom in life. In the final section of His prayer, Jesus prays for those who will believe in Him as a result of us - the faithful church that continues to spread the gospel. This is the third component of the MLEPC Mission Statement, reaching outward to the world in witness and service.
 
If you have an opportunity this week, please do read Jesus' entire prayer in John 17. Come to church, ready to worship and pray and to reflect on our life together as Jesus prays for us, his disciples. Then as you leave worship, pray for direction, pray for where God might use you this summer to continue to spread His Gospel.
 
For God so loved the world, that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish
but have eternal life.
(John 3:16)
 
The legacy of eternal life from Jesus is precious and something to hold on to, even as we live and serve in the world He's placed us in.
 
Love, in Christ,
 
Linda Pokrajac, Director of Congregational Care


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