October 12, 2003 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church

Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

I can be standing up here, delivering a message that hopefully honors the memory of our Lord and Savior, trying my best to point our hearts toward the cross, and suddenly I'll look up to see you smiling back at me. I see your smile, but I can't always decipher the thoughts behind it. You might be thinking, "I better smile, or he'll think I'm not paying attention," or maybe, "That's fine Tony, but only about half of what you're saying makes sense, and you just keep going and going and going." Now I'm kidding, and you know that. When I look up and see you smiling back at me, I simply take it at face value. My point is, as a general rule, human relationships are always more complicated than they seem to be. You can know somebody for years, but then one day something might come to the surface, and you suddenly realize that you never really knew that person at all.

One of the biggest building blocks in our faith is set in place when we finally rest in the knowledge and understanding that Jesus knows everything we're thinking. He knows the condition of your heart, of my heart, right now. He knows the secrets we've kept from everybody else. He knows the truth behind our intentions, whether they're good or bad. There are no misunderstandings in a relationship with Jesus. When you're treated unfairly, and nobody in this whole world understands, He does.

He's Immanuel (God with us), and He was thinking about you as He hung on the cross. In all of history, there's never been a greater act of submission than what happened on His cross. Willingly, and lovingly, He laid down His life for you and for me. He knows everything we're thinking, and yet He still loves us. He knows everything our enemies are thinking, and He protects us.

Whatsoever we do; everything we say, all the works of our hands, and if I might add, everything we do with our minds, do it all in His name. We are His servants, His representatives, His ambassadors, and His name is attached to us 24/7/365. All it takes is one misunderstanding, one slip of the tongue, or one moment of sin to ruin a good name. My dear friends, if we pass our every thought, every word, and every action through the filter of, "Am I doing this in the name of Jesus?", I dare say that He will be glorified through our lives.

Take heart in this perfect relationship we have with Lord Jesus. It's not complicated like other relationships. With Him, there are no misunderstandings, He knows what you're thinking, and only you can walk away from your relationship with Him, because He will not walk away from you.