Good morning and a most blessed Thursday to you. 

We're going to read from Paul's letter to the church in Thessalonica. It's from First Thessalonians, chapter 2, where he is writing to the church in Thessalonica, and he writes in verse 8:

"So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us."

He continued later in the chapter:

"As for us, brothers and sisters, when for a short time we were made orphans by being separated from you in person, not in heart, we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face."

As we went to Costa Rica for another mission trip with the same church in Costa Rica, this is a church where we have brothers and sisters. We have developed a relationship with them, and they with us. And it struck me that I understand, at least to some extent, as Paul writes to this church in Thessalonica, that longing to see them, that heartfelt joy he has in thinking of them, praying for them, and with the hopes of being reunited with them.

To be able to go once again to Costa Rica, into the church and into the community, and to have that experience of being with familiar faces and meeting new faces, and sharing in the joy that we have in one Lord, one baptism, one Spirit, is so wonderful. And while the experience that we have in Costa Rica is so meaningful and it's just incredible to see God at work and how He works in and through each of us, and before our very eyes is absolutely amazing, yet I also have those same feelings about our church in Grapevine. That my heart belongs here too, that I couldn't wait to be once again with you and worship with you and praise the Lord with you and be with my brothers and sisters once again in one Spirit, united in one Lord, one baptism, one Spirit.

And the joy that we are promised that for all eternity we will be together—it won't be a matter of being separated from our brothers and sisters in Costa Rica or being separated from our brothers and sisters in Grapevine, but we will all be together, united at the great marriage feast, united in the glorious presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And to know the joy, the joy this side of Heaven, of getting to be with and in the presence of my brothers and sisters, it is so thrilling and so exciting. And to know that the eternity that stretches before us is even greater than that because there is no need for either/or because it's going to be both/and. We will be both together and together with Christ.

There is no better vision or expectation that we could have than to know that we will be in the full presence of Christ and in the full presence of one another as the community of saints, the community of believers. And so I appreciate these words from Paul because he shares that longing to be in the presence of his beloved brothers and sisters. And also, we have the full promise that we will be in the presence of our brothers and sisters, not only one day but for all of eternity. And in this, I give thanks and I praise the Lord because I know this is a promise that we can count on because it's a promise made in and through Jesus for us.

Let's pray:

Lord Christ, we thank you so much for the promise we have in you. We thank you so much that we are united with all of our brothers and sisters across the globe, all the community of believers, the community of saints, through you—through one Lord, one body, one baptism, one Spirit. And we thank you that though we don't necessarily know how it works, we know that for all eternity we will be united with all the believers, all the saints, in the glorious presence of you, Lord. And we thank you that we can look forward to that day when we will all be in the glory of your presence and when we will have no need of separation from you or from one another because we are all called to be together in you, Lord.

We praise you for the opportunity we have to worship you this side of Heaven, and we praise you for the opportunity that we will have for all eternity to sing praises and glory to you. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for this day. Thank you for this coming weekend. We ask that you would bless us, that you would keep us safe, and that you would gather us together to worship you together as brothers and sisters once again this coming Sunday. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

I look forward to worshiping with you once again this Sunday and praising the God who is good, who is just, and who is all-loving and all-merciful. I will see you soon. God bless.