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Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you abide in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Welcome to the Abide in Me podcast. This summer we will be hearing from different voices, each bringing you reflections, songs, and liturgy to help us stay connected to the vine. This week we are joined by our warehouse campus pastor, Anna Anderson.

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Listen to the last sentence of Ephesians. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. I want to love God with an undying love. I want to be the kind of person who has a strong, unending, never-ceasing love for God. Don't you? This is a benediction from Paul. It's less of a command and more of an encouragement. It's a reminder of the kind of love that our God is worth. It's a reminder that He loved us to death, died for us. So we can have the kind of love in response that never dies. That's the invitation. It's the only kind of proper response to all that Christ has done, an undying love for Jesus. And Paul says this realistically. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. He's extending grace. It's a friendly greeting, grace, but it's also a humbling reminder that even those with the most zealous love for God are in need of grace. All of us are in need of grace. He says this knowing that their love will waver, that even the undying love of the strongest Christians in Ephesus would be in need of grace. And we hear this and read this, knowing that our love wavers to grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. We don't and we can't love God with an undying love at every moment in every way, so receive this grace. It reminds me of Pillar's Rooster on the top of our steeple. During Tulip Time, we give tours each day as a part of Holland's historic walking tours, which come through our building on the hour, full of tourists from all over the world. We talk about Pillar's history and the story of reconciliation that's happened here, which I'll give you the short version of. There was a significant denominational split at Pillar between two groups in the 1880s, and the bitter divide continued until 2012 when we repented for the divide, became a duly affiliated congregation of those denominations that had split, and made a baptismal font out of axe handles and chains. The very tools that were used to keep people out back then. We said, We're sorry for dividing and for allowing it to go on for as long as it did. After sharing this story, we show the baptismal font to the tourists, encouraging folks to take our story of reconciliation and live it out in the divides that are in their communities. After they've heard that story, folks will ask specific questions about the building, and sometimes people will say, What's with the chicken? By chicken, they mean our rooster. Roosters are found on the top of Protestant churches in Europe. I've been told it signifies a Protestant church rather than a Catholic or Orthodox one. And while I'm not certain of all the historical realities, here's the story I've internalized about the meaning of the rooster for us. The rooster symbolizes the heart of Reformed theology, that even though we are sinful and betray Christ, we're called to announce the new day that God's love is inaugurating. Despite our brokenness, we're called to announce that God is making all things new, even us. The rooster crowed three times when Peter, one of the disciples, denied that he even knew Jesus on the night of Jesus' crucifixion. The rooster reminds us that even though we say we have an undying love for Jesus like Peter did, we'll betray Jesus like Peter did. So we're invited to consider the restorative words of Christ to Peter. After he said, I don't know Jesus three times later, after his resurrection, what did Jesus say? Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, then feed my sheep, Jesus said. Grace to you all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. Even though Peter was broken, he was invited in grace into the mission of God. The rooster is the one who awakes and announces the new day. The one who in the morning says, Wake up, a new day is here. That's our calling. Despite our betrayals of Christ, we're invited by grace to participate in announcing God's new day. Grace to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. Grace. Even though we don't always have the love for God that we wish we did, grace to you. I'm reminded of the line from Come Thou Fount. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. We're prone to wander, and yet God is sealing us for Himself, making our small efforts of love to Him an undying love. The kind of love that only the Spirit can cultivate and seal within us Himself. Grace to you all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

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Thanks for joining us. If you have any questions, comments, or would like prayer, we would love to hear from you. Reach out to us at Abide at PillarChurch.com. And for now, if you're willing, receive this blessing. May the grace of Christ, which daily renews us, and the love of God, which enables us to love all, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, which unites us in one body, make us eager to obey the will of God until we meet again through Jesus Christ our Lord.