426 -- Friend of the Bridegroom
March 29 (3/29) in Godsfield -- John 3:29
(For Better or Verse: Each day in 2025 I will begin this Godsfield e-mail with a Bible verse that corresponds with the month (chapter 1-12) and day (verse 1-31) it is sent. This month features a lot of third chapters! Those with eyes and ears, let them see and hear.)
John 3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
The best man rejoices for the bridegroom. John the Baptist explained that he was not the messiah, but pointed to Jesus as the "Lamb of God," the one John came to proclaim. It is Jesus whose bride is the church; it is John who is best man for the wedding. (His words, pretty much.)
This is where John says he must decrease and Jesus must increase.
And John is happy about that. He goes to his death knowing the bridegroom has arrived, the Lamb of God is taking away the sin of the world, the Messiah has come.
Last night, Faith and prayer, at Faith GMC across from Crestview (Crestview is Godsview!), came at a subdued pace and invited us to be participants over being spectators.
Sitting around tables, everyone shared testimonies, areas of repentance, and times of spiritual weariness, interspersed with scripture and songs. It struck me how the tenor and overview, volume and manor were so different from the night before (or tonight, as I anticipate it) and yet the purpose was the same -- invite the Holy Spirit to let us talk to the Father through Jesus, while supporting in prayer our concerns and each other.
Songs of prayer -- worship songs that we have song as many as a dozen times through this month, supported by an organ and bass last night, or a band another night, or keyboard and drum a third night, or any combination available on a given night -- songs that fill the space with voices of a small group of believers from more churches than Jesus had apostles at the Last Supper.
It is for me so hard not to compare -- this over that, these over those -- as though it were a competition, and I am supposed to offer blue, red or yellow ribbons, plus a best of show. I resist that, of course, but I do compare, with gratefulness and praise, that in so many settings, in so many ways, the focus on Jesus as the Hub, brings all of the spokes of the wheel close together.
Same words of prayer, same scripture, same attitude of prayer, same purpose for praise, same focus of worship.
Same bridegroom; we -- all the spokes -- are the bride.
This is the miracle I see in the March of Prayer.
Tonight, we worship at Fusion-Lexington, on Industrial Parkway; tomorrow at Gracepoint-Lexington on West Cook Road, and Monday we conclude at Storyside, at Rte 97 south of I-71.
Each service stands alone, while linking together as one. Prayers, worship, music and message blend to each other, to the Bridegroom.
I Love ya.
Paul