Pastor Weekly - 4/30/25

Hello ICC Family!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses

to the life of faith…

Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)

The huge crowd that we are surrounded by is made up of all those that have preceded us in the faith. They surround us not as guardian angel-like protectors of our bodies or souls, but as encouragers from afar - inspiring us to press on in our daily efforts to follow and grow in Christ. One of the ways this takes place is through music. I read an article this week about the oldest known Christian hymn. It dates from the 3rd century, older than the next notated Christian work by six centuries. While scholars have studied this hymn for decades already, it is currently in the news because it was just given a modern musical setting by some of the most famous current worship musicians. You can listen to this song on YouTube here: The First Hymn (Official Lyric Video)

You will notice that prominent in the words of this oldest hymn is the phrase “To the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” And the word “Amen.” I was struck that this focus on the Trinity and God’s supreme authority (Amen means “so be it”) is also prevalent in a song that we sing very often at ICC. A song we also consider to be old since the music is from the 1500s and the lyrics from the 1600s. In the Doxology we also sing, “Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.” Our worship of a triune God, the creator and sustainer of life, who loves us and gave his life for us, ties us together with people from every church era, all the way back to the New Testament saints and further back to God’s faithful prophets of old. The huge crowd is incredibly deep.

But the huge crowd is also incredibly wide - stretching across the entire globe. Currently 2 billion strong, and billions more than that when you consider all the saints from every people, nation, tribe, and tongue, from all history. This is why it is a privilege and honor to bear the name International Christian Church. I often speak to what a challenge and weight it is to bear that name, and how we need to be doing everything we possibly can to honor it. And that is true! However, this Sunday we are going to come together in worship to celebrate that we are, in fact, part of this huge global crowd. We will come to celebrate being an international church with an international calling, and we will do that by worshiping in many languages.

Every week we worship in English because it is the language that ties us all together and the language of the wonderful country we live in. But it will be good to recognize and honor the fact that for many in our church, English is not their mother tongue. And it will also be wonderful to both be reminded of and challenged by the fact that there will be people from every tongue and tribe in heaven. I have no idea how we will communicate there, but I know it will not be a problem!

So, I hope you all will come this Sunday looking forward to something a little different.  If you are from another country, please feel free to wear your own traditional clothing.  I am looking forward to it!

Blessings to you!  And know that I am praying for you!

Pastor Aaron