A little late in posting this sermon from last week. It was a fun to share why the three pastoral leaders welcome the congregation differently. As a listener, I always like a sermon were I learn something beyond a word study of the text. Although it can't be heard in reading the text below, I have been trying to work on pacing in my sermons. In fact, the way the text is presented has become a way for me to represent pacing in the written text. this was a shorter sermon in length, in part because we had a baptism. of course, the baptism itself was the best sermon illustration for the sermon!
“In Christ” ; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; August 23, 2026; Romans 16: 1-6; 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21 Footsteps of Paul series; Richard B. Culp
2 Corinthians 5: 16-21
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view;[a] even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view,[b] we no longer know him in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there[c] is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being![d] 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,[e] not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake God made the one who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Romans 16: 1-6: I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon[a] of the church at Cenchreae, 2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.
3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but also all the churches of the gentiles. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert[b] in Asia for Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you.
Introduction: Go to center?
I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and welcome you to St. Andrew Presbyterian Church.
As most of you know, that’s how I begin each worship service when i do the welcome.
If Dr. Patterson is welcoming everyone, she stands with her arms outstretched and says, “the Lord be with you,”
and most of you respond “And also with you.”
I suspect if you asked her why she starts that way, she would describe how that phrase is part of the early church”s liturgy
and she likes having a responsive greeting that gives voice to you who gather - probably a little more inclusive than my welcome.
Chrissy STevens, our pastoral resident, says something like “Grace mercy and peace to you all here at St. Andrew in the name of our lord Jesus Christ .” Not sure if she has settled or a welcome to use forever, r if she is experimenting with different greetings.
I didn’t always begin worship that way.
My first few years in ministry I sort of did different kinds of welcome each week - generally pretty casual, not necessarily biblical, probably more of a Late Night talk show host kind of greeting.
a few years into ministry, though, a member for whom I had a great deal of respect, came up to me and said, “You need to have a signature greeting.”
She had been a member of a big Presbyterian church earlier in her life whose minister used the same greeting every worship service, and she really liked it.
I thought about it and figured I’d try it - if nothing else it would keep me from stumbling through whatever that week’s greeting was.
i searched for that phrase that would be my greeting every week -
not too long, so I could remember it,
but meaningful.
after trying different greetings, i ended up with a paul - like phrase “in Christ”
I discovered it worked well for me in worship - it felt like it gave me a stated purpose to why we were gathering and who we were.
so for almost 30 years, “I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” has been my worship welcome.
basically, I stole it from Paul.
move 1: as you have heard this summer, Paul likes to use the phrase “in Christ,” or some variation of it.
1. Those two Words, "In Christ" (en Christō): ~73–83 times, depending on with translation you read and how you count Paul’s letters (many scholars argue that some of the letters attributed to Paul were written by others in his name)
2. Variations like "In Christ Jesus" or "In the Lord": ~160 to 170 times across his letters
3. All "In Him/Them" union phrases combined: Over 200 times across the Pauline corpus. (https://www.johnbmacdonald.com/blog/what-does-in-christ-mean#:~:text)
4. The New Testament seldom uses the word “Christian”
that title will come later.
But the identity of these early followers of the resurrected Christ is captured in the phrase “in Christ.”
b. It defines our relationship the God, the one who created us.
1. We may have gone astray from our relationship with God.
2. We may feel separated from God by our choices,
by our sin,
by our circumstances
3. But Christ has comes to redeem us and our relationship with God.
4. Not that “in Christ” we are perfect,
or have perfect lives.
but we are “new creations”
4. “in Christ” describes the new life that that comes to us from and through Christ,
and the connection back to God
that relationship with God that transcends everything else.
in our baptism, we declare that we are “united with Christ in his death and resurrection.”
which means, as Paul writes to the Romans in another passage from his letter,
that nothing,
in life or in death,
can separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus.
Move 2:“in Christ” not only speaks to being connected to the resurrected Christ, but also Speaks to the relationship that we have with each other.
1. Notice how Paul describes Prisca and Aquila in his letter to the Romans.
“Greet Prisca and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ Jesus,”
Not simply co-workers because they share the workload.
But coworkers in Christ, which identifies how they are connected.
c. I like the boldness of Paul’s letters - he declares as he begins his letters,
that he is connected to people,
some whom he has never met before,
some of whom have already expressed doubts about Paul
but he boldly announces they are bound together in Christ.
and that matters.
1. I have discovered through the years that greeting people in the name of Christ also works when I find myself as a guest preacher at other churches
or when I go on behalf of the presbytery to lead worship in local congregations.
2. “I greet you in the name of our lord Jesus Christ” quickly establishes that we though may have never met,
but we are connected
there is a relationship already there that is grounded in our shared identity as being “in Christ.”
3. So we can worship together,
we can work together,
we can make claims in one another.
because we are “in Christ” together
Move 3: Baptism brings together what it means to be connected in Christ.
a. In the reformed understanding of baptism, we recognize that we are bound together by our baptism in Christ.
1. Connected to each other:
2. “Just as our understanding of God’s faithfulness is rooted in grace, it is also rooted in human interdependence. No mainstream church tradition recognizes the validity of self-baptism.
In order to make this powerful affirmation of faith, a Christian must become vulnerable to at least one other person,
who will pour the water or guide the immersion. the act of baptism is itself a reminder that our individual salvation is intertwined with that of the entire body of Christ.” Catherine Healy, December, 2024, The Christian Century, 25.
b. We know that truth
later in the worship service, you are going to stand for the baptism of Avery and Thomas.
you stand because they are not alone as they are baptized.
you stand because their parents are not alone in teaching the Christian faith to them
you stand because others have stood with you.
4. As the waters of baptism flow down their heads, They are united with Christ in his death and resurrection.
They are connected to all of us
Conclusion: “In Christ”
Amen.
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