Africa Sunday: Making Disciples of All Nations
Jesus tells his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations.” On Africa Sunday, Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Cruz challenges the church to take all nations seriously. Drawing from his own multicultural family and ministry in diverse Gwinnett County, he reminds us that every person bears the image of God and that diversity is not an optional church program but part of the gospel’s vision. The nations are already among us. What would it look like to become a church where people of every race, culture, language, and background are not simply welcomed, but valued, seen, included, and given a true place to belong?
Jesus tells his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations.” On Africa Sunday, Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Cruz challenges the church to take all nations seriously. Drawing from his own multicultural family and ministry in diverse Gwinnett County, he reminds us that every person bears the image of God and that diversity is not an optional church program but part of the gospel’s vision. The nations are already among us. What would it look like to become a church where people of every race, culture, language, and background are not simply welcomed, but valued, seen, included, and given a true place to belong?
Connecting All Through Christ
Jesus sends the disciples into the world with a promise: “I am with you always.” The church does not exist simply to create connections among people who are already here. Christ sends us to build connections—with neighbors, with people whose lives look different from ours, and with a world God already loves. In this final sermon of the series, we consider what it means for McKendree to be People. Doing life together. Connecting all through Christ.
Jesus sends his disciples into the world with more than a command to make connections. He sends them to make disciples—to carry God’s life-giving, love-giving grace into the world. In this sermon, we explore the final phrase of McKendree’s vision: Connecting all through Christ. Through Christ, people encounter a love that gives life, crosses boundaries, changes us, and sends us to participate in God’s transformation of the world.
Doing Life Together
Jesus told his disciples not only to make disciples, but to teach people to live what he had taught them. Faith takes shape through practices learned in community: worship, prayer, forgiveness, service, generosity, and love. But the group itself is never the destination. In this sermon, we explore how doing life together prepares us to live and speak our faith beyond the walls of the church.
Jesus told his disciples not only to make disciples, but to teach people to live what he had taught them. Faith takes shape through practices learned in community: worship, prayer, forgiveness, service, generosity, and love. But the group itself is never the destination. In this sermon, we explore how doing life together prepares us to live and speak our faith beyond the walls of the church.
People
Jesus entrusted the work of making disciples to eleven ordinary, imperfect people—some of whom still had doubts even as they stood before the risen Christ. In this sermon, we consider what that says about the people God chooses and the people the church is called to become. At McKendree, “People” means there is room for real people, with real stories, questions, gifts, and imperfections, to be part of what God is doing in the world.
Jesus entrusted the work of making disciples to eleven ordinary, imperfect people—some of whom still had doubts even as they stood before the risen Christ. In this sermon, we consider what that says about the people God chooses and the people the church is called to become. At McKendree, “People” means there is room for real people, with real stories, questions, gifts, and imperfections, to be part of what God is doing in the world.