The Rev. Jonathan Mills focused on the sanctification of “God’s people” during his sermon at First Church of the Nazarene off Paper Mill Road on Sunday, a day in which the local Congregationalists joined Nazarenes worldwide celebrating the 100th anniversary of their denomination.
Centennials are in a way sanctified, that is -- set apart, so the lead pastor thought it fitting to focus on the meaning of the word “sanctify” during the Worship Celebration.
In his study of I Thessalonians 5:23-24, Mills said it may seem like it is impossible to follow the mandate given by the apostle Paul, namely for people, who by nature are sinful, to become sanctified.
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it,” he said, quoting from the New International Version of the Bible.
“This is a pretty tall order, isn’t it?” Mills said. “Except that Paul seems to think that it’s doable. He gives us the solution. ‘May God himself … sanctify you through and through.' I think that’s the key. Don’t you?”
The local church joined 18,000 churches and 2 million Nazarenes in 151 countries in celebrating the Centennial.
The Church of the Nazarene traces its roots to Methodism and the teachings of John Wesley, the 18th-century English evangelist, Mills said. While the Nazarene denomination began in the late 1800s, it was officially established in October, 1908 in Pilot Point, Texas.
“That’s when a number of groups from the Eastern U.S. joined like-minded groups from the Western U.S. making the Church of the Nazarene a national body,” Mills said. “Today, the Church of the Nazarene stretches around the globe. Our denominational mission is to make Christ-like disciples in the nations.”
Cecile Brant, 45, of Newark, is a seven-year member of the Newark church, but her family roots go much deeper. She is a fourth-generation Texas Nazarene.
For Brant, the Nazarene Church represents “solid spirituality for a wobbly world.”
“Nowadays things are so crazy out there,” she said. “This is a nice little island, an oasis if you will, of real spirituality. It’s a community of people that do care for one another.
“You know how crazy, backstabbing and cut throat the real world is. That stuff doesn’t go on here. It’s almost as if time is suspended and the values that we had back in the early 1950s and 1960s are still here. It’s very Americana.”
Andy Cherry, 26, of Middletown is a lifelong member of the local church. He was there Sunday with his daughter McKenzie.
Cherry likes the belief in free will within the Nazarene denomination.
“We choose to follow God, not that God predestined us to choose him,” Cherry said. “You heard the pastor talk about sanctification this morning. That’s part of it.”
“Once you’re saved, it’s still a continual process,” he said. “It’s more of an emphasis on a lifelong commitment to following Christ.”
The denomination has been headquartered in Kansas City, Mo. since 1912. The Church of the Nazarene has been ministering in New Castle County since the mid-1920s, and the Newark congregation was established in 1941.
