Message summary
What was preached
At the celebration of 27 years since New Hope Church Orlando was organized as a church, and 31 years of ministry, the message was brought by Rev. Wesley Porto, the church’s founding pastor. With joy and humor, he recalled the road traveled since his arrival in Orlando: the beginning of the work, the forming of the first session, the church’s council of elders, and God’s faithfulness through every crisis the church has gone through.
Pastor Wesley read John 13:31-35, a passage set just after Judas leaves the Last Supper. Jesus declares that there, as He walks toward the cross, the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. The sermon explained that this glorification is the fulfillment of the work of salvation promised since Eden, accomplished in Christ’s humble and obedient self-giving, even to death on a cross, as Philippians 2 describes.
From Ephesians 2, the preacher showed how the death of Jesus tore down the hostility between Jews and Gentiles and took us out of the condition of foreigners, making us fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s family. He reminded the church of the words Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household… (Ephesians 2:19, NIV), applying the text to the lives of the many immigrants in the congregation.
The center of the message was Jesus’ new command: that we love one another as He loved us, with a love of self-giving and sacrifice, not mere affection or friendliness. The preacher stressed that this is the mark by which the world will recognize the disciples of Christ, more effective even than many words of evangelism.
In closing, Pastor Wesley offered practical guidance for living out this love in the family of faith: pray for the church, do not speak ill of your brothers and sisters, always seek the gathering of the congregation, be patient and correct with love, use spiritual gifts to build one another up, and honor those who are older, all illustrated by the life of the early church in Acts 2:42-47. The sermon ended in prayer for the church and also for Brazil, in the month of its independence.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
John 13:34 (NIV)
This summary is prepared from the service transcript, with the help of artificial intelligence. The full sermon is in the video.
