The Great Cs of Following Jesus: Chapel Reflection with Al Pontarelli

When it comes to following Jesus, Pastor Al Pontarelli said, there are three great “Cs” we need to concern ourselves with.                 

“They’re the Great Commission, the Great Commandment and the Great Cause. I want you to think about these and ponder how you are living them out intentionally in your own life,” he told members of the Kuyper community gathered in the Vos Chapel on March 26 for a twice-weekly service. 

The Pastor of Missional Engagement at Kentwood Community Church then directed various attendees to read aloud from Bible passages pertaining to these topics and highlighted certain themes that surfaced within the text. 

“We’re all familiar with the Great Commission, where Jesus sends His disciples out to preach the Gospel,” Pontarelli said. “He’s telling them and us that following Him means going out and actually doing things. It’s an idea we see all over Scripture as well.” 

And, as we go out following the Great Commission, he emphasized, there is a Great Commandment we must also live by. 

“We are called to love as Jesus loved us, because then other people will know something about who He is by the way we love one another,” he said. 

This is easier said than done, Pontarelli admitted. In fact, he added that he believes it is not possible at all without the transforming power of a new life in Christ. 

Once we have experienced this renewal, we will be equipped to truly love others, he said. This means being willing to form deep relationships and live life alongside other people, which is the Great Cause of Christianity. 

“We need to be willing, not just to go and do something transactional, but to truly get into relationship with them and dwell among them as Jesus did,” he told his listeners. 

The division, frustration and anger that too often fill our world leave many people hungry for the kind of transforming power and deep connections that truly following Jesus can provide. 

“So, when we think about these three Cs,” Pontarelli once again asked the audience, “are we willing to go, are we willing to love, and are we willing to live life with others?”