July 16, 2017 - against/for II

I want to share a story this morning as a begin a couple of stories when I was a kid. I wasn't raised in the church. And so one of my early experiences with Christians and Christianity and the church was this experience of sitting in my living room one day as I could maybe 12 years old or something like that watching TV and suddenly being aware that I was being watched you ever have that experience work you're all alone. But you just your sense of just say hey, I'm not all alone or somebody's watching me. And so I looked around nobody was in the living room, but he was standing in the doorway from the kitchen the living room, but then I looked over and at our window in the front of our house in the living room. There was a kid just with his hands cuffed over like that looking in our window. It was our next door neighbor and he was watching our television kind of watching over my shoulder watching Andy Griffin or Gilligan's Island or whatever. I was probably watching at that time. He was a Christian and he put his particular way that he was practicing his face with his family was that they had no television in their home and all of the women in their family or denim long denim skirts, and they never cut their hair and because they had no television he would sneak over to my house and peek in the window and try to watch our television a little bit now as a fellow kid. I thought huh, that's weird. I don't know if I want anything to do with that religion. If if that's what it means that you don't own a TV and you you wear denim and you don't cut your hair or or things like that. It was kind of strange. Male years later after college and becoming a pastor and becoming quite sophisticated and and working on staff at a Disciples of Christ Church. Some of you may say well if we didn't know that had had had we known that if it makes you feel any better, it was a very conservative Disciples of Christ Church that was champion champion being biblical within the movement. This was in the nineties when the disciples National leadership was moving more toward the left and we were a large congregation that we're saying stay biblical stay biblical and I went to the National Conference of the first big National Conference is kind of fun in Pittsburgh. Nice hotel you dress up and they have all these fancy meetings you go to a separate was kind of cool when I was young and after this church and I thought well, this will be fun and I was kind of impressed with with all the show, but I went to a workshop at this conference and and these particular Christians the way they were expressing their faith was At this Workshop. It was about proclaiming Jesus as Lord and I thought that's a great thing about evangelism. Globally. That's why I went to another taking notes. And then the presenter said now listen, let me make it clear. You can Proclaim Jesus as your Lord, but you cannot Proclaim him as the Lord or as Lord. Because there might be somebody for whom he's not Lord and you don't want to offend them. So make sure when you have a claim Jesus is Lord those elastic besides your Proclamation that says well, he's my Lord but I'm not saying anything beyond that about Jesus and I was sitting there thinking. Okay, that's weird. That's kind of strange. I even said to him naively. What's the point why we proclaiming him Lord if he's not Lord, how is it good news if it's only a subjective reality and it's just different for everybody. Why bother Those two extremes of living out your faith are both based on misunderstanding so scripture. Sometimes folks hang on to the conservative side of the ditch to the extreme where they think all we got to get everything right? We got to do this the way we cut her hair the clothes we wear all this stuff and that becomes their expression of Christianity, and it's not in line with scripture. Sometimes folks go so far to the other side that they just say to the world around us. We want to be accepted in and popped her and and you know, correct so much that will just say whatever. and let go of all of our convictions and that becomes this sort of weirdest or two different in all the wrong ways and unbiblical living out of the faith in both. Those extremes are based on misunderstanding of scripture and I want to talk about some scriptures that show us how to understand how to be in the right spot on those sorts of issues in terms of how we live in relation to the culture around us. This is part of a series that we started a couple of weeks ago based on this verse Timothy says be diligent that he speaking to Christians those who are seeking to follow Christ be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a Workman who does not need to be ashamed accurately handling the word of Truth and then in 2nd Peter Peter says but know this first of all that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human wheel but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God and so a couple conclusions that are the foundation of the series is we are required to do the work necessary for an accurate understanding of scripture. It's not just a matter of us pulling up a verse and saying well to me this means and declaring that that's with the do the work of understanding scripture accurately in handling it truthfully and faithful. And so that requires some effort on our part and we talked about one of the four principal just never read a verse and what we meant by that was always read the context don't just pull a verse out like a fortune cookie and say well to me this means but instead read before and after read the contacts and understand that it's never a matter of just your own interpretation. God has inspired the scripture all scriptures are God breathed inspired by God and intended understanding there's an accurate understanding of scripture. It's not just a matter of welders. I was in the room then there's a hundred different legitimate meanings of that verse know there's an accurate understanding of scripture and we are challenged in required to do the work to study to figure out that understanding last week. We looked at Romans 12:1. Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a Living Sacrifice. Holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship and we pointed out that in that verse Romans 12:1. The context is chapters 1 through 11. That's what leads up to the therefore. He reviews God's Great mercy and Grace to us and says therefore in response to God's goodness his grace his Mercy forget his present yourself to God your body. So I got this is worship, but it doesn't just stop there worship isn't just just generic words that we fill in with whatever content we want. He explains what it means to give ourselves to God and worship in verse 2 of chapter 12 all the way through chapter 15 verse 13 He unpacked what it means and we concluded last week. That essentially what you saying is worship of God must include relationships with the found and the lost that are marked with authentic time-consuming christ-like love cuz when he unpacked worshipping God with her whole life. He immediately start talking about relationships a relationship with God keeping yourself pure and not conformed to this world our relationship as Brothers and Sisters in Christ, loving them and serving them with their gifts our relationship with our enemies and those who are against us and purse to dust instead were to bless them a relationship with a government Romans 13 and he continues to unpack how worship giving your whole life to God is seen in manifest in our relationships with our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. And with those who don't know the Lord I want to continue to talk about that thing by looking at Hebrews chapter 13, specifically verses 15 and 16. But to do justice to this passage, we've got to do some overview and some background a little bit. So I want to model what we're talking about when we say you look at the context to understand the verse but Paul says In Hebrews through Jesus therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise the fruit of lips that openly profess his name and do not forget to do good and to share with others. / such sacrifice. God is pleased as it really this is another core verse like Romans 12:1 or the New Testament says, here's what it means. Here's what Whole Life Worship means in relation to the got here is how we worship God now, we're more from are often times of Romans 12:1 cuz it's quoted a lot. But this is just as much a cord passes that comes at the end of the book of Hebrews is on order to do justice to this passage. I'll put on Professor hat for just a moment and just hang with me a little bit because he bruise is a big thick challenging books. So if you ever open Hebrews and start reading it and you scratch your head that's perfectly fine. It is written with the assumption that the reader understand the Old Testament, really really Really really well and the author just makes all these assumptions about what the reader knows about the Old Testament and uses analogies and references and Illusions the Old Testament throughout but if you were to break the Old Testament down 1 commentary does a good job by pointing out. Excuse me. Hebrews down does a good job by pointing out you could break it into three sections. It's all about Jesus being the true prophet and leading us to the true rest in God that's chapters 1 through 4 of Hebrews and then it's all about Jesus being the true priest and leading us to the true presence of God. That's Hebrews chapters 5 through 9, and then it's all about Jesus being the true king and leading us to the city of God that's chapters 10 through 13. And that's where our passage lies this morning that we're going to look at now Hebrews 13 through 16 a little closer to our passage in Hebron shooting Hebrews, 11 13 through 16 a little closer to our passage in Hebrews chapter 13 sets up an analogy that's very much a part of our passage in Hebrews chapter 13, so I want to This out to us the author talks about Christians being resident aliens in this world. That's what the original Greek I could be. Well translated as resident anglin's it talk about strangers and Aliens, but he uses very unique and specific language that creates tension. He doesn't let the authors identify themselves simply as aliens where we could say this world is not my home. I'm only passing through and we just purely focus on Heaven, you know, the old joke with Christian, sometimes they're so Heavenly minded that there's no earthly good that sometimes we can go off that side of the ditch and be on the wrong end of it, but he doesn't let us say this world is my home where I'm fully a citizen of this world. He uses these words that emphasize the tension calling us resident aliens meaning in one since we are permanent. This is our home we settle down we make a living but another since we are not citizens of this world or the city and that pension in all three Hebrews really especially in Hebrews 10 through 13 and Hebrews 11 is often described as a tension between two cities the city of man which really refers to ways and wisdom and culture at Son of God or the city of God, which is the ways in the wisdom of the culture that's flourishing with God's will It's a misunderstanding to think of the city of man versus the city of God in terms of military or power and sometimes it's taught and priest that way but that's not what the author of Hebrews is talking about right back. He goes out of his way. If you study Hebrews as a whole to make sure you don't understand it that way. He's talking about the city of humanity the city of mankind as everything about culture and wisdom in ways absent of God and we talkin about the city of God you go to Revelation 21 and 22 that talks about the ultimate arrival of this city of God and what it means for God's will to be done No More Tears no more suffering no more hardship that things will be the way God has always intended and designed and so that tension is all about the tension between those two understandings of life and understanding that is absent of God's wisdom and will and way I purely human understanding of life and how to live versus God's understanding in his will reveal through Christ and revealed in Scripture. I talked about this tension as our identity as Christians who are here in this world this tension between these two cities that we are citizens of the city of God in terms of its values and its teachings and twice but we live right here right now. And then we struggle to figure out how to wrestle with that tension as matter fact sociologist kind of confirm what I talked about at the beginning with those stories that the Temptation when they study Christians and especially religious folks the temptation to resolve the tension is to go to one extreme or the other and so one extreme is to say we're going to be completely separate from this world. We're going to dress differently. We're going to cut her hair differently. We're going to eat differently. If we're not going to be part of this world at all until they completely remove them stuff. That's one temptation to say the world's no good, and we're holy and what that means is we're not going to be part of it. We're not going to be near it. We're not going to We're going to get Christian music. We're going to get Christian ties at our pastor can buy at Lifeway Christian type. He's not wearing a non-Christian type. It will send her sister Christian Schools will get Christian everything and we just keep isolating ourselves from this world. And that's one extreme reaction after this tension between God's ways and human ways that we kind of pull ourselves out completely and and that becomes kind of a secretary and type of fundamentalist type of approach to living out our faith. We completely separate ourselves and say the world is no good. It's bad bad bad. We're just going to be over here and be good people and just wait for God to return and can't stay away. The Other Extreme is Illustrated in that other story that sometimes we we we say, I'll just you know, I'll just go ahead and say whatever. I'll just be no different from the world. I'll just say that's okay. Whatever. You know, everybody's welcome. No, no judgement. No, no, we're never going to give you any advice whenever going to tell you what to do. We're just going to say hey just you know, it feels good do it whatever. And that becomes this misunderstanding and misusing misapplication of scripture and how we live our lives out in this world. Now both of those approaches have one thing in common. They're both attempts to make our way in this world without God. They're both attempts to make our way in this world through Power. If I give up all my convictions in order to fit in with the world, that's an attempt to have power when he liked it. So if I just say sure that's okay. What do I do when I get light and the cultural Elites will Pat me on the back and say he's so enlightened to Progressive and open-minded and God has nothing to do with any of that. And we do the same thing on the conservative side. We live God completely out of it we go over here and we circle the wagons and we're going to say we're going to believe our way we can get our own convictions about everything under the Sun make a big long list. I know Jesus said they're just to think that some of the great commandment we can do better than him if we're going to get hundreds of things that you have to do and then we're going to rally the troops and then we're going to use fear constantly send out letters and emails Peter what this world is doing to you and your children and your check now,

Hey, man, you need my curriculum my teaching my book My Music Park. It's in Germany. God has nothing to do with that. It's another compromise is the use of human power to make our way in this world. We will circle the wagons and have nothing to do with this world. You can join us for a small fee. Both of those abdicate what scripture teaches look as we go into this passage in Hebrews. He starts out in the chapter. Where a versus lie in the first 8 vs. It sounds a lot like Romans 12 when he says present yourself as a Living Sacrifice to God, you're active Worship in any start unpacking what that means in terms of relationships because the news first aid vs. He says, here's what it means love brothers and sisters in the body of Christ love strangers love prisoners and care for them on her marriage with faithfulness in your marriage live free from the Love of Money trust in God instead and imitate mature Christians. You see how this manifestation of love and God of War II God comes in the form of our relationships with Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and those outside the king of gone and then Did not attend he says do not be distracted essentially in these verses you what he saying is do not be distracted by misunderstandings of Christian worship. It's not about ceremony or location when you read those verses you to meet Lee said yourself. What is he talking about? Because he talks about things about the temple and the Altar and what he's talking about misunderstandings that were present in his culture that were being taught kind of mixture of the Old Testament. I brought in and said, well we need to worry about altars and we need to worry about ceremonial food. And we need this is what it means to worship God and the author of Hebrews says, no do not be distracted by misunderstandings about what Christian worship is. It is not about ceremony. And it is not about location. Now, that's pretty radical to two Christians who were immersed in the Old Testament who are immersed in Jewish thinking and Hebrew thinking it was hard for them to let go of the idea that no, the city of God is a city on the earth. It's got a physical address in a zip code. I'm going to send my check there now. Was so easy for them to hold on to this idea that there was this physical place that was more holy than other places on the face of the Earth that there was a physical place. That was the place of worship Weatherby your local temple weather be the holy of holies and Paul through the whole book of papers. Unpacking the fact that do you not understand who Jesus Christ is Jesus is the true prophets. We don't follow Moses any more Jesus speaks with greater Authority is the true prophets who leads us to this sabbath the true Sabbath with God don't you understand who Jesus Christ is peace. The true priest even says if he were saying that the old Covenant is obsolete. I mean for the for the Jewish Christians for the for the Hebrew Christians to hear that it's like you're you're blowing my mind, but then he feels the case and impacts the reality the truth that Jesus Christ is the true priest. The true priest and then he's the true king. He's leading us to the true City that Revelations 21 and 22 City. He even says in Hebrews 11. It's not the city that Abraham was thinking of it's not the city that the Hebrew people think of it at the Jewish people think of it's not that sort of city. It's God's City coming one day where his will is completely done.

So he's challenging this misunderstanding about worship that it had something to do with ceremony. We've got to do the right things and we've got to do them in the right location. Now I talked about this past couple weeks. Do we sometimes slip into that error? To think that our worship of God is about a certain time during a seven day. And we sometimes think that our worship of God is about being in a certain place during a seven day. And doing certain things. Do we make the mistake of thinking well I missed worship last week. as if somehow not only shows up for one hour week in our lives as if somehow the only way I can be with God is on Sunday morning or Wednesday night or Sunday night. Is it somehow there's a subtle form of power?

We can slip into thinking if I do the right things. This makes me right with God. You see how that's even another use of power. Almost live. God has nothing to do with it. Hey, I was there preacher. I was there every time the doors are open for years and years and years.

Don't give me a hard time over the things I'm doing that are wrong. I show up at church I do. It sounds sometimes we get weak. We subtly are using power all human power to say this creates my standing with God.

a story's at beginning or straight the way in which Christianity gets lived out and manifested the world in ways that are grave misunderstandings is if what it means to be a Christian is somehow Separate Myself. Strange and different nod and all the wrong ways or to be a Christian just means to give up everything and just be mr. Oh, that's fine. Instead the author challenges us to be resident aliens to feel this tension between being citizens of the kingdom of God of God's world of God's values and also being present here caring for those around us. So he says in versus not attend don't be distracted by misunderstandings of worship. It is not about ceremony no longer. Is it about ceremony or priest or Levi to our altars are the temples or sacrifice? None of that stuff? It's not about that sort of thing and it's not even about location and then the verses 11 through 14. He says looking Jesus the true priest provided everything needed for Unholy people to know and serve God through his self giving sacrifice on the cross.

Think about the implications of that statement. Do you see what he saying? When he when he writes the book of Hebrews when he gets up at this point kind of this conclusion. It's a misunderstanding to think that were under the old ways. It's a misunderstanding things that we've got to use human power that we've got to use Church attendance or discipline or or dress code or anything like that the crazy conservative power being too far to the left and giving up our convictions in order to get the accolades of the culture around us. All of those are tips to use human power to get our place with God or sometimes in the middle. When were we still use that sort of power thing? Why did the right thing?

And the author saying don't you understand Jesus provided everything needed? For Unholy people to know and serve a holy God. Through his self giving sacrifice on the cross. So it's not even about our power of self-discipline our power doing all the things that we think this equals a good Christian. This makes me right with God. It's about Jesus. And what he did amen. This is what makes Christianity different than any other religion and not a religion because Christianity is about Jesus Christ Christianity is not about us learning a system and write arriving at some sort of level of Enlightenment. It's not about us appeasing the gods through certain behavior. And then the gospel will not cast us away will will smile upon us. It's not about us living a certain life so that we re in the next life a little bit better Christianity is not about us doing but it's about what God has done through Jesus Christ. He's provided. for salvation He's provided a way for Unholy people. to know and serve a holy God and with that lay down. here's our versus The author says through Jesus therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise the fruit of lips that openly profess his name to see how he defines work then give it everything that I've said. He's saying therefore since all this is true. Here's how we come before God hears how an Unholy people come into God's presence. It is through Jesus Christ through him not to our efforts not to getting things right or wrong or crossing every t or dining area is through Jesus Christ that we worship God that we come into His presence and worship is professing his name doing what I'm doing. Now. This is worship. Singing stating proclaiming the truthful good news about God. That's worship professing His Name correcting misunderstandings. If I had the Insight, you know, if I could go back into my 12 Yo body maybe I should go outside and sit down with that young man peeking in the window and say oh it's so much bigger than not watching TV and he has so much good plan for you. He loves you so much. And guess what who Jesus Christ. You don't have to try to make yourself wholly to the clothes you wear or the things you don't have in your home or that sort of stuff. You just have to accept the gift of Jesus Christ.

And had I had the boldness maybe as a young man, maybe I when I did I did talk back to my purse, but I could have said with greater passion. This isn't about me being right and you being wrong. This is about good news. It is good news that Jesus Christ is Lord because his character is one of love and forgiveness and compassion and provision and self-sacrifice becomes and turns this world system to pass this world live by power. Well want to collect tokens or chips or creditor credibility and operate by power and the church even slips into that danger of using politics. all kinds of other things to somehow have power on our own and God I think just says

don't you understand? It wasn't just poetry when I said if you give up your life, you will find it if you lose your life. You will gain it. It wasn't just an image when my son went to the cross. God knows the universe better than any human will ever know what he created the universe. And at the heart of the universe are these amazing realities that Jesus told us again. And again the greatest among you will not Lord it over the other. Like a boss or authority or leader or someone of a title or an office the greatest among you will be your servant.

If you lose your life you will gain it. And I said you can't go to the Cross to go to the car.

How can you Jesus it just trust me and trust the father? And he accepted the cross what looked like clear defeat in anyone's eyes. and in trusting God that day arrived of the Resurrection. The validation of all those strange things that Jesus kept saying I'm telling you you lose your life. You gain it you trust God they can't even take your very life from you.

Through Jesus therefore let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise the fruit of lips that openly profess his name and then he continues and do not forget to do good and to share with others for with such sacrifices. God is pleased. It's not about power.

That's the lesson I think we have to keep learning over and over and over because we constantly either make the mistake of trying to gain power by going to one extreme in our culture or going to the other trimming or culture or even just individually thinking I'm doing all the right things therefore. I'm right with God.

and the invitation the challenge is to let go

Of all the energy and anxiety associated with trying to come up with your own power of trying to save yourself a try to be holy enough on your own. I'm trying to be such a good follower that God will say, well you're so good. I don't have to use the blood of my son for you. You're just so good. instead of accepting our helplessness the humility before God that says I need you. And accepting his gracious gift. Where there's nothing we can do except trust in him. And it just did not just rub you wrong. It's just in our nature as I want to do something. I want to earn it. Somehow I want to somehow be better than my person next to me. I want to somehow. The challenge is just to let go and trust God that it's not about power. It's about the goodness of God being revealed his glory filling the Earth through our lives and through the lights of our prodigal brothers and sisters Whom The Father loves in For Whom the son gave his life. Do you realize when we witness we're we're against the world on on on some clear issues that we have to be against the world. We have two there are directions that are horrible and evil and self-defeating and we stand against them but we stand against them for them. Whenever stand against them with some sort of judgmental spirit is this somehow we've merited our own salvation and if they would just get with the program like us if they could just get smart like us they could just figure out things the way we did you see how suddenly that becomes about us and not about Christ. Worship to glorify God the world to glorify means to reveal the goodness of God. It's so to glorify God to worship him is to make his goodness now and that's what God is all about his glory feeling the Earth and it feels the Earth has you and I encounter him discover. His great grace is great compassion is great. Lieutenant changes are very hard sin the way we treat others. And so we become these little pockets of God's glory of his goodness of his grace and forgiveness and his mercy and so his glory his goodness feels here as Christians are present everywhere not peeking in Windows cuz we're thinkin' somehow we can earn our way. And not never taking a stance because we want some sort of accolades for the culture around us. But we're everywhere offering the goodness of God the Forgiveness of God the grace of God and the challenge of God. Not about Powers about trusting God and trusting that message because let me tell you. The world will not always welcome our Witness. Do you understand that? We may do what we know deeply is best for the world and is good for the world and the world will call us every name under the sun.

Some of our convictions will be received by the world is that's disgusting. How can you believe that that's so awful. You guys are evil. That's just wrong. You can't believe that. And believe it or not. Every generation has had their own set of things. There was never a golden age that myth that somehow 50 years ago or 60 years ago that the culture was saying we left Christianity.

I can guarantee you. The 1950 there were things that culture said about Christianity. What you believe is disgusting. I can't believe you believe that you guys are evil.

Because we're part of a different city. And if it's never fully on this Earth until God returns, we can never compromise and say if only we could get this sort of, you know, 80% 60% 50% will just go ahead and not disturb.

We have to be for a world that will hate us and will reject us. If Jesus said will call us names and we still we can't we can't slip into that sort of well, I'll just take you back. I'll just circle the wagons. We have to be like Christ. Who said to Jerusalem Alderson long for you to understand you you killed the prophets and right now but you're missing the very good news from God how I long he loved and he'll in that City that didn't want to him. crucified him Even on the cross he could look down and say father forgive them for they know not what they do. Even if Jeremiah 29 It's amazing passage. When Israel is going into Exile you get a hint of God's heart when he says to them in Jeremiah 29. Here's what I want you to do during your Exile and you'll be tempted to think they're like, yeah where we going to do. We're in a circle the wagons and say we're good and you're not you people are evil and bad as it were going to do or are we just going to play it cool?

It is now. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to live there. I want you two to settle I want you to get home. So we need to have kids on way to raise your family and I want you to work for the prosperity of the city in which you live. amazing But that was The Challenge from God's that what you want to do you wanted them to display his goodness. Do you want Christians to live your life in such a way that even the world around them would say wait a minute based on how you live? Is God good?

Evidently, you're seeking the good you're seeking my good and might my children's good in the in the city's good. I don't even party or even a Christian and you're being kind and gracious and open-handed and loving. Could it be that? The Christians are called to be 11. Like somebody famous said that didn't lie. Didn't Jesus say this is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like it's like 11:00. It's like yeast that a woman puts into the dough and it causes all of it to Rice. They won't work. If you sight now, we're just going to keep the used over here. We got a home loan use container and it's going to be separate from that dough. Or maybe if some of the dough behaves well enough that I let my kids be around them. They might get a little bit of yeast. Jesus said this is what you're called to do if you're called to be 11 in the world. To work for the good of the city to work for the good of your neighbors to love and sacrifice and like Christ on the cross when when you get betrayed and called names father forgive them for they know not what they're doing. Peter says the same thing in 1st Peter when you're persecuted by the culture around you behave so well that it causes that makes it difficult for them to call you names. Brenda Christian, we know Christians are no good in Ben. He's the one that mow my yard that time I hurt my leg will be the person to no good have been his church helped us out when we couldn't make rent that month. Well Christians are no good cuz been

Behave, so well that it's hard for the world around us. To sustain false beliefs about God about the church about Christianity Island on this note in the worship team can come forward. I love this description of the early church written about the 2nd Century. I covet that this would be description of the church today. It talks about that tension of being resident aliens of of having values that are different but loving those around us and being in the world. Just not out of it, but being in it like that leaven in the dough changing lives being involved loving and caring for others. This author writing about the early church described it. This way says they share their table with all But not their bed with all. Play Pastor days on Earth, but they are citizens of Heaven. They love all human beings but they're persecuted by everyone. They are poor yet. They make many Rich they lack all things and yet have everything they want. They are insulted and repay the insult With Honor. To sum up what the soul is to the body. That's what Christians are in the city as the sole is disbursed to all members of the body Christians now are scattered through all the cities of the world.

Wouldn't it be great if cities were saying things like man, we need more churches. We need more Christians. Instead of putting up roadblocks for zoning and churches. Would it be great if Chris has behaved in such a way that cities were think how do we get more Christians in our city? Because they're so good for the city and they're so good for the community and they're so good for others. One thing. I'm proud about that we do at Hillandale ways. We use our building all the time. And these are folks in the community all the time and I hear from post all the time. You know, I think about it. There are no churches that will let us use their building. 300 churches just in Fayette County right here in Lexington on here that all the time we can't get churches to let us use their building. They won't let us use it. Thank you so much. With every Church ought to be doing all the good it can all the ways. It can as a way of displaying the goodness of God as a way of worshipping. Yes worship on Sunday morning absolutely and worship all week through our Behavior through our relationships. So that were displaying the goodness of God to others. If you've never made a decision to accept Christ as your lord and savior during this song I invite you to do that. I'll be in the back. If you want to talk to me about that decision if you have prayer concerns will be folks in the front and the back for your prayers and let me say two things out and I'll I'll finish one. I apologize. If you've ever been exposed to one of those misunderstandings of the scriptures were some Christian model for you or talk for you that to be a Christian to follow Christ is to be some kind of weird extreme conservative into the culture or they model through the Other Extreme where they didn't really have any convictions and no matter what you said. They said well, I guess that's okay whatever you decided. They didn't really offer any hope or truth to you. I apologize.

I hope that the Christians you meet here and and what year at this church tells you that truth that God is good and loving and offers hope and Truth for our lives. We're all striving to follow that in perfectly raise your hand if you're following in perfectly. Amen, you see that so if you're thinking I meant when I first thought about becoming a Christian, my biggest fear was I will fail miserably and all the people invited me to be a Christian will just say what a loser you are. We invited you to a crisp with us and you've done it in perfectly now years later. I'm like, there's no other way to do it for us human beings but to do it in perfectly. So don't fear making that decision you're in good company of folks who are striving to the best of our ability to learn and discern and follow God better each week and every week we depend on his forgiveness. every week

we invite you to join us in following God and learn more about his goodness and trying to show that to others, please stand as we sing.