Ephesians 2:11-22 House Rules

House Rules

Our House will look like Heaven

·

Ephesians 2:11-22

· So so good to see you this morning. We are honored that you chose to worship with us this morning. You have landed with us on our 3rd week of our sermon series we entitled HOUSE RULES. We are talking about what makes FBA FBA. We are walking through what makes us tick as a body of believers. We are talking about the essentials of our church.

· 1st week we said our church will prioritize UNITY. We looked at and said we will be unified when we are humble/ gentle/ patient.

· Last week we said that we will be a HOUSE that takes RISK. We looked at and exegetically walked through the text and saw the RISK that Caleb and Joshua took. We also saw the consequence that the children of Israel (20 years of age and older) had by not entering the promise land because of their lack of risk.

· This morning we have entitled the message “OUR HOUSE WILL LOOK LIKE HEAVEN” What does that mean we are perfect. Absolutely not. It means that we will be a DIVERSE CHURCH.

· I believe that this sermon series is a great reminder of who the LOCAL church is and what God has called us to be. My prayer is it will show us the Power, potential and Vision for the local church. I believe in our generation that we have lost excitement and understand of the local church and what God intended it to be and that is the hope of the nations. We want to be a church that is on mission for the Lord. Today I want to talk to you about one of the distinctive’s of this place, One of the things that we believe that God is calling us to and we believe that it is an area of growth for us and area that we have work to do but it is something that is so so super important. So today we are going to talk about what it means to be a church that CELEBRATES DIVERSITY. We live in a very diverse country / our country is divided/ our city is divided/ our city our country is segregated there is so much prejudice in many ways / there is political prejudice/ there is racial prejudice/ there is social economic prejudice that just exist everywhere.

· Ill Redneck capital of the world. Folks on cell phones don’t realize how loud they talk sometimes and he was obviously from somewhere else and he was telling someone where he was and he said I AM IN THE REDNECK CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. Memphis tn I am like bro what are you talking about/ what / man and he did even realize that. Little bit painful to hear all of that.

· I want to speak into this as well. When we think of diversity our minds automatically go to race when however we are divided with young VS old/ we are divided Rich vs poor. I would even say our families are divided. The saying around FBA is as goes the family as goes the ?? CHURCH. Right we have families today where moms and dads are divided/ parents and children are divided. Satan is having his way with the families today in our culture.

· What is the answer to all of this: I believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what we want our HOUSE to be. We want FBA our House to look like our community and today to be honest it doesn’t. we have a little work to do.

· So lets see how we can grow in this:

· – we will exegetically break this text down into small bite size chunks. We are going to see some keys in this passage that focuses on diversity. A lot to cover so here we go.

· V11 Paul is writing to Christians at a church in Ephesus and inside that church there were Gentiles and there were Jews. Now inside this 1st century culture there was no greater since of prejudice among any other group than between the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jews hated (understatement) the Gentiles and the Gentiles hated the Jews. In fact if you were a Jew an orthodox Jew and you were to marry a Gentile your family would not come to the wedding / because they would have another service going on at the same time/ it would have been your funeral/ that is the since of prejudice that existed there. Paul is reminding them in this first verse of where they come from in their background. I believe the principles that Paul is going to lay out between the Jews and the Gentiles are principles that can work in every arena of our life where prejudice exist.

· V12 CHRIST Meaning at one time you were separated from Christ we all were. You were/ I was separated/ we were excluded from citizenship. Another translation says you were ALIENATED. Basically, Paul is saying you all had one thing in common. You all were on the outside looking in. You were all of minority status if you will.

· V12 ALIENATED So the first Key to overcoming prejudice in our life according to this text is

· #1 Our HOUSE will NOT be a HOUSE of PREJUDICE. PREJUDICE kills DIVERSITY.

· If you are here today and you are a believer there was a time when you did not know Christ Jesus. There was a time when you WERE ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN. Some of you today may have still not surrendered your life to Christ Jesus (we are super glad you are here today) One of the things that happen in our life is we get very prideful even as believers we get prideful about who we are. We take great pride in a lot of things we really didn’t have anything to do with. We have to remember that I was a sinner who had no hope no meaning in life apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is the first thing we have to think about is to remember where we have come from.

· Fillings of superiority really bring about prejudice. This is really were prejudice starts. GUATAMALA. I had nothing to do with being born in America. I am blessed. This ultimately leans us to believe that we are better than someone else. Listen to what the bible has to say about this: Paul says in What then? Are we Jews[a] any better off?[b] No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin Nobody is better than anyone else. We have all been separated from God. We all have the same spiritual condition at birth. Paul was a Jew. He had risen to the top if you will in Judaism. If anyone could have a thought that he was better than someone else it was Paul but Paul understood where he had come from. He didn’t have that pridefullness that breeds prejudice.

· Labels fuel prejudice. This is what we do. Well he is a redneck. She is aa Yankee. He is a Muslim. He is a democrat/ she is a republican. We put labels on people. When you label a person it really keeps you from seeing I would say the secret to overcoming prejudice. Truth is the only label we all have is that we are all created in the image of God. It is easier to label someone and stay in hatred. Now there are generalizations about labels that we make. Ill BASKETBALL. KENO Silly thing but we have a generalization of labels. Labels tends to lead to prejudice and alienations among groups.

· I think about the 1st century world and still today IGNORANCE fuels prejudice. In a first century world the Romans were in power and the Romans believed this about the Jews/ the Romans believed that the Jews were lazy. You know why? Because the Jews didn’t work on Saturday/ Sabbath. Do you know why the Jews didn’t work on Saturday? Because it was the sabbath. It was a day that was HOLY unto the Lord. Gods word had all kind of restrictions about what they could not do on the sabbath. This is an example of Ignorance.

· Did you know that our ancestors / the first followers of Christ/ again the first century world / the first Christians were known by the Romans as #1 incestuous people. Why? Because each other brother and sister. That is just ignorance isn’t it. That ignorance breed prejudice. The next thing that they said about our ancestors / Christians/ that they were cannibals. Why? Because believers celebrated communion. The body of Christ Jesus. These are just examples of who ignorance breeds prejudice. This is happened in our world and is still happening in our world today. I think as a follower of Jesus Christ we are way better than that. I have a vision for OUR HOUSE that FBA would be a place where prejudice dies. We will never reach out community until we look like our community. Does that make sense? Did you know that you are sitting in the most SEGERATED HOUR of the week in the United States of America? Gods house. That should not be the way it is. Some of the reasons why it is that way is because of ignorance in our own mind. Things we believe that is not true. Like the guy ? everyone in Memphis tn is a redneck. I might be but most are not. Right.

· #2 Our HOUSE will NURTURE DIVERSITY. The CROSS is the CURE to PREJUDICE.

· I want to say this. I know I run the risk of offending some of you and I am ok with that because I love you. Did you know that I love you. I will stay here all day. I am always baited by folks to be drawn into arguments. There are folks that want me to take a stand why don’t you preach about who we should vote for/ why don’t you go on attack about which candidate we should vote for/ why don’t you take a stand about issues in the community/ why don’t you take a stand Pastor Brian. I AM TAKLING A STAND I AM TAKING A STAND ON THE ONLY THING THAT WILL WORK ON THESE ISSUES. THAT IS THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. It is the hope that is found in the cross of Jesus Christ. Listen to what our text says this morning.

· V13-14 has made us both one. Who is that… the Jew and Gentile. They are now believers they are now one. They are not seen anymore of Jew and Gentile. They are seen as believers or one. They have a new identity that has come through the cross of Jesus Christ.

· V14 Man this is a great passage. In a first century culture would have understood it in a more clear context than we understand it today. If you worshipped in a first century world and you went to the temple there was a court of Gentiles. If you were not a Jew then you could only get into the first layer of the temple. Then there was a huge was with a sign that archeologicalist have unearthed the sign. That said IF YOU ARE NOT A JEW YOU GO PAST THIS WALL WITH THE THREAT OF YOUR LIFE. Meaning if you went in any further into the temple and you were not a Jew you would be killed. This created a little animosity right. This would be like us today saying if you weren’t born in ARLINGTON you cant worship in here. All of you who were born outside of Arlington we will have a tent set up in the parking lot that you can worship in. Don’t come in or we may shoot you. That creates a little division doesn’t it. You guys with me still.

· So when Paul says the dividing wall has been destroyed … that is what Jesus did. He broke down the diving wall. What caused this division. Sin caused this division. What did Jesus accomplish on the cross? Jesus obliterated sin. The consequences of sin. The debt that sin brought. The hostility that is a result of sin. Jesus did away with it all.

· Cody my youngest son. I know he gets sick of me using him in illustrations. I told him the other day man do you mind me using this for illustration. He said yes. I said well if you love Jesus you will let me tell it. By the way look how God is using you in great ways. Fight. Wouldn’t pick him up. Because that is the warrior I am. Fight. Temper. Hostility//// Hostility is a part of our nature apart form Christ. It is only the blood of Jesus Christ that makes us whole that completes us/ that gives us our identity. Apart from Christ we are always fearful/ we are always anxious/ we are always competing/ we are always hostile. Peace comes when we trust the completed work on the cross and understand who you are in Christ. Because the bible says sin separates us from Christ/ now the dividing wall has come down. Allow me to say this SIN ALSO SEPERATES YOU FROM OTHER HUMAN BEINGS. Jesus also obliterated that. Why so we can have fellowship known as the church. OUR HOUSE/ our FAMILY.

· V15-16 Jew and Gentile now are ONE NEW man through the Cross of Jesus Christ. Can we just say this today. OUR CULTURE STINKS AT RELATIONSHIPS. Can I say that to you this morning. There is so much prejudice in our country / ill say this it is worse in other countries. If you have traveled to Latin American countries you leave Mexico and go into other Latin American countries they don’t like each other. There is a ton of prejudice in other parts of the world. We lived in one of the most racially divided cities in the country. The only hope for prejudice to end is the completed work through Jesus Christ and the cross that can radically change one life at a time. This is why I believe with all of my heart that the church is the hope of the nations. This is the answer.

· What happened at the cross? The sin that brought about separation and hostility was defeated. Isn’t that good news. The sin that brought separation between me and the father was defeated. The sin that brought hostility between Auburn fans and Alabama fans has been defeated. I am a Tennessee fan so we don’t have much to cheer for. Republicans and Democrats hostility defeated at the cross. North and the South defeated. This Hostility has been defeated.

· This is controversial. The answer to segregation / we live in a segregated world today. Again you are sitting in the most segregated hour in the world. We have to change that. Please let that not be said of OUR HOUSE/ FBA. THE ANSWER TO SEGREGATION IS NOT INTERGREATION. Let me explain before you email me. I am not saying integration is bad. I think it is a good idea. The problem is it doesn’t work. Just because you bring 2 different people together doesn’t mean that they are going to get along. They can learn from each other I understand that. I believe that the true answer to SEGREGATION IS NOT INTERGATION BUT IT IS SALVATION. When a person comes to faith and trust in Jesus Christ they are a new creation / a new man or new woman. Today I am not a white man or a black man or a Hispanic man …….if you are in Christ you are God’s man. I shouldn’t see the difference… it is not a part of who we are now in Christ. Paul says Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[a] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come let me say this to you today because we are running out of time. Prejudice is a part of the old man. The old creation. I am not saying that there will not be embers that we have of that that may want to pop up sometimes. I have heard this so much over the years to be honest it makes me sick at my stomach. LISTEN THIS IS THE WAY I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN // THIS IS THE WAY MY DADDY WAS// sometimes it is time to graduate isn’t it? At some point it is time to say I am growing up and I ma a new man or a new woman in Jesus Christ. That might have been my background but that is not my destiny. My identity has been radically changed though Christ Jesus. This is where prejudice ends AT THE CROSS.

· RESULTS OF THE CROSS.

· BECAUSE OF THE CROSS WE HAVE A COMMON SALVATION.

· BECAUSE OF THE CROSS WE HAVE A COMMON SPIRIT. If you are a believer here today you have the 3rd person of the trinity / the Holy Spirit of God that live within you. He gives you power/ direction. He makes you a new creation.

· BECAUSE OF THE CROSS WE ARE FAMILY TODAY. We are brothers and sister and at some point we begin to act like that.

· BECAUSE OF THE CROSS WE HAVE A NEW CITIZENSHIP. Our eternity is Heaven we are just passing through this earth.

· #3 Our HOUSE will DEMONSTRATE the power of the GOSPEL through DIVERSITY.

· Why is that? Because no other area of our culture is doing this well. A church who was to get this/ a church who was to embrace this/ a church that was to live out their identity as a new creation in Christ and was diverse in its gathering and going and mission and ministry would bring so much glory to God. Do you believe that? Man I do. I think a lost world looks in and say you are like everyone else in so many ways.

· V17-19 HE Jesus. HOUSEHOLD. Importance of church. If there is ever a picture of consumer Christianity boy that is it. What are you running on special this week for my kids. For me. God hasn’t called us to be consumers God has called us to be contributors. He has called us to come together as a FAMILY and bring God glory. We can say man I don’t have prejudice that is not a part of my life. Well how the culture see that. OH OH GOOD they will see that when we live that out as a family. How are we a family? When Membership matters and boy it matters to OUR HOUSE FBA.

· Illustration: Melinda cooks dinner/ see what my neighbor cooks / other neighbor cooks. See what I like best. Don’t do it at you house that is silly/// God doesn’t want us to do it in HIS.

· I have said this 10 times this morning. Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour of the week. The PEW STUDY did research on this over the years and here is a quote from the PEW CENTER RESEARCH. “every Sunday in the USA parishioners head off to their respective churches the vast majority are filled with worshipers predominately one race. 93% of the churches in the USA that are worshiping right now 93% are filled with one race of people.” And we wonder why we aren’t reaching our community. One of the reasons is we don’t look anything like our community. This is not how God has called us to do this thing called life.

· V19 we belong to a body of believers known as the church. OUR HOUSE.

· V20 I love this. Lets go back to our forefathers of the church / the bride of Christ / do you remember what happened when the church first came together in ? What was the contributing event that launched this thing called the church? It was the Day of Pentecost. What happened at Pentecost is we saw people with all different backgrounds now coming to the city of Jerusalem and they heard the Gospel in one voice. In fact what we see in is a reversal of what happened in which is the tower of Babel. The Tower of Babel brought separation the church is starting and bringing people in together. Dying to prejudice and worshiping the lord as one body. That is our background. That is our heritage. Oh that we could and would reclaim that in our generation.

· V21 -22 What is the point here. This idea of being a diverse church / this idea of dying to prejudice in our own life is a work of the Holy Spirit. It is what the Holy Spirit does when He comes to live in your heart and life. If you’re here today and you were to say Pastor Brian you just need to be quiet / you don’t understand/ infact it is people like you Pastor Brian that are so liberal in what your saying and you are causing all the problems in our culture. Let me just say something to you: as it relates to differences. There is one side of the argument that say we need to be accepting of everybody we just need to love everyone/// the other side of the argument is just kind of separate from them. This is the side that lives inside walls with prejudice. They protect themselves and isolates themselves. TWO SIDES OF THIS ARGUMENT. Here is what I will say to you this morning. Both are wrong. Can I say that to you? In fact, accepting someone who is I sin is not a loving thing. It is a hate filled thing. If I were to go to my DR. Dr Andrew Morgan if I were to go to you on Monday and Dr Andrew finds a massive tumor in my body and I come to him and say hey Doc how am I? He say Brian your fine!! Your great. Just the way you are you are perfect. That would be hatred wouldn’t it. He wouldn’t be sharing the truth with me. This is how we are about accepting all these things that don’t line up with the word of God. My buddy is having an affair on his wife/ that is just the way he is. I need to love him. YES AND NO!!!! the bible says we ought to be inspectors of a persons fruit. The bible say we ought to share the truth in LOVE. Here is where we get into the problem. We want to try to fix someone with our own words. This doesn’t work. It is the truth of Gods word that is applied to a person that we love and care about that is involved in sin that will bring change. WHY? Because this word of God is alive. It is active. It cuts right to the heart. See I don’t know your heart/ I don’t know your past. Listen I have met with people who may be living a alternative life style as our culture would put it. After you meet you find that in her past she had been abused by a family member over and over and over. Listen the last thing she needed was some preacher just to blast her about her sin. She needs the truth of the word of God that can bring about forgiveness and hope and love. This living word can bring about change in her life. Truth can do that but we have to be courageous enough to share it in love.

· Someone here today in a crowd this big needs to say this. God I am a work in progress and father I need to grow up in this area. There is prejudice in my life. I put on labels/ there is this guy at the office that I have just shut myself off too. God I want you to begin to renew this work in me so that I can be a person who bring you glory by the way I live my life.

· I am closing: diversity must be intentional. We must have a plan for it and engage it with some intentionality. Time to go and some of you look mad. 😊 here is what I believe about prejudice. If you are mad at me today please know I love you. I do. Have you thought that maybe that anger is coming from some place else. I don’t like you calling this out/ stick to scripture/ I did/ I promise/ I have this deep seeded hatred or animosity against this group and that is just the way it is going to be, You don’t know what they have done to me in the past.1 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar;( I wish john would shoot straight) for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot[a] love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. Today as we close this hatred or animosity could be giving you a glimpse of a hostile heart you may have toward God. The only cure we have for that is let me introduce you to Christ.

· Maybe thought God is prejudice against me. I have made to many mistakes. Back in 1986 this happened and God cannot wait to punish me. Listen God is not a bigot he is benevolent. forever YES to Jesus Christ.

· My problem is not others it is me. Cant forgive myself. Cure is the same.