Episode 27: The Family II
Good morning.
Good to see all of you and all of you. Still getting used to that anybody else. Still kind of feel like you're getting away with something. When you go into the grocery store without a mask on your next sermon in the series, that we've been going through, call the plan. We're on episode 28. So we've been doing this since September and our goal has been to tell the entire story of the Bible. From beginning to end. We started with Genesis in September and we're going to be doing the Resurrection on Easter and that puts us today in the ministry of Jesus. But before we get into that, we're going to remind ourselves. The story that the Bible tells the Bible is the story of God's plan, to establish a Place full of people who live out their purpose in his presents. So God made the world. Can you put human beings in it with a particular purpose, in mind to rule over the Earth on his behalf? And then on the 7th day, he came down to live with them. And that seventh day. That is the goal of Gods. But there's one weak Link in the design, which is US. Weak and human beings kept messing it up. And so the plan didn't work because of our failures until God started this project to restore his plan to the World, by choosing one particular family, call the family of Israel and he was going to give them, make them kind of dislike display model of the plant. So he gave them a particular place to live in and then he gave them their purpose. He wrote it out in 613, laws of exactly how we wanted them to live and then you came down to live with them in the temple. So that in that one place the whole plan was functioning and the world could look at Israel and understand who God is and what he wants for his people. But again, the weak link was the people the Israelites worth any better than the rest of us, at living out, this plan until they failed. And they feel that they failed to the point where God decided the only way I can accurately show the world who I am. And what I stand for is by Ending this Arrangement by Brett by declaring this Covenant broken to show that, I don't endorse what they've been doing. So Israel was sent into Exile and that's kind of where we been stuck. Some of these, the Jews got to come back to Jerusalem, but the they build a temple that God didn't come back to live in it and they haven't got. Has it really restored them. It's over four to five hundred years there waiting for God to restore them and tell John the Baptist comes out, and starts preaching that God is ready to move. Again. He says, the kingdom of God is near and then Jesus comes out and begins to say the same thing. And last week, we talked about how this message. This is Gospel, that Jesus was preaching, was the news that God is ready to move again. He's ready to restore. Restore Israel. That's what the kingdom of God is near me. Until it was time for the for the Jews to change. Their path to come back to God and follow him. That's what repent and believe me. And so today, what we're going to do as we're drying out the different threads of Jesus's Ministry is. We're going to start looking at the way Jesus, what Jesus did with those who responded to his message last week, focus on the message. We have knowledge that some people followed him and some people didn't. And today, we're going to talk about what happened when people chose to follow him. Who actually are opening passage the same one as last week. And as I read this, remember how we keep our bearings in a story in the Bible as how we've been doing it the whole time that you want to watch for four things. Who is the story about Where is their home and what's their relationship to their home? How can they meet with God? And what does, what has God told him to do and those coordinates help you positioned the story and this overall story that God is telling in the Bible. Go back to last week's opening passage where Jesus is in his hometown of Nazareth. He goes to church one Sunday or Saturday. Either the synagogue and they asked him to speak and a hand in the scroll of Isaiah unrolling. The scroll Jesus found the place where it is written. The spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to Proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to Proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free to reclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendance at down the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them today. This scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. I told get our coordinates. Who is this story about?
About Jesus and the Jews. The Jews are God's people. God is still committed to saving the world through the Jews that hasn't changed, but he's got to deal with the situation that the juice have gotten themselves into through their Disobedience. And so Jesus has been sent to be the one who leads them out of that. That the situation that there is a Jesus, is the leader of the juice is one that God has appointed for that. There's lots of other people claim to be the leaders. But Jesus is the one that God is called. Where is there home? The promised land has been carved up into Roman territories, called Galilee and Judea. To the relationship that the Jews have to their home as they're not in control of it. The Romans are the Romans are the ones who decided on those borders. There's actually a Roman governor in charge of Judea. There's a Jewish King in charge of Galilee by he's appointed by the Romans, so they don't have control over their own land. Like they were supposed to according to the original Covenant. How can they meet with God? And here's what would have surprised the Jews. The most of this time is they thought they could meet God at the temple, but that's presents never return to the temple, but we found a couple weeks ago is that God's presence did return but it returned in Jesus. And so, if you want to meet God, during this time, there is a location where you can count on meeting God, but it's not the temple, it's Jesus.
Now the last question in the one, we're going to focus on mostly during the sermon is what did God tell Jesus to do? Because today we're going to end up touching on one of the things that people argue about more in terms of what Jesus came to do, the passage that he read, he's giving him. He's listening out his mission. And what we saw there was a lot of individual interactions the the kinds of things that we often think of it. We think of the ministry of Jesus of freeing prisoners, giving sight to the blind like having individual interactions with people and we often will think that that was the mission that Jesus had was to individually. Call people probably because for a lot of people that's with the mission that Jesus has now to call individuals so that I can be saved by Jesus and I can have my relationship with Jesus individually. I'm on one side. That's what I say is that Jesus came to save individual people. And, and that's the goal of his mission. There are also some, who will say. Jesus didn't come to found any kind of organization. He just came. Teach people to do better just came to teach them in a better way of living, but he didn't intend to leave behind himself a movement. He didn't intend to found a church. These are both variations of the same idea that Jesus came for individuals, not to establish a movement or or a church is a, we're going to look at what that actually means. We're going to start by taking a closer. Look at this passage. The Jesus uses to announce his mission, because those the Park City quotes do tend to list individual interaction. But if you go back and read the passage, that Jesus is quoting, you'll find that it's not about saving random individuals as you carry on and get two verse four. It says they will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated. They will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for Generations. Strangers will Shepard your flocks, foreigners will work your fields and Vineyards and you will be called Priests of the Lord. You will be named Ministers of our God. Every week as we've been in the New Testament, we've been coming back to this point that the mission of Jesus and the and John, the Baptist was to announce the renewal of Israel. That's what Isaiah 61 is about that. The recovery of sight for the Blind and the freeing of the oppressed. Those are all signed that God is renewing is real to his plan. So Jesus's mission from this passage when he announces this to the use. What they're hearing is that his purpose is to proclaim the renewal of Israel.
Because you have to renew Israel before God's plan to save the world that he's, he's revealed will take effect.
What we're going to do is we're going to look at what how Jesus accomplish this Mission, and we're going to be keeping an eye on this question of did, Jesus come to save individuals. Did he come to just teach people to live with me, on to love people, to love each other more? Or did he come to establish something? I'm going to be mostly in the first two chapters of Mark. Here's where we'll begin as Jesus. Walked beside the Sea of Galilee. He saw Simon and his brother. Andrew, casting the net into the lake for. They were fishermen. Come follow me. Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people at once. They left their Nets and followed him when he had gone a little farther. He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat preparing their nuts without delay. He called to them and they left their fathers, ebony in the boat with the hired men and followed him. Do Jesus goes around finding people, insane pay, follow me? It matters to Jesus. That there are people who actually follow him. Which would indicate that he's starting some kind of movement. Now. He might say, yeah, but he's just, he's just recruiting people to help him. Teach. His message is still mainly about just teaching. People love each other more accepted. What is the mission? That he tells the disciples are going to get? Does he say? Follow me and I will make you teachers of good morals. Now, he says, follow me and I will make you Fishers of Men. He's, he's saying that their mission is also going to be to get other people to follow Jesus. So the first thing that we see, as we left the ministry of Jesus is a Jesus traveled around Galilee recruiting Jews to join his movement.
Is that what the outside is certainly. Looks like? Jesus is putting together, some kind of some kind of group. And what we're going to find is that the things that Jesus does are meant to broadcast that message that he's putting together a movement with people, to hit the, to the juice that the things that he does take on that special significance. Because When Jesus, we have to remember that everything Jesus does, he's doing as a person who is claiming that is, real is getting restored through his ministry, right? And that adds another element to everything that Jesus does. So I'll give you an example as we talked about his healings. A man with Leprosy came to Jesus and begged him on his knees. If you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus was indignant or more likely. That word means filled with compassion, Paisley. He had an emotional reaction to the man situation, you reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing. He said be clean immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. Now, what we see here is the Jesus has incredible compassion for this man. This man who knew other people would not be willing to touch. It would be afraid to go near and they would consider him an outcast and Marge and Jesus has compassion on him and heals him and, and shows profound love for this marginalize person. That, that is important. However, it's also important for us to recognize, Jesus wasn't the only healer going around. In fact, the Pharisees gospel, the gospel tells of the Pharisees had. He was going around killing people but it means something different. When you're a Healer, who's claiming to restore Israel, and you can see that as you read, what Jesus says to him next, Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning. See that you don't tell this to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them. This is important because this man until he was killed was not allowed in the temple. They're very strict rules in Leviticus that if you have a skin disease, you may not enter the temple grounds because your skin disease is a visual representation of death, and they're meant to show that God is does not is not okay with deaf. So you can't have death represented in the Tabernacle or in the temple, but this is also true of almost everyone that Jesus heals. Jesus healed, a woman with a bleeding disorder. If you're actively bleeding, you're not allowed in the temple. Jesus, healed, people with physical deformities, who are paralyzed. If you are deformed, you are not allowed in the temple, which means it, if you are a priest in the temple, during the ministry of Jesus, you might never have met Jesus but a steady stream of people coming from Galilee who are able to Worship in the temple for the first time lives. See, when Jesus says, he's restoring Israel, and then he heals people. He is literally restoring those people to the community of God. Those people are able to worship God in ways. They were not allowed to do before. You see this come up in the very next healing in in Mark chapter one where?
Jesus is teaching in a house and there's so many people there wanting to get healed at the if you can't get into the house. And so these four men, some men came bring it to him. A paralyzed man carried by four of them says, they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd. They made an opening in the roof just above Jesus, by digging through it and then lowering the mat, the man was lying on. So this guy is paralyzed man is lower down in front of Jesus. And what is this man? Was it was ever expecting him to say. Take up your mat and walk right disease as a Healer. What does he say? When Jesus saw their faith, he said the paralyzed man, son. Your sins are forgiven. And why did he say that? Because that was the bigger issue. If you remember, if you were here for the sermon on John the Baptist, you remember that. We said that when the prophets talked about forgiveness of sins in the future, they always meant the same thing. They were always talking about God forgiving the sins of Israel that were in the way of Israel being restored because Israel had so publicly spell God, God could not bring them back into his plan without publicly for giving them their Cindy to be forgiven. Otherwise, God's just enabling it, right? And so when Jesus says I'm restoring Israel, and then he goes around for giving people, since he is saying this person is restored to God's people. And that's the more important thing in this instance. That's also part of why it was so controversial to the Jewish leaders. When Jesus claims that, he's able to forgive his real Sin on behalf of God, this immediately upset the Pharisees who are watching, and they, they say, Who does this man? Think he is. That he would do this? Is this some teachers of the law? We're sitting there thinking to themselves. Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming who can forgive, but God Alone.
Jesus said to them, why are you thinking these things? Which is easier to say to the paralyzed, man. Your sins are forgiven or get up. Take your mat and walk but I want you to know that the son of man has Authority on Earth to forgive sins. So he said to the man I tell you get up take your mat and go home. Why did Jesus heal this, man? He was meant for Alice's. I'm sure it would also involve his intense compassion. But in terms of a Ministry in terms of his mission, he did it to prove that the Forgiveness of sins was real. That when Jesus says you're forgiven, you actually are forgiven. Cuz ultimately, Jesus healed, the sick and forgave sins to restore people to the community of God. That's what he's doing. These people who are marginalized, these people who are Outcast, these people who are not able to be part of God's Community are now back in, I'm putting is real back together.
Jesus had another way of doing this, cuz that there are obviously there are people who are not, don't need healing, but need forgiveness, right? So Jesus has a different approach in those situations. Once again, Jesus went out beside a lake, how large crowd came to him and began to teach them as he walked along. He saw Levi, son of alphaeus. City of the tax collectors Booth, Follow Me. Jesus told him and leave. I got up and followed him. Don't get in Jesus. Putting together, people who will follow with him in his mission while Jesus was having dinner at Levis house. Many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him. And his disciples for there were many who followed him a tax collectors. And sinners is a common phrase. It's an idiom that would go together. Just all the people that are breaking the law of Moses. All the people that are undesirable his Tax Collectors. It wasn't just that they were taking your money. They were taking it for the Romans who were dominating God's land, right? They were they were collaborating with the enemies of God people to. This is a bad group that uses hanging out with Spence. And so when the teachers of the law who were the Pharisees saw him eating with Sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples. Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? Here's the thing. The Pharisees didn't go around policing. Everybody's dinner parties. But Jesus isn't just anybody, Jesus is claiming to be restoring Israel. So it matters who he sits down and has a feast with especially since the Old Testament, talk about the moment when God restored everything as a feast. So when this guy is claiming to restore Israel, sit down and has a feast, it matters who he's inviting to the table. It. So that's why the Pharisees were so upset by this, because Jesus is basically saying these people that you despise, that you won't even let into your synagogue. I'm letting them into the kingdom.
Their, I'm inviting them as well. What's up, Jesus offers this invitation to all Jews. To join him at the Feast of restoration. All of them are willing to join him. Now keep in mind that isn't it's not just Sinners and tax collectors. He also eats with a lot of Pharisees cuz sometimes we think the only ate with citizen tax collectors and he kept the Pharisees, an arm's length, but Jesus often date with Pharisees as well. It was a Pharisees who kept Jesus at an arm's length and why, because they didn't like the company Because when Jesus throws a feast and you want to join and you want to eat with Jesus, you also have to eat with everybody else that he invited, right? You don't get one-on-one time with. Jesus was very rare for anybody, get one-on-one time with Jesus. You usually had to put up with all the other people that Jesus had invited. And so for the Jewish leaders was actually the company that they didn't like more so and Jesus, because of the company. It's interesting how that open invitation can actually beat, what causes some people to exclude themselves.
The question then becomes what is Jesus do with these people that have decided to follow him? Because I get very often, what we will do is will say, oh, well, he he went out to these people who were outside of the religious institutions and he rejected the Pharisees were inside the religious institutions. So maybe Jesus. He just came to forgive individual people and and didn't care about the religious institutions, right? That's why the next passage is really, really powerful more powerful than it may seem at first. Some people came and asked Jesus. How is it, the John's disciples and The Disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not. Here's here's what that question reveals to us. First of all, what you need to know about John's disciples and about the Disciples of the Pharisees is that these were large movements, John the Baptist was huge and what would happen if people would come to hear, John the Baptist preaching cuz he was in one. He stayed by the Jordan, Dave coming here is preaching, and then they go back to their towns and they would form John the Baptist clubs. A people who have been changed by his preaching and wanted to live out what he been teaching them. And so there were groups of John's disciples in various towns and those disciples would have certain shared practices like feasting or right. So John's disciples were known to be faster. This time, the Pharisees did the same thing. They put together Pharisee clubs in each town and according to the Pharisee, calendar and the John, the Baptist calendar. Now is the time to fast. Now, this question is being asked, tells us. When they compare Jesus's followers to John the Baptist followers and the Pharisees that Jesus had the same kind of followers, right? That there is Jesus went through a town. He didn't call some people to follow him on the road. But he also founded Jesus clubs of people who had been transformed by Jesus and had decided that they wanted to live out his message. It's all he left behind himself. These communities of Jesus followers, and apparently these followers did not faster the same time as the others now, is that? Because that Jesus taught them well, religious Expressions don't matter. So just don't do any of it. No, because Jesus has a reason why they're not fasting, notice what he says, how can the guest of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them. And on that day, they will fast. Why aren't they fasting will? Because they're feasting instead? And why are they feasting because they are convinced that they are living. In the time that Israel's being restored. The whole reason you fasted was more than the fact that you were in Exile. And if Jesus followers working today, send you to fast that would mean that they had no hope of being out of Exile. But Jesus says, no, I want you to Feast because Israel's being restored to what that tells us is that these were people who had they were distinct groups of people who had their own way of worshipping that communicated. Something meaningful about what they believe. We see another instance of this, in Luke at one point. One of Jesus disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray. Just as John taught his disciples. John at the, John clubs had their own special prayers that John and taught them. I just said, oh no, we don't have a special prayer. No, actually Jesus said to them when you pray say and he gave them a prayer.
I pray that we said this morning. What we find is that Jesus taught his followers to live and worship in specific and meaningful ways.
The communicated something about these? These Jesus clubs. Except Seth I'm misleading You by calling them clubs. So you could call the John, the Baptist groups clubs in a way. You can call the Pharisee groups clubs in a way, but one of the most controversial things that Jesus did was he elevated? These communities far, beyond clubs, far beyond everything. In the one of those controversial, things. Jesus ever said, was this, he said to another man, follow me, but man replied. Lord first. Let me go and bury my father. Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Here's why that that's controversial. Why that would have had it made an audible gasp from his audience because we actually have a record. It's called there's a document called the mission that records the traditions of the Pharisees in the end. Their Rabbi descendants and they have a specific rule on this and the rule in the mishnah is that if your if you have a relative who hasn't been buried yet, who's dead? You are Exempted from all that is important. If you have a relative who is dead and hasn't been buried, yet. You are Exempted from all requirements of the law. Until you bury them. You don't even have to pray. It specifically says you don't have to say the Shema. You don't have to say that there are other daily prayer. They're supposed to say three times a day. You don't have to wear the tassels and the prayer shawl. You don't do any of that until you get them buried because burying a relative was the biggest obligation to possibly have? And Jesus says, no, if you're following me. Your commitment to my movement is greater even than that. This would have absolutely shocked people and it makes it funny to me, that today. We think of Christianity is the family values religion, is Jesus did not teach Family Values. Jesus said, anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is, not worthy of me. Anyone who loves their son, or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And actually, one of the crimes that Jews got are, the Christians got executed for, by the Roman Empire was the undermining of family values. Because they said that to follow, Jesus means to make his movement. Your commitment to hit following him higher than anything else. And so if it can flips, even with your family commitment following, Jesus comes first.
Now, that's a hard teaching. And I won't pretend to have simple answers on how that's properly, lived out this as a pastor. It's it's a huge Temptation for me to use. That has permission to just throw myself into work in the collect, my family. I don't believe that. That's what God calls me to do. Which is a hard calling.
But there's also this a beautiful other side that message that uses preaching because here's what happened, when a group of people commit to Jesus. So radically that it is the following him as their primary commitment and they're all following the same person. You know what that makes them? That makes him a family.
Jesus, as it truly, I tell you no one who has left home or brothers or sisters, or mother or father, or children or fields for me, and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age, Holmes, brothers, sisters, Mother's children and field along with persecutions and the age to come eternal life. What is that mean? That means they were. How do I do we receive hundreds of fathers and mothers? And brothers, and sisters, and children. That's the church. That that when people make this radical commitment to follow Jesus, they become radically committed to each other, right? That's what the Pharisees hate it with a bear in the follow Jesus. They had to walk with all these people. They didn't want to be with.
And so, Jesus called his followers to commit to a new family.
But not just any family. Is remember what Jesus claims to be doing? He claims to be restoring Israel. Did you use that something really, really significant with his followers. Just went up on the Mountainside and called to him those, he wanted and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and authority to drive out demons. So Jesus organizes his followers and he chooses, 12 of them into this primary leadership role Y-12, Where else do we see the number 12 in the story of Israel? There were Twelve Tribes of Israel. And one of the signs of Israel's Decay was the fact that they had lost nine and a half of them. There are two and a half tribes left at this point. There's there's Judah Benjamin and whatever Levites were living with them when the northern kingdom fell. I bet that's why we call them Jews because they're mainly from Judah. Until when Jesus Takes together his family and organizes them and puts 12 people in charge of them. He's saying this isn't just a family. This isn't just a group. This is the renewed and restored Israel with the phone number. Right to Jesus organized. His family as the new Israel, the Covenant bearing people died with it. What that means. A covenant bearing. People means they were the ones that we're going to fulfill God's plan for Israel. Cuz this is Jesus's mission to renew Israeli to the way he does. That is by forgiving people, by restoring them and by bringing them into this family. That then takes on the mission of God.
This is what Jesus was doing.
And it's what he's still doing today. It was, we close. What I want you to take away, is these three things. Here's a three takeaways for learning. With Jesus. Ministry means for us today. The first thing it means is a Jesus, offered healing, forgiveness, offering healing, forgiveness, and restoration to all people. Whether you are regardless of what baggage May holding you back, regardless of whatever you think makes you unworthy.
Jesus offers, healing forgiveness and restoration. The table is open.
The invitation is open. It. So if you're here today, and you need this forgiveness is healing from sendas restoration. It is available to you through Jesus today.
But I'll warn you because this is where we lose some people that you can't just take that restoration and run on your Merry way. If you could, the Pharisees would have been more likely to follow Jesus. If you think Jesus does not save individuals, he restores individuals to the people of God. The Bible is not the story of Jesus and me. It's a story of Christ and his church. Now we do get all kinds of mixed up when we confuse the church with the authority structures and institutions that we like to use in the church. When I say the church, I mean, the family of God, the committee you don't go off on your own and just do whatever you want. And that's how you follow. Jesus following. Jesus should always lead you into being a community with his followers and be part of his family.
It's over for all of us. One of the problems that we've run into is we started to pick and choose who we want to be in God's family. And that's a lot of the reason why we have so many different types of churches and and so many different divisions and and and resentment because we forget that we are all made of family. If we have the same father then we're brothers and sisters.
And this is the really exciting thing about following Jesus for me, is that Jesus makes us into a committed family with all the challenges blessings and joys that come with family. Is being a family is one of the best things in your life and one of the hardest things in your life, unfortunately, sometimes it's one or the other. But what family is meant to be, is this radical commitment where there are so many blessings and joys that come from that, as we support each other, through the challenges of life. As we support each other and and build each other up and are dedicated to each other. Right? Where we are there for each other as much as possible. There are also challenges because we have to continue to be there for each other. We have to put up with each other. And if, if our support for other people, is going to mean something. We have to be there for each other at our worst times. We have to put up with each other when they're at their most annoying, but that's what to me. That'll be a sibling was like I can I could take a day off for my friends, whenever I want it, but I had to be with my brothers on her, most annoying days, right? And that is, that is a challenge that is hard, but the benefits are so amazing and beautiful. That have a church can accomplish this.
If a church can truly be United in Christ as a family, there are amazing, beautiful things that come out of that. I'll tell you, this is who we at Turner Christian Church, are striving to be. We want to be a family. And it's so exciting as we're in this time when things are opening up a bit more to be able to see that, because we've had so many obstacles to be a family. But that's who we seek to be closed. I'm going to Jesus, we spend all this time talking about what Jesus caused people to call people to do back. Then Jesus calling you now as well. I need to be calling you to do a lot of everything to make a lot in her commitments. But here is something that we can help you walk through. Number one is if you want to give your life to Jesus, today is the best day to give your life to Jesus that freedom that restoration, that healing that forgiveness is available today and you can take advantage of it. If you're here. You can come forward to the final song. You can talk to one of her ministers, after the service. If you're online, you can get in touch with the church or you can talk to a Christian that you know and trust.
But if that's what God has put on your heart, do it today. Another thing you can do is get involved in a small group or a service team. If you want to do that. You can check that box on your connect card at, these are ways that we come together and we support each other. As we are in the connect classes. We, we were each other's stories. We pray for each other. From week-to-week, we get dick in the Bible Together, As We join service teams? We work together. We work for others. We serve others. Finally, if you want to be committed to this church family, that's what church membership is about. When you become a member of a church, has got a weird thing today cuz membership isn't popular in this day and age, but I'll tell you that. It doesn't get you to the front of the line and pot, Lux or in heaven, being a member of a church. It's not like that. But what I see is the value of a membership in the church is, it's you and knowledge in and accepting that commitment to a family day. I'm going to be a part of this family. I'm going to love these people, and it's going to mean something. It's not, I'm not just a part of a church, because I happen to be there that Sunday, but I'm committed to this family and it doesn't mean that we're not going to treat you like family. If you don't become a member or anything like that, right? There's no. It's just an opportunity that you have to make that commitment. So if you'd like to make that come in or consider that commitment you can sign up for a connect class as people sign up for that. We put those together on Sunday, afternoons, or we have some food, we talked about who the church is what we do and how you can be a part of it. Now. May be placing a lot of other things on your heart and I encourage you to spend his final song singing. But also considering what God is calling you to do, and if you want to talk with us about any of these decisions, feel free to do that after the service, the police stand with us, and sing.