May 8: The Council

Welcome to Episode. 34 of the plan. We are in the home stretch. We're going to finish up the series this month, and we've been going since September when we started this. And telling the entire story, the Bible from beginning to end and this might actually be my favorite story in the entire narrative, which is not. I don't think the Council of Jerusalem is often often tops. Those kind of list, but for me, it's, it's just an amazing part of where the story of the Bible comes together. And so, I'm excited to get into it. But before we get to that, we have to Recap the last 33 episodes and remind ourselves of where we're at. So I have a visual aid for that purpose. The story is the Bible is the story of God's plan, to establish a Place full of people who live out his presents. This is the way we've been summarized in the Bible story so far and my wife made me these these nesting dolls. You seen them once before that to help tell that story. So this is creation. God made the world, but he didn't just want a zoo or terrarium. He wanted to interact with this world. He wanted it to be shaped and and grow and develop an interactive them until out of all of creation. God chose one particular creature humanity and he called them to rule over creation on his behalf. And he came down to live with me. That's actually what human beings are made for us to rule over creation on his behalf. The problem is that we're not very good at it because we would rather rule on our own behalf. And so over and over again. We kept rebelling against God and trying to build our own kingdoms and go, our own way and tell eventually God, initiated this plan to restore this original design to the world because human beings weren't weren't capable doing it. So out of all of humanity, God shows one particular Nation, the nation of Israel. The descendants of Abraham and he said these are going to be my example to the nation's. So they are going to get a particular piece of land, and they I'm going to come and live with them in a particular building on that land. And I'm going to give them these laws that Define their purpose because their purpose is to reveal to the world through the way. They live with me what I want for all of creation. And so this group of people was meant to carry on the purposes of God for the sake of humanity for the sake of creation. Unfortunately, the Israelites weren't any better than the rest of humanity in. So they kept rebelling and building their own kingdoms and eventually God split the kingdom in half. And the Israel, the northern Israelites went into Exile and disappeared from the records and that left the Jews. And the Jews were the kingdom of Judah. They were also still rebelling against God, constantly until God said, the only way I can reveal myself to the world through this group of people, is to say, that's not what I want. What they are doing is not my goal. So he sent them into exile. But he allowed some of them to come back, if they don't have a kingdom anymore in there. Waiting for God to restore them into the way. They've decided to try and get their place back with God Is by huddling together keeping out all the Gentiles. The Gentiles have to stay as far away as possible and they're going to meticulously keep the lock just for themselves and there's a going to make sure to keep their enemies away as far as possible which is contrary to the plan. Right? The plan is for them to their they're called for the sake of humanity, but they're keeping Humanity as far away from them as possible. So because the Jews have been going the wrong direction for. I've almost five hundred years out of all the Jews. God's elect one, human being Jesus. I need to put Blaze the whole plan on the shoulders of Jesus so that if this one Jew can fulfill the plan, it will be able to filter back through everybody else and restore. All of creation is so we spent several weeks, talking about hot dog, Jesus taught the message of God. He taught people. What it actually means to follow God and to fulfill his design for the world. And he remained faithful to it. Even to the point that he allowed them to crucify him, rather than to react in a way that was against God's plan. He loved the nation so much that he let them kill him. And then on Easter, we celebrated, the fact that God didn't let that be the end of the story. He raised Jesus to life there. Thereby proving that Jesus was right all along and that he has turned the story on its head and he is beginning to restore everything. And then last week, we looked at Pentecost and Pentecostals the day after Jesus ascended that the Holy Spirit descended on a group of Jewish followers of Jesus. And we talked about the fact that the presence of the spirit in them, mark them out as the new Temple. And as the true Israel, which is the moment when we find out that God has restored. Israel is a restored, the Jews through Jesus. And that's the moment that he's putting the Jews back together Around. Jesus VI people from all over the DS4 all over the Known World, Jewish people who became Christians and reunited Around Jesus and that's where we left the story. We're going to pick up a story, right? Where we left off in Acts chapter 8 because the the God is putting the juice together, but that is a threat to the Jewish leaders of the time. So they started persecuting the Jews. And now all those Christians have been dispersed out into Judea and Samaria and to the nation. And so we're going to pick the story up there. Remember how we keep our coordinates? As you read this passage watch for, who is the story about? Where is their home? How can I meet with God and what did God tell them to do? On that day, the great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men. Steven and more deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church going from house to house. He dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Those who have been scattered preach, the word wherever they went. They said this will require some remembering of what we talked about last week. Who is the story about now? Who are the, who are the people of God? Who's the main for the main characters in the story? Now? The way I'm going to describe it. Now is the Church of Jesus that the God has designated through Pentecost that the true followers of Jesus that he is working through our those who follow Jesus. And so the church is now the people of God. And where is their home? Well, right now, the church is exclusively Jewish Christian. So, their home is still Galilee and Judea these territories that are ruled over by the Roman Empire.

How can they meet with God? Where is God's presence available on Earth? It's present in the church in the members of the church. We talked about the fact that the, the Holy Spirit descended on to these people and and to this day that is how God is present in the world is through his people.

Now, what were they told to do? We didn't get any instructions in the passage. We just read, but we did get some key phrases that remind us of the instructions that Jesus gave them in Acts chapter one, is it talks about them going out? And did you D and Samaria and preaching the word? And the reason they're doing that is because in chapter one, Jesus told his disciples you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my Witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the Earth. Stop. Jesus called them to be witnesses to the ends of the Earth. That's their purpose.

No, unfortunately, I don't have time to do all the cool beats that happened in the story. So I'm going to give you one real quick. That's not in your outline, the word skip over the first thing that happens when they get scattered out, is that one of the Christians Philip goes into Sumerian House of the Samaritans, were the half descendants of the northern tribes of his. Remember? I told you they disappear from the story, but some of them stayed behind and intermarried with the Gentiles and became Samaritan and Samaritan. Still tried to follow the law, but they, they got they, they were in constant fights with the Jews. And so they kind of went their own way. And there's a big tension there, but Phillip goes into Samaria and he starts preaching, the gospel and Samaritan start becoming Christians and the Apostles of surprised. They send a couple of possibles down to to meet with them and they meet with them in their press me, pray over them. And then all the sudden, the Holy Spirit comes down on to them the exact same way. It came down onto the At Pentecost assembly realize, this isn't just for Jews. Samaritans, are evolved to so, what's, what's happening at? That moment. The Samaritan Pentecost, is that God is not just uniting the Jews, but now he starts uniting all the Israelites. This would have been surprising to them. That this, the God was allowing the Samaritans into his people, but it would have been completely shocking. Because the Samaritans were descendants of people who had been in the Covenant sold for the fact that he is bringing them back into the people of God is amazing and very gracious but not entirely outside of their expectations. So that happens in chapter 8, but then we get into real trouble and Acts chapter 11. That's when God starts doing something that a lot of people aren't comfortable with. Mac-11. That says, now those who have been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled, as far as Phoenicia Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word, only among the Jews. So that's in your mental health and mental map of the Mediterranean, and onto the top, corner of the Mediterranean. They're going all the way up. Some of them however, men from Cypress and siren went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks. Also telling them the good news about the Lord. Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turn to the Lord. This is this is unexpected, the Samaritan thing. They kind of categories for this sudden for the first time in history, a whole bunch of Gentiles are deciding to join with a Jewish sect as a group, like a large numbers of people are deciding to join with the juice. So the church in Antioch, share the gospel with the Gentiles, and many of them became Christians. This is not something that they would have experienced before. It was very unusual and it was rare. It happened that Gentiles would decide they want to be Juiced. Usually what would happen if they decide that they really like Judaism, but they don't actually want to become a member of the nation of Israel. So they would become god-fearers. So they would follow like two or three laws and just generally say, yeah, we really think you always be the one God, but I'm, I'm, I'm going to stay. A gentile was very rare for them to actually decide to become Jews. But these are people who decide, they want to become part of the people of God, and that was, it whenever God does something new, it upset, some of his people, right? That's just a rule of the churches. When God has something new sometimes, even when he does, his usual thing, he upset some of his people. The certain people came down from our next 15, certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and we're teaching the Believers unless you are circumcised. According to the custom Top by Moses. You cannot be saved. Now. There's important thing to understand you because what's happened is that the the the reformers like Martin Luther 500 years ago, he read this story and passages like this and thought that it was talking about the kind of stuff that happened in his day with the Catholic church. And so we turned this into a Works versus Grace kind of thing that these people are saying you have to earn your way to heaven and end but that's not what? But Paul at this time. I say no, you don't agree with Heaven. That's not actually quite what's going on. What's Happening is they're saying looked we all know how you become juice. The people of God of the Jews and we all know how you become juice. It's always been the same. The law of Moses says, you get circumcised to become a Jew. Means get circumcised. If you're getting a part of God's people get circumsized. That's what it means to be God's people is to be Jewish. It's actually quite logical. That's what the law says, and they still consider themselves. Faithful Jewish walk Keepers. They're just keeping it the right way by following Jesus. This brought Paul and Barnabas who are missionaries that were sent out by the church of Antioch into sharp dispute and debate with them to Paul and Barnabas were appointed along with some other believers to go to Jerusalem to see the apostles and Elders about this question, the church sent them on their way and as they travel through Phoenician Samaria, they told how the Gentiles have been converted. This news made all the Believers. Very glad when they came to Jerusalem. They were welcomed by the church and the apostles and Elders, to who they reported. Everything. God had done through them, then some of them along to the party. The Pharisee stood up and said the Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses, the apostles and Elders met to consider this question. This has to stop for the Council of Jerusalem, a very important moment in the New Testament. What's happened? Is it? Some juice argue that the Gentiles must become Jews first. If you're going to be a follower of Jesus, you have to be a Jew. Does the people of God of the Jews? So this is a big issue. A lot of people are debating. It's got everybody tacos up. So the apostles held a meeting to consider the issue. And that's what council Jerusalem is about. Do you have to be a Jew first in order to be a Christian?

After much discussion, Peter got up and address them brothers. You know, that some time ago. God made a choice among you. That the Gentiles might hear my from my lips, the message of the gospel and believe. That is a story. We haven't told yet. That's an ax 11. So we're going to do a flashback going to flash back and tell your imagined that we're watching this in a court case. They Peter has got enough to give testimony and he's telling a story and now the screen gets all wobbly do do do do do and we're doing the flashback to what it happened earlier in Peter's life. This is Max 11. I was in the city of Joppa praying and in a trance. I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven, by its four corners, and it came down to where I was, I looked on it. And so our four-footed animals of the earth, wild beast, reptiles, and birds. Then I Heard a Voice telling me get up here, kill and eat. I replied surely not Lord, nothing impure unclean has ever entered my mouth. Those are all the foods. You can't eat it. Since you quarter the law of Moses, The Voice from Heaven. The second time, do not call anything. In pure that God has made clean. This happened three times and when it was all, then it was all pulled up to heaven again. Right, then three men who have been sent to me from caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. The spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. Now, those men were sent to him by a gentile, a god-fearer. So one of those guys that said, I believe in God, but I'm going to stay a gentile. He's a Roman named Cornelius and he had sent those men in the Holy Spirit, told Peter to go to this Gentile computer. Testifies that God had sent him to share the gospel with a gentile name Cornelius. So God sent. I made it very clear through this Vision that he was sending Peter. This was not a fluke. He was sending Peter to Cornelius to preach the gospel.

Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. The six brothers, are the people who were with him. Also went with me and we entered the man's house. He told us, he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, send to Joppa for Simon called Peter. He will bring you a message through which you and all your household. We say. So this Gentile has received a vision to God is making it as clear as possible. This is what I want to happen. This is me making this happen, right? This is my idea. Peter says, as I began to speak the Holy Spirit, came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said, John will baptize with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Know, the time when Paul is telling the story, he's he's telling it to some people who asked why he would actually go into a Gentiles house and baptize them. So he's explaining why he baptized Cornelius and his family. And the reason is why they were still Gentiles and the reason he says it because God sent me. And I was pretending, I started preaching to them. And while I was preaching. They start, they receive the Holy Spirit. Why didn't I wait for them to get circumcised? I didn't have time for them to get circumcised because the spirit was already in them and noticed it's the same way. They did. It came on the apostles. That's an important phrase that he says, it'll come up later to the same way. It came on the apostles at Pentecost. It came on Cornelius while he was still a gentile. Okay. So God has sent Peter and the to Cornelius and God sent his Spirit at his own discretion, who decided the Cornelius would get the holy spirit before he could become as you goddamn, right? So this is what he is. Testifying to god-given Cornelius, the whole Holy Spirit, when he believed in Jesus, before he had a chance to become a Jew. Tilford G for God, what is the necessary requirement for receiving the Holy Spirit? It's not getting circumcised. Believing in Jesus.

So, if this is a story that Peter tells as his as his testimony, now, we're going to go back. The flashback is ending. We're going back to the Council of Jerusalem. Peter says God who knows the heart show that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he did to us what is receiving the Holy Spirit show. That you've been accepted by God. You receive the Holy Spirit. You've been accepted by God. He did not discriminate between us and them for. He purified their hearts by faith. Now then why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles? A gyro that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear. No, we believe it is by the grace of our Lord Jesus, that we are saved just as they are. We didn't let you forget when we receive the Holy Spirit. We weren't perfect lockkeepers. Our people have been failing at this, the whole time, the Israel never got their stuff. Figured out and figured out how to do the law. Right? Jesus came along and showed grace and mercy to us. And that's how we receive the spirit. They received it the same way and Peter is very clear that that they received it when when I saw the Gentiles get it looked exactly like what happened to Pentecost. God made no distinction is interesting and ask that when the when people receive the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. It's always in the presence of the Apostles. And to always to make a point that God is approving a new group of people. The Peter argued that the church should not require more from the Gentiles than God does. That's his argument. His argument is, I saw with my own eyes God, except those people without becoming juice. So if we say they have to be Jews to be part of the church, then we are putting a higher requirement on being in the church. Then God does that doesn't make sense that his argument is, whatever God's requirements are we should follow those?

Now, it's up to the council to make sense of this because of what, what the spirit is doing. The spirit is clearly doing this, but how does this fit with the promises of God? And this is where it gets really exciting. Thanks. We're going to listen to James. The brother of Jesus is running this Council, and here's what he says when when they finished testifying James spoke up, Brothers. He said, listen to me. Simon has described to us how God first intervene to choose a people for his name, from the Gentiles. The word of the prophets are in agreement with this as it is written after this. I will return and rebuild, David's falling 10th through and I will rebuild and I will restore it. That the rest of mankind May seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles, who bear my name, says the Lord, Who does these things things known from long ago. Now, back when I thought that this was all about Grace versus Works debate. It didn't make sense that quotation that seems like a weird proof texting to quote him. Talking about God built, you know, rebuilt the 10th of David and then Gentiles renting evil that has nothing to do with being saved by works or by Grace, but that's not the point. What what James is quoting. He's quoting one passage. That is part of a whole string of passages throughout the Old Testament. There were When did the Jews that their mission was always for the sake of the world? Because there was this prophecy that you see here in this quotation from Amos. That that in the end, the end goal of the Covenant was never that all human beings would become Jews. God never said that he would make all human beings descendants of Abraham. That's not the promises. He made his promise was that he would unite Humanity around Israel. So we saw it there in Amos. It's also in. Jeremiah, Jeremiah says, at that time, they will call Jerusalem. The Throne of the Lord, and All Nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord no longer will. They follow the stubbornness of their evil Hearts. Isaiah says the Lord will have compassion on Jacob. Once again, you will choose Israel and we'll settle them in their own land foreigners will join them and Unite with the descendants of Jacob. The song that says, all the ends of the Earth will remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the Nations will bow down to him. The original promise that God made Abraham, was what I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. Whoever curses you. I will curse and all peoples on Earth will be blessed through you. The ultimate promise of Israel was not that all human beings would become Israelites. It was that threw the mission of the Israelite. The nations would be United around them, in faithfulness to God. Israel was always going to be one of many nations, but it was going to be the priest among those Nations, a priest, a nation of priests that would draw them to God. So, the goal is the reunions of the nations of the world around Israel. How you can tell that this is where they're going, not just with what the passage that James uses. But also the instructions that he falls up with his, he's a very puzzling instructions. Here's what he says. It is my judgment there for the. We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles were turning to God. Instead. We should write to them, telling them to abstain from food, food by Idols from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals. And from blood, for the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times, and it is read in the synagogues and on every Sabbath. So he just said, we're not going to make the Gentiles take on the law of Moses, right? Cuz we are going to make them follow these three random laws. Why those three laws? We hear something in the law of Moses. Those are the laws that Gentiles have to keep if they're going to live in a Jewish community.

If Gentiles are are staying Gentiles like god-fearers, if they're going to live in the community of Israel, but they're not going to get circumcised. Those are laws that they have to follow in order to live in community with them.

To what he's saying is that you don't have to follow the law of Moses. But we do want to make it clear that we are one United body of Believers. So we're still going to ask you to live in a way that that makes it. So you can live with your Jewish brothers and sisters in good conscience. If you don't live these ways, then if you don't do these things, that you're Jewish, brothers and sisters, if the Christians are not going to be able to live with you, because they're going to feel like it's going to compromise their morals. And he says that the law of Moses has been preached among the Nations like they got, they all know the law of Moses. And in all these cities they know what this means. So when they see Gentiles living with Jews and keeping these rules, they're going to know that they're living as one community. That these Gentiles are intentionally making the sacrifices so that they can live with their Jewish brothers and sisters, but they're also going to make it clear that they didn't just become Jews. Right there. Not becoming one nation, their Nations making sacrifices to live together because they all follow Jesus Christ. And that's the vision that the apostles are laying out for, what the church is. The church is not just hate. We're lowering the requirements for membership into the nation of Israel. The the the church is the mission of Israel is being fulfilled. The story of Israel in a way is over, and now, it's time for all the nations to witness that story to look to Jesus and to unite with them. Remember we've been talking about how Israel is supposed to reveal to the world who God is and what he wants for his people will Jesus has now done that on Israel's behalf. And it's time for the Nations to respond to that message and to be reunited under Jesus. So the apostles concluded that the church was the Fulfillment of God's promise to reunite Humanity around Israel. That's what they concluded. The biblical category for the decision that they reached was that they decided that. Now, what would that the Gentiles becoming Christians without needing to get circumcised mean, that God is reuniting the world around is real. The way he always promised. He was, we are not simply a Jewish club with lower entry requirements. We are the union of humanity.

And it's hard for us to understand just how powerful that message is because we haven't experienced what it was the division with a division between Jews and Gentiles was like, but that division that keeping the Gentiles out was what it defined the Jews for 500 years. Almost. To this was the most radical thing that could possibly happen to them. And that's why most of Paul's letters are trying to get people to understand this step, this transformation, this change in Mission, and what the church is, because it's so important for us as Christians to understand what exactly the church is. Tough as repository here. I want to reflect on the the takeaways from the story. There's some really important things that we learn here. Number one, the church is made up of all the people, God, accepts whether we accept them or not.

If you know me very much. You know, I'm going to go here. This is, this is what makes me excited about being in the church. I actually my first career, choice was politics. I studied politics in college. I got to work as an intern in the Washington State Senate. I got to work as a lobbyist for the Washington State Legislature. Graduated top of my class. I was really jazzed about going into politics, but my senior year was the year that the stock market crashed in 2007 and 8 or 89 and suddenly it was like everything was darker. Everything was worse than the year before. Turn on each other, and I got to see the the really dark side of a state politics and left me really disheartened. It wasn't, I didn't see hope in that body for really truly solving the problems of the world because it was always going to be scrambling for a limited pot of money and putting people up against each other, and I just didn't see ultimate hope in that place. I know, I didn't see that as a place where I could achieve the goals that God had put in my heart and I came home from that that session and I started going back to the little 50-person church plant that. I was a part of and church doesn't exist anymore. But it was one of those unique Church bodies that it was kind of like a recovery Ward people who have been hurt by the church found it and and we kind of put each other back together and we had this beautiful community and I saw so many people get restoring in and people come to Jesus. And and I realize that this little group of 50 people Give me more hope. For the world, then the state government did and that has nothing to do with what party was in charge, as nothing to do with any of those particulars is just about what they represent. Because the church represent people being accepted by God.

And and accepting each other. And that's what makes the church. Beautiful is also what makes the church hard because we don't get to decide who's in.

There's a part of me that always wishes, I could decide who's in and who's out, right? Especially your I want to watch on the news and see a person who said being held up to represent Christian. It's a note they're not in. They all know that person they are in like I want to be able to do that. But that's not how the church works. The church is made up of the people that God except whether or not we accept them. And sometimes in our churches, we get this disconnect where will say here is what we think is required to become a Christian. Here's what's required for us to treat you like brothers and sisters.

And that's not the logic to Paul uses Paul and say that doesn't make sense.

That's why it's important for us to recognize as we look in the biblical story. We need to understand what exactly the church is. The church is not the new Israel. I'm going to argue that the church is not the new Israel. I would say that the new rules within the church. Personally, I would argue that the faithful Jewish Believers within the church are the new Israel for the church is not the new Israel. It is the Fulfillment of Israel's mission to reunite the Nations under. The church is the face full of all the nations gathered together and faithful, Israel is in there and there's room for every member of every nation. But the what the problem is when we kind of think of the church as the new Israel, then we get pulled back into that way of thinking. That the point of the of the church is to be a holy huddle to stay in one place and to keep our enemies out and to just keep the rules for ourselves and we get pulled into the exact. Mine said that. Jesus was speaking again in the Israel of his day. That's why I personally tend to try and stay away from the church is the new Israel language because really the church is bigger than that. The church is the Fulfillment of Israel's Mission. The job that God set for Abraham's descendants is fulfilled in Jesus. It's done. And now the doors are open for everyone to join in. To the church is so our mission is not to be the holy huddle to set up the walls and to keep people out or two separate out from the nation's. We are supposed to be the Hub of the wheel. We're supposed to be the drain of the tub. Maybe that's a weird example. The everything supposed to be drawn to us, right? We want to be pulling the world into the church. We want to be everywhere in every group with all people. We just want our churches to look like everybody in our community, right? We was just want to see every type of group that's in our community represented here. Would you want to see our whole community in the churches of art of our town? The. That's the vision that we should have for the church that the God sets out is that it is the reunions of the Nations. And that gives us.

An amazing challenging, but incredibly hopeful mission.

The church is God's plan to heal the divisions of humanity as the people, he accepts obediently except each other. I just spent a whole sermon. I just do the series tell you on this, but when you look in the New Testament, these people complain about in the New Testament is that it doesn't Peter never says or Paul never writes. OK, slavery is a moral. So we need to overthrow the slave masters. But what he does say is he says all people are Christians need to worship together. There should be no distinction in our churches worship together as brothers and sisters and he writes a letter to an SMS, a slave owner on behalf of Philemon, who slave who ran away, and he tells onesimus to embrace Philemon. Because what he's doing, what, what the church does is it transforms people on both sides of the divide into Christians into people who look like Jesus, and they're supposed to love each other across that divide.

Because ultimately what will heal humanity is the transformation of human hearts to look like Jesus to love like God and as we're able to get all kinds of people to embrace Jesus and to love the way he does, then we get people on both sides and they start to love each other even though they they're on opposite sides of an issue. That divides them there, different races, their different there. Different see, no classes. That whatever is different about the different political parties, whatever it is, but what's most important to them is that they're Christians, is that they love Jesus that they want to see. His will done. My favorite verse in the entire Bible is Colossians 3:11. It says here, there is no Gentile or Jew circumcised or uncircumcised Barbarian City, and slave or free. The Christ is all and is in all How do you say? What first of all was supporting, the first thing you need to notice about that, is that actually, what that means is in the church. There are Gentiles and Jews, circumcised, and uncircumcised Barbarian City, and slave, and free. All those are in the church. But they're not defined by that. They don't see each other in those categories. What they see is that Christ is in all Christ is everything. He is the most important thing and he's in all of us. And so that means that those divisions don't matter if we love across them. The fracturing of humanity is the result of sin, and the church is God's plan to use the gospel to heal those divisions.

Turn reality. I never really missed you. This may sound weird. I never got out of politics. I just changed the body that I'm a part of the power that I trust in. I changed the kingdom that I serve and where I find Hope because I believe that is what we are doing in this community. And this congregation has more hope for the world than than any government organization. No matter who's running it. And It ultimately God has chosen to transform the world, through the love of his people that they show to others, as they are made in the image of Christ. A man. And that's another reason why we celebrate every baptism, cuz every baptism is another person welded into the family of God. Another person brought into this family of many nations and another step closer to this Vision that we have, this goal that we have to bring all of humanity together under Christ because I should finish with you. Because as we, we are in this stage now where God is putting all of humanity together, Romans 8 tells us that it is through the putting of humanity together, that all of creation. Is restored.

In the one-day price is going to come back and with his church is going to restore all of creation.

Not the cause we serve a man.

As we close, I'm going to ask you to consider what God may be calling you to do. Every time we hear the gospel preached. God has steps for us to take. One of them might be, if you haven't given your life to Jesus, God is calling you to do that today. I'll just lay it out for you. Today is the day that you should give your life to Jesus. So you should become part of this family, where we can be shaped in the image of Christ, where we can be healed of our of our divisions. And of, our of our hatreds and are, are all the things that keep us separated from God, from each other. We can become part of this mission to heal our communities, and to heal the world. So, if that's where you are today, encouraging come forward, as we sing, the final song, you can talk to one of the ministers after the service. If you're watching online. We encourage you to contact the church or just talked to a Christian that, you know, and trust because today is the best day to, for you to become a part of what God is doing in this world. Another thing you can do, if you nobody is supposed to walk this alone because the mission is to put the world together, right? And so, we have small groups that meet together and help each other on this journey and it go through the Journey of being Christians together and encourage you to become one of them member of one of those, you know, how to become a member of our service to use. Those are ways that you can give back and help to serve others and you can sign up for one of those through your connect card. Finally. If you'd like to become part of a body of believers who are seeking to transform this world, simply by being christ-like and loving each other and being united in Christ. That's who we want to be a Turner Christian church. And if you'd like to be a member, you can check the box on your connect card, to attend to connect class where we get together after church. We have some sandwiches and we talked about who who this church is what we do and how you can be a part of it. So if you want to sign up for that, you can check on the connect card. I don't know what else. God may be calling you to do today. So whatever the holy spirit is putting on your heart. I pray that you would be open to it. Now as Stand and sing our final song.