WEBVTT 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:13.359 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:18.399 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:24.640 Spring together. 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:28.719 Lord Jesus, because life begins with you, we come to you to have life. 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:34.640 It's the same reason that Jesus, you described yourself and said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:36.799 No one comes to the Father except through me. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:46.719 And so for people who were born dead in our trespasses and sins, the opportunity and the experience of life, the offer of life, is a delicious invitation today. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:49.039 And so we're not coming for religion today. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:50.560 We're coming for relationship. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:54.399 There was plenty of religion before Jesus crashed into the cosmos. 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:56.479 And so we're not here for that today. 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:02.000 We're here to understand not just relationship, but the kind of intimate belonging that we were created for. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:03.039 It's the Holy Spirit. 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:07.599 Breathe life where there's death and bring truth where there's falsehood. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.840 Expose every lie that we've chosen to believe and set us free by the truth. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:13.599 We ask for this in Jesus' name. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:15.519 And we ask for it as your sons and daughters. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:17.840 And all God's people said, Amen. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:18.319 Amen. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:19.040 You can have a seat. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:22.319 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it open up to Ephesians chapter 2. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:23.519 Ephesians chapter 2. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:25.359 And if you don't have a Bible, there's one in your row. 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:27.519 I'm on page 976. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:29.920 I want to talk about our second core value. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:32.959 We're doing a four-part series on our core values as a church. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:37.920 Last week, we our four core values are gospel, community, mission, and blessing. 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:44.959 We believe that the gospel, the good news of Christianity, produces this community, this thing called community, which I'm going to talk about today. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:48.719 And part of this community is that we are on this shared mission. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:51.519 And central to that mission is to be a blessing. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:54.239 Let me demonstrate what all four of those. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:02:01.439 And one experience I had this week, I was having lunch at Chewie's with some friends, with a couple in our church, and just checking in on them, how you doing? 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:03.200 I know you got a lot going on, blah, blah, blah. 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:08.000 And our waitress, every time she came to the table, she would kind of look at me, kind of, kind of funny. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:15.919 And I was not in a weird way, not in an inappropriate way, but kind of, and finally she brought her check and she said, Hey, I know who you are. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:16.960 And I said, Who am I? 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:21.599 She goes, I don't know your name, but every time you come in here, you make us feel better. 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:28.560 And then I was like, uh, because what I'd said, I know she had great fingernails, and I said, Hey, how much does it cost to get your fingernails done? 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:29.840 And she said,$25,$30. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:34.319 I said, I'm gonna tip you enough to get your nails done, and you tell your man you're looking good. 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:36.400 And she said, You mean my woman? 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:39.039 Oh yeah, oh yeah. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:42.879 And I said, Oh, oh, okay, so we're hitting from that side of the plate. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:43.680 Okay, all right. 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:47.919 Well, you tell your woman, and the couple looked at me and I said, Hey, I'm still gonna bless her. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:53.360 I'm not gonna go, I'm not gonna withhold the blessing because she lives a lifestyle that I think is sinful. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:55.439 Uh but here's what I'm saying. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:57.520 We talk about the gospel, the good news. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:00.240 The gospel shines brightest in that context. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:06.400 Because when I walked out, and her and some other waiters and waitresses were looking at me kind of like, and I said, What's the deal? 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:09.120 And one of them was like, hey, sit my section next time. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:11.039 Oh, oh, oh, okay. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:14.960 And here's the thing: it's not about the 25 bucks that I tipped her, okay? 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:16.400 It's about more than that. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:17.520 Because here's the thing. 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:19.360 I define community like this. 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:22.319 Community is simply two words, intimate belonging. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:25.759 And if anything, I'll because I walked away and I was like, Holy Spirit, what was that about? 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:27.759 And he goes, You just remind me, it's not about you. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:28.639 Don't get the big head. 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:29.759 Or don't get a bigger head. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:31.039 My head is ginormous. 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:32.800 Uh, it's like an orange on a stick. 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:33.439 Heed. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:34.639 Anybody? 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:35.439 Remember that movie? 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:36.159 Anybody? 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:37.520 It's got its own solar system. 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:38.240 Never mind. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:44.240 Anyway, uh, here's the thing: you and I should remind people of what they were created for, okay? 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:45.919 And by the way you treat them. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:49.599 Uh and so when I talk about community today, I want to talk about it. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:51.599 And this is not a push for community groups. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:52.800 This is not anything like that. 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:56.319 This is just a, hey, we were created for intimate belonging. 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:58.080 Let me give you another picture of intimate belonging. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:02.960 My father-in-law goes to, he's a part of a church in Pensacola where my wife is from. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:06.159 First Baptist Church of Pensacola, downtown church. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:11.919 There, he said this when he was here for Thanksgiving, and I about passed out because we're so transitory. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:16.720 We're so, hey, you know what, you know, I don't like this, or no one spoke to me, or blah, blah, blah. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:18.000 I'm going to another church. 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:23.680 In that church, there are 138 people who've been members of that church for 50 years or longer. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:28.800 And he said, Yeah, we got him the year before Martha died, that's my mother-in-law. 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:32.480 Before she died, we got invited in, you know, we got accepted into the 50 club. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:33.120 I said, What do you mean? 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:38.240 He goes, There's 138 of us who've been members of this church for 50 years or more. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:42.560 And I was kind of like, Have you been to the funeral of an old person these days? 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:44.480 Somebody that's like 70, 80 years old. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.199 Because most people outlived their friendships. 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:50.639 At my mother-in-law's funeral, it was stand-in room only. 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:52.879 It was just full of gray hair. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:59.439 And two couples in our church bought plane tickets and flew to Florida to be there. 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:02.000 And when we got there, we were like, What are y'all doing here? 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:03.680 And they were like, You're our friends. 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:04.959 What do you mean, what are we doing here? 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:05.759 Shut up. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:07.680 No, no, that's not friendship. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:08.800 That's community. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:10.720 That's this intimate belonging. 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:14.000 At the worst moments of your life, these are the people that show up. 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.439 And at the best moments of your life, these are the people that show up. 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.360 And I'm saying this to everyone of you in this room. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:21.920 I don't care if this is the first time you walked into this church. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:26.879 I don't care if you're an atheist, an agnostic, I don't think I don't care if this is the first time you've ever been in church. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:34.240 I'm going to tell you unapologetically, you were created by God to experience this intimate belonging we call community. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:38.480 The Bible talks about it like this in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 11. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:49.199 He says, Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called uh the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands. 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:59.120 Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:04.720 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:25.360 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:29.680 And he came and he preached peace to you who are far off, and peace to those who were near. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:32.879 For through him we have both access in one spirit to the Father. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:50.720 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and the members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:57.040 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:03.680 Now, I want to talk about our core value of community, and I want to get at that by first of all giving you some introductory thoughts. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:06.160 There's three, I want to distinguish between three things. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:10.800 And the three things I want to distinguish between are similarity, affinity, and then community. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:12.319 Because they get confused all the time. 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:14.160 So let me give you, it'll come up on the screen. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:15.199 You don't have to write all this down. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:19.199 You can just get out your phone, keep your phone on, silent, please, and just take pictures. 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:19.759 Snap. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:20.639 I want to think about that. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:22.160 Snap, oh no, snap on that. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:23.199 I don't want to think about that. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:33.120 Uh but just kind of take it in because I'm going to say some things today, not to be offensive, but to be truthful, because here's the reality: we are a nation of Cains. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:36.079 Cain is the guy in the Bible that killed his brother Abel. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:43.600 And the consequence for killing his brother is that God said, You will be a restless wanderer on the day on the earth the rest of your days. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:48.720 And in this room right now are some what I call restless wanderers, some people that just can't. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:50.000 You say, I don't fit in. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:57.920 It's not that it's that you don't know how to fit in because you've never been fully honest with anybody and just laid your cards down. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:05.600 You've never been like Wyatt Earp at the end of tombstone when he finds Josie and he walks in and she's in her dressing room and she sees him in the mirror. 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:08.399 She turns around and he's like, I've got nothing. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:11.360 I'm flat broke, I don't even know what I'm gonna do. 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:13.600 And she turns around and embraces him. 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:17.199 You've never demonstrated that kind of vulnerability. 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:18.959 And so you're like a nation of Cain. 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:21.279 Or Cain's or if you're like, I don't get who Cain is. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:22.639 Let me give you another visual. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:24.079 You're like a bumper car. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:26.399 You just bump off of other people. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:28.240 You run into them and bump off of them. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.360 When God created you to be like a water balloon. 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:34.320 You ever been hit with a water balloon? 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:38.000 You realize you can't get the water back in the balloon? 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:43.759 You ought to have intimate relationships that are so intimate that you can't get that person off of you. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:49.120 That they say things to you that, like four days later, you call them up, don't text them like a little seventh-grade girl. 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:50.879 You call them up and say, you know what? 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:55.759 I'm still frustrated at you for saying that because it's really made me think about my life. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:56.720 Thank you. 00:08:57.120 --> 00:08:59.200 And they say, Well, you don't sound very thankful. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:00.240 Well, I am thankful. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:02.799 I'm just mad at you because I got to change now. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:10.639 It's so much easier to stay out there just kind of frolicking on the outskirts like Cain, this restless wanderer. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:12.159 So let me distinguish between these three. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:13.840 Similarity, we are alike. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:16.399 Affinity, we like each other in the same things. 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:19.519 Community, we like what God does when we are together. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:21.519 Ask, I'll just give you a couple questions. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:23.919 They're not on the screen, but you can jot them down if you want. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:26.799 Ask yourself, who is it that you can say that about? 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:30.559 That you say, hey, I like what happens when we're together. 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:34.000 I really enjoy what happens when we get together. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:36.000 A few things from the passage, four things. 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:39.360 First of all, Jesus is necessary to gospel community. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:42.159 Jesus is necessary to gospel community. 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:43.759 Notice how the passage starts off? 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:46.000 Two groups of people, Jews and Gentiles. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:52.159 When he says that, you know, you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, he's talking about now. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:54.480 Sometimes the Bible says things in an irregular way. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:57.120 And if you're new to all this, you're kind of like, eh, I'm just stupid. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:58.000 I don't get into that. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:09:58.799 No, you're not. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:05.519 Because what one thing the devil wants to do today is just to kind of whisper into your head, into your heart, see, you don't understand any of this. 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:06.559 This isn't for you. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:09.120 Let's just go back to being a restless wanderer. 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:10.799 That's not the voice of God, okay? 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:15.440 When he talks about the uncircumcision, he's talking about Gentiles, people that were not close to God. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:18.320 He talks about the circumcision, he's talking about Jews. 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:21.120 Very religious people, but hey, look at me. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:27.039 Very religious people that were just, they were near, but they were just as far away from God as the Gentiles. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:31.600 Look, because you can be near God and not be in Christ. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:33.600 You realize that, right? 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:34.879 You can be near God. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:39.679 You can come to church every Sunday, and on the outside, everyone kind of looks and goes, yeah, yeah. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.799 But on the inside, you know, hey, this isn't real for me. 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:49.840 And so here's what you have these Jews and these Gentiles, these two groups of people who disagree over circumcision, and here's what they were like. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:55.840 Here's what they fought about, and they were both sides, uh both sides of their silly argument. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.039 Here's what it came down to. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:10:58.879 Here's the five things that they fought about. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:05.440 Here's what was true of both of them, but they used, and he talks about the hostility in later on in this passage. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:07.440 The hostility wasn't the law. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:17.039 The hostility was what the Jews used, what the Old Testament said to beat up on the Gentiles, the unspiritual people, the poor white trash that lived in the trailer. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:18.559 That was me as a kid, okay? 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:24.879 I was the one that drove by First Baptist Church in my town and felt dirty and would duck down because I wasn't in church. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:28.559 And the reason I wasn't in church is because I didn't have a church close. 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:31.039 Which somebody stopped me this morning and said, Is that a new shirt? 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:31.919 And I was like, Yeah. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:35.519 I went to tractor supply yesterday, and this was on sale. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:38.240 And the guy said to me at Tractor Supply. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:39.279 He goes, Are you a farmer? 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:40.320 And I said, Kinda. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:44.480 And he said, Uh, what do you do? 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:45.919 And I said, I pastor a church. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:50.399 And I said, I saw this and I thought the Lord said, You fashionista, you need to rock that thing. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:54.080 And he said, You're gonna wear this while you preach? 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:54.960 Uh-huh. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:57.600 And look at me, God doesn't care. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:01.200 God likes men that wear a pearl snap wrangler to work, okay? 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:03.200 I'll be going to work tomorrow. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:06.240 And he's kind of like, I never heard of a church like that. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:07.519 I said, That's better than that. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:09.440 You've never heard about a God like that. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.879 Don't settle for making a commercial for your church. 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:16.559 The guy behind me was kind of like, that's different. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:22.159 So, hey, never say to yourself, I don't look the part. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.399 You show up any however you want. 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:26.000 Just show up dressed. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:27.120 That's all I care. 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:29.600 You ain't gotta be dressed up. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:33.840 I know some of you, because somebody sent me an email one time and said, Pastor, why don't you wear socks? 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:35.840 Because I don't like to wear socks. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:40.639 Because I had a stepmom that used to always tell me, put your socks on. 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:44.320 And I was like, Alright, if I got to, I'm a grown man now. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:45.919 I ain't gonna wear no socks. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:46.799 God doesn't care. 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:49.360 Now all y'all trying to see if I'm wearing socks. 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:59.120 Here's the JC Penny pose. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:02.639 No. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:04.960 Hey, here's why. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.240 Man looks upon the outside, God looks upon your heart. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:09.679 Hey, dress up if you want. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:12.480 I got friends that come dress to the nines all the time. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:14.000 I'm like, dude, what were you like? 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:14.960 A pimp in a former life? 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:16.320 Where'd you get these clothes? 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:21.519 Then I got people that show up in shorts and a t-shirt when the weather's above 50 degrees. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:23.279 Great, wonderful. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:29.200 These people were kind of looking at each other, and the Jews, the people that were close to God, they were religious, but they didn't know God. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:33.039 They were beating these other people up with the law, and this is what caused the hostility. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:39.600 Because these Gentiles, the people that were way off, like me when I grew up, they were like, You religious people, we can't stand you. 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:42.720 All you do is make up rules to make me feel dirty on the inside. 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:47.600 If this is what being Christian's like, and going to heaven is like, I'd rather go to hell. 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:51.039 Which I said to somebody when I was 12. 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:56.720 Our landlord, who showed up every month on the first of the month to get that money. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:59.039 And I would say, Can you fix this rotten floor? 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:01.360 Oh no, you know, when y'all move out, I'll get it fixed. 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:02.559 You want to come to church? 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:05.360 People like you go to heaven, I'd rather go to hell. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:08.320 And my mom slapped me when he left. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:11.039 And I said, Well, she goes, You gotta show respect. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:12.480 That man? 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:14.320 We gotta respect him. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:17.200 See, because I just didn't, I didn't want. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:18.639 That's what these people were like. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:20.000 They couldn't stand each other. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:21.840 Now, why do I make a big deal out of this? 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:25.039 Because Jesus is necessary to gospel community. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:27.840 Here's what was true about both sides of the argument five things. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:31.600 They were separated from Christ, they were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:34.159 For us, that means they were not citizens of the kingdom. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:35.679 They didn't belong, okay? 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:37.919 They just didn't belong, neither one of them. 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:40.480 The ones that were religious and the ones that were not religious. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:45.440 Ones had been circumcised, had checked all the boxes, and the ones that were like, oh am I kidding, man? 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:47.679 I'm a broken down whiskey drunk over here. 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:49.759 I don't I don't know anything about all this. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:52.879 Third thing says they were strangers to the covenants of promise. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:59.279 In other words, some of you need to be listening because they they couldn't claim what the Bible said was true about Christians. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:06.240 There's a lot of people that do not have a relationship with God and they want to like claim what the Bible says, like it belongs to them. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:07.440 It doesn't. 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:10.320 Having no hope without God in the world. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:15.600 That phrase, without God, the world, the Greek word for that one phrase is where we get an English word agnostic. 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:18.960 They just, without God in the world, why is this a big deal? 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:28.240 Because these people who had nothing in common except their separation from God and their hostile hatred towards each other are about to experience something that only God can do. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:30.480 And it's this reconciliation. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:37.600 They're gonna be reconciled to God and reconciled to each other because in Jesus is where racial hostility goes to die. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:41.360 I get asked all the time, how did your church get so diverse? 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:43.039 What kind of campaign did you have? 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:43.679 We didn't. 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:46.480 We do not objectify any race, okay? 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:58.639 We just preach the gospel because in the Bible you see a picture of heaven in the book of Revelation, and what you see is around the throne of God, the Bible says there's a multitude of all nations, all kindreds, all tribes, all tongues, all people. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:03.200 And so because heaven's gonna be like that, the church should look like that. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:08.159 And the guy's like, oh, so there's not like a book or anything you read? 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:09.679 Get away from me. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:13.200 Just go see, that's why I don't fit in the preacher club. 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.200 I got I gotta wear I gotta write my Wrangler. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:21.200 I'm like, no, golly, would you stop objectifying minorities to make your white self feel better? 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:24.080 Yes, I said that. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:26.559 Happens all the time. 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:28.399 Happens all the time. 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:39.919 See, when I when I say that that Jesus is necessary uh for gospel community, here's also what I want you to see that we often, too often, settle for an expression of community that's really affinity. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:43.519 The gospel doesn't produce much of the affinity we have in our lives these days. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:44.720 And I'm not against this. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:47.360 Here's some expressions of uh of community. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:52.639 Uh your Bunko group, your kids' swim team, the cheerleader moms, the baseball dads. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:59.200 None of this in and of itself is bad, but you don't need God or the gospel for any of these things to exist. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:06.880 What I'm saying is that all these things can be true of you, all these five things that you just separated from the promises, all this stuff. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:22.160 And yet you can get involved in all these little groups that happen nowadays, little lig mom or whatever, and and you can find some affinity and mistake it for community, and you'll never discover or experience this intimate belonging that characterizes biblical community. 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:35.039 Where when you walk in, it's like, yes, yes, these people know me, they get me, they accept me, they're for me, they speak into my life in consequential ways, and I don't always like it. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:41.039 Here's the deal: if every time someone tells you the truth, you move away from those people, you're king. 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:44.720 And it starts happening when you're a teenager. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:57.039 When you get to be about 14 years old, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 years old, and you decide what your favorite sin is, and people who love you say something, you're like, Well, I just tell you what, and it begins to fracture. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.359 That's why you have clicks in a youth group. 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:07.839 That's why you're like, hey, we all agree that we're gonna just kind of sin and act like it's no big deal, and you got people over here that are kind of like, hey, we want to love those people and we don't know how to speak to them. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:10.880 We said, hey, that's wrong, and they said, take a walk. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:22.480 It's because you can't handle community, it's because you say, I would rather be Cain than be a part of intimate belonging because I don't like people telling me what I want to do is wrong. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:24.160 Happens all the time. 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:25.359 He said, How do you know that? 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:30.319 He used to be a youth pastor a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:33.039 Chewbacca was in my youth group. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:38.799 Here's the second thing now I want you to see in the text is the gospel community is deep and wide. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:41.759 Gospel community is deep and wide. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:42.400 What do you mean? 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:43.519 Look at verse 17. 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:48.640 He says, and he came and he preached peace to you who are far off, and peace to those who were near. 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.880 For through him we have we both have access in one spirit to the Father. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:54.079 Now, what do you mean? 00:18:54.240 --> 00:19:01.920 The width, uh, the the width come, it's wide because you got those who are far off and those who are near. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:04.880 Uh, my friends at Chewy's, they're far off. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:08.960 And when I first started going there, there's a guy that worked at the name Darwin. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:11.119 And I said, You anything like the original Darwin? 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:13.119 And he goes, I'm the original Darwin. 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:15.680 I said, My man, you need to go home and break some mirrors. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:17.359 You look at yourself too much. 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:23.839 Uh, Darwin was an African-American man with dreadlocks, and he referred to me as his brother from another mother. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:26.319 And I said, I'm good with that. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:29.839 Uh, and every time he waved on me, I tried to get a little paint on the barn. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:31.279 I would say something to him. 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:40.400 Like, hey, you know, Charles Darwin, he kind of fudged on the on the facts when it came to those tree moths, and so don't get down that road of naturalism because it cannot be sustained by the truth. 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:41.599 Man, you're tripping. 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:43.519 No, I'm not tripping, I'm telling. 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:47.680 And that's where it all got started. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:49.279 Now, why why why do I say that? 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:56.480 Because you some of you prefer depth to width, and so you just get with people that have the same theological interest as you do. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:00.079 And what happens is over time you become not a very interesting person. 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:07.119 No one has a burning desire to discuss how many angels can get can God fit on the on the head of a pen. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:18.319 No one has a burning desire to to to to to discuss election or Calvinism or Arminianism and all these things you want to get down these roads and talk about. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:23.279 Because in gospel community, there's there it's deep and it's wide. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:31.519 The Jews and the Gentiles, these two groups that could not be less alike, they hate each other uh more and they despise each other by nature. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:35.680 However, because of Jesus, these people that are far apart get brought together. 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:36.880 And so there's breath. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:44.319 See, one of the things that fuels and informs community is that people that are far off are getting closer and closer and closer. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:45.920 You should have people in your life. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:48.480 You should have people, now, by the way, we talk about community. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:50.480 We have things in our church called community groups. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:51.119 They meet tonight. 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:55.200 Matter of fact, they meet all you typically on the first and third Sunday night of the month in homes. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:04.799 There should be people in your community group that show up and say, I don't even believe Christianity, but I'm real curious, so I'm gonna watch you people and see what this is all about. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:09.839 It shouldn't just be a gathering of the already converted who love queso. 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:13.279 I'm not sure that's what Jesus died for. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:17.680 And so when I say the gospel community is deep and wide, let me ask this question. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:21.680 How many of you have ever walked into a church and felt like a stranger and an alien? 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:22.799 Don't raise your hand. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:28.960 Just how many of you ever walked into church and when you walked in, you just kind of thought, oh boy, I don't fit in here. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:34.000 As I had a guy say to me, he goes, I just fit in better at a bar than I do a church. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.559 And I said, please come to my church. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:37.839 He said, Why? 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:40.960 I said, Because you there's other people that feel the same way. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:44.960 A bar is the only place where a total stranger will buy you something. 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:47.119 You ever notice that? 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:50.799 Y'all are like, I don't know what you're talking about, Pastor. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:52.720 Yeah. 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:56.240 You sat in a bar long enough, somebody goes, Hey, can I buy you a drink? 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.839 You're like, uh, uh, oh, are there strings attached? 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.440 What's going on here? 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:07.440 No, there's just this that people are longing because they're sick and tired of being a Cain who's on the fringes. 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:12.319 And it kind of comes in to get love and acceptance and then goes back out to just sin. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:15.920 Gospel community is deep and it's wide. 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:18.319 You say, I don't know what you mean. 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:19.440 Look at the next verse. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:20.400 Look at verse 18. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:23.839 For through him we have uh we have access in one spirit to the Father. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:27.839 Then he says this, so then you are no longer strangers and aliens. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:34.400 See, the capacity to never feel the way you've always felt exists when you enter into community. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:35.680 Let me say that again. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:41.200 The capacity to no longer feel what you've always felt, like this stranger and this alien. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:46.960 The capacity to not feel that anymore exists because of biblical community. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:49.599 And so he says, you're no longer a stranger and alien. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:55.440 So the question I'll pop up in your mind, if you're a thinking person, okay, if I'm no longer a stranger and an alien, what am I? 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:57.440 Here's what God invites you into today. 00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:12.160 He says, You're fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, and whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:14.240 And so just look how it stacks up there. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:19.440 He says, Hey, you you used to be uh strangers and aliens, but now you're fellow citizens. 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:22.160 In other words, nobody here's better than you. 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:23.759 You all are welcome. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:24.640 Come on in. 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:36.000 The only way that the only thing that qualifies us to get in is we accept by faith what Jesus has done, because Jesus is necessary, central, required for us to experience the gospel community. 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:36.480 Why? 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:42.960 Because it's by his blood and his dying on the cross in our place for our sins that makes any of this possible. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:44.319 And so we're fellow citizens. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:46.319 And then he says, secondly, you're saints. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:53.440 Community is where you go to be reminded, hey, you're not who you used to be. 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:57.519 And so what you used to do no longer has power over you. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:23:59.279 It just doesn't. 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:02.240 Thirdly, he says, you're members of the household of God. 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:05.839 You're members of the household of God. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:10.160 Your life matters because you're connected to something bigger than yourself. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:12.400 Then he says this. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:16.079 He says, uh, this household of God is built on the foundation. 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:19.119