1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,880 Welcome to the River City Church podcast and a message by our 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,960 lead pastor, Jason Powers. Our prayer is that this message 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,240 would inspire and encourage you, build your faith and point you 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,840 to the life changing love of Jesus. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,680 May you enjoy the goodness of God as you follow Him today. 6 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:20,680 I'm glad that you're here. We begin each week with a 7 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,880 confession. Confession is just telling the 8 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,280 truth, right? Like we, we confess. 9 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:27,520 Maybe it's something that we've been hiding. 10 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,160 Maybe it's something that we're having a hard time wrapping our 11 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,040 brain around, but our confession is the truth that we believe and 12 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,680 it goes right along. It's like each week this the 13 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:38,600 kind of along with our series with Ephesians where we're 14 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:41,160 looking at what God is doing in his church and we've been in 15 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:46,080 some deep kind of theological waters as Paul is unpacked 16 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:50,280 things like identity, like who we are and and alienation and 17 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:53,520 separation, right? But it all kind of boils back 18 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,440 down ultimately to this confession that we make each 19 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:58,640 week. And so we stated each week so 20 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,360 that when we're then confronted by it in the word, when the word 21 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:05,239 shows us this reality, it's easy for us here to go. 22 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:06,400 Oh yeah, we've already talked about that. 23 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,400 That's fine. I can acknowledge that and then 24 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,800 see what's left. So we confess each week as a as 25 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,520 an exercise in submission to him, to each other and of grace. 26 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:21,240 And so our confession, as his church is we're badly broken. 27 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,600 Yes, you are. Grace and peace to you. 28 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,880 We saw last week as we're continuing kind of to slowly 29 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:29,840 move. Through. 30 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,960 Kind of Ephesians one and two, we saw last week how Jesus, 31 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,320 we've been kind of talking about these divisions, right? 32 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:39,200 And you know, the division that was in Paul's mind, the division 33 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:41,320 that would have been in the first listeners would have been 34 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:44,040 this division between Jewish person and Gentile person, 35 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,120 right? And the Jewish person had the 36 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:48,560 promises, they had the covenants, they had the temple, 37 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,040 they had all of that. And the Gentiles had not that. 38 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:53,640 Not those things. But. 39 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:58,720 Paul last week in his letter made this kind of crazy 40 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:00,200 assertion. Right like that the. 41 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,280 Things that divide the people have been torn down literally. 42 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,640 We saw a graphic and illustration of picture of the 43 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,000 temple and how you have the temple proper in the middle 44 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,960 where the holy of Holies and the altar is, where sacrifices made 45 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,640 for the forgiveness of sin, where the priests go in and 46 00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:18,800 these kind of corresponding courts, right? 47 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,200 The court of the Israelites for the men, the court of the women. 48 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,080 And then finally the court of the Gentiles in the balustrade, 49 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:26,120 right. This little temple wall that 50 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,840 said, if you are a Gentile and you cross this line, the penalty 51 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:31,800 of death is on your own shoulders. 52 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,800 And we saw how systematically the Gentiles had been excluded. 53 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,040 But then last week, Paul tells us his revelation and his 54 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:44,120 revelation is his apocalypse is now the two have been made one. 55 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:48,160 Not like, hey, this is a table where, like, Packer fans and 56 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,280 Texans fans and Cowboy fans can get together and like, hate each 57 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,920 other across our jerseys, right? But then we get together and 58 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:58,320 we've been made one. And the word that Paul uses 59 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:00,400 there that he used last week, it shows up in his. 60 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:02,120 Letter to the. Corinthians, it shows up that 61 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:08,000 the word to describe that is reconciliation, to be 62 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,200 reconciled. Now I have 3 kids, right? 63 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,960 And so reconciliation is sometimes that your kids aren't 64 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,960 like this, I'm sure, but occasionally some of our kids 65 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,360 will have a disagreement about things, right? 66 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,880 And to reconcile is to come in and to make peace and to bring 67 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:28,440 them together again so that we can be one big happy powers 68 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,680 family. And that idea of one big happy 69 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,840 powers family is important for this idea of reconciliation, 70 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,280 because what Paul tells us is. That's actually how. 71 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,000 What happens it goes back to Ephesians chapter 1 and if you 72 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,840 read it the second the end of verse 4, it says this in love 73 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,040 God he predestined us and this was at the time just the Jewish 74 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,560 people. He predestined us to adoption. 75 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,080 He predestined us to adoption to be. 76 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:58,800 Part of Christ. And he goes on as sons and 77 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:00,920 daughters. The idea is an adoption. 78 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,480 It doesn't. It's not like like sons, 79 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,480 daughters and housemates. When someone is adopted, they 80 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,520 become part of the family. They become part of the 81 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:13,200 household through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the 82 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,839 good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his 83 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,880 grace with which he favored us in the beloved. 84 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,680 In the beloved is one of those words. 85 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:26,240 It shows up in different kind of forms throughout the book, 86 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,080 right? It says in him, in Christ, in 87 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:30,880 the beloved, it's all pointing back. 88 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,400 To. Jesus and our participation him. 89 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,000 So you're like, well, what does that mean to be in him? 90 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:40,080 It's similar to be saying, if I said my children Jackson and 91 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,880 Reagan and Madison and even my wife Natalie, they are in the 92 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,720 Powers family. They are part of what it means 93 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,160 to be a Powers. They get to experience all of 94 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:55,400 the manifold riches and blessings of being a Powers, 95 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,920 right? But here's the thing, some of 96 00:04:57,920 --> 00:04:59,920 you in here have experience with adoption. 97 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:02,400 Either you have been adopted or you have adopted someone else. 98 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,200 But the thing about adoption is if I were to go out and adopt A 99 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,480 child, that child would come in and they would have all the 100 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,200 rights and privileges of my children. 101 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,400 That's why adoption is such a beautiful picture. 102 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:16,760 It's such a powerful story to tell. 103 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:20,000 And if you're in here and you've been adopted, you have a special 104 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,240 story. It's such a beautiful picture of 105 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,640 God's love for His people. It's this idea that He chose you 106 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:31,600 and brought you in to be a part of the family. 107 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,600 Whether you're adopted, whether you're natural, you are a part 108 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:37,600 of the family. And so here's what that means. 109 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,720 If I adopted a child and one day I walked in and this adopted 110 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,920 child, my son, my adopted son and my natural daughter were 111 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,360 fighting and my daughter said, well, you're just adopted, 112 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:51,760 you're outside. What I would do is immediately 113 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,400 step in and insert myself. And you know what I would say in 114 00:05:55,400 --> 00:06:01,680 that moment, there's no difference between an adopted 115 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:06,480 child and a natural child. You are my children. 116 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:08,680 And if they didn't get it, well, they'll get it when it's time 117 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:09,840 to. Separate the will. 118 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:14,720 Not that my kids have any. There's no will, all right? 119 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,400 Like we don't get that right. But listen, this is an important 120 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:20,160 truth. Right. 121 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,160 Like this is the thing that and, and, and honestly, it's the 122 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:26,520 thing that we have to confess. We believe that those who are 123 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,640 different from me have every bit as much access and right and 124 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:35,840 privilege to the body as I do. And the reason it's so 125 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:37,680 important, we have to go over this over and over again. 126 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,200 When I see people who are obnoxious, who are, who are just 127 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,600 wrong or who or whatever, like I have to remind myself, it's not 128 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,520 just about me. And this is fundamental truth, 129 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,440 that the walls are down, the balustrade is gone. 130 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,120 The things that separated the Gentiles from the Holy of 131 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:55,080 Holies, from the place where God dwells has been removed. 132 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,480 It doesn't exist there anymore. And The thing is, that's true 133 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:02,840 whether we believe it or not. It falls in what philosophers 134 00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:08,480 call untold logical reality. It is a truth, whether we feel 135 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,200 like it or agree with it or not. And here's why that's so 136 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:12,440 important. Are you listening? 137 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,920 Because everything in US and everything in our culture and 138 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:21,920 everything in our world draws us to build walls. 139 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:27,520 Everything that we see when we watch TV, the TV tells us where 140 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,240 to build the wall and who's on the outside of it. 141 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,200 The things that we do for our recreation, they tell us where 142 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,920 to build walls and who's on the outside of it. 143 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,640 We divide like I have kids in high school, right? 144 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,880 And we build our identities based on who we are and on what 145 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:45,960 we do. And what happens is when the 146 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:50,560 news or our social circle tells us, build a wall here and keep 147 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:52,280 them out. Who? 148 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:55,400 Whoever it is, left-handed people, tall people, 149 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:59,520 right-handed people, Republican people, smelly people, tall 150 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:01,480 people, whatever, it is the wall. 151 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,560 Says you're on the other side, you're excluded. 152 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,560 You don't get to get in. Now this is the part where I, as 153 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,000 a pastor, get to own something that I wish I had said 154 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,960 differently last week. OK, to illustrate this point, I 155 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,600 held up two signs, right. I showed a picture of a sign 156 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,120 from the Jim Crow era that said whites only waiting room. 157 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,480 And then I showed a sign of Augusta National Golf Course 158 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,400 that said members only. Let me make a distinction. 159 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,320 That's important. Being excluded from a Country 160 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:38,559 Club is not nearly remotely in the same universe as the kind of 161 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:43,000 violent generational exclusion that Jim Crow was. 162 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:46,840 I wish I had been more careful in setting up that illustration. 163 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,640 Being excluded from a Country Club is annoying. 164 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:54,640 It's dumb. I wish that it weren't the case, 165 00:08:55,040 --> 00:09:00,000 but it's not the same as you're not allowed in there by virtue 166 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,840 and nature of who you are. I wish I'd said that 167 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:04,960 differently. I wish I'd set that up 168 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,880 differently to make that point, but the point that I was trying 169 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:12,960 to make in that moment is that we naturally devolved to that. 170 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:16,360 We naturally go to that place. We are. 171 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,960 By instinct, wall builders and the thing I just want to say 172 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:25,880 whether it is it is violent and generational and and whatever of 173 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,160 of Jim Crow that was terrible or it is something as seemingly 174 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,320 innocuous as Country Club membership. 175 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:34,560 Wall building is an instinct to us. 176 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:38,160 And what I want to say is wall building runs counter to the 177 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:45,000 heart and mission of Jesus. It is contrary to it when we 178 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,880 look at someone. Based on some external service, 179 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:52,360 say you don't get to be in here because people in here are like 180 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:53,920 that. And listen, here's the thing I 181 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:55,640 want you to know. I want you to be able to put 182 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:56,760 your finger on those things to go. 183 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,600 Those things are in me. I have those instincts. 184 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,600 I want to tell you. How can you be a Cowboys fan, 185 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:03,640 right? We talked about that week. 186 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:05,720 I'm not going to unpack my trauma here again. 187 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:09,920 But what we do want to say is we want to say like, how can it be 188 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:12,200 like that and do that? And the thing that we miss again 189 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:14,920 as we come to the book of Ephesians was this wasn't 190 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:20,240 written to us first. We have been joy and we have 191 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:24,400 been enjoying an invitation to a space that was not originally 192 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:28,640 created for us. We are given access by the love 193 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:31,400 and the grace and the peace of Jesus. 194 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,760 And so all the boundaries and all the tribal walls have 195 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:37,000 fallen. And so here's the thing I want 196 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:40,440 to tell you as much and as often as I can, whatever distinction 197 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:44,480 you think exists between us and them, between me and you, it's 198 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,520 probably not as distinct and as clear cut as you think. 199 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:49,680 And the point that I want to make, are you listening? 200 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:52,280 I love you. I hope like that thing that we 201 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:55,440 hold onto and justify that sets us at odds against the people. 202 00:10:55,520 --> 00:11:02,080 It is certainly not from Jesus. The King who left heaven to 203 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:06,880 reconcile Gentiles to himself, tearing down the wall of 204 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:10,240 hostility, is now resident in US. 205 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:12,280 His Spirit is in US and we. Are. 206 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,320 In him. So one of the things I know that 207 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,760 I do, and it's probably frustrating for you, I sometimes 208 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:19,360 just say, well. Stop like don't do that. 209 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:22,760 Like don't build walls like like don't separate, don't don't do. 210 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,720 That and what I don't often do well enough, I think, and this 211 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:27,720 is my fault I'm working on. I give you some grace right on 212 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:29,040 this. What I don't didn't tell is 213 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:31,000 enough tell you well what is going on? 214 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:36,760 If the walls been torn down, if I'm not a tribe, right, 215 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,440 left-handed people unite, right? Like if I'm not that, then what 216 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:45,360 am I If we're not defined by our walls, right? 217 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:47,080 Like that's a good thing about the Temple. 218 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:49,240 I could know who the Jewish men were because they were in the 219 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:51,640 gathering group that said Jewish men. 220 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:58,240 If we're not that, who are we? If we're not known by who we 221 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:02,800 don't invite into our meetings, then what are we known by? 222 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,800 What is it that defines us if it's not exclusion? 223 00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:10,640 Well, I hope you know by the fact that I asked the question 224 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,160 in this context that Paul actually answers that question 225 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,320 for us. So that's good news, right? 226 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,400 So let's see what we can do. Let's see how we can resist that 227 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:21,680 instinct to build walls and just say you're not like me. 228 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:24,320 So you're dangerous, or you're scary or you're bad, or you're 229 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:26,200 unlovable or you're unkind, or you're just. 230 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:27,040 You're just. Terrible. 231 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:28,120 You're just wrong. Like what does he say? 232 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:30,520 So we go, we pick up where we left off in verse 19. 233 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:34,720 And what 19 does is kind of summarizes Paul's point from 234 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,000 above. So in verse 19 he says so then, 235 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:39,000 right? That's a great summary phrase 236 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,080 after verse one through 18. So then you are no longer now 237 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:45,160 listen to these words. Strangers. 238 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,240 Strangers to what right. Like we talked about last week, 239 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:49,120 the the Gentiles, they were strangers to all of it. 240 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:50,960 They were strangers to Christ. They were strangers to the 241 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:52,440 covenants. They were strangers to the 242 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:53,760 promises. They were excluded. 243 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:55,960 They're all and he says, well, Paul says you're no longer like 244 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:57,880 that. You're no longer a stranger. 245 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:01,560 You're no longer a foreigner. That's a word that just shows up 246 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:03,480 a lot just kind of in our natural going around. 247 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:05,400 It's a thing that we put a lot of weight in a lot. 248 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:10,480 And what Paul says is the most fundamental foreigner, non 249 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,200 foreigner distinction maybe that ever lived between Jew and 250 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:15,120 Gentile. He says that's not who you are 251 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:18,560 anymore. You're not known by primarily by 252 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:19,920 being excluded from all those things. 253 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,840 He says you're not a stranger, you're a foreigner. 254 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:28,600 You are a fellow citizen, an adopted child of the Risen King, 255 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:33,160 just like the. Rest fellow citizens with the 256 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:37,000 Saints, and you are of God's household. 257 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,720 You are a part of family. And So what Paul is saying is 258 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:43,800 the things that we look at, the things that we look at, the side 259 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,280 of the person is in or out, good or bad, right or wrong, or all 260 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:50,640 external things, things that the Jewish people use the law to 261 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:55,600 tell them, circumcision, dietary restrictions, ritual purity. 262 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,520 Oh, you haven't washed your hands a certain way. 263 00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:59,240 You don't get to answer. You don't get to do that. 264 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:01,280 And that's how we know who is in and who. 265 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:04,840 Is out who is good, who is bad, who is right is wrong. 266 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:07,160 And let me just say something important important here, right, 267 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:11,400 like the physical isn't bad. I believe that God intentionally 268 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:13,200 One of the things we're going to talk about when we see about how 269 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:17,240 God is building this up is the specific and personal nature and 270 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:19,640 way that God has created each of us. 271 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:22,320 I want you to know that God has created you as you are. 272 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,440 It was well within his capacity to make us all some kind of 273 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:30,000 Gray, homogeneous kind of. But he didn't. 274 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:35,760 He created us black and white, tall and short, rich and poor, 275 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,640 left-handed and right hand, cowboy fan and Packer fan, 276 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:41,320 right? Like these things that are deep 277 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:46,240 in US, He created us. The physical is good. 278 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:50,560 It's just not ultimate. It's good. 279 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,360 It's just not the most important thing. 280 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:57,200 And so as I sit and I look at my high school friends over here, 281 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,680 your entire world tells you that you are what you look like. 282 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:03,680 The real world tells you that you are if you are beautiful or 283 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:08,160 tall or blonde or whatever. And we all know that and we've 284 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:09,560 all experienced. And what I want to tell you is 285 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:11,680 there's a truth that is deeper than that. 286 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:16,720 And that's what Paul is getting, that in the same way, that is, 287 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,160 if we're family, the walls have been torn down. 288 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:20,800 You're part of the household of God. 289 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:22,640 Now that household is an important thing. 290 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:25,880 My neighbor if my neighbor comes across the street and has dinner 291 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:28,400 to me at the put dinner with me at the same place where my 292 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,360 family has dinner, that doesn't mean that they're that they're 293 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:33,400 my family. Oh, well, we, you know, shared 294 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,600 macaroni and cheese. So you're you're in the will. 295 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,640 In the same way, if my daughter Reagan doesn't come home, if she 296 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:41,960 skips dinner one time and doesn't well, that doesn't mean 297 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:44,280 that she's she's out of the family. 298 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:51,320 This is an ontological reality. Ontological that there's a lot 299 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,000 going on in there, man I. Got to like, slow down and let 300 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,960 it get out. Ontology is true regardless of 301 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:02,680 what we believe about it. The fact is, you may not feel 302 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:07,920 like the walls have been torn down, but I think as we walk 303 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,160 with Jesus, what we find is war. Walls haven't been torn down. 304 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,640 Those are walls that we've been building, walls that we've been 305 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:19,080 tending to and nurturing. And what Paul said is he had 306 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:20,840 this apocalypse. And remember apocalypse, it's 307 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:23,400 not like war. It's not like bombs and and 308 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:25,600 napalm and all that. Apocalypse is just a pulling 309 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,520 back, a revelation from like the scales are falling off. 310 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,800 And Paul's awareness was in the church. 311 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:42,400 We're one the same Jews and Gentiles, those who went to the 312 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:45,920 temple and those who didn't go to temple, those who were raised 313 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,440 in the promises and those who weren't raised in the promises, 314 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:52,920 equal access to the throne now with God. 315 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:59,160 And so Paul is kind of hammered us with this illustration. 316 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:00,680 You're part of the family. Now. 317 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:03,160 One of the things that Paul does a lot as you read him, and you 318 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:05,599 may have been frustrated by it and not even know, but one of 319 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:09,040 the things that Paul does a lot is switch metaphors, right? 320 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:10,839 Like he gets in and he gets going. 321 00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:11,760 You're like. You're like. 322 00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:13,720 Right. I'm a like, I'm the, I'm the 323 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,480 body of the body of Christ. And then he starts talking about 324 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:17,880 foundations and you're like, what? 325 00:17:18,079 --> 00:17:19,240 What? What? 326 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:20,079 Why? Right. 327 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:22,680 Whole different thing. So now Paul is being, he's 328 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,599 talked about this household, this family, the walls. 329 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:29,360 Are torn down and he's all these pictures of of Jewish imagery 330 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:31,680 that would have made the Jewish people the Jewish people he's 331 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,200 talking about now Gentiles have access to it and now he switches 332 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:39,520 the metaphor and he starts talking about a building an 333 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,480 edifice a thing and again what's he talking about What's he 334 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,200 talking about the temple where we draw near to God where 335 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,920 sacrifice has been made right and so we build start talking 336 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:53,720 about a temple verse 20 now you're of God's household family 337 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:58,120 metaphor having been built on building are we good are we 338 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:01,800 tracking so now he's going to talk about this building right 339 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:07,720 having built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets 340 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:13,320 right Jesus himself being the cornerstone so now there's good 341 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,920 construction analogy here right when do you build the foundation 342 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:21,040 of your house after the walls are up after the roof is all 343 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,400 dried in or first the picture that we. 344 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:26,560 Have is of the apostles and prophets, right? 345 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,000 And there's some question we read, I read some commentaries, 346 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:30,320 right? Is this the Old Testament 347 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:31,520 prophets? Are we talking about like 348 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:34,520 Jeremiah and Isaiah and Ezekiel? Or are we? 349 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:36,800 Talking about like the New Testament prophets, right, like 350 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,000 we read in Antioch, there was there was some the prophets and 351 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,440 the answer is yes. Point of the prophets wasn't 352 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:46,800 telling the future. The prophets weren't just like, 353 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:49,240 oh, it's gonna rain hail. The point of the prophets was to 354 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,840 call his people back to repentance, to say God's desire 355 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,920 is to bless you and to give you a hope and a future, But your 356 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,520 life and your tendency in your direction and the house that 357 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,560 you're building and the walls that you're building are keeping 358 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:03,680 you from that. So turn away from those 359 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,840 divisions and lean into the family. 360 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:08,160 What he says is. The. 361 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,920 Foundation was the apostles and the prophets, right? 362 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,080 Here's the thing about the apostles and the prophets. 363 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,840 Side note, I brought it up, the fact that it talks about the 364 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:22,000 apostles and then the prophets indicates kind of a lot of the 365 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,440 commentaries kind of to me he's talking about the New Testament 366 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:26,960 prophets, right And here's why that's important. 367 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:31,760 The apostles and the prophets eyewitness testimony was we have 368 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:35,520 seen the man Jesus, we. Saw. 369 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:40,560 Him dead, resurrected and ascended. 370 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,560 So what we're. Told is the foundation of this. 371 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,080 Divisionless reality. The foundation of this building 372 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:50,800 is the testimony of the apostles and prophets. 373 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,720 That's why it's trustworthy. This, you know, where we have 374 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,560 the words of the apostles and the prophets today and here. 375 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,960 That's why this is trustworthy. It says, right in the New 376 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,040 Testament, people saw Jesus. The apostle Paul says in First 377 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:10,080 Corinthians 15 he appeared to 500 people at once resurrected. 378 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,440 There were plenty of people who could have said, no, that wasn't 379 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:14,000 real, no, that didn't really happen. 380 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,160 No, that was just a myth. That was an allegory. 381 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:20,880 But they didn't say that. They said we've seen the man. 382 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:24,760 So this is the foundation that we stand on what the people said 383 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:26,320 about Jesus. So real quick. 384 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:30,640 What we don't get to do as. Christians is to kind of like. 385 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,520 Trump Jesus with Leviticus, right? 386 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:37,640 Like we don't get to say, well, I know Jesus said this, but I 387 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:39,320 get Leviticus, man, you got to fuck. 388 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:43,960 Yeah, we don't get to like Trump Jesus with the apostle Paul and 389 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,360 be like, well, I know Jesus did this, but the apostle Paul said 390 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:47,640 this, you can't do that and you can't have that. 391 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:50,920 And I'm like, Jesus is the one. It says he's the cornerstone, 392 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,080 right? So the foundation goes before 393 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,720 the walls, before the roof, before the plumbing, before all 394 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:57,320 of that. And you know what comes before 395 00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:58,520 the foundation? The. 396 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:00,480 Cornerstone. The cornerstone is what you 397 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,080 said, and you put it in place so that it aligns, so that it faces 398 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,480 the direction that it's supposed to go so that it is stable, so 399 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:09,520 that now we have the level where it's going to be. 400 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:11,280 Everything's going to reach this height. 401 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:13,120 It's not going to be lower. It's not going to be higher. 402 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:15,040 We're going to set the cornerstone going this way. 403 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,120 That means the building's not going to go this way. 404 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,600 So the foundation is the apostles and the prophets, their 405 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:24,280 lives, their teachings, their ministries, their testimony, 406 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,480 their good word about who Jesus was and what he has done. 407 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:31,040 And Jesus himself is the cornerstone and the foundation 408 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,160 and what what Paul says is that's what we're being built 409 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,760 on. And in Ephesians, who is you? 410 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:43,280 Oh y'all? What God is doing here is being 411 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,880 built on what the apostles and the prophets said was going to 412 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,160 happen. So here's what that means for 413 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:52,560 us. Here's what that means for you 414 00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:57,000 and for us. We build our lives on the solid 415 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:01,280 foundation of God's word revealed in Jesus. 416 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,600 This is the body of Christ, not just this place, but God's 417 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:09,240 church, the church, the body of Christ around New Braunfels, 418 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,240 around the San Antonio, Austin metro. 419 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:13,920 But about all of that stuff. It's all a. 420 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,880 Picture of Jesus, which means that what we do in this place in 421 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:27,240 His name should look like Him. It should reflect him because 422 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:33,160 here's the thing, if it's not built on this, if we don't come 423 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:36,640 to this to talk about our money, if. 424 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:41,120 We don't come to this to talk about our identity if we don't 425 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:43,320 come to this to talk about who we are. 426 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,560 Then what that just means is that I am just whatever I think 427 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:50,640 and feel in a moment, you know? The problem with that is I don't 428 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,000 think or feel the same as I did when I got here this morning. 429 00:22:55,040 --> 00:23:01,040 My mind changes all the time. Sometimes I feel neat, sometimes 430 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:03,600 I feel angry. One of the great. 431 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,280 It's hard to be a pastor's kid because you're always like a 432 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:13,080 sermon illustration, right? And so, but I, I want to say 433 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,360 like, I want to hold my kids up as a celebration right now. 434 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:20,560 Like I've watched my kids this year deal with difficult growth 435 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:22,200 things. And underneath all of these 436 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,720 growth things that I see my girls wrestling with is this 437 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:29,720 question, who am I like, like what? 438 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:31,400 What am I about? What is it? 439 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:36,240 What is it that defines me and and my daughter Reagan in 440 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,800 particular has had to make some difficult choices about who she 441 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,640 is this year and what she is. And So what I want continually 442 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,320 to point my daughter Reagan back and you is to this because what 443 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:52,280 this tells you is you were chosen before you were a 444 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:56,920 cheerleader or an accountant or tall or handsome or wealthy. 445 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:04,480 You were seen, you were included, you were given a name 446 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:11,320 and a place and a hope and a reality in him and with Him. 447 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:15,640 If what Jesus says about you isn't true, then nothing's true 448 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:20,560 because everything is changing. Everything is trying to tell you 449 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,440 that you are different, something that you're not. 450 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:26,160 And so when? Jesus tells you who your 451 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:27,680 identity is as you walk through life. 452 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:29,400 You pick this stuff. I remember being in college and 453 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,800 I went to college and I played baseball and dude, that was all 454 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:32,280 I did. That's. 455 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,040 That's who I. Was it was my whole identity. 456 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,240 I felt great. I felt better than most people. 457 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:38,360 I was like, oh, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? 458 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:41,080 And then I quit. And then what? 459 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,360 Disaster. Because I didn't know who I was. 460 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:47,680 I didn't know what was real about me. 461 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:50,120 And here's the thing about you, Whatever it is that you do for 462 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:56,000 your identity, it's going to go away, going to go away, and then 463 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,440 you're going to be left to figure out who you are. 464 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:03,080 And so he's building this, God's building this church. 465 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:04,760 And I just also want to acknowledge there's a lot of 466 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,800 questions about the Scripture with Genesis 16 literal days. 467 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:11,000 I don't know what do I do with science? 468 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:15,040 I don't know what this means to build your life on the 469 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,600 foundation. What it means is to come to his 470 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,720 people with your questions. It means bring your doubts and 471 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:27,440 your fears and your concerns and your weaknesses and your sins 472 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,600 and all of those things that you think you've got to hide. 473 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,080 And you've got to keep out all those things that you think keep 474 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:36,400 you behind the wall, that keep you from pressing into that holy 475 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,680 place. You bring them all, but you 476 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:43,120 bring them to His people gathered around His word. 477 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:49,280 Animated by His Spirit and we say, what does this say about me 478 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:54,320 and what do I do in response? Because your boss will tell you 479 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:56,760 what you got to do and it'll ultimately be about His bottom 480 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,440 line. Your neighbors will tell you 481 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,720 what to do, and it will be about their own property values. 482 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:06,520 Everybody's got an agenda for you, but Jesus is the one who 483 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:12,440 wants to make you most you. So Paul talks about a building 484 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:14,960 he's calling a family. He's building a building. 485 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,960 And now in the next verses, he tells us what that building is. 486 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:19,280 And this is where it gets good news. 487 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,360 I spent all week trying to find an analogy that would 488 00:26:22,360 --> 00:26:25,640 communicate the weight and the substance of what Paul is 489 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,240 communicating with. And I I don't, I don't know that 490 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:31,320 there's one that would carry the same kind of emotional weight is 491 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:35,600 what Paul describes here. But he goes on in verse 20, 492 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:37,280 right? So he's building, having been 493 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:39,880 built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, verse 494 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:45,040 21, in whom the whole building being fitted together. 495 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:49,040 Here's that deliberate, specific, intentional, right? 496 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:52,240 Like he knows the parts, he knows the pieces. 497 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,600 You don't have to worry about, like, you don't have to get 498 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,080 worried about being misfit in this building. 499 00:26:57,080 --> 00:26:59,760 You don't have to get worried about being typecast in the 500 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,040 wrong place, right? Like, like that's where it is. 501 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:04,800 That's why we cling to things that don't fit us anymore, 502 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:06,840 because we're so worried. But what we're? 503 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,640 Told is God is putting the pieces together with an eye 504 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:12,520 towards fitness with what matters he so he says the whole 505 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:20,880 being being fitted together is growing into a what a temple in 506 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:27,760 whom you also all y'all are being built together into a 507 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:33,400 dwelling of God. So he's talking about this form 508 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,120 being fitted, this relational sense, right? 509 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,160 Being put together again like this, this picture of a family 510 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:40,800 and of a household being crafted. 511 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,240 It's this picture of God's intentional delight in bringing 512 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,400 his things together, of putting together, he says. 513 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:51,440 He's talking about the form, a building, a family, these 514 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,000 relationships. But now he's talking about 515 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:55,400 function. Here's why he's talking about 516 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:56,280 function. Are you listening? 517 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:58,560 Because what's the point of the temple? 518 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:00,760 Why did we talk about the temple last week? 519 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,800 Because we talked about being drawn near, right? 520 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,600 Like we talked about those doors of the temple where the priest 521 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:09,440 stood with the altar behind. That's where reconciliation was 522 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,200 made. That's where forgiveness has. 523 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:13,760 And what he's saying is now you're the temple. 524 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:15,320 You're where forgiveness is made. 525 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,200 You know how people get forgiven in this place? 526 00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:23,640 Unless we don't, unless we keep building walls and go, you can't 527 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,600 get in here. You don't look right, you don't 528 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,160 have enough. You don't come from the right 529 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,840 place. You don't vote right, you don't 530 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,880 believe right. And what he's saying is this 531 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:40,640 form this thing, look around the room, look at us, a motley crew 532 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:42,360 from all over the place in the world. 533 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:45,560 He's like, that's where they're going to experience what the 534 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,880 Jewish people had to go to the temple to experience the the 535 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:55,280 whole thing that he's building. We are the we're the temple of 536 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:59,480 Christ. We are where Christ's spirit 537 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:01,240 dwelt. I grew up man, right in my 538 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,840 little bed like this is the, this is God's house, as if we 539 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:07,760 like locked the door and left the Holy Spirit on the inside, 540 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:12,240 right? No, you're the house and not 541 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:17,640 just you all y'all. So when you go to target and you 542 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:21,960 run into somebody and you ask somebody, hey, how can I pray 543 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:26,160 for you? Dwelling of the Holy Spirit is 544 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:30,600 in your presence. When you send a text message to 545 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:34,000 someone, you just say, hey, you crossed my mind and I want you 546 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:35,760 to know that I love you and I'm thinking of you. 547 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:38,000 I don't need a response. I just want you to know that 548 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,000 you're like you. You're the church. 549 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,240 You're the body of Christ doing the things that Jesus did. 550 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,160 When we stand against injustice, are you listening? 551 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:54,320 When we stand against injustice by embracing those who have been 552 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:56,680 marginalized by oppression, we are. 553 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,840 Doing the things. That Jesus did. 554 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:07,040 That's what this is. Jesus put his Spirit into us so 555 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:09,600 that his Spirit. Could love the people that he 556 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:15,480 loves. But if we come here and meet 557 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:21,680 anger or suspicion or rejection or fear or danger or whatever, 558 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,920 we'll naturally assume that's what Jesus feels too. 559 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,160 And so he has called us together. 560 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:34,280 He's torn down the walls. He has put his Spirit in it. 561 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,760 Do you realize what that means last? 562 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,240 Week we, we, we. This is me and you now, right? 563 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:45,480 Like in all of our like Christian stuff last week we 564 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:47,760 weren't allowed across the balustrade. 565 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:54,840 Last week we were hundreds of feet from the presence of God 566 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:58,040 under penalty of death. Are you listening today? 567 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:05,680 You're the holy of Holies. One person don't. 568 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:09,680 Cry, don't cry, don't cry. Listen, I'm not not like fishing 569 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:13,360 for it, but I'm telling you like that's a reality we need to go 570 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:18,720 home and meditate on. Last week we couldn't get close 571 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,280 enough to smell it. This week it indwells us. 572 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,240 It lives in US. It moves in US. 573 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,840 What that means is that the spiritual connection is realer 574 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:31,000 than any kind of external physical thing that should keep 575 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,680 us apart. We don't like people who vote 576 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:36,000 different from us or who have a different color skin than us, or 577 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,240 who live in a different part of town, or maybe they smell 578 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:40,000 different or they believe different, or they have these 579 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,200 different things right. Whatever being, we look at these 580 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,600 external things and we go, you're too different from me to 581 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,760 be with me and to be like me. And what Jesus says is you're 582 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,680 just looking at the stuff you need to get in to the heart 583 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:56,120 because the spiritual connection, it's realer than the 584 00:31:56,120 --> 00:32:00,560 external one. You have more in common with a 585 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:05,160 4th century peasant who was a follower of Jesus than with your 586 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:10,120 neighbor across the street who doesn't follow Jesus. 587 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:13,920 Because the Spirit of God that is in you is real and it is 588 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:17,000 alive. So here's what that means for us 589 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:21,000 who live in and are dwell. You know, the Spirit of God 590 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:24,160 dwells in US. That means that our gatherings 591 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,800 should have a distinct quality. There's no other building like 592 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:28,160 the temple man. You can walk up. 593 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:30,480 You'd see it for miles around. You'd see this on the hill. 594 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:31,560 You. There was no. 595 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:32,560 There was no. You. 596 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:34,920 Couldn't miss the temple of Artemis, right? 597 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,040 Gold is one of the seven wonders of world. 598 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,360 It was the whole point. Then what Paul is saying is 599 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:42,480 like, it's not Aaron's temple, it's not Solomon's temple, it's 600 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:48,880 not Artemis temple, it's you. Our gathering should be as 601 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:53,880 unique as those temples, and what that means is there should 602 00:32:53,880 --> 00:33:00,280 be a distinct sense of otherness about us when we gather. 603 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:03,360 And it doesn't mean that we don't talk politics. 604 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:08,160 What it? Means is there is no issue. 605 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,520 Yeah, none. No, there is no issue. 606 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,640 That is a wedge between the. People of God. 607 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,440 It means, I mean, I like, have an opinion. 608 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:26,400 I don't care. The problem isn't that we have 609 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:28,320 opinions. The problem is that we take our 610 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:30,640 opinions and we make judgments out of them. 611 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:33,240 And we believe that the people who are different from us can't 612 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:35,640 be different from us. And So what it means is I begin 613 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:38,520 with the fundamental assumption we're the same. 614 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,200 We're the same. What's in US is greater than 615 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:44,240 what's outside of us and what distinguishes us. 616 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:48,360 So sure, we may talk politics, but we talk more about who you 617 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,920 are in Christ as and who I am in Christ and what Christ is doing 618 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:53,920 in our neighborhood. And we don't, and we need to 619 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:58,280 find some who can we go be Jesus to That doesn't look like us. 620 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:01,840 We talk about lost people. We talk about however we want to 621 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:04,320 break it up, foreign people outside, right? 622 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:08,520 Jesus calls them the people that I miss the most. 623 00:34:09,159 --> 00:34:12,480 I just want to go get them. Will you go get them? 624 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:20,280 Oh, but there, listen, it doesn't mean that we don't have 625 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:22,639 money. It doesn't mean that Jesus wants 626 00:34:22,639 --> 00:34:24,560 you poor. It just means that if you do 627 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:27,280 have money, his desire is that your money would be given to the 628 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:30,560 flourishment of the community, not just yourself. 629 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:37,000 It doesn't mean that we all have to have more education or less 630 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:38,800 education. It just means that whether you 631 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,960 have more education or less education, you don't have more 632 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:46,760 or less value. You know why you're valuable? 633 00:34:48,679 --> 00:34:53,080 Because that moment in your life when it all fell apart and the 634 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:57,200 tears were coming in, that self loathing and hatred in you was 635 00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:00,320 just deep and rich and you thought you were excluded your 636 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,800 love. Because in that moment Jesus sat 637 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:06,480 with you. You didn't feel it maybe, or you 638 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:08,120 didn't know it, but he was there. 639 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:11,400 And his point for you was I love you. 640 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,800 This was the apocalypse. This was what Paul saw when the 641 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:20,800 scales fell off, when the curtain came up and the veil was 642 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:23,760 torn. The wall is down. 643 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:32,920 The temple is US. And God lives here, here, here 644 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:37,440 now. That's what this is about. 645 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:42,800 This is not about sermons or songs or uncomfortable chairs 646 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:46,800 and tight rows. This is about the Kingdom being 647 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:50,520 birthed inside of us. This is about people who walk 648 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,640 outside of this world and the world says you shouldn't be 649 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:55,720 together, you don't belong together. 650 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:58,680 Y'all don't? And we just say, Nah, I don't 651 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:00,640 really believe that. I believe that the wall of 652 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:04,400 hostility has been torn down. And the danger in this and what 653 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:06,640 I listen, there's a temptation and I want to wrap up every 654 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:07,960 sermon with like, go do this, right? 655 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:10,040 But here's the danger. We call it moralism. 656 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:13,240 The danger of moralism is we take this truth that God says is 657 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:14,720 real. And the truth is that the wall 658 00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:16,680 is down, right? And then we tried to just like. 659 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,680 OK, now go do it. Now go out and and be in the 660 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:22,360 water. And it's not always that easy, 661 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:25,720 right? Moralism say go do this so that 662 00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:27,480 you can have the. Presence of God. 663 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:29,480 Here's the reality. If you fall in Jesus, you have 664 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:31,360 the presence of God. You have a spirit that wants to 665 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:33,720 lead you into all truth, and you're going to screw it up. 666 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:35,520 You're not going to listen to the Holy Spirit. 667 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:37,400 The Holy Spirit's going to want to tell you to forgive 668 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:38,560 something. And you're like, Nah, I would 669 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:40,640 rather fight them. Holy Spirit's going to say get 670 00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:43,960 on your social media space and be a voice of life and goodness. 671 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:45,200 And you're going to be like, yeah, I'd. 672 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:47,920 Rather just burn some stuff down or I'm mad or I like, like, I 673 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:49,800 get it. I know I'm me too, right? 674 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:51,560 Like like, like like that's. That's all of this, right? 675 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,520 So what I don't want you to do is just go give you a handful of 676 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,400 things that you can go out and now start practicing and 677 00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:59,000 working, right? Like what I want to do is I want 678 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,200 to paint you a picture of what it looks like when the Holy 679 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:05,080 Spirit dwells richly in a group of people, when people who, 680 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:07,520 because the point is it's supposed to overflow, right? 681 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,160 Like my kids look like me. They talk like me. 682 00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:12,360 And guess what? What that means is they look 683 00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:16,080 like my dad and they talk like my mom because it flows out. 684 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:18,400 And who they are, they can't, they can't escape that. 685 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,120 And what I want to say is who you are as you follow Jesus, You 686 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:23,040 can't escape that. It's going to leak out. 687 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:25,720 And so if you don't have love and you just go, oh, I gotta go 688 00:37:25,720 --> 00:37:28,560 love people no more. No, you got to be loved. 689 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:30,680 You got to let the wall come down. 690 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:34,000 You got to stop and back up and look at Jesus and go, could you 691 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:37,360 love this? This is terrible. 692 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:42,320 And he's like, brother, brother. See, that's the thing. 693 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:44,680 When I look at my kids, right? And I know where they are and I 694 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,240 know the identity struggles that they're wrestling with. 695 00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:50,040 And I know the identity struggles that where they come 696 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:55,280 and listen, what I want to tell my kids who are in the room for 697 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:57,000 sure talking to you, even though I'm not looking at you. 698 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:59,080 Like here's the thing. What you don't understand is 699 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:01,560 this identity marker that you've got right now. 700 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:05,840 It's not done. And the thing that it's easy 701 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:08,280 with your kids because you see how wonderful they are, right? 702 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:11,560 And the thing that I want to tell my kids is that God sees 703 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:17,760 you here, here. You're so worried that that this 704 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:19,440 isn't it. Like, of course it's not. 705 00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:21,520 You don't even see yourself there. 706 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:24,280 And what I want to tell you is God is fully able to love you 707 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:28,680 there. And so we don't lose ourselves 708 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:32,040 in this middle, right? We don't try to go run and 709 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:34,920 figure it all out. We just simply let ourselves be 710 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:38,040 loved. We tear down the walls between 711 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:40,120 people when we see people and listen. 712 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:44,200 I drive cars with apparently the worst people in the world. 713 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:46,760 I want to yell at them. I want like you're. 714 00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:49,280 The reason, right? Like it's, it's you. 715 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:51,200 You're like, like. You're the one, right? 716 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:54,160 And I but I know that that's not coming from the place. 717 00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:57,080 That's not what what Jesus has for me or says for me, right? 718 00:38:57,080 --> 00:39:03,440 And So what I need to do is pause and stop and rest and 719 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:07,040 meditate on the reality that that guy who just cut me off in 720 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:12,760 traffic is every bit as welcome in the presence of God as Zion. 721 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:18,400 And I begin to let that spirit fill and fill until it begins to 722 00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:20,760 leak out. Here's what it looks like when 723 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:28,080 it leaks out. Those who had received His word 724 00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:33,840 were baptized and that day they were added about 3000 souls. 725 00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:36,720 The reason we're going to baptize after this service is as 726 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:38,840 a way of demonstrating I'm with Jesus. 727 00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:42,520 I'm immersed into the life that Jesus wants. 728 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:44,720 So what is that? To be immersed in that? 729 00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:48,200 To be immersed in the life of Jesus is to say, I will not tend 730 00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:52,640 any walls any longer because the life of Jesus is wall destroyer. 731 00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:55,520 He destroys the hostility. And so he said they were 732 00:39:55,720 --> 00:40:01,080 baptized into him 3000 that day. So what does this baptized body 733 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:03,520 look like? What do they do well? 734 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,600 They were continually devoting themselves to what? 735 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:12,240 Listen what we talked about the apostles teaching, and to 736 00:40:12,240 --> 00:40:18,520 fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 737 00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:23,360 If you don't think they were annoying, codependent boundary 738 00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:26,520 issue people in the 1st century Ephesus, you're crazy. 739 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:31,840 What they said is over and over and over again. 740 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:36,280 They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching to figure out 741 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:39,240 what it looks like to live boundaryless in this world. 742 00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:44,560 And what did it look like as they did that all the believers 743 00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:48,400 were together and they had all things in common. 744 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:50,360 It doesn't say that. Peter came up and said, all 745 00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:53,120 right, everybody sell. All your stuff and give it to me 746 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:55,240 and I'll divvy it up as we have needs. 747 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:58,400 What it says is this church was so consumed with the love and 748 00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:01,000 the unity that they looked around and if somebody that they 749 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:05,000 saw didn't have enough, they gave what they had to that 750 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:06,680 person. There was no mandate. 751 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:10,920 There was no government mandate apart from the Spirit of God and 752 00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:13,280 just saying that person shouldn't have less than you 753 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:17,480 just because whatever we read in chapter. 4IN in Acts. 754 00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:19,640 We read about the people that they sold fields. 755 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:22,680 The guy had an inheritance, a family piece of property, and he 756 00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:24,680 saw people that didn't have enough food, they didn't have a 757 00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:26,360 place to live. And somebody said, well, I'll 758 00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:29,480 sell my. Field so that they can have it. 759 00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:32,920 Whoever was among them had enough. 760 00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:35,720 They had in common. They would sell their property 761 00:41:35,720 --> 00:41:40,480 and their possessions and share them to the extent that anyone 762 00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:45,800 had need day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple. 763 00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:48,040 So let's talk about one mind real quick. 764 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:52,320 One mind doesn't mean that we agree on everything. 765 00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:58,360 One mind means that we agree that whatever we disagree on, we 766 00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:03,080 agree on Jesus more. Oh, you don't like the tax 767 00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:05,520 structure in our country? Wonderful. 768 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:07,800 Good. We both agree that the solution 769 00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:09,400 is Jesus. Great. 770 00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:14,040 Let's build on that. They together with one mind and 771 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:18,800 what did it look like? They were taking their meals 772 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:23,840 together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God 773 00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:28,040 and having favor with all the people. 774 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:35,960 And into that context of community and life and building, 775 00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:42,200 temple building, the Lord added day by day, those who are being 776 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:44,200 saved. In the same way that people 777 00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:48,240 flocked to the temple in Jerusalem for what they needed, 778 00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:54,160 that first church and acts, people flocked day by day. 779 00:42:55,600 --> 00:42:59,440 That's what a temple does. It draws people to Jesus. 780 00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:02,320 It reveals what his character is like. 781 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:06,880 It makes atonement. So how do people get forgiven 782 00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:09,760 today? We forgive them. 783 00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:17,440 You forgive them. How do you get forgiven today? 784 00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:24,720 I forgive you, I forgive you, and I need your forgiveness. 785 00:43:25,720 --> 00:43:29,800 I need your grace. That's what this is. 786 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:34,760 That is the Apocalypse. And Paul prayed that his 787 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:37,280 Ephesian brothers and sisters would receive it. 788 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:40,360 So I want to pray that you would receive it. 789 00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:45,240 Will you pray with me? Jesus, remove the scale and the 790 00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:48,520 covering from our eyes so that we could see the beauty of this 791 00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:52,760 thing that you are creating and doing in US and around us and 792 00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:58,160 through US, Lord, is unbelievable and spectacular as 793 00:43:58,160 --> 00:44:03,800 it is that You have torn down the wall and given us access to 794 00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:06,680 Your presence. I needed that and I didn't have 795 00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:08,600 that. And you gave that to me. 796 00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:12,200 And as astounding as that is, what's even more astounding, 797 00:44:12,240 --> 00:44:15,160 Jesus, is that you didn't just give me access to the temple, 798 00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:23,000 that you made me a temple. And not just me, all of us. 799 00:44:25,240 --> 00:44:29,560 And so Jesus is your church. I confess that we get wrapped up 800 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:35,880 with walls and boundaries and divisions and separations. 801 00:44:42,260 --> 00:44:46,380 And so I pray, Father, that this reconciliation thing would be 802 00:44:46,380 --> 00:44:49,340 heavy in our hearts and on our tongues and in our moves. 803 00:44:49,340 --> 00:44:53,260 And I pray that this would be a place that just seems different 804 00:44:53,260 --> 00:44:56,260 because of your presence in US and with us. 805 00:44:57,780 --> 00:45:02,300 I pray, Jesus, I pray Holy Spirit, that you would just leak 806 00:45:02,300 --> 00:45:05,300 out of us, not in a sense of emptying, but in a sense of 807 00:45:05,300 --> 00:45:10,400 overflowing. And I truly do pray that this 808 00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:13,800 community would be different, that they would step back in awe 809 00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:18,720 at what you're doing here. So Jesus, we ask in your name, 810 00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:22,400 we thank you for your spirit. And Father, we thank you that 811 00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:27,440 you loved us so much, that you adopted us, called us children 812 00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:36,040 and heirs and citizens, the household of God, may it be so 813 00:45:36,040 --> 00:45:39,040 forever. We ask Jesus, in your name and 814 00:45:39,040 --> 00:45:57,810 for your glory, Amen. Today, River City Church is all 815 00:45:57,810 --> 00:46:00,330 about experiencing and expressing God's love in our 816 00:46:00,330 --> 00:46:02,890 lives and community, and we hope that you've been able to 817 00:46:02,890 --> 00:46:06,090 experience that today. As grateful as I am that you've 818 00:46:06,090 --> 00:46:09,410 spent this time listening in this morning, this podcast is no 819 00:46:09,410 --> 00:46:12,450 substitute for full participation in a local church. 820 00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:16,000 I love it when River City people listen to other pastors, but it 821 00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:19,080 is those who show up week after week faithfully giving their 822 00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:21,960 support and time and resources that make all of this possible. 823 00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:25,800 If we can help you get connected to a local church, pray for you, 824 00:46:25,960 --> 00:46:29,080 or support you in any way, click the link in the description and 825 00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:31,200 let us know. If you'd like to financially 826 00:46:31,200 --> 00:46:34,040 support the ministry of River City, click the give link on our 827 00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:37,240 website in the description. Don't forget to subscribe and 828 00:46:37,240 --> 00:46:38,960 don't forget to share this with your friends. 829 00:46:39,160 --> 00:46:41,960 Thanks so much for listening. May the Lord bless and keep you 830 00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:43,560 in all grace and peace.