Welcome. We’re so glad you’re here this morning. We are going to get started with worship. We are going to sing House of the Lord. And if there’s any kiddos out there that want to come out here and and dance and sing this with us, please join us.

We worship the God who was. We worship the God who is. We worship the God who ever more will be. He opened the prison doors. He parted the raging sea.

My God, he holds the victory. There’s joy in the house of the Lord. There’s joy in the house of the Lord today. And we won’t be quiet. We shout out your praise.

There’s joy in the house of the Lord. Our God is surely in this place. And we won’t be quiet. We shout out your praise. We sing to the God who heals.

We sing to the God who saves. We sing to the God who always makes the way. As he hung up on that cross, then he rose up from that grave. My God still roll the stones away. Yeah, there’s joy in the house of the Lord.

There’s joy in the house of the Lord today and we won’t be quiet. We shout out your praise. There’s joy in the house of the Lord. Our God is surely in this place and we won’t be quiet. We shout out your praise.

We were the beggars, now we’re royalty. We were the prisoners, now we’re running free. We are forgi, accepted, redeemed by his grace. Let the house of the Lord sing praise. Let’s hear it.

Now we’re royalty. We were the prisoners. Now we’re running free. We are forgiven, except redeemed by his grace. Let the house of the Lord sing praise.

There’s joy in the house of the Lord. There’s joy in the house of the Lord today. And we won’t be quiet. No, we shout out your praise. There’s joy in the house of the Lord.

Our God is surely in this place. And we won’t be quiet. We shout out your praise. There’s joy in the house of the Lord. There’s joy in the house of the Lord today.

And we won’t be quiet. Shout out your praise. There’s joy in the house of the Lord. Our God is surely in this place and we won’t be quiet. Shout out your praise.

We shout out your praise. Woohoo. Amen. Well, welcome. Hey, if you are new with us, please do us a big favor and find that little card in the seat back in front of you and fill it out.

We want to connect with you. We have a welcome bag in the back for you. The just a little something to say hi and who we are and we just really love to be able to reach out and make a connection. So, there’s a box in the back by the middle doors that you can just drop it in and the office will get that. So, do fill those out.

For the rest of us and for the newcomers, there is a prayer request spot on the back. We’d love to have you let us know how we can uphold you in prayer during the week. So do fill those out everybody. We are going to continue to worship. Let’s move on to cornerstone.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest way by holy trust in Jesus name. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest friend, but holy trust in Jesus name. Christ alone, cornerstone, weak made strong in the Savior’s love through the storm.

He is Lord, Lord of all. When darkness seems to hide his face, I rest on his unchanging grace. Feel every high and stormy gale. My anchor holds within the lamb. Christ alone corner stone we made strong through the storm.

He is Lord Lord of all. He is alone. Christ alone. Cornerstone we made strong. The Savior’s love through the storm.

He is Lord, Lord of all. And he shall come with trumpet sound. Oh, may I then in him be found, dressed in his rightousness alone. Faultless stand before the throne. Christ alone corner stone weak made strong in Savior’s love through the storm.

He is Lord Lord of all. Christ alone corner stone we made strong in the savior’s love through the stor he is lord lord of Yes, he is. This morning we have the privilege of coming before the communion table. And before we take it later in the service, this song is especially dear to my heart when it comes to the topic of communion because communion helps us never to lose the wonder of God’s grace and his mercy. That continual reminder of the sacrifice that was made on our behalf.

So let’s sing Love of God. It’s so good. I almost can’t believe it. Far beyond what hearts could ever dream. The God who set the galaxies in motion would descend to give his life for me.

For what could make perfection bleed for sinners? What leads a king to pay so great a cost? All my life my heart will sing the answer. Only the love of God. Singing, “Oh, how great is the love of God.

He paid our debt on that rugged cross. For all our days, we will sing our Savior’s praise. How great is the love of God. It’s so kind. It leads us to repentance.

And it’s so bright. The darkness has to flee. Hallelu. It cleared my guilty sentence. For I was bound, but now I stand redeemed.

For what could break the chains of any prison? What force could rob the power of the grave? And what would trade my rights for heaven’s riches? The love of God. Singing.

Oh, how great is the love of God. He paid our death on that broken cross. For all our days we will sing our savior’s praise. How great is the love of God. Though I try, my mind can’t comprehend it.

It’s so high, too marvelous for words. I could sing a million songs about it and barely scratch the surface of your worth. This all my life. The banner I’ll be waving my hands of cry no matter what they come. And when I rise to walk the streets of heaven, I’ll still be singing this song.

For everything that you have done, how great the love of God. Singing, “Oh, how great is the love of God. He paid our death on that rocked cross. For all our days, we will sing our Savior’s praise. How great is the love of God.

I’m singing. Oh, how great is the love of God. He paid our debt. On that rocket cross for all our days, we will sing our Savior’s praise. How great is the love of God.

How great is the love of God from Psalm 37. Keep trusting in the Lord. Fix your heart on his promises. Feast on his faithfulness. Quiet your heart in his presence.

And wait patiently for Yahweh. Out of the depths I cry to you. In darkest places I will call. Incline your ear to me a new and hear my cry for mercy, Lord. Were you to count my sinful ways?

How could I come before your throne? Yet full forgiveness meets my gaze. I stand redeemed by grace alone. I will wait for you. I will wait for you on your word.

I will rely. I will wait for you. Surely wait for you till my soul is satisfied. So put your hope in God not alone. Take courage in his power to save completely and forever one by Christ emerging from the grave.

I will wait for you. I will wait for you on your word. I will rely. I will wait for you. Surely wait for you till my soul is satisfied.

Oh. Now he has come to make a way. And God himself has paid the price that all who trust in him today find healing in his sacrifice that all who trust in him today find healing in his sacrifice. I will wait for you. I will wait for you through the storm and through the night.

I will wait for you. Surely wait for you for your love is my delight. I will wait for you. I will wait for you through the storm and through the night. I will wait for you surely wait for you for your love is my delight.

I will wait for you. I will wait for you through the stor and through the night. I will wait for you. Surely wait for you. For your love is my life.

Oh, I will wait for you. I will wait for you on your word. I will rely. I will wait for you. Surely wait for you till my soul is satisfied.

I will wait for you. I will wait for you on your word. I will rely. I will wait for you. Surely wait for you till my soul is sisfisied.

>> Gracious father, thank you God for loving us so dearly. Lord, we know that you, Jesus, are in our midst. You promised that you would be with us to the very end of the age. And by your Holy Spirit, you’re here right now. And your love is known.

Your love is experienced. It’s felt. Jesus, I pray that if there’s anyone here this morning who does not know your love experientially, has not yet put their faith in you, doesn’t realize what you did for them on the cross, what you accomplished through coming out of that empty grave. Lord, I pray that they would turn to you this morning, even now, that they would come to you and that they would know they can wait on you as the Lord who saved and provides. And so we pray all this in your mighty name, asking you to open our eyes and open our hearts to your word.

We pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. All right. How many kids here know that Jesus loves them?

There’s some hands up. Good. All right. And lots of adults standing. That’s good.

I like that. All right. Well, kids are welcome to head on out for Children’s Church. Just yesterday, we’re we’re talking about being the body in our series, and just yesterday was a cool example. If you parked over by the lower lot, you might have noticed that the trim was cut down and and or the the hedge was trimmed, I should say, and the the trees were trimmed back there, and there’s a lot of cleanup that happened after the men’s breakfast.

So, that’s a cool thing when you see the body coming together to to clean up the area. Great work. One of the things we’re highlighting in this series is that we don’t as Christians, we don’t get to decide what the church is, right? This is the church that belongs to Jesus Christ. He is the head.

It’s his church. He gets to decide what the church is to be and to be about, what our mission is. He gave us our marching orders from the beginning. And we are his body. He’s the head.

We are the body. And we’re going to see that Jesus created the church at least in part to be a place where all who come to him would belong. You know, we have this built-in need, this desire to belong. We want to be included. We want to know that there’s a place for us where we can be accepted and not turned away or rejected.

And Jesus created his church for that very purpose, so that we would be welcomed in, that we would see that we have a part in the body of Christ. We’re going to be looking at a passage in the Bible that describes the church as a body. 1 Corinthians 12. If you do have your Bibles, I encourage you to turn there. 1 Corinthians 12, it talks about this idea that there’s many members, multiple different purposes, multiple different roles, but one body that unites us.

And the danger I would say is that when you hear that language of members and membership, you could think of something very very exclusive. Something like maybe a a membersonly golf course, right? If you try to golf at a membersonly golf course, you might be be charged with trespassing because it’s members only. You’re not included. We have different ways of having memberships in our society.

Like for example, I am a member at Costco. I have a I have a little card that gives me exclusive access to all Costos, me and along with 100 million other people. But that idea that we are included in some kind of membership that that resonates with us. You think about how people unite, how they come together for different groups. There’s people who are in, you know, a book club together because that common interest or, you know, Harry Potter fan club or sewing club or any other kind of club you can imagine, a bowling league.

People are doing these things. They’re forming these communities on the basis of something they have in common. And so in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul frames this idea in a in a totally different light than we might think. Because he says membership in his body is not based on anything that you’ve done. It’s not based on something you paid or something you accomplished.

It’s based purely on grace. Membership is is something that says you’re in not because of what you’ve done but because of what I’ve done to bring you in. That’s why it’s his body. And as we’ll see, Jesus, the Lord puts us in his body wherever he sees fit. He makes that determination of what our role is.

And here’s the big idea this morning. You were made to find true, genuine, and joyfilled belonging in the body of Christ. So, if you would please stand, if you’re able for the reading of God’s holy and perfect word, we like to stand for the reading of God’s word as a way of saying we’re coming under the authority of the word of God. There’s all kinds of authorities out there in our world. And we’re saying we come under the authority of his word.

1 Corinthians 12 verse 12 goes like this. The Apostle Paul says,”For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. For the body does not consist of one member, but of many.” If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body.” That would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each of them, as he chose.

If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. Nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.

And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor. And our and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, and that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. Thank you. You may be seated. Something I love about Christianity, our faith, is that it elevates us beyond anything we would ever imagine while at the same time humbling us. See, this is what the Bible says.

Not only were we created in God’s image, we’re distinct from the animals. We have been made to know and love God in a special and unique way. But it also says that when you come to Christ, you’re given this new lofty place alongside Christ. You’re you’re made a co-air with Christ. You’re made royalty as we just sung about.

We’re no longer slaves of sin. We’re now children of the living God. And it lifts us up. And then it also it because we are not there because of our accomplishments. It humbles us.

It says, “You didn’t actually deserve this. You did nothing to get in.” And so, we’re humbled at the same time that we’re lifted up. I think that combination of humility and dignity is what makes for a strong body of Christ, for a united body of Christ. You need both humility and dignity.

One of the great leveling passages is Galatians 3:28. It says this, “There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. See, when you come to Christ, all those things that would have divided you, maybe did divide you in the past no longer can do that.

They no longer should because you’re all there on the same basis. The blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. So, we all have equal status, male, female, slave, free. By the way, this was a radical message back then. It’s radical today, but it was truly radical back then because think about this.

A slave back then in the ancient Grecoman world was considered the property of the master. And this made up a quarter of the population back then. There were slaves everywhere. Everybody had these household slaves or many people had these household slaves. And yet Paul is saying, “Look, I know that you have been looked down on.

I know that you’ve been owned. I know that people have ordered you around and you’ve been treated as nothing or less than nothing. But because of Christ, you have equal status. You are equally royal in God’s family. And when Christianity first launched, women loved it.

Women, you know, came to the they swarmed the churches. And why is that? Well, because in the ancient world, women were again, they were considered secondass citizens. They didn’t have a lot of legal status back then. Their their word in court meant practically nothing until Jesus came.

Jesus came and he he invited both men and women to follow him. And women came in and they recognized, you know what, the way God designed things, he set things up, men and women have equal dignity. They they have equal value in God’s eyes and they’re equally in Christ. There’s not this spiritual hierarchy of of some being more valuable or some being more exalted. No, equal at the foot of the cross.

Jesus made the world a million times better for women. So, if you’re a woman, you have to be thankful for Jesus. He changed everything. And we take these things for granted like slavery. Of course, that’s evil.

And and we say, of course, women and men have equal dignity. Of course. But it wasn’t that way until Jesus showed up. The reason why that’s our natural instinctive thinking is because of Jesus. He changed it all.

Same could be said for children. Jesus didn’t overlook the children. People thought, “Oh, you know what? Children, they’re a bothered. They kind of get in the way.

Let’s just don’t let them come near Jesus.” Jesus said, “Let the children come. Let them come.” And he blesses them. All this changed because Jesus designed his church to be one big family.

In your notes, we are adopted into the family. God created the church to be a place of belonging for his saints. Many people today are skeptical or cynical about the church. They think, you know what, if I go to church, I’m going to be condemned. I’m going to be looked down on, maybe ridiculed, whatever might be going on in their heads.

Maybe it’s based on past experience. Maybe it’s based on imagination. But there’s that thinking that that’s going to happen if they go to a church. But we all have this deep existential longing to belong. We want to know that there’s a place for us that we’re not going to be turned away because of this feature or that feature or because of our past.

We want to know that we can have a place we’re accepted and loved for who we are. Last week we talked about how loneliness is a truly big problem in the world today. Psalm 68:6 speaks to that. It says, “God sets the lonely in families.” I love that.

God sets the lonely in families. Those who think I’m I’m a reject. I’m abandoned. I don’t have a place. God says you and I am talking to you.

You belong in my family through the blood of Jesus. The astounding truth of Christianity is that when you put your trust in Jesus, you aren’t just given a label of Christian. It’s not as though you just joined this this club where you get a label. No, you are given a new identity. You’re now a child of God.

Now, other religions don’t have this view. This is important for us to know. Other religions like Islam, for example, says specifically, Allah has no children, no sons, no daughters, servants, yes, but no children. Christianity is unique in this way. It says that those who were slaves to sin are invited in.

They’re made by adoption. They’re made sons and daughters of God. That’s why when Jesus taught his disciples to pray and he got in trouble for this, but he said, “Pray to God as father.” You’re talking to your father who loves you. He’s a good father.

He looks after you. He defends you because he’s your father. And so whenever you pray, you’re talking to him. Mark 3, Jesus says, “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” Again, this is God in human form saying, “This is my family.”

The people who know the the living God. Romans 8 elaborates on this idea of adoption. Says in Romans 8:14, “All who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, “Aba, Father.” basically saying like a little child would back then, daddy.

The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children then heirs heirs of God and fellow hes with Christ provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. It’s interesting when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. You remember that Satan tempted him with all the kingdoms and said, “If you will just bow down and worship me,” Satan says, “then I’ll give you all this.” Now, he knew, Jesus knew that that was already coming to him, the kingdoms of the world. He would inherit all those.

It wasn’t through bowing to Satan. It was through going to the cross and purchasing our redemption. The amazing thing is when Jesus accomplished that, when he overcame that temptation, he wasn’t just doing that for him. He was doing that for all of us. As co-airs with him, we too inherit the kingdom.

We’re co-airs with Christ. See, when you receive the spirit of God, you’re transformed from the inside out. You’re made new. You’re given a place to belong in the family. You’re no longer an enemy.

And so, those of us who in the past, we may have been enemies or rivals or competitors, but in the in the church, we’re now brothers and sisters in Christ. Are part of a forever family. Sam Albury says the blood of Jesus is thicker than the blood of biology. And the implications of this are massive. See, in the ancient world, there was this practice called exposure.

And when people didn’t want their baby, they would abandon their baby out in the wilderness. They would just leave it there. This horrible practice. The Christians at that time looked at that and said, “No, that little baby is an image bearer of God.” They deserve to be loved and welcomed in.

They went out and they saw that just as God saw them when they were lost, when they were in outer darkness, they weren’t yet brought in. And they said, “God did that for us. He adopted us. And so, we’re going to go out and find these babies that are left to the wolves or whatever else might be out there, and we’re going to bring them in, raise them as our own. We’re going to adopt them because of what God has done for us.”

those who always felt like outsiders in their own family can find a family in the in the family of God. Now, you maybe have a a family experience where you would say, “It was dysfunctional. There were problems in my family. We didn’t always get along.” And so, my image of family isn’t always great.

But you need to know that in the family of God, things are totally transformed. We get to call God our father. And he graciously cares for us when we truly belong. And when we know it, when we know in our bones that we belong, that we have a place where we’re accepted and welcomed in, that changes everything. It changes how we see others.

It gives us this sense of identity and security that we’re wanting. And you can’t find it anywhere else. You can’t find it outside the family of God. You’re always going to feel the need to prove yourself and and think, you know, this is something I got to do to show you that I really do belong. You’re actually going to be insecure because it’s not by grace in the family of God.

You have that sense of security. And that sense of belonging also comes from our common identity in Christ. See, Christians may disagree about some things. Sometimes they disagree about a lot of things, but we agree about the most important things. We agree about who God is.

That he is the living God. That he is a God who loves us and he’s personal. We agree that Jesus died for our sins. That he saved us through the resurrection. And Jesus saves us individually.

Each one of us must personally trust in Christ. If your parents were Christians, that’s great. That doesn’t get you in. You need to personally trust in Christ. And then you are a part of the family of God that lasts forever.

In our passage, Paul says in verse 14, “For the body does not consist of one member but of many.” Romans 12 puts it this way. So you all are members of one another individually. And Paul talks about how we often want to count ourselves out. We would like to say, you know, I I don’t have all these qualities.

I don’t have all these gifts. I don’t have all these experiences that I need. So, I don’t feel like I belong. Well, this is what Paul would say. If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body.”

That would not make it any less a part of the body. See, Paul’s saying unity doesn’t mean uniformity. It doesn’t mean that you need to look like every other Christian. In fact, you bring a unique set of gifts and talents. It’s good that you don’t look like everybody else.

There’s things that you bring that nobody else brings. You may say, “I don’t like being a foot.” Well, God, if he made you a foot, then that’s a good thing. You may think, you know, I’m I’m hidden behind the sock and the shoe, and you know, it’s uncomfortable down here. The weight is all on me.

But you know what? It’s very hard for the body to get around without that foot. The foot matters. In your notes, the church is a body. You need it, and it needs you.

See, the devil wants to convince us that unless we have a certain set of characteristics, certain qualities, you know, unless we look like other believers, then we don’t belong. But God says, I want you to play your unique role. So don’t count yourself out. Do don’t say, “I’m not one of you because I don’t have all these gifts.” You have certain gifts.

God gave you those gifts. And every person has that need to belong. I think we’re all searching for a place to belong because that’s how God wired us. Remember at the beginning, God created Adam and Eve, put them in the Garden of Eden. It was the perfect state of belonging.

They had intimacy with God. They could walk and talk with each other. They weren’t hindered by any shame or guilt. They had perfect communication, perfect love. That all changed at the fall.

That sense of belonging was broken. And from that point on, we felt like we’re no longer home yet. There’s a sense of spiritual exile ever since then. That we’re we’re looking at our place and we’re wondering, is there a place for us to fit? Do I really belong?

These are the questions we ask ourselves. We all feel at times like we don’t know where we fit. But God is putting us back together. He’s putting us back together. And he does this as the body of Christ.

As one individual member joins the body and another individual joins the body. He’s putting us together. He’s fitting us together to give us a place of belonging. We weren’t made to drift through life one experience to the next in as an isolated individual. No, we were made to go through life in a family.

That’s where we belong. Verse 24 says, “But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together.” See, I should be just as concerned about the growth of another member as I am about myself.

When when I look and I see somebody who’s grieving, that should be a signal I need to grieve with them. If somebody’s celebrating something big in their life, that means we all should be celebrating. Why? Because we’re one in Christ. Our basis for unity is our common union with Christ.

So in in the fellowship of believers, you have something unique that you don’t have in the world. This is important for us to see this. Followers of Jesus have this bond that we share in Christ. We’re spiritually united first to Christ as the head. And so because of that union with Christ, we’re united with one another.

And so all the me members of the body are members of one another. They belong together. God put us together with intentionality. You know, the human body really is amazing when you think about it. All these various parts fit together and the coordinated action of all these systems in our body.

It’s incredibly sophisticated. Muscles and tendons collaborate to connect bones to muscles, tissues, all of it. And the brain, the brain is amazing. It has 86 billion neurons. And they’re connected in this vast network so that there’s complex thought and communication can happen.

All of this in God’s design. One especially amazing thing is the way that God designed the body to heal itself. So, if you’re chopping up veggies and you cut yourself, your body goes into action. All the systems of your body, it’s like they work together and they send resources to that part of the body that’s cut. You know, there it goes to work to put a scab together.

Your immune system puts up a defense against all the pathogens that might enter your body and it starts to heal itself. It’s incredible when you think about it. And it’s the same with the body of Christ. It’s the same thing. That’s why God used this metaphor.

When Christians start sharing their grief with one another, when they confess sin to one another, when they encourage one another, when they’re praying for one another and all the other one anothers in the New Testament, what’s happening is the body of Christ is going to work. It’s doing the work that God designed it to do. And it all happens to bring health to the whole body. See, when you serve in in the church, you’re not just volunteering to fill a task that needs to be done. You are working for the health of the body.

This happens through the transforming work of Jesus. It’s interesting that one of the main ministries Jesus had while he was on earth was that he healed physical bodies. Everywhere he went, this is what happened. People came in droves, brought their children, brought their loved ones so Jesus could heal their bodies. And it says that he made them whole.

He made them complete. He made them well. You remember what the last healing miracle of Jesus is in the Gospels? It’s at the Garden of Gethsemane. The soldiers are coming to rest Jesus and you know Simon Peter who was as brash as he was courageous.

He comes in with his little sword. He hacks off the ear of one of these servants. And and you know Luke doesn’t tell us that it was Peter. It’s actually John, his buddy. John doesn’t mind saying, you know, it was it was Peter that actually did that.

You know, just so you guys know. That’s what I had to deal with. And and Luke Luke doesn’t say it was Peter, but Luke is the only one that says that Jesus knelt down. He picked up that severed ear and he reattached it. Can you imagine how amazing that would be to see?

The healing was full and complete. And you can bet that that ear could hear better than it ever could before. See, those who feel like they’ve been hurt by a church or or feel like they needed to detach themselves from the body, they need to understand that only Jesus can bring the healing they need. Only Jesus. But the way that Jesus brings healing is he does it supernaturally through the body.

He reattaches that severed member to the body. And it’s in the context of his family that that healing takes place. In your notes, you belong to Jesus. When you know you belong to Christ and his body, he transforms you or transforms how you handle conflict. Again, Paul says that God has so composed the body that there will be no division in the body.

Just like we would not want someone to to feel discounted or or feel like they’re severed off from the body, just like we wouldn’t want a finger or a toe to be severed. It’s the same thing when you cause discord between members of the body. It’s like putting that wedge on a member of your body. Now, disagreement will happen. We’re not perfect.

We’re in Christ, but we’re still works in progress this side of heaven. So, conflict is inevitable. That happens in the in the church. But because we’re united in the body, because we are one body in Christ, we should handle conflict totally different than the rest of the world. The rest of the world looks for all these reasons to one up the other person and see why they’re better and prove themselves in the right and there’s these battles and these divisions that happen over these all these reasons and it’s basically it’s pride going to work but in the body of Christ we recognize you know what I’m even I’m not even in the body because of something I did and every person here in the body is a co-air with Christ do I really want to cause division with a co-air with Christ I mean Jesus Jesus claims that person, do I really want to go against them?

See, it changes things when we have that commonality in Christ. And when all the members are committed to the gospel, the grace of Jesus Christ flows freely from one person to the next. There’s forgiveness that’s possible. There’s reconciliation because we’ve received the forgiveness and reconciliation of the cross. That ground at the foot of the cross is level.

No one gets into the kingdom of God for being exceptionally good. So, none of us can honestly look down our noses at anyone else. The Bible says, “None is righteous, not even one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That That’s the Bible’s way of saying you could never get in on your own steam.

You could never prove yourself worthy. You could never have enough merit to get in. It has to be by grace. It’s by the love of God. And so here’s why the gospel must be central for every church.

If you take away the gospel from being at the very center of the church where everything flows out of the gospel, what will take its place is not just a vacuum. What will take its place is self-righteousness. Every time when you take away the gospel and it’s no longer the hub around which everything turns and everyone understands the gospel is why we’re here. The gospel is is the one that is the thing that got us in. And the gospel shows that it’s all about Jesus.

If that’s taken away, self-righteousness, bitterness, and division takes its place. When you have the grace of Jesus Christ at the root of your life, that will transform how you view not only your own life, why you’re there, but how you view everyone else. And see, the the root is what determines the fruit. The fruit of the spirit is that what naturally comes or supernaturally comes I should say from being united to Christ and having the gospel as the root. But if self-righteousness is the root and this is how religions always tend to veer into.

They tend to naturally go into self-righteousness proving myself right then what you get is bitterness, division, pride, animosity, all those things that divide people and split people apart. And so the gospel of God’s grace must always be at the center of the church. That’s why I love the title of our church, Grace Point. It puts grace right at the front and center. Again, I mentioned last week Jesus was called a friend of sinners.

And though that wasn’t meant as a compliment, that was the religious leaders sort of accusing Jesus. He’s he’s the friend of sinners. These outcasts. Think about how amazing it is that it was the moral outcasts that felt most at home around Jesus, most safe around Jesus. The the guys who, you know, had done all the training, the all the studying Torah and and proved themselves worthy in their own minds.

They were the ones that despised Jesus. They hated Jesus. They ended up crucifying Jesus. See, Jesus is the friend of sinners. He’s the friend we all need.

What do you look for in a friend? Someone who knows you. He knows your name. He knows what you’ve gone through. Someone who’s dependable.

Well, Jesus keeps every word. He ne he will not let you down. And Jesus applies the grace of his cross to every need we have. There is nothing, whatever it is that you came here this morning with, there is no need, there is no issue, no problem you’re facing in life that the grace of Jesus Christ does not address. He addresses all of it.

So if it’s all about grace, some people will say, “Hey, does that mean that I can live whatever way I want? You know, I can sin freely because grace is free.” See, this is the problem. This is what people always ask about. This is the concern that’s raised when grace is preached.

But the part that’s missing is repentance. Jesus is the friend of sinners, but he calls us to a new life. You come to Christ as a sinner, but he gives you a new identity as a saint. You come to Christ and he will change you. Guaranteed.

The Bible promises this. If you abide in Christ, if you’re attached to the vine, that life of Christ will flow through you and it will show up in your life. You’ll have the fruit of the spirit coming out because you’re attached to Christ. It’s not a question of if Jesus can change your life. I promise you, he will change your life if you surrender your life to him.

We want to send the message, come as you are. You can come exactly as you are to Jesus. You don’t have to clean yourself up. You don’t have to do certain things first. You don’t have to dress a certain way.

You don’t have to style your hair a certain way. You don’t have to look a certain way. You come just as you are. But you won’t stay that way because everyone who truly encounters Jesus will change. It’s changed from the inside out.

And he goes to work on us right away. The Holy Spirit reorients our priorities. He gives us new God-honoring desires. Where before we were a slave of sin, we were ruled by the flesh, we’re now a child of God and we’re ruled by the spirit. So, we should each come to church expecting to be changed.

Just like every time you read your Bible, when you have your quiet time in the morning, have this expectation. God needs to work on me. He needs to change me. And so as I’m reading this word, I’m going to expect to be changed. It’s the same when you come and you fellowship with other believers.

Expect to be changed because God so designed his body, his family, that the change we need to become more like him would happen in the context of his family. When we as a church remember the power of God’s grace to not only save us from our sin but also to save us from our self-righteousness which is always encroaching at the door just like sin everyone has a place to belong. Lastly in your notes the body is a home for sinners. Come as you are but don’t stay that way. Jesus won’t leave you the same.

He he’s not going to cleanse you from sin and then put you back into it. He will cleanse you from sin and then he will equip you for service. He will equip you to love the body. In just a bit, we’re going to be heading down for the ministry fair down below next door and and see this as an opportunity to step out in faith. You know, there may be things that God’s laying on your heart and and maybe you’ve been tempted to disqualify yourself and think, “No, I I can’t do that for this reason and that reason.”

But if God’s laying it on your heart, don’t disqualify yourself if Jesus has qualified you. You have an essential role in the body of Christ. Does require a step of commitment, though. It requires that step of faith that says, “God, I’m willing to serve. I’m willing to go wherever you want me to be, whatever you want me to do.”

So, I’ll ask these questions in closing. Do you struggle with fear of commitment? What would the next step of commitment look like for you? If you were to ask God, God, you’re always moving me forward. You’re always pushing me to become more like Christ.

What’s that next step I need to take? What is the next step of commitment that you’re calling me to? And you open yourself up to him, he’ll have something for you. Let’s pray together. Father, we thank you that you have so assembled the body.

Every part, every member plays a role. Every member has a place to belong. The ear, the eye, the hand, the foot, we all have a place to belong. Thank you that it’s because of grace. It It’s not because of something we’ve done.

And so we can’t gloat about it. We can’t boast about it. All we can do is be grateful and be joyful that we have an opportunity to serve your body, to care for one another, love one another as fellow members of the body of Christ. We pray all this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

At this time, I’ll ask the servers to come forward and we’ll pass out the elements of the Lord’s supper and take that together in a bit here. The amazing thing about Jesus is he didn’t want to leave us with just a word as a reminder of what he’s done for us. He left us a meal of all the things that Jesus could have left as this reminder, this memorial, this celebration, this time to reflect. He he left us a meal of bread and water and bread and wine or juice. And the reason why that matters is because these elements symbolize real physical tangible things.

Just like we actually take bread, it was an actual body that was on that cross. Physical body that was bled for us. That was real blood that flowed down on that cross. And so we’re remembering that Jesus died in truth for us as a sacrifice. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, chapter before we just looked at talks about this Lord’s supper and Paul writes this.

He says, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

And so once more, Lord, we want to express our awe and gratitude for your sacrifice that on that cross your body was pierced, your blood flowed because of your love for us, because of that sacrifice that was needed, that atonement that without which we could not come into the presence of God. And so we thank you, Jesus. And we’re reminded as we take these elements, not only of the sin that you paid for and the restoration you bring, but of the fact that you unite us together as one body that looks forward to your soon return. We know you’re coming back, Jesus. We believe that.

We confess that. And we are longing for that day when we’ll see you on the clouds coming back to rescue a world in darkness. We thank you for all you’ve done for us. It’s in your mighty name we pray. Amen.

Would you stand with us? Who am I that the highest king would welcome me? I was lost, but he brought me. Oh, his love for me. Oh, his love for me.

Who the sun sets free. Oh, is free indeed. I’m a child of God. Yes, I am. Free at last.

He has ransomed me. His grace runs deep. While I was a slave to sin, Jesus died for me. Yes, he died for me. Who the sun sets free.

Oh, is free indeed. I’m a child of God. Yes, I am. In my father’s house, there’s a place for me. I’m a child of God.

Yes, I am. I am chosen, not forsaken. I am who you say I am. You are for me, not against me. I am who you say I am.

I am chosen, not forsen. I am who you say I am. You are for me, not against me. I am who you say I am. I am who you say I am.

Who the sun sets free. Oh, is free indeed. I’m a child of God. Yes, I am. In my father’s house, there’s a place for me.

I’m a child of God. Yes, I am. I am chosen, not forsen. I am who you say I am. You are for me, not against me.

I am who you say I am. I am chosen, not forsaken. I am who you say I am. You are for me, not against me. I am who you say I am.

Oh, I am who you say I am. Am. Yes, I am who you say I am. Who the sun sets free. Oh, is free indeed.

I’m a child of God. Yes, I am. In my father’s house, there’s a place for me. I’m a child of God. Yes, I am.

>> Hey, are you thankful for our worship team? Really quick before you head out. Because it’s the first Sunday of the month, Communion Sunday, we have our benevolence fund. And normally that of course goes to meet the needs of those who are financially struggling in our community. But because Thanksgiving is next month, this benevolence fund is going to be going towards the Thanksgiving baskets that we do each year.

Also so if you want to that’s at the door if you want to give towards that or you can give online if if you don’t aren’t prepared to do that right now. Also next week we have our GP 101 Graceoint 101. So if you are interested in finding out more about Graceoint what what makes this church tick and if you’re interested in becoming a part of as the member if you’re interested in membership then that’s a great thing to go to as well. But yeah, I’d invite you to come join me and and others at that. That’s next week after the service.

And also today, as a reminder, we have the ministry fair. So that’s right next door if you go down if you’re new just down where we have our cafe most weeks. That’s where you’ll find the ministry fair set up and you can look at different ways you can serve. And last reminder is that if you’re new or visiting, we do want to invite you to take a welcome bag on your way out in the foyer. Thank you so much for coming and worshiping with us today.

Don’t believe everything. It gives no answers, only fear. Faith, hope, and love. Well, they’re not found here. Gater is he who is in you and me.

I’ve overcome. I am not of this world. A child of God, not a child of lies, sin, and misery. I’ve been

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 8,815 words.