WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 So if you've got a Bible, open it up, if you've got the Bible app, flick it on, 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:15.640 check out the verses in 12 to 16. The kind of basic heading is a community 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:21.719 founded on the love of Jesus, a community founded on the love of Jesus. 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:30.719 So before summer, most of my conversations started with something around the words like, 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:40.280 did you see Lupin? It's just the best Netflix show that has ever been made and it's, 00:00:40.280 --> 00:00:46.519 we've just had two seasons of it but I was brilliant, it was so good and I just wanted to kind of chat to people about it. 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:54.120 I wanted to connect with people, I wanted to share the loves that I have and I wanted them to respond. 00:00:54.120 --> 00:01:01.920 I wanted to connect in a world where it's been really hard to connect to of late because we're born to connect, aren't we? 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:06.320 We're born for relationships and these are the things we prize most often. 00:01:06.320 --> 00:01:11.520 So often we start by conversations, by sharing, have you seen that, have you listened to that? 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:20.519 So we share stories, we share experiences just to kind of build connections with one another. 00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:30.920 And I think that's why COVID and lockdown has been so hard because we really are missing out on the communal experiences. 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:38.120 We really want to return to normal, we really want to close the gaps, we really want to remove the masks, 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:47.920 we really want to just return to that place where we can enjoy connections, where we can enjoy family and friends without fear and without worry, 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:54.719 where the distances between the different people are closed, where the gaps grow smaller. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:02:02.520 And I think at the start of COVID, there was all this talk about closing the gap, coming back better. 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:10.719 And as Christians, we would agree, we do want to come back better, we do want to live in a world where racism doesn't exist, 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:18.319 where homophobia doesn't exist, where gender equality reigns and where people are free to flourish. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:29.120 But as Christians and even as non-Christians, we know that there are deep struggles which exist within relationships. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:33.920 Relationships are not the way we want them to be. 00:02:33.920 --> 00:02:39.120 They've got faults, they're not perfect, they've got struggles within them. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:48.120 And as Christians, we say that the cause of these struggles, the cause of the brokenness of these relationships, 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:52.520 is because that our first relationship, our relationship with God is broken. 00:02:52.520 --> 00:03:02.320 And because of that, that has an impact on all other relationships we enjoy, or maybe we endure. 00:03:02.320 --> 00:03:08.320 Yet, as Christians, we live with this hopeful outlook, don't we? 00:03:08.320 --> 00:03:16.719 As the God that we were disconnected from, that we turn from, wants to reconnect with us. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:24.520 He wants to restore the broken connection which exists between ourselves and our heavenly Father. 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:31.319 And which then exists between the relationships which are all around us. 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:38.520 And so this little passage, this little calling of the twelve apostles or the twelve disciples, 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:47.320 is all about establishing of a new community, a community which is centered on the love of Jesus, 00:03:47.320 --> 00:03:54.320 and is all about restoring the relationships which were broken between us and God 00:03:54.320 --> 00:03:58.320 and the relationships which were broken with one another. 00:03:58.320 --> 00:04:03.719 And as we look at these little verses, we're going to look at it in three parts. 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:08.919 We're going to see, first of all, the formation of a new community. 00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:15.319 Then we're going to think through the idea of the transforming power within the new community, 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:19.519 and then finally the direction of the new community. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:24.720 So first of all, the forming of the new community. 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:27.720 I'm not sure if you know this story, I'm sure you do. 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:31.519 Willy Wonka, great story, great film. 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:38.120 And the film, the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, is all about basically a succession planning, isn't it? 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:40.519 Who's going to take over the Chocolate Empire? 00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:48.319 And so Willy Wonka advises the Golden Ticket Competition to identify who will be his successor. 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:56.319 And it needs to be somebody who will embody the visions and values and carry the Willy Wonka name forward. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:04.319 And so various tests and challenges are set, and young Charlie proves himself to be the person 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:08.719 who will best represent Willy Wonka in the coming years. 00:05:08.719 --> 00:05:16.819 And so Charlie and his family move into the Chocolate Factory, and he begins his apprenticeship to Mr. Wonka. 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:22.819 And what we have in verse 12 here is kind of like succession planning here. 00:05:22.819 --> 00:05:32.620 We find Jesus on the mountainside, and he's in conversation or communion with God through prayer. 00:05:32.620 --> 00:05:40.319 And the detail that you'll notice maybe in verse 12 is this all night. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:45.719 And it's not really used that much, this little all night. 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:54.620 And so we know that the decision Jesus is about to make is monumental. 00:05:54.620 --> 00:06:04.220 It's a momentous decision that will be made because Jesus is praying to his heavenly Father all night. 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:14.120 He's trying to figure out who will spread the message of Jesus once I'm gone. 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:17.420 Who will spread my message once I'm gone? 00:06:17.420 --> 00:06:19.720 You see, the pressure's been building on Jesus. 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:21.620 We saw that in the previous verses. 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:26.519 The religious authorities are wanting him dead, and so he prays to his Father. 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:28.319 He prays to God for guidance. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:34.620 As Jesus climbs the mountain here, he's doing something really interesting. 00:06:34.620 --> 00:06:45.819 He is deliberately drawing our attention to Moses and drawing our attention to Moses on Mount Sinai, 00:06:45.819 --> 00:06:50.920 which is found in Exodus 19. 00:06:50.920 --> 00:07:02.720 Moses, when he went up on the mountain, was given the promise by God that the Israelite nation would be his special people. 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:09.120 They would be his special people if they remained faithful to his covenant, if they remained faithful to God. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:14.520 But the history of the twelve tribes of Israel points to a failure in being faithful. 00:07:14.520 --> 00:07:18.620 They go their own own way and push God to the side so often. 00:07:18.620 --> 00:07:20.320 They fail to be faithful. 00:07:20.320 --> 00:07:31.220 The twelve tribes had become this proud and unloving race who obsessed about moral uprightness 00:07:31.220 --> 00:07:39.820 and created this incredibly ornate and onerous system of religion to try to cover up the brokenness 00:07:39.820 --> 00:07:43.620 which lay within their own hearts. 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:48.120 Yet those systems of religion just didn't work. 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:59.620 The people remained far from God, and they remained increasingly and became increasingly distanced from one another. 00:07:59.620 --> 00:08:04.720 However, good news is coming. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:10.720 When Jesus went to the mountainside, he brings a message, a new message of hope. 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:13.519 He brings a hope for all people. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:19.819 He says that reconciliation, that new community is about to be created, 00:08:19.819 --> 00:08:29.519 and this will involve a deep reconciliation between God and his people and also the people amongst one another. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:36.220 This new Israel, these new twelve tribes, this new people of God will be formed by the love of God, 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:42.120 and they would love God with all their hearts, soul and mind, and they would love their neighbors as themselves. 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:48.120 And the amazing thing is that they are not expected to do it from within themselves. 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:54.019 But Jesus, the one who creates, is also the one that will fuel this community's love, 00:08:54.019 --> 00:09:03.419 who will pour out his love into their hearts every day like overflow water that they can just take from. 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:09.019 And the wonderful thing for us is that we are that new people. 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:15.919 We are the new people of God, those who are fueled by this love of Jesus, 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:21.620 but we are also a people who need that constant reminding of who we are, 00:09:21.620 --> 00:09:26.720 and what it really means to be part of this new people of God. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:35.320 It means for us that our hearts are being formed not by the influences and the influencers of society, 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:42.019 but our hearts are being formed and shaped by the love of Jesus. 00:09:42.019 --> 00:09:48.120 This takes us out of ourselves, this moves us from within ourselves out towards others, 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:54.419 and we're going to see this path being followed by the apostles, by these disciples. 00:09:54.419 --> 00:10:00.419 When they experience the love of Jesus, they move out, they move towards one another, 00:10:00.419 --> 00:10:03.720 and they move towards the other also. 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:09.919 The barriers which had been created are going to be smashed by these apostles, by these disciples, 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:15.320 as they bring this new message, this message of reconciliation from God and man, 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:20.620 to men and women throughout the known world at the time. 00:10:20.620 --> 00:10:28.420 And at this moment, as we begin to reflect on all that's about to happen in this passage, 00:10:28.420 --> 00:10:40.320 it might be a good moment just to reflect and just to think about our own heart and how it's being shaped. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:47.620 What's our greatest love in life? Is our greatest love in life God? 00:10:47.620 --> 00:10:51.320 Is our great desire to be formed by the love of God? 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:58.020 Or are we so busy numbing ourselves in the world of social media or in the world of pleasure 00:10:58.020 --> 00:11:01.820 that we don't really kind of think along those lines anymore, 00:11:01.820 --> 00:11:10.220 that we don't really begin to kind of think through what it means to be formed by the love of God? 00:11:10.220 --> 00:11:15.220 Is your heart reaching out and moving towards others? 00:11:15.220 --> 00:11:20.220 Or is your heart about excluding and diminishing others? 00:11:20.220 --> 00:11:28.220 Does your heart long to build people up? Or does it delight in doing people down? 00:11:28.220 --> 00:11:36.220 Does your heart delight in doing good to others? Or is your heart all about begrudging service? 00:11:36.220 --> 00:11:45.220 Does your heart joyfully worship God? Or is it kind of largely non-plussed about the whole worship thing? 00:11:45.220 --> 00:11:50.220 These are deep questions which we all need to answer and wrestle with. 00:11:50.220 --> 00:11:56.220 And the wonderful thing though is this, that it shouldn't lead us to despair, it should lead us back to God. 00:11:56.220 --> 00:12:03.220 Because God is at work forming and molding our hearts into His glory. 00:12:03.220 --> 00:12:11.220 He is always doing that business, but we need to tap in and to tune in and to work alongside God 00:12:11.220 --> 00:12:21.220 so that our hearts can be formed just as the hearts of these twelve men were being formed and transformed and molded by God. 00:12:21.220 --> 00:12:30.220 So we see first of all the forming of this new community, this radically different community, this new Israel. 00:12:30.220 --> 00:12:37.220 But then we see the transforming power within the new community. 00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:45.220 I love this time of year because it's all about on Sky Sports, it's all about transfer deadline days, 00:12:45.220 --> 00:12:49.220 it's all about speculation and it's all about kind of, oh wonder who's going where. 00:12:49.220 --> 00:12:55.220 And I would love to have heard Jeff Stelling try to describe Jesus' picture right here. 00:12:55.220 --> 00:13:05.220 He would have been beside himself with astonishment as these men are chosen by Jesus to take his message out into the known world. 00:13:05.220 --> 00:13:11.220 It was completely bizarre, it was completely wrong-headed on a human scale. 00:13:11.220 --> 00:13:17.220 It's like messy ripping up Barcelona contract and joining someone like Livingston, or it's much worse than that. 00:13:17.220 --> 00:13:27.220 It's just ridiculous the kind of people Jesus chose for his work of spreading the gospel in a human terms. 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:37.220 And so Jesus, what's he doing? He's coming down from the mountain and as he calls his growing crowd of disciples or followers to him, 00:13:37.220 --> 00:13:41.220 he declares that from their midst twelve will be chosen. 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:45.220 They will be given the status of apostle. 00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:54.220 And so twelve of the most unexpected people are given prominence and giving the designation an apostle. 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:56.220 Now what does an apostle mean? 00:13:56.220 --> 00:14:03.220 An apostle is a messenger. They are performing an ambassadorial role here for Jesus. 00:14:03.220 --> 00:14:09.220 They had the authority to speak and to act on behalf of Jesus. 00:14:09.220 --> 00:14:18.220 And so as you begin to look at the list of men, you're, well, it's remarkable how ordinary, first of all, these men are. 00:14:18.220 --> 00:14:22.220 So we've got Simon and Andrew, brothers who owned a fishing business. 00:14:22.220 --> 00:14:27.220 We've got another set of brothers, James and John, who are probably fairly wealthy. 00:14:27.220 --> 00:14:29.220 You've got Philip, fairly skeptical. 00:14:29.220 --> 00:14:33.220 A number who we know nothing or next nothing about. 00:14:33.220 --> 00:14:35.220 A traitor to the Jewish people in Matthew. 00:14:35.220 --> 00:14:43.220 Simon the zealot was a fiery religious follower who desired the overthrow of the Roman Empire, Roman rule in Israel. 00:14:43.220 --> 00:14:49.220 Jesus, a scariat who would one day turn Jesus over to his the authorities. 00:14:49.220 --> 00:15:01.220 These twelve men would be Jesus's closest companions as he taught the truth that he was the promised King who had come to restore the broken relationship, 00:15:01.220 --> 00:15:05.220 who had come to inaugurate the new Israel. 00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:16.220 Their teaching, the teaching of the apostles would also form the bedrock of the church alongside the teaching of the prophets and of Jesus himself. 00:15:16.220 --> 00:15:20.220 These men were truly transformed. 00:15:20.220 --> 00:15:25.220 These men, when they were chosen to become apostles, were transformed by God. 00:15:25.220 --> 00:15:27.220 And the way they were transformed was this. 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:35.220 They were fueled by grace and because they were fueled by grace, they were pushed beyond the border. 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:46.220 And when they went beyond the border, they took this hopeful message of Jesus to the world that any could come into this new community, 00:15:46.220 --> 00:15:50.220 into this new Israel through the loving work of Jesus. 00:15:50.220 --> 00:15:57.220 And I love the stories of the disciples that we read further on in, say, for example, the Book of Acts. 00:15:57.220 --> 00:16:03.220 In the Book of Acts, in chapter four, verse 13, we've got this astonishing scene in the Sanhedrin. 00:16:03.220 --> 00:16:13.220 We've got these two guys, Peter and John, who are just normal, everyday kind of chaps and they're speaking to the religious authorities. 00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:24.220 And this is what is said of them in Acts 4.13, now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, 00:16:24.220 --> 00:16:30.220 they were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 00:16:30.220 --> 00:16:41.220 I love this because it shows us and it reminds us that God is in the business of using the ordinary and everyday in powerful and transformative ways. 00:16:41.220 --> 00:16:48.220 The apostles aren't great men. They aren't men of splendor and they're not spectacular. 00:16:48.220 --> 00:16:55.220 But they're being used by God because they have this beautiful heart posture of humility. 00:16:55.220 --> 00:17:02.220 They humbly offer up their lives to God in His service. 00:17:02.220 --> 00:17:15.220 And just as Jesus was at work through these apostles, so He is also at work through us too. 00:17:15.220 --> 00:17:30.220 You see, when Jesus called us, He also commissioned us to be in a way ambassadors, not like the apostles, but we are also called to serve God, aren't we? 00:17:30.220 --> 00:17:37.220 We've all been given gifts and abilities and skills and interests which are all kind of unique and different. 00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:40.220 And that's what's the wonderful thing about the church. 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:47.220 When we look at Peter and John, clearly their gifts were speaking in public. They could speak for Jesus. 00:17:47.220 --> 00:17:50.220 And they use that gift to great effect. 00:17:50.220 --> 00:18:00.220 We too have all been given these wonderful gifts and we're encouraged and God is inviting us to use them in His service. 00:18:00.220 --> 00:18:04.220 But we know that's not always easy, is it? 00:18:04.220 --> 00:18:11.220 At times we can be a little bit reticent. We can be a bit backwards and coming forwards, can't we? 00:18:11.220 --> 00:18:16.220 And you know, if we're a bit Scottish or if we're a bit West Coastie, 00:18:16.220 --> 00:18:22.220 we kind of excuse ourselves from service because we think we're not good enough. 00:18:22.220 --> 00:18:28.220 We say, I'm not good enough, you know, she'll look over there, she'd be much better at doing this than I would ever be. 00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:35.220 And so there's this kind of sometimes struggle within us that we're just not good enough. We're not that great. 00:18:35.220 --> 00:18:40.220 And so let's give over this task to somebody else. 00:18:40.220 --> 00:18:49.220 You see, that's so against what Jesus calls us to do because it's not really about our giftedness. 00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:51.220 It's about our service, isn't it? 00:18:51.220 --> 00:18:57.220 And often I think those of us who love to hang back and to expect someone else to do it, 00:18:57.220 --> 00:19:02.220 I think at the root of that is an issue with pride, if I'm being honest. 00:19:02.220 --> 00:19:08.220 I say that because I feel that deeply myself sometimes too. 00:19:08.220 --> 00:19:12.220 Because we begin to think too much of ourselves and too little of God. 00:19:12.220 --> 00:19:14.220 We become consumed about thinking of ourselves. 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:21.220 We just wouldn't want to be humiliated or embarrassed or to walk away as if we'd done a bad job. 00:19:21.220 --> 00:19:27.220 And so it's really when we kind of adopt that kind of reticence or that kind of backwardness, 00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:34.220 I think it's a deep heart issue that we need to really wrestle with and struggle with and take to God in prayer. 00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:40.220 Because it's often a real failure to trust God, isn't it? 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:44.220 And his ability to work through us. 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:50.220 But we're really thankful to God that he's gentle. 00:19:50.220 --> 00:19:56.220 Because remember Peter, who spoke so boldly, he messed up. 00:19:56.220 --> 00:20:01.220 He was invited to speak for Jesus in front of a little girl and he denied. 00:20:01.220 --> 00:20:05.220 He denied knowing anything about Jesus three times. 00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:09.220 But you know what? 00:20:09.220 --> 00:20:12.220 God graciously restored him. 00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:16.220 God saw his failure and God didn't throw him on the dust heap. 00:20:16.220 --> 00:20:17.220 He worked with Peter. 00:20:17.220 --> 00:20:19.220 He used Peter. 00:20:19.220 --> 00:20:27.220 He worked his love and he continued to form his Peter's heart into something which was becoming more beautiful 00:20:27.220 --> 00:20:30.220 and becoming more like God and more like Christ. 00:20:30.220 --> 00:20:37.220 So when we fail, when we just struggle to serve God, 00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:42.220 let's remember Peter and let's remember our Heavenly Father, 00:20:42.220 --> 00:20:47.220 who doesn't just dump us and leave us and go on to the next person, 00:20:47.220 --> 00:20:50.220 but he graciously restores us. 00:20:50.220 --> 00:20:51.220 He loves us. 00:20:51.220 --> 00:20:52.220 He looks after us. 00:20:52.220 --> 00:20:58.220 He puts us back on the horse and he invites us to continue to walk with him. 00:20:58.220 --> 00:21:03.220 And he will use us and through us, he will do his work. 00:21:03.220 --> 00:21:09.220 So finally, and briefly, we're going to see the direction of the new community. 00:21:09.220 --> 00:21:16.220 Now this gospel of Luke is an incredible gospel because when you go through the gospel, 00:21:16.220 --> 00:21:23.220 you're going to see time and again Jesus moving deliberately towards the outsider, 00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:29.220 towards those who had been rejected by the religious leaders and who had been declared unfit 00:21:29.220 --> 00:21:33.220 to be part of God's kingdom by the religious authorities. 00:21:33.220 --> 00:21:38.220 Jesus, however, continually moves towards the outsider. 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:45.220 He moves towards them in sacrificial love so that the outsiders can come into his new kingdom. 00:21:45.220 --> 00:21:56.220 And as he does this, he declares that no longer will politics, race, gender, wealth be a barrier to God's kingdom. 00:21:56.220 --> 00:21:58.220 Everyone is welcome. 00:21:58.220 --> 00:22:07.220 Just as Jesus's new community was inaugurated through this unique call of Jesus to these 12 apostles in verse 13. 00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:14.220 So through God's spirit, we too are called by Jesus as we read the pages of the Bible. 00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:21.220 We are called to go on his mission to declare to all people that God is for them, 00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:28.220 that God wants to be in relationship with them, that God wants to reconnect with them, 00:22:28.220 --> 00:22:35.220 to reconcile the two enemies together again. 00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:37.220 But this isn't easy. 00:22:37.220 --> 00:22:45.220 We humbly admit that Christ's calling on our lives is hard and it's tough and it's costly. 00:22:45.220 --> 00:22:50.220 But thankfully, God doesn't leave us to do this on our own, does He? 00:22:50.220 --> 00:22:52.220 He gives us his spirit. 00:22:52.220 --> 00:22:55.220 He shapes and he guides us as we read his word. 00:22:55.220 --> 00:23:02.220 As we read the Bible, as we read about God's people and about how he works within them, 00:23:02.220 --> 00:23:13.220 it is an incredible book which helps us to clarify and to see how God is at work in the lives of ordinary people. 00:23:13.220 --> 00:23:22.220 It clarifies how God is at work in our life, how God loves us and how he cares for us and how he's for our kids. 00:23:22.220 --> 00:23:32.220 And as we read the Bible, we find incredible pictures of the impact of the love of Jesus moving towards the outsider. 00:23:32.220 --> 00:23:40.220 Now, the best picture, I think, of this is found in Revelation 21. 00:23:40.220 --> 00:23:45.220 It's a scene of heaven and it's a scene of worship in heaven. 00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:54.220 And it's a scene where people from every nation, every tribe and every language worshiping God together. 00:23:54.220 --> 00:23:58.220 What we see in heaven is this. 00:23:58.220 --> 00:24:02.220 God has designed us to be different. 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:06.220 And our differences won't be stamped out in heaven. 00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:14.220 But in our diversity, we declare that unity and diversity is possible. 00:24:14.220 --> 00:24:16.220 We celebrate diversity. 00:24:16.220 --> 00:24:26.220 We give thanks to God that we are different, that we are not the same, but that he has woven us into this new community, this new Israel. 00:24:26.220 --> 00:24:29.220 With God's help, we move towards others. 00:24:29.220 --> 00:24:39.220 We deliberately create spaces and opportunities to enjoy and celebrate the diversity of people that make up our church family. 00:24:39.220 --> 00:24:46.220 And so we move towards ever deepening and ever increasing unity amongst our church family. 00:24:46.220 --> 00:24:54.220 The barriers that may set us back, the barriers which we find a bit more tricky to overcome personally, 00:24:54.220 --> 00:25:00.220 can be overcome because the love of Jesus moves us towards others, 00:25:00.220 --> 00:25:05.220 not simply to the outsiders, but to others within our own community. 00:25:05.220 --> 00:25:14.220 As a church, we must work really hard and intentionally to foster greater unity amongst ourselves. 00:25:14.220 --> 00:25:18.220 And so we commit to creating a culture of celebration, 00:25:18.220 --> 00:25:31.220 which embraces and celebrates an increasing levels of unity amongst an increasingly diverse number of people, the glorious good news of Jesus. 00:25:31.220 --> 00:25:44.220 As a church, we joyfully and courageously display the message of unity through the love of God to our church family and to our surrounding communities. 00:25:44.220 --> 00:25:53.220 That's the amazing thing about this new community that Jesus formed on the mountain here. 00:25:53.220 --> 00:25:58.220 It was a community which included the outsider. 00:25:58.220 --> 00:26:08.220 It's a community which included everyone and anyone because it was based on the love of God, that self-giving love of God, 00:26:08.220 --> 00:26:17.220 that love of God which propelled God towards us and propels us towards others. 00:26:17.220 --> 00:26:25.220 Tonight, we are in an incredible community, one that has been formed by God himself. 00:26:25.220 --> 00:26:31.220 And it's a community which we enjoy being part of. 00:26:31.220 --> 00:26:38.220 And it's a community which is being transformed by God through his power to go beyond ourselves. 00:26:38.220 --> 00:26:52.220 And it's a community which loves others and which wants reconciliation between the different groups of people within our city, within our nation, within our world. 00:26:52.220 --> 00:26:55.220 Let's give thanks to God. Let's pray. 00:26:55.220 --> 00:27:01.220 Father, thank you that you are a God who comes to us, who moves towards us. 00:27:01.220 --> 00:27:13.220 Lord, may we be a people who are fuelled by your grace to move towards others in love, offering them the hope of new relationship, 00:27:13.220 --> 00:27:17.220 of a new love, of restoration through Jesus. 00:27:17.220 --> 00:27:26.220 We pray that you would continue to bless us as a church, continue to give great vision and great impetus to the church family here. 00:27:26.220 --> 00:27:31.220 May they continue to grow and to flourish here and in further afield. 00:27:31.220 --> 00:27:48.220 We ask all this in Christ's name. Amen.