WEBVTT 00:00:00.620 --> 00:00:09.300 As we said at the beginning of the worship service, this is the first Sunday in the season of the church calendar that we call Lent. 00:00:09.800 --> 00:00:14.040 I understand there are varying levels of familiarity with the church calendar here. 00:00:14.679 --> 00:00:21.179 But Lent is essentially a season of penitence and of reflection, of introspection. 00:00:21.900 --> 00:00:26.179 And we ask questions like, who am I in the Lord? 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:29.480 Who is God calling me to become in Him? 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:31.519 Questions about identity. 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:42.640 And even as we are doing that individually during this season, we thought that this would be a really good time to ask these same questions as a community whole. 00:00:43.179 --> 00:00:45.140 These questions of identity. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:50.900 And so our leadership team for the past several months has been spending a lot of time in prayer. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:56.100 We've been talking to a lot of people and hearing from a lot of people in our community. 00:00:56.100 --> 00:01:01.260 We've been evaluating all of the different aspects of our common life together. 00:01:01.480 --> 00:01:04.019 And we've essentially been asking these two questions. 00:01:05.460 --> 00:01:08.420 Who are we now as a church? 00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:13.060 And who is the Lord calling us to become? 00:01:14.060 --> 00:01:16.299 Because after all, all of this belongs to Him. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:18.320 So it's His to do with as He pleases. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:22.480 But you may not know that Advent was started back in 2008. 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:26.079 And the way time moves, especially in D.C., that's ancient history. 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:30.060 And a lot has changed in our community since then. 00:01:31.019 --> 00:01:32.799 And a lot has changed in our world. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:35.539 The world is no longer what it was in 2008. 00:01:35.640 --> 00:01:37.739 It's a vastly different place, vastly different culture. 00:01:37.939 --> 00:01:39.539 And I think we feel that in D.C. 00:01:39.540 --> 00:01:44.460 And so we're reflecting on who we are now and who the Lord is calling us to be in light of those changes. 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:51.020 And so here, I want to put up on the screen, here is the statement that we believe really captures those two things. 00:01:51.260 --> 00:01:54.420 Who we are, it's descriptive, and who we hope to become. 00:01:54.540 --> 00:01:55.480 It's aspirational. 00:01:56.360 --> 00:02:00.020 As a church, we seek the flourishing of Washington, D.C. 00:02:00.019 --> 00:02:08.560 By building gospel-centered communities that practice generous hospitality, spiritual formation, and missionary faithfulness in every neighborhood. 00:02:08.740 --> 00:02:11.560 And what we have in this statement is four things. 00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:12.479 We have our identity. 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:13.979 We're a church. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.079 We have our vision, what we hope to see one day. 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:20.219 And that is the flourishing of Washington, D.C. 00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:24.259 And that's a word that comes from the Bible, Jeremiah 29, the welfare. 00:02:24.740 --> 00:02:28.699 The ultimate holistic prospering of the city by God's blessing. 00:02:28.699 --> 00:02:34.239 And that our mission for accomplishing that is building gospel-centered communities in every neighborhood. 00:02:34.979 --> 00:02:37.479 And that we do all of that with three core values. 00:02:37.619 --> 00:02:41.239 And again, I think this really captures the spirit of the Church of the Advent. 00:02:41.619 --> 00:02:43.419 Three values that shape everything we do. 00:02:43.859 --> 00:02:48.000 Generous hospitality, spiritual formation, and missionary faithfulness. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:53.699 And so what we're going to do throughout the season of Lent is essentially unpack this statement and explore together 00:02:53.699 --> 00:02:59.819 who we believe the Lord is calling us to be as a community in 21st century Washington, D.C. 00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:03.000 The state of the culture being what it is. 00:03:03.359 --> 00:03:06.939 And so tonight, we're going to start with the first three words. 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:10.079 We're going to look at these words as a church. 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:13.939 And it may sound very basic to some of you who have been Christians a long time. 00:03:13.939 --> 00:03:17.340 But we have to begin with our fundamental identity. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:18.939 What does it mean to be a church? 00:03:20.939 --> 00:03:25.539 This sounds like Christianity 101, but there are a lot of different answers to that question out there. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:31.860 And what you find is the way you answer that question will really shape and determine a lot of your priorities 00:03:31.860 --> 00:03:37.159 and how you spend your time and your money and how you constitute yourselves as a community. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:41.240 And so we want to begin here and ask, what does it mean to be a church? 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:46.260 And throughout this series, we'll look at some of the core formative texts from Scripture 00:03:46.260 --> 00:03:50.200 that really shape how we think about our identity here in D.C. 00:03:50.379 --> 00:03:53.659 And so we're going to begin tonight with this question, what does it mean to be a church? 00:03:53.659 --> 00:03:57.620 By looking at Ephesians 2, verses 19 through 22. 00:03:58.020 --> 00:04:00.640 So if you have a Bible, you can open up to it. 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:03.140 But I'll refer back to it a couple of times. 00:04:03.140 --> 00:04:06.540 But essentially what Paul tells us in this passage is this. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:08.400 That here's what it means to be a church. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:19.100 The church is God's family built on God's word to embody God's presence in the world. 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:25.019 The church is God's family built on his word to embody his presence in the world. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:27.240 That's what this passage tells us. 00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:29.480 And so let's explore that in more detail. 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:31.060 And let's ask the Lord to help us. 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:38.980 Our Heavenly Father, we do ask that even as we are gathered here around your written word, 00:04:38.980 --> 00:04:44.800 that you would use this to speak to us with your voice through the power of your spirit. 00:04:45.660 --> 00:04:50.160 That I and everyone here, our greatest need is to know you, is to hear from you, 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:53.920 is to be more shaped by your truth. 00:04:54.019 --> 00:04:56.100 And so, Lord, we pray that you would do just that, 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:58.540 that you would speak to us and tell us what we need to hear. 00:04:58.620 --> 00:05:00.040 We pray this in your Son's holy name. 00:05:00.340 --> 00:05:00.579 Amen. 00:05:01.939 --> 00:05:04.959 So Ephesians 2, 19 to 22, what is the church? 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:09.079 The first thing we see in verse 19 is that the church is a family. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:11.300 It's God's family. 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:13.600 Let me just read verse 19 to you. 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:15.000 He says, 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.300 So then, which tells us that he's at the culmination of an argument. 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:20.500 We'll cover that in just a minute. 00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:32.399 So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:37.739 So here's the first thing that we learn right off the bat about what it means to be a church. 00:05:37.739 --> 00:05:44.339 And this is one of the things that sets church apart from other institutions and other communities in the world. 00:05:44.339 --> 00:05:51.079 The church is made up of people who at one time were alienated from God. 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:54.680 And they were alienated from one another. 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.959 And a transformation has occurred. 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:01.060 So that those people are no longer alienated. 00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:09.319 And through this change of identity, they have become brothers and sisters in the fullest meaning of the term. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:12.500 They have a bond that is even stronger than blood. 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:14.060 Stronger than DNA. 00:06:14.060 --> 00:06:15.839 They've become a family. 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:22.300 And this is especially powerful if you think about the context of the Greco-Roman world. 00:06:22.579 --> 00:06:27.720 The society that this is written in was deeply divided along all kinds of lines. 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:37.779 And Paul, earlier in chapter 2, is talking about what you might think of as the identity politics of the first century world in the Greco-Roman society. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:42.980 You had the Jews who had an identity politics of chosenness. 00:06:44.060 --> 00:06:46.600 There are two kinds of people in the world. 00:06:47.500 --> 00:06:56.079 Either you are circumcised and you're born a Jew and you're circumcised and you live under the law and you enjoy God's special privilege and blessing. 00:06:57.240 --> 00:06:58.860 Or you're a Gentile dog. 00:07:00.180 --> 00:07:03.399 There's either the Jew or there's everybody else. 00:07:04.860 --> 00:07:11.060 Now the Greeks, many of whom the Jews would call Gentile dogs, they had their own identity politics. 00:07:11.899 --> 00:07:13.019 It was one of civility. 00:07:13.019 --> 00:07:18.560 Either you are a high-cultured, literate, civilized Greek. 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:22.479 Or you're an uncultured, illiterate, barbarian subhuman. 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:25.000 And there's really just two kinds of people. 00:07:25.099 --> 00:07:27.419 There's the civilized people and there's everybody else. 00:07:27.659 --> 00:07:30.779 And you could draw this line all kinds of ways. 00:07:31.019 --> 00:07:33.959 Rich and poor, educated and uneducated. 00:07:34.419 --> 00:07:35.899 Male versus female. 00:07:36.299 --> 00:07:37.680 Deeply divided society. 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:42.680 But when Jesus came, and this is what Paul is talking about in Ephesians. 00:07:43.500 --> 00:07:45.519 When Jesus came, he changed everything. 00:07:45.840 --> 00:07:47.340 And Paul lays this out in his letter. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:59.639 Paul lays out the fact that regardless of race or socioeconomic class or level of education or background, regardless of any of those things, everybody has the same core problem. 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:05.379 That from the moment of their birth, they are alienated from the God who made them. 00:08:05.379 --> 00:08:09.240 They're alienated because of sin. 00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:13.399 Before they ever make a choice, they inherit that condition. 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:15.139 They're alienated from God. 00:08:15.139 --> 00:08:23.219 And then he says, at the same time, everyone has the same problem, but they also have the same singular hope. 00:08:24.479 --> 00:08:28.019 And that is that God is the kind of God who loves his people. 00:08:28.139 --> 00:08:30.019 The kind of God who shows mercy. 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:33.199 And so he's essentially loving the playing field. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:36.299 He says all of these ways that we define ourselves. 00:08:36.299 --> 00:08:43.579 Like I'm Greek, or I'm Jewish, or I'm a male, or female, or I'm white, or I'm black, or I'm any of the ways that we might define ourselves. 00:08:45.459 --> 00:08:52.139 He says the one thing that makes any difference is your status before God. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:53.500 That's what, you're all alienated. 00:08:54.779 --> 00:08:56.279 Apart from the mercy of God. 00:08:56.279 --> 00:09:02.600 So what he's saying is that external differences, we notice those kinds of things. 00:09:02.699 --> 00:09:04.339 We tend to prioritize those kinds of things. 00:09:04.600 --> 00:09:09.019 But the real thing that we should be paying attention to is our spiritual status. 00:09:09.139 --> 00:09:11.539 That spiritually speaking, we're all in the same boat. 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:15.659 We all have the same problem, and we all share the same singular hope. 00:09:16.699 --> 00:09:21.039 And so Ephesians 2 talks about how Jesus came to deal with all of this. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:26.120 He came to deal with everything that divides us from one another, and everything that divides us from God. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:27.759 And all of that was dealt with on the cross. 00:09:29.379 --> 00:09:30.019 All of it. 00:09:30.059 --> 00:09:34.519 When Jesus dies to atone for the sins of the human race. 00:09:35.719 --> 00:09:43.959 And so then we ask, okay, well what does that mean for us as we're exploring what does it mean to be a church here in Washington, D.C.? 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:51.820 Well it means that we no longer pay attention to external differences in the same way. 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:54.340 Jesus doesn't do away with external differences. 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:58.780 He doesn't eradicate race, or ethnicity, or social class, or gender. 00:09:58.920 --> 00:10:00.500 He doesn't, those don't cease to exist. 00:10:00.800 --> 00:10:04.100 But for the Christian, those things are no longer primary. 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:09.740 Right, so I used to be, you know, maybe I would define myself as I'm from North Carolina. 00:10:09.740 --> 00:10:14.820 And I'm, you know, these are my politics, and this is my race, and this is my background, and these are all the things that make me, me. 00:10:14.940 --> 00:10:15.120 Right? 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:21.120 And by definition, I mean, try to think of a way of describing yourself that doesn't somehow define you against some other group. 00:10:21.340 --> 00:10:22.000 It's really hard. 00:10:24.180 --> 00:10:28.539 And yet Jesus says all of those identity markers, they don't cease to exist, but they become secondary. 00:10:28.820 --> 00:10:35.620 And the new primary identity for the Christian is that they are children of God. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:38.659 They are part of God's family. 00:10:38.659 --> 00:10:41.139 They're brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:47.539 So you see Jesus, and this is Paul's argument, Jesus taking all of these divided fragments of humanity, right? 00:10:47.659 --> 00:10:55.439 The Jews, and the Greeks, and the Scythians, and the Samaritans, and all of these people who are divided from one another. 00:10:55.699 --> 00:10:59.679 And he's knitting them together into a new humanity. 00:11:00.019 --> 00:11:01.740 He literally is creating a new humanity. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:07.620 And so, you know, the early church got this, and they began to refer to themselves as the third race. 00:11:08.659 --> 00:11:10.299 I'm no longer Jewish. 00:11:10.419 --> 00:11:11.379 I'm no longer Greek. 00:11:11.860 --> 00:11:11.959 Right? 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:13.339 That's a facet of my personality. 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:15.279 But in fact, we've been transformed. 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:17.079 We're something new, a new creation. 00:11:17.459 --> 00:11:18.159 The third race. 00:11:19.019 --> 00:11:21.519 A great example of this is the church in Antioch. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:22.759 Some of you are familiar with this. 00:11:23.219 --> 00:11:27.860 You know, Antioch is famous because it's the place where Christians first started being called Christians. 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:29.759 It was actually originally a derogatory term. 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:38.819 But in Antioch, when they built Antioch, they didn't just build a big wall around the city, but they actually built lots of walls in the city. 00:11:38.919 --> 00:11:45.059 And the idea was to create a quadrant for each of the ethnic groups in Antioch. 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:49.080 And there were at least 18 walled-off ethnic ghettos. 00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:50.639 Right? 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:55.199 So everybody stuck to their section of the city, and there were big walls that divided. 00:11:55.399 --> 00:11:58.740 And that's the way it was for a long time until the Christians came. 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:02.460 And for the first time in history, what did the Christians do? 00:12:03.860 --> 00:12:05.419 They went over the walls. 00:12:05.419 --> 00:12:12.059 Because their understanding of the gospel is that the gospel tells us two things. 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:19.179 That we are all alienated from God, and that we all have access to the hope that comes through Jesus. 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:19.659 Right? 00:12:19.839 --> 00:12:22.279 And so they began to preach and teach this to everyone. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:30.139 And they began to grow and to multiply and to become incredibly diverse, like nothing the world knew at that time. 00:12:30.139 --> 00:12:35.379 And the leadership team in Antioch and the church that you read about in Acts chapter 13 is amazing. 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:37.779 Just imagine a church with this leadership team. 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:40.699 You have Barnabas, who's a Levite from Cyprus. 00:12:41.139 --> 00:12:43.019 You have Simeon, who's a black African. 00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:46.259 You have Lucius, who's from North Africa. 00:12:46.659 --> 00:12:50.039 You have Menaean, who's from the court of Herod Antipas. 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:52.279 You know, many would consider to be the enemy. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:53.120 Right? 00:12:53.179 --> 00:12:57.220 And then you have Saul of Tarsus, who before he converted and became Paul, 00:12:57.220 --> 00:13:00.580 was one of the worst persecutors of Christians in history. 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:03.300 That is the leadership team of your church. 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:05.940 That's amazing diversity. 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:12.000 And it's because they understood the gospel transforms alienated people into a family. 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:14.360 Right? 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:16.560 So as we think about this for us, 00:13:18.040 --> 00:13:21.460 we reflect on this fact that when we say we are a church, as a church, 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:23.100 we're saying that we are a family. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:25.940 That this is a family. 00:13:26.680 --> 00:13:26.960 Right? 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:29.960 And for us at Advent, this is more important now than ever, 00:13:30.060 --> 00:13:32.340 because quite frankly, I think you would agree, 00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:35.060 we live in a culture that is deeply divided. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:37.940 At least, if not more divided, 00:13:38.680 --> 00:13:40.700 than the society that this was written in. 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:41.759 Right? 00:13:41.800 --> 00:13:43.900 We say on paper that we're one nation, 00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:46.600 but we're actually lots of many nations. 00:13:47.300 --> 00:13:50.700 And it's been interesting over the years to see the increasing 00:13:50.700 --> 00:13:54.160 siloing off of groups. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:55.160 Right? 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:58.339 The separating of people from one another. 00:13:58.539 --> 00:14:00.539 The establishing of ghettos. 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:04.779 Now, we don't have walls built throughout our country like Antioch did. 00:14:05.539 --> 00:14:07.179 At least not physical walls. 00:14:07.179 --> 00:14:09.620 But there are walls. 00:14:10.179 --> 00:14:10.500 Right? 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:11.779 Just go on social media, 00:14:11.779 --> 00:14:15.399 and you will bump up against those walls of who people associate with, 00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:16.679 and who people listen to, 00:14:17.019 --> 00:14:18.319 and who people believe, 00:14:18.479 --> 00:14:20.599 and who people ascribe credibility to. 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:20.819 Right? 00:14:20.959 --> 00:14:23.199 There are these silos that exist in our culture. 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:28.860 And so what does this mean for us if we really take seriously what Paul's saying in Ephesians chapter 2? 00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:33.019 It means that we're the ones who have to go over the walls. 00:14:34.419 --> 00:14:37.080 We cannot wait around for somebody else to do it. 00:14:38.019 --> 00:14:40.440 You can't wait around for your family to do it. 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:44.000 You can't wait around for your friends and co-workers to do it. 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:45.779 We're the ones who go over the walls. 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:47.919 By definition, that's what a Christian is. 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:49.459 We cross the lines. 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:52.559 We understand the implications of the gospel for everyone. 00:14:52.740 --> 00:14:56.899 We understand the power of the gospel to unite humanity in a way that nothing else can. 00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:58.500 We go over the walls. 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:00.819 And that doesn't just happen out there. 00:15:00.959 --> 00:15:03.059 It's something that has to happen in here. 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:06.799 Advent oftentimes exists with invisible walls. 00:15:06.939 --> 00:15:07.100 Right? 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:07.939 We don't call them walls. 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:08.799 We call them cliques. 00:15:10.459 --> 00:15:11.439 But they exist. 00:15:13.179 --> 00:15:15.699 Understanding that we are a new family in Jesus Christ, 00:15:15.779 --> 00:15:18.519 means we don't just spend time with people who are like us. 00:15:18.959 --> 00:15:23.000 We don't just relate to people who we know that right off the bat we're going to get along with. 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:27.939 It means you look around and you look past all of the external markers of identity, 00:15:28.059 --> 00:15:31.259 whether it be the kinds of clothes that somebody wears or the kind of job that they have, 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:34.480 and you look deeper and you begin to see people for who they are spiritually. 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:36.659 Brothers and sisters. 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:39.279 We go over the walls, right? 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:45.279 So being a church in the 21st century means being a peace-building institution, 00:15:46.199 --> 00:15:53.019 not just out there but in here, a community of ongoing reconciliation, a family in Jesus Christ. 00:15:53.139 --> 00:15:53.980 This is the first thing. 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:56.679 We're a church, which means we're a family. 00:15:56.679 --> 00:16:02.919 As we move on in Paul's passage here, we get to verse 20, 00:16:02.959 --> 00:16:06.679 and that tells us that we're a family with a very specific foundation, 00:16:07.359 --> 00:16:10.379 that we are built on God's word. 00:16:10.479 --> 00:16:11.839 And this is in verse 20. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:12.659 It says this, 00:16:12.659 --> 00:16:16.559 Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:20.519 Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:25.819 So we are members of the household of God built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, 00:16:26.199 --> 00:16:28.419 Christ Jesus being the cornerstone. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:29.179 Now what does that mean? 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:33.459 Well, first of all, it talks about Jesus being the cornerstone. 00:16:33.620 --> 00:16:37.480 Now when we think of cornerstone, I think there's one around here in this building, 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:39.620 we think of a little ornamental thing, right? 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:41.639 It's like a little square and it has a date on it. 00:16:42.139 --> 00:16:42.539 1865. 00:16:42.899 --> 00:16:43.019 Right? 00:16:43.100 --> 00:16:43.419 That's true. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:45.399 And it's kind of a little decoration, right? 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:48.199 Well, that is not the kind of cornerstone that this has in mind. 00:16:49.319 --> 00:16:55.419 The kind of cornerstone that existed in this society was normally a massive, heavy stone. 00:16:55.539 --> 00:16:58.179 When you were going to build a building, it was the first stone that you picked out, 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:00.259 and you took great care to do it, was the cornerstone. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:01.799 Why did you take great care? 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:10.420 Well, because the cornerstone had the job of defining all of the lines and the angles of the building. 00:17:10.420 --> 00:17:16.900 So when you lay a cornerstone, you're essentially determining the shape and the orientation of the entire structure. 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:20.620 Everything is going to be built off of and line up with this stone. 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:21.759 So it has to be just right. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:25.920 So he's saying that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:30.640 And then he's saying that there's a foundation that is built around the cornerstone, right? 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:32.800 So that the cornerstone determines the shape. 00:17:33.040 --> 00:17:36.840 And then the foundation reflects the lines and the angles of the cornerstone. 00:17:37.060 --> 00:17:40.259 And then it determines the shape of the rest of the structure. 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:43.140 So what's he saying? 00:17:43.140 --> 00:17:57.059 Our foundation is that Jesus Christ, his life, his ministry, his death, his resurrection, his teaching, all of it, who he is and what he said, 00:17:57.980 --> 00:18:02.460 that that determines the entire shape of the church. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:04.599 It determines how we live in the world. 00:18:05.019 --> 00:18:07.960 It determines our entire orientation toward life. 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:14.460 And that the job of the apostles was to receive the teaching of Jesus and then to pass it on. 00:18:14.460 --> 00:18:18.740 You know, the word apostle comes from the root that means a cargo ship. 00:18:21.220 --> 00:18:22.299 A cargo ship. 00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:24.299 A good cargo ship does what? 00:18:24.340 --> 00:18:25.240 It delivers its cargo. 00:18:25.500 --> 00:18:27.779 A good apostle delivers the teachings of Jesus. 00:18:28.180 --> 00:18:34.440 And then the prophets were people who were empowered by the spirit to expound upon the teachings of the apostles. 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:37.660 And apply them in ways that would pierce hearts. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:39.480 Right? 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:44.039 So you have the cornerstone and the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:50.720 And this, as the apostles began to get older and older and got close to death, they began to write all of these things down. 00:18:51.019 --> 00:18:55.279 And that became a body of written work that became what we call the New Testament. 00:18:55.279 --> 00:19:08.460 So that's what the foundation of the church is, is this body of teaching that was delivered by the apostles that originated in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. 00:19:09.700 --> 00:19:11.240 So the implications of this. 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:13.420 Think about Advent. 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:16.700 Our church is shaped by all kinds of things. 00:19:17.420 --> 00:19:18.519 Lots of things weigh in on. 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:20.399 Some very ancient things, right? 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:24.320 I love the fact that some of the prayers we pray date back to the first couple of centuries. 00:19:25.800 --> 00:19:30.900 You know, when we say, you know, we lift our hearts to the Lord, it is right and good to give Him thanks and praise. 00:19:31.080 --> 00:19:34.960 When we say that, that what's called the surs and corda, lift up your hearts, we lift them up to the Lord. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:37.280 That dates back to 150 AD. 00:19:39.259 --> 00:19:40.800 Christians have been saying that a long time, right? 00:19:40.800 --> 00:19:46.880 And then we also engage and think about and ponder and wrestle through the most contemporary issues of the day, right? 00:19:47.040 --> 00:19:49.560 So lots of things shape the life of our church. 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:52.460 But what this is saying is that we only have one foundation. 00:19:54.639 --> 00:20:00.980 That when it comes to the ultimate shape of our common life, Scripture is primary. 00:20:01.179 --> 00:20:05.139 It's the thing that determines the shape of our common life. 00:20:05.140 --> 00:20:17.240 So everything, right, from how we think about our budget to how we think about what happens here on Sunday to how we think about and the desire that we have for our core groups, right? 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:21.380 Even to the way we think about the most controversial issues of the day. 00:20:21.380 --> 00:20:33.460 All of that is ultimately determined and shaped by the foundation of Jesus and the apostles and the prophets, that body of teaching that we have in Scripture. 00:20:33.820 --> 00:20:37.660 So, you know, a lot of times people will ask me, well, what's your stance on this issue? 00:20:38.380 --> 00:20:40.080 Or what's your stance on that issue? 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:43.419 And a lot of times I just want to say, who cares? 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:45.359 Who cares? 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:49.919 Well, you want to build an institution on my personal preferences about how the world should be looked? 00:20:51.199 --> 00:20:52.480 That's utterly wrong. 00:20:53.419 --> 00:20:53.619 Right? 00:20:53.659 --> 00:20:55.159 The church has a foundation. 00:20:55.160 --> 00:21:08.000 It has a source that shapes who we are, how we see the world, what our values are, what our priorities are, where we think all of this is going, the story within which we live. 00:21:08.060 --> 00:21:12.000 All of that is shaped by the foundation that has been given to us, right? 00:21:12.040 --> 00:21:14.340 It's a core part of what it means to be the church. 00:21:15.540 --> 00:21:19.820 And what happens if you build on something other than the foundation that has been laid? 00:21:21.259 --> 00:21:23.700 You know, I almost experienced that firsthand. 00:21:23.700 --> 00:21:27.539 You know, my wife, Mara, and I were checking out this old ramshackle cabin. 00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:31.660 And we were – and it was kind of elevated off the ground on the stilts. 00:21:31.740 --> 00:21:32.620 It was pretty high up. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:35.600 And we were just kind of walking around and looking at the different rooms. 00:21:35.660 --> 00:21:38.100 And I saw this porch, this stringed-in porch. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:39.279 And I said, oh, cool, a porch. 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:40.700 And I go walking out on the porch. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:41.680 It's pretty high off the ground. 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:43.000 I go walking out on the porch. 00:21:43.120 --> 00:21:47.420 And the whole thing goes – it starts to sag. 00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:48.860 And I just sort of froze. 00:21:49.559 --> 00:21:51.319 And Mara said, get back in, get back in, get back in. 00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:54.200 And so I very easily walked back. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:55.019 And luckily it didn't fall. 00:21:55.099 --> 00:21:56.599 We go outside to see why I was sagging. 00:21:56.700 --> 00:21:57.619 It had no foundation. 00:21:58.159 --> 00:22:02.019 Somebody had added a porch onto the side of this cabin, not put any stilts under it. 00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:03.759 And it was just sort of attached. 00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:05.439 Right? 00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:12.200 So if I had been any heavier, if I had done this now rather than a few years ago, I would be a dead man. 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:12.500 Right? 00:22:12.539 --> 00:22:13.980 The whole thing would have come crashing down. 00:22:14.039 --> 00:22:15.019 And that's the reality. 00:22:15.580 --> 00:22:24.279 Whenever you try to build a church community on anything other than the foundation that has been laid, you're essentially sticking something, an addition, onto the side. 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:26.120 And it can't bear any weight. 00:22:26.220 --> 00:22:27.019 It won't last. 00:22:27.299 --> 00:22:28.840 Eventually it will come crashing down. 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:31.660 And what this is saying is essentially this. 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:32.360 Here's the implication. 00:22:32.359 --> 00:22:33.119 Right? 00:22:33.379 --> 00:22:50.539 When churches veer off of this foundation, when Jesus Christ is no longer the cornerstone, when the teachings of the apostles and the prophets are no longer foundational, when they're no longer determining the shape, they really cease to be churches in anything other than name. 00:22:51.899 --> 00:22:52.379 Right? 00:22:52.439 --> 00:22:56.759 So this is something we have to be very clear on in terms of our hopes for Advent. 00:22:56.859 --> 00:23:00.139 That regardless, we would always stay on this foundation. 00:23:00.140 --> 00:23:04.240 And there's a reason why all of this is so important. 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:04.880 Right? 00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:10.560 Why did God take such great care to build a unified family at such great cost to himself? 00:23:11.840 --> 00:23:18.840 And then why did God take such great care to lay a foundation that would be passed down through the generations to us? 00:23:19.040 --> 00:23:20.259 Why do all of that? 00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:25.240 Well, it's because of God's ultimate purpose for this community. 00:23:25.540 --> 00:23:26.300 And what is that? 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:29.280 Verses 21 and 22. 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:39.019 In whom the whole structure, meaning the church, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:46.539 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:52.460 Paul is talking about the church and he's using the image of a temple, which is a very powerful image. 00:23:52.460 --> 00:23:56.940 If you lived in Ephesus, most of his audience were people who had lived in Ephesus. 00:23:57.140 --> 00:24:00.140 They were Gentiles, most of them, formerly pagan. 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:03.140 And a lot of them were new converts to Christianity. 00:24:03.299 --> 00:24:07.860 And they were coming out of a very heavily occult culture, a lot of occult practices. 00:24:08.380 --> 00:24:14.620 But Ephesus was also known for one of the seven great wonders of the ancient world, which was the Temple to Diana. 00:24:14.619 --> 00:24:18.919 It was this huge, massive temple, right? 00:24:19.699 --> 00:24:23.279 And the Jews would have thought about the temple in Jerusalem, right? 00:24:23.319 --> 00:24:26.039 Again, a beautiful, impressive structure. 00:24:26.139 --> 00:24:27.479 But what's the function of a temple? 00:24:29.159 --> 00:24:33.079 It's to be the dwelling place of the presence of God. 00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:39.399 And even though the God of the Bible is a God who is omnipresent, meaning that he's everywhere. 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:45.699 Throughout the history of the Jewish people, God's special, unique presence had always been in the temple, right? 00:24:45.740 --> 00:24:48.439 First in the tabernacle and then later in the temple. 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:53.139 What we call God's Shekinah glory, right? 00:24:53.259 --> 00:24:57.379 His unique, manifest presence was in the temple. 00:24:57.380 --> 00:25:03.940 So what is Paul saying about the nature of the church community? 00:25:05.520 --> 00:25:08.700 We have to understand the significance of what he's saying here. 00:25:08.800 --> 00:25:14.300 That there's a reason he takes such great care to build it correctly and to make sure that it's unified. 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:21.740 It's because the whole purpose of the church is to be the new temple, the dwelling place of God on earth. 00:25:22.500 --> 00:25:23.540 This community. 00:25:25.640 --> 00:25:26.600 This community. 00:25:27.380 --> 00:25:28.000 When we gather. 00:25:30.020 --> 00:25:31.300 So what does this mean for us? 00:25:31.360 --> 00:25:34.040 How does this shape how we think about being a church? 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:38.780 There was a survey in 2013 by the Barna Group. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:44.300 And they asked over a thousand American adults, what do you think about going to church? 00:25:45.340 --> 00:25:48.180 And you had some people who said, love it, I always go. 00:25:48.280 --> 00:25:50.940 You had another small group that said, I never go. 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:52.660 I think it's totally irrelevant to life. 00:25:53.120 --> 00:25:56.020 But the biggest subset of people said that they were ambivalent. 00:25:56.019 --> 00:25:59.779 And so the surveyors asked a follow-up question. 00:25:59.879 --> 00:26:00.819 Why are you ambivalent? 00:26:00.879 --> 00:26:02.079 What's the source of your ambivalence? 00:26:03.079 --> 00:26:09.240 And the majority of people who answered said, well, I really find that I find God elsewhere. 00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:13.599 I'm not really sure what the purpose of church is. 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:14.440 I find God elsewhere. 00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:17.079 When I listen to great music, I find God. 00:26:17.259 --> 00:26:20.019 When I go on hikes and see the beauty of nature, I find God. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:24.259 When I'm with people that I love and care about, my family and friends, I find God. 00:26:24.299 --> 00:26:25.880 Those are all ways that I experience God. 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:27.160 Why would I go to church? 00:26:27.520 --> 00:26:28.400 It's a lot of trouble. 00:26:28.520 --> 00:26:29.540 It's people that I don't know. 00:26:29.720 --> 00:26:31.120 It's across town. 00:26:31.280 --> 00:26:31.800 There's no traffic. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:33.940 You know, it's at a horrible time of the day. 00:26:34.020 --> 00:26:34.740 There's no parking. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:35.760 Why would I do that? 00:26:36.120 --> 00:26:36.300 Right? 00:26:36.860 --> 00:26:37.980 They're ambivalent about it. 00:26:40.260 --> 00:26:48.620 It's becoming more and more common, I think, for Christians, especially with the kind of plethora of online sermon podcasts that are available and music and all that, 00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:54.739 to sort of simply see church as a kind of add-on, but not really necessary or central to the Christian life. 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:59.359 And it's interesting to reflect on why do we gather every week? 00:26:59.419 --> 00:27:00.599 I mean, what's the purpose of this? 00:27:01.479 --> 00:27:04.039 You know, what's the purpose of doing this at 5 o'clock every Sunday? 00:27:05.259 --> 00:27:07.979 Are we coming to this like a gas station? 00:27:08.859 --> 00:27:11.939 You know, is this a place to get spiritually topped off for the week? 00:27:13.099 --> 00:27:14.679 You know, do we come to be entertained? 00:27:14.680 --> 00:27:19.620 And some of the things that we do aren't necessarily very entertaining. 00:27:20.779 --> 00:27:21.140 Right? 00:27:21.320 --> 00:27:22.120 Is that why we're coming? 00:27:22.259 --> 00:27:25.539 You know, do we come to learn helpful principles for living? 00:27:25.880 --> 00:27:30.560 You know, we just got married, and we just want to get some tips for how to love each other better. 00:27:30.900 --> 00:27:36.060 You know, do we come because it's therapeutic, and we know that this will help us work through our personal issues? 00:27:36.360 --> 00:27:38.039 You know, so why do we come to church? 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:39.580 It's a question worth asking. 00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:42.480 And some of each of those statements is true. 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:43.920 At times it can be entertaining. 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:45.500 At times it can be therapeutic. 00:27:45.800 --> 00:27:48.120 At times we do learn things that are helpful for life. 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:54.340 But we need to understand that what Paul is saying is not just nice poetic metaphor. 00:27:54.700 --> 00:27:55.800 Oh, you're like the temple. 00:27:56.100 --> 00:27:57.880 He's saying you are the temple. 00:27:58.779 --> 00:28:02.620 So very literally, when Christians gather in Jesus' name, 00:28:03.900 --> 00:28:07.620 when we gather and the gospel is preached and the word is open, 00:28:07.620 --> 00:28:09.660 when we go to our knees and when we pray together, 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:12.880 when we confess our sin and hear God's declaration of mercy, 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:17.740 when we participate in the sacraments and see people baptized into the body of Christ, 00:28:17.840 --> 00:28:20.600 when we come to this table and share the bread and the wine, 00:28:20.660 --> 00:28:24.360 when these things happen, the Shekinah glory of God is here 00:28:24.360 --> 00:28:29.720 in a way that it is not present in other places, 00:28:29.720 --> 00:28:35.660 that we are here partaking of a unique manifestation of the presence of God. 00:28:35.660 --> 00:28:37.140 Yes, God is omnipresent. 00:28:38.340 --> 00:28:44.160 But the Bible says there is a unique way that God is present when his people are gathered in his name. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:48.000 Ministry is happening here and not human ministry. 00:28:48.380 --> 00:28:49.460 God is at work. 00:28:49.700 --> 00:28:52.680 He's like a surgeon who is at work in our hearts, 00:28:52.740 --> 00:28:54.120 even as we are gathered here. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:56.620 And it happens every time. 00:28:56.619 --> 00:28:58.079 Right? 00:28:58.139 --> 00:29:02.359 So this is why the early church in Acts continued meeting, right, every day, 00:29:02.739 --> 00:29:05.859 right, devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, right, 00:29:05.959 --> 00:29:09.939 and the fellowship and the breaking of bread and the prayers, right? 00:29:09.939 --> 00:29:10.939 This is why they did that. 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:13.199 This is why in Hebrews chapter 10, 00:29:13.919 --> 00:29:14.539 it says, 00:29:14.759 --> 00:29:17.439 Let us stir one another up to good works, 00:29:17.979 --> 00:29:21.319 not neglecting to meet together as some people have done. 00:29:21.479 --> 00:29:21.839 Why? 00:29:22.579 --> 00:29:23.939 Because God is here. 00:29:24.179 --> 00:29:24.819 He's present. 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:27.980 He's living and active among his people. 00:29:31.500 --> 00:29:35.959 The walls between the heavens and the earth are thin here. 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:40.119 This is a thin place. 00:29:41.159 --> 00:29:41.559 Right? 00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:45.939 There's a commingling of the temporal and the eternal. 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:47.399 There's a commingling. 00:29:47.400 --> 00:29:55.640 We are touching and tasting and glimpsing eternal cosmic reality here and now. 00:29:56.820 --> 00:30:00.519 That's what happens here that doesn't happen anywhere else. 00:30:01.400 --> 00:30:01.620 Right? 00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:02.580 This is why, by the way, 00:30:02.660 --> 00:30:07.440 our central mission is to build gospel-centered communities in every neighborhood. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:09.780 We'll talk about that in a couple of weeks. 00:30:09.880 --> 00:30:10.160 Why? 00:30:10.500 --> 00:30:15.640 Because we believe that yes, a new church is great at reaching people. 00:30:15.779 --> 00:30:18.840 Yes, a new church is great for serving and meeting needs in the community. 00:30:19.180 --> 00:30:20.980 Yes, a new church is valuable for all those things. 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:23.660 But quite literally, when people gather in Jesus' name, 00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:26.860 the presence of God, his Shekinah glory is manifested. 00:30:27.800 --> 00:30:30.680 So if you want to fill a city with the presence of God, what do you do? 00:30:30.740 --> 00:30:31.620 You plant churches. 00:30:33.080 --> 00:30:36.880 And together when they worship, they proclaim and manifest and embody the presence of God. 00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:42.260 So what is a church and what does it mean to be a church? 00:30:42.360 --> 00:30:44.840 When we say as a church, what does that mean? 00:30:45.500 --> 00:30:47.300 It means this, that we are a family. 00:30:48.580 --> 00:30:51.560 In Jesus Christ, we're God's family. 00:30:52.460 --> 00:30:57.420 It means that we're built on the specific foundation of the apostles and the prophets. 00:30:57.940 --> 00:30:59.880 With Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. 00:30:59.880 --> 00:31:05.220 And it means lastly that among all of the good things that happen in our community, 00:31:05.360 --> 00:31:08.500 the greatest thing of all is that when we gather like this, 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:14.320 the glory of God is manifest not only to us but to the world. 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:17.420 The Lord is with us. 00:31:18.540 --> 00:31:21.400 I'll end with a passage from Eugene Peterson's wife. 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:23.120 He's kind of a hero of mine. 00:31:23.180 --> 00:31:26.560 And his wife, Jan, is also a hero and amazing. 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:30.919 And here's a statement from her, and I'm kind of repurposing it for this. 00:31:32.519 --> 00:31:37.279 Being a church member is a vocation, a way of life. 00:31:38.019 --> 00:31:41.659 It means participation in an intricate web of hospitality, 00:31:42.519 --> 00:31:45.659 living at the intersection of human need and God's grace, 00:31:46.700 --> 00:31:50.159 inhabiting a community where men and women who don't fit are welcomed, 00:31:50.679 --> 00:31:52.579 where neglected children are noticed, 00:31:53.200 --> 00:31:55.019 where the stories of Jesus are told, 00:31:55.019 --> 00:31:58.700 and people who have no stories find that they do have stories, 00:31:59.019 --> 00:32:01.220 stories that are part of the Jesus story. 00:32:02.099 --> 00:32:06.220 Being a church member places us strategically yet unobtrusively 00:32:06.220 --> 00:32:11.240 at a heavily trafficked intersection between heaven and earth. 00:32:12.359 --> 00:32:13.099 Let's pray. 00:32:13.099 --> 00:32:21.579 Our Father, apart from you, these would be merely words. 00:32:22.779 --> 00:32:26.379 But you have promised from ancient times 00:32:26.379 --> 00:32:29.059 that you would be a God who dwelled in the midst of your people. 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:32.079 And so now we pray that you would fulfill that promise, 00:32:32.219 --> 00:32:35.519 that above all things, this community would be known 00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:40.359 as a community where you are present and living and active, 00:32:40.359 --> 00:32:44.299 where we would come face to face with the reality of the living God. 00:32:44.759 --> 00:32:46.439 And we pray that for all churches 00:32:46.439 --> 00:32:49.399 who rest on the foundation of Jesus Christ 00:32:49.399 --> 00:32:51.979 and the prophets and the apostles, 00:32:52.179 --> 00:32:54.179 that you would fill them with your presence 00:32:54.179 --> 00:32:57.279 and so fill this world with your glory. 00:32:57.839 --> 00:32:59.419 We pray this in your Son's holy name. 00:32:59.879 --> 00:33:00.079 Amen. 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:00.259 Amen. 00:33:00.259 --> 00:33:00.299 Amen. 00:33:00.299 --> 00:33:00.359 Amen. 00:33:00.359 --> 00:33:00.379 Amen. 00:33:00.379 --> 00:33:00.399 Amen. 00:33:00.399 --> 00:33:02.359 Amen. 00:33:02.359 --> 00:33:02.399 Amen. 00:33:02.399 --> 00:33:03.399 Amen. 00:33:03.399 --> 00:33:03.439 Amen. 00:33:03.439 --> 00:33:03.459 Amen. 00:33:03.459 --> 00:33:03.519 Amen. 00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:03.539 Amen. 00:33:03.539 --> 00:33:03.579 Amen. 00:33:03.579 --> 00:33:03.599 Amen. 00:33:03.599 --> 00:33:03.619 Amen.