WEBVTT 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:08.060 Good morning. I'm Tommy. I'm the rector here. We've been in a series for the past couple of weeks. 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:14.120 This is September. This is a time in D.C. where it feels like things kick off. 00:00:14.419 --> 00:00:18.760 We sort of unofficially abide by the academic year here culturally. 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:25.539 And so we always take a few weeks in September to kind of reset, remember who we are as a church, why we're here. 00:00:25.539 --> 00:00:34.340 So we've been looking at our mission as a church. We've been around since about 15 years, since late 2007, early 2008. 00:00:34.939 --> 00:00:39.079 And we're here basically to do three things as a church. 00:00:39.879 --> 00:00:45.799 We're here, we say that our church exists to join people to God, to join people to one another, 00:00:46.259 --> 00:00:52.219 and to join people to Christ's work of renewal in Washington, D.C., and through it, the world. 00:00:52.219 --> 00:00:56.820 And so the last couple of weeks, we looked at the first two parts of that statement, 00:00:57.219 --> 00:01:02.560 joining people to God, the gospel, and then joining people to one another, the work of community building. 00:01:02.979 --> 00:01:07.659 And now we're going to look at the third and final piece, that we're here to join in 00:01:07.659 --> 00:01:15.480 and to join other people into Christ's work of renewal in Washington, D.C., and through it, the world. 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:21.640 And so essentially, our mission is to join into Jesus' mission. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:28.500 So in order to understand that, we're going to look more at this amazing passage written by Paul to the Colossians, 00:01:28.600 --> 00:01:30.460 chapter 1, verses 15 to 23. 00:01:31.020 --> 00:01:35.000 We're going to look first at Jesus' mission, which we see in verses 15 to 20, 00:01:35.180 --> 00:01:39.700 and then our mission that flows out of that, which we see in verse 21 to 23. 00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:44.120 So Jesus' mission, and then our mission that flows out of His mission. 00:01:44.460 --> 00:01:44.960 Let's pray. 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:51.820 Lord, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for being the kind of God who speaks through Your Word. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:54.760 And we're coming from all different kinds of places. 00:01:54.920 --> 00:01:58.359 We have different questions and hesitations and thoughts and concerns and distractions. 00:01:59.180 --> 00:02:04.100 Lord, I pray that by Your grace, we would be able to attend to You and that You would speak. 00:02:04.859 --> 00:02:09.280 And we pray that in Your speaking, we would come face to face with Your living Word, Jesus Christ. 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:12.860 Lord, and that we would be changed in that encounter. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:14.400 We pray this in Your Son's holy name. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:15.000 Amen. 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:20.319 So first of all, I want to look a bit at Jesus' mission. 00:02:21.359 --> 00:02:26.199 Paul is making three massive statements about Jesus Christ that become the foundation 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:30.120 for much of what we believe and do as Christians. 00:02:30.659 --> 00:02:33.159 The first thing that he says about Jesus is this. 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:38.199 Everything was made by and for Jesus Christ. 00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:43.039 Everything was made by Him. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:44.039 Everything was made for Him. 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:48.919 There was a survey put out this year, 2022, by Ligonier. 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:50.359 Lord, you are having to ask for... 00:02:50.359 --> 00:02:50.559 God is Village from the Holy Age. 00:02:50.559 --> 00:02:51.559 You are well enough. 00:02:51.559 --> 00:02:51.679 But, you know, we have... 00:02:51.679 --> 00:02:52.699 I think that Jesus is demonrine, reality, industry LGBTQ. 00:02:52.699 --> 00:02:53.559 It would sound like the same thing. 00:02:53.559 --> 00:02:53.859 Pretty much, holy ending. 00:02:53.859 --> 00:02:54.699 It's synonymous with Christianity, anunciating in it that same thing. 00:02:54.699 --> 00:02:55.759 Our Dailyve bandwidth. 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:56.060 I know it was τι crazy. 00:02:56.060 --> 00:03:06.460 in 2022 in our society. One statistic was that 73% of evangelicals believe that Jesus was created 00:03:06.460 --> 00:03:12.920 by God. 73% of evangelicals believe that Jesus was created by God. I can only think it's because 00:03:12.920 --> 00:03:20.140 people maybe get confused about verse 15. Verse 15 says, He is the image of the invisible God, 00:03:20.140 --> 00:03:25.599 the firstborn of all creation. So, it's possible that people read that and they think, well, 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:33.400 firstborn means that God must have given birth to Him at some point in a cosmic sense. But what we 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:39.879 need to understand is that when Paul uses this word, firstborn, he's talking about status. When 00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:46.439 Paul uses this word, he's always talking about status. And so, Jesus outranks everything else 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:52.979 in creation. He's over all of creation. That's what Paul is saying. And in case there's any doubt about 00:03:52.979 --> 00:04:00.039 that, we go to the next verse, which says, verse 16, for by Him all things were created. 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:08.919 Right? So, if you have two columns, right, not created and created, and when we put all things 00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:16.959 in this category, all things that are created, then where do we put Jesus? Well, if by Him all 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:23.199 things were created, then He must be in the other column. So, He's not created. So, Jesus, as Paul 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:30.019 understands Him, has always been. He's co-eternal, as we say, with the Father. By things, all things 00:04:30.019 --> 00:04:34.439 were created in heaven and on earth, visible, invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers 00:04:34.439 --> 00:04:39.500 or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him. So, this is the first thing we need 00:04:39.500 --> 00:04:44.740 to understand. God did not create Jesus. That's actually a heresy that's been around for a long time. 00:04:44.740 --> 00:04:50.620 It's called Arianism. It's still popular today among some groups like Jehovah's Witnesses and 00:04:50.620 --> 00:04:54.900 apparently evangelicals, but it's something that goes back a couple of thousand years, 00:04:55.639 --> 00:05:01.280 and Paul is directly challenging that when he says what he says about Jesus. So, Jesus has always 00:05:01.280 --> 00:05:07.879 existed from eternity. The second thing that we learn about Jesus from Paul, everything holds 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:14.480 together in Jesus Christ. Everything holds together in Jesus. So, he's saying, Jesus gives the universe 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:22.259 order, and He fills it with meaning and coherence. He didn't just create the universe and then step 00:05:22.259 --> 00:05:28.280 back and say, well, this will be interesting to see how this turns out. He is actively holding it 00:05:28.280 --> 00:05:35.400 together, managing it, making it work. And so, what Paul is saying is that right now, at this very moment, 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:40.960 Jesus is actively holding the universe together. He's actively holding us together. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:45.899 And, you know, this is important because as Christians, we tend to separate in our minds 00:05:45.899 --> 00:05:53.219 the sacred and the secular, and we sort of assign a domain within life to God, but then we imagine 00:05:53.219 --> 00:05:59.500 there's a lot of other things that are happening outside of the religious or the spiritual. So, we sort 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:07.259 of think of spirituality as like one compartment in the bento box of life. And what Paul is saying 00:06:07.259 --> 00:06:18.959 is that there's only one compartment in existence, and that compartment is Christ. So, everything that is 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:27.199 exists in that compartment of Christ. All things exist and hold together in Him. So, all galaxies, 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:33.500 all solar systems, all planets, all nations, all governments, all societies, all neighborhoods, 00:06:33.500 --> 00:06:40.740 all churches, all people, all cells, atoms, protons, quarks, they all hold together in Christ. 00:06:41.899 --> 00:06:47.000 It's a pretty big statement. And then the third thing he says is everything will be reconciled 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:54.100 by Jesus Christ. So, you say, well, why is there a need for reconciliation? Well, when through Jesus 00:06:54.100 --> 00:07:00.199 all things were created, that world that was created was meant to exist in perfect harmony. 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:10.139 But Jesus has to respond to something that we have done in the world. Human beings rejected God in 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:16.139 order to live for ourselves. And what we see right beginning in Genesis chapter 3, the third chapter 00:07:16.139 --> 00:07:23.399 of the whole Bible, is that this rebellion resulted in profound relational breakdown, or what we would 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:31.579 refer to as alienation. Alienation. And we see this in Genesis 3. For the first time, human beings are 00:07:31.579 --> 00:07:38.639 alienated from God. Imagine four concentric circles, right? In that innermost circle, human beings are 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:44.979 alienated from God. So, after the fall, instead of intimacy with God, instead of walking with God in the 00:07:44.979 --> 00:07:50.319 cool of the day in the garden, Adam and Eve hide from God, and they're cast out of the garden. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:58.459 We also see in the next concentric circle out, alienation from ourselves. And you say, well, 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:05.740 that's an odd thought to be alienated from myself. Well, instead of openness, vulnerability, 00:08:06.219 --> 00:08:14.319 we have shame. We have deception. We have a capacity now for self-deception. We have potentially 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:21.019 the emergence of an unconscious part of ourselves, a part that has a lot of say in who we are and how 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:27.779 we live, but a part that we don't have access to. We have a kind of inner psychic alienation. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:33.740 Imagine the next concentric circle out. These are like ripples, right? The stone of the fall going 00:08:33.740 --> 00:08:38.299 into the water and the ripples emanating out, or the stone hitting the ice and the cracks, 00:08:38.299 --> 00:08:43.139 right? Moving outward to the next concentric circle out, alienation from one another. 00:08:44.259 --> 00:08:51.299 Instead of love and trust and friendship and intimacy and vulnerability, Adam and Eve begin to 00:08:51.299 --> 00:08:59.779 shift blame and accuse one another. Human relationships become a power struggle. Her desire 00:08:59.779 --> 00:09:07.159 will be for you to consume you, but you will rule over her. Alienation from the world, instead of the 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:14.899 last circle out, alienation from the world, instead of our work, our vocation coming easily, sort of 00:09:14.899 --> 00:09:22.480 working in God-glorifying ways and it coming easily, humans have to contend with thorns and thistles. 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:28.159 You all have jobs, you all have vocations, and they all have difficulties. You have to contend with 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:35.679 futility. No matter how good you do, no matter how hard you try, what you build will ultimately break 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:41.519 down and decay. Somebody will come along who's better than you and replace you. Your name at some 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:48.259 point will be forgotten. Futility, entropy, decay. Childbirth and reproduction are going to be hard 00:09:48.259 --> 00:09:54.559 and painful. There are going to be many people who want to have kids who can't. Instead of stewarding 00:09:54.559 --> 00:10:00.579 creation, we now have environmental degradation and exploitation. So, all of these relationships are 00:10:00.580 --> 00:10:09.379 broken. God, self, others, world. And I would chance to say that any kind of brokenness or struggle 00:10:09.379 --> 00:10:14.300 that you can think of in the world fits into one or more of these sort of four categories of alienation. 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:20.240 But through the cross, and this is what Paul is saying, through the cross, Jesus is reconciling 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:28.000 all things to himself. He's reconciling us, and he's reconciling the world to himself through the 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:35.659 cross. So, he's reconciling us to God. Spiritual renewal through the cross. He's reconciling us to 00:10:35.659 --> 00:10:42.440 ourselves, making us whole again. Personal renewal. He's reconciling us to one another. Social renewal. 00:10:42.680 --> 00:10:49.259 And he's reconciling us ultimately to the world. Cultural or cosmic renewal. So, this is the 00:10:49.259 --> 00:10:55.980 scope of Jesus' mission. It is massive, and yet it is also highly personal. It begins with you 00:10:55.980 --> 00:11:02.939 and me, and it goes out to the furthest galaxies that we are only now able to see with the James 00:11:02.939 --> 00:11:08.379 Webb telescope. It covers all of it. Jesus is doing all of it because he holds all of it together. 00:11:08.620 --> 00:11:12.840 And that's really the point that Paul is trying to make here. He's saying, listen, the world is broken. 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:16.759 We all know that. Jesus Christ is the only one who can put it right again. 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:24.759 How do we know? He's the one who made it. He's the one who holds it together. So, he's the only one 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:32.379 who can fix it. Now, what's our part in all of this? That's Jesus' mission. What's our role in Jesus' 00:11:32.379 --> 00:11:39.159 mission? Well, in verses 21, 22, and 23, Paul says, listen, this work of reconciliation isn't just 00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:45.339 theoretical. It's theoretical. It's already begun. And he's essentially saying to the Colossians, 00:11:45.339 --> 00:11:50.079 it's already begun. And the way you know that this is happening is because it has happened in you. 00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:58.120 You're a case study of what this reconciliation looks like. He says, once you were alienated, 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:05.720 you were hostile in mind, you were doing evil deeds, but through the cross, Jesus has reconciled you 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:12.600 to God. It's already beginning, and it's happening in you right now. And now the same gospel that is 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:21.139 at work in you is healing the whole world. It's healing the whole world. And essentially, 00:12:21.139 --> 00:12:28.379 we're called to join into that. We're called to participate in the healing of the world with Jesus. 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:33.740 And so, that's what our mission statement means when we talk about joining Christ's work of renewal. 00:12:33.740 --> 00:12:40.539 Right? I think if we said, well, we're here to renew D.C., that would be highly grandiose. 00:12:41.539 --> 00:12:47.560 It would be a bit arrogant, and it would also be completely unrealistic because we can't renew D.C. 00:12:47.620 --> 00:12:56.299 I can't even renew myself on a Saturday afternoon if it's just me. Right? But we are participating in 00:12:56.299 --> 00:13:02.399 something that Jesus and only Jesus can do. And he's saying the same gospel is at work in all of this. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:09.980 So, think back to those four kinds of reconciliation and renewal that we just talked about. That's how 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:15.299 we think of the work of renewal that we're called to do in the church with Jesus. And so, the first 00:13:15.299 --> 00:13:20.720 kind of renewal that we seek to bring about here in the city is the work of spiritual renewal. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:27.879 Spiritual renewal. One of the main ways we do that is through public faith and evangelism. 00:13:27.879 --> 00:13:35.659 You know, one of the aims of our church, one of my hopes, every year I go out to West Virginia and I 00:13:35.659 --> 00:13:40.980 sit on a deck and I look out over the Shenandoah Valley at the Allegheny Mountains, and I look at 00:13:40.980 --> 00:13:46.919 the river, and I look at the trees, and I pray about the coming year and what I hope for for our church. 00:13:46.980 --> 00:13:50.899 And every single year, one of the things I pray is that there would be more conversions, 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:56.819 that we would see more people come to faith. And that sounds like an outdated and archaic thing to say, 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:01.980 but that continues to be my prayer every year that we see more people come to faith in Jesus. 00:14:02.539 --> 00:14:06.579 And, you know, I think that makes a lot of Christians these days very uncomfortable. 00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:13.459 The idea of public faith and evangelism makes us very kind of squeamish to think about it. 00:14:13.460 --> 00:14:19.759 A survey I saw recently, at least half of Christian millennials surveyed actually believe it's wrong 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:24.180 for people to share their faith in the hopes of converting others. So, about half of Christian 00:14:24.180 --> 00:14:29.340 millennials who would self-identify as church-going Christians believe it's actually wrong to share 00:14:29.340 --> 00:14:33.580 one's faith. And, you know, I think that there are some understandable reasons for this. It sounds 00:14:33.580 --> 00:14:39.040 like I'm beating up on Christians and evangelicals. I'm not. I think that actually this is understandable. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:46.639 Talking about faith is a lot more complicated now than it was a generation ago. It's actually a lot 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:52.799 more complicated than it was when we started our church in 2008, especially if you live in a place 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:59.360 like Washington, D.C. A generation ago, Christianity was mainly seen as a good thing. I mean, even if you 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:03.459 weren't a Christian, most people kind of agreed, well, I think Christianity is kind of a force for good 00:15:03.459 --> 00:15:08.779 in the world, and I'm glad Christians are around, even though I'm not a Christian. But the prevailing 00:15:08.779 --> 00:15:14.879 narrative now is that Christianity is a kind of scourge of society. People point to things like 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:21.379 the abuse scandals in various denominations, the church's complicity in things like slavery and Jim 00:15:21.379 --> 00:15:27.159 Crow. They point to evangelical politics. They point to views on things like sexuality and gender, 00:15:27.339 --> 00:15:30.980 and they say, and all of these things are kind of front and center right now in the cultural 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:35.839 imagination. So, I think for the average person like you or me just sort of sitting there looking 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:40.840 at the world, the idea of having a public faith and doing the work of evangelism just feels like a 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:46.300 massive, massively unattainable thing, right? It feels like there are all of these insurmountable 00:15:46.300 --> 00:15:50.379 obstacles. I think most Christians probably living in D.C. are pretty sheepish about our faith. 00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:57.440 You know, we treat it kind of like a secret identity, you know? But here's the thing, even though the 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:03.879 culture has changed, the good news of the gospel has not changed, right? The mission of Jesus to 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:11.659 reconcile people to God has not changed, and that is actually ongoing every bit as much today as it 00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:18.960 was 2,000 years ago. And the Holy Spirit is still at work in people's hearts in ways that will shock 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:24.779 and amaze us if we open our eyes and ears to recognize what God is doing. And Christians are 00:16:24.779 --> 00:16:29.840 still called to be witnesses. That essentially means pointing to what we have seen and heard and 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:35.019 experienced with Jesus and saying, I know you may have all of these objections, but let me just tell 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:38.500 you, let me just tell you what's happened in my life. Let me just tell you what I've seen in the 00:16:38.500 --> 00:16:43.980 lives of the people around me. And so we ask this question, what's it going to take for us to be a 00:16:43.980 --> 00:16:49.639 church full of people who are willing to have a public faith, just to let people know that we're 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:55.259 Christians, to open that door, to mention that we're part of a church, just to create that, 00:16:55.259 --> 00:17:00.159 just to crack the door open so that if people are curious, they might want to take a step in. 00:17:01.500 --> 00:17:04.819 Right? What's it going to take? I think training is certainly highly valuable. 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:10.859 Training in lots of ways, just learning how to recognize the prevailing cultural assumptions, 00:17:11.099 --> 00:17:16.940 the prevailing philosophical influences on the modern world, the reasons behind why people think 00:17:16.940 --> 00:17:20.980 the way they think, the assumptions that we make that are unexamined. Very valuable. 00:17:20.980 --> 00:17:28.019 I think having an outward-facing church culture that welcomes seekers and skeptics, a place where 00:17:28.019 --> 00:17:36.259 there's… no question is treated as off-limits, where people are free to have doubts and uncertainties, 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:41.440 I think that's tremendously valuable. To present the gospel and teach the Bible in ways that are 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:46.339 coherent and intelligible to people, even if it's their first time listening, I think that's 00:17:46.339 --> 00:17:52.079 tremendously valuable. But I think the biggest obstacle, if I'm honest, the biggest obstacle 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:59.500 to evangelism is in our hearts. It's in our hearts, and I think in order to overcome that, 00:17:59.579 --> 00:18:04.699 we really need that kind of unique combination of humility and boldness that you can only find 00:18:04.699 --> 00:18:11.079 as a fruit of the gospel working in your life. You know, there's a humility that comes that is 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:16.980 necessary when we try to listen and understand people who voice their frustrations and objections 00:18:16.980 --> 00:18:22.199 and anger about Christians in the church without getting defensive. That requires an enormous amount 00:18:22.199 --> 00:18:28.220 of humility because we're likely to take it very personally otherwise. And that kind of humility comes 00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:33.220 from, as Paul says, the truth that we were all at one time hostile and alienated from God, 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:38.399 and it's only by the grace of Christ that we're not. And so, it's this posture that says, 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:45.880 listen, you know, you're maybe more honest than I have been about some of the frustrations and anger 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:50.460 that you feel. And my job is just to sit here and absorb and to listen, and rather than defending 00:18:50.460 --> 00:18:56.160 myself, I want to attend to you. But there's also a boldness that's needed. There's a boldness to be 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:01.400 willing to look foolish for the sake of the gospel. I mean, Paul is probably one of the most foolish 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:07.320 religious leaders in history. He's constantly being mocked and made fun of, and he writes about it 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:14.099 all the time because he preaches the foolishness of the cross. And so, we need a kind of boldness 00:19:14.099 --> 00:19:19.220 to be willing to allow that to happen and to look foolish, and that comes from knowing that we have 00:19:19.220 --> 00:19:25.079 the eternal approval of the only one whose approval really matters, and it's okay to look foolish. 00:19:26.539 --> 00:19:31.119 Right? So, this is the work of spiritual renewal, having a public faith, seeking to see others come 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:36.000 into relationship with God. And then we move out from that, and we begin to look at the next concentric 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:41.039 circle out. We're also invested in the work of personal renewal here at Church of the Advent. 00:19:42.180 --> 00:19:47.940 This is another way that we join into Christ's work of renewal, is basically seeking to be renewed 00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:55.900 ourselves, psychologically, emotionally, to be emotionally healthy disciples. We did a whole 00:19:55.900 --> 00:20:02.660 section on that a year ago, emotionally healthy discipleship. What does that mean? Some people would 00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:05.980 say, well, what does that have to do with anything, and what especially does that have to do with 00:20:05.980 --> 00:20:11.279 mission? Well, it's interesting. In 1 Peter 2 verse 12, Peter's talking to Christians who are facing 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:16.720 hostility and persecution, probably living in settings similar to where most of us live. 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:18.160 And he says this, 00:20:18.340 --> 00:20:24.140 "'Live such good lives among the unbelievers that though they accuse you of doing wrong, 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:28.660 they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.'" 00:20:28.660 --> 00:20:37.519 It's going to be hard to convince someone that the gospel can change their life if there's no evidence 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:43.540 that has changed my life. You know, I think a lot of Christians are tempted to convince people around 00:20:43.540 --> 00:20:48.220 us that we're no different from them. You know, there's a kind of scrambling to say, 00:20:48.620 --> 00:20:53.640 oh, you know, I know I'm a Christian, but I'm not like those Christians, and in fact, I'm a lot like you, 00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:57.400 and I do… I like a lot of the things that you like and do a lot of the things that you do, 00:20:57.400 --> 00:21:01.200 and we're trying to break down those walls, and I think there's a good impulse there for sure. 00:21:02.840 --> 00:21:06.519 But I think it's easy to miss that there are a whole lot of people out there who are wanting 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:12.360 something to be different. They're wanting to see people who are different. They're wanting to see 00:21:12.360 --> 00:21:18.360 communities that are different. They have looked at all of the other options, and it's all the same. 00:21:19.060 --> 00:21:25.480 And they're hoping against hope that when they look at this group of Christians who claim that the 00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:29.900 gospel is changing everything, they're hoping against hope that there's something there that is different. 00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:35.720 And maybe it's offensive, and maybe it's hard to stomach, and maybe it forces them to kind of re-examine 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:41.500 a lot of their own assumptions, but it is different. It's different. 00:21:41.500 --> 00:21:51.740 So, I think as we think about our own community, we need to ask these questions. On the one hand, are we open? Are we the kind of 00:21:51.740 --> 00:21:58.859 place where people can come into our community and feel welcome and ask questions and have doubts? But on the other hand, are we distinct? 00:21:58.859 --> 00:22:09.339 You know, as Jesus says, are we salty? Have we lost our saltiness, or do we continue to be salt for the world? Do we continue to be people that act as a kind of preservative against decay, 00:22:09.659 --> 00:22:18.479 that bring out and enhance all that is good and true and beautiful wherever we are? You know, are we salty? You know, when I came to faith in college, 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:28.620 there was one guy in our friend group who was like a serious Christian. And I grew up in the South and went to college in the South, and so, you know, we were all, as Flannery O'Connor says, Christ haunted. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:39.940 But this one guy was a serious Christian, and in our friend group, we all used to make fun of him. I mean, he was a good guy, but it was regular sport to make fun of him, 00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:48.200 because he wasn't out trying to hook up with people every weekend like the rest of us were. You know, he would drink some, but he never really, 00:22:48.480 --> 00:23:00.860 drank too much or got out of control. He refused to look at porn. He was serious about church involvement, would sometimes, you know, regularly invite us to go do things, and we never would. 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:10.640 And he would sometimes not do things with us because he was doing stuff with his church. And so, all these kind of became opportunities for us to do what any good group of friends would do, 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:17.900 to just relentlessly make fun of him. But here's what I remember about this. In all of my immaturity, right, 00:23:17.900 --> 00:23:25.019 you know, the main thing that I remember about him is that in the midst of all that, he was just a genuinely kind person. 00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:33.860 He was just genuinely kind. And I always felt like, this guy is for me. Like, even when I'm being immature and joking and making fun of him, 00:23:34.180 --> 00:23:38.740 he really cares about me. He's really for me. He's really interested in who I am as a person. 00:23:38.740 --> 00:23:46.140 And that's the thing that really stood out most and is maybe the most, one of the most distinctly Christian aspects of who he was, 00:23:46.779 --> 00:23:48.440 is just his genuine love for me. 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:55.180 And I remember even when I would join in the making jokes about him, deep down, I think I was jealous of him. 00:23:56.460 --> 00:24:00.380 Because it seemed like there was something in his life that mattered more, 00:24:00.380 --> 00:24:06.300 that was more valuable and more precious than anything that I had in my life. 00:24:06.460 --> 00:24:10.480 And I think that that was a kind of indictment of me. 00:24:12.260 --> 00:24:14.940 It highlighted and exposed my emptiness. 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:21.980 And so, he was the guy that I ended up sitting down with to talk about Jesus, you know, 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:23.700 which is how I eventually came to faith. 00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:29.900 So, I think even when people are poking fun and mocking and accusing, 00:24:30.100 --> 00:24:33.600 I think deep down there are at least some people in whom God is at work 00:24:33.600 --> 00:24:36.279 who are wanting there to be something different and distinct, 00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:43.460 who are receptive if we're willing to recognize it. 00:24:43.700 --> 00:24:46.660 The third ring out is the ring of social renewal. 00:24:46.779 --> 00:24:49.660 So, we have spiritual renewal, relationship with God. 00:24:49.740 --> 00:24:50.980 We have personal renewal. 00:24:50.980 --> 00:24:52.080 Are we being renewed? 00:24:52.259 --> 00:24:53.539 Are we salty and distinct? 00:24:53.900 --> 00:24:57.819 And then the third ring out as we think about Church of the Advent is the work of social renewal. 00:24:58.700 --> 00:25:02.740 The work of social renewal includes doing all of the things that we can do 00:25:02.740 --> 00:25:06.740 to try to repair the social fabric of our society. 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:10.720 Our society is deeply fragmented. 00:25:10.819 --> 00:25:11.940 I don't have to tell you that. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:16.360 And, you know, there are some ancient divisions that we have been trying to overcome 00:25:16.360 --> 00:25:18.720 that have been exacerbated in our society, 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:22.559 divisions along the lines of race, class, politics, gender. 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:24.240 Those have been around for a while. 00:25:24.879 --> 00:25:29.559 But I think one thing that's changing is that our ability to navigate our differences, 00:25:30.059 --> 00:25:33.619 our ability to work through our differences, has been greatly diminished. 00:25:34.619 --> 00:25:38.159 That's something that I think is different from when we started the church 15 years ago. 00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:41.299 Our ability to navigate difference is actually greatly diminished. 00:25:41.299 --> 00:25:49.000 In my opinion, our society is becoming increasingly illiberal on both sides of the aisle for different reasons. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:55.220 One of the things that's different is that now ideas themselves are considered harmful and toxic. 00:25:55.220 --> 00:26:01.380 So, we live in a society based on philosophical liberalism, 00:26:01.380 --> 00:26:07.339 and one of the core ideas there is that if we're willing to openly debate and challenge one another's ideas, 00:26:07.460 --> 00:26:10.079 that the best ideas will emerge in our common pursuit of truth. 00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:11.600 We don't really see that anymore. 00:26:11.740 --> 00:26:18.759 We see ideas, words, concepts being treated as toxic, as sources of harm and trauma. 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:23.859 And what that means is that people's approach to ideas they don't like is not so much to engage in debate, 00:26:23.940 --> 00:26:27.079 it's quarantine, right? 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:32.859 It's a kind of ideological germophobia where we want to quarantine ourselves 00:26:32.859 --> 00:26:39.539 from certain ideological viruses that might, in fact, contaminate and destroy. 00:26:39.539 --> 00:26:45.139 And so, there's this sort of justification for living within a kind of intellectual bubble, 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:49.460 an echo chamber, because we're quarantining ourselves. 00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:53.680 And so, we're losing the ability to work through our differences. 00:26:54.099 --> 00:26:56.519 And I think since COVID, all this has gotten a lot worse. 00:26:56.639 --> 00:27:02.879 You know, I think we're all experiencing what Andy Crouch called rapidly shrinking circles of trust. 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:06.460 I wonder if that resonates with any of you. 00:27:06.539 --> 00:27:07.700 It certainly resonates with me. 00:27:07.700 --> 00:27:10.039 We're all wondering, where are my people? 00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:12.539 Where are my people? 00:27:12.980 --> 00:27:16.460 Who are the people who genuinely care about me and understand me? 00:27:17.059 --> 00:27:20.420 Who are the people I can feel safe enough to share my views with? 00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:24.660 Maybe five years ago, there would have been a lot of people who said, 00:27:24.740 --> 00:27:26.200 well, I feel like that way in my church. 00:27:26.259 --> 00:27:27.480 I feel that way in my family. 00:27:29.240 --> 00:27:30.259 Now, that's not the case. 00:27:30.519 --> 00:27:33.299 There are a lot of people who look around their church with a posture of fear. 00:27:34.100 --> 00:27:35.160 The walls are up. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:36.559 People are guarded. 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:39.339 You're afraid of a topic like January 6th. 00:27:39.399 --> 00:27:41.419 There are masks or something else comes up. 00:27:41.659 --> 00:27:42.679 Critical race theory. 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:46.339 You're afraid if any of these topics come up, you're not sure what you're going to say 00:27:46.339 --> 00:27:48.460 because you're not sure how they're going to react to you. 00:27:48.779 --> 00:27:51.779 You maybe have been in a small group for 10 years, but all of a sudden, 00:27:51.899 --> 00:27:57.039 there's a no-fly zone sign on lots of these topics where you think, 00:27:57.440 --> 00:27:58.940 I'm not sure I'm safe with this person. 00:27:59.779 --> 00:28:01.220 Diminishing circles of trust. 00:28:01.220 --> 00:28:02.940 Right? 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:09.279 And so, this is hard, and I think that acknowledging it and acknowledging the further fragmentation 00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:12.740 of churches and families is something that we need to do. 00:28:13.079 --> 00:28:16.319 But this presents a massive opportunity for the church. 00:28:17.019 --> 00:28:22.819 The church is one of the only remaining institutions where you see people from different races and 00:28:22.819 --> 00:28:26.460 classes and life stages and political affiliations all coming together. 00:28:26.460 --> 00:28:32.960 And the church is the only institution where we have a foundation for unity that supersedes 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:34.640 all of these things. 00:28:35.240 --> 00:28:35.440 Right? 00:28:35.579 --> 00:28:40.299 All of the things that might otherwise divide us because they define us no longer define 00:28:40.299 --> 00:28:42.440 us, and so they don't have to divide us. 00:28:43.559 --> 00:28:44.740 I sound like Dr. Seuss. 00:28:45.180 --> 00:28:51.860 But what I'm saying is that we have a new identity in Christ that supersedes all of these things. 00:28:51.859 --> 00:28:57.099 And what that does is it allows me to come to Jeff and say, maybe we disagree on politics. 00:28:57.240 --> 00:29:01.599 I don't think we do, but maybe we disagree on politics, and maybe you represent these views, 00:29:01.639 --> 00:29:05.219 and I represent these views, and otherwise that might define us, and so it would have 00:29:05.219 --> 00:29:07.219 to divide us because you're not my people. 00:29:07.979 --> 00:29:12.479 But now I can come to him and I can say, you're in Christ, I'm in Christ, you're my people. 00:29:13.059 --> 00:29:15.039 Now let's talk about our differences politically. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:15.599 Right? 00:29:16.299 --> 00:29:23.339 And so we as the church have this opportunity to model what this could look like in the 00:29:23.339 --> 00:29:24.859 larger world and to be a place. 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:29.960 Wouldn't it be amazing if down the road people in the general public, maybe they have all 00:29:29.960 --> 00:29:32.799 the connotations that they have now about the church, but they say, but you know, I'll 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:33.379 say this. 00:29:34.039 --> 00:29:34.980 I'll say this. 00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:40.019 It's amazing to go in a community and see people who are willing to have civil discourse 00:29:40.019 --> 00:29:42.059 because that doesn't happen anywhere anymore. 00:29:42.059 --> 00:29:47.220 It's amazing to see how those people deal with their disagreements over these major issues. 00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:51.240 Man, that thing tore my family apart, but they seem to be able to disagree honestly, 00:29:51.359 --> 00:29:52.639 and yet it doesn't tear them apart. 00:29:53.659 --> 00:29:53.759 Right? 00:29:53.859 --> 00:29:58.000 Somehow they're able to talk openly about their differences, and yet they do it while loving 00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:59.299 and respecting one another. 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:04.539 Wouldn't it be amazing to hear people describe the church community, wow, look how open they 00:30:04.539 --> 00:30:06.279 are to alternative viewpoints. 00:30:07.379 --> 00:30:11.799 I mean, I know that they disagree, but they were so open and curious to understand where I 00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:12.399 was coming from. 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:14.279 I haven't experienced that in years. 00:30:15.220 --> 00:30:20.220 Or, wow, those people are actually willing to admit when they're wrong. 00:30:21.299 --> 00:30:26.720 Those people are willing to own when they might need to change their mind on something. 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:32.819 They don't see that as an existential threat to their existence, to their being, because 00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:34.059 they're rooted in something deeper. 00:30:34.180 --> 00:30:35.059 They're rooted in Christ. 00:30:35.059 --> 00:30:37.419 First, social renewal. 00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:44.559 And then the final circle, the final circle, as we go all the way out, cultural or cosmic 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:45.460 renewal. 00:30:46.299 --> 00:30:50.319 You know, the fourth way I think we join in Christ's work is through the work of cultural 00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:50.720 renewal. 00:30:51.399 --> 00:30:56.819 A number of years ago, there was a sociologist named James Davidson Hunter who wrote a book 00:30:56.819 --> 00:30:57.980 called To Change the World. 00:30:58.159 --> 00:31:01.259 And I would, you know, I'd recommend you read it at some point. 00:31:01.259 --> 00:31:02.559 I think it's a really helpful book. 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:05.019 His analysis is really helpful. 00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:11.379 He says that basically Christians have historically gone about trying to renew the culture in three 00:31:11.379 --> 00:31:11.839 ways. 00:31:13.779 --> 00:31:18.759 Three ways that Christians have kind of false starts, that Christians have tried to renew 00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:20.339 the culture in these three ways. 00:31:20.420 --> 00:31:21.920 First is through evangelism. 00:31:22.420 --> 00:31:27.019 The idea of if we can just convert enough people, if we can statistically convert enough 00:31:27.019 --> 00:31:28.619 people, their culture will change. 00:31:28.619 --> 00:31:32.859 And he says, you know, that just hasn't worked historically. 00:31:33.419 --> 00:31:36.659 We've had lots of revivals come through where lots of people got converted. 00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:38.419 The culture didn't really change. 00:31:39.819 --> 00:31:42.979 Other Christians have sought to do this through political action. 00:31:43.299 --> 00:31:49.599 If we get enough Christians into office and get enough Christian-tinged legislation through, 00:31:49.899 --> 00:31:51.419 then we can begin to shift the culture. 00:31:51.500 --> 00:31:53.439 But that really hasn't worked either. 00:31:53.619 --> 00:31:54.839 It can do some good. 00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:56.439 It can do some good, certainly. 00:31:56.440 --> 00:32:00.960 But it hasn't really brought about that culture shift because all we're dealing with is morality. 00:32:01.120 --> 00:32:02.059 We can't change hearts. 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:06.640 And then thirdly, he says, some have gone the road of social reform. 00:32:07.420 --> 00:32:10.960 We just need to focus on doing justice and creating the kind of society that Christians 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:11.519 would want. 00:32:12.059 --> 00:32:15.799 We need to create a society where there's equitable outcomes for everyone. 00:32:15.799 --> 00:32:22.579 And again, all of these approaches can be justified by different passages of Scripture. 00:32:23.339 --> 00:32:24.480 And they all have merit. 00:32:24.599 --> 00:32:25.559 They all have value. 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:28.680 But Hunter essentially shows why all of them fall short. 00:32:29.799 --> 00:32:31.700 They all fall short in one way or another. 00:32:32.579 --> 00:32:34.099 And so you ask, well, what does work? 00:32:34.099 --> 00:32:43.439 And what does work sounds to me at the same time pretty simple and pretty massive. 00:32:44.159 --> 00:32:46.319 He says, here's what works if you look at history. 00:32:47.319 --> 00:32:56.419 Groups of people like us living in cities with a high degree of intentionality. 00:32:56.420 --> 00:33:03.779 People who share a vision of what the world should be like and people who are working together 00:33:03.779 --> 00:33:06.820 in overlapping networks to try to pursue that vision. 00:33:08.100 --> 00:33:09.779 He says, that's what works. 00:33:10.279 --> 00:33:12.960 And he gives examples of this throughout history. 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:17.940 And you know, it may sound like a tall order to talk to a group like this and to say, let's 00:33:17.940 --> 00:33:19.420 renew the culture of D.C. 00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:20.460 That may be way too tall. 00:33:20.519 --> 00:33:22.160 That may be way above our pay grade. 00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:26.960 But I've seen how a group of Christians can change the culture of a workplace. 00:33:28.560 --> 00:33:32.259 I've seen how a group of Christians can change the culture of a local school. 00:33:33.800 --> 00:33:38.540 I've seen how a group of Christians can change the culture of a neighborhood block. 00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:43.980 I remember years ago, a group of Christians from our church, block we were living on, just 00:33:43.980 --> 00:33:45.720 started a block party once a year. 00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:49.840 And one of the coolest things that came out of that block party that these Christians did 00:33:49.839 --> 00:33:53.599 just as a way of loving the neighborhood was that people who had lived next door to each 00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:57.519 other and down the road from each other for years who had never interacted started becoming 00:33:57.519 --> 00:33:58.099 friends. 00:33:58.500 --> 00:34:02.939 And all of a sudden, a community that was atomized started to become interconnected. 00:34:03.740 --> 00:34:05.039 And it was a culture shift. 00:34:05.500 --> 00:34:08.019 These kinds of things happen all the time. 00:34:08.840 --> 00:34:11.059 And so, the point that we're trying to make is this. 00:34:11.059 --> 00:34:18.960 You, through your vocation, through the neighborhood where you live and work, you represent actually 00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:20.699 the primary mission of Church of the Advent. 00:34:22.440 --> 00:34:28.440 Whether you're working in medicine or business or government or raising kids or involved in 00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:33.360 education or media, the social sector, tech, retail, hospitality, whatever kind of work 00:34:33.360 --> 00:34:39.579 you do, wherever you live, whatever your vocation may be, you're the tip of the spear when 00:34:39.579 --> 00:34:40.840 it comes to the mission of this church. 00:34:41.380 --> 00:34:44.539 When people ask me, what are some of your ministry programs? 00:34:44.739 --> 00:34:47.019 I mean, we do have programs, and they absolutely have a place. 00:34:47.099 --> 00:34:49.619 They're absolutely vital to have programs. 00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:52.119 But our main ministry is our people. 00:34:52.920 --> 00:34:53.599 It's our people. 00:34:55.099 --> 00:35:00.239 Many churches mistakenly think that the job of the church is to take people from all of 00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:04.360 these sectors, social sector, tech, retail, hospitality, medicine, and to pull them into the 00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:09.420 church and to pull them into the programs and to pull them into the initiatives. 00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:12.639 But I think that's the opposite of what we should be doing. 00:35:13.460 --> 00:35:14.860 Listen to what Bob Briner writes. 00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:15.319 He says, 00:35:15.319 --> 00:35:20.019 Do you honestly believe that our big churches and highly visible Christian leaders have brought 00:35:20.019 --> 00:35:22.779 about a movement that is taken seriously in this country? 00:35:23.900 --> 00:35:27.380 We feel we're making a difference because we're so important to ourselves. 00:35:28.179 --> 00:35:33.159 We've created a phenomenal subculture with our own media, entertainment, educational system, 00:35:33.219 --> 00:35:36.480 and political hierarchy so that we have the sense that we're doing a lot. 00:35:36.480 --> 00:35:41.699 But what we've really done is to create a ghetto that is easily dismissed by the rest of society. 00:35:41.699 --> 00:35:50.219 I want to propose that our calling isn't just to pull everybody into our programs here within the walls of Church of the Advent. 00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:54.879 It's to live by a rhythm of gathering and scattering. 00:35:55.919 --> 00:35:57.739 Gathering and scattering. 00:35:57.739 --> 00:36:11.219 We gather to worship, to equip, to encourage, to patch up, to stitch up, to care, and then we scatter and we send you out into the world, 00:36:11.459 --> 00:36:18.119 into all of your various vocations, to extend the rule and reign of Christ into every sphere of life. 00:36:18.119 --> 00:36:23.460 And then we gather together, and we patch you up, and we feed you, and we worship, 00:36:23.779 --> 00:36:29.400 and then we scatter back out to extend the rule and reign of Christ into every sphere of life. 00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:31.279 And this is the rhythm of the church. 00:36:31.539 --> 00:36:32.719 Inhale, exhale. 00:36:33.139 --> 00:36:34.420 Inhale, exhale. 00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:39.900 You know, that's why the beginning of our service starts with a welcome and an acclamation. 00:36:40.099 --> 00:36:41.319 We're here at God's request. 00:36:41.480 --> 00:36:43.199 Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:46.239 And it's why it ends with a dismissal. 00:36:46.439 --> 00:36:48.779 Okay, we've gathered, and now it's time to scatter. 00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:51.439 Go, therefore, into the world rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:36:52.719 --> 00:36:53.079 Right? 00:36:54.639 --> 00:36:59.819 So, in all of these ways, our mission is rooted in Jesus' mission. 00:37:00.119 --> 00:37:02.739 In all of these ways, our mission emanates out of Jesus' mission. 00:37:03.439 --> 00:37:05.639 By the way, this is why, this is the last thing I'll say. 00:37:05.699 --> 00:37:07.980 I know I'm a bit lean on time here. 00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:11.119 This is why the home campaign matters so much. 00:37:11.119 --> 00:37:19.219 This is why we've been focusing so much time and energy on trying to raise money to secure a permanent home for Advent in Washington, D.C. 00:37:19.400 --> 00:37:24.500 It's because we see that building not just as a place where we worship on Sundays, 00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:31.519 not just as a place where we pull everybody in out of the spheres where they're already doing God's work. 00:37:32.159 --> 00:37:34.719 We see it primarily as a missionary outpost. 00:37:35.619 --> 00:37:37.099 A missionary outpost. 00:37:37.099 --> 00:37:42.000 It's a place of spiritual renewal where we can do the work of worship and evangelism. 00:37:42.779 --> 00:37:49.460 It's a place of personal renewal where we can have discipleship, counseling, spiritual direction, addiction recovery. 00:37:50.259 --> 00:37:55.779 It's a place of social renewal where we can do the work of justice and mercy, racial reconciliation, 00:37:56.519 --> 00:38:03.400 civil discourse through events like Common Cup where we debate polarizing issues on purpose and then take communion. 00:38:03.400 --> 00:38:11.639 And then a place of cultural renewal where we can equip people to serve as missionaries in their neighborhoods and in their vocations. 00:38:12.320 --> 00:38:16.160 And all of this, friends, is going to continue until the day when Jesus comes. 00:38:16.660 --> 00:38:20.639 And our city at that day will no longer be known as the center of human power and influence. 00:38:21.740 --> 00:38:23.720 It'll be known as a place where Jesus is king. 00:38:24.579 --> 00:38:25.079 Let's pray. 00:38:25.079 --> 00:38:29.719 Lord, we thank you for your mission. 00:38:30.119 --> 00:38:33.960 And we thank you that you're doing it now in our lives and in the world around us. 00:38:34.500 --> 00:38:41.840 And I pray that whatever humility we need to participate in this mission would come from the knowledge of what you've done for us. 00:38:41.840 --> 00:38:52.660 And I pray that the boldness that we need would come from our hearts which testify that you love us, that you delight in us, and that you're with us. 00:38:52.660 --> 00:38:55.160 As you say to your disciples at the end of Matthew, 00:38:56.559 --> 00:38:58.300 Behold, I'm with you to the end of the age. 00:38:58.920 --> 00:39:02.500 And we know we're not called to do this alone, that we do it in step with you, Jesus. 00:39:02.500 --> 00:39:04.400 We thank you. 00:39:04.460 --> 00:39:05.099 We praise you. 00:39:05.340 --> 00:39:10.139 We lift your name up and pray that one day all tongues and tribes will do the same. 00:39:10.880 --> 00:39:12.039 And it's in your name that we pray. 00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:12.360 Amen.