Father, thank you for your words. Thank you that you are the speaking God. You speak words of love and power.
Pray that you would speak to each one of us, to our hearts, words of welcome, words of grace.
Pray that Celeste reads your words and then as I try to say a few words, would we hear you speak to us?
Would we hear your voice? Would we hear what you say? Help me to be faithful.
And yeah, would you encourage us today and send us out with the great news of Jesus.
In his name we pray. Amen. Celeste.
Good morning. Scripture reading today comes from Acts chapter 8, verses 26 to 40.
If you don't have a copy of the Bible, I encourage you to grab a copy from the front and also at the back.
If you're using the church Bible, it's at page 862.
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip,
Rise and go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
This is a desert place.
And he rose and went.
And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians,
who was in charge of all her treasure.
He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot,
and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
And the spirit said to Philip,
Go over and join this chariot.
So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked,
Do you understand what you are reading?
And he said,
How can I unless someone guides me?
And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this.
Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb before its shearer it's silent.
So he opens not his mouth.
In his humiliation, justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.
And the eunuch said to Philip,
About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this?
About himself?
Or about someone else?
Then Philip opened his mouth.
And beginning with this scripture,
he told him the good news about Jesus.
And as they were going along the road,
they came to some water,
and the eunuch said,
See, here is water.
What prevents me from being baptized?
And he commanded the chariot to stop.
And they both went down into the water,
Philip and the eunuch,
and he baptized him.
And when they came up out of the water,
the spirit of the Lord carried Philip away,
and the eunuch saw him no more,
and went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip found himself at Azotus,
and as he passed through,
he preached the gospel to all the towns
until he came to Caesarea.
This is the word of the Lord.
Great.
Thanks, Celeste, for reading.
Let's keep that passage open
as we'll look at Acts.
Acts, and some other passage later as well.
All right.
Now, Hong Kong, it's a wonderful city.
Many great places to go.
But one thing that I only found out
in the past few years,
because people took me there,
there's all these clubs, right?
All these places where not everyone can go.
You need to be a member,
pay a lot of money.
But then, yeah, you have this,
the Hong Kong club,
or the China club,
or the, what is it?
The golf club and the yacht club.
And, yeah, most people can't go in there,
because, yeah, it's only for members.
Only if they invite you,
which is kind of fun.
It's a nice place.
I sometimes think, of course,
clubs here are,
there's even more exclusive clubs
than in Hong Kong.
I try to have a look online.
What's the most exclusive club?
Probably the yacht club of Monaco.
Of course, you need to have a,
you know,
two people who are members
need to recommend you.
You need to write a handwritten letter.
You need to have an interview
with the Prince of Monaco, right?
Prince Albert II.
And he needs to see if,
you know,
you've made a recognized contribution
to yachting.
And if you want,
if you're a captain,
you need to have at least
five years experience
being a captain.
And then,
you can only go there
with a blue blazer
with the club logo
and those kind of things.
So I guess this is just funny, right?
Most of us don't really care about it
because it's not something we need.
But what if you,
there's something you need,
but you are not eligible?
I don't know.
You want to go to a certain country
to see family
or to see a friend
and you don't get a visa
because, you know,
you're, yeah,
someone like you can't get a visa.
That's really hard, right?
Or there are certain medical treatments
and you're not eligible for that
because of whatever reason.
You don't meet certain criteria.
Then it's a lot more difficult, right?
That it's not,
it's not for everyone.
Or even worse,
what if you couldn't get
to be with God?
I mean,
God is the one we need most, right?
We want to be able to pray.
We need help.
We need forgiveness.
We need all those things.
But what if you couldn't get in?
And certainly in the Old Testament,
that was often the case, right?
If you wanted to be
one of God's people,
well, you had to be Jewish.
The men had to be circumcised
and you had to be ritually clean.
So you had to keep all these rules.
You know,
those 10 commandments are easy,
but how about the 603 other ones
in the Bible, right?
That's quite a few.
The temple symbolized it so clearly, right?
You have this,
yeah,
this is what the temple looks like.
Of course,
if you were not Jewish,
you couldn't even go in.
But then you can see on the left
the court of women
because that is as far as women could go
and only the men could go further.
But then to go into the building,
you had to be a priest
and to go into the innermost place,
you had to be the high priest, right?
It's basically the deep truth there was,
it's very difficult to be with God,
with someone who is infinite
and perfect and holy.
How can you be with someone like that?
We can't just walk in.
We're not welcome.
But if you want to get in,
then it's tough
that you're not welcome, right?
I guess some of us really feel that.
We really know,
okay, yeah,
I want to be with God,
but how can I,
given who I am,
given how unworthy I am?
And yeah,
well,
that is why this passage
and indeed so much of this series
that we're doing in Acts
is such good news
for those who think
they're not welcome.
Now, yeah,
we're doing this series
in the book of Acts,
seeing how the gospel expands.
Yeah,
you may,
it's a,
well,
it looks like the human hero
is this guy called Philip,
who is,
yeah,
a deacon of the church.
He plays a key role.
Although you may wonder,
actually,
why is it called the book of Acts?
People call it the book of Acts.
It's short for the Acts of the Apostles,
right?
The things that the apostles did.
Although the first thing
that I notice here
that I think,
well,
what we see so clearly in Acts
is that it's really,
actually,
it's not about the people,
right?
So,
when we heard this story,
it is so much God's initiative,
again,
right?
It is God doing this.
All through this section,
God is sending visions
and he's sending angels
and he is,
the Holy Spirit
is giving explicit directions.
I think this passage
is pretty wild,
right?
I mean,
verse 26,
now an angel of the Lord
said to Philip,
rise and go towards the south
to the road
that goes down
from Jerusalem to Gaza.
This is a desert place,
right?
So,
here's just Philip
and he's doing evangelism
and then an angel shows up
and says,
okay,
go to that desert road
over there.
Go and stand
in the middle of nowhere.
Why would you do that?
Well,
of course,
there's a plan,
right?
Because then this guy
comes along
in his chariot
and again,
the Spirit,
okay,
the Spirit said to Philip,
verse 29,
go over
and join this chariot
and as you've heard,
yeah,
it's great,
right?
Because here's someone
who wants to know
about Jesus
and he explains the gospel
and he gets baptized.
Verse 39,
and when they came up
out of the water,
the Spirit of the Lord
carried Philip away
and the eunuch
saw him no more
and went on his way rejoicing
and Philip found himself
as a resultist,
right?
You know,
the Spirit just teleports
Philip away
to his next kind
of gospel conversation.
I think this is pretty,
pretty wild.
I mean,
even for the book of Acts,
right?
Where sometimes
these things happen.
It's especially
in this section,
all these wild things happen.
I guess this is where
people are being pushed
out of their comfort zone
and so God needs
to do a lot of pushing,
right?
And so it's so clear
that this is God
being active.
God wants to,
the gospel to go somewhere
and so Philip
is being pushed,
right?
God is active.
Now,
does this happen today?
It could,
but I guess it's unlikely.
I mean,
I've never been teleported.
Anyone here has been
teleported by the Spirit?
No.
No,
I think,
I mean,
I wish this was true,
right?
It would make evangelism
so much easier.
Just an angel,
hey,
go and stand on that
street corner,
third person,
they will be wearing
a red jacket.
They want to know
about Jesus.
Tell them about Jesus.
Right?
I wish many of us
are shy.
It would be so much
easier if God
just would do that
for us.
Now,
of course,
that's not how it works.
That's not how we should
apply this passage,
but it does show
God's heart,
right?
God wants the gospel
to go out.
He wants to save people
and in some ways
some of these things
do happen.
I mean,
I remember one time,
you know,
we can take risks.
When I worked in London
for a church,
one time we were having
lunch as a staff team
and I kind of felt
convicted.
Why are we sitting
here inside
when people outside
need the gospel?
And so,
I decided to just
go out to take my
lunch and sit on a
bench and try to
strike a conversation.
So,
yeah,
I saw a guy
sitting alone on the
bench,
so I kind of just
sat next to him
and,
you know,
try to,
hey,
it's cold,
isn't it?
It was January.
That's what British
people do.
They talk about the
weather.
But,
you know what?
We started talking
and what is your job?
Oh,
yeah,
I work for that
church over there.
Oh,
wow,
that's interesting
because I really
want to know about
Christianity.
Last week I bought
this Bible.
Can you help me
read it?
Like,
wow,
nothing to do with
me,
but,
you know,
God just put me
in that place
and,
yeah,
you know,
let me encourage you
to speak up.
Let me encourage you
to invite.
I mean,
sometimes it will be
very ordinary.
Sometimes God
can do extraordinary
things,
but God is,
his heart is to
invite people,
right?
There's an alpha
course coming up,
as you may know,
you know,
trying to invite
someone.
Be surprised at
God being at work,
at God already
having taken the
initiative to
prepare people.
But,
that's wonderful,
but that's not just,
that's not the main
point,
right?
Because the person
that Philip is sent
to is not just
anyone.
It's a very special
person,
because this is
God's initiative,
but,
yeah,
to do what?
And I think what we
should see is to
welcome outsiders.
This guy is very
interesting.
Look at who this guy
is.
Verse 27.
And Philip rose
and went,
and there was an
Ethiopian,
a eunuch,
a court official
of Candace,
queen of the
Ethiopians,
who was in charge
of all her
treasure.
He had come to
Jerusalem to
worship and
was returning.
So,
I mean,
this guy must
have been pretty
important and
wealthy,
right?
If you are over
all the treasure
of the,
you know,
the royal family
of the queen
of Ethiopia,
I don't know,
was he a
minister of
finance or
something?
He was a
pretty important
official.
He was very
religious,
right?
He had come to
Jerusalem to
worship,
right?
So,
that's months
of travel all
the way from
Ethiopia to
Jerusalem.
And he was
reading a
scroll of the
prophet Isaiah.
Now,
back then,
not everyone
could read,
and certainly,
I don't know,
these days,
you know,
we can buy
these Bibles
pretty cheaply.
A handwritten
scroll of
Isaiah,
66 chapters,
that's expensive.
Right?
So,
this guy is
pretty wealthy,
but he can
buy a whole
scroll of Isaiah
just for his
own reading.
That's amazing.
My guess is he
was a Jewish
convert.
It says he
was a foreigner,
he was an
Ethiopian,
so certainly
ethnically not
Jewish.
But in
chapter 10,
we get kind
of Cornelius,
the first
Gentile,
and this
guy,
you know,
why not
this guy?
I guess because
he wasn't a
Gentile anymore.
He, you
know,
he had
converted,
he'd become
a Jew.
But the
main thing
that you
heard that
gets repeated
is that he
is a
eunuch,
right?
Five times
it says the
eunuch.
I mean,
surely Luke
could have said
the Ethiopian,
said,
and the
Ethiopian
rejoiced,
or the
official said
this.
Why does
he keep
saying the
eunuch?
I think
that's the
thing that
he wants
to draw
attention to.
And the
thing is,
eunuchs,
they,
yeah,
the Bible
says things
about eunuchs.
And one
clear thing
that it
says,
I mean,
maybe you
don't know,
maybe what
is a
eunuch?
Well,
here's a
verse from
the Bible.
It's a bit
graphic.
No one
whose testicles
are crushed
or whose
male organ
is cut
off shall
enter the
assembly of
the Lord.
This is the
Bible.
Yeah,
this is one
of the rules
in the law.
Yeah,
eunuchs are
not allowed
into the
assembly of
the Lord.
I don't
know exactly
the reason.
Maybe be
fruitful and
multiply,
increasing the
people of
God.
That was a
very key
command.
And someone
who couldn't
do that,
yeah,
obviously
something
wrong with
them.
Maybe they
were not
allowed in.
But this
guy,
yeah,
he traveled
all the way
to Jerusalem,
but this
means he
couldn't go
into the
temple,
right?
He had to
stay on
the outside.
He wasn't
allowed in.
Can you
imagine how
sad that
was?
Right?
After all
this travel,
yeah,
he could buy
a scroll of
Isaiah,
but for the
rest,
he couldn't
get into
the temple.
I'm not
sure if he
was born
a eunuch,
or maybe,
you know,
if he wanted
to work for
the queen,
yeah,
only Eunice
could do
that.
Had he
made a
big sacrifice
for his
career?
I don't
know.
But,
yeah,
he was
excluded
from the
people of
God.
He was
an outsider.
And,
you know,
he couldn't
do much
about it,
right?
Under
Jewish law,
many people
were like
that because
of their
nationality,
or the
jobs they
did,
or just
because they
were unclean,
because it's
so hard to
approach God,
right?
He is holy
and pure,
and we are
not.
And so
often we just
can't do
anything about
it.
I mean,
the eunuch,
he couldn't
really just
try harder,
right?
He couldn't
just,
I mean,
he really
tried,
and he
couldn't
change who
he was.
He couldn't
change,
a bit like
we're saying
just now,
if the leopard
who can't
change his
spots,
we can't.
but then
what happens
on the road
to Gaza?
That's
amazing,
right?
So he's
got his
new scroll,
he's reading
in his
chariot,
he doesn't
really understand
what he's
reading,
and then
suddenly he's
got this guy
running along
his chariot,
hey,
what are you
doing?
How are you?
And,
yeah,
do you know
what you're
reading?
No,
I've got no
clue.
Hey,
come and
sit next to
me.
So he
invites Philip
up,
and,
yeah,
he happens
to be
reading Isaiah
53,
and if you're
a Christian,
you probably
know,
ooh,
that's a
great passage,
about this
individual who
is silently
going to his
death like
a lamb to
the slaughter.
We will talk
about it more
in a moment,
completely unjustly
going to his
death.
Who is this
about?
asked the
eunuch.
Well,
Philip knows,
and so,
and Philip
opened his
mouth,
and beginning
with this
scripture,
he told him
the good
news about
Jesus.
Wonderful.
And guess
what?
The eunuch
gets it,
and they
come by
some water,
and he
asks a
very good
question,
verse 36.
See,
here is
water.
What
prevents
me from
being
baptized?
And
baptism,
the sign
of inclusion,
the sign
that you
are a
Christian,
the sign
that you're
part of
it.
What
prevents
me?
That's
the thing,
right?
In the
past,
something
prevented
him.
In the
past,
he
couldn't
go in.
But,
yeah,
nothing
prevents
him.
So,
Philip and
him,
they go
into the
water,
he dunks
him,
and he
is an
official
Christian.
Wonderful,
right?
He is now
part of it.
Such wonderful
news,
right?
After this
disappointing
temple visit,
he is now,
he is really
now part of
it.
And the
spirit takes
Philip away
to his
next
appointment,
the eunuch
goes away
rejoicing.
Here is
an outsider
who is
welcome.
And I
think that's
the big
point,
particularly
with the
Old Testament
background,
because,
you know,
if you know
the Bible,
if you know
Isaiah,
you know,
certainly if you
read Acts,
you notice a lot
of Isaiah.
It's like Luke's
favorite book.
It's quoted
all over the
place.
This prophet
who promises
this great
rescue,
a new
exodus.
But there's
a reason,
I think,
that Philip,
you know,
the spirit
sent Philip
to an
Ethiopian
eunuch
that we
get this
story.
Why don't
you come
to page
577,
Isaiah
chapter 56
in the
church
Bibles,
or in
whatever
Bible,
Isaiah
chapter 56,
yeah,
page 577
if you have
the church
Bibles.
And Isaiah
talks about
a great
rescue,
but who
is part of
that?
Who gets
to be
part of
that?
And then,
yeah,
it's a
wonderful
passage,
56 verse
3.
What is
God saying
to people?
Verse 3,
let not
the foreigner
who has
joined
himself to
the Lord
say,
the Lord
will surely
separate me
from his
people.
And let
not the
eunuch
say,
behold,
I'm a
dry tree,
right?
I can't
bear fruit.
For thus
says the
Lord,
to the
eunuchs
who keep
my
Sabbaths,
who choose
the things
that please
me,
and hold
fast my
covenant,
I will
give in
my house
and within
my walls
a monument
and a
name better
than sons
and daughters.
I will
give them
an everlasting
name that
shall not
be cut
off.
Right?
So here
were foreigners
and eunuchs
who used
to be
excluded,
but now
God says,
well,
this eunuch,
he will come
into my
house,
in my
walls,
and he's
got something
even better
than having
a family.
he's got
me,
he's got
this great
salvation,
right?
Same with
the foreigners,
foreigners,
they'll come
to my
holy mountain,
they'll pray,
right?
Verse 8
summarizes it,
right?
The Lord
God who
gathers the
outcasts of
Israel declares,
!
I will gather
yet others to
him,
besides they
was already
gathered.
God is
gathering
outcasts.
Because of
this great
rescue,
he is bringing
outcasts in,
and great
example,
foreigners and
eunuchs.
So what
better to
illustrate that?
Okay,
here's a
foreign eunuch,
right?
And the
Holy Spirit
brings him
in,
and we
have it
here in
the Bible
to really
see this
is happening,
right?
God is
fulfilling
what he
promised.
He's
bringing
outcasts
in.
If they
believe,
right?
People who
join themselves
to the
Lord,
they're
welcome.
How does
that speak
to us?
I guess
some of us
surely,
we were still
on the
outside,
right?
We
wouldn't
call
ourselves
a
Christian.
I think
the eunuch
asks the
question,
right?
What is
preventing
me?
What is
preventing
you?
Maybe
that you
don't
believe.
It's
maybe
that you
have
doubts,
that there's
things you
don't find
hard to
believe in
the Bible,
like the
teleporting,
I have
no idea.
But maybe
you wonder
if you
are welcome,
if you're
welcome,
maybe because
of what
you've
done,
maybe because
of who
you are,
maybe,
you know,
your background,
your nationality,
you have a
certain impression,
this is what a
Christian is like,
and you don't
need that.
Well,
look at this
passage,
look at this
Ethiopian eunuch.
Next time he
comes to
Jerusalem,
he won't go to
the temple,
he will go to
a church service,
and he can
come in,
he is welcome,
he is,
you know,
he would really
stand out,
right,
from Ethiopia,
and yet he
would be fully
part of it,
he is welcome,
nothing stands
in his way,
it's the same
for you,
whoever you
are,
if you're
still on the
outside,
you can come
in,
nothing stands
in your way,
I mean,
your lack of
faith,
that stands in
the way,
right,
you need to
believe,
right,
you need to
say yes to
Jesus,
but that's in a
way that's on
your side,
right,
from Jesus'
side,
there's nothing
that prevents
him from
welcoming you
in,
no matter what
you've done,
no matter who
you are,
no matter what
you think is
wrong with
you,
you can come
in,
so if that's
you,
let me encourage
you,
I guess as a
church,
how does this
apply to us?
I guess in some
places the church
can stand in a
way,
right,
maybe the
church gives
the impression
that,
you know,
the gospel is
only for a
certain kind
of people,
that's,
yeah,
you come to
Watermark and
I guess most
people,
they're ethnically
Chinese and
they're educated
professionals,
so maybe that's
who I need to
be if I want
to be a
Christian,
I guess it's a,
you know,
if all are
welcome,
that should be
seen ideally in
the church,
right,
last week the
Samaritans,
these dirty
half-breeds,
they were
welcome,
and now this
Ethiopian eunuch,
who,
I'm not sure if
they thought he,
what they would
think of him
before,
but he is
welcome,
so it would
be great if
Watermark,
yeah,
I think in
many ways we
are like this,
mission trip,
a lot of
different people,
all being,
you know,
serving together,
would be great if
we see that here
as well,
we have a,
you know,
a growing number
of people from,
especially the
Philippines,
that's wonderful,
would be wonderful
if we,
yeah,
if we're a real
community,
where people know
that,
hey,
whoever you are,
you're welcome,
and not just on
Sundays,
maybe in our
community groups,
I know that's
not always
practically easy,
maybe you have a
young mom and a
young professional,
and they're never
free at the same
time,
it's hard to be in
a group together,
some people can
afford to live on
the island,
and other demographics
can't,
and that makes CG
sometimes difficult,
but hey,
can we do as much
as we can,
that to show that
all are welcome,
that the gospel's for
everyone,
and therefore church
is for everyone,
although you may
wonder,
but how can God
do that,
I mean it's
wonderful that
outcasts are
welcomed in,
given they were
excluded,
but I don't know,
maybe you have
ever been to a
club,
and someone
invited you,
and you're early,
and you kind of,
can I come in,
what is the reason
I can come in,
you're always afraid
that you're being
found out,
I mean one thing
that's really hanging
over these chapters
is the temple,
if you were here
two weeks ago,
I started preaching
on that,
and I said that,
yeah,
God doesn't need
a temple,
but again,
how can God
do that,
right,
the temple
had sacrifices
for sin,
the temple
had forgiveness,
sin is the
big problem,
right,
ultimately all
these things
about people
not being allowed
in,
is about sin,
but does God
ignore that now,
well Luke
wants us to see,
hey,
this is why
everyone is welcome,
and it is through
Jesus'
sacrifice,
so I guess
you're still
in Isaiah
chapter 56,
let's go to the
chapter that the
eunuch was reading,
just on page 574,
a little bit back,
Isaiah 53,
a very famous
chapter,
I mean the eunuch
was reading about
the sheep going
to the slaughter,
I don't know what
you think of a sheep
going to the slaughter,
maybe you think of
lamb steak,
I think of lamb steak,
if you were in the
Old Testament,
you would think of
sacrifices,
the big thing is,
we need a sacrifice
for sin,
and this song
that Oscar preached
on two years ago,
it's full of allusions
to sacrifice,
already,
you know,
it's framed,
it's like a
chiasm,
at the beginning
and the end,
I mean what will
this servant do,
well 52 verse 15,
just before chapter 53,
it says he will
sprinkle many nations,
if you look for
sprinkling in your
Bible,
that's all over
Leviticus and
Numbers,
sacrifices for sin,
at the end,
53 verse 10,
when it was the
will of the Lord
to crush him,
he's put into grief,
when his soul
makes an offering
for guilt,
guilt offerings,
again,
Leviticus and
Numbers,
I mean what is
a sacrifice,
I don't know what
we think of sacrifice,
we're thinking of
giving up something
costly,
in some ways
that's true,
well you had an
animal,
an animal that
was innocent,
an animal that
was blameless,
no defects,
that would be a
substitute,
the priest would
take this animal
and he would do
something with that
animal,
he would take hold
of its head
and confess all
the sins
over that animal,
and he would
basically,
he would lay the
sins on that
animal,
that's what God
was doing
through this
priest,
he was putting
the sins
on that animal
and basically
the sins
are no longer
on you,
they're now
on that animal
and what will
happen to it,
well it gets
slaughtered
and its blood
gets poured out
and its body
gets burned,
it's pretty gruesome
and that's kind
of what our sin
deserves,
right,
if we,
what is sin,
well it's all
our law breaking
as we talked
about,
our offenses,
our living
our own way,
all those things,
they deserve
judgment,
they deserve
death,
but this animal
would take that
in our place,
it would be so
cleared,
our sins are put
on this animal,
the animal gets
killed and so
the sin is taken
care of,
the judgment's
taken care of,
it's wonderful
grace,
of course with
these animals it
was not very
effective,
every sin a new
sacrifice and of
course is an animal
really a very good
substitute,
now the real
substitute would
come one day,
God promised,
he promised,
you know Isaiah
has this,
this servant,
this spirit
anointed king
who is a servant
of the Lord
and he would
take,
this is what
would happen
to him,
right,
what would
happen in
verse 6,
53 verse 6,
all we like
sheep have
gone astray,
we have turned
everyone to
his own way
and the Lord
has laid on
him the
iniquity of
us all,
same as with
a sacrifice,
all our iniquity,
all our sin
laid on
this king
and what
would have,
and then what
happened,
verse 5,
he was pierced
for our
transgressions,
he was crushed
for our
iniquities,
upon him
was the
chastisement
that brought
us peace
and with his
wounds we
are healed
and you hear
the interplay
between him
and us,
he and
we,
we deserve
punishment but
he got
punished in
our place
for our
transgressions,
and that is
the beauty
of this
chapter and
yeah,
Luke,
you know,
Acts doesn't
mention the
cross very
much but
it's there
in the
background,
right,
and this
is why
people are
welcome because
all our sin
is paid for
because the
ultimate sacrifice
for sin has
taken place,
so we don't
need a temple
anymore,
it's all
done and
that is why
you get
great chapters
including this
chapter 56
with a eunuch
being welcomed,
a foreigner
being welcomed
because in
through the
cross,
yeah,
everyone is
welcome,
that's the
wonderful truth,
right,
and this is
what you need
to know,
again,
so think of
yourselves,
you're in that
club,
isn't it good
to know,
okay,
my name is
on the guest
list,
someone has
put my name
on the guest
list,
someone has
done something
so I could
get in,
or someone
has paid for
a ticket for
me so I can
get in,
so I don't
feel like an
imposter when
I'm waiting
for at the
American club
or something,
right,
that's the
idea,
and many of
us as
Christians,
okay,
yeah,
we are
Christians,
but maybe
you still
have doubts,
right,
I know God
welcomes me,
I know I
can pray,
and yet you
often feel like,
what am I doing
really here,
right,
how can I be
sure that God
will welcome me,
well,
why would he
welcome someone
like me,
well,
that's why you
need to look
at the cross,
right,
the cross
says your
sin is paid
for,
you are
welcome,
you know,
even though
there's so
many reasons
you shouldn't
be welcome,
right,
so many
things you've
done,
so many
things you
are,
and you've
got nothing
to offer
to God,
and you don't
belong to
God,
but it
doesn't
matter,
Jesus took
care of
it all,
he's put
you there,
he's included
you,
he's welcomed
you,
and that is
so wonderful,
right,
it doesn't
give you peace,
I don't know,
you know,
maybe you've
had this
week off
tomorrow,
you're going
to go to
work,
you're going
to go to
your normal
week,
and maybe
something terrible
will happen,
you know,
something will
go wrong,
that's your
fault,
or someone
else's,
isn't this
great that
God,
that God
is there
for you,
that you
are welcome
with him,
you have
access,
because you
know Jesus
died for
you,
right,
there's nothing
that will,
that can stand
in the way
from you
coming to
God,
there's nothing
preventing you,
in those
moments you can
always find
peace and
grace and
help,
isn't it so
assuring,
you know,
again,
it's a church
thing,
right,
you have a
church community
where you
belong,
where you
can find
help,
where you
can find
comfort and
encouragement,
and again,
if you
believe,
you know,
a church,
everyone who
believes should
be welcome,
doesn't matter
who you are,
you don't need
to pretend,
isn't that
wonderful,
right,
you're welcome
with Jesus,
then you're
welcome in
church,
whoever you
are,
that's so
liberating,
now that's,
yeah,
and that is,
that is for
each of us
here,
especially though
if you feel
you are not
part of
things,
Jesus has
welcomed you,
right,
he has died
for you,
and so
everyone can
come in,
and again,
let's share
that hope,
won't we,
in the Old
Testament,
there wasn't
much sharing
your faith,
because most
people couldn't
come in anyway,
New Testament,
so much spreading
the gospel,
why,
because everyone
is welcome,
let's be doing
that,
let's rejoice in
the access we
have,
let's rejoice in
the welcome we
have,
let's make sure
we spread that
welcome to
others,
why don't we
pray together,
oh Jesus,
we thank you
that you
made this
ultimate sacrifice,
that's the
thing that
kept us away
from you,
our sin,
and you're
rough against
our sin,
that's all
that is taken
care of,
that you
pay for
everything on
the cross,
there could
be no
greater
payment
than the
life of
the son
of God,
so we
are welcome
no matter
who we
are,
no matter
what we've
done,
help us
to know
that,
help us
never to
doubt our
access to
you,
help us
never to
doubt the
basis of
our relationship
with you,
that we
would have
peace and
rest in
that,
that we
would be
a church
that reflects
that in
our joy,
in our
welcome of
each other,
welcome of
others,
and in
our spreading,
we want many
people to
know this,
many people
to experience
this great
welcome that
we have
received,
that some
of us here
still need to
receive,
Lord,
draw each
of us here
to you
today,
we ask this
in Jesus'
name,
Amen.