I'm a pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,
and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
A special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.
We're glad that you're here.
And we're glad that you're here,
not because we're trying to fill seats,
but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together,
we become convinced that there's no one so good,
they don't need God's grace,
and no one so bad that they can't have it,
which is why we come back week after week
to hear what God has to say to us in his word.
We're continuing to take a break from our series in the book of Judges.
We're doing a five-week series on our Grit and Grace Generosity Initiative.
And as you hear that word generosity,
of course you know we're talking about raising money as a church,
but in our sermons we are not going to talk a lot about giving
because our church is not about money.
It's about a mission.
We just happen to need money to pursue that mission.
And so we're going to be talking about the mission of this church
and our vision together.
A couple weeks ago we talked about,
from Matthew chapter 5,
about the church being the city set upon a hill.
The church is the light of the world.
And then last week we talked from 1 Corinthians chapter 3
about the fact that we're a gospel hub.
We're a church that's constantly sending and receiving.
And this week we're going to be jumping forward in 1 Corinthians
all the way from chapter 3 to chapter 12.
And we're going to be talking about the piece of our vision
that is our thick community,
that is we're deeply connected to one another.
Now I'm going to read a long section.
I'm going to read verses 12 through 27 just for context,
but our focus this morning is going to be mainly on verses 25 through 27.
So we're going to read a large section so we know what we're talking about.
And then we're going to zone in on three verses specifically.
And our question this morning is simple.
What is unique about the Christian community?
Why is the Christian community the thickest of all communities?
Now it's with that, I invite you to turn with me to God's Word.
You can turn in your Bible, you can turn on your phone,
you can turn in your worship guide.
No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's Word.
And God tells us that His Word is more precious than gold,
even the finest gold.
And it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.
And so that's why we read now 1 Corinthians chapter 12,
starting with verse 12.
For just as the body is one and has many members,
and all the members of the body, though many, are one body,
so it is with Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
Jews or Greeks, slaves or free,
and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member, but of many.
If the foot should say,
Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,
that would not make it any less a part of the body.
And if the ear should say,
Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,
that would not make it any less a part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye,
where would be the sense of hearing?
If the whole body were an ear,
where would be the sense of smell?
But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
If all were a single member, where would the body be?
As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you,
nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
Verse 22.
On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.
And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor.
And our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,
which our more presentable parts do not require.
But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,
that there may be no division in the body,
but that the members may have the same care for one another.
Verse 26.
If one member suffers, all suffer together.
If one member is honored, all rejoice together.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we praise you and we thank you for your gift of the church to us.
We thank you for this community, not simply a community that gathers on Sunday morning,
but a community that scatters throughout the week together.
We ask that you would continue to build this community, this outpost at Cheyenne Mountain.
We ask that you would do it by your word.
And so we ask that you help us this morning as we look at Paul's letter to the Corinthians first,
and then also for us that you would use it to teach us and grow us.
Most of all, we ask that you would use it to change us,
that we would look more like Jesus because of our time together this morning.
And we ask these things in his mighty name.
Amen.
I don't think I say this very often, but every once in a while,
I will say that 2018 was most likely the most challenging year for me of my adult life.
Some of you who were here back then know many pieces of that.
I won't go into all of it, but I will share with you one story from the April of 2018.
It was early in the month, and I woke up.
Actually, I wasn't able to go to sleep at night because I had this chest pain that wouldn't go away.
And so it was severe enough that I decided I needed to go to the emergency room.
So I woke up, one of my housemates that I was living with at the time,
and he took me to Penrose downtown, and I wasn't doing great.
I came into the hospital.
I got dizzy.
I ended up collapsing on the floor.
Now, there was another thing that was happening in April of 2018,
which is that I was trying to get ordained as a minister.
And this ER incident actually happened several weeks
before I was supposed to go and do my final series of oral tests before our regional church.
And so during that time, I was working and studying a lot.
I was working on these exams to become ordained as a pastor,
and there was one particular coffee shop where I would spend an enormous amount of time.
I spent so much time that basically everyone at this coffee shop, they knew who I was,
they knew my name, and I was there so much that five-plus years later,
sometimes I'll still run into someone from that time who remembers who I am,
they know my name.
The question is this.
When I was in the emergency room, did anyone from the coffee shop visit me?
No.
Now, it's not their fault.
I'm not throwing them under the bus.
I didn't tell anyone at the coffee shop that I was in the emergency room.
Not only did I not tell them, I wasn't able to tell them.
I had never exchanged phone numbers with them.
So I knew these people.
They recognized me.
We had some sort of community together.
And yet when things went sideways for me, who was it that showed up?
Well, it was actually someone from this church.
Mark and Marie's fair brother came in the middle of the night to Penrose downtown,
probably like 1 or 2 a.m.,
and they stayed with me while they did all these tests,
and then I think Mark and Marie ended up driving me back home to my house,
and Mark then took me the next morning to get the antibiotics they'd given me.
By the way, I was not having a heart attack at age, what had that been, 29?
They told me I had bronchitis.
Chest pain is one of the things that you can have with that.
I was able to recover, and by God's grace, I got ordained.
But I tell you all that story to highlight this,
the difference between a thick community and a thin community.
Thick and thin community is a term that's used by sociologists to describe
different groups of people and the level of care and investment and commitment
that exists in those types of groups.
If you are in a thin community, you will have people who know your name.
You may have drive-by interactions with those people.
You may have a shared activity.
For me, I knew these people because we had the shared activity
of being in the same coffee shop together.
I had the shared activity of ordering coffee.
They had the shared activity of providing me with coffee.
But will people in a thin community call you when you stop showing up?
Eventually, I kind of broke up with that coffee shop,
and I moved on to another one.
Did they call me to find out what had happened?
No.
They sent me an email saying,
we haven't seen you in a while.
Here's $3 off.
If you are in a thin community,
will they sit with you and cry when you lose a loved one?
No.
Will they give you money for groceries when you're out of work?
Maybe.
Probably not.
Those are not things that thin communities do.
Now, you might find some exceptions here and there,
and if you do, they are exceptions that prove the rule.
No, that list that I just read to you,
those are things that thick communities do.
Thick communities have more than drive-by interactions.
People in thick communities know more than just your name.
People in thick communities show up when you end up in the emergency room.
People in thick communities sit with you and cry with you when you lose a loved one.
People in thick communities bring you gift cards to King Soopers when you lose your job.
In fact, that's what we find throughout the entire testimony of Scripture.
Thick community members are intimately connected to one another.
When I was in the ER, the thin community was not there.
The thick community was.
That's because the thick community does things like this.
Romans 12, verse 15.
Rejoice with those who rejoice.
Weep with those who weep.
Galatians chapter 5.
Through love, serve one another.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
1 Peter 4.
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
John chapter 13.
A new commandment I give to you that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.
Now, we could have looked at any one of those passages this morning.
We happen to be looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 12, which captures these concepts.
It shows how intimately connected the members of the church are supposed to be.
Now, we're told in verse 26 what it's supposed to look like.
If one member suffers, all suffer together.
If one member is honored, all rejoice together.
That's a thick community kind of thing to do.
That we are celebrating each other's successes and we're grieving each other's losses.
That we are deeply and intimately connected.
And the reason for that, we're given in verse 12 at the very beginning.
Paul sets up this comparison between the church body and the human body.
The human body is one entity with many members.
And the church body, one entity with many members.
So we need different parts to make the body work.
This is what Paul is teaching this church.
And yet, it's different parts that make the body work.
All pointing towards the same mission.
All working towards the same end and goal together.
All connected and participating in successes and failures.
He emphasizes this, not just in verse 12, but also in verse 20.
As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
And there's all sorts of implications that we could talk about as we think through what this passage means for us as a church.
We could talk about the fact that there's great unity, right?
The body only has one purpose and one goal.
The toes and the eyes are not in competition with each other.
And we could talk about the fact that there's different tasks.
Each person has a special place to fulfill.
Part of what we saw in 1 Corinthians 3 last week is that there are some who plant and some who water, right?
Everyone has a job within God's people.
This passage ultimately shows our deep need for one another.
And it also shows our deep care for each other.
It shows our deep need for one another and our deep care for each other.
And it's the deep care that I want to focus us on this morning.
This deep care, by the way, is necessarily how a body works.
Paul actually doesn't say, hey, this is what you should do.
He says, this is unavoidable.
This is what a body does.
Notice his language here, verse 26.
He doesn't say if one member suffers, all should suffer together.
And he doesn't say if all rejoice together, everyone should.
If one rejoices, everyone should rejoice together.
No, he states it as the way things just automatically work.
Why?
Because that's how a body works.
You don't have to think, if you stub your toe,
about whether the rest of your body is going to be upset, right?
That's not a decision that your body makes.
No, it's a body.
One piece is suffering.
The entire body is going to suffer, right?
Paul is saying, this is how intimately connected you are to each other.
This is not my vision for the church.
This is what the church is.
If it's a body, then necessarily it will function in this way.
If it's a body, already we will see this working out
in the functions of the community.
You'll note on page seven, this quote from Charles Hodge.
He says, this is the law of our physical nature.
Notice that word, the law.
This is how it works.
You can't get around it.
The body is really one.
It has a common life and consciousness.
The pain or pleasure of one part is common to the whole.
So Paul is not saying that this should happen.
He is saying, this is the only way.
If you are a body, then this is reality.
If you are a church connected to Christ the head, this is reality.
One member suffers, all suffer together.
One member rejoices, all rejoice together.
He tells us this, verse 25,
that there may be no division in the body,
but that the members may have the same care for one another.
What does he mean here by the same care?
What kind of care do the members have for each other?
Well, that phrase, same care,
is getting at what Jesus says in Mark chapter 12.
The members give the same care to each other
that they would give to themselves.
And so this is what Jesus told us.
Remember, when we were in the gospel of Mark,
what's the summary of the law?
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength
and love your neighbor as yourself.
That's how a body works.
The eye cares for the toe as itself.
Toe cares for the eye.
The heart cares for the liver.
The lungs care for the blood.
There is no other way for a body to work.
Brothers and sisters,
there is no other way for the church to work.
If one member suffers,
all suffer together.
If one member is honored,
all rejoice together.
Now you are the body of Christ
and individually members of it.
Verse 27 there is telling us why it works this way.
It works this way because that is how bodies work.
And so that's our vision for this church.
Our vision for Cheyenne Mountain
is that we would be a place of thick community.
Our vision is that when someone new
walks into the doors here,
that they would be warmly welcomed
and brought into our fellowship.
Our vision is that as the heartbeat of our community,
our worship service would overflow into the week.
That we would not simply or merely
be people who happen to occupy the same room
on Sunday morning,
but that as we're sent out from this room
at the benediction,
we would be connected to each other
Monday through Saturday.
Our vision is that as one member suffers,
all suffer together.
Our vision is that as one member rejoices,
all rejoice together.
Our vision is that this would be a place
where people know each other intimately.
That we pray with those who are suffering.
That we rejoice with those who are celebrating.
That we work with those who are struggling.
That we encourage those who are sad.
And we help those who are grieving.
That we would be one community
following Jesus together.
If one member suffers,
all suffer together.
If one member rejoices,
all rejoice together.
Our vision is not
that we would be the church
of the beautiful people
who have it all together
and all look the same.
Our vision is not
that we would have cliques
that are hard to break into
and insiders and outsiders.
No, our vision is that
we would have
all sorts of people
in all sorts of life stages,
from all sorts of backgrounds,
and all sorts of ages
connecting deeply
with one another.
Our vision is that
we would be
the body.
Now, this is already happening
in our church.
When I say this is our vision,
what I don't mean is,
wow, this is such a cold place.
I hope we can be warm, right?
No, I mean,
we want to grow.
We want this to become
more and more true
of this community.
This is already happening
in our church.
It's happening
in women's Bible studies
and men's Bible studies.
It's happening
in small groups.
It's happening
at the ladies' come and go
on Fridays.
It's happening
in our outreach Bible study
on Tuesday mornings.
We are seeing God at work
in this body
and we're not satisfied.
We want to see
even more.
We want to grow
even more.
We want Romans 15,
verse 7,
to be true of us.
Therefore,
welcome one another
as Christ has welcomed you
for the glory of God.
A few weeks ago
when we launched
Grid and Grace
on September 24th,
a man named Joe
was here in our worship services
and he was here
because Joe is helping us
with the generosity initiative.
And so I met with Joe afterwards
and I asked him
for some feedback.
I said,
hey, I don't want you
to flatter me.
We want to grow and improve.
Tell me what your experience
was like on Sunday morning
at Cheyenne Mountain.
And he said,
well, you guys have
that greeting time
and it is very long.
He said,
I've been to churches before
and maybe they have
a three minute greeting time.
Maybe they'd have
less than that.
Your greeting time
goes for five minutes.
And then he said,
and as I was there,
I talked to this person
and this person
and suddenly I realized,
oh, there's a reason
their greeting time
goes so long.
These people actually
like each other.
I was like,
yeah, Joe,
that's part of our church.
These people
actually like each other.
They actually want
to connect with each other
and hear how each other's doing.
That is part of what it means
to be Cheyenne Mountain.
I've told this story
only a few times,
but when I first came
to interview
in the April of 2017
at this church,
I met Paul Bishop,
not Paul Bishop II.
We have a Paul Bishop
in our congregation right now,
but we had a previous
Paul Bishop
in our congregation
who's now moved on,
the first Paul Bishop.
And I met Paul
this weekend,
that weekend,
and I told him,
you know,
tell me about Cheyenne Mountain.
He said,
well, one of the things
that's always been true
about Cheyenne Mountain
is its welcome.
People have always
commented on
how welcome they feel
as part of our church.
And I continue to hear that
from visitors.
People come,
they say,
man, I'm surprised
by how open
and welcoming
this congregation is.
I share all that
to say,
when we talk about
our vision,
we're not saying
these are things
that are not true,
but we hope they're true.
No, we're saying
this is part of our culture
at Cheyenne Mountain.
Let it be even more.
This is part of our culture
at Cheyenne Mountain.
Let it continue to grow.
Now, at the beginning,
I asked this question.
I said,
what's unique
about the Christian community?
Why is it the thickest community?
You know,
when we talk about
thick and thin communities,
the church is not
the only thick community.
Okay?
There are other places
you can go
and you can find
that kind of care.
Now, I will say
thick communities
are disappearing
in our culture.
The church
is one of the last ones left.
Why?
Well, one of the reasons
Britt already highlighted
this morning,
it's on page three
of your worship guide.
Britt read the first part,
community among persons
is forged
only when there is
something more important
than one's own interests
to which all share
a higher allegiance.
But here's the second part.
When I am the final authority
for determining
right and wrong
and when nothing
is more important
than my right
to live as I see fit,
tight, supportive community
is eroded,
perhaps even impossible.
In other words,
thick community
and individualism
don't go together.
Thick community
and secularism
do not go together.
Thick community
requires,
it demands
that you be committed
to something
greater than yourself.
Thick community
requires and demands
that you adhere
to a way of life
that you share
with other people.
what's happening
in our culture
right now.
We're rejecting
that entirely, right?
I am the ultimate
standard of authority.
If you are the ultimate
standard of authority,
community will always
have its limits.
Because as soon
as something
is not serving you
in exactly the right way,
where are you going to go?
Somewhere else.
No, there's a higher
commitment
that community
requires.
And so that's part
of why the church
is one of the last
thick communities
remaining.
There's another reason.
Let's get to this
on the back
of your worship guide.
A quote by a man
named David Brooks
talks about the difference
between thin institutions
and thick institutions.
Thin institutions
tend to see themselves
horizontally.
People are members
for mutual benefit.
Thick organizations
often see themselves
on a vertical axis.
People are members
so they can collectively
serve the same
higher good.
In the former,
there's an ever-present
utilitarian calculus.
Is this working for me?
Am I getting more out
that I'm putting in?
That creates a distance
between people
and the organization.
But in the latter,
there's an intimacy
and an identity
born out of common love.
Why is the church
one of the last thick
communities left
in our culture?
Because there's an intimacy
and an identity
born out of common love.
There is something
that is more important
than our self-expression.
There's something
that's more important
than our self-identity.
There's something
that's more important
than our self-interest.
And so that's one piece
of the story.
That's one reason
that the church
is one of the last
thick communities left.
Now, I haven't answered
the whole question.
The next question is,
and why is the church
the thickest
of all the ones
that are left?
Before I answer that,
I want to say this.
Right now in the church,
there's this phenomenon
of people coming
and they're coming
to the church
looking for community.
community,
but they're consumers
of community,
not creators
of community.
In other words,
they come to the church
and they say,
you're a church
and churches are
dispensers of community.
So where's my community?
Where is the group
of people
that I'm going
to get along with
the best
already established
for me?
Where are the events
that meet my exact needs
at the exact right time?
Oh, and by the way,
if this doesn't happen
on my timetable,
well then I'm just
going to go find
another community vendor.
I'll find another church
that's maybe meeting
my community need.
And so what happens
is folks just jump
from church to church
searching for something
that doesn't really exist.
And so when I say
that we're a church
of thick community,
that's what we long for,
that's our vision,
I am not saying
we're going to serve it
to you on a silver platter.
Because we are not
community consumers,
we're community builders.
You want thick community?
Join us in building it.
You want to be connected
with other people
in the church?
Show up
when those people show up.
Meet with those people
when they meet.
Be a part of building
this community
together.
By the way,
that's why Cheyenne Mountain
is still here
27 years after its founding.
It's because the people
who have come here
have not been consumers
of community,
they've been builders
of community.
They have not asked
how they can be served,
but they have asked
how they serve.
In other words,
if you don't show up
to anything
and you leave
during the last song,
as thick as this community is,
don't expect to find it
for yourself here.
Does that make sense?
We need to be builders
of community,
not consumers
of community.
Okay,
I have explained
the disappearance
of thick communities
in one sense,
the sense that
our society
is more and more
individualistic.
That doesn't answer
the question, though,
of why Christianity
is the thickest community.
You could find
thick community
in a mosque.
Maybe you could find
it in a Mormon temple.
Why do you come here
to find it
in a Christian church?
Well,
there's probably
many reasons.
One of them
is this.
This is once again
on page seven
of your worship guide.
Pastor Tim Keller
is speaking about
truth claims here,
but we could apply this
to communities as well.
All claims are exclusive.
The gospel is an exclusive truth,
but it's the most inclusive,
exclusive truth
in the world.
You might say it
a different way.
All communities
are exclusive.
The Christian community
is the most inclusive,
exclusive community
in the world.
Why is it the most inclusive
of all the exclusive communities?
It's the most inclusive
because there's only
one requirement
to be a member.
And the requirement
is that you recognize
that you have no hope
outside of Jesus Christ.
And in recognizing that,
you realize
that you must follow
after Him
in His faith
and obedience.
which means
it is more inclusive
than every other community.
It's not limited
by age.
It's not limited
by ability.
It's not limited
by generation.
It's not limited
by culture.
It's not limited
by how much
you can do
or perform.
It's only limited
by one thing,
and so it's the most open
of all the communities.
There are many places
that will claim
to be a family for you.
The army
will claim
to be your family.
And the army
will be a phenomenal family
for you
and to you
until the day
you get a DUI.
And at that point,
the army,
I have bad news for you,
is no longer
your family.
Okay?
There might be
a running club
in which you have
deep connection
and community,
and you've actually found
a level of thickness there.
But what happens
if you lose your legs?
There might be
another religion
that welcomes you in
for a time,
and if you're not able
to perform
at the right level,
because all religions
outside of Christianity
are works-based,
you will find
that it's not
the place for you.
Christianity
is the thickest
of all communities.
The church
is the thickest
that you can find,
because there is
only one requirement
for admission.
Of course,
there's only one requirement
for admission
because of our Lord
and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
when we talk
about being
the body of Christ
in 1 Corinthians 12,
we cannot forget
that every body
has a head.
Paul tells us
in another letter
in Colossians,
the church is the body,
Christ is the head.
So why is the church
the thickest community?
Verse 27 tells us,
now you are the body
of Christ
and individually
members of it.
the church is the
greatest body,
it's the greatest
community,
because we have
the greatest
head.
Now,
as we think about
being a thick
community,
we have to talk about
what it means
to be a community
that is getting
larger and larger.
As I've told you
all before,
there are many things
that we disagree
about at this church.
no one disagrees
with the fact
that we're growing.
No one disagrees
with the fact
that this church
is getting larger
and larger
in terms of the people
that are connected
to it and are coming
on Sunday morning.
And the challenge
of greater growth
is that it becomes
harder and harder
as you have more
and more people
to build and maintain
a thick community.
Now,
notice what I didn't say.
I didn't say
it becomes impossible.
I said it becomes harder.
It is more challenging
the more people
you have in a community
to stay tight
and connected
to one another.
And one of the ways
that you do that
is by having
even more smaller groups
for folks to plug into.
The large group
can be a challenging place.
You know,
sometimes you show up
to a restaurant
and you have like
a party of 15
and everyone insists
that you have to sit
at one table.
Everyone knows
that 15 people
can't have one conversation,
right?
But everyone wants
that feeling of,
oh, we're all
at the same table.
Same thing happens
in the church.
As we grow,
there comes this reality
where we need
more and more
smaller places
for folks to connect.
Especially
intentional small groups
for people to connect.
And so that's why
the elders have set
the goal of by 2026,
we want to have
five to seven
new small groups.
Not because we're
obsessed with small groups,
that's just a strategy,
but because we're
passionate about
thick community.
We're passionate
about places
where people
can come,
plug in,
connect,
and walk side
by side
with one another.
The challenge
is this.
To get there,
we need
a second pastor.
And to get
a second pastor,
we need
to eliminate
our building debt
of $800,000.
And to eliminate
that debt,
that's why we have
the Grid and Grace
initiative.
We are trying
to raise that money
to pay off
our mortgage
so we can
free up
$8,000 a month
in our budget.
We want to release
that $8,000
and we want to
release it
into thick community.
We want to release
it into a second pastor
who will help us
do this well.
A pastor will be
raising up
and developing
leaders who can
run those groups.
A pastor will be
overseeing them.
A pastor will help
us to be faithful
in maintaining
our vision
moving forward.
And so that's
why we're inviting
and challenging you
as the congregation
to join us in that.
That you would get
the same vision
that we have
of a community
that's intimately
connected to one another
where as we grow
there would continue
to be places
where people can know
and be known.
That's our vision.
That's why we're
talking about this.
That's why we're
trying to raise money.
Not because we're
about money
but because we're
about a mission.
And that mission
involves moving forward
the next level
of growth
as a church.
Now I mentioned
earlier verse 27
helps us understand
why the church
is the thickest
community.
It's because of
our head
our Lord Jesus.
Colossians chapter 1
says this
and he is the head
of the church
of the body
the church.
He is the beginning
the firstborn
from the dead
that in everything
he might be preeminent.
What does a body
need
to make everything
else work?
It has to have
a head.
If you lose
your arm
you can still
make it in life.
If you lose
a toe
things will be
challenging
you're still here.
If you lose
your head
game over.
right?
And it's our head
that leads us
and guides us.
You may have
noticed
in the back
of your worship
guide
in our vision
section
we have our
symbol
for thick
community
and the symbol
is a towel
and a basin
and the towel
and the basin
are meant
to remind us
the story
of Jesus
from John
chapter 13.
Remember Jesus
is with his
disciples
it's the last
week of his
life.
They come
in
and Jesus
acts not
as the host
but as the servant
and he does
this by washing
their feet
and he says
this in John
13
If I then
your Lord
and teacher
have washed
your feet
you also
ought to wash
one another's
feet
for I have
given you
an example
that you also
should do
just as I
have done
to you.
Why is
Christianity
the thickest
community?
It's the
thickest
community
because we
are a body
that's connected
to Christ
our head
and it's
the thickest
community
because Christ
our head
has set
for us
an example.
He has
set for us
the example
of washing
one another's
feet.
He has
given us
the grace
to not
be focused
on our
own rights
and privileges.
He's
given us
the power
to embrace
him and
others
above
ourselves.
That's the
logic by the
way in our
final song.
A song that
can really
only be sung
by Christians.
Tells us
three times
in the first
verse
teach us
your ways.
As we learn
from one
another
learn to
love
each other.
And that
does two
things.
It recognizes
our need.
We need
to be
taught.
We can't
do this
by ourselves.
And it
also shows
us the
one from
whom we
learn it,
our Lord
and Savior
Jesus Christ.
He is
the one
who has
the ways
of love.
We ask
him to
teach us.
We do
that
following
him
together
as one
community.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.