1 00:00:00,500 --> 00:00:02,000 Hi there Mars Hill Church 2 00:00:02,083 --> 00:00:05,042 and the extended family of Mars Hill Global. 3 00:00:05,125 --> 00:00:08,333 I'm pastor Sutton Turner here in Dilla, Ethiopia 4 00:00:08,375 --> 00:00:10,292 and I wanted to take a moment and explain 5 00:00:10,333 --> 00:00:14,333 what the extended family of Mars Hill Global is. 6 00:00:14,375 --> 00:00:18,333 I was a podcaster when I was living in the Middle East 7 00:00:18,375 --> 00:00:22,167 and consuming those podcasts every week, 8 00:00:22,208 --> 00:00:26,167 participating, really one way, from Mars Hill Church. 9 00:00:26,208 --> 00:00:27,958 I was really a consumer. 10 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:29,500 So what we're doing is setting up 11 00:00:29,542 --> 00:00:33,167 the extended family of Mars Hill Global and saying, 12 00:00:33,250 --> 00:00:39,042 "Come, be a part of what Jesus Christ is doing in and through our church." 13 00:00:39,125 --> 00:00:40,917 So what does Mars Hill Global do? 14 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:46,167 Well, Mars Hill Global is doing and participating in church planting 15 00:00:46,208 --> 00:00:48,458 here in Ethiopia and also in India. 16 00:00:48,500 --> 00:00:51,375 Also, we're doing church planting in the United States as well. 17 00:00:51,458 --> 00:00:53,583 We're doing all of that because in Mars Hill Church 18 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,417 we believe that Jesus has called us to make disciples and plant churches. 19 00:00:58,500 --> 00:01:02,375 So I want to ask you to be a part. I want to as you to be a part 20 00:01:02,458 --> 00:01:04,208 of the extended family of Mars Hill Global. 21 00:01:04,292 --> 00:01:05,458 Sign up today. 22 00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:08,333 Become a member of the extended family, 23 00:01:08,375 --> 00:01:10,958 start participating online with us, 24 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,500 and let's see what Jesus Christ is going to do, 25 00:01:13,542 --> 00:01:16,500 not only in the United States, but to the ends of the Earth. 26 00:01:17,208 --> 00:01:30,083 [music] 27 00:01:36,167 --> 00:01:37,583 [laughing] 28 00:01:37,667 --> 00:01:39,000 I'm Joshua. I'm Spencer. 29 00:01:39,042 --> 00:01:40,375 Hey, I'm Jonathan. 30 00:01:40,458 --> 00:01:42,125 I'm a lawyer and I'm a mom. 31 00:01:42,167 --> 00:01:43,833 I'm a colorist in the fashion industry. 32 00:01:43,875 --> 00:01:45,583 I don't know how to not smile. 33 00:01:45,667 --> 00:01:47,000 I am a strategist. 34 00:01:47,042 --> 00:01:48,500 I work in commercial real estate. 35 00:01:48,542 --> 00:01:50,208 Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out 36 00:01:50,292 --> 00:01:51,625 how to phrase my work. 37 00:01:51,667 --> 00:01:53,792 People are always coming up to me with, like, 38 00:01:53,833 --> 00:01:55,167 creative ideas. 39 00:01:55,250 --> 00:01:57,917 I carry around a baseball that reminds me of my dad. 40 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:02,250 I lost my home, my car, my retirement. 41 00:02:02,333 --> 00:02:06,292 Most days look pretty, kind of crazy. 42 00:02:06,333 --> 00:02:09,458 Being a wholesaler, we have a big warehouse space. 43 00:02:09,500 --> 00:02:11,542 I like to think through things. 44 00:02:11,625 --> 00:02:13,333 I got a tattoo of a tree. 45 00:02:13,417 --> 00:02:14,875 I love--I love that. 46 00:02:14,958 --> 00:02:17,333 Who do you think-- Who do you think you are? 47 00:02:19,125 --> 00:02:20,750 Well, some of you know my story. 48 00:02:20,833 --> 00:02:24,250 I grew up in south Seattle, right by the airport, 49 00:02:24,333 --> 00:02:27,708 and it was a very, very diverse neighborhood, 50 00:02:27,792 --> 00:02:29,625 actually not far from where we have 51 00:02:29,667 --> 00:02:31,583 Mars Hill Rainier Valley today. 52 00:02:31,667 --> 00:02:34,667 And is often the case, we had a lot of people 53 00:02:34,708 --> 00:02:37,000 who had just moved into the country. 54 00:02:37,042 --> 00:02:40,000 That's what happens if you live near a port or an airport. 55 00:02:40,042 --> 00:02:42,333 As people move into the area, they tend to, 56 00:02:42,417 --> 00:02:45,000 initially at least, settle there while they figure out where 57 00:02:45,042 --> 00:02:46,833 they're going to go, and work, 58 00:02:46,917 --> 00:02:49,000 and start their life in a new country. 59 00:02:49,042 --> 00:02:52,042 So, I grew up in an area with a lot of diversity, 60 00:02:52,125 --> 00:02:55,583 and it was really, actually, pretty fun and enjoyable. 61 00:02:55,667 --> 00:02:58,083 A lot of my friends were bilingual, 62 00:02:58,167 --> 00:03:00,542 and you'd go to their home and their parents 63 00:03:00,625 --> 00:03:02,542 still were struggling 64 00:03:02,625 --> 00:03:04,542 and straining to learn English. 65 00:03:04,625 --> 00:03:07,542 But meet all kinds of fascinating people, 66 00:03:07,625 --> 00:03:10,333 meet the kids who were coming in from Vietnam 67 00:03:10,375 --> 00:03:12,750 trying to get their life restarted, 68 00:03:12,833 --> 00:03:14,958 some families fleeing real hardship 69 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,833 in Cambodia, Muslim friends coming into the country 70 00:03:18,875 --> 00:03:22,125 from North Africa, all kinds of religions. 71 00:03:22,167 --> 00:03:25,208 I never knew there were so many religions, so many languages. 72 00:03:25,292 --> 00:03:28,250 And as you go into people's homes and you start to realize, 73 00:03:28,333 --> 00:03:30,167 "Oh, they do things different than us." 74 00:03:30,208 --> 00:03:32,083 They've got different religion, and different language, 75 00:03:32,167 --> 00:03:34,167 and different food, which usually tasted better, 76 00:03:34,250 --> 00:03:36,792 and they'd organize their home differently, 77 00:03:36,833 --> 00:03:39,333 and I just found it really fascinating. 78 00:03:39,417 --> 00:03:41,542 I've always, since I was a little kid, 79 00:03:41,625 --> 00:03:45,375 found people really fascinating, and so it got me studying 80 00:03:45,458 --> 00:03:47,792 and wondering, well, how do we get all these nations, 81 00:03:47,833 --> 00:03:49,375 and what's the history, 82 00:03:49,458 --> 00:03:51,667 and what are cultures like today. 83 00:03:51,708 --> 00:03:55,083 So, I remember as a young boy getting on my BMX bike 84 00:03:55,167 --> 00:03:59,083 and pedaling many miles to get to the library, 85 00:03:59,167 --> 00:04:01,833 and I would go often, especially during the summer. 86 00:04:01,917 --> 00:04:03,958 I really liked the library, 87 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,458 and I would try and check out books on history 88 00:04:06,500 --> 00:04:08,708 and figure out the history of the world, 89 00:04:08,792 --> 00:04:11,458 and I'd get a lot of magazines and try and see 90 00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:13,167 where my friends were from. 91 00:04:13,208 --> 00:04:15,167 What's Cambodia like? What's Vietnam like? 92 00:04:15,208 --> 00:04:18,125 What's North Africa like? What are the Philippines like? 93 00:04:18,167 --> 00:04:21,542 I just wanted to see where some of my friends and their families 94 00:04:21,625 --> 00:04:26,750 had come from, and it got me really interested in travel. 95 00:04:26,833 --> 00:04:28,833 I wanted to go see the world. 96 00:04:28,917 --> 00:04:31,875 I'm sitting in a house right next to the airport, 97 00:04:31,958 --> 00:04:33,667 so the planes fly overhead 98 00:04:33,750 --> 00:04:35,958 and just rattle the windows on the home. 99 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,375 And I remember as a kid, especially during the summer 100 00:04:38,458 --> 00:04:41,167 months when the weather's nice and I was outdoors playing 101 00:04:41,250 --> 00:04:44,292 baseball, as the planes fly over, just wondering, 102 00:04:44,333 --> 00:04:46,667 "I wonder where that one's going." 103 00:04:46,708 --> 00:04:48,875 It'd be pretty amazing to get on a plane 104 00:04:48,958 --> 00:04:51,500 and just be able to go somewhere and see something. 105 00:04:51,542 --> 00:04:53,583 Well, we were a working class, poor family. 106 00:04:53,667 --> 00:04:55,875 We couldn't afford airline tickets, 107 00:04:55,958 --> 00:04:59,167 and I didn't get to go on an airplane until I was 14. 108 00:04:59,250 --> 00:05:03,250 It was for a baseball tournament and I was really excited 109 00:05:03,333 --> 00:05:05,917 because I was finally going to get on a airplane. 110 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,333 And we flew to Ohio, not the cross-cultural experience 111 00:05:09,417 --> 00:05:11,708 that I was hoping for. 112 00:05:11,792 --> 00:05:15,042 It was like, "Yeah, this is--yeah, this looks white." 113 00:05:15,125 --> 00:05:19,542 And so it wasn't what I was hoping for, 114 00:05:19,625 --> 00:05:22,167 and it wasn't until mid to late 20s 115 00:05:22,208 --> 00:05:25,833 as a Christian pastor that I finally got to start to travel 116 00:05:25,917 --> 00:05:29,833 internationally a little bit and go see some of the world. 117 00:05:29,917 --> 00:05:33,667 Well, some years later now, I've had the great honor of traveling 118 00:05:33,750 --> 00:05:37,167 all over the world, and almost everywhere I've been--or I 119 00:05:37,250 --> 00:05:40,667 should say, in fact, everywhere I've been, I've noticed a trend, 120 00:05:40,750 --> 00:05:43,667 and that is there's at least two groups of people that 121 00:05:43,750 --> 00:05:48,667 really don't like each other, and they build huge walls 122 00:05:48,750 --> 00:05:53,292 between them--huge walls between them. 123 00:05:53,333 --> 00:05:56,292 And so for example, when I went to Northern Ireland, 124 00:05:56,333 --> 00:06:00,333 the walls are actually suicide bomber walls 125 00:06:00,417 --> 00:06:02,833 with security checkpoints. 126 00:06:02,917 --> 00:06:07,833 Huge, concrete walls with chain link and barbed wire on the top 127 00:06:07,875 --> 00:06:11,500 dividing the Catholic and Protestant sections of the city, 128 00:06:11,583 --> 00:06:14,125 history of violence. 129 00:06:14,167 --> 00:06:16,458 In South Africa, saw the same thing, 130 00:06:16,500 --> 00:06:20,042 many of the blacks living in very poor townships 131 00:06:20,125 --> 00:06:24,333 surrounded with enormous walls, 132 00:06:24,417 --> 00:06:27,333 and then whites living oftentimes in more affluent 133 00:06:27,417 --> 00:06:31,458 communities also surrounded by very high walls 134 00:06:31,500 --> 00:06:34,458 and barbed wire with armed guards to even get 135 00:06:34,500 --> 00:06:36,833 into their neighborhoods. 136 00:06:36,917 --> 00:06:40,292 But I've never seen anything quite like Israel. 137 00:06:40,333 --> 00:06:43,375 When you enter into Israel, you first realize there's literally 138 00:06:43,458 --> 00:06:47,167 walls everywhere, and the Christian Quarter, 139 00:06:47,250 --> 00:06:48,875 and the Muslim Quarter, 140 00:06:48,958 --> 00:06:52,583 and the Jewish Quarter are all very, very much divided, 141 00:06:52,667 --> 00:06:56,000 and you have to pass through security checkpoints 142 00:06:56,042 --> 00:06:58,292 at certain times to actually go from one area 143 00:06:58,333 --> 00:06:59,958 to another. 144 00:07:00,083 --> 00:07:04,167 The dividing walls are protected by soldiers with guns, 145 00:07:04,208 --> 00:07:07,167 and unless you have permission, you're not allowed to even pass 146 00:07:07,208 --> 00:07:11,458 from certain sections of the city into others. 147 00:07:11,500 --> 00:07:14,167 And during the tour with my family, 148 00:07:14,208 --> 00:07:18,167 we wanted to go visit Bethlehem, and that was amazing. 149 00:07:18,208 --> 00:07:20,958 I mean, you're looking at miles of an enormous 150 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:22,708 suicide bomber wall 151 00:07:22,792 --> 00:07:24,667 that you can't even drive a car through, 152 00:07:24,708 --> 00:07:27,250 and they're trying to defend themselves from 153 00:07:27,333 --> 00:07:29,833 terrorist attacks on both sides. 154 00:07:29,875 --> 00:07:34,792 Huge walls, covered with chain link, barbed wire, 155 00:07:34,833 --> 00:07:38,083 security cameras, military personnel, 156 00:07:38,167 --> 00:07:40,292 armed guards up on turrets. 157 00:07:40,333 --> 00:07:43,042 You're looking at passing through security checkpoints 158 00:07:43,125 --> 00:07:45,583 to even get to the other side of the wall. 159 00:07:45,667 --> 00:07:48,458 So as an American, as we were touring in Israel 160 00:07:48,500 --> 00:07:50,542 and we wanted to cross over into Bethlehem, 161 00:07:50,625 --> 00:07:52,833 the bus pulled up to the security checkpoint, 162 00:07:52,917 --> 00:07:54,875 armed guards, military soldiers 163 00:07:54,958 --> 00:07:57,292 welcome us off of the bus. 164 00:07:57,333 --> 00:07:59,375 I look at our tour guide and say, 165 00:07:59,458 --> 00:08:01,333 "Are you going to go with us?" 166 00:08:01,417 --> 00:08:03,167 He says, "I can't go over there. 167 00:08:03,208 --> 00:08:06,667 "I'm not allowed to go on that side of the wall, I'm Jewish. 168 00:08:06,708 --> 00:08:10,333 The bus can't go on that side of the wall, it's a Jewish bus." 169 00:08:10,375 --> 00:08:13,125 I don't know if they circumcise the bus or what, 170 00:08:13,167 --> 00:08:14,833 but it's a Jewish bus. 171 00:08:14,917 --> 00:08:18,250 "And the driver can't go to that side of the wall 172 00:08:18,333 --> 00:08:20,333 "because it's a Jewish driver. 173 00:08:20,417 --> 00:08:22,708 "So, you have to walk through the security checkpoint, 174 00:08:22,792 --> 00:08:24,750 "and then there'll be another bus, another driver, 175 00:08:24,833 --> 00:08:27,167 "and another tour guide that are not Jewish, 176 00:08:27,208 --> 00:08:28,958 "and they'll take you around Bethlehem, 177 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,292 "but we'll wait for you and then you can come back when your tour 178 00:08:32,333 --> 00:08:35,833 is done in Bethlehem to this side of the wall." 179 00:08:35,917 --> 00:08:39,833 And what is interesting is that physical realities often 180 00:08:39,917 --> 00:08:44,083 illustrate spiritual realities, that when we see barriers 181 00:08:44,167 --> 00:08:49,000 between people, they represent spiritual barriers as well. 182 00:08:49,042 --> 00:08:53,167 And as we get into Ephesians 2:11-22 today 183 00:08:53,208 --> 00:08:55,792 and we look at the issue that I am reconciled, 184 00:08:55,833 --> 00:08:58,750 you're going to hear this word from the Apostle Paul: 185 00:08:58,833 --> 00:09:01,833 "A dividing wall of hostility." 186 00:09:01,875 --> 00:09:06,958 A "dividing wall of hostility" is what he is speaking of, 187 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,250 and it's a spiritual wall of hostility, but it actually, 188 00:09:10,333 --> 00:09:13,208 as well, was a physical wall of hostility. 189 00:09:13,292 --> 00:09:15,042 It was a dividing wall. 190 00:09:15,125 --> 00:09:17,708 And they would have thought, in large part, of the temple, 191 00:09:17,792 --> 00:09:20,250 and in that day, the holiest place on earth where 192 00:09:20,333 --> 00:09:21,958 the Holy of Holies dwelt, 193 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,500 the presence of God was, was the temple, 194 00:09:24,583 --> 00:09:26,667 and God dwelt there. 195 00:09:26,708 --> 00:09:31,667 And the holiest people were given the closest access to God, 196 00:09:31,708 --> 00:09:34,292 so let's say that the Holy of Holies is here... 197 00:09:34,333 --> 00:09:36,167 well, the priests are here... 198 00:09:36,250 --> 00:09:38,167 and then other religious leaders are here... 199 00:09:38,208 --> 00:09:40,583 and then Jewish men are here... and then there's walls, 200 00:09:40,667 --> 00:09:44,167 walls, walls, walls, then the Jewish women are here... 201 00:09:44,208 --> 00:09:49,000 and the Gentiles are somewhere else. 202 00:09:49,042 --> 00:09:51,583 They're in a place called the Court of the Gentiles. 203 00:09:51,667 --> 00:09:55,500 They're far away, they're on the proverbial back of the bus. 204 00:09:55,542 --> 00:09:59,042 You're probably not going to worship the real God, 205 00:09:59,125 --> 00:10:03,500 and if you do want to show up, stay out of the way over on this 206 00:10:03,542 --> 00:10:07,167 wall, this wall, this wall, this wall, the very last wall, 207 00:10:07,250 --> 00:10:09,500 that's where you go. 208 00:10:09,542 --> 00:10:11,292 And if you pass through the wall 209 00:10:11,333 --> 00:10:13,042 and try and get any closer access 210 00:10:13,125 --> 00:10:16,292 to the presence of God, they will kill you. 211 00:10:16,333 --> 00:10:18,875 It was a death sentence. 212 00:10:18,958 --> 00:10:22,167 So, there was a literal and spiritual dividing wall 213 00:10:22,250 --> 00:10:26,542 of hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles. 214 00:10:26,625 --> 00:10:31,417 And as this relates to the theme of our study in Ephesians on 215 00:10:31,500 --> 00:10:38,417 identity, I told you previously, if you idolize, you demonize. 216 00:10:38,500 --> 00:10:42,333 So, if you idolize your race, you demonize other races; 217 00:10:42,375 --> 00:10:46,375 if you idolize your culture, you demonize other cultures; 218 00:10:46,458 --> 00:10:49,833 if you idolize your nation, you demonize other nations; 219 00:10:49,875 --> 00:10:53,417 if you idolize your gender, you demonize other genders; 220 00:10:53,500 --> 00:10:56,000 if you idolize your political party, 221 00:10:56,083 --> 00:10:58,792 you demonize other political parties. 222 00:10:58,833 --> 00:11:03,250 When we idolize, we are finding our identity in our tribe, 223 00:11:03,333 --> 00:11:07,083 and then we declare war on their tribe, 224 00:11:07,167 --> 00:11:12,000 and that's identity idolatry, and that was, assuredly, 225 00:11:12,042 --> 00:11:15,875 some of what was going on here in Paul's letter to 226 00:11:15,958 --> 00:11:20,583 the Ephesians, and it's what's behind what we call racism, 227 00:11:20,667 --> 00:11:24,667 and classism, sexism, and the like. 228 00:11:24,750 --> 00:11:27,292 And so the first thing the Apostle Paul wants us 229 00:11:27,333 --> 00:11:29,667 to know is that Jews and Gentiles 230 00:11:29,708 --> 00:11:31,875 are reconciled in Christ. 231 00:11:31,958 --> 00:11:35,875 Here's how he says it in Ephesians 2:11-15: "Therefore 232 00:11:35,958 --> 00:11:39,375 remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh," 233 00:11:39,458 --> 00:11:41,667 okay, that's us, the non-Jewish people, 234 00:11:41,750 --> 00:11:44,792 "called 'the uncircumcision' by what is called 235 00:11:44,833 --> 00:11:47,792 the circumcision," we'll get into all of this, 236 00:11:47,833 --> 00:11:50,042 "which is made in the flesh by hands-- 237 00:11:50,125 --> 00:11:53,167 "remember that you were at that time 238 00:11:53,250 --> 00:11:57,583 "separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth 239 00:11:57,667 --> 00:12:01,833 "of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, 240 00:12:01,875 --> 00:12:04,750 "having no hope and without God in the world. 241 00:12:04,833 --> 00:12:08,833 "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off 242 00:12:08,917 --> 00:12:12,958 "have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 243 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:18,333 "For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one 244 00:12:18,417 --> 00:12:21,333 and has broken down in his flesh the," what? 245 00:12:21,417 --> 00:12:25,458 The "dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law 246 00:12:25,500 --> 00:12:27,958 "of commandments expressed in ordinances, 247 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,375 "that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, 248 00:12:31,458 --> 00:12:33,667 so making peace." 249 00:12:33,708 --> 00:12:38,083 This might be complicated, let me try and explain it for you, 250 00:12:38,167 --> 00:12:41,875 and it may be complicated because we're Gentiles, okay? 251 00:12:41,958 --> 00:12:44,167 Jewish people, this may have made more sense. 252 00:12:44,208 --> 00:12:45,875 For those of us who are Gentiles, 253 00:12:45,958 --> 00:12:47,667 it may be a little more complicated. 254 00:12:47,708 --> 00:12:49,667 What he's saying is there is a conflict, 255 00:12:49,708 --> 00:12:51,292 there is a hostility, 256 00:12:51,333 --> 00:12:53,667 there is animosity between two people groups: 257 00:12:53,750 --> 00:12:57,000 those who are Jewish, called the circumcision, 258 00:12:57,042 --> 00:13:01,542 and those who are Gentile, called the uncircumcised. 259 00:13:01,625 --> 00:13:05,833 And this may even have been a bit of a pejorative slang term. 260 00:13:05,875 --> 00:13:07,625 When one group doesn't like another group, 261 00:13:07,667 --> 00:13:10,333 we tend to nickname them negatively. 262 00:13:10,417 --> 00:13:13,000 Sociologists will tell you that we tend to nickname people 263 00:13:13,083 --> 00:13:15,042 we love and hate. 264 00:13:15,125 --> 00:13:17,542 We tend to nickname people we love and hate, 265 00:13:17,625 --> 00:13:20,250 and so we'll have a good nickname for people we love 266 00:13:20,333 --> 00:13:22,958 and we'll have a pejorative nickname for those that we hate. 267 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:25,708 And so, in that day, apparently there were some Jewish people 268 00:13:25,792 --> 00:13:28,333 saying, "We are the circumcised. 269 00:13:28,375 --> 00:13:34,292 They are the uncircumcised," and this was one of the demarcations 270 00:13:34,333 --> 00:13:38,167 for which team you were, in fact, on in that day. 271 00:13:38,250 --> 00:13:41,375 Well, as is often the case, any time you see a cultural 272 00:13:41,458 --> 00:13:44,875 or a racial conflict-- you and I can be a bit naive, 273 00:13:44,958 --> 00:13:47,292 we can show up late to the scene and say, 274 00:13:47,333 --> 00:13:48,792 "Why don't you guys get along?" 275 00:13:48,833 --> 00:13:51,500 And all of a sudden, they start each telling their story, 276 00:13:51,542 --> 00:13:54,042 and it tends to go back in history. 277 00:13:54,125 --> 00:13:55,792 And here, as we trace the conflict, 278 00:13:55,833 --> 00:13:58,875 we go all the way back to a man named Abraham. 279 00:13:58,958 --> 00:14:00,625 You may have heard of him, 280 00:14:00,667 --> 00:14:03,542 one of the most important men in the history of the world, 281 00:14:03,625 --> 00:14:05,833 all the way back in the book of Genesis. 282 00:14:05,875 --> 00:14:08,250 And what we find is that this conflict between Jews 283 00:14:08,333 --> 00:14:11,667 and Gentiles is, in some ways, an extended family feud 284 00:14:11,708 --> 00:14:14,667 that had been going on for thousands of years. 285 00:14:14,708 --> 00:14:19,250 And here was the situation: Abraham had two wives. 286 00:14:19,333 --> 00:14:22,542 Just so you know, that's one too many. 287 00:14:22,625 --> 00:14:26,000 That's one too many, okay? 288 00:14:26,083 --> 00:14:32,833 The result was that he had two sons, one with each woman, 289 00:14:32,917 --> 00:14:37,167 and then the conflict was sure to ensue. 290 00:14:37,250 --> 00:14:41,458 Which son would be considered the firstborn with 291 00:14:41,500 --> 00:14:44,167 the inheritance rights, the family name, 292 00:14:44,250 --> 00:14:45,667 and the blessing that was promised 293 00:14:45,750 --> 00:14:49,000 to the descendants of Abraham? 294 00:14:49,042 --> 00:14:53,167 And so what you had was two women, two sons, 295 00:14:53,208 --> 00:14:59,000 a massive conflict-- a massive conflict. 296 00:14:59,042 --> 00:15:01,042 To this day, 297 00:15:01,125 --> 00:15:04,333 if I could go on a bit of an excursus for a moment, 298 00:15:04,417 --> 00:15:08,167 the conflict between Christians, and Jews, and Muslims is, 299 00:15:08,208 --> 00:15:11,333 in large part, the result of this family feud. 300 00:15:11,417 --> 00:15:14,125 Christians and Jewish people will read the Bible and say, 301 00:15:14,167 --> 00:15:18,667 "Well, Abraham, his real wife was Sarah, 302 00:15:18,708 --> 00:15:21,833 "and Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, 303 00:15:21,917 --> 00:15:24,750 and he's the son of the promise." 304 00:15:24,833 --> 00:15:27,458 But then those who are Muslims, they'll come along and say, 305 00:15:27,500 --> 00:15:32,875 "No, no, no, it's Hagar, not Sarah, and it's Ishmael, 306 00:15:32,958 --> 00:15:37,375 "not Isaac, and we are the descendants of Abraham, 307 00:15:37,458 --> 00:15:40,667 "and we inherit the promises, and Abraham is our father, 308 00:15:40,708 --> 00:15:44,458 and that's the illegitimate side of the family," 309 00:15:44,500 --> 00:15:48,958 and so the debate and the hostility is very deep 310 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,792 and it has a very long history. 311 00:15:51,833 --> 00:15:54,583 Well, the result was that Abraham circumcised himself 312 00:15:54,667 --> 00:15:59,250 and his household, and began circumcising his descendants as 313 00:15:59,333 --> 00:16:02,958 an outward sign of an inward covenant with God that 314 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,917 ultimately would be fulfilled with circumcision of the heart 315 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,833 by the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant. 316 00:16:08,917 --> 00:16:12,250 And so what happened was you had this side of the family, 317 00:16:12,333 --> 00:16:14,750 they are the circumcised, 318 00:16:14,833 --> 00:16:19,417 this side of the family is the uncircumcised. 319 00:16:19,500 --> 00:16:22,708 And so, let's talk first about the Gentiles. 320 00:16:22,792 --> 00:16:25,333 So they are called, in this section, quote, 321 00:16:25,417 --> 00:16:30,542 "the uncircumcision, separated," so they're over there, right? 322 00:16:30,625 --> 00:16:32,792 "We live over here, they live over there. 323 00:16:32,833 --> 00:16:35,292 We don't live together." 324 00:16:35,333 --> 00:16:37,167 They're called alienated. 325 00:16:37,250 --> 00:16:38,667 They're treated like aliens. 326 00:16:38,750 --> 00:16:42,500 "We don't know them, they are of another people group." 327 00:16:42,542 --> 00:16:45,500 It says that there is, quote, "no hope." 328 00:16:45,542 --> 00:16:48,667 So, there's no way for these two groups to, in and of themselves, 329 00:16:48,708 --> 00:16:51,958 reconcile their hostility. And it says, quote, 330 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,292 that these are people who are, quote, "without God." 331 00:16:55,333 --> 00:16:58,458 They have their own religions, they have their own religious 332 00:16:58,500 --> 00:17:02,458 leaders, they have their own religious traditions, 333 00:17:02,500 --> 00:17:06,042 and it's all demonic, it's all evil, it's all corrupt, 334 00:17:06,125 --> 00:17:10,250 and it's all damnable, and that's us, okay? 335 00:17:10,333 --> 00:17:12,250 That's us. 336 00:17:12,333 --> 00:17:15,208 Any of you who are not Jewish, that's your heritage. 337 00:17:15,292 --> 00:17:17,750 We're godless pagans. 338 00:17:17,833 --> 00:17:19,958 And let's say there were two boys out playing. 339 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,333 Let's say one was a Jew, one was a Gentile, 340 00:17:22,417 --> 00:17:24,333 and they weren't supposed to be playing together, 341 00:17:24,417 --> 00:17:27,167 but they were out playing and they saw one another. 342 00:17:27,208 --> 00:17:29,458 Let's say the Gentile boy asks the Jewish boy, 343 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:33,000 "Oh, so are there any Gentiles in the Bible?" 344 00:17:33,042 --> 00:17:35,500 He'd probably, at first, feel very encouraged to hear 345 00:17:35,542 --> 00:17:38,250 the Jewish boy say, "Yeah, actually there are a lot of 346 00:17:38,333 --> 00:17:39,667 Gentiles in the Bible." 347 00:17:39,708 --> 00:17:41,167 "Oh, so we made the Book?" 348 00:17:41,208 --> 00:17:42,667 "Yeah, you guys are the Babylonians, 349 00:17:42,708 --> 00:17:46,958 "you're the Chaldeans, right, you're the Egyptians. 350 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:49,458 "You heard of Nebuchadnezzar? Your guy. 351 00:17:49,500 --> 00:17:51,667 "Do you like the story of David and Goliath? 352 00:17:51,708 --> 00:17:54,583 "David was our guy, Goliath, your guy. 353 00:17:54,667 --> 00:17:56,667 "All the bad guys, those are your guys. 354 00:17:56,750 --> 00:18:00,208 "All the enemies of God and his people, those are your guys. 355 00:18:00,292 --> 00:18:03,042 "Alright, if this is an old school Western, 356 00:18:03,125 --> 00:18:05,542 "all your guys are wearing black hats 357 00:18:05,625 --> 00:18:07,625 "and all my guys are wearing white hats. 358 00:18:07,667 --> 00:18:09,542 "We're the good guys, you're the bad guys. 359 00:18:09,625 --> 00:18:11,125 God loves us, hates you." 360 00:18:11,167 --> 00:18:13,500 And in fact, that's what some Jewish leaders said. 361 00:18:13,583 --> 00:18:16,333 They said, "The only reason God made Gentiles was he wanted 362 00:18:16,417 --> 00:18:19,833 kindling for hell." 363 00:18:19,917 --> 00:18:21,833 A little intense. 364 00:18:21,875 --> 00:18:23,667 Hostility's a good word. 365 00:18:23,708 --> 00:18:26,042 Paul's going to use it a few times. 366 00:18:26,125 --> 00:18:30,750 The hostility was so deep that if a Jewish man or woman 367 00:18:30,833 --> 00:18:36,083 came across a Gentile woman who was struggling to give birth, 368 00:18:36,167 --> 00:18:39,833 they were told not to assist her because you would be bringing 369 00:18:39,917 --> 00:18:43,167 another Gentile into the world. 370 00:18:43,208 --> 00:18:48,083 Let's say that a Jewish person fell in love with 371 00:18:48,167 --> 00:18:51,042 a Gentile person and they got married, 372 00:18:51,125 --> 00:18:53,958 a funeral would be held and that person 373 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:58,500 would be considered dead by their family. 374 00:18:58,542 --> 00:19:00,833 It's kind of like we've experienced even in 375 00:19:00,917 --> 00:19:02,958 Mars Hill Church where, let's say, 376 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,042 a Muslim exchange student is sent to 377 00:19:05,125 --> 00:19:08,333 the United States, and at Mars Hill they meet Jesus. 378 00:19:08,375 --> 00:19:10,958 I've actually seen this a few times. 379 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,833 And then they fall in love with somebody who loves Jesus 380 00:19:13,917 --> 00:19:16,333 and they get married. 381 00:19:16,375 --> 00:19:21,667 Their family, if they're devoutly Muslim, has held, 382 00:19:21,708 --> 00:19:25,750 for members of Mars Hill, a funeral. 383 00:19:25,833 --> 00:19:31,000 "They're dead, they're dead, they're dead to us." 384 00:19:32,333 --> 00:19:35,042 So, this is the conflict, 385 00:19:35,125 --> 00:19:40,875 and this is how the Gentiles were regarded, 386 00:19:40,958 --> 00:19:45,167 and they were regarded this way by the Jews. 387 00:19:45,250 --> 00:19:49,167 They're here referred to as the circumcision. 388 00:19:49,250 --> 00:19:55,458 And they were prone toward a haughtiness, a pride. 389 00:19:55,500 --> 00:19:59,042 After all, it'd be like, "Well, God chose one man, 390 00:19:59,125 --> 00:20:02,292 "our father Abraham, and all of the prophets 391 00:20:02,333 --> 00:20:05,083 "come from our family. 392 00:20:05,167 --> 00:20:07,292 "And all of the priests and the kings, 393 00:20:07,333 --> 00:20:09,292 "they come from our family. 394 00:20:09,333 --> 00:20:13,458 "And the Book is primarily about our family. 395 00:20:13,500 --> 00:20:18,667 "And Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, oh, that's our family. 396 00:20:18,750 --> 00:20:22,083 "And God says we're the apple of his eye, and that he chose us, 397 00:20:22,167 --> 00:20:25,833 "and that he's our Father, and that we have eternal life, 398 00:20:25,917 --> 00:20:30,083 "and that we are the chosen ones. 399 00:20:30,167 --> 00:20:32,833 "We're the good people. 400 00:20:32,875 --> 00:20:36,000 "And if you would like to consider or join our religion, 401 00:20:36,042 --> 00:20:39,125 "you have to become Jewish. 402 00:20:39,167 --> 00:20:41,208 "You need to learn our language, 403 00:20:41,292 --> 00:20:43,417 "your men all need to be circumcised, 404 00:20:43,500 --> 00:20:45,208 "you need to change your diet, 405 00:20:45,292 --> 00:20:47,583 "you need to celebrate our holidays, 406 00:20:47,667 --> 00:20:50,417 "and those pagan things you used to do, 407 00:20:50,500 --> 00:20:53,375 "even if they were just cultural, those need to stop, 408 00:20:53,458 --> 00:20:56,000 "and you need to just become Jewish. 409 00:20:56,042 --> 00:21:00,083 "But because you're not of the pure bloodline, 410 00:21:00,167 --> 00:21:02,292 "you're still not going to perhaps be considered 411 00:21:02,333 --> 00:21:05,833 "a first-class citizen. 412 00:21:05,917 --> 00:21:11,583 You're a convert, but you're not pure entirely." 413 00:21:11,667 --> 00:21:15,875 Now, what's interesting is, if you read the Scriptures, 414 00:21:15,958 --> 00:21:19,042 there's no reason that God's people 415 00:21:19,125 --> 00:21:22,292 should have been haughty and proud. 416 00:21:22,333 --> 00:21:23,958 You know, it's like, Abraham. 417 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:27,667 Oh, the guy who committed adultery, and polygamy, 418 00:21:27,750 --> 00:21:31,750 and gave his wife away twice? 419 00:21:31,833 --> 00:21:37,042 It's not like he has this amazing resume of sinlessness. 420 00:21:37,125 --> 00:21:38,667 Abraham, Isaac, Jacob-- 421 00:21:38,708 --> 00:21:41,042 I mean, I preached through the book of Genesis 422 00:21:41,125 --> 00:21:43,292 some years ago, and these guys commit adultery, 423 00:21:43,333 --> 00:21:45,292 incest, polygamy. 424 00:21:45,333 --> 00:21:48,875 There's some serious problems in this family. 425 00:21:48,958 --> 00:21:52,792 You keep reading and God sends prophets to these people. 426 00:21:52,833 --> 00:21:56,667 "Repent, you're in sin, it's wicked, I'm tired of it." 427 00:21:56,708 --> 00:21:58,667 He's rebuking them, and when they don't repent, 428 00:21:58,708 --> 00:22:01,250 which is often the case, what they end up doing 429 00:22:01,333 --> 00:22:04,458 is murdering the prophets. 430 00:22:04,500 --> 00:22:07,625 And then, on occasion, God sends them into exile. 431 00:22:07,667 --> 00:22:10,500 He uproots them from the land he promised and the blessings 432 00:22:10,583 --> 00:22:12,708 he provided, and off they go to Egypt, 433 00:22:12,792 --> 00:22:15,167 or off they go to Babylon. 434 00:22:15,208 --> 00:22:20,042 They're taken captive somewhere else as punishment. 435 00:22:20,125 --> 00:22:24,167 And so it's not as simple as saying, 436 00:22:24,208 --> 00:22:28,917 "The Gentiles are sinners and the non-Gentiles, 437 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,583 God's people, they are holy." 438 00:22:32,667 --> 00:22:36,667 Now, if they are holy, it's because God has set them apart, 439 00:22:36,750 --> 00:22:38,375 and loved, and forgiven them, 440 00:22:38,458 --> 00:22:41,375 but it's not because they are any better. 441 00:22:41,458 --> 00:22:44,583 And if you trace it back far enough, you may not know this, 442 00:22:44,667 --> 00:22:47,292 and maybe if you are Jewish, you know, buckle your seatbelt, 443 00:22:47,333 --> 00:22:49,167 but I'll tell you something. 444 00:22:49,250 --> 00:22:52,875 Abraham was a pagan Gentile. 445 00:22:52,958 --> 00:22:57,375 That's how he started until God saved him, 446 00:22:57,458 --> 00:23:01,167 and that's how we all start until God saves us. 447 00:23:01,208 --> 00:23:03,833 So, the story in Genesis is there was a place called 448 00:23:03,917 --> 00:23:06,833 Babylon, and they built a tower called Babel, and God judged it, 449 00:23:06,917 --> 00:23:10,250 and confused the languages, and scattered the people. 450 00:23:10,333 --> 00:23:16,250 And then he chooses a man named Abraham, and he's really elect. 451 00:23:16,333 --> 00:23:20,250 He wasn't seeking God, God was seeking him, and God saved him, 452 00:23:20,333 --> 00:23:22,250 God entered into relationship with him. 453 00:23:22,333 --> 00:23:25,250 In one of the most important lines of the Bible, it says, 454 00:23:25,333 --> 00:23:27,667 "Abraham believed the Lord, and it was credited to him 455 00:23:27,708 --> 00:23:30,750 as righteousness," that he was saved by faith through trusting 456 00:23:30,833 --> 00:23:32,792 in the grace of God. 457 00:23:32,833 --> 00:23:34,167 Now, who was Abraham? 458 00:23:34,250 --> 00:23:37,167 Well, I'll give you two places you can look at in preparation 459 00:23:37,250 --> 00:23:38,667 for your Community Group. 460 00:23:38,750 --> 00:23:44,500 But in Nehemiah 9:7 and Acts 7:2-3, 461 00:23:44,542 --> 00:23:48,583 we read that Abraham was from Ur of the Chaldeans. 462 00:23:48,667 --> 00:23:51,000 You probably haven't done a lot of research on 463 00:23:51,042 --> 00:23:56,292 Ur of the Chaldeans, but here's where it was: Babylon. 464 00:23:56,333 --> 00:24:00,042 Insofar as we can tell, Abraham was a godless pagan living in 465 00:24:00,125 --> 00:24:05,333 Babylon, uncircumcised, just a regular old pagan Gentile, 466 00:24:05,417 --> 00:24:08,625 and then God showed up, saved him, he trusted in the Lord, 467 00:24:08,667 --> 00:24:14,708 he became the father of all who believe, 468 00:24:14,792 --> 00:24:19,333 and that means he then had to circumcise himself 469 00:24:19,417 --> 00:24:24,750 as an outward sign of an inward change. 470 00:24:24,833 --> 00:24:29,542 And so the Jewish people should have all known we all descend 471 00:24:29,625 --> 00:24:34,667 from Gentile pagans, and God saves by grace through faith. 472 00:24:34,750 --> 00:24:38,500 That's how he did it with Abraham. 473 00:24:38,542 --> 00:24:41,167 How many of you, you have a little haughtiness 474 00:24:41,250 --> 00:24:43,583 because you're from a religious family, a moral family, 475 00:24:43,667 --> 00:24:45,875 a significant family? 476 00:24:45,958 --> 00:24:48,375 "My parents are the kind of people that, you know, 477 00:24:48,458 --> 00:24:49,958 they're really honored in the community," 478 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:51,750 or "My grandparents did a wonderful thing," 479 00:24:51,833 --> 00:24:54,500 or "My great-grandfather was a war hero," or "You know, 480 00:24:54,542 --> 00:24:57,542 "we've really contributed a lot to the community. 481 00:24:57,625 --> 00:25:00,042 "I come from pretty good stock. 482 00:25:00,125 --> 00:25:02,667 "We're good people, we give back, we serve. 483 00:25:02,708 --> 00:25:05,250 "Maybe we're religious, we're traditional, you know, 484 00:25:05,333 --> 00:25:08,167 "we're really committed to our church traditions 485 00:25:08,208 --> 00:25:12,667 and our piety." 486 00:25:12,708 --> 00:25:15,417 The truth is, if we trace our family line back enough-- 487 00:25:15,500 --> 00:25:16,833 well, two things. 488 00:25:16,917 --> 00:25:19,417 Number one, if we're honest about our history and our 489 00:25:19,500 --> 00:25:21,958 family history, there's a lot we're embarrassed by, right? 490 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,667 Like, if I did what Abraham did, 491 00:25:24,708 --> 00:25:27,542 I would be your former pastor, right? 492 00:25:27,625 --> 00:25:29,625 Like, "Here's my wife, here's my other wife. 493 00:25:29,667 --> 00:25:31,500 "Here's my son, here's my other son. 494 00:25:31,542 --> 00:25:33,667 "And I gave away my wife twice. 495 00:25:33,750 --> 00:25:35,375 You know, hey, it's biblical!" 496 00:25:35,458 --> 00:25:37,833 You'd be like, "Uh-uh, you are our former pastor. 497 00:25:37,917 --> 00:25:40,333 You can't get away with stuff like that." 498 00:25:40,417 --> 00:25:43,500 So, if we look at our life and the life of our family, 499 00:25:43,542 --> 00:25:46,667 let's all be honest and say there's a lot of sin in there. 500 00:25:46,750 --> 00:25:48,167 And sometimes when we're religious, 501 00:25:48,208 --> 00:25:50,792 it's amazing because when it's our sin, we close our eyes, 502 00:25:50,833 --> 00:25:53,500 but when it's their sin, we open our eyes. 503 00:25:53,542 --> 00:25:56,292 Number two, if we trace our family history back enough, 504 00:25:56,333 --> 00:25:59,042 we all come from a bunch of godless pagans, amen? 505 00:25:59,125 --> 00:26:03,333 Some of you don't have to do a lot of research, right? 506 00:26:03,375 --> 00:26:08,000 It's Christmas, "Hi, Dad," that's all the research you need to do. 507 00:26:08,083 --> 00:26:12,958 Now, for my dad and I, we--some of you know my story. 508 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:17,208 We were County Cork, Southern Ireland, 509 00:26:17,292 --> 00:26:20,458 Irish Catholic O'Driscolls, okay? 510 00:26:20,500 --> 00:26:23,833 And so my pops and I, we--now that we're both saved 511 00:26:23,917 --> 00:26:27,000 and Christians, we wanted to go kind of back to the home country 512 00:26:27,083 --> 00:26:29,167 and just see where did we come from, 513 00:26:29,208 --> 00:26:31,458 what can we find out about our family heritage? 514 00:26:31,500 --> 00:26:34,333 So, we went to Ireland and visited Northern and Southern, 515 00:26:34,417 --> 00:26:37,167 but in Southern Ireland we went to kind of Baltimore Harbor, 516 00:26:37,250 --> 00:26:40,667 and Skibbereen, and other sort of leprechaun-sounding towns, 517 00:26:40,750 --> 00:26:43,583 and enjoyed ourselves, and did a little bit of the history, 518 00:26:43,667 --> 00:26:45,667 and we found somebody from a heritage center 519 00:26:45,750 --> 00:26:47,875 and said, "Okay, tell us about our family." 520 00:26:47,958 --> 00:26:50,875 And I was thinking it'd be something great. 521 00:26:50,958 --> 00:26:52,750 It was greatly troubling. 522 00:26:52,833 --> 00:26:58,083 What they said was, "Oh, you guys are the liquor pirates." 523 00:26:58,167 --> 00:27:03,667 I was like, "Well, we used to be, and explain that." 524 00:27:03,708 --> 00:27:05,708 And she says--she was a very sweet woman. 525 00:27:05,792 --> 00:27:08,542 She said, "Well, the O'Driscolls were famous because, you know, 526 00:27:08,625 --> 00:27:11,042 "they had castles, and when they were dispossessed 527 00:27:11,125 --> 00:27:14,042 "and lost their land and their castles, 528 00:27:14,125 --> 00:27:16,750 "as ships would come through the port, 529 00:27:16,833 --> 00:27:20,750 "your family would sail out as pirates and seize the ship 530 00:27:20,833 --> 00:27:23,167 and steal the wine." 531 00:27:23,208 --> 00:27:26,542 Actually created quite a few conflicts, 532 00:27:26,625 --> 00:27:29,208 and at certain points our relatives were then apprehended, 533 00:27:29,292 --> 00:27:32,375 and taken away, and exiled to other nations as punishment 534 00:27:32,458 --> 00:27:35,292 for liquor thievery. 535 00:27:35,333 --> 00:27:37,167 Two things I'll say: number one, 536 00:27:37,208 --> 00:27:39,792 aren't I doing good? 537 00:27:39,833 --> 00:27:41,875 Some of you are like, "He needs work." 538 00:27:41,958 --> 00:27:44,500 Look at all the progress! 539 00:27:44,542 --> 00:27:47,500 Just the fact I'm not out right now taking the car stereo 540 00:27:47,542 --> 00:27:52,625 out of your car is sort of a step forward, right? 541 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,792 And secondly, if we all trace our family history honestly, 542 00:27:58,833 --> 00:28:02,125 we all come from a bunch of godless pagans. 543 00:28:02,167 --> 00:28:05,250 So, there's the Gentiles, the uncircumcised, 544 00:28:05,333 --> 00:28:07,417 there's the Jews who are the circumcised, 545 00:28:07,500 --> 00:28:09,833 and sort of the thought is we're the good guys, 546 00:28:09,917 --> 00:28:12,917 they're the bad guys, and they need to just join us 547 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:15,417 if they want to be with God. 548 00:28:15,500 --> 00:28:17,708 And he says it's hostility. 549 00:28:17,792 --> 00:28:19,542 That's what it is. 550 00:28:19,625 --> 00:28:23,125 There's a great conflict and animosity that exists here. 551 00:28:23,167 --> 00:28:25,958 Well, then what happens, Jesus comes. 552 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:32,375 Jesus was Jewish and he said he was God, 553 00:28:32,458 --> 00:28:36,458 and so then one thing that Jews and Gentiles agreed on is, 554 00:28:36,500 --> 00:28:38,792 "We need to kill him." 555 00:28:38,833 --> 00:28:42,083 Jews and Gentiles tended not to work together, 556 00:28:42,167 --> 00:28:44,083 but they did in the murder of Jesus. 557 00:28:44,167 --> 00:28:47,292 So the religious leaders said, "We need him dead," 558 00:28:47,333 --> 00:28:49,583 and the political leaders who were Gentiles said, 559 00:28:49,667 --> 00:28:52,750 "We agree," so they, together, participated in the murder 560 00:28:52,833 --> 00:28:55,958 of Jesus because he said he was God. 561 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:01,958 And Jesus dies on the cross, and then he rises from death, 562 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:06,458 and then he ascends back into heaven. 563 00:29:06,500 --> 00:29:09,833 And now, his first disciples are all Jewish, 564 00:29:09,917 --> 00:29:12,667 his first converts are Jewish, and the early church is largely 565 00:29:12,708 --> 00:29:14,542 Jewish, but as things spread, 566 00:29:14,625 --> 00:29:17,333 Gentiles start getting excited about Jesus. 567 00:29:17,375 --> 00:29:21,500 Now we're into the New Testament and all of sudden, Gentiles are, 568 00:29:21,583 --> 00:29:24,958 in large numbers, converting to Christianity, 569 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,000 and they love Jesus, and their sins are forgiven, 570 00:29:28,083 --> 00:29:29,958 and they're filled with the Holy Spirit. 571 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:33,333 And we're going to get into all of this when we start Acts after 572 00:29:33,417 --> 00:29:36,083 Easter, but what happens then is there's a lot of questions, 573 00:29:36,167 --> 00:29:38,250 like, "What do we do with all these Gentiles?" 574 00:29:38,333 --> 00:29:41,167 Because when the--you know, when the Bible is existed, 575 00:29:41,250 --> 00:29:45,500 when the Word of God is existed in one culture for a long time, 576 00:29:45,542 --> 00:29:48,583 and then people from another culture start worshiping the God 577 00:29:48,667 --> 00:29:51,583 of Scripture, they have a lot of questions. 578 00:29:51,667 --> 00:29:54,083 And so a lot of our New Testament, quite frankly, 579 00:29:54,167 --> 00:29:55,958 is--like, let's say Corinth. 580 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,792 They're asking questions like, "Hey, can we be homosexual? 581 00:29:58,833 --> 00:30:03,167 "Can we go up to the temple with prostitution for the pagan gods? 582 00:30:03,250 --> 00:30:06,792 "Can we eat the meat sacrificed to idols and demons? 583 00:30:06,833 --> 00:30:10,000 Can we marry our mother-in-law?" 584 00:30:10,042 --> 00:30:11,792 And the Jewish people are like, 585 00:30:11,833 --> 00:30:14,958 "What the heck kind of questions are these?" 586 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:16,750 These are not things in synagogue, like, 587 00:30:16,833 --> 00:30:18,750 "Can I marry my mom and get drunk?" 588 00:30:18,833 --> 00:30:20,583 Like, "No, what?" 589 00:30:20,667 --> 00:30:23,375 That Q&A never happened in a Jewish synagogue. 590 00:30:23,458 --> 00:30:28,083 Everybody knew, no, you cannot get drunk and marry your mom, 591 00:30:28,167 --> 00:30:30,667 but these are the questions that the newly converted 592 00:30:30,750 --> 00:30:33,875 Gentile pagans have because that's how they did their life. 593 00:30:33,958 --> 00:30:37,000 And so much of the New Testament in the epistles and the letters 594 00:30:37,083 --> 00:30:40,375 are answers to the questions that get raised by 595 00:30:40,458 --> 00:30:43,000 newly converted Gentiles. 596 00:30:43,042 --> 00:30:45,792 And Mars Hill, this has been our experience. 597 00:30:45,833 --> 00:30:48,625 I mean, we're working, in large part, 598 00:30:48,667 --> 00:30:51,000 in cities that are Gentile, and pagan, 599 00:30:51,083 --> 00:30:52,625 and not historically Christian. 600 00:30:52,667 --> 00:30:54,625 And a lot of people who become Christians, 601 00:30:54,667 --> 00:30:56,000 they're first-generation Christians, 602 00:30:56,083 --> 00:30:58,083 and they've got all kinds of new questions 603 00:30:58,167 --> 00:31:02,083 that the church people tend not to have. 604 00:31:02,167 --> 00:31:04,792 And so I answer them and we answer them, 605 00:31:04,833 --> 00:31:07,292 and then the Internet blows up and the religious people 606 00:31:07,333 --> 00:31:09,458 freak out because you're not supposed to talk about 607 00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:10,958 certain things, but these are questions 608 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,583 that our people actually have. 609 00:31:12,667 --> 00:31:15,667 And so the case here is that they have a church with 610 00:31:15,750 --> 00:31:17,375 Jewish people and Gentile people, 611 00:31:17,458 --> 00:31:21,292 and they have some questions about, "What do we do?" 612 00:31:21,333 --> 00:31:24,000 And I'm sure, as was the case in the early church, 613 00:31:24,042 --> 00:31:26,083 the Jewish people were simply saying, 614 00:31:26,167 --> 00:31:27,833 "Well, just tell them to be Jewish. 615 00:31:27,917 --> 00:31:29,667 Tell all the guys to get circumcised," 616 00:31:29,750 --> 00:31:34,083 and all the guys are like, "Are you sure, 617 00:31:34,167 --> 00:31:38,667 "because we want confirmation. 618 00:31:38,750 --> 00:31:42,083 "We are not unwilling, but if there is an exception clause, 619 00:31:42,167 --> 00:31:45,375 we unanimously vote for it." 620 00:31:45,458 --> 00:31:48,500 And so there are these kinds of--and that's the whole book of 621 00:31:48,542 --> 00:31:51,542 Galatians, to some degree, is the debate over that issue. 622 00:31:51,625 --> 00:31:56,000 So these questions get raised, so then Paul writes this letter, 623 00:31:56,042 --> 00:32:01,042 and he's trying to answer this question. 624 00:32:01,125 --> 00:32:03,417 The Gentiles are probably saying, "Well, we can 625 00:32:03,500 --> 00:32:06,417 "just be Gentile believers in Jesus and junk 626 00:32:06,500 --> 00:32:09,000 all the Jewish stuff," and the Jewish people are saying, 627 00:32:09,083 --> 00:32:12,458 "No, no, no, it's in the Book, and what do we do?" 628 00:32:12,500 --> 00:32:15,000 What would you say? 629 00:32:15,625 --> 00:32:18,458 What would you say? 630 00:32:18,500 --> 00:32:22,667 What Paul says is something that had never been said. 631 00:32:22,708 --> 00:32:26,833 And we live in a day that really wants cultural diversity, 632 00:32:26,917 --> 00:32:31,167 but Paul--or I should say, God the Holy Spirit, through Paul, 633 00:32:31,250 --> 00:32:36,542 provides an answer that you will only find in Christianity. 634 00:32:36,625 --> 00:32:39,750 He uses this language: 635 00:32:39,833 --> 00:32:46,083 "One new man in place of the two." 636 00:32:46,167 --> 00:32:47,750 You see the fight? 637 00:32:47,833 --> 00:32:50,750 The Gentiles are, "No, no, no, you guys need to be Gentiles." 638 00:32:50,833 --> 00:32:54,167 The Jewish people are like, "No, no, no, you need to be Jewish." 639 00:32:54,208 --> 00:32:56,583 Paul comes along and says, "No, no, no, no, no, 640 00:32:56,667 --> 00:33:01,042 you all need to be in Christ, a new man." 641 00:33:01,125 --> 00:33:05,667 Some theologians will call this a new race or a third humanity. 642 00:33:05,708 --> 00:33:07,458 Is it this or that? 643 00:33:07,500 --> 00:33:11,417 No, it's something entirely new. 644 00:33:11,500 --> 00:33:15,042 This, friends, is an issue of identity. 645 00:33:15,125 --> 00:33:17,625 Their identity is no long uncircumcised Gentile 646 00:33:17,667 --> 00:33:22,333 or circumcised Jew, it is in Christ, 647 00:33:22,375 --> 00:33:27,042 reconciled together as a new man. 648 00:33:27,125 --> 00:33:30,667 So, there's this new group, there's this new category, 649 00:33:30,708 --> 00:33:35,042 there's this new people called Christian. 650 00:33:35,125 --> 00:33:41,833 I was trying to ascertain how to say this to you: 651 00:33:41,917 --> 00:33:44,500 it's kind of like a wedding. 652 00:33:44,542 --> 00:33:47,667 Okay, what happens in a wedding is there's a husband and a wife, 653 00:33:47,708 --> 00:33:50,500 a bride and a groom, and they come together. 654 00:33:50,542 --> 00:33:55,833 He doesn't join her family, she doesn't join his family. 655 00:33:55,917 --> 00:33:58,750 Together, the two become what? 656 00:33:58,833 --> 00:34:04,458 One, and they make a new family that has some elements and 657 00:34:04,500 --> 00:34:09,542 aspects of their former family, but it's a totally new family. 658 00:34:09,625 --> 00:34:13,167 The two become one and they make a new family. 659 00:34:13,208 --> 00:34:17,500 It's kind of like that with Jesus. 660 00:34:17,583 --> 00:34:22,208 Jews and Gentiles are reconciled together in Christ. 661 00:34:22,292 --> 00:34:27,917 They become one, the church, and they start a new family 662 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,000 called Christianity. 663 00:34:31,042 --> 00:34:34,167 It's kind of like that. 664 00:34:34,250 --> 00:34:36,875 And so for the Jewish people, they're trying to figure out, 665 00:34:36,958 --> 00:34:39,500 "Okay, our primary identity is in Christ." 666 00:34:39,542 --> 00:34:41,833 For the Gentiles, "Our primary identity is in Christ. 667 00:34:41,917 --> 00:34:43,667 "We shouldn't be fighting with one another, 668 00:34:43,750 --> 00:34:46,583 "we should be loving one another and figuring out what it means 669 00:34:46,667 --> 00:34:50,083 "to be this new family if God is, in fact, our Father, 670 00:34:50,167 --> 00:34:51,958 and Jesus our saving Big Brother." 671 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:54,583 And so he uses language through this section of Ephesians 672 00:34:54,667 --> 00:34:59,292 like this, that together they are "brought near." 673 00:34:59,333 --> 00:35:02,500 See, if Jesus is in the center, and the Gentiles come to Jesus, 674 00:35:02,583 --> 00:35:05,333 and the Jews come to Jesus, they're brought what? 675 00:35:05,417 --> 00:35:08,042 They're brought near to each other by their relationship 676 00:35:08,125 --> 00:35:09,917 with Jesus. 677 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,458 He says, "They have access in one Spirit to the Father." 678 00:35:13,500 --> 00:35:16,750 What that means is that there is no front of the bus, 679 00:35:16,833 --> 00:35:20,417 back of the bus, first- and second-class for Christianity, 680 00:35:20,500 --> 00:35:24,458 that God's a Father who loves all of his kids, black, white, 681 00:35:24,500 --> 00:35:28,625 rich, poor, young, old, Asian, Hispanic, male, female, 682 00:35:28,667 --> 00:35:30,542 Democrat, Republican. 683 00:35:30,625 --> 00:35:33,875 He loves all his kids equally, and he places the Holy Spirit 684 00:35:33,958 --> 00:35:39,167 in each of them, and they each have equal access to their Dad. 685 00:35:39,250 --> 00:35:41,792 There's no wall of hostility. 686 00:35:41,833 --> 00:35:43,875 It's not like a family where, you know, 687 00:35:43,958 --> 00:35:46,792 Dad lives on the main floor and all his favorite kids 688 00:35:46,833 --> 00:35:48,792 live around him, you know, 689 00:35:48,833 --> 00:35:51,167 and there's a house out back for the other kids, 690 00:35:51,250 --> 00:35:54,250 but they don't need to have access to their Dad. 691 00:35:54,333 --> 00:35:56,000 It's not like that. 692 00:35:56,042 --> 00:35:58,333 God's a Father who loves all of his kids, 693 00:35:58,417 --> 00:36:00,958 gives the same Holy Spirit to each of his kids, 694 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,667 and provides equal access to himself for all of his kids. 695 00:36:04,708 --> 00:36:07,500 And then he goes on to say that they become together 696 00:36:07,583 --> 00:36:10,333 a dwelling place for God. 697 00:36:10,375 --> 00:36:13,333 It's like a family all living together. 698 00:36:13,417 --> 00:36:17,167 And Mars Hill Church, that's what we are. 699 00:36:17,208 --> 00:36:20,708 That's what you are. 700 00:36:20,792 --> 00:36:25,625 We are seeing here a radical transformation in the history 701 00:36:25,667 --> 00:36:31,167 of the world, and nothing is the same after Jesus Christ. 702 00:36:31,250 --> 00:36:32,792 So, two things I would say. 703 00:36:32,833 --> 00:36:35,292 Number one, old things may explain us, 704 00:36:35,333 --> 00:36:39,083 but they no longer define us in Christ. 705 00:36:39,167 --> 00:36:41,667 So, perhaps your previous, primary identity was, 706 00:36:41,750 --> 00:36:44,667 "I'm American, or this is my race, or this is my culture, 707 00:36:44,708 --> 00:36:47,833 "or this is my gender, this is my family, this is our history, 708 00:36:47,917 --> 00:36:49,542 this is our tradition." 709 00:36:49,625 --> 00:36:53,833 That might explain you, but it no longer defines you. 710 00:36:53,917 --> 00:36:55,292 No longer defines you. 711 00:36:55,333 --> 00:36:59,292 Your primary identity is in Christ--is in Christ, 712 00:36:59,333 --> 00:37:03,333 which means your primary allegiance is to those 713 00:37:03,417 --> 00:37:05,458 who are in Christ. 714 00:37:05,500 --> 00:37:08,042 Number two, there is a difference, 715 00:37:08,125 --> 00:37:10,042 and we need to make note of this, 716 00:37:10,125 --> 00:37:13,750 between cultural preferences and culture prejudices. 717 00:37:13,833 --> 00:37:18,833 Probably the most famous African-American pastor 718 00:37:18,917 --> 00:37:21,667 in the United States of America is Bishop T. D. Jakes, 719 00:37:21,708 --> 00:37:24,333 and I don't want to get into all the theological issues. 720 00:37:24,417 --> 00:37:27,167 Just one conversation I had with him that was very insightful 721 00:37:27,208 --> 00:37:29,458 last year in Chicago, and we were talking, 722 00:37:29,500 --> 00:37:31,750 and he articulated the difference between 723 00:37:31,833 --> 00:37:35,958 prejudices and preferences as we were having a meal together. 724 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:39,750 And it's insightful to me because it's okay to have 725 00:37:39,833 --> 00:37:42,083 cultural preferences. 726 00:37:42,167 --> 00:37:45,667 We need to be careful not to elevate them into prejudices. 727 00:37:45,750 --> 00:37:49,292 You may say, "I like the way that this people group 728 00:37:49,333 --> 00:37:51,958 does life together." 729 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:56,167 That's okay, but then to say, "So we're better than they are, 730 00:37:56,208 --> 00:38:00,667 we're superior to them, they do it wrong." 731 00:38:00,708 --> 00:38:03,667 We're not talking here about issues of sin, 732 00:38:03,708 --> 00:38:06,958 we're talking about issues of style. 733 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:10,167 Not issues of sin, but issues of style. 734 00:38:10,208 --> 00:38:17,125 And what can happen is we turn our preferences into prejudices, 735 00:38:17,167 --> 00:38:21,333 and when we do that, we're not loving the whole family. 736 00:38:21,417 --> 00:38:24,667 And what we are creating is dividing walls of hostility 737 00:38:24,708 --> 00:38:27,625 saying, "You know, if you want to be with us, 738 00:38:27,667 --> 00:38:29,750 "then you need to be like us. 739 00:38:29,833 --> 00:38:32,875 "And if not, there's some sort of spiritual if not physical 740 00:38:32,958 --> 00:38:35,167 "wall that we have erected here. 741 00:38:35,250 --> 00:38:37,833 "And unless you are just like us, 742 00:38:37,917 --> 00:38:40,000 you're not welcome to be with us." 743 00:38:40,042 --> 00:38:43,000 And then God throws his arms around all the kids and says, 744 00:38:43,042 --> 00:38:44,958 "No, this is the us. 745 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:48,542 "It's all my kids and I need my kids to have my heart 746 00:38:48,625 --> 00:38:51,500 for the whole family." 747 00:38:51,542 --> 00:38:55,083 Jew and Gentile are reconciled together in Christ. 748 00:38:55,167 --> 00:38:57,667 Number two, you and God are reconciled in Christ. 749 00:38:57,750 --> 00:38:59,375 Now, here's what's mind-bending. 750 00:38:59,458 --> 00:39:01,958 You look at all the history, and the complexity, 751 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:04,750 and the acrimony between the Jews and the Gentiles and say, 752 00:39:04,833 --> 00:39:07,542 "That's pretty amazing that God could reconcile them." 753 00:39:07,625 --> 00:39:11,000 Here's what's even more amazing: not only does God in Christ 754 00:39:11,083 --> 00:39:12,958 reconcile Jew and Gentile, 755 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:16,667 God in Christ reconciles God and sinner. 756 00:39:16,708 --> 00:39:18,958 You think about the differences between us and God: 757 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:20,750 Creator, created; 758 00:39:20,833 --> 00:39:27,042 holy, sinner; infinite, finite; 759 00:39:27,125 --> 00:39:31,958 and we've sinned against God, and the result is there is 760 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:33,875 hostility between us and God. 761 00:39:33,958 --> 00:39:36,333 Now, some of you say, "I don't feel that way." 762 00:39:36,417 --> 00:39:40,958 It's because you're not the victim. 763 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:45,792 See, the offended party's always the one who's hostile. 764 00:39:45,833 --> 00:39:48,667 The offender doesn't seem to think it's a problem, 765 00:39:48,708 --> 00:39:51,333 but the offended knows that it is. 766 00:39:51,417 --> 00:39:53,667 In our relationship with God, he's the offended party. 767 00:39:53,750 --> 00:39:55,083 We've sinned against him. 768 00:39:55,167 --> 00:39:57,792 I mean, this is Psalm 51:5, "Against you only, Lord God, 769 00:39:57,833 --> 00:39:59,333 have I sinned." 770 00:39:59,417 --> 00:40:01,083 Friends, you're a sinner, I'm a sinner, 771 00:40:01,167 --> 00:40:03,958 we're all sinners by nature and choice. 772 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:07,292 We've rebelled against God, we've declared war against God, 773 00:40:07,333 --> 00:40:12,167 and God, who is holy, has a serious problem with us, 774 00:40:12,208 --> 00:40:15,833 and if he didn't, he would cease to be holy. 775 00:40:15,917 --> 00:40:20,167 How is this relationship going to be reconciled? 776 00:40:20,208 --> 00:40:22,375 We can't change ourselves, we can't save ourselves. 777 00:40:22,458 --> 00:40:26,875 He already said that we are, quote, "without hope." 778 00:40:26,958 --> 00:40:31,208 That means if we are to save ourselves, 779 00:40:31,292 --> 00:40:34,625 then we are without hope. 780 00:40:34,667 --> 00:40:37,333 So, what does God do? 781 00:40:37,375 --> 00:40:40,417 Ephesians 2:15-18, it goes on to say, 782 00:40:40,500 --> 00:40:43,917 "That he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, 783 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:45,917 so making," what? 784 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:49,292 "Peace, and might," what? 785 00:40:49,333 --> 00:40:53,667 There's our word, "reconcile us both to God in one body 786 00:40:53,750 --> 00:40:55,125 through the cross." 787 00:40:55,167 --> 00:40:56,583 Whose body? 788 00:40:56,667 --> 00:40:58,417 Jesus' body. 789 00:40:58,500 --> 00:41:00,792 "Thereby killing the hostility. 790 00:41:00,833 --> 00:41:04,833 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off," right, 791 00:41:04,917 --> 00:41:08,583 us pagan Gentiles who live far away from Israel, 792 00:41:08,667 --> 00:41:13,083 "and to those who were near," those who are, by birth, 793 00:41:13,167 --> 00:41:15,250 descendants of Abraham. 794 00:41:15,333 --> 00:41:17,500 "For through him," that is Jesus, 795 00:41:17,542 --> 00:41:23,042 "we have access in one Spirit to the Father," he says. 796 00:41:23,125 --> 00:41:24,583 The whole Trinity is there. 797 00:41:24,667 --> 00:41:29,083 We have access to the Father through the cross of Jesus 798 00:41:29,167 --> 00:41:31,167 by the power of the Holy Spirit. 799 00:41:31,250 --> 00:41:34,292 So, let me explain this. 800 00:41:34,333 --> 00:41:39,958 God, because of sin, knows that there is a wall of hostility 801 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:42,167 between us and him. 802 00:41:42,208 --> 00:41:44,292 Okay, friends, it's a wall that you've built, 803 00:41:44,333 --> 00:41:47,167 it's a wall that I've built, a wall of rebellion, 804 00:41:47,250 --> 00:41:49,667 sin, and folly. 805 00:41:49,750 --> 00:41:54,000 And so God lives in heaven, we live down here. 806 00:41:54,042 --> 00:41:57,292 He lives in a holy place, we live in an unholy place. 807 00:41:57,333 --> 00:42:00,250 He lives where there is no sin, we live in a place 808 00:42:00,333 --> 00:42:02,042 that is filled with sin. 809 00:42:02,125 --> 00:42:04,625 He lives in a place where there is no death, 810 00:42:04,667 --> 00:42:06,833 we live in a place where there is death. 811 00:42:06,917 --> 00:42:10,333 And we have built a wall and we have spiritually lived our lives 812 00:42:10,417 --> 00:42:15,750 apart from God. 813 00:42:15,833 --> 00:42:21,875 And God comes as Jesus Christ. 814 00:42:23,708 --> 00:42:26,708 God becomes a man. 815 00:42:26,792 --> 00:42:29,667 The Creator enters creation. 816 00:42:29,708 --> 00:42:36,542 The Spirit God who made all adds to his spirit 817 00:42:37,833 --> 00:42:43,667 human flesh and he goes from heaven to earth. 818 00:42:43,750 --> 00:42:47,167 He goes from being worshiped to being hated. 819 00:42:47,208 --> 00:42:51,792 He goes from a life of affluence to a life of poverty. 820 00:42:51,833 --> 00:42:58,333 He goes from a life of notoriety to a life of hostility. 821 00:42:58,417 --> 00:43:05,333 Jesus is God coming over that wall that we have built. 822 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:11,167 It is God coming to seek, and to save, and to serve us. 823 00:43:11,208 --> 00:43:13,333 It's a rescue mission. 824 00:43:13,417 --> 00:43:17,250 And what he does is he lives without sin, 825 00:43:17,333 --> 00:43:20,042 he declares himself to be God, which is why he ultimately 826 00:43:20,125 --> 00:43:22,833 was put to death, and he dies. 827 00:43:22,875 --> 00:43:25,167 And it says that we are saved, 828 00:43:25,208 --> 00:43:29,250 we're reconciled through his body. 829 00:43:29,333 --> 00:43:34,375 So, Jesus takes upon himself all of our sin and the penalty 830 00:43:34,458 --> 00:43:36,833 for sin, which is death. 831 00:43:36,917 --> 00:43:40,500 And it says that he kills the hostility 832 00:43:40,542 --> 00:43:44,542 by dying in our place. 833 00:43:44,625 --> 00:43:49,000 So, if you are in Christ and your faith is in Christ, 834 00:43:49,042 --> 00:43:54,375 he died in your place, and God is no longer one 835 00:43:54,458 --> 00:43:58,792 who has hostility toward you, he has peace with you. 836 00:43:58,833 --> 00:44:00,708 That's exactly what he says. 837 00:44:00,792 --> 00:44:02,917 He has peace with you. 838 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,417 He won't punish you because Jesus was already punished 839 00:44:05,500 --> 00:44:09,042 in your place. 840 00:44:09,125 --> 00:44:11,708 And he has eradicated, 841 00:44:11,792 --> 00:44:14,750 in the body of Jesus on the cross of Jesus, 842 00:44:14,833 --> 00:44:17,750 that dividing wall of hostility. 843 00:44:17,833 --> 00:44:24,667 And now, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in the children of God 844 00:44:24,708 --> 00:44:27,125 and there's no barrier. 845 00:44:27,167 --> 00:44:30,250 The spiritual barrier of sin has been removed, 846 00:44:30,333 --> 00:44:35,958 and now God dwells in us and God dwells with us. 847 00:44:36,708 --> 00:44:38,667 So Jew and Gentile are reconciled in Christ. 848 00:44:38,708 --> 00:44:42,042 Even more amazingly, sinners and God are reconciled in Christ. 849 00:44:42,125 --> 00:44:44,167 And then functionally and practically, 850 00:44:44,208 --> 00:44:46,542 it means for those of us who are in Christ, 851 00:44:46,625 --> 00:44:49,167 and that's now our primary identity--not our cultural 852 00:44:49,208 --> 00:44:53,083 affinity, but it's now our primary identity-- 853 00:44:53,167 --> 00:44:57,083 we are reconciled in Christ. 854 00:44:57,167 --> 00:45:00,333 You and others are reconciled in Christ. 855 00:45:00,417 --> 00:45:07,167 Here's how he says it, Ephesians 2:19-22, 856 00:45:07,208 --> 00:45:13,833 "So then," in light of Jesus, "you are no longer," what? 857 00:45:13,917 --> 00:45:19,250 "Strangers and aliens, but are fellow citizens 858 00:45:19,333 --> 00:45:21,958 with the saints," there's your identity, 859 00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:23,833 "and members of the household of God," 860 00:45:23,917 --> 00:45:26,458 there's your community, "built on the foundation of 861 00:45:26,500 --> 00:45:29,458 "the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being 862 00:45:29,500 --> 00:45:32,167 "the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, 863 00:45:32,208 --> 00:45:35,167 "being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 864 00:45:35,208 --> 00:45:38,542 "In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place 865 00:45:38,625 --> 00:45:44,417 for God by the Spirit." 866 00:45:44,500 --> 00:45:47,833 See, it used to be that God's people would go to a place 867 00:45:47,875 --> 00:45:51,833 called the temple, and it was high on a hill. 868 00:45:51,917 --> 00:45:54,167 It was, in fact, a city on a hill, 869 00:45:54,250 --> 00:45:57,500 and they would often walk for many, many miles. 870 00:45:57,542 --> 00:46:01,000 And then, when they arrived at the base of the hill, 871 00:46:01,083 --> 00:46:03,708 they would wash themselves to get clean and they would adorn 872 00:46:03,792 --> 00:46:07,000 themselves in white, and then they would sing what was 873 00:46:07,083 --> 00:46:08,750 known as the Psalms of Ascent. 874 00:46:08,833 --> 00:46:11,042 You can find these in the book of Psalms. 875 00:46:11,125 --> 00:46:15,708 And they walk, literally up, to Jerusalem, the city on a hill, 876 00:46:15,792 --> 00:46:17,833 and the temple was high and exalted. 877 00:46:17,917 --> 00:46:20,333 And the presence of God and the Holy of Holies 878 00:46:20,417 --> 00:46:21,833 was at the center, 879 00:46:21,917 --> 00:46:24,167 and they'd be trying to purify themselves for sin 880 00:46:24,208 --> 00:46:26,333 and prepare their heart to meet with God. 881 00:46:26,375 --> 00:46:29,500 And they would come, literally, as close to God as a human being 882 00:46:29,583 --> 00:46:32,667 could without dying because they're a sinner. 883 00:46:32,708 --> 00:46:34,833 So, that wall would still be in place, 884 00:46:34,875 --> 00:46:37,458 but they would get as close to God as they could. 885 00:46:37,500 --> 00:46:40,042 And they would offer sacrifices, and confess their sins, 886 00:46:40,125 --> 00:46:42,458 and animals would die, and blood would be shed, 887 00:46:42,500 --> 00:46:44,458 because the wage for sin is death, 888 00:46:44,500 --> 00:46:47,750 and all of that is foreshadowing the coming of Jesus who is 889 00:46:47,833 --> 00:46:50,708 the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 890 00:46:50,792 --> 00:46:53,333 The temple is all foreshadowing the coming of Jesus, 891 00:46:53,417 --> 00:46:56,167 because the temple was all about the presence of God 892 00:46:56,208 --> 00:46:57,833 on the earth. 893 00:46:57,875 --> 00:47:01,417 We are here, he is there, there is a dividing wall of hostility 894 00:47:01,500 --> 00:47:04,708 between us, and Jesus breaks through it and comes to be 895 00:47:04,792 --> 00:47:11,375 Emmanuel, God with us, and then Jesus is the temple of God. 896 00:47:13,042 --> 00:47:15,625 Friends, it's why today I'm not going to encourage you all 897 00:47:15,667 --> 00:47:19,000 to get on a plane and go to a place called the Holy Land. 898 00:47:19,083 --> 00:47:21,792 If you want to go, it's fine, you'll learn a lot. 899 00:47:21,833 --> 00:47:24,292 I enjoyed it, but I don't necessarily refer to it 900 00:47:24,333 --> 00:47:25,667 as the Holy Land. 901 00:47:25,750 --> 00:47:30,708 Jesus was there, but today it's just land. 902 00:47:30,792 --> 00:47:34,125 Holy is wherever the Holy Spirit is, 903 00:47:34,167 --> 00:47:37,500 and what's interesting is we no longer go to a holy place, 904 00:47:37,583 --> 00:47:42,000 but a holy God comes to any place to meet with his people. 905 00:47:42,042 --> 00:47:46,083 That's good news. 906 00:47:46,167 --> 00:47:48,125 And he uses this language of temple, 907 00:47:48,167 --> 00:47:50,833 and he's telling the Jews and the Gentiles. 908 00:47:50,875 --> 00:47:52,208 The Gentiles are probably thinking, 909 00:47:52,292 --> 00:47:54,208 "Do we need to go to the temple?" 910 00:47:54,292 --> 00:47:56,208 He's like, "You are the temple." 911 00:47:56,292 --> 00:47:58,833 "What is Paul talking about?" 912 00:47:58,917 --> 00:48:00,833 And then he uses this analogy. 913 00:48:00,875 --> 00:48:03,500 See, when you go to the temple, it is literally carved 914 00:48:03,583 --> 00:48:06,625 out of rock--or what remains of the temple, 915 00:48:06,667 --> 00:48:09,375 and as you go underground on the tour, 916 00:48:09,458 --> 00:48:13,208 you're going to see enormous hand-hewn stones 917 00:48:13,292 --> 00:48:14,917 that serve as the foundation. 918 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:17,167 And if you take the tour and you underground, 919 00:48:17,250 --> 00:48:19,375 some of these are the size of railroad cars. 920 00:48:19,458 --> 00:48:21,583 Just think, in the day before electricity 921 00:48:21,667 --> 00:48:24,208 and modern technology, how did they even create 922 00:48:24,292 --> 00:48:30,708 this amazing temple and its foundation? 923 00:48:30,792 --> 00:48:33,917 And he says, "God has done something even more amazing. 924 00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:36,708 "It's a temple not built by human hands, 925 00:48:36,792 --> 00:48:39,875 "that the Lord Jesus Christ comes and the presence of God 926 00:48:39,958 --> 00:48:42,208 is with us." 927 00:48:42,292 --> 00:48:44,500 So friends, today, we're not going to go to 928 00:48:44,583 --> 00:48:46,708 a sacred building, we're going to go to Jesus. 929 00:48:46,792 --> 00:48:49,208 In fact, let me restate that. 930 00:48:49,292 --> 00:48:51,750 Jesus will come to be with us. 931 00:48:51,833 --> 00:48:56,333 We don't go anywhere, God's the one who comes to us. 932 00:48:56,417 --> 00:49:00,625 And he says that you are stones in this temple called the church 933 00:49:00,667 --> 00:49:02,708 that God is building. 934 00:49:02,792 --> 00:49:06,500 So he says, "The cornerstone is Jesus," right? 935 00:49:06,583 --> 00:49:10,292 That means everything rises and falls with Jesus. 936 00:49:10,333 --> 00:49:12,625 When you lay the foundation of a building, 937 00:49:12,667 --> 00:49:18,000 the most important thing is to lay the cornerstone correctly. 938 00:49:18,042 --> 00:49:20,917 If you lay it incorrectly or you lay the wrong cornerstone, 939 00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:24,083 whatever you've built will eventually crumble. 940 00:49:24,167 --> 00:49:25,708 You know why religions fail? 941 00:49:25,792 --> 00:49:27,417 You know why psychology fails? 942 00:49:27,500 --> 00:49:28,833 You know why moralism fails? 943 00:49:28,875 --> 00:49:30,208 You know why nations fail? 944 00:49:30,292 --> 00:49:31,667 You know why businesses fail? 945 00:49:31,750 --> 00:49:33,167 Do you know why people fail? 946 00:49:33,250 --> 00:49:35,000 Do you know why spiritualities fail? 947 00:49:35,083 --> 00:49:38,500 If the cornerstone isn't Jesus, it's only a matter of time 948 00:49:38,542 --> 00:49:41,292 before it all crumbles. 949 00:49:41,333 --> 00:49:44,000 So, it all starts with Jesus, 950 00:49:44,083 --> 00:49:46,208 and it all rises and falls with Jesus. 951 00:49:46,292 --> 00:49:50,708 So, at Mars Hill, we like to say that it's all about Jesus. 952 00:49:50,792 --> 00:49:53,667 So, we talk about Jesus and how he relates your marriage, 953 00:49:53,708 --> 00:49:55,958 and Jesus and how he relates to your kids, 954 00:49:56,000 --> 00:49:58,167 and Jesus and how he relates to your singleness, 955 00:49:58,208 --> 00:50:00,333 and Jesus and how he relates to your suffering, 956 00:50:00,417 --> 00:50:02,542 and Jesus and how he relates to your poverty, 957 00:50:02,625 --> 00:50:04,958 and Jesus and how he relates to your job, 958 00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:07,667 and we don't talk about anything unless we're also talking 959 00:50:07,708 --> 00:50:10,167 firstly about Jesus, amen? 960 00:50:10,208 --> 00:50:11,833 So, we start with Jesus. 961 00:50:11,917 --> 00:50:14,333 Everything states with Jesus, and everything rests, and rides, 962 00:50:14,417 --> 00:50:16,333 and resides on Jesus. 963 00:50:16,417 --> 00:50:18,833 And then he says there's the apostles and the prophets, 964 00:50:18,917 --> 00:50:21,208 so the Old Testament and the New Testament leaders, 965 00:50:21,292 --> 00:50:23,958 those who are, in large part, responsible for giving us 966 00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:29,167 the Scriptures, and then he says God is building the church. 967 00:50:29,208 --> 00:50:32,833 So you need to use this physical imagery to teach you 968 00:50:32,917 --> 00:50:35,125 spiritual reality. 969 00:50:35,167 --> 00:50:36,958 And as I said, sometimes physical things 970 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:38,833 will illustrate spiritual truths. 971 00:50:38,917 --> 00:50:40,500 So it is with a building. 972 00:50:40,583 --> 00:50:43,167 If you go to, let's say, a brick building, you say, 973 00:50:43,208 --> 00:50:45,042 "That's amazing how that's all stacked up 974 00:50:45,125 --> 00:50:46,542 and it holds together." 975 00:50:46,625 --> 00:50:48,667 Mars Hill, you're the bricks. 976 00:50:48,708 --> 00:50:54,167 You're the bricks that God stacks us together. 977 00:50:54,208 --> 00:50:57,667 And for a few thousand years Christianity has existed. 978 00:50:57,750 --> 00:51:00,333 It's the biggest thing in the history of the world 979 00:51:00,417 --> 00:51:03,000 because Jesus is still alive. 980 00:51:03,083 --> 00:51:05,833 And in 2,000 years, 5,000 years, 10,000 years, 981 00:51:05,917 --> 00:51:09,542 whenever the Lord Jesus decides to return, we do not know, 982 00:51:09,625 --> 00:51:11,917 all the nations will come and go, 983 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:13,750 and the companies will come and go, 984 00:51:13,833 --> 00:51:17,333 and the church will still be here because it's a miracle. 985 00:51:17,417 --> 00:51:21,208 It's something that God does, it's something that he built. 986 00:51:21,292 --> 00:51:24,917 He saves people, and he stacks them together as the church, 987 00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:27,250 and the church just keeps growing. 988 00:51:27,333 --> 00:51:29,958 Some of you say, "Why is Mars Hill always so worried 989 00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:31,333 about growth?" 990 00:51:31,417 --> 00:51:33,667 Because we want to see the church grow. 991 00:51:33,708 --> 00:51:35,917 There are people out there who are far off, 992 00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:37,750 and they're alienated, and they're separated, 993 00:51:37,833 --> 00:51:41,167 and they're living in hostility, and we want them to meet Jesus 994 00:51:41,208 --> 00:51:43,167 and to be part of the church family, 995 00:51:43,208 --> 00:51:45,333 and we want to get to know them, and, 996 00:51:45,375 --> 00:51:47,250 "Hey, you stack your life next to mine, 997 00:51:47,333 --> 00:51:51,292 and let's love each other and be the people of God." 998 00:51:51,333 --> 00:51:53,167 And let's just say, Mars Hill, 999 00:51:53,250 --> 00:51:55,667 there's some weird bricks, right? 1000 00:51:55,708 --> 00:51:57,167 Have you noticed? 1001 00:51:57,208 --> 00:51:59,667 I mean, you walk into a church and you say, 1002 00:51:59,708 --> 00:52:01,833 "I can't see these people all coming together 1003 00:52:01,875 --> 00:52:03,750 for anything else." 1004 00:52:03,833 --> 00:52:05,708 Like, "What do you guys have in common?" 1005 00:52:05,792 --> 00:52:10,458 "Jesus. We're very different." 1006 00:52:10,500 --> 00:52:12,500 We're very different, right? 1007 00:52:12,583 --> 00:52:14,750 I mean, just think of Mars Hill Church, 1008 00:52:14,833 --> 00:52:17,167 just all the different life stages, 1009 00:52:17,208 --> 00:52:19,833 and backgrounds, and races, and cultures, 1010 00:52:19,917 --> 00:52:22,667 and experiences, and commitments, 1011 00:52:22,708 --> 00:52:26,500 and all that makes us who we are. 1012 00:52:26,583 --> 00:52:28,250 And as we're all stacked together, 1013 00:52:28,333 --> 00:52:30,958 if somebody walks in and asks, "What--how--what?" 1014 00:52:31,000 --> 00:52:32,625 "Oh, Jesus. 1015 00:52:32,667 --> 00:52:35,333 "He loves them, he loves me, he put us together, 1016 00:52:35,375 --> 00:52:37,833 "and it's to show how loving, and how gracious, 1017 00:52:37,917 --> 00:52:41,542 and how good he is, and he's building his church." 1018 00:52:41,625 --> 00:52:44,708 So, you know, I was thinking about it when I went to Israel 1019 00:52:44,792 --> 00:52:47,208 and I got to see the foundation of the temple, 1020 00:52:47,292 --> 00:52:49,833 and was underground on the tour, and the huge hand-carved stones, 1021 00:52:49,917 --> 00:52:52,250 and I thought, "This is amazing, but the people of 1022 00:52:52,333 --> 00:52:54,583 "Mars Hill Church are more amazing than this. 1023 00:52:54,667 --> 00:52:57,458 "They're more amazing than this. 1024 00:52:57,500 --> 00:53:02,500 "They're living stones that are stacked together on Jesus 1025 00:53:02,583 --> 00:53:04,542 to give testimony to God." 1026 00:53:04,625 --> 00:53:06,833 And then he says that we become, then, 1027 00:53:06,875 --> 00:53:10,208 a dwelling place for God the Spirit. 1028 00:53:10,292 --> 00:53:14,333 There's a difference between God being present with you 1029 00:53:14,417 --> 00:53:17,667 in your life, and he is, so if you're singing in your car, 1030 00:53:17,708 --> 00:53:20,625 or you're reading the Bible at home, or you're praying at work, 1031 00:53:20,667 --> 00:53:23,958 God is with you, but the Holy Spirit 1032 00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:27,917 loves to be present with the people of God. 1033 00:53:28,000 --> 00:53:30,625 So, when we come together, Mars Hill, 1034 00:53:30,667 --> 00:53:32,250 we don't believe that a building 1035 00:53:32,333 --> 00:53:34,042 is particularly sacred. 1036 00:53:34,125 --> 00:53:37,042 We could meet in a school, we could meet at a theatre, 1037 00:53:37,125 --> 00:53:39,667 we could sell a building and go get another one. 1038 00:53:39,708 --> 00:53:43,167 What makes a place holy are the people of God being present 1039 00:53:43,208 --> 00:53:45,833 and Jesus being made much of. 1040 00:53:45,875 --> 00:53:48,458 And when we come together, God is eminent, 1041 00:53:48,500 --> 00:53:51,583 he is present with us through the power of the Holy Spirit, 1042 00:53:51,667 --> 00:53:55,583 and he is reminding us that we're reconciled to him in one 1043 00:53:55,667 --> 00:53:58,375 another, and he is revealing to the world the reconciliation 1044 00:53:58,458 --> 00:54:01,333 that happens in Christ, and that means that we come together 1045 00:54:01,417 --> 00:54:04,458 to sing, and as we sing, we're showing we're reconciled 1046 00:54:04,500 --> 00:54:09,833 in Christ, and we're reconciled to God in Christ. 1047 00:54:09,875 --> 00:54:11,750 And so when we come together, 1048 00:54:11,833 --> 00:54:15,667 we become like the Old Covenant temple. 1049 00:54:15,708 --> 00:54:19,333 The difference there was only the holiest man on the holiest 1050 00:54:19,417 --> 00:54:22,750 day of the year would be able to enter into the very presence of 1051 00:54:22,833 --> 00:54:26,167 God, but even that dividing wall of hostility was torn from top 1052 00:54:26,208 --> 00:54:30,167 to bottom at the death of Jesus-- 1053 00:54:30,208 --> 00:54:34,458 it was a curtain in the temple-- and then the Spirit of God 1054 00:54:34,500 --> 00:54:38,500 was free to be released and among the people of God. 1055 00:54:38,583 --> 00:54:41,250 So, all of those barriers have now been removed 1056 00:54:41,333 --> 00:54:43,417 and the Holy Spirit is with us. 1057 00:54:43,500 --> 00:54:46,542 Just like he used to be present in the Holy of Holies, 1058 00:54:46,625 --> 00:54:49,333 he's present in the praise of God's people. 1059 00:54:49,417 --> 00:54:52,042 So Mars Hill, when I'm done preaching, 1060 00:54:52,125 --> 00:54:55,875 please remain singing; 1061 00:54:55,958 --> 00:54:58,333 that the Holy Spirit is not just with you, 1062 00:54:58,417 --> 00:55:02,833 he's with us; and it's not just your life and your body 1063 00:55:02,875 --> 00:55:04,917 that are the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1064 00:55:05,000 --> 00:55:09,250 it's also our church and our collective family together, 1065 00:55:09,333 --> 00:55:14,208 together, which is a "dwelling place for God by the Spirit." 1066 00:55:14,292 --> 00:55:17,125 We are "a holy temple in the Lord." 1067 00:55:17,167 --> 00:55:19,667 That's our new identity, that's our new activity, 1068 00:55:19,708 --> 00:55:23,167 because together in Christ, God's made us a new community. 1069 00:55:23,208 --> 00:55:26,542 This is why there's nothing like the church. 1070 00:55:26,625 --> 00:55:28,750 There's nothing like it, and when people, 1071 00:55:28,833 --> 00:55:31,917 out of the fact they're made in the image and likeness of God, 1072 00:55:32,000 --> 00:55:33,542 they want to see reconciliation. 1073 00:55:33,625 --> 00:55:36,167 Well, the answer is Jesus. 1074 00:55:36,208 --> 00:55:38,458 The answer is Jesus. 1075 00:55:38,500 --> 00:55:45,333 So, in closing, let me explain to you the fact that 1076 00:55:45,375 --> 00:55:48,167 ideas have consequences. 1077 00:55:48,208 --> 00:55:50,375 Some of you say, "Well, okay, we've looked at 1078 00:55:50,458 --> 00:55:51,958 "the biblical ideology. 1079 00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:53,833 What's the alternative?" 1080 00:55:53,917 --> 00:55:58,583 Ideas have consequences, and let me be so bold and controversial 1081 00:55:58,667 --> 00:56:03,333 as to say that apart from what I will call a biblical worldview, 1082 00:56:03,417 --> 00:56:07,458 racial/cultural equality, love, affection, appreciation, 1083 00:56:07,500 --> 00:56:11,250 and reconciliation, it's inconsistent 1084 00:56:11,333 --> 00:56:15,833 if not hypocritical. 1085 00:56:15,917 --> 00:56:19,417 I'll show you--have you heard of "The Origin of the Species"? 1086 00:56:19,500 --> 00:56:22,750 This is the underpinnings of the evolutionary worldview. 1087 00:56:22,833 --> 00:56:25,458 Have you heard of the book "The Origin of the Species"? 1088 00:56:25,500 --> 00:56:26,833 Have you heard of that? 1089 00:56:26,917 --> 00:56:28,250 Here's the original title: 1090 00:56:28,333 --> 00:56:30,250 "On the Origin of Species by Means 1091 00:56:30,333 --> 00:56:32,250 "of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured 1092 00:56:32,333 --> 00:56:35,167 Races in the Struggle for Life," by Charles Darwin. 1093 00:56:35,208 --> 00:56:36,958 They cut the second half off 1094 00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:39,333 because it's a little controversial. 1095 00:56:39,375 --> 00:56:41,500 So, you were told he wrote a book called 1096 00:56:41,583 --> 00:56:42,917 "The Origin of the Species." 1097 00:56:43,000 --> 00:56:45,542 No, it's also "The Preservation of Favoured Races 1098 00:56:45,625 --> 00:56:47,958 in the Struggle for Life." 1099 00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:51,333 A purely evolutionary worldview says that we were animals, 1100 00:56:51,417 --> 00:56:54,625 some of us have become people, and the rest of us are somewhere 1101 00:56:54,667 --> 00:56:56,417 in the middle. 1102 00:56:56,500 --> 00:56:59,042 In our nation's history, shamefully it meant that 1103 00:56:59,125 --> 00:57:02,333 for governmental purposes and representational purposes, 1104 00:57:02,375 --> 00:57:06,167 some people were considered 3/5ths human, 1105 00:57:06,250 --> 00:57:08,792 which means you're still part animal and part human, 1106 00:57:08,833 --> 00:57:10,500 but you've crossed over the line. 1107 00:57:10,583 --> 00:57:13,125 You're more human than animal. 1108 00:57:13,167 --> 00:57:16,208 This was the case for those who were black, 1109 00:57:16,292 --> 00:57:19,292 or sometimes Native American, or Hispanic, or Asian, 1110 00:57:19,333 --> 00:57:22,417 various groupings. 1111 00:57:22,500 --> 00:57:25,083 Mars Hill, do we believe that? 1112 00:57:25,167 --> 00:57:26,875 Why do we not believe that? 1113 00:57:26,958 --> 00:57:29,208 Because we believe the Bible. 1114 00:57:29,292 --> 00:57:32,125 The Bible says that no matter what group you're in, 1115 00:57:32,167 --> 00:57:34,875 we all actually descend from one man and one woman. 1116 00:57:34,958 --> 00:57:38,500 So, we're actually all part of one big family. 1117 00:57:38,542 --> 00:57:41,667 In addition, the Bible teaches that God made animals 1118 00:57:41,750 --> 00:57:44,875 who don't bear his image and likeness, and people who do, 1119 00:57:44,958 --> 00:57:48,000 and there's nothing in the middle. 1120 00:57:48,083 --> 00:57:52,208 So, all people equally bear the image and likeness of God, 1121 00:57:52,292 --> 00:57:56,333 are worthy of equal dignity, value, and equality. 1122 00:57:56,417 --> 00:57:58,667 That's what it says, that's what it means. 1123 00:57:58,708 --> 00:58:01,625 And again, we're not talking about issues of sin, 1124 00:58:01,667 --> 00:58:03,625 but issues of style. 1125 00:58:03,667 --> 00:58:06,292 It doesn't mean that everything everybody always does is okay 1126 00:58:06,333 --> 00:58:09,333 in God's sight, but it does mean that everybody is equal 1127 00:58:09,375 --> 00:58:11,833 because they equally bear the image and likeness of God. 1128 00:58:11,875 --> 00:58:13,333 Now, let's bring it to Christ. 1129 00:58:13,375 --> 00:58:17,417 Let's say you are in Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells in you, 1130 00:58:17,500 --> 00:58:20,125 Jesus loves you, the Father adopts you, 1131 00:58:20,167 --> 00:58:22,333 and he reconciles us together. 1132 00:58:22,375 --> 00:58:27,167 In the family of God, there are no second-class citizens, right? 1133 00:58:27,250 --> 00:58:30,292 There are no children who are half in the family 1134 00:58:30,333 --> 00:58:33,000 and half not in the family; half in the inheritance, 1135 00:58:33,083 --> 00:58:34,792 half not in the inheritance. 1136 00:58:34,833 --> 00:58:37,167 God's not a Father who treats his kids like that, 1137 00:58:37,250 --> 00:58:38,833 and because of the Bible, 1138 00:58:38,875 --> 00:58:42,292 we should never see people like that. 1139 00:58:42,333 --> 00:58:47,000 Is there anybody you are prejudiced against, any group? 1140 00:58:47,083 --> 00:58:50,167 Is there anybody you're not reconciled to and they would say 1141 00:58:50,208 --> 00:58:54,125 they're a Christian? 1142 00:58:54,167 --> 00:58:58,042 We are reconciled, if we're Christians, in Christ, 1143 00:58:58,125 --> 00:59:00,667 and we can be reconciled together as Christians 1144 00:59:00,750 --> 00:59:02,792 around Christ. 1145 00:59:02,833 --> 00:59:05,500 And I would just beg you, seek reconciliation, 1146 00:59:05,583 --> 00:59:07,708 and even if they don't reciprocate, 1147 00:59:07,792 --> 00:59:12,500 don't have a funeral in your heart where they're dead to you. 1148 00:59:12,583 --> 00:59:17,000 Now, you contrast this worldview of evolution where people are 1149 00:59:17,083 --> 00:59:20,000 part human, part animal, and we're more evolved than them, 1150 00:59:20,083 --> 00:59:22,875 and they're basically animals, and we're superior. 1151 00:59:22,958 --> 00:59:26,708 With biblical ideology, it's what really worked toward 1152 00:59:26,792 --> 00:59:28,625 the eradication of slavery. 1153 00:59:28,667 --> 00:59:31,875 It's why William Wilberforce in Great Britain really fought 1154 00:59:31,958 --> 00:59:33,667 for the abolition of slavery, 1155 00:59:33,750 --> 00:59:35,833 because he was a Bible-believing Christian. 1156 00:59:35,875 --> 00:59:38,875 It's why, in the United States, the same thing was enacted by 1157 00:59:38,958 --> 00:59:41,625 Abraham Lincoln, fighting for the abolition of slavery 1158 00:59:41,667 --> 00:59:44,083 because he was a Bible-believing Christian. 1159 00:59:44,167 --> 00:59:45,500 I watched the movie. 1160 00:59:45,542 --> 00:59:46,875 I thought it was amazing. 1161 00:59:46,958 --> 00:59:49,375 I wish they would have included his relationship with Jesus 1162 00:59:49,458 --> 00:59:50,833 and his commitment to biblical truth 1163 00:59:50,917 --> 00:59:52,333 that really compelled him forward. 1164 00:59:52,417 --> 00:59:54,125 That's why during the Civil Rights Movement, 1165 00:59:54,167 --> 00:59:55,833 a man like Martin Luther King, Jr., 1166 00:59:55,917 --> 00:59:58,667 comes into leadership as a pastor, 1167 00:59:58,708 --> 01:00:01,500 preaching biblical themes of redemption 1168 01:00:01,583 --> 01:00:05,833 and equality from things like the Exodus. 1169 01:00:05,917 --> 01:00:08,458 Ideas have consequences. 1170 01:00:08,500 --> 01:00:13,000 Ideas have profound consequences for the well-being of people, 1171 01:00:13,083 --> 01:00:16,417 and it's one of the reasons that I really love the Bible and I 1172 01:00:16,500 --> 01:00:18,667 really appreciate that it's not only true 1173 01:00:18,708 --> 01:00:20,958 but it's incredibly helpful. 1174 01:00:21,000 --> 01:00:23,500 And it allows us to be a people of God, 1175 01:00:23,583 --> 01:00:25,500 a family of God, 1176 01:00:25,583 --> 01:00:28,125 where our preferences don't have to become our prejudices, 1177 01:00:28,167 --> 01:00:31,167 and where those things that explain us don't have to define 1178 01:00:31,208 --> 01:00:35,667 us because we're a new group together in Christ. 1179 01:00:35,708 --> 01:00:38,958 And in closing, for those of you that don't know the history of 1180 01:00:39,000 --> 01:00:42,000 Mars Hill, let me just say something practically 1181 01:00:42,083 --> 01:00:45,333 that I hope is helpful. 1182 01:00:45,417 --> 01:00:48,542 When Grace and I moved back to Seattle and we knew, eventually, 1183 01:00:48,625 --> 01:00:51,667 we were going to plant a church, we found the most diverse, 1184 01:00:51,750 --> 01:00:55,292 Bible-believing church we could find, and we worshiped there. 1185 01:00:55,333 --> 01:00:58,333 And it was an African-American pastor who was gracious enough 1186 01:00:58,417 --> 01:01:02,417 to fund us, and send us out, and allow us to start the church. 1187 01:01:02,500 --> 01:01:05,042 And it was my heart's intent to have diversity in 1188 01:01:05,125 --> 01:01:07,458 the leadership early on. 1189 01:01:07,500 --> 01:01:10,625 My belief is it's easier to get diversity in the church if you 1190 01:01:10,667 --> 01:01:13,708 have diversity in the leadership because when you make decisions, 1191 01:01:13,792 --> 01:01:15,833 if you don't have other cultural perspectives, 1192 01:01:15,917 --> 01:01:18,667 sometimes you can make one that isn't the most hospitable 1193 01:01:18,708 --> 01:01:20,417 for all people. 1194 01:01:20,500 --> 01:01:23,333 I realized that recently talking to a Christian hip-hop artist, 1195 01:01:23,417 --> 01:01:25,042 African-American guy from another city, 1196 01:01:25,125 --> 01:01:26,958 and he was talking about attending his church 1197 01:01:27,000 --> 01:01:30,167 and bringing his friends, but it was a really white church and he 1198 01:01:30,208 --> 01:01:32,833 said, "They don't even know how to make you feel welcome." 1199 01:01:32,917 --> 01:01:34,333 I was like, "Okay, explain that." 1200 01:01:34,417 --> 01:01:37,333 He said, "Well, they get up and say, 'Hey, if you're new, 1201 01:01:37,417 --> 01:01:40,042 we'd love to take you out for a cup of coffee.'" 1202 01:01:40,125 --> 01:01:42,542 He said, "In our neighborhood, we don't have coffee shops 1203 01:01:42,625 --> 01:01:44,542 "and we don't all go out for coffee. 1204 01:01:44,625 --> 01:01:45,958 That's a really white thing." 1205 01:01:46,000 --> 01:01:48,333 I was like, "Oh, yeah, it is." So, you know. 1206 01:01:48,417 --> 01:01:50,875 And so, again, just a simple reminder that when there's 1207 01:01:50,958 --> 01:01:52,875 diversity in leadership, it opens more hospitality 1208 01:01:52,958 --> 01:01:54,667 to different people. 1209 01:01:54,750 --> 01:01:58,333 So, early on, I invited one man to come with us to be an elder, 1210 01:01:58,417 --> 01:02:00,708 African-American man, a godly man, 1211 01:02:00,792 --> 01:02:03,250 but his job forced him to go on the road, 1212 01:02:03,333 --> 01:02:05,833 and he was gone a lot with a young family, 1213 01:02:05,917 --> 01:02:08,417 and they were living far away, so he transitioned out. 1214 01:02:08,500 --> 01:02:11,667 There was another young man who was a very gifted up and coming 1215 01:02:11,708 --> 01:02:14,125 young African-American preacher that I was investing in, 1216 01:02:14,167 --> 01:02:15,958 then he joined the military and left. 1217 01:02:16,000 --> 01:02:19,000 And so, we started with not exactly the leadership team 1218 01:02:19,083 --> 01:02:20,958 that I would have hoped for. 1219 01:02:21,000 --> 01:02:23,833 And some years later, our hope is that our churches look like 1220 01:02:23,917 --> 01:02:25,333 the communities they're in. 1221 01:02:25,417 --> 01:02:27,417 So, Albuquerque's going to be very diverse 1222 01:02:27,500 --> 01:02:30,000 with Hispanics, natives, and those who are white. 1223 01:02:30,083 --> 01:02:33,500 Rainier Valley's very diverse, and other places like Portland, 1224 01:02:33,583 --> 01:02:35,208 not so much. 1225 01:02:35,292 --> 01:02:37,833 Portland's the whitest place I've ever seen. 1226 01:02:37,917 --> 01:02:40,625 I don't even know if they sell wheat bread in Portland 1227 01:02:40,667 --> 01:02:42,542 it's so white. 1228 01:02:42,625 --> 01:02:46,167 But if you're at Mars Hill and you say, "Man, 1229 01:02:46,208 --> 01:02:49,708 "I'm from a different culture, racial, ethnic background. 1230 01:02:49,792 --> 01:02:53,167 "I love the church, but I don't know if this is the best place 1231 01:02:53,208 --> 01:02:56,292 for me," might I just say you'd be a real gift to us 1232 01:02:56,333 --> 01:03:00,625 in leadership, that we really could use your help, 1233 01:03:00,667 --> 01:03:03,458 and you could help us learn and grow. 1234 01:03:03,500 --> 01:03:06,833 We have some diversity, and by God's grace we aspire to more, 1235 01:03:06,917 --> 01:03:09,000 because if Jesus has reconciled us, 1236 01:03:09,083 --> 01:03:11,250 then we need to do this together. 1237 01:03:11,333 --> 01:03:13,958 And so we'd appreciate it, if you are feeling called toward 1238 01:03:14,000 --> 01:03:16,958 leadership, especially those of you who maybe, you know, 1239 01:03:17,000 --> 01:03:20,833 aren't just white indie rockers who play guitar, 1240 01:03:20,875 --> 01:03:22,458 smoke, and blog. 1241 01:03:22,500 --> 01:03:25,167 Like, we--if you are here, welcome, 1242 01:03:25,208 --> 01:03:26,833 but we have a lot of you. 1243 01:03:26,917 --> 01:03:30,833 If you're someone else, we love you, we welcome you, 1244 01:03:30,917 --> 01:03:33,625 and you could be a real blessing and help to us, 1245 01:03:33,667 --> 01:03:37,167 and so help us to welcome you so that together we can welcome 1246 01:03:37,208 --> 01:03:39,458 all of God's people, amen? 1247 01:03:39,500 --> 01:03:41,750 Alright, that's all I've got for today probably. 1248 01:03:41,833 --> 01:03:43,333 I'll pray. 1249 01:03:43,417 --> 01:03:45,750 Father God, thank you for an opportunity to teach 1250 01:03:45,833 --> 01:03:48,833 the Bible at Mars Hill Church to the people that I love. 1251 01:03:48,875 --> 01:03:51,458 I thank you for this great temple that is being built 1252 01:03:51,500 --> 01:03:55,083 and all of these amazing stones that are being laid, 1253 01:03:55,167 --> 01:03:57,792 one life upon the other as we do life together. 1254 01:03:57,833 --> 01:04:03,042 God, I thank you that in Christ we can be reconciled to you, 1255 01:04:03,125 --> 01:04:06,542 and in Christ we can be reconciled to one another. 1256 01:04:06,625 --> 01:04:10,208 And God, the names may change; it used to be Jew and Gentile, 1257 01:04:10,292 --> 01:04:12,625 maybe now it's black and white, and young and old, 1258 01:04:12,667 --> 01:04:15,125 and rich and poor, and those who are Democrat, 1259 01:04:15,167 --> 01:04:17,458 those who are Republican, those who are Hispanic, 1260 01:04:17,500 --> 01:04:19,833 those who are Asian, those who are suburban, 1261 01:04:19,917 --> 01:04:22,667 those who are rural, those who are urban. 1262 01:04:22,708 --> 01:04:27,333 Father, the categories change, but the issues remain the same. 1263 01:04:27,417 --> 01:04:31,250 And so we ask you, Lord Jesus, to fill us individually 1264 01:04:31,333 --> 01:04:33,333 and collectively with the Holy Spirit 1265 01:04:33,375 --> 01:04:34,958 and to, together, 1266 01:04:35,000 --> 01:04:37,667 come to the fullness of an understanding of what this 1267 01:04:37,708 --> 01:04:41,375 amazing reconciliation is, in Christ's good name, amen. 1268 01:04:43,042 --> 01:04:45,958 Each year, over 10 million Mars Hill church sermons 1269 01:04:46,000 --> 01:04:49,042 are downloaded worldwide for free. 1270 01:04:49,125 --> 01:04:51,667 This ministry is generously supported 1271 01:04:51,708 --> 01:04:54,333 by Mars Hill church members and listeners like you. 1272 01:04:54,375 --> 01:04:57,833 If you'd like to support our efforts to preach Jesus to the world, 1273 01:04:57,917 --> 01:05:00,917 Please consider making a tax-deductible donation 1274 01:05:01,000 --> 01:05:03,833 by visiting marshill.com/give.