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A very good morning to all of you, welcome to Gospel Light Christian Church. Our second English worship service this morning and we are continuing our series in the book of Hebrews, so ah if you have your Bibles, it’ll be great if you could turn with me to Hebrews Chapter 13.

We are now at the very last chapter of this book, say what is this book all about?   It really is about Jesus and how Jesus is greater.  He is the only one who is able to save us from our sins, no one else can.  Can I tell you a piece of good news? Or rather, can I tell you a piece of bad news before I tell you the good news?   The bad news in the Bible is that man could never work his way towards God, man could never perform his way to acceptance with God, man could never justify himself before God because we are so hopelessly sinful and God is so infinitely holy, so the bad news is that you and I could never earn our way to heaven or to God, but the book of Hebrews is really about the gospel and the gospel is good news.

You say what's the good news?  The good news is this, when man cannot save himself, the good news tells us God is the one who initiates salvation.  God in his infinite mercy, decided to give His son Jesus to pay for our sins and He did so, not because we are good but because He is good, this is what we call grace.  Grace is the undeserved favor and goodness of God showered upon undeserving sinners like us and when we realise how hopelessly lost we were and how gloriously we were saved, we now have hearts that will be filled with gratitude, with joy, with appreciation of what God has done for me, how much He would love me and this gratitude would not remain an emotion in your heart but it must be expressed and it will be expressed in the life that seeks to glorify God, so this is the gospel, this is the message really of the entire Bible, this is also the message of Hebrews, so for the first 12 chapters we look at the grace of God in Jesus, how He is the great high priest sent to die, He is the great high priest who is able to reconcile sinful men like us back to God, but the teaching of the Bible wouldn't be complete if we just talk about grace and gratitude because it is natural and indeed desired of God that we would understand what it means to glorify Him and that's where we come to Hebrews Chapter 13.

It's about how you and I could glorify God when we are touched by grace so I googled and say “glorify God”,  “what does the world think about glorifying God?” So I went to this website called Wikihow, heard of that?  You must have heard about Wikipedia, there’s this Wikihow- they tell you everything about how to do something. So Wikihow on how to glorify God gave me a few suggestions in pictures.

Number one, they say, share the Bible truth to others, that's how you glorify God.  In simple words we evangelise, we tell people about Jesus, we read the Scriptures with someone, that's one way to glorify God.  They say another way is for us to gather as a church to praise Him, that's one way to glorify God, and then another way is when we pray, we pray for God's glory, that's one way to glorify God, and sing, we sing to the glory of God, we give, we give of our substance for the advancement of God's kingdom and glory, we become good employees and workers in our respective places of work for the glory of God and so they gave many suggestions and suggestion number 12 on the list is a picture like this that says to love one another.  You glorify God by loving one another.

Now this is where the author of Hebrews picks up, actually, he did not put this as number 12.  The author of Hebrews puts it as number one, so right after chapter 12, you must remember there's no break in the original writing of the epistles, the author doesn't write Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 and then 12 and 13, it’s a continuous letter, so right after Chapter 12 when he says you have come to grace so serve God with gratitude and fear and the first thing you do, he says is let brotherly love continue.

In other words, very important, in the mind of the author is this, the way I worship God has a lot to do with how I treat one another in the church in the gospel family.  This vertical relationship with God must be expressed in a healthy, horizontal relationship with my brothers and sisters in Christ.  Now, I'm not saying reading the Bible is not important, I'm not saying sharing the gospel is not important, I’m not saying singing is not important, but it's really interesting that the author of Hebrews highlights this relationship with brothers and sisters as something that is intimately related to glorifying God, so what is this brotherly love? Well in the Greek it’s actually just one word.  It's the word Philadelphia, Phila-love, delphia-brethren, so simply it is a love for brethren.

Now this is about love for Christians, fellow followers of Jesus Christ. We all know God as our Father and because He is our Father, we are brothers and sisters, one with another.  We're not related by blood, physical blood, but by the spiritual blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, so God says if you want to glorify me, you will love my children, you'll love one another, you'll have brotherly love. Now this is not a side issue, I want you to appreciate that the author is not off to put this as number one, because this is not a side issue in the mind of God.  For example, Jesus before He were to go to the cross the very next day, on the very last night He had with his disciples, He said this to them repeatedly, “a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love, one for another.” He's repeating it three times, two verses- significant. Just in case we don't get it and if you still don’t, we are still so dull and don't get it, or at least the disciples don't get it, He repeats again in Chapter 15, 17 that you love one another. So this is not optional, this is integral to the Christian life. This must be the evidence of someone who has been touched by grace, who is grateful to God, he will endeavor to love one another and so it is very sad that we often hear in church and in churches that people fight and argue and bicker and church split over issues. Now issues are sometimes very important, but don't forget what Jesus told us, that we are to love one another, we can differ on issues, but our spirit and our attitude must be one of love, so this is important to Christ, it's important to God.

Romans 12, it says, love one another with brotherly affection outdo one another in showing honour. It's a repeated command in Scripture and 1 John tells us, we know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. How do you know you're Christian today?   I prayed, I went here to this church, pastor prayed over me, says the evidence here, you can have for yourself is you love the brothers. One of the marks, necessary evidences of conversion is that you will love the brothers. Alright, pastor I think you have gotten this very clear, I need to examine my relationships about my relationship with my brethren, do I love them, but you know this is still rather vague, don't you think, let brotherly love continue. Can you specify this more, can you be a bit more precise, I need to know what to do. Sure, that's what the author does. He goes on to say in verse 2, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, ah this is getting specific, this is about hospitality.  In the original Greek, the word hospitality to strangers is actually just one word, it is the word Philoxenia.  Wa! very chim [local dialect slang which means "deep" used to describe something or a situation that is extremely hard to understand or comprehend, variants include nouns such as chim-inology, chim-ness]. Ok don’t be don’t be “chim” out by that, it’s actually very simple Philo as we have said philo, philo is love, xenia is stranger or alien or foreigner.  Many Singaporeans today are xenophobic do you agree?  Eh so many foreigners, our country already very crowded, don't want to have too many foreigners, xenophobic: scared of foreigners.

The Bible says you are not to be xenophobic in the church, but you are to be xenophilic or philoxenia, you are to love strangers, you are to love people who do not initially belong.  Do not neglect to show love for strangers, that’s what it means. How do I love brothers and sisters in Christ?  I love those even if I do not know them personally, even if they do not initially belong to this church, I would love them, this is what it means.  Say why?  Why do I have to love strangers, it’s easier to love people I know?  You know why you have to love strangers? Because your Father loves strangers.  In Deuteronomy, we are told God executes justice for the fatherless and the widow. Our God is a merciful God, is a just God.  He's a kind God, that is His heart, so He executes justice for the fatherless, the defenseless, the widows and He loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt, so God calls us to follow Him because He loves strangers.  He is a hospitable God, if I may put it that way.  He himself practices Philoxenia, so throughout the Bible, you will see this, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show love for strangers, don't just wait for the opportunity to come, but seek to show, go look for it, look for me, look for people who are initially out of place and help them belong, meet their needs of their lives.  In fact, this is so important that this is the qualification for someone who wants to be an elder or pastor or a bishop.

The Bible says, or rather let me just give an example of Lydia.  After she was baptised, her household as well, she urged the apostles, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay” and she prevailed upon us. I mean, she just came to know God through Jesus Christ and she's so excited to say please stay at my place. She urged us hospitality because she wants to glorify God. She wants to glorify God because she is grateful to God. She is grateful to God because she understands the grace in Jesus Christ, like I said this is an essential qualification for an elder in first Timothy three.  Often times when we look for pastor or when churches look for pastors, the first thing they look for is the degree of a seminary training, so which seminary did you come from and what's your qualification and well actually in the Bible, there is no qualification like that but this qualification is often forgotten.

We think that an elder okay, he must be above reproach, husband of one wife, we all can agree and we tend to not read the word hospitable don’t you think? We look for pastors who can teach and preach but a pastor, an elder, must be a philoxenic person or xenophilic person, he must love others, strangers. And again, in Titus, Paul repeats it for good measure so that we don't think it's a mistake.  It is affirmed again that an overseer must be hospitable, but just in case you think this is all for pastors, Peter reminds us show hospitality to one another without grumbling, so this is throughout Scripture. This is nothing really new under the sun. So the author says, let brotherly love continue, do your Philadelphia, let it continue. But how do you do Philadelphia?  Do your Philoxenia- love the strangers. Say why?  For thereby some have entertained angels unaware… whoa! This is where it gets…what is this all about?   Well, I think it will be clear to the readers. The author is referring to Genesis 18 and 19, when Abraham and Lot entertain some men and as it turned out they didn't just entertain some ordinary men, they entertained angels and even the Lord himself, so the author is saying, hey, they have done something significant in hospitality.

Now I want you to realise I don't think the author is saying, go and show hospitality because one day you may host an angel. I don't think that’s the mindset you should have, everyday check the room, see an angel got wings come out or not, that's not the point. The point is you never know how significant your hospitality may really be just like Abraham and Lot didn't know how significant it could really be.  So some of you are gifted with hospitality, don’t you say to yourself, aiya [sigh] pastor has the gift of teaching, I only have the gift of hospitality, don’t use the word “only”, don’t use the word “just”, because hospitality is a beautiful, integral, important aspect of Christian life glorifying God. It is it’s beautiful.

I remembered a year ago, I was with my family in Brisbane.  We actually went Gold Coast first and then we were looking for a church and googled everywhere can't find one in Gold Coast, we decided to drive to Brisbane after searching it out on the web.  So when we got to Brisbane we we went to the church and you know, in that trip, in that Gold Coast trip, my wife had 600 over photos ah…of everywhere we've been.  I only have one photo on my iPhone and it looked like this.  This is just one photo I took, it’s a it's it’s what the church building was like before service started and I just took it for, I guess, keepsake, this is the church we visited.  I don't care about the Warner Bros or whatever and it’s interesting because in this picture, when I look back I realised I got a photo of this man, this man his name is Stephen.

Well why do I show you Stephen, well, because when we got in, we of course were strangers to this community right? I mean I've never been to this place. No one knows us, we know no one, we just found them on the web but Stephen saw us.  We would be quite recognisable- Asians, Chinese- in the midst of all the Caucasians and he came straight to us, whilst we were seated, so he was talking to people on stage, then he saw us he came and began to chat with us and asked us “do we want to have our kids placed in the children's ministry or be with us in the service” and he says “I'll be glad to bring the kids to the children service”, and that's what he did. He brought our kids there, he came back, he sat beside us and worshiped together with us. We were together or side-by-side and I know what it means, because I've been in church for 20 over years. I I know that it’s probably more comfortable for any Christian to sit with their friends right?  The church members whom they already know but Stephen didn't, of course he has friends. He knows people there, he knows the leaders there but he didn’t, he just sat with us.  After the service, I thought he might scoot off and go and chat with his friends before they run home, but no, he’s still stuck with us, spoke with us and he said “don't worry, you sit here and I'm going to get your kids for you”, brought our two naughty boys back, continued to chat, we were about to leave, he walked us out of the church.  He said, “the next time you're coming, give me a call”, gave me his name card, his number.

You know that trip to this church, number one, I forgot the name of this church already. Number two, I forgot what the pastor was preaching that day, absolutely forgot after one year, I think it was something about Judges, but that's about it, but I remember Stephen for a long long time because I saw God in Stephen.  I saw Philoxenia that streams from Philo, Philadelphia that streams from an understanding of how much Jesus has loved him and given himself for him.  It looks very simple but I know it took sacrifice, sacrifice of his desire to be with buddies, sacrifice of his time, and to me that was the best sermon in that church, I saw it in a life.  You know when people come to church, they obviously hear the pastor but you know maybe what I'm saying is not as important as what you are saying with your life really, they’re watching you.

Just a few weeks ago, one or two weeks ago, we were having our deacons’ meeting and every time we have our deacons’ meeting it’s a feasting time.  At Deacon Joshua’s place, we eat a lot, this one is popiah [fresh spring roll] that he has to prepare three days for, so we had a popiah-time and we had some of our church committee members and spouses and so we decided to introduce one another and one couple there I didn't, I didn't ask them for permission to share, so I'm not going to share their names but one couple there shared they’ve been with us in Gospel Light for maybe 20 years or so around about 10+ years and then they shared that what is significant for them, I mean of all the introductory remarks, they said this. The first people that greeted us were Winnie and Jason, that is myself and my wife.  I said, I... they said.. I was stunned, I mean I don't even remember that anymore, I mean, of… I don’t have the slightest recollection of what that was but to them, it is significant. Another couple shared that they were looking for church. Now they are serving with us of course. They were looking for a church, they came to Gospel Light and what struck them again and they never mention anything about sermons, none of them mention anything about sermons, Pastor Paul or myself no, huh but they mentioned when they came here they saw the warmth of the people of God. Those were days ah literally, it could be warm because no aircon but ah we were also very warm because in that building we were all sharing food.  People would bring dishes, potluck, we’ll eat together, that one anothering was very palpable and obvious and they said it was that warmth that drew them.  This warmth is so powerful don’t you think?

I think about a couple here. I again didn’t ask for permission so I won’t mention their names.  They've been with us, maybe for just a few months, but when they realised that they were two other couples in Punggol who have come to join our church, they themselves living in Punggol and decided to open the house and invite them for potluck, that’s being hospitable.  Now they themselves are not absolutely entrenched in the church as yet, but they did their part to reach out to someone who is newer than them, that’s hospitality.  I recall another couple, this one I asked for permission, Uncle Victor Lim and Jane.  Victor just now said “just tell people that I'm the only botak [Malay used to describe someone bald] here”, the shiny botak alright he said, so Victor and Jane, they’ve been with us for a long time now already and I remembered him sharing with me some time ago what kept them in church or what really help them settled in church is that this couple, Colin and Jee Sia, remember them?  For the old-timers, Colin and Jee Sia will invite this couple to their house for dinner. You mean that's it? That’s it.   Someone took a personal interest in myself and my wife.  See hospitality is not, not just on Sunday when we shake hands.  Hospitality is not just your pastor standing there and welcoming people, hospitality is about the church individuals, because of the love for God would go and reach out to people who do not initially belong and embrace them.

I think about Eng Chuan and family.  Every time there's a missionary they are one of the first few people we’ll call, “hey, can you host this family?”  I don’t think they live in a big mansion, they don't but they are hospitable, they seek to show hospitality to meet the needs of these traveling missionaries.  Another couple I think of is the, Pastor Sinon and Sister Lorna. We call it the “Sinon Hotel”, ah it’s an ever-open hotel anyone comes by Singapore stay in this hotel, it’s just their flat alright, but it's like a hotel because people come people go and they served them and I’m thankful for many of you in this church who are doing your part for God in reaching out to people.  I mean we have the befrienders, we have the ushers, we have the greeters, welcome team but my point is this, this is not just for a select group of people, this is the necessary evidence of every child of God. Every child of God who has tasted the grace of God, he will want to glorify God, and according to Hebrews the first thing you’ll do is that you will have Philadelphia and Philadelphia will express itself in Philoxenia- love for strangers.  And I love it when we had our door to door community engagement just two months ago. This is a picture of all of our Telugu brethren. They joined us.  They took sacrifice to join us. They could have gotten double pay on that day. It was one of the days was a public holiday.  They could have gotten double pay but they forsook that so that they could join us in reaching out to the community and we were thinking well, would they be able to gel together with Gospeliters? How would our people here work together with the Telugu Christian church?  How would we cooperate? The good news is that the next Saturday, they signed up again. They didn't sign up for it originally but they had such a good experience with you guys. They felt welcomed and loved and embraced by you guys that they said they will come back next Saturday as well. Different?  We were strangers in a sense, we never knew each other. They are, we worship at different times, different places, but there is that Philoxenia that is beautiful, regardless of where they come from.

We’re going to Punggol folks, we’re going to Punggol.  Gospel Light has always been a church that has been nomadic and so our people tend to be the same we are not that open, really.  I mean, nobody knows that there's a church right now here at this, Furama Riverfront hotel.  Probably very few will know, driving by, no one would know but when we go to Punggol, we will be more visible, at least the building stands out and I think they'll be many strangers who will come to us, many xenias will come to us, many aliens as it were, people who do not initially belong, you say what’s the key of this ministry in Punggol?  Logistics must be good sure, outreach ministries must be tok-kong [Hokkien meaning superb or top of the line] yes, preaching must be Bible-centered, of course.  We need to strengthen our care groups, yes, but I think just as important if not more will be you, you showing Philoxenia because I think one of the worst things we could do, one of the most terrible things you can do is that we are so professional, so good in all our processes but we are so exclusive that that the Punggol residents who come by will see us and say “they’re so cliquish, we are all left alone and I’ll never come back to a church anymore because that is not the kind of church that we’re looking for”.

We want to show people God. Say how? Show people God by the way we treat them, Philoxenia.  This is your ministry, folks. I'm not preaching here to myself only.  I’m preaching to you, I'm not preaching to the befrienders or the ushers or people you think have been delegated this responsibility, this is all our privilege.  We all must seek to show hospitality and I miss those days in SCGS where after service we all could gather, eat, chitchat catch up with one another. You may look at this as very casual time but to me it's extremely valuable and spiritual because that’s where Christian one anothering takes place.  I mean right now is not optimum really, you have one-way traffic from this silly guy talking to you and you okay and after that, you go off. And this church is just not quite there and we have, we have had to go through this for several years, but praise God we're going to have our own place and we can have the one another’s once again.

It could be a warm church again where you could relax and sit and reach out to people.  I I love that and I hope you will look forward to that and one of the things that make this work is, of course, food. Ah! This would... people won’t stay if it’s not for food. We all love food in Singapore and especially in Gospel Light Christian Church.  I think Pastor Chee Keen, he was sharing that in the deacons’ meeting when he first joined Gospel Light, I think more than 10 years ago, he was amazed at how Gospeliters love food. In his previous church, people take time to eat their food and by the time he got down, Gospeliters have already wiped out all the food, but we love food and rightly so. Nothing wrong with enjoying what God has provided but food is powerful.

Someone said food is divine love made edible.  It’s true.  When we go to Punggol sister Hau Chun who was in the first service will restart the cooking ministry and many of you have already been recruited to help in the cooking part but this is the agreement we had.  Hau Chun, I know you're capable, you could produce a lot. You could cook a lot. I've no doubt about that but Hau Chun, this is the agreement, please.  You are not to cook for everyone, for the entire needs for lunch.  Please don't. Just cook a portion. Then how?  Well I want to encourage the church to supply the other portion say how?  Every one, every family, every couple just bring something simple, potluck, bring a dish, say why? So leh-chay [troublesome] why so troublesome?  Very simple because I think the privilege or the ability to give to others and to share with others is my privilege. It's my way of showing I love you and I want to serve you. You know it may be a “char-siew-pung” [roasted pork rice]. For example, I buy 10 packets of “char-siew-pung” something simple but it could be a blessing for someone and I could invite someone from another community, it’s a Punggol resident, and say come join our care group, join our lunch, just a slice of cake for you, oh no you don’t have to pay of course, this is what we share. You know how impactful that is and we’re not doing it for show.  We do it because we love God and we want to be a blessing to our brothers and sisters in Christ, but these are just the tangible ways Philoxenia can express itself and I pray our church would glorify God.  You say how pastor? Sing louder, yeah, share the gospel, yes.  But don't forget this, do your Philadelphias, exercise your Philoxenias because it is significant and then if I may say, it goes on to say, be compassionate and remember those who are in suffering, or in need, those who are in prison, that’s love. Love is not detached.  Love means we consider their needs and we visit them in their times of needs. We meet their requirements. Now this is…this passage might look very short and insignificant but let me put the spotlight on this teaching through the words of Jesus himself. Jesus said, “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me”.

You know we have a visitation ministry in this church, led by wonderful people, served by wonderful people, but visitation ministry is not for just them again, a ministry all of us are called to, but Jesus said this, “I was in prison and you came to me” so the righteous would then say “Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink and when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothed you and when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you, when did we do all these? We don’t recall seeing you”, and the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me”, “someone who is inconspicuous, someone very ordinary, someone who is very simple but when you loved him, you fed him, you gave him drink, you welcomed him, you clothed him, you met his needs, you are doing it to me, you loved me. Wow! We really do entertain angels and the Lord unaware, don’t you think?  What about those who don't? Arrghh.. I'll never do this, Ah! I know what you are preaching today.  You want us to be a…. hospitable, to get out of our comfort zones, say hi to people, serve them, sacrifice for them, give them food or invite them for meals to our house. Ah I know but I won’t do that, I'll never, ever do that… wa! it’s dangerous if you say that because He will say to those on his left “depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and he did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me” then He will answer them, saying, “truly, I say unto you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me and these will go into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life”.

Now but I am not saying, I don't think Jesus is saying, because you didn't do this, you don't deserve to be saved, no, He’s saying if you don’t these it just shows that you never had grace in your life. You have just been shown up to be a hypocrite, you see this is about judgment, Matthew 25 it’s about judgment.  How do you know the sheep from the goats?  This is how you know.  The people of God have Philadelphia and Philoxenia.  People who do not know God will not have Philadelphia will not have Philoxenia. So Hebrews, you guys… you have been doing well. Keep up the good work, because God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints as you still do, you are doing well. Keep it up he goes on to say, for you had compassion on those in prison. That's what you have been doing, keep it up and therefore, in Hebrews 13 he says let brotherly love continue.

So this morning I simply want to encourage those of you who have been consciously taking steps of faith to do Philoxenias and Philadelphias, keep it up.  You know when you do this, you're being like God, you're being like your Father, you’re glorifying Him, you’re meeting needs, you’re touching lives, people see God in you, powerful ministry, keep it up.

Let me end with this one thought. One thought that may help you to say I need to serve strangers and then one thought is this.  Do you know that you were strangers?  We all are strangers, we all were strangers to God, we were never to be able to enter the family until someone brought us in someone became hospitable to us. You know who that is? The Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us, but now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, so that you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. You know what Jesus went through on the Cross, when He cried out, my God, my God why has thou forsaken Me?  He's going through all that, so that we who were first forsaken would now be drawn back to the family.  Jesus demonstrated ultimate hospitality, love for strangers and may we all as followers of Jesus Christ, love and show that love in meeting the needs of strangers.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. I believe this is a very straightforward sermon with no theological difficulties, but it's extremely difficult to do, I can understand that.  Difficult to do because we are so used to our comfort zones.  We are so used to this culture of being shy and wanting to keep to ourselves and say, someone else would take care of that stranger, someone else would be hospitable to that new visitor, someone else will meet those needs.  My friends, this is not about others, this is about you, you realise because this is about you glorifying God, how are you doing in your relationships today?  Glorifying God is not just about reading the Bible, singing, sharing the gospel. Don't get me wrong- they are wonderful.  They are vital but is there a big blind spot in your life where you have neglected relationships? Where to you worship is simply coming to learn and to hear a sermon where really worship is when you step through the doors of this place, you start to see needs and you serve needs.  When you say God, you love me you made me a family, I was a stranger and you brought me in, let me do this for someone today, let me say hi to someone I’ve never met, let me invite him for a meal, let me open my house, let me get him to CG a care group, let me show love, because you loved me, let this be my acceptable worship unto you, God.  What a beautiful day it will be when every Gospeliter today is seeking not his own but the needs of others when we come to church we are not grabbing but we are giving when we happily share our meals, our dishes, our food.   It doesn’t cost that much but it speaks much of your God and your appreciation of your God.

Well friends, please, please, please, please don't take this sermon, hear it and say, alright, great truths, what's next?  Ask yourself today. How can I change?  How can I respond?  How can I obey?   How can I glorify God?  Start small but start doing something.  Jesus didn’t stay in heaven and say I love you, I love you, I love you, but He took that step, didn’t He? To go to the Cross.

Maybe today you are here for the first time and you're wondering what is Christianity all about. Christianity is all about this grace, folks, that Jesus, God's Son will sacrifice Himself to make sinners, strangers, aliens the children of God that He would now call us brothers.  What amazing love not because of what we have done, but all because of who He is, so perhaps, this morning, you may turn from your sin and believe in Jesus Christ because He is the only way, the truth and the life.

Father we thank You this morning for Your Word, seal these lessons to our lives, may we be doers.  Lord, we boldly pray for a church that is not just following the societal norms of shyness, of being coy about things but may we sacrificially step out of our comfort zones and practice Philoxenia and Philadelphia.  Lord I pray for a church that is demonstrating the amazing warmth of the gospel, the gracious embrace of Jesus.  Let that filter through each and every one gathered in this place and in so doing, people would see that we love one another, and indeed we are your disciples and may this beautiful body, this beautiful congregation then bring glory to Your name.  Bless each one here, we ask in Jesus name, amen.

 

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