Sermon Cloud

Wasn’t that a great clip? That’s from the movie, Because of Winn-Dixie. That clip was part of the climax of one lonely girl’s adventure in a new town, where she discovers one alienated person after another and becomes their friends. Then one day, she decides to bring them all together for a party. When Becky and I first saw this movie, we thought, wow, what a great picture of what God has done for us through the Gospel. And so as we continue our summer series on Soaking in the Gospel, this is what we are going to highlight today: How the work of the Gospel takes us from being distant outsiders to intimate insiders in God’s family

Now, if you’re new to Willamette Community Church, my name is Larry Sundin, and this summer we’ve been digging into all the goodness packed into the Gospel. And we’ve been repeating this definition of THE GOSPEL The gospel is the work of God to restore humans to union with God and communion with others, in the context of a community, for good of others and the world. And today we’re going to focus on that middle portion of this good news: where God restores us to communion with others in the context of a community – that community is the church – God’s spiritual family. And what’s so great about what we’re going to look at today is this – is that this part of the gospel is the foundation for one of the priorities we’ve adopted as a Church family: The priority of Embracing People in Authentic Relationships We say it this way: We will extend to all people the same grace God has extended us and invite them to be part of an accepting community where no one stands alone.

In fact, normally, at this point of our service, we encourage you to greet one another. That’s part of our embracing strategy. We believe in welcoming anyone and everyone no matter who you are or what you’ve done. We want to embrace you with a smile, a hand shake, a kind word – an authentic – “glad to see you today.” But today we’re saving our greeting until after the message as a way of responding to what God has done for us. But before we dive into God’s Word, why don’t you stand with me one more time as our worship team gives us another opportunity to express our love for God. Let’s stand.

The cool thing about what I’m talking about today, is that this concept of including others, connecting others and making them feel part of something is a value that’s deeply imbedded in what our men are doing. I’d like to introduce you to two of our men. One’s a young dad, a school-teacher at West, another is one of our seasoned veterans – last year’s fantasy football champion. They’re going to share with us how any man can find a place to belong during this year’s Amazing Race retreat coming in September… Erik?

Thanks guys. What a great opportunity to connect. What a great way you to break down one of those barriers that keep men separate from each other. Now, I think all of us know what it feels like to be on the outside looking in. Having two teenagers now, reminds we of what it was like to be a teenager myself. When I started seventh grade I had haircut similar to Mike Miller’s. Nothing wrong with a buzz cut today, but in the late sixties everyone who was anyone had long hair. We all wanted to look like John Lennon or Neil Young. So I battled with my dad not to cut my hair. Not only that but if I was going to fit in at Waldo Junior high, I needed a pair of 501 Jeans, some Adidas tennis shoes and play some kind sport. Fortunately I made the basketball team. But one thing I don’t remember about the seventh grade was the classes I took. I just remember how important it was to be accepted by the “in crowd.” Being included by my peers was the most important thing to me, back then. Funny how that never really changes as you get older. We still want to be welcomed, to be included, and be part of a something where we can fit in – where we can connect.

You see, I think that sometimes we need to be reminded of what it’s like to be on the outside looking in. This is where I want to begin this morning, as we look at How the work of the Gospel takes us from being distant outsiders to intimate insiders in God’s family

To do that I’m going to ask you to turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 2. If you don’t have a Bible with you today, that’s no problem, we’d love to get one in your hands. If that’s you just slip up your hand, and someone from the Welcome Team will hand you one. If you don’t own one, then feel free to keep this as your own. But right now, let’s get into it and look at…

1. What it’s like to be outside of God’s family: let me just begin by reading from Ephesians 2:11. The Apostle Paul, God’s missionary to this urban hub in first century Turkey is reminding these Christ followers what life was like before they found their place in God’s story. He writes,

Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:11-13

Every once in a while we need this same reminder. What was life like before Jesus: what life is like for those who have no inside track on God:

We were separate from Christ All of us were born into this world apart from Christ. We had no idea that Jesus is like. Jesus was a stranger to them. Not real to us. Like many of our neighbors, classmates and associates today, we woke up every morning caring a burden of guilt or shame we could not shake and had no idea of the peace Jesus gives. We were disconnected from any experience of His goodness. We were separate from Christ. Not only that, but…

We were excluded from God's family
Every Jew was born into a society where God reigned. God dwelt with them, residing in the Temple. Every Israelite grew up with the sense that God was in the midst of their everyday life. All of life revolved around being one of God’s people. The Gentiles were excluded from this community. They were on the outside looking in – and so were we. We were left to make it in a world that would just as soon walk over you as include you. We were left to find our own way, deal with our own crisis, and carry our own burdens. We were left to go it alone. Also,

We were outside of God's blessings
God’s covenants were guaranteed promises to His people. The Jews understood God was seeking their best, protecting them, and redeeming them. Again, the Gentiles had nothing. No God guarantees. The only brakes you get are the one’s you make. We need to remember what that’s like: To have no privileges, no benefits and no idea that God has an ocean of blessings in store for those who belong to Him. We were outside of God’s blessings. Also,

We were without hope in the world
The Jews had hope. God promised them a future. All that Gentiles had was this life. Their motto was “Let us eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Today many people are living like there’s no tomorrow. That’s one reason why our world is so caught up in banking experiences rather than banking money. It’s why people fill their lives so full - so they won’t have time to think. Because without hope, there’s nothing really to live for. This was us before Christ. We were without hope. And finally,

We were without God in the world
We were basically left alone trying to figure this thing out. We cannot forget what it’s like to be without God. It is an emptiness, an aimlessness, a lostness we must understand - or we will become arrogant in our blessing. Life with out God can be Pretty miserable and meaningless. That’s what it’s like to be outsiders to all the goodness of God. But now, let’s look at

2. What Jesus did to include you in God’s family:
For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Ephesians 2:14-17

Jesus restored us to peace with God, because His death met the demands of God’s justice and rendered the law obsolete. The dividing wall of hostility that kept us outside His family. Now shattered by Jesus’ sacrifice, it’s now possible for anyone who puts their faith in Jesus to become friends with God.

a. He destroyed the barrier between you and God
b. He created a new humanity for God to bless
c. He proclaimed that He is the way to peace

Jesus did all this. This was the work of God done not just to restore you to union with God, but communion with others: we are no longer on the outside looking in, we are no longer distant strangers but because of Jesus’ work on the cross you and I get to experience what it’s like to be intimate insiders with God. So Paul, now lays that out for us:

3. The privileges of being included in God’s family:
Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:18-22

When Jesus restores you to union with God, He becomes the foundation of your communion with God and others, by making you welcome in God’s presence, by including you as a member of God’s family, by intimately connecting you with every other Christ follower, where together all of us become the very place God lives by His Spirit.

All of this comes to us because whenever a person receives Jesus Christ by faith, we are united with Christ by His Spirit. It is His Spirit living in us, that allows us to be welcomed into God’s presence, to be part of His family, and be connected with one another. We are all in one family, because Christ lives in us. I like how Eugene Peterson says it: You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together.

The church is God’s new humanity. Whenever we are gathered together, God dwells in the midst of us. It’s an invisible reality that ought to have some kind of effect on how we now live. Let me say it this way, If God has made us an intimate insiders in His family what are some ways we can respond to His goodness? How could we take advantage His accepting us into His family?

• Bring everything to God in prayer
If Jesus has given you access to the Father, then take advantage of it. Get acquainted with the one who wants to bless you. The Bible tells us, that it His Spirit that moves in us to cry out to Him as our Father. The Bible also tells us that when we bring all our requests to him with thanksgiving, He not only hears our prayers, but He gives us peace with the things that trouble us. We have access to the creator of the universe. We have His ear. This is the foundation of why God’s people ought to be a praying people.

• Connect with your spiritual community
There are many ways to connect at WCC: through membership, through ministry, through a retreat like Amazing Race 3, through days like this when we put on a BBQ Sunday. But the way we want to help every person connect with God’s family is by embracing you in an environment of authentic community. That’s why we have community groups. Our Community Groups serve as the place where we want people to end up, to find themselves most at home, to belong. Here is where people can experience authentic community, grow and challenge each other spiritually and join hands and hearts to serve together. In essence, "to do life together." And the best way to connect with a community group is through the invitation from a person who is already experiencing God’s community in a group. And yet, if you are not yet connected, we want to help you make that connection as well, by having you indicate your desire to connect with us by using the information card provided for you.

• Be a barrier breaker in all your relationships
If Jesus died on a cross to break down the wall that separated you from God’s family, then it makes sense that we would become barrier breakers like Jesus. He was a barrier breaker in so many ways: He loved the unlovable, touched the untouchable. He was called a friend of sinners and a drunkard. Why? Because He hung out with people that others looked down their noses at. Jesus modeled for us what it’s like to embrace all people in accepting relationships. Each one of us has an opportunity to be a barrier breaker this next Saturday. We’re going to host our annual Neighborhood BBQ right behind this building on 4th Street, and you’re all invited to help out and enjoy the day. But making that day a success is not in the good food you will bring – that’s important, we need your culinary help, and it’s not in the set-up and serving, we need that too. No, what will make that event a success is if you take the opportunity to embrace one person from our neighborhood you’ve never met: to welcome them to share a burger with you, to get to know their name, but more importantly – to get to know their story. To show them love, by listening to them – by befriending them. Jesus did that for us, we can do that for our neighbors. Be a barrier breaker not just next Saturday, but every day. Break the ice and include someone in your circle. And finally,

• Embrace anyone God brings along your path
That could be someone in your neighborhood, someone you work with, or simply someone who is sitting down the pew from you. One of the distinctives of our vision here at WCC is to be a dynamic community of Christ followers who are know for our open arms of acceptance. This is why we have a welcome team who greets and helps newcomers and guests. This is why we have a greeting time – not so you can muddle your way through an awkward hello, but so you can give a genuine, heartfelt smile and welcome, where you can make someone feel like you are truly glad they are here. That’s what family does, and especially what God’s family does. This is why we saved the greeting time in our worship celebration until now. We want to give you the opportunity to let someone feel truly welcome here. So this is how I’m ending my message today, by giving you the opportunity to do just that. Why don’t you stand with me now, move out of your pew and find someone to bless, to include, perhaps even invite to dine with you today at our after church BBQ. Stand with me now, and embrace someone with the love of Christ.