Quite a few years ago, I left the church and turned my back on God.  I had been raised in a good Christian home and attended church regularly.  Unfortunately, I observed a few things about the church I didn’t understand.  Occasionally there were visitors to the church and when those visitors looked different, or dressed different or spoke differently, some members would whisper behind the visitors back, “What is THAT person doing here?”  Sadly, I have witnessed incidents like this.  I’ve seen people shunned in the church because they’re different and I’ve seen people, even leaders, in the church make a mistake and then disappear because there is no tolerance for error.  Now that is just the tip of the iceberg with regard to why I left the church altogether, but there are probably more blogs about that to come.

 

Have you seen this for yourself?  Maybe you grew up in the church and you’ve seen firsthand someone being shunned because they were different or you’ve seen someone ostracized because they made a mistake.  Maybe you ARE that person.  Or, YOU visited a church and were the person who was shunned because you were different.  Or maybe you just never saw the church as a place where you were welcome.   Well friends, these are things that should never happen but they do.  I am here to tell you today: That will not be who we are here at Hope church.  The Word of God has quite a bit to say about this and today, we’re going to dig in and see how we are to act in community and most importantly, why.

 

Let’s first understand who we are.  Where do we get our identity?  If someone asked us to describe ourselves, what would we say?  In Galatians 3:26 we read, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith…”  Friends, that is who we are and that’s where we get our identity and worth!  It has nothing to do with what we do for a living, where we live or what we look like.  Our identity is not found in and of ourselves but in our relationship with God.  So let’s see how that affects us in community.

 

In order to do, that we need to look closely at what we know about God.  We believe in the Holy Trinity.  God is three; Father, Son and Holy Spirit in one being.  God has existed in community since before time began.   More accurately, God IS community; One God, three Persons.  And since we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), we are created for community.  And not a community of people that look and act just like us.  But a community made up of, as Revelation 7:9 says “…every nation, tribe, people and language…”  He has broken down the walls and divisions among us.  In Galatians 3:28, Paul tells us, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  What Paul is telling us here is that there are no divisions among us.  There is no racial, social or gender division and it is the cross of Christ that breaks down the barriers. 

 

There is an old hymn that says, the ground is level at the foot of the cross.  Well, it’s true, the ground IS level at the foot of the cross.  No one should feel that they are better or more deserving.  We all enjoy the same status before God.  The ground is level at the foot of the cross and that means that anyone can come to the cross.  And guess what?  It means that anyone can come to Hope church and our goal at Hope church is to be a place that ALL can come to and be welcomed and accepted, right where they are!

Does that sound like a place you want to be?  It is our prayer that it is.  Jesus welcomed and accepted everyone, even sinners!   Luke 9:11 tells us that “When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God.”  That sounds a lot like what we want here at Hope church.  Romans 15:7 says, “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”  We want Hope church to be a place where everyone is welcomed.  We want it to be a place where they will be loved and will hear about the love of God and the Gospel of salvation.  Friends, it is the love of God that is central to the Gospel.  Love is central to God’s nature so love must be central to the nature of His body, Hope church.

 

The ground truly is level at the foot of the cross.  Friends, here is my encouragement for us all today.  Let’s go on this journey together.  Let’s make Hope church a place where all are truly welcome, a place where we can be ourselves, not be judged and most importantly, be exposed to the saving love of Jesus Christ. 

 

 

I invite you to be a part of it.  God’s invitation is repeated throughout the Bible.  Let me leave you with this from the very last page of the Bible in Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”  – Andy Wahlstrom