1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,000 Most of you know I have a love affair with definitions, right? 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:09,000 Yeah, don't laugh. 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:15,000 And don't roll your eyes either and say, here she goes again. 4 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,000 Definitions are really important. 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,000 They help us to understand things more clearly. 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:26,000 Many of our English words have many definitions. 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:30,000 Okay, take the word love for instance. 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:40,000 Love your dog, love your mother and father, love your spouse, love your children, love of a friend. 9 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,000 All of those are different kinds of loves. 10 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:46,000 Well, Greek does the same thing. 11 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:52,000 It has one word and you might find five definitions for it. 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,000 And often the meaning depends upon the context of the word. 13 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,000 You know, how is it being used? 14 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:03,000 Well, it means this in this case. 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:11,000 But today, Greek only has one definition and English has about five. 16 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:19,000 So, today we're going to look at a word that's very familiar to all of us and that's church. 17 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:27,000 In the Bible, and all I have is the English transliteration in front of me, 18 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:33,000 so I have no clue whether I'm saying it right or not, but ecclesia is their word for church. 19 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:48,000 It means the called out ones, a meeting, a religious congregation, an assembly, the members of a congregation. 20 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:54,000 So, the called out ones, the members of a congregation, it's the people. 21 00:01:54,000 --> 00:02:00,000 Now, we look at English and church can mean a number of things. 22 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,000 It can mean a building. 23 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:09,000 I need to go to the church to whatever it is. 24 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,000 It can be an organization. 25 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:16,000 We say the church, what do we mean? 26 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,000 We mean the Sabbath-keeping church, right? 27 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,000 We can say the church and we mean a local congregation. 28 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:30,000 That's the Greek definition really, is a local congregation a gathering of called out ones? 29 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:40,000 We can mean all the SDAs everywhere or we can mean all of God's people everywhere in the world when we say the church. 30 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:47,000 So, this morning we're going to talk a little bit about the local congregation. 31 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,000 That would be us, right? 32 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:54,000 We're the local congregation. 33 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:59,000 So, I'm going somewhere. 34 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,000 What's the purpose of church? 35 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:12,000 What's the purpose of being a body of believers that gathers together? 36 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,000 What's our purpose? 37 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,000 Instruction. 38 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:18,000 Oh, structure. 39 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:19,000 Okay, structure. 40 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,000 Instruction is also one of the things on my list. 41 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,000 Anybody else got something to add? 42 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,000 What's the purpose of church? 43 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:28,000 Worship. 44 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,000 Worship, good. 45 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,000 Encouragement. 46 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,000 Education. 47 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,000 Prayer. 48 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,000 Fellowship. 49 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,000 Okay, support. 50 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:50,000 Okay, Sarah, I was waiting for that one. 51 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:57,000 The purpose is to, yeah. 52 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:02,000 It's not a club, is it? 53 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,000 Better not be. 54 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:10,000 How about us foreign no more? 55 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:11,000 Okay. 56 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:17,000 I have gone to some organizations around here. 57 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,000 Oh, let's pull out just one example, okay? 58 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:24,000 I like working with fiber. 59 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:29,000 I like to spin, make yarn, make stuff with yarn. 60 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:30,000 I like to do that. 61 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:44,000 And everywhere I've been, there has been a group of ladies, and sometimes men who are extremely good at it, will gather in a group and they will meet for that purpose to spin together, to share what they're doing. 62 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:52,000 And I found a group here, but they were the us for and no more kind. 63 00:04:52,000 --> 00:05:00,000 You know, the attitude was, y'all aren't from around here, are you? 64 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,000 Anybody heard that? 65 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:03,000 Yeah. 66 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,000 I kind of gave up after a while. 67 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:09,000 It was like, okay, you know, you want your foreign no more. 68 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,000 Is the church supposed to be that way? 69 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:13,000 Us foreign no more? 70 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,000 No, not at all. 71 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:17,000 Okay. 72 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,000 And Sarah, external. 73 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,000 We've been talking about internal stuff, okay? 74 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:30,000 Worship, fellowship, instruction, support. 75 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:38,000 But we have another purpose besides that, and that's we have a mission. 76 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,000 We have a mission. 77 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:46,000 Jennifer, your story this morning, yes! 78 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:47,000 Okay? 79 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,000 We have a mission to reach the world for Christ. 80 00:05:50,000 --> 00:06:00,000 I mean, Jesus said, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 81 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:09,000 teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you, and lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. 82 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:14,000 Go, make disciples, teach. 83 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:15,000 Okay? 84 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,000 Teaching happens here, instruction. 85 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:23,000 But we are to go, make disciples, and teach. 86 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:30,000 Another external purpose is to minister to those in need, right? 87 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:36,000 Minister to people, food, shelter, friends, the disabled, the needy. 88 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,000 Minister to other people. 89 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,000 And then there's various and sundering ministries. 90 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:46,000 This church has a health ministry. 91 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,000 We have a prison ministry. 92 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,000 I think they're letting us back in, aren't they, Lenny, now? 93 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:53,000 They're letting us back in. 94 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,000 COVID shut us down for what, three years? 95 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:57,000 Two years. 96 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:58,000 Two years. 97 00:06:58,000 --> 00:06:59,000 Okay. 98 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,000 So we're actively engaged in ministry. 99 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:20,000 I want to do a very poor diagram of the church for you. 100 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:21,000 Poor circles. 101 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,000 Anybody recognize this kind of a circle? 102 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,000 The Venn diagram. 103 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:28,000 The Venn diagram. 104 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,000 Okay. 105 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,000 Who's that? 106 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:34,000 Jesus. 107 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:35,000 Okay. 108 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:46,000 So I'm going to put church board, elders, deacons, deaconesses, status quo ministry. 109 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,000 And Jesus is the center of that. 110 00:07:49,000 --> 00:08:00,000 I'm going to tell you that's a very poor definition of the church. 111 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,000 It's kind of isolated. 112 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:15,000 And outside of that diagram, there are, and I'm just going to use unbelievers. 113 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:16,000 Okay? 114 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,000 There's the elderly. 115 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,000 There's criminals. 116 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:29,000 There's those that are addicted to substances of some kind or another. 117 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,000 There's those who are mentally ill. 118 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:36,000 There are those who are agnostic. 119 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:40,000 There's some Pharisees out here. 120 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:49,000 And actually, probably we could put a Pharisee or two on the inside. 121 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:54,000 That is a very, very poor definition of the church. 122 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,000 All right? 123 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,000 These are the margins. 124 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:09,000 The margins are those who are outside of our circle. 125 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,000 And our circles intersect. 126 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:12,000 All right? 127 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:13,000 They do. 128 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:14,000 They intersect. 129 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:19,000 And we interact with each other. 130 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:25,000 Before we get onto a better diagram of the church, because I want you to look at that for a while 131 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,000 and see if, do we fit this diagram? 132 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,000 Are we fitting in there? 133 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:36,000 Let's look at what Jesus did. 134 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,000 Who did he interact with mostly? 135 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:43,000 And who did he reach out to? 136 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:47,000 Who was the inner circle? 137 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,000 You have to speak up, Lenny. 138 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:50,000 The sick and the needy. 139 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,000 The sick and the needy out here, right? 140 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,000 Who was part of his inner circle, though? 141 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,000 The disciples. 142 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:02,000 What kind of people were they? 143 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,000 They were rough. 144 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:05,000 They were rough. 145 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:09,000 They were ordinary people. 146 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,000 They were just everyday Joe. 147 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:14,000 Okay? 148 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,000 And Joe's not here to defend himself, so. 149 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,000 They were diamonds in the rough. 150 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,000 Okay? 151 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:29,000 Peter, James, and John, likely Andrew, maybe Thomas and Bartholomew were fishermen. 152 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,000 Don't know for sure about that. 153 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:36,000 Peter, he was a loudmouth. 154 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:40,000 He, some say he had hoof and mouth disease. 155 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,000 He always had his foot in his mouth. 156 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,000 He always had something to say. 157 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:49,000 You know, and I said this morning in Sabbath school, 158 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:55,000 whatever came through Peter's brain came out his mouth. 159 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,000 There's people like that today, right? 160 00:10:58,000 --> 00:10:59,000 Yeah. 161 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,000 Little boys are famous for that. 162 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:03,000 Okay? 163 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,000 Little boys, they go from think to do. 164 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,000 They don't process. 165 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:10,000 They think it, they do it. 166 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:15,000 They don't stop and think, I could get hurt, you know, or anything else. 167 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,000 They just think and they do. 168 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,000 Peter was like that. 169 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,000 I love Andrew, though. 170 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:27,000 Andrew was one of those fishermen, but the thing I noticed about Andrew, 171 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:31,000 he was always bringing somebody to Jesus. 172 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,000 Always. 173 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,000 Children, child's lunch. 174 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,000 You look at what Andrew did. 175 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,000 He was always bringing somebody to Jesus. 176 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,000 Here's another one, Matthew, tax collector. 177 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,000 They really weren't fond of tax collectors back then. 178 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,000 I don't think we're real fond of them either, but tax collectors, 179 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:56,000 they were a despised bunch. 180 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:05,000 There was Simon, a Canaanite and a zealot, a rabble rouser, a revolutionary, 181 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,000 one who was out to overthrow the Roman government. 182 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,000 Passionate. 183 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:14,000 That's who Simon was. 184 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:20,000 Philip, James, Judas, maybe were tradesmen, but not much is really known 185 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:22,000 about their Brackgram. 186 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:24,000 We do know about Judas. 187 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,000 He was a thief and an embezzler. 188 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:31,000 He had his hat and the hand in the pot, and Thaddeus is a total unknown. 189 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:36,000 We have no idea what Thaddeus did, but we do know that they were all 190 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:43,000 ordinary, everyday people with everyday, ordinary jobs. 191 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:51,000 They formed the inner circle, not a highly educated one among them. 192 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:56,000 No PhDs, no master's degrees, no BAs. 193 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,000 They were just everyday, ordinary people. 194 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:05,000 They could read because all boys were taught to read, not all girls. 195 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:08,000 There were a few girls that could read, but not many. 196 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:13,000 It was the boys that were taught to read. 197 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:20,000 There were no Pharisees, no Sadducees, no priests, no government or church 198 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:22,000 officials. 199 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:28,000 These were the inner core of Jesus' people, of his closest friends and 200 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,000 associates. 201 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,000 Now we're going to look out to who did he reach out to? 202 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:37,000 Who did Jesus spend time talking to? 203 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:44,000 One was in our scripture reading this morning where it said that the 204 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:51,000 scribes and the Pharisees saw Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners, 205 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:56,000 and they went to his disciples and they said, he eats and drinks with tax 206 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,000 collectors and sinners. 207 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:05,000 But Jesus said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, 208 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,000 but those who are sick. 209 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,000 I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 210 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:22,000 So think with me for a minute, who did Jesus reach out to? 211 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,000 Everybody. 212 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:29,000 Leopards, prostitutes. 213 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:35,000 By the way, we have a prostitution, at least one prostitution ring I know of 214 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:37,000 in Chattanooga. 215 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:41,000 It's a really sad, sad situation. 216 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:46,000 These ladies are trucked in from Guatemala, and they're held prisoner, 217 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:50,000 and that's what they do. 218 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:54,000 Jesus interacted with criminals. 219 00:14:54,000 --> 00:15:01,000 He interacted with the blind, the poor, the demon possessed, the outcasts, 220 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:09,000 the homeless, the mentally ill, unbelievers, Samaritans. 221 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:13,000 I mean, who talks to a Samaritan woman, especially that particular one? 222 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,000 Romans and Charins. 223 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:24,000 So let's spend just a bit of time evaluating ourselves as a church, 224 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:29,000 a local body of believers. 225 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,000 How are we doing with the mission of the church? 226 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,000 The spreading of the gospel? 227 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:39,000 I know some of you are really passionate about that. 228 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:44,000 People who give out tracts all the time, who talk to people, 229 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:49,000 meeting people, they're always trying to draw people in. 230 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:53,000 God bless you. 231 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:57,000 Ministry, we have a health ministry, 1890s Days Cooking School, 232 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:02,000 where we actively interact with the members of the community. 233 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:06,000 How about meeting the needs of the disadvantaged? 234 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:10,000 We do do drives for food, Sarah, 235 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:14,000 and needed items for women's shelter, back to school supplies, 236 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,000 for those who can't afford them. 237 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:22,000 And one of our local churches, not us, but one of our local churches, 238 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:27,000 has a day where they actively feed the homeless one day a week. 239 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,000 And it's known where they're going to be, and people gather there. 240 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:36,000 Okay, so can we pat ourselves on the back and say, 241 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:41,000 we're doing good, we're doing good enough. 242 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:45,000 Are we doing what Jesus would do? 243 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,000 Well, yes and no. 244 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:52,000 He interacted with those on the margins. 245 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:59,000 And I don't know about you, but I don't do this particularly well. 246 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:07,000 Maybe with some, but not if you look at the margins out there. 247 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:11,000 Hmm, you know, if I'm going to value make myself, I will say, 248 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,000 maybe I don't do that as well as I should. 249 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,000 I want to draw a different picture of the church. 250 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:23,000 First off, the church should not have lines around it, 251 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:40,000 because lines are borders, usually meant to keep people out. 252 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:52,000 Oops, wrong color. 253 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:57,000 Instead of a little J in the middle, we're going to make him central. 254 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:06,000 And I'm going to put a dot, or dots, 255 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:13,000 and imagine there's many of them, all of us. 256 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:21,000 This person is connected to everyone. 257 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:31,000 And so is this one. 258 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:37,000 I think I have them all connected now. 259 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:41,000 Everybody is connected to everybody else. 260 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,000 Do you remember the last time I was up here, maybe two or three weeks ago, 261 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:48,000 and I talked about coming to Jesus and abiding in Jesus? 262 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:53,000 The next step, if you come to Jesus and you abide in Jesus, 263 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,000 you have fellowship with other believers. 264 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:05,000 Now, if we were a great big huge church, it's not possible to know everybody. 265 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:09,000 You know, the biggest church I've been a member of was 350 members. 266 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:11,000 I was there for four years. 267 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,000 Did I ever get to know everybody? 268 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:18,000 No. 269 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,000 What's our excuse? 270 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,000 There isn't one, right? 271 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,000 We all should know each other. 272 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,000 We should all be abiding in Christ. 273 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,000 Jesus should be central to our life. 274 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:36,000 I think that's a better picture of church, 275 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:41,000 where we're all interconnected with one another. 276 00:19:41,000 --> 00:20:05,000 But it is also different from the other diagram because 277 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:11,000 that church reaches out to the margins. 278 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:18,000 That church reaches out to the margins. 279 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:30,000 Do you have people in your sphere that fit in the margins? 280 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,000 I think we all do, right? 281 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:38,000 We all have people that fit in those margins somewhere. 282 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:44,000 Some of them aren't exactly easy. 283 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,000 Do you have people in your life that aren't easy? 284 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:51,000 I have people in my life that aren't easy. 285 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,000 So how do we interact with them? 286 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,000 How would Jesus interact with them? 287 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:02,000 You know, you look at some of these people out here. 288 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:06,000 These addicted people, they're difficult for me. 289 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,000 Really difficult. 290 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:13,000 Okay, that's just, you know, because of my background, 291 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:15,000 they're difficult. 292 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,000 Do they need to know Jesus? 293 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,000 You bet they do. 294 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,000 Can I interact with them? 295 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:27,000 Yes, even though it's difficult and it's uncomfortable. 296 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:34,000 I can do that, okay? 297 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,000 Lepers, well, we don't have lepers today, do we? 298 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,000 Not around us. 299 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:47,000 But are there any people that have social leprosy? 300 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:52,000 There are people that have social leprosy, okay? 301 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,000 Any teacher knows that. 302 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:00,000 You have kids in your class that have social leprosy. 303 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:04,000 The other kids, it's not so evident with the little guys, 304 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:12,000 although, yeah, she's nodding her head no, yeah, 305 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,000 it's evident, isn't it? 306 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,000 The social leprosy thing. 307 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:21,000 There are kids that kids will just steer clear of. 308 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,000 Do they need a loving hand? 309 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,000 They do. 310 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,000 You know, I've had students in my class, 311 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,000 especially the younger ones, that cling to me 312 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,000 like there's no tomorrow. 313 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,000 Like I'm the only person in their life, 314 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,000 and everywhere I go to move, I have this kid just as close 315 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:45,000 to me as they possibly can get. 316 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,000 Are they accepted by the others? 317 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,000 No, they're not. 318 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:56,000 And they need, although my initial human reaction is 319 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,000 give me some space, child, you know, 320 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,000 but they need that love. 321 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:03,000 How about adults? 322 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,000 Are there adults that are socially challenged? 323 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,000 Yeah, there are. 324 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,000 There are. 325 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:18,000 What's our initial reaction? 326 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:24,000 Or is it to include, to reach out to? 327 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,000 Hey, let's look at some of those others 328 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,000 that were on my list of. 329 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:35,000 The disabled. 330 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:40,000 How easy is it to ignore somebody in a wheelchair? 331 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:41,000 It's really easy. 332 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,000 You just look straight ahead, right? 333 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,000 Do they need us to interact with them, to love them? 334 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,000 Yeah, they do. 335 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:55,000 How about the elderly, the ones that don't show up very often? 336 00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:02,000 Now, I'm not willing to claim being elderly yet. 337 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:07,000 My face may say otherwise, but I'm not willing to claim that, okay? 338 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:12,000 But do we have some older folks that we tend to ignore? 339 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,000 Yeah, okay. 340 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,000 We need to be reaching out to them. 341 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,000 Oh, how about the Pharisees? 342 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:24,000 They're just plain difficult. 343 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,000 They've got the information, right? 344 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,000 Right? 345 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:33,000 They have the information, 346 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,000 but do they know Jesus? 347 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,000 Not usually. 348 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,000 Do they need somebody to love them, to take them in? 349 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:43,000 Yes. 350 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,000 The mentally ill. 351 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:51,000 They can be really difficult, but do they need to know Jesus? 352 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:55,000 Yeah, they need to know Jesus. 353 00:24:55,000 --> 00:25:02,000 How about those who are antagonistic? 354 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:08,000 They're tough, but they're out here on the margins, 355 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:12,000 and does anybody love them? 356 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,000 They can change. 357 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,000 They can change. 358 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,000 You are right. 359 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,000 You are absolutely right. 360 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,000 They can change. 361 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,000 It's a challenge. 362 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:30,000 First, we need this, right? 363 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:37,000 We need that kind of a church, and then we need to reach out. 364 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,000 Can we do it in an organized fashion? 365 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,000 We need to. 366 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,000 We can do it in an organized fashion. 367 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,000 Can we do it as individuals? 368 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,000 Yes, we can do it as individuals. 369 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:57,000 It's sometimes safer to do it in groups of two or three. 370 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,000 I'm looking at some of these. 371 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:04,000 It's safer to do it in twos and threes, okay? 372 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,000 You take the criminal element. 373 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:11,000 Yeah, if you have an opportunity. 374 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:18,000 In twos and threes, it's a really good idea, one at a time. 375 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,000 How about the homeless? 376 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:25,000 I know of a church member who makes lunches and passes them out. 377 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:28,000 I think that's really cool. 378 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:36,000 You know, these people that stand on the intersections usually, okay? 379 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:41,000 I most commonly see them when I'm pulling into Walmart on Gun Barrel. 380 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:44,000 That's a favorite place to stand. 381 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:50,000 You can roll down your window and pass out a lunch, you know? 382 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:55,000 And get the blessing for doing it, and maybe stick a tract or something in that lunch, 383 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,000 something for them to read. 384 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,000 Can we do more? 385 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:06,000 Yeah. 386 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:10,000 Again, ask God what you can do. 387 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:15,000 What fits with your abilities in your circumstances? 388 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,000 We can be Jesus to somebody. 389 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:22,000 Jesus was somebody to all of those people. 390 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:26,000 He was somebody to all of the margin people. 391 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:30,000 Can I be somebody to all of the margin people? 392 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,000 Yeah. 393 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,000 Paul's telling me, yes, I can. 394 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,000 I'm going, woo. 395 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,000 Can I be Jesus to some of those people? 396 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,000 Yeah, I can, okay? 397 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:48,000 So ask yourself, what fits your abilities in your circumstances? 398 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:53,000 We are meant to be his hands and his feet. 399 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:59,000 You know, who do you know in your life that's on the margins? 400 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,000 What can you do? 401 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,000 I don't have solutions this morning. 402 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,000 I'm just giving you food for thought. 403 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,000 And all of us need to ask just one question. 404 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,000 Jesus, what would you have me do? 405 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:29,000 What would you have me do?