Good morning everybody. How y'all doing? I'm doing good. Thanks for asking. How are you?
Sometimes you get a question back. All right. Hey, my name is Chris Britton. It is an honor
to be here before you to continue our series called The Blueprint. And obviously if you're
here, you know that our church is called The House. Right? You know our church is called
The House. And we use The House kind of terminology to define some of the things that we do here.
So if you're joining us for the first time or if you've been here for a while, you probably
have realized some of the names that we have around here. Like we have Treehouse, Kids
Ministry. We have what's the Teen Ministry? The Shed. Shout out to the Shed. You like
the Shed. The Shed. We have our Framework Team. Right? All the volunteers in here. Yeah,
for sure. We got one clap for that. We've got one volunteer. No, I'm kidding. The Framework
Team and even some of the practical ways that you can live out our faith we call, wait for
it, The Blueprint. So it's obviously like Greg likes HGTV. No, I'm just kidding. He
doesn't like camping. But we have kind of those plays on words and we've been in this
series called The Blueprint where we're laying out these practical ways that you can live
out your faith. And in some ways we even call that a basic kind of plan for discipleship.
Some might be interested in this. Not sure if you are or not. But Greg actually has a
book that he came out with about these things. He doesn't ever get up here and advertise
that. But if you're interested, it actually lays out all those things. I think it's even
on Amazon or whatever. But it's not a plug to buy that. But I'm sure that we could get
one in your hands if you're interested in seeing it laid out in that way.
So we're in the second week of our series called The Blueprint. And today there might
be some of you that might not rock with this message because we're going to talk about
coming together and some of you that don't like your food to touch on a plate. We're
going to talk about togetherness and community and fellowship when things get messy. It's
like don't touch me. So I think that we can all agree that in our day and age there's
a lot more things that we can find out about ourselves and we can use more excuses like
this is my Enneagram number so I don't have to be a part of this. Or I know that this
is how I am so I don't have to partake in this. So thank you for telling me. But I'm
good. I've studied this. I know I can stay clear away from people and I'm fine and blah,
blah, blah. So I know we're all studied and we can find out our personality types and
all this and we can easily brush this off if we're one of those types of people that
well. He just doesn't know this is how I am. But I pray regardless that you will listen
to the Bible has to say about what happens when churches like truly come together in
fellowship and they actually agree on being on the same plate and things getting messy
and what life might look like when people agree that you know we're not like this but
this might be the best way for us to live as community together and promote hope and
change in the love of Christ on this planet. All right. So we're going to kind of talk
about that and it might get messy a little bit. All right. So I'm going to pray real
quick before we jump into it. God thank you so much for your word and I thank you God
that we are able to just unpack the blueprint some ways that we can practically live out
our faith and today as we talk about community as we talk about fellowship I pray God that
we learn what it means to live at the table or to live at the at the table to be to be
seen by you God and to be to actually see others as well. So help me with my words may
they be yours and may they be edifying to you and may we be closer to you this morning
in your name. Amen. I've heard this phrase this feels like family from a lot of different
walks in my life not just Christian places I remember working in youth ministry and there
was actually a lot of people that came in our youth ministry sometimes and they played
basketball from different walks of life and I remember one time we had this Bible study
and most of the time we had an open door policy and these guys came in and I knew that here
I knew like he was really out on the streets like he was really living that life and when
I mean by that like he was really out there like living that life always respectful when
he came in and I asked him why do you why did you stay for a Bible study this time and
he was like man this feel like family. All right. I heard a student in my classroom one
time she graduated and she text and said I miss my family. I heard a teen that I knew
that his his heat from his words he said that in the living situation that he had him and
his brother would sleep in the hallway where their dirty clothes were kind of like their
mattress and he would stay and do poetry and all those kind of things and there's some
things that happen in his life and he said I miss family this that was family. You hear
this family concept and you usually it stirs up something where somebody feels like they've
been seen they've felt loved and somebody wasn't scared that they was on their plate
type thing and I feel like if we think about this and some of you might feel like this
here we hope that you like this is family I've heard that before as well. I know that
God has wired us to be connected to one another right and I've again I've heard this from
lots of different people from Christians from non-Christians from gangbangers the people
that's on the street for people that's homeless from people in the kids in the classroom this
feels like family. What if we all are kind of built hardwired to be on the same plate
with other people? That's in our soul it's in on the DNA of our soul and how God wired
us to be and I want to talk about that today what that might look like and offer hopefully
some some insight on what the first church had done and offer some suggestions to us
as well. We'll be reading from Acts 2 chapter Acts chapter 2 verse 40 through 47 so you
can get that get that out right now and you can stand if you're able in mind or spirit
Acts chapter 2 verse 40 through 47 and with many other words he bore witness and continued
to exhort them saying save yourselves from this crooked generation so those who received
his word were baptized and there were added that day about three thousand souls and they
devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread
and the prayers and all came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done
through the apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common
and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to
all as any had need and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in
their homes they received their food with glad and generous hearts praising God and
having favor with all the people and the Lord added to their numbers day by day those who
were being saved you may be seated. Whether our family consists of people in our homes
or maybe people that we might visit often or even a small group of close friends I believe
that when we look at this passage when we look at scripture the Bible has some some
powerful values and practices that when we put them into practice it can make those circles
even more life-giving. As we see it's Peter as we see in the scripture right in Acts chapter
2 right we have the the Holy Spirit falls and then we get the fellowship of believers
and the church is kind of starting in this in this place where imagine three thousand
people come to know Christ and then it's like hey what do we do now like how do we live
should we just all go our separate ways or what's going on and we see not this instruction
book that we get but we see the way that they kind of figured it out the best way to live
studying God's Word together eating at the same tables together sharing food not just
collecting money for their self but also distributing money towards those that are in need coming
together collectively the fellowship of believers we see this awesome example and I bet I bet
among those three thousand there was a high percentage of them that's like this feels
like family. So like family this is it probably not perfect but they were like this this feels
like family. Now when we talk about this morning I want to talk about what that means that
at church here we talk about leaving things on the table we have all this terminology
like I said before so living at the table and what we see that at the beginning of the
scripture the gospel was kind of being laid out and people were responding to it they
were responding to accepting Christ and surrendering all surrendering all and sometimes that's
kind of like I don't know what that means like what does that really mean to just surrender
everything because we hear about people coming to Christ or people saying the prayer and
we hear these formulaic things but sometimes we forget about the supernatural aspect of
the Holy Spirit entering into somebody's life and in wrecking it for the good. A lot of
you know that I do poetry and all this kind of stuff and I kind of got a couple different
options up here you guys want option A or B. A and B okay but when I look at my life
when I look at my experience as a Christian and I look at what it was like for me to lay
everything on the table what I found it wasn't just one day that I did that and it was like
over it's like here Christ here's my life boom all right. It was a continual process
that you have to come back time and time again throughout your life there's different seasons
of life when I was a teenager but the first time the first time I remember how it changed
everything and that's where I feel like the supernatural aspect of God's Spirit the Holy
Spirit that we forget about right. We might think of some movies where we see CGI stuff
and all this magical stuff has to happen. There's things that happen to some people
that you can't discount and other people like I didn't hear no voices ain't nothing happened
to me I don't know what all this stuff is about I just changed but whatever that is
we can't discount the power of the Holy Spirit because I didn't understand but there was
a piece that I had never felt before that I know that I didn't come up with it. There
was a restraint that's what I'll say to some of you youth out there or maybe some of those
adults there's some areas in our life where we need restraint in some things where we
don't have the power ourselves to say no to some things. You hear in the black church
sometimes they say help us Holy Spirit. So for all of us there's things that with all
the power lifting and all the strength that we might have we might not have the strength
to fight some of our own temptations and sin and we need God and we need to say God I give
this to you and that's the strongest move that you can make. There's a poem called
the dark side that I kind of frequent back here a little bit because some of my poems
are kind of like in the making for years I know it sounds strange but they just have
to sit with me for a long time and I go back to it and everything but this poem is called
the dark side because it was as if my dark side was was kind of talking to me taking
me on this journey of hey man you remember this like if my dark side was like bro you
remember because it's still here. I can't tell you when those testimonies about yeah
my dark side back when I was a teenager didn't it was gone. It's still like hey bro you should
do this you do this right. Sometimes I'm like what if the dark side is just like like almost
like likes me but knows that I can't resist it sometimes so it's kind of like hey you
remember this man I couldn't believe that you did that. You remember this. I care about
you even though I'm the part of you that's dark. Chris you remember what you used to
be on even I was ashamed that the place is your amusement park. You remember the first
time that you held crack and you stared as it sat in the universe of your palms. Chris
be honest you kind of felt like you kind of like the thought of having fiends orbit your
space just for a taste of stardust. Chris like the first time that you held a 38 I remember
the weight you felt the metal in your waist and I wondered what was you thinking. Chris
did you feel like God with the power to big bang life into extinction. Chris the first
time that that malt liquor hit you your brain triggered lust like fireball you didn't even
know how to ask for help. You were a young son bursting with hormones seeking to crash
land below a young lady's asteroid belt. Well Mr. Britton ain't you ever considering me
an important part of your life. I mean without me the darkness how can you truly appreciate
the light. You saw me often lurking long moonlit sidewalks that dark shadow when you were acting
irresponsibly often watching fear paint smirks across your face as you played in carnivals
of curiosity. See I was there when it was the devil's work that you delighted in then
somehow you start going to all the place inviting delight in but you're older now and somehow
you think that we are divided light and dark. Sometimes you just have to be reminded.
And there's times that we have to be reminded that there's this process where we still need
to put things on the table and give God these things because we're not meant to hold the
weight of them and I don't know what that's for you. I've been around long enough where
I know what it is for me that I need to keep putting back on the table and there's some
things that God will say like give me that give me that and there's some things where
Greg talks about this even in his book where there's things that God might leave on the
table. I mean if you go to a table you might see like hot sauce and salt and pepper and
some things that aren't really good good for you like you don't want to take the pepper
and just undo it and just like drink it like that. There's some things that are just there
that we have to learn and discipline ourselves and God's like I can't help you control some
of this but it's going to be around.
So the table figuratively in our life is like this altar of sorts. Greg and I had a chance
to visit the Holy Land way back it seems like years and years ago but we visited these biblical
places where we talked about it on our separate visits when we came back and I remember saying
like Greg like I was fascinated by every community that we visited have this altar of sorts
this start calling this high place where people would either worship God and this high place
or they'd worship these other things but every community that we visited that was in ruins
you could identify this high place where people gathered as a community and they were either
worshiping things of God or they found something else to put above that above God on this altar
and here in 2022 we're saying when we see this scripture what would it look like for
a church what would it look like for us to fellowship and know that we are a place that
is trying our best to live at the table and put God first and put and worship God above
everything else in our lives.
So the question that I will leave you with is have you done that first have you done
that have you started that's kind of like square one that doesn't mean like oh that's
just you know first base or whatever but that's an important step is imagine the disciples
being at the table with Jesus and Jesus seeing them do you know that you're seen by God that
you're loved by him that he's has the door open for you you said both of them.
This poem is called Beauty and the Change it's a poem just as I was contemplating years
ago just about me coming to Christ and what this battle going on in my head.
There are times I weep for change and search for my identity's freedom come out come out
wherever you are reveal yourself to my soul and I ask who am I who am I in front of the
cam who am I in front of my fam am I different in front of the sun does the moon see a different
side of me soon there will be no need to mask myself to Gotham my insecurities I sit signaling
Savior please rescue me soul projecting sounds to clouds and prayers to air is there help
on the way inside I know that help is here but there's a barrier a door longing to be
unlocked maybe maybe it's my pride caged inside like bird longing to touch skies freedom what
will it take for me to get open as evil desires comfortably entice I begin to take the light
in cage watching a door that seems to be cracked open I hope someone will save me enter my
story save me when the door is cracked open I think I think I see a light or pride tells
me to hide and seek self satisfaction pride says when it comes to action Savior so I sit
Indian style smoke signaling clouds of silence to my Savior Savior's message has always
been I am here at the table come to me I'm I'm right here come follow me but instead
I'm coddling convictions and waddling conviction toddling the fence instead of swallowing my
pride I want to feel change tangible as the air in these lungs so I finally flung open
the door to God's Word and fell in love with His love my eyes kissed the pages of James
516 and sent me to my knees proposed a confession professed the wretch in me I was once blind
but now as I was dormant there had always been a doormat welcoming me to knock the door
had always been open so why did I wait why did I wait for change why did I wait to be
rescued when I could have just walked into the arms of forgiveness transformed from a
strange to experienced and changed through Christ and toast His endless beauty there's
often talk about about change that we want in our life and sometimes it's easier than
we think when we just surrender and say man I'm done I just want to surrender all to you
there's another side of living at the table it's not just to be sitting and to know and
be known by God but also in the company of others and I hope in these next few moments
to explain how living at the table in community and rich fellowship means nurturing deep friendships
with people that push you closer to God and your goals who know both the good and the
bad about you and whose love is not contingent upon either who you can call at 2 a.m. if
you're in crisis and I want to pack a few reasons why you should have people like that
around you you often I don't know if you've seen the reality show storage wars storage
wars storage wars and the basic premise is that you know these people get to bid on these
storage bins and in hopes that there's something good in there that's salvageable or they can
you know and sometimes it's not good stuff and sometimes but you know it's oftentimes
really adults like we got this storage built up where we don't want nobody to get in there
we don't want nobody in our stuff man because we're saying when you pop that open but when
you have good people in your life and a good guy in your life they can pop that thing open
and be and they can find the goodness in there something of value that you might even have
missed yourself it's like all this is just an old do you know the value of this are you
serious you're an artist you know this no no that's just the old no we need people like
that I'm not an expert in antiques and all that kind of stuff but I understand why you
have people that are experts in that because they can speak the life into that thing that
you thought was dead you was gonna throw it away and we're like that with ourselves as
well and we need the guy to point that out we need people here around us that can be
like no I'll never forget early in my youth ministry years like I had this plan for this
creative art stuff a long time ago and I would tuck the files over here I'm not gonna talk
about that that's crazy I should just play my role do youth ministry hey Chris you got
any good ideas I'd be like mmm no cuz I was scared it's gonna get too messy I remember
like yesterday there was a project that we were working on for a grant and we had somebody
that's still a good friend to my wife and I but she worked at our ministry for about
three years she said Chris then I hear you say something about this creative art stuff
that should be the idea for the grant and I was like no we can't no no no she's like
tomorrow get that thing out and then I was just like oh man I was just showing like the
initial plans she said this is amazing we should present this to the city of Rock Island
and all this other stuff and I'm like no we don't wanna just talk about it long story
short like we went to the city of Rock Island for this is not a diss this is just what actually
happened they said no they we didn't get the grant but it wasn't their job they didn't
want to point out they was like close that garage we don't want to we're not giving money
to that but for me somebody pointed out the value of that and I articulated it to other
people and even when we left she was like they don't know what they're talking about
I think you should still do it we're gonna start doing some of this stuff in the youth
center and I was like for real okay I needed somebody in my life to point out stuff that
I thought like this is trash nobody's really gonna go for this I'm doing poems and stuff
all the time all right and there's been this legacy of things that have happened but deep
friendships is a part of God's plan and we look at the first church in Acts 2 which talks
about how they how the early church devoted the members were devoted to one another and
the truth is if we think about even outside of these scriptures in the Bible there's a
lot of things that happen in the language that the Bible is used where it's almost it's
almost like the Bible is saying like duh y'all should do this together like think about the
stuff that we recite up here all the time what's the first word for the Lord's Prayer
is it my the first word is our so it's just like this is the basics like y'all reading
this together our father it's not Chris's or it's ours it's this collective idea that's
already imprinted in the scriptures right and then prayer doesn't say my we're in this
together there's when you think about our physical bodies like we're born into a place
where God hopefully intends that we're not alone you know this is a dark world but the
intention is that we are together with people that care about us and in our spiritual rebirth
the Bible uses language like we're adopted into a family so littered in scripture there's
this language that already kind of assumes that y'all should know like this is a together
type thing this is our family when you're when you're physically you're not supposed
to you're not meant to be alone and even spiritually you're not meant to try to do this alone and
we see that there's a need for connecting with other people that's reinforced Jesus
modeled it and his close friendships one of the very first things that he did after beginning
his public ministry you know he could have went solo he could have went solo Han solo
his public ministry he got 12 disciples from among a broader group that traveled around
with him and within that group of 12 he was particularly close with about three and when
life got really crazy he leaned into them when Jesus sent his disciples out did he send
them out alone two by two and those aren't measurements for something that's like real
like two we're commanded to love one another there's all these scriptures that promote
this one anotherness one another we're command to love one another to encourage one another
to care for one another to serve one another to bear one another's burdens to be at peace
with one another to wash one another's feet respect one another submit to one another
forgive one another comfort one another pray for one another confess our sins to one another
and be hospitable towards one another every one of these commands requires that we are
in a relationship with another so this idea that we're created for community is all throughout
scripture and that friendship is almost a dis-expected part of a relationship but it's
hard when we think about cultivating loving nurturing relationships with others even if
it's assumed in the Bible we know that one other's point is that life life change happens
best in community that's Christ's probably one of our goals to become more like Jesus
and that means being more loving more kind more gracious and more patient and how does
change happen?
By the grace of God working our lives and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our life
it's important that we include the presence of others in our life that can bring that
out as well that can point that out to us and be like you know I think you can be more
kind about that right?
We're not meant to have all these just yes men around us the people just like well you're
good no you're good that's cool that's fine that's fine but real people that really care
about your life they can call that stuff out and you know that it's from a place of love
not like oh you just hating on me we're not talking anymore unframed right?
We have these luxuries where we can just turn people off now literally and the Bible is
saying like the real people in your life the genuine people in your life that you actually
there's this reciprocal relationship that you have of this giving and taking where there's
sometimes there where you get checked.
I'm lucky that I learned that as a at an early age and I accepted that change in my life
especially spiritual change in my in my early life happened usually in the context of having
people around me like mentors and other friends so I kind of grew up kind of knowing that
kind of almost as the expectation and even in my adult years I always kept like some
people around me and so it was a little easier for me just because that's how I experienced
spiritual growth but I started to understand especially when I was adult that excuse me
it doesn't come as easy to some some people and I understand that I get that and when
you add in like church hurt and you add in abusive type relationships and other things
lying games and all these things it becomes very hard even for a believer to start trusting
people to develop real relationships it's this idea that we all want that we all want
it some of you might be like man I really want that but this happened and this happened
and this happened and it becomes this kind of like where's Waldo's like where can I find
him where can I buy a group of good friends like that like I would but I can't trust nobody
because this happened and this happened and this happened I don't have any easy answers
except to lean in don't stop to lean in to those that could possibly be trusted don't
give up that that fight to try to find good friends around you and don't you know there's
sometimes where there's people that have spoken to me about man I could never really trust
ministry folks or blah blah blah and then what ends up happening is that they kind of
take on the villain characteristics themselves they start kind of becoming the villain you
know like in superheroes sometimes the hero and the villain used to be close friends and
then there was something happen where something got sour then they turn you know right so
sometimes I find that people that kind of get hurt they hurt people as well it's because
things that happen to them so sometimes it's like yeah don't become that because that happened
to you as well right because we want to also have those components and those those those
fruits and in our lives that are attractive to others so sometimes I just tell people
like well make sure that you don't let that turn you into somebody that's not good to
be around or healthy to be around because that's not going to attract the people that
you want around you either all right but a good group of folks around you also can be
a safety net for you like I mentioned before do you have someone that you can call at 2am
and that's difficult right if you don't have that but somebody that you can call at 2am
that's somebody that you know that that would be mad at you if you didn't call them at 2am
they'd be like why didn't you call me you should have what why did you go through that
alone why did you do that at the end of the day I'm reminded of another reality TV show
if you ever watched the show called alone have you seen that show alone don't watch
it alone no but there's a reality show called nobody seen that show so there's a reality
TV show called alone where they get these these these folks that are supposed to be
like something they have some kind of experience in the wilderness and stuff like they can
be self-sufficient out there anyway they pick these contestants and they get all these people
from from wherever that submit these videos of how they know how to build stuff and they
can you know whatever they drop them off in different locations a lot of times in Canada
my wife works we watched that sometimes and beautiful places in Canada but dangerous places
where there's bears and all that kind of stuff and they drop them off kind of miles away
from each other and guess what they just have to do no they just have to survive so they
give them they basically make these commitments to this show for maybe they sign these contracts
for like hey I'm gonna leave my family for at least maybe six months if I'm if y'all
don't see me for six months we I'm winning this cash you know if y'all see me in a couple
weeks I gave up but what happens is they teach these folks how to use all the cameras they
got all these GoPros so in the contract they have to record all this stuff so they get
this these battery packs they get all this stuff they have to keep the cameras rolling
right they get the night vision cameras they set them up in their tent they get these tripods
so they can't really go find each other they have to kind of stay camped and if they want
to move somewhere they have to bring all of this equipment with them so a lot of times
they get there they get dropped off they have to build stuff they basically are surviving
on their own I have to tell you the fascinating thing about it is that there's a point where
some people you know I laugh I mean me and my kids we kind of laugh there's people that
they get out of there in like 24 hours and some people that lasted like three hours and
they're crying and they're just like I gotta go back to my family and I'm like look at
them they didn't even last long my kids are like dad how long you think that you will
last out there I'm like man once I see the vehicle leaving man I might be like all right
yeah it might be time to get out of here but if you ever watch a show you see the realest
moments in people's life especially at night when they're all alone and they're just looking
at this night vision camera and they're freaking out because they realize the light is gone
there's nobody there it's just them and you get these some of the realest gut talks about
how they're feeling about their family I wish I would have done this for I left man I'm
doing this and it's in some ways gut-wrenching but at the same time it gives you this idea
like bro you're not supposed to be out there by yourself right there's bears and stuff
that come up around the area but here's the thing that's what I want to close with today
they are alone but they're kind of not alone after watching a couple of seasons I realized
you watch some behind-the-scenes footage they send a medical staff out periodically to check
on them they have to do checks they can't give them anything but they have to just go
check so in the back of their mind they know every once in a while people are coming also
they get this GPS little device and you see them walking around with it sometimes they
get one call that they can make and it tells people the exact coordinates where they are
and if they do it first light in the morning no questions asked the team comes out and
rescues them and they're out of there so after the first season stuff after a while I'm like
I'm like but are they really alone someone are you yeah physically alone but the comfort
that they have is knowing that they can be heard at any moment if they needed it they're
alone physically sometimes we feel like that can we have the comfort of knowing that Christ's
spirit is right there to rescue us we're sitting here feeling alone or we feel like no one
sees us no one cares about us look I think about this show where they have it set up
where they're alone but at the same time they had to give them the hope and the comfort
of knowing that people are closer than they think because they get out there and then
they always have to have the camera set up on their their facial expression when help
arrives and they're they see people and then they almost start taking it back like oh I
shouldn't have left I should have stayed out here but this is the best decision I got to
go back to my family it's so good to see you and then they always are like I'm so sorry
for calling you guys out here and they're like hey that's what the buttons were we're
here they don't even talk about it they're just like get your stuff let's go but the
people are always just like yeah you should have saw man like I had bears around me and
the people are just looking at him like hey get your stuff we're gonna check you out no
but you probably would have got out of here too you don't know like oh this is crazy.
Living at the table means that we are putting everything on the table for God and we're
putting things on the table with one another we're doing life and sharing life with one
another and when we mix those variables that's when in the Bible says that we can experience
a fruitful life in our church we can experience and get some more mileage out of our relationships
and it can make things better. I often think about like you know some people might say
oh you guys telling me all these rules and these things that I have to do and that it's
not like that but the scriptures kind of tell us some best practices some best ways to live
and we should aim for those right maybe these are targets that we are trying to go forth
and this self reflection that we need to say what should I be doing to focus put in Christ
first what should I be focused on to reach out to others or maybe to become a better
and to look for ways I can be healed from broken relationships that I've had in the
past. That might be where to start as well and you can talk to Greg or Pastor Greg or
Pastor Jen or myself if you need resources to help you with that. So there's no there's
no it's it we have community tables going on so this isn't like a trick to make people
feel bad if you didn't sign up for them or anything like that but we purposely right
we purposely are talking about these things because we're saying hey we're offering these
things as well so it's not to trick you or to be like you're gonna tell me that you should
have joined the community no we're not trying to shame anybody about that but we're actively
saying like hey we have these opportunities at community table that aren't these threatening
things that maybe you're used to but that's why the format is a little bit you know some
people like man you guys do a should have a Bible study in these where you go through
this this and this or this the functionality of these is just to come together and to sit
at the table and fellowship with one another no strings attached in a place where you know
the hosts will love you as you are and invite you to the table period and that's what we're
about in that way. So I hope this morning that you've been encouraged in that way and as
you go that Christ's Spirit can meet you where you're at and you know that you are seen by
God and you can call on God and I pray that you will be blessed to have if not now work
towards having some life-giving friendships. Amen. Let's pray. God thank you so much for
your word and I thank you God that the example that you've shown us in Acts chapter 2. God
I pray God that as we continue to move forward and we offer these things at our church Lord
we're not saying that we have all the right answers at our church however we do offer
places of fellowship of community of open table Lord for where anyone's invited to share
a meal be loved to be seen and gives us the opportunity to see others as well. So we thank
you God for the opportunity that we have at this church to do so in your name we pray.
Amen. Thank you.