WEBVTT 00:00:04.820 --> 00:00:09.119 Today's reading is from Revelation chapter 1 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:14.960 verses 4 and 5 and Revelation 3 verses 7 to 13. 00:00:15.820 --> 00:00:19.480 John, to the seven churches in the province of 00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:24.600 Asia, grace and peace to you from him who is 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:29.269 and who was. and who is to come, and from the 00:00:29.269 --> 00:00:32.969 seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus 00:00:32.969 --> 00:00:37.109 Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn 00:00:37.109 --> 00:00:40.390 of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the 00:00:40.390 --> 00:00:44.090 earth. To the angel of the church in Philadelphia 00:00:44.090 --> 00:00:49.009 write, these are the words of him who is holy 00:00:49.009 --> 00:00:53.530 and true, who holds the key of David. What he 00:00:53.530 --> 00:00:57.159 opens, no one can shut. and what he shuts no 00:00:57.159 --> 00:01:02.079 one can open i know your deeds see i have placed 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:06.000 before you an open door that no one can shut 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.120 i know that you have little strength yet you 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:13.739 have kept my word and have not denied my name 00:01:13.739 --> 00:01:17.459 i will make those who are of the synagogue of 00:01:17.459 --> 00:01:21.560 satan who claims to be jews though they are not 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:26.019 but are liars I will make them come and fall 00:01:26.019 --> 00:01:28.879 down at your feet and acknowledge that I have 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:32.439 loved you. Since you have kept my command to 00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:36.579 endure patiently, I will also keep you from the 00:01:36.579 --> 00:01:42.439 hour of trial that is going to come to the world 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:47.900 to test the inhabitants of the earth. i am coming 00:01:47.900 --> 00:01:51.780 soon hold on to what you have so that no one 00:01:51.780 --> 00:01:56.260 will take your crown the one who is victorious 00:01:56.260 --> 00:01:59.359 i will make a pillar in the temple of my god 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:04.120 never again will they leave it i will write on 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:07.939 them the name of my god and the name of the city 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:12.639 of my god the new jerusalem who is coming down 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:16.780 out of heaven from my God, and I will also write 00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:21.580 on them my new name. Whoever has ears, let them 00:02:21.580 --> 00:02:25.840 hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:28.460 word of the Lord. What I would like you to do 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:29.800 is take a look at some pictures I'm going to 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:32.520 show you. These are famous doors that are taken 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:34.939 from movies or TV shows, and I want to see how 00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:38.500 many of them you think you can identify. Here's 00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:40.300 the first door. Where does this door come from? 00:02:41.210 --> 00:02:43.770 You're right. Again, this is the Hobbit or the 00:02:43.770 --> 00:02:48.289 Lord of the Rings. This is where Bilbo and Frodo 00:02:48.289 --> 00:02:51.169 lived. What about this door? This is the famous 00:02:51.169 --> 00:02:55.250 door. That's right. Who lived behind that door? 00:02:56.389 --> 00:02:59.949 Monica. Yeah, good for you. Yes. What about this 00:02:59.949 --> 00:03:05.090 door? Yes, there's Jabba's palace from Return 00:03:05.090 --> 00:03:10.580 of the Jedi. What about this door? That's right. 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:16.400 Sherlock Holmes, 221B Baker Street. And now what 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:20.319 about this door? What was behind that door? That's 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:21.900 right. You guys are good. You guys are good. 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:24.759 And just because we're coming up to Halloween, 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:30.240 what about this door? Does anyone remember what 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:34.939 movie this was from? That's right. Here's Johnny. 00:03:35.849 --> 00:03:39.129 There he is, right? Doors are powerful, powerful 00:03:39.129 --> 00:03:41.930 symbols, right? I mean, if you think about the 00:03:41.930 --> 00:03:44.210 doors you walk through all the time, every door 00:03:44.210 --> 00:03:46.969 tells a story. Even that door that you rush out 00:03:46.969 --> 00:03:48.830 of every single morning on your way to work, 00:03:48.909 --> 00:03:51.710 it tells a story. You know, the door you dread 00:03:51.710 --> 00:03:54.289 walking into, maybe it's a hospital door or something 00:03:54.289 --> 00:03:57.150 like that, tells a story. When you're going to 00:03:57.150 --> 00:03:59.830 class, maybe the first day of class in school 00:03:59.830 --> 00:04:02.210 and you're walking through that door, these doors 00:04:02.210 --> 00:04:05.150 all tell us a story. They all, doors are everything. 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:08.520 very, very symbolic. They can symbolize all sorts 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:11.180 of things. On the one hand, a door can symbolize 00:04:11.180 --> 00:04:14.259 safety. It's a way of protecting us from things 00:04:14.259 --> 00:04:16.040 that might be on the other side of that door. 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:18.279 That's why a lot of us will lock our doors at 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:22.360 night. Doors might represent boundaries and clearly 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:25.180 distinguish, you know, who's allowed in a certain 00:04:25.180 --> 00:04:27.699 space and who's not allowed in a certain space. 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:30.180 And sometimes we need that, right? We need bedroom 00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:32.959 doors and we need bathroom doors or boardroom 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:35.480 doors. But other times, Those boundaries maybe 00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:38.399 aren't so helpful because they can create these 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:40.899 like divisions between us or hierarchies or even 00:04:40.899 --> 00:04:44.120 classes amongst us, right, based on those boundaries. 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:48.220 Doors. Often symbolize opportunities. I'm sure 00:04:48.220 --> 00:04:50.600 you've all heard that language of open doors 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:52.959 in your life or closed doors in your life. Maybe 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:55.699 it was an open door to a relationship or an open 00:04:55.699 --> 00:04:58.439 door to a new job or maybe a door that closed 00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:00.819 and forced you to wait or be a little patient. 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:04.920 Doors obviously are symbols of welcome. When 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:07.399 a friend opens their door to you and says, come 00:05:07.399 --> 00:05:10.639 on in, you feel like you belong. But on the flip 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:13.600 side of that coin, doors can also be symbols 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:17.620 of exclusion and letting you know that you don't 00:05:17.620 --> 00:05:20.240 belong or you're not wanted in this space. And 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:23.060 maybe some of you have experienced doors closing 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:29.240 in your face. Maybe even a church door that closed 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:31.879 in your face, right? I want to share with you 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:33.720 just a couple more pictures of doors. Here's 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:36.259 a couple more. Does anyone know where this famous 00:05:36.259 --> 00:05:40.910 door is found? Where is it? That's right. That's 00:05:40.910 --> 00:05:44.230 the Trinity front door. And now one last door. 00:05:44.389 --> 00:05:48.720 Where is this famous door found? That's right. 00:05:48.740 --> 00:05:50.279 It was a trick question. But yes, they're both 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:52.759 the same door. They're both the front door here 00:05:52.759 --> 00:05:55.779 at Trinity. Only the first picture showed that 00:05:55.779 --> 00:05:59.740 front door from the outside heading in. And the 00:05:59.740 --> 00:06:03.680 second door here is the same door from the inside 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:07.000 heading out. And that is exactly the thing about 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:10.800 doors, is that they can actually do two things, 00:06:10.860 --> 00:06:12.699 depending on how you look at them. They can be 00:06:12.699 --> 00:06:15.160 outside doors heading in. They can be inside 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:18.829 doors heading out. I'll say more about that in 00:06:18.829 --> 00:06:20.949 just a moment. But I want to just remind you 00:06:20.949 --> 00:06:23.089 that today we have finally come to the end of 00:06:23.089 --> 00:06:25.149 this long teaching series. It's been seven weeks 00:06:25.149 --> 00:06:28.699 where we have been looking. These ancient letters 00:06:28.699 --> 00:06:30.459 written to churches in the book of Revelation, 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:32.720 and if today you walked into church for the first 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:35.339 time, you've come in right at the tail end of 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:38.740 this teaching series, where we have been learning 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:42.879 about these old letters written to real churches, 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:45.660 real churches in real cities 2 ,000 years ago, 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:49.000 and realizing that they have a lot to teach real 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:52.759 churches in real cities today. And they might 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:56.819 even have a lot to teach our church in our city. 00:06:56.920 --> 00:06:59.879 And today we're going to end by looking at this 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:03.259 church. It's the church in Philadelphia. And 00:07:03.259 --> 00:07:05.199 as Bill said, no, not Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 00:07:05.459 --> 00:07:09.579 Philadelphia. present day Turkey, right? Or Philadelphia, 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:13.720 ancient Asia minor. That's the Philadelphia we're 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:15.980 talking about. And I'm actually really glad that 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:18.019 we're going to end. In fact, we structured it 00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:20.579 to end with this being the last church that we 00:07:20.579 --> 00:07:23.680 look at because today is our annual general meeting. 00:07:24.449 --> 00:07:26.829 after our second service, our vestry meeting. 00:07:27.050 --> 00:07:29.490 And this letter, I think, has a lot to say to 00:07:29.490 --> 00:07:32.569 us as we gather to consider the life and future 00:07:32.569 --> 00:07:35.449 of our church. But also, this letter to the Church 00:07:35.449 --> 00:07:37.810 of Philadelphia has a lot to say to you. And 00:07:37.810 --> 00:07:40.670 it has a lot to say to me and how we live our 00:07:40.670 --> 00:07:45.339 own lives. This letter that Jesus wrote to the 00:07:45.339 --> 00:07:47.160 church in Philadelphia is all about doors. You 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:50.240 probably heard the language, open doors, close 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:53.379 doors. He talks about a key. He talks about, 00:07:53.379 --> 00:07:56.339 you know, walking through doors or all that jazz. 00:07:56.459 --> 00:07:59.259 This is basically how Jesus begins his letter 00:07:59.259 --> 00:08:00.860 to this church in Philadelphia. He says, these 00:08:00.860 --> 00:08:04.240 are the words of him who holds the key of David. 00:08:04.579 --> 00:08:08.519 What he opens, no one can shut. And what he shuts, 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:13.509 no one can open. See, I've placed before you 00:08:13.509 --> 00:08:19.069 an open door that no one can shut. This raises 00:08:19.069 --> 00:08:21.189 all sorts of questions, doesn't it? What is this 00:08:21.189 --> 00:08:23.490 door that Jesus is talking about? Where does 00:08:23.490 --> 00:08:30.189 it lead? Who opened it? Why is it open? But most 00:08:30.189 --> 00:08:32.710 of all, I want to ask, is this an outside door 00:08:32.710 --> 00:08:37.769 going in? Or is this an inside door going out? 00:08:38.110 --> 00:08:41.539 Well... Today I want to suggest to you that Jesus 00:08:41.539 --> 00:08:43.840 is talking about both. He is actually talking 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:46.480 about both an outside door welcoming people in, 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:49.820 and he's also talking about an inside door that 00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:52.080 is sending people out. They're both happening 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:55.000 at the same time. And I'll go on to explain that 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:56.580 right now, but I want to let you know I did give 00:08:56.580 --> 00:08:58.559 you a few sermon notes there if you want to follow 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:01.799 along to get the most out of the message. So 00:09:01.799 --> 00:09:05.980 first, the doors that Jesus has opened are clearly... 00:09:06.590 --> 00:09:09.990 outside doors welcoming people in. And that was 00:09:09.990 --> 00:09:13.250 such good news for the Christians in Philadelphia 00:09:13.250 --> 00:09:17.129 because they had just gone through an experience 00:09:17.129 --> 00:09:20.690 that was incredibly hurtful for them. They had 00:09:20.690 --> 00:09:24.049 been shut out and excluded from one of the most 00:09:24.049 --> 00:09:26.210 important institutions and one of the most important 00:09:26.210 --> 00:09:29.710 parts of their lives in that city and in their 00:09:29.710 --> 00:09:33.289 culture. They had been shut out from their local 00:09:33.289 --> 00:09:38.620 synagogue. You probably wondered about that language 00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:40.580 that Jesus was using in this letter. It was very, 00:09:40.659 --> 00:09:44.279 very harsh. He talks about those of the synagogue 00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:49.480 of Satan. That's a striking phrase. But what 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:51.740 it is doing is telling us that something was 00:09:51.740 --> 00:09:54.159 going on in Philadelphia. There was a painful 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:58.320 and social and spiritual struggle that this little 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:02.500 first century church was going through. Here's 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:06.279 what you need to note. You know, for the first 00:10:06.279 --> 00:10:08.799 few decades after the resurrection of Jesus, 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:12.139 just about all the followers of Jesus, the followers 00:10:12.139 --> 00:10:15.960 of the way of Jesus, were Jewish people, faithful 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:18.919 Jews. And the thing is, they did not believe 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:21.000 that there was a conflict between their Jewish 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:23.980 faith and following Jesus. They believed the 00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:26.720 Messiah, the long -awaited Jewish Messiah, had 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:29.679 come in Jesus. He was the fulfillment of their 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:32.559 Jewish faith. And so they, of course, continued 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.799 to attend the synagogue. with their friends, 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:38.340 and they kept the festivals, and they kept reading 00:10:38.340 --> 00:10:41.340 the Torah, but they did it all now through this 00:10:41.340 --> 00:10:45.559 new lens of Jesus Christ. As one scholar put 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:48.360 it, he said, in the late first century, Jewish 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:52.279 and Christian identities were not yet clearly 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:54.720 distinct. The communities were connected. They 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:58.039 had family ties. They did social things together. 00:10:58.100 --> 00:10:59.799 They had the same social networks. They used 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:02.340 the same spaces for meeting, and that was true 00:11:02.340 --> 00:11:08.039 in Philadelphia. as well. By the time the book 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:10.919 of Revelation is being written, that relationship 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:13.899 was stretched and frayed and now had reached 00:11:13.899 --> 00:11:17.559 a breaking point. In many cities like Philadelphia, 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:21.000 Christians were being told, that's it. You're 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:25.440 no longer welcome in the synagogue. And in many 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.799 cities, the follower of Jesus actually formally 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:31.440 were now expelled. Enough of this talk about 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.360 Jesus. You know, you can't stay here any longer. 00:11:34.419 --> 00:11:37.720 That's it. You're out. And so it was incredibly 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:40.039 hurtful because they didn't just end up losing 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:43.720 this sense of religious identity, but it was 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:45.779 central to their identity in the community and 00:11:45.779 --> 00:11:48.220 their part in the social fabric of their world. 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:50.879 And now they had just been shut out from all 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:55.049 of it. That's why the language of this synagogue 00:11:55.049 --> 00:11:58.919 of Satan is being used. He's describing this 00:11:58.919 --> 00:12:01.059 sense of exclusion. It's just really important 00:12:01.059 --> 00:12:02.779 we understand that language and don't go too 00:12:02.779 --> 00:12:05.259 far with it. This is not an anti -Semitic kind 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:07.960 of statement. It's not a blanket attack on all 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:11.179 of Judaism. It simply means that when this local 00:12:11.179 --> 00:12:14.980 Jewish synagogue excluded Christians from their 00:12:14.980 --> 00:12:17.799 fellowship, that they were working against the 00:12:17.799 --> 00:12:19.679 purposes of God. They were working against what 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:22.399 God wanted to do, and that is exactly Satan's 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:25.059 job description. Working against what God wants 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:29.580 to do. Therefore, a synagogue. of Satan. Now 00:12:29.580 --> 00:12:33.059 do you see, though, why Jesus' words to those 00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:36.799 Christians in Philadelphia are so powerful? I 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:42.299 have set before you an open door that no one 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:47.899 can shut. Man, now that is a powerful image if 00:12:47.899 --> 00:12:49.460 you're one of those Philadelphian Christians, 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:53.240 right? These Jesus followers had been shut out 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:56.710 from one door, and Jesus says, I'm opening another 00:12:56.710 --> 00:12:59.929 door. They may have the key to the synagogue. 00:13:00.330 --> 00:13:02.929 He says, but I have the key of David. This is 00:13:02.929 --> 00:13:07.029 a messianic title. And this key that I have, 00:13:07.110 --> 00:13:09.870 Jesus says, opens an even bigger and an even 00:13:09.870 --> 00:13:13.269 better door. It's the door to God's kingdom. 00:13:14.090 --> 00:13:17.169 The door to the synagogue, yeah, it may be closed, 00:13:17.250 --> 00:13:20.029 but the door to God's kingdom remains open to 00:13:20.029 --> 00:13:22.250 you. And even though you feel excluded from your 00:13:22.250 --> 00:13:29.509 community, you are never excluded by God. Some 00:13:29.509 --> 00:13:33.529 of you here today, you know how it feels to be 00:13:33.529 --> 00:13:38.950 shut out, excluded. Maybe you've been excluded 00:13:38.950 --> 00:13:40.570 from a group of friends, and it doesn't just 00:13:40.570 --> 00:13:42.190 have to be like something that happened at public 00:13:42.190 --> 00:13:44.370 school or high school. No, people get excluded 00:13:44.370 --> 00:13:46.629 from groups of friends all the time, even as 00:13:46.629 --> 00:13:49.970 adults. Secondly, you may have been excluded 00:13:49.970 --> 00:13:52.909 from your own family. I have heard some of your 00:13:52.909 --> 00:13:56.309 stories. You have shared painful stories of your 00:13:56.309 --> 00:13:58.769 own family members being divided and broken up, 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:01.509 and now you're excluded. Maybe you've been excluded 00:14:01.509 --> 00:14:04.649 even from your last church. I don't know. Something 00:14:04.649 --> 00:14:06.889 happened there, and they made it really clear 00:14:06.889 --> 00:14:11.049 that you weren't welcome there anymore. Jesus 00:14:11.049 --> 00:14:15.690 opens the doors that other people have closed. 00:14:16.389 --> 00:14:19.850 If the door to friendship was closed to you, 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:26.580 Jesus opens it and says, come and enjoy friendship 00:14:26.580 --> 00:14:30.580 with me. If the door to family was closed to 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:34.179 you, Jesus says, I'm building a brand new family, 00:14:34.279 --> 00:14:38.720 and you're invited. If the door to a church was 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:42.720 ever closed to you, first of all, I'm so sorry, 00:14:42.820 --> 00:14:46.360 but secondly, Jesus says, you are welcome in 00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:51.360 my kingdom. Let me tell you the story. of Florence 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:55.509 Gallinger. Florence was a longtime member at 00:14:55.509 --> 00:14:58.730 a church I previously worked at. She died at 00:14:58.730 --> 00:15:02.370 the age of 93. I did her funeral about 10 years 00:15:02.370 --> 00:15:05.549 ago. And Florence was one of the, I mean, Florence 00:15:05.549 --> 00:15:08.309 was amazing. Good old Florence, right? Florence 00:15:08.309 --> 00:15:10.490 was one of those people who was always at church, 00:15:10.649 --> 00:15:13.070 like before anybody else was on a Sunday morning. 00:15:13.149 --> 00:15:14.669 And she would just park herself by the front 00:15:14.669 --> 00:15:18.610 door and watch every person who walked into the 00:15:18.610 --> 00:15:21.289 service. She knew everybody in town. She knew 00:15:21.289 --> 00:15:23.909 that she was one of those people. And anyways, 00:15:24.090 --> 00:15:27.710 on one Sunday, this lady named Jennifer walked 00:15:27.710 --> 00:15:31.309 into our church. And I didn't know Jennifer. 00:15:31.509 --> 00:15:34.269 Oh, but Florence knew Jennifer. And Jennifer 00:15:34.269 --> 00:15:37.610 had not been to church for a very long time because 00:15:37.610 --> 00:15:40.789 she had been hurt by her previous church. And 00:15:40.789 --> 00:15:43.070 that had caused her to walk away for years. But 00:15:43.070 --> 00:15:47.850 Florence saw her. She made a beeline for her. 00:15:47.889 --> 00:15:51.610 Florence recognized her, walked over, and gave 00:15:51.610 --> 00:15:56.889 Jennifer this huge, huge hug. And she said, welcome 00:15:56.889 --> 00:16:03.730 home. And Jennifer never left that church after 00:16:03.730 --> 00:16:07.129 that, at least in my time. And she told me that 00:16:07.129 --> 00:16:11.470 she never forgot that moment because thanks to 00:16:11.470 --> 00:16:16.120 Florence, she felt included. And she knew there 00:16:16.120 --> 00:16:21.860 was an open door for her there. Closer to home, 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:26.340 closer to home. Last week, I got an email. This 00:16:26.340 --> 00:16:29.620 is an email I received from visitors who came 00:16:29.620 --> 00:16:32.620 to Trinity from out of town last week. It was 00:16:32.620 --> 00:16:35.019 a father and son. You know, again, we probably 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:37.320 won't see them again. They're from Ottawa. But 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:39.700 this is what they wrote. Thank you for the beautiful 00:16:39.700 --> 00:16:42.309 service. It was a pleasure to worship with you. 00:16:42.370 --> 00:16:45.789 My son and I both said we have never been welcomed 00:16:45.789 --> 00:16:50.710 so warmly by so many people as we were this morning. 00:16:52.070 --> 00:16:55.389 They found an open door here. They found a door 00:16:55.389 --> 00:17:00.610 of hospitality and welcome into this community. 00:17:02.309 --> 00:17:05.690 That's the gospel. The church in Philadelphia 00:17:05.690 --> 00:17:12.019 reminds us that the gospel is an open door welcoming 00:17:12.019 --> 00:17:16.240 people because Jesus was a savior who welcomed 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:21.019 people in friends our church has to live this 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:24.779 gospel message all the time every day every week 00:17:24.779 --> 00:17:27.420 so many people out there in the world have had 00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:32.880 doors slammed in their faces and all of us like 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:37.640 Florence Gallinger have a part to play in opening 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:43.000 the doors And I just want to say, maybe you're 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:45.099 one of those people who walked into Trinity for 00:17:45.099 --> 00:17:47.740 the first time today. And I'm just going to tell 00:17:47.740 --> 00:17:49.519 you, we're going to respect your personal space. 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:51.480 We're not going to give you a big hug like Florence 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:56.680 Gallinger did. But I do hope that one of us can 00:17:56.680 --> 00:18:03.599 kind of be Florence Gallinger to you. But the 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:07.720 open door that Jesus is talking about isn't just 00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:10.480 an outside door. that is welcoming people in. 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:14.599 It's also an inside door that is sending people 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:18.619 out. The same Jesus who says, come on in, also 00:18:18.619 --> 00:18:23.279 says, go out. The door to the gospel actually 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:27.799 swings both ways. Throughout the New Testament, 00:18:28.019 --> 00:18:31.319 the phrase open door often means an opportunity 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:35.089 to go out. An opportunity for outreach, an opportunity 00:18:35.089 --> 00:18:37.849 for mission. Paul, who was the greatest missionary 00:18:37.849 --> 00:18:41.130 in the whole Bible, several times used this phrase. 00:18:41.210 --> 00:18:43.250 For example, once when he was in Ephesus, he 00:18:43.250 --> 00:18:46.289 decided to stay in Ephesus because he said, a 00:18:46.289 --> 00:18:50.250 great door for effective work has opened to me. 00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:53.200 He had work he could do there in Ephesus. Another 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:56.480 time when he wrote this, he said, when I came 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:58.700 to Troas to preach the gospel, the Lord opened 00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:01.539 a door for me. Another, an opportunity for ministry, 00:19:01.859 --> 00:19:04.880 right? And once when Paul was in prison, he said, 00:19:04.940 --> 00:19:07.680 please pray for me. Not pray that the prison 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:09.519 doors might open so that I can get out and I 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:13.279 can be free, but pray that God might open a door 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:17.670 for the message to get out. So when Jesus tells 00:19:17.670 --> 00:19:19.910 the church in Philadelphia, see, I have placed 00:19:19.910 --> 00:19:23.329 before you an open door. He's not just comforting 00:19:23.329 --> 00:19:25.950 them. Oh, poor Philadelphia. He's not just saying, 00:19:26.029 --> 00:19:28.869 welcome into my kingdom. He's commissioning them. 00:19:29.029 --> 00:19:31.829 He's also sending them out. He's not just giving 00:19:31.829 --> 00:19:34.109 them an outside door leading into his kingdom. 00:19:34.150 --> 00:19:36.750 He is giving them an inside door leading out 00:19:36.750 --> 00:19:40.690 to the world. He's saying, I'm giving you this 00:19:40.690 --> 00:19:44.589 opportunity to spread. the gospel, to spread 00:19:44.589 --> 00:19:46.450 the message, and I don't want you to be afraid 00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:51.109 to walk through that door. Now, you need to know 00:19:51.109 --> 00:19:54.230 that Philadelphia was literally a doorway city. 00:19:54.329 --> 00:19:59.009 It was a gateway city, strategically, for several 00:19:59.009 --> 00:20:02.450 reasons. The first was it was a geographic gateway. 00:20:03.500 --> 00:20:06.240 Philadelphia sat on this major trade route. Just 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:09.880 think of it as like an ancient highway that connected 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:13.799 Europe and Asia. And it was really the last city 00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:16.079 that travelers would go through as they went 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:20.819 up onto the great plateau of Asia Minor. And 00:20:20.819 --> 00:20:23.500 so wherever you wanted to go in the east, you 00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:27.319 had to go through Philadelphia. It was perfectly 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:31.420 positioned at the crossroads of trade and travel. 00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:35.140 That's an open door. What an opportunity. But 00:20:35.140 --> 00:20:39.180 secondly, it was also a cultural gateway. The 00:20:39.180 --> 00:20:43.960 city had been founded to spread Greek language 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:46.900 and culture throughout these eastern provinces. 00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:49.819 In fact, one historian said that Philadelphia 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:53.839 was built, quote, to be a center for the diffusion 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:57.839 of Greek civilization. So it was this cultural 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:01.559 gateway meant to spread Greek culture. But here's 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:04.240 the thing. Because it was strategic geographically 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:06.460 and because it was strategic culturally, that 00:21:06.460 --> 00:21:08.940 meant that it was spiritually strategic too. 00:21:09.740 --> 00:21:11.799 Spiritually, this was a gateway opportunity. 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:14.420 Jesus says to this little church, he even says, 00:21:14.500 --> 00:21:16.180 I know you only have a little bit of strength, 00:21:16.299 --> 00:21:19.410 he says, but I have opened a door for you. In 00:21:19.410 --> 00:21:23.450 other words, you have been placed where you are 00:21:23.450 --> 00:21:27.930 on purpose. Your geography and your culture and 00:21:27.930 --> 00:21:30.670 your situation strategically positions you in 00:21:30.670 --> 00:21:34.490 a perfect way to not spread Greek culture outward, 00:21:34.609 --> 00:21:37.750 but to spread the gospel and good news of Jesus 00:21:37.750 --> 00:21:41.869 Christ outward. This is a door of mission. This 00:21:41.869 --> 00:21:47.500 is a door of opportunity that is open. was saying, 00:21:47.579 --> 00:21:49.920 listen, I've given you, Philadelphia, everything 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:52.200 you need, right? I've given you the perfect location, 00:21:52.299 --> 00:21:54.059 the perfect connections. I've given you this 00:21:54.059 --> 00:21:56.799 calling. Now walk through that door that I have 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:01.220 set before you. The doors Jesus gives us aren't 00:22:01.220 --> 00:22:03.740 just open doors welcoming us in, trying to comfort 00:22:03.740 --> 00:22:08.099 us. They are also doors for calling us outward. 00:22:08.500 --> 00:22:14.470 See, I am sending you out. Now, Today, as I've 00:22:14.470 --> 00:22:16.349 mentioned, is our annual general meeting. It's 00:22:16.349 --> 00:22:19.369 Vestry Sunday. And this is not just a business 00:22:19.369 --> 00:22:21.710 meeting. It's not just an annual review. It's 00:22:21.710 --> 00:22:23.869 not just voting on a budget. It's a chance to 00:22:23.869 --> 00:22:27.589 sit down and listen and talk about what doors 00:22:27.589 --> 00:22:34.210 Jesus might be opening for us. Maybe you have 00:22:34.210 --> 00:22:37.329 a sense that God is opening a new door for us 00:22:37.329 --> 00:22:40.130 to do church in a different way. I don't know. 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:43.660 right maybe it's a door of serving our community 00:22:43.660 --> 00:22:46.059 in a different way maybe there's a way that god 00:22:46.059 --> 00:22:48.980 is wanting us to go and reach our community maybe 00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:51.880 the poor in our community the lonely in our community 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:54.819 or the young people in our community maybe it's 00:22:54.819 --> 00:22:56.980 a door to be more compassionate some way maybe 00:22:56.980 --> 00:22:58.839 it's a door to be more innovative in some way 00:22:58.839 --> 00:23:01.019 maybe it's a door of leadership i don't know 00:23:01.019 --> 00:23:03.519 but today we want to ask those questions we want 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:07.319 to say god Where have you placed us? Like Philadelphia, 00:23:07.579 --> 00:23:09.980 strategically, where have you placed us? And 00:23:09.980 --> 00:23:12.720 what doors, therefore, are you opening before 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:17.380 us at this time in the life of this church? That's 00:23:17.380 --> 00:23:20.819 what it means to be a faithful church. We don't 00:23:20.819 --> 00:23:23.839 just cling to the past. We don't just stay behind 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:26.980 these four walls, right? We look for the doors 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:32.160 that Jesus is opening and then we walk through 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:35.309 them. Even if we're not 100 % sure what's on 00:23:35.309 --> 00:23:39.049 the other side. John Stott once wrote this. He 00:23:39.049 --> 00:23:42.910 said, Christ has the keys and he opens the doors. 00:23:43.690 --> 00:23:46.589 Then let us not barge our way unceremoniously 00:23:46.589 --> 00:23:50.109 through doors which are still closed. We must 00:23:50.109 --> 00:23:53.849 wait for him to make openings for us. That's 00:23:53.849 --> 00:23:57.789 why we want to hear from you today. To help this 00:23:57.789 --> 00:23:59.970 church discern. That's something we all have 00:23:59.970 --> 00:24:03.589 to do together. Requires the... the whole community. 00:24:05.529 --> 00:24:08.630 But whether it's God that is opening a door for 00:24:08.630 --> 00:24:11.589 us as a church or God that is opening a door 00:24:11.589 --> 00:24:15.049 for you in your life, do we have the courage 00:24:15.049 --> 00:24:17.390 to walk through those doors, right? I mean, the 00:24:17.390 --> 00:24:19.750 first question is, yes, what door has God opened 00:24:19.750 --> 00:24:21.849 for you in your life? Some of you are sitting 00:24:21.849 --> 00:24:23.769 here and you know darn well what that door is, 00:24:23.869 --> 00:24:26.430 right? You've had a sense for a long time and 00:24:26.430 --> 00:24:28.329 it might be a person that keeps asking you questions 00:24:28.329 --> 00:24:31.690 about why you go to church and you know. That 00:24:31.690 --> 00:24:33.470 God is putting an open door for a conversation 00:24:33.470 --> 00:24:35.789 there. It might be this tug that you feel at 00:24:35.789 --> 00:24:38.069 your heart to go and reconcile a broken relationship 00:24:38.069 --> 00:24:40.329 in your life. And you know that that door is 00:24:40.329 --> 00:24:43.049 opening up for you. Or it might be just something 00:24:43.049 --> 00:24:45.849 very simple. It's a door for you to start being 00:24:45.849 --> 00:24:48.190 more generous. A door to start praying more. 00:24:48.289 --> 00:24:49.890 I don't know. That's the first question though. 00:24:49.910 --> 00:24:51.769 What door? The second question is, do you have 00:24:51.769 --> 00:24:55.390 the courage to walk through that door? Every 00:24:55.390 --> 00:24:59.490 door that God places before you is an opportunity 00:24:59.490 --> 00:25:01.539 for you to trust him. just a little bit more, 00:25:01.720 --> 00:25:05.119 right? To walk with him just by one step of faith, 00:25:05.259 --> 00:25:08.940 to love someone new, to serve in a new way, to 00:25:08.940 --> 00:25:11.240 share the hope of Jesus with someone in your 00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:13.740 circle of influence. It requires faith though. 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:18.880 It requires trust. Every open door is an opportunity 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:22.500 to trust the one who holds the key to the door, 00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:26.859 Jesus Christ. John Ortberg, some of you know 00:25:26.859 --> 00:25:29.599 this, he wrote a great little book. If you want 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:32.700 to walk on water, you've got to get out of the 00:25:32.700 --> 00:25:35.980 boat. If you want to see what's on the other 00:25:35.980 --> 00:25:38.460 side of God's open door, you've got to walk through 00:25:38.460 --> 00:25:43.539 it. Or as Corrie Ten Boom once said, never be 00:25:43.539 --> 00:25:46.700 afraid to trust an unknown future to a known 00:25:46.700 --> 00:25:50.900 God. You might not know what awaits you beyond 00:25:50.900 --> 00:25:53.279 that door that God is opening for you. That is 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:56.799 okay because you do know that Jesus will go with 00:25:56.799 --> 00:26:00.450 you and you can trust. Him. So what's that door? 00:26:00.569 --> 00:26:03.130 What door is God opening for you right now? And 00:26:03.130 --> 00:26:06.329 what kind of courage do you have to go through 00:26:06.329 --> 00:26:08.109 that door? Don't wait for the perfect conditions. 00:26:08.210 --> 00:26:10.769 Don't just stand at the doorway staring at it. 00:26:11.289 --> 00:26:14.130 Take the step of faith knowing that Jesus is 00:26:14.130 --> 00:26:19.170 going to go through with you. So in a nutshell, 00:26:19.309 --> 00:26:26.710 here's what followers of Jesus do. We open The 00:26:26.710 --> 00:26:31.970 door to others. And we go through. The door for 00:26:31.970 --> 00:26:34.309 others. Why don't we even just say that together. 00:26:35.130 --> 00:26:39.650 We open the door to others. And we go through 00:26:39.650 --> 00:26:44.109 the door. For others. We as a church. Need to 00:26:44.109 --> 00:26:47.910 be a church of open doors. You. As a follower 00:26:47.910 --> 00:26:52.289 of Jesus. Need to be a person. Of open doors. 00:26:54.349 --> 00:26:57.740 The door of the gospel. It always swings both 00:26:57.740 --> 00:27:00.240 ways. It's an outside door welcoming people in 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:03.160 and it is an inside door sending people out. 00:27:03.380 --> 00:27:07.019 And if you're standing on the outside today and 00:27:07.019 --> 00:27:10.359 you're wondering, gosh, is there a room for me? 00:27:11.420 --> 00:27:13.559 Is there a room for me in God's family? Is there 00:27:13.559 --> 00:27:16.480 a room for me in this church? Is there a room 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:21.039 for me in the kingdom? The answer is yes. And 00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:24.140 if you're standing on the inside and you're staring 00:27:24.140 --> 00:27:27.779 out and you're wondering, gosh, Can I really 00:27:27.779 --> 00:27:31.180 trust God with where he wants to send me next? 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:38.119 The answer is also yes. Jesus has the keys. He 00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:43.400 closes doors that no one can open. He opens the 00:27:43.400 --> 00:27:49.940 doors that no one can shut. Thanks be to God. 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:51.359 Amen.