Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website ecb .asia or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. Good morning. It's really
good to be with you. I'm thankful for the opportunity
to share God's word with you this morning. Humbled
as well, knowing that this is an important thing
that we do when we gather in this moment and
space. We are taking the month of September and
considering what it means to be disciples of
Jesus. clear message that to be a disciple of
Jesus, we are actually to go and make disciples
of Jesus, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Spirit, teaching them all that
Jesus taught us to do, and that he's going to
journey along with us. If you take all of that
saying and you capture it down, it's that to
be a disciple, that we are with Jesus, we are
becoming like Jesus, and we are doing what Jesus
has asked us to do in the world. So this month,
we're looking at what the identity of the church
is and how we live that out together. So I'd
like to pray and just invite God to be moving
in this space together with us. So Father, we
pause before you, knowing that since beginning
of time, you had already ordained this day. We
didn't know it. We didn't know what focus we
were going to have for the teaching, and yet
we hope that we have been faithful partners in
listening to what you would have us consider
this morning. Jesus, we gather around you because
you are fully worth it. Thank you for the gift
of your own life, your death, your resurrection.
And Holy Spirit, we invite you to be moving within
us. We know you are here. So open our eyes to
see you, open our hearts to receive what you
have for us, and may whatever happens within
this time move us to be closer to you. We pray
this all in the wonderful name of Jesus. Amen.
A few months back, we had a couple who was traveling
through Southeast Asia, and actually they had
been in Korea for a time, and then they... They
reached out to us and said, hey, could we come
and visit you and visit ECB? And of course we
said, absolutely. You're welcome to come. So
they came in on a Saturday morning and we gathered
together that evening over food at our home and
we enjoyed a delicious meal together and shared
conversations about just updates of what it looks
like to walk in the way of Jesus with one another.
It was a really special time. Near the end of
that time, they looked at us and they said, hey,
Pastor Phil and Rhea, could we pray a blessing
over you? Of course, we would love to receive
this. But then they followed that up and they
said, we sense God placing upon us something
that we want to pray specifically over you. Now,
in that moment, you're really listening. Lord,
what are you wanting to speak through them to
me, right? And so we had this time of them praying
over us and it was a really, really special time
together. And what I want to invite us this morning
is to realize, that God himself, when he came
as fully man and fully God in Jesus, prayed a
prayer of blessing over you. Here's what it says
in the middle of John 17. So he's with his disciples
in the upper room just before he heads out to
be crucified. He's gathered around and they're
breaking bread together, having a meal, and he
says, I want to pray for you. And he prays this
beautiful prayer in John 17. But in the middle
of it, he says, I'm praying not only for you
that are around this room, but I'm also praying
for any of the people who end up deciding to
follow me. If you follow Jesus, that's you. Jesus
prayed this prayer of blessing over you. So wouldn't
you want to hear it and say, Lord, What are you
speaking to me through these words? So what I
want to invite you to do is, as we start, imagine
that you're sitting at a table. Jesus is right
across from you. And he's put his hand up. And
I'm seeing a few of you here, and I'm going to
call you out. And he's like, Debbie, I'm going
to pray over you. Max, I'm going to pray over
you, whoever it is. And he calls you out by name,
and he says, I'm going to pray over you. And
here are the words that he says. He says, I pray
that they. I pray that all of you, ECB, will
be one. Just as you and I are one, talking about
the Father. As you are in me, Father, and I am
in you. And may they be in us so that the world
will believe that you sent me. That's pretty
extreme unity there. I have given them the glory
you gave me so that they may be one as we are
one. He continues on. I am in them and you are
in me. May they experience perfect unity that
the world will know that you sent me and that
you love them as much as what you love me. What
God is expressing here is in his incredible amount
of love, he has invited you to receive the same
amount of love, the same quality of love as the
Father shows on the Son. That's not a little
bit of love. That is a ton of love. And he's
also called you and I to be... combined in perfect
unity. As we go through this series and we're
unpacking what it means to be disciples of Jesus
for global impact here at ECB, we've used different
images. And last week, we talked about being
planted. So some of you are here for two weeks.
Some of you are here for 50 years. It doesn't
matter how long you are here. It's planting yourself
in whatever God has before us so that he can
continue to move within you, give you his love,
and may you give that to other people as well.
This week, our image is one of a plant that is
rooting down. Now, is this one plant or is this
many plants? I don't actually know. I found it
on Google, so I'm not sure. But here is the root
system below. And you know what the reality is?
It doesn't really matter if this is one plant
or many because the roots are so intertwined
in this combination of supporting one another
that this is what the picture that Jesus said
is. It doesn't even really matter who you are,
Pastor Phil, or who this person is. It's about
what I am doing. And so I bring my people together
and we grow something that is truly beautiful.
And so we're going to use this idea of being
rooted in Jesus and one another as a picture
to what community is, what community is. So what
compels Jesus to pray these words over you and
over me? Well, he knew this story really, really
well. He had been there from the beginning. He
was part of helping to make sure that it was
written well through the power of the Holy Spirit.
66 books, 40 or so authors, multiple languages,
over 1 ,500 years, one story. This is part of
the reason why I was drawn and compelled to follow
Jesus. You cannot do this without some supernatural
power to bring that all together. So we're going
to look at that story. So make sure you are very
comfortable because we're going to go from beginning
of the Bible all the way to the end. But I'm
going to break it up in four different. parts,
four fragments, and look at the story that way
so we can kind of get an arc of what God's design
for community, for belonging is. Because that's
our call this morning is, what is community?
What does it look like to participate in healthy
community together? What does it look like to
be rooted in belonging? So the first part of
the story is set in the Garden of Eden. And we
start there because you know what? Even if you
don't consciously ask this question, we know
we are moving based on this question. The question
is, what is my purpose? What am I designed for?
What does it mean to be me? And the Garden of
Eden, the account of the creation of all things,
which includes humanity, is a good place to look
and say, Lord, who did you make me to be? And
so we're going to look there and we're going
to figure out, well, what does God say about
being connected to others? Because brothers and
sisters, your soul longs to belong. Your soul
longs to belong. I want to take you back to a
very special day, the day you were born. Now,
you don't remember that day because you didn't
have the capacity, the developmental capacity
to remember that day. But there is something
that happened on that day that actually connects
all of us here. So after the transition from
being in the safe, warm space of the mother's
womb and then you come out into the world and
there's these bright lights and noise and depending
on where you are, probably people moving around
and there's this jarring effect where there's
usually some screaming involved. Then the baby
settles into this quiet phase. Sometimes it lasts
up to an hour. And the baby is looking out, even
though they can only see about 10 centimeters
in front of their face. And what are they looking
for? The baby is desperately looking for somebody
looking for them. That's what the baby is longingly
looking for. And this instinctual thing, as a
baby, you didn't plan. You're like, okay, tomorrow's
my birthday and I'm going to come out there and
I'm going to look for somebody looking for me.
This was an instinct deep inside your soul that
desired belonging and connection with other people.
And it speaks to, we call this an echo of Eden.
It's pulling back to what God designed us through
at the beginning. My wife and I have been going
to a, with a group of people who do this exercise
routine a few times a week. She goes twice. I
go once. It tells you a little bit about who
we are as people. But in this space, there is
nothing wonderful in it. There's a lot of sweating,
a lot of hard work, a lot of groaning in pain.
But something special happens in that space.
Where you walk into the room and as you begin
to know one another, the person's face lights
up when you walk in. And even though you don't
plan out, I'm going to go to this workout and
I'm looking for somebody looking for me. When
you walk into a room and somebody does that back
to you, it changes how you engage in that space.
And even though this is an awful thing to go
through, it's much better knowing that this is
a community of people connected with one another.
And why is this important? Because right now,
by some figures, 20 % of the world's population
is experiencing what we call acute loneliness.
That's not cute loneliness. Acute loneliness
means serious levels of loneliness to the point
where there's somewhere in the figure of around
a million deaths per year related to loneliness.
And for those of you who are younger, whether
it's young adults or even high school age, this
number goes up to close to 30 % for you. So why,
when we have this instinctual drive to connect
with other people, and we are in a time frame
where we have the best connections, we are the
most connected people ever, are we still experiencing
loneliness? Well, we'll get to that in just a
moment. But let's look first at our design. Then
God said, let us make human beings in our image
to be like us. The triune God, Father, Son, and
Spirit, living in perfect community says, hey,
we're going to make humanity. And then he goes
on, the author says, so God created human beings
in his own image. In the image of God, he created
them, made them male and female. He created them.
Okay, let me unpack this. You've got... God,
who is community in and of himself, three in
one, creating you and me as people, man and woman,
together in community to reflect his community
image. That's a lot of togetherness, which we
start to see why Jesus prayed this prayer for
perfect unity for us. That's what it means to
be rooted in belonging. And then God blessed
them and he said, be fruitful and multiply, fill
the earth and govern it. So not only does he
say, hey, you belong. And we are together in
this, but he also gives us a great purpose. And
that purpose is to bring about his goodness into
the world. That is to reflect his good nature
in multiplying that. So whether it's bringing
more humans into the world, whether it is art
and culture and things that we create, whatever
it may be, we do that in partnership with him.
It's a three -tiered belonging. That's what it
means to be rooted in belonging. But there's
another section. If you know the story of Genesis
well, there's actually two accounts of humanity's
creation. And God does this intentionally, not
because it's a mistake in the Bible. It's actually
helping you look at it from two different angles
because when we do that, we understand it at
more depth. So let's look at the second account.
It says, formed the man from the dust of the
ground. So imagine God, even though he's spirit,
he's taking the dust to the ground and he forms
it together and he looks at this person. Is the
person alive at that point? No. He looks at the
person looking back at him and he breathes the
breath of life into that human being. This is
the story of our origin. If you remove that breath
out of a person, what is left? Just dust. But
with the breath, that person now is a full human
being. I cannot live without God. And even though
I think often that I can, I cannot live without
God. In the southern part of Africa, they have
a phrase called Ubuntu, which is literally meaning
person. And what the actual like breakdown of
the definition of it is, I am because we are.
And we might think about it this way. I am because
we and vertically are as well, God. I cannot
be without God and one another. Community is
absolutely essential. Then he goes on and he
says, then the Lord God said, it's not good for
a man to be alone. I will make a helper who is
just right for him. Now, this is often a passage
used in weddings, and we know it fairly well.
But this word helper is actually ezer in Hebrew.
And it does not mean an assistant or a house
helper who's going to do something that I don't
want to do because I'm busy. Actually, ezer is
typically used of God in the Old Testament. That
is not who he is. He's not our subservient person
who is there to assist us. He is a indispensable
and powerful partner with us. And yes, this is
talking about man and woman coming together,
but this is also talking about us as a community.
We are to be indispensable partners with one
another. We cannot journey through life without
the help of one another. So what are you made
for? Well, you're made to be rooted in belonging,
both vertically with God and horizontally with
one another. But we know the story, don't we?
Instead of keeping in that space, remaining rooted
in God, humanity turns towards another. So let's
look at that story. Adam and Eve come into the
garden. They're there and they are living in
this space and the deceiver comes in and he begins
initially with breaking down the vertical relationship.
And he says, does God really love you? Is he
really about you? He's keeping things from you.
And in that space, Adam and Eve rebel against
God and then something horribly is broken because
they hide as their first thing. And then when
God graciously calls them out, what do they do?
They begin to blame each other and blame the
snake and blame everything else. And you see
the fragmenting of relationship immediately.
It's though the roots got cut right off from
the plant. And how long does it take for a plant
to start dying without the roots? Only a matter
of time. And so this is the story that we follow.
And this uprooting continues on and on and on.
So who are Adam and Eve's first children? Cain
and Abel. What do they do to each other? They
partner together in great work and they go and...
No, actually Cain kills Abel. The first human
beings that were born, one of them kills the
other one. And then you have Lamech who comes
across multiple wives and he's bragging about
the fact that if you do something to me, I'm
going to take it up five steps and I'm going
to do it way worse back to you. And he's like
building his identity off of this. And then you
get Noah, who's selected by God because humanity
itself has broken down in their relationship,
so much so that they're exploiting one another
to the point where God says, I can't bear watching
my people go through this again and again. And
so he saves this family. And then the family,
not only moments after they're back again, there's
problems with them. And then God calls Abraham.
And they have problems. And then they build a
group together. And there's now a nation that
gathers. And they're like, okay, maybe if we
get a new king, things will be good. And they
get a new king. And then they get another one.
And then the nation divides into two and wars
happen. And it's a pretty awful story, isn't
it? So I want to take us back to last week. What
did Pastor Pablo, what was his refrain from Bob
the Builder? Remember this? ECB, can we build
it? Okay, but let's look back at history. Can
we really build what, I mean, the definition
of being crazy is to do the same thing over and
over again and expect something different to
happen going forward. So if I look down the corridor
of history at what it means to be uprooted, I
don't really have any hope going forward. So
can we build it? I don't think so. But don't
worry, we'll get there. So this is why we desperately
need somebody from the outside to come in. I
can't build roots upon myself after they've been
severed off. I need a new life source to actually
plug myself into. If I was dirt and there was
no life in me, I cannot make life come into me.
I have to somehow be reunited with the one who
actually gifts life. And this is precisely what
happens. The Holy Spirit comes upon Mary and
breathes into her and she actually, Jesus is
born from Mary. So you've got this new connection
between God and humanity that is God saying,
I am so for you that even though this is the
history that I know about, I'm going all in on
you, brothers and sisters. to become one of you
because I love you that deeply. That's a great
story, great news. And so you can imagine Mary
holding baby Jesus and Jesus is looking at her,
looking for somebody, looking back at him and
they journey through life together. And you know
what? Jesus's life is rather unremarkable until
he's 30. He's a carpenter. He studied God's word
and got lost from his parents. And that's almost
the entirety of what we know until all of a sudden,
he comes across John the Baptist. And at that
point, he is going to be baptized. And this is
what we read there. It says, as Jesus came up
out of the water, so John the Baptist, he baptizes
Jesus and Jesus comes up out of the water. He
saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy
Spirit descending on him like a dove. And Jesus
is there coming out of the water, which usually
represents going from something old to something
new. But what happens is that the father says
this. He says, you are my dearly loved son. And
you bring me what? Great joy. This is that belonging
that we are made for, this longing that is there.
Now, what has Jesus done up to this point? Not
really anything significant. But the father looks
at him and says, I love you. And that's our story
too. When we come to Christ, it doesn't mean
we have done a bunch of things to be invited
back into belonging with him. He loves us because
he knows that he created us to be in union with
him. And that in union with him, there's beautiful
community that happens out of that space. But
the story doesn't end there, right? There's teaching
that Jesus gives. The Sermon on the Mount, which
is about 111 verses together, a hundred of them
are about relationship, vertically and horizontally,
either with God or one another. Do you think
relationship is important to Jesus? Absolutely.
It is core to what he is. That's the most succinct
amount of teaching. And then there's this guy
that comes to Jesus and he approaches Jesus like
you would chat GPT. And he says, hey, I read
this whole book and I know it and I'm following
it. And could you summarize what it's all about?
And Jesus says, yeah, I can do that for you.
Boom, just like chat GPT, puts it out there.
And he says, all of this, the whole story is
really about loving the Lord your God with all
of your heart, with all of your soul, with all
of your mind, with all of your strength. And
the second is also important is to love your
neighbor as yourself. Vertical relationship,
horizontal relationship. Do I bring part of me
into this? No, I bring all of me into this relationship.
And that's the level of commitment and belonging
that God knows. And that's why Jesus prayed that
prayer in the upper room. Right after Jesus prays
the prayer, he then calls his disciples down
into his most important moment. just before he
is crucified. This is the time where you need
your friends more than any other time. This is
the time where he is desperately needing somebody
to come alongside him. So he's just prayed this
prayer, hey, may we be unified together, and
they walk into a new garden, the Garden of Gethsemane.
And Jesus makes a fairly easy ask. He says, hey,
could you guys just come and pray? Keep with
me and pray with me. What do they do? They fall
asleep. How many of you, don't worry, you don't
have to raise your hand. We do this though, right?
And we recognize both sides of this story. We
recognize what it is to be abandoned, to not
be cared for by people who need to care for us
in such an important moment. But we also recognize
that we have done that to others. And Jesus has,
in the beautiful way that he does always, has
stepped into this to remake a moment. And he
is there saying, yes, I know that you are still
abandoning me, but because I am living out of
the Father's love for me, I'm going to commit
to you. Because the Holy Spirit is empowering
me to do this, I'm going to commit to you. The
disciples not only don't pray for him and they
fall asleep, but they end up abandoning him.
They deny knowing him. One of them cuts off somebody's
ear because he's trying to maybe promote himself
in some special way. There's all kinds of things
that happen where it's not community the way
it's supposed to be. And it ends with Jesus alone
on the cross with his head probably bowed down
low. And rather than a face looking back at him
to say, this is my beloved son and who I am well
pleased because of your sin and my sin upon his
shoulders. We read that Jesus cries out from
the utter center of who he was using words from
Psalms. My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? This is Jesus modeling the absolute depth.
of loneliness in that space. His physical punishment
probably paled in comparison to what was happening
to his soul in that moment. And he did that,
why? Because he wants you to belong to him. That's
great news, brothers and sisters. That is worth
celebrating. That is worth giving our lives to,
our whole heart, soul, strength, and mind. So
is there hope? Absolutely. There is hope. There's
hope because he did it, not because you and I
can do it. And therefore, because he did it,
we can build off of the root system that he has
put down and begin to live within that in community
that begins to reflect what it looks like to
be true disciples of Jesus. Are you going to
mess up? Yeah. I think about this in the way
of like a toddler that is just learning to walk
and they're just kind of wobbling around and
they sometimes bump into things and other people.
That's going to be our experience right now.
And that's okay because you know what? Christ
is forgiving you past, present, and future. And
you can release any sense of deep guilt because
Christ has already paid that for you and for
me. And instead, he invites us to step towards
deeper community with him. And he does this as
he calls his disciples to himself. And on the
mountain where he gives the great commission
and he sends them out, not as individuals, but
he says, you all, as you're going in life, go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. And what? I will be with you
to the end of the age. My belonging sticks with
you. As you go and do this journey, my belonging
is with you. But not only that, I'm also going
to give you the Holy Spirit, who will dwell within
you and empower you to do all that I have just
shown you is true belonging. That's great news,
brothers and sisters. Then we can look down the
corridor and can we build it? Well, if we repeat
what they did, no, we can't. But we look forward
this way and we say, can we build it? Yes, we
can with the power of the Holy Spirit, right?
Going forward. So the next phase that we get
to is one of being established in belonging.
So somewhere between where we are now and when
Christ returns a second time, we are to live
this life out, learning to be brothers and sisters
in community while we longingly wait for what
is to come. Now, what is the image that we are
moving towards? Well, it's a good image. It is
a wonderful image to celebrate. After this, I
saw, actually, let's read this together. Would
you join me? After this, I saw a vast crowd,
too great to count, from every nation and tribe
and people and language, standing in front of
the throne before the Lamb. Go ahead and look
around. Seriously, introverts, you can put your
head down. The rest of you, go ahead and look
around the room. You see people from different
places? I joked about this in the first service.
This is not because of the juice that we have
downstairs that we come together. We come together
from all kinds of different backgrounds and age
levels and ethnicities, every tribe, tongue,
and nation because of Jesus. And we look forward
to the day that that will be a full people of
belonging that come to that. But it continues
on. There's even more. He said, I heard a loud
shout from the throne saying, look. God's home
is now among his people. He will live with them
and they will be his people. God himself will
be with them. Does this remind you of anything?
Kind of rings a bell from John 17, from that
prayer that Jesus prayed. There's a lot of you
and us and together and connection. And we see
it completely perfect in the new heavens and
the new earth. And this is a space where it's
described as the new Jerusalem, a city comes
down from heaven and there's these rivers and
this tree of life and you have both a garden
and a city. So God does not only restore what
happened in the Garden of Eden, he actually makes
it even better. That's the God that we serve
and worship. And that's the God that we get to
live with forever, participating and belonging
with him. And it is good. No longer will there
be a curse upon anything. Amen. You know what?
When I put that time thing from Jesus to the
end, like I wanted to put a you are here and
I wanted to put it right next to there. I want
Jesus to come back. He can come today for all
I'd care. That would be wonderful to have him
back. No more curse over anything. And they will
see his face and his name will be written on
their foreheads. It's kind of a strange way to
describe belonging, isn't it? But think about.
you being looked at by God. And he says, not
only am I looking into your eyes and saying,
you are my beloved son or you're my beloved daughter.
It's as though he has etched his very identity
upon you and says, you are mine. Establish belonging
forever and ever and ever. That's good news.
That's very good news. So we look at the full
length of what God's story is. And remember,
I said we were going to go from beginning to
end with Christ in the center. This is your story
and this is my story. If you are helping with
communion, I'm going to ask you to go ahead and
make your ways up to your stations, begin to
prepare that. We're doing something a little
different this morning. We're celebrating communion
in the middle of our sermon. Why are we doing
that? Because communion was a gift by Jesus around
the time that he prayed that prayer for you and
for me of perfect unity. Can you do it? Yes,
you can through Christ. And communion is a reminder
that we do this together. So our roots are tied
into Jesus. We cannot build our own life. We
have to build it actually within him. And then
by building within him, we are connected with
one another. And the story that is up there is
the story that actually shapes how we live our
lives. And that's why we remember it again and
again. So if you have committed to Jesus Christ
as your Lord and Savior, if you find yourself
bound to him because he is your only hope, then
this meal is for you. This meal is for me. And
then I have two questions that I want you to
think through. How might God be inviting you
to step more deeply into this life of belonging?
What does it look like to be in community at
an even deeper level right now? And a second
question, how might God be inviting you to welcome
others into that life? He welcomed you, now you
welcome others. So we remember Jesus's prayer
for perfect unity. And around that same time,
he brought these elements forward as he was having
a meal with his disciples. And he said, you know,
I'm going to go forward and my body is going
to be broken because I love you. And my blood
is going to be spilled because I commit to belonging
with you. And as you receive these gifts that
I am about to give you, they are reminders. That
you are fully forgiven, fully accepted, fully
redeemed, fully honored by God. That's belonging.
And it is because of Jesus that that's the case.
So I'm going to pray over the elements together
in our time of taking it and then we'll participate
together. Jesus, I thank you deeply for the gift
that you have given of your very life. to come
down, to unite yourself with humanity, to live
the life that we could not live, to teach how
to live in a way that we could never live, and
then gifting us a reunited connection with you,
God, so that the power of the Spirit could move
us into what it looks like to be little Christs
in this world. We thank you, Jesus, once again
for that gift, and we do so together as a community
because we recognize that you have called us
to be one. to engage in the mission you have
in the world as one. And may Bangkok see, because
of our community, that something is different
here. There is life within our relationships
with one another. And we do that built off of
you. And so thank you. We pray this in Jesus'
name. Amen. Would you read these words together
with me from Romans 15? Therefore, welcome one
another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory
of God. What is your job? To welcome one another.
What is the model of how we are welcoming one
another? Christ who has welcomed you. Why do
we do this? For the glory of God. If we're going
to make disciples for global impact, we've arranged
how we do things into these four different sections.
And of course, this morning, our focus has been
on community. And what does it look like to have
a nurturing community? What do we do to shape
our community in that sense? And I want to tell
you a story about a young woman named Alicia
Lobo. She is in the right -hand side of the picture
there in that blue shirt. Now, Alicia in this
picture is about 11 or 12 years old, 2017 or
18, shortly after her family had moved from India
to Bangkok because of her father's work. and
this is a picture of them after they had attended
some Sunday morning services and then been invited
into a life group. Now, do you see the smiles
on their faces? They may be about belonging,
but it's probably because of the food there,
which is part of belonging, right? But they're
enjoying this time together. But Alicia is there,
and she's just kind of participating in what
is happening. And I want to... continue with
her story because it's really exciting. And she's
given me permission to share this. Last summer,
Alicia left Bangkok to start med school in the
United States. And as she headed off to start
med school in the US, during her time there,
God started to do something within her and urge
her, move her along. Where when she came back
this last summer, She's like, you know what?
I'm ready to make this following Jesus mine.
Not just what my family was, not just the community
that I grew up, but I want it to be mine. So
she reached out through connections with young
adults, reached out to Zach. And Zach was in
Canada at the time. So Zach said, hey, Pastor
Phil, can you meet with Alicia? And so we had
a conversation and she shared her testimony.
A beautiful example of what community can do.
and the gift of community to a life. So all these
years as she engaged with this life group, she
didn't realize that she was slowly being drawn
towards Jesus. It was a belonging that she didn't
know she even needed. And so we look forward
to a few months ago, actually mid -August, and
this is Alicia and her family in a different
blue shirt here now, right? The iconic ECB baptism
shirt. And over on the right -hand side is me
baptizing her in the public space of their Muban,
the pool that is right in the middle there. And
we gathered together with the small community,
a life group. We went outside. And Alicia, there's
kids playing in the pool and all of that. And
we baptized Alicia after she had shared her testimony.
Bring her back up. It wasn't that long. Don't
worry. Bring her back up. And she's full of joy.
We go back into the house. And these life group
leaders pray over her these really special prayers.
Prayers that I could not have prayed over her
because I didn't know her story. I hadn't journeyed
along with her. And they were blessing her because
the next day she was heading back to the US to
do her second year of med school. And so they
wanted to bless her just like Jesus was blessing
you and I for unity as she went out. And we've
connected her with a church now in the area that
she's in. And actually before that, we also broke
bread. We had communion together as a life group.
A sweet moment together, right? And this is the
power of community, a nurturing community. God,
we are deeply thankful for your story, your story
of commitment to us, commitment to us being loved
by you, to being in community together. You have
invited us into a special belonging with you,
God. belonging that is reflecting your Trinity
nature, but also belonging that is with a purpose.
And we are to make disciples for global impact
as we enjoy being in community with one another.
And I want to just pray for our church family
right now that if there are any conflicts that
are happening, that they would be addressed quickly.
Lord, you have invited us to do so and we can
stand upon your forgiveness as we step towards
another and work towards reconciliation in that.
Would there be such unity because we are people
who are peacemakers with one another? And Lord,
we ask that as a large church community that
we would be increasingly involved in the belonging
that you have called us to. We would be rooted
in it because we are rooted in you, Christ. And
that our belonging would be so different than
the world around us that this city would be curious
about what is happening here, that this country
would be curious, that the world would be curious.
And that through that, more people would come
to know Jesus that you are the way, the truth,
and the life. We pray this all in the wonderful
name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you for tuning in
to the ECB Sermon Podcast. Whether near or far,
if you are looking for community or are in need
of prayer, we welcome you to engage by sending
us an email to office at ecb .asia. If God is
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to join us next week. God bless you.