The Proclamation of Christ

The scripture reading comes from Acts chapter 3, starting from verse 1 we read.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

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He asked to receive alms.

And Peter directed his gaze at him and did join and said,

Look at us.

And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.

But Peter said,

I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

And he took him by the right hand and raised him up.

And immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

And leaping up, he stood and began to walk and enter the temple with them,

walking and leaping and praising God.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God

and recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple,

asking for alms.

And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

While he clung to Peter and John,

all the people, utterly astonished,

ran together to them in the particle called Solomon's.

And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people.

Men of Israel,

why do you wonder at this?

Or why do you stare at us?

As though by our own power or piety, we have made him walk.

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,

the God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus,

whom you had delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate.

When he had decided to release him,

but you denied the holy and righteous one

and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.

And you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead.

To this we are witnesses.

And his name, by faith in his name,

has made this man strong, whom you see and know.

And the faith that is through Jesus

has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

And now, brothers,

I know that you acted in ignorance, as is also your rulers.

But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets

that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

Repent, therefore, and turn back,

that your sins may be blotted out,

that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,

whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring

all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

Moses said,

The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.

You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.

And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet

shall be destroyed from the people.

And all the prophets who have spoken,

from Samuel and those who came after him,

also proclaim these days,

You are the sons of the prophets

and of the covenant that God made with your fathers.

Sing to Abraham,

And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

God, having raised up his servants,

sent him to you first,

to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.

This is the word of God.

Okay, let me pray for us before we dive into God's word.

Father, we come before you.

God, you are king forevermore.

Your word is life,

and your word is true.

God, as we look into your scriptures,

Father, we pray through your spirit,

would you reveal the treasures that are found in here?

Would you speak to all of us,

as individuals and as a church,

to love you,

to serve you,

to give all of ourselves away to you, God,

for you are worthy of it all.

And we glorify you.

So God, come,

be glorified in these things.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Church,

if you don't know me,

my name is Alan.

I'm one of the staff here at Watermark.

It is such a joy to bring God's word to us this morning.

If you've been with us for the past few weeks,

about four weeks,

we've been going through the book of Acts.

And it's a volume two written by Luke,

and which basically tells us about what happened

after Jesus ascended into heaven.

And through the chapters,

we've been seeing the pouring of the Holy Spirit,

through which Peter stands up

and gives incredible sermon,

preaches the gospel,

and you have all this crowd,

about 3,000 people coming

and believing and being baptized.

And after which,

just last week,

we heard about this community that starts,

a community that's formed by God,

and in one short sentence,

it was a community,

a church,

that belonged to God

and belonged to one another.

It was an incredible community,

a church.

And apart from the people in that community

devoting themselves to the teachings of the apostles,

apart from them breaking breaks,

praying,

praising God,

as people come together to sell their possessions,

so that anyone in their midst

that were in need was given and provided for,

one of the other things that we also see

was that there were wonders and signs

that were being done through the apostles.

So, Luke,

who we know is a physician,

a doctor,

now seems to take out one of those wonders and signs

and talk about it in chapter 3 that we just read.

Now, today,

one of the questions

that it's going to help us answer

is a question that all of us

needs to answer

every day of our lives.

It's a question that we as a church,

as a group,

needs to answer

every day of our lives.

And the question is this,

what matters to you most?

What matters to,

what matters the most to us as a church?

And what we just read is that

we're going to talk about the miracle

that Peter does,

and for the second time,

he's going to stand up and explain it

and talk about

what is actually more important

than the healing.

And the healing and the miracle

is almost going to act like a signpost

pointing us towards that.

So, if you have your Bibles,

you can follow along.

Let's dive into God's Word

where the first thing we encounter is

the sign.

We're going to look into verses 1 to 10.

Now, Peter and John,

they are on their way to the temple,

and on the way there,

they encounter this lame man.

Verse 2 tells us that

this man was carried there

so that he could beg

in a gate called

the Beautiful Gate.

Since giving of alms,

or giving of money

to poor people or beggars

were something that was good

in the Jewish religion,

so that means

the place to sit

right at the temple gate

was the ideal spot.

What is more is that

in the same verse,

we see that this is a man

that was lame from birth,

which makes this miracle

even more miraculous,

and also chapter 4 tells us

that this man is actually

over 40 years old.

Now, so here is this lame man

sitting at the gate,

most probably shouting

the same thing

he has been shouting

for over 40 years.

And when suddenly

these two strangers

walk up to him,

stop before him,

look at him directly,

and one of them, Peter,

goes on to say,

I have no silver and gold.

And I'm sure the lame man's

heart must have sank,

because he believed

that that was what

he needed the most.

And that's a terrible thing

to say to a beggar.

I don't have any money.

But, Peter does not stop there.

I have no silver and gold,

but what I do have,

I give to you.

And in the name of Jesus Christ

of Nazareth,

rise up and walk.

And the man is instantaneously healed.

Peter takes him up by his hand

and raises him up,

and he begins to stand,

he begins to walk,

he begins to leap.

Maybe that's leaping

as something he might have seen

one of the children do

in front of the gate.

For the first time in his life,

he's leaping,

walking,

and jumping in joy.

It was quite a sight to behold.

Now, one of the things we see

in the book of Acts

is how the work of Jesus

after he ascended into heaven

is being continued.

Jesus came to proclaim

the good news of the kingdom,

which is continued by the believers

that take the gospel

to the ends of the earth.

We see that Jesus came

to draw people to himself,

to create a people

that belong to God,

and which we saw last week,

which is being done

through the apostles

as people are coming

to be one people

that belong to God.

Now, in chapter 3,

we just read about a healing,

which is interestingly

very similar to the healing

that is done

in Luke chapter 5.

Luke 5 · chapter mention

So now, the question is,

is God still

in the miracle business?

Does God still heal

and do the supernatural things?

There was a man called

Lee Strobel.

I'm sure most of you

might have heard of him.

He's a very famous,

very well-known,

former investigative journalist,

someone who investigates

news and things.

So who, when his wife

became a Christian,

went on this journey

to investigate Christianity

just to prove his wife wrong.

But at the end of the journey,

he finds out that there's

an irrefutable evidence

for Christ and resurrection,

and at the end of it all,

he becomes a Christian himself.

Now, later on,

and he actually does

another investigation.

Later on, he's curious,

and he says,

okay, I'm going to investigate miracles.

Does miracles really happen?

So for two years,

he travels the world.

He goes,

interviews skeptics.

He talks with people

that have experienced miracles,

travels in the places

of the world

where there's reportings

of miracles

and supernatural things,

investigates it,

and at the end of it all,

he writes a book called

A Case for Miracle.

And from this book,

here's a spoiler,

here are his three conclusions.

One,

that actually God is still

in the miracle business.

Two,

that there are actually

more miracles happening

than we think.

And three,

and most of his miracles

are actually more better documented

than most skeptics think.

I mean,

my own mother

had blood cancer

and she was healed.

But I also know

of people

that are faithful,

devoted Christians,

dear friends of mine,

that were not healed.

In one of Lee Strobel's interviews,

he interviews a woman

called Barbara Snyder,

a woman who had

instantaneously been healed

from a disease

that was documented

by well-known doctors,

incredible healing.

And at the end of the interview,

he stands up

and goes to Barbara

and says,

Barbara,

can I give you a hug?

And then he asks her,

Barbara,

why you?

Why not my wife

who has chronic illness

and is in pain every day?

Why,

where is her healing?

But why you?

And Barbara looks at him

and says,

I don't know.

I don't know.

But what I do know

is that our God

is sovereign.

That his ways

and thoughts

are above ours.

That he sees things,

he knows things

that we don't.

And at the end of it all,

ultimately,

one day when Christ returns,

all of his children

will be healed.

There shall be

no more pain,

no more suffering,

no more diseases,

no more death,

no more sin.

You see,

God is still

in the miracle business,

but we should know

that he's sovereign too.

And he does

what is good,

even though we do not see

the good in right now.

Now,

I want us to note

that the title

of this first point

is the sign.

It's not healing

or miracle.

Because throughout

the book of Acts

and actually throughout

the New Testament,

one thing we're going

to see is that

wonders,

miracles,

and signs

are actually meant

to point us

to something

or is either meant

to authenticate

something.

For example,

in the previous chapter,

chapter 2,

verse 22,

Peter addresses the crowd

and he says,

men of Israel,

hear these words,

Jesus of Nazareth,

a man attested to you,

proven to you by God

with what?

With mighty works

and wonders and signs

that God did

through him

in your midst.

Later in chapter 4,

when Peter and John

are caught by the

religious leaders,

the religious leaders

are debating

what to do with them

and one of the things

they find it hard

is to deny

the notable signs

that these two men

have done

while the 40-year-old

layman was standing

right beside them.

You see,

miracles and healings

and signs

and supernatural things

are meant to either

point us to something

or to authenticate

something or someone.

So,

in this chapter 3,

what is this healing

or sign meant

to authenticate?

What is this sign

pointing us towards?

What was it that mattered

so much more

than the healing

and the excitement

that was building

around Peter and John

as people gathered

and were astounded

by what they were seeing here?

Well,

now,

Peter is going to stand up

and he's going to address

the crowd

and he's going to

explain the healing

but at the same time

he's going to help us

answer that

which leads us

to our second part,

the object

of this sign.

Now,

let's focus on

verses 11 to 16.

So,

the crowd gathers around.

They're astounded.

Verse 11 tells us

that.

They're astounded.

They're amazed

by what they're seeing.

I mean,

here's a man

that has been

in the gate

for 40 years,

right?

I mean,

I'm sure we all

go to work

and there's certain

things we see

on our way

which we get so used to.

Could be our security guards

and we're like,

we see this person

every day

and one day

when he's not there

we're like,

where did this guy go?

Must have been

the same experience.

Where is this man?

And suddenly you see

this man is standing

and leaping and jumping.

They're astounded

and Peter takes

this opportunity

as crowd gathers

to see this

and which is very similar

to chapter 2,

right?

In chapter 2

something supernatural

happens

and Peter stands up

to explain.

In chapter 3

again something

supernatural happens.

Now Peter's going

to stand up

and he's going

to address the crowd

and he basically

begins with the

caution,

right?

He says,

why do you wonder?

Or why do you look at us

as if we did it

with our power

or as if this happened

because we are

so godly people?

You see,

the sign of healing

that was happening

was them saying like,

hey,

he's not pointing this,

this sign is not

pointing you guys

towards us.

He's not authenticating us

nor is this power

that the sign

that you've seen

we don't have

the power to do this

nor are,

did we do this

because we are

so godly.

But what it was

pointing towards

or what it was

really authenticating

was what Peter

was about to say.

And in one short

sentence,

what Peter was

about to preach

or say

is this,

is the gospel

of Christ Jesus,

is the goodness

of him.

I mean,

look at verse 13

with me.

Verse 13,

Peter says,

the God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac,

the God of Jacob,

the God of our fathers

glorified his servant

Jesus whom you

delivered over

and denied in the

presence of Pilate

when he had decided

to release him.

Now that's very

interesting of what

Peter is doing here

because Peter is

saying two things

at the same time.

He's saying,

this is who Jesus is

and this is what

you have done to him.

I mean,

he's saying,

this is Jesus,

the one who

our fathers chose.

He's the chosen

servant of the

God of our fathers.

But you denied him,

you delivered him

and denied him

and killed him.

Verse 14,

he's the holy

and the righteous one

but you denied him

and asked for a

murder in his place.

Referring to the time

when Pilate

gave people a choice

to either release

Jesus or release

this murder

called Barabbas.

Verse 15,

he's the author

of life

but you killed him.

And in the end,

Peter says,

and that Jesus

is the one

through whom

this man has been healed.

Now that's a very

funny

or interesting way

to answer the question

how did this healing happen?

I mean,

Peter could have just

gone and said,

hey guys,

this man was healed

because of Jesus.

We prayed in the name

of Jesus

and we had faith

in him

and this man

was healed.

Peter could have

just said that

and got it over with

and not gone on

this long,

long paragraph.

But you see,

Peter is very intentional

about what he's doing.

Peter knows what he's saying

because,

you see,

Peter was not interested,

not just interested

in telling them

about the healing

but he was actually

more interested

in telling them

about the source

of the healing.

He was not interested

in telling them

how great this healing was

but he was more interested

in telling the people

how great the healer was.

You see,

when Peter was talking

about Jesus here,

I want us to note,

he was not talking

to a group of people

like us

who had heard about Jesus

2,000 years ago.

He was talking

to a crowd of people

that had actually

seen him,

seen Jesus

just a few months back.

Maybe seen,

heard Jesus teaching.

Maybe this is a group

of people

that have seen

the miracles of Jesus

that have maybe

some of them

have been healed

by Jesus themselves.

Some of them

might have been

shouting,

crucify him.

Or maybe there's

people in the crowd

that have actually

seen Jesus died.

And Peter is standing

in this crowd

and he's saying,

yes,

that's the Jesus

that I am talking about.

Whom you all know,

have seen,

and whom you all know

perfectly well

that had died.

But Peter is also saying,

but guess what?

Jesus is not just

any other man.

Yes, he died,

but there's more.

And in verse 15,

he says,

yes, he died,

but God raised him up

from the dead

to which all of us,

we too,

Peter and John,

are witnesses.

In fact,

there are a lot more witnesses

the fact that Jesus

was risen

and he's alive.

So this is what

Peter is saying.

Yes,

he's truly the chosen one.

Yes,

he's truly the glorified

servant of God.

He's truly the holy,

the set apart,

the righteous,

the perfectly moral,

perfect being.

He's truly that Christ.

He's the author of life,

the source of life.

Can you think about that?

Jesus is the source of life,

the very air that we breathe,

the very bodies that we have,

the very souls that we have,

the very nerves that we have.

Jesus is the one

who gives us,

he's the source of life,

he's the author of life

and he's not just dead,

he's truly risen.

This is Christ,

this is what Peter is saying

to them.

But Peter is also saying,

but guys,

you killed him.

You denied him.

You chose a murderer

to be set free

instead of him.

Now I'm sure

among that crowd,

there must have been

few people that have,

must have been thinking,

whoa, whoa, whoa,

wait Peter.

I was not even in town

when they killed Peter.

They killed John,

Jesus.

I was in the other side of town

preparing my family

for Passover.

I mean,

I didn't even shout,

I didn't do any of the things

that you said.

I mean,

this guy might have did it,

but I don't know,

it's not me.

And beloved friends,

maybe that's what we think too.

Maybe we literally are

in the way we live.

But it is true,

you see,

none of us in this hall

was there to nail Jesus

at the cross.

None of us was there

shouting crucify him.

But there's an old hymn

that might help us.

And there's an old hymn

that we do sing at Watermark

and it goes like this.

Behold the man upon a cross,

my sin upon his shoulders.

Ashamed I hear my mocking voice

call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin

that held him there

until it was accomplished.

His dying breath

has brought me life.

I know that it is finished.

Church,

it might not have been

our hands

that nailed Christ

to the cross,

but it was definitely

our sin

that took him

and held him

at the cross.

1 Peter 2.24

tells us,

he,

Jesus himself,

bore our sin

in his body

at the cross.

And this could be a place

where we could take a pause

and think,

church,

how much do we ponder

about that?

How much do we ponder

about our sin

that nailed

and held Christ

to the cross?

You know,

in my life,

I'm very quick

to ask for forgiveness

and say,

thank you,

Jesus,

and move on

with life.

Which is not bad.

But there is wisdom

in actually pausing

and meditating

over the depravity

and the terrible nature

of our sin.

You see,

this is a quote

that was taken

from an article

from a website

called Desiring God

written by a man

called Greg Morse.

And at the end

of the article,

he says this.

He says,

I've watched

The Passion of Christ,

which is an old movie

about the death of Jesus.

I've watched

The Passion of Christ

each year

for four years

being moved

every time to tears,

which I'm sure

all of us can relate.

And all the while,

I was not truly born again.

All the while,

my life was not

really changed.

And I thought myself

better for crying

as if my sins

would be passed over

if I had tears

painted on the doorpost.

You see,

it did not take

a regenerate heart,

a changed heart

to weep over

the sufferings of Jesus

while our world

is full of unbelievers

who cry over sad things.

But it did take

a regenerate heart

to mourn over

what I rarely mourned over.

And it was my sins.

Church,

how much does our sin

make us weep?

When was the last time

we fell on our knees

and mourned over

our sin

that took our Savior

to the cross?

And there is wisdom

in staying there.

But there is also

this news that

and there is also

this truth

that the burden

of sin

is something

none of us can bear.

Which is why

Jesus took our sin

upon Himself

on that cross.

None of us can bear

the burden

and the penalty

of our sin.

Jesus took it

on Himself

on the cross.

He died

and rose again

paying the penalty

of our sin

that none of us

could do.

Freeing us

and feed us

from the power

of sin

and ultimately

one day

when He returns

there shall be

no more sin.

Jesus did that

and Peter knew that.

Peter knew

the people

that were listening

to Him

could not bear

the burden of sin.

Which is why

thankfully

He continues

His sermon.

Because you see

the goodness

of Jesus Christ

the gospel

does not

just end there.

The gospel

ends

in an invitation.

An invitation

to come

invitation

to come

and turn away

from our sin.

Which leads us

to our last point.

The call

to turn away.

Let's look at

the last few verses

from verse 17

to 26.

Verse 17

Peter begins

and says

you have acted

in ignorance.

Or in other words

you did not know.

Well God knew

but you guys

did not know.

And that's very

interesting because

isn't that one

of the things

that sin

does to us?

Sin makes us

blind

to our own

sinfulness.

Sin makes us

blind to our

own depravity

our own

disgusting nature

of sin

that lies within.

That's what sin

does and that's

a very sober

warning to hear

this morning.

Because

and the question

is are we

blinded by our

sin?

so much

that we

are

unresponsive

our hearts

are unresponsive

to God's

word

and godly

counsel.

That's a

legit warning

here.

Well and Peter

goes on

then he says

well

repent

turn back.

he says

that in

verse

19

repent

therefore

turn back

that your

sins

may be

blotted

out.

And that

is what

repentance

is isn't

it?

To turn

back

to turn

and 180

decrease

turn away.

And many

times we

think that

repentance

is sober

and serious

and many

times

many ways

sad.

But actually

if you really

look at what

Peter is saying

he's actually

very joyful.

At times

yes

repentance

is serious

but at the

same time

repentance

is also

joyful

and full

of great

celebration.

I mean

it's like

a child

that is

wondering

if his

mother is

still angry

with him

or not

and suddenly

sees a

smiling face

and an

open arm.

It's like

two friends

that have

been quarreling

for a long

time

and finally

after a

long

conversation

they have

a reconciliation.

And in

this case

it's our

loving

father

against

whom we

sin

which brings

this massive

chasm

between us

and a holy

God

but instead

of us

paying the

penalty of

sin

he pays

it

by sending

his son

Jesus Christ

so that

whoever

turns to

him

whoever

repents

and looks

towards him

will be

reconciled

joyfully

to the one

who knows

us

who created

us

and who

loves us

truly

I mean

Jesus

in Luke

15

talks about

the son

who returns

to his

father

who turns

back to

his father

and as

the father

sees him

walking in

the distance

he runs

to the son

and in

great joy

embraces

the son

kisses him

and throws

him a

massive

feast

you see

repentance

yes

is serious

but repentance

is also a

call

to come

and be

reconciled

to the

father

who loves

you

it's a

call

to come

to enter

into

his joy

I mean

let's

come back

to Acts

3

look at

what

Peter

says

tells

the

crowd

verse

19

he says

turn

away

so that

why

so that

your sins

may be

blotted

out

the sin

that

kills

us

the sin

that breaks

our

relationship

with not

only God

with one

another

so that

that sin

would be

blotted

out

verse

20

so that

a time

of refreshing

may come

verse 25

so that

blessing

would come

through you

to all

nations

and verse

26

so that

you would

be freed

from

wickedness

this is

what Peter

is calling

the people

into

to come

enter

into a

place

where you

are truly

freed

where you

are truly

in joy

at peace

one with

the one

who made

you

and loves

you

the place

where

your

souls

are

truly

satisfied

well

Peter

doesn't

just

stop

there

he

doesn't

just

stop

telling

people

to

turn

away

he

actually

tells

them

one

more

thing

and he

says

yes

turn

away

but

there's

something

you gotta

turn

towards

he

also

tells

them

what

to

turn

to

now

look

at

the

end

of

verse

21

where

he

was

saying

about

that

hey

Jesus

is in

heaven

and one

day

he'll

return

according

to the

words

of the

great

prophets

long

ago

now

it seems

that

Peter

is

again

switching

gears

right

and he's

switching

gears

to

reverse

he's

going

backwards

almost

and what

he's

saying

in

from

verse

22

onwards

he goes

on

to

say

is

that

hey

you

remember

Moses

the

great

Moses

our

prophet

Moses

he

actually

pointed

to

Jesus

I

mean

he

says

in

verse

22

Moses

said

the

Lord

will

raise

up

for

you

a

prophet

like

me

from

your

brothers

who

you

shall

listen

to

him

whatever

he

tells

you

and

it

shall

be

that

every

soul

who

does

not

listen

to

that

prophet

shall

be

destroyed

I

mean

Peter

is

saying

the

great

prophet

Moses

is

talking

about

Jesus

Jesus

is

the

better

Moses

that

came

here

now

not only

this

verse 24

onwards

he says

guys

all

the

prophets

beginning

from

Samuel

actually

pointed

to

Jesus

what's

more

verse 25

the

promise

that

was

made

to

Abraham

Abraham

the

most

important

person

in

the

Jewish

religion

that

Abraham

the

promise

made

to

Abraham

is

actually

all

fulfilled

in

Jesus

do

you

see

what's

happening

here

how

Peter

is

changing

gears

you

see

Peter

is

not

just

telling

them

to

turn

away

from

sin

towards

Jesus

but

he's

telling

them

to

turn

to

Jesus

who

is

not

just

Jesus

but

is

actually

someone

who

is

unimaginably

more

than

they

think

I

mean

just

think

of

this

whole

chapter

three

right

the

healing

gets

Peter

the

healing

starts

and

Peter

stands

upon

among

the

people

and

he

tells

that

the

first

thing

he

tells

them

is

Jesus

is

more

Jesus

is

holy

righteous

Jesus

is

the

author

of

life

and

yes

you've

killed

Jesus

is

the

one

that

all

prophets

pointed

towards

Jesus

is

the

one

that

is

better

Moses

Jesus

is

the

one

that

the

promise

made

into

Abraham

is

fulfilled

church

your

life

you see

that is

a very

important

question

because

it's

going to

shape

the

way

we

live

the

way

we

think

the

way

we

organize

our

time

the

way

we

set

our

priorities

and

if

you

look

at

chapter

3

what

mattered

the

most

in

chapter

3

was

not

that

much

the

healing

or

how

the

healing

happened

but

it

was

how

great

Jesus

is

and

how

great

the

good

news

of

Jesus

is

you

see

chapter

3

starts

with

the

healing

but

is

dominated

by

Peter

declaring

the

greatness

of

Christ

Jesus

calling

people

to

repent

and

again

going

back

showing

them

as

they

turn

back

to

him

that

this

Christ

Jesus

is

much

much

more

greater

than

anyone

has

ever

imagined

so

what

is it

that matters

most in

our lives

you see

if we

think

or if we

say

that it

is money

then

the way

we think

our value

or other

people's

value

is going

to be

shaped

by how

much

people

earn

our

time

would

be

invested

more

in

earning

money

versus

spending

time

with our

families

or other

things

if we

say

that

our

reputation

is

more

important

is the

most

important

thing

in our

lives

then

we

would

spend

most

of

our

lives

putting

on a

mask

being

perfect

by the

same

time

suffering

under

the

burden

of

being

good

but

then

but what

if the

thing

that

matters

the

most

in

our

lives

is

the

greatness

of

Christ

Jesus

and

his

work

the

gospel

then

how

would

that

change

our

lives

maybe

the

way

we

arrange

our

times

and

resources

would

be

different

maybe

our

relationships

would

be

different

even

in

times

of

conflict

in

the

way

we

move

towards

reconciliation

maybe

this

would

be

the

source

of

our

joy

when

we

are

pursuing

relationships

or

when

we

are

struggling

with

singleness

how

about

for us

as a

church

what

would

it

look

like

for

a

church

that

the

thing