The Birth of a Church

For those of you who are just joining us, maybe have not been a part of our community before,

what is happening here is really the culmination of something that started close to three years ago in prayer and dreaming.

It's a collaboration between three churches, Church of the Resurrection, Church of the Advent, Church of the Ascension,

three other churches in the D.C. area who have a dream to start new worshiping communities together.

And when this whole thing started over 10 years ago, we had the hope that one day we would look at a neighborhood like Brooklyn

and that we would see a worshiping community birthed here that would come alongside the other churches that are doing great work to serve the city and to bring glory to God.

And so we're here. This is our inaugural gathering.

Some of us have been meeting and working and planning this for, as I said, two and a half, three years now.

But this is our first time gathering here as a church to worship, to hear the word of God and to share in the Lord's Supper.

So it's a great time to be here.

And as I was thinking about this and praying about it, I was realizing that one of the things that we need to think about as we're gathering together for the first time is our expectations.

You know, what are we expecting of this?

And now that it's here, now that we're here, what should we expect of this community?

And as we go forward, what will it look like?

So we have to do a little expectation management.

For me, that's very important in my life to make sure that my expectations align with reality.

Reality.

And in the vein of that, one of the things that's central to the life of all of our communities, including this one,

is that we want to allow God's word to shape how we think about these things.

We want to pattern our lives as a community after scripture.

And so that's what we're going to do.

And we're going to do that by looking at the book of Acts today.

Acts is written by Luke, who was a physician and a historian.

And it's wonderful because it gives us some eyewitness accounts of the very first churches as they were being born.

And so if we want to understand and have a sense of what to expect here, it's great that we're able to look there.

And in particular, we're going to look at chapter 16 and the beginning of the church in a place called Philippi.

And what's really cool is that we're going to look at the birth of this church this week in Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

And then beginning next week, we're actually going to be able to look at a letter that Paul wrote to this church 10 years after it began.

And then we're going to do an in-depth study and try to understand some of the things that Paul had to say to this church 10 years after it began.

But today the focus is Acts chapter 16, the birth of the church in Philippi.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

While there's a lot in this passage that we're not going to be able to cover in depth and a lot that is unique to that culture,

there are some things that we can glean in terms of our central question, which is what should we expect?

And this is for people who have been laboring for this long and hard.

And this is also for people who maybe you just kind of wandered in the door because you smelled coffee.

And you're here wondering what this is all about.

For all of us here, there is a need to understand what is this about?

What should we expect out of our time together as we continue to meet?

And so we're going to first look at a couple of things that we should not expect.

A couple of things that we should not expect.

And then we're going to look at a couple of things that we should expect.

Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

Let's pray together.

Our Heavenly Father, all of our planning, all of our striving, all of our strategizing, all of our effort, all of the setup, all the coordinating,

Lord, all of that is mere human effort.

And if our hope was based on that alone, we would have no hope.

But we know that somewhere in all of this, you are here and that you're at work and that you speak.

And so, God, we pray that you would speak to us now through your word because we need desperately to hear from you.

We pray this in your son's holy name.

Amen.

So Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

What should we expect?

A couple of things that we should not expect here in Brooklyn as we look at the church in Philippi.

First thing is this.

We should not expect that everything will go according to plan.

We should not expect that everything will go according to plan.

I think that we've learned that.

But it's good to be reminded of that.

Right?

If you look at verses 6 through 10 of Acts 16, what does it say?

It says Paul wanted to go to where?

Asia.

I don't know if we can bring it up here.

I don't know if that's possible.

That's okay.

We'll figure that out.

Hopefully, maybe you have a Bible or an iPhone or something that you can look at if you'd like.

But it says that Paul wants to go to Asia and to Bithynia.

But then what does it say?

The spirit of Jesus prevented it.

Now, I wish I could say, you know, well, according to the commentaries, this is what that actually means.

But that's really all we're given.

Paul wanted to go there and Jesus said, no.

And instead, Paul is given this vision of a man calling them to come into Europe and to preach the gospel there.

And when we say the gospel, we mean the good news about Jesus.

And this man says, come.

We need the gospel here.

And so that's where they go.

And there's no reason given.

We have no reason why.

But Paul obediently goes.

And it's good to be reminded right off the bat that God is the one calling the shots, not us.

Right?

That life in the church, life in God's community is like this dance.

And it's a dance between us and God, between human striving and divine sovereignty.

And God is the one leading the dance.

And, you know, anytime you see, you know, if you watch Dancing with the Stars or anything like that, you know, the one leading the dance has to be very tuned in with and aware of their partner.

And yet they initiate the movement and the partner has to be very tuned into and aware of the lead.

And they need to be able to respond in a way where their movement looks fluid and unified.

So Paul has a sense, God is not leading me here.

He's leading me here.

And so Paul immediately yields to that.

And the dance goes on.

So God is always inviting us into the dance.

He's always inviting us to be a part of what he's doing.

And the question that we always have to ask is, how do we respond?

Do we respond?

How much do we struggle before we allow him to lead the dance?

We had three meeting spaces fall through over two years before our fourth attempt.

And we came here.

It felt in many ways like we were wrestling and struggling with God during that time.

And yet as I look at this, I cannot believe that we have such a wonderful space.

I'm actually more excited about the people we get to work with here than the space.

I mean, the stage is nice and all, but the people that are hosting us, if you haven't had a chance to meet them,

Beth and Royale and all of the team that they're going to be working with us, they're amazing.

And I look at that and I look at God and I just say thank you.

Thank you for this blessing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

If this is your life and these are the terms, then where's the invitation?

because the one thing we know for sure is this,

that God is always continually inviting us into the dance.

If this is your life and these are the terms, where's the invitation?

So we should not always expect that things will go according to our plans.

Often they don't because we are not the ones leading the dance.

The second thing we should not expect is this.

We should not expect this to be easy all the time.

You know, Philippi was a proud Roman city.

There was a kind of a noble military heritage here.

Latin was the official language.

It's a European Roman city.

So if you're a Greek speaker, you're lower class.

If you're a Jew, there are hardly any Jews here.

So you're considered lower class.

So Paul, a Greek-speaking Jew, and his team would have been looked down upon

as soon as they crossed the threshold of the city.

And so you see, even though Paul and Silas are Roman citizens,

once they begin to do ministry,

and once people begin to see the kind of work that they're doing,

they're treated horribly.

And you can read about it in verses 19 to 37.

They're dragged into the marketplace to face the authorities.

They're stripped.

They're severely flogged.

They're thrown into prison without a trial.

They're sent into the maximum security inner cell.

And their feet are put in the stocks.

And the persecution only got worse for this church over time.

Things only got worse for a while before they got better.

So the question becomes, why does this happen?

Why does it happen?

You know, when things get hard for us,

a lot of times we will say,

well, this is probably a sign that we shouldn't be doing it.

But not so here.

See, there are surface reasons why they face these issues,

probably cultural reasons.

But Jesus did say plainly that people,

you know, Jesus said,

people treated me this way,

and they're going to treat you this way.

And yet, they persevere,

Paul and Silas in this church persevere,

and it's amazing to look in another of Paul's letters,

2 Corinthians chapter 8,

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

he actually references this church in Philippi.

And he says this,

for in a severe test of affliction,

their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty

have overflowed in what?

Their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty

have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

So, not only did the hardship not overcome the church,

but rather it produced in them a joy

and a generosity and a gratitude

and a worshipfulness.

It's a mystery.

How could persecution and hardship and suffering

make people more joyful,

more generous,

more worshipful?

We'll get more into that next week.

That's the question as we look at Philippians.

Now, let's look at some things that we should expect.

Those are some things that we shouldn't expect.

It's not going to go according to plan.

It's not always going to be easy.

But here's what we should expect

as we move on in the passage.

First thing is this.

We should expect this, friends,

that hearts would be open to God's Word.

That hearts would be opened to God's Word.

The first person we meet here in Philippi

is a woman named Lydia.

She's a dealer in purple goods,

which is the Bible's way of saying

she's a very successful businesswoman.

And she's probably fairly wealthy,

fairly well off,

fairly prominent member of society.

We know that.

We know that she wants a relationship with God.

And the reason we know that

is because, as I said before,

there are not enough Jews in Philippi

to have quorum for a synagogue.

You had to have ten.

They don't have that many.

They have somehow less than that,

less Jewish men anyway.

And so what they did instead,

because they didn't have a synagogue,

is on the Sabbath they would go

and they would essentially have

a time of prayer and Bible study.

So on the Sabbath,

Paul and Silas,

as they always did,

they say, you know,

where are the Jews worshiping?

And they find a small group of people,

sounds like it was mostly women,

reading the Bible together.

And they join in,

and they begin to talk,

and they begin to tell them

about Jesus.

And we know that they were talking

about Jesus in the gospel

because of the very beginning,

the vision,

the man says to Paul,

come and preach the gospel.

So this is what Paul does.

He comes and ostensibly finds Lydia,

finds this group,

and begins to tell them

the gospel about Jesus.

And it says,

it's this amazing thing.

It doesn't say,

Paul made a really compelling case.

Paul's apologetics were watertight.

You know,

Paul gave them

Tim Keller's reason for God,

and they all believed.

It doesn't say that.

Great book, by the way.

That's not a nox.

And God opens her heart

to these words.

And this is a great image

because it's the exact same image

that the Bible uses.

The same language

is used when God opens a womb.

It's the same phrasing.

You know,

in the Bible,

God opens a womb

so that life can be sort of

implanted and grow there.

In the very same language

is used.

God opens Lydia's heart

so that life can be implanted

and grow there.

And it's this great image

of what God does

in Lydia's heart.

And what we see in Lydia

is this.

Lydia already knew about God.

She already had a desire

to know God.

She had an interest,

a curiosity.

She was drawn,

and yet she didn't know

how to actually have

a relationship with God.

And that's the missing piece

that Paul gives her

when he talks about Jesus.

And God opens her heart

to receive this truth

and it says immediately

she believes,

immediately she gets baptized,

and immediately

her whole household

gets baptized.

And she becomes

a huge part of the church.

At the end of the chapter,

we see that she's actually

hosting a church meeting

in her home.

And this is something

that we should expect

to see in this community,

friends.

We should expect

to see hearts opened.

You know,

this is a community

where we can ask questions,

we can share doubts,

we can explore ideas,

and I'll tell you this right now.

Nobody's going to tell you

what to think here.

So if you're here,

if you're new,

if you're not sure

what you believe,

if you're checking things out,

nobody will ever tell you,

hopefully,

I hope nobody will ever tell you

what to think here.

I don't think Christians

should ever tell people

what to think.

But we will encourage

one another to think,

and to think well,

and to ask good questions,

and to ask questions

hoping for answers.

We'll encourage one another

to do the due diligence

of trying to make sure

that our thinking

is intellectually consistent.

And we do want

to encourage one another

to learn more about Jesus.

We want to create a space

where people can read

and also come to understand

God's Word.

and we do that

hoping and expecting

that God will open

some people's hearts

to the truth of His Word.

So when we come here

and when we gather here,

we should expect that

to happen.

We should hope for that.

We should pray for that

when we pray for this community.

That's what happened to me

when I was 22.

Some of you know my story.

I was very much

against the church

and against the institutional church

and against Christians

and had a lot of my own rhetoric

about how they were all hypocrites.

And it wasn't until somebody said,

have you ever actually read the Bible

and read about Jesus?

And I said, no.

And it was because I sat down

and began to read the Bible

with this guy

who was very patient with me

that I came to really begin

to understand

what Jesus was all about.

And it was as though

it just began to come alive,

just jump off the page

against my struggle.

It began to become real for me.

And we should expect

that this will happen here.

So that's the first thing.

We should expect

that God will open hearts

to His Word.

The second thing

as we move forward

in the passage is this.

We should expect

that the oppressed

would be liberated.

That people who are oppressed,

that God would liberate them.

I, as a pastor,

you'll see why in a second,

I particularly love

this little vignette.

Paul and Silas

begin to be harassed

by this young girl

who's oppressed by a demon.

And people have recognized

that she has this condition

and so they've taken her

as a slave.

They've taken advantage

of her vulnerability.

They've made her a slave

and they're actually

making money off of her.

And we think,

well, that's kind of weird,

a demon-possessed girl,

slave,

and how do I relate to that?

Well, we do have

all kinds of examples

of people

in the very same condition.

People who are oppressed

or enslaved

or addicted

and that makes them vulnerable

and people know that

and they exploit them.

Right?

So there are the major examples

like sex trafficking,

like drugs,

like porn,

like the lottery,

like predatory lending practices.

All of these are examples

of people

who are taking advantage of

and exploiting other people.

And they're able to do it

because those people

are oppressed.

They're oppressed by addiction.

They're oppressed by debt.

They're oppressed

by any number of things.

And then many more of us

are enslaved to things

in our lives,

I think probably more

than we realize.

Right?

So what does it mean

to be a slave?

It means you can't say no.

Right?

If you're,

if you're,

if a slave master

tells you to do something,

you can't say no.

If an employer

tells you to do something,

you can say no.

You may lose your job.

But if you're a slave,

you may lose your life.

You can't say no.

So if you can't stop overeating,

you may be a slave to food.

Right?

I mean,

if you,

if you gave something up

for Lent,

those of you who know

what Lent is,

it's a time when Christians

typically try to fast

from certain things.

If you gave it up

for like a week,

you know,

and you're like,

40 days is way too long.

You may be more a slave

to that thing

than you realize.

If you can't stop

overspending,

then maybe you're a slave

to shopping

or consumerism

or materialism.

If you hold grudges,

if you just kind of

hold on to things,

then maybe you're

a slave to anger.

You know,

if you,

if you,

if you can't say no

to people

and you feel like

people are constantly

walking all over you

and taking advantage of you,

then maybe you're a slave

to people's approval

if you can't set

healthy boundaries.

But chances are,

if you look at your life,

we probably have things

that come very close

to being slave masters.

So what's needed here?

What do we need?

What does this woman need?

Here's an interesting difference

between Lydia,

the first woman,

the business woman.

She just needs

the truth of God

explained to her.

But this woman

needs something different.

Lydia needed truth.

She needs Paul

to explain the truth

of the gospel to her.

But here's the interesting thing.

And I remember

reading this years ago

and really trying

to get into it.

And it is fascinating

because this woman,

this demon-possessed girl,

she knows the truth

about Jesus.

I mean,

if you read what it says,

she knows her theology

is correct.

Isn't that fascinating?

She's got the right theology,

but that's not enough.

What's more,

here's why I'm comforted

by this as a pastor.

Paul doesn't exactly

handle this situation well.

There's no way

to get around

what it says, you know?

Like when the Greek says

annoyed,

what it really means

is pastorally concerned.

I've been trying

to convince people

that that's true for years.

And, you know,

no, I wasn't angry.

I was just really passionate,

you know?

Paul's annoyed.

He's ticked off.

She's following them

for days,

harassing them,

screaming at them,

drawing huge,

unwanted attention to them.

And finally,

he's like,

I can't take it, Silas.

And he turns around

and he's like,

no of her, you know?

And you can imagine him

just kind of blowing up.

But God doesn't.

So it's not the right theology.

It's not the right

pastoral response.

I think Paul

misfires here.

You know?

He doesn't do,

he doesn't handle it well.

The power of God,

the power of God

was still at work.

You know,

we think so often

that it's about

getting the right theology

or having the right

pastoral response

that we forget

it's not actually about us.

That our entire faith

is based on amazing things

that God does

in our lives.

Things that we can't predict,

things that we don't deserve,

but God entering in,

breaking it,

and doing incredible things.

Liberating people.

Liberating people

who don't have it all together,

who don't even really

fully understand

who he is.

He comes in and says,

be free.

And that's what he does

for this woman.

And it's incredible to see.

So we should expect

the power of God

to be at work

in this church.

Sometimes in,

in,

in step with us,

oftentimes in spite of us,

right?

We should expect

to see people be freed

from addiction here.

We should expect

to see people be freed

from resentment

and anger

and all the things

that we've come to depend on

and love more than God.

We should see people liberated.

And we should come

every week thinking

when we gather together

and when we sing

and when we pray

and when we share this meal

and when we read

from this word

and when we do all the things

that we're doing,

that the power

and the presence of God

are at work here.

And we should expect

that regularly

people will come

and their hearts

will be released.

What we're doing here,

invoking the very presence

of God,

hearing him in the word,

proclaiming and experiencing

him in the bread

and the wine,

we believe in the real presence

of Christ in this meal,

that somehow

as we receive this meal

in faith,

we are receiving

the very presence of Christ

into our being.

I can't explain that.

I don't know how it happens,

but I know that it's

the power of God at work.

So this is the second thing

that we should expect

that as we gather

every week

that people would be

liberated from oppression.

Hearts would be open,

people would be liberated.

The third thing is this,

that we should expect

that relationships

in this community

would be marked

by mercy and compassion.

Mercy and compassion.

So Paul and Silas,

a little later in the story,

they've been beaten

because of this interaction

with this woman,

because she's no longer

financially valuable

to her owners.

They're beaten,

they're stripped,

they're wrongfully accused,

they're put in prison

without a trial,

feet in the stocks,

it's incredibly uncomfortable,

they undoubtedly had stripes

and scars across their back.

God miraculously rescues them.

Earthquake, doors swing open,

right?

The jailer comes down,

what happened,

what happened,

sees all the doors open,

immediately assumes that

all the prisoners have escaped,

right?

Immediately thinks,

oh my goodness,

I failed in my duty,

this guy's a civil servant,

we know that because,

and we know that he was

a former soldier

because all of these kinds

of jobs,

like being a jailer,

those were only given

to former soldiers.

So we know that he's a man

who really cares about duty,

he really cares about

doing his job well,

and he sees I failed,

so what does he do?

He draws his sword deeper,

because he knows

he's going to be killed

when they find out

that he's failed,

so he wants to do

the honorable thing

and take his own life.

He's about to commit suicide,

Paul comes out and says,

no, no, no, wait, stop!

And he says,

look, we're all here,

nobody left.

What's Paul's concern here?

His primary concern

is the welfare of the jailer.

Can you believe that?

So this is the man

who's responsible

for all of the suffering

that they've endured.

He's responsible

for all of this wrongful,

undeserved suffering

that has come upon

Paul and his team.

And yet when they come

face to face,

and Paul sees the sword

in the guy's hand,

getting ready to kill himself,

I mean, most people would say,

here, I'll do that for you.

Take the sword,

you know, do it yourself.

Paul says, no, no, no,

no need for that.

We're all here.

We stayed here

to make sure that you were okay.

It's an amazing act

of mercy and compassion.

And it says that this man

is so struck

by the mercy and compassion

that he just cries out.

And how does he know

to cry this out?

Well, it says that Paul

and Silas have been singing

and praising God

and singing hymns and psalms

all night,

and it says that everybody

was listening to them.

They're singing about Jesus.

They're singing about salvation.

They're singing about mercy,

all the things that we sing about.

And the jailers heard all this.

And when he sees this act

of mercy and compassion,

he says,

what do I have to do

to be a part of this?

What hope is there for me?

Right now,

I'm at the end of my rope.

I'm about to kill myself.

How do,

how do,

where do I go from here?

Paul tells him about Jesus.

And it says,

he and his entire household

become followers of Jesus.

And they're so excited about this

that it says that the passage

ends with him praising God

that they had believed in him.

You know,

yesterday we were coming back

from a conference

that we had to be at,

some of us,

Dan and Josh and I.

And we were driving

through Pennsylvania.

And as we were driving through,

I was thinking about the events

roughly 10 years ago.

I think in October

it'll be 10 years.

The events in Lancaster County,

Pennsylvania,

when a man named

Charles Carl Roberts IV

walked into an Amish schoolhouse

in Lancaster County

and he was armed to the teeth

and he shot eight girls

and he killed five

and then he took his own life

before anybody could intervene.

You know,

you read a story like this

and it's just,

it's the worst kind of tragedy

you can possibly imagine.

One room schoolhouse,

you know,

armed to the teeth man

against these unarmed kids.

Girls, nonetheless.

Within hours,

you know the story,

within hours,

the Amish,

not just the Amish community

but the parents of the victims,

the families of the victims,

within hours the same day

were reaching out

to Charles' family.

They came to make sure,

Charles' family said,

we gotta get out of here.

They said,

no,

we want you to stay.

There are stories of,

within an hour of the events,

the word of the events

that one grandfather

of one of the girls who died

was overheard saying,

well,

we mustn't harbor anger

against this family.

There are stories

of one of the other fathers

of one of the girls

who died

holding Charles' father

as he sobbed for an hour.

They began to serve

and to care for Charles' family,

the killer's family.

And the Amish community

even set up a fund

to make sure

that they would be okay.

And it radically,

you can read the stories

in the news,

it radically changed,

radically transformed

the Shooters' family.

So you read stories like this,

it's the amazing impact

of the gospel.

It's the same pattern.

These people come face to face

with the family of a man

who caused them

tremendous undeserved suffering,

and yet they respond

not with anger,

but with mercy and compassion.

And here's the thing, friends,

Christian communities

should be marked

by mercy and compassion.

They aren't always.

Some of you bear scars

from communities

that aren't,

or weren't.

But they should always

be marked by mercy

and compassion.

And the reason is simple,

it's because at the very core

of our faith

is a God who

prayed for,

cared for,

attended to our

deepest needs,

and even gave His life

for us

as we were actively

causing Him to suffer.

Right?

And so this is the pattern

of our God,

and so it becomes

the pattern

of God's people.

So we should hope

and expect this

to be true of us.

We should hope

and expect that

every week when we gather,

this liturgy,

all the words,

that may be totally new to you.

Do you know what we're doing?

We are embodying

and enacting

the story of the gospel together.

The story of our sin,

the story of our creation,

the story of our sin,

the story of God's forgiveness,

and the story that God

is restoring

and renewing

this place

and us

right now.

And we are

embodying that story together,

and as we do that,

the hope is

it shapes us,

and it shapes our hearts,

and that we become

more and more

merciful and compassionate

as our God

is merciful

and compassionate.

So we should expect this.

And the last thing

really quickly is this.

The fourth thing,

the last thing

that we should expect

as we gather every week,

friends,

is that this would be

a community

where strangers

become family.

Where strangers

become family.

At the very end,

verse 40,

it says,

Paul and Silas

are getting ready

to leave,

and it says,

they go to visit Lydia again,

and then it says,

they went to see thee,

and in the Greek,

it's adelphous.

It comes from adelphos,

and it's a word

that in this context

means the brothers

and sisters.

The brothers and sisters.

In other words,

they went to see the family.

And you've got to

check this out.

At the beginning

of the chapter,

you have three

incredibly different people.

Successful businesswoman,

oppressed slave girl,

now a former slave girl,

and then a civil servant,

former soldier.

In Roman society,

these people

would have never

commingled.

Totally different

social circles.

Totally different

socioeconomic status.

And yet here,

here,

at the end

of the chapter,

this is the amazing

impact of the gospel.

By the end,

they and many others

have become

brothers and sisters.

They've become

a family.

Total strangers

who turn to Jesus

for forgiveness,

what happens?

They become,

as the Bible says,

spiritually adopted

by God.

They become

God's children,

which means

they become

brothers and sisters.

And I believe

that the early church

recognized

the significance

of this.

As people came

to know Jesus

in their community,

and you can read

about this,

the early historians

and people like,

people have written

and tried to explain

people like Rodney Stark.

As people came

to know Jesus,

they took in

all kinds of people

who didn't have

nuclear families,

people who,

for whatever reason,

didn't have

immediate biological families.

And the church

again and again

and again said,

we will be

your family now

because God

has already made

us into one

great family.

So Psalm 68,

6 says,

God sets the lonely

in families.

Who in the world

is he talking about

if not the church?

We are that family.

And if we're not

that family,

I wonder if we're

failing in our calling

to be the church.

So if you're here

and you're lonely,

if you're here

and you don't know

anybody,

if you're here

and you don't

have a family,

and I mean this

as sincerely

as I possibly can,

we want to be

a family for you.

We want to be

that kind of family.

Even if you do

have a family

and you're here,

you can't cut it alone.

Your family needs

to be a part

of a larger family.

Your marriage

needs support.

Your parenting

needs support.

You need friends

in that.

It's a very recent

modern invention

that we do

all of this alone

as siloed off

nuclear families.

It does not reflect

most of human history.

So as we begin

this community together,

as we begin

this church

worship gathering

together,

what are we expecting?

Well, we shouldn't

expect everything

to go according to plan.

We know that very well.

We shouldn't expect

it to be easy

and at times

it's going to be

really hard.

But we should expect

that people's hearts

would be open

to God's word.

We should expect

that people who

are oppressed

would be liberated

week after week

after week.

We should expect

that our relationships

would be marked

with the same

mercy and compassion

that Jesus

has shown us.

And we should expect

that ours would be

a community

where strangers

are able to come in

and to belong

and to become

family.

So I hope

and pray

as we gather together

week after week

that we would come

each week

with a sense

of expectancy

and hope

and excitement

over what God

might do in our midst.

Let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father,