God Lives Here // Ephesians 2.11-22

Welcome to the Movement Church Podcast. We want you to know that God is

for you and so are we. You're about to hear a sermon from one

of our weekend services in Palmer Lake, Colorado. We pray that your faith

is provoked, your mind is renewed, and your heart is awakened as you

engage the Word of God. Stay tuned that from the message for ways to

get connected with us. God bless you. Thanks for tuning in. It's

so good to see everybody. Welcome on the very first Movement Church service in

the Trila Center for the Arts. Can we give a round of applause?

This exciting, It's awesome. So we have a really special guest with us.

Nine years ago, Vanguard Church sent a bald headed knucklehead out here to

to start a venture with John Cressman, Chuck Mackenzie, the Tailor's who else

who else was a part of that, the Mackenzie's and the Woggaman's to plant

a church out here. And his name was Alan Briggs. And so that's

right, give it up for Alan, and so his name it still is

Alan Briggs, although for a while there he went by just a symbol for

I don't we don't know why, just a bald head. And so anyway,

and so Briggs is here this morning just to sort of speak a blessing

over us this morning, which I think is awesome, and and then he'll

read our scriptures. So let's give it up. Can we just applaud and

think as we're standing on the shoulders of Alan Briggs Man, such a special

thing to walk in the door this morning. I was actually walking and talking

with God about you guys and about this season, and you guys who were

here, you know what this represents. I'm looking at you guys that have

invested a lot in this. And there were two questions that we ask nine

years ago, and they're scary and risky and faith filled and all the things,

all the fields we had. And the first question is what's God already

doing here in the Tri Lakes area? And honestly I didn't know. I

don't live in the Tri Lakes area. But it was standing on the shoulders

of other people. And the first thing that I noticed was hospitality, the

art of loving people well. And you guys have gone above and beyond to

love people well. And we then carried that on, whether it was pancakes

and pour overs or people that would stop by right out here, living rooms,

hosting people, hospitality, and we said we're going to continue to love

people well, and as I look back, you guys absolutely have. The

second was long suffering. It was a mark of long suffering here that many

had done a lot of life with people, good and hard and loss and

pain and joy, long suffering with people. And again you know who you

are, and you picture people's faces that you've walked with for a long time,

just beautiful to watch. And we just continued to show up. And

I remember one night we had ten inches of snow. We used to meet

on Saturday nights. We had six people here. I was preaching in a

circle. It was a conversation and we're like, what are we doing?

Like God really, And then there are nights when John and I are filling

up at ten or eleven pm, the baptismal right outside. We're not sure

if we were allowed to, but we had a stealth mission. And then

just to watch people dunk, people in the water, crying, lives changed,

rescued from all kinds of stuff. This is a beautiful, beautiful moment,

that's right, And so I just want to challenge and invite you guys.

Then I think those things are still true in this area. I think

it still the hospitality, the art of loving people well, whether it's a

mini muffin when they come in, or a hug or amazing spreads that you

guys gave me meals in homes, refuge for people who feel lost and broken

and pushed aside and mentally insecure right now in these crazy times. To keep

loving people well period, that's it, and long suffering. Just keep showing

up. I noticed other people noticed, and there is a lot to look

back on and maybe glance in the rearview mirror from time to time. But

God is looking forward with you, and I just want to invite you to

look forward and maybe glance for reference in the rearview mirror. But I just

want to pray a prayer of blessing over you again. If you guys are

new and we haven't met, you represent people that people I love dearly have

been really good too, and that God is on the move here, and

so I'm just going to pray this prayer over you. I'm going to read

a scripture to kick our time off today. Love. What is happening with

the Fikes? They've been dear friends for many years. Actually we never lost

touch. I visited them in Louisiana, visited them in Texas, and in

God's ironic and cool plan, they're back here again. And here we are

in this moment, and so I just want to pray over you, guys.

And I'm here to celebrate with you, guys what God is doing.

And so for some of you who have been here for a long time,

I'd say, riach those hands out, riach those hands out. Is I

just want God to remind you that you've already been hospitable, You've already been

long suffering, You've already walked a lot of life with people, and this

is a new day and you are new creations and this is a new fresh

move of God. I work with churches across the country. There is no

feel like this right here, these people across from a lake for goodness sake,

with people running a point five k or whatever is going on out there,

Like there is no feel like this unique feel right here. There's no

carbon copy churches out there. So let me just pray this over you.

Father. This is a new day. There's a new work to be done.

And yet there are things that have been present marks already of these people,

being your hands, your feet, your words, your meals to people

who needed refuge, your hugs to people that needed to know that you still

love them. And God, in the blessing of these people, would you

remind people here that you are for them. God, you are not against

them, and so is this group of people right here. God, that

there would just be beacons of light coming from this building, coming from homes

across the Try Lakes area. God, that they would continue to suffer well

with people and continue to show up. They would continue to love people well

with the extra spark that they already have. God, thank you for what

you've done. Put their eyes ahead on the future. And God, as

they do, would you bless them in the joy and in the struggle of

that that they say this is good work. And would you encourage them as

they encourage others in your name. Amen, men, this is the word

of the Lord from Ephesians chapter two, verse eleven. Therefore, remember that

at one time you gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision, by what is

called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands. Remember that

you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel,

and strangers to the covenants of Promise, having no hope and without God

in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you once you, who

once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For He himself is our peace, who has made us both one, and

has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing the

law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new

man in place of the two, so making peace and might reconcile us both

to God and one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And

he came and preached peace to those who are far off, and peace to

those who were near, For through him we both have access in one spirit

to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens. You

are fellows, citizens with the saints, and members of the household of God.

Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself,

being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into

a holy temple in the Lord. In Him, you also are being built

together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit. This is the word

of the Lord. Thank you. Alan. Well, we're continuing in our

series in the Book of Ephesians, so that's why we had Alan read that.

A few years ago, I got really really into a TV show called

The Walking Dead. Anybody else here willing to admit in the House of the

Lord that you watched The Walking Dead? Anybody here? Candy Rudder, my

sister in Christ watched The Walking Dead. I got really really into this show,

and I came to it late, so I was able to watch like

three seasons in like three days. You ever do that. You know,

here's the premise of the show. It's a zombie apocalypse show. Okay.

So there's this terrible virus that has taken over the planet and all of these

people, seemingly ninety percent of the planet have become zombies. Their bodies are

still existent, their souls are gone, but their tea are intact. Okay,

And the good news about these particular zombies. You know, there's some

zombie shows where they're really really fast. These zombies are really really slow and

they just sort of walk, and so they call them walkers and that's why

they're called the Walking Dead. Now, what's fascinating about the Walking Dead,

and this particular show is somewhere around and this is a spoiler alert. If

anybody ever wants to watch the whole series and you haven't, I'm sorry.

It's been out for ten years, so you know, spoiler alert. But

what they figure out is everybody on the planet is infected with the disease.

So even people who haven't been bitten, if they were to die, even

of natural causes, about maybe two minutes after they die, they wake up

as a zombie, okay. And so what that means is everybody on the

planet is the Walking Dead. The metaphor alone knocks me out, like it's

such a beautiful biblical metaphor. Right, this idea you've heard me say before

that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not that Jesus came to turn bad people

into good people, but that Jesus came to turn dead people into a live

people. Right, he came to bring the dead to life. And so

the writers of The Walking Dead, they're onto something, okay, And so

they started to ask really good questions on the Walking Dead. For example,

they started to ask questions like what is scarier than zombies? Like, what's

really scarier than zombies? I mean, you know, for example, one

thing that's scarier than zombies pickleballers. I don't know if you've ever seen a

pickleballer, but honestly, they're they're they're frightening, They're terrible, They're horrible

people. I can't stand them. I'm a tennis player and I'm just against

all pickleballers of all sorts. This lady in particular on the right, she's

the worst. So anyway, what's scarier than a zombie? A pickleballer?

But honestly, what's scarier than zombies? And what they proffered on this show

is that what's scarier than zombies is human beings. What's scarier than the zombie

apocalypse is the measures that human beings will go to to protect themselves. The

measures that human beings will go to, the tribalism and the fear that human

beings will exist in order to keep themselves alive. Another question that the Walking

Dead writers began to ask throughout the series was this one, Where's God in

all of this? Where could God be in all of this? They introduced

a character one of my favorite characters on this series. His name is Gabriel,

and he was a former priest. Some of you Walking Dead fans are

going, oh yeah, I love Gabriel, right, and some of you

who want to pretend like you've never watched the show are trying really hard to

act like you don't know who Gabriel is, but you know who Gabriel is.

Okay, So Gabriel is a former priest, and you know, he

was a priest before all of the zombies happened, and he tried to continue

to be a priest even after the zombie apocalypse. He tried to hold on

to the sanctity of his faith, and when we meet Gabriel, he's continuing

to try to hold on to his faith. He can't stand the idea of

violence. He can't stand the idea that these human beings that he sees walking

around that are soulless. He can't stand the idea that they're not people,

that they're just you know, creatures, and so he has a hard time

with the violence of this world. Well, after about two or three seasons

of getting to know Gabriel, and Gabriel kind of becoming more and more accustomed

to the violence of this world. Gabriel sort of loses his faith and he

becomes more and more like the people of the world that he's living in.

And there's this really tragic scene that happens towards the end of I think season

seven where Gabriel is confronted with a man who has done some terrible things to

some people that he really loves. And he has a gun in his hand,

and he's facing a man who has done some terrible things to some people

that he really loves. And this man remembers that Gabriel was once a priest

and he asked Gabriel this question. He says, wait, I thought you

were a man of God. And Gabriel has a line that has haunted me

ever since I heard it. He says, this God doesn't live here anymore.

God doesn't live here anymore, and then he pulls the trigger. Now,

I mean, come on, that's like the things that dreams are made

of if you're an actor right in Hollywood. It's like, I bet this

actor when he read that, he was like, who, I can't wait

to put this on IMDb. Right, this is going to make my career.

This is the thing that dreams are made of. Quentin Tarantino couldn't think

of about aligned than this, Right, but this moment, God doesn't live

here anymore. This moment is such a moment, and we don't need the

walking dead. We don't need the walking dead to be confronted with a thought

like that, because we live in a world where we're confronted with this type

of reality every day of our lives. Right, we see violence and heartache

and tragedy and waste and sin, debased behavior, hypocrisy, failed leadership all

day, every day in this world. I'm sure many of you, like

me, have been tuned into the news this week to see what's happening in

the world, across the ocean, to see what's happening in Israel. And

I'm sure that you've had questions like where is God in all of this?

Right, I'm sure you've had thoughts and questions like that. I certainly feel

bad for people who put all of their faith in their hole in political structures

or social structures, people that put all of their faith and their hope and

man made concepts, because they're just going to let him down. Gabriel says

God doesn't live here anymore. And again I would say, all you need

to agree with him is again just to look at the pickleballers and say,

I think I agree with Gabriel. I mean, if you go on the

pickleball court and just say where is God? I don't see him. But

anyway, all that to say the Walking Dead is this depiction of this sort

of below the service reality that we're mostly doing our best not to shout about

in polite society, these questions. I wonder if the writers of The Walking

Dead knew just how accurate their depiction of the world that we're living and really

is. I wonder if they had any clue how biblically accurate this zombie metaphor

really is. I wonder if they knew that this feeling of living life apart

from God, living in a land where God is seemingly nowhere to be found,

is exactly the reality of every human being on the planet who has yet

to experience the save and grace of Jesus Christ. That's why we read Ephesians

two this morning, because I believe that Ephesians two eleven through twenty two is

that the apostle Paul's answer to the writers of The Walking Dead He would like

them to know that God very much lives here, and he's doing everything possible

to welcome everyone into the family, and so partially to rebut our buddy Gabriel,

and partially to remind ourselves of our role in the process. We're going

to answer a very important question today, and that question is how do we

know that God lives here? Okay, so let's dig into this Ephesians chapter

two, verses eleven through twelve. I'm gonna give you four answers to that

very cute question, how do we know that God lives here? Look at

this Therefore, remember that at one time you gentiles, And that's important.

As Paul is writing this letter to the Ephesian Church, it's a very diverse

church. You've got Greeks, you've got Jews, you've got men, women,

you've got young old it's a very diverse church. And in this particular

portion of this letter, he's making it clear that the people that he's talking

to are us, unless there are anybody here in the room that grew up

under Jewish custom. He's talking to you and me, He's talking to gentiles.

He says that you ugentile gentiles called the uncircumcision by what is called the

circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands. Remember that you were

at that time separated from Christ. You were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel

and strangers to the covenants of Promise, having no hope and without God in

the world. Just a few weeks ago, I dropped my son Justice off

to college. He's eighteen years old. This is him in his dorm room.

He looks too big for the room on a but it was really cute

dropping him off. Justice is an introvert by nature, and he now has

a roommate and two sweet mates and a whole hallway of sweaty dudes that he

can't get away from. And so he's calling me all the time, going,

Dad, I want to come home and just sit in my room for

a while. Can I do that? Can you give me a flight?

So he's coming home next weekend. You guys will see him here next weekend.

But when we dropped him off, I really everybody thought I was going

to cry all weekend, and I did, But everybody thought that I was

just going to cry the whole time, And really I didn't cry a lot

until we took him to church. On Sunday, we took him to this

church called Christ Church, which is just right down the street from his church,

and you guys, can I just be a proud dad for a moment.

He called me two weeks ago and he's totally plugged in to this church.

He's serving in their homeless ministry on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he's found

this discipleship group where he has found a couple of older men that are discipling

him, and he is discipling some teenage guys. Like I'm just like,

I just love my son, you know, Like every time he calls me,

I'm like, oh, I just love you, you know. So

anyway, so we're at this church and I wasn't gonna cry, but when

we walked in, there was like three hundred, four hundred college students in

this room. And I walked in and tears to start pouring down my face

because I was like, he's going to meet his wife here, Like just

immediately, I just felt that right away, Lord Jesus, letting meet his

wife there. And then we met this sweet couple who they're ironically their parents

live in Larkspur, and as we were talking to them, They offered to

give Justice their phone number, and they said, hey, Justice, if

you ever need anything, just call us, like if you need laundry or

you need like you get a flat tire. I know you don't have any

family here, you can call us. And I was like, is number

at seven? One night these heaven I was like, it was so emotional

for me. But while we were there, I was really blown away by

the way that they did their worship in this church. They did, you

know, like what we did. They did three songs. These are the

songs they did. A song called I Believe, a song called No King

Like Jesus, and a song called Behold the Lamb. Here's what's interesting about

all three of those songs. All three of those songs tell the entire narrative

of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Like I don't know if you've ever heard

a song that literally starts from the very beginning. I was a sinner now

and then I got saved. Here's what Jesus did, and now I'm following

after Jesus and now I'm living for him. Like literally every song was the

entire gospel. I was like, this is amazing. Every song from beginning

to end is the whole story? Like this was every song. It was

like I was dead in my sin, no hope, no future, no

answers. I was in enemy of God, and even in my sin,

God sent Jesus to make away with There wasn't no way. These aren't lyrics,

but this is like the narrative of every one of those songs. He

lived to sind this life and died a sinner's death. He died for me.

He gave his life for me so that I could live. And now

I'm alive, and it's time for me to live my life in such a

way that shows honor to his great sacrifice. Literally, if you were to

go analyze those three songs, that's the narrative of all three songs. Now,

I'm a songwriter, so I'm noticing that all three of these songs tell

exactly that story. And I was like, this cannot be a coincidence that

these songs are so purposefully comprehensive, and so I know they're worship pastors.

So I texted him and said, so, tell me about the way that

you guys pick songs for your church, and he said, well, we

desperately believe that since we have so many college students in the room that we

want to make sure that our songs arm them with comprehensive theology. Every song

that they sing, we want to make sure that these songs are telling them

the truth of the gospel, because we don't know how much they're paying attention

to right and so if all they heard was one song, we want to

make sure that that one song did the trick. And I thought that was

so powerful. And so how do we know that God lives here? The

question is that is we remember how it used to be. We remember how

it used to be. And that's what Paul is saying, Guys, remember

when you were far off. He says, it's a healthy it's a healthy

practice to remember what life used to be like before you knew Jesus. So

think about some of these questions. Before you knew Jesus. What did you

value? What were the things that you were chasing? What did you try

to fill up your heart with? What substitutes did you entertain? What frustrations

did you constantly experience? How did morality work out for you? How about

immorality? How about these things that you tried to fill your heart up with?

Physical fitness, healthy diet, career success, financial gain. What did

those things do for you? Did they fill up that nagging distance in your

soul? Can you remember feeling like the walking dead? Can you remember feeling

like an alien? Feeling separated from the commonwealth of God? Has anything satisfied

you like Jesus? Paul says, Remember that you were at that time separated

from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants

of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. I love

the way Eugene Peterson says this the way he translated it. He says,

but don't take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you,

outsiders to God's ways, had no idea of any of this. You

didn't know the first thing about the way God works. You hadn't the faintest

idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God's covenants and

promises in Israel. You hadn't a clue about what God was doing in the

world at large. Can you remember that? Can you remember what that felt

like? Paul saying, it's a good thing to remember what that felt like.

How do you know God lives here? Because we remember what it was

like when he didn't. We remember what it was like when we didn't have

access to him. We remember how it used to be. Let's keep reading.

If you were here when we did Ephesians two one through ten, you

know that the great prophet, Sir mix a Lot is a big fan of

big butts, and so is the apostle Paul. Here's another one, he

says, but now it's a big butt. But now in Christ Jesus,

you who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of

Christ. Okay, so how do we know that God lives here? Here's

the answer. We've been beckoned into unity. We've been beckoned into unity.

Now listen, every great theologian, every great theologian, has to reckon with

this issue. The issue is does man choose God or does God choose man?

Does man choose God or does God choose man? Another word to ask

that question is if God chooses man, then can man reject him? And

does God reject certain men and choose others? In other words, does God

walk around going duck duck goose all throughout eternity? Not you? Not you?

Yes, Hugh? Is that what God does? And here's what Paul

saying. He's saying, here's what we know for sure, with the benefit

of hindsight. What we know is that God drew us, every single one

of us who have said yes to the salvation of Jesus Christ. He drew

us unto himself, he says. But now in Christ Jesus, you who

once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

So anyone who confesses with their mouth and believes with their heart that Jesus's Lord

has been beckoned, has been pursued, has been drawn in to Jesus.

So you know, people can debate, they can fight, they can argue,

they can fuss about whether that means that God chose them or you chose

him. Here's what we know. We love him because he first loved us.

That's what our Bible says, Right, You love God because He first

loved you. That's what we know. And what we also know is if

you're here today and you've accepted Christ, it's because He pursued you. And

if you're here today and you have never accepted Christ, he is pursuing you.

Right this moment, somebody say amen, Right, So how do we

know that God lives here because we've been beckoned into unity. Let's keep reading,

for he himself is our peace, who has made us both one,

and has broken down in his flesh the divine of hostility by abolishing the law

of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man

in place of the two, so making peace, and he might reconcile us

both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

I love that phrase, killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace

to you who were far off, in peace to those who were near.

Through him, we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So

now let's get back to The Walking Dead for a second. Because what The

Walking Dead did as the series went on and on and on and on and

on, they'd never you know what they never did on that show. They

never even considered a cure. This is why that show made me crazy.

I like punted. After about eight seasons. I was like, Okay,

so we're never going to fix this problem. Cool, I'm out. Like

they never fixed the problem. They just kept going on and on. But

here's what they kept doing. They realized that the Walkers, the zombies were

a nuisance, but that the people were the problem. That's what they realized.

And so every new season they would introduce a new group of people that

became the real enemy of the show. So there was a new group of

people that were like cannibals, and they were the problem. There was a

new big bad His name was Nigan. Anybody no Nigan. Anybody the room,

No Nigan, shivers up your spine. He was like the worst character

on the whole show, and he was a human being, and he was

a really, really terrible person. And what the show proffered, what the

show offered as a reality, was the worst thing on this planet is people.

Because human beings, by nature are survivalists. They're protectionist, they're fearful,

and their boundary keepers. They want to keep safety in and danger out.

Okay, And so even what we're seeing in Israel with Hamas, what

we're seeing is people treating people like they're less than people. Right, that's

what we're seeing. We're seeing people treating people like they're less than people.

Why because they're not my people, so they don't matter. And that's what

The Walking Dead is communicating, and that's what the Bible is saying. That

there was a hostility between people groups, and Jesus put an end to it.

Now, think about who's writing this. Think about who's telling this to

us. The Apostle Paul. Before he was the Apostle Paul, he was

a dude named Saul who grew up with a daddy who was a Pharisee.

Paul grew up learning all about hostility. Paul grew up learning all about what

it means to have hostility towards Greek people. In particular, what an irony

that God would choose a man like Saul to become the greatest preacher to the

gentiles in all of history. He was taught at an early age strict boundaries.

He was taught spiritual and cultural hostility towards Greek people. He was taught

never to touch them, never to touch anything they touched, never to talk

to them, never to have anything to do with them. And he became

one of the greatest includers of us gentile people in the history of mankind.

So how do we know that God lives here? We have peace that ends

hostility, the hostility that existed between people groups. Jesus put an end to

that. Jesus flung wide, the gates of all hostility between all people groups.

There are no bouncers at the gate of Heaven. There are no bouncers

saying you don't get in. I saw this documentary about this dude. His

name is Punch. He is Chicago's toughest bouncer. Here's a closer look at

Punch. Anybody want to take a ronnet punch. Anybody want to see if

you can get by Punch. How do you think he got the name Punch?

It was by sweet talk, My man, Punch is not a joke.

Okay. Can you imagine if Punch was standing at the gate of Heaven

and you walked up to him and said, hey, I want to get

in, and he said, sorry, you're not getting in. Why you're

from Colorado? Well how do you get in? Got to be from Montana.

But don't y'all know all about Salvation in there? Yeah? We do.

Okay, I want to know about Salvation. Sorry, but I want

to know about Jesus. Well, you should have been born in Montana.

Jesus put an end to all of the hostility, all of the people group,

all of the distance, all of the bouncers. Punch does not have

a job in heaven. Somebody say amen, right, Jesus put an end

to that. There's this beautiful passage in Revelation that is the future for us.

It says this, after this, I looked and behold a great multitude

that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples

and languages, standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed and white

robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud

voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to

the lamb, Praise God. No more tribalism, no more fear, no

more fight or flight, no more protectionism, no more angst, no more

hostility. And you ought to say amen and listen. This is the kingdom

of God. This is the finished work of Jesus the Christ. This is

what he paid for, this is what he won. This is what he

offers us. And when the world comes looking for what the Church has to

offer that's different from what the world has to offer, this is what they

had better find. This is what they had better find if they find us

to be just as tribal, just as hostile, just as inhospitable, just

as disputative than we're doing it wrong. We're doing it wrong. Some of

us in this room need to be a little more gracious, need to be

a little more kind. Some of us in this room are still working out

our salvation. Some of us in this room are still in the process of

turning our hearts towards Jesus and turning our backs towards the world. Some of

us have already been there for a long time, and some of us need

to be a little kinder towards those of us in the room that are still

working towards that way. We need to be a little nicer, a little

kinder, a little more hospitable, a little more gracious. When people walk

into this room and they're working it out, they haven't figured it out.

We ought to applaud that instead of saying, no, you don't have it

figured out yet. You don't belong here. Now, you haven't figured out

all the right ways to say it yet, you don't belong here. And

that's not what our church is about. Everybody can come here and figure it

out. On all points of view salvation, the Bible says, work out

your salvation with fear and trembling before him not before me. Okay, you

can expect that your pastor is going to love you through the process of you

figuring out what it means to follow him in real relationship. Amen. Right,

So that's peace between us. Peace with our fellow man is not the

deepest source of unrest in the human soul. That's the unrest that's above the

surface. There's a peace that's below the surface that Jesus also came to eradicate.

How do we know that God lives here? Came We have peace that

ends hostility. The hostility that really matters is the hostility that exists between you

and God. And peace between you and Jesus means that you no longer have

to earn your salvation. I know so many Christians, and listen, if

this is you, I hope that today is the last day that you ever

live your Christianity like this. I know so many Christians that live out their

Christianity trying to earn back the salvation that Jesus already paid for. I know

so many Christians that are living out their Christianity trying to prove to God that

they were worth it, trying to do all the right things so that God

will love them more or trying to hold on to the love of God by

doing all the right things. Man, can I just tell you that you

can't make God love you any more or any less than He already does.

There's nothing that ever, There's nothing you can do today that will make God

love you anymore than he already does. You ought to say, amen,

There's nothing you can do today that can make God love you any less than

he already does. You ought to say amen, Right, He loves you.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that

whoever would believe in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.

And life is what He wants for you, not from you. God didn't

give his life to you so that you could just sort of live as an

indentured servant to him the rest of your days. That's not what it's about.

He gave you life so that you could have it, not so that

you would spend the rest of your life trying to earn it from him.

That's not what Christianity is. He wants you to live. He wants that

for you, not from you. So how do we know that God lives

here? We have peace that ends hostility. Here's the last one. I

love this verse. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, Praise

God. But you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household

of God. Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ,

Jesus himself being the cornerstone, and whom the whole structure being joined together grows.

That means it's a work in progress. It's growing into a holy temple

in the Lord. In Him, you are also being built, being built.

It's currently happening together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit.

You guys, ever been to a scrapyard? You ever just like seen a

scrapyard? You ever seen that, just walk by and seen just a whole

bunch of junk. We're in this beautiful art museum. I would encourage you

today before you leave to look at some of this beautiful art. It's a

really cool thing. And they'll rotate some of this art as we're in this

place. There'll always be kind of a rotation of art as we're in here.

But if you've ever seen scrapyard art, it's kind of what God does

with our lives. Like God can make an armadillo out of our scrapyard,

you know, out of our junk. He can make a beautiful peacock out

of you. He can make a dog out of your wing nuts and bolts.

You know, he can make a beautiful deer. Wouldn't you like this

in your house? This is beautiful right out of I don't know what this

is made of, but it was once junk and scrap, and now it's

art. This is what God does. We are being built into beauty.

This is what God does in him. You are also being built together into

a dwelling place for God by the spirit. You this, this body of

people, not you singularly, but this, we are being built together into

the dwelling place for God. By the spirit. How do we know that

God lives here? We display the Father's majesty. One of my favorite verses

in all of Scripture is in Second Corinthians. It says this, so all

of us who have had that veil removed. He's talking about the veil that

once blinded us, that once kept us from being able to see the beauty

and the glory of who God really is, The veil that once kept us

away from him. Once it got removed, we were able to see and

reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord, who is spirit,

makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

So tell the person next to you you are a work in progress.

Come on, tell them you are a work in progress. You're a work

in progress. And I am two. And tell the other person, the

one you didn't want to talk to, Tell them God can work with that.

Say God can work with that. Come on, God can work with

that. God can work with that. Gabriel says God doesn't live here anymore.

I would argue with Gabriel and say, I disagree. God lives here

very much. How do we know that God lives here? We remember how

it used to be, remember what life was like, and we've been beckoned

into unity. He's pursued us. We have peace that ends hostility. We

are no longer fighting that hostility between each other, and we're no longer fighting

that hostility that once existed between our spirits and the living God. And we

display the Father's Majesty movement. Church. That's what we are meant to do.

That's what you are meant to do when you leave this place Monday,

through Saturday this week. Your job is to see and reflect the glory of

God. God can work with you. He can do a lot through your

little if you'll just let him. So. Let me pray for us.

Jesus, thank you that you are still very much alive, very much moving,

very much at work in the lives of your people. And we thank

you Father for this word, for this truth. We thank you that you

very much live here. And we ask you Lord to move in our lives,

to move in and for and through us. We ask you, Lord,

just to remind us of what life was like before you, so that

we can remember how good it is now, so that we can tell the

story of your goodness and your mercy everywhere we go. We love you,

Lord, that's in Jesus name. We pray Amen. So what's God leading

you to do next? And how can we help? Would you send us

an email to info at Movementchurch dot co and tell us how we can pray

for you and help you take the next step in your spiritual journey. If

you'd like to contribute financially to our ministry, text the amount you like to

give to the number eight four three two one, or look us up online.

At Movementchurch dot C. You can find the Movement Church on all social

media platforms, and we hope that you'll give us a follow. God bless

you, and remember God is for you, and so are we s