Foundations - Part 4: Unity in Diversity | Pastor Phil Holcomb

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. Any home that is well

-founded needs a foundation to build upon. And

that foundation sets it so that its walls can

be straight and it can be secure in the way it

is. And so we have been going through a series

in the month of October that we've titled Foundations.

And it's focusing in on our commitments as a

church community, things that we desire to be

founded upon. Now, what are those? The first

one is that we want to be rooted. In God's word.

Kind of like we're doing right now. We want God's

word to be what shapes and forms us. But we recognize

that we need God's power as well. So we want

to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. And so that's

a second foundation. A third one is that we want

to be fueled in prayer. If you missed any of

those teachings, I want to invite you to go back.

Pastor Pablo gave each of those. Go back online

and you can connect with any of those. To be

fueled in prayer, I want to actually take our

time right now and do that. Father, we ask that

you would be moving and working within us as

we desire that you encounter us through your

word right now. We recognize that they are simply

words on a page unless you, as the author of

these words, inspires and enlightens them into

the very part of who we are that they can transform

us from the inside out. And so, God, we desire

that you would encounter us. Do what you need

to do with each one here. We pray this all in

the wonderful name of Jesus. Amen. Now that you

just comfortably sat down, go ahead and stand

up. Seriously, stand up. Some of you are like,

is he joking? Here's what I'd like us to do.

As we consider the fourth foundation, it's not

actually a written foundation. It's more of an

implicit foundation that we have committed to

here as a community, which is unity in diversity.

And so why do I have you standing up? I want

you to slowly go ahead and turn around. The first

service, I had them do this, and we all turned

at the same time, and then we realized that then

we didn't get to see quite as many people. So

you kind of have to stagger it. But here's the

idea. I want you to take in the diversity in

this room, all the people that are here, right?

So you're just going to 360 degrees. Those of

you who have been out of math, that's one full

circle. But go ahead and turn and just take in

those who are around you. Go for it. All right,

you can go have a seat again. I found some cheaters

in the front that did this. They were like, not

a full turn. We also have the introverts who

just kind of did this. And then the extroverts

that turned around, they're like, people, let

me talk to you, right? A very different way of

engaging. What you just saw was people from over

70 nations. Many more ethnicities represented

in our church community. There are people from...

all different kinds of walks of life. There are

those who have multiple graduate degrees and

those who may never finish high school. We have

those who are running multinational corporations

with hundreds of employees underneath them and

those who are currently in between jobs in very

meager means and struggling. We have people who

have made their lives as professional athletes,

some who struggle to walk on a flat floor. We

have all kinds of people in personalities represented,

introverts. extroverts. We have many denominations

represented in our church family. And here's

what I want us to think about. God has uniquely

placed you in this community at this current

moment. So in between Soy 8 and 10 is this gathering

of us, and yet we are all over the city, right?

But God has placed you within this community

and blessed you. with a diversity that is only

akin to a taste of heaven. Trust me, I have been

in a very small town in North America with 800

people, and there was diversity there, but nothing

like this. This is a huge gift from God. And

so as a church, we are committed to nurturing

and cultivating this community. I want you to

think about what Paul says here. And he says,

walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which

you have been called. You've been called to this.

With all humility and gentleness, with patience,

bearing with one another in love. Then he says,

make every effort to maintain what? The unity

of the spirit in the bond of peace. We are from

all over the place, different nationalities,

different personalities, different backgrounds.

Our job that we have been called to is to maintain

a unity of peace here. But how do we do this?

Well, God's word gives us a roadmap for what

it looks like to journey forward in this. And

what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you

that roadmap, but I want you to think about what

is your role in cultivating community here? Before

the roadmap, though, I want to give this illustration

of an orchestra. Now think about the way that

an orchestra is designed, right? So many different

instruments represented. There's the viola, the

violin, the cello. They all kind of look the

same, right? But they play very different sounds

that come out of them, and they are designed

for different parts. You have... a clarinet,

you have the percussion, you have different brass

instruments, you have this incredible collection

of diversity there. And then you have all the

people that are playing these instruments. And

then within each subset, so you have like the

violins, you have chair one, chair two, chair

three. These are different skill levels that

play in the orchestra. And then you have the

incredible diversity of the music that can be

written. And you have these master composers

like Bach who put together... things that are

transcendent in the way they capture the diversity.

Now think about all of that difference. What

is needed to bring it all together? A conductor,

and preferably a conductor who has written the

symphony and knows it beyond what any single

player knows, and so he's calling the full community

into an expression of unity in their diversity.

And in a similar way, we are that, but we're

even more so than an orchestra. You know that

feeling of when you see unity and diversity in

action, and you're like, that's amazing. This,

though, is God's prize, a community unified in

diversity. So we hold on to that, and we look

at God's story, and it has three really parts

to it. One is that unity was designed from the

beginning. You and I were designed to be unified

in our diversity. This is part of his design.

But then we recognize that unity was distorted.

Through a rebellion against God, our backs are

turned on him and things begin to fall apart.

Doesn't take us long to look around the world

to see that there's division and hatred and isolation

and loneliness that is happening. Any siblings

in here? Yeah? I just went on a long car ride

and siblings tend to know how to push each other's

buttons, right? We have division that is kind

of funny and then we have wars that actually

take lives and everything in between. But there's

the good news, right? That Christ has stepped

into the mess and he has brought about a restoration

that he is inviting you and I to, to be part

of. This isn't something that just happens to

you when you hold on and wait until heaven comes.

He's actually asked you to be a taste of heaven

on earth. Now, what is heaven? Heaven is a place

where everything that is wrong, all division

is gone. We are unified perfectly together. And

there's this beautiful thing that is captured

in Revelation 21 where it says that the kings

will bring in the glory of their nations. Now,

why is that significant? Heaven is not a place

where our identities as different culture bearers

or different language speakers or whatever is

wiped clean and we're created into one big blob.

It's a place where we are actually reflecting

Kenya and Thailand and Myanmar and Ecuador and

all these different things that somehow get represented

in this new heavens and new earth. So you are

to be a taste of the new heavens and new earth.

And we're going to see that as we continue on

in God's word. So are you ready? I'm going to

go forward with these patterns here. First thing

is that we are created to be unified in our diversity.

Let's go to page one, right? There is so much

in the book of Genesis and the Torah in general

that speaks to our human existence. And look

at this. Then God said, let us, wait, God said,

let us, who's the us, make humankind in our image

according to our likeness. It's kind of a strange

way of putting it. If I was writing it, I'd say,

Phil is going to make something, I'm going to

do this, I, I, I, like that. But this is plural

language that is there. Now, what this does is

it gives us a hint forward of the Trinity. Now,

what is the Trinity? Well, the Trinity is actually

the author of unity and diversity. He is, in

and of himself, eternal unity and diversity.

Now, are you ready for a headache? Yeah. For

those of you who like systematic theology and

actually after first service, I did, I have somebody

come up and this was the part they're like, can

you send me that diagram? Systematic theology.

It's very good. It's helpful to help explain

concepts that are very complicated. Now the Trinity

is a mystery to us. We don't know really what

we're trying to understand it, but God's word

does make some things clear. So let's go ahead

and capture some of this. Is Jesus God? Yes.

Is the father God? Yes. Is the Holy Spirit God?

Yes. Is Jesus the Father? No. Is the Father the

Holy Spirit? No. Is the Holy Spirit Jesus? No.

We can go back around the other way, but that's

going to get a little complicated. Is Jesus in

the Father? Yes. Is the Father in the Holy Spirit?

Yes. Is the Holy Spirit in the Son? Yes. Does

the Holy Spirit glorify the Father? Does the

Father glorify the Son? Yeah, they are all doing

that. Unity, diversity. all smashed together

in something that we can only hope to begin to

comprehend. It's really, really incredible. Do

you have a headache now? So this author of unity

and diversity then does the following. God creates

humankind in his image. In the image of God,

he created them. Now notice he creates humankind

in his image. Then in the image of God, he created

them. Male and female, he created them. So the

author of unity and diversity, the one who your

genes actually flow out of him, your genetics,

not your actual genes, your genetics flow out

of the triune God. And the endless amounts of

diversity that can come out of you comes from

him. as the triune God. But you notice here,

he creates humankind, then that's divided into

two, then the two are called to be one again,

and they are called to multiply that, and then

they do this. And we have humanity here. Our

identity is to be extremely diverse. Our diversity

is not a reason to cause barriers and to ghettoize

ourselves, to move within our own categories.

Our diversity is an expression of the God. who

we serve, the God who loves us deeply. So here's

a way to think about it. Our diversity flows

from God and our unity is found within God. You

take God out of the picture and we've got big

problems because our very identity, our significance

becomes lost in that. We have our significance

from our relationship with God because out of

him, we flow. We are made to reflect the Trinity

as unique individuals designed to form one interdependent

whole. See, we may think you don't actually need

me and I don't actually need you. But the reality

is the Trinity cannot be the Trinity without

one of its members. The Trinity is the Trinity

because the three in one is there. We are image

bearers collectively in imaging who God is. A

good, right, true orchestra is one that has all

the diversity and it's pulled together in unity

by a conductor and a master symphony. But I want

you to imagine for a moment that somehow the

players in this, the musicians in the orchestra

are tricked into thinking that life will be better

without the conductor and without the music.

So they toss out the music and they turn their

chairs with their back towards the conductor.

What is going to happen in that orchestra? Will

it still be as it was designed to be? No, actually

the orchestra will be fundamentally wrong at

that point. It is not what it was designed to

be. And similarly, humanity has turned their

back on God. You and I are recipients of this

and participators in this rebellion where we

have essentially turned our back and thought,

I think I can do this better on my own. And what

happens is really a bunch of chaos ensues. But

think about if our significance comes from God,

if our unity flows from him, if our diversity

is brought together because of him. You take

God out of the picture. I am now fundamentally

wrong. It's not just an action that I do. I am

wrong by not having God. connected intimately

with me. What do we call this? We call it shame.

Shame is something that says there's something

off about me. Knowing something is wrong with

us, we try to regain significance on our own,

and we do this through distorted impulses. So

remember the significance God gave us. We have

spent all our lives learning habits to try to

rebuild that significance. So we're trying all

these different things to rebuild that significance.

But where do we need that significance to come

from? From God alone. So anything we try on our

own distorts the gift of unity and diversity.

It begins to split it apart into two. So we go

forward and we find that these two distorted

ways are actually captured in the book of Genesis.

So let's go back again and see what Adam and

Eve do. So as soon as they rebel against God,

they turn their back on him. We read the following.

Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew

that they were naked. Were they naked before

they rebelled? Yes. But something changed after

they rebelled and they now became aware of the

difference between each other. They knew that

they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together

and they made loincloths for themselves. Adam

on one side, man. Eve on the other side, woman.

They're very different in how God has created

them. Up until the rebellion, those differences

were not what divided them. Those differences

were not what caused them to feel like, there's

something wrong with me. But when they're dealing

with a sense of shame, they begin to look at

one another and they're like, you don't look

like me. I don't look like you. And I have this

feeling that I'm wrong. Perhaps if we figure

out a way to look like each other, unity will

feel better, right? So what do they do? They

cover up their differences to look like one another.

And this is a repeated habit that we do again

and again and again. We cover up, and a way of

thinking about this is we prioritize unity while

sacrificing diversity. Now, I have... lived in

cultures that are extremely collective and I've

lived in cultures that are extremely individualistic.

God created both, but we can distort those gifts

from God and take them to far extremes. Have

you ever heard the saying, if the nail stands

out, what do you do? You pound it in. What is

that picture capturing? God created you in a

different way and you need to conform to the

rest of the group. That's collectivism that is

unhinged. That's collectivism that has been taken

too far, and Christ wants to redeem that back.

It's collectivism that causes uniformity, where

we end up becoming not who God created us to

be in order to fit in. We cover who we are in

order to be accepted. Now think about this in

a relationship with one another. We do this all

the time, right? There's parts of who I am, parts

of who you are, who we may not want to share

with each other because we think if you see those

and you see that we're different, maybe I'm not

going to be accepted and embraced and welcomed

by you. That's one distortion that we find, but

there's another distortion. The other distortion

comes right next in the story. It says, they

heard the sound of Yahweh walking in the garden.

In the time of evening breeze. And the man and

his wife hid themselves from the presence of

Yahweh among the trees of the garden. What's

the second one? We hide. So the first one is

we cover. The second one is we hide. Now what

is hiding? Hiding is isolating ourselves. It's

removing us from one another because I see that

you're different and I see that I'm different.

And unity is really difficult because I'm not

actually made to create unity. Only God can create

unity. So if you and I are different, there's

an option I have. I'm going to go create my own

world, right? And like a mirror that is made

to reflect the full picture of who we are, imagine

shattering that on the ground. Individualism

that has been released to its extremes, it crushes

unity for the sake of diversity. And we isolate

ourselves into our own little worlds. We hide

within those worlds. So these are examples of

that where fragmentation happens in this other

distortion. Now, the invitation for us this morning

is to realize that we all engage in these in

different ways, right? But God has freed us from

them. But I want to ask you two questions this

morning as we think about the distortion that

has happened to us. Are you silencing difference

by demanding your own way? If you realize that

you try to control situations and when you step

into a room, you want everybody to kind of fall

in line with who you are, or you step into a

room and you think, how do I make sure that I

don't stand out? I'm just going to be kind of

a fly on the wall is the way we say it in the

US. You just kind of blend it into whatever is

happening there. That's one way that you can

distort the gift that God has given us of unity

and diversity. Or are you neglecting togetherness

by prioritizing freedom? It is so much easier

to hang out with people who look, act, think,

and behave like you. You know why? Because they

help you to feel that you're okay. But at the

end of the day, you weren't designed for that,

and God calls you to something different. So

there's good news, right? These distortions that

show up in our lives again and again and again,

are not invitations for you to try harder. They're

actually invitations for you to connect with

God again, because he's the author of unity and

diversity. He's the author that comes and renews

this within you and I. And so this good news

breaks into our lives, and that's where we're

going to turn to next. Do you remember the picture

that I had you consider where you turned and

you looked at everybody around you in this community?

Do you have that in your mind still? We're going

to rewind about 2 ,000 years to the early church.

And I'm going to ask you to imagine for a moment

that you are walking in the streets of a region

called Galatia. Galatia is in modern -day Turkey.

And like Bangkok... This area is kind of caught

in between Africa and Europe and Asia, and there's

all these trade routes going through it. And

so what happens with that, like it's happened

here in Bangkok, is the nations end up coming

to this place. And so in Galatia, let's pick

one of the towns. We'll do Lystra as the town,

and we're going to go through imagining what

it's like to journey through there. Now, you

begin to walk into this town, and what you notice

immediately, that there are people from all over.

There are those who obviously have a lot, and

there are those who don't have very much. There's

Macedonians, there's Greeks, there's Jews. You

see people from all around the world in this

space. There's men, there's women. But there's

two things you notice as you walk into this town.

They're either in their own ghettos, meaning

they've kind of isolated themselves, and they're

just kind of in their own spots. Or they're together

because of functional reasons. So malls and airports

are diverse places, right? But they're not unified.

They're there because I need to do something

or I need to get something. And so we come together

in that space. A slave and a master comes together

because there's a functional transaction that

happens there. One gets to choose, the other

doesn't. That's not unity and diversity. And

so you're aware of all of this happening in Lystra,

but at that moment, you hear something coming

from one of the homes. And it's a song. There's

voices singing in unison together. And you're

kind of intrigued and wondering, what's going

on over here? So you make your way towards the

home, and your curiosity is causing you to just

gaze at it. And at that moment, the door opens.

And somebody sees you looking in the home and

they look back at you and they see the curiosity

on your face. And what do they do? They say,

come in. Do you want to come see what's happening

inside? So your curiosity leads into the home

and you come inside and there's around 20 people

representing all the people in the fractions

of society you just saw out there. But they're

all together in one circle. And they're singing

a song of praise to a God in unity together.

And you're kind of intrigued watching this thing

as a master and a slave is sitting there and

you're seeing men and women right next to each

other and you're seeing this incredible diversity

that is there and nobody seems to really be that

concerned about it like they were outside. And

then this guy Paul begins to speak after the

song and he begins to explain that Jesus comes

at great cost and he loves us back into relationship

with God and others. He pays for the price of

shame that we've been trying to get rid of this

whole time. And he says that Jesus, who is God,

he comes to earth to be one of us, one of his

diverse creation. But he's both fully God and

fully man. And then this Jesus called a diverse

community to himself. So on this side, he calls

Matthew the tax collector to himself. Now, who

is Matthew the tax collector? Matthew the tax

collector would have found his entire significance,

his earning, his identity, would have been in

sympathizing with Rome, who is an enemy occupier

of Israel. So he had abandoned his group of people,

and he had taken the job of being a tax collector

in this place to make his own income, right?

You think this guy may make some enemies? Well,

we've got an enemy, and Jesus called the other

enemy. The other enemy is Simon the Zealot. Simon

the Zealot makes his entire identity off of attacking

guys like Matthew and the Romans, really. They're

trying to overthrow the Roman Empire. Do you

think Jesus called these two people by accident?

No. He calls the far extremes into community

with him. Why? Because he is the author of unity

and diversity. And by calling them in and countering

them where they are at, he never leaves them

there. They always get transformed into a new

creature, a new person, which we're going to

get to in just a moment. So Paul is explaining

these things. And then he says, hey, let me tell

you a story that Jesus told. And it's a story

of a father and two sons. And one of the sons

comes to his father at one point and he says,

you know, father, I want my inheritance now because

I want to isolate myself. I want to go live on

my own because I think that's a better way of

living my life. Now, in a culture like the ancient

Near East, this is the same thing as saying,

dad, I want you dead. What does the father do?

He says, okay. I allow this free choice. And

the son walks out, takes the inheritance with

him, and he extravagantly uses it. He spends

it in crazy ways until it's completely gone.

And then what happens? That old enemy of shame

comes back and says, something is wrong with

you. So he turns back and he makes his way towards

his father. And what is he expecting? A father

that's kind of doing this. who may either take

his life or make him a slave. Is that what happens?

Exactly opposite. The father in a thing that

would be shameful for that culture lifts up his

very robe, runs to the son and embraces this

son. And then he goes back and he puts a robe

covering up his shame and he gets a ring and

sandals and he throws the biggest party ever

for this lost son. ECB, that's beautiful news.

And Paul is telling the Galatians that there's

a God who does this for you and for me. That's

worth celebrating, isn't it? Now, the other brother

who is there who looks like he's close to God

and he's got everything together, he won't come

into that party. There's something in his heart

that will not receive the free gift that the

Father has given. And so Paul tells this story,

and you see how the story is moving the people

that are gathered in that room to say, oh, whether

I'm the older or the younger, whether I'm from

this place or that place, that's not as significant.

What makes me significant is that God loves me.

That's what makes me significant. So then Paul

begins to explain three different things that

you and I need to remember as people here at

ECB living in 2025. We are part of a world religion

that is the most diverse group of people in the

entire world. 2 billion plus people. By the way,

Africa just became the continent with the most

followers of Jesus this year. Latin America is

right after them. Guess who's coming up behind

really quickly and is going to probably surpass

them all? Asia, right? God's goodness has covered

the entire world. And these are great things

to remember. So we have this gift of diversity,

but our job is to nurture it and to cultivate

it. And Paul explains to the Galatians how to

do that because in his letter, he's actually

confronting the fact that the good news that

they first took in, they've started to forget

it. And they've started to go back into their

own groups. again. So let's look at those three

things. The first one Paul says is, it is no

longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives

in me. And the life I now live in the flesh,

I live by faith in the son of God who loved me

and gave himself for me. How did I move from

my insignificance back into significance? Was

it anything I did? Absolutely not. It was a gracious

act of God. encountering my humility because

I was broken and a surrender to him that brought

me back into God's family. So yes, we are a people

who speak many different languages. We are a

people who eat food from all kinds of different

places. We are a people who represent different

nationalities, but we have one common language

that brings us together. And what is that? Grace.

Grace is an extravagant way of treating one another.

It doesn't make sense. So don't try to explain

grace. Receive it from God and then be one who

gives it back to others. That's one part that

is necessary for unity and diversity. Then Paul

writes back to the Galatians the following words.

He says, for in Christ Jesus, you are all chosen

of God through faith, children of God through

faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ

have clothed yourself with Christ. Okay, that

clothing language again, covering over your shame.

What covers over our shame? Christ himself. So

what makes me special? What makes you special?

Simply that we're in Christ. I can't stand here

and say, well, I'm the pastor and you guys are

sitting down there. Therefore, I'm more significant.

No, you and I are brothers and sisters in Christ

because he is the one who has given me my significance.

That's what unites us together. It doesn't matter

who you are or who I am. We all go through the

same baptism, the same water, Father, Son, and

Spirit. And we come back up because Christ, it's

an image of what Christ has done in us and for

us. So the next one is that Christ is our significance.

Jesus is our significance. Hold on to that tightly.

Then Paul explains the following. Actually, before

that, I want you to hear this. Your failures,

your distortions of living in community are not

reasons to try harder and to build up more shame

upon yourself. Your distortions are invitations

for you to connect with your maker again and

again. So as you realize them coming out and

you see, oh, I'm getting pulled towards isolation,

I'm getting pulled towards uniformity, allow

that to move you to say, Lord, help. I need you.

Would you cover me, remind me that I am your

beloved son, your beloved daughter. The third

one is this. And because you are children, God

has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts,

crying what? Abba, Father. Okay, I turn my back.

I walk away from God. I say, I wish that you

were dead. And what does he do? He not only invites

me back in, but then he gifts me his very spirit

as a power inside me to take what I know here

and to move it into the depths of my heart. And

we have been gifted this Holy Spirit. So you

are no longer slaves, but a child. And if a child,

then also an heir through God. That's great news.

It's such good news. So live by the Spirit. Don't

go back to those ways of living by flesh. It's

easy and there's habits in that, but live by

the Spirit. Do not gratify the desires of the

flesh. The fruit of the Spirit is what? Love,

joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,

and self -control. Can you imagine a community

that is flowing in these things? Would that bring

unity? Yeah, absolutely. But it is God's work

in us that comes out to those around us that

is so beautiful. So these three things, we hold

on to God, grace is our common language. We hold

on to Jesus as our significance. And we remember

that the Holy Spirit is the one gifted to us

to empower us towards unity and diversity. And

with that, we come to a very well -known passage.

Would you read it with me? There is no longer

Jew or Greek. There is no longer slave or free.

There is no longer male and female. For all of

you are one in Christ Jesus. Does that mean because

I became a Christian, who I am has just disappeared?

No, absolutely not. What this is saying is, ECB,

you are not significant because of your... nation

that you are from or ethnicity you are from.

God deeply values that, but that is not your

essential identity. That's not your core identity.

It's a part of who you are, but it is not your

core identity. You are significant because you

are one in Christ. Similarly, you are not significant

because of your social status or your economic

standing. How much money you have, what position

you are in your business or anything like that,

how many doctorate degrees you have, any of that

thing. These are all important aspects of who

we are, but they are not your identity. Your

identity is that you are one in Christ. And you're

not significant because you are a male or a female.

You don't keep these as boundaries that keep

people out and in. Instead, you say that you

are one in Christ. That's great news. God desires

that you and I enjoy an increasing measure of

unity and diversity. Now, how do we do this very

practically? I'm going to invite you to very

specific things to do. You ready? So I invite

you to be formed by Jesus. Formed by Jesus. Think

back to your baptism for those who have been

baptized. What is the picture of baptism? It's

in Christ. I went from death and all of the distorted,

broken, shameful things about who I am died with

Christ in that water. And then I was resurrected

to new life in Christ. Now I'm being formed in

that continually, day by day. Be formed in Christ.

Next week, we are going to have baptisms here.

It's one of my favorite Sundays of the week.

Why? Because we see things like this. I told

you, you're going to show up in the service.

Look at the smile on her face. So beautiful,

coming out of the water with this newness of

life expressed in that space. And you know what?

The same baptism that she had is the same baptism

that I had. And we are connected in this way

in all of our diversity. So come next week ready

to be formed by Jesus. Once again, as you hear

these stories, this is a beautiful time of gathering

together. That's one way. Second way is this,

to embody Jesus to others. What does this mean?

If Jesus has loved us back into relationship

with him and he has given us this incredible

gift of grace and the significance that is there,

begin to reach out to others and invite them

back in to the life that is found in him. How

do we do this? Practically speaking, next week,

invite the people who are getting baptized out

for a meal. Get to know them. Hear more of their

stories rather than the minute and a half or

two minute testimony video. That's great. Go

hear more about them. Or right after church.

this Sunday. Invite somebody out to go over to

Terminal 21. Invite them to your home. Make connection.

This is about the gift of community. We are called

to nurture it together and to cultivate it. Embody

Christ to one another. We are to welcome one

another with the same welcome that Jesus Christ

gave us. Why? Jesus prays the following for us

in John 17. He says, may your unity be so perfect

amidst all your diversity. that the world will

know that I was sent by the Father. This becomes

a testimony of who God is and an invitation back

into that heaven. Remember that story that I

asked you to think about of walking into Galatia

in the city of Lystra and you come to this home

and you are intrigued by walking into it? I'm

going to share with you a video of this exact

thing happening here at ECB. And you did this

to them. And you'll see why. Before I show it,

one more thing. Once a year, for those of you

who just joined us or who were not here with

us last year, once a year, our community recognizes

the gift of unity and diversity by having a gathering

where we celebrate all of that through food and

music and culture and all of these different

things. And we display the full diversity of

who God is and the unity of how he's brought

us together. So once a year we do that. And I

want you to see what one of our youth found on

TikTok, okay? Watch the video with me. Come with

me to a Christian church in the center of Bangkok.

Let's go. Now, I'm always amazed at the amount

of people, even in places which are so far from

home, come together and celebrate Christ. Also,

shout out for his t -shirt. The service started

off some praise and worship. You know, I got

my singing. Then they asked who's from the UK

in the building. You know, I had to represent.

I must say, this church had budget. It had, like,

Bibles behind every seat and notepads to take

notes. And also, I just love from all different

races and places, people came together and celebrated

Christ. This wasn't even a start. They had, like,

a food buffet going on outside. Now, if this

is an every week thing for this church in Bangkok,

I may be catching that flight to come back every

week. Because they had it all. I tried. Shout

out these beef tacos. Probably the least fat

in view you'll ever see me eat. Then I had some

Nigerian yam and jollof rice. I was lowkey upset

because they ran out of chicken. And to finish

off my Christian come down with me, I had some

Thai salad and a salad. So if you're ever in

Bangkok and looking for a church, thank you later.

Have a good day. Peace. ECB, look what you did.

You became famous on TikTok. You are significant.

That's beautiful though. This random person comes

on a Sunday morning, happens to come during International

Food Festival and experiences this celebration

that we throw. And so we throw this celebration

for a reason, for a purpose. And it calls people

in and it brings people to a saving faith in

Jesus Christ. The best thing that we can have

about ourselves. So how can you be part of this?

Well, it takes a lot to put together this group,

right? We have dance teams that are there. We

have music teams that are there. We have food

contributors there. We have a decoration team.

We have people ready to share the gospel. We

have all kinds of things coming together in one

space. We even have people who come to eat. So

any of you eat? Okay, make sure to come. This

is going to be a full month from now, right?

I'm serious about this. People who are called

to be united as one body, one of the things we

are going to do is take seriously joining with

Thailand in this period of mourning. And you

will see downstairs where I'm going to call you

to that the tablecloths are black as a recognition

of the mourning that we participate in. But we

also have reason to celebrate who God is, right?

And so we're going to respect that and also consider

the fact that after it ends for the International

Food Festival, we will come together. with what

we usually do, which is to celebrate the unity

and diversity. So if you dance, if you cook good

food, if you sing songs, any of these things,

if you eat food, as I said, I want you to consider

being part of this. How can you do that? There's

going to be tables downstairs right now where

you can go down and you can sign up to contribute

to this, to make sure that if somebody comes

and visits us, They get to experience the beautiful

gift of unity and diversity. Worship team, I'm

going to go ahead and call you back up here.

Brothers and sisters, God has given us a gift.

You are that gift. And that gift is something

that requires us to regularly connect with our

maker in order to nurture and cultivate it and

multiply it. And that is a task worth living

for. That is something worth doing. So I want

to ask you to join me in praying as I just pray

a prayer of blessing that the Holy Spirit would

empower us to be a community of unity and diversity.

Father, I thank you that you have made your self

known to us. You have made your ways known to

us. You have restored us. invited us to being

restored back together with you once again. We're

deeply thankful for that. And we thank you that

you have designed us in very unique ways. And

you knit us together in our mother's womb and

you said, hey, that's exactly who I want this

person to be. And it is good. And I want them

to be very different from the person that is

sitting next to them. And that's good. because

I am a God who infinitely can display the diversity

that is in the unity of the Trinity. Thank you

for that. So Holy Spirit, would you empower us

increasingly to be that church family? We want

to say that we love you because you have loved

us. Thank you for that. In Jesus' name, amen.

Thank you for tuning in to the ECB Sermon Podcast.

Whether near or far, if you are looking for community

or are in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage

by sending us an email to office at ecb .asia.

If God is calling you to support our ministries,

you will find giving options on our website.

And remember to join us next week. God bless

you.