Unity in Diversity: Embracing Grace and Common Ground
Devotional
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1. "As we think this week about common ground, I think this is a big piece of being kind to each other. Where are the places that we share something with our neighbor? Where we can stand together on common ground? Where those Venn diagrams of our differences overlap? Because for a lot of us there's a huge area in the middle where we are overlapping. And for most of us there isn't actually that much that ends up Cancer and подтimizing cocoa, when we don't know where we're hanging off the sides where we don't agree on it so in the case of Kansas City there's a huge area of we love barbecue and then it's the smaller areas of we love Joe's or we love Jack Stacks or we love Arthur Bryant's." [02:56] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "Today is also World Communion Sunday this is the first Sunday in October and Christians around the world are celebrating communion today and we are thinking about the unity of the body of Christ of how Jesus called us together to be the church and to do the work of Jesus Christ in the world today as we wait for Jesus to return now just like Kansas City barbecue Christianity is one of those big tents where we are proud to be Christians and to be followers of Jesus but over the years we have gotten really really good at dividing ourselves over the small areas that we disagree how do we read the Bible how do we do communion how do we do do baptism." [04:16] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "Jesus is reminding us that he did not come to sit in judgment on all of us. Jesus came to save us. Jesus came to bring people together, people who didn't think that they belonged together. When you look at the table that Jesus sets, the table that his followers gathered at, you had blue-collar fishermen, tradesmen, men who worked with their hands, men who had a hard time washing that fish. Some of them were older and establishing their lives. Peter's mother-in-law was healed by Jesus, and so it must mean that Peter was married. But some of the disciples who were fishermen must have been apprentices, must have still been teenagers, still learning the trade." [06:53] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "Jesus was not here judging. Jesus was here including, bringing people together, finding the common ground, usually around a table, usually around food, and finding some peace. Now, we have a devotional guide that's available. You can pick up some copies in the lobby, or you could go online. It's on our homepage. There's a button to get a hold of it. And it's six weeks of devotions that are tied to this theme of finding kindness during a difficult election season." [09:10] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "Jesus did not come just to save the Christians, as we talked about last sermon. But Jesus and God have a number of occasions where clearly God is reaching out to people outside the Jewish tradition, outside the area of Israel, and reaching people that could be a little puzzling. So, in one case, we've got Jesus' birth. Now, we read, and most of us remember, that there was a star that was shining in the sky, a bright star, perhaps a supernova. And three guys, normally called the wise men, show up from the east. What exactly do they mean by from the east? Most likely, there is a religious tradition in the area of Persia, which we now call Iran, called Zoroastrianism, and they studied the skies." [10:25] (56 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "Jonah was judging the people of Nineveh, and Jonah did not want to bring God's grace to them. But God won out, and in the end, the people of Nineveh repented and accepted God's grace. Our second reading today comes from Romans chapter 14, verse 19. So let's strive for the things that bring peace and the things that build each other up. It was hard for Jonah to think about peace and building up the Assyrians, the people who lived in Nineveh. It is hard for us to think about building certain people up, people that we find it much easier to judge than to love. But this is what Jesus is about." [12:58] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "Jesus did not just come for our personal salvation, our own personal ticket into heaven. Jesus came that God's grace would be shared with all people, the people in Jerusalem, the people in Judea, the people in Samaria, the people in Israel, the people across the Greek world, the people around the entire world, the people today that we find it hard to love. Jesus is about a message of community, about loving our neighbor, about bringing people together, no matter what we do. Jesus is about bringing people together, no matter what we do." [14:27] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "This week, let's not worry about splinters and logs. Let's not judge others. Instead, let's find our common ground and see how we can love each other. Amen." [14:27] (14 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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2. "Today is also World Communion Sunday this is the first Sunday in October and Christians around the world are celebrating communion today and we are thinking about the unity of the body of Christ of how Jesus called us together to be the church and to do the work of Jesus Christ in the world today as we wait for Jesus to return now just like Kansas City barbecue Christianity is one of those big tents where we are proud to be Christians and to be followers of Jesus but over the years we have gotten really really good at dividing ourselves over the small areas that we disagree how do we read the Bible how do we do communion how do we do do baptism." [04:16] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "Jesus is reminding us that he did not come to sit in judgment on all of us. Jesus came to save us. Jesus came to bring people together, people who didn't think that they belonged together. When you look at the table that Jesus sets, the table that his followers gathered at, you had blue-collar fishermen, tradesmen, men who worked with their hands, men who had a hard time washing that fish. Some of them were older and establishing their lives. Peter's mother-in-law was healed by Jesus, and so it must mean that Peter was married. But some of the disciples who were fishermen must have been apprentices, must have still been teenagers, still learning the trade." [06:53] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "Jesus was not here judging. Jesus was here including, bringing people together, finding the common ground, usually around a table, usually around food, and finding some peace. Now, we have a devotional guide that's available. You can pick up some copies in the lobby, or you could go online. It's on our homepage. There's a button to get a hold of it. And it's six weeks of devotions that are tied to this theme of finding kindness during a difficult election season." [09:10] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "Jesus did not come just to save the Christians, as we talked about last sermon. But Jesus and God have a number of occasions where clearly God is reaching out to people outside the Jewish tradition, outside the area of Israel, and reaching people that could be a little puzzling. So, in one case, we've got Jesus' birth. Now, we read, and most of us remember, that there was a star that was shining in the sky, a bright star, perhaps a supernova. And three guys, normally called the wise men, show up from the east. What exactly do they mean by from the east? Most likely, there is a religious tradition in the area of Persia, which we now call Iran, called Zoroastrianism, and they studied the skies." [10:25] (56 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "Jonah was judging the people of Nineveh, and Jonah did not want to bring God's grace to them. But God won out, and in the end, the people of Nineveh repented and accepted God's grace. Our second reading today comes from Romans chapter 14, verse 19. So let's strive for the things that bring peace and the things that build each other up. It was hard for Jonah to think about peace and building up the Assyrians, the people who lived in Nineveh. It is hard for us to think about building certain people up, people that we find it much easier to judge than to love. But this is what Jesus is about." [12:58] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "Jesus did not just come for our personal salvation, our own personal ticket into heaven. Jesus came that God's grace would be shared with all people, the people in Jerusalem, the people in Judea, the people in Samaria, the people in Israel, the people across the Greek world, the people around the entire world, the people today that we find it hard to love. Jesus is about a message of community, about loving our neighbor, about bringing people together, no matter what we do. Jesus is about bringing people together, no matter what we do." [14:27] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "This week, let's not worry about splinters and logs. Let's not judge others. Instead, let's find our common ground and see how we can love each other. Amen." [14:27] (14 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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