One of the areas that many church and individuals have not grown is the inclusiveness of Christ. I am thankful to be apart of a church that God is moving beyond the normal boundaries that have been established by times of the past. In the text from Galatians, Paul is trying to teach the people at Galatia that some of the things that used to divide us as a people should no longer divide us.   The most important characteristics that we need to have in common is our belief in Christ. 

 

I am thankful for our recent victory in the Presidential election; however, my greater concern is the lives that Christians live before the world. This week’s sermon comes as we are preparing to worship with a Lutheran church in our area. The music will be different. The cultural backgrounds will be different. The class and status in the world may even be different; however, it is my prayer that our belief in Jesus is the same. 

 

In this week’s message we will look to bring our focus not on the external but on the internal.

 

 

1.      If you belong to Christ:

 

a)      Your ethnicity or race doesn’t matter

b)      Your worldly status doesn’t matter

c)      Your gender doesn’t matter

 

                        2.      If you belong to Christ

 

a)      You belong to a blessed family

b)      You have the same inheritance as all the other family members

 

 

1.                  Our faith must force us to extend ourselves beyond race

2.                  Our faith must force us to extend ourselves beyond cultural and economic classes.

3.                  Our faith must force us to value the input of men and women in the work of Christ.

 

For our readers, I close with this prayer: God help us to see one another as you see us. Help us to see one another through the blood of Jesus.   We thank you Lord for our external differences; however, we praise you for the blood of Jesus that brings us together. Bless those who will dare to do something different in their Christian walk. In Jesus name we pray. AMEN.