Sermon - Applying Grace to Eachother - Acts 15:36-41

It depends how well you listen.

If you listen really well, it will be done early.

But I do just want to say, like, it's just so amazing.

Take a second here and just talk about where we are as a church.

Like, I don't know if you got that letter from me a week or two ago.

If you didn't, check your junk mail.

And if it's not there, then make sure you reach out to the church and let us know who you are and become a part of this community.

But I just sent you a little note just celebrating what God has been doing.

Like, this last year, 125 people baptized.

Almost, yeah.

Almost 600 people in long-term discipleship and gospel communities.

All the justice and mercy stuff going on.

There's so many things.

More than I could possibly mention.

I think about the time this last year.

Summer always kind of feels like the end of one ministry year and then fall we're into another.

And I just think about the time when we went from two-to-one gathering felt really called to that for this season and the response that you gave for like helping in kids ministry and all that it was just like phenomenal and amazing and we've just been so blown away and every you know on the weekends when I see and we all see you serving and loving each other and being so hospitable and taking care of each other and making these gatherings possible all the things for the week, all the classes and discipleship, everything that we do, it's amazing.

I mean, even something like we needed a new roof, you know, and so we were able, like, just like you would at home as a family, we were able to go and, like, put a new roof on this building.

I know that's practical and maybe boring to some of you, but to me, it's a really big deal.

You don't know how much that encourages my heart that we get to lean into those sorts of things together and that we can take care of the place that God's put us, even in an expensive city like downtown Vancouver and It just feels like it's such a pregnant moment.

I think about that parable Jesus tells when he says the kingdom of heaven is like a farmer who sows seed and then goes to sleep and he doesn't know how but the seed essentially dies and comes alive and produces this plant, this crop.

And that's what we're seeing Jesus do.

He's building his church.

It's amazing, and as we go into summer, I really wanna encourage you to lean into what he's doing this summer, lean into what it means to be part of this local church this summer, what it means to be a disciple with the people around you in this room and in your gospel communities this summer, because it's really like Jesus is coming, and what we're told in Scripture is that much of the church is gonna see him asleep the closer we get to his return.

And yet many people are gonna be coming alive.