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Opening the Circle · Faith at Work

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  What if our calling is to open up the circle of faith and
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  community and the church?
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  SPEAKER_00: Just a little bit wider.
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  SPEAKER_00: Just a little bit broader.
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  SPEAKER_00: Just a little bit more diverse than actually exists right now.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not someday in some future far away, but today.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then again tomorrow.
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  SPEAKER_00: Picture this circle of chairs, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: This wonderful circle of chairs.
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  SPEAKER_00: And some of them are full, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: But some of them are empty.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they are empty on purpose.
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  The gospel,
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  the core of the gospel is a widening circle of open
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  relationships.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not a gated community and not a members only club.
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  SPEAKER_00: I thought about putting up the members only clothing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Does anyone remember members only clothing?
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I know.
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  SPEAKER_00: The jackets, members only.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it was a travesty.
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  SPEAKER_00: Nonetheless, Paul says, in Christ, you are all God's children.
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  SPEAKER_00: Baptized into one life, no divisions.
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  SPEAKER_00: In our community, get the last word.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female.
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  SPEAKER_00: That list that we read this morning,
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  what a wonderful list of faithful women that are building the
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  church in the first
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  SPEAKER_00: century,
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  SPEAKER_00: etc.,
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  SPEAKER_00: etc.
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  SPEAKER_00: All of them are included.
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  SPEAKER_00: All of them belong and all own faith.
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  SPEAKER_00: The church of Jesus Christ together with all the others.
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  SPEAKER_00: Those, friends, aren't nice Bible words.
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  They are walls that are being broken down in the first century
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  and in ours.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are seats added to the circle of the kingdom.
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  Some of us,
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  me being one of them,
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  particularly with my hearing problems,
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  learn the hard way.
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  SPEAKER_00: Like Peter, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: He learns the hard way in these scriptures.
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  Acts 10,
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  though,
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  he says,
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  God shows no partiality,
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  no favorites,
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  only family.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the story about Cornelius, Peter goes to Cornelius' house.
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  SPEAKER_00: And Peter was everything that Cornelius was not.
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  SPEAKER_00: And Cornelius was everything that Peter was not.
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  SPEAKER_00: Cornelius was a Roman.
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  SPEAKER_00: He was powerful.
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  SPEAKER_00: He was connected politically.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he was unclean.
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  SPEAKER_00: Peter should not have gone down.
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  SPEAKER_00: Into his house.
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  SPEAKER_00: But God.
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  SPEAKER_00: Changes a Gentile kitchen.
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  SPEAKER_00: Into holy ground.
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  SPEAKER_00: Peter.
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  SPEAKER_00: Vision is retrained.
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  SPEAKER_00: His eyes.
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  SPEAKER_00: See new things.
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  SPEAKER_00: And his heart is reformed.
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  SPEAKER_00: About what the gospel.
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  SPEAKER_00: Is all about.
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  SPEAKER_00: Unclean animals.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lord.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now clean.
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  SPEAKER_00: And a heart.
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  SPEAKER_00: lifted into relationships.
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  SPEAKER_00: He says, don't call unclean what God calls clean.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that sentence can still save churches, friends.
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  SPEAKER_00: It can still save friendships.
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  SPEAKER_00: It can save families.
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  It can save communities,
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  particularly in our world that is so polarized right now.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then Acts 15, the church, they argue.
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  SPEAKER_00: The text is very clear about that.
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  SPEAKER_00: There's disagreement.
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  SPEAKER_00: They argue about all of this.
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  SPEAKER_00: But then they pray.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then they listen.
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  SPEAKER_00: And once again, grace wins the day.
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  SPEAKER_00: He says, we believe we are saved by grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not by grace.
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  gatekeeping and not by following the Old Testament laws,
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  not by culture tests.
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  SPEAKER_00: That was controversial.
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  SPEAKER_00: It created conflict in the first-century church.
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  SPEAKER_00: It probably still does, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: But it is nonetheless true today as it was then.
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  SPEAKER_00: The early church didn't avoid conflict, and nor should we...
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  SPEAKER_00: They gathered it up.
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  SPEAKER_00: They worked through it.
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  SPEAKER_00: They talked through it.
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  SPEAKER_00: They prayed through it.
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  SPEAKER_00: They listened through it.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then they always came to the same decision.
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  SPEAKER_00: They opened the circle up wider.
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  SPEAKER_00: And so must we today.
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  SPEAKER_00: Romans 16 shows us this wonderful guest list that I would agree with.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yvonne, kudos to you.
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean, my goodness.
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  SPEAKER_00: Did you practice that?
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  SPEAKER_00: Or did you just naturally come out?
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  SPEAKER_00: Because it was impressive, truly.
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  SPEAKER_00: You practiced a little.
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  SPEAKER_00: I would have had...
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  SPEAKER_00: to practice.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I'm probably going to butcher it.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm probably not going to say it nearly as well as you did here.
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  SPEAKER_00: But Phoebe, she was a deacon and a leader.
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  SPEAKER_00: Priscilla and Aquila, house church hosts.
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  SPEAKER_00: Junia, outstanding among the apostles.
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  SPEAKER_00: Trephena and Triposa, workers of the Lord.
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  SPEAKER_00: Rufus and his mother,
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  SPEAKER_00: A mother to me, Paul says.
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  SPEAKER_00: That chapter reads like a potluck of grace.
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  Different names,
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  different ethnicities,
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  different stories,
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  different languages,
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  one table.
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  SPEAKER_00: One table.
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  SPEAKER_00: Intuit says that the church is God's new creation community.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not sameness, it's important to note, but diversity with a shared Lord.
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  SPEAKER_00: People making a future together as a beloved community in Christ.
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  SPEAKER_00: Barbara Brown Taylor reminds us,
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  SPEAKER_00: hospitality turns strangers into neighbors,
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  SPEAKER_00: into family,
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  SPEAKER_00: neighbors into guests of God.
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  SPEAKER_00: Henry Nouwen wrote of a downward mobility movement.
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  SPEAKER_00: Don't climb over people.
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  SPEAKER_00: Instead,
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  SPEAKER_00: kneel to wash their feet,
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  SPEAKER_00: which,
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  SPEAKER_00: by the way,
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  SPEAKER_00: we will be doing soon here on World Communion Sunday.
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  SPEAKER_00: Richard Rohrer says love expands the circle.
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  SPEAKER_00: Fear contracts the circle.
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  SPEAKER_00: Christ moves us outward always.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, I learned this in Italy.
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  My first Bible study there as a young adult was at a kitchen
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  table at 10 p.m.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Bible studies, home Bible studies in Italy, started at 10 p.m.
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  SPEAKER_00: after dinner that was at like 7 or 8 o'clock.
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  SPEAKER_00: All right?
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  SPEAKER_00: So the Bible studies started at a kitchen table at 10 p.m.
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  SPEAKER_00: Espresso.
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  SPEAKER_00: Laughter.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tears.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then, if I'm honest, me falling asleep during the closing prayer.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because I was not used to that.
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  In Italy,
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  and I believe it needs to be true here,
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  we did not start with rules,
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  okay?
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  SPEAKER_00: We started with open relationships.
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  SPEAKER_00: We started with names.
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  SPEAKER_00: We started with friendships.
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  SPEAKER_00: We started with stories.
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  We started with love and an open and relational God that wanted
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  to be part of their lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then God did the rest.
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  SPEAKER_00: Business has taught me these things too.
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  SPEAKER_00: A hotel lobby can become a church.
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  SPEAKER_00: I remember when I was there,
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  SPEAKER_00: I called my wife one day and I said,
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  SPEAKER_00: Beth,
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  SPEAKER_00: I really didn't want to go back into ministry,
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  SPEAKER_00: but I feel like I got a church again,
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  SPEAKER_00: which I think prepared me to be willing to accept this call here.
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  SPEAKER_00: And my farm venue hosts grace all of the time.
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  SPEAKER_00: My encouragement to you today is open up your circles as well.
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  Open up your circle at work and invite that quiet little intern
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  to lunch and have a
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  SPEAKER_00: conversation and listen to their stories,
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  SPEAKER_00: right?
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  Ask the night shift tech,
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  who nobody ever talks to,
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  to tell you her story,
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  right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Open it up at school, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Sit with a new student.
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  SPEAKER_00: Share your notes.
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  SPEAKER_00: Don't cheat on tests.
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  SPEAKER_00: But share those notes, not rumors, all right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Open it up at home, at a chair for the neighbor kid.
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  SPEAKER_00: Bless the noisy dinner.
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  SPEAKER_00: And let's open it here, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Move towards someone you don't know.
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  SPEAKER_00: Smile at them.
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  SPEAKER_00: Say hello.
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  SPEAKER_00: Use their name in a prayer.
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  I'm going to leave you with three simple steps,
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  three simple movements for you this week.
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  SPEAKER_00: Look.
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  SPEAKER_00: Linger.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lift.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lift.
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  SPEAKER_00: Eyes, time, encouragement.
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  SPEAKER_00: Look with gospel eyes.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ask prayerfully, who's missing?
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  SPEAKER_00: Who's missing in the circle?
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  And if you don't see it the first time,
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  ask again and again and again until you see them.
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  SPEAKER_00: Linger without rushing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Listen to people.
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  SPEAKER_00: Listen for their pain.
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  SPEAKER_00: Listen for their joy.
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  And then let your silence in listening to their story do some
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  loving pastoral work.
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  SPEAKER_00: Linger.
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  SPEAKER_00: Linger without rushing all of the time.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
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  SPEAKER_00: I already did that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lift with practical help and ride.
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  SPEAKER_00: Give them a ride.
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  SPEAKER_00: Give them a meal.
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  Give them a recommendation of where's a really good place to
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  eat during the day,
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  right?
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  SPEAKER_00: These small lifts can change people's lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: Kids?
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  SPEAKER_00: Where are the kids?
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, they're sleeping over there.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can do this too.
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  SPEAKER_00: Bus rides at recess.
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  You can see the people that are not having friends that are
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  needing a lift somewhere.
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  SPEAKER_00: Youth, you can claim this call too.
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  SPEAKER_00: Clubs and teams.
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  SPEAKER_00: We need people in those places that are including folks.
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  SPEAKER_00: Be the one who notices others.
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  SPEAKER_00: And adults...
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  SPEAKER_00: We really need to do our best to practice Monday faith, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Carrying Christ into our meetings,
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  SPEAKER_00: turning circles into opportunities to love and to listen and to care.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, what keeps us from this?
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  SPEAKER_00: Well, sometimes it's fear.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's frustration.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's fatigue, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it is false boundary lines.
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  Sometimes our maps are old about what the boundaries are and
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  what they should be.
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  SPEAKER_00: Like Peter's
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  SPEAKER_00: were, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: But God, I believe, is editing them.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Spirit continues to nudge us.
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  SPEAKER_00: Go with them, doubting nothing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Trust me with the next chair.
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  SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite theologians,
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  SPEAKER_00: Stanley Hauerwas,
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  SPEAKER_00: says that the church's politics is how we treat each other.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is supposed to be the politics of the church.
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  SPEAKER_00: And our witness needs to become our way.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our love needs to become our lifestyle.
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  SPEAKER_00: And our practice needs to be all about peace.
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  Now,
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  I know what some of you are thinking,
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  but opening the circle is not anything goes.
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  SPEAKER_00: All right?
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not anything goes.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is grace is going to lead us with Jesus as Lord.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, a word to anyone who feels outside today.
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  You are already on God's heart and you have been on God's heart
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  for a very,
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  very long time.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we have saved a seat for you here.
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  SPEAKER_00: A word to those of you that like to guard the circle.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for caring, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: But now, help us widen the circle wisely.
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  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
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  SPEAKER_00: And a word for all of us this morning.
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  SPEAKER_00: Keep saying this over again, but I love it.
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  SPEAKER_00: The net won't break.
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  SPEAKER_00: The church won't break if we apply these things in our lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: Grace can hold all of us,
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  SPEAKER_00: not just the ones that are here,
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  SPEAKER_00: but the ones that I believe God is calling to come.
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  SPEAKER_00: We are called to open the circle.
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  SPEAKER_00: We are called to be one in Christ.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we are called to go first in grace.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amen.