The Way - Part 3
Knox (Westport) Presbyterian Church
Sunday, June 6, 2021
Hello Everybody!
Welcome to the Online Service of Worship for Knox (Westport) Presbyterian Church on this Sunday June 27, 2021.
In-person Services of Worship have resumed at Knox (Westport) Presbyterian Church as the rates of Covid-19 infections are declining and vaccinations are increasing. We are beginning to think that this prolonged period of social distancing, wearing of masks, and measures to prevent the transmission of this worldwide pandemic may be coming to an end and we will be able to meet together again with the people we love in our families, in our communities, and in our churches.
I am pre-recording from my home this Service of Worship and downloading it Online in order to complete the three-part study of chapter nine of the Book of Acts for those who have been engaged in worship and learning with us online over the past several months. Don and Barb Warren are continuing to provide the musical selections for our worship that they are also recording from their home.
This will be the last Online Service of Worship for the time being as we take a break from our study of the Book of Acts over the summer months. If you are able to join us in-person at Knox (Westport) Presbyterian Church, I will be exploring a number of Old Testament Proverbs to discover true wisdom for our day. Our Sunday Services of Worship are at 10:30am and we will continue to take all necessary precautions relating to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.
I want to thank you for joining us on this journey of faith and discovery. I hope this time of worship and learning will inspire and challenge you to live with unbounded faith in the power and presence of Almighty God and the Messiah, Jesus.
Stay safe and be well.
The Book of Acts
I am continuing to explore the Book of Acts and the story of the new, covenant community of God’s people, the Church.
Big changes are taking place in this new movement identified in chapter 9 of Luke’s account as The Way. This new covenant community begins to put down roots and grow in new places and among people who do not have traditional Jewish roots. These are exciting times of adventure and discovery for followers of Jesus.
Amidst the dramatic changes that are taking place, Luke’s account in chapter 9 gives us a defining picture of what it means to be a follower of The Way – what it means to be part of the New Testament Church in our day.
In order to get you thinking about the church and what it should be like, I want to ask you two questions:
A Moment for Quiet Reflection
Why are there so many churches?
If this is a good thing, what should characterize the relationship between the many different churches?
Don and Barb are going to play a brief musical selection to give you a moment to think about this.
Call to Worship – I Corinthians 1:10-21 (The Message)
The Call to Worship is from Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth. Paul, of course, is the very Saul of Tarsus that we are reading about in the ninth chapter of Luke’s account of the new covenant community of God’s people – the Church.
Throughout history, the story of God’s people has often been marked by divisions and conflicts that should not be a part of that story. But an important principle that we should always keep in mind in looking at human history and the signs of the time, is that we can pursue an aspirational goal for life and faith even when the present realities seem to appear otherwise.
I am reading 1 Corinthians 1:10-21 from The Message translation which is a graphic and contemporary presentation of Biblical truth:
The Cross: The Irony of God’s Wisdom
10 I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.
11-12 I bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! I’ll tell you exactly what I was told: You’re all picking sides, going around saying, “I’m on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” or “Peter is my man,” or “I’m in the Messiah group.”
13-16 I ask you, “Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul’s name?” I was not involved with any of your baptisms—except for Crispus and Gaius—and on getting this report, I’m sure glad I wasn’t. At least no one can go around saying he was baptized in my name. (Come to think of it, I also baptized Stephanas’s family, but as far as I can recall, that’s it.)
17 God didn’t send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn’t send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center—Christ on the Cross—be trivialized into mere words.
18-21 The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written,
I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head,
I’ll expose so-called experts as shams.
So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered stupid — preaching, of all things! — to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.
Praise and Worship
Don and Barb Warren will lead us into the presence of God in praise and worship. Please sing along where lyrics are provided.
Prayers of Adoration and Confession
Great and holy God, source of our life and all life, your glory is incomprehensible and your majesty infinite.
You are the wellspring of new life and the fountain of true freedom.
We marvel at your love, beyond all measure; we are challenged by your kindness which reaches further than we can imagine.
We worship you in gratitude, offering you our praise with the voices of all creation, and our trust because you have come close to us in Christ Jesus.
Receive our love and loyalty, now and always, offered through the Spirit who prays within us.
Great and merciful God, our judge and our hope, we confess we have sinned against you and one another, in the ways we think, the things we say and the things we do.
We have been quick to judge others, but less critical of our own actions.
We focus on what we lack rather than recognize how blessed we are.
We ignore the needs of others and fail to see how we could make a difference.
In your tender mercy, O God, forgive what we have been, amend what we are, and direct who we shall become, through the grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Who is in a position to condemn us? Only Christ — and Christ died for us; Christ rose for us; Christ reigns in power for us; Christ prays for us.
Let us believe the good news of the gospel. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven and set free by God’s generous grace. Let’s share this good news in the way we live with each other.
Let us pray the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples and us to pray:
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive sinners. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. AMEN.
A Moment for Quiet Reflection
(Re-Visited)
At the beginning of our time together, I asked you to think about these two questions:
Why are there so many churches?
If this is a good thing, what should characterize the relationship between the many different churches?
Before we turn our attention to the picture of the church that Luke gives us in chapter nine of his account in the Book of Acts, I want to tell you a personal story that illustrates some of my own thinking about the church in our day.
The question I would ask you to think about is “What kind of car did your father drive when you were growing up?”
I don’t know why my father became of “Ford” man. Perhaps it was as a result of his buying his first cars from his uncle who always drove Fords. The very first NEW car my father bought was a 1958 Mercury just like the one in this picture.
That was the car that I remember most when I was growing up. We went on camping trips with that car whose trunk was big enough to get all the equipment stored in it. It was the car I learned to drive. And it was a car my father proudly kept in immaculate condition.
Every car after that one was a Mercury product of the Ford Motor Company.
My father’s best friend was NOT a “Ford” man. He always drove Chrysler products, specifically a 1958 Plymouth.
They had many good-natured arguments about which car was better. My father never convinced his friend to buy a Ford product and his friend never convinced my father to buy a Chrysler product. But on a number of occasions, they rode in and actually drove each other’s cars. They both had their personal preferences, but a car is a car, and its primary job was to get you from one place to another.
Why do I tell you this simple little story? Not everybody drives the same make and model of car. There are literally hundreds or thousands of different cars on the road today. Furthermore, apart from the good-natured banter of two friends, I’ve never heard anyone argue that there should only be ONE car of choice and that everyone should drive that one.
And yet, in asking the question about why there are so many churches, a quick examination of the internet reveals that the number of churches is viewed as a criticism of what THE church ought to be – there should only be ONE.
Today’s Message
“The WAY”
(Part Three)
Barnabas and Saul
In Acts 9, Luke uses the designation The WAY for the first time, as he tells us of this important, pivotal event in the life and ministry of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. The unfolding drama of Saul’s conversion and the ministry of the followers of Jesus to him gives us a powerful presentation of Christianity as the Way. Each phase of the story describes what the Way is like and gives us a picture of what we too are to be like as we become “followers of The Way”.
I have dealt with chapter 9 of the Book of Acts in three parts aligned with each of the three phases of the Story. Three personalities dominate this passage: Saul of Tarsus, Ananias of Damascus, and Barnabas. The first is perhaps the most famous and shows how the Way begins; the second shows how it grows in spite of persecution and troubling circumstances; and the third shows how it works between us.
What have we learned so far?
Part One – The Conversion of Saul – Acts 9:1-9
Part One in verses 1-9 reveals how what happened to Saul began his journey of faith on the Way. It also reveals how we become followers of the way.
Saul was a devout Jew on a mission. He was determined to root out these followers of Jesus who were undermining the traditional Jewish teaching with their talk about Jesus of Nazareth and the miracles that followed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
On his way to Damascus, Saul encountered the risen Jesus and was blinded by a bright light as Jesus asked him why he was persecuting Him and his followers.
While not everyone who becomes a follower of Jesus has an encounter as dramatic as Saul’s encounter, becoming a follower of Jesus always includes a life-changing decision to recognize one’s need for the Messiah; to acknowledge that Jesus is that promised Messiah; and to allow the Holy Spirit to empower and use us to accomplish the purposes he has chosen us for.
Part Two – Ananias and Saul – Acts 9:10-19a
Part Two in verses 10-19 shows how faith and wisdom unfolds in the life of any follower of Jesus who “belongs to The WAY”.
The Christian life is not summed up in a one-time encounter or a repeated conversion experience. The life of faith is a process of growth and understanding as we listen for the voice of God to direct us; as we obey his instruction even though it seems ridiculously dangerous; as we go where we are sent; as we do what we are to do; and, we do the work of building God’s kingdom with love and grace.
Part Three – Barnabas and Saul – Acts 9:19b-31
Part three in verses 19-31 gives us a real-life example of how the people of the Way need to embrace people who become followers of Jesus from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. The way Barnabas embraced Saul and brought him to the leaders of the Way shows us how we need to welcome people who may appear to be very different.
So, let’s get started. I am reading verses 19b-31 from The Message translation:
19-21 Saul spent a few days getting acquainted with the Damascus disciples, but then went right to work, wasting no time, preaching in the meeting places that this Jesus was the Son of God. They were caught off guard by this and, not at all sure they could trust him, they kept saying, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers? And didn’t he come here to do the same thing — arrest us and drag us off to jail in Jerusalem for sentencing by the high priests?”
It is not surprising that Saul’s dramatic encounter with the risen Jesus would have an explosive impact, not only on the life of Saul of Tarsus, but also on the followers of Jesus in Damascus and in places where this new community of God’s people, the church, was growing and being planted.
- Saul’s Message to the Damascus followers of Jesus – Jesus is the Son of God.
Saul spent a few days getting acquainted with the Damascus disciples, but then went right to work, wasting no time, preaching in the meeting places that this Jesus was the Son of God.
What may be surprising about Saul after his dramatic encounter with Jesus was the rapid turn around in his life’s mission. Saul was zealous and persistent in his persecution of the followers of Jesus and it appears that he became just as passionate and determined to make his new-found faith known to everyone who would listen. He spent a few days getting acquainted with the Damascus disciples and then got right to work preaching in their meeting places.
This is the first time in the Book of Acts that we find Jesus being referred to as “the Son of God”. But what did that mean? The phrase ”Son of God” came very early in the Christian movement to carry many meanings.
The phrase “Son of God” isn’t used very much in the Old Testament, but it is used in particular to the “son of David”, the Messiah himself. God had promised David that he would have a son who God would raise up to sit on David’s throne: “I will be a father to him,” declared God, “and he will be my son.”
In Psalm 2 God declares that he will establish his King in Zion through whom Israel’s Messiah will reach out to all the nations of the world. “You are my son, this day I have begotten you.”
In the book of Isaiah, the prophet speaks of the suffering Servant who will bear the sin of many and thereby establish God’s new covenant and new creation. The Messianic meaning of “Son of God” represents the one who stands in for the people. What happens to him, happens to them, and vice versa.
And finally, the central feature of the new movement is the resurrection. It was the resurrection of Jesus that declared that Jesus truly was the “Son of God” and “Messiah”. In the greatest letter Saul-become-Paul ever wrote he tells of the Father’s love:
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how shall he not with him, freely give us all things?”
All of this made shocking sense of what Saul had seen in his vision on the road: the glory of God in the face of the Son, Jesus the Messiah!
- The people of The Way – could they trust him?
They were caught off guard by this and, not at all sure they could trust him, they kept saying, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers? And didn’t he come here to do the same thing — arrest us and drag us off to jail in Jerusalem for sentencing by the high priests?”
Imagine the mixed emotions that these people of The Way would be feeling. This was the man who came to wreck havoc on them – to arrest them and haul them up before the high priest for sentencing. But at the very same time there was this new energy and confidence in this place. The fact that someone like Saul of Tarsus, with the reputation he had, had been confronted by Jesus himself, stopped in his tracks and turned around, and now was declaring that Jesus really was the MESSIAH. This would encourage all the followers of Jesus who heard about it.
22 But their suspicions didn’t slow Saul down for even a minute. His momentum was up now and he plowed straight into the opposition, disarming the Damascus Jews and trying to show them that this Jesus was the Messiah.
23-25 After this had gone on quite a long time, some Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul got wind of it. They were watching the city gates around the clock so they could kill him. Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket.
Similar to the explosive impact of Saul’s dramatic encounter with the risen Jesus on the life of Saul and on the followers of Jesus in Damascus it created an angry response from the Jewish elite who had commissioned Saul to persecute these very followers of Jesus.
- Saul’s message to the Jews – Jesus is the Messiah.
But their suspicions didn’t slow Saul down for even a minute. His momentum was up now and he plowed straight into the opposition, disarming the Damascus Jews and trying to show them that this Jesus was the Messiah.
It’s a subtle shift but notice who is now identified as “the opposition”. Saul was now engaging his sizable knowledge and skill to disarm the Damascus Jews. His message was clear and unequivocal: “Jesus is the Messiah!”
- The Jews plotted to kill Saul.
After this had gone on quite a long time, some Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul got wind of it. They were watching the city gates around the clock so they could kill him. Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket.
Their response was one of anger and vengeance. They now felt toward Saul the very thing that Saul had felt towards these followers of Jesus.
Years later, Paul tells this story in his second letter to the church at Corinth:
In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
It was this ignominious beginning that launched Saul on his great missionary career as the Apostle Paul. Having escaped the plot by the Damascus Jews to kill him, scholars suggest that Saul, then known as Paul, spent about three years in Arabia where he prepared himself for a radically different destiny in the plan and purposes of God. Paul had to re-think everything he had learned and experienced around the triumphant truth of Jesus, the risen and living Messiah.
Later in his ministry, he wrote about this to the followers of Jesus in Galatia:
“For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my father. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter.” (Galatians 1:13-18)
26-27 Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn’t trust him one bit. Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus’ name.
We met Barnabas earlier in the Book of Acts. His name was actually Joseph from Cyprus. His generous support of the covenant community of God’s people earned him the new name, “Barnabas” which means “son of encouragement”. It is this new name by which Barnabas is known in this part of Luke’s account and in all of the future references to him in the rest of the Book of Acts and in some of the letters to the churches.
- Barnabas stood up for Saul an told the followers of Jesus about his bold preaching in Jesus’ name.
Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus’ name.
The followers of Jesus in Jerusalem were as frightened of Paul as those in Damascus had been. Rumour of Saul’s conversion had reached Jerusalem but most of the Church found it difficult to change their minds about this one who had persecuted them so hatefully.
While the church in Jerusalem resisted, Barnabas was a reconciler. Barnabas threw opinion and caution aside and stood up for Saul to assert that Saul’s conversion, convictions, and character were authentic. That’s what our Lord wants to have happen among us who belong to The Way. We are to be interceders, reconcilers, enablers of understanding between people who love Jesus but who find it difficult to affirm each other.
28-29 After that he was accepted as one of them, going in and out of Jerusalem with no questions asked, uninhibited as he preached in the Master’s name. But then he ran afoul of a group called Hellenists — he had been engaged in a running argument with them—who plotted his murder.
- Greek speaking (Hellenists) re-engaged in their prior arguments with Saul.
But then he ran afoul of a group called Hellenists — he had been engaged in a running argument with them—who plotted his murder.
It was Greek speaking Jews (Hellenists) who gave Peter and John such a hard time earlier who picked up the same old arguments and animosity now with Saul. They also plotted his murder.
30 When his friends learned of the plot, they got him out of town, took him to Caesarea, and then shipped him off to Tarsus.
31 Things calmed down after that and the church had smooth sailing for a while. All over the country — Judea, Samaria, Galilee — the church grew. They were permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God. The Holy Spirit was with them, strengthening them. They prospered wonderfully.
- The church grew; the Holy Spirit was with them; and they prospered.
The church grew. They were permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God. The Holy Spirit was with them, strengthening them. They prospered wonderfully.
His friends got him out of town and shipped him off to Caesarea and Tarsus. Thus began the great missionary journeys of this man who now preached the good news of Jesus the Messiah with the same passion as he once persecuted the followers of Jesus.
What does this teach us about how the people of The Way – the Church in our day - ought to behave?
Many years ago, when I was the minister at Riverside Presbyterian Church in Windsor, I went to a conference at a dynamic and rapidly growing Presbyterian Church in the Detroit suburbs. I noticed the inscription on the recently laid cornerstone of the church which read:
In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity
I had never heard that phrase before and knew nothing of its origins, but it struck me as a perfect foundation for what the church ought to be. Often attributed to great theologians such as Augustine, it comes from an otherwise undistinguished German theologian of the early seventeenth century, Rupertus Meldenius. The phrase occurs in a tract on Christian unity written (circa 1627). The saying has found great favor among subsequent writers and has since been adopted as a motto by the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in America. Might it serve us well as a motto for every church and for every denomination today?
Unity
Those who are united by faith in Christ are thereby united to one another in the church, the body of Christ. We call this union the communion of saints. It is a mysterious thing, and to understand it properly we will need to see it both in its “now” and “not yet” aspects. Because it is a union created by Christ baptizing us all by one Spirit into His body, the church (1 Cor. 12:12–13), it is true of all Christians now, a fait accompli. But the manifestation of that unity is not always apparent. Not all Christians get along with each other. We are still too territorial and tribal. It’s not that we are intentionally mean-spirited about it; it’s that we have not tried hard enough to work together. We have not yet exhausted our options in interdenominational cooperation. Jesus expected something better of us.
Liberty
Tensions arising from diversity of belief and practice among Christians are already apparent in the pages of the New Testament and remain with us today. There was apparently a thriving vegetarian faction within the church at Rome (Rom. 14). “One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables” (v. 2). There was also a difference among them about whether certain days were to be honored (v. 5). How do we live with such differences among us? Paul says, “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions” (v. 1). Such a person is to be welcomed, says Paul, and not just welcomed for the purpose of quarreling with him over his views. Love for such a person, weak in faith though he is, must continue.
In that love, we must extend liberty to each person to hold fast to his own conscience on what Christ has commanded (Rom. 14:5); but how far can that liberty be extended? Apparently, it would extend far enough to include vegetarians and those who maintained that Christians should continue to honor the Jewish feast days. But would it also include baptists receiving into church membership people with paedobaptist convictions, or paedobaptists receiving members with baptist convictions? Should believers who hold to a corporeal presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper admit to the table those who believe the real presence of Christ in the Supper is spiritual and not corporeal? After two thousand years of church history, Christians are still divided on many key doctrinal issues. How, then, can we be one in Christ and demonstrate the communion of saints? It would seem that either we must ignore our doctrinal differences and treat them as inconsequential, or we must remain permanently divided and in opposition to one another until Christ returns. Is there not a more excellent way? (1 Cor. 12:31).
Charity
Love for Christ must include a love for His truth, and so we can never treat as inconsequential anything that Christ has commanded. Only those who abide in Jesus’ word are truly His disciples (John 8:31), and disciples are to be taught to obey all that He has commanded (Matt. 28:19–20). So, the route that we might call doctrinal minimalism is not open to us. We cannot simply reduce the number of doctrines to be taught and believed to what we can all accept as important and ignore the rest. Movement in that direction always seems to lose its brakes and eventually nothing distinctive of Christianity remains.
But neither can we lock ourselves up in very small groups with maximal agreement on doctrine and morals, and then separate from others and refuse to acknowledge as Christians those who do not embrace all our distinctives. The multiplication of small groups who pride themselves on purity but who denounce and despise those who fall short of that standard does nothing to express the truth of “the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church” for which Christ died. Where, then, is the more excellent way?
Salvation comes to us by faith in Christ, so there must be a defining core of truth that is ours in faith, sufficient to unite us to Christ even if not yet complete in all its detail. Defining this core precisely might prove to be as difficult as living out the whole truth faithfully, but it will surely include that God, the creator of heaven and earth against whom we have all sinned, was in Christ, reconciling to Himself all who believe in Him, not counting their sins against them, but forgiving them through the redemption that is found in the sinless life and atoning death of Christ and received by faith alone, calling for obedience to Christ as Lord under the authority of His Word in the Holy Scriptures. Where Christ is truly preached, there is the gospel; and where the gospel is truly believed, there is the church.
Yet, the church that is in Jesus is a diverse church. There will always be a need in this world for those who are united in Christ to live in love with one another while dealing with differences. Sometimes these differences result in the formation of different churches and denominations in order to maintain a good conscience toward God. But such divisions need not be a defeat of unity among us, so long as we do not permit them to destroy our love and welcome for one another in Christ. Some divisions are of practical necessity anyway, for not all Christians in the world can meet together at the same time in the same place.
Many distinct gatherings of Christians spread throughout the world can actually serve the purposes of God, by sprinkling us among the lost to shine the light of Christ. Our multiple groupings can also serve us well, encouraging us to be faithful to what we believe Christ has taught us, bringing us together with those with whom we can cooperate most fully. But if we allow our divisions to become breaches of love and occasions for pride and rivalry, then we will have failed in our calling, and our witness for Christ will be marred.
Prayer of Response
Closing Hymn – “We Are One in the Spirit”
Don and Barb are going to lead us in our closing hymn. Please sing along.
Thank You
I want to thank you for letting me join you wherever you are to share in this time of worship and learning. This is the final Online Service of Worship for the time being as Knox (Westport) Presbyterian Church is allowed to hold In-Person Services of Worship.
I will be taking a break in our study of the Book of Acts over the summer months, resuming this exciting adventure of learning and faith in mid to late September. During the summer season, I am going to explore a number of the Biblical Proverbs in search of true wisdom for our day.
We would welcome your participation with us at Knox if you are able to join us in person. Our Sunday services are at 10:30am.
Please consult our website or Facebook page for details about upcoming services and events.
Benediction – Romans 15:5-7
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.