Come unto Jesus, He is enough. So what does that mean? Is Christianity preaching a good news that says, look, don't worry, be happy? Come to Jesus, you'll just feel much better, it's enough. Or when we come to Jesus, does He actually save us? Does He rescue us? Does His power come to bear in our lives in a way that we're never the same again? Is there power in the blood to rescue us, not just from the condemnation of sin at the end of the age, but to rescue us from its dominating power now or not? is the church of Jesus Christ, just a club where we all exercise feel-goodism, we sing songs that move us, we say beautiful words like you're supposed to say, and then we go out and live our lives exactly the way we've always lived them before. Paul says to the Corinthians as he writes them, And this is really his big issue with this church. The kingdom of God is not talk, but power. We're not just talking a pretty game. We're not just talking a beautiful story. We're talking a life-changing gospel that reaches right down into the roots of who we are and how we live our daily lives. And that's why Paul ends First Corinthians 421, the last verse that we read when we were looking at this together, what do you wish, shall I come to you with a rod or with love and a spirit of gentleness? The things that Paul was dealing with his church about were things that were not lined up with the gospel that they professed to believe. Now, they were genuine believers. They had spiritual gifts, but their lives, they were allowing things to happen in their lives and in the church culture that were contrary to the power of the gospel. And if you think about it, if you're talking about how beautiful the gospel is, but your life doesn't match up, you dishonored that gospel. It's a form of blasphemy of the gospel. It actually dishonors God, because it just doesn't work. And how many people are going around thinking that the Christian gospel just doesn't work? So our role as a church family is to shine out that it does. And the trick about this, the hard part about this, is it's not our power. It has to do with our reliance and our submission to the Word of God. and the king, the head of the church, Jesus. So the next words that Paul writes as we cross over into chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians give an example of why a rod of correction would have been needed. There was a problem in the church that had to be confronted, and it had to be corrected decisively. So we read about it beginning in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 5. It's actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man to have his father's wife. And you are arrogant. Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit. And as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus, and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Do you know that a little leaven leavens a whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and envy, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." We'll look at these verses under these three headings. In verses 1 and 2, we see intolerable sexual immorality, intolerable sexual immorality. And I'll remind you that they're living in a culture that's obsessed with sexual immorality. the church was to be distinct. In verses 3 through 5, you see authoritative action that the church is to take. And then verses six through eight, you see blood bought purity. There is a purity that we can practice because of what Christ has done. So let's look at what this problem is that cannot be tolerated, the intolerable sexual immorality that was in this genuine church. Verse 1 again, it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans. For a man to have his father's wife, and you are arrogant, ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. It was bad enough that a brother in the church was living in sexual immorality. What made it worse was that it was generally known in the church and evidently to a wider community, and nothing had been done to confront it and to correct it. Sometimes these kinds of sins lay hidden. It takes a long time to actually get to the bottom of it, to figure out what's actually going on, but this is not that kind of case. It is bold, it's in your face, everybody knows about it. Paul is miles away and has heard that this outrageous sin is widely known. It is actually reported that there's sexual immorality among you. In this case, it was a man in a sexual relationship with his stepmother, his father's wife, It was not tolerated at that time, even among pagans. In fact, one thing I read said it was against Roman law to live this way. Yet, for some reason, the church in Corinth was tolerating it. Now, we live in a culture that not only prizes tolerance, but actually calls for affirmation of behavior that the Scripture clearly identifies as sin against God and sin against other human beings. So, you know, for a long time you heard about tolerance. Now we hear about celebrating things that are wicked and evil. And the world culture shifts. It tends to celebrate some sins and demonize others. And often it's confusing. They'll celebrate sins in the same constellation as sins that they repudiate. And sometimes the world in rebellion against God calls good evil and evil good. The biblical sexual ethic, Old Testament anew, has ever been at odds with the sexual practices of the world in general, going all the way back to the era before the great worldwide flood and Noah's day. At the same time, most people know, even in our culture that celebrates sexuality, they know adultery is wrong. You can end your marriage because of it. You can legally end a marriage. They know that Christians ought not to be celebrating adultery, okay? There's some things that are clearly evil, but the definition of the evil is not coming from the world, but the world does sometimes recognize it. Because human beings are created in God's image, we think as moral beings. Even when people deny absolutes of right and wrong, they will continue to talk in terms of good and evil. Have you noticed that? I mean, they like to use those kinds of terms. They like to use terms like love and hate and good and evil. They talk about lying and talk about telling the truth, even if they're known for lying and not telling the truth. But we don't base our morality on whatever the pagan world thinks. That's not what Paul is saying here. But it's particularly sad when a church family tolerates or excuses sins that even the unsaved world identifies as evil. And if you think about Corinth, I mean, this is known for its sexual immorality, to be so messed up that you're tolerating sexual sin that even Corinth would rebuke and would not tolerate was horrible testimony for this church. And that was what was happening in Corinth. How could a church harbor such sin and at the same time be so proud? They were full of party spirit, pitting one group against another on the basis of their favorite preacher. Talk about sandbox wars. and all the while tolerating this horribly destructive sin right in their midst. By the way, this is not uncommon. You major on the minors, and you'll minor on the majors. You make a big deal over stuff that doesn't matter, and you often find that we ignore the things that do. Now, it's not clear that they were proud of the sin itself, but they were proud. Perhaps their pride made them feel justified for allowing the evil to remain unchecked. You know, well at least, at least we've got our theology straight. It's Pauline theology, it's Peter's theology, it's Apollos' theology. Or maybe it made them think themselves free to indulge or immune from judgment because they were so spiritually advanced. That happens sometimes. The sin of pride and group rivalry is largely an intellectual sin, but a sin in one area of our lives opens the door to sin in other areas. You can't contain it. You must repent of it, and you must remove it. Group pride detracts from the glory of God that he alone deserves, and as such is a form of ungodliness. And as we learned from Romans 1, ungodliness, failure to treat God as God, leads to unrighteousness, the failure to obey God's moral law. These are Christians. They came behind in no spiritual gift. They had been evangelized and taught by the Apostle Paul. What a claim to fame. Can you imagine? Hafton Park Baptist Church said, oh yes, our history goes way back. The Apostle Paul founded our church. They could claim that. They had heard powerful preaching from Apollos and Peter, the strong leader of the original 12 disciples, Peter himself. But they were infected with this destructive moral disease and were doing nothing to remove it. evidently in part because of their pride. Instead of boasting, Paul says they should have been grieving. Think about that response when a member of the body of Christ is tangled up in some sin that even the world would recognize as terribly wrong. It is something we should be grieving about. not boasting over, not covering up, but grieving because of the significance of it. You know, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount contrasted the false external righteousness of Pharisaic religion with genuine conversion that marked those that were part of his kingdom In the Sermon on the Mount, he says in Matthew 5, blessed, happy are the poor in spirit. They know they're bankrupt, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed, happy are the meek, those who keep their strength under control in a gentle way. They shall inherit the earth. Blessed, happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Luke recounts a parable he told to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. In other words, this is often how the world thinks that we view ourselves, but it's a worldly way of doing religion. It's not genuine Christianity. He gives this parable, two men went into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, by the way, it means separatist, so this is one, he actually holds to the inerrancy of Scripture, to miracles, angels, a resurrection, and he holds to keeping separate from the world. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus, God, I thank you. that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector." Now remember, tax collectors were viewed, and that were just people that took your money. They were people that were taking it to give to Rome, and so they were traitors both to their people and to their God. I fast twice a week. There's only one fast prescribed in a year in the Jewish I give tithes of all that I get, but the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner." I tell you, this man, the sinner. went down to his house justified, declared righteous, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." You know, the gospel teaches us that God welcomes those who confess their unworthiness and saves those who repent of their sin. That's actually the truth that Christian hymn, Christmas hymn that we sometimes sing expresses, O come all you unfaithful. Come, weak and unstable. Come, know you are not alone. Why? Because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Oh, come, barren and waiting ones, weary of praying. Come, see what your God has done. Christ is born, Christ is born, Christ is born for you. Oh, come, bitter and broken. Come with fears unspoken. Come, taste of His perfect love. Oh, come, guilty and hiding ones. There's no need to run. See what your God has done. Christ is born. Christ is born. Christ is born for you. He's the Lamb who was given, slain for our pardon. His promise is peace for those who believe. He's the Lamb who was given, slain for our pardon. His promise is peace for those who believe. So come, though you have nothing. Come. He is the offering. Come. See what your God has done. Christ is born. Christ is born. Christ is born for you. That's why tax collectors and prostitutes, Christ says, entered heaven while scribes and Pharisees failed to do so. The sinners knew they were sinners. They repented and believed. The self-righteous did not. And in part, that's part of what's going on here in this church. They're arrogant. And so they're covering over the sin. Jesus would say to us in Matthew 11, come to me, all who labor. You're toiling to the point of exhaustion and are heavy laden. You've got to know your need. You've got to feel your need. And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me. A yoke is for service. I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy that fits, and my burden is light." Paul calls the church in Corinth to grieve collectively over this unrepentant sinning saint and to take decisive action of removing him from the church body. We shall see that it was critical for them to do so for the reputation of Christ and for the health and survival of the church and for the rescue of this sinning Christian. So as we think about this, what is the connection between pride and sinful living, and between humility and repentance. Think all the way back to the garden. Think about the very nature of sin itself that basically champions my right to do what I want to do, regardless of what God has said. versus the humility that says, what God has said is correct, and I am wrong, and I need to be made right, and I need rescue. What are some sins that – and you have to think about this a little – that even the world sees as bad that nonetheless show up in churches? I mean, think about the things that fill the news cycle. Think about the things that the world is trying to resolve, abuse issues. business dealings that are dishonest, the kinds of things that even a pagan world deals with, and yet how often those things that the world wouldn't tolerate you find in a church that names the name of Christ. It's not that it's surprising that it's in the church because the church is made up of people who are sinners. It's surprising that it's tolerated by the church. or that it's covered up by the church rather than dealing with it. And then, what are some sins we must avoid that the world approves? We shouldn't read the passage and say, well, however the world defines it, that's what we're going with. What Paul is saying is that this is so bad that even the world knows that it's wrong. So we, you know, why is all this important? And he's gonna get into this further, but it has to do with the kingdom of God being not talk, but power. Has to do with the gospel being for real. It actually rescues people. It doesn't just talk about it. So authoritative action is what he calls for, beginning in verse three, for though absent in body, I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you're assembled, so the whole church is taking this, has responsibility for that, not just the pastors, not just the deacons. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of Now, Jesus had taught back in Matthew 18 that when the church gathered in his name to remove an unrepentant sinning brother from among him, that the Lord was among them with his divine authority. And here Paul declares his apostolic authority to pronounce judgment in this case and appeals to the name, the character, and reputation of the Lord Jesus and to the divine power of the Lord Jesus to take the decisive action that Paul is calling for. Paul's not physically present, but he's still spiritually joined with this body of believers. They are one in Christ. And as an apostle chosen by Christ, Paul has added authority to weigh in on this issue. By the way, you say, well, where's the apostolic authority today? Well, it's resonant for us in the New Testament Scriptures. So that has authority over us. Wherever our church is and anywhere in the world, the apostolic authority still is there. when you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus. So this act of church discipline was an action taken by the whole congregation. The entire body was responsible to purify itself from this evil that was so contrary to the new life that they had in Christ. The church has authority granted by Christ himself to take this action. Now that may surprise you because we tend We tend to think of the church so much as a fellowship, and it is. We think of it as a body, and it is. We think of it as a communion, as a family, and it is. But the church has real divine authority, if it's a real church. Matthew 18, 17 to 18, Jesus says, if he refuses to listen to them, I've heard this a little bit earlier, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven." Literally, shall have been bound in heaven. In other words, the church is taking action in accord with what heaven's already decided. And whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Beyond this authority, they have spiritual power backing their action. He says, you're going to do this with the power, the dunamis, of our Lord Jesus. You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Now, power refers to divine ability, and it's often used in references to miracles. And this goes back to the kingdom of God does not just talk, it's power. So we're not just going through some motions of something here, there's actual spiritual warfare going on, and there's spiritual power being brought to bear. Just as a judge and jury would deliver a prisoner over to punishment, they were to deliver this unrepentant church member over to Satan. They were no longer to provide protection and safe haven as a church family for this man that was living so contrary to what it means to belong to Jesus. When a person rejects the community of God's people and their call to repentance, that person rejects the kingdom of God, its privileges and benefits. And part of his judgment, part of the judgment is turning that person over to the kingdom of Satan. Now this makes perfect sense. Remember, when you choose to persist in your sin, you are choosing to live under the authority of Satan rather than the authority of God. You may still be a very religious person, but your rejection of the truth amounts to embracing falsehood. You can't have it both ways. And that's why Jesus said of those who rejected him that they were of their father, the devil, a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies. Like, you can be very religious and still belong to Satan, and still be carrying out the will of Satan. Whoever you yield to is your master. Satan doesn't treat his servants well. He destroys them. Turn him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. And this seems to point to some kind of physical attack, similar to what Job suffered from the devil. It can be so severe, the word that's used here can actually lead to the person's death. Persistence in sinning often brings with it physical suffering. That does not mean at all that all physical suffering is because of a particular sin. Remember the man born blind. It wasn't because of his sin. It was for the glory of God. He was going to be healed. Or Lazarus' illness from which he died. But physical suffering is one of God's ways to get our attention and to turn back in repentance. You know, when we choose to sin, when we sin deliberately, we always do it because we think somehow we'll be better off if we sin than if we obey. And part of the way that God wakes us up to what a lie that is, is we're not better off. We're worse off. And that's why when James talks about a sick person's calling for the elders of the church to pray for his healing, in that same context he talks about forgiveness for sins that the person confesses, because sometimes, sometimes, not always, the physical difficulty comes from some kind of sin. And, you know, I say this, and I think of our congregation and those that are suffering, and I know this is one of the battles that you face, is that, like, okay, am I suffering because of some sin I've committed? And you feel the weight of that guilt. Well, that's not a bad exercise for you to go through. Open yourself up before God. God, show me, is there something that I need to clean up? There's something I'm deliberately doing wrong, and you're chastising me for this. But look, if you find, having done that useful inventory of your life, and you say, you know, I don't know that there's anything, don't keep feeling a false guilt for something that you don't know what's wrong. Sometimes we suffer according to the will of God, not because of some sin, but we always suffer for the sake of the glory of God, and God promises that He'll turn it for good. Paul includes the divine purpose for the satanic destruction of the flesh. And I think this is important because his language seems so strong here, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. better to suffer greatly, even to the point of death, than to remain unrepentant in your sin." The point of the church's disciplinary action, including turning this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, is that the man might be rescued And look, we see this happen, we see this work. Many a person living in rebellion to Christ has been brought to repentance and faith through deep suffering. Suffering humbles us and wakes us up, what C.S. Lewis calls the megaphone of pain. That's what happens in the parable of the prodigal son. When he's without money or food, he realizes what a fool he's been, and he returns to the Father. Discipline is not inconsistent with love. Rather, it expresses love rather than unloving neglect. Hebrews 13 reminds us when we are suffering, have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. You know, sometimes we're doing wrong, and we know we're doing wrong, and we're more okay with doing wrong than someone correcting us for it. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives. Now, if Paul is talking about this same man when we get to 2 Corinthians, The church action evidently worked, and the man repented, at which point they were to welcome him back into the fellowship of the church to forgive him and to comfort him. That's 2 Corinthians 2, 5 through 11. So this is not the church. This is not the church shaming the man, that's a word we like to use today. This is a church doing what any good parent would do, anybody who's in authority would do that has responsibility for the welfare of someone else, doing what needed to be done so the man didn't persist in something that was destroying him, that threatened the church, that threatened the gospel itself and its clarity in the community. So, as we think about this, if the church does not utilize the authority of Christ and the apostles that they give it to exercise discipline, whose authority is it opposing? I want you to think about that. Because I'll tell you very frankly, and I think particularly in our culture, this is not fun to do. This is not fun. In fact, I think I could say for all the pastors that the most difficult meetings we ever have. And the meetings that are most difficult in terms of even different viewpoints and how to resolve the problem have to do with this kind of thing. It's very hard. And it would be very easy from a human perspective to say, we're just not gonna mess with it. It's too much trouble. There's too many hurt feelings. It's too easily misunderstood. But here, Christ himself, the apostles themselves, call us to do this for the glory of God. And we are not, We're not in a place to pull rank and say, no, we're not gonna do it, because it makes us feel bad. The church doesn't rejoice over this, but the church has to deal with it, just as you would if you found out that your child had some dread disease that needed to be treated. You wouldn't say, well, I hate going to doctors. I hate getting help. No, you're gonna take care of it. So how does, suffering the consequences of our sin, and this goes broader than just church discipline, help us better live holy lives. You know, none of us like to suffer. There's not a one of us like to suffer, not even in small ways. But maybe you could look at your suffering as a tool that God is using to sanctify you. In fact, Peter talks about the one who has suffered has ceased from sin. What does he mean by that? He means that, have you ever noticed that the sins that you're prone to, you're prone to much more when you're feeling good? And when you're sick, suddenly they lose their appeal? Have you ever noticed that? Now, sometimes we're more vulnerable when we're suffering, but a lot of times our suffering actually sanctifies the way we think, and we're reminded that we're not here forever, and we're reminded that God could take us out anytime He wants to, that we're subject to Him. So suffering is a good tool in God's hands, and it does make us long for heaven at the very least. And then why is failure to confront sin a violation of love toward others? Think about that a little bit. You know, one of the things we have to ask ourselves is, am I unwilling to confront this problem in my brother's life? And, you know, we come alongside with gentleness, considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted, Galatians 6, and we want to restore them. But that's just a lot of work. A lot of times our not leaning into a person's life this way is less about our care for them and more about our care for us. We just don't want the trouble. We don't wanna be misunderstood. We don't want somebody to think that we think we're holier than thou. So we've gotta learn ways of actually approaching people the right way, and we've gotta, each of us are responsible for our own lives. Look, if you've got some kind of sin in your life that you know is a sin, why are you leaving it there? Sin's destructive. It's not gonna do you good. You're giving Satan a foothold. Give it back, because we have blood-bought purity. Your boasting is not good, verse 6, do you not know that a little leaven leavens a whole lump? cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened. Now, a lot of this seems a little strange to us. We're gonna talk about it more tonight, but hopefully we'll get clarity. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. So to tolerate the sin in their body was to allow it to spread to other members as well. Accountability to our brothers and sisters in Christ helps us repent of sin and do right. But if they tolerate this kind of flagrant sin, they actually create an atmosphere that lets the sin spread unchecked. And if the church conveys that immorality's okay here, then its members lose a God-given means of fighting the immorality toward which they're tempted, and that immorality will spread. The reality is that your sin and mine harms those that are connected to us. That's the nature of sin. And what makes this state of affairs so outrageous is that Christ died to break sin's power over us. And if we keep on sinning, we gut his sacrifice of meaning. Christ the Messiah is our Passover lamb. Just as the Israelites were to slaughter an unblemished lamb, spread its blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes in order to be spared from the death angel that would pass over the land of Egypt, the blood of Jesus spares us. from the judgment of death that we deserve. Jesus Christ fulfilled the imagery of the Passover lamb. You remember that John the Baptist introduced him as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It was Passover season, and the point was clear. Jesus one day would shed his blood, unstained by sin as he was, to pay for our sins that we could be free from its slavery and enter into a life of purity. The night of the first Passover was the night before Israel was delivered from slavery in Egypt to head to the Promised Land. It was a night of haste and urgency, no time for bread to rise, so they ate unleavened bread, bread without yeast. When they celebrated the Passover each subsequent year, it was the first day of a week of a feast called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. All old yeast, all old leaven was to be thrown out as a symbol of the old slavery, the old life of sin. And the unleavened bread was a symbol of the new life of redemption as a people purified before the Lord. To go back to the old life was as unthinkable as going back to Egypt to be slaves again. In the same way, for a true Christian to go back to a life of sin, full of malice, that's vicious ill will toward others, that's an internal, along with evil practices that do others harm, that kind of takes in the whole range of sins, violates the whole purpose of Christ's death for us. Instead of our lives are to be lives of sincerity and truth, not just religious pretense, covering over sinful practices, Sin always violates love toward God and love toward others because it's inherently harmful. It's inherently dismissive of others' well-being. And if people were to view us in the light of the sun, they should see that our Christianity is real, not hypocrisy, that it's in keeping with the reliability of God's truth. Our doctrine and our living must match. Truth and love must go together. The leaven of sin has to be cleaned out. Jesus said of the Pharisees in Luke 12, Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. G. Campbell Morgan, in his brief commentary on 1 Corinthians, said this memorable thing, the history of the church shows that the church pure is the church powerful, and the church patronized and tolerant toward evil is the church puerile. I don't use that term very often, but it kind of sounds bad, doesn't it? It means childishly trivial and paralyzed. Powerful, powerful concept. So think about it, whose power makes it possible for us to live free from the enslaving power of sin? And what does tolerating known evil in the church do to fulfilling the church's mission to the world to shed the good news that Jesus can rescue you from sin? And why do some people view pursuing sin as freedom whereas Christ and his followers understand it to be slavery. You know, the more we can think of our sin in the terms of what it really is, according to Christ and the apostles, according to the Word of God, the better off we are. It is intolerable. Intolerable sexual immorality. There was to be authoritative action by the church because of the blood-brought purity that Jesus had brought to us. Let's live in the power of the gospel. I just want to encourage you. All of us, we have public and private lives, and a lot of times what begins in private ends up very public. But look, keep short accounts with God. If you know it's sinful, stop. Stop. Deal with it. Get a brother or sister to help you and be praying and encourage you. Don't just keep going down the path. It's not a good path. And then as a church family, when we see a brother or sister that's just tanking and going off the deep end with something like this, we need to have the kind of love that's willing to wade in there. and try to turn them around. And we need to love the world enough, love our mission enough that if they won't repent, we've got to let them go. We can't let, we can't make the church like a den of thieves. We can't make it a place where, hey, we just hide out and we're just as sinful as ever. But rather it needs to be a place where the power of the kingdom of God is evident. Well, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, thank you for your word. Lord, as we think about how this fleshes out and how we live this out in our personal lives and in our life as a church family, there's a lot to think about. And Lord, ultimately, though, we pray that the way we live publicly and privately might display the beautiful, redemptive power of Jesus Christ. Lord, free us from slavery and make us free in Christ to live in sincerity and truth. For it's in Christ's name we pray.