Intro

Have you have come to Canada from another country? When you go back to your country of origin, I’m sure it’s good to be back home, but maybe you’re not sure you fit there anymore.   The country and your family have changed. You have changed. It’s just not the same. 

Jewish Christians in 1^st century Rome felt this way. For the first few decades of their existence, the Roman house churches were dominated by Jewish Christians. But then, in 49AD, the Roman emperor expelled all Jews from Rome. When the Roman authorities quietly allowed Jews to return to Rome, almost a decade later, the Jewish Christians returned to a church that was dramatically different – it was mostly non-Jewish! 

Tension was rising. Non-Jewish Christians wanted to distance themselves from the Jewish food laws and holy days, while Jewish Christians tried to cling as tightly as possible to what they held dear in their customs. Could Jews and non-Jews walk together as one body?

We might ask today, can all of the languages, ethnicities and nations represented in the Willingdon church family be one in Jesus? Can Builders, Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials, Gen Zers, and Generation Alpha be church together? Is it even possible to be an intercultural, inter-generational church family?  

Our passage today will continue to encourage us to think differently about our relationships with our fellow church members and those outside the church.

Based on these two sections, we will talk about the two main things:

1. Cultivate Authentic Love.
2. Cling to the Good.

Reflection Questions:

1. Think of a fellow-Christian or new immigrant who is in need. How might you be the hands and feet of Jesus today, demonstrating his love for them?
2. Is there someone in your past or present who has done evil to you? What would it look like for you to overcome evil with good in your relationship with that person?