August 9, 2025 • 26 mins
Today on Bold Steps Weekend, Mark Jobe shows us what happens when the walls of division come down. Mark will continue his lesson from Ephesians chapter 2.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:00):
Today on Bold Steps weekend, Mark Jobe shows us what
happens when the walls of division come down.
S2 (00:06):
The wall of hostility has been broken down so that
now we come together as one body, as one people
from many backgrounds, many cultures. And he has created a
new person or a new body in Jesus Christ. And
we are the representation of that body.
S1 (00:36):
Welcome to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Mark is
the president of Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor
of New Life Community Church in Chicago. And I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today,
as we move forward in our series, when You Believe
Everything Changes, we'll continue our lesson from Ephesians chapter two.
Mark will give us three points to consider about who
you are and what happens when the walls of division
(00:57):
come down around us. If you missed part one, you
can hear the complete message online at npr.org. Just look
for the message titled Tearing Down Walls. Right now, let's
get started with today's message. Here's pastor Mark Jobe.
S2 (01:11):
When Christ came, what Christ came to do is he
came to take people that were very different. He came
to tear down that wall of partition and make those
who were different into one people. Notice what it says
in Galatians chapter three verse 28. Paul said, there is
(01:33):
there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male
nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
You see, what he came to say is that that
(01:53):
racial stuff that you had, you leave it at the door. Now,
I'm not black or white. I'm brother and sister. Hey, now,
I'm not from that neighborhood or that neighborhood. I'm brother
and sister. Now, I'm not Asian or Hispanic. I'm brother
(02:15):
and sister. Now, I'm not a Cubs fan or Sox fan.
I'm brother and sister. I know some of you say
whoa whoa whoa whoa. Now you're taking it way too far.
I mean, the race stuff. Come on. All right. We're
brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. The wall of partition
has been torn down. There is not this color or
(02:38):
that color or this person or that person. We have
been created into one person in Christ Jesus that form
one body. The wall of hostility has been broken down
so that now we come together as one body, as
one people from many backgrounds, many cultures, many different educational backgrounds.
(02:59):
But we come as one people, forming the body of Christ.
That wall of hostility has been torn down, and he
has created a new person or a new body in
Jesus Christ. And we are the representation of that body.
For he Himself is our peace, who has made the
(03:21):
two one and destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.
Verse 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with
its commandments and regulations. You see, one of the things
that kept the Jews and the Gentiles separated was the
Mosaic Law. Many of you have decided to try to
(03:42):
read through the Bible in a year, and you get
to Genesis, Exodus, and then you start in Leviticus, and
you just can't make it through Leviticus because, well, let
me just read you some of the titles of Leviticus.
Cleansing from mildew. Discharges causing uncleanliness. Day of atonement. Eating blood. Forbidden.
(04:10):
Unlawful sexual relationships. Various laws. Punishment for sins. Rules for priests.
Unacceptable sacrifices. The Sabbath. The Passover. Unleavened bread. First fruits.
Feast of weeks. Feast of trumpets. Day of atonement. Feast
of Tabernacles. Oil of bread set before the Lord. Blasphemer. Stones.
(04:34):
Sabbath year. Year of Jubilee. Man. Not really the kind
of reading that most of you like to do. What
are all those rules about? I can't eat this. I
can't eat that. I got to practice this. I can't
just list rules after rules, after rules that were given
to the Jewish people by God for them to practice.
(04:59):
And when people started getting converted that weren't Jewish people.
The Jewish Christians started saying, hey, you gotta practice all
these rules if you're going to follow Christ. They were
trying to make people Jewish that were trying to be Christian.
And what Paul says is listen. But now in Christ Jesus,
(05:23):
what he tells them is that Jesus abolished in his
flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. That's why
there's an Old Testament and a New Testament. The Old
Testament has a lot to do with the laws before Jesus.
The New Testament is a new covenant in Jesus Christ.
(05:44):
When Jesus Christ came, he came to be the fulfillment
of the law. He was the ultimate sacrifice, so that
you and I no longer are obligated to follow the
Jewish and Mosaic laws that are given in the Old
Testament because we have been liberated from that law. He
(06:06):
came to abolish the law and its regulations, because the
law and its regulations could never save anybody. Only Jesus could. Okay.
So never let anybody get trapped into the old law
and say, well, hey, do you eat pork? And you're
(06:26):
not supposed to eat? No. Never let anybody get you
sucked into that, because Jesus came to liberate us from
that so that we would be under the law of grace.
You need to understand that now, there are principles in
the New Testament and laws in the New Testament, but
they're different than the Old Testament laws. And Jesus came
(06:47):
to set us free in that way. Number three, verse 15,
the wall has come down to make room for a
new creation. Shim. Notice what he says in the end
of verse 15. He says his purpose, the reason he
tore down the wall, the reason he abolished the law,
(07:09):
the reason he's made us all into one. His purpose
was to create in himself a new man out of
the two. God is creating a new person, a new
body out of the two, making his peace. Verse 16.
And in this one body to reconcile both of them
(07:31):
to God through the cross by which he put to
death their hostility. He came, and he preached peace to
you who were far away, and peace to those who
were near. For through him we both have access to
the father by one spirit. I want you to hear me. Well,
(07:51):
what Paul is saying is that there's different types of
people spiritually. Some people are. He calls them people that
are near and others he calls them people that are far. Now,
who are the people that are near? The people that
are near are people that grew up in the church
(08:13):
and grew up knowing Scripture. And maybe, you know, all
the four stanzas of How Great Thou Art and you
can quote all of amazing Grace, and you, you knew
that John 316 was a verse in the Bible, and
not just some sign that people put up at football games.
And you knew that the Bible had a New Testament
(08:36):
in the Old Testament, and you knew how to pray,
and you grew up in the things of the church,
and you always had this sense that God was around.
Those are people that are near. Then there's a people
that are far. That's those of you that grew up
as basically die hard pagans. Don't go to church, Don't
(09:00):
really think much about church. Parents didn't take. You grew up.
You're drinking, carousing, sleeping with girls. It's, you know, 14. 15, 16.
Party life. No consciousness of right and wrong. Not even
a desire to think about God. Don't really pray. I mean,
you're just out there living life to its craziest. No
(09:22):
conscience of God. Not even trying to do right. Don't
talk to me about God. I don't believe in that stuff.
Just an agnostic pagan living your life. Well, there's those
that are near and those that are far. But here's
what the Bible teaches. Whether you are near or whether
you are far, you still need the same thing. You
(09:47):
still need the sacrifice of Christ. You still need peace
with God through Jesus Christ. Going to church and learning
the culture of Christianity does not make you a Christian.
You may have been raised in the church and know
the verses and know the hymns and not be a Christian.
(10:13):
Oh hello, this is huge. The thing that I like
about diehard pagans is they know they need God. I'm
way out there. I know I'm need God. The thing
that I don't like about people that are near is
sometimes they don't think they need God. They think they
already have God. Oh, no. I pray before I go
(10:35):
to bed, I pray. I try to do good, try
to follow the laws. Listen, it's not about how good
you try to be. It's about do you have a
relationship with God through Jesus Christ? Is the Holy Spirit
inside of you? Have you been washed? Have you been
transformed by the power of God? Because whether you're religious
(11:00):
or not, you still need a conversion that changes your life.
S1 (11:11):
You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe on
Bold Steps weekend. We'll return to today's message tearing down
walls in just a moment. First, let me take a
moment to encourage you to visit our website, npr.org. There
you'll find all of Mark's previous Bible teaching, along with
several other faith building resources, including the exclusive Bold Stepper Weekly.
(11:31):
That's the name of Mark's email devotional. He sends it
out every Monday morning so you can be informed about
any ministry updates. And signing up is easy. Just go
to our website. Bold steps. And by the way, Mark,
if listeners speak Spanish, we have something for you too.
S2 (11:46):
That's right. Pasos audaces. For those of you that are
more English speakers, that's pasos.
S3 (11:52):
And then a d a.
S2 (11:54):
C e s. You can go to Brazos and tap
into these one minute encouragements. In the language of Spanish.
I speak Spanish, grew up in Spain and loved to
minister to Spanish speaking people.
S1 (12:10):
All right, let's continue tearing down some walls now with
Mark Jobe on Bold Steps weekend.
S2 (12:22):
There's some parts of this country you go and there's
a church on every corner. Go down south. They call
it the Bible Belt. There are churches, churches, churches, you know, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian,
Catholic churches all over. Just because a lot of churches
doesn't mean they know God. You can have a culture
(12:45):
without the relationship. The culture doesn't make you a Christian.
You have to cross that line of personal commitment and
giving your life over to Christ. And that's exactly what
it says here. By that spirit. For we have access
to the father by one spirit. Unless you have the spirit,
(13:07):
you are not someone that's in the family of God.
Yet even though you may be near, you haven't crossed
the line. Number three or number four? Actually. He tells us.
In verse 19. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens,
(13:34):
but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household. Listen,
if you have the Spirit of God inside of you,
you're no longer a foreigner or an alien. You are
part of God's family. I love that you're part of
God's family. Listen. Built on the foundation of the apostles
(13:56):
and the prophets with Christ Jesus himself the chief cornerstone.
Verse 21. In him the whole building joined together, rises
to become a holy temple in the Lord, and in
him you too are being built together to become a
dwelling place in which God lives by His Spirit. Listen,
(14:18):
this is what he's saying. He's saying I destroyed the
walls of partition. There's not black and white. There's not
educated and uneducated. There's not rich or poor. You have. Now.
If you've crossed the line into the body of Christ,
you have become one people in God. Sons and daughters
of God. And now what God says I'm doing. He says,
(14:40):
I'm building a building. Not a physical building, but a
spiritual building. The chief cornerstone is Christ. We are being
united together, building a building a temple. It calls it
for God. What dwells in a temple? God. Why is
God building the church, the body of Christ? Why is
(15:03):
he building it? Because he wants his manifest presence to
dwell there. That's what it says, doesn't it? Listen. And
in him, you two being built together to become a
dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. What is
he building? He's building a people, a community. Why is
(15:28):
he building that community? So that the manifest presence of
God can live within that community and display his glory.
Here's what I want you to understand. Look around for
a second. What are you in? You're in a building.
Look like a church. Traditional church? No. What's it look like? Factory.
(15:54):
Why does it look like a factory? Because that's what
it was. Oh, we've painted a little bit. Added a
stage and some lights. See all these tubes and pipes
going around their factory? This morning when you got up,
you said, honey, let's get ready to go to church. Now,
(16:20):
I understand what you said, but technically that's wrong. Terminology.
This building is not the church. I thought I was
coming to church, and now you know I'll find somewhere
else to go. It's not a church. This building is
(16:44):
not the church. Technically, you and I and him and her.
We are the church. We're the church. So when you
(17:09):
say I'm going to church, you're not. This is not
the church. What you should say is, I'm gathering with
the church because we are the church gathered this morning.
But when we dismiss today, the church will continue to exist.
We are simply the church dispersed on Monday morning. The
(17:33):
church will still exist. It'll exist in high rises downtown.
It'll exist on the L and the universities. At high schools.
The church will spread throughout the city. Well, well, how
does it spread? You, us? We are the church. Where
we go, we carry with us the presence of God,
(17:57):
the glory of God. Why? Because the Spirit of God
is inside of us. So when you get on, the
L church has just come to the L when you
drive down the highway. Church is on the highway. When
you go to the office building, church is in the
office building. When you go to the factory, church is
in the factory. When you go to the grocery store,
(18:19):
you just brought church to the grocery store. Why? You
are the church and what does the church hold? The
church holds the presence of God. The holy temple of God.
And so wherever you go, you bring the essence and
the presence and the blessing and the power of God Almighty.
Because you are the church. It's a powerful concept. The
(18:54):
church is a movement. The church is a people. If
this building were to be knocked down tomorrow, the church
would still be around. If persecution would were to come
and Christianity will would be illegal and every church door
would have yellow tape on the front that says do
(19:16):
not enter. The church would still be around. The church
would do what it did in China went underground. People
thought the church has been closed. Christianity is dead. China
kicked all the missionaries out in the 1940s. They thought,
we'll eliminate this. What we discovered is that when they
(19:40):
kicked the missionaries out and closed the churches, there were
only a couple million. In the 80s, after 40 years
or so of going underground, what they discovered is now
there were tens of millions of believers because you can
shut the buildings down, but you cannot stop the church
(20:00):
of the Living God, housed by the power of the
Spirit of God. Right now in China. Conservative estimates believe
that there's 140 million Christians in the in the country
of China. Within the next ten years, there'll be more
Christians in China than there are in the United States
of America. Why the church cannot be stopped. We carry
(20:26):
the seed of God inside of us via His Holy Spirit.
And he says, I'm building up a I'm building a temple.
The temple of God. And I've taken people from different
backgrounds and colors. I've taken people from different races and ethnicities.
I've taken the poor and the rich, the executive and
the barely almost homeless. I've taken the white, the black
(20:49):
and the Asian. I've taken women and children and the elderly,
and I'm forming in them one temple, a building that
houses the presence of God. That when the church is
who it's supposed to be, people will walk into a
place like this and say, truly, God is alive. For
I see it among them. I see it in the
(21:12):
way they worship. I feel it in when I walk
into this place. I see it in the way they live.
They have been transformed by this God. They are the representation,
the reflection of the living God. O not perfect because. Whoa!
Are we full of imperfections? But a temple of people
(21:36):
that houses the manifest presence of God, formed into one,
merged into one people for the glory of the mighty God.
(22:00):
And you may sense that God has been pulling you,
reaching out to you. Just this past Sunday, a woman
that got baptized. She shared that the first time she
walked into service, she started to cry. She didn't know
why she was crying, but she realized that her soul
(22:22):
had been longing for the presence of God. She couldn't
explain it. She couldn't describe it, but she just would
weep when she came to church. And I think there's
some people that have been living so long without God
that your soul is awakened, is deeply touched when you
encounter the Word of God, the presence of God. And
(22:45):
maybe as you've been listening to this message, your soul
was touched or awakened. I'd like to pray for you
right now in your journey. Father, I pray for that man.
That woman that's been listening, that It longs for your
presence that knows that something is missing. That is, there's
(23:05):
a vacuum inside that they can't quite describe. They can't
quite put their finger on it. But it's you, Lord.
And I pray, father, as they awaken to you, as
this spiritual world starts coming alive to them, as they
decide to get closer to you. I pray, Lord, that
you would give them the courage to visit a church. Father,
(23:28):
I pray that you would give them the promptings to
reach out to a Christian, that they may know the
ability or the boldness to be able to go to
a Bible study father, so that they can encounter your presence,
hear the gospel, understand your message in a fresh, new way.
I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
S1 (23:47):
Amen. Thank you Mark. And if you prayed with Mark,
or if you'd like to learn more about taking your
next step, we'd love for you to visit our website
and explore how you can know Christ more boldly and
passionately this year. Just visit Bold steps.org and then click
the connect tab and look for my next step in faith.
Recently I saw a comment on Facebook that said thanks
(24:09):
for your inspiration and loving words. God is awesome and powerful.
And another said thanks for these inspirational messages. I enjoy
hearing them on the radio. Well said. This program and
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(24:29):
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(24:52):
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(25:14):
any amount online at boldsystems.org. Well, that's all the time
we have today. I'm Wayne Sheppard, inviting you to join
us again next time. When Mark talks about secrets. The
apostle Paul used the term mystery when it comes to
the gospel, and Mark is going to help us discover
what he meant. That's coming up next time on Bold
Steps Weekend with Mark John. Bold Steps Weekend is a
(25:39):
production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Today on Bold Steps weekend, Mark Jobe shows us what
happens when the walls of division come down.
S2 (00:06):
The wall of hostility has been broken down so that
now we come together as one body, as one people
from many backgrounds, many cultures. And he has created a
new person or a new body in Jesus Christ. And
we are the representation of that body.
S1 (00:36):
Welcome to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Mark is
the president of Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor
of New Life Community Church in Chicago. And I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today,
as we move forward in our series, when You Believe
Everything Changes, we'll continue our lesson from Ephesians chapter two.
Mark will give us three points to consider about who
you are and what happens when the walls of division
(00:57):
come down around us. If you missed part one, you
can hear the complete message online at npr.org. Just look
for the message titled Tearing Down Walls. Right now, let's
get started with today's message. Here's pastor Mark Jobe.
S2 (01:11):
When Christ came, what Christ came to do is he
came to take people that were very different. He came
to tear down that wall of partition and make those
who were different into one people. Notice what it says
in Galatians chapter three verse 28. Paul said, there is
(01:33):
there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male
nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
You see, what he came to say is that that
(01:53):
racial stuff that you had, you leave it at the door. Now,
I'm not black or white. I'm brother and sister. Hey, now,
I'm not from that neighborhood or that neighborhood. I'm brother
and sister. Now, I'm not Asian or Hispanic. I'm brother
(02:15):
and sister. Now, I'm not a Cubs fan or Sox fan.
I'm brother and sister. I know some of you say
whoa whoa whoa whoa. Now you're taking it way too far.
I mean, the race stuff. Come on. All right. We're
brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. The wall of partition
has been torn down. There is not this color or
(02:38):
that color or this person or that person. We have
been created into one person in Christ Jesus that form
one body. The wall of hostility has been broken down
so that now we come together as one body, as
one people from many backgrounds, many cultures, many different educational backgrounds.
(02:59):
But we come as one people, forming the body of Christ.
That wall of hostility has been torn down, and he
has created a new person or a new body in
Jesus Christ. And we are the representation of that body.
For he Himself is our peace, who has made the
(03:21):
two one and destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.
Verse 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with
its commandments and regulations. You see, one of the things
that kept the Jews and the Gentiles separated was the
Mosaic Law. Many of you have decided to try to
(03:42):
read through the Bible in a year, and you get
to Genesis, Exodus, and then you start in Leviticus, and
you just can't make it through Leviticus because, well, let
me just read you some of the titles of Leviticus.
Cleansing from mildew. Discharges causing uncleanliness. Day of atonement. Eating blood. Forbidden.
(04:10):
Unlawful sexual relationships. Various laws. Punishment for sins. Rules for priests.
Unacceptable sacrifices. The Sabbath. The Passover. Unleavened bread. First fruits.
Feast of weeks. Feast of trumpets. Day of atonement. Feast
of Tabernacles. Oil of bread set before the Lord. Blasphemer. Stones.
(04:34):
Sabbath year. Year of Jubilee. Man. Not really the kind
of reading that most of you like to do. What
are all those rules about? I can't eat this. I
can't eat that. I got to practice this. I can't
just list rules after rules, after rules that were given
to the Jewish people by God for them to practice.
(04:59):
And when people started getting converted that weren't Jewish people.
The Jewish Christians started saying, hey, you gotta practice all
these rules if you're going to follow Christ. They were
trying to make people Jewish that were trying to be Christian.
And what Paul says is listen. But now in Christ Jesus,
(05:23):
what he tells them is that Jesus abolished in his
flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. That's why
there's an Old Testament and a New Testament. The Old
Testament has a lot to do with the laws before Jesus.
The New Testament is a new covenant in Jesus Christ.
(05:44):
When Jesus Christ came, he came to be the fulfillment
of the law. He was the ultimate sacrifice, so that
you and I no longer are obligated to follow the
Jewish and Mosaic laws that are given in the Old
Testament because we have been liberated from that law. He
(06:06):
came to abolish the law and its regulations, because the
law and its regulations could never save anybody. Only Jesus could. Okay.
So never let anybody get trapped into the old law
and say, well, hey, do you eat pork? And you're
(06:26):
not supposed to eat? No. Never let anybody get you
sucked into that, because Jesus came to liberate us from
that so that we would be under the law of grace.
You need to understand that now, there are principles in
the New Testament and laws in the New Testament, but
they're different than the Old Testament laws. And Jesus came
(06:47):
to set us free in that way. Number three, verse 15,
the wall has come down to make room for a
new creation. Shim. Notice what he says in the end
of verse 15. He says his purpose, the reason he
tore down the wall, the reason he abolished the law,
(07:09):
the reason he's made us all into one. His purpose
was to create in himself a new man out of
the two. God is creating a new person, a new
body out of the two, making his peace. Verse 16.
And in this one body to reconcile both of them
(07:31):
to God through the cross by which he put to
death their hostility. He came, and he preached peace to
you who were far away, and peace to those who
were near. For through him we both have access to
the father by one spirit. I want you to hear me. Well,
(07:51):
what Paul is saying is that there's different types of
people spiritually. Some people are. He calls them people that
are near and others he calls them people that are far. Now,
who are the people that are near? The people that
are near are people that grew up in the church
(08:13):
and grew up knowing Scripture. And maybe, you know, all
the four stanzas of How Great Thou Art and you
can quote all of amazing Grace, and you, you knew
that John 316 was a verse in the Bible, and
not just some sign that people put up at football games.
And you knew that the Bible had a New Testament
(08:36):
in the Old Testament, and you knew how to pray,
and you grew up in the things of the church,
and you always had this sense that God was around.
Those are people that are near. Then there's a people
that are far. That's those of you that grew up
as basically die hard pagans. Don't go to church, Don't
(09:00):
really think much about church. Parents didn't take. You grew up.
You're drinking, carousing, sleeping with girls. It's, you know, 14. 15, 16.
Party life. No consciousness of right and wrong. Not even
a desire to think about God. Don't really pray. I mean,
you're just out there living life to its craziest. No
(09:22):
conscience of God. Not even trying to do right. Don't
talk to me about God. I don't believe in that stuff.
Just an agnostic pagan living your life. Well, there's those
that are near and those that are far. But here's
what the Bible teaches. Whether you are near or whether
you are far, you still need the same thing. You
(09:47):
still need the sacrifice of Christ. You still need peace
with God through Jesus Christ. Going to church and learning
the culture of Christianity does not make you a Christian.
You may have been raised in the church and know
the verses and know the hymns and not be a Christian.
(10:13):
Oh hello, this is huge. The thing that I like
about diehard pagans is they know they need God. I'm
way out there. I know I'm need God. The thing
that I don't like about people that are near is
sometimes they don't think they need God. They think they
already have God. Oh, no. I pray before I go
(10:35):
to bed, I pray. I try to do good, try
to follow the laws. Listen, it's not about how good
you try to be. It's about do you have a
relationship with God through Jesus Christ? Is the Holy Spirit
inside of you? Have you been washed? Have you been
transformed by the power of God? Because whether you're religious
(11:00):
or not, you still need a conversion that changes your life.
S1 (11:11):
You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe on
Bold Steps weekend. We'll return to today's message tearing down
walls in just a moment. First, let me take a
moment to encourage you to visit our website, npr.org. There
you'll find all of Mark's previous Bible teaching, along with
several other faith building resources, including the exclusive Bold Stepper Weekly.
(11:31):
That's the name of Mark's email devotional. He sends it
out every Monday morning so you can be informed about
any ministry updates. And signing up is easy. Just go
to our website. Bold steps. And by the way, Mark,
if listeners speak Spanish, we have something for you too.
S2 (11:46):
That's right. Pasos audaces. For those of you that are
more English speakers, that's pasos.
S3 (11:52):
And then a d a.
S2 (11:54):
C e s. You can go to Brazos and tap
into these one minute encouragements. In the language of Spanish.
I speak Spanish, grew up in Spain and loved to
minister to Spanish speaking people.
S1 (12:10):
All right, let's continue tearing down some walls now with
Mark Jobe on Bold Steps weekend.
S2 (12:22):
There's some parts of this country you go and there's
a church on every corner. Go down south. They call
it the Bible Belt. There are churches, churches, churches, you know, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian,
Catholic churches all over. Just because a lot of churches
doesn't mean they know God. You can have a culture
(12:45):
without the relationship. The culture doesn't make you a Christian.
You have to cross that line of personal commitment and
giving your life over to Christ. And that's exactly what
it says here. By that spirit. For we have access
to the father by one spirit. Unless you have the spirit,
(13:07):
you are not someone that's in the family of God.
Yet even though you may be near, you haven't crossed
the line. Number three or number four? Actually. He tells us.
In verse 19. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens,
(13:34):
but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household. Listen,
if you have the Spirit of God inside of you,
you're no longer a foreigner or an alien. You are
part of God's family. I love that you're part of
God's family. Listen. Built on the foundation of the apostles
(13:56):
and the prophets with Christ Jesus himself the chief cornerstone.
Verse 21. In him the whole building joined together, rises
to become a holy temple in the Lord, and in
him you too are being built together to become a
dwelling place in which God lives by His Spirit. Listen,
(14:18):
this is what he's saying. He's saying I destroyed the
walls of partition. There's not black and white. There's not
educated and uneducated. There's not rich or poor. You have. Now.
If you've crossed the line into the body of Christ,
you have become one people in God. Sons and daughters
of God. And now what God says I'm doing. He says,
(14:40):
I'm building a building. Not a physical building, but a
spiritual building. The chief cornerstone is Christ. We are being
united together, building a building a temple. It calls it
for God. What dwells in a temple? God. Why is
God building the church, the body of Christ? Why is
(15:03):
he building it? Because he wants his manifest presence to
dwell there. That's what it says, doesn't it? Listen. And
in him, you two being built together to become a
dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. What is
he building? He's building a people, a community. Why is
(15:28):
he building that community? So that the manifest presence of
God can live within that community and display his glory.
Here's what I want you to understand. Look around for
a second. What are you in? You're in a building.
Look like a church. Traditional church? No. What's it look like? Factory.
(15:54):
Why does it look like a factory? Because that's what
it was. Oh, we've painted a little bit. Added a
stage and some lights. See all these tubes and pipes
going around their factory? This morning when you got up,
you said, honey, let's get ready to go to church. Now,
(16:20):
I understand what you said, but technically that's wrong. Terminology.
This building is not the church. I thought I was
coming to church, and now you know I'll find somewhere
else to go. It's not a church. This building is
(16:44):
not the church. Technically, you and I and him and her.
We are the church. We're the church. So when you
(17:09):
say I'm going to church, you're not. This is not
the church. What you should say is, I'm gathering with
the church because we are the church gathered this morning.
But when we dismiss today, the church will continue to exist.
We are simply the church dispersed on Monday morning. The
(17:33):
church will still exist. It'll exist in high rises downtown.
It'll exist on the L and the universities. At high schools.
The church will spread throughout the city. Well, well, how
does it spread? You, us? We are the church. Where
we go, we carry with us the presence of God,
(17:57):
the glory of God. Why? Because the Spirit of God
is inside of us. So when you get on, the
L church has just come to the L when you
drive down the highway. Church is on the highway. When
you go to the office building, church is in the
office building. When you go to the factory, church is
in the factory. When you go to the grocery store,
(18:19):
you just brought church to the grocery store. Why? You
are the church and what does the church hold? The
church holds the presence of God. The holy temple of God.
And so wherever you go, you bring the essence and
the presence and the blessing and the power of God Almighty.
Because you are the church. It's a powerful concept. The
(18:54):
church is a movement. The church is a people. If
this building were to be knocked down tomorrow, the church
would still be around. If persecution would were to come
and Christianity will would be illegal and every church door
would have yellow tape on the front that says do
(19:16):
not enter. The church would still be around. The church
would do what it did in China went underground. People
thought the church has been closed. Christianity is dead. China
kicked all the missionaries out in the 1940s. They thought,
we'll eliminate this. What we discovered is that when they
(19:40):
kicked the missionaries out and closed the churches, there were
only a couple million. In the 80s, after 40 years
or so of going underground, what they discovered is now
there were tens of millions of believers because you can
shut the buildings down, but you cannot stop the church
(20:00):
of the Living God, housed by the power of the
Spirit of God. Right now in China. Conservative estimates believe
that there's 140 million Christians in the in the country
of China. Within the next ten years, there'll be more
Christians in China than there are in the United States
of America. Why the church cannot be stopped. We carry
(20:26):
the seed of God inside of us via His Holy Spirit.
And he says, I'm building up a I'm building a temple.
The temple of God. And I've taken people from different
backgrounds and colors. I've taken people from different races and ethnicities.
I've taken the poor and the rich, the executive and
the barely almost homeless. I've taken the white, the black
(20:49):
and the Asian. I've taken women and children and the elderly,
and I'm forming in them one temple, a building that
houses the presence of God. That when the church is
who it's supposed to be, people will walk into a
place like this and say, truly, God is alive. For
I see it among them. I see it in the
(21:12):
way they worship. I feel it in when I walk
into this place. I see it in the way they live.
They have been transformed by this God. They are the representation,
the reflection of the living God. O not perfect because. Whoa!
Are we full of imperfections? But a temple of people
(21:36):
that houses the manifest presence of God, formed into one,
merged into one people for the glory of the mighty God.
(22:00):
And you may sense that God has been pulling you,
reaching out to you. Just this past Sunday, a woman
that got baptized. She shared that the first time she
walked into service, she started to cry. She didn't know
why she was crying, but she realized that her soul
(22:22):
had been longing for the presence of God. She couldn't
explain it. She couldn't describe it, but she just would
weep when she came to church. And I think there's
some people that have been living so long without God
that your soul is awakened, is deeply touched when you
encounter the Word of God, the presence of God. And
(22:45):
maybe as you've been listening to this message, your soul
was touched or awakened. I'd like to pray for you
right now in your journey. Father, I pray for that man.
That woman that's been listening, that It longs for your
presence that knows that something is missing. That is, there's
(23:05):
a vacuum inside that they can't quite describe. They can't
quite put their finger on it. But it's you, Lord.
And I pray, father, as they awaken to you, as
this spiritual world starts coming alive to them, as they
decide to get closer to you. I pray, Lord, that
you would give them the courage to visit a church. Father,
(23:28):
I pray that you would give them the promptings to
reach out to a Christian, that they may know the
ability or the boldness to be able to go to
a Bible study father, so that they can encounter your presence,
hear the gospel, understand your message in a fresh, new way.
I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
S1 (23:47):
Amen. Thank you Mark. And if you prayed with Mark,
or if you'd like to learn more about taking your
next step, we'd love for you to visit our website
and explore how you can know Christ more boldly and
passionately this year. Just visit Bold steps.org and then click
the connect tab and look for my next step in faith.
Recently I saw a comment on Facebook that said thanks
(24:09):
for your inspiration and loving words. God is awesome and powerful.
And another said thanks for these inspirational messages. I enjoy
hearing them on the radio. Well said. This program and
the platforms we offer are made possible by the voluntary
contributions from our monthly bold partners and all those listeners
who give one time donations. And right now, as we
(24:29):
get ready for the fall season, we're trying to add
more members to the team because nothing will help us
make a difference in the lives of other listeners than
your continued support. And when you commit to becoming a
bold partner today by signing up to give a gift
each month, we'll also send you a signed copy of
Mark's book, unstuck. There's access to the Bold Partner post
and a special video message from Mark. We've made signing
(24:52):
up simple and easy online at Bold Steps. And also
is our way of saying thanks for your gift of
any amount. We'll send you a copy of Moving Forward
after messing up by Doctor Chris Rappaccini. Just dial 800 D.L. Moody.
That's (800)Â 356-6639 or request Doctor Rappaccini's ebook when you donate
(25:14):
any amount online at boldsystems.org. Well, that's all the time
we have today. I'm Wayne Sheppard, inviting you to join
us again next time. When Mark talks about secrets. The
apostle Paul used the term mystery when it comes to
the gospel, and Mark is going to help us discover
what he meant. That's coming up next time on Bold
Steps Weekend with Mark John. Bold Steps Weekend is a
(25:39):
production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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