Main Point: We enter the gates of the Kingdom by grace, through faith. We live in the Kingdom by repairing broken walls and gates.
Ephesians 2:22 NIV
“You too are being building together into a dwelling place for the Spirit”
Access into the Kingdom through Grace
Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Justified in the Kingdom through Faith
Galatians. 2:15-16 ESV
“We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
Response as a Kingdom Community: Repair and Restore
Isaiah 58:12 ESV
“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”
Luke 4:18 ESV
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised”
Nehemiah 2:17-18 ESV
“Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.”
Nehemiah 3:1
“Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors.”
In closing:
The gates of Northside are the first access points into our community. In the same way we access the Kingdom of God by grace, we must be agents of grace to those we meet in our neighbourhood.
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