A Shared Food
Community

all right good morning church good to see all of you here this morning what a great crowd and i can see so many good looking beautiful people down here i can talk to it’s great hey we’re talking about community we’re talking about how because of christ we’re connected and we’re one family we have one faith one family

today we’re continuing the conversation entitled community by talking about the third devotion that marked the first century church and that was that first century church that turned the world upside down they were devoted to four devotions and today we’re talking about the breaking of bread and we’re calling this a shared food how we have the table in common and the food in common which is christ and we’re talking about this today and it’s important and we’re going to be talking about how essential it is now

if you go visit another country you’ll notice many different things in their culture but one of the things you’ll notice is the different food every culture every country in fact just different regions in the united states have different food and they enjoy different food

i want to pop up a few photos and see if you recognize which culture is represented. So this first one, pop it up. What culture is this mexican food? Can i get a witness? People like that’s, your favorite food? Yeah, you’ll notice on your connection card that we actually added one of the ways you may have heard about our church friend, family, internet, taco bell drive thru that’s, one of the ways. Yeah, that you may have heard about our church it’s, right there in the bulletin what about this one? What is it, chinese, the chopsticks have got to be the giveaway. chinese, right. Next one Italian. I heard somebody italian like that. how about this one what’s this? American yeah and so every culture has a unique ah kind of food that they you know some like it spicy and hot some sweet and sour and some prefer their food in the drive through which is kind of the way we are these days right

the thing is there’s something about sharing food sitting knee to knee and face to face across the table with a little bit coming down on your chin there’s something about that that causes us to sense community with one another it’s important it’s essential and we’ve been talking about these four devotions

sometimes you know when you have the apostles teaching and you have the fellowship and prayers the breaking of bread kind of seems like the ugly stepsister or something like does that one really fit well with what we’re going to talk about today instead of preaching a how to sermon today i’m gonna preach a why sermon why you should believe this sermon

i want you to be convinced that this is not lesser than the other three that the breaking of bread is just as spiritual as the other three and that as you meet together in homes and as you come together i want you to consider that

as we look today at the text and by the way you should be getting familiar with this text now this text Acts 2: 42-47 has been our home text it’s been three weeks now right and next week we’re going to stay right there if you’ve been to a church before where they preach the same text every sunday for four straight weeks well that’s what we’re doing but we’re looking at it through a different lens each week the first week we looked at it through the lens of the apostles teaching last week the fellowship now today how does the breaking of bread effect that first century church and how might we as we look at it be convinced that we need to keep this as an essential in our lives as well so let’s look at the text asking the holy spirit to speak to us

and they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers and awe came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes they received their food with glad and generous hearts praising god and having favor with all the people and the lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved this is god’s word amen

we’re looking at these three reasons why the breaking of bread is essential to the community of christ to christ’s community so first of all let’s just look at verse forty two you’ll see that there are four devotions were looking at the third one today they were devoted to the breaking of bread that’s what we’re going to focus on remember the word devoted we’ve unpacked that word in previous weeks in the greek it has the idea of continually turning your face towards the idea of focusing on don’t take your eye off of this and so in the early church the first century church they kept their eye on they were focused on they were devoted to the apostles teaching the fellowship the breaking of bread and prayer

the breaking of bread if you read a commentary by the way if you don’t know what that is that’s where a person has spent their life studying the word of god and they have an opinion about what the word of god means so commentaries are helpful but they’re man’s ideas if you read a commentary on what is the breaking of bread you’ll find various opinions one school of thought is it’s just the lord’s supper that the breaking of bread the article says this is the not a breaking of bread but the breaking of bread the definite article that it’s just the lord’s supper

then there’s another school of thought and that’s the one that i belong to that yeah it’s the lord’s supper but it also includes a meal together that christians share that’s not just the lord’s supper it’s both and not either or so that’s where i’m at i’m convinced that that’s what it is and i’ll show you why as we continue today but i think when we’re talking about the breaking of bread the first century church had in mind the model which came from from the jews which was the passover feast which then towards the the end or the beginning the father in the home would tell the certain meanings of a thing and then we have it the last supper that jesus had a meal with his disciples but then he said see this bread this is my body you see this cup and so it was both and it was a meal and a memorial like

the first century church seems to have had that way of doing things they had what was referred to in the book of jude as the agape feast the love feast they come together and they would eat a meal and then they would have the lord’s supper so i think it’s both and that’s that’s what i think we have in view here so that’s important because as we look at this i think it recognizes the lord’s provisions as we look at how the church gathered together the first reason that we should continue the breaking of bread that you should make it part of your life is that it gives recognition that the lord has provided

now you heard brother adam when he was leading us in worship he had a devotional thought that he read to us from the book of genesis that when god formed adam from the dust of the earth he breathed into him and he became a living soul and then the first thing he made for adam that is described there’s he provided food for adam in the garden so adam didn’t even have to work for it he just had food there’s a symbol here present there is no life without god you would not be here you would not exist if it weren’t for the creator neither would you continue to exist if you couldn’t take the next breath which he has provided nor would you be able to live without food this is a thing that we don’t often think about although we seem to be very much in the habit of eating regularly take a look at me it looks like i haven’t missed any meals lately, right? I don’t need to sit up here and teach you people you need to start eating three meals a day i don’t need to do that i think we get that right but what we do need some help with all of us is to recognize where it comes from that every time you gather that you should recognize where life comes from and where the sustenance of life comes from it comes from the father it comes from the lord we recognize the lord’s provision

in the book of luke we see that we are valuable to god he values us it says this is jesus speaking he says look at the ravens they don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns for god feeds them and you are far more valuable to him than any birds god cares about you he cares about your provision

when you come together in your house father and mother and children do you open up with a blessing with with saying a prayer before you eat the food in order to make everyone in the room aware you know what god provided this and that we recognize his provisions

i know this that around eighty percent of you about eighty percent of the people who attend our sunday morning our weekend services are in a community group are you eating together and when you do you’re not just eating together but do you begin with a recognition of where the food came from and i’m not talking about hey martha thanks for bringing that susie that was great love the coleslaw yeah do that but recognize the lord jesus and his provisions and it does something when you do that when you recognize that he’s the one where all good things come from including our sustenance

the book of philippians chapter four says that he supplies every need that we have and my god will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in christ jesus do you recognise his provisions? The book of psalms speaks of him as the one we all look to as our provider the eyes of all looked to you lord and you give them their food in due season you open your hand you satisfy the desire of every living thing

do you recognize the lord’s hands in your provisions in the book of Luke chapter 24 there’s a story of these two disciples who were walking on the way to Emmaus they were walking on the road to Emmaus and they had seen their lord crucified and they’re talking among them they’re like we thought it was him we thought it was the christ and we followed him what’s going wrong that’s not what we thought was gonna happen we thought he was bringing his kingdom and they were just so brokenhearted and disappointed can you believe it? And a third person walks up and starts walking with them and says, what are you talking about? i’ve been hearing you and I am heavy for you. Where have you been under a rock somewhere that you didn’t hear the story about how the christ the messiah has come but he’s been crucified and they start telling him about it and then he starts telling them hey wait a minute didn’t you realize that the christ according to the scriptures and for moses to the prophets he begins to explain to these two people these two disciples how the christ would come but he would have to suffer and die and then be raised again their hearts were set afire as they listened to this third person talk to them

they got to their destination and they said hey come in and eat dinner with us and he said no i’m going on ahead and they said please come in to dinner because we love to hear your teaching so they went in and they sit down for a meal and they asked the stranger hey would you would you do the blessing for the food and he took the bread and he lifted it up as was the habit in those days and he broke it and as he did he prayed the hebrew prayer you know he said blessed art thou o lord our god king of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth amen

when he prayed that prayer they recognized his hands and then he disappeared and they said it was the lord. Didn’t our hearts burn within us when we heard him teaching and they left the meal, and they ran all the way back to jerusalem to tell the other disciples they recognized his hands at the meal. I like the way they prayed in those days instead of blessing the food, they bless the lord who gave them the food. Maybe we should try that on for size when you come together in your homes, are you teaching your children about who provided the food and how we are to thank him for life? Oh, you know, the table is important, it’s, where the family gathers and today we’re competing right with so many other important things, like violin lessons and gymnastics and soccer and little league baseball and homework and plus you’re working late, and then both of you are working husbands and wives maybe you’re a single mom and you’re barely surviving, i’m saying to you, you need to learn to say no to some of that so that you make space, create margin in your life for eating meals together in your home so you can sit around the table and you can thank the lord for his provisions, and then you can ask each other has your day is going

This is going to cause you to not only say no to things, but you’re gonna have to put away the ipads and the ipods and the iphones and start doing some “we” stuff. I’m so sick and tired of seeing families even at a restaurant and all of them with their heads down doing this what’s it going to do to us what’s gonna happen how further fractured will we be if we don’t make space for recognizing the lord’s provision around the table. Will you do it?

in our small groups can i speak for a moment to our community groups shepherds make sure your group is eating together it’s not optional it’s not the weakest of the four it’s equal to something very special happens around the table the first century church did it we’re going to do it too why because the bible says so and we need it together stop eating alone stop eating in your car through the drive thru and all these things start eating with others start breaking bread with other people and recognizing the lord’s presence at the table look for his hands will you do it we need each other

here’s the second reason i’m trying to convince you if you will allow it from god’s word the importance of the essential nature of breaking bread together has a family and as god’s family here’s the second it helps unify the lord’s family so it recognizes his provisions and it actually has a unifying nature to it now look when you receive jesus christ as your lord and savior you become a member of god’s family, you become a member of his body, he’s the head of the body that’s just true. But eating together is a reminder of that reality. It’s not only a reminder, it’s kind of like the glue that continues to remind us of that reality

notice verse forty six and so i know you’re sitting there going what he’s not preaching that verse where you’ve got to come out for weeks, i’ll preach every verse, but i’m aiming at the lens. Today is the breaking of bread, so i’m looking for that in the text. Are you with me? You understand what i’m doing so verse forty six says and day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with gladdened, generous hearts that verse especially shows that it’s both it is the lord’s supper and eating a meal. It seems to be both right there, but let me point out a few details.

One is day by day. In other words, they had have it daily they had a habit of eating together daily families family of god hey look you don’t have to wait for your community groups i have a lunch appointment or a breakfast appointment with members of your community group just like two guys or two gals or try to work it into your schedule stop eating alone if you can help it eat with other people

one thing i like to do is i like to eat at the same restaurant some of you think that’s boring but one is i’m boring that’s one problem i have the other problem is you are the one thing i’m trying to address is i want to get to know the names of the people that work at that particular restaurant so if i keep going there then it allows me to have spiritual conversations i get to know them hey can I pray for you today we’re getting ready to pray over the meal and to thank the lord and i’ll talk to the waitress and say hey mary i know that you have a two year old how do i know that because i’ve been eating at that restaurant every week and can we pray for you is there anything specifically we can pray for today you would be amazed at how people at a restaurant or wherever you’re going regularly will look for you because you pray for them or because you talk to them and you leave them a generous tip but you also leave them the gospel and you talk to him so i try to do that

I try to eat with different people at the same place some of you like i don’t like where you eat so i’ll switch to where you want to eat then i keep notes actually i keep notes on my phone about the people’s names and what i prayed for them last and if it’s an international restaurant i try to learn how to pronounce certain words in their language because people care about stuff like that i can just hang out with you people all the time but i try to get a “twofer” out of it so how could i have lunch with one of you and share what we have with someone

I am telling you the kind of practices that you might try or maybe some you could share with us that we could try but something about eating together it just opens things up you get to know people better it relaxes them

they had this habit of day by day and i want to pull this verse up from the new king james because it has a phrase that’s a great word it’s a good translation but i need this phrase here which i think really gets at the greek a little tighter so continuing daily with one accord. I like that one accord phrase, it’s, translated together in the ESV. That is correct, but one accord has the idea in the greek language of same mind. They were so close they could complete the other person’s sentences. they just had the same mind on things they had this habit of eating together day by day and they had the same mind they were in such unity

it’s hard to be mad at each other while you’re eating at the table so many of us push away from the table because of some offence some felt hurt don’t do it don’t push away from the table stay at the table work it out reconcile stay at the table stop running away and pushing away

when i first went to college my my best friend in high school and i on senior day we visited a couple of colleges and we visited this particular college and we decided we’ll be roommates this college allowed you to sign up as roommates and so i was excited he was excited and then he fell in love with this girl back home and he at the last minute decided not to go to college and left me with you know dealer’s choice as a roommate i had no idea who my roommate would be so i get to college and they didn’t assign me a roommate right away so several weeks went by i would go to the school cafeteria and you have to eat three meals a day or whatever and i didn’t know anybody and i would sit by myself. Do you know what that feels like have you ever sat by yourself somewhere when everybody around you seems like they’re all best friends, And then i met some people at this ministry called campus crusade for christ it’s called crew today i met some people, and they said, which cafeteria are you eating at? And there’s, like, ten on the campus i told them, and they said come and eat this cafeteria at this time and that’s where we are. And so i went there, like thirty, forty kids sitting around these tables, and they’re all talking, and i knew them from this meeting, and i go and immediately mealtime was awesome. Because i was with family.

Stop eating alone. Are you eating alone? Have you pushed away from the table? Come on, come on, there’s! A unifying effect of eating together. God made us for one another. He made his first of all for himself. As the church father, augustine said, thou hast made us for thyself. Oh, god ! And our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee we’re made for god, and we’re made for one another that’s. Why there’s so many one and other commands in the bible? Be together,eat together and your group’s eat together in your homes. Eat together with your families. It helps the one “accordness” If i could make that a word.

They were breaking bread in their homes. I was talking to a young woman earlier this week, and she said, the thing that made christianity so hard for me when i first came to christ is that it seemed a requirement that you had to be hospitable. And i’m not hospitable. And she said. But the lord is making me hospitable and it’s really hurting. I have to let people in my house. And if i let people in on the house, then i have to let them see my problems. And at first , i tried to clean everything up, and it was so exhausting that i just started letting them see the way i live. And then they found out who i really was. And then i would go in their house it’s breaking me down and it’s, making me more like jesus.

Hospitality. It’s a spiritual gift. Look it up. It is, they were breaking bread in their homes, which means you have to open up your homes it’s okay to eat at restaurants. I do that, too, but get in each other’s houses and break bread together and eat together. And may i give permission now to our community groups shepherds and say, not only should you eat together, but i give you permission to share the lord’s supper together. You can do it, you don’t have to have the preacher there, have the meal recognized, christ’s provision recognized. The importance of eating together, and then from time to time in this particular week, would be an opportune time. Don’t you agree? I’m teaching this, and i’m telling you to do it, so perhaps it would be an opportune time to celebrate. And remember the lord’s supper in your groups this week.

we do the Lord’s Supper every sunday. We do it weekly. But they did it daily. So i’m cutting you some slack here. Yeah, this week would be a great week to do that. Can you do that? Yeah, look it up and if you need training on that, get with one of us, but i think you can do it. Look it up how to do it in the bible and just do that, and you’ll find the sweetest time together.

Make time for this people. They were glad and generous in their hearts as a result of receiving their food together. Oh it created laughter and joy and hey, they told stories and fellowship happened around the table. Food helps fellowship, and fellowship helps food. You put them together and it’s fun, it’s gladness, and then this word, this word , it says here, it says, they did it with glad and generous hearts. It has the idea of the singleness of heart, that’s, just pure what is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine, and let’s share in this oneness

Miriam weinstein writes an article entitled the surprising power of family meals how eating together makes a smarter, stronger, healthier and happier and i would say more together family here’s what she writes eating ordinary average everyday supper with your family is strongly linked to lower incidence of bad outcomes such as teenage drug and alcohol use two good qualities like emotional stability it correlates with kindergartners being better prepared to learn to read regular family supper’s helps keep asthmatic kids out of hospitals that discourages both obesity and eating disorders that supports your staying more connected to your extended family that’s what i’m talking about your ethnic heritage your community of faith it will help children and families to be more resilient reacting positively to those curves and arrows that life throws our way it will certainly keep you better nourished

the things that were likely discussed at the supper table anchor our children more firmly in the world. Of course, eating together teaches manners both trivial and momentous, putting you in touch with the deeper springs of human relations. You go, miriam, i agree with you eat together it creates a more unified togetherness. It has that effect on us.

The book of 1 Corinthian chapter 10:17 by sharing in the same loaf of bread we become one body even though there are many of us 1 Corinthians 11:33 so then brothers and sisters, when you gather together , you should all eat together. I like that. I like that you should all eat together, do that when you gather together , stop eating alone start eating together, because

paul says in ephesians god decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through jesus christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Hey , we’re god’s, family, let’s, eat together. Start by eating at home with your own family, right, because get that house straight, get your house straight, carve out time to eat together, put away the the distractions

the tv used to be. I would talk about stop watching, you know, stop eating on your tv trays. Young people are here today going I don’t know what a tv tray is. It used to be a thing. Now, it’s, you know all the smart devices that aren’t so smart whenever you’re trying to build a life together. Make room for this. People hear me on this. This is god’s word. Breaking bread together was a mark of the first century church and it was a key part of what happened and if you want to reach your neighbors and your coworkers and so forth there’s nothing like inviting them into your home it just changes things it’s so much easier to talk about the gospel and to talk about the bread of life when you’re breaking bread

now here’s the third and i’m getting to the one that you all have been waiting for it remembers the lord’s sacrifice which is certainly part of this breaking of bread the breaking of bread certainly included the lord’s supper verse forty seven says praising god in other words the result of this habit of being together eating together it created worship and this worship was was so awesome that it created favor with other people so that they wanted in on it and god begin to add daily to the number of people that were being saved he was adding to the church and so they were praising god they were thankful

i don’t know if parents still do this i don’t know if this happens today when i was growing up my mother thought that certain days of the week should involve certain foods like this is liver thursday spinach friday and things like that and this is peas wednesday i like all those things now I will eat peas i’m not so crazy about liver but i can eat them if you are firm in your house I won’t say anything swallow them whole without chewing, you can do that. I’m not crazy about peas but i will eat them and believe me, i’ve eaten much worse on the mission field there’ve been things i’ve gone, i don’t know what this is and please don’t tell me i’m just going to get it in you do what you have to, because you want to be connected to people and not offend them. But my mom, i don’t know if you had a mom like my mom, but if you left a pea on your plate, she’d say the children in africa are starving. They would love that pea and because of the child i was, i would murmur something under my breath, like maybe we should ship it to them. Send them that which usually meant a longer time at the table for me, perhaps by myself, while the rest of the family went to the tv room and a fresh plate of peas before me. That was my mom.

I don’t know who your mom was, but i’m not trying to guilt. You hear, maybe a little bit. But recognize that not everyone in the world has what we have, we’ve been to countries where we distributed some food, and it would be children that we were distributing the food and you would see them hiding and not eating it. you’ve set a place for them to eat, but they’re not eating that they’re putting it in their pockets or in their bags, so they have it with them, they’re not eating it. And so at first, you’re thinking from the american point of your thinking, like, they’re trying to get extra or something, you know, like maybe they’re going to hide it then eat it, and we don’t know if we have enough for them to do that because we’re americans, and we think the way we think, and then one of the local missionaries will come to you and pull you aside to tell you No, the reason they’re doing that , they’re not going to eat, they’re going to take that home to their little brother and sister who couldn’t come

i took my grandkids out last week, a week ago, my wife and i, the potty trained ones, the ones who had qualified for the grandparent trip, you know and It was time to pull off. Everyone was hungry, we took a vote, mcdonald’s won. I did not vote for there but that’s where we were going. My job is to sit at the table, make sure nobody runs off somewhere while robin’s ordering, and they’re all going happy meals. We want happy meals, that’s what they want. One of them wanted pancakes. I didn’t know mcdonald’s did that. They do it all day now, pancakes with lots of syrup. They all had to have exactly what they asked for We’re like that , too, aren’t we? But it’s. Not like that everywhere in the world.it is like that everywhere., it’s, an opportunity to recognize that it’s the lord’s provisions that eating together brings us closer together. But the highest thing is it’s, an opportunity to praise god, the giver of life.

Do you remember the billboards some years ago where a famous hollywood star, would have a milk mustache, and it was like got milk and then at the bottom, sponsored by the dairy association. And i always thought that we should say, as christians, some kind of commercial, maybe that said, got jesus, and the answer would be got life. Of course, the other side of this don’t got jesus don’t got life so that’s just how simple christianity is it’s, not about going to church, although we need each other it’s, not about a list of rules and regulations. It’s about jesus, he is life. If you have him , you have life. If you don’t have him, you don’t have life he’s, not just a source of life. He is life.

John 6:35 jesus was speaking to the crowd, the crowd that he had just fed by the multiplying of the bread and the fishes he’d fed over five thousand men, perhaps twenty thousand, including children and women in the crowd. And he says, i am the bread of life. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall not thirst, what, he is saying is , you want life you need to partake of me, i am life. i’m not just the source of life. I’m not just the creator. I’m not just the one who sustains your life through the gift of food, but i am the bread of life is what he is saying . Unless you take me in and believe in me and then receive me you will continue to be spiritually dead.

You see what we got when we come to these tables. And we offer this at the end of every service. Because we want you to have a visual and a tactile sensory reminder of what christ did for you. And we have this reminder you know paul’s writing this letter to the church at first corinthians where he says look some of you have been coming together usually the rich people an the older people who didn’t have full time jobs they get there early and eat up all the groceries and drink all the wine some of them even getting drunk this was going on in the church of corinth then the poor people who had blue collar jobs who showed up late would get there and all the food and all the wine would be gone and he said this is not right and he lets him hold it man you first corinthians man he rebukes them you shouldn’t do this you should wait for one another eat together it’s not about fast food it’s about holding fast to one another to get together and eat together and then don’t forget that you’re recognizing the lord’s body and the lord’s blood he says this he says for i received from the lord what i also delivered to you in other words i taught you better did not teach you this that the lord jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way he took the cup and after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do. This is often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the lord’s death until he comes

so it’s a remembrance which brings to mind every time what christ did for us. It’s also a proclamation that tells everybody around you. I believe the lord did this for me and he’s coming again, it’s, a remembrance memorial and a proclamation. It is mportant and it is equal to the other three devotions.

Recognize His provisions. It has a unifying effect. And it remembers the sacrifice of christ for us.

I’ve seen many a christian home with a plaque reading christ is the head of this house, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation. It’s, a beautiful plaque. Maybe you have one in your kitchen I like that plaque, but better still than a plaque is a person, the person of jesus at every table at your house. As you gather, you’re not in a community group. Get in one. If you’re in one, keep the four devotions all four. Eat together and remember jesus. I want to pray now, and when i pray first I am going to be asking, do you got jesus? I know what’s bad english. I know that’s, bad grammar. Do you have jesus? If you don’t have jesus, you don’t have life. Do you have jesus so it’s a simple question that’s a yes or no you don’t have to think about it yes jesus do you believe that he lived and died on the cross for your sins he was raised and he lives today do you believe that believing that’s not enough it’s not enough just to know it intellectuallly you must as an act of the will confess him as your lord and savior in other words you’re saying you’re the boss i surrender my life to your control have you done that that’s the first thing i’m going to pray so if that’s for you get ready get ready to say yes to that and then others are here today and you’ve been eating alone you’ve been too busy you’re not making space margin for the reminder that we’re connected to the father through jesus and connected to one another through jesus and the breaking of bread is essential eating together make space for it let’s pray

thank you for jesus oh thank you thank you for jesus that he lived came and lived with us took on this life of ours and more than that he took our death he died in their place he took our sin and offers his righteousness he took our separation offering his son ship his membership in the family oh thank you for jesus lord there’s some people here this morning that are ready to come to you. If that’s you, would you pray right now? Right in your seat pray, dear lord jesus, pray with me, dear lord jesus, i’m a sinner. I want to be forgiven. I want the life of christ i believe that christ died on the cross, that he i was raised on the third day that he lives today. And now, lord jesus, come into my life. Forgive me of my sin. Make me the person you want me to be i want to be a child of god. I want you to be my lord and savior if you are , praying that prayer right now believing in your heart then he’s ready to save you and make you a child of god oh, thank you, lord, that you’re saving people right now. Right now, in this room, people are coming into the family and then for the family members . Some of us got a spanking this morning. Lord. Thank you that we’re already forgiven that you’ve taken every sin. And you nailed it to the cross, so we’re forgiven. There’s no there’s, no shame. There’s no guilt, but there is discipline, and there is correction. And so we repent, lord, that we’re not making space to eat together, and to remember at every meal some of us are repenting because we’re not taking care of this in our family and our own homes. Others are repenting because we haven’t made room for this with other believers. But, lord, we commit. Now that will change that. We’re going to do what your word says. Thank you, jesus, that we are free and forgiven now and have power to keep your instruction in jesus name. Amen.