We graciously welcome each other because Christ has graciously welcomed us. The message was given on Aug 4, 2013 at New City Church in Calgary by Pastor John Ferguson. For more info, go to www.NewCityChurch.ca.

1. Today’s Scripture: Romans 15:5-7
Page 949 in our guest Bibles.

2. We are told to see
everyone as NICE and to
be NICE, but this is really a
sinister slippery slope
toward taking no one in the
least bit seriously. If we are
ONLY NICE, we do not
truly appreciate the other’s
uniqueness and potential
blessing in my life. We just
walk by with a shallow
smile, wave, and nod.

3. If we are ONLY NICE, we
have yet to care for the
wholeness and well-being
of the other. If we are
ONLY NICE, we take no
interest in the story that
has shaped their beauty,
pain, and even ugliness.
And, to our great shock, we
discover that no one knows
our story either. Nor does it
seem they care. Our world
is left to us DESOLATE.

4. “We are NICE
strangers, indifferent
and tolerant from a
safe distance.”

5. BE DEVOTED to one another
LOVE one another
SERVE one another
ENCOURAGE one another
PRAY for one another

6. Our default mode
should be
“we” instead of “me.”

7. “WELCOME
ONE ANOTHER”
Romans 15:5-7

8. May the God of endurance and
encouragement grant you to live in
such harmony with one another,
in accord with Christ Jesus....
ROMANS 15:5

9. My prayer is not for
them alone. I pray
also for those who will
believe through their
message, that all of
them may be ONE...
Jesus of Nazareth
John 17:20, 23 (NIV)

10. May they be brought
to COMPLETE UNITY
to let the world know
that you have sent me
and have loved them
even as you have
loved me.
Jesus of Nazareth
John 17:20, 23 (NIV)

11. “Some bad behavior
is an accurate
reflection of a belief,
while other bad
behavior is such a
CONTRADICTION
of its belief that it is
no reflection at all.”

12. May the God of endurance and
encouragement grant you to live in
such harmony with one another,
in accord with Christ Jesus....
ROMANS 15:5

13. ...that together with one voice you
may glorify the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
ROMANS 15:6

14. It is one of the defining
marks of our time that
God is now weightless.
I do not mean by this
that he is ethereal but
rather that he has
become unimportant.
He rests upon the world
so inconsequentially
as not to be noticeable.

15. Therefore welcome one another
as Christ has welcomed you, for
the glory of God.
ROMANS 15:7

16. We graciously welcome
each other because
Christ has graciously
welcomed us.

17. Aim for true community,
not cliques.
1

18. We often surround ourselves with the
people we most want to live with,
thus forming a club or clique, not a
community. Anyone can form a club;
it takes grace, shared vision, and
hard work to form a community.
“ ”
~ Phillip Yancey

19. Practice true tolerance2

20. Max Lucado
A Gentle Storm

21. Extend the very welcome
of Christ to one another
3

22. To be a community of
light from which the
light of Christ will
emanate we need to be
INTENTIONAL in our
relationships—to love
the unlovely, forgive
the unforgivable,
embrace the repulsive,
include the awkward,
accept the weird.

23. It is in contexts such
as these that sinners
are transformed into
disciples who obey
everything King Jesus
has commanded.

25. Giandomenico Ricci: http://www.flickr.com/photos/89872081@N00/437450539/
Don Sutherland: http://www.flickr.com/photos/67832671@N00/8555297809/
flickr images courtesy of:
other:
Photos.com: Balázs Åcsi / 153562559