The document discusses how Christ tore down every wall that divides people by dying on the cross. It argues that through faith in Christ, all people are equal and part of God's family, regardless of distinctions like gender, race, social status, or sexual orientation. The document advocates focusing on Christ's message of unconditional love over rigid religious systems and emphasizes that God wants Christians to love all people, including outsiders, in a non-discriminatory way as Christ commanded.

1. WE BELIEVE
WHAT REALLY MATTERS TO US AND WHY
Fall 2016 Sermon Series | EvergreenLA

2. “WHY KEEP EMPHASIZING THE
CONSEQUENCES OF THE CURSE WHEN
CHRIST HAS CLEARLY CALLED US TO LIVE
BY THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS CROSS?”

3. “IN CHRIST’S FAMILY THERE CAN BE NO DIVISION INTO JEW AND NON-JEW,
SLAVE AND FREE, MALE AND FEMALE. AMONG US YOU ARE ALL EQUAL.
THAT IS, WE ARE ALL IN A COMMON RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST.
ALSO, SINCE YOU ARE CHRIST’S FAMILY, THEN YOU ARE ABRAHAM’S
FAMOUS ‘DESCENDANT,’ HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT PROMISES.”
Apostle Paul | Galatians 3:28-29 (MSG)
BY DYING FOR OUR SINS, JESUS DESTROYED ALL DIVISIONS, CREATING A NEW AND UNCOMMON COMMUNITY.

4. GOD HAS TORN DOWN
EVERY WALL
THAT DIVIDES
WE BELIEVE

5. WALLS
CONTINUE TO
DIVIDE US
MEN WOMEN
WHITE PEOPLE OF
COLOR
RICH POOR
ABLE SPECIAL
NEEDS
STRAIGHT QUEER

6. EPHESIANS 2:8 GOD’S GRACE
HAS SAVED YOU BECAUSE OF
YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST. YOUR
SALVATION DOESN’T COME
FROM ANYTHING YOU DO. IT IS
GOD’S GIFT. 9 IT IS NOT BASED
ON ANYTHING YOU HAVE DONE.
NO ONE CAN BRAG ABOUT
EARNING IT. 10 WE ARE GOD’S
CREATION. HE CREATED US TO
BELONG TO CHRIST JESUS. NOW
WE CAN DO GOOD WORKS.
LONG AGO GOD PREPARED
THESE WORKS FOR US TO DO…
MEN WOMEN
WHITE PEOPLE OF
COLOR
RICH POOR
ABLE SPECIAL
NEEDS
STRAIGHT QUEER

7. EPHESIANS 2:14 CHRIST HIMSELF
IS OUR PEACE. HE HAS MADE
JEWS AND GENTILES INTO ONE
GROUP OF PEOPLE. HE HAS
DESTROYED THE HATRED THAT
WAS LIKE A WALL BETWEEN US.
15 THROUGH HIS BODY ON THE
CROSS, CHRIST SET ASIDE THE
LAW WITH ALL ITS COMMANDS
AND RULES. HE PLANNED TO
CREATE ONE NEW PEOPLE OUT
OF JEWS AND GENTILES. HE
WANTED TO MAKE PEACE
BETWEEN THEM.
MEN WOMEN
WHITE PEOPLE OF
COLOR
RICH POOR
ABLE SPECIAL
NEEDS
STRAIGHT QUEER

8. EPHESIANS 2:16 HE PLANNED
TO BRING BOTH JEWS AND
GENTILES BACK TO GOD AS
ONE BODY. HE PLANNED TO
DO THIS THROUGH THE
CROSS. ON THAT CROSS,
CHRIST PUT TO DEATH THEIR
HATRED TOWARD ONE
ANOTHER.
MEN WOMEN
WHITE PEOPLE OF
COLOR
RICH POOR
ABLE SPECIAL
NEEDS
STRAIGHT QUEER

9. EPHESIANS 2:17 HE CAME
AND PREACHED PEACE TO
YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY.
HE ALSO PREACHED PEACE TO
THOSE WHO WERE NEAR. 18
THROUGH CHRIST WE BOTH
COME TO THE FATHER BY THE
POWER OF ONE HOLY SPIRIT.
MEN WOMEN
WHITE PEOPLE OF
COLOR
RICH POOR
ABLE SPECIAL
NEEDS
STRAIGHT QUEER

10. EPHESIANS 2:19 SO YOU ARE
NO LONGER OUTSIDERS
AND STRANGERS. YOU ARE
CITIZENS TOGETHER WITH
GOD’S PEOPLE. YOU ARE
ALSO MEMBERS OF GOD’S
FAMILY.
MEN WOMEN
WHITE PEOPLE OF
COLOR
RICH POOR
ABLE SPECIAL
NEEDS
STRAIGHT QUEER

11. EPHESIANS 2:20 YOU ARE A
BUILDING THAT IS BUILT ON THE
APOSTLES AND PROPHETS. THEY
ARE THE FOUNDATION. CHRIST
JESUS HIMSELF IS THE MOST
IMPORTANT STONE IN THE
BUILDING. 21 THE WHOLE
BUILDING IS HELD TOGETHER BY
HIM. IT RISES TO BECOME A HOLY
TEMPLE BECAUSE IT BELONGS TO
THE LORD. 22 AND BECAUSE YOU
BELONG TO HIM, YOU TOO ARE
BEING BUILT TOGETHER. YOU ARE
BEING MADE INTO A HOUSE
WHERE GOD LIVES THROUGH HIS
SPIRIT.
MEN WOMEN
WHITE PEOPLE OF
COLOR
RICH POOR
ABLE SPECIAL
NEEDS
STRAIGHT QUEER

12. MEN WOMEN
WHITE PEOPLE OF
COLOR
RICH POOR
ABLE SPECIAL
NEEDS
STRAIGHT QUEER

13. STRAIGHT QUEER
morality vs.
immorality
Christian
belief system
justice vs.
injustice
Christian
ethic of love

14. BELIEF
SYSTEM
ETHIC
OF LOVE
WHICH OF
THESE DOES
GOD WANT
US TO
EMPHASIZE?

15. Ryan David Robertson CHRISTIAN PARENTS OF QUEER CHILDREN
OFTEN FIND THEMSELVES TORN BETWEEN
WHAT THEY BELIEVE THE BIBLE TEACHES
ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY AND WHAT THEY
KNOW THE BIBLE TEACHES ABOUT
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
He never awoke from his coma. He died on July 16, 2009, at the age of 20.

16. PRIME DIRECTIVE
NEW & GREATEST
COMMANDMENT: LOVE GOD,
LOVE YOURSELF, LOVE YOUR
NEIGHBOR, LOVE THE
STRANGER, LOVE THE ALIEN,
LOVE THE OUTSIDER, LOVE
THE OUTCAST, EVEN LOVE
YOUR ENEMY.

17. JESUS CHOSE THE ETHIC OF NON-
DISCRIMINATORY LOVE OVER A RIGID
SYSTEM OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
“BE COMPASSIONATE [OR
MERCIFUL, OR LOVING] AS
YOUR FATHER IS
COMPASSIONATE [OR
MERCIFUL, OR LOVING].”
LUKE 6:36

18. “THIS NONDISCRIMINATORY LOVE, JESUS SAYS, IS THE TRUE
PERFECTION, THE TRUE MATURITY TOWARD WHICH WE SHOULD
ASPIRE: TO BE PERFECT AS GOD IS PERFECT IS TO LOVE
WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION BECAUSE THAT IS HOW GOD LOVES.”
Dr. Brian D. Mclaren, The Great Spiritual Migration (2016)
WE BELIEVE: GOD HAS TORN DOWN EVERY WALL THAT DIVIDES

19. UNCOMMON
CHRIST’S SACRIFICIAL DEATH
DESTROYED EVERY
WALL THAT DIVIDES
TO CREATE ONE NEW HUMANITY
C O M M U N I T Y
“CHRIST HIMSELF IS OUR PEACE” EPH 2:14