Romans 14 - Prefer one another

The sanctity of marriage. Romans Chapter 14, let's go there now quickly. Romans, Chapter 14, for our visitors, we continue our study of the epistle to the Romans. We are nearing the end. How many have benefited from that study of the epistle to the Romans? Amen. Glory to God. I hope so, because we have given the best we could.

I hope you realize how one can read the word, study it, in a systematic, continuous way. There is so much you can get out of Scripture when you study it like this, verse by verse. This is called exegesis. The exegesis of the word of the Lord is that study verse by verse, Chapter by Chapter. There is much benefit in this.

So, in Romans Chapter 14, which is the Chapter that touches us, we studied in passing, the last time about taking advantage of time. Soon the night comes, says that chorus, time is to work. You have to take advantage while there is an opportunity as Julie said, while there is an opportunity to preach the Gospel, you have to take advantage of those opportunities. While there are open doors, we must dress in the weapons of light, we must live pure lives, we must strive to discard everything that is not God, take advantage of studying the word of the Lord, preparing ourselves to be useful in every good work, as it says writing.

But now we are going to move on to another topic, because there are all kinds of topics in Scripture that are useful and edifying for God's people. Here the Apostle Paul changes the subject, he spoke about respecting the authorities, you will remember, the importance of paying honor and respect and tribute to those who deserve it and then also taking advantage of time.

Now he moves on to another topic, which I think you'll find very, very helpful, as a church and let's see, Chapter 14, he says, verse 1:

“. .. Receive the weak in faith, but not to argue about opinions because one believes that he has to eat everything, another who is weak eats legumes. The one who eats should not despise the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat should not judge the one who eats, because God has received him. Who are you that you judge someone else's servant? For his own lord he stands, or he falls, but he will stand firm because the Lord is powerful to make him stand firm. One makes a difference between day and day, another judges the same every day. Each one is plenty convince about his own mind. He who pays attention to the day, does it for the Lord; and he who pays no attention to the day, for the Lord does not. He who eats, eats for the Lord, because he gives thanks to God, and he who does not eat, does not eat for the Lord, and gives thanks to God, because none of us lives for himself, and none of us dies for himself. Well, if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Thus, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord because Christ died for this and rose again and came back to life to be Lord both of the dead and of those who live. But why do you judge your brother, or why do you also look down on your brother? For we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, for it is written, as I live, says the Lord, that before me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess to God, so that each one of us shall give an account of himself to God."

Amen. We're going to leave it there, although the entire Chapter is really a single unit. But as you will realize, some of you may be wondering, well, what is the center of this passage? What is the Apostle Paul actually talking about here? What possible use can this passage have for us?

This thing about the one who eats and the one who doesn't eat, and the one who keeps the day and the one who doesn't keep the day, what do you eat this with? What is this man talking about?

We must remember that the Apostle Paul was referring to a problem in the local church at that time. Remember that he is writing to brethren who are just beginning in the faith and he is writing a letter to direct the way in which the church in the city of Rome conducts itself. He, as a man of recognized authority, is aware of certain problems. Perhaps they have written him letters or brothers from the church in Rome have come to tell him that there is controversy among the Christians in Rome about some theological and behavioral issues, and they want to hear from someone like him, who has God's revelation, about how should we solve this problem? What is the solution and how should we conduct ourselves?

He then answers this question according to the controversies of that time. Today perhaps the controversies are different, perhaps today it is not about food or days, and we are going to see exactly what that means, but today there are other controversies among the people of God, right here among us. Right now there is a diversity of denominational and religious backgrounds, and there are some who are more aware of certain things than others. Some have different opinions about certain things.

So, in that diversity, God wants there to be harmony. God wants there to be unity and we must seek the spirit that God wants. Paul begins by saying, "....Welcome the weak in faith but not to dispute opinions...", and then he gives an illustration about those who eat legumes. What was he referring to? At that time, there were different religious sects that believed that one should not, for example, eat meat. Even among the Jews there was a difference of opinion about certain foods. For example, if you read Chapter 11 of Leviticus, you will see there that the Jews received a number of prohibitions from God according to the Mosaic Law.

Look, for example, in Leviticus 11, so that you have an example, and when these people entered the Gospel they brought all this background of prohibitions and care about this and that, and their mentality was populated by caution, about whether they should eat this or that, and what now in the Gospel, if it was possible to eat those things that were unclean according to Judaism, if they could eat everything.

For example, in Leviticus 11 it speaks in verse 9 for example, “.... this you will eat of all the animals that live in the waters, - that is, the fish and the aquatic animals - all the that have fins and scales in the waters of the sea and in the rivers, these you shall eat, but all that have neither fins nor scales in the sea and in the rivers, as well as everything that moves, as well as all living things that are in the waters, you will have them as an abomination. They shall be an abomination to you; their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall abominate. Everything that does not have fins and scales in the waters, you will have in abomination....”

Brothers, that's where we just eliminated the lobster, the shrimp. Lord rebuke the devil. The scallops, as good as they are, because they don't have fins and they don't have scales. So these poor Jews had very limited what they could eat. Imagine what the Caribbean would do without the chops, without the pork. That is a punishment worse than hell for many brothers who are used to their chicharrones, their pork, their chops. They're like the Jews saying, oh, the garlic and onions from Egypt where are they?

And these Jews had received a number of prohibitions so they entered the Gospel with this very cautious mind of what they could or could not eat. There were also other sects such as the Gnostics, the Pythagoreans, the Essenes who were also vegetarians, some believed that the soul was imprisoned in the body and that the only way to eliminate it was by living a life of strict adherence to dietary laws and all these kinds of things. of things. There were a number of different groups in the Roman, Greco-Roman world, coming into the Gospel and his mind was still with all of these... It's like, let's say, brethren pentecostals to the letter who come to Lion of Judah and have the idea that women can't wear skirts that are above the ankle, let's say, or that aren't made of dongaride, denim, the thing that mechanic's pants do and things like that, and it has been said that they can't wear screens, as you say, or earrings or lipstick.

Imagine, by coming here, unfortunately you are disqualified as daughters of the devil, many of you, right away. So, they walk into let's say a church that believes differently and then they're in doubt and they look around and see this little sister speaking in tongues, but she also has lipstick on and they kind of have an incredible emotional shock.

There are sisters who come from traditions where, for example, you can't go to the movies, and all these things, so this is within us. There are sisters who have been told, for example, that to pray they have to wear a veil and we have seen sisters like that in our congregation, so pretty that they look, too. But, they are of different opinions.

So these people in the Greco-Roman world were coming with all these traditions and they were going into an environment where they had been told that the Gospel is not all of those things, that Christ has set us free from those things. things. Because the Apostle Paul himself, in other passages, has already spoken about all this.

Look, for example, in Galatians, Chapter 4, verses 10 and 11, where Paul says, “... you keep the days, the months, the times and the years, I am afraid of you that there are labored with you in vain....”

And in Colossians 2:16 it says, “...therefore let no one judge you in food or drink or in the days of festivals, new moons or days of rest, all of which is a shadow of what is to come, but the body is Christ's. No one deprives you of your prize affecting humility and worship of angels meddling in what they have not seen, vainly puffed up by their own carnal mind...."

The Apostle Paul himself had spoken very clearly that the Gospel is not about eating this or not eating that. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ was even more graphic. He said, look, nothing that enters the stomach contaminates the man because one eats it, and he said, excuse the expression, it goes to the latrine. He says that what contaminates a man is what comes from the heart, that is, bad words, hatred, all that kind of thing. That's the bad.

That is to say, that the Gospel emerges in the world freeing man from the ties to religion, to rites, to external things, to external sacrifices, to this to that, to be careful because in Christ Jesus we have received freedom, in Christ Jesus he is the propitiation for our sins. He has allowed us then, to be more free. Now, be careful, don't go too fast, it's not like we have a freedom to be lecherous or to... that's not the idea. But yes, Christ has freed us from paranoia, from obsession, from compulsion, from the fear that I did this, and now the Lord is going to send me a ray of fire to destroy me. I did the other thing and I have to have.....

In Christ there is greater freedom, we can rest. We have a God who is more tolerant of those little things, that before, men had to pay fines and make sacrifices to purify themselves. If they touched a dead person, they had to go to the priest and look for a dove and have them pour water on it, and be unclean for a whole week before they could enter their house. If he stumbled upon a dead animal in the street, well, it was already a terrible thing. He had to be washing his hands ten times a day to be...

Christ said, no, true faith is not like that. So, Christianity moved in that freedom, but brothers came who converted to the Lord and still had a certain caution in their hearts, with certain things. And then there was a struggle between those brothers and the rest of the Christian congregations. Some were extremely liberal and felt free to eat, they hit two chops and come on ahead, and if there's a third, we'll also get our hands on it. They wanted revenge for all those years that they had not eaten pork.

Others, however, looked at them and remembered the previous prohibitions. Others, for example, had been freed from the question of having to keep the Sabbath with all the meticulousness with which the Sabbath was kept in Judaism, or the other religious days of other cultures and religions, and they had been freed from all that, and they felt free. For them they were not enslaved to a particular day, others, however, still had that care, right? Like there are many Christians, for example, that on Sunday they absolutely do not talk about doing anything other than going to work or what whatever, or go shopping, because that's a sin. Other Christians are a little more, sometimes too free, they get too far and Sunday doesn't mean anything to them, and neither does Monday. The problem is that no day is for... they go to the other extreme.

So, always in reality what matters to us is not so much the specific situation to which the Apostle Paul was referring at that time, however there is a principle that is important to which the Apostle Paul alludes. There are two or three things that we have to remember in a community as diverse as ours. And it is the following, what do we do with the diversity in our congregations? How should we treat each other when there are differences of opinion about things that we consider important?

For example, again, between us there is not so much eating or not eating, keeping days or not, but there are many other things that divide us. For example, there are brothers who think that going to the movies is a sin, but yes, they buy their good video and watch it at home. But they think that going to the movies is a sin.

Others, no, they go to the movies as much as they can. Some think that having a glass of wine with a Valencian paella is no problem, and others see that as something sinful, drinking alcohol, drinking wine, perhaps because they were educated in another tradition. Some think, for example, some sisters think that wearing pants is not a problem, right? and sometimes they also get too big and those pants give him gangrene from how tight they are. Other sisters think that only a skirt is suitable and that you have to dress in a skirt that covers the charm as much as possible.

There are fights and then what happens? In those types of environments where there is a difference of opinion, what is the trend? Each one looks at the other who does not think the same with contempt or judging him. The one who is conservative in some area looks at the more liberal person judging them and says, 'that can't be a Christian, that person, look at him drinking that glass of wine, he's a carnal, he's a sinner. How dare he if it is very clear that alcohol should not be drunk', and then he judges him, that is, he judges him as not belonging to the people of God.

Now the one who feels comfortable drinking his glass of wine belittles and ridicules the other, 'look at that sanctimonious man there, thinking that the truth of Jesus Christ has not dawned on him, and Christ freed us from sin and already we are in the grace of the Lord, and all this,...' then he despises the more conservative little brother. So, there is a fight in the church, and we criticize each other and we divide into camps.

There are groups in the churches that say, pastor, let's pray because there is a lot of sin in the church, we must pray because the devil is loose in León de Judá, we must bind the devil, etc.'

Other brothers are over there like little lambs jumping everywhere and happy and their minds are clear, they don't have any problems and they feel at the same time, they ridicule the others because they are so strict, so conservative'.

And the Apostle Paul says, 'we must neither ridicule nor judge each other, we must respect each other in our diversity', how many say amen to that? We must learn to tolerate each other and know that while we are on earth there will be a difference of opinion.

I believe, brethren, that when churches and pastors try to put people in a straitjacket and make them holy in our image and likeness, sooner or later we unleash a number of problems on the church. Let me tell you, we do more harm than good, that's why a lot of churches you go into and they're like a little army, right? all the little sisters are dressed in the same way, sitting in the same section, the men, on the other hand, are also the same with their tie, no hair on their faces, of any kind or anything. What's going on? The devil is loose in other ways and there are scandals and things happen and this and that. Because, brothers, meat cannot be put in a cell. The monks have tried it through centuries and they have not been able to. The flesh is something rebellious that only when God glorifies us will it be... and diversity of thought, dictators have tried to put countries in a straitjacket and have not been able to because human nature is creative and it is dynamic and always tends to go in different directions.

What we have to learn to do is how to handle diversity. Furthermore, I believe that diversity is also beautiful, when we respect each other, when we love one another, when we learn to enrich and fertilize each other through the crossing of ideas and models, that strengthens the people of God.

And we learn from each other. The conservative and fearful little brother of all things learns, I can relax a little, I can loosen my bow a little and be fine, God did not send me lightning to destroy me, that's good. And he loosens up a bit and grows in his faith, in his trust in the Lord, and in the grace of Jesus Christ. And the other one who is too liberal, and too loose, like he also tightens a little bit and says, wow, the truth is that I should learn to pray a little more and fast a little more and maybe this lack is hurting me, this pants too tight, let's loosen it up a little bit. And perhaps escaping to the disco every Saturday is not doing me good because it is not contributing to my spiritual health and perhaps I should seek a little more of God's holiness and surrender to the Lord. And although it is not a sin, but I must seek more places and environments where the presence of God is instead of contaminating myself with environments where nothing is going to build me.

So, we mutually fertilize each other, we mutually strengthen each other and help each other. In the people of God there should not be that mutual contempt, that criticism, that judging one another, that gossip. When churches split into gangs and groups of saints and liberals and each throwing at each other, and interest groups and divisions, that's not of God.

We have to learn that while we are on earth there will be diversity of opinions, we will understand the word in different ways and we have to be aware that we are part of a body and that we have to respect space each other.

An image came to me thinking about the Christian life of a church, a congregation, as a kind of dance. Excuse me for using this image, but it's not like I've ever been in a place like this, but have you been to a disco or a place where people dance? There are many people dancing, many couples and everyone is dancing with their partner, very involved in the dance and what they are doing with their partner, but they are also aware of the others around them, not to step on their feet, not to push them. One is aware of two things: of what is happening in the internal dance, one with his partner, but also the larger dance of all those bodies that are revolving around each other occupying a closed space. And the mind is both local and environmental.

And I believe that this is how it should be in the Christian life, each one must be convinced in his or her own being of what one believes, what God has spoken to one, but one is also aware that one belongs to a community, right?, that we are all members of a single body and that we cannot step on each other's keys, because if I get so involved in my dance that I step on the feet of someone who is 6'8 "He's probably going to hit me in the head and it's going to spoil the whole party." So I have to be careful not to move too wide either because I have to respect the space of others.

And I believe that this is how it should be in congregational life. Nobody, someone has said is an island. We are all members of a continent, of a totality. And I believe that wise is the Christian who is aware that he is part of a family where not everyone thinks alike. And we have to express respect for each other, we have to be aware of the models that different brothers offer and examine everything and what? retain the good

And the most careful person, most conservative, most given to aspects of holiness, care for the divine, must stay within that and at the same time be aware of people who are not so given to emphasize those things and see what you can learn from that person. And the same on the other side, because I tell you, I learn so much from the Pentecostal brothers who are more devoted to the Lord, and I hope some of our young people have that zeal like that, that there are, more of them for the Lord and that our congregations were more given to fasting, prayer, holiness and other things that have been a great blessing to my life to meditate on and learn from them. And those people must remain and hopefully they can learn to let go a little too and give freedom to the spirit in different ways.

But Paul is talking about that, that we are not to contend about opinions, he says at the beginning, not to contend. The Gospel is not, brothers, to fight with each other. The Gospel is not to be arguing more than you, my interpretation is better than yours and this and the other and always be there finitely cutting each verse of the Gospel. The Gospel is peace, says the Apostle Paul, the Gospel is love, the Gospel is joy, the Gospel is unity and we have to work towards those things that contribute to the unity of God's people.

We cannot belittle each other, judge each other, on the contrary we have to respect diversity. Now, notice that there is something that helps Pablo in this process and it is the awareness that I am not the owner of my brother. Who owns my brother? The Lord. Who is my brother's judge? The Lord, just as he is also my judge.

Juan is not my property for me to be watching him at all times, that he did this, that he did that, that he did not call, that he did not eat, that he drank, that he went. He has.....his conscience belongs to God. He is from God, the Lord of John is the Lord Jesus Christ and he is my Lord too. I cannot claim to be seeing him, judging him, determining him as if I were his Lord.

That is why he says here in verse 4 “...who are you that you judge another's servant? For his own lord he stands or falls, but he will stand firm, he says, because the Lord is powerful to make him stand firm...."

That is very important, brothers, that helps me, know even if I do not totally agree with the little brother or sister in their way of thinking, but that the Lord who called her is powerful to take her where he has to take her in the end. My call is to pray for her, bless her, respect her and thank God that she is in church instead of sleeping or doing little shame there on the street. At least he's here looking for God. Praise the Lord for that.

Look, if there's someone sitting next to you, and they're asleep, snoring, don't be offended, oh, how dare this person while the pastor is preaching, leave him alone, he better sleep in church to sleep there in a room alone. bless him. That little boy who is out there doing something... look, he better be in the lap of God's people listening to praise and receiving the warmth of men and women who are seeking the Lord. Maybe one day the Lord will touch him. There are more chances that God will touch you here in the church than in the street. So let's bless it. Let us try to help them, discipline them, but let us thank the Lord that at least they are in the house of God, because the Lord is faithful so that one day the passion of the Gospel dawns on them and they become men and women filled with the Holy Spirit serving the Mister. Amen.

So, I think that's it, there's a little brother who is struggling with this or that, and from time to time he falls and gets up. Look, bless him in the name of the Lord, one day the Lord is going to lift him up, he is going to strengthen him and he is going to put him firmly on his feet forever. Mighty is the Lord to stand firm.

And when I know that my brother belongs to the Lord and that the Lord has a plan in his life, and that the Lord has an established day with him or her, it is not my turn to get into it. God's deal with a person, brothers. I have still learned as a pastor, that each individual has a treatment plan that God establishes when he enters into the ways of the Lord. and God calls him that spiritually speaking and feels him, and says, look, here I have my plan. This is what is going to happen to you. You're going to go through this, that, and I'm going to treat you this way, and I'm going to break you here, I'm going to cleanse you there, I'm going to do this with you over there, and it's going to take ten years but at In the end you will be clean and ready to go with me when your time comes.

And I have learned that the only thing I can do, as a pastor, is manage that process a little bit, facilitate, help. I'm like a midwife who can't get the baby out, she can't reach into the woman and get the baby out, but she tells her, push, breathe, don't give up, go ahead and when the little head is coming out, well it helps a little. and it facilitates, but there is a part that only nature, the creature and the mother can do. Yes or no? So we have to be like that with each other.

There is a part that we can mutually build up, advising, admonishing, helping, encouraging each other in the path of faith, but there is 80% that only God and that person. And I have to be sufficiently aware of the lordship of Christ in his life, and the sovereign and unique plan of God in that person to step back and say, hey, Lord, I'm not going to interfere here, because that's not my business.

We as Christians have to know, when we can put our hands in and when we have to step back and respect what God is doing in a person, because God does not work with each individual in the same way. Everyone has their own way of getting to where God wants to take them. Some fish are caught with one such bait, some with another, some with another, and God knows which bait he is going to use to bring each one to the final feet of Jesus Christ.

And we have to be so aware then of the presence of Christ in the life of each of his children, and of his dealings with each of his children, and his elaborate, meticulous, specific plan in each one That we learn to respect and give them space even if they don't think the same as us, even if they don't see things the way we see them, and be convinced that God is going to take him because God is powerful so that he will stand up in the end.

And that means, then, that the churches can be in harmony, that we can love each other and bless the little brother who thinks in a different way, the little sister who only wears her skirt, can bless the another who wears pants only and the two of them can bless each other and they can go eat after the service and bless each other and advise each other, until the Lord convinces them exactly where they need to be. Mighty is the Lord so that they stand firm.

There is something else that Paul says here that is very interesting, he says in verse 5 “.... each one be fully convinced in his own mind, he who pays attention to the day, does it for the Lord, and he who does not pay attention to the day, for the Lord does not do it...”

This, that each one is fully convinced in his own mind, means what? Look, if you think that not drinking alcohol is the only way for a Christian to behave, well, look, be sure of that and don't be looking over your shoulder what little brother is doing or gosh, I should really have a drink, so Well, what would I know with this food.... Do not be thinking there in your mind, if that is what God has told you, look, stand firm, believe it and live with complete security that this is what God has revealed to you and it's fine there.

And if you believe that having a glass of wine does no harm, well, look, do it and don't be brooding either, Lord, I will truly be pleasing or not, will this be from God or not, am I condemning myself or No. No, do it and entrust yourself to the Lord and entrust yourself to the grace of God and be convinced in your way of seeing the Scripture.

Now, even within that internal conviction, that part of the inner dance, is also aware of the greater dance, that there are others who do not think like you. How nice it is when in the people of God there are people convinced of their point of view but also capable of respecting the diversity of opinions in the people of God. Then there is harmony in the house of the Lord, there is joy, there is blessing.

I prefer a church of diversity of opinion, than a church artificially put in a straitjacket, with people apparently very holy but burning inside, with all kinds of thoughts and things. It is an external, pretentious religiosity, ultimately a liar because there is no legislation that truly enslaves the human mind. What I can do is convince, I can teach, I can instruct, I can inform. With the preaching of the word of the Lord, I can touch hearts, I can give them texts and material so that they can make their judgments. I have to speak the word of the Lord and I am going to preach it as the Lord tells me, and as I interpret it. Now, I hope that you, right there in your mind, receive that and be open to what the Lord is saying to you. Don't be tough either. If you are hearing from God, receive what God is saying to you.

Another thing that I think is important with respect to this is, we are not saying at any time, brothers, that everything goes, that each one, well, if I am convinced that this is fine, well, amen. There are things in the Bible that are very clear, that its no is no. Okay? We're not saying, for example, getting drunk and losing control, that's a sin, and alcoholism and any dependence on alcohol, and even excessive use of alcohol that impairs your judgment and your ability to think straight or to drive responsibly, that's it. sin. That is not from God and there the word of God is very clear, it says: do not get drunk with wine but rather be filled with the Holy Spirit.

There is clarity about that. There is another passage that tells women, for example, that women should dress decently, it says, yes or no? That is to say, the woman of God must use certain decorum, some consideration also how she dresses, so that she can present an image of a sober woman, a woman of God who is not arousing the bad thoughts of which we already have enough bad thoughts. Anyway, why more trouble, right?

Then the daughters of God must, yes, dress in a way that is decent, that is pleasant. What's more, the Apostle Paul talks about not wearing ostentatious dresses or outlandish hairstyles or things to attract so much attention. That is, there is a call for moderation as well. There are values....

What I tell people is, look, if you want me to tell you if listening to world music is good or not, I'm not going to tell you what it is good or not People sometimes want you to sort of mind control them. People want to be controlled, people want to not have to think, not have them deal directly with the word and develop maturity. You know that the Bible says that the ministry is for those whose senses are developed through use. The Christian must deal with the word, he must read the word, he must fight with those texts that encourage him to develop his spiritual muscles and his interpretive capacity to learn how to deal with situations. Instead of having a pastor there who sits in a chair to come and say, pastor, should I do this or should I do that? Should I go here, should I go there? Should I move there or...? Should I marry so-and-so or so-and-so? Should I go to such a city? That's not what a pastor is supposed to do. The pastor informs, the pastor teaches, the pastor instructs, the pastor advises but you have to finally make the decision in your conscience with God. And it will be me that you learn the word of God so that when the pastor is not there you can make the decision directly with God.

So for example, someone says to me, can I listen to world music or not? Well, I'm going to tell you, brother, what does listening to that music lead you to. If music leaves you edified, enriched, with a better knowledge of life and noble, deep and sublime feelings, then brother, listen to it. But if you are going to be listening to a man who is married and in love with another woman, and who drives him crazy, who cannot sleep and who does not know if he is shooting himself or not, if he is cutting his wrists or not. ...whether you sleep with her or not, how does that build you up, brother? If you already have a lot of problems staying faithful to your wife, why go over a song in your head because what it's going to do is contaminate your mind, it's going to add another front against which to fight . What blessing is there? Yes or no?

So, the question is what does it do, how does it affect me, how does that align with the values of the Kingdom of God, how does it build me up, how does what I'm doing contribute to my spiritual growth? That is the question. It's not that you go to the movies, or you don't go to the movies, like that. No, you can't go to the movies. Well, what are you going to see? Does it edify you, bless you or contaminate you and complicate your mind and leave you worse off than you entered? Why do we need to be seeing things? Television, is it bad to watch it or not? Don't ask me, what are you seeing? You are watching a novel that fills you... with all the problems you have, it leaves you with even more problems at the end. And you go ten years later and you are at the same point you were when you stopped seeing her with the same situation, the same struggles, the same tragedies, the same sadness.

Brothers, what good is that for you to grow in your faith and become the woman, the man that God wants you to be. In other words, the idea is that, brothers, it is principles, it is to seek the eternal values of the Kingdom of God that help us navigate those small problems of life. The important thing is, once again, to respect each other, to live convinced of what God has told us and also to measure our actions according to the eternal values of the Lord's word. Don't judge each other, don't put each other down. Learning from each other, seeing each other as members, and appreciating the good in the other person instead of just looking at the bad.

What do you think? Isn't that good advice from the word of the Lord? Glory to the Lord. May God allow us, as a church, to always stay in harmony, brothers. That is beautiful, beautiful.

Says the word of the Lord, look how good and how delicious it is to dwell brothers together in harmony.

I believe that one of the most beautiful things that God has given us as a church is our diversity. When I stand here I see different races, different nationalities, different ages, different socioeconomic levels, different educational backgrounds, regions of different countries, different languages. Glory to the Lord. How beautiful that is, and all in love with Christ, all headed in the same direction: towards the Heavenly Homeland. Meanwhile we love each other, we respect each other, we value those principles of the word of the Lord and we encourage each other in the path of faith. It is difficult to walk. We need companions in the trenches and we need people who, even if they don't believe exactly like us, but who encourage us, respect us, affirm our desire to reach the goal. So praise the Lord.

We are going to lower our heads for a moment and we are going to make a pact with God and with our brothers that we are going to be agents of blessing, we are going to be agents of encouragement for others, we are going to respect the mystery of that God who calls us and tells us, don't worry, my daughter, my son, I'm going to walk with you. I know there are things that need to be improved, but I'm going to deal with you and maybe it's going to take more time than others would like, but I'm with you. I'm going to take you.

Let us be a church that gives space to others, a church that respects the mystery of God's dealings with his children, of the diversity of the human race, of the God who is not satisfied with a single flavor but with different temperaments and styles and agree to be a church of love, a church of mutual respect, a church of reverence for one another.

Thank you, Father, thank you for what you have made possible among us. There are many things that remain loose, Lord, many ends to be tied up in this message and in this word that we have read this morning. But thank you for what you have already added to our wealth of knowledge. We ask that you allow us to always move in the love of Christ. That Jesus who was so respectful, even though he was God of human diversity and so respectful of the mysteries of looting, a Samaritan woman, a Peter with all his problems and difficulties, those who did not want to receive him and who his disciples wanted to throw out. fire on them and that he was so kind to those people. From Nicodemus who hid from the others so that they would not see him when he spoke with Jesus and he had compassion and mercy on all of them.

We want to have that same spirit this morning. Help us to have the right balance, Father, between the passion for your holiness, Lord, the fierce adherence to your commandments and your ethics, but also knowing that you have healed us, you have set us free, you have forgiven us through the blood of Jesus. We do not have to live in fear, in fear, because you have set us free and when we sin, when we fail, when we miss the mark, we can go before you and ask for forgiveness and you receive us and heal us, and you put us back in the path of faith and do not reject us.

Show us that balance, Father. Show us your balance, Lord. Thank you for this town. Thank you for this word that you have given us this morning, take us out of here in peace. We bless your people and on them we declare, Lord, the nourishment of your spirit on families, youth, children, workers, people who work in offices, in different professions, students, teachers, our communities, the We bless, Lord, on this day. Thank you for your dwelling in our midst in the mighty name of Jesus we thank you. Amen and amen.

Brothers, we bless you in the name of the Lord. Greet one another, show the peace of God to one another. Amen and amen.