Romans 1:5-6, 14-16: Through Christ, God has given us the privilege
and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done
for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his
name. And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. For I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world, to the educated and uneducated alike. So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News. For
I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God
at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the
Gentile.
Romans 3:22-26, 29-30: We
are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this
is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet
God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this
through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For
God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right
with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his
blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back
and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for
he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this
present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he
himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his
sight when they believe in Jesus. After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.
Romans 8:14-17: For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So
you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead,
you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.
Romans 9:24-26: And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles. Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea, “Those who were not my people, I will now call my people. And I will love those whom I did not love before.” And, “Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”
Romans 10:4, 9-13: For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God. If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For
it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and
it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 15:5-12: May God, who gives this
patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each
other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. He
also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies
to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote: “For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.” And in another place it is written, “Rejoice with his people, you Gentiles.” And yet again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles. Praise him, all you people of the earth.” And in another place Isaiah said, “The heir to David’s throne will come, and he will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hope on him.”
Romans 15:20-21: My ambition has always
been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been
heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone
else. I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.”
1 Corinthians 1:2-3, 10, 24: I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters,
by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each
other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind,
united in thought and purpose. For to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23: Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. When
I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ.
When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that
law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could
bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. When
I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to
bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with
everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.
1 Corinthians 12:13, 22-26: Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,
some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into
one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And
the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the
greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be
seen, while
the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has
put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those
parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
Galatians 2:6-16: And the leaders of the
church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their
reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no
favorites.) Instead,
they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the
gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of
preaching to the Jews. For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles. In fact, James, Peter,
and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift
God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers.
They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they
continued their work with the Jews. Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do. But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. When
he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not
circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter
wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from
these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. When
I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I
said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth,
have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are
you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions? “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. Yet
we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ,
not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we
might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not
because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with
God by obeying the law.”
Ephesians 1:9-14: God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And
this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together
under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And
now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God
saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The
Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he
promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this
so we would praise and glorify him.
Ephesians 2:13-22: Now
you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from
God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of
Christ. For
Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles
into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the
wall of hostility that separated us. He
did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and
regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in
himself one new people from the two groups. Together
as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death
on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. So
now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are
citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s
family. Together,
we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the
prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 3:6, 20-21: And this is God’s plan:
Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the
riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and
both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. Now all glory to God, who
is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish
infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
Colossians 1:17-22: He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet
now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his
physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence,
and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single
fault.
1 Thessalonians 1:4-10: We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people. For
when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also
with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you. So
you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the
severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and
the Lord. As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia. And
now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere,
even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people
telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it, for
they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you
turned away from idols to serve the living and true God. And
they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son
from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has
rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.
1 Timothy 2:1-6: I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray
this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live
peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For, there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.
Titus 2:11-14: For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And
we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We
should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion
to God, while
we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our
great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He
gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to
make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.
1 Peter 2:9-12: For you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,
a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show
others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into
his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” Dear
friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep
away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be
careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if
they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior,
and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.
1 John 4:15-21: All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And
as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be
afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence
because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such
love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are
afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not
fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
Revelation 5:9-10: And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.”
Revelation 7:9-10: After this I saw a
vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people
and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They
were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”
Revelation 21:3-7, 10, 22-27: I heard a loud shout
from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He
will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be
with them. He
will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death
or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And
the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!”
And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is
trustworthy and true.” And
he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the
Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from
the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children."
So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. Nothing evil
will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry
and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book
of Life.
Additional Multi-Ethnic Church and Transcultural Kingdom resources and reflections:
Kainos Movement 2015 Conference
Unveiling the Transcultural Kingdom 2015 Conference
Multi-Ethnic Church and Reconciliation Songs, Books, Videos, and Posts
– Sully
