When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at his teaching. MARK 11:15-18 NLT
Gentiles > Jewish Women > Jewish Men > Priests > High Priest
May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you. PSALM 67:2-3 NLT
For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. GALATIANS 3:26-29 NLT
Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled …Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. TITUS 3:3 NLT
By his wounds you are healed. 1 PETER 2:24 NLT
Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it. 1 PETER 3:9 NLT
Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. COLOSSIANS 3:13 NLT
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. 1 PETER 2:9-10 NLT
Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. PHILIPPIANS 1:27 NLT
The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. REVELATION 21:24 NLT
Find a quiet place where you can be alone with God. Allow yourself to reflect honestly on how you see the church. Picture yourself sitting among a group of Christians and take a mental snapshot. What is the gender, race and economic level of the people you picked to be around you? Now, read through Galatians 3:26-29 slowly. Ask God to reveal to you the types of people you struggle to love. What causes your heart to close to these people? Spend a few minutes keeping your heart open to God, even if it feels messy. Ask him to give you the grace to love all of his people. Pay attention to your heart this week as it reacts to the people around you and continue to ask God to fill you with his love for them.