The Imperfect ChurchActs 6“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” John 13:14-17“The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. Shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.” Cornelius Plantinga 1. God is perfect, the church is not.“The apostolic age is a creation of the Christian imagination. There never was a Golden Age when the Church was whole, perfect, pure-virginal. The faith was not purer, the Christians were not braver, the Church was not one and undivided.” - Robert Wilken1. God is perfect, the church is not.2. Roles in the church, what is yours?3. What God values:Good Reputation: “A good name is better than precious ointment” Ecc 7:1“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.” Proverbs 22:1Full of the Spirit:“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8Wisdom:“Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” Prov. 19:20Stephen was “full of” or controlled by five factors: the Spirit wisdom faith grace power “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14Immanuel = “God with us”"Too often churches have understood themselves to be taking God to a godless world rather than following God into a world in which God is already redemptively present." - G.W.Stroup“My Father is working until now, and I am working.” John 5:17