Ambassadors for Christ Pt2

Amen. John 17, verses 20 to 23. Hear the word of the Lord. Jesus is praying. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.

Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one.

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.

Amen. I don't even know what to say other than amen. That is the word of the Lord. Please be seated.

Thank you. Thank you, Tosh. Thank you, brothers. Thank you, brothers and sisters. Thank you for leading us in song once again. Questions and conflicts over the unity of the church have plagued us since the beginning.

The Jerusalem church and the book of Acts clashed over Jewish and Greek culture that affected the mercy ministry to its widows.

The Corinthian church was divided over leadership personalities, eating meat sacrificed to idols, false doctrine about the resurrection, and they actually had members suing each other in court.

Paul wrote extensive teaching to the Ephesians about how the gospel brings Jew and Gentile together in Christ. That is much more significant than our ethnic divisions.

It informs that, don't get me wrong, but that's a bigger issue. Makes me wonder if that church was having problems. James warned his congregation about what he calls partiality toward the wealthy against the poor.

And that word partiality can be applied in other ways, too. Ethnic divisions, etc. But in that case, in James, it was about the poor and the rich.

They were favoring the rich in that church over the poor. So throughout the history of the church, it has experienced divisions due to even national politics between nations.

The American church, as you know, as we live here, has been divided over ethnicity, racism, and socioeconomics.

People have asked often, how can the church be unified when there are so many denominations? I'm not going to answer that right now.

That is a good question. And sadly, even today, there are, especially today, actually, really, it's been kind of a wave lately, of sizable groups of Protestant Christians, sometimes called evangelicals.

By the way, the word evangelical is not a church. It is, or denomination. It's a movement within the church. Now, so understand what evangelical is. So, there has been a move from this Protestant evangelical stance to the Roman Catholic Church, or the Greek Orthodox Church.

And unity has been one of the concerns. You see, the problem is people mistake unity with uniformity. Unity is not sameness.

Sameness. Sameness is something that is forced. It takes away individuality. It takes away differences that God may say okay about.

You see, God's church is called to true unity. It is a unity within our diversity. And it doesn't ignore truth.

That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. Can't have real unity within the biblical understanding without truth. Amen. True kingdom unity. And you'll notice that's a blurb on the need to know this weekend.

Kingdom, one of our, one of the keys to our church. True kingdom unity embraces our differences while binding us to Christ and his mission.

So have you truly embraced it? Have you truly embraced kingdom unity? It's super important because Jesus prayed for it.

Amen. This is big, y'all. This is really big. Now, remember this prayer. It breaks down into three sections.

We've been looking at this prayer for a few months now. In the first section, verses one through five, Jesus prayed for himself, his return to glory. Then in verses six through 19, he prayed for his immediate disciples.

Application to us, yes. But he was praying in particular for his immediate disciples. And we ended that section last time by realizing that our lives are to be lived as kingdom ambassadors for Christ.

We are ambassadors for his kingdom. We represent him. We are patriots of the kingdom of God. And in being so, we are a people who've been sent by the Lord into every culture, every community, every nation, every people group, every tribe.

I'm trying to cover it all here. We've been sent by God into every one of these invocations to live sanctified lives set apart for him for his glory.

Now, in this final section, verses 20 down to verse 26, our Lord broadens the scope of his prayer. He's praying for his future disciples.

He's praying for the disciples who come out of the original disciples. And he focuses. Notice this.

His focus is, first of all, on our unity. This is the night before he's about to be crucified. And he's praying to the Father.

And what's on his mind? His church. And in particular, oh, this is really important. Our unity. What I call kingdom unity.

First of all, we may get to two points or one and a half. We'll see how we go. Kingdom unity unites all of Christ's true disciples.

Verses 20 and 21. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may be one, just as you, Father, are in me.

And I in you. Hmm. Our unity is important because it images the gospel.

Jesus' great concern here is for all his disciples down through the centuries. Notice this. He assumes his first disciples will be successful.

He assumes that people will believe based upon their word. He believes they will spread his gospel in that Roman world of their day.

How can he be so certain this will happen? Well, he's God. So we could say he sees the future. Better than that.

He ordains the future. The future happens the way it does because God says yes to it. Doesn't mean it's good. It says he's got a plan for it, but he says yes.

Anything he doesn't want to happen, he can stop it. You understand? That's why God is sovereign. Because the mission is his mission.

And therefore, it is not fully dependent upon human beings to accomplish it. Right. Right. Right. The mission of getting the gospel to the nations is Christ's mission.

He's called us into it to be used by him in it, but don't get it twisted. All authority has been given to him in heaven and in earth.

Therefore, whatever we do that's effective is because of his power working through us. That's good news, y'all. The first disciples had the privilege of bearing witness to Jesus first in their recording under the inspiration of his spirit, his deeds and words for all of us to read and study.

They were the eyewitnesses to the majesty of Jesus. So our faith, listen, our faith is generated by the same Holy Spirit working through the word of God that they preached and wrote.

Our faith comes from the same place their faith does. Jesus said, we believe in him through their word. That's why I just read it. Through their word.

Because their word is not merely their word. It's their vocabulary. It's their writing styles. But God was at work to make sure that what they wrote is what he intended.

The apostle Peter actually confirms this in 1 Peter 16 to 21. It's not on the screen. Sorry, I forgot to put it up there. I don't think I did.

Yeah. Listen to the word of the Lord. Write it down, the address, please. 1 Peter 1, 16 to 21. For we, Peter is talking now. Peter is there at the prayer.

He said, we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, somewhat the transfiguration now.

And the voice was born to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. They heard that. We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven for we were with him on the holy mountain.

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to pay attention. As to a lamp shining in a dark place and to the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

And he says, listen carefully. Pay careful attention to the word that is given you. Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.

We didn't make this stuff up. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. Man can't, people can't do that. But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

He's talking about the scriptures, the prophetic word. God speaking to his people. Men wrote down as they were being carried along by the Holy Spirit.

This is why Paul could write what you all know. 2 Timothy 3, 16 to 17. All scripture is breathed, listen to this, breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

All scripture, meaning the Old Testament and what we call the New Testament, only. Only. Let me just, did you get the word only? Only.

The books called the Apocrypha are not included. Books of other religious groups, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, the New World Translation from the Jehovah Witnesses, etc. Are not scripture.

Disciples of Jesus do not study such writings looking for spiritual truth. Why? Why? Because only the Bible, the scriptures, as Paul says, are breathed out by God.

Breathed out. That's a word. We use another word for that. Inspired. This speaks of the inspiration of the scriptures. The Bible is the air that comes from the God's lungs, as it were.

The Spirit breathed. Peter's words moved, carried along by the Spirit. The Spirit breathed on the early disciples to guide their understanding, their memories, and their writing.

Jesus promised that. We studied it. He promised it. In John 16, 12 through 15, Jesus said to the disciples, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak.

Hears from who? Jesus, the Father. And he will declare to you the things that are to come. What would be his great purpose?

He will glorify me. For he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. Therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Spirit moving upon those early disciples, the apostles in particular, so that they might write what is what we call the Word of God.

The Spirit will give them what will come from Jesus. It's beautiful. Their words, their prophecies, their visions were given to them for us.

To put it succinctly, he gave them the gospel and how to apply it within the nations. And so that's what we do. We pick up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

And we come to it not as the Word, merely the Word of men or women. We come to it knowing that it is the Word of God, which has stood the test of the centuries.

Though it's been assaulted, assailed, contradicted in so many other ways, lied about, twisted, and yet it still stands. And it's still changing lives.

Daily, minutely, changing lives around the world. Because it is nothing less than the Word of God.

Not the Word about God. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. That's not good enough. It is the inspired, breathed out Word of God.

And it is given to us. So that we would experience a basic oneness in our beliefs and living. Listen, this means this.

That all true Christians believe the same Bible. Translations aside. The same word. Jesus, key thoughts.

Jesus is the Son of God. John brings this out so much. The Son of God. God in human flesh. Who lived, died, rose again. Ascended into heaven. That our sins might be forgiven. The Apostle John even wrote.

Why he wrote the book. He tells us why he wrote the Gospel. In John 20, 30, and 31. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples. Which are not written in this book.

But these are written. I wrote these. So that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. The Son of God. And that by believing.

You may have life in his name. All true Christians believe this. Because without this we have nothing.

Without this. Without that. These truths. We have nothing. Without the truth that this is the inspired word of God. Then let me ask you a question. Because some people don't like that.

Even within the churches. They always want to ask them. Then which part is inspired. That you. How do you know which one is. If it's not all inspired. Tell me which one is.

Which part is. Who determines that. Personal preference. That's weak. That's weak.

And it won't help you. And it won't honor God. John was inspired to write. By God. To write. To write. So that people could read. Believe. And have eternal life in Jesus. And these truths are all recorded for us.

Throughout the Bible. So that we can live for him. Believe in him. And obey him. The early apostles. Taught. As Jesus. Said.

That all. The Bible. Points. To him. John 5. 39 and 40. I love these. I love these verses. Jesus is speaking. He says to the Jews of his day.

You search the scriptures. Because you think that in them. You have eternal life. And it is they. That bear witness about me.

Yet you refuse to come to me. That you may have life. What's the. What's the big theme of the scriptures? Jesus.

New Testament. That's easy right? Old Testament 2. If you read the Old Testament. I don't mean every verse. I mean every situation.

Every crisis. Every. Plan. Maybe even a chapter. Maybe a few chapters. But the big idea. Will be to point to something. That's fulfilled in Jesus.

If you don't see Jesus. In the Old Testament. Then you are reading it like a Jew. You. Okay. Don't see him either. Or maybe God help you even worse.

Like a Muslim. Who deny everything. Because they believe in some parts of the Old Testament as well. Brothers and sisters. The Bible is about Jesus.

God moved. The spirit. To move us. To move those who wrote the scripture. That we might be moved. That we might be. Listen. That we might be brought to unity.

In our belief. Around the basic truths. About Jesus. Listen. The more we. The more all Christians. Study the Bible.

With these parameters. And with humble hearts. Of grace. Toward each other. We'll grow in unity. We'll grow.

I want to talk some more about this later. But we'll grow in unity. But we have to come to the scriptures. With a basic understanding. Of who it's about. With a basic understanding.

Of who Christ is. As John has been telling us. We have to come to the Bible. With humility. Recognizing that. Everything you think.

Everything I think. May need to be. Isn't right. We may need to be tweaked. None of us has. And I'm saying to my reformed brethren.

Whom I love. And I'm glad to be part of the team. But none of us. Has it all right. But there are basic things. That we must agree upon. Or we're not even in the faith.

Who is Jesus? What is the Bible? Essential truths there. That determine whether we know him. Or really know about him.

Our unity is nothing. Unless based upon the truth of the word. That the early apostles preach. And we cannot change it. Or improve upon it. Our unity is based upon.

What we truly believe about Jesus. According to what is written. About Jesus. It is not dependent upon anything else. Nor should it be affected.

By anything else. The word. And the word only. Not your identity. Not your identity. Not your political persuasion. Not your national heritage.

Not your family background. Nothing. Is allowed to affect the unity. That we have. Based upon the word of truth.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Now let's look briefly. I'm going to end here in a minute. Let's look at the nature and impact of our kingdom unity.

And here's a big one. Oh, this is huge. Kingdom unity images the relationship of the Trinity. The Holy Trinity.

Did you notice what Jesus said? Notice his language. It's amazing. Verse 21. First verse 21. That they may be one.

Just as you, Father, are in me. And I in you. That they may also be in us. Verse 23.

I in them. You in me. That they may become perfectly one. Notice the unity that he means for us to live out and enjoy.

Is a unity based upon the oneness of the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is implied here. Because he is that third person of the Trinity.

That binds them together in perfect unity. Unity. Here is. In other words. Our kingdom unity. Actually images God.

It's based upon the mutual indwelling of the Father and Son. Jesus says the Father is in him. And he is in him. In other words. They share the same essence. So that when the Son acts.

It is the Father acting too. And vice versa. Jesus has been saying this throughout the gospel. This is the Trinity. Or tri-unity of God. You know people get upset when we speak of the Trinity.

Why do you make things so difficult? That's a very wrong headed question. Why? Because it makes it sound like theologians.

Having nothing to do. But confuse people. Sat down. And invented the Trinity. No one invented the Trinity.

The word or doctrine of the Trinity is used to explain the one God who exists. God reveals himself as Trinity. We just use a word that makes somewhat some sense to us.

That's who God. He exists as three divine persons and one supreme being. James R. Wright in his book, The Forgotten Trinity, makes this big point.

By persons. We say three persons. By persons, what we mean are three personal self-distinctions. When we say there are three persons in the Trinity, we don't mean like you would say, that's one person and that's another person.

No, we're talking about three personal self-distinctions. There are distinctions within the Trinity and they are personal. The Father is not the Son, nor the Son, the Holy Spirit.

There are personal distinctions. The whole undivided essence of God belongs equally to all three.

This is above my pay grade, but this is the truth. All that makes God God, his essence exists in each one. Father. Father. So whatever God is, whatever the essence of deity is, the essence of God is, all three of those persons carry that essence.

So all three are equally God, yet still one being. Blows my mind. One being. Joannicists, to their own destruction, miss this.

They refer to the Father as Almighty God and Jesus as a God, a lower order deity. Theologians didn't invent the Trinity.

That's just who God is. We don't get to change that fact or ignore it. It is the central truth because it is how God describes himself. Theologians call this, I'm going to give you the theological terms real quick, the ontological Trinity.

Meaning his being. Ontology, his being. His being is Trinitarian. But then we speak of something called the economic Trinity.

Economic. Meaning the different members of the Trinity reveal overlapping but different roles for each one. Especially in creation and salvation.

Different roles. Let's take salvation. In salvation. And we see this in John. The Father chooses a people for himself. The Father. He then gives them to the Son.

Whom the Father sends to save them by becoming one of us. Dying, rising, and ascending into heaven for us. Listen. The Father didn't come to save us and become one of us and die and rise again.

No, no, no. The Son did. Distinctions. Distinctions. The Son did. Then. Then. Here's the glory. Then the Father and the Son.

We saw this earlier. Send the Holy Spirit to take the Son's place with us. His people. Making us born again. Granting us faith.

And applying Christ's salvation to us. He protects us. And equips us to follow Jesus by transforming us. That's the Spirit. The Father didn't do that.

The Son didn't stay to do that. He sent the Spirit. Yes. Overlapping. Yes. But don't you see it? There are distinctions. This is very important. Because Jesus says this to show us our unity.

Our unity is based upon God's tri-unity. So we are many members. With different personalities.

Different callings. Different backgrounds. Different functions. But equal members. Listen. Of the one body of Christ's church. We image him.

And all of our wonderful glorious diversity. Some of you. Man. You're like my mom. You would never vote Republican.

You die first. Some of you. Would never vote Democrat. You die first. You both got problems by the way.

But that's another story. Yet you are one body. You are different. You are from different backgrounds.

I'm from the hood of West Philly. Some of you from Capitol Hill. City. You know. You come from the Boibs. Some of you are rural. You come from out there with the cows.

And the goats. We're different. I got even a different lingo sometimes. Different language. It's English. Yes. I'm fulfilling y'all.

It gets really weird. But listen. Some of y'all southern jargon. I wonder if you're speaking a different language. But beautiful. It's beautiful. Listen.

We come from other countries. We're Russian. We're Iranian. Y'all got mighty quiet. Don't you know the Christians are there? Your brothers and sisters are in those countries.

Don't you know? North Korea. England. UK. Australia. South America. Bueno.

You know. I know nothing. But the unit. Cuba. Cuba. Which is going through a hard time. Pray for Cuba. They haven't had power. How many hours?

56 hours or something. I mean my gosh. These people are suffering. Pray for our brothers. We're going to talk about maybe how we can help. Listen. All different. Different background.

Different histories. When I moved to Miami. I was totally confused. I saw all these black people. And they weren't from my hood.

They weren't African American. I'm like. Yo. What's up my brother? How you doing? Okay. What's wrong with him?

No. Because Cubans can be black. Dominicans can be dark. And then you got. And then you got Haitians who are black. And then you got Trinidadians.

I mean. The whole diaspora. I'm looking at all these black folk. And we all different. Different histories. Different languages. Different cultures.

But if they're in Christ. They mine. I went to the UK. Me and Santa. We hung out with our Scottish brethren. With their skirts.

I know it's a kilt. I tease them. But I know it's a kilt. I mean. I'm joking. I'm like. I would never wear a kilt. But I respect my brothers who do. Love their food.

Not that hoggy stuff. But the other stuff I love. Went to my UK. I mean. My English brethren. And I ate that. Family. They white as can be. They're some white folk y'all.

They white folk. But they white folk family. And I died defending them. Family. Then we went to Japan.

Kiko and Vincent. So good to see you. Love you both. Oh man. They're back. The hours are back. Went to Japan. Hung out with my Japanese brethren.

Didn't understand the thing they were saying. I couldn't even read the language. It looked like artwork. I'm like. What in the world? Different culture. See.

They resist colonialism. They don't have our baggage. Japanese didn't go for that. You know. I ain't bringing that in. They didn't go for that. So they said. So they have a whole culture.

That's somewhat isolated in some sense. But now it's. Their food has gone around the world. Now we understand. We love Japanese people. Come on. We always loved them.

In the church we should have. Family. Family. Different cultures. Different languages.

Different political persuasions. Some of our family. Some of our family. Might be communists.

Hold on. You know the face line. Now let's say I agree with their.

Political stances. But don't get it twisted. Right. Right. All because. We don't agree politically. Doesn't mean we're not family.

Amen. God likes diversity evidently. See we get all sorts. We are. We. You cannot allow national stances. National politics.

To divide the church. It's based upon the word. And the work of Christ. It endures. It's based upon the trinity. Our. Our unity and diversity.

It's beautiful. And. And see when we recognize that. We can accept one another. And. And even when we disagree. We can. We can. We can disagree as family. Not as foes. Paul said it.

There is one body. One spirit. One body. One spirit. Just as you will call to the one hope. That belongs to your call. One Lord. One faith. One baptism. One God and father of all.

Who's over all. And through all. And in all. That's Ephesians. And each member of the trinity is mentioned in that passage. Amen. Our church is made up of all the redeemed through our history.

In some ways it's invisible. For we find our members in so many different places around the world. We're not grouped together in one big group. One big circle. Thank God.

Because if we were grouped together in one big group. Wipe out that. Poof. Easier to wipe us out. Now. You can't stop this movement. You can't stop the church.

You step on one part of it. It grows over here. And if you're not careful. When you step on it. It may grow up under your feet. Because it's the work of God. You can't stop it.

It's the work of God. How do we demonstrate this unity? We do it by seeking to live it out in our respective local churches. Under God ordained Christ and his spirit filled church leaders.

Paul said it as a church leader. Writing to the Philippians. He says this. Complete my joy by being of the same mind. Having the same love. Being in full accord and of one mind.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. But in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest.

But also to the interest of others. Have this mind among yourself. Listen. Which is yours. In Christ Jesus.

It is yours. This idea of seeing one another is more important than yourself. It is yours. What's our problem? One, we don't believe it.

Two, we're worldly. We fall into the. That's why did Paul say do not be. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.

Why does he say that? Because they were doing it. That's what destroys our. That's what causes our disunity. Selfish ambition and conceit are what destroyed the unity of the church body.

We see it in church splits. The history of racism in the church going back to the beginning of our nation. We see it in idolizing leaders. I've been listening to the fall of Mars Hill. Some of you have heard it before.

And how we idolize pastors. Respect and idolization are not the same thing. Respect is biblical. Idolizing is ungodly. As if somehow he's never wrong.

Well, I'm only wrong twice a year. But that's another story. I thank God for elders and for friends in this church who speak to me and say, Kev, you know, it's okay.

Praise God. You know, vain conceit, worldly ambitions. We make worldly politics a test for orthodoxy.

We align ourselves with human movements over loyalty to God's kingdom and church. And sometimes we even confuse the two. We confuse the movement with the church.

We have a me first and my ideas first. I have to be right. That's why Jesus said, Paul said, humble yourself and see others as more significant than yourself.

Oh, Father, help us. How do you live a life where you see other people in the church, your brothers and sisters in Christ, as more important than yourself?

How do you get there? How do you live not just for your own interest, what you want, what you want the church to do for you, and look at your brother and sister and say, hold it before I talk about me.

How can we serve you? How do you get there? You have to go back to Jesus.

You have to go back to the cross and recognize here is one who did not count his interests and even his own life as more important than himself. You have to go back to him and grab hold of him and more, let him grab hold of you and remind you again that why are you loved?

Why are you loved by God? It isn't because you were wonderful. It's because he looked at you and saw what you needed.

And he sent his son to do for you what you could not do for yourself. He looked not at his own interests. Matter of fact, he let go of the outward show of deity and became one of us.

Wasn't even rich. Became one of us. The working class poor, actually. Jesus became one of us looking out for your interests, doing what was best for you. That's the only way we can get there.

We have to go back and grab him and fall on our face and say, Lord, deliver me from myself. Deliver me from my own. My own me first.

I have to be right. You see, we're allowing the world to sabotage. And so we can't look at one another's interests.

It's all about my interests. So when someone, someone, someone, one of your, one of our, we have immigrants in our church, by the way, you know this, right? One of our immigrant brothers comes, our sisters comes and says, you know, I'm really scared right now.

I'm really concerned. I'm here legally, but I'm concerned. I'm scared. I'm worried. I got family members. We're worried. What's the first thing out of your mouth? Is it, oh, talk to me.

Tell me. How can you pray? How can we, how, what can we do to help? Or is it something, was it something political? A political slogan? A political statement? A cultural statement?

Or is it, or is it kingdom love? Do you write them off? Oh, no, that's not right. Hold it. You're not an immigrant. Don't tell them what's right.

They can be wrong. Don't get me wrong. But be careful. One of your ethnic brothers and sisters comes to you and says, you know, I've been experiencing it in my job. I've experienced this sense of, of the glass ceiling.

This, I feel like, people, I, I, I, I, I sense this racism going on here. I feel, what do you say? What's your first word? D-E-I. Critical race theory.

Are you, are you out of your mind? Where's the law? How are you looking out for their interests? You're looking out for your own interests. And then, do we go, do we blame one group for all the problems in the country?

It's all your fault. It's your fault. The blame game. You people. You people. How are we entering into their interests too?

How are we recognizing, hey, what was it like to be them? To have a history as a people, but not be a part of that history.

And yet, face the blame of other people in the culture. How are we looking out for the interests of our brothers and sisters who don't look like us?

Are we using political slogans and political language to shut down discussion? To shut down people's hearts and what they are experiencing?

Is that what we're doing? Because that's not biblical. That's not the church of God. That's your political movement and persuasion. And I ain't down with that.

I'm telling you because I don't believe the word of God is down with that. Your interests. Your pain. I want to enter into it so I can be your brother. Because that is more important than anything.

You are my family. And if I can't, if I put anything before that, then Jesus' prayer is negated in you.

We're fighting against the prayer of Jesus. And we've got to repent. I don't care who your favorite political person is on the radio. They probably not even saved.

They're not living according to the word of God. Why are you listening so intently? Why are you putting, and even those that are, I got brethren, I can give names.

It breaks my heart when I hear my brothers stand up and say things like, I'll never vote that way again. And they got this platform. And they're leading all these people. Why are we going to, are we patriots of America or patriots of the kingdom of God?

We look out for each other's interests as one body of Christ. We seek to alleviate one another's suffering with the truth of Christ and the self-sacrificial love of Christ. Let me ask you a question.

I'm going to end here. Which political group or social justice movement seeks to do these things? To alleviate one another's suffering with the truth of Christ and the self-sacrificial love of Christ.

You tell me which group is doing that other than the church of God. You tell me which group can unite us over all our differences better than the church of God.

That's obeying the Christ of God. We got everything we need, family. We have no excuses. We got, and he's given it to us. He's given us himself.

He's given us his spirit. He's given us his word. He's given us the very, the very nature of God, Trinitarian, to bring us together, to make us one.

And it's true. In the spirit, it is true. The question is, are we going to live out the truth? We're continuing to allow the world in this crazy to divide us.

Well, that's it for tonight. That's it. She's glad I'm stopping. Okay, thank you. Okay. We're like a football team, family.

Football team. I love football. Unified. All those guys on the gridiron. They all play, they play different positions.

They have different weights. Different strengths. Yet they're all going in the same direction. Toward the goal.

Family. That's us. Different strengths. Different weights. Different callings.

Different positions. But we're heading toward the prize. The prize. The prize of the high calling of God in Christ. We're heading to the glory.

We're heading to the cross. And beyond the cross, to the resurrection and ascension. We're heading to Jesus. We're going the same direction. And we're doing it together. And we're doing it together.

And as we do it together, we will experience more of God's glory and presence and victory. And the devil's fight. And the devil's fight.

And the devil's fight. Bring it. If you're with me, bring it. I ain't going this by myself. We got to go together.

We got to go together. Because Jesus, Jesus is worth it. He did it for us. Let's live it out.

Father, help us now to walk in your ways, to walk in the ways of Christ, to give ourselves to the work of your kingdom, to give ourselves to the unity of your kingdom, to fight for this unity with all the weapons of righteousness.

To not allow the world to keep tearing us apart because of its divisions. May we be that place where the world says, wow, there's something better over there.

May we be that place where your kingdom intersects with this world and shows a better way. The way of Christ. Hear our cry in Jesus' name.

Amen.