WEBVTT 00:00:09.699 --> 00:00:13.300 Hello and welcome to the Kalamazoo Church of Christ podcast. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:14.820 Thank you so much for listening. 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:16.160 We're Startup Church. 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:23.460 We just planted in September, 2020 and at the Kalamazoo church, we believe that Christianity is done best when it is done together. 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:32.299 And so if you live in the Kalamazoo area, we would love to connect, be it coming to a Sunday service, one of our small groups, or even just grabbing coffee with a member to learn more. 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:36.439 You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that. 00:00:36.979 --> 00:00:40.420 We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today. 00:00:42.350 --> 00:00:43.009 That's awesome. 00:00:43.310 --> 00:00:43.570 Amen. 00:00:43.770 --> 00:00:43.929 Amen. 00:00:44.469 --> 00:00:44.630 Yeah. 00:00:44.649 --> 00:00:45.130 Give them a round. 00:00:45.270 --> 00:00:45.549 Give them a round. 00:00:46.570 --> 00:00:53.710 We, uh, we're gonna, we're gonna, uh, start with a prayer and then we're going to open the Bible together and, uh, and then, and then we'll be dismissed. 00:00:53.810 --> 00:00:55.189 I know you guys have done so much. 00:00:55.270 --> 00:00:56.070 It's only been day two. 00:00:56.070 --> 00:00:56.950 It feels or not. 00:00:57.070 --> 00:00:58.689 It feels like it really has only been day two. 00:00:59.090 --> 00:01:01.109 Uh, you guys have been working so hard. 00:01:01.170 --> 00:01:04.170 Uh, let, let's pray, uh, call on God for strength right now. 00:01:04.370 --> 00:01:11.810 Um, dear God, Lord, uh, God, we really, we do pray for all of the people who we reached out to. 00:01:11.870 --> 00:01:24.890 Father, I know that you were glorified, you were as glorified with the person who didn't even acknowledge us as you are with the one who was so open and so interested in following you, God. 00:01:24.890 --> 00:01:27.890 And you're glorified because we're going out in faith, father. 00:01:27.950 --> 00:01:32.730 I pray that we will tap in and lean in and rely on your strength. 00:01:32.730 --> 00:01:44.129 Father, I pray that we will, uh, Lord, Lord, we're really are, I think in these next few weeks, a couple of weeks going to see our weaknesses and where we just need to rely and trust in you. 00:01:44.349 --> 00:01:46.329 I pray that we will do that, Lord. 00:01:46.390 --> 00:01:54.030 I pray it will not take us two weeks, but early on we'll, we'll, we'll give up whatever we need to give up and just lean in and lock into you. 00:01:54.030 --> 00:01:55.290 Father, we love you. 00:01:55.370 --> 00:01:56.269 This is in Jesus's name. 00:01:56.349 --> 00:01:56.629 We pray. 00:01:56.750 --> 00:01:56.950 Amen. 00:01:57.870 --> 00:01:58.290 Amen. 00:01:58.549 --> 00:02:00.129 You can go to this next slide. 00:02:00.230 --> 00:02:03.469 So what we're going to talk about today is thriving in unity. 00:02:03.890 --> 00:02:06.310 Dan talked a little bit about unity yesterday. 00:02:06.590 --> 00:02:07.530 It's really fun. 00:02:07.650 --> 00:02:11.930 The cool thing that I get to do is I get to talk to, uh, disciples. 00:02:11.930 --> 00:02:18.169 I get to talk to you guys who have been, uh, who have studied the Bible and have made great commitments. 00:02:18.289 --> 00:02:18.669 Certainly. 00:02:18.770 --> 00:02:23.289 It's so much fun to talk to people who are not, uh, not disciples. 00:02:23.289 --> 00:02:27.409 They're first learning about things, but it's so much fun to talk to, uh, to you guys. 00:02:27.469 --> 00:02:34.289 And you know what's really powerful is that so many of you, uh, wouldn't be, uh, wouldn't be in this room even just a year ago. 00:02:34.930 --> 00:02:40.250 Uh, if I, if you could just raise your hand, if, in, if you got baptized in the last two years, raise your hand. 00:02:41.370 --> 00:02:41.729 Amazing. 00:02:41.830 --> 00:02:42.370 And raise your hand. 00:02:42.409 --> 00:02:47.710 If you got baptized in the last five years, including, and then last two years, so all of it. 00:02:47.750 --> 00:02:47.949 Yes. 00:02:48.629 --> 00:02:48.990 Absolutely. 00:02:48.990 --> 00:02:49.090 Absolutely. 00:02:49.229 --> 00:02:56.150 And so we have basically the people would be here is like us and basically the, the, the leaders would be here is the only people really. 00:02:56.270 --> 00:02:58.969 And so it's, it's so powerful how God has worked. 00:02:59.129 --> 00:03:00.689 God has moved in your lives. 00:03:00.909 --> 00:03:10.389 Uh, I want to talk about this idea of unity and I'm speaking really specifically to, uh, to the, the Latvian group. 00:03:10.490 --> 00:03:15.110 Uh, so many, again, so many are going to get baptized in the coming, even few months. 00:03:15.110 --> 00:03:18.210 I really believe that God is blessing your faith. 00:03:18.449 --> 00:03:20.870 Uh, I think it's extremely important though. 00:03:20.949 --> 00:03:34.229 The idea of unity is one that in a, in a very mature group comes, uh, it's, it's obvious when there's unity and in an immature group, being united is something that's totally foreign. 00:03:34.490 --> 00:03:38.669 And so if you show me a group who is united, I can show you a group who is very mature. 00:03:39.110 --> 00:03:47.550 If you show me a group who is not united, I can show you an immature group and the goal of all of us, uh, is to be taken to maturity. 00:03:47.650 --> 00:03:47.909 Amen. 00:03:48.750 --> 00:03:52.469 Uh, the, uh, we're, we're going to have three points. 00:03:52.490 --> 00:03:53.990 Basically you can do the next slide. 00:03:54.050 --> 00:04:06.689 The first that we're going to look at is that diversity is so important that Jesus organizes it because you might say, well, if we're going to be united, we all need to be the exact same diversity is not the exact same. 00:04:06.729 --> 00:04:06.949 Actually. 00:04:07.009 --> 00:04:12.650 Diversity is that we are all different and our, our, our differences come together to make something amazing. 00:04:13.189 --> 00:04:18.550 And then the reality is unity is so hard that Jesus actually prays for it. 00:04:19.430 --> 00:04:22.790 Then the third, we're going to look at, uh, what is practical unity? 00:04:23.029 --> 00:04:29.529 What can we grow in even this week, even in our interactions in the coming days that we can grow in our unity. 00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:29.970 Amen. 00:04:30.470 --> 00:04:33.189 Uh, let, let's go to the first point we can go to Mark three. 00:04:34.689 --> 00:04:40.790 And so for, for you guys, this is in Mark three, just for you guys to know, I grew up, I grew up in the church. 00:04:40.930 --> 00:04:47.810 I grew up in, uh, my parents, uh, were, were, they met in the church, they were baptized in the church. 00:04:48.069 --> 00:04:54.709 Uh, my dad in, I think 1988, my mom in 1987 or sometime right around there. 00:04:55.050 --> 00:04:59.430 Uh, and my, my dad tells stories, uh, he said, man, I didn't know about the church. 00:04:59.490 --> 00:05:02.730 And then I saw your mom and I felt like this should be the church for me. 00:05:02.889 --> 00:05:07.750 Uh, and so, and so, um, they, they, they started dating, got married in 1990. 00:05:07.750 --> 00:05:12.709 I came around and I was born in 91 and I grew up my whole life in the church. 00:05:12.790 --> 00:05:15.269 I'm so grateful for this church. 00:05:15.350 --> 00:05:17.449 I'm so grateful to be a part of it. 00:05:17.569 --> 00:05:23.610 I was a part of a bigger church, uh, for a while, uh, in, in, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 00:05:23.610 --> 00:05:29.269 It's about the same size as Riga actually about, I think 600,000 people is Riga. 00:05:29.389 --> 00:05:29.850 Is that right? 00:05:30.370 --> 00:05:30.569 No. 00:05:30.790 --> 00:05:31.089 How much? 00:05:32.069 --> 00:05:32.250 Yeah. 00:05:32.569 --> 00:05:33.050 More? 00:05:33.430 --> 00:05:33.790 What? 00:05:33.910 --> 00:05:36.209 Seven, seven, between six and 700,000. 00:05:36.209 --> 00:05:36.569 I think. 00:05:37.509 --> 00:05:38.069 Or even more. 00:05:38.970 --> 00:05:42.110 It's about, give or take, give or take, give or take, work, you know? 00:05:42.449 --> 00:05:52.949 And so I, that was the city I grew up in and then, and then my family actually moved when I was five years old to a smaller town, uh, that Dan is actually leading in the campus ministry now. 00:05:53.269 --> 00:05:59.910 Uh, and, and then Nick is a part of, and we, we started, um, we were on the team that planted the church in Madison, Wisconsin. 00:05:59.910 --> 00:06:10.990 And so I got to see what it's like to be in a small church for a little bit of time and see even a small church get to be a bigger church of 120 and all this when I was growing up was stuff that I really embraced. 00:06:11.110 --> 00:06:23.470 And then later on, I moved over back to Milwaukee to go to school over there, university and me and Bianca, I met Bianca over there and uh, then we, we, uh, we've been married, um, nine years. 00:06:23.990 --> 00:06:30.670 Uh, and, and right away it felt like there was a connection, like we were friends, but, um, but there was a height difference. 00:06:30.670 --> 00:06:39.750 So I was very hard headed and I, I just thought, you know, I, she's very pretty, but this difference in height, I can't, we can't ever really date. 00:06:39.870 --> 00:06:42.949 I think we're incompatible because it just won't work out. 00:06:43.149 --> 00:06:45.709 Uh, I was wrong and thank God I was wrong. 00:06:45.870 --> 00:06:50.529 Uh, I remember one of my friends who I brought to church, he said, Hey, do you like anybody in this church? 00:06:50.529 --> 00:06:53.310 I said, no, I don't really like anybody in this church. 00:06:53.310 --> 00:06:54.750 Uh, he said, well, what about Bianca? 00:06:55.350 --> 00:06:57.829 And I said, you know, bro, he said, you don't think she's pretty. 00:06:57.910 --> 00:06:58.970 I said, no, no, she's very pretty. 00:06:59.209 --> 00:07:00.189 So what about her? 00:07:00.189 --> 00:07:05.509 I said, well, she's just a little short and he said, all right, but it doesn't really matter. 00:07:05.649 --> 00:07:05.949 But okay. 00:07:06.189 --> 00:07:09.029 And then that was a wise words from, from him. 00:07:09.110 --> 00:07:11.850 Uh, God works powerfully even through hardheaded people. 00:07:12.129 --> 00:07:19.310 Uh, you know, one thing to think about diversity, uh, as we talk about unity, it's important to talk about diversity. 00:07:19.910 --> 00:07:21.529 I'm really interested right now. 00:07:21.709 --> 00:07:24.110 Uh, so that was my background. 00:07:24.189 --> 00:07:33.170 That was the little, the little bit we can talk a little bit more, um, right now, right now we lead a campus, uh, we lead a campus, but then also the whole church in a really small town. 00:07:33.689 --> 00:07:37.550 It's, it's in Michigan, which is about two hours drive from Chicago. 00:07:38.069 --> 00:07:39.509 Uh, and the church is 31. 00:07:39.889 --> 00:07:44.250 We moved there in 2020 and it was the first starting of the church. 00:07:44.370 --> 00:07:45.350 It's been a lot of fun. 00:07:45.449 --> 00:07:46.970 So much, uh, so much fun. 00:07:46.990 --> 00:07:52.750 Actually, we have two daughters, one of them's three, one of them's one, uh, they, they keep us moving around. 00:07:52.850 --> 00:07:53.810 They keep us really busy. 00:07:54.730 --> 00:07:56.529 I'm talking about diversity though. 00:07:56.529 --> 00:07:58.389 So I, I, I'm interested right now. 00:07:58.709 --> 00:08:01.129 How many different ethnicities are in this room? 00:08:01.310 --> 00:08:04.589 So I've got, I'm, I'm like, where are your parents come from? 00:08:04.589 --> 00:08:10.149 I got, I got one, I'm Indian and then I'm also, let's just, let's just call, let's even work with me here. 00:08:10.250 --> 00:08:11.410 We'll call American just one. 00:08:11.449 --> 00:08:11.670 Okay. 00:08:11.769 --> 00:08:15.930 So I've got two different cultures who can Indian and then, and then American. 00:08:16.110 --> 00:08:17.149 What are, what do you got Jade? 00:08:17.370 --> 00:08:20.670 You got, you got Korean, Korean, right? 00:08:26.629 --> 00:08:27.029 Okay. 00:08:27.029 --> 00:08:32.928 So we're going to say Korean and then let's, uh, let's just plump all the Americans over together. 00:08:33.070 --> 00:08:38.029 So we got Korean and then a Hispanic, you said Mexican, Mexican specifically. 00:08:38.629 --> 00:08:40.288 And then, and then the EAS, right? 00:08:40.308 --> 00:08:43.269 So we got four, uh, at least four and there's more. 00:08:43.370 --> 00:08:43.830 I know, I know. 00:08:43.889 --> 00:08:44.169 I get it. 00:08:44.169 --> 00:08:44.370 Yeah. 00:08:44.590 --> 00:08:44.690 Yeah. 00:08:44.690 --> 00:08:44.789 Yeah. 00:08:44.830 --> 00:08:50.539 David, six, seven, eight. 00:08:50.899 --> 00:08:51.220 Okay. 00:08:51.220 --> 00:08:51.700 Very good. 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:52.799 So what, what else? 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:53.259 Who's beating it? 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:54.179 What are you, what about you guys? 00:08:55.580 --> 00:08:55.980 Nine. 00:08:56.179 --> 00:08:56.460 Okay. 00:08:58.179 --> 00:08:58.539 10. 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:00.100 Okay. 00:09:01.480 --> 00:09:02.700 Who's, who, who, who else? 00:09:02.779 --> 00:09:02.879 Yeah. 00:09:04.419 --> 00:09:05.139 We're 11. 00:09:05.320 --> 00:09:05.679 Okay. 00:09:09.409 --> 00:09:11.470 We can keep going on and on. 00:09:11.529 --> 00:09:15.330 Maybe if you looked at, I think there's so many different, Oh, James got it. 00:09:15.409 --> 00:09:15.909 What was that? 00:09:17.490 --> 00:09:18.009 Oh yeah. 00:09:18.110 --> 00:09:18.429 12. 00:09:18.529 --> 00:09:18.690 Yeah. 00:09:18.750 --> 00:09:19.190 African-American. 00:09:19.289 --> 00:09:19.429 Yeah. 00:09:19.470 --> 00:09:21.309 We're, we're, we're playing ball now. 00:09:21.370 --> 00:09:21.889 This is awesome. 00:09:21.950 --> 00:09:22.389 We got 12. 00:09:22.409 --> 00:09:26.090 That means there's 12, I think about 12 different ethnicities just in this room. 00:09:26.549 --> 00:09:26.889 Wow. 00:09:27.090 --> 00:09:28.570 Uh, how many different skillsets? 00:09:28.649 --> 00:09:29.850 We're not going to talk about it. 00:09:29.929 --> 00:09:31.850 Uh, how many different interests? 00:09:32.470 --> 00:09:34.129 Again, let's not talk about it. 00:09:34.169 --> 00:09:36.750 We would keep going on and on and on. 00:09:39.220 --> 00:09:40.659 Diversity it's so important. 00:09:40.899 --> 00:09:43.379 Uh, and Jesus organizes diversity. 00:09:43.379 --> 00:09:48.200 It says in, in Mark three says Jesus in verse 13. 00:09:48.299 --> 00:09:57.100 You can, you can follow along up there if you want to say Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted and they came to him. 00:09:58.139 --> 00:10:00.360 He appointed 12 that they might be with them. 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:03.559 him that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:05.360 These are the 12 he appointed. 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:28.220 Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter, James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John, to them he gave the name Bornegis, which means sons of thunder, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:41.059 It might make sense to think, well, if Jesus really wants us to be united, Dan talked about it yesterday, we talked about the importance of it, then he would make everybody the same. 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:45.120 But even in the people that he called, they're all quite different actually. 00:10:46.419 --> 00:10:55.919 So you think there's one guy, there's two guys named James, one of them is James, son of thunder, and you get the impression, this strong, amazing guy. 00:10:56.059 --> 00:10:57.279 Have you guys ever seen Thor? 00:10:57.440 --> 00:11:00.059 Like, this is like that kind of powerful guy. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:05.480 And the other one is called James, and actually it's called James the Less, is how he's known. 00:11:06.620 --> 00:11:12.159 So you have somebody who's so powerful and so strong, and then you have somebody who's James the Less. 00:11:12.379 --> 00:11:16.779 Think about, think about, think about, no, no, both Davids are not here today. 00:11:16.980 --> 00:11:21.440 But you figure, you know, you would not like to be called, I wouldn't like to be called Jaron the Less, you know what I'm saying? 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:23.259 We've got Daniel the Less. 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:26.360 And you're, think about being known like that forever. 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:28.580 So we have people who have different skill sets. 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:29.879 Jesus chose these people. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:34.639 Not only that, but there's two other people. 00:11:34.779 --> 00:11:39.019 There's one called Simon the Zealot, and there's Matthew the Tax Collector. 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:44.740 If you were a zealot in that day, it meant you were totally opposed to the government. 00:11:45.259 --> 00:11:52.799 You wanted to overthrow the government because you viewed, I'm very zealous for God, I'm a strong Jew in Jesus. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:57.580 The Messiah is going to come back, and so I'm going to come with power. 00:11:57.679 --> 00:11:59.419 I'm going to make sure he comes with power. 00:11:59.960 --> 00:12:04.720 I'm looking to, I'm even scheming at times in how I can kill Roman officials. 00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:07.519 This is, this is what zealots would do. 00:12:08.019 --> 00:12:09.980 All in the name of glorifying God. 00:12:11.019 --> 00:12:14.200 So you've got that guy, and then you've got a tax collector. 00:12:14.340 --> 00:12:20.980 Somebody who is so close to the government that he actually works for the government in order to oppress his people. 00:12:21.220 --> 00:12:26.340 He would take additional money from his people and demand it, or else they would be put in jail. 00:12:28.659 --> 00:12:34.000 If you were a tax collector, it was no, no, no Jewish person should interact with you. 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:38.320 If you were a Jewish person and you had a friend who was a tax collector, you were looked down upon. 00:12:38.460 --> 00:12:45.879 This is why the Pharisees looked at Jesus, and they said, man, this guy, he's messed up. 00:12:45.899 --> 00:12:48.960 He goes to eat at the house of sinners and tax collectors. 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:58.740 Two totally different sides, and yet Jesus says, you know what, unity is so important that we actually have to, we have to join together. 00:13:01.210 --> 00:13:02.529 And it wasn't by chance. 00:13:02.610 --> 00:13:04.590 Jesus called those he wanted. 00:13:05.110 --> 00:13:09.070 I would ask us, in the way of unity, this is something to think about. 00:13:09.149 --> 00:13:10.250 Do you want the same thing? 00:13:13.379 --> 00:13:16.879 Do you really want to have a diverse student ministry? 00:13:21.620 --> 00:13:23.179 Because it'd be, it's much easier. 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:26.320 Everybody, you know, for me growing up, I just love basketball. 00:13:26.460 --> 00:13:27.360 I love watching sports. 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:33.659 It would be a much easier ministry if the only people that I interacted with are those that play sports. 00:13:34.039 --> 00:13:35.820 That would be so easy for me. 00:13:36.220 --> 00:13:37.620 But that's not what Jesus wants though. 00:13:38.779 --> 00:13:46.200 If you look at whatever your interests are, whatever your skills are, if you just go towards those people, that's not what Jesus wants actually. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:50.580 And so we understand Jesus organizes unity. 00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:57.299 The next thing we want to talk about is this truth, that unity is so hard Jesus decides to pray for it actually. 00:13:57.799 --> 00:13:59.960 He's in the garden of Gethsemane now. 00:14:00.139 --> 00:14:03.500 We fast forward so much time in the garden of Gethsemane. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:04.100 He's praying. 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:06.460 This is right before he's crucified. 00:14:07.379 --> 00:14:09.039 And he's praying for you and me. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:13.980 The Bible even organizes, it says the prayer for all the believers. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:16.500 That's you, that's me. 00:14:16.620 --> 00:14:18.200 It says my prayer is not for them alone. 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:20.700 In verse 20, it's John 17 20. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:22.860 My prayer is not for them alone. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:28.080 I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message that all of them may be one. 00:14:28.539 --> 00:14:32.659 Father, just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:34.720 So that the world may believe that you have sent me. 00:14:35.500 --> 00:14:40.639 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one just as we are one. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:46.320 I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to complete unity. 00:14:47.539 --> 00:14:53.500 Then the world will know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:59.980 Jesus did amazing things, didn't he? 00:15:00.059 --> 00:15:01.159 What are some amazing things? 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:02.100 This is what I really want. 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:03.100 Just just shout them out. 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:03.940 Amazing things. 00:15:04.100 --> 00:15:06.039 When you look at the life of Jesus that he did. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:07.559 What are some, what are some amazing things? 00:15:09.659 --> 00:15:10.700 He healed the broken. 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:11.100 Absolutely. 00:15:11.139 --> 00:15:13.679 The physically broken and the spiritually broken. 00:15:13.940 --> 00:15:14.240 Absolutely. 00:15:14.419 --> 00:15:14.820 What else? 00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:16.860 He walked on water. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:17.460 Yeah, what do you got? 00:15:18.059 --> 00:15:21.740 He calmed the sea and he just, he calmed the sea when he was sleeping. 00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:22.840 He calmed it a couple of times. 00:15:22.940 --> 00:15:23.200 Absolutely. 00:15:23.500 --> 00:15:23.820 Yeah, Jake. 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:27.980 Yeah, he died and he resurrected from the dead. 00:15:28.139 --> 00:15:28.379 Yes. 00:15:29.580 --> 00:15:33.139 The other thing I said, he raises the young girl to life. 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:41.559 And I see inside of that that he just, he picks her up and he just, he dismisses the mortars that are just fake and they're just a little bit there and he, he goes and he does that. 00:15:42.059 --> 00:15:43.700 And how does he do those things? 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:48.080 He just, he just kind of does them, right? 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:50.659 He just, he just walks on water. 00:15:51.340 --> 00:15:54.159 He just picks up the girl and says, Hey, get up. 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:57.220 He just, he rose from the dead. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:58.480 He just, he just did it. 00:15:58.500 --> 00:16:00.120 He, he fed 5,000. 00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:03.059 He just, he gave thanks and he just did it. 00:16:05.539 --> 00:16:06.500 But what about unity? 00:16:06.779 --> 00:16:08.539 If, what does he have to do for unity? 00:16:09.860 --> 00:16:11.039 He prays for it, right? 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.960 If he's, if he's all powerful, he can do everything. 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:18.340 There's nothing that's too big, too little. 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:26.220 He cares about us so deeply, but he can, he raises people from the dead, but he has to pray for unity for you and me. 00:16:27.539 --> 00:16:33.340 The task of unity then is the greatest task that, that probably he's ever embarked on. 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:37.779 Because that involves you and me, right? 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:40.179 Even raising from the dead, it's so difficult. 00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:42.980 It's virtually, it's impossible for anybody. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:44.620 And yet, that's him and God. 00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:45.860 That's a him and God thing, right? 00:16:45.940 --> 00:16:47.299 He's walking with the father. 00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:48.519 He's talking to the father. 00:16:48.659 --> 00:16:50.340 He's fully connected to the father. 00:16:51.539 --> 00:16:57.759 And yet this task for unity, he's saying, God, just like I'm close with you, I pray they're close with one another. 00:16:59.259 --> 00:17:01.039 It's easy to say that we're united. 00:17:01.539 --> 00:17:09.960 It's easy to say, you know, in this, in the U.S., it's easy to say that we're a church that has all different races can, can, can come in. 00:17:10.299 --> 00:17:17.400 Black, white, Puerto Rican, you know, Hispanic, and, and, you know, fill in the blank, Indian. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:18.720 And it's easy to say that. 00:17:18.818 --> 00:17:22.098 I think in, in our churches, we pride ourselves on that. 00:17:22.220 --> 00:17:38.619 I would say this, you know, even, even for you guys, you, you can pride yourself that, okay, we are, we're a church of Latvians, that we'll allow Ukrainians, and we'll allow Russians, and we have interactions with these people, and all of this, of course. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:43.619 But it's easy to say, I think it's much difficult to be this way. 00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:49.519 When I was, when I was growing up, I didn't understand this very well. 00:17:49.579 --> 00:17:51.220 I did a really bad job of it, actually. 00:17:51.799 --> 00:17:55.200 There, there was a guy who, he, he looked different than me. 00:17:55.339 --> 00:17:56.500 We had different interests. 00:17:56.940 --> 00:18:01.759 We were some of the only people in the same age group, because it was a small church. 00:18:03.500 --> 00:18:05.039 We went to different schools. 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:08.200 We had a different home life. 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:18.400 His, his was a little bit more chaotic than mine, and I remember every single, just about every single Sunday after church, he's like, hey, do you want to come over to my house after church? 00:18:18.980 --> 00:18:20.900 Do you want to come over to my house after church? 00:18:20.940 --> 00:18:22.319 Do you want to hang out after church? 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:27.299 And I just felt like, you know, the answer is not really. 00:18:27.539 --> 00:18:38.880 You know, I, I remember being, you know, between, really, it was just about every single week from, from maybe third grade through, through sixth grade, from the time I was eight to about twelve, that I just, no, I'm okay, I'm okay. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:43.019 And once in a while, I'd go over, and we were, you know how, you know how eight-year-olds talk. 00:18:43.140 --> 00:18:46.500 They always, you know, and sometimes his mom might say no, and sometimes my dad might say no. 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:49.740 Majority of the time, it was, I just didn't really want to go over. 00:18:49.859 --> 00:18:55.759 I just wanted to be by myself, because it was, it was a little bit more difficult to spend time with someone that wasn't like me. 00:19:00.180 --> 00:19:14.480 I think if we're going to follow what Jesus teaches, then we can't have just church friends, and I think you know what I mean when I say that the people that we, we'll interact with at church, be giving to a church, but maybe if we see them, or if they say, hey, can I come? 00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:24.079 I don't know, well, we have got this, and you don't understand this, you know, okay, we can't be like that if we are going to be united how Jesus calls us to be. 00:19:27.559 --> 00:19:38.980 You know, I remember then, as I, as I grew up, I went to school, and I just became convicted of this, this fact, that if I'm going to be a disciple, my best friends have to be spiritual people. 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:40.960 It doesn't matter if we have everything in common. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:50.920 If we have Jesus in common, that is everything, and, and there's this guy, this, he challenged my ability to, to love and be united with everyone. 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:58.160 He, I, I wish I could paint as good of a picture as I'm imagining in my head right now. 00:19:58.220 --> 00:20:09.059 This guy, he's known all throughout the city that, that we live in, okay, and he's known as being a guy that dresses up as Superman, all throughout the city. 00:20:09.180 --> 00:20:19.980 Dan is laughing, because we've had, all throughout the city, you might see him, and he's dressed as Superman, and he might even talk like Superman, but he didn't look that much like Superman. 00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:25.740 He had a little bit of the hair, but he had a big belly, and he would just walk around acting like Superman. 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:34.039 He, he, he was known, he was on the news at various points, because he was dressed like this, and was, he was acting so much like this. 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:52.039 He, he was somebody who was a part of the church for a series of years, and we've had, we had so many conversations, and he's in his, at the time, probably early to mid-40s, and I was just a 19-year-old college student, and, and I, I remember him asking, hey, where do you, bro, where do you live? 00:20:52.579 --> 00:21:00.079 I said, well, I live, you know, right on the university's campus, and he said, bro, I live right there, right by there, and I said, okay. 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:16.500 He said, bro, let's have a quiet time, and I'm like, I don't, but I thought, you know, if I'm gonna be united, I have to, of course, I said, yeah, have a quiet time, but then I'm thinking, maybe he'll say, I'll go to his house and have the quiet time, and so I can, like, kind of hide a little bit. 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:19.619 He said, bro, you got free food at your place. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:36.460 I mean, well, because in the dorms, again, this is, I think, maybe everywhere, but at least in US, there was, in the dorms that you lived in for university, there was also, like, a meal plan that you had to purchase, and so you could scan a card to get this, the people in, basically, and so, is it the same or not, really? 00:21:36.980 --> 00:21:43.440 Maybe different, okay, no, too bad, yeah, but anyways, he said, bro, you've got free food at your place. 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:56.319 I'm like, well, I'm, I guess it's a loan somehow, but I said, come on over, and I remember this guy, he's, he's so loud, he brought these, this big thing of soda, because he knew that you can fill up soda for free. 00:21:56.460 --> 00:21:59.859 He was, he brought a whole thing of soda, he's filling up soda for free. 00:22:00.579 --> 00:22:14.059 Everybody's 18, 19 years old, and they're, and I'm, it's me, and it's this, this brother, and we're sitting, we're reading the Bible, some of my friends came over, and this became some, somewhat of a regular thing. 00:22:14.619 --> 00:22:17.099 It would, about once a week, we'd have a quiet time. 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:30.720 This guy, we're not alike, he, he has some, some different kind of needs, he doesn't look like me, he doesn't even act like me, and yet, I'm like, if I'm gonna be a Christian, then I, then I've got to interact with this guy. 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:37.140 This is what I signed up for, this is, unity is not unity if it's behind closed doors, it has to be in front, and you know what happened? 00:22:37.259 --> 00:22:40.819 People in my school, my friends, they began to know him, too. 00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:45.759 They said, hey, bro, are you gonna come to the, I play basketball in school, they said, are you gonna come to the basketball game? 00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:51.660 And so then he started going to my basketball games, and he started to cheer, like, only this guy can cheer. 00:22:51.779 --> 00:22:54.660 Again, I don't want to say his name, but only he can cheer like this. 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:05.240 You know, I, what's incredible, though, if we, if we live like this, people are going to be attracted. 00:23:05.380 --> 00:23:10.059 Again, we talked about, if we live this way, it's, it's gonna be very obvious to people. 00:23:12.990 --> 00:23:17.210 So let's, let's talk for a few minutes about what it means about practical unity. 00:23:19.630 --> 00:23:30.430 There's two things that you can do, even, even today, make decisions about that you can grow in your unity and in, in the, in understanding the importance of it. 00:23:30.490 --> 00:23:33.009 And the first is to grow in humility. 00:23:34.269 --> 00:23:53.690 It says in Romans 12, 3, it says, for by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 00:23:56.119 --> 00:24:05.500 Paul is writing this letter, then right after that, he talks about all of the different skills that people have, but before that, he says, don't think of yourself more highly than you ought. 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:09.019 Don't, don't think of yourself like you're this, some special person. 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:18.200 You know, there's, there's something that's true, is that all of us are needed, but all of us are expendable as well. 00:24:18.660 --> 00:24:20.039 So all of us are needed. 00:24:20.140 --> 00:24:21.099 You are so needed. 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:27.000 Your skills, what, what, what God is doing in your life, it is absolutely needed. 00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:31.799 But you know what's going to happen if you decide, you know what, I'm not going to be a part of the group. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:32.819 I'm going to leave. 00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:34.259 I'm going to leave the group. 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:35.900 You know what happens? 00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:38.079 God still works, doesn't he? 00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:40.119 God still moves. 00:24:40.700 --> 00:24:49.480 And what happens is you guys know some of your friends, some of my closest friends who decided to leave God, their life never gets better. 00:24:50.279 --> 00:24:54.720 I don't know anybody whose life becomes more fulfilled from leaving God. 00:24:56.220 --> 00:25:01.180 And so the reality is that we're, we're, we're expendable, but we're absolutely needed. 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:09.440 But the Bible says, don't think of yourself more highly, but then think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:12.859 This word distributed is an important word. 00:25:12.940 --> 00:25:14.400 It means that you haven't really earned it. 00:25:14.500 --> 00:25:15.920 It's just been handed to you. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:22.660 You know, if we were going through a line and I, somebody just had, there was a millionaire that's just started giving out money, maybe multimillion. 00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:26.819 Um, and he gave one person 50 euros and you're like, that's pretty good. 00:25:26.900 --> 00:25:28.680 Then he gave the other person 10,000 euros. 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:29.720 You're like, that's a little bit better. 00:25:29.740 --> 00:25:32.619 And then he gave this other person 100,000 euros. 00:25:33.099 --> 00:25:34.759 That's, that's way better, right? 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:36.579 None of us have earned that. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.819 None of us have done anything to do that. 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:40.559 It was just distributed to you. 00:25:42.059 --> 00:25:44.319 The Bible is saying the same is true with your faith. 00:25:44.420 --> 00:25:47.539 And so you look at areas that you are better at than other people. 00:25:48.059 --> 00:25:50.119 That's just been distributed to you. 00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:52.559 You didn't, you didn't do anything special to get that. 00:25:52.759 --> 00:25:54.799 God just decided, I love you so much. 00:25:54.839 --> 00:25:55.980 I'm going to give this to you. 00:25:57.500 --> 00:26:02.380 And if it's God that's given it to you, then it's easy for us to point to God when, when good things happen. 00:26:02.380 --> 00:26:06.559 And it's easy for us to be patient with other people through these struggles. 00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:14.519 If we are, if we are perfectly humble, then it's easy to be united. 00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:19.059 It's, it's easy to, to be a patient with people. 00:26:19.099 --> 00:26:21.859 It's easy to explain where we're coming from. 00:26:21.940 --> 00:26:24.980 It's easy to say, my opinion is not the only opinion. 00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:26.880 And I want to learn from you. 00:26:30.180 --> 00:26:34.480 The next thing we have to do a good job of is that we have to settle our disputes. 00:26:37.609 --> 00:26:43.009 In Matthew seven, um, the, the, the Bible, uh, this is Jesus. 00:26:43.210 --> 00:26:50.349 He's preaching, um, this, this powerful lesson, basically the longest sermon we have recorded, uh, from Jesus. 00:26:50.589 --> 00:26:52.769 And he, he gives this direction in verse three. 00:26:52.990 --> 00:26:58.690 He says, why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 00:26:59.109 --> 00:27:08.069 How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when all the time there's a plank in your own eye, you hypocrite first, take the plank out of your own eye. 00:27:08.170 --> 00:27:11.410 And then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 00:27:16.190 --> 00:27:28.569 I, for years, I didn't really understand what this, I thought it was like some impractical thing because nobody has ever, I don't know anybody that's had this, a big plank in their eye, uh, and lived to tell about it. 00:27:28.630 --> 00:27:31.230 Maybe they did, but we don't talk about those guys. 00:27:32.450 --> 00:27:35.210 So how can you have this, this big plank in your eye? 00:27:35.289 --> 00:27:35.750 What does it mean? 00:27:35.869 --> 00:27:45.630 Then somebody explained, explained this to me, but you think about for, for you guys, when, when you have something in your eye, uh, doesn't it feel way bigger than it actually is? 00:27:46.369 --> 00:27:48.849 You're like, what's, is there something in my eye? 00:27:48.930 --> 00:27:51.230 You, you open your eye up and you're like, you know what? 00:27:51.269 --> 00:27:52.230 There's nothing there. 00:27:52.569 --> 00:27:54.269 Uh, I don't know. 00:27:54.529 --> 00:27:56.609 Maybe, maybe it's, maybe it's gone away. 00:27:56.750 --> 00:28:02.049 And, but you think, wow, this thing is so, it's so massive because it's taking up so much of your vision actually. 00:28:03.009 --> 00:28:07.490 And what this is saying is as you look at other people, you know, sure. 00:28:07.490 --> 00:28:12.950 Maybe you see somebody, uh, that this, this, this plank would be sin, we can say. 00:28:13.410 --> 00:28:19.549 Uh, and you might see a little bit of sin in somebody and you're like, man, I've got, I've got, I better bring up this sin with somebody. 00:28:20.509 --> 00:28:25.410 But the reality is nobody in this world knows more about your sin than actually, than you do. 00:28:26.150 --> 00:28:32.769 If you had, think about for a moment, what would happen if you just decided, I'm going to think about the worst person you've ever met in your life, worst person. 00:28:33.569 --> 00:28:35.069 Maybe they're not even a Christian. 00:28:35.150 --> 00:28:36.170 They're the farthest from it. 00:28:36.710 --> 00:28:41.329 And you decided, hey, I'm going to write down all this person's sins, every single one. 00:28:44.059 --> 00:28:45.359 And then you decided, you know what? 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:45.539 Okay. 00:28:45.539 --> 00:28:46.720 I'm leaving that to the side. 00:28:46.819 --> 00:28:49.720 And now I said, okay, so now write down every single one of your sins. 00:28:51.819 --> 00:28:56.859 The list of your sins would cover over the list of their sins, the worst person that you know. 00:28:57.099 --> 00:28:58.799 And you could keep going right. 00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:02.160 You could write down, man, I thought this bad thing. 00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:04.019 I looked at this thing. 00:29:04.119 --> 00:29:06.059 I didn't say the right thing here. 00:29:06.220 --> 00:29:07.819 I was not kind there. 00:29:07.960 --> 00:29:10.519 And you could go on and on and on of your sins. 00:29:10.599 --> 00:29:13.480 And what the Bible is saying is maybe somebody is so bad. 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:14.559 Maybe they're so messed up. 00:29:14.619 --> 00:29:20.220 But if you look at your life, you'd realize that there's a lot more about your sin that you know, than even that other person's. 00:29:24.140 --> 00:29:25.420 But there's two parts of it. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:26.440 The Bible doesn't end there. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:30.380 And I think where we can go is understanding that and saying, well, I'm so messed up. 00:29:30.460 --> 00:29:31.700 I'm just not going to speak up. 00:29:31.819 --> 00:29:32.160 I'm done. 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:36.119 The Bible says, what does it say? 00:29:36.259 --> 00:29:39.039 Well, it says, take this plank out of your own eye. 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:41.079 What does that mean to take a plank out of your own eye? 00:29:41.460 --> 00:29:44.319 It means to acknowledge that I'm sinful. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:45.900 I'm walking into this conversation. 00:29:46.420 --> 00:29:51.720 Even if I'm telling them, hey, you said this mean thing to me, I'm walking in and I know only one mean thing they said. 00:29:52.920 --> 00:29:55.339 I know about 100 mean things that I've said. 00:29:55.660 --> 00:29:57.880 And so I need to walk in with humility. 00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:01.740 But it says to walk in first take the plank out of your eye. 00:30:02.180 --> 00:30:04.519 And then you can remove the speck from your brother's eye. 00:30:06.349 --> 00:30:14.109 I think one of the big detractors of unity is people that say, you know what, it's not that important to bring up sin with somebody. 00:30:14.210 --> 00:30:15.329 So I'm just not going to say anything. 00:30:16.210 --> 00:30:18.170 Or it's not that important to bring it up. 00:30:18.250 --> 00:30:19.789 They're going to respond so badly. 00:30:20.049 --> 00:30:22.369 So I'm not going to speak up to them. 00:30:22.789 --> 00:30:24.410 But I'm going to talk behind their back. 00:30:24.470 --> 00:30:27.089 And I'm going to say, let me get advice about this. 00:30:27.150 --> 00:30:28.289 Let me get advice about it. 00:30:28.289 --> 00:30:29.150 I'm getting advice. 00:30:29.589 --> 00:30:32.589 But if you're never actually going to talk to them, all you're doing is gossiping. 00:30:38.009 --> 00:30:39.529 You're going to talk behind somebody's back. 00:30:39.569 --> 00:30:46.750 It's not a way to create unity issues with you're always going to have issues, we're going to be united, we'll always have problems. 00:30:48.049 --> 00:31:05.170 But the call in the Bible is to deal with these problems, like this to come with humility, to just say, hey, it hurt my feelings when you did this, it hurt my feelings when you said this, how I noticed that you did this thing, right? 00:31:05.190 --> 00:31:08.450 I saw you, I saw that interaction with and it felt weird. 00:31:09.809 --> 00:31:11.049 What was that about? 00:31:11.170 --> 00:31:12.069 Was I misreading it? 00:31:12.109 --> 00:31:12.950 Did I come in wrong? 00:31:16.190 --> 00:31:17.609 We're talking bad behind somebody's back. 00:31:17.650 --> 00:31:18.849 That's no way to create unity. 00:31:19.690 --> 00:31:23.150 It's actually tearing down the exact thing Jesus is praying for. 00:31:27.339 --> 00:31:28.500 So what does that mean? 00:31:28.579 --> 00:31:30.420 What does that mean for us? 00:31:30.500 --> 00:31:34.380 Well, it means I hope you realize that without Jesus, there's no hope for unity. 00:31:35.339 --> 00:31:53.559 I hope that there's no you cannot show me in all of the world, any, any religion, any group, any organization, any school, any job, you can't show me anything like that, even if they have everything in common, on the surface that is united like this. 00:31:53.980 --> 00:31:55.140 There's no such thing. 00:31:55.880 --> 00:31:59.180 Even inside of political parties, there's so many conflicts, right? 00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:08.059 Even inside of teams, you know, like, like basketball teams, football teams, there's so many conflicts inside of workplaces, there are so many conflicts. 00:32:08.359 --> 00:32:10.660 There's no hope of unity without Jesus. 00:32:12.700 --> 00:32:22.119 But imagine what would happen if we decided in this in this room, us disciples, we are going to put the same emphasis on unity that Jesus put on unity. 00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:22.859 Come on. 00:32:24.220 --> 00:32:27.359 It's amazing knowing that we can you can settle disputes. 00:32:27.779 --> 00:32:30.240 And you don't want the person how the person is going to respond. 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:32.559 Usually they respond. 00:32:32.940 --> 00:32:33.200 Amen. 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:33.980 I'm sorry. 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:35.539 I don't want to be I don't want to hurt your feelings. 00:32:36.660 --> 00:32:38.819 And then the Bible is also clear when they don't respond that way. 00:32:38.940 --> 00:32:42.819 He says, well, bring somebody else alongside you and so that you can deal with these matters. 00:32:42.940 --> 00:32:44.400 This is stuff the world doesn't know about. 00:32:44.900 --> 00:32:50.279 The world said what it says one of two things, one of the world will yell, and then never talk to the person. 00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:58.480 So many families are like this, at least, again, maybe I'm overstepping, I can speak in America, so many families, you ask, there's disagreements, and there's conflicts. 00:32:58.480 --> 00:32:59.420 And how did it start? 00:33:00.380 --> 00:33:01.359 Sometimes they don't remember. 00:33:02.059 --> 00:33:04.880 I haven't talked to my sister in 15 years. 00:33:05.059 --> 00:33:05.980 Well, what happened? 00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:08.140 Well, she was late to dinner one day. 00:33:08.779 --> 00:33:09.680 And that's it. 00:33:10.380 --> 00:33:12.940 And it keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. 00:33:14.099 --> 00:33:18.140 But knowing that we can settle disputes with one another, we're united, that's an amazing feeling. 00:33:18.740 --> 00:33:23.079 Knowing that someone has your back when you mess up is an amazing feeling. 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:37.019 Knowing that we are focused on the same goal, and we are focused on winning the world for Christ, that's an amazing feeling to be part of the most amazing group that has ever walked this earth, that being Christians. 00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:50.400 We living this way, we are acting to speed along Jesus's coming by creating more pockets of Christianity in the world. 00:33:50.579 --> 00:33:54.180 But there's again, there's no point to be like this. 00:33:54.240 --> 00:33:56.359 There's no point, even we can baptize. 00:33:56.359 --> 00:33:59.839 Let's say just let's just imagine this week we baptize 500 people. 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:01.299 How could it ever happen? 00:34:01.559 --> 00:34:04.559 Well, Jesus baptized, you know, Peter baptized 3000, right? 00:34:04.599 --> 00:34:05.180 That's what it says. 00:34:05.220 --> 00:34:09.079 And so 500 is actually a small number, according to according to God. 00:34:09.139 --> 00:34:12.599 But let's say we baptize 500 people, and we are on top of the world. 00:34:13.300 --> 00:34:16.239 But if we are not united, then it doesn't matter. 00:34:17.079 --> 00:34:18.460 It makes no difference. 00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:20.860 I don't mean that God is not so pleased. 00:34:20.940 --> 00:34:22.159 I think God is more pleased. 00:34:22.800 --> 00:34:32.840 If we decide we're going to be united, and we're going to be people that instead you guys understand, maybe maybe you use this analogy, what hurts more a slap or a punch? 00:34:33.940 --> 00:34:35.159 Of course, a punch, right? 00:34:35.320 --> 00:34:36.119 Don't don't try it. 00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:36.980 Don't try it when you go. 00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:38.539 Let's practice. 00:34:39.860 --> 00:34:41.199 But the punch hurts more, right? 00:34:41.219 --> 00:34:42.980 A slap, it stings a little bit. 00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:45.280 The punch, you can feel you can feel it. 00:34:46.460 --> 00:34:49.719 When we're united, the devil is going to feel us even more. 00:34:49.719 --> 00:34:49.960 Amen. 00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:56.019 Let's, let's, let's pray for unity, just like Jesus did. 00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:58.599 And then I want to actually hear some response. 00:34:58.659 --> 00:35:08.860 So take a moment, if anything really connected well, or you feel like I want to say this one thing, or if there's a question I'd love to, to answer or we can even answer together. 00:35:08.940 --> 00:35:09.119 Amen. 00:35:09.659 --> 00:35:10.920 Let's let's pray right now. 00:35:14.300 --> 00:35:22.800 Dear God, Lord, the same way Jesus that you prayed for unity, Lord, give, we pray for unity as well. 00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:25.699 Lord, we know that there's no hope for unity without you. 00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:40.840 God, we know that there that we can never reach this place of unity, we can never be fully connected to one another, there will always be something that that's holding us back if we are not united in the name of you, Jesus. 00:35:41.219 --> 00:35:46.019 And then we just, we ask that you give us the conviction that it matters. 00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:48.800 Lord, I think sometimes I can feel like, what's the point? 00:35:48.940 --> 00:35:57.599 But, but I know that that you call us to that Father, I'm convicted that you've done so many amazing things that was so easy. 00:35:57.699 --> 00:36:02.900 And yet because of our hard headedness, you have to pray for us to be united. 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:37.300 Lord, we we pray that we will be united so much so that that we'll call in there will be no cliques or no groups, or no factions among us, Lord, I pray that we will, when we have conflicts with each other, or with leadership, or with, or with our siblings or with our family members, and I pray that we will settle these disputes according to how you teach Father by coming with humility, and by by sharing how we're feeling and then by calling other people to follow what the Bible teaches, Lord, we love you. 00:36:37.980 --> 00:36:45.000 This is Jesus, if we can only pray this, this crazy prayer, because you died for our sins, and then you rose again. 00:36:45.599 --> 00:36:47.280 So it's in your name that we pray. 00:36:47.699 --> 00:36:47.920 Amen. 00:36:49.219 --> 00:36:49.780 Awesome. 00:36:51.420 --> 00:36:56.099 Thank you so much for listening to the Kalamazoo Church of Christ podcast. 00:36:56.579 --> 00:37:07.380 If you're in the Kalamazoo area, we'd love to get connected, please go to kalamazoo.church and fill in your information to come to a Sunday service or any other event that we have going on. 00:37:07.539 --> 00:37:10.000 In any case, you'll be hearing from us next week.