First Baptist Church of El Dorado - Sermons

Transformed Life: We Show We Belong To Jesus When We Lay Down Our Preferences For Each Other | Romans 14

• FBC El Dorado • Season 2025

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This week, we study Romans 14 to discover how a church filled with diverse preferences can remain united. Paul shows us the way: keep essentials central, giving liberty in non-essentials, and practicing charity in all things. We’re called to lay down our preferences, welcome one another, and trust God to be the Judge.

In this message, we explore:

  • What it meant to have strong and weak consciences in Rome
  • How to welcome without quarreling over opinions
  • Disputes about food, special days, and conscience
  • Why God alone is Judge—and we are not
  • Essentials as the foundation for unity
  • Non-essentials as areas of liberty
  • Charity as the posture in every disagreement
  • Denominational differences as secondary
  • Dying to self for the sake of the body
  • Unity as a powerful witness in a divided world
  • An invitation to join, believe, be baptized, or pray


“Would you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week?”

SPEAKER_00:

Hello and welcome to the FBC El Daredo Sermon Podcast. My name is Taylor Gere and I have the privilege of being the pastor here at First Baptist. And I want to thank you for listening into our sermon this week. And I want to tell you this if you're in our area and you don't have a church home, we would love to see you any Sunday morning at First Baptist El Doredo. Would you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week? Good morning. If you'll open your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14, we'll look at verses 1 through 12. Romans 14, 1 through 12, and I'll read them now. As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. While the one who abstains abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brothers? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God, for it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God, so then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, we do thank you for your word. Thank you for Romans 14 and what many, many years ago Paul sought to teach us as a church that is unified. And so, Lord, by your Spirit, would you speak and move now? We ask in Christ's name. Amen. In John chapter 13, verse 35, Jesus is just a few moments removed from washing his disciples' feet. It's the night of his arrest, it's the night before his crucifixion. And he speaks to his disciples and he tells them this that the way people will know that you are my disciples is how. How does he finish that? The way people will know that you are my disciples. Does he say that it is by your denominational affiliation? He does not say that. By your specific preferences? No, he doesn't say that. By the way that uh everything uh at church is exactly perfect and there's never differing opinions. No, he doesn't say that. What he says is the way that all people will know that you are my disciples is by this, is that you love one another. By the way you love one another. Paul really is picking up on this idea today in Romans chapter 14 of what does it look like for disciples of Jesus, even 2,000 years later, in El Dorado, Arkansas at First Baptist Church, or anywhere, what does it look like for disciples of Jesus to be unified under the banner of Jesus Christ? Now, as we enter into Romans 14, I think it's uh important at the beginning to define our terms, define our terms. Because as I was reading that, you saw language of the ones who are strong in faith, the ones who are weak in faith. Now, what in the world does that mean? Well, within the church at Rome, you had a lot of different people. You had some that were strong in faith, as Paul would say, some who were weak in faith. That doesn't mean they're weak believers. That doesn't mean uh they don't amount to much as believers or any lesser. That simply means this, that uh they are still growing in their faith and not quite have grown yet to the level of freedom that those who are strong in their faith now experience. But the strong ones in their faith, who are these? Well, primarily these Gentile believers who have recently come to know the Lord and have experienced the freedom that is now found in Christ Jesus. They have laid down the idols of Rome and the idols of their past, and they have in freedom followed Christ Jesus. And then you have the weaker brothers and sisters. Who are these? Primarily, these are Jewish believers who have come to know the Lord. But though they have been following the law for generations, and though their great-great-grandfather was Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob on down, they've come to know the Lord through the person of Jesus Christ. They are believers, there's no doubt about that, but they are still desiring to live out some of their old traditions of the old covenant. And this is not a sinful practice. Nothing we talk about here as these preferences or anything sinful, but what it is is these believers who could certainly be welcomed to a newfound freedom, you are now in the new covenant. You don't have to live out the traditions of the old covenant, and yet it's how they were born and raised, it's how they grew up, it's still how they uh desire to practice their faith, and so they are still kind of binding themselves to much of these traditions. So you have the strong and you've got the weak. Now there seems to be, as Paul's writing, a division between the two. That the two, uh, however much we want to read into it, just can't seem to get along. And how does this happen? Well, to explain how this might could happen, I could bring up the story of Wally Pipp. I don't know if you've heard the name Wally Pip. And forgive me for bringing up this team again, but a first baseman for the New York Yankees in the early, early 1920s, Wally Pipp, he probably had big dreams and big desires of being the first baseman for the New York Yankees for many years to come. Probably had great dreams and desire of being the first baseman for the New York Yankees and being part of what they called Murderer's Row, where in the late 20s you had guys like Babe Ruth and others in the lineup that no pitcher wanted to go down that road. Wally Pitt probably had great dreams of that, and one day he came into the clubhouse and was complaining of a headache. He wanted to play through the pain, but as he talked to his manager, his manager told him, Wally, why don't we just get you a day off? No issues at all. Get you some medicine, rest up, grab a glass of water, we'll get you back in the lineup tomorrow. Wally Pitt finally said, That'll be just fine. I will do that. He stays home that day, he rests up. The backup first baseman comes in, and his name is Lou Gehrig. Lou Gehrig, who went on to be uh maybe the best first baseman of all time, went on to play beside Babe Ruth many years in Murderer's Row. This was Lou Gehrig, the Hall of Famer uh in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. Wally Pip never got the first base spot back. He said later it was the most expensive aspirin he had ever taken. There's something in this, though, that if you are a Jewish believer, you've probably got a little bit of Wally Pip in you where you say this, uh I've been here a day or two. This has been my spot for a while. Gentiles, while you were uh still, you know, in training camp in single A way back there, while you were still following the ways of this world, me and my relatives, we were following the old covenant, we were following the traditions and the commands. We've been here a day or two, we've got standing in this church, and now we know uh the Lord through the person of Jesus Christ, and we have that freedom, but we've been around long enough to know that we still want to carry out these traditions. And then on the other side, you've got the Gentiles. They just come in. Johnny came lately, and suddenly they think they can take authority in the church. Suddenly they don't know anything about the old ways. They don't know what it was like in the old covenant. They don't remember the sacrifices, they don't remember these things. They just come in proclaiming this newfound freedom. Like you just get to come into the building and just have that kind of freedom, be that kind of believer. There's no way you can do that. And so you got Wally Pippin, you got Lou Gehrig, and who's gonna get the starting job? And I think Paul wants to show them that you're all in, you're all part of this team, and our job in this moment is to figure out how we make this work, how we make this work together. Both of you are accepted, and there is a need for unity among us all. So, verse one, as for the one who is weak in faith, so these Jewish believers who now know Jesus but are holding on to some of the old covenant traditions, what does it say? Welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. As for the one who's weak in faith, welcome him. So he's looking to these strong believers and saying, the one who is weak, you welcome him. This word welcome him is a much stronger word than, you know, just kind of at least let them in the building. It's a much stronger word than that. It's really uh not just welcome them in, but give them a seat at the table, okay? Let them have standing in this church. I would imagine today you've probably got two kinds of friends. You've got some front door friends and you've got some garage door friends. You got some friends, and maybe you'd call them more acquaintances. They come to your home, and when they do, they park out front. They're very careful not to step on the grass. They get on the sidewalk or the pathway up to your door, give the most polite knock. Front door friends. Nothing wrong with that. I'm thankful for them. You've also got garage door friends that you're you're sitting in your home this afternoon, you're you're watching the ball game and you look up and your friend's in there, and you don't even know how he got in. He's got the garage code. He he or she, they don't knock on the door, they make themselves at home. They're making a sandwich in your kitchen right now while you're here at church. These are garage door friends, they can come right in. What Paul is saying for the strong in faith, look at these weak ones, and they get the garage code. They get to come right in. They get to make themselves at home here in the church. And maybe some of the things they do, they may look a little different from what you do. And guess what? Preferences may be different. The way they live out their faith, we're not, again, just a note, we're not talking any sinful practices here. If we were talking about any sinful preferences or sinful way of quote unquote living out our Christian life, uh as if those terms go together, then we would know from the start those don't apply. These are not sinful practices, these are simply preferences. So welcome them in. But look at this, but not to quarrel over opinions. Because it could be that the stronger Christian wants to say, I will gladly welcome you in and give you a seat at the table. And once you are in, and once we are seated at the table, I would love nothing more than to tell you why everything you do is wrong and everything I do is right. No, no. It's not a welcoming that then will just lead to arguments. It's a welcoming that says, Hey, you and I were from different places, we have different upbringings, there's some ways we think differently, but guess what? Under the banner of Christ, we are brothers and we are sisters in Christ Jesus, and that changes everything. Verse 2. One person believes he may eat anything. Here's the Gentiles, all food is up for grabs, the original Baptist. We can eat whatever we want, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Now, that's interesting because really in the Old Testament law, there's nothing that says you may only eat vegetables. It's likely the case that these Jewish believers in the church at Rome know this that a lot of the meat, and this is strange, but it's true, a lot of the meat at the time on uh Saturday night might have been sacrificed to an idol, I kid you not, and then the very next morning put in the marketplace and sold so that you could have a hamburger or a steak dinner. That's just the fact of the matter. And the Gentile would gladly say this I go to the market, I'm gonna get my steaks for dinner. There's nothing wrong with that. The Jewish believer would say, I don't even want to play games with that kind of thing, that I don't know where that meat was the night before. I want nothing to do with that. And so what they do is say, it's it's too dangerous to go to the market in Rome. I don't know what I'm gonna get. And so they cast off meat altogether. They only eat vegetables. So what do we do? One says I can eat anything I want, one says I can only eat vegetables. Verse three Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains. Let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats. For God has welcomed him. Now, do you see that there is a command on both sides of the equation? Okay? It's not as if today Paul is saying, uh, you strong ones, don't worry about it. You're doing great. We'll work on the weak ones. Or to the weak ones, don't worry, we'll work on them. No, both sides bring something to the table that they've got to work on. Number one, the one who eats, uh, do not despise the one who abstains. Great. You have freedom in Christ to eat whatever you want. Praise God for that freedom, but don't look across the table to your brother or sister in Christ who's, you know, got a vegetable medley on his plate, and don't look at that believer and say, What are you doing? Are you really so weak? Have you not read the scriptures like I have that you don't have to do that anymore? No, no, no. But then also on the other side, to the one who abstains, don't look at the one who eats and say, When are you gonna rise to the level of obedience that I'm at? When are you gonna take this thing a little more seriously? That there's some rules to follow around here. No, no. On both sides, don't despise, don't pass judgment. Why? Because God has welcomed him. And so just as we as believers welcome all into this, and so uh the weak welcoming the strong, the strong welcome to the welcomes the weak, so we serve a God that has welcomed all to the table of faith. And so then we come to verse four, and we see something that we all need to see: a little tough love from Paul to us. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. Here's what Paul wants each one of us to see in verse four that you and I, and we need to hear it, we are not judge, jury, and executioner. We are not the ultimate judge, we are not the ultimate authority. I I stand here today as no one's Holy Spirit. I I'm not the one you will stand before one day. You will not stand before me, I am not your judge. There is a God in heaven who is the judge, and look at this, it says that this individual will be upheld. Why? Because the judge in heaven is what? Able to make him stand. That Taylor, you're you're you're getting so caught up in these preferences and these opinions. Do you not see that there is a Lord and Savior over all of this who has welcomed them in? And there may be differences, and they may live out their faith in a little different way. It's nothing sinful there. Do you not see the fact that God is in heaven, you're here on earth, you're not the judge, so welcome him. Why? Again, because verse 3, the Lord has welcomed him, verse 4, because the Lord is able to make him stand. Verse 5, one person esteems one day is better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord, and gives thanks to God. Verse five and six we see a lot of the same ideas of verse two and three, where first it was vegetables and non-vegetables, now we've got days and non-days. There are some that still view the Sabbath as this specific set-apart day, and there are some that that that just see it as another day where we're going to come and we're going to worship. There's some that still hold to these old covenant holiday traditions that exist, and there's some, maybe Gentiles, that don't have a clue what those holidays were. Some honor these days, and some do not. And what does Paul say? Really, what does the Lord say? That's okay. Let the one who honors them give thanks to God as he does it. Let the one who does not honor give thanks to God as he or she does it. I'm thinking about time here. Let's go to the chase this morning. What does Paul want to get us to see? It's simply this. And as a church family, we're not going to let non-essentials get in the way of fellowship. As a church family, we praise God for different opinions and preferences. We praise God for different upbringings, different thoughts about things. What a gift that is. How terrible would it be if we were a church of 300 people in this room that all thought and and and just and and spoke and everything was exactly the same. I praise God for the diversity of thought in this room. I praise God for that. And we have different preferences and opinions, but we're not gonna let non-essentials hurt the fellowship that exists among us. My Wednesday night crew heard this, and I'll say it now. Richard Baxter, the Puritan preacher, has a quote that has been so helpful to me and maybe will be for you. He said this some 400 years ago that in things essential, let there be unity. In things non-essential, let there be liberty, and in all things, let there be charity. Let me say that again. In things essential, let there be unity. In non-essential, let there be liberty, in all things, let there be charity. Think about this for a second. In things essential, let there be unity. Now, there are some things that anyone, any body, any church that proclaims that they find themselves under the banner of Christendom, under the banner of Christ Jesus, there are some things that better be there. Jesus is the Son of God. That better be there. That's essential. God exists in Trinity. We better find it. Jesus is the only way to the Father. I mean, we could go on. There are just some things that are essential. And so, whatever denomination, wherever you're from, whatever that looks like, if you're under the banner of Christendom, there are some essentials that had better be there and we better have unity across the board. Now, in non-essentials, let there be liberty. Non-essentials, kind of tier two type items that, let's be clear, they're important. They're important to think about. They're important that we know why we believe what we believe. They're important that we search the scriptures and think about why we do what we do. They're important in so many ways, and yet, even under the banner of Christendom, uh people can, in a sense, agree to disagree on some items. Again, we're not going into essential territory and missing the mark on those. We're going to that second uh category of non-essentials. What does this look like? It might look like denominational items. You you probably wonder, haven't you? Why do denominations exist? You ever wonder that? We are all Christians. Uh I mean, we read the same book. Uh why do denominations exist? Well, for many reasons, and I think they are beautiful things, and they all bring something beautiful to uh Christian life. Uh, but they exist at times because there are these secondary things that uh two individuals can be uh in in great fellowship with one another, but just disagree on how we live out that practice. Things like baptism. You saw this morning a baptism by immersion. You saw that. Nolan went under the water and he came right back up. There's other denominations that might practice baptism a little differently. And I have my convictions on baptism and what I believe it should look like and what I believe scripture calls it to look like, but there's others who think differently. And I don't have to practice it that way, uh, but but I celebrate that they are there, I celebrate that they exist, I celebrate that we are brothers and sisters in Christ under the banner of Christendom. And when I get to heaven, I'm gonna see a lot of people that were baptized by immersion. I'm gonna see a lot of people that were sprinkled, I'm gonna see the thief on the cross that says, What in the world is baptism? Everybody's gonna be there. And that's a beautiful thing. Different ideas of maybe the Lord's Supper. We do things differently. We practice the Lord's Supper in a way that any believer can come into this room and partake of the supper with us. We had the individual cup and the individual bread. Uh I've done it different ways. You've probably done it different ways. Common cup, you've done it by intention, maybe. Uh Katie and I's most meaningful Lord's Supper ever was in Jerusalem on a Sunday morning within the walls of the old city of Jerusalem. Uh it was such a beautiful time, and it was Common Cup. So we all came down front, we all kneeled. This was before COVID. Common cup is kind of taking a hit. But we received the Lord's Supper there in Jerusalem. It was the most beautiful thing, a little different than what I practiced growing up. But my goodness, under the banner of Christendom, it might have looked a little different. But my goodness, wasn't it beautiful to partake in that moment? You think about these issues, and there are many of them. And by the way, they are important. And we should know why we do what we do. We should know why we practice these things the way that we practice. But we also know this that there are some believers who think slightly differently, and they are good, faithful, God-loving, Christ-exalting believers. And that's a beautiful thing. So in things essential, let there be unity. In non-essential, let there be liberty. In all things, let there be charity. In all things, we remember this: we are still believers. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. And if there is a difference of opinion on how something is carried out in the life of the church, that doesn't give me or you or any of us permission to be unkind about it, to be unchrist-like about it. But my now my question is this but why? Let's say this book this morning, we all find ourselves as we're we're the strong believers. We practice the freedoms of Christ. You might ask this question, why do I have to worry with the weak believers? In our pride, in our ivory tower, we might say, Why do I have to worry about making things okay for the weaker believer? Well, here's why. Verse 7, for none of us lives to himself. And none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. If we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lords. And for to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Have you noticed this? That at every stage of your life, it feels like uh selfishness has to die a little bit more. What do I mean by that? Every stage. Uh let's say this. Uh even my son, who's in the room this morning, when he started kindergarten just a few months ago, uh things looked a little different. There's a time he's got to be in his classroom. Before 7:50, he's doing well. At 8 o'clock, they are going to start class. Some of his freedoms are a little bit lessened. There's a time he's there and he's got to stay there until a certain time. You think about your first career you had when suddenly there is a paycheck on the line. If you don't show up at a certain time, clock out at a certain time, and our selfishness just has to die. I don't get to sleep in anymore, I don't get to do these things. Talk about marriage. That for all of us, if you're married, that marriage is a sanctifying moment when over and over again our selfishness has to die. That I don't live just for me anymore. I I don't exist for myself, I exist for someone else in this world. I think of having children. If you have children, you know, your selfishness better die in a hurry. Because Monday night is not the night to, you know, come home and just lay low. We've got soccer practice and soccer games and all these things that I would not trade for the world. But every stage things just start to look a little bit different, and your own selfishness just has to die. Look at this now. What seven through nine wants us to see that in the Christian life, our selfishness just has to die. Our desire to get our way 10,000% of the time, it has to die. I'm not just talking to you, I'm talking to me. Because suddenly what we have to do as we come to the person and work of Christ is realize this that I, as a believer, am not the center of the universe. That when God set the planets in motion and put them in orbit, he didn't do that with me at the center where they circle me. I'm not the center of this thing. And I've got to understand that and I've got to realize that, and that my job as a believer, time and time again in the life of the church, is to do this, is to continually lay down myself, to die to my selfishness. And there will be times within the life of the church that I've got to lay down my rights so that my brother or sister can prosper. That's how the church comes together. That's how the church lives this life together. That the goal of the church is unity, that the church of Jesus Christ could prosper, and there will be times that I've got to lay down my own selfishness, and you've got to lay it down so that the church can prosper. The church has seen this through the years. Baptists get a lot of jokes about this, certainly, of the color of paint and this, that, and the other. And we've been the bud of plenty of jokes. We fought the worship wars in the early 2000s, contemporary, traditional, these types of things. I want to praise God real quick for Dustin. And our worship team. I I want to read the dates of every song we sang this morning. Even, you know, some were multiple in one song. Listen to this now. 2018, 1851, 2024, 1772, 2021, 1865, 2017. You talk about putting together a service in such a way that anyone who walks through these doors can worship. That's the thing this thing, this team thinks about, and Dustin thinks about. You talk about the way we come into this room, and every one of us has preferences and opinions and ideas. And I want to be clear, I praise God for those. I praise God for those. I I hope you always have those preferences and opinions. But we come into this place and our desire is to make much of Jesus. And so there will be times as a church where your preference and opinion is perfectly met and perfectly carried out. And there will be times where it's 80% met and 80% carried out. There's just things that might look a little different. And guess what? I'm talking to myself too. I won't get as going as I did on Wednesday night, but I'll say this now. The beauty of this church, the beauty of the Baptist church is simply this: that we have a congregational church polity, a congregational church government. What does that mean? That everyone who is a member of this church carries out the business and work of the church together. And guess what? My vote in a business meeting, guess how much it counts for? The same number as you. One. And the person who's been here for four months has a vote, and that's the same vote as the person that's been here for four years and 40 years, and you know, all across the board. The beauty of congregational life is, and I praise God for this, your pastor does not have to be pastor and president and CEO and dictator. Praise God. But the beauty of the church is this as Ephesians 4, 12 says, that the duty is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. We believe in the priesthood of all believers, that we all come together, we all make church work together. You don't have a boss or dictator, you have a fellow minister who ministers alongside of you, and we just make the church go. Because we are a people who are convinced that more than making sure we get our way a hundred percent of the time, I would well rather make sure that the kingdom of God continues to go forward. John 13, 35. Once again, Jesus says this that they will know that you are Christians by your love, by the way you love one another, a unified church. But you also know this our unity is evangelistic. Four chapters later in John 17, verse 23, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, and he even says this, he's actually praying to the Father about the disciples, and he even says this I pray that they would be one, that they would be unified, and then he says this, and by this unity, that's how the world will know that you have sent me when the church is unified. That's how the world will know that you have sent me. Our unity is evangelistic. Our unity as a church sends a message to the world that there is a Savior that loves us deeply, that died on the cross for us, that rose from the grave on our behalf, and and and therefore, if he has done this great sacrifice for me, then every day I have the privilege for the sake of my brothers and sisters to sacrifice myself again and again and ask, how can my brother or sister in Christ prosper? How can this church prosper? And whatever that looks like, for the sake of Jesus Christ, I pray that we would be ready and willing to do it. And it will take every one of us. But I think about this this morning. I think about a church that, or excuse me, a world. Think about the world that is so divided. You know, right now our government is literally shut down because there's two sides that are just having a little tricky time coming together, making it work. Politics divides us. Get on social media, you'll probably find more reasons to be divided. We live in this world where we equate a disagreement with just hatred. That if I disagree with you, that must that must mean that I just despise you. That's the culture we live in, that's the world we live in, that's what the world sees every day. That's what those outside of Christ see every day. And then in this dark and divided world, I want to tell you about this strange place at 200 West Main Street. This 103-year-old building built in a way they just don't want to build buildings anymore. There's this odd, and I mean odd group of people. And every Sunday morning they walk into this room and they think differently, and they were raised differently, and they've been a part of this thing for different amounts of time, and they they don't share all the same opinions, they don't think the same way all the time. In fact, there's even days where where they wonder if they'll ever kind of come to a level where they agree perfectly and probably won't because God made us so beautifully unique. But there's just this strange group of people. They come together, and yet in this divided world, though they have different preferences and opinions, and maybe they see things differently, they just come into this room and they just smile at each other and they just sing songs together, and it's the strangest thing. They don't get online and bash one another, they don't spread gossip and rumors about how could he or she do that or say that. They just look around the room and they're just filled with love for one another. And it's the strangest thing, and they even told me it's all based on the fact that there was a savior that when they were lost, welcome them. And because of that, this strange group just can't help but welcome anyone else that walks through those doors. And in the middle of a dark and divided world, you and I get to come here every week, and we're just this little outpost, this embassy that exists in the middle of a divided world, and we get to announce to the world through our actions every week that there is a different way. That there is a savior that broke down the dividing wall. And in that, and out there, there's important things that we can disagree about and we can have opinions about, but in this room we are united on the most important thing, and that's the fact that we have a savior. His name is Jesus Christ, and it changes everything for every person in this room. This is what we get to have every Sunday morning, Wednesday night, every day between this is what the church is. This beautiful picture of unity in a dark and divided world based on the person of Jesus Christ. Will you bow your heads with me? Maybe as you've just heard this picture of this church this morning, you say, I want to be a part of that kind of church. And you just say, Today is the day that I want to join the First Baptist family. We'd love nothing more to have you. Maybe you want to come hear about Jesus for the first time, or you know Jesus and you want to be baptized, or maybe you want to pray with a pastor Brian will be down front, I'll be down front. Whatever that looks like, maybe right where you're sitting, you just need in a time of prayer to respond yourself. Whatever that looks like, however you need to respond, after I pray, I pray that you do it. Lord Jesus, thank you. That even in a divided world, we are united by our Savior. And what a privilege that is. And so, Lord, even now, even more, would you teach us to love one another for the sake of your gospel? Because truly, Lord, your unity, the unity that is found in you, it's a way in which the world will know that you have come. And so, Lord, let us be a unified people, a people that love you deeply and love one another deeply. Because that's how you have loved us. We pray this now in Christ's name. Amen. Would you stand now? I'll be down front if you come.