Tyler Lynde: We're in a series called In Christ's Purpose.
Tyler Lynde: In Christ's Purpose.
Tyler Lynde: And he did an awesome job of tying the first half of the book of Ephesians, which is all about our identity in Christ, with the beginning of the second half, which begins to kind of take the identity in Christ piece and put it close on it and then begin to live it out.
Tyler Lynde: What does it look like at knowing our identity in Christ to live purposeful lives based in that reality?
Tyler Lynde: And so he started that and he talks specifically about four attitudes that we need to maintain in order to have healthy relationships within the body of Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Can you remember what those four were, or even one of them?
Tyler Lynde: Yeah, patience.
Tyler Lynde: Somebody remembered patience.
Tyler Lynde: If you prayed for patience, you may have experienced turbulence as this week.
Tyler Lynde: That's okay.
Tyler Lynde: Turbulence and trouble can cause patience to grow.
Tyler Lynde: But he talked about humility, gentleness, patience, and enduring love.
Tyler Lynde: And these are all required for us to maintain healthy relationships.
Tyler Lynde: So I hope that we are applying those things by the grace of God in our lives.
Tyler Lynde: So this week we're going to take it from there.
Tyler Lynde: We're going to build upon that foundation as we talk about the grace gift of unity, unity, and how we are to be eager to maintain it.
Tyler Lynde: So the title of this message is One on Purpose.
Tyler Lynde: One on Purpose.
Tyler Lynde: If you turn to Ephesians chapter 4, and I'm going to reread just the first few verses and go on to verse six.
Tyler Lynde: So it says, I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Tyler Lynde: There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Tyler Lynde: Amen.
Tyler Lynde: Let's pray together.
Tyler Lynde: Father, we thank you for your word.
Tyler Lynde: It is rich, it is powerful, it is sharp, it cuts to the very soul and separates soul and spirit.
Tyler Lynde: We ask that you would help your word to give us the entrance of light and life that we need, illuminate the pathway in front of us, and give us the grace that we need to make the changes, Lord, so that we can follow your will and your way in Jesus' name.
Tyler Lynde: Amen.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know it is the easiest thing in the world to live at odds with each other?
Tyler Lynde: It's the easiest thing.
Tyler Lynde: We don't even really have to try very hard to do it.
Tyler Lynde: It can happen very organically.
Tyler Lynde: It can happen without us putting a lot of effort into it.
Tyler Lynde: It is very easy.
Tyler Lynde: And the culture of this world propagates or promotes division and disunity, right?
Tyler Lynde: That's the climate that we find ourselves living in in 2026.
Tyler Lynde: Think about this.
Tyler Lynde: Think about families who this last holiday did not enjoy the time together because of the fact that one of the family members voted for a different person than the rest.
Tyler Lynde: Can you imagine that that would be a delineating factor within this culture and within this nation?
Tyler Lynde: It has happened to many, many, many people, right?
Tyler Lynde: There are churches that I am aware of, that I have dealt with, that I have seen, that have divided over the color of the carpet.
Tyler Lynde: How's everybody feeling about the carpet this morning?
Tyler Lynde: Are we okay?
Tyler Lynde: It's new, it's new, and it's clean.
Tyler Lynde: Pastor Neil, and you've seen some things, haven't you?
Tyler Lynde: Some ways that churches have decided to find themselves separating from one another based on things like that.
Tyler Lynde: We can easily feel pressure to be pushed into the proverbial corner of life based simply on how we feel about certain things, the way that we view issues of the day or what we consider to be the right lens to view the world through.
Tyler Lynde: It's very easy.
Tyler Lynde: Like I said, you don't have to fight hardly at all to enter into this realm.
Tyler Lynde: Disunity and division come to us naturally because we are part, we still live in a fallen world.
Tyler Lynde: And in this fallen world, sin still rules and reigns supreme, and our flesh, I don't even know our flesh, dies hard.
Tyler Lynde: Even though our spirits can be born again and our souls can come in line with our spirit, a lot of times our own desires, the desires of our flesh, can attempt to outrule or outweigh what we know God's best way is.
Tyler Lynde: Think about that.
Tyler Lynde: Not only that, but we have an enemy of our soul, Satan, who loves this.
Tyler Lynde: He loves disunity, he loves division, he loves tearing things apart.
Tyler Lynde: And he will use whatever tactic necessary to cause chaos, especially among God's people.
Tyler Lynde: And you know why that is?
Tyler Lynde: Because Satan can't get to God.
Tyler Lynde: He can't get to God, he can't get to Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: He tried that, and what guess what?
Tyler Lynde: Epic fail.
Tyler Lynde: He can't get to the Holy Spirit.
Tyler Lynde: And so what does he attempt to do?
Tyler Lynde: He attempts to get to God's children and wreak havoc and chaos.
Tyler Lynde: And why does he do this?
Tyler Lynde: Ultimately, is to stop the spread of genuine Christianity.
Tyler Lynde: If there's anything that Satan has in his heart, it is this stop the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ by any means necessary.
Tyler Lynde: Stop the excuse me, the effect of the gospel of Jesus Christ being spread.
Tyler Lynde: Too often you and I, if we're honest, allow somebody's personality to be the thing that determines whether we're going to walk in unity with them.
Tyler Lynde: I am, I, for one, and maybe you maybe you haven't gotten to this point yet, but I'm at this place in my life where I'm really thankful that I that all of you aren't just like me.
Tyler Lynde: Sometimes I get a little tired of me.
Tyler Lynde: I'm not saying that I'm down on myself or that I'm depressed or anything, but too many of me is too much.
Tyler Lynde: And so I need all of you, and I need all of your personalities, and I need all of the uniqueness and the way that God's made each of you to sharpen me, to help me, to encourage me, to make this life enjoyable.
Tyler Lynde: You know, there's something great about the fact that God has created us as individuals and He's given us uniqueness.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you realize that that uniqueness, if not guarded, can become a stumbling block in the way that we choose to walk with one another or not to walk with one another.
Tyler Lynde: And then also we have differences of opinion on things.
Tyler Lynde: And so we believe most of the time who's right.
Tyler Lynde: So my opinion is not just an opinion, it is a statement of fact.
Tyler Lynde: And so a lot of times we can rub each other the wrong way based on differences of opinion, right?
Tyler Lynde: So personality conflicts, differences of opinion, and these things can dictate whether or not we can walk in unity with other believers.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know, according to God's word and according to his way, these things should not be?
Tyler Lynde: We should not allow personality conflicts, we should not allow differing opinions to dictate to us whether or not we can walk in unity with each other.
Tyler Lynde: So it's time for us to lift up our eyes a little higher.
Tyler Lynde: It's time for us to use a different set of scales.
Tyler Lynde: It's time for us to gauge things based on God's way.
Tyler Lynde: Can we do that together?
Tyler Lynde: Amen.
Tyler Lynde: I'm taking by the three amens that the rest of your thinking.
Tyler Lynde: That's okay.
Tyler Lynde: Take some time to think about it.
Tyler Lynde: By the end of this message, I would like for you to agree that you want to do things God's way.
Tyler Lynde: So let me say as succinctly as I can just to give you an overview.
Tyler Lynde: Christians should refuse to be divided over things that don't really matter in the long run.
Tyler Lynde: Come on.
Tyler Lynde: Christians should refuse to be divided over the things that don't really matter in the long run, and instead choose to be united around what truly matters for eternity.
Tyler Lynde: In other words, forever.
Tyler Lynde: Those are the things that are important.
Tyler Lynde: There's an old song, Jack, right?
Tyler Lynde: The things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace, face, grace.
Tyler Lynde: It's the truth, isn't it?
Tyler Lynde: Christians should be united about what matters for eternity.
Tyler Lynde: And that's what this passage is giving us sort of a window into seeing those things.
Tyler Lynde: And we're going to talk about that this morning.
Tyler Lynde: So, first of all, Paul in this book, in this chapter, emphasizes the fact that unity is a gift to be maintained.
Tyler Lynde: Unity is a gift to be maintained.
Tyler Lynde: He says that we should be eager.
Tyler Lynde: What does it mean to be eager?
Tyler Lynde: Passionate.
Tyler Lynde: You want to know what eager looks like?
Tyler Lynde: Eager looks like a two-year-old that wants a snack.
Tyler Lynde: And I can say that because I have some of those in my life, grandchildren in my life.
Tyler Lynde: And they are eager, they desire it.
Tyler Lynde: It's something that's very important to them.
Tyler Lynde: And the timing of it is important as well, isn't it?
Tyler Lynde: For those of you who are living within that world.
Tyler Lynde: Unity is a gift to be maintained.
Tyler Lynde: We should be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Tyler Lynde: The Holy Spirit causes every true believer in Jesus Christ to find their place of agreement where?
Tyler Lynde: In a church building?
Tyler Lynde: At the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Your affiliation doesn't matter.
Tyler Lynde: Your status, it doesn't matter your economy, it doesn't matter your race.
Tyler Lynde: There's nothing that matters.
Tyler Lynde: It's the greatest equalizing place in all of history.
Tyler Lynde: At the foot of the cross.
Tyler Lynde: There is only unity found at the foot of the cross.
Tyler Lynde: Because every person who finds themselves there has to acknowledge their need.
Tyler Lynde: Sometimes I fear that the longer that we're in the Lord and the further we're removed from that moment in our lives, we forget the lessons of it.
Tyler Lynde: We should often view the cross as a means of reminding ourselves of our desperate need.
Tyler Lynde: The same spirit that causes mankind to understand their need for redemption causes us to be united to one another in spite of our differences.
Tyler Lynde: The same Holy Spirit does that.
Tyler Lynde: It's not a work of the flesh, it's not something that we muster up.
Tyler Lynde: It is a work of the Spirit of God.
Tyler Lynde: Unity is a gift from God.
Tyler Lynde: And that's good news.
Tyler Lynde: It is precious and it is one of the only places, and you know this if you've read through the book of Psalms, it's one of the only places where there's a commanded blessing from God.
Tyler Lynde: Do you remember Psalm 133?
Tyler Lynde: Let's read it together again.
Tyler Lynde: Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwelt in unity.
Tyler Lynde: It is like the precious oil on the head running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes.
Tyler Lynde: It is like the dew of Hermon which falls on the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
Tyler Lynde: How good and how pleasant it is for us as believers in Christ to dwell together in unity.
Tyler Lynde: It is a place of blessing.
Tyler Lynde: So, how do we do this?
Tyler Lynde: What is our part in this effort?
Tyler Lynde: Paul goes on to say that peace is the means of maintaining unity.
Tyler Lynde: Peace is the means of maintaining unity.
Tyler Lynde: There's a peace pattern that scripture teaches us that enables us to apply peace like super glue in our lives and in our relationships in order to maintain proper unity among other believers.
Tyler Lynde: So let's look at these three peace factors.
Tyler Lynde: The first one is peace with God.
Tyler Lynde: Peace with God.
Tyler Lynde: We cannot apply peace in the area of unity unless we first have experienced peace with God.
Tyler Lynde: We as people, all of us, have been born in sin.
Tyler Lynde: And therefore we were not at peace with God.
Tyler Lynde: That's the way that we were born into this world because of Adam and his sin in the garden.
Tyler Lynde: All of us have been born in sin.
Tyler Lynde: And also, you might say, well, that's not fair, but it goes on to say in Romans that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Tyler Lynde: So not only were we born that way, we continued in that way.
Tyler Lynde: In fact, we deserved the wrath of God.
Tyler Lynde: A lot of times we feel entitled to the things that we receive from God.
Tyler Lynde: Let's remember first, and this is what makes salvation so grand, my friends.
Tyler Lynde: We deserved punishment.
Tyler Lynde: We deserved to die for the sins that we committed.
Tyler Lynde: Not only to die, but to be separated from an Almighty holy God forever and ever.
Tyler Lynde: That is what we earned, and that is what we deserved.
Tyler Lynde: But God sent his son Jesus to this earth as God's Prince of Peace.
Tyler Lynde: And he made a way for us to be reconciled to the Father by living a perfect life, the life that we couldn't live, by taking upon himself the sins of the world, the sins that you and I committed, by being willing to be nailed to the cross that you and I deserve to be nailed to, and by breathing out, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing, and it is finished.
Tyler Lynde: Excuse me.
Tyler Lynde: That's what Jesus did.
Tyler Lynde: He was he died and he was buried for three days, and on the third day he rose again.
Tyler Lynde: And he was seen by his followers, and he ascended into heaven, was given the name above every other name, and he sent the Holy Spirit to not only be with us, but to dwell in us.
Tyler Lynde: This is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Romans 5, 1 says this, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: This is good news.
Tyler Lynde: In order to experience peace with God, there are a few things that we must do.
Tyler Lynde: We must respond, we must uh accept this grace that is freely given.
Tyler Lynde: We must acknowledge our need.
Tyler Lynde: I am a sinner in need of God's grace and forgiveness.
Tyler Lynde: And if you've never done this, I pray, and we've been praying for you that this would be the day that you acknowledge your need for a savior, that you uh that you repent, which is the next things, that you repent of your sins, that you turn away from your old way of living, that you acknowledge that your lifestyle has been sinful before God, your thoughts, your attitudes, your deeds, your actions, your words, and that you desire by his grace to turn away from your old way of living and to turn toward God, and that you would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Believe that he is who he says that he is, and that he did what that he said that he would do to provide for us a way to be reconciled to God.
Tyler Lynde: And if you've done all of those things, I have one last question for you and for me.
Tyler Lynde: Has your life changed?
Tyler Lynde: Praying a prayer is not enough.
Tyler Lynde: The truest sign of conversion is a changed life.
Tyler Lynde: We should live a transformed life by God's grace.
Tyler Lynde: This doesn't happen all of a sudden, it doesn't happen all at once, although it begins suddenly and the change begins to happen.
Tyler Lynde: But over time, there's the process of sanctification where the Holy Spirit causes things to come to the surface that we realize that we need to deal with God about.
Tyler Lynde: And we confess those sins to the Lord, and He cleanses us and He changes our heart.
Tyler Lynde: And we can cry out like David did, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.
Tyler Lynde: And the proof of that is the change within our behavior.
Tyler Lynde: We should bear fruit of repentance that proves out our salvation.
Tyler Lynde: You see, unless you have peace with God first, there's no other peace to be found.
Tyler Lynde: You can't apply something that you haven't, that hasn't been applied to your life yet.
Tyler Lynde: But you can, by God's grace, receive peace with God.
Tyler Lynde: The second one is peace of God.
Tyler Lynde: Not only did Jesus' sacrifice orchestrate peace with God, but how many of you know it went much further than that?
Tyler Lynde: He also came to give us the peace of God.
Tyler Lynde: And this peace is not based upon circumstances, it's not based upon situations, it's not based upon your bank account, your work status, what's going on in your family life, your health or lack of it.
Tyler Lynde: This peace is a peace that passes all understanding.
Tyler Lynde: It's a peace that's uncommon, it's a peace that gives us calm in the middle of the storm.
Tyler Lynde: It's a peace that doesn't make any sense.
Tyler Lynde: And if you have been a believer in Christ for any length of time, you have experienced this peace.
Tyler Lynde: And if you haven't yet, you've seen other people who are experiencing it.
Tyler Lynde: I remember when I was in the hospital five years ago and almost dying.
Tyler Lynde: I tuned into the live stream, and I want to welcome those who are watching via live stream this morning.
Tyler Lynde: Thank you for being a part of the service, and we hope to see you here very soon.
Tyler Lynde: But I was listening to the live stream and I was barely able to think straight.
Tyler Lynde: I was just cloudy, you know.
Tyler Lynde: Couldn't get out of bed.
Tyler Lynde: I was laying there and I was listening to Brooke sing a song in worship.
Tyler Lynde: And all of a sudden, the presence of God filled that hospital room.
Tyler Lynde: And I didn't I knew something was going on, but I began to recognize nurses just popping in to the room one by one, and they weren't really even checking on me that I remember.
Tyler Lynde: Maybe they were.
Tyler Lynde: But I asked one lady because I heard them out in the hallway saying, You need to go in there.
Tyler Lynde: And I asked one lady that came in, What why did you why did you come in to my room?
Tyler Lynde: What's going on?
Tyler Lynde: Something wrong?
Tyler Lynde: That's my where my faith was.
Tyler Lynde: Oh, they said, No, nothing's wrong.
Tyler Lynde: We just have never experienced peace like this in this hospital.
Tyler Lynde: And I said, That's the prayers of thousands, and that at at the time around the world there were thousands of people praying for me and for my recovery.
Tyler Lynde: And obviously, by the grace of God, I stand before you today.
Tyler Lynde: Healed and made whole.
Tyler Lynde: So I'm thankful for that.
Tyler Lynde: But Philippians 4, 7 says, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: So there's peace with God, and there's the peace of God.
Tyler Lynde: And then the third one is the spiritual fruit of peace.
Tyler Lynde: All of us know Galatians 5.22, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such things.
Tyler Lynde: There is no law.
Tyler Lynde: Can you imagine, imagine with me the upgrade in your family experience if everyone chose by God's grace to live peaceably with each other?
Tyler Lynde: Can you imagine the volume levels changing in your home?
Tyler Lynde: Can you imagine how the car rides to church might sound a little different than what they do right now?
Tyler Lynde: Can you imagine how your workplace could be affected by living this way, the fruit of the spirit of peace that's living in us and operating through us?
Tyler Lynde: How about a Christian community?
Tyler Lynde: How would a Christian community be perceived differently if we modeled this kind of peace?
Tyler Lynde: If we chose, again, peace instead of our own way.
Tyler Lynde: We must, by God's grace, exercise the Spirit, develop fruit of peace in our lives toward other believers so that we can walk in unity around the essentials of this Christian life.
Tyler Lynde: This is absolutely important.
Tyler Lynde: Peace shouldn't be the result of blind agreement on everything.
Tyler Lynde: That's not what I'm saying.
Tyler Lynde: I'm not saying we all sit around a circle and sing kumbaya.
Tyler Lynde: I'm not saying that we have to agree on all points of eschatology.
Tyler Lynde: I don't mean that we have to agree on if everybody should speak in tongues or not.
Tyler Lynde: I'm not talking about all of those kind of second-tier questions, but as far as the core beliefs of the Christian faith, we should be able to come to a point of agreement with each other and walk in unity together.
Tyler Lynde: And how much effect could that kind of unity have on a world that is filled with disunity?
Tyler Lynde: The one thing that they're having in common more and more recently is their hatred for the church of Jesus Christ and for Christians.
Tyler Lynde: Romans 12, 28 gives us this instruction.
Tyler Lynde: If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Tyler Lynde: You cannot control what your wife does.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you, husbands?
Tyler Lynde: No, don't raise your hands.
Tyler Lynde: Wives, no, I can't say it like that either.
Tyler Lynde: You cannot control what your spouse chooses.
Tyler Lynde: Hopefully, if you've been married more than five minutes, you've learned that, right?
Tyler Lynde: You can't control that.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know by the grace of God you can choose what you do, how you act, how you react, how you respond.
Tyler Lynde: And that's what the scripture is teaching us.
Tyler Lynde: As much as it is on us, as much as it is our responsibility, as much as we have the opportunity, let's live at peace with all.
Tyler Lynde: Unity is a responsibility to us as believers and is to be pursued earnestly.
Tyler Lynde: Church unity needs to be rooted in a shared commitment to the essentials of the faith, lived out in a peaceable way.
Tyler Lynde: So let's look at these.
Tyler Lynde: Listen to this phrase.
Tyler Lynde: I love this phrase.
Tyler Lynde: The spiritual reaction is this in essentials, in other words, the things that are eternally important, we should have unity.
Tyler Lynde: In non-essentials, those are the second-tier issues that are important, but they don't have eternal value necessarily.
Tyler Lynde: In other words, they inform the way that we live in this life, but they don't necessarily inform eternity.
Tyler Lynde: We should have what?
Tyler Lynde: Liberty.
Tyler Lynde: We should be able to be free with each other and allow other people to have differences of thought or opinion in those areas.
Tyler Lynde: But in all things, charity.
Tyler Lynde: In all things, we should walk in love one toward another.
Tyler Lynde: There's enough of the flesh in every one of us to wreck any family, to wreck any local church or any other work of God.
Tyler Lynde: Therefore, we must do what?
Tyler Lynde: Submerge our own petty personal whims and attitudes and work together in peace for the glory of God and for the common blessing that He promises to those who walk in unity.
Tyler Lynde: So let's look at seven eternal truths from this scripture quickly that every believer should agree upon.
Tyler Lynde: It says there's one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in.
Tyler Lynde: And some references say you all or y'all.
Tyler Lynde: Paul is from southern Israel, I believe, but anyway.
Tyler Lynde: And in all.
Tyler Lynde: So there is one body.
Tyler Lynde: One body depicts the church as a single, visible community.
Tyler Lynde: God has called every believer, and Derek says this every week, to be a part of the body of Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Every single one of us are called to live that way as a part of the body of Christ.
Tyler Lynde: There is one body.
Tyler Lynde: Doesn't matter if you're at Trinity Community Church or any other church that's preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: It's not simply a mystical concept.
Tyler Lynde: It's unity is recognizable in that Jews and Gentiles are now seen to be reconciled in Christ as one new man.
Tyler Lynde: Do you remember this in Ephesians chapter 2?
Tyler Lynde: God has called all of us as believers in Jesus Christ to live as one new man.
Tyler Lynde: Christians are all members of the same body.
Tyler Lynde: Neil and I recently came back from Puerto Rico, and I bring you greetings from your brothers and sisters from down south.
Tyler Lynde: They speak a different language, but they have the same passion in their hearts and same love for Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: And they're praying for us.
Tyler Lynde: They love us and they're praying for us.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know that Satan tries everything he can to divide the body of Christ?
Tyler Lynde: Every day.
Tyler Lynde: Think about the explosion of denominations.
Tyler Lynde: And I'm not saying that God can't use denominational churches, he absolutely does.
Tyler Lynde: But the denominations were created one after the other based on what?
Tyler Lynde: Not being able to walk together in unity.
Tyler Lynde: Right?
Tyler Lynde: So one body, the next is one spirit.
Tyler Lynde: The Holy Spirit has made all true believers one in Christ.
Tyler Lynde: That's the reality.
Tyler Lynde: The body is indwelt by one spirit.
Tyler Lynde: There is one spirit, there is one body.
Tyler Lynde: This is a basic unity that cannot be destroyed.
Tyler Lynde: Nothing can destroy this.
Tyler Lynde: He graciously ministers to and through every believer.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you realize that the Spirit of God is one of the most contested parts of fact or truth within the body of Christ?
Tyler Lynde: Many of you grew up in churches that said that you were not supposed to focus on the Holy Spirit.
Tyler Lynde: That the work of the Holy Spirit was finished with the apostles.
Tyler Lynde: What a shame that we can't all agree, at least upon the fact that the Spirit of God indwells us.
Tyler Lynde: He's the part of the Godhead that is still in the earth today, right?
Tyler Lynde: The next is one hope.
Tyler Lynde: All believers in Jesus share a common hope.
Tyler Lynde: And what is it?
Tyler Lynde: It is that one day the same Jesus that ascended into heaven will split the clouds and will return again, this time, not as a baby in a manger, this time not as a crucified lamb on a cross.
Tyler Lynde: This time he will return as King of kings and Lord of Lords.
Tyler Lynde: And he will cause all of those who are believers in true believers in Jesus Christ to be reconciled to him, and he will rule and reign forever and ever and ever.
Tyler Lynde: This is our hope.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know churches divide over how this is going to happen?
Tyler Lynde: Three and a half years of this, seven years of that, false prophets, false priests, abominations, antichrists, calendars, news, prophecies.
Tyler Lynde: Can we all just please agree on the fact that he's going to return?
Tyler Lynde: Can we make that the main thing?
Tyler Lynde: He's going to return to this planet.
Tyler Lynde: And when he does, he's going to make all things new.
Tyler Lynde: That's what I know, and that's what I'm holding on to.
Tyler Lynde: Titus 3 says, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus Christ is coming soon.
Tyler Lynde: We go on to see that there's one Lord.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus Christ is still, and I know this isn't popular, but he is still the way, the truth, and the life.
Tyler Lynde: And no man comes to the Father except by Him.
Tyler Lynde: He is ruler of all.
Tyler Lynde: He is the divine authority.
Tyler Lynde: And here's the reality: you and I did not make Jesus Lord.
Tyler Lynde: God made Jesus Lord.
Tyler Lynde: We can't change it.
Tyler Lynde: We can't take it back.
Tyler Lynde: He's the one who made him Lord.
Tyler Lynde: He's the sole head of his body, the church of Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: And he deserves our undying allegiance.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know in this world new gods are spawned every minute?
Tyler Lynde: The gods of fame and fortune and entertainment and podcast, and I could go on and on and on.
Tyler Lynde: Whatever gods this world wants to promote or provide.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know there's only one true Lord?
Tyler Lynde: And his name is Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: Next is one faith.
Tyler Lynde: One faith, the faith that looks to Christ as the only means of salvation.
Tyler Lynde: This is the faith that we can agree upon.
Tyler Lynde: This is the faith that we must walk in.
Tyler Lynde: It is by grace that we are saved.
Tyler Lynde: What?
Tyler Lynde: Through faith.
Tyler Lynde: It requires a personal commitment to Christ based on the fact that He is the Son of God and Savior of the world.
Tyler Lynde: Do you believe?
Tyler Lynde: Amen.
Tyler Lynde: Do those who you're discipling believe?
Tyler Lynde: I don't even know if we took these seven principles and helped other other people that we're working with to understand these seven things, how great their foundation would be.
Tyler Lynde: It's almost like God knew what he was doing.
Tyler Lynde: When he wrote this book.
Tyler Lynde: Yep.
Tyler Lynde: One baptism.
Tyler Lynde: Now we could get into the weeds on this.
Tyler Lynde: There's three baptisms at least.
Tyler Lynde: Again, think eternal.
Tyler Lynde: What is the baptism that counts for eternity?
Tyler Lynde: It is the fact that the Holy Spirit causes us to be baptized into the body of Christ.
Tyler Lynde: What a beautiful thing that God does in the work of the Spirit.
Tyler Lynde: Now, is water baptism essential if you're going to live on this planet?
Tyler Lynde: Absolutely.
Tyler Lynde: And we encourage it in huge ways.
Tyler Lynde: If you haven't yet been baptized, please let us know.
Tyler Lynde: We would love to set up the tank right up front on this new carpet and put you in that tank and let you acknowledge the fact that you are a believer in Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: We also know that the Holy Spirit has come to fill us and to give us every gift that comes from God.
Tyler Lynde: And we don't want to downplay that as well.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know when we see Jesus, when we're with them, we're going to know everything that we need to know?
Tyler Lynde: And that particular work of the Spirit isn't going to be necessary any longer at that point.
Tyler Lynde: But the fact that we are part of the body of Christ is eternal, forever.
Tyler Lynde: And we can look at this in 1 Corinthians 12, 13.
Tyler Lynde: For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and were all made to drink of one spirit.
Tyler Lynde: Amen.
Tyler Lynde: Next and last, one God and Father of all.
Tyler Lynde: All true believers in Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile, American or Mexican, Russian or Ukrainian, all true believers, whether Republican or Democrat, have the same God and Heavenly Father.
Tyler Lynde: True believers have the same God and Heavenly Father.
Tyler Lynde: Aren't you glad that we have a father that's perfect?
Tyler Lynde: All of us in this human world, in this human life, even though we many of us had good dads, but our dads were not able to be God.
Tyler Lynde: They were not able to be perfect.
Tyler Lynde: And even us in our fatherhood, and with our children, we've not been perfect.
Tyler Lynde: But our heavenly Father is perfect.
Tyler Lynde: And it says of him that he is over all, he is the supreme sovereign of the universe.
Tyler Lynde: It says that he is through all, he uses everything, including us.
Tyler Lynde: Can you imagine that God would choose us to accomplish his purposes?
Tyler Lynde: He does.
Tyler Lynde: He works through us.
Tyler Lynde: And he is in all.
Tyler Lynde: Kmart's no longer a thing.
Tyler Lynde: But you you guys remember the blue light specials, right?
Tyler Lynde: Okay, anyway, certain crowd here.
Tyler Lynde: My grandma loves a good blue light special, but we're moving on from that.
Tyler Lynde: And in this church, imagine if all of us together decided, let's keep the main things the main things.
Tyler Lynde: Let's let the other things be important.
Tyler Lynde: Let's talk about them.
Tyler Lynde: Let's have healthy discussions and healthy, even some levels of difference of opinion.
Tyler Lynde: Let's leave room for differences of opinion.
Tyler Lynde: Let's leave room for people seeing things from different vantage points as they read through the scriptures.
Tyler Lynde: But can we make the main things the main things?
Tyler Lynde: And can we primarily focus on these things?
Tyler Lynde: I believe that that's what God was saying through Paul.
Tyler Lynde: And he's going to begin in the next few weeks to talk about relationships and family and husbands and wives and raising children and what it's like with your employer and all of these different relationships.
Tyler Lynde: And he's laying a foundation on how to do that as a believer in Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: So let's stand to our feet, and I'm going to pray a prayer for all of us.
Tyler Lynde: And it may sound familiar to you, because it's the prayer that Jesus prayed in John 17.
Tyler Lynde: So I'm going to pray his words over us.
Tyler Lynde: 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.
Tyler Lynde: The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one.
Tyler Lynde: I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you loved me.
Tyler Lynde: Lord, we pray these precious words.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus, if you found it in your heart to speak these words to your Father, I can't come up with anything better than that.
Tyler Lynde: And so we ask that you'd help us to live in this way.
Tyler Lynde: Live out your heart's desire in our lives and through our lives.
Tyler Lynde: And Father, we pray for every point of dissension, every point of division that people find themselves in.
Tyler Lynde: Lord, would you give them a way to rectify that, to work through that, to come to a point of peace in their own hearts, but also with others, Lord?
Tyler Lynde: Would you help us, Father, to emulate the very things as uh was spoken early before the message, Lord, that even you as a Trinity, you walk together in unity.
Tyler Lynde: So would you help us as your body to be examples of that, to emulate that?
Tyler Lynde: Father, forgive us for the areas where we fall short, where it's our responsibility that we've caused division or we've caused distrust or we've caused alienation.
Tyler Lynde: Father, change our hearts.
Tyler Lynde: Help us, Lord, to have that, like Derek was saying, to have that fresh heart of flesh, our stony hearts would be made into hearts of flesh.
Tyler Lynde: Help us to remember, Lord, what our great need was as we stood before the cross for the very first time.
Tyler Lynde: We thank you for these things in Jesus' name.
Tyler Lynde: May the Lord bless you and keep you and cause his face to shine upon you.
Tyler Lynde: May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you, listen to this, peace in the name of Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: Amen.