.jpg)
Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
In Christ - The Power of Unity
In The Power of Unity, part of the In Christ series, Scott Wiens opens Ephesians 1:9-12 to show that the “mystery” God revealed in Jesus is bigger than individual salvation—it is God’s plan to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and on earth. Scott traces Paul’s language to Romans 16:25 and Galatians 4:4 to explain that this mystery, set in motion at “the fullness of time,” was never in jeopardy. Christ’s redemptive work was the Father’s sovereign purpose from the beginning, and through it we gain not only forgiveness and an inheritance, but a shared identity as one body.
Scott presses into Paul’s consistent use of we, us, and our in Ephesians to expose a modern contradiction: claiming to follow Christ while rejecting His church. He acknowledges the reality of church hurt and the imperfection of God’s people, yet he warns how the enemy exploits offense and unrealistic expectations to isolate believers. Using John 13:35 and Romans 12:5, he shows that our love for one another is the visible proof of discipleship and that we are many members, yet one body in Christ.
From there, Scott offers three compelling reasons God calls every believer into meaningful connection with the church. First, true fellowship: the family of God celebrates, grieves, serves, shares, learns, and encourages together (Ephesians 4:1-3). Second, accountability: contrary to modern sentiment, accountability is freedom. Secrets thrive on shame and the whispers of the enemy, but confession and prayer—James 5:16; Proverbs 28:13—break the grip of sin and open the door to mercy and healing (Ephesians 4:25). Third, spiritual growth: apart from the body, stagnation and spiritual vulnerability set in, but together we grasp “with all the saints” the vastness of Christ’s love and are filled with the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19).
Scott’s most piercing analogy makes the point plain: saying “I love Jesus but don’t need the church” is like saying “I love marriage but don’t want to be with my spouse.” As the world grows darker and “the Day” draws near, Hebrews 10:24-25 calls us to meet together, to stir one another up to love and good works, and to encourage one another all the more.
If you’re ready to trade isolation for the joy, freedom, and growth of being united in Christ with His people, watch and be strengthened.
We are Trinity Community Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Subscribe to our Podcast & YouTube channel to find past sermons, classes, interviews, and more!
Find us on Facebook & Instagram
We're in the middle of a sermon series in the book of Ephesians, and we've been titled In Christ. Have you guys enjoyed this so far? It's been good. It's been really good. I've really enjoyed this, and we've heard messages, three different messages so far. Tyler kicked it off with a series when he when he talked about. He focused on how Christ is in us, but how we are in Christ as well. And it was really in light. I appreciate that message. I'd never really thought about that before in that way. It was really, really helpful. And then Derek gave a great message on what it means to be adopted into the family of God. I appreciated what he shared, his transparency there. And then Kelly last week taught on verses seven and eight, where he talked about what is biblical redemption and how that, how we can relate to that and how we should really grasp that. And it was really, really enjoyed that. We weren't out of town camping, but I got to listen to it online. Kelly, you're just as good online as you are in person, by the way. Enjoyed that. But our text for today is uh verses nine through twelve of Ephesians one. So let's go ahead and read this. So beginning in verse nine of Ephesians one, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. This is God's word. Father, we thank you for this amazing book. We thank you for Paul. We thank you for relating to Paul and realizing that at one time he was an enemy of the church just like we were. And Father, we thank you for these words. We pray that as we unpack this, Father, and as we study about the unity that is brought to us through Christ, and pray that we would all be refreshed in our hearts and reconvicted in our hearts and minds about the importance of this unity. And so we give this to you and thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, see, in this passage, we're really seeing an introduction to one of the most prevalent themes in the entire book of Ephesians, and that is this theme of unity, unity. Paul threads the concept of the unifying work of Christ throughout this epistle in just a beautiful tapestry that focuses on the redemptive work of Jesus. And as the result of that work, we're not just individually in Christ, not just individually in Christ, but we are collectively in Christ as well. So today we're gonna really focus on two things. The first thing is we're just gonna walk through this passage and do a little bit of exposition and just explain what Paul is talking about here. And then we're gonna look at three reasons why we should all want to be part of the unified body of Christ, which is the church. You guys ready for that? Well, let's do that. So let's start by walking through the passage and let's take a look at what Paul is saying, especially about this unity, which is really sandwiched right in the middle of this passage. So beginning in verse 9, he says, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ. Now, the word mystery sometimes you get this little eerie, ooh, it's a mystery. What is this mystery? Well, it's it's actually a word that Paul uses other times in his other epistles. He's used this word before. And sometimes when you're studying this and you run into a word like that and go, so what is this mystery? It's really good to look at the context of other passages where it's used. So in Romans 16, 25, he uses that word mystery, but he gives it a little bit more context. In Romans 16, 25, he says, Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel, which is really the gospel of Jesus, and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past. So what we're seeing here is a coupling of the gospel with this term mystery. Paul is writing this at the very end of the Epistle of Romans, which, by the way, I think is arguably probably one of the most comprehensive and in-depth explanations of the gospel that you'll find in the entire New Testament. And Paul is saying that the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past is the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. That's a mystery. And it's revealed to you and it's revealed to me. And we're going to understand a little bit more about what that means when we talk about being called. So let's continue in Ephesians 9 or 1, verse 9. Making known to us the mystery will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ. Listen, it was God's sovereign will from the very beginning to redeem mankind through Jesus Christ. That was his purpose. And when you see words like according to his purpose, does God get his way? Yeah, he absolutely gets his way. If God has called you, do you think you can run from him? I can I can show you whole books about people trying to run from God. You can't run from God. If he has purposed this, and it's going to do, and so when he purposed his plan, and this is what's something we sometimes miss, it was never in jeopardy of not being carried out. Do you think Jesus was going into the wilderness and, like, oh, I hope he makes it? No. It was a done deal. It was a done deal from the very beginning. And in Christ means that the redemption came in the form of Jesus Christ and what he did. If you put all of verse 9 together, we can clearly see that God has purposed his plan for the redemption of mankind through Jesus Christ. That's why we're calling this sermon in Christ. Right? That's the focus. So let's jump over now to verse 10. And this is where God, where Paul's going to introduce God's concept of united and uniting us together in Christ. So, as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. Now, let's just talk a little bit, let's break this down a little bit. So, as a plan for the fullness of time, what does a fullness of time mean? Because we read sometimes we read these scriptures and we go, fullness of time? You know, what how do you wrap your head around that? Remember the context. You got to look and see if that's ever been used before by the Apostle Paul, and indeed it has. Galatians 4, verse 4. This is what he says. But when the fullness of time had come, oh, everybody's on the edge of your seat. Okay, what happened? God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that me, what uh we might receive adoption as sons. So clearly, the fullness of time is referring to the time frame covering the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's here. It's here. And Paul is identifying this is what the fullness of time is it's the life of Christ and his death and his resurrection. So let's go back to verse 9. As for the plan of uh as a plan for the fullness of time, and he says this, now that's a key verse that we're going to focus on. To unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. This is what Christ came to do. He came to unite. And when you are uniting something, what are they before they are united? They're separate, right? They're separate. You can almost make a case that this is reuniting. Because the sin of Adam in the in the garden, we know what happened. It separated us, mankind, it separated mankind from God. And it put us in a very unnatural state. And all of us, as we've preached from the stage before, are living under that curse, if you will, of Adam. He is our federal head, meaning he is the one that represented us, and now we're dealing with his sin. I know it's not fair, but it's truth. We are the ones dealing with that. However, and this is what I love, God forordained from the foundations of the earth that his son was going to come into the world, live that perfect life that we couldn't live, die as a perfect sacrifice so that we can be redeemed, united together once again with God. I need to hear a hallelujah for that one. Can you imagine if we didn't have that? I don't know about you, but once you've been walking with the Lord for a long time, the thought about not walking with him just you can't even fathom it. Every day I wake up under the grace of God. Remember, it says his mercies are new every morning, right? Every morning I'm just thankful. God, thank you for another day of life. Not because I get a big charge of a living that life, but because I get to live it under his grace. And wow, that's beautiful to think about. And you know, under that bridge, as I was talking to these people and praying for them, that's the one thing that kept coming through my mind and my heart. Just I want them to have what I have. I want them to receive the gift that I received. What a beautiful plan. All right, verse 11. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. Here's Paul's going off again. He's he's sounds like he's rambling, but every word has got so much meaning, right? In him we have obtained an inheritance. I loved, I really appreciated Derek's message a couple weeks ago because he talked about this, what it means to be adopted. Because when you hear the word inheritance, guess what? Who inherits things? Yeah, the children. Your inheritance. So we are the adopted sons and daughters of God, and we now receive that inheritance. By the way, do they earn it? You know, you were born into the family. You receive it, you don't have to earn it. We've been adopted into the family, and we have obtained that inheritance, not by anything we have done, but what Christ did for us. And what a beautiful thing. So it says, In him we have attained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. When my dad first started going to church, I was about 10, and he got the little three by five flashcards. Well, they were just cards, and he we he made me write the verses on them. And I'll never forget one was John 6.44. Don't put it on the screen. Oh, don't put it on the screen. I was gonna test him. I was gonna test him. Who can who can quote nice and loud John 6.44? Oh, come on. All right, I guess my dad wouldn't pick the kind of a remote one. No one, this is Jesus speaking, no one can come to me unless the Father himself draw him, right? God has to draw you to Jesus. Right? And the whole purpose of this scripture, the church we were in, was trying to show is that you can't respond unless God's allowing you to respond, unless he's calling to you. You know, I love what Neil always says when he's talking about we're dead spiritually. He said, you can't reason with a dead person. They're dead. They're dead spiritually. If you've ever tried to talk to somebody who's not being called by God and you're trying to share truth with them, and you see that blank look, maybe they're not being called just yet. Maybe later, but right now they're just shut off. No man can come to me unless the father who sent me draw him. And I love this, and I will raise him up in the last day. This doctrine of predestination, which is that God has determined beforehand that he is going to call some to him, is a doctrine that's all through the New Testament. And by the way, it's also a pretty divisive doctrine because there's two different ways to look at it. And this sermon's not about predestination. We're gonna give that one to Mark. I think we should let Mark teach that one. Seriously, though. Um predetermined that I would get it. I predetermined that you were gonna get this sermon. That's a word of knowledge, I think, right there. But literally, all you have to do is read scriptures like Romans 8 28 through 30, uh, Colossians 3.12. There's lots of passages that talk about this, and this is a good thing for you to embrace and wrestle with a little bit. But the fact is, this is all I know. If you're sitting here today understanding the gospel and receiving the truth from the word of God that I'm teaching, then I know you're called. And that's a beautiful thing. That's a beautiful thing. We need to rejoice in that. All right, verse 12. So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. Now, this phrase, we have to read this in context, and we have to think about the author on this one. This is Paul. Before Paul was called, what was he? He was a Jew. Well, yeah, he was solved. Good point. What was he in his standing? He was a Jew, and he still was a Jew, by the way. So Paul was a Jew. All right. So this phrase, we who are the first to hope in Christ, it's a pretty clear reference to the Jewish believers. He'll pull out commentaries, they'll talk about that. But obviously, Paul was the disciple to the Gentiles, right? He was an apostle to the Gentiles. So this whole thing, he was just simply saying, listen, you know, we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. All of this is done to glorify God. And this gospel that was preached to us, all of us, we should be thankful for and be grateful for. You know, when we start looking at how Paul introduces this theme of unity, we're gonna see right from the beginning that there is a collective unification that he talks about. And this is really one of I want to focus on. In fact, from the very first verse in the book of Ephesians, chapter one, you start to see Paul setting this stage by using collective language. Right? He and he uses specific pronouns. Now, isn't it terrible that the word pronoun has just gotten a bad meaning lately? I brought this up in the elder meeting, and there was like a five-minute laugh session about pronouns. I'm like, guys, that's not what I'm talking about. No, he literally said, Listen, look about this, think about this, what he says. From the very beginning, beginning actually in verse 3, he uses we four times. He used the pronoun us five times, and the pronoun our twice. Who's he speaking to? He's speaking to the collective body of Christ, right? There is this collective body of Christ. And I think we miss that sometimes. But look what he says. Verse 3, blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing. He in verse 4, he chose us in him before the foundations of the world. Verse 7, in him we have redemption through his blood. There is a distinct expectation that those who are redeemed by Christ would be a collective, unified group of people identified as the church. The church. And that's true. There is a inter very close interpersonal relationship that you're gonna have with God and your Savior. You should. But you can't cut it off like that. It's more than just that. And that's what Jesus is pointing out here. He's not just talking about you and God, he's talking about a collective body. And I think it's really important. And I marvel at those who claim to be born-again believers of Christ, yet they reject the church. Not just don't come to church, some of them will get on soap boxes and they will basically tear down the body of Christ. Now, I understand, by the way, because many times the church has been a source of pain. In fact, if I were to ask you, put up your hand if you've ever been church hurt, meaning somebody hurt you. In fact, let's just do this so everybody can see that my point is valid. If you've ever been hurt at church, put your hand up. Well, lucky there. The motion stands. So why does this happen? Why do we get hurt in church? Well, sometimes the enemy places wolves in churches. If you've ever been to church, you've probably run across some wolves. People that really aren't Christians, they're acting the part, and they hurt people. We've seen that before. But more often than not, it's simply because of sinful acts completed committed by imperfect people. I often tell people, if I haven't offended you, please be patient, I'll get around to it. It's true, and I won't do it on purpose, or maybe I'm having a bad day and I might do it on purpose. But this is interesting because we know that the church is imperfect because it's made up of imperfect people. And I like that quote by the way if you find a perfect church, don't go because you won't fit in. In fact, when you start going, you're gonna make the church imperfect, right? But isn't it interesting? The fact that the church is made up of imperfect people, it really should make us comfortable, shouldn't it? Shouldn't it make it comfortable? But see, Satan twists this around, brethren. He twists this around. He makes us blind to our own imperfections and we focus on everybody else's imperfections. When someone hurts us, we focus on that person's imperfections. And the result is we begin placing unrealistic expectations on our brothers and sisters in Christ. I can't believe that Andy said that. You get the idea? We start putting these expectations on people and we totally ignore that we ourselves are imperfect, right? And so we take offense and we walk away from the body of Christ thinking we're justified, yet for some reason we forgot to look in a mirror. And mirrors are all over the place, by the way. And the greatest spiritual mirror is probably sitting beside you that could be interpreted in many ways. It's your Bible, could be your wife or your husband, by the way. Isn't that sad though?
unknown:Yes.
Scott Wiens:See, nobody can live up to perfection. Why do you think all through scripture we hear this, we hear admonitions to dwell with one another with love and understanding and extend grace to one another? Because we have to. We have to. Because if we don't, we'll walk away from the very thing Christ came and created the church. The result is we have people who claim to be Christ's followers, but they directly disobey scriptures that clearly state we are to be in the body of Christ. And let me just make it really clear to you. I'm not saying this to try to shame anybody or promote this church. One of the things I love about this church when we do announcements is that we say, if you're a visitor here, we thank you for coming. And we're glad that you're here. And if you're looking for a church, we hope it's ours. But if it's not, we're going to be praying that God places you in the body of Christ where He wants you. We're not about just filling this room up. It's not our job, it's God's job. We want you in the body of Christ, wherever that is that you need to be placed. For Amy, you had to come to this body of Christ. Sometimes it's a win-win for us. You know, the result of this, by the way, is can be really sad, and I actually call it oxymoronic. I call it that because I just want to use a big word. But literally think about it. I'm a Christian, but I don't need the church. It's the same thing as saying, I love being married, I just don't like to be with my spouse. I don't want to be around them, I don't want to talk to them, I don't want to hang around them or nothing. But I love being married. It doesn't make sense. It's a contradiction. And that's the same way that God looks at it. If you truly love God, you will love the church. The imperfect church that's gonna hurt you. But you know what? More often they're gonna love you and encourage you. And we have to keep that in mind. Those that claim they can be Christians without the church have bought into a lie that being united in Christ is exclusively referencing a personal relationship with Jesus and not also a collective relationship with the church he established. By the way, I used to carry a soapbox around because I got church hurt big time. And I used to jump on that soapbox and I said exactly this. All you need is God. And why was I wrong? All you have to do is read the scriptures in the New Testament. You can't avoid them. They're all over the place. John 13, 35. Jesus says this. This is Jesus speaking. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have a great understanding of doctrine and a close individual relationship with God. No, no, no. That's from a movie, by the way. I won't say it. If you have love for one another, you want to know one of the hardest things to do is to love people that you don't like or you don't get along with really well, or somebody that maybe offended you. That shows that you have love. And that's what he's saying. Romans 1 or 12, verse 5. This is such a powerful scripture. Paul says, so we in Romans 12, 5, so we, though many, though many, here we are, many, are one body in Christ. That's the unification that Christ did, right? As individual members, one of another. Whew! That's like almost the Trinity type of complex, right? One of another, but yet we're individual, but yet we're one. That's the body of Christ. It's so beautiful. God designed the church, God's design for the church was that it would be a unified group of people actively engaging this world with the gospel message and living an example that people would look at and say, that is real. That is real. Okay, so with that, I want to quickly go through three reasons why the God wants us to be united in a body of Christ, with the body of Christ. I'll go through these fairly quickly. The first is true fellowship. True fellowship. As believers, we're placed within the family of God and we live our lives together. In Ephesians 4, 1 through 3, he says this 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. Thank you, Paul. That's what I've been saying. Eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Here's that phrase unity again. Fellowship. We do it together with gentleness, humility, patience, bearing with one another in love. And one of the reasons Jesus created the church was to create a place where we could, where that would, by the way, meet the emotional, spiritual, and physical needs of the body of Christ. And that happens at this church, by the way. A church that's truly representing the unity of Christ will be a church that epitomizes love, care, and compassion for each other. We celebrate with each other. We grieve with each other. We serve one another. We share with one another. We work alongside. We learn together. We encourage. That's what the body of Christ looks like. It's so wonderful. Serve day is just a hoot. Because we get to be, and you know what? I got to know better. I got to know the people better that I worked with. And we serve the needs of the community. That's what the unified body of Christ looks like. And by the way, I just wanted to speak on behalf of the eldership. There's neither, none of us believe that we're doing this perfectly. And we all believe that we can do this better. We talk about it in the elder meetings a lot. Tyler is a great encourager that way to keep us focused on what our calling is as pastors and shepherds. But again, all of you are called to do the same thing. We're called to have fellowship together. Fellowship is living out our lives with one another. Second reason that God wants us in the church is being accountability. Being a part of a healthy family means we take advantage of the accountability that's available to us. Now, Ephesians 4.25 says this. And here it is, one of another. Notice the theme of unity that you see here. You know, the term accountability in this culture has kind of become a bad word. It's got a negative connotation. Because sometimes we don't want anybody that we have to answer to. I don't have to answer to Matt. I don't want to have to answer to anybody. The very thing, by the way, that can be a strength when it's not mixed together with God and the Spirit of Christ can be a real negative. But accountability is a good thing. Accountability in the body of Christ is freedom for the believer. You know, if you're if you're struggling with a specific sin, you know, maybe you maybe you I don't care what it is. If you're struggling with something and and you're just keeping it to yourself and you're just trying to fight that along, you and your little sword and guess what? You're gonna get wiped out. You're gonna get wiped out. I love the I I'm gonna misquote Neil, but he says, I think he says the sheep that leaves the herd gets shorn or eaten. I don't know, something like that. But he basically, if you leave the herd, you're vulnerable. Accountability is a good thing. Satan loves for us, by the way, to keep secrets. He loves that. You know, this concept, you know, if if if you want to get free from something, here's a real simple process you can follow. Very simple formula. First, confess your sin to somebody honestly. Someone, obviously, that you trust. Don't just confess it to anybody. Find someone that's trustworthy that you know. Ask them to help you work through the result of the sin. Sometimes it can be of uh of actual consequences you have to deal with. Sometimes it's just shame. Whatever it is, ask them to help you with that, encourage you through that. And then ask them to follow up with you. Keep you accountable. Hey, ask me about this. Ask me if I have neglected my Bible study. Ask me if I've neglected my prayer time. Ask me if I've gone to that website. Ask me if I've spent five hours on my phone when I should have spent one hour. Okay? See, I went from preaching to meddling. Talked about phone screen time. I don't repent of that. But here's the thing: if you keep these sins, you know, your secret sins, I just want to say, welcome to Satan's prison. Welcome to Satan's prison. Because here's the thing secrets destroy us, and you want to know why? Because they are driven by shame, and they are fed by the whispers of Satan telling you that if you confess your sin, someone's gonna judge you and they're gonna reject you. So guess what? He's got you in your little prison. And there you are, and you're miserable and you're suffering, but you're stuck there because you're worried about these things. I had a man tell me one time, I'll never forget it. He said to me, we were having a deep conversation one night, and he said, I have something to confess that I've never told anybody else. And he was deep in drugs at one time in his life. And he told me about something that was really bad that it happened, and very shameful that it happened. And he said, You probably look at me differently, don't you? And I said, Yeah, I do. I have more respect and love for you now than I did before. And you know, it changed his whole life because this sin that had him in a grip like this was now out. No, I mean I say out. He he confessed it and he received love and he received encouragement. He didn't receive judgment, he didn't receive shame. That is why we should confess to one another, and that's why we should have accountability. You know, the fifth chapter of the book of James has a really powerful description of the whole living together as a body. And the concept of James 5 is or the context is really talking about healing. And I'm just gonna jump straight down to this one verse. He well, in verse 13, he talks about is any suffering, let him pray. If anyone's cheerful, let him sing a praise. If anyone's too sick, let him call on the elders or whatever. And he keeps going all the way down to 16. He says, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Now, again, the focus on this is healing, but there's a broader principle here that we can't miss. Confessing releases the power of the secrets, and I love to say this: the demons scream. Because they lost you. They lost you to the love of the body of Christ. Proverbs 28, 13 says something. Whoever conceals his transgression will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. We know we'll obtain mercy from God, but sometimes when you obtain mercy from one of his own, it's a beautiful way that God communicates with us. All right, the last point is spiritual growth. As part of the body of Christ, you will experience spiritual growth. Ephesians 3 14 through 19 says this. Then he says this, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints. What is the breadth and length and height and depth that you may know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God. This is a beautiful picture of the spiritual growth that we have to look forward to as members of the body of Christ. If we are not connecting with the body of Christ, we're going to eventually experience spiritual stagnation. Been there, got the t-shirt. We're going to make ourselves open to spiritual attacks. I was there. I walked away from the church, and I told you about the soapbox I had. I was so self-righteous. And the enemy loved that. Came after me. It was miserable. I didn't start growing until I started sitting my butt in the church again. That's when I started growing again. And walking side by side with brothers that I came to love and trust and to that are close to me this day. That's where I grew. When you're connected to the body of Christ, you will have many opportunities to grow spiritually. Obviously, through here, being taught, going to Bible studies, community groups, uh, you know, small groups, house churches, you know, having breakfast with somebody, serving alongside people. Listen, you're gonna grow spiritually. And by the way, yes, we want to learn about God's law, we want to learn about the Bible and everything, but again, when you're rubbing shoulders with people, that's really where you get to, you know, how do you know that you're gonna forgive somebody if they hard, if they cause your offense to you, if you've never around anybody? I mean, that's the thing. People get hurt and they walk away. I had the unfortunate opportunity to talk to somebody yesterday that was a part of a Christian organization that had been hurt by that organization. And uh it was a paraministry, and it was sad to hear him talk. And I had to look at him and I say, but all the time, because it was one or two things that had happened. I said, all the time that you were serving there, did you get to share the gospel with people? He said, Yeah. He said, I still share the gospel with people. I said, That's great. I said, but you walked away from that collective body because of a few sins, of a few people. I said, We're called to serve together. We're called to serve together. And so to me, it's just spiritual growth comes from being with the other people in the church. Now, listen, um, I'm gonna conclude by simply saying, I know I've been preaching to the choir. A lot of you are like, yeah, Scott, I'm already convinced. Can you cut this short? But you know, as I've been preaching, I'm looking out at all of you, and we've been a part of this body for nine and a half years. And I look at, for instance, this rover here. I look at people like Jack Wright, I look at people like, you know, Joan and Ed, Wanda. These people, these beautiful saints, if you want to know why you need to put you a part of the church, just ask them. You know, many of them have a lot of excuses to not be here. Age takes its toll on the body, it's not easy. I remember Jack telling me one time about how hard it was for him to get dressed every morning. But Jack is here more than almost anybody. And by the way, you might ask why. Well, I can assure you they're not trying to earn something. That's not why they're here. They're here because they want to be here. They want to be with the body of Christ. Do you want to be with the body of Christ? I know I do. I hate missing Sunday. I hate it. Because this is my family. You're my family. I'm gonna be dwelling with it in eternity with you guys. Like I told Chad Raines, I hope he's on the other side of the planet, but I will be with him for eternity. But seriously, think about it. By the way, he earned that one. He was mean to me this morning. But just think about it, look around. These are the people that you're gonna be with for eternity. Eternity. And I look forward to that. I look forward to that with all of you. I'm gonna end with the scripture from Hebrews 10. Who he says it the best, the writer of Hebrews says it the best, beginning in verse 19. Therefore, brothers, since we have the comp excuse me, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through that, through the curtain, that is, through his flesh. And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, a full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with a pure water. This is what we are in Christ. Look what he now says. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised his faithful, and let us consider how to stir one another up to love and to good works. Can't do that on your own, brethren. You can't stir yourself up. You can't stir others when you're not around them. Not neglecting to meet together as the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Marshall, I appreciate what you shared because that's been going through my mind too. When something like this happens, you just you just feel in your heart that we're drawing near, the time's drawing near. There will be a time that you will need each other more than now. And we need to do that together. Please stand to your feet. Let's pray. But that's not our identity, Father. We stand before you as the collective body of Christ, and that you called us together to be here together today, this day, to love one another, to encourage one another, to bear with one another, to forgive one another, to extend grace to one another, to serve one another, to laugh, to cry together. Father, you've called us together to do that. And Lord, we thank you. Jesus, we thank you that you came and you created your church on this earth. We thank you that you made us a family, that you united us together through the blood that came off that cross and the redemption that came from that empty tomb. Father, I pray right now that each one of us would be convicted in our hearts and minds about the importance of the body of Christ, and that we would, Father, make every effort to dwell together. And Father, if our hearts don't want to do that, I pray that you would supernaturally change our hearts, Lord, that we would desire to be together, Father. And as the days draw near and as evil continues to grow in this world, Father, I pray that we will continue as a collective group to be the light this world needs to see, the light that is the salvation of Jesus Christ and the hope through the gospel. Father, that's my prayer. And I pray this through the one who through all uniting comes, Jesus Christ. Amen.
