Radical Reconciliation – A Partnership of Love

Well, hey, happy Friends Day. So glad you're here.

Are you glad you're here? All right, we'll tell someone

you're glad you're here. Come on.

It's a good day. You're in the right place today.

Hey, whether you are a first time guest, I want you to know

that you are welcome here and you are a friend.

Or whether you've been coming to church here for 60 years.

Thank you for coming to Friends Day.

You're still our friend. We love you.

It's a great opportunity to be together.

And I, I say this a lot, but I want to say it again, that that

this is one of the best places you could possibly be this

morning. Not because we're better than

all the other churches or anything, but because the God

that created everything is here and loves you and wants to draw

you to him today. And so praise Lord, we get to be

here. As I was thinking about Friends

Day, we're we're starting a new series in the Letter of

Philemon. It is a letter that is 1 chapter

long. It's 25 verses and we're going

to spend 4 weeks in those 25 verses.

The biggest challenge for me is not preaching the entire thing

every single week, but but it is worthy of being preached and,

and so today we're going to focus on a little part of it.

But as I was thinking about Friends Day and I was thinking

about this message, 2 characters came to my mind.

Two really good characters from a movie that came out a long

time ago, I think maybe 30 ish years ago.

And and that movie was The Lion King and the characters are

Timon and Pumbaa. How many, you know, Timon and

Pumbaa, that kind of some of the fun characters.

Now, I'm guessing most of us have have seen that movie.

And the reason they came to my mind is #1 it's Friends Day.

But, but we're talking about the body of Christ today.

And, and Timon and Pumbaa were kind of outsiders.

They, they found themselves outside of, you know, the main

society, the main group of animals and, and they stayed to

themselves and they felt like outcasts and they were

disconnected. And I want to say this on

friends Day, maybe some of you feel that like in your heart,

maybe you feel like that's you. Maybe you feel like you're not

connected. You don't have a family, you

don't have a place that you belong.

I got good news. You're in the right place today

and you belong here. You belong in God's family.

And so today we're going to be looking at Philemon.

I'm I'm going to do something crazy.

I'm just going to read the entire chapter every week of

this series. So get ready to stand for just a

few more, you know, minutes here staying with me, and we'll read

Philemon. So this is Paul's letter to

Philemon. And listen, if you're new here,

we stand just because we believe this is God's word.

It's written by a bunch of different people a long time

ago, but we believe that God inspired it and directed it.

And as much as God inspired and directed it, that God wants to

speak to us today through it. And so my prayer is that God

will speak to us. Here it is.

We're going to read the whole chapter on Philemon starting

here at first. One, Paul, a prisoner of Christ

Jesus, and Timothy, our brother. To Philemon, our dear friend and

fellow worker. Also to Afia, our sister and

Archipus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your

home. Grace and peace to you from God

our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I always thank God when I as I remember you in my prayers

because I hear about your love for all His holy people and your

faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership

with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your

understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of

Christ. Your love has given me great joy

and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the

hearts of the Lord's people. Therefore, although in Christ I

could be bold and I could order you to do what you ought to do,

yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love.

It is as none other than Paul, an old man, and now as also a

prisoner in Christ Jesus, that I appeal to you for my son

Onissimus, who became my son while I was in chains.

Formerly he was, Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has

become useful both to you and to me.

I am sending him, who is my very heart back to you.

I would have liked to have to keep him with me so that he

could take your place in helping me while I'm in change for the

gospel. But I did not want to do

anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would

you do would not seem forced, but would be voluntary.

Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little

while was that he might, that you might have him back forever,

no longer as a slave, but better than as a slave, as a dear

brother. He is my he is very dear to me,

but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in

the Lord. So if you consider me a partner,

welcome him as you would welcome me.

If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, then charge

it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my

own hand. I will pay it back.

Not to mention that you owe me your very self.

That's a great line there. Not to mention you owe me.

I do wish brother, that I may have some benefit from you and

the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

Confident of your obedience, I write to you knowing that you

will do even more than I ask. And then one more thing, prepare

a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in

answer to your prayers. Epaphras, my feather, my fellow

prisoner in Christ Jesus sends you greetings, and so do Mark,

Aristarchus, Dimas, and Luke, my fellow workers, the grace of the

Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

You can have a seat. All right, I know that was long

and we're going to get through it over the next 4 weeks.

We're going to work through that whole thing.

I just felt like I'd rather not pick and choose little parts of

it. I want to read the whole thing

every week just so you get the full context.

But, but let me tell you what's happening here.

Paul is writing this to Philemon.

Philemon was a member of the church in Colossi and and

Philemon was probably a pretty wealthy man.

He was a member of the church and Paul's writing him back from

prison, and Paul has made a new friend.

Now that new friend is Onissimus, who used to be a

slave of Philemon. Now this is a interesting

situation because Onissimus, who was a slave of Philemon, did

something wrong. He in some way cheated or stole

from Philemon. Most people think he stole from

him, and then he ran away and escaped and went off other

places. But at some point Paul, Paul and

Onissimus ended up in prison together, and Onissimus had a

change of heart and became a follower of Christ.

And so now Paul is riding back to Philemon.

Now imagine this. We've got some pretty big hurt

here, pretty big stuff. Paul is writing back and trying

to bring reconciliation and trying to bring unity between

Philemon and Onissimus and all the people, the church.

That's the context for this letter.

It's pretty big stuff. Now listen, today we're not

going to get real deep into the reconciliation part.

Today. I want to focus on two things.

Number one, I want to focus on what we're invited into, what we

are called to, and #2 what that means for our relationships with

each other and how we view each other.

The first part I want to talk about is what we're called into.

In verse 6, Paul says, I pray that your partnership with us in

the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of

every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement because you,

brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord's people.

Paul introduces here an important concept.

So, so at the outset, we understand this letter is a

difficult letter to write. He's asking something huge of

Philemon. He's asking reconciliation, but

he starts with this statement. I pray that our partnership, I

pray that our partnership, that your partnership with us in the

faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of

every good thing we share in Christ.

The word that he uses there is the word Koinonia.

And the word Koinonia it, it means it's more than just hey,

we attend the same church. It's more than just hey, we work

together. The word your partnership with

us implies this deep, deep bond. Koinonia means fellowship.

It means communion, It means unity.

It means participation together. It means sharing a common

purpose, a common goal. And so Paul is saying right here

at the beginning, he's writing this tough letter and he's

saying right at the beginning, hey, we are in a Koinonia

partnership, reminding him right up front.

Guys, listen, can I tell you today that maybe you came to

church and you don't know why you're here?

Maybe you came and you thought you came for one reason or

another. I want to tell you today that

God is inviting you into something so much better than

just attending a church. God is inviting you into

something so much better than just getting some new friends on

friends Day. God is inviting you to a deep

Koinonia fellowship, a unity, a communion with others.

That's what we're called to guys.

And see our, our culture is very individualistic.

Most of the commercials are about individualism and your

choice and, and most of us, even in our faith, have become kind

of individualistic in our faith. Well, I accept Christ as my

Savior and then I do my best to live in a relationship with him.

And, and so it becomes a very individualistic thing.

But, but I want you to understand Paul is saying, no,

no, no, no, no. When, when you accept Christ as

your savior, when you become a Christian, you're no longer on

your own. You're a part of something

bigger than yourself. You're a part of the body of

Christ. Yes, the decision to follow

Jesus is your decision. God is pursuing you.

His grace and His Spirit are working to draw you to Him.

But you personally have to make that decision.

But once you do, you enter into a family, the body of Christ.

You are no longer on your own, a lone wolf doing it on your own.

You are a part of the body of Christ.

Listen, you cannot be holy apart.

You cannot be righteous. You cannot be who God calls you

to be apart from the body of Christ.

Holiness requires love and unity with the body of Christ.

And so Paul, I mean, Paul is a genius in this letter.

This is a master class of, of, of reconciliation.

He's he starts off and just says, Hey, remember Philemon,

that you're a part of something bigger than yourself.

This is bigger than just you. You are a part of a partnership

In, in first Corinthians 12, Paul says, just as the body,

this is another way he talks about it.

And this is another long scripture.

Bear with me here. He says just as a body, though

one has many parts, but all its many parts form 1 body, so it is

with Christ. For we are all baptized into one

by one spirit as to form 1 body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave

or free, as we are all given the one spirit to drink.

Even so the body is not made-up of one part but of many.

And, and then he goes on. He says if the foot should say,

well because I'm not a hand, I'm not a part of the body.

He says that's not true, we are all part of the body.

We need each other and, and, and going down further, he says in

verse 18, but in fact God has placed the parts of the body,

every one of them just as he wanted them to be.

If we were all one part, where would the body be?

But we are all parts as it is. There are many parts but one

body. Verse 21 he says, the eye can't

say to the hand, I don't need you.

The head cannot say to the feet, I don't need you.

On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weak or

indispensable, we need each other.

And then at the bottom he says in 26, If one part suffers,

every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every

part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ

and each one of you is a part of it.

So I mean, I know I'm just hammering this in here.

You are invited into something huge today.

Not just to say I'm a Christian, not just to say, hey, I'm a part

of a church. I go to Westchester, I go to

wait, whatever. You are invited into the

fellowship, the body of Christ, a deep unity, a deep family.

He, he goes on. He says, I pray that that this

partnership, that this Koinonia partnership may be effective in

deepening your understanding of every good thing that we share

for the sake of Christ. I love this.

He says that, that as you are partnered with me, if you, as

you're in the Koinonia relationship, as we are unified

and working together, you should see the good more and more.

You should understand God's goodness more and more.

There was a study in the early 2000s and and that study says

that you form relationships quicker based on a mutual

dislike or hate for something else.

That's that's real, that people form quicker relationships,

quicker bonds based on common things that they disagree with

or hate or dislike, whether it's a person or a thing that that's

actual. I mean that like, you can go

look it up. It's from 2006.

And there were studies that show that we formed that quicker.

And what Paul is saying is that's not the way.

Sure, we may find people that we bond with over what we dislike

or who we dislike or what what we are against.

What Paul is saying is you are invited to the Koinonia

Fellowship, the body of Christ, and the deeper you get in with

the body of Christ, the more you're going to be unified, the

more you're going to see his goodness and His grace at work.

God is good, he says. I pray that this partnership may

be effective in deepening your understanding of every good

thing we share for the sake of Christ.

Listen, we may, it may be easier and, and listen, it is.

I see it in the church. Sometimes people that are

negative find people that are negative to buddy up with.

As a leader, I can tell you that it's I, I see it all the time.

People that don't like the leader tend to buddy up with

people that don't like the leader.

Can I tell you that's not the way?

Can I tell you we're invited to something better than that, that

we're invited to a unity and a love and a grace that's built on

God's goodness. And so before he gets into the

nitty gritty of this, and we're not going to get into the nitty

gritty too much today, we're we're going to this series, make

sure you come back. It's really important.

But before he gets into the nitty gritty, he says, I hope

that our partnership helps you see what's good and what's right

as as Christians, we are identified and defined by what

unites us, not by what separates us.

That's who we're called to be people of love and grace and a

people who come together on a Sunday morning and don't say,

man, we don't like this about our world.

We don't like that a people who come together and say God is

good and we are blessed to be here.

Guys, you are invited into that. So, so that's the first thing.

That's what you're invited into. That's the first thing, that the

second thing is how it changes our relationships.

Now, there's a problem there, right?

Because Paul is writing to Philemon.

Philemon had a slave named Onissimus.

And just let me get off on a little bit of a tangent here.

I know that it's a little bit tricky because obviously we know

that slavery is wrong. And I haven't studied the

insurance and outs of that day and what slavery meant.

Maybe I should have. But.

But I want you to know that that what sometimes we look at

Scripture and we say, well, there's slavery in the Bible.

What? Yeah, but I want you to know

that God is not for it and that God always calls us to a holy

and righteous love for each other.

And you're going to see that in this text that that God is not

saying, hey, it's OK to to make him your slave.

But God is calling us to something so much more.

And so the first part is what we're called into what what we

are invited into. You are invited into the

Koinonia fellowship with Jesus Christ and with His body.

The second is what that means for our relationships with

others. I was singing that Timon and

Pumbaa. They were outcast, right?

They sang fun songs. You like their songs, right?

Those are some of the highlights of The Lion King.

But they were smelly. They were not accepted.

They couldn't go into the mainland because they knew that

they wouldn't be accepted there. They were on the outskirts.

And then something changed. They met Simba and all of a

sudden they were friends with the soon to be king and

everything changed. That's the story of Onissimus.

Let me let me pick it up in verse 9.

I said it. It is as none other than Paul,

an old man and also a prisoner in Christ Jesus, that I appeal

to you for my son Onissimus. Listen to how he talks about

him. Just just catch how he talks

about him. That I appeal to you for my son

Onissimus, who became my son while I was in chains formerly.

Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful

both to you and to me. I am sending him who is my very

heart back to you. I would have liked to have keep

him, to keep him with me so that he could take your place in

helping me while I'm in chains for the gospel.

But I did not want to do anything without your consent so

that any favor you do would not seem forced, but would be

voluntary. And, and this is audacious right

here. He says perhaps the reason he

was separated from you for a little while was so that you

might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but better

than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me, but even

dearer to you both as a fellow man, as a brother in the Lord.

All right, so 4 things I want to see.

I'll work through them pretty quick.

Four things I want us to see about the way that Paul, the way

that the Koinonia Fellowship changes the way we see others.

So I told you Onissimus was a slave of Philemon and he did

something wrong. He stole from him.

He cheated him in some way, and then he ran away.

Paul writes back. And he says, I'm writing on

behalf of Onissimus, who is my son.

The truth of the matter is Onissimus was kind of like the

outcast. He was a person that was a

criminal. And in fact, let me just share

this the the penalty for a slave in that day running away, the

penalty could be as harsh as crucifixion on a cross, one of

the worst penalties. That's how serious his crime

was. And Paul writes back to Philemon

and he says, I'm writing you on behalf of Onissimus, who is now

my son. Now he's not saying like he's my

biological son. What he's saying is Onysmus

through, through the grace of God, Onysmus ended up probably

in prison with Paul. That's more than likely what

happened. And then through the ministry of

Paul, Onysmus came to accept Christ and his heart and his

life were changed. And in that moment, he became

family with Paul. Oh guys, this is so good.

First off, I got to give you the good news of the gospel.

Sorry I cry if you're new. I cry sometimes because this is

just too good. The good news today is this,

that it doesn't matter where you've been and what you've

done. Remember a second ago I told you

that his penalty could be as harsh as death on a cross?

Can I tell you the great news of the gospel?

That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth as a man

walked this earth. There's proof he walked this

earth. And guess what he did?

He died on a cross, not because he deserved it, but because

Onissimus deserved it. Because you deserve it.

Because I deserve it. Maybe you don't feel like you

deserve it, but the truth is we've all done things we're

ashamed of. We've all hurt people.

Let's be honest, we've all done some pretty bad things and

thought some pretty bad things and maybe said some pretty bad

things because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross today

you were invited to salvation, into life, and you no longer

have to be a criminal. You no longer have to be an

outcast. Jesus invites you into his

family. John 316 You probably heard it

before, for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have

everlasting life, John chapter one verse 12 says.

Yet to all who did receive him, that's Jesus.

To those who believed in his name, he gave the right to

become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor

of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The good news today is this, no matter where you've been, no

matter what you've done, today you are invited.

And through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, he paid for

any and all sins that you've committed.

And today you, you can be a part of the family, You can have

life. Another really cool thing about

this text, the name Onissimus, you know what it means.

It means useful. And Paul uses this little word

play. He says he used to be useless,

now he's useful. The idea here is that when God

saves us and redeems us, we become who we were created to be

in the 1st place. People that actually live.

Cheating, stealing, running, that's not life.

Onissimus was created to be a child of God.

You were that. Now you're this.

Listen, if you're here today and, and you've never heard the

good news of the gospel, I got good news.

Yes, you've messed up. Yes, you've blown it.

You know it better than I do. You know your deepest, darkest

secrets. The good news is that Jesus paid

for every single one of your flaws, every single one of your

sins on the cross. And he invites you today to be a

part of the family to coin an EA fellowship.

The second statement he makes in verse 12, he says, I'm sending

him who is my very heart back to you.

This is important. So not only is Onis miss his

son, I mean, now he's saying I'm sending him.

And not only is he my son, but he is my very heart.

He goes on. He says, I wish I didn't have to

send them back to you, but I have to because things have to

be made right. And so Paul says, I'm sending my

very heart back to you. What does this mean for our

relationships with each other #1 it means that that anybody who

accepts Jesus as their Savior becomes a brother or sister in

Christ to you and I. But it's so much better than

that. Guys.

God invites us into Koinonia Fellowship that we would not

just know each other, that we would not just attend the same

church, but that we would be drawn together in a deep, deep

love for each other. Paul says I'm sending my heart

back to you. Onissimus is not just saved.

He's not just a Christian now, he is a brother.

He is a son to Paul and he says he is my heart.

I love that guy. Guys, we don't always get it

right in the church, do we? And the truth is when we're not

living obedient and faithful to and, and if you're new here

today, let me just acknowledge something to you.

You know this, but I'll acknowledge it.

The church is not perfect and none of us in here are perfect.

And sometimes we don't do it right.

Sometimes we don't live the right way.

Sometimes we don't treat each other right.

And when that happens, things can get pretty messy.

But God calls us to a deeper bond, to a deep love and unity.

And here's the beauty of the church.

We're not perfect, but we're all drawn together by a God who is,

and he calls us to love. And this week, I spent hours in

hospital rooms with wonderful, wonderful people of God,

brothers and sisters in Christ. I spent time in my car.

I spent time at a dinner table. I spent time all over the place

with the body of Christ. And I got to tell you, it's such

a great blessing. You guys are a great blessing.

Now, some of you may be sitting there and thinking, no, people

are annoying. Are you thinking that it's OK,

You can don't nod your head, you know, don't tell on yourself.

Yeah, people when they're selfish people when they're

living for their their own desires and interest, it can be

pretty tough. But when we walk in true

fellowship with each other and coin any a fellowship, guys, we

have a blessing unlike any other that we can walk together with

people that maybe we don't have a lot in common with, maybe we

haven't shared a lot of life with, but we can have a

fellowship that blesses us just through and through.

Paul says. I'm sending you my very heart.

Listen, there's plenty that can divide us, but through God,

we're drawn together. Look around you.

Go ahead, look around. Let's get some participation.

Make sure you're with me here. Look around.

Look at the people around you. I got good news.

You get to be in fellowship with these wonderful people, and

they're wonderful. It could be difficult sometimes,

but because of the grace of God, these are wonderful people and

it's such a blessing to get to worship with here you here

today. All right, let's let's move on.

The the third part is in verse 15.

And this is where it gets really crazy.

Paul. I mean, this is audacious.

He says perhaps the reason that Onissimus was separated for you

from a little while was that you might have him back forever, no

longer as a slave, but better than a slave as a dear brother.

Now, I'm just going to put myself in Philemon shoes here.

Perhaps the reason that this happened, and Philemon's

probably thinking, no, the reason this happened is because

he's a jerk. He stole from me.

He ran away. That's why this happened.

Paul says, no, no, no, no. I want you to see the bigger

thing that's happening here, that God's doing something.

He says perhaps the reason that he was separated from you.

Perhaps the reason that all this happened was that you might have

him back forever as he, you know, the slave relationship.

And once again, this is not in any way condoning, but that's a

temporary thing. And, and Paul says, maybe God's

bringing you something better, something that's eternal.

And then he goes on and he says no longer as a slave, but better

than a slave, as a dear brother. See, Philemon probably thought

long and hard and he probably had spent many hours and maybe

nights thinking about what he lost when he lost his slave.

And what Paul's saying is you don't understand God's doing

something better. And and you shouldn't be worried

about getting a slave back. You should be thrilled that you

get the opportunity to get a dear brother, a brother.

I was thinking about the, the the imagery of the body and how

the body all works together when your legs hurting.

If, if something's wrong, if if your legs broken or something's

hurting, maybe you use one of those things that you put under

your arm. What is it?

Yeah, I know. I'm just trying to get you

involved. A crutch.

Yes, crutches. I really do.

I promise. Got a few in my house.

And I was thinking about that. You know, that's really helpful.

When your legs hurt and you can make a crutch do what you wanted

to do. For the most part, you can use

it. It becomes like a substitute for

your leg when your leg isn't isn't healthy or working well.

But but the truth of the matter is, it's better if everything's

working right. And in that, you know, you could

wish back for that crutch, but why would you wish for that back

when God wants to give you something so much more?

He says I got something better for you.

I've got a dear brother in Christ, guys.

Sometimes we see each other as maybe tools or, you know, things

that we use or just relationships that can be useful

to us. I think God has something so

much better for us. God wants to give us dear

brothers and sisters in Christ that we share life with.

He goes on and he says he is very dear to me, but he's even

more dear to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother and

the Lord. This is an important point here.

Paul is saying, I love Onis, miss.

He's already said he's like my son.

He said he's my very heart. I'm sending him to you.

And then he says, I think God's doing something here.

And then he says, you know he's very dear to me, but I believe

he's even more dear to you. Let's talk about that.

When there's difficulty, when we go through something and we come

out on the other side of it, we're better, right?

As a married man, my wife and I have been through many things

together, and our love is deeper today because of the things

we've gone through together. The fights, the disagreements,

the difficult times, we've grown in them.

And that's true not just for husbands and wives.

That's true for for good friends, that's true for family,

that's true for Co workers. When we go through difficulty,

even when it's difficulty with each other, God can do something

incredible and we can come out the other side healthier and

deeper than we were going in. And so Paul says, I think God's

up to something here. I think he's giving you a dear

brother. And I think if you will follow

through on forgiveness and reconciliation, you will view

him as dearer than I ever could. Guys, you're invited into

something today. So here's the deal.

Worship team, come on up. We're going to get into the

reconciliation part. Please please please please

please don't miss the rest of the series.

I haven't gotten real deep into it today, but we need it.

We all do. Every single one of us needs it.

But today I just wanted to talk about the fellowship staying

with me. I think there may be three types

of people in this room. 1 would be the person that maybe is

hearing the invitation into the family of God for the first

time, maybe the invitation for salvation for the first time, or

maybe somebody who's never accepted that invitation.

And maybe you're here and you feel like Timon and Pumbaa that

hey, you know, you're just kind of on the outside and you don't

have a place or a family. And I just want to tell you once

again that there is a God that loves you so much that he sent

his one and only son to die on a cross to pay for your sins.

The worst things you've ever done that the price is paid for.

And today, if you've never accepted the gift of grace, you

can do it. And all it takes is a surrender

to say, God, I believe in you. I thank you for your salvation

and I receive it. Forgive me of my sins.

I want to walk with you today if that's you may be the response.

And then there are altars up here and they're covered in

confetti and that's OK. These aren't a place of shame.

These are a place of victory and grace.

And I want you to know that God is here today.

If God is speaking to you and if you've heard that message and

you want to receive salvation today, you can have it just by

saying, Lord, I surrender, forgive me.

The price is already paid. Maybe there's some people in

here that you're being called to a deeper Koinonia fellowship.

Maybe you're, you're already a believer, but you just feel like

you're disconnected. You feel like you've been

guarded. You feel like you've been closed

off. And maybe today you just need to

open your heart and say, God, I'm here for all of it.

I want to be a part of your body.

I want you to transform me. Maybe there's somebody here

today that have a real issue with someone.

Maybe there are some Philemon's in here that have been wronged

in a major way and today you need reconciliation.

Today we respond to God's word. And the beautiful thing is the

God that created the entire universe, the God that sent his

one and only Son Jesus to the cross to die and pay for our

sins. He's here and His Spirit is

moving and whatever it is he's speaking to you about, he wants

to bring life and healing and transformation.

So we're going to sing 2 songs. As we sing those, you're welcome

to come to an altar. Once again, there's no shame in

it. It's a, it's a victory thing.

You're welcome to pray where you are.

You're welcome to go find someone, pray with them, talk to

them. But today we are invited, every

single one of us, and to coin any of fellowship and to

salvation and the family of Godfather speak to us and help

us to respond to you now in Jesus name, Amen.