That All May Be One

Let's read this together. Psalm 133. Let‒s start with verse 1.

How good and pleasant it is when God‒s people live together in unity. It is like precious

oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron‒s beard, down

on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion,

for there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore.

Here in this passage we have three verses, right? Three verses. And we're going to stay

here for today. It's going to be a very simple but line by line, verse by verse study that

we will do. It's more like an inductive Bible study, but I want us to read together and

learn together as we go through this psalm. It might not be one of the most exciting for

some people, but why talk about unity? Why not talk about something like healing or something

supernatural or something, the Holy Spirit or something which is more exciting? What

about unity? But my hope is that at the end of the day, I hope and I pray that our understanding,

our approach, our perspective on unity changes after this. That's my hope. That's my prayer.

So if you go through the psalm, Psalm 133, it's one of the songs called the songs of

ascent, right? And songs of ascent are from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134. Psalm 120 to Psalm

134, these are pilgrim songs, okay? So the Israelites have been scattered. There are

people living from different parts. And then one time they would go up the mountain of

Jerusalem. And then, so people from different tribes, different cities, different ethnicities,

different backgrounds, they come together on this journey, right? And it's called the

journey of the ascent, right? The songs of the ascent. And so this is where they go up

this mountain to encounter God. They go up this mountain to camp, to experience the festival

of Passover, the festival of lights, the festival of boots, right? So this is the time. This

is the season, right? And so this song was written in one of those, you know, pilgrimage

songs. So people from different parts now, with their differences, with their backgrounds,

are coming and then now you're seeing, you know, your annoying neighbor or your colleague

that you have been struggling to work with or, you know, people that you struggle to

mingle with now are on the same path, right? The Israelites are something similar, right?

Where they now come together and now they're ascending the hill of the Lord and then they're

singing the song. You know, someone starts singing the song about unity. That's the context.

And like I said, three verses, three parts. And we're going to go verse one by one. But

before we talk about unity, I want to talk about division. The ache, the pain of division.

And how this division is something that is so evident and so destructive even in the

Garden of Eden. Division started in the Garden of Eden, right? Unity was God's idea. And

it started with marriage, actually. Division started with marriage. You know, and I want

to read these verse. Can you pull out that verse? You know, Adam said, This is now bone

of my bones, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of

man. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united. Did you see there? United

to his wife and they become one. You know, the root word for unity and the root word

for one is the same in Hebrew. So when we're talking about unity, we're talking about

oneness. We're not talking about uniformity. We're talking about oneness, right? So the

husband and the wife, they're supposed to be one. That was God's original idea where

Adam is now calling this woman bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. And you know what?

What happened? Few verses later, sin came. Yeah, sin came. And then the man said, The

woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it. Then the

Lord said to the woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived

me and I ate it. Here, you know, if you really begin to understand how this is unfolding,

so drama here, right? I'm sure maybe the K drama or the Indian serials maybe stole some

ideas from this. I don't know. Yeah. But it is so dramatic. Yeah. On one hand, the woman

disobeyed because it was clearly instructed by God not to eat the tree of the good and

the evil. And then she ate it. She disobeyed it. And so instead of going to her husband

and said, I'm sorry, I ate something that I wasn't supposed to do it. Right. And then

the husband, instead of saying, Why did you do this? Right. And so instead of correcting

her, he participates it. She on the other hand, instead of, you know, being sorry, she

doesn't want to disobey it alone. And now she makes her husband disobey God. And you

know what? Few verses, you know, before we read this, he said, bone of my bones, flesh

of my flesh. She shall be called woman Eve. Right. He's saying we're not two. You're one

with me. And you know, few verses later, he said, the woman you gave me. Isn't that interesting?

She won't even call her his wife. She won't even call her Eve. She calls her the woman

that you gave me. And then now, you know, you know, Adam is even blaming God. Yeah,

the woman you, you put me, you put up with me. The woman you, right. He's blaming even

God. And then it is so interesting as as you read this part. This is the pattern of

sin. Sin does not only break your relationship with God, but sin always breaks your relationship

with your spouse, with people that you love. This is this is a seed, or this is the consequence

of sin. Sin does not only affect you, it always affects people around you. Yeah. And so one

of the one of the problems with marriages is that when no one takes the blame, when

no one owns up here, we see that Eve is not owning up nor is Adam owning up. Right. There's

this blame game that's happening here. Yeah, thanks. So there's this blame game that's

happening. And that's where this unity, that's that's where division starts. And you know

what? One of the keys of solving marriage problems is even though sometimes you may

not be wrong, it's okay to own up sometimes. Yeah. When no one owns up for anything, this

is a seed that we are allowing for division to grow. Yeah. And here we see this. And you

know what? It started with marriage. Second, it started with siblings, you know, Cain and

Abel or Joseph and his brothers. We can go on and on. Right. But see, here's the thing.

It was not because the father made a coat of many colors for Joseph. It was not about

the coat, nor it was about the offering. You know, God loves meat, so he accepted meat.

God doesn't like veggies, so he rejected veggies. No, it's not about the offering, guys. Yeah.

It is much more than the physical. It is much more than the material, guys. Yeah. It is

like what I can't have, I cannot bear to see someone having it. Yeah. I am not being loved,

and he is being so much loved, I cannot bear that sight. It is a hard condition. It is

something that is deep inside that creates division. Right? Because what's the big deal?

If Joseph has a coat, they can buy another one which is even better than the coat that

the father made. So the problem is not the coat, guys, but the rivalry starts like that.

So that's the second one. Division between marriage, division between siblings. The third

one is division between colleagues or ministry partners. Yeah. Here, Jesus is trying to teach

all that he knows. They had experienced how Jesus healed. They had experienced how Jesus

taught. They had experienced how Jesus walked in humility, and then now they are trying to

argue who is the greatest. Isn't that crazy, eh? Right in front of Jesus. That's disturbing,

so to say. Yeah. Division among the colleagues rarely announces itself as a division. Sometimes

the credit has been given to your colleague or the idea comes from your friend, and then

now it begins to color the soul. Right? Division starts like that. With small, small things,

the issues of the heart. That's where division starts, guys. 41. Division in the church. Paul

is writing to the church in Corinth. They were arguing, I follow Paul, I follow Apollos,

I follow Cephas, Peter. They're arguing, right? Who baptized who? Who belongs to who? Yeah. I

follow Don, I follow Derek, I follow Evan. Yeah. And I wouldn't listen to anyone else except for

Evan, you know? These things are happening. And then Paul has to write and say, is Christ divided?

Is Christ divided? And then he goes on to say that this division is a lack of immaturity. We

often don't see it like that. Division as a lack of immaturity. And you know what? When we are

divided, the enemy knows this. Any family, any marriage, any home, any church, any city,

any nation that is divided is a weak country, is a weak family, is a weak society. It's a weak

nation. Yeah. And you know what? When a church is divided, it loses its power to witness. It loses

its power for God to manifest through them. Now the church, when there's so much division,

the church suddenly enters a survival mode. Yeah. The church is trying to survive. The church is

trying to heal. The church is trying to breach parties and trying like, I've been part of a

church where the church spends years and years trying to heal different groups. Yeah. The church

exists. The church still functions, but it has lost its power to witness. It has lost its power

for the people to see the manifestation of God in their midst. This is why division is so disastrous,

guys. And you know what? When I read this, it really stirred something so deep in my heart. You

know, Jesus on the night of his betrayal, he knew he's going to be betrayed. He knew he's

going to die. And you know, that night he was praying and he prays for his disciples and he

prays for people who will come to believe as in who are in this room. He's saying, father, I pray

for the ones, not only the 12 disciples, but I pray that for others like you and I who will come

to believe the message of these 12. And I'm praying that they be one. That's the prayer of Jesus,

eh? Before his betrayal. That they, that all may be one. That's where I got my title. That all may

be one. Unity is so critical for Christ. Paul is saying, make every effort in Ephesians 3. He's

saying, make every effort to be united in Christ. Paul is pleading, right? He's saying, make every

effort to be in unity. And it's so unfortunate to see so many divisions in the church too. Yeah?

You know, within our families, families are divided over political parties. We're in the

same room, same families. One family member supports the other person and the other another. Yeah?

No. A neighborhood by ethnicity, by religion, by tradition, by culture. A nation divided by

political lenses. You know, churches we divide by denomination, by doctrines. And let's be honest,

guys. You know, I've been a worship pastor in churches where people don't like hymns.

And so when we start singing hymns, they won't sing. And they are a part of a group where if we

sing contemporary songs, these guys won't sing. Because hymns are outdated for some people. Yeah?

And now what we did was we tried to have a blend. Yeah? Some contemporary songs, some hymns. And

still, not enough contemporary, not enough hymns. Right? Where do we draw the line, guys? Division

happens in all sizes, shapes, and forms, guys. Yeah? I don't like this style of music. This

worship leader, his voice ain't good enough. Right? Let me find another church. You know?

This church has better kids program. Let's go there. Right? You know, I like the style of this

preacher. Let's go here. You know, some people say songs should be after the sermon. Sermons

should be preached so that our worship can be a response to the sermon. You know? And I'm saying

that let these styles, preferences, structures, personalities take the backseat, guys. We are

already so divided. Why do we have to add more, man? Yeah? You know, I've walked in a church where

it went through an actual split because there were subgroups that were formed. And now some of these

groups started to rebel against the leadership of the church. And it was disastrous for the church.

It took years to heal. So my question to you is, it's okay to question if the church is not in

align with the scripture or if it has completely gone off the doctrine, right? It's okay to bring

it up to the leaders, but it's not okay when we are sowing seeds of discord. You know, the groups

that you're a part of, the circle of friends that you're a part of, are you known for bringing unity?

Are you known for enriching that circle of friends? Are you known for improving the quality of

friendship for that circle, for that group, for the church? Or are you known for division? Yeah?

There are some people where everywhere they go, the group that was united now started to divide.

Yeah. And so I think that's a good question for all of us to ask ourselves, right? And I would say,

make efforts, like Paul said, make every effort, whether you are this group or this group or this

group, make every effort to bring unity, unity to the group, right? And you know, I tell you,

when you and I are partakers or say participants or say engaging in the unity of the body,

the reward is mind-blowing, which I'll tell you a little later. So let's go to verse one.

It says, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together. Some verses say,

dwell together in unity. It says how good and pleasant. The two keywords here are good and

pleasant. You know, when God created everything, He said it was good. That's the same word,

the same Hebrew word, tov. It was good. Meaning good is something that was designed to be. It

was meant to be. It is functioning as the original intent and design, right? Things that you

designed, things that it was meant to function, it is functioning exactly like that. It is good.

So he's saying that if brothers and sisters are dwelling together, here you have to understand the

language here. When we say here brothers or God, some version puts it brothers, but it's inclusive

of men and women here. Because oftentimes the Bible writes about sons of God, but that's not

just talking about sons. It's talking about both men and women because we have to understand the

context where the Jewish culture uses a lot of the, because it's a patriarchal society, right? We

have to keep that in mind, the language, the tone, right? So here it is saying that it is good,

meaning when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity, the way God has designed,

the way God has made for us to function, the way it was meant to be is happening. It is good.

And you know what? The other word is pleasant. Pleasant is where it comes from the word naim,

which is pleasant, this beautiful, delightful, pleasurable. That's the word. Where we get the

word Naomi, naim. Naomi is like my delight, right? So here David is bringing these two words together,

good and pleasant. And it is so important for us to understand this psalm, bringing these two words

together, good and then pleasant, because sometimes things that are good are not pleasant,

and things that are pleasant are not sometimes good. And so David knew that these two words have

to be brought together, right? It is beautiful. It is like he said, behold, meaning listen, pay

attention to this, right? When brothers and sisters dwell together in unity, it is good,

it is pleasant. You know, we all know that reading the Bible is good for you. It's good for me. But

sometimes it is not always pleasant. I hear many people say, find it so difficult to read the Bible,

because it's boring. Sometimes they don't understand. It's not pleasant, but they know it's good for them,

right? Exercise is one of them. Yeah? I find it very difficult to exercise. Yeah? Though I want to

have the body, you know? Here David is bringing together so beautifully, good and pleasant. Isn't

that amazing, guys? He's saying that to be in unity is completely moral, completely right,

completely designed and functioning how it was meant to be. And then it is completely delightful.

It is so fun. It is so pleasurable. It is so good. Did you notice that? Because you know why? David

is not an idealist. David does not share things or say things in abstraction, because he had

experienced what a true division looks like. His house was torn apart. His own son, Absalom,

rebelled against him, plotted to kill him, and it split the kingdom into two. He had experienced

what division is like. Yeah? He never intended harm to King Saul, but the king really wanted

to kill him. He had experienced what it meant to live without unity. David knew this man, guys.

That's why David is not an idealist, guys. He's not theologizing from his chair. He knew, because

he had experienced brokenness and division in his own household. Yeah? So now he's saying unity is

so critical. It is pleasant. It is not only pleasant, but it is good. That's the beauty about dwelling

in unity. So unity, even for Paul, it's not an add-on, add-on thing to the church, right? That's

why he's pleading the church. Let me read this in Ephesians 4. Make every effort, it says, do

everything you can to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. And then, which we all

know that this famous verse in Ephesians 4, 11 to 13, so Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets,

and the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers to equip his people for works of service so that

the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity. Sometimes we forget that word, eh?

Reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature. Sometimes, guys,

not sometimes. Being unified in Christ is a sign of maturity in our midst. Yeah? It's not an add-on

for Paul. Paul, you know, repeats in Philippians as well. Philippians 2.2. Like-minded, having the

same love, being one in spirit and one mind. You know, this is not an add-on thing. This is not

a wishful thing. It is critical for the life of a believer. Unity is so critical for every church.

Yeah? So that's one. Unity is good. Unity is pleasant. And we are able to hold these two together.

And then point number three is verse two. It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down

on the beard and running down on Aaron's beard, down on the collar of his robe. You know, this is

a very strange image, guys, for a modern-day ear. You know, if you think carefully, yeah? For someone

who has no context, no idea about an anointing oil poured on the head of Aaron, it's like an oil poured

out on the head and then now it is greasy, it is oily, and it is dripping. And it's not just a

sprinkle but it is pouring down, right? And so it may, some people may, for modern-day guys,

it may find, they may find it gross. They may find it dirty, like, ew, kind of thing, you know? Yeah?

For someone who does not understand the context, it can appear that way. But for someone who

understands this context, it is sacred, it is holy, it is special, it is no ordinary moment. This

does not happen every day. It is so special. And this is the consecration of Aaron, Israel's first

high priest. It is precious. And you know what? If you read this context, you will even understand

better. From Exodus 13. Read this. Take the following fine spices, 500 shekels of liquid,

mere half as much of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus, 500 shekels of cassia,

and a hint of olive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil. This is to be my sacred anointing oil

for the generations to come. Crazy, eh? Do not pour it on anyone else's body. It's a command. Do not, right?

And do not make any other oil. Do you understand the gravity of this now? Using the same formula,

one is not to make any other counterfeit product here. It is sacred. And you are to consider it sacred.

Do you understand this context, guys, now? This oil is not common.

This oil that was poured on the head of Aaron is no ordinary moment. It was God's instruction.

It was holy. It was a holy consecration. It was set apart. Aaron is the high priest. He represents

the whole community of Israel. And that man is now being anointed with God's initiation, guys.

Unity is a gift. It is poured out from above. This is not manufactured, guys.

And you know what? In this context, whenever this oil or whatever this oil that they would

anoint at Deberneko, they would anoint places in the century, and everything this oil touches,

it becomes sacred. And that's why I'm telling you, guys, that this is sacred.

And everything this oil touches, it becomes holy.

It's powerful, guys. Yeah? So if you are feeling depressed,

if there is no life in you, if you are feeling spiritually dry,

pray a simple prayer. Lord, pour it again. Pour it again. Pour your fresh oil on me.

Pour it again. Yeah? God is not a minimalist, guys. It was not a trickle.

It was not a sprinkle. Here we see an excessive pouring here. It was flowing from his head to

his beard to his collar, every part, man. It covers Aaron from the head to the collar,

not just certain parts of his body.

And you know, this is so important because Aaron represents the whole community of Israel,

like I said, and now he's being anointed. And so now the head, who represents the great high priest,

now falls on the collar and on every part of the body, meaning if Aaron is anointed,

all the Israelites are anointed because he represents the people.

This is why Hebrews talks about this, Jesus as the high priest.

And that is so critical for us to understand. Why? Because Jesus is the Aaron here.

He is the great high priest who represents you, who represents me. And so now the anointing that

is upon the great high priest now falls on you. That's why every blessing from God flows from above.

It first anoints Christ, who is our great high priest, and then it flows on to the other parts

of the body, which is you and I. Every blessing of God is like that. That's why Christ, in all

and in all, right? Everything is possible through Christ, right? I can do all things

through Christ, who strengthens me. Yeah? Everything comes through Christ.

That's why I love this, like worship, how we are calling this name Jesus to the one God that we

are calling and praying and worshiping, because every blessing comes from this man, Jesus. Yeah?

Unity is not a human agreement. Unity is not human agreement. Here, we see this, right? Because you

know what? I like my coffee black. For a say, five spoons of sugar is not enough.

So it's not about preference. It's not about, you know, I like this and I don't like this. No,

it's not about personal taste. But it is about being one in the Lord, desiring and pursuing God

together, desiring the best for each other, wanting to see Christ form in each other. Yeah?

So, you know, think of this. Here, it started with unity. Unity is good. Unity is pleasant

when we dwell together in unity. And then now the second image is unity is like a precious oil. Now

you understand. Holy Spirit is often symbolic or metaphorically like represents the Holy Spirit,

the anointing oil, right? But here he's saying that anything that when we are united in Christ,

it's like the precious oil. And we just read that this oil is no ordinary. That's how important unity

is. When you are united in Christ, it is the sacred touch, the precious thing that God has

flows in your life. How important that is. That's why I'm saying I hope and I pray that

your understanding, my understanding about unity changes, right? And then the second image,

it's even better. Let's go to the last one.

Verse three. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion for there. The Lord bestows

his blessing, even life forevermore. You know, David reaches this second image. The first one,

he's talking about the anointing oil, which is in the tabernacle. But here it has something

to do with geography now. He's talking about mountains here, right? And you know, Mount

Hermon and then Mount, what's the other one again? Zion. These are two very contrasting mountains

here, yeah? For Mount Hermon, it is 9,000 meters above the sea level. Let me get that right. 9,000

feet high. It was up in the north. And most of the year, Mount Hermon would be snowcapped.

That's why the valley or the region of Mount Hermon is always fertile because of the heavy dew,

right? The heavy dew. Because most of the year it is snowcapped mountains, right? And so even

in the dry seasons, this dew would help. And so vegetation and other things, you know,

begins to happen. And so Mount Hermon is very fertile. Whereas Mount Zion, it's a modest hill

in Jerusalem. Mount Zion is not as high as Mount Hermon. It is a modest hill in Jerusalem. And it

is on the south. It is on the south. And it is miles apart. So geographically speaking,

Mount Hermon has nothing to do with Mount Zion. That's why David uses this word, it is as if,

right? He's saying it is as if Mount Hermon and Mount Zion, right, were falling on Mount Zion.

It's like geographically or even physically speaking, or whatever term that is, it has nothing

to do with, yeah? The dew of Mount Hermon is impossible to reach Mount Zion. It has nothing

to do with that. That's why Paul is, sorry, David is using this as if the dew of mountain were

falling on Mount Zion. And that's exactly David's point. David's point is these two are, have nothing

to do with each other. What is naturally impossible, God commands and things begin to happen.

Now he's bringing two unrelated mountains here. One is dry, the other one is fertile, right? What

if this mountain that survives most of the year is now able to nourish a mountain that is barren,

that is dry? Crazy man, yeah? That's the unity about God.

You know, as I look into the room,

people from different tribes and nations, even in this room sitting together, what on earth is

happening here, right? What has Bashar to do with Mark? Yeah? What has Daniel to do with Andre?

Or with Paul? Something completely unrelated God brings together. And this is why sometimes God

uses you like Mount Hermon. And you're able to nourish Mount Zion. Someone who is dry,

someone who is barren, someone who is desperately needy, someone who is desperate to reach Mount

Dry, someone who is barren, someone who is desperately needing help. Sometimes you're

like Mount Zion. You associate yourselves with people like Mount Hermon. You're nourished,

you're fed, you're bearing fruit again. Yeah? You have overcome your barrenness again.

And it's so beautiful guys. Yeah? And you know, this last part,

and you know, before we do that, I would like us to do something different for people that you are

sitting with, people that you're familiar in this room. Can you think of someone whom you have never

sat before and then go and sit with that person? Yeah? Can we try that?

You may have known each other for a while, but you have never sat with that person

in this church. Can we try?

Yeah.

Nice.

Yeah.

Very cool. Nice, Evan.

Nice.

See guys, this is the beauty about the Spirit of God moving in our midst, which brings unity.

Unity is like I said, it doesn't, it's not manufactured, but it is something Christ gives

you, that you are able to love someone you don't even know, someone that is not even related to

you by blood. Jesus goes the extreme and said, love your enemies. This is why it makes loving

our enemies even possible guys. Crazy man. In a world where love of the self becomes the priority,

if I don't love myself, who will love me? Right? We become the center of our own. Christ said,

love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Crazy man.

This is what Christ does for you and for me, eh? People from different ethnicities, backgrounds,

cultures coming together and seated together. Why? Christ unites us. And you know what?

This last part, that last line, if you read it,

for there, the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. For there, where?

That place of unity. Let's talk about where is the address? Unity is the address.

Where? Unity. When brothers dwell, when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity,

it is that place. That's why David is saying, for there, when you are united, when I'm united

with Christ and with each other, that when we are united, that's the place. That's the place where

God bestows his blessing. What is bestow? Meaning he commands. He's not hoping for blessing. Right?

It's the word, siva, where he like bestows. It's not a prayer. It's not a hope. It's not a wish.

God is saying that when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity, there I command

my blessings to fall. For everyone? And then what's that? What is the blessing?

Life forevermore. Wow. You cannot even define that word, man. How can you even define life forevermore?

This is the power of dwelling in unity, guys. And I'm saying sometimes, even football,

when you're playing together as a team, unity is always emphasized. Or be it in basketball,

you need to pass on to each other. Sports talk about this. What if Sheldon is playing another

key? What if I'm trying to sing another pitch? We need to be united. Same thing with the body.

That's why Paul is often talking about, don't think of yourself as a complete individual.

You're not a complete individual. Think of yourself as an eye, as a nose, as a mouth, as a

body. Right? And then because you're part of the body of Christ. And you know what? Every spiritual

blessing is for the body. If you're part of the body, you may not have, some spiritual gifts may

not be so evident in your life, but because you're connected to the body, you will experience it.

You know, if someone is a mouth, and then if someone is a hand, and then if someone brings

in food, and if you are the stomach, you'll enjoy it. Yeah, I know how funny that is, but

it's like that, guys. We help each other flourish. We help each other experience this life that God

gives. Hear me again. We experience this life forevermore that God gives when we are united.

So just to wrap up,

first is,

you know, but before that, let me read this one. This unity is not just a feel bad thing. It cuts

off every channel, cuts off the channel, the very channel through which the fullness of God's

blessing was designed to flow in a person, in a family, in a church. Yeah, when a family is

divided, when a church is divided, it cuts off the channel through which the blessing, the fullness

of God flows in that family, in that person's life. That's why God hates when we sow seeds of division.

It is so important, guys. You know, it is good, it is pleasant, and it is the precious oil,

and we know how precious this is. Every part that this oil touches becomes sacred. It becomes holy,

and you know what? It is like the Mount Hermon, the dew that falls and nourishes,

meaning there's no part of your life that will be barren.

There's no part of your life that will be barren.

No part of your life.

And if you operate from that place of unity, God is bestowing, God is commanding His blessings

of life into your life for a day, no. For a month, no. Forevermore. This is the beauty, guys.

So let's pray. Father, I pray that we stop treating unity as an option.

It's not an option, guys. If there is unity, it is great. If there is no unity, yeah, it happens.

No, Abba. We want to make it a priority, and like Paul said, to make every effort

to bring unity together as a church, Abba. We don't want to be divided by denominations

and doctrines, and even in Christianity, there's already so many divisions of God.

We don't want to create any more division of God, because Christ, you are not divided.

Help us to be true to your word and allow us to be led by your Spirit, because

those who are led by the Spirit, they are sons and daughters of God.

That's what your word says of God. So Lord, tonight, you are the source of every good and

pleasant thing that is among your people. We confess how easily pride, old wounds,

self-interest dry up what you intend to be lush and overflowing. Would you please

pour out your Spirit on us the way oil was poured out on Erin? Not a sprinkle, but generously.

Completely reaching the hidden places, as well as the visible ones.

Send the dew of heaven, oh God. Fall on whatever in us has grown barren and dry.

And where we dwell together in unity, let it be from that place, oh God, there

you command your blessing. Life forevermore, beginning even right now in this place, oh God.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our great high priest who prayed that we would be one.

In Jesus' name, amen. Bless you guys.

Das unit.