Commit to Community

Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church

Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our

podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast

you can have an encounter with Jesus that will

change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring

message from our preaching team. Thanks be to

God, indeed. Hey everyone, for those who don't

know me, I am Tex. I am part of the pastoral

team here at Encounter Henley. It is absolutely

my pleasure and great honor to bring you the

word today. So, I have got a really good mate

of mine. His name is Matty or Matty B. He is

Cadence's godfather. Really good friend. He's

an Delilah's godfather. Close enough, right?

I love, I should have gotten somebody to check

any part of this. I thought the theology might

get me. No, the godparent labeling has got me.

I would also like to start again, Jazz. Is that

okay? Is that good, Church? So I've got this

great mate, he's Matty B, also known as obviously

Delilah's godfather. going through great pains.

He actually bought a The Godfather t -shirt to

wear to her like naming day which was an unbelievable

vibe. So Matty is not a Christian and he knew

me before I was a Christian as well. Matty is

also one of maybe the smartest people that I

know. He's this unbelievably gifted talker and

orator and he's a deep thinker and we have these

semi -regular chats, they're not as often as

either of us would like, where we get together

and we drink far too much batch brew at an ice

cafe somewhere and then we do just go really

deep in conversation really, really quickly.

Like I said, he is just one of the great asker

of questions that I know. He has like just rapier

like wit, whip smart. He has absolutely no dramas

with calling on your own nonsense. And his BS

meter has like a hair trigger, right? And he

will absolutely let you know about it. and he's

one of my best mates. I just love the guy to

death and about three years ago we're having

one of these conversations and as they quite

often tend to do these days, Matty is one of

my mates. He's gone from atheist to agnostic

which I consider like a great victory in the

kingdom, right? So we're getting there and we're

having one of these conversations and quite often

the conversation will turn to like Jesus and

faith and my life is a Christian and what does

that mean? And we talked about how a relationship

with Jesus changed my life, how living in a Christian

community and being part of a Christian community

has changed my perception of community, what

I think that that is meant to look like, what

family is meant to look like, what life in general

is just meant to look like. And he said, well,

like, how? How does a Christian community change

your perspective on these things? And I said,

well, like I spoke about things that I'd seen,

right? I spoke about support that I'd seen. I

spoke about, you know, people with new babies

having clothes dropped off for them and meals

dropped off for them of, you know, hospital visits.

The way that my kids had been loved and tended

to and these relationships I'd seen them form,

like just love that I'd seen poured out. And

he went, yeah, doesn't the footy club kind of

do the same thing? And he's like, nah, like I'm

in a member of like a soccer club. Like, you

know, I've seen drops of like spag bol dropped

off of people and, you know, helping out a sick

mate, people belong. Like, what's the difference?

I said, he asks really good questions. And I

thought about it. He doesn't give me a lot of

time to think about. And I put together the kind

of best reply that I could muster in the moment,

because it kind of made me feel a bit on the

spot. And I went, to me where it's a bit different

is there's like an agreed upon foundation, which

for us is Jesus, that this community is built

on. And as a result, there's kind of an expectation

that we all participate in and live in a way

that kind of marries that through both love and

accountability in equal measures. And then I

went, oh, that sounded pretty good. I was very

relieved with myself. And then he went, all right,

can I, like, he thought about it for a second.

He's like, I'm going to ask you one more question

then. I said, great, let's do that. And he went

to this church, this community you're part of.

And I said, yeah. And he said, are they doing

that? Are they living that out? Is everybody

at that church and everybody in that community

living out that expectation that you are saying

that you guys all have agreed to meet? Said yeah,

I think so like that's where all the good stuff

that I just talked to you about came from where

this kind of re Remodeled idea of community that

I have came from so yeah, mostly. Yeah. Yeah,

we're pretty good Don't worry Henley. This was

three years ago. You guys are off the hook And

then he hit me with kind of the double oof question

anyone and what about you You doing it I'd like

to not answer that one. I said I hope so. I guess

you'd be able to tell me better than I would,

dude. Like, I try pretty hard. Always. You know,

it's, it's, it's, I'd like to, and I think I

am. And then I feel like, how do I make sure,

how do I make sure that I am? Like, I came up

with that answer of like, what does good Christian

community look like off the cuff? And then I

went, well how do I make sure that I'm doing

that? How do I make sure that I am not just part

of a community that looks like that, but I'm

part of forming a community that looks like that?

And how do I continue to help to build a community

that I believe that I can be proud of, and more

importantly that I think that Jesus would be

proud of? One that demonstrably stands out, honestly,

from the local footy club. How do our actions

look different? And not just when it's easy,

but actually when it's pretty hard too. Now the

Barna Group, this incredible group, they're a

lot of research and they have done a report which

is that 84 % of non -Christians know a Christian,

which is a pretty good number, that's a pretty

good study. However, only 15 % of non -Christians

who personally know a Christian notice that the

Christian's lifestyle is noticeably different

to theirs in any way. I'll be honest, when I

saw this I thought, that's a pretty damning statistic.

Like it's not, it's not irredeemable, but it's

kind of not what we're called to do and not who

we're called to be either. It speaks louder than

I'd like it to be, and you know, like, Texas

isn't this about community, and yes it is, and

we'll get there. community this body that we

talked about heard about in the readings like

it is made up of a bunch of individual parts

and pieces and individual people and if we as

individuals are not standing out different to

our non -christian friends into a non -christian

world around us is any different what chance

do we have as a complete body to stand out to

differentiate ourselves from the sense of community

that people can get from the local footy club

so if that change isn't noticeable what chance

do we have And then I thought, okay, so is there

a model? How do we form communities that do stand

out? And then I guess more importantly, why do

we want to form communities that stand out? What's

so important about us being a little bit different

to the normal, to the world around us? Now Acts

2, the reading that Jazz so beautifully read,

despite whoever demanded a sequel, Acts 2, the

reading that Jazz gave us, it gives us a really

glorious vision of the early church. It gives

us a nice blueprint that we can kind of follow

and live by and then we had Angus's Equally good

reading of 1 Corinthians in which it just kind

of Reinforces and reminds us of the foundation.

I'm sorry. Yeah reminds us of the why of that

foundation. So you've got acts Acts 2 over here

which is kind of giving us this super practical

model that we can follow and then Corinthians,

this one Corinthians giving us the why behind

it. So that goes into, we are starting this new

series today, if you made it through the whole

evangelism series, evangelism for everyone series

with us, six weeks there, well done, thank you.

We are starting a new series today called A Long

Obedience in the Same Direction and this sermon

is entitled Committing to Community and the reason

we're doing that is because it's only when we

as a community commit to not just the action,

but the why behind the action, that the true

depth of the community can actually begin to

form and take hold. And it's only through the

combination of the action and the why that Jesus

is glorified. And as a result, our differences

become noticeable to the world around us in a

really, really positive way. Andy Stanley ponders

with this, he says, imagine a world in which

non -believers were critical of what we believe,

but envious of how well we treated each other.

And that's kind of the heart of what I'm wanting

to get to today. Like I said, the beginning of

Acts 2 finds us just 10 days after Jesus ascension

to heaven. The Apostle Peter has just preached

an absolute banger. He's declared Jesus as the

Messiah, people are convicted, but they're also

maybe a teeny tiny bit lost. And they say, brothers,

what shall we do? So Peter called those gathered

to repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ

for the forgiveness of sins, and receive the

gift of the Holy Spirit. And they do. To the

tune of 3 ,000 people in one day, we've heard

this story a bunch of time, we hear about it

every Pentecost, it's amazing, it's fantastic,

but up until now the community of these believers

that have been there is 120 people. So, overnight,

imagine if you walked out of this room after

this service, we'll go with similar kind of figures,

we're not 120, and there's a thousand people

outside ready to grab coffee straight after this

service. Man... I would be petrified. We don't

have enough milk for that, right? So what happens

is you've got 3 ,000 people in one day come to

believe Jesus is Messiah, come to faith in Jesus,

and that's quite a jump. And now we've got, and

now what? These people, these 3 ,000 that have

come to faith, they have come from all over.

These are people of different backgrounds. These

are people from different nations, different

languages, different everything. And now, And

the only prerequisite to becoming a part of this

community was like a baptism and then reforming

your life around a belief in Jesus as the Messiah.

And you might go, that's a pretty big prerequisite

text. And like it is, but aside from that, that's

like the one thing they now have in common. So

like, how is this going to work? How are you

now going to take these 3 ,120 people and go,

cool, community, off you go, right? Now as Eugene

Peterson puts it, he says, Scripture knows nothing

of a solitary Christian. People of faith are

always members of a community. So what we find

now is these new members, these new believers,

these new people with a new and rejuvenated faith

are now having to form a community. And this

community sets out to live, man there's a lot

of, little tongue twister here, this community

sets out to a communal way of life. Well done

Taxi, you did it. They've got a commitment to

each other. Thank you, I received that. A commitment

to each other in which all benefit and none are

left behind. This is the commitment that they

make to each other. They have faith, but based

on what we see next, then they also start to

form a structure with which to build their faith

around. They commit to meeting regularly, sitting

under teaching, fellowship, breaking bread or

the sharing of meals, and prayer, right? Now

if that sounds familiar to you at all, I love

to break it to you. That is the rhythm that we

are attempting to form here at Encounter Henley.

Meeting weekly at Sunday Gatherings where we

worship and we learn together. RDG is where we

meet for fellowship and the breaking of bread

and it's all covered with as much prayer as we

can put together. Ask Charlie if you'd like some

tips on how to pray more, right? Now our Senior

Global Mega Pastors Mike and Jen Wardrop, when

they planted the First Encounter Church, I mean,

don't tell them this, they're not going to listen

to this podcast, I promise. They're not geniuses.

You know what, tell them, screenshot it. Clip

that. clip that. They're not geniuses. No, no,

no. This is the thing. We overcomplicate. Somebody

just clipped it. I can't wait for this slack

after service. Then I'll say it again because

it bears repeating. Mike and Jen are not geniuses.

They looked at the oldest, best form of church

model that exists in the Bible and went, why

don't we just try to do that? Seems pretty straightforward,

right? Now, if you've come along with us at any

stage of that for the ride, congratulations.

I've got great news for you. Coming to church

isn't just good for your spiritual health. A

study by the Harvard School of Public Health

reveals that weekly church attendance is associated

with lower mortality risk and rate. The average

church attendant who goes weekly lives for four

years longer than a non -attending Christian.

Lower rates of depression, lower rates of suicide,

better health behaviors, greater marital stability,

overall health and purpose in life. That is not

a bad list. If you're in the room and you're

here every week, well done. Now we don't need

to reinvent the wheel on this one. Weekly attendance

belonging to a church community will nourish

you spiritually, physically and mentally. And

that's as true now as it was then. In a culture

that was all about honor and title and status,

doesn't sound like 2025 at all, a community in

which all are welcomed, in which walls are broken

down, practices and care are shared, all of it

publicly, all of it for the benefit of the we,

not I. These changes and these differences which

are fueled by Jesus, which are fueled by the

Holy Spirit, they stand out like a beacon to

the world around us. This community in Acts 2,

they are gaining favor of all of the people around

them. Remind you, this is a community that is

formed very quickly, very suddenly, in not necessarily

always the most friendly of circumstances. But

through the way that people are looking from

the outside into this community, they are gaining

favor. That comment we had before of like, hey,

people may not believe what you believe, but

man, they should look at what you're doing in

the way that you're living and go, that I understand.

care and love. I can see that. That feels good.

I can get around that. They're doing that. They're

doing it in such a way that it's not only not

being ignored, it's being seen and people are

going, I get it. I'm looking at these people

super positively and the Lord continues to bring

people into this community daily. They are having

daily salvations. This community is not just

there, it is growing and those people are staying.

They are united in Christ and formed around that

and then they continue. as they are united as

part of a community. But churches, much like

your little footy club, little, I meant to say

local, that sounded so demeaning, much like your

little footy club, churches, much like footy

clubs, much like workplaces, much like anywhere

else you go, they're full of people. Which means

that we tend to revert back to old habits and

behaviors. We may lose sight of what really matters

the worst of it is that we Forget or we deliberately

start to kind of go against what we know to be

true So you see this early church, it formed

and it spread. This is how it worked, all right?

You form and you spread. And the church in Corinth

had started strong, but over the years had kind

of forgotten a little bit of its original mission

and its original vision, right? So it's now made

way, the part of the letter that precedes what

we've... what we've heard today from Angus is

that all of this original vision, all of this

original heart, it's made way for infighting,

it's made way for power grabs, it's made way

for worldly wisdom. Like we've kind of forgotten

the why, the foundational why of Jesus for doing

this to begin with. And what it's done in turn

is it's started to form one of those Christian

communities that the world around you, instead

of looking out with great favour, kind of starts

to look out with a bit of a side eye. And it's

in the light of this that the letter to the Corinthian

church is written. Paul takes time in this letter

to remind them there is no greater than because

there's no less than in a Jesus -bound community.

Diversity of backgrounds, diversity of skill

sets, different giftings, this isn't a bug, this

is a feature. The body metaphor is pretty cool.

I'm not gonna repeat the whole thing now. The

body thing is pretty cool. You know, you need

ears to hear, eyes to see. Even the parts of

you that you deemed unnecessary or you deemed

weak, all of that forms to make one body. Now,

this isn't a goal to be achieved. It's a fact

to be recognized. In fact, some parts of the

body that seem weakest and least important are

actually the most necessary. And the parts we

regard as less honourable are those we clothe

with the greatest care. So we carefully protect

those parts that should not be seen. 1 Corinthians

12, 22 to 23. It's not just taking care of those

that we deem weaker that form healthy communities.

A healthy community is really formed and we really

start to take care of people when we start to

remove the designations that we put on people

where we deem them less than, we deem them weaker,

we deem them not a full part of our community.

If we can remove those designations that we put

in place, the body will be better. for it, it

will be healthier for it, our people will feel

more loved for it. If you want a committed and

deeper community, you need to focus on the similarities,

the unity of that group. What brings us together?

The differences that we possess must become a

tool to strengthen and uplift, not a rod that

is used to divide. Let's keep reading. This makes

for harmony among the members so that all the

members care for each other. If one part suffers,

all the parts suffer with it, and if one part

is honored, all the parts are glad. All of you

together are Christ's body and each of you is

a part of it. Now we are called to be a community

that fight for each other. We are called to be

a community that celebrate one another. We are

called to be a community who champion each other's

differences and uplift each other where there

may be perceived gaps or flaws. The second we

start to see these differences, the second we

start to go, well, I can't sing like Carmen.

I can't host like Dan. None of us can, right?

The second we start to see those things, as a

reason for division rather than as a cause for

celebration we're toast. We're in trouble because

what happens then is we allow those that feel

broken or we allow those that are perceived as

less than to become isolated rather than to view

them as we should do as part of this body that

we love and that we need and draw them in closer.

We need a healthy, greater body. They only do

that with all of us in tow and all of us pulling

in the same direction. And if we don't do that,

I'll be honest, we are failing them and we are

failing each other. And as a result, we are failing

the greater body. And most importantly, the second

we start to do that, we are falling short of

Jesus's vision for His church. Why? Because...

Everywhere else that we go in life, in every

other community we're part of, people want us

to earn our place. Our value in every other community

we are part of is defined by what we do. And

too often they expect the best versions of us.

In our workplaces, in our sporting clubs, for

too many of us, in our families. in our marriages,

in our friendships, in our relationships. Not

here. Not Jesus. These are different expectations.

These are different hopes, different desires.

Joseph B. Worthland says, the church is not a

place where perfect people gather to say perfect

things or have perfect thoughts or have perfect

feelings. The church is a place where imperfect

people gather to provide encouragement, support

and service to each other as we press on in our

journey to return to the Heavenly Father. Those

imperfections, be they perceived or real, whatever

they might be, they create our differences, but

it's those differences that make us this beautiful

community. As I look around a room like this

one, as I see Henley starting to form as I go

to Enfield when I visit there, and I look around

the room, the reason I love a community like

this one is because I go, in what other way and

for what other reason would this exact group

of people be forming and forming the relationships

they're forming in the way that we are? And I

don't have one. It's only through a Jesus -centered

community that you take people from all walks

of life and all backgrounds and say, you know

what? Everyone is equal. We are all the same

and we're all going to do our best with and for

each other. We talked just then about how in

so many other places that we need to kind of

almost earn our place in those communities. We

need to earn our position. We need to earn a

title. I want to make it really, really clear.

In this room, in this church, you have value

and you are valued. Not because I say so, but

because Jesus says so. And I fear that for many

of us, we have a tendency to become really focused

on who we're not, or what we're not, and as a

result, what we are not capable of. Or I'll be

honest, I don't want to say worse, but equally

as bad, shall we say. We start to see those perceived

shortcomings in each other. And without attention,

those feelings will turn to jealousy, anger,

or bitterness. And nothing will damage your relationships

with each other or within this community more

than feelings of anger, jealousy, bitterness

that are just left to run rampant. And this is

gonna sound like kind of a self -serving expression

based on what I'm talking about today, but truly

the best combat for that is to dig really, really

deep into community. With the rhythms that are

set out for us in Acts 2, and then forming them

around the truth laid out in 1 Corinthians 3,

that letter, because it's in combination of those

two things that we're forced to confront and

defeat those negative feelings that too often

create weaknesses in our communities. Because

when you have that assurance that you are part

of a greater body, when you have an assurance

that regardless of background, regardless of

any weakness, regardless of how you're going

today, that your place in this community is 100

% secure. And it's within security that when

things get tough, and they will get tough because

again, welcome to a church that is completely

full of people, right? When things get tough,

it's that security that kind of gives us that

sense of a knowing and a willingness to work

things through. You know, when you know that

the accidental wrong thing said, you know, that

doesn't get taken away from you. We don't do

that here. Security forms a foundation for desire

to work to a better conclusion because we all

have the same mission. When you see someone every

week, you see the best of them. When you see

someone every week, you also see the worst of

them. Proximity has a funny way of doing that.

The closer you are with someone, the more consistently

you get to see their best and you also get to

see them at their worst. Do not make eye contact

with anyone right now. even I'm looking down.

But that proximity in doing life together and

doing it closely, that's actually where we earn

the right, and I'll be honest, it's not just

the right, it's actually the expectation to uplift,

empower, encourage, and yes, hold each other

accountable. Not based on preference, but based

on agreement that we're all kind of chasing down

and focusing on the same end result, the same

end goal. A spirit -filled Jesus -centered community.

that shines like a lighthouse to the community

around us. And I guess what I wanted to think

about in this, and what I wanted to ask as part

of this is, is will all of you, that thing that

was, that quote from before, you know, hey, we're

all kind of, the end result is we're all pushing

towards that, forwards on our journey towards

a renewal and a... I've just completely lost

the word here and I did not have it written down.

We're looking, we're on that path and that's

striving back towards our Heavenly Father. What

I'm asking if you're here and if you want to

do that is do you want to come with us? Do you

want to be part of this community that does that,

that chases that down with everything that we've

got? Now if you're someone who's kind of a bit

more of a dipping their toe in the water kind

of person, that's totally okay. I'd really love

to challenge you. Let's change from dipping your

toe in the water to a cannibal. Because we want

you here. We need you here. I've got a promise

for you. We are not perfect. I got a second promise

for you. Neither are you, sorry. Sucks, huh?

And that's okay. Not only okay, it's kind of

a point. And we want you here, not just because

we want to join together, but because we want

to stay together and form around those truths.

And I kind of want to see what Jesus can do with

that. Now if you love the idea of a community

that looks like that, and want to be part of

and help us build one here in Henley, and you're

not really sure, well how does that go? How do

I do this? What do I do to model that? Because

this is a sermon, I've got three simple tips.

That's right, we love three tips. Four is too

many, two feels like I haven't put in any work.

One! Show up! Congrats. Step one for everybody

in the room. You've done it. You did it. Way

to go, kid. We are here every Sunday. We have

RDGs Tuesday through Thursday. Show up consistently.

In the seven years I have been regularly attending

church, I have learned, I have learned that there

are some people, this might sound funny, I don't

message them during the week. Not because I don't

love them. It's because I know that I'm going

to see them on Sunday. I know consistently, genuinely,

my seven years have been here. I know Jordy's

going to be here on Sunday. I know Josh is going

to be here on Sunday. You know, now I don't wanna

like not pick out other people in the room. You

know, Matt and Jaz, you guys are gonna be here

Sunday. These are people, oh no, everyone. Now

you get to a point where if you don't single

somebody out, you're like, oh, don't see me every

weekend. No, there are certain people in my life

that I just stopped really contacting during

the week. Not because I don't want to, but because

I know I'm gonna get a chance to see them here

on Sunday. There's something so beautiful about

a consistency like that, that people will actually

start to form themselves around. It's amazing.

Second tip, serve. If you've been coming for

a little while and you haven't started serving

or you're not sure, is that really, you know,

what does that look like? Just talk to pretty

much any of us here in the room at serve and

just talk to us about it. Ask us why we do it.

you're going to get a bunch of different answers.

Here's what I can promise you. We do not serve

and encounter Henley to fill spots. We said when

we planted, if we planted with Tim with a Bible

in his hand and me with an acoustic guitar, we

can do that. We could have done that for years

if we really needed to. This isn't about filling

spots. This is about the fact that everybody

in this room brings a unique personality with

a unique gifting. And the thing that each of

you can only bring into any room or any team

or any service that you bring, which is you.

There is something about working shoulder to

shoulder with people to form a collective, to

form something that is bigger than just you,

to remove the I from a situation and make it

about the we. You just simply cannot replicate

any other way. It's pretty... It's pretty awesome

to see. And you will notice it. You will see

when people go from regularly attending to start

serving on team, the relationships change again.

They go to a deeper level again. If you want

deeper relationships, serve. Not because I need

you to, but because I think you probably need

to. And the third tip is kind of less of a tip.

It's just more of a reality, which is sacrifice.

Three S's to alliteration and three points. Let's

go. We're killing it today, right? Anything you

truly want in life that's worth having, you are

going to have to sacrifice something for. It's

going to come at a cost. It might be time, it

might be preference, it might be finance. But

again, There is something about when you have

committed to being somewhere every week, you've

committed to serving and being part of a collective,

and then you're saying, I'm willing to pay whatever

the cost is to make that happen, that you really

start to take ownership, you really start to

see your place in this body and this family and

this community start to take shape. This community

and this body is only made whole when you own

it. And I promise it's worth it. I'm going to

start coming to a close band, so if all 35 of

you would like to come back up. We show up and

we serve and we make sacrifices. That's literally

the model that Jesus modeled for us. much like

how a community forms and a body forms around

those ideas of that it doesn't matter what our

background is, it doesn't matter our skill set,

it doesn't matter what we have to offer, Jesus

showed up for us in exactly the same way, for

just a world full of imperfect sinners that could

only be made perfect through Him. Because it

was only ever about taking a body and making

it whole again. It was only ever about the relationship

with us that formed through that. It was about

that willing sacrifice of Himself to ensure that

we as His body would never have to be broken

again. This loving sacrifice and this grace was

poured out for us as an affirmation that we have

value, that we have worth, That we are wanted,

we are loved, and we are saved. Jesus' sacrifice

on the cross ensuring a unified place in Him

and with Him as part of one body. And the fact

that that was secured forever. And all we ever

had to do for that was to seek, repent, and accept

Him as Lord and Saviour. Small cost for us, big

cost for Him. And the way that we can kind of

live out of that is to serve Him as we serve

each other. Not to earn that gift but in recognition

of it. So as we come to a time of worship as

we finish up today, again we've got our lovely

prayer team up the back there who would love

to pray for you. You know, I won't just grab

somebody to pray with you if you feel like you

need it, but I just can't help but feel that,

as I look around this room, as Jordy prayed that

prayer today, that prayer of gratitude, and I

just couldn't help but echo it, because I just

look at this community as it's forming and as

it's growing. I see a bunch of people who are

just chasing Jesus down with everything they've

got. And our church is better for it. our community

is better for it. I look around and see friendships

that are forming, I see relationships that are

forming, I see couples forming, I see marriages

growing stronger, I see relationships and families

that are kind of pulling back in together and

I just think what could be better than that?

What could be better than a community that focuses

on something other than themselves and as a result

gets to see all these beautiful growth and change

so I just I would challenge you as we come into

this time of response to pray about that to pray

into maybe there is maybe there's something you've

been telling yourself that's something you can't

do the reason you're less than the reason you're

weaker than and you need to pray into that and

accept that you are just a beautiful beloved

child of God and you are here for a reason and

a purpose maybe you're recognizing there's someone

I've been There's someone I've allowed my vision

of to be tainted. I've been viewing them as less

than or I've been viewing what they bring to

this community as less than and maybe you need

to repent of that and that's okay. You can do

that alone or you can do that with someone. Are

you gonna approach that person and just pray

with them? Tell them you love them. That's pretty

good. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for

the fact that we have the opportunity to join

together as one body and one community under

your loving name and in your loving grace. Father,

we pray that you will empower us and invigorate

us to see the value that we have as children

of God. And as part of this community, I pray

that you will bless us and use all of our differences.

All of the things that make us beautifully unique

and individual and pull us into formation and

community under your loving name.