UNITY IN THE MIDST OF CONFLICT - Acts 15:22-35

All right. If you have a Bible or an

app, let's open it up. We're going to be

back in Acts chapter 15. Acts chapter

Acts 15 · chapter mention Acts 15 · chapter mention

15. We're almost done with the chapter,

but we're pressing into this part of

Acts chapter 15 because this involves

Acts 15 · chapter mention

the Jerusalem Council. And if you're

unfamiliar with what took place during

the Jerusalem Council, if you remember,

the gospel has now gone beyond

Jerusalem. It is fulfilling the

scriptural call that Jesus gave to his

followers prior to his ascension that

they were to go out and proclaim the

gospel. We read about this in Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8

that they were to begin in Jerusalem

then extend out to Judea, Samaria, and

to the ends of the earth. We are seeing

this in the context of the the New

Testament history that is laid out for

us in the book of Acts. We are seeing

this in real time.

And so a group known as the Pharisees

who were highly involved and highly

regulated by Jewish tradition, rule, and

law begin to approach Gentile converts

and tell them it's not just the grace of

Jesus that saves you. It's the grace of

Jesus plus some works.

And the response to that is a resounding

no. That is untrue.

It is by grace alone that Christ saves

you and sets you apart. And so we talked

about this last week. The elders and the

apostles, they gather in Jerusalem not

to say, "We say this is how someone

should be saved, but rather to affirm

how God has already been saving people."

so that it is made absolutely clear what

the gospel is, how salvation occurs, and

how unity in the midst of disagreement

and conflict can be reached. And what I

want to dive into this morning

is to show us how we as a people of God

can be so abiding and connected and in

tune with who the Lord is, his

compassion, his kindness, his glory, and

his majesty that we understand that

unity among the church above all is

something to be pursued

because we're going to have conflicts.

We're going to have disagreements

and even when it's over doctrinal

matters, what we need to do is pursue

truth and unity. So, what we see here is

a clear blueprint for how unity can be

pursued even in the midst of conflict.

How many you guys remember vividly

what you were like in elementary school?

Anybody?

Couple of us. I don't remember a lot of

how I was when I was young. My my

parents have some stories on how my mom

will tell you I'm the worst one. That's

what she'll say and she's it's true

actually. So there was one one time in

in elementary school I remember building

a block tower and there was this one kid

named Jacob who wanted the blocks from

my block tower. But that was my block

tower. I spent a lot of time

constructing that block tower. What do

you think Jacob did? Jacob came and

kicked my block tower down. That's what

he did. And I remember that stirred me

to some angry emotions.

I remember rushing Jacob. I remember

tackling Jacob. And then I just blacked

out after that. No, I didn't black out.

Well, we got sent to the office.

And and and what what it begins to

expose in us is when there's deep desire

for something. And a black tower ain't

really a big deal, but to an elementary

kid, it's a big deal. When there's deep

desire for something, it stirs within us

particular emotions and particular

feelings. And often times, if those

feelings and emotions are not dealt with

correctly, it erupts into conflict. And

here's the thing about conflict, we can

all relate with this. Conflict has a way

of revealing the things that we truly

value.

The reality is some of us get upset at

things in the big picture of life are

not that big of a deal. In the big

picture of the church world are not that

big of a deal. And the thing is you

really get to know someone when they

really hold on to something when it's

threatened.

You don't really get to know what the

church is like

until pressure hits. And many of you

guys have endured pressure. You've

endured your unique seasons of darkness.

And here in Acts chapter 15, we see

Acts 15 · chapter mention

pressure, so to speak, hitting the

church. And how does the church respond?

They gather together. They publicly call

out what is false, what is untrue, and

they affirm how God has been working all

along. And so, we'll continue to look at

the story of the early church standing

at a crossroads.

Do we affirm what Jewish people believe,

what a particular group of Jewish

tradition believes, or do we affirm what

God has been doing since eternity pass?

Because if the church gets that wrong,

then everything falls apart. We'll dive

into this here in just a moment. If we

get the gospel wrong,

everything falls apart. Men, this is why

it is so necessary that we understand

what it means to follow Jesus Christ.

That we understand the role and the

responsibility that we have as men

called by God. We'll read here in just a

moment that there were leading men

chosen by the church to deliver the

message.

And the word leading men, that phrase

leading men is not random.

It's included in there to draw our

attention to the fact that when the

gospel is centric and when the message

of kingdom proclamation is at hand,

who's going to take it forward? It's

going to be people who are in tune with

who God is in the context of Acts

Acts 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15. It's leading men.

Now, I don't want to get off course

here. I'll save that message for

Father's Day. But what God is looking

for, who God is looking for is leading

men.

If you've been following along with our

Bible reading plan, uh we're now in the

book of Chronicles. We've been going

through the book of Psalms as well. And

so I I this really touched me. I posted

about this this past week in 1

Chronicles 5. It says that that there

were uh the Reubenites, the Gadites, and

the half-tribe of Manasseh who were

valiant men of war, who had a sword, who

had a shield, and who were ready with

the bow.

Now again, in the context of ancient

Israel and in their history as they

enter the promised land, that's

regarding physical war. And if you

continue to read, the rest of that story

tells us that God gave them victory. And

do you know why God gave them victory?

Not because they were valiant men. They

were valiant men because they cried out

to the Lord in the midst of battle.

And I begin to think, God, God is

calling leading men. God is calling

valiant men. And what makes men leading

and what makes men valiant is not that

we have strength in and of ourselves,

but that we are wise enough and we are

stirred enough by the spirit to

recognize that I need to call out and

cry out to God in the midst of my own

battle.

We

are a sinful and rebellious people

when we look in the mirror. And and

again, remember when I preach, I'm

preaching to myself.

I'm a scoundrel.

My hope and my prayer is is that the man

that you see up here, I want to reflect

the Lord. I want you to see a man of

God. That that is my endeavor.

Not because I desire to be put on a

pedestal, but because I want you to see

God in all his goodness and glory. You

know, Paul say, "Follow me as I follow

Christ."

I hope that one day I get to a point in

my spiritual life that I can boldly

declare that follow me as I follow

Christ. And that's not just for pastors.

That that's not just for spiritual

leaders. That's for you. If you were a

man of God, if you were a a woman of

God, that's for you that you would be

able to boldly declare, "Follow me as I

follow Christ."

But people can only follow you if you're

following who? Christ. And so, we have

these these titles and these themes of

valiant men, leading men, all centered

on what? What is Acts 15 centered on?

The purity of the gospel.

Paul will say this in 1 Corinthians

15:es 1 and two that that you can have

all the gifts

that you can possess all the talents

but if there's no love in you if there's

no stirring of the spirit in you it's

all for not it's worthless it's all in

vain

you can have worldly accolades you can

achieve worldly ambitions but if the

gospel is not central in your life if we

are not a people who are leading and

valiant.

What does it profit? Cuz one day you and

I will draw our last breath.

We'll close our eyes

and we will wake up in eternity. If you

know Christ, you'll wake up in his

eternal presence. If you don't know

Christ, you'll wake up forever separated

from him.

What does this world have to offer that

compares to the eternity that awaits

those who call upon the name of Jesus?

This is why this is why we are taking

our time going through Acts chapter 15

Acts 15 · chapter mention

because what is at the center is the

gospel. We need to get this correct. We

need to be united in what this is about.

So Acts chapter 15, let's begin in verse

Acts 15 · chapter mention

22. We'll read through verse 35. Here's

how it goes.

Then the apostles and the elders with

the whole church decided to select men

who were among them. Now remember what

are they deciding? They're not deciding

what the gospel is. They have already

affirmed what the gospel is. Remember

Peter got up and he what point or James

got up and he pointed back to the

prophet Amos and he said it's not for us

to decide what the gospel is how someone

can be saved. God's decided that. Let's

look back at the pattern that we've seen

throughout biblical history. He points

to the prophet Amos where God declares

through the prophet Amos that he is

calling nations. He's calling people to

himself to save them to rescue him to be

a part of his kingdom. So now what is

the next step?

The elders and the apostles, this

council are now selecting men to go and

share that to the churches that have

been planted so that it is absolutely

clear what the gospel

is.

So they decided to select men who were

among them and to send them to Antioch

with Paul and Barnabas. Judas called

Barcabus and Silas, both leading men

among the brothers. Now, now this this

is this is where if you're a Bible nerd,

you're going to love this because

Barabus and Silas represent Jewish

tradition in history, Gentile tradition

in history. What is the gospel or the

conflict about the gospel being focused

on? that if you were a Gentile, you had

to become Jewish through circumcision in

order to really be saved. You had to add

to grace in order to be saved. And the

Jerusalem Council saying, "No, that's

not the way it's done. Now, we're going

to send a letter affirming what

salvation is to the churches currently

in existence." And the representatives

of that letter are going to be both

individuals from opposite sides, a

Gentile and a Jewish individual. Now,

this falls short on us,

but this would have spoken loudly in

biblical times.

The letter that we're going to read, the

letter that they proclaimed to these

churches to have both a Jewish

representative and a gentile

representative walking in unity

would have been phenomenal. And so it

continues,

"Both leading men among the brothers,

they wrote from the apostles and the

elders, your brothers, to the brothers

and sisters among the Gentiles in

Antioch, Syria, Salishia, greetings.

Since we have heard that some without

our authorization went out from us and

troubled you with their words and

unsettled your hearts, we have

unanimously decided to select men and

send them to you along with our dearly

beloved Barnabas and Paul who have

risked their lives for the name of our

Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, we have sent Judas and Silas,

who will personally report the same

things by word of mouth. For it was the

Holy Spirit's decision and ours not to

place further burdens on you beyond

these requirements that you abstain from

food offered to idols, from blood, from

eating anything that has been strangled,

from sexual immorality. You will do well

if you keep yourselves from these

things. Farewell. That was the letter.

What was the outcome? Verse 30. So they

were sent off and went down to Antioch.

And after gathering the assembly, they

delivered the letter. When they read it,

I love this. When they read it, what

happened?

They rejoiced

because of its encouragement.

You read a letter like this in the

western church. Do you know what

Christians in Western culture do? They

don't see this as encouragement. Because

many of you are picking up on this

because you felt the same way. You're

seeing this. What? That's prohibition.

Telling me I can't do things that I

shouldn't do things. And the focus

should never be what I can or cannot do.

The focus should always be what

glorifies God, what unites the church,

what brings us together under the banner

of praise and worship. So many people in

Western culture live selfish Christian

lives. And those two words shouldn't

even go together because it doesn't work

that way. We're called to live a

selfless Christian life. Now, we're

going to dive into freedoms and

liberties that as a believer in Jesus

Christ are afforded to us, but under a

particular context and in certain

scenarios, we're not called to embrace

those freedoms without any sort of limit

or protections,

but we're called to surrender them for

the sake of the gospel. I'm getting

ahead of myself. Let's continue to read

verse 32. Both Judas and Silas who were

also prophets themselves

encouraged the brothers and sisters and

what did they do? Strengthened them with

this message. So it wasn't just an

encouragement to them. What did it do?

It matured their faith. It empowered

their faith. It equipped their faith.

They were strengthened by it. And after

spending some time there, they were sent

back in peace by the brothers and

sisters to those who had sent them. But

Paul and Barnabas along with many others

remained in Antioch teaching and

proclaiming the word of the Lord. And

all God's people said,

>> Lord, bless your word. Holy Spirit,

would you stir our hearts this morning?

I pray that we have picked up on the

seriousness

of what is taking place here in this

passage.

The gospel has been affirmed by men

called by God, set apart by God. They

have produced this letter to be read to

the churches of God, by men of God. And

what's the result? They are rejoicing in

God. Do you see a centric theme there?

It's all God. Everything is focused on

him. Our lives are built around centric

circles, ripples, so to speak. And if

God is not at the center, these ripples

may go so far, but they'll never be

powerful enough to enact the life change

that the gospel calls us to. To impact

sons and daughters, mom and dad, that

we're raising, to impact the business

that God has gifted you to create and

own, to impact the students that you

were in charge of every single week in

your classroom,

to minister to people, to love people.

So, so how do we as a church

walk in this type of unity?

How do we continue under the banner of

Jesus despite some things that we might

disagree on? And mind you, this was a

huge disagreement. This was no minor

disagreement. This was a disagreement

over salvation,

over who can get into heaven. And we

learned this a couple of weeks ago. You

and I are not judging jury over who gets

into heaven. That is God's role and

God's role alone. And he has revealed

himself to his creation through his son

Jesus. And our faith, the the

resurrection out of sin and the transfer

of life eternal is the work of the

spirit in our life. You and I are not

judging jury. We should not play judge

and jury over the things that God has

solely declared in accordance with his

purpose and his will. So when there's

real tension, how do we maintain unity?

How do we walk in this togetherness? I

think the passage gives us a clear

pattern. So here's what we'll do. We'll

go back through the passage. We'll

reference some passages and I want to

draw out some things that'll anchor us

in what it means to be united. If you're

taking notes, here's the first one. We

must get the gospel right.

If I sound like a revolving record,

that's the point. I I I I've heard it

this way in in in Bible college and from

several other pastors. By the time the

pastor gets tired of saying it, that's

usually around the time that the church

starts to hear it.

So, I'm going to say this until I'm

tired of it and I'm going to say it some

more. We must get the gospel right

because if we miss the gospel, we're

going to miss everything else in life.

We sang about it. Seek ye first the

kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Matthew 6:33. Everything else will be

Matthew 6:33

added to you. But what do we so often do

in our lives? We seek everything else

first, hoping that that the truth of

God, the kingdom of God, the family of

God, God's plan for my life, I can just

tack it on. It could be a footnote in my

life story. And again, I know I know

this this is redundant for us because we

say it so so often. You and I are not

the central character in our story. The

central character is Jesus.

He's the focus.

His mercy, his grace, his kindness, and

his compassion allow us to simply play a

role in the life story. And this is the

beauty of the sovereignty of God. Our

life stories are interconnected. You

say, Roland, how are they

interconnected? We're here together

worshiping the Lord.

Our children go to school together. Some

of you work together. Some of us do life

together. Our stories are

interconnected.

And it will remain interconnected across

generations

until the Lord returns.

And what's our purpose in the meantime?

To proclaim the truth of God. To seek

the Lord first. So that when we are dead

and gone

in 80 years, in a hundred years,

everyone in this room, we will not be

here.

Who are we rising up in our place?

Grandkids, great grandkids, great great

grandkids.

That's who we're rising up in our place.

And if we are training them and

informing them of gospel principle, you

better believe we need to get that

right.

One of the reasons that we're

celebrating as many baptisms have we've

been celebrating this first quarter of

the year is because we're getting the

gospel right.

And this is something that we will never

waver from. The gospel is something that

we as sons and daughters of God should

draw a line in the sand. And we will

never waver from this. Culture may

change, the world may change, opinions

may change,

persecution may increase, but we will

stand strong on the truth of God's word.

If we miss the gospel, we miss

everything else. Whatever follows in our

life will be worthless unless we get the

gospel right. Again, I'm reminded of

what Paul tells the Corinthian church

that the gospel is what sets us apart.

It's what saves us. It's what empowers

us to maintain a standing position

figuratively speaking in the face of

opposition. But he says, unless you

believed in vain,

unless you really didn't believe at all,

which in that case you'll fall for

anything because you're not standing on

truth. You're not standing on what is

rock solid. If the foundation isn't

right, the whole structure falls apart.

So, so here's what I want to do real

quickly. We talk about saying getting

the gospel right. And I want to ensure

as your pastor that you understand what

the gospel is. So, we got some slides

we're going to throw up here on the

screen. This is a very simplistic way

to demonstrate to us what the gospel is.

So prior to sin entering the cosmos,

think Genesis chapter 1, Genesis chapter

Genesis 1 · chapter mention Genesis 2 · chapter mention

2, humanity walking with God in the

garden in community.

This is God's design that we humanity

walk with the king of the universe in

love and in harmony. Is that what's

happening now? Giving the sinfulness of

the world? No. But we're working towards

that.

We're working towards restoration

towards what what is called in the

gospel narrative recreation

where God will make all things new.

Revelation 22. No crying, no mourning,

no hunger, no sadness, no thirst because

everything is fulfilled in the son Jesus

Christ. But but but what happens th this

unity this this this communion with God

is shattered because sin enters the

world and it separates us.

Sin Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

they take of the forbidden fruit. They

are tempted. They believe the lie over

the truth. Aka Romans chapter 1, Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention Romans 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. We partake of the lie in our

own life. We would rather worship

creation than creator. That that is sin.

Our sin is heinous. Our sin is rebellion

against the God of creation. And don't

ever make the mistake of comparing your

sin to the sin of someone next to you.

Your sin is an affront to the holiness

of God. It spits in his face. That's

what your sin does. It doesn't matter

how deep, how dark, your sin spits in

the face of God. And so, it separates

you from God. This is a hopeless

situation.

In this situation, there is no hope for

humanity because no matter how hard we

try, we can never cross the chasm of

sin. It is too great a load to bear

because we apart from Christ, don't miss

this, we will always choose sin over

holiness. That's our nature. That's our

default nature.

You get a child

and you put a gooey brownie with some

vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and

caramel topping.

or you put a celery stick.

I know what I'm choosing.

Now, your kid might be set apart and

their taste buds might want that celery

stick,

but you know where I'm going with this.

We will choose sin over holiness. So, so

what do we need? We need a savior.

God has a standard. We cannot meet that

standard. Sin keeps us from fulfilling

the law of God. We're not perfect. So

our blood cannot atone for our sins. So

what does God do? He sends a son. He

sends a savior. And Christ becomes the

bridge where we are now in communion

with God again. We are now at one with

God again. And it only happens through

Jesus Christ. It doesn't happen any

other way. This was at the core of what

the argument in Acts 15, the conflict in

Acts 15 was about. Is it only through

Jesus Christ and his grace? Or is it

that plus something else? And what did

the Jerusalem council conclude? They

affirmed how God has always been

working. It is only through Jesus

Christ. It is only through his grace.

And so the result of encountering the

risen savior means we are now in

communion with God again. Now is this

world perfect?

The answer is no. We still deal with

sinfulness. You and I still sin before

the Lord. We still, no matter how much

we have tasted the goodness of God, we

fall victim to the vices in our lives,

to the temptations around us, and we

shake our fists momentarily at God. The

Holy Spirit reminds us, we dust off our

knees, we repent, we turn to the Lord,

and we stumble forward. And let me tell

you, the day that I long for, church,

the day that I long for is when the

sinful body is gone.

This is what Paul longed for. He said,

'Oh wretched man that I am. Boy, boy, do

I relate with that. Oh wretched man that

I am, who can save me from this body of

sin?

And Paul reminds himself,

I thank God because of Jesus Christ our

Lord. Church, that's the gospel.

That's the gospel. That's the hope of

the world. That is what you and I must

get right.

That's what saves you. Maybe you're

sitting here today and maybe you've

never heard it that way before.

I want you to know that God is calling

you out of your sin and he's calling you

to hope and eternal life in him. Because

you don't build unity by blurring the

gospel.

You don't. You build unity by clarifying

it.

Because what binds us together?

We're only a church because of the

gospel. We're only saved because of the

gospel.

But getting the gospel right, watch

this. It doesn't remove the tension here

in Acts chapter 15. It helps with it,

Acts 15 · chapter mention

but it actually it actually brings us

face to face with something else. This

is the second thing that we're going to

dive into, and I'm going to go quick

because we're running out of time, but I

want you guys to lean into this because

this is going to confront us and

challenge us. And for some of us, it's

going to hit us where it hurts. Here's

the second thing that we learned. You

need to give up your rights.

What? This is America.

This is Texas. What do you mean give up

my rights? Let me put it to you in

biblical language. You need to crucify

the flesh.

Who's in charge? Your desires, your

cravings, your flesh, or the spirit that

dwells in you? You have to give up your

rights. The text unpacks it this way. Go

with me to verse 29.

Immediately verse 29 says that you

abstain from food offered to idols, from

blood, from eating anything that has

been strangled and from sexual

immorality.

You will do well if you keep yourselves

from these things. Now again, we got the

gospel right now. Okay? And if the

gospel is right, then we understand

obedience to law is not what saves us.

So this isn't a salvation issue that's

included in this letter. This is a unity

issue because in the ancient world,

especially in the first century New

Testament church, you had both Jews and

Gentiles from completely different walks

of life, from completely different

historical and cultural traditions. Let

me put it in some modern day terms. One

person was born in um a wealthy affluent

community. One person was born on the

other side of the tracks.

How do you bring them together in unity?

Because one person is going to view life

differently than another person. This is

what is happening here. The Gentiles,

they were free to eat blood with their

meals. A meteor STEAK. WHO DOESN'T LOVE

THAT? They were free to eat animals that

were killed in any way. But if you were

Jewish in first century Israel, that was

offensive to you because it was a gut

punch to your historical traditions.

And now you had Gentiles and Jews

attending the same church. You had

Gentiles and Jews now sitting across the

table from one another to enjoy a meal.

And so what do the apostles recognize?

Hey, Gentile believers, you are

absolutely free to go and eat these

things, but for the sake of unity with

your Jewish brothers and sisters, would

you abstain from those things for the

sake of unity, compassion, and kindness?

Would you walk hand in hand? Sure, you

can go and enjoy those things with your

gentile brothers and sisters, but when

you gather together at the Lord's table,

would you abstain from these things?

Because it's not about what you can do.

It's never about what you can do. It's

about what you're willing to lay down.

That's the gospel message. And so often,

this is what we do. We like to look for

loopholes in here. What am I allowed to

do?

How far can I reach over the edge? I

won't quite get over there, but I want

to see how far I can test the limits.

Any parent knows this is what kids are

prone to do.

It's not about what you can do. Praise

God for those liberties and freedoms.

There's a time and there is a place. But

it's about what are you willing to lay

down

for the sake of the gospel? What are you

willing to lay down for the sake of the

kingdom? For the sake of your brothers

and sisters. We are called to give up

our rights because unity

just like unity grows when we clarify

the gospel. Unity is going to grow when

we understand what sacrifice is.

We don't want to be an entitled people.

I want to be known as someone who lays

down my rights for the benefit of God's

kingdom. And I think this is where most

Christians struggle because we like

being right.

We really like our rights. I'm free to

do this. I don't see anything wrong with

it. That's their issue. It's not mine.

But again, unity never grows in a

culture of entitlement.

It grows in a culture of sacrifice. And

some of us, let this challenge you. Some

of us are holding on to our preferences

while dividing what God is doing, what

God is trying to build.

Let's be a people that lay it down.

Here's the last thing. Here's the third

thing that we see. When the gospel is

clear and rights are surrendered, this

is what begins to happen. The church is

built up. And this is what we're called

to do. You and I are called to build up

the church. That's not for paid staff

only. That's not for biblical teachers

only or leaders of ministry or

volunteers of ministry only. That's for

you.

How are you building up the kingdom? How

are you building up the kingdom when you

take your kids to practice? When you're

sitting in the stands watching the games

on the weekend, when you're interacting

with the cashier, when you're

interacting with the barista, when

you're at work, when you're in the uh

the breakroom grabbing you a cup of

coffee with a co-orker, how are you

building up the church? This letter is

delivered. And what happens

in verse 31?

When they read it, what does it say?

They rejoiced

because of its encouragement.

Western culture would look at it and

say, "Well, there's some prohibitions on

there." But they didn't look at it that

way because what was their hearts

focused on? Gospel unity.

And they were so overjoyed at the

affirmation of what the gospel is.

They're like, "Oh,

don't eat animals that are strangled.

Don't eat blood." Yeah, of course. Yeah,

that's easy. If the gospel is all about

grace, then then yeah, because the

gospel is in focus, the gospel is in

view. And so they rejoiced and they were

encouraged because the truth brought

clarity and it preserved their unity.

And let me just finish with this before

we leave here.

Where do we see the greatest example of

someone who embodied the gospel?

Who'd laid down their rights to build up

the church.

You see it in Jesus.

You see it in our Lord and Savior

where the New Testament we read that he

did not count equality with God as

something to be grasped but he laid down

his life

for you and for I. He laid down his

life. Do you know what rights our savior

has? It's the right to be worshiped.

It's the right to be glorified. It's the

right to have his majesty on full

display. And yet he gave it up as he

took on human flesh to die the death of

sinners. That's you and I. And that's

not that's not a generalization. I mean

that specifically. The way I look at it,

and I hope you look at it like this as

well. Jesus died the death that Roland

deserved.

He took Roland's place on that cross. He

took a crown of thorn. He took lashings

on his back. He took a spear on his

side. He took nails through his body for

Roland. He was uh mocked and ridiculed

for Roland.

That's what he did.

And when he calls me to salvation, he

calls me to embody

what he lived, breathed, and died for,

which is God's

kingdom. And the invitation is open, and

it's for you. Would you pray with me?

Lord, we thank you for your word, for

how you move and how you work. Lord, I

pray that you would bless this response

time of our service that in you and

through you, by you,

and everything around you, we would be a

people that glorify you. God, you are

good. And we thank you that your your

grace saves scoundrels like ourselves.

We lift you up today. It's in Christ's

name we pray. All God's people said,

"Amen." Amen. Would you stand to your

feet with me? We're going to sing

together. We're going to conclude our

service by singing. We're going to lift

up the name of Jesus. This is response

time.

So, if if the Lord is leading you just

to kind of have some one-on-one time

with him this morning,

the altar is open. Pastor Eric and

myself will be available to pray with

you if the Lord leads you. If you need

prayer for yourself, you want to

intercede and pray on behalf of someone,

this is a time for you to respond to how

God is moving in you and through you. I

love you, church.