1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,440 But today, like I said, we finish the sabbatical sermon series. I had a difficult time 2 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:16,140 deciding which experience, which thing from this summer was going to kind of be the thing that drove the point, the car that the point 3 00:00:16,620 --> 00:00:24,280 was in. I went to California. I've been to California a couple other times, but mostly for conferences. 4 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:29,180 This was the first time that I actually like got to go see the ocean in California and 5 00:00:29,180 --> 00:00:33,640 got to see a little bit more of the mountains and traveled just a little bit. I was in San Francisco, 6 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:39,320 Woodland Hills, I went to Sacramento. Some of you remember Kathleen and Dami Badajah. 7 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:46,720 They have moved recently to San Francisco, and I took it as an opportunity to see them while I was going out to see one 8 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,680 of my spiritual overseers, Reverend Michael Umbanauer. 9 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:55,760 One morning Dami was going, hey, I'm going hiking. I said my knees can't do that. He said, oh, there's a beach nearby. 10 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:02,080 I said, all right, I'll sit on the beach. So I was on this very rocky picture-esque beach that very much looks like it would be 11 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:08,240 on the screensaver for an iMac or something. It was really, really beautiful. I was probably a little too adventurous, 12 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,360 but I'm going to save that for another time. 13 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:14,800 I spent, I 14 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:16,800 thought maybe I would talk about mental health, 15 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:22,720 because one of my commitments for the summer was that I would see a therapist just to continue my own 16 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:28,800 mental health journey. I saw a therapist eight times this summer, and I'm going to continue to see him 17 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:36,760 monthly for the foreseeable future, because I do think that it is becoming increasingly important for the church to 18 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,560 normalize and destigmatize mental health issues. 19 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:46,000 Some people think that if you're Christian, you're suddenly not supposed to feel any anxiety or have any issue, 20 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:52,720 or you should never be depressed, you shouldn't be on medications, but we need to normalize that these are things that are very important in 21 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:55,080 our lives. 22 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,560 But then there was another experience that just 23 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:04,160 kept rising to the top as I kept thinking about what are the experiences from this summer that I think are important to relate back 24 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,360 to the church. But I want to hold you in suspense a little bit. So let's open up our Bibles and 25 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:10,400 read 26 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,560 some scripture together. We're going to be in the book of John. 27 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:19,640 It's in what's called the New Testament. It goes Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. If you see any of those, 28 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:21,640 you know you're in the right neighborhood. 29 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,920 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. John 17. If you don't have a Bible, 30 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:29,560 we have physical Bibles out on the bookshelf that you can take home with you, or you can download 31 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:34,680 one from any of the digital app stores. Okay, John 17. 32 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:38,520 We have a tradition of standing as we are able, as we read the scriptures. 33 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,520 And so if you will stand with me as you're able or willing, 34 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:45,840 we will read from John 17 starting in verse 20. It says this. 35 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,640 This is Jesus praying, My prayer is not for them alone. 36 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:55,520 I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one. 37 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:03,520 Father, just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 38 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:09,320 I have given them the glory that you gave me that they may be one as we are one. 39 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:14,320 I in them, you in me, so that they may be brought to complete unity. 40 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:19,040 Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved me, 41 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:23,520 loved them even as you have loved me. Let's pray. 42 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:30,040 Heavenly Father, we pray to you in the same way that Jesus prayed to you. 43 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,040 And today we thank you for the scriptures that we have, 44 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:40,040 the way that they have persisted throughout the millennia. 45 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:44,040 I pray that whatever you have for us to learn today, I pray that it would stick. 46 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:47,040 That it would become a part of the framework of our faith. 47 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:52,040 That our faith would become stronger, that we would become more like your son Jesus. 48 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:56,040 Amen. Thanks, y'all. You can have a seat. 49 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:06,040 So the first thing that we see here in verse 20 is that Jesus prayed for his disciples. 50 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:12,040 The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John show Jesus praying at least 25 times, 51 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:19,040 but this is the only time that is recorded that he prays out loud for his disciples. 52 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:26,040 Now, while the Bible doesn't spell it out, I think that we know this isn't the only time Jesus prayed for his disciples. 53 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,040 Yeah? Can we agree on that? 54 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:36,040 But it could be the only time he prayed out loud about them so that they could hear him. 55 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:50,040 That might be true. Let me ask, how much time do we spend praying for someone before we talk about someone? 56 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:56,040 Or before we want to talk to them, have we spent time praying for them, 57 00:04:56,040 --> 00:05:02,040 listening to God and what he has to say about them? 58 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:09,040 We can spend so much time thinking about what we would say, what we would do, 59 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:16,040 or to the point that we don't always turn that time into prayer for the person that we're thinking about. 60 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:22,040 Have you heard that phrase, live rent-free? Someone lives rent-free in your head? 61 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:28,040 Or an experience lives rent-free in your head? Like it doesn't belong there, it doesn't need to be there, 62 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:34,040 and you spent all this time rehearsing it and going over, oh, this is what I was going to say, 63 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:38,040 oh, I know what I'm going to say the next time, oh, this is what I should have said. 64 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:45,040 Some of us have things living rent-free in our head from a decade ago. 65 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:52,040 There's a meme online, I think it's about how sometimes you wake up and you remember the awkward thing you said 20 years ago. 66 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,040 I do that all the time. 67 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:01,040 I think it's important for us to acknowledge and understand that every person that we know in this room, 68 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:11,040 in our homes, at our families, at our jobs, in this city, that we can pray for them more than we talk about them. 69 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:16,040 We can pray for them more even than we talk to them. 70 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,040 It actually reminds me of Greenbush and the way that we've been praying for Greenbush. 71 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:28,040 We started intentionally praying for this neighborhood every Sunday during the service. 72 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:34,040 Does anybody know how long ago? It was just this last January. 73 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:40,040 We've been here for much longer than that, but it was this past January that we started making it a part of our service, 74 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:44,040 that we put it on the wall, that we said we want to be intentional about it. 75 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:51,040 It's been 35 Sundays, 35 prayers that we have prayed for our neighborhood. 76 00:06:51,040 --> 00:07:01,040 It doesn't mean that we haven't been praying for them individually, but when you put it that way, you realize, wow, that's not that much prayer. 77 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:09,040 But we wanted to start with intentional prayer before we moved into intentional action. 78 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:18,040 So that when we develop the right plan for how to walk through this neighborhood or how to reach out in new ways, 79 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:27,040 that we will know and they will hopefully feel that we have been praying for them long before we talked to them. 80 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,040 Does that make sense? 81 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:34,040 And it's important that we end up talking to them, isn't it? 82 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:44,040 It is important that we end up talking to our neighbors because Jesus didn't only pray for his disciples or for the disciples that he had. 83 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:51,040 Did he? No, he prayed for those who will believe in me through their message, he said. 84 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:57,040 So it's important we pray. It's also important that we end up talking to them. 85 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:05,040 There are people that are in our neighborhood that will believe because of the message that we carry. 86 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:16,040 And it matters how we carry it. Amen. We'll get there. We'll get there. We'll get some amens. 87 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:27,040 Come on. Listen, it matters how we carry it. And this is why Jesus actually pivots from praying for them and for those that would believe and pray. 88 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:33,040 And he starts turning into the direction of praying about unity. 89 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:44,040 Because he knew, because he knows that a full and whole and perfect message will always be filtered through the unity of the people that carry it. 90 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:54,040 Amen. It will always be filtered through the unity of the people that carry it or the lack thereof. 91 00:08:54,040 --> 00:09:05,040 What do I mean? Well, we probably all know somebody. Think of the people that you know that used to but no longer believe in Jesus. 92 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:12,040 Now, how many of them stopped believing in Jesus and how many of them stopped believing in the church? 93 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:21,040 Or how many of them stopped believing in Jesus because of their experience with the church? 94 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:25,040 There's probably a time where I would have said, I would have preached. 95 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:29,040 You know, you shouldn't stop believing in Jesus because of how Christians act. 96 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:32,040 You know, you don't believe in Christians or the church. You believe in Jesus. 97 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:39,040 The only problem with that is Jesus doesn't really give us that out. 98 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:44,040 He doesn't draw that as the way for us to excuse behavior. 99 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:47,040 Listen again. My prayer is not for them alone. 100 00:09:47,040 --> 00:10:00,040 I also pray for those who believe in me through their message that all of them may be one father, just as you are in me and I am and you may they also be in us that the world may believe that you have sent me. 101 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:05,040 I have given them the glory that you gave me that they may be one as we are one. 102 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:10,040 I am them and you and me so that they may be brought to complete unity bars. 103 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,040 Then the world will know. 104 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:18,040 Then the world will know. 105 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:25,040 Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them. 106 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,040 Even as you have loved me. 107 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:33,040 Jesus says that if we believe in him, he is here in us, one with the father, one with us. 108 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:41,040 The scripture teaches us that Jesus is the physical image of God and the church is the body. 109 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:50,040 That Jesus is the physical image of God and that the church is the physical representation of Jesus. 110 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:58,040 If we live in unity, then the world will see. 111 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:06,040 If we live in division, the world will also see that. 112 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:15,040 Both these affect how or when someone might believe. 113 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,040 So let's talk about unity. 114 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:24,040 By that, I mean let's talk about Coldplay. 115 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:28,040 Some of you know that I like the band Coldplay. 116 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:30,040 I don't follow their every move. 117 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,040 I'm not Eric and you too. 118 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,040 I don't follow their every move. 119 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:40,040 I haven't bought with my own money every single album. 120 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:46,040 But I do think that they are legitimately one of the best bands of my generation at the very least. 121 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:54,040 When they first came out, the truth is I did not want to like them at all. 122 00:11:54,040 --> 00:12:01,040 I saw their marketing before I heard their music and I thought that they were trying to look like an 80s cover band. 123 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,040 And so I just was really not interested. 124 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:09,040 And then everyone was interested. 125 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:13,040 And so I definitely was not interested. 126 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:17,040 That only made me want to not like them more. 127 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:23,040 But then I heard a song from their third album called Speed of Sound. 128 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:27,040 Listen, it's not even remotely their best song. 129 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:32,040 But this song caught my ear and I thought, you know what, I don't know. 130 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:34,040 Okay, third album. 131 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:35,040 They made it past the first. 132 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,040 They made it past the sophomore slump. 133 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,040 You know, like they got a third album. 134 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:41,040 This song is pretty decent. 135 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:47,040 I was like, but if I'm going to give them a chance, I need to really give them their due. 136 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:54,040 So I went to Walmart, went to the cheap music rack, and I bought their first two albums. 137 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:58,040 And I was like, if I'm going to listen to the third one, I need to start with the first. 138 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:03,040 I need to go back to the beginning. 139 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:09,040 And I found out how wrong I was because they are great. 140 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:15,040 If you're a Coldplay purist, you probably think that first album is the best one. 141 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:19,040 And then right there when they put out that third album, they did a VH1 storyteller. 142 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,040 Remember VH1 storytellers? 143 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,040 This is how long ago that was. 144 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,040 They did a VH1 storytellers that we DVR'd. 145 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:30,040 And for the longest time, it was the only thing that would help our son Brennan fall asleep. 146 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:34,040 He was just a little baby. 147 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,040 And it played all the time. 148 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:41,040 Absolutely all the time because we were like, we just need you to sleep. 149 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:42,040 If you will please sleep. 150 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:44,040 It doesn't mean that the music was boring. 151 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:46,040 It was soothing. 152 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:51,040 Now fast forward a few years, and it's 2009. 153 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:54,040 We're living in Georgia, and it is our seventh wedding anniversary. 154 00:13:54,040 --> 00:14:01,040 Coldplay was touring on their fourth album, and they were going to come to the Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta 155 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,040 that holds just under 13,000 people. 156 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:09,040 So I used tax return money to get tickets for an anniversary gift. 157 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:13,040 So I got good tickets, like good tickets. 158 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,040 We were in the pit tickets. 159 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:18,040 We were standing at the very front tickets. 160 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:24,040 To this day, Cindy's convinced she saw Gwyneth Paltrow backstage tickets. 161 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,040 No one in front of us tickets. 162 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,040 And it was amazing. 163 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:32,040 Absolutely pitch perfect. 164 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:40,040 We got to the end of the night, I was like, I do not know how he just sang every one of those notes so perfectly for two and a half hours, 25 songs. 165 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:42,040 It was absolutely ridiculous. 166 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:44,040 The crowd singing along. 167 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:50,040 If you're familiar with Vita La Vita, then you know that has this chant where everyone's just singing, oh, like all together. 168 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:51,040 They stopped. 169 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,040 The crowd kept going. 170 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,040 It was absolutely amazing. 171 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,040 The best concert we had ever been to. 172 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:07,040 Now fast forward 13 years to this past summer, to our 20th anniversary. 173 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:14,040 We went to see Coldplay in Chicago at Soldier Field for the first time since our seventh anniversary. 174 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:17,040 Again, it was tax return money. 175 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,040 Again, it was an anniversary. 176 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:23,040 But these were not tickets next to the stage. 177 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:27,040 These were the exact opposite. 178 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:32,040 This time our seats were about as far as you could possibly get from the stage. 179 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:43,040 All the way at the top in the highest row in the furthest corner of Soldier Field with a sold out capacity of over 50,000 people. 180 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:45,040 I asked you about space. 181 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:49,040 You know the part of Soldier Field that looks like a spaceship landed on the stadium? 182 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,040 Anyone familiar with that? 183 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:53,040 It's just weird and metal. 184 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:56,040 And everyone went in, wait, first day they were like, it looks like they put a spaceship. 185 00:15:56,040 --> 00:16:04,040 Well, it looks like that because if you sit up there, it feels like you are entering space on your way to your seats. 186 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:06,040 I'm not kidding. 187 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:14,040 And on the way up, the higher we went, the lower my expectations were of how this concert was going to go. 188 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:16,040 I started thinking maybe this isn't going to be a good concert. 189 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:20,040 Not because the band isn't good, because of our location. 190 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:23,040 We were so far from the front. 191 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:25,040 Cody and Eric were there as well. 192 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:26,040 We chatted about it. 193 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:28,040 And I sat down and I told her I was going to talk about this. 194 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,040 And she goes, you were in the very last seat. 195 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:32,040 I was like, yes, yes I was. 196 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:33,040 I'm going to mention that. 197 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:36,040 We were as far as we could get. 198 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:37,040 But here's the thing. 199 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:44,040 On the way into the stadium, they were handing out to everyone these wristbands that looked kind of like an oversized Fitbit. 200 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,040 It was like white. 201 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:48,040 And you could tell it was probably going to light up. 202 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,040 It looked like they lit up. 203 00:16:50,040 --> 00:17:00,040 But I had no idea, absolutely no idea that this wristband would make the worst seat feel like one of the best. 204 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:01,040 I took a video. 205 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:02,040 Let me show you. 206 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:24,040 Go ahead and play that video. 207 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:57,040 Let's go. 208 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:07,040 Let's go. 209 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:35,040 Did you see it? 210 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:39,040 I mean, I thought they would light up. 211 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:43,040 I thought maybe they would change colors. 212 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:48,040 I thought maybe when they sang the song yellow, they would turn yellow. 213 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,040 Yeah. 214 00:18:50,040 --> 00:19:09,040 But I had no idea that they would unite 50,000 people, that every song would be choreographed to connect us, that every song would connect every person in the stadium with light. 215 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:10,040 And he was gorgeous. 216 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,040 Absolutely gorgeous. 217 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:18,040 And it was unity. 218 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:33,040 And I thought that 50,000 different people with different backgrounds, races, genders, geographies, identities were unified by light. 219 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:44,040 And while it feels like at most concerts you're supposed to listen to the music and look at the band, this was like they wanted us to look around. 220 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:54,040 They wanted us to see what the lights were doing, to see how we were connected, to see how they had connected us to each other. 221 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:55,040 That is unity. 222 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:58,040 It didn't matter how far I was from the stage. 223 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:08,040 Coldplay united me with the entire stadium by giving me something that I had completely underestimated. 224 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:15,040 Verse 22, Jesus prayed, I have given them the glory you gave me that they may be one as we are one. 225 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:18,040 That English word glory is the Greek word doxa. 226 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:25,040 Literally means what evokes good opinion or that something has inherent or intrinsic worth. 227 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:30,040 Some commentaries think that what he means there is he's given us this future hope of heaven. 228 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:36,040 But other theologians say, and I agree that Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit. 229 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:37,040 Why? 230 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:47,040 Because in context, if you go back and read the chapters before this and what he's teaching them, he's talking about how he's going to give them the Holy Spirit. 231 00:20:47,040 --> 00:21:02,040 Secondly, because he knows, Jesus knows that the Holy Spirit has a surprising way of winning people over, of evoking a good opinion. 232 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:11,040 And I think that we underestimate the Spirit's ability to unite us even with people that we assume wouldn't have a good opinion of us. 233 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:26,040 The Spirit's ability to unite us with people that we would rather talk about than to talk about or to rather than pray for the Holy Spirit can unite us with. 234 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,040 We underestimate that. 235 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:32,040 A few weeks back, I got tagged on a Facebook post, which isn't always a good thing. 236 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:37,040 It's like sometimes it's someone got scammed and suddenly you're getting tagged in all these posts. 237 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:42,040 But a couple of weeks ago, I got tagged by two different people in the same Facebook post. 238 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:47,040 One of them would probably call themselves a lapsed Catholic, what they would call themselves. 239 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:53,040 The other is probably an atheist or an agnostic based on the conversations that we had. 240 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:59,040 But they tagged me because there's a local nonprofit called QC Harm Reduction. 241 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:04,040 They do needle exchanges and they hand out Narcan for people with addictions. 242 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:15,040 When QC Harm Reduction posted that they were looking for a church parking lot where they could host their needle exchanges and give out Narcan to people struggling with addiction. 243 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:24,040 Both of these people tagged me because of our church. 244 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:33,040 This Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. QC Harm Reduction will be in our parking lot helping people with addictions. 245 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:38,040 I can take credit for that, but it's not just me. 246 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,040 It's you. 247 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:41,040 It's this church. 248 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:51,040 It's the spirit uniting the people in this church, creating opportunities for unity with people that don't even go to this church. 249 00:22:51,040 --> 00:23:03,040 Because of how we're trying so hard to just carry his message well. 250 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:09,040 Listen, everyone that believes in Jesus has this spirit. 251 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:14,040 Everyone that wants to get a wristband gets a wristband. 252 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,040 In the kingdom of God, everybody gets a crown. 253 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,040 You are all sons and daughters. 254 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:24,040 You all belong. 255 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:28,040 And it's the kind of wristband that you get to take off and give to someone else if you want to. 256 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:35,040 It's the kind of crown you get to crown someone else when you get the chance. 257 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,040 Jesus gives the spirit to all of us. 258 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:42,040 It doesn't matter how far you are from the stage. 259 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:50,040 Or how far we're from the moment where Jesus prayed this for the first time or how many thousands of years it has been. 260 00:23:50,040 --> 00:24:05,040 Doesn't matter how different we are, how different our backgrounds, our genders, ethnicities, our identities, our geographical origins or how different some of our beliefs might be because it is the spirit that makes us one. 261 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:12,040 Listen, it is not believing exactly the same way that makes us one. 262 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:16,040 It is the Holy Spirit that makes us one. 263 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:22,040 Jesus in the Father, the Father in Jesus, the Holy Spirit in us, uniting us with him. 264 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:26,040 We are one because of the spirit. 265 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:31,040 Not because of anything we've done. 266 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:41,040 Scriptures are clear that there is no division that the spirit can't unite. 267 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:44,040 We sure do try. Yeah. 268 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:55,040 We sure do try as human beings to create divisions and we test, we test the flexibility of the spirit. 269 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:59,040 But Christians listen to what Paul said in Ephesians 4. 270 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:03,040 Make every effort. 271 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:04,040 Say it with me. 272 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:05,040 Every effort. 273 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:07,040 Make every effort. 274 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:15,040 Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit. 275 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:19,040 Through the bond of peace it says. 276 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:24,040 Because there is one body, one spirit. 277 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:29,040 And Jesus says, you were called to one hope when you were called. 278 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:30,040 Right. 279 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:31,040 So what do we do with this? 280 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,040 How do we practice this? 281 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,040 How do we participate with any of this? 282 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,040 Well, we pray. 283 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,040 We pray. 284 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:42,040 At least that's where we begin. 285 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,040 It's the example that Jesus gives us. 286 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,040 He's praying when he's teaching this. 287 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,040 We pray. 288 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,040 When? 289 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:51,040 Well, one. 290 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:53,040 When it's on purpose. 291 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,040 Pray when it's on purpose. 292 00:25:55,040 --> 00:26:02,040 Choose a time when you're going to pray on purpose. 293 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:03,040 No, really. 294 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,040 On purpose. 295 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,040 Some people this comes very naturally to them. 296 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:16,040 They're like, mmm, 545, can't wait, going to pray on purpose. 297 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:21,040 When I first got out of college and I came back home, I had these cards. 298 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:22,040 I had three by five cards. 299 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:23,040 I had all these people with names. 300 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:28,040 And it was just, man, it was so much easier, more natural for me back then for some reason. 301 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,040 And I try to go back to things like that. 302 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:34,040 And I have a hard time getting into the rhythm of it. 303 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:42,040 But I think that there is value in meaning in praying on purpose, choosing a time to do that. 304 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:47,040 We have an example from Jesus of choosing time early, choosing time in the evening. 305 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:48,040 Two. 306 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,040 Pray when it's on your mind. 307 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:56,040 Pray when it's on your mind because every time a person or problem comes to your mind, you can pray. 308 00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:00,040 Listen now, Paul opened his letter to the Philippians. 309 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,040 He says, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 310 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:07,040 I thank God every time I remember you. 311 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:12,040 Every prayer in prayer. 312 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:13,040 Sorry. 313 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,040 I thank God every time I remember you. 314 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:19,040 In every prayer for all of you, I always pray with joy. 315 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:24,040 We can pray on purpose, but we can also just pray when it comes to mind. 316 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:32,040 We talked a little bit early about the people that live rent free in our heads, the things that we think. 317 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:40,040 If that person, that thing comes to mind, that is an opportunity for you to pray for that while it's on your mind. 318 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:45,040 And then if it's something that is consistently and persistently on your mind, 319 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:50,040 now you need to choose a time to pray on purpose about this thing. 320 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:58,040 Because it's showing up often enough that it's going to cause you to not have the peace of mind that Jesus wants us to have. 321 00:27:58,040 --> 00:27:59,040 So we pray on purpose. 322 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,040 We pray when it's on your mind. 323 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,040 The third, we pray on the spot. 324 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:14,040 If someone asks you to pray for them, I want to encourage you to get in the habit of asking if they would like you to pray right then and there. 325 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:17,040 For a couple of reasons. 326 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:22,040 First, because we are forgetful people. 327 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:32,040 We used to say back in college, we went to a Christian college, we used to say that, like, I'll pray for you was just another way of saying how you do it. 328 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:40,040 Like, no one meant it. At least it didn't feel like anybody meant it. It meant more like, okay, see you later. I'll pray for you. 329 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:49,040 Like. When someone asks you to pray or it seems like there's an opportunity to pray. 330 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:55,040 There's something meaningful about asking then and there. Do you want to pray about this now? 331 00:28:55,040 --> 00:29:05,040 Hmm. But more so, I think. Not just praying right then and there, but I think that there can be something really meaningful. 332 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:14,040 When someone hears someone else praying out loud for them. 333 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:20,040 It's one thing if I tell you I'll pray for you and you never hear me pray for you. 334 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:27,040 It's another thing if I say I'll pray for you and then you hear me pray for you. 335 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:35,040 We pray on purpose. We pray when it's on our mind. We pray on the spot. And the last thing is I close. 336 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:47,040 I would just say if you don't know what to pray for. If it just seems like a vast empty landscape when it comes to prayer, pray for unity. 337 00:29:47,040 --> 00:30:00,040 Pray in agreement with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus that unity is God's preference. 338 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:06,040 Pray for unity. Pray in agreement that God prefers unity. 339 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:11,040 Then I would say pray for each other. Pray for unity. Then pray for each other. 340 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:20,040 Pray for each other. The people that are around you. Pray for them, not just about them. Right? Dear God, so and so did such and such today. 341 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:28,040 That's about. Praying for is dear God. I know so and so. I pray that you would give them peace. 342 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:33,040 I pray that your spirit would be evident in their life. That you would build them up, encourage them. 343 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:40,040 That you would empower them in every way that I have ever felt you empowered me. That they would be blessed. 344 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:43,040 If they're a mother, they would rise. Their children would call them blessed. 345 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:49,040 If they are father, they would feel honored and blessed to get to be a father that their quiver is full. 346 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:55,040 If they're elderly, that they would feel that the gray hair is a crown of honor and wisdom. 347 00:30:55,040 --> 00:31:01,040 If they're new parents, that they would feel that you are giving them strength to raise up children that will love them, love you, 348 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:08,040 and be strong, autonomous people that will have a positive effect in this world. 349 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:14,040 Don't just pray about. Pray for. So pray for unity. Pray for each other. 350 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:19,040 And lastly, pray for the future in the same way that Jesus did. 351 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:24,040 Because Jesus, I do not just pray for the people that are here right now. 352 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:33,040 I pray for all of the people that will believe because of them. 353 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:38,040 Because there's still more to come. 354 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:42,040 Still more people to see. 355 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:48,040 And the unity that we carry will help them see and believe. 356 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:54,040 Amen. Let's pray. 357 00:31:54,040 --> 00:32:02,040 Father, thank you so much for unity, for the way that you bring us together, the way that you unite us. 358 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:12,040 I pray that you would teach us to pray the way that you taught your disciples, 359 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:15,040 the prayer that we prayed together earlier. 360 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:22,040 Teach us how to pray for each other on purpose when it's on our minds and on the spot. 361 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:32,040 Pray for unity, for each other, for the future. Amen.