3 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:29,920 Hey, go church family. This is Gilbert. Welcome back to a new podcast, a new month, a new series 4 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:34,880 I'm here with pastor Matt Haribo. I'm excited. Praise God. This is going to be a great, 5 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,800 this is going to be a great month and a great study. And I'm also here with Christelle. 6 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:44,640 Hello everyone. I'm so excited to be with you. Ahlan Ahlan. Thank you. Are you guys surprised? 7 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:50,880 Yeah. Where's Laura? Don't worry. Laura will be back. Laura will be back next week. 8 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,520 Laura will be back next week, but we're so happy to have Christelle, a new voice, 9 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:01,360 a new heart joining in on this podcast. And we're super excited. So you might be listening to this 10 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:07,360 right now and think, Hey, wonder if I could be on the podcast. And the answer to that is sure. 11 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:15,680 Ahlan. Absolutely. We're so glad that our content team is growing. Yes, it is. We have more and 12 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:20,720 more people sharing their hearts because you know what the Lord doesn't only speak through 13 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:25,360 pastor Matt, the Lord doesn't only speak through the people who've you've previously heard on this 14 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:29,840 podcast, but the Lord has words that he's sharing across the church for the church. 15 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:37,200 Yeah. And we value, we value the revelation. We put great, um, that's how I would say it, 16 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:44,160 you know, revelation, the, the seeing of truth is the most valuable thing we can get. 17 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:49,040 The, the Psalmist calls it treasure and we should treat it like that. 18 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:54,800 Yeah, that's right. So today we're going to dig into some new treasure. Yeah. How awesome it is 19 00:01:54,800 --> 00:02:03,120 that we get to see the Lord's word and the light in the Lord's word. And we're able to move further 20 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:08,880 and further in these things together as a church in unity. Yeah. And that is what we're talking 21 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:15,520 about this month. We're talking about a new series called complete unity. Yeah. And Christelle is 22 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:23,840 here because actually this, this series was born in her heart. Yeah. And the Lord just showed her 23 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:32,560 some things and revealed his word to her. And it's helped her come further, you know, it's helped 24 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:39,520 her, the word of God, when, when we receive it as his word is always working in us and is always 25 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:46,640 producing in us. And so today we're going to take the opportunity to hear a little bit from Christelle 26 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:52,480 about the word that has been growing in her. And I'm sure that over the course of this month, 27 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:58,000 it's also going to grow in us. It's going to be really great for us to dig into this subject 28 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:04,560 from scripture in our grow groups. And of course, if you're new to go church, that's really church 29 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:12,800 for us. Instead of meeting all together in one place on a, on a particular day, we actually meet 30 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:18,800 in groups that we call grow groups and we have grow groups. Thank God that meet everywhere all 31 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:26,320 the time. Yeah. We're so glad to, to hear that, you know, at the beginning of the year last month 32 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:32,880 when pastor Matt shared the message on the big Sunday, he shared some key numbers that we see 33 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:40,880 key numbers that we saw that actually took place that happened over at 2023. And, and we see that 34 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:47,200 by the end of 2023, we were at seven grow groups. So we went from three grow groups to seven grow 35 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:54,880 groups. Not only is it three to seven grow groups, but it is one grow group in Arabic. So that's a 36 00:03:54,880 --> 00:04:00,480 new language. There is a grow group for parents and kids. So that's, you know, different kinds 37 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:07,120 of demographics. More than one in, in Arabic, because in Sheka our group in the North meets. 38 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:12,560 Oh, that's right. Yeah, that's right. That's right. And so we have different demographics as well. So 39 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:18,720 we have kids and parents, we have different regions in Lebanon. So we have groups meeting, 40 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:25,360 as pastor Matt just said, as far North as Sheka. And Christelle leads a group and her group is 41 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:32,560 growing. And probably Christelle is going to be announcing a new group that's starting out of hers, 42 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:37,600 which is what I'm excited about. Am I right, Christelle? That's 100% right. 43 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:46,240 Yeah. So before we go any further, who is Go Church? What is Go Church? Go Church is your place to 44 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:53,120 love, grow and go. We say love because we want you to experience the unconditional love of God. 45 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:58,480 We say grow because we want you to grow in that love. And we say go because we want you to take 46 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:07,280 that love and go to your world with that love. I always say this, my favorite words are your place. 47 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:12,880 Yeah. Because it is your place. It is not only a specific set of people's place. It is not 48 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:19,200 the people who you see on stage on Big Sunday's place. It is your place. Go Church is a place 49 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:27,360 where you can get fed. You can grow in this love and you can do something for the Lord and 50 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:33,760 do something that the Lord has placed in your heart. You can do that when you are connected 51 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:40,960 to Go Church Beirut. Go Church Beirut is also a Bible-based. It is a spirit-filled and it is a 52 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:48,480 groups-centered church. So like we were just talking about, most of our meetings happen in small groups, 53 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:54,800 across the country at different times. And we are looking forward to this growing and growing and 54 00:05:54,800 --> 00:06:02,080 growing and multiplying. So how do we typically do church? Well, once a month on the second Sunday 55 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:11,520 of every month, all our groups get together at our Big Sunday gathering. That has been happening 56 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:19,200 at the municipality at Sinelfil at 11 a.m. And what we do there is we just get together. We worship 57 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:26,320 the Lord together. We have a great time. We listen to a message which is linked to the series 58 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:32,560 for the month. And then in the rest of the month, during the rest of the month, we meet in small 59 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:40,000 groups where we dig deeper and deeper and deeper into the series. So we learn together. We allow 60 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:46,400 the Lord to speak to us. We learn how to apply these truths in our lives because everything we 61 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:54,000 do is on purpose. We don't just teach theology for the sake of theology at church. We teach the word 62 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:59,760 of God because the word of God contains power. It contains life. It is able to equip you to go 63 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:09,280 further on your spiritual journey in the way that the Lord has for you. So if you are part of Go 64 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:15,200 Church, that means you are part of the Grow Group. That's right. And that is where we do church. 65 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:24,480 Yeah. So much. And that's a it's kind of a funny expression. Do church or this is church for us 66 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:33,440 because church has become an event for so many people. And what we want as the Go Church family 67 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:39,600 is for it to really return to what we see in the Book of Acts, which is an expression 68 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:48,640 through our life of our faith and decision to follow Jesus. Yeah. So I want to ask a question 69 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:53,680 to Christelle because as we just mentioned, Christelle is a Grow Group leader. You know, 70 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:58,560 it's not she's a Grow Group leader, but she's also part of a Grow Group, right? I mean, this is where 71 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:05,520 she participates in church. This is where she gets fed, even if she's leading the group. So Christelle, 72 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:12,080 what is your experience so far with Grow Groups? What would you say to someone who's listening 73 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:20,160 right now thinking, hey, like, could I ever become a Grow Group leader? Well, that's a great question, 74 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:26,480 especially that whenever you are part of a Grow Group, that's where activation is there. 75 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:32,400 God will activate so many things in your life. He's going to show you so many gifts that you have 76 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:39,200 that are inside of you, but you did not dig deeper into that so you can find them. And that's where 77 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:45,200 the community that you are in and the Grow Group that you are in will help you to activate that. 78 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:51,280 So if you are asking yourself if you can be one day a Grow Group leader, that's a great question 79 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:59,600 that the answer is yes, because God will equip you before he placed you. He will equip you 80 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:07,120 to be the greatest Grow Group leader, and he will give you everything you need. And one of the best 81 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:12,640 characters that you can have as a Grow Group leader is that you will bring unity to the Grow 82 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:16,400 Group that we're going to speak about today. That's excellent. Yeah, that's really good. 83 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:21,360 Very good. Christelle, would you say as a Grow Group leader, you need to know all the answers? 84 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:30,560 Definitely not. That's one thing that started to change in me, is that as a Grow Group leader, 85 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:37,200 I don't need to have all the answers. The answers are in the Bible. So what does the Bible say about 86 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:44,560 that, if you have any questions? And it's something that as a Grow Group leader, all I need to know 87 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:53,200 is that I have to be sure that everyone is active, everyone is having part, 88 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:57,200 is speaking what they want to speak regarding the subject that we're speaking about. 89 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:04,960 That's excellent. That's really good. I also come to Christelle's Grow Group once in a while, and 90 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:11,360 I've had the privilege of being part of a couple of different Grow Groups. I so enjoy 91 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:16,480 just experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit teaching in a Grow Group. So when we all come 92 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:22,480 together in unity, we are all focused on the same thing. And when we're focused on the same thing, 93 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:30,320 we're allowing the Lord to basically reveal His Word to us that He put in the church, so that 94 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:36,160 we are able to take that Word, that we're able to grow in that Word, we're able to learn how to 95 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:44,000 apply those words to our lives. And I do want to say this, that you don't come and attend 96 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:48,800 church. You don't come and attend the Grow Group. We always say that we don't attend, 97 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:55,680 but we participate because every single person should be heard. Every single person has questions. 98 00:10:55,680 --> 00:11:03,600 Every single person has things that the Lord is telling them. And if you don't feel like, 99 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:10,560 if you don't feel like, oh, I'm ready to lead the group, or I don't know if I'm there yet, 100 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:17,360 you don't have to wait to bring your supply to the group. You can bring your supply by being a 101 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:25,120 helper. You can bring your supply by bringing cookies. You can bring your supply by help setting 102 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:33,440 up and help cleaning up. Everything is needed in order to actually accomplish or to actually 103 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:40,320 make the Grow Group happen. So don't wait to, well, I was going to say don't wait to activate. 104 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,200 I'm not rapping here. I'm just saying. That should be a t-shirt. 105 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:52,240 That's funny. And, you know, taking this a little further, we said that we have, 106 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:58,240 you know, big Sunday gathering once a month, all these Grow Groups happening. We also have 107 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:05,680 what's called a Believer's Gathering that happens on the fourth Friday night of every month. So 108 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:12,240 I say on every month, on most months, as much as we're able to put it together. So those also happen. 109 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:18,000 So fourth Friday nights, those also happen at Synod Field Municipality. 110 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:27,200 We are going to have one this month, so February the 23rd. And that is going to start, well, 111 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:36,720 doors open at 7 p.m. And it is also a larger format meeting. It's a time when we come together, 112 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:43,840 we worship the Lord, we wait on the Lord, we minister to the Lord, and we create room, 113 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:50,080 and probably more room than we would in other meetings, to just allow the Lord to take us 114 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:55,840 in the flow that he wants to take us in. So a lot of the time we sing songs together. A lot of the 115 00:12:55,840 --> 00:13:02,080 time, you know, we see and we are expecting gifts of the Holy Spirit to be in operation. 116 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:10,880 And sometimes there are, you know, words that Pastor Matt would share, or a message. And there 117 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:16,160 are other times when we just pray together, corporate prayer. And so that is a flexible 118 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:22,560 meeting where we allow the Holy Spirit to really move in our congregation. They're amazing meetings. 119 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:29,920 I so enjoy them. I would encourage you to be part of that. The next big Sunday gathering will also 120 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:36,800 be happening on February 11th at the municipality. So don't miss that. We'll have tons of fun. 121 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:46,320 So let's get into our series for this month, which is called Complete Unity. The more I say the name, 122 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:52,320 the more I like the name. Complete Unity, really, that is the message. Because it's not 123 00:13:52,320 --> 00:14:00,800 meant to be partial. It's not meant to be just a bit or a piece. Yeah, that's right. So, 124 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:09,600 you know, this year as we were thinking through the themes that we wanted to talk about and the 125 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:16,320 themes that we really wanted to cover as a church, I was really keen on doing this, which, you know, 126 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:24,560 Christelle mentioned activation. So she mentioned activation as a value that we carry in our Go 127 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:33,760 Church Grow Groups. And there are actually four values that we talk about consistently that 128 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:42,720 are part of our Grow Groups, which are care, accountability, activation, and communication. 129 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:49,520 So you can, you know, you can make acronyms with these words. C squared and A squared. Yeah. 130 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:57,680 But I like Laura's acronym, which is CAC. Yes. Christelle was worried I would say something 131 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:08,480 on podcast. No, we're good. It's CAC. With a C. But why I bring this up is because we, you know, 132 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:14,400 we want to be more deliberate this year at pointing these values out in the word of God 133 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:21,680 that we are sharing on the podcast, because we want not only to come to Grow Groups and 134 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:27,840 do the study portion well, but we want to come to Grow Groups and do life well together. That's 135 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:35,200 right. As believers. Yeah. And life as believers does not only start and stop once a week for one 136 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:41,040 hour during a discussion, but it starts and never stops when we care about each other, 137 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:47,120 when we're accountable to each other, when we help each other to activate the gifts that are 138 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:53,840 in us so that we are able to go further in the plan of God for our lives. When we communicate 139 00:15:53,840 --> 00:16:03,120 with each other and we, when we allow, you know, the different parts of the body to come in contact 140 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:08,960 with different parts of church activities that they belong in, you know, when we communicate those 141 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:16,080 things effectively, we are really helping to strengthen the believers and the body of believers 142 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:21,840 coming together. So I think it's just so appropriate that we bring this up during a series 143 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:29,840 called Complete Unity. This month, we're really going to look at Complete Unity from the perspective 144 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:40,800 of the love of God and the love of God in us and what that love means in our walk. So obviously 145 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:47,440 we're going to talk about care, right? Care is an obvious value that we can think of when it comes 146 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:53,280 to loving one another, right? That's, that's, you can't really separate those things. You can't say, 147 00:16:53,280 --> 00:17:01,840 you know, I love someone and you don't actively take measures, take steps to show care, to do care 148 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:10,880 and to, you know, to genuinely support someone around you. But we're also going to see 149 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:18,320 accountability and activation as themes because when we are in unity, we're working together, 150 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:24,320 we're living together, we're growing together, you know, we're walking in love together. So 151 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:32,480 of course we have a level of accountability one to another and we also have a sense of wanting to 152 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:39,360 engage each other, wanting to activate each other in the way that, you know, the Lord would have us 153 00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:49,840 come into our place. So I'm going to really ask Christelle a bunch of questions now because 154 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:59,760 like we said, Christelle came up with this, with this theme and came up with this title for this 155 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:09,280 theme. And actually it's been, it hasn't been a theme that is, that is just new and she came up 156 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:14,560 with last week. It's something that's actually been on her heart for a while. I remember that 157 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:20,800 she brought this up back in, when was it? October or November? October, yes. Yeah. So Christelle, 158 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:25,600 tell us a little bit about how this came up in your heart. 159 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:33,200 Well, honestly, I was going from the hospital where my dad was, because he went into the hospital, 160 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:40,800 and I was going on my way home and I felt like the Lord is telling me to write something. And 161 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:45,440 then I went to a coffee shop and I sat down there and I asked the Lord, what do you want me to write 162 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:52,720 about? And I didn't wait for him to answer. That's the funny part. I thought that he wanted me to 163 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:58,880 write about what I experienced during these days when my dad was at the hospital, because I had 164 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:05,840 the joy of the Lord all of these days. And then he stopped me and he asked me to open 1 Corinthians 165 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:17,840 and I opened Corinthians 1 and then he showed me this amazing verse that is verse 10, where 166 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:25,040 he said, I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you 167 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:32,480 agree with one another in what you say and that there be no division among you, but that you be 168 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:42,080 perfectly united in mind and thoughts. And that's where I stopped. And the Lord automatically 169 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:48,160 reminded me that this is going to be a message that you have to write to the church. 170 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:56,560 And whenever I saw this word division among you, I searched like Paul was writing to a church. He 171 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:01,760 wasn't writing to someone else. He wasn't writing to a different community, but to the church. 172 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:09,040 And that's where I felt like I think this is going to be a great message, especially that whenever I 173 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:15,600 was writing that message, I remembered the Turkish light that Pastor Matt Beamer always talks about 174 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:23,200 and that every small part of it is great and it completes each other. They all complete each other. 175 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:29,520 They all make great light, a great design. There's small parts, there's big parts, and all of them 176 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:36,160 create this beautiful, beautiful design. So it doesn't matter if you're helping, you're serving, 177 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:40,720 you're preaching, you're worshiping, but you're doing something to complete that whole image. 178 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:47,520 That's excellent. That's so good. So I just want to, I've seen that picture of the Turkish light and 179 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:57,120 if you haven't seen it, you can Google it. But it's these small glass structures and it's like a 180 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:04,080 mosaic of glass. The light source is inside and it shines through these multifaceted different colors. 181 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:11,920 It's gorgeous. Yeah, it's beautiful. So it kind of looks like the, you know, if you walk into an 182 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:17,440 old stone church building, you see like the stained glass images or it's just like little 183 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:24,560 different colors of glass and the sunlight comes through and you see greens and reds and blues. 184 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:30,800 But it's beautiful and I like the way you're pulling that truth out because we are called 185 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:38,240 together. That's a fundamental revelation that Go Church is built on, that we're called together. 186 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:45,040 This isn't, as you know, Gilbert, you were saying that your favorite words are, 187 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:50,080 it's your place to love Grow Go. It's not someone else's. It's not a place to attend. 188 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:56,800 It's not an event that is held. It's something that we are called to be part of. And Christelle, 189 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:02,320 what I love about this and what I love about this message is if we're called to be together, 190 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:10,480 one of the facets of that calling is to ensure that there's no division among us. 191 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:22,400 It's everyone's responsibility. And the simple way to do that is when I see that I start getting 192 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:31,040 divided in myself from someone, I put a stop to it. Can you tell us more about what you mean? 193 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:39,760 I think that we'll dig into that as we go through our study. But let me say this, 194 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:50,880 the responsibility for ensuring unity is not anyone else's. It's mine. And if we all take 195 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:59,360 that position, that's how we can execute that command that we see in scripture. And that's 196 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:09,040 really the point that I want to bring out. Unity is a commandment. And I'm not sure if Christelle 197 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:13,840 or Gilbert wrote that in the notes, unity is a commandment. When I read it, I heard this on the 198 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:22,800 inside, unity is a commitment. So it's great that there is a command because we know that the 199 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:32,000 commands of the Lord come all automatically equipped with the ability to do. But then I 200 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:41,520 have to make a commitment to apply it. And so being called together, and again, coming back to 201 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:47,440 Pastor Ratbeamer's example, he actually said that by tongues and interpretation originally, 202 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:58,000 that came out by inspired utterance. And if you've not seen one of these lights, it's a great picture. 203 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:06,560 But in order for that light to work, all these different pieces cannot work against one another, 204 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:17,120 they work together for one purpose. So unity is a command from the Lord. And it requires a commitment 205 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:28,720 from me to do. That's really good. Christelle, so when you received this word, because you felt 206 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:35,200 like in your heart, I want to write this down. And you saw that verse, which is amazing. So 207 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:42,800 1 Corinthians chapter one, verse 10. What did that word do for you? Like, how did that word help you? 208 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:51,120 So since that point, until now, what changes have you seen in your heart? And what would you want 209 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:56,800 people who are listening, like, what is one thing you would want them to really hear out of this? 210 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:06,720 Well, while I was writing this message, one thing that is still working in me is learning 211 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:12,560 how to show the love of Jesus to others. Because while I was writing this message, 212 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:20,480 there's some things that came up in my heart that I did not write. Like, for example, I was 213 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:27,680 writing it, and the Lord told me that miracles will bring attention. But whenever you show Jesus 214 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:34,000 to the world and you show the love of Jesus to the world, that's when people will get to know Him 215 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:39,600 and will accept Him. And they will accept us because of this love. And they will see the grace 216 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:46,400 in us because of this love. And something I'm still working on is walking in love every day 217 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:52,480 with everyone around me. And as Pastor Matt said, that the division starts with yourself. 218 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:59,760 Because whenever you think about it, and division starts because of deception in a place, and 219 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:07,600 deception comes from, it doesn't come from God, but from Satan. And whenever you start feeling 220 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:13,520 that way, something that you can do is that you can take time to pray and to ask the Lord to fill 221 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:22,480 you with His love towards those people, and you can pray for them too. And I guess that's one of 222 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:29,280 the things that I'm still working on that is creating a huge, humongous difference in my life 223 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,640 towards my friend, and especially towards my family. 224 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:38,800 Yeah, that's really good. So you know, we talk about the word unity, unity, unity. And like, 225 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:44,160 when the title came up, and I was looking through notes and trying to build up the notes and stuff, 226 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:50,080 I actually went and looked at the definition of unity. So here's something that people who 227 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:55,920 are good at math would appreciate, because this is actually a math term, you know. And the term, 228 00:26:55,920 --> 00:27:04,080 it really means being as a whole. So it's something that is whole, but also something that is 229 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:11,200 in oneness and something singular. So not multiple, but singular. So unity literally means 230 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:18,160 oneness or singular. And you know, we always, well, you have been contrasting these two words, 231 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:23,760 which is unity division, unity division. So we know that division is also a math word, you know. 232 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:31,440 And that means taking something that is one and whole, and then making it into a matrix. 233 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:39,360 So the, literally the opposite of unity is something that is taken, which is meant to be one, 234 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:49,920 and then removed and made a part, which is incomplete. I think that that is such an 235 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:56,800 important picture to look at. Because when we are talking about complete unity, we are talking 236 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:04,560 about complete unity. It's not like, oh, now we are coming together as many different parts, 237 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:12,000 trying to make it work. There was an initial design for us to all be together as one. And 238 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:15,360 until we are unified, we are actually not in our place. 239 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:24,480 That is exceptional. It's so important for us to learn this. And it's important for us to learn 240 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:35,120 this. And it's important for us to see. Because what happens when the temptation to divide comes 241 00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:43,200 in? There is this emotional driver, right? I am right, you are wrong. I am going to pull away, 242 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:50,800 because I don't like this tension, I don't like this connection point. And what you just said is 243 00:28:50,800 --> 00:29:01,120 so powerful. When we divide, we take from what is whole and singular, and we remove pieces into 244 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:12,960 a place of incompletion. To put that in maybe a less existential way, my answer is in you. 245 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:23,680 If I am looking for, Lord, I need help, I need a solution, I need direction. He says, okay, 246 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:33,200 Matt, all of those things are going to come from me to you through the relationships I have called 247 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:38,640 you into. And that is the story of the New Testament. 248 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:47,600 That is so good. I want to read this passage of Scripture, going back to talking about unity as 249 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:52,240 a commandment. Unity as a commandment, unity as a commitment. I really like that. 250 00:29:53,840 --> 00:30:01,360 Let's look at Mark chapter 12, starting in verse 28. 251 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:09,600 So this is an exchange between a teacher of the law or a scribe and Jesus. Verse 28 says this, 252 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:15,600 one of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating, noticing that Jesus had given them 253 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:21,520 a good answer. He asked him, of all the commandments, which is the most important? 254 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:30,080 Verse 29, Jesus answers, the most important one, answered Jesus, is this, here, O Israel, the Lord, 255 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:38,480 our God, the Lord is one. I like that. Unity, one, you know? Verse 30, love the Lord your God 256 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:44,160 with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 257 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:51,280 Verse 31, the second is this. I like that. And then in the New King James, it says, and the second 258 00:30:51,840 --> 00:31:01,280 like it is this. So on the same line, in the same vein, with the same importance, it is this, 259 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:06,800 you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other God than Jesus. 260 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:14,080 With the same importance, it is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other 261 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:21,200 commandment greater than these. I like how there are two commandments yet they are unified. 262 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:26,560 They are in unity. This commandment is one commandment, but it contains different parts. 263 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:37,120 And right here in verse 30, it is talking about our love for God and our unity with God. So we are 264 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:45,920 to unify all our being. So our heart, our soul, our mind, our strength, we are to unify those 265 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:53,360 those parts of who we are with God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, 266 00:31:53,360 --> 00:32:03,440 all your mind, and all your strength. And the second part is love for others. And love for others 267 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:13,760 brings the unity that God designed in us to the world. So it is not only our love manifesting 268 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:22,800 towards God, but the second commandment like it, as important as it, is the love of God working in us 269 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:31,840 towards others. So we see that there is a plan of God and His commandment that we be in perfect 270 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:38,560 or complete unity with Him, but we also be in complete unity with others around us. 271 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:47,280 Yeah, and that what you're saying, those two commandments are one, that we see prayed out 272 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:54,160 in Ephesians, in the Ephesians chapter 3 prayer, where Paul prays for the church. He said, 273 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:59,920 For this cause I bow my knee unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family 274 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:09,440 in heaven and earth is named one. One. And he says, I want you to experience, which is where 275 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:17,840 we get the value for love, love grow go for Go Church, I want you to experience the un, the unsurpassed, 276 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:25,840 or the surpassing, the unknowable love of Christ. But then he says, you're going to do that together 277 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:36,400 with all of the church. So loving God and experience the love of God is not separate from 278 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:43,360 loving people. And that's the revelation that John carried. Yeah, like into his 90s. He said, 279 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:52,800 you can't love God who you have not seen. Yep. And not love people who you do see. 280 00:33:54,960 --> 00:34:01,360 One is not separate from the other. This is, this is going to be a great study, and it's going to 281 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:08,000 help us grow. And Christelle, you said something that the Lord shared with you, I think is very 282 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:19,280 powerful. And it is John 13 35. And that is through this expression of the complete unity 283 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:26,720 that we find in Christ is how the whole world will know that we're his disciples. 284 00:34:26,720 --> 00:34:37,200 Yeah. So let's actually read our key scripture for the month. And just like we see in John 13, 285 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:44,400 34 and 35, like Pastor Matt was just talking about. Similarly, this is Jesus praying to his 286 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:52,800 father and talking about the next step for all those who believe in him. I love John 17. Yeah, 287 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:59,440 it is so good. If you've ever wanted to just like, I mean, if you get to pray with someone, 288 00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:09,440 you can really get to know them. And to read John 17 is to like sit in the room with Jesus 289 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:16,960 while he's praying just before he goes to the cross. I love John 17, the whole, the whole chap. 290 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:26,960 Don't let me read it because I'll... But verse 23 is so, there's so much, it's so rich. 291 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,560 But I don't want to start in verse 23, I want to start in verse 20. 292 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,000 I want to start in verse one. 293 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:40,400 John chapter one, I'm joking, I'm joking. So in the beginning, John chapter 17 verse 20, 294 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:46,160 I do not pray for these alone. So this is Jesus praying. You know, he prayed to his father about 295 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:52,320 himself, and then he goes on to pray to his father about the disciples that he had in the world with 296 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:58,560 him. And then he goes on to say this, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will 297 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:03,520 believe in me through their words. So that is, that is Pastor Matt, that is Christel, that is me, 298 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:09,440 that is you. That's Jesus praying for me. That's Jesus praying for me. 299 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:17,680 That's Jesus praying for me and for you. That they may, that they all may be one as you, Father, 300 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:24,560 are in me and I in you. That they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. 301 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:32,960 Verse 22, in the glory which you gave me, I have given them that they may be one just as we are one. 302 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:41,520 Verse 23, I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know 303 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:48,960 that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. Glory to God. So where do we start? 304 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:54,400 I mean, all through, all through that, you hear it again and again, Jesus is saying that they may be 305 00:36:54,400 --> 00:37:04,720 one, one, one, that who may be? The many. How many? All those who believe. What would happen? 306 00:37:04,720 --> 00:37:15,360 That they be one. How can that be? Through glory and love, which are from him. Hallelujah. 307 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:28,080 Hallelujah. The many, through faith, experience the unconditional love of God and become one. 308 00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:36,720 And then we as the church have a commandment to carry that forward. And when the temptation 309 00:37:36,720 --> 00:37:43,840 to divide comes up, we just say, no, I've made a commitment. And the commitment is based on the 310 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:52,160 fact that the father loves me just as he loves Jesus. And if he did that for me, I will do that 311 00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:59,040 for you. That's right. This is going to be a great, great study. Oh, it's going to be awesome. And 312 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:04,720 based on that, so based on what we just read in Mark chapter 12 verses 28 through to 30, 313 00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:10,240 and what we just read here in John chapter 17, we're going to break this down over the month in 314 00:38:10,240 --> 00:38:15,120 these key points. So each week, so we have three weeks of girl groups this month. Each week, 315 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:20,320 we're going to talk about this. So the first week, we're going to talk about our unity with 316 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:25,600 God the father. And in week two, we're going to talk about, or we're going to emphasize, 317 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:31,920 we're going to focus on our unity with one another, what it looks like, you know, what it's 318 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:38,160 supposed to look like and how we can grow in that. And week three, it just keeps getting better and 319 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:42,880 better and better because we're building this picture up of complete unity because, you know, 320 00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:49,680 this is a high thought, but I cut myself off, but this is the high thought, but that my unity is 321 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:54,960 not complete unity. If it's just unity with the father, that's right. One another. That's right. 322 00:38:54,960 --> 00:39:01,280 Like it's only it's so that is unity. That's why I really love this title. That is unity, 323 00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:09,360 but complete unity is when I have oneness with the father and oneness with one another, 324 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:16,960 with brothers and sisters. So in incomplete unity, we're going to, we're going to talk in week three 325 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:23,920 about how complete unity brings results. I love that. And so we're looking forward to, 326 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:28,720 we got to get through week one and two first, and it's going to be fun. It's going to be a lot of 327 00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:38,160 fun, but I do, I do want you, I do want you to think through this, that, that we want to apply 328 00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:47,120 how we handle ourselves and grow groups and how we, how we model grow groups, how we grow in grow 329 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:55,280 groups and how we walk through our values in this series. Like I want us to really look at that 330 00:39:55,280 --> 00:40:06,800 from this perspective. So we see that there is care in love, you know, care in the fact that we 331 00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:14,240 love God and then we love one another because that is a commandment, but then unity also leads us to, 332 00:40:14,240 --> 00:40:20,320 to more than that, unity leads us to activating one another and being accountable to one another 333 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:26,080 and being accountable to one another and wanting to communicate with one another. So I really invite 334 00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:33,520 you to think through the values of grow groups in this series. Yeah, that's good. Christelle, 335 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:41,200 I'm glad that you, you shared this message with us and you know, this wasn't something that happened 336 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:46,000 in a day and a half. You know, we spent some time working together on this, but I know this is going 337 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:51,840 to be a great study and I'm looking forward to it. And I'm really glad that you joined us today 338 00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:57,440 on the podcast. And if you've made it this far in your day and haven't heard it yet, 339 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:00,880 I want you to know that we love you and we're praying for you. Bless you. 340 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:06,800 Thank you for listening to this message. We want everyone to experience the unconditional love of 341 00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:12,000 God, growing His love and go with His love to the rest of their world. We invite you to connect with 342 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:17,520 us at one of our groups for our next gathering. And if no one told you yet today, we love you 343 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:45,360 and believe God's very best for you.