Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]: Hey, last week, though, we started our series that we call Better Together. And it's really just talking about the power of community. And last week, what we. I just titled, the message was who's got your back? And I think that's an important question that we ought to know that, you know, who has my back? You know, nobody wants to walk into something, you know, that requires faith, that requires courage, and then the next thing you know, that you look behind you, there's nobody there. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:25]: Right, right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:26]: And so the thing is that we understand that we grow stronger together as friends and how we need to navigate different spaces. We talked about. Because you can't, you know, often in a. Even in a size of a. Like a smaller service like Saturday night that, you know, to be honest, you don't. You know, you might not be close personal friends with everybody, but that you can find friends often in a smaller group. Like Jesus had the 12 like that he had among the four, right? And so the thing is the three of that, the three disciples, so there's four of them. And so we're seeing these things happen in smaller gatherings, in smaller communities. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:04]: So you'll find friends or friendly people in many different kinds of spaces. And at the same time that we understand that our larger community, the country that we live in, is struggling in some ways without a sense of community, a sense of shared unity. I think it's pretty evident that we're living in some charged times, and people seem to have an opinion about everything at times, and whether it's about how people eat and how people dress and what they say and what they shouldn't say and what they do and shouldn't do. And it's easy for people to devolve in some ways when you find somebody on the other end of the spectrum, other end of the argument, where sometimes, you know, the last thing that starts to happen is we start to name call, we start to label. We say, you know, these guys are idiots at best, or maybe sometimes worse, like evil, Right. And so these kind of moral and societal breakdowns or the challenges that we sense, right. Maybe. Maybe highlighted with just last week's assassination of Charlie Kirk, Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:15]: And whether you knew him in the sense of you followed the things that he said. And I cannot say that I felt followed all these things. I would see it occasionally. I would go, man, that was a great one that I saw on YouTube and different kinds of things that I would see that I think that we would understand that we ought not to celebrate the death of somebody who tried to make dialogue Right. It seems insane to me, but. So we're still contending for the faith, right? We're still reaching out to people far from God and we're still making disciples and we're still trying to intercede for our country. But we understand that this kind of a message that we want to talk about being better together, we need to talk about it in such a way first that they're not going to attempt it first or at one season to change the whole culture of our nation. To be honest, that's a little bit beyond, I think, what our call is, though. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:16]: We address different issues and we want to reach people. But part of it, I believe that it starts with what happens in the family of God. It starts about whether we can do the things that Jesus said that all people will know that you're my disciples by your love for one another. And so we're going to read this evening, just as a lead off verse, about this aspect of maintaining the unity of the faith. Maintaining the unity of the faith by maintaining the unity of the Spirit. Last week, a lot of you guys know, we had a conference, it was just called the Hawaii Leadership conference and had 110 churches represented and people from across the spectrum of the Christian faith. And this wasn't about one church, it was about the church. Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:09]: It was about the big C church. And it was an exciting time to be together. And some of it, it's like a reunion. And some of them, some of it, I'm getting to meet some people maybe for the first time. And it wasn't a New Hope conference, it wasn't a Pearlside conference, it wasn't an Inspire conference. It was a Christian Leadership Conference. And in that kind of a time, I think there's a power that's released. But how do we maintain the unity of the Spirit? Let's read though together the call for that. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:41]: It's found in Ephesians 4, verses 2 and 3. Would you be kind enough to stand and let's read together? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:47]: Ready? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:48]: Let's read out loud. I just noticed it says 2 and 3, but it only has verse 3. So let's read from the beginning. Ready? Begin. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. When we see words that make every effort, I think we understand it's an urgency, there's a sense of importance, there's a sense of the fact that it's not automatic. There's a sense that at times it takes energy, it takes work. And you know, the thing in anything in your life that's worth doing. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:21]: It takes energy, doesn't it? It takes effort, it takes focus. We have to understand its importance. And so when it says, make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, I think it's saying it's all those things. It's important, it's urgent, it takes energy. And so it takes. It's worthwhile for you and I to. To take that kind of energy. So before you see it, just turn to your neighbor and say, hey, let's contend for the unity of the Spirit. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:55]: How do we do that? And I think one of those things is deciding that I don't want to be part of the problem, I want to be part of a solution, and that we need to do things differently than sometimes what we see being played out in the world. And, you know, it's really easy for somebody to do something to you. And. And then we want to retaliate in the same way, right? I mean, it's like it happens on the street, right? It's like if somebody bumps you and if they say sorry. Sorry. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:19]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:19]: Like they kind of give you. That's the local thing, right? Hey, somebody bumps you, you know, generally like people quick to say sorry. Why is that? Because you don't want it to be like, what, brother? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:29]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:29]: You don't want it to devolve somehow into that. And so often we're quick to do that. But the thing is that, you know, we ought to be able, in the family of God, to be able to model this aspect of maintaining the unity of the Spirit and not simply emulating the ways of the world. Because if it doesn't work on the inside, to be honest, it doesn't work. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:55]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:56]: And so especially when people have differing voices or opinions than we do. But I think we ought not to be afraid, you know, to get into some discussions. And this isn't what this message is about, but we ought not to be nervous about engaging people who are far from God, who think very different than us and don't be embarrassed or don't be afraid to do that. But we'll talk about that in. In some other message series. But this is a. It's an indispensable life for lesson for us in how to walk together by maintaining the unity of the Spirit. And I don't know if you've noticed this, but when we take a look at Jesus, he had a tremendous capacity to bring people together who are often on the opposite sides of the extreme right and on the opposite side of an issue or People who were very different. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:54]: And it says In Mark, chapter 3, verses 14 and 16, 19, he says, and he appointed the 12, let's say he appointed the 12, right? So Jesus himself chose them. He handpicks them. And these also who are disciples, later he will also name as apostles, and so they might be with him. He appointed the 12, Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter, James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boagernes, and that is the sons of Thunder, Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. You know, how was Jesus able to take people from sometimes a different kind of economic background, different social background, different age background, different political backgrounds, different, you know, kind of a ages and life stages, kind of a background. And we see him not only bringing them together, but keeping them together. I don't think it was natural in some ways. I think it was supernatural. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:10]: And sometimes the supernatural also it happens in a very natural way. And we'll take a look at what that means. But what he did was he was able to do that because he was in the center the discussion. I think that we see certain people that they may not naturally have clicked together. Peter was arguably the oldest disciple among them. He's married, we understand that. Right. So he's in a different stage of life than the guys who are single, to be honest, the rest of the disciples, we have no record of them either being married or having a house and, and all of these things. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:50]: But Peter had both. He's married, he has a house. And so the suggestion is that he's probably at least in his 20s to probably 30s. We see another guy in the disciple circle, John, who's probably the youngest, that probably most commentators say anywhere between 15 and 18. And you know, that's a very different kind of the age bracket, right? Young family, young married, you know, kind of in the, in the business. And Peter was a fisherman. He was a blue collar guy. And to be honest, most everybody was blue collar guys back then. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:23]: But he took people from different walks of life and brought them together. And sometimes Jesus brought opposites together that you might have noticed in that passage that we looked at. Two names were bolded and those were the names. Matthew and Simon the Zealot. Now, Simon the Zealot, his last name, his middle name isn't the, and the last name isn't Zealot. But, but the thing is, it's a description of what he was on a kind of a political level. Matthew, you probably are aware that he was the guy who wrote the New Testament Gospel, right? But before he wrote the New Testament gospel called the Book of Matthew, talking about Jesus, often from a very Jewish perspective, often talking about it on a sense of discipleship that needs to happen. But Matthew was a guy who actually worked for the government. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:13]: He was a government contractor. He made his living working for the government. He made a very good living. He made a very successful living. He was very rich. But the thing is, he was also very corrupt. And so we see this guy, he was a known partier. Everybody knew this guy was like party central. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:32]: His house was party central. But the other guy, Simon the Zealot, came from the total opposite end of the spectrum. He was a devoted Jew. He was loyal, he said, to God alone. And as a result, they hated the Romans. They hated the Roman occupations, in fact, that they not only hated the Romans, they hated anybody who collaborated with the Romans, Right. And that they were disgusting traitors to them. And they were just as much of a problem to them as the Romans. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:07]: They were in rebellion, sometimes with guerrilla warfare, assassination. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:13]: Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:14]: Their subgroup was called the Sicari. Like sometimes some of us in a movie, Sicario, right? Like this is the original wasn't from Mexico. This original was from. From Israel. And so the Sicari were known for their dagger attacks. And so if they were to have met on the street and they were to have bumped shoulders, I'm not sure they would be the. Sorry, sorry, sorry. But you know that thankfully they didn't meet on the street. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:41]: Where did they meet? They met through Jesus. And as a result, something changed, not simply in their dynamic, but something changed within them as individuals. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:56]: Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:58]: We find that Simon not only lays aside his penchant for violence or his kind of a political thoughts in that way, but he becomes a person who's not that God doesn't erase his. You, he just redirects it. You know, so often we have passions and we have desires and we have strengths, but God can use those strengths when they're redirected. You know, sometimes people, I know some people have kind of been a little surprised when I. I've said this, but, you know, I think God uses former drug dealers a lot. And why do I say that? Because I. The people that I've known, that they're enterprising people. They're people who think in terms of trying to advance something even in the past, it was for all the wrong reasons. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:51]: And yet Others that I have seen, once they come to Christ and, and they get turned around, become people who are so passionate that. To advance the gospel, right? And, you know, and Pastor Ricky, my good friend, with us as well. And so I've seen it take place, right? I've seen it take place. And not just him, I've seen a bunch of others. But we see Matthew turn his life and becomes a missionary, right? Becomes not just a gospel writer in the same way. And Simon doesn't just become a disciple and apostle, but he travels. He becomes a missionary, goes over Persia and North Africa. Matthew, a very similar kind of transformation. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:33]: Instead of being the wild man, he becomes humble, disciplined, and a guy who practices disciplines like fasting and simplicity, right? And so as they change, their relationships change, right? How do they change? How did they change? You see, the thing is that it wasn't just the fact that they came to know Jesus, but they kept Jesus in the center. You know, so often it's not just being exposed to Jesus, it's keeping Jesus in the center of life. I think there's only two ways to really have a relationship with God. One of those is to say, I'm going to take a little bit of Jesus and I'm going to bring that into my life and it'll give me peace, it'll give me a sense of security, and sometimes it might give me a little bit of a connection and I'll just kind of keep him in that little place on a time when I talk to a Christian friend or when I read the Bible or sometime I connect with some people of faith, right? And so in that sense, you know, what we say is that Jesus, would you be in the orbit of my life? The center of my life is me, right? And I just want a little bit of Jesus because he keeps me in line. He keeps me, you know, he helps me to stay centered, right? But really, who's in the center is still me. You know, the other way of doing it is that when Jesus is in the center, right? And that we revolve around him. You know, if you look at our solar system, the sun is in the center and every other planet revolves around the sun, right? And the other way is to say when the Son of God is in the center and all that I am and all that I have revolves around him. I don't ask the Son to revolve around me, right? And so I think what they experienced was not just coming to know Jesus, but keeping Jesus in the center. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:47]: Because what they experience we find in Ephesians chapter 2. And that God wants everybody to experience. It's not like printed in your notes just because of. It's a little longer passage. It'll be up on the screen. You have your Bible taken out. You can read it from there. Ephesians 2, verses 1 to 10. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:04]: And it starts by saying this. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world. What is it saying? We were all, to be honest, in the world at some point, right? We were all in the world at some point, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now at work in the sons of disobedience, and speaking about the fact that we were in bondage to the enemy that he had, he had free reign in our lives, right? We might not have all looked as crazy as we could be, but we were all tainted and deceived in some way among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. In other words, we did what we wanted, we followed our own way, and we were by nature then children of wrath like the rest of mankind. And you know, painting a picture, that's saying that to be honest, that none of us were like super holy and perfect and good and loved God and did everything right. I know I wasn't right. And so I'll leave the rest to you for yourself. What evaluation you find when you look back at your life. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:15]: But then in verse 4 it says this. Let's read what it says. Just that first two words. What did it say? But God? Aren't you glad that there's a but God statement in this thing? He doesn't just say these things and just say, hey my sucks to be you, right? And I'm so glad that God doesn't end it like that. But he says but God. But God what? He is rich in mercy because of the great love which he loved us even. Even when we were dead in our trespasses. When you look at your life, there's not only but God, but there's this. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:49]: Even. Even when you were lost, even when you were stuck in the world, even when you, you didn't, you know, you were going up and down. Even in those moments. What's an even moment for you? What's a but God moment for you? Maybe this is your season that you're going through. And then you know what, to be honest, we need to say, hey, but God in my life. Even though all of these things, even my past God is still rich in mercy. And then he says this. And when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ by grace. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:26]: Let's say grace, you have been saved. Now, what does grace mean? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:31]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:32]: It's obviously not the prayer that we say before we eat, right? That's not what we're talking about. But it's the undeserved gift, right? The undeserved gift. And we talked about it before, but. But he's saying, although I didn't deserve it, Jesus reached down into my life and did something. What did he do? That's what it says. Verse 6. And he raised us up with him, and seated with us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace, kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. And then let's read that last two verses together. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:15]: Ready? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:16]: Let's read. For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It's the gift of God, not a result of works. So no one should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in that. And so their. But God moment, their. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:40]: Even if moments resulted in a change, right? The mercy of God being poured out, that they're called out of where they were, what they were, who they were, to be made new, right? And so now when they see each other, that Matthew and Simon, I think, left to their own devices, yeah, it wouldn't have been a good. It wouldn't have been a good mix. But with Jesus, when Jesus in the center, you know, I think what we find is that sometimes old rivalries fade away, old perceptions get changed, right? I don't know about you guys, but have you guys ever noticed that when you were younger that you saw people differently, right? I don't know where you grew up. Everybody grew up. But like, if your hometown, like, for me, my hometown is Wahiawa, right? It's not that far. Central Oahu, right? And you know, the thing is, the very next town is like literally five minutes. It's called Mililani, right? Now when there's a football game five minutes between our towns, we hated the people from Mililani, right? And why is that? We just saw them different, right? That was our rival. It's crazy. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:16]: Like, a lot of my friends are from Mililani. My friends today, still, they live in Mililani. It's like. And you know what? I live in Kapolei. I Still hate them. No, I'm just kidding. I'm joking. I don't. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:26]: But the thing is that we understand that sometimes we grow up and this is what it's saying, that when we grow up in Christ Jesus, you know, the things that we saw, the things that we held, the way that we thought, you know, it's supposed to start to fade. You know, the Apostle Paul said this, that when I was a child, I thought like a child, I acted like a child, right? But when I grew up and when I became a man, I put away childish things. Keeping Jesus in the center allows us that as we walk, that as we make this journey with him, we get to lay aside some of the things that when we look back, we go like, I can't believe I thought that way. I can't believe I did those things, right? But we don't do it with a sense of overwhelming guilt. We do it with rejoicing, right? Because even the grace, even if right, that's the God that we serve, rich in mercy. When Jesus is in the center, there is a tremendous capacity to see that person that you once were at odds with, to see them as your closest friend, to see them as your closest brother, right? And so it's. But it takes effort. It takes work. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:46]: Everything in life that matters takes work, relationships, health, spiritual strength, doing good in the world, right? It takes effort. It's not automatic, the work of God, right? That it takes effort. And so let's arrange our views and our life revolving around Jesus rather than trying to ask Jesus to revolve around it. Because that, to be honest, no matter how much the earth wants the sun to revolve around it, it's not happening, right? And so I love what Mark Batterson said. Mark Batterson, if you don't know, he's a pastor in Washington, D.C. and a town that is known to be very political, right? Obviously. And he says this, you know, when your theology is built on your political ideology, what you get is idolatry, right? Because it's not that my politics or not that my. The way I was raised or not just the way that I thought or the way of the street or the way of business or whatever it is that that shapes my theology. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:58]: My theology is supposed to shape that, right? When I do it the opposite way, I just end up enshrining some way that I, you know, I once thought I enshrined a way of the world and I just put the life's little stamp or veneer of godliness on it because it's supposed to be built on God, supposed to be built on his word, on the finished work of Christ. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:22]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:22]: That we're supposed to be filled with the Spirit. We're supposed to not have the Spirit of the world direct us, but the Spirit of the living God direct us. Amen. And so that's what Simon the Zealot and Matthew experienced. And to be honest, that's what every believer should experience, right? That they were changed when they met Jesus, as they began to follow Him. I love what it says in Ephesians 2, 14, 16. It says this. He says, for he himself is our peace. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:57]: Let's say that he himself is our peace, Right? What does that mean? He's the source of peace with God. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:05]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:05]: He's the source of. Because we have peace with God, we can have peace in our soul. He has made both one and broken down the wall, broken down in his flesh. The dividing wall of hostility, what is it saying? It's making reference to that. In the Old Testament, there was a difference between ethnic backgrounds, that the people of God, that they were called to be separate. The Jews were called to be different than the rest of the world. It was God's way of saying, you know, I'm going to start with one group. Why? Because that's the way it works in the world, right? You don't start when you walk. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:40]: You don't start at step 100. You start with step one. You need to take one step. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:46]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:46]: So he starts with one nation. It's called Israel. And they were supposed to be different. And so they weren't allowed to intermarry, Right. They were not supposed to adopt the ways of the world, all these kinds of things. And so they called them. The difference was between Jews and Gentiles. What is that saying Jews and everybody else, Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:06]: I would have been considered a Gentile. And so the thing is, what does he say? There was a wall that was dividing people. But what he did was he abolished the law of commandments expressed in the ordinances that he might create himself one new man in place of the two. So making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. What is he saying? There's no difference, no difference between Jew and Gentile. No difference between local and non. Local. No difference between male and female. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:48]: And when we say this, does it mean that I'm not male? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:51]: No. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:52]: I'm still a man. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:53]: Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:54]: It's not like erasing Simon's zealotry. It's redirecting, right. It's saying. It's not saying that there's no distinct differences between us. It's just saying this. We're not separate, right? There's unity in this thing. So here's the thing. When it comes to maintaining the unity of the Spirit, don't rebuild the wall that Jesus broke with his sacrifice, right? Don't rebuild it by just saying, you know, kind of like a man. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:30]: I look at this guy, he's always suspicious, right? I'm looking at this person out of my insecurity, out of my distrust, out of my competition, right? We don't rebuild the wall. That's how we maintain. Let Jesus, the thing that he has destroyed, let's live that out. Make sense? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:52]: Yes, it does. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:54]: Thank you, brother. Sometimes you just need that, right? Little low energy tonight. So here's the thing that we start with and we continue on. I think when we look at this thing that it's not that the disciples never had problems, right? They. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:09]: They. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:09]: They were fighting among one another. They who's the best? Who's the. Who's the most powerful, right? Who's. Who's the right hand? They, they. They pulled power plays. They did all of those things. But you know what? They still were one. And Jesus still stepped in and corrected and brought when he was in the center. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:27]: It's not that. The problem isn't that you. You shouldn't ever have things where always peace and harmony and. And nothing ever happens. That's just not reality, right? So do me a favor, take a look at your neighbor, right? They're a sinner just like you, right? And we don't exactly think alike. We don't have all the same backgrounds, but what. Do me a favor. Turn your neighbor. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:54]: We can have unity. Turn to your neighbor and say, we can have unity. So unity is not uniformity, right? And it says unity of spirit. It's not saying uniformity of whatever, right? We all got to dress the same. We all got to talk the same. We all got to look the same. We all got. No, it's not saying that, right? Some churches you go, it's like everybody looks exactly the same, right? It's like, oh, my gosh. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:18]: It's like, I think that we're supposed to be able to. I understand that sometimes there's a power that comes that like attracts like. But I think a sign of a healthy church is that when we. We can be who we are, right? And we don't have to look alike. That we. We don't have to all be the same ethnic background. We don't have to be all the same kind of a economic situation or educational background level. And so we, we can love one another just for who we are, right? And so when it. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:52]: This comes to this, I think, though, we'll still be in situations where we'll have discussions and you might talk about something and you're going to look at the world and we're going to see something a little different because we're all in process. And it's. And I think here's one thing, it's okay to be in process. Do me a favor, turn to your neighbor, says it's okay to be in process, right? I'm still growing, right? I'm still changing. God's still building me. He's still refining me, right? He's still washing me, cleansing me. And I'm still. I need that and you do as well. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:22]: And so what we need to be mindful of is when we get together and when we take viewpoints or when we take a stand even on the word of God, how many of us know that you can have a lot of different ways that people will land on this thing or in certain kind of situations. And if you don't understand that, then maybe one of the things is that why do we have so many different denominations, right? Why do we have so many different. And, and it's not because, to be honest, I'm not saying it to say like it's wrong to have a, you know, different denominations. What I'm saying is it's easy for people to land someplace in a different. In a different decision, right? And so what is the result of that? Are all my friends in the faith, are all of them supposed to be like New Hope Churches and New Hope pastors? That would be ridiculous, right? And I think the thing is that if somebody is a follower of Jesus, that's my brother or my sister, right? It doesn't matter that sometimes if they have a different view depending on what it is. And I think this is where we differentiate because we need to differentiate between what is central, what is peripheral, right? We need to make a difference between what is major and what is minor. And this is what Paul talks about, I'm sorry, Jude talks about in the book of Jude, he says this. Beloved, although I was eager to write to you about our common salvation, let's say common salvation. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:03]: In other words, we hold this in common, right? We have a common idea, a common belief, a common experience. And what is that? That we were lost and we were found now, right? That we came to know that Jesus, who died in our place and rose from the grave and that forgave us for. Forgave us all of our sin. And I've now he says, I find it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once and all delivered for the saints. So he's saying certain things everybody needs to basically contend for. What is that one way to God and that way is Jesus. And then he says this in second Timothy, right? And it's a different book writing to a different guy, right? A young pastor, young leader. But he says this don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments because, you know, they produce quarrels. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:59]: In other words, let's not just get caught up in like, meaningless arguments. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. In other words, something about us is that we have to be able to have an intelligent discussion. We ought to be able to have a respect for people and not just be trying to be right, but sometimes do right, Right? How many of you guys get in an argument because, to be honest, you just want to be right at times? Okay? Everybody married. You don't have to raise your hand. But like, we understand, right? So sometimes we get, we get into it. My wife and I is like, it's. Sometimes it's just because we want to be right, you know, and, and to be honest, I've learned a long time ago that the best thing is just to do right, not to, not to always have to be the one who's right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:51]: But he's saying these in, in this aspect of think that what has often been attributed to Martin Luther is the saying that says this. In the essentials, we ought to have unity. Let's say in the essentials we have unity, okay? In the non essentials, we have liberty. What does that mean? Hey, there's a sense of freedom, right? There's a sense of, you know, I might not see it that way, right? You know, I didn't really understand it that way. Hey, but it's okay because it's not a core, core issue in the non essentials, liberty, but in all things charity. And charity is not March of Dimes. Charity means love in action. And so in the essentials, unity, non essentials, liberty. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:46]: But in every interaction, in everything that we dialogue and we traffic in, that we ought to have love, right? We ought to have charity. What are some signs that are of the essentials historically in the faith, it talks about the nature of God, right? The Nature of Christ and the nature of Christ's sacrifice. And so what are we talking about when we, we talk about that? It's like historically it's the fact that there is one God, but he has expressed himself in three people. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:24]: Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:24]: What do we call that often? It's called the Trinity. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:27]: Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:28]: And so that we. That's been a non negotiable that in historic Christian faith, what is considered orthodox, what is considered a right understanding of scripture. Second thing is it's both the dual nature of Jesus having being fully God and yet being fully man. That it wasn't just a man who died on the cross. There are many men who died on the cross and they didn't win us salvation. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:59]: Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:00]: It wasn't just God that came, but, but God who put on human flesh. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:08]: Why? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:08]: Because we needed one who was physical to take the place of someone who is physical. But we need someone eternal so that it doesn't just one for one, but he can make the payment for all of mankind. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:22]: Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:23]: And so assuming that the dual nature of Christ and the death and the resurrection of Jesus, Jesus didn't just die on the cross, he rose from the grave. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:33]: Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:34]: And that so salvation then isn't anything that you and I earn. It's not a reward of for good things I've done, right? Could you imagine if getting to heaven was by doing good works, that when you got to heaven and you met people, it would be like the bragging, worst bragging party you ever had in your life. And a lot of them humble brag, right? You guys ever meet the humble brag guy? It's like, oh yeah, you know, I know just have this problem. I just. Perfectionist. I work so hard that everything has to be right. You know, like sometimes that is a little bit humble brag, right? Or you know, just that, oh like oh, this dinner is great. Oh no, I just threw that together. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:10]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:11]: And like, right. A little bit of that. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:12]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:13]: So it would be, it'd be horrible kind of a thing. But instead, you know, I think when we get to heaven, it's going to be like, man, what's your story? You know, what's your story? And it's going to be, man, I was out in left field. Somebody's, I'm out in the right field. It doesn't matter what field. But I'm so glad we found Jesus, right? And he found us. And so we have a salvation that's by grace. But the other thing is this, that If I don't have an authority in my life that's greater than me, then what does that say? I'm my own authority, right? That I'm the greatest authority. And the thing is that the scripture says very clearly that God is our authority, right? That he's the highest authority. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:56]: But how do we actually know about God? We know about God not just through some experience. Although you and I hope you have experiences in your life with God. I hope that you can look back and you. You can see how God had intervened in your life. But it is the word of God, right? You see, without the word of God, all I have is my feelings, right? All I have is my experiences. But can I say this? I have experiences after I became a Christian where I experienced God, then it was amazing. But I had some other experiences with spiritual things before I was saved. I wasn't so hot, right? And so the thing is that if all I had was experienced, without something for me to evaluate my experience, right? Sometimes it's not what happens to you, it's how we interpret what happens to us. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:57]: We wouldn't have a verse like Romans 8:28 that says this and that. God works all things together for the good to those who love God and are called according to his purposes. Because all we would have is, you know what we would have some sucking experiences and some good experiences. But sometimes the sucking experience in your life leads to some of the greatest good in your life, right? I don't know about you, but, you know, when I became a believer, it's not because all my life was going great, right? Some of you guys heard me say it before. I was doing different things. But when my brother came down with cancer, 21 years old, man, when you're 21, you feel like you live forever, right? And when he came down with cancer, you're like, man, I couldn't escape the fact that this thing called mortality, you know, this thing called cancer is not something I could escape. It was hard. It was hard in my family. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:59]: It was hard to see my mom and then mourn the loss of a child. It was difficult. But, you know, if it wasn't for my brother's cancer, and I'm not saying God gave him cancer, that's not what I'm saying. But if it wasn't for his cancer, I probably wouldn't have become a believer because I was just doing my own thing, right? I was just living my own best life. I was just trying to live to make myself happy, making myself more miserable in the process. But the Thing is that when it says God causes good to come out of things that sometimes are bad, right? He works all things together for the good. It was through that that not only I became a believer, my brother became a believer. And I'll be honest, my brother, the first time he heard the gospel real clearly, he was on a hospital bed. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:59]: Couldn't raise his head from the bed, paralyzed. He was 175 pounds, just like a, like 90 something pounds at that point. It was hard to watch. But when he was presented the gospel, you know what he just said? Nope. I was devastated. I was devastated. My pastor came. I was a new Christian at the time, wanting so desperately for my brother to come to Christ. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:30]: And then after that he. We walked out and I, we prayed outside. And you know, my pastor was just trying to say, hey, you know, hey, don't worry, you know, I'm just like, I know, you know, he only had, basically the doctors gave him three days to live at that time. And so I didn't like, there's not time. And my brother called my pastor back into the room and he said this. He asked him first, if I become a Christian, do I have to be like Glenn, hey, but you know what the thing is. And my pastor says, absolutely not. Nobody's going to be like him anyway. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:12]: But here's the thing. If it wasn't for that, right, if it wasn't for his cancer, he wouldn't have humbled himself. Neither would I have humbled myself. And, and you know, when, years later when we're talking with my mom, and to be honest, we had. We had tough Christmases for a few years, even after my brother passed, because that's when we found out he got cancer. And, and then later, after a few years, I remember having a conversation with my mom and she just said this. You know, Glenn, if Calvin ever came down with cancer, I don't think he would be a Christian. I said, mom, I agree. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:52]: I don't think I would. We all know Calvin would have been. I said, yeah, we all know that. He says, but you know what that means is that if you didn't become a Christian, then to be honest, I probably wouldn't have become a Christian and your dad wouldn't have become a Christian and probably wouldn't have started the church and hundreds of people would end up becoming Christians and, you know, all these things. And she's looking at that and I thinking, man, the grace of God, right? The grace of God. But how do I know that? Because he says that God says this Even if you're going through a moment in your life that sucks right now, that. Here's the thing, he can work all things together for the good. When you love him and are called according to his purpose, he's working something out. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:36]: Do me a favor, turn your. Say God's working something out in your life, right? That's essential. That's essential. What's some non essentials? You know, like, like baptism, you get baptized in the ocean or you get baptized in, in a pool, right? Or like my friend who he was a part of a church denominational family that believed that when they baptized, he says, they would baptize like this. They would say, in the name of the Father and then they would immerse the guy and then bring him up. In the name of the Son, they would immerse the guy and then they would bring him up and he said, in the name of the Holy Spirit, they would baptize him and lift them up and he says, we're called triple dippers. That's what he said, right? And I go like, oh, yeah, I've never seen that. You know, like he says, you know, this thing, he's like, what is crazy? Our denomination has split over this issue. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:31]: Whether they baptize you going forward or going backward, who gives a rip really, right? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It's that you're baptized, right? It doesn't matter about like some of this stuff. It's like you, you might have a view and there might be a right, there might be a wrong. I think so often this is what God says. I see what you did in faith, right? It's spiritual gifts. Whether you speak in tongues or you don't speak in tongues. Whether you have, you know, like not every gift is everybody has every gift. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:08]: Nobody, there's. Nobody has every gift. And you're not supposed to have every gift. I think it's. It's meant to be scattered throughout the body of Christ, right? That worship style, whether you, you sing, you know, contemporary, you sing, you know, kind of hymns, it doesn't really matter what day of the week you worship. We're Saturday night. It's not because we're. It's not because we're Seven Day Adventist. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:32]: It's just Saturday night. Why it works, right? People have stuff going on on Sunday. At times it's like, it's more practical. It's not something to argue about. But you know what? People can argue about anything. You guys agree? You can argue about anything, right? And so there's a portion in Scripture about that when we. When we find ourselves trying to hammer these things out. And I'm not saying. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:00]: I'm not saying that we shouldn't try to find God's will and God's way in things that sometimes somebody might consider major, somebody else might not consider that major. We should take that time. But he gives some instruction on that in Romans 14. It's a. It's a famous passage. But he says this. He says, who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It's before his own master that he stands or fall, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. What's it saying? He's saying this, that when you start to have a discussion with somebody about spiritual things and this other person is a Christian, whether it's in a small group, whether it's in a class, whether it's, you know, you're just talking with your friend who goes to another church or whatever it is, just understand this. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:49]: They serve Jesus, and that's who they'll be accountable to. And you and I, we serve Jesus, and that's who we'll be accountable to. So he's kind of giving you some warning, right? We're not supposed to be judgmental. The thing is not saying we ought not to make evaluations. There's a difference. You see, the Bible never calls us to be judgmental in spirit. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:10]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:10]: Don't be judgy. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:12]: Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:12]: But you got to make judgments. You got to make evaluations. Everybody does. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:18]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:19]: About everything. You got to make an evaluation. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:21]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:22]: You got to make an evaluation where you go to work. You got to make an evaluation who you're in a relationship where you got to make an evaluation about, you know, what kind of education is necessary for you and what. What you want to do in life. And so we all make evaluations and judgments about everything. But we're just not supposed to be, like, so nitpicky all the time. We're not supposed to be judgmental. We're not supposed to be always argumentative. And so he says, this one person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:51]: Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. What is it saying? You can have your own conviction about that. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:58]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:59]: You know, whether a believer. Is it permissible for a believer to have a glass of wine or not have a glass of wine, Whether you smoke a cigarette or you don't smoke a cigarette, Right? And whether you do what it's like, you know, what, hey, should we try to figure out? Sure, I think you should try to figure out. But the thing is, if somebody comes down on that issue a little different than me, I think this is what we could all do. If we look for common ground, we could all say very clearly drunkenness is not permissible. It's very clear in the Scriptures, right? Don't get drunk with wine. And it's not saying whiskey is okay, right? It's not saying. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:42]: Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:42]: But it's saying that drunkenness, this aspect, it's not saying, you know, a THC vaping thing is that. That's all cool. Because that's not like in the Bible. No, because that's drunkenness. It's intoxication. But he's saying, he's saying this, that we ought to be able to make a conviction. We ought to have our own convictions about things, that sometimes it's not black or white. The reality is there's some things in life that different people see a different way and it's okay, right? Just know this. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:20]: We'll all be accountable to God for the decision that we make. So he says, one observes the day and observes the honor of the Lord. The one who eats eats in honor to the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. In other words, what it's saying this, it's assuming that we're all doing it with a good heart, right? We're all doing it with a sense of sincerity. We're not doing it just to argue. We're not doing it just to be right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:49]: We're doing it. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:50]: We're doing it because we're trying to honor God. And sometimes people, in trying to honor God will come to little different decisions. And the way that they do something, that it's not a core essential issue. He says, then what's the result? Therefore, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of our brother. Have your own convictions on the word of God, not just your culture, not just your past, not just your personal likes or dislikes. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:22]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:22]: Remember, we're all subject to the word of God. We all have an authority, but just have the best informed decision that you can. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:31]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:32]: And so how does that work then? You know, I think one thing that probably kind of causes this thing to devolve, that when we live in echo chambers, that everybody all thinks alike, says the same thing, right? And believes the whole Thing. The hard part is sometimes when you're in an echo chamber, you don't know you're in an echo chamber. I don't know if you've ever seen this Netflix special. It's still on Netflix. It's called the Social Dilemma. If you've never seen it, write that down. Social Dilemma. And it's something that you ought to look at one day because it's. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:07]: It lays out the case that the increase in polarization in our country hasn't come from the lack of discussion of the issues. It's a lack of discussion and interaction with people who hold different viewpoints. In fact, social media, they say, has increased and accelerated the polarization in our country. Why? Because of this whole thing called algorithms, right? Don't be unaware that your social media algorithm is programmed for you. It's based on what you watch, what you listen to. That's what comes up on your feed. And you know what, your friend who lives right next to you, you know, goes to the same church, has the same job, whatever, the same station in life, his is programmed to what he watches, right? And so if you. It gives us the sense that, you know what? Of course, this is the way I think, because everybody thinks like this, right? And it's not. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:14]: It's what it feeds you. It's what it feeds you. So we need to be mindful, to be honest. We live in the world and sometimes we get some of it on us in the process. So let's not be unaware that, to be honest, if you're getting all your information on social media, YouTube, Facebook, you know, like, I mean, this is coming from a guy who's not on social media. So I said, like, I am not on social media because I just. I cannot see posting, you know, what I ate for dessert every day. You know, I mean, that's what I used to say. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:51]: I was like, oh, my gosh, last thing I want to do. And here's the thing is that. But why I say that is I think that we can all become disillusioned thinking that everybody thinks like me or everybody who doesn't think like me is crazy. And we need to be mindful that part of the way that we need to interact with the world is that you want to talk to people who don't look like you, think like you, act like you. Because Jesus did, right? Jesus did. He reached out to a woman that was taboo in his time, much less a Samaritan woman. A different nationality, a half breed, somebody who's less than. And he treated her with respect. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:41]: He treated her with honor, right? And he brought her to himself in that process. The church is impotent when it only talks to people who look like, act like, sound like, and does the same things we do because that's not what we're called to, right? He says we're supposed to love everybody, we're supposed to reach everybody, we're supposed to make disciples of all. And it says nations. That's not like saying China, Japan, Philippines. It's saying ethnic groups. It's the same groups. And to be honest, it's circles of people. We're supposed to love everybody. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:25]: But you never see that if you get stuck in your echo chamber, right? And you know when we see people like what happened in last week, that guy who shot Charlie Kirk, I'll bet he never had conversations with people who could have a conversation. And so when he heard somebody say something that he didn't like, he didn't agree that offended him personally because it reflected on his personal situation. He didn't have a capacity to say, man, that takes me off and. But I got to handle that guy. I got to deal with this person because I'm going to see that person, you know, what happens on social media, that social media has become a place not where people put out their most refined thoughts and things that have been refined from endless dialogue, but it's a place where people have become a place where people vent their deepest feelings and most surface emotion without a filter that you would never dare do that in person to someone else. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:35]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:37]: And that's why social media, it's not that social media is evil, but if it's left unmanaged, it can lead to devastation. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:50]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:51]: When I see people talk like that online and I got into it sometimes I would see in comments on news stories and stuff, and I wanted to write something and I did certain things and it's like I would look at that and I would say, and I would see some of the comments that come back, I would say, man, I know you wouldn't say that to like the six foot Samoan guy, like right in his face that, like what you read, right? What you wrote, because you just, you know that there's something coming on the end of that, right? And to be honest, sometimes we need to understand that not everybody agrees, not everybody likes what the other person's saying, but that's the society that we live in, right? Because we're all individuals, we all have different background. It's okay as long as we're trying to resolve as Long as we're trying to find the truth, as long as we're moving in a direction. But can I say this? I'm just going to close with this. This last point is that everybody hurts somebody, right? This is what I know. If you're here from the beginning of the church or this is your first time with us, I know two things about you. You've been hurt by somebody and you've hurt somebody, right? That's just being a human being. I know there's two things about everybody is you've been hurt somewhere and you've hurt other people. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:22]: Right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:23]: And to be honest, the hard part about that is no matter who you are, that it's going to happen again in the future. Right? And it just happens. It doesn't matter if you're just friends. It doesn't matter if you're, you know, like in a long term relationship. It doesn't matter if you're a parent and a child. These things happen. And. But one of the things that the scripture instructs us is make amends as soon as possible. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:51]: You cannot help that one at times that people will be hurt, that you'll hurt them and you get hurt. That happens in life. And if we think that the world should be a place that it doesn't happen, you know, tell me when you find that place and you know, I'll join you there. But I don't think we'll find that in this side of eternity. And yet the scripture says this. Be angry. Can we read this together? Ephesians 4:26. And it says it like this. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:19]: Let's read. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:20]: Ready? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:20]: Begin. Be angry. And do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. And if we were to talk to people, you know what? So often, it's almost like people see this as a verse for married people. That's what I hear so often. Oh man. I made a decision like me and my wife or, you know, me and my husband. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:41]: We're, we're like. We never let the sun go down on our anger. Does it say anything about married people? No, this is not a married verse. Just like Ecclesiastes we looked at. Two are better than one is a married verse. This is a relationship verse. This is just principle. And he's saying this. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:58]: Why don't we let the sun go down in our anger? Because when you do, you give the devil an opportunity to get in the mix. And sometimes when we hurt people or we've been hurt by people, we pull away. We Say, hey man, I just need some time, I need to settle and all these things. But the longer you give people to stew in their anger or offense is the longer you get to create a division that can last longer in your relationship, that can last longer in your family, that can last longer in your business, that can last longer in your ministry, can last longer. It just allows it to happen. Why? Because the enemy gets in that place and he says, you know what? Like that's the reason why they said that and they don't care. But whatever, all this kind of stuff. But we're supposed to be, as soon as we see it, make amends as soon as possible. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:00:56]: And it says it like this, Matthew 5:23. So if you're offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go, so by the way, we're going to take an offering in a second. So it just says, if you're, you know, when you were taking the offering and you realize, oh my gosh, I offended somebody, right? They have something against me. And if you got to go, go make it right. But this is the takeaway. Leave your offering first. No, I'm just joking, I'm just kidding. So you'll laugh about it later now. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:01:32]: But like it says, first be reconciled to your brother and then come offer your gift. And so what's it saying? If you realize, right, you did something, who goes and makes amends you, right? If somebody hurt you, you go to them. And then it says this in Matthew 18:15, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault. In other words, you're responsible when you did it and you're responsible to go even if they did it, right? Because if both of us are always responsible, we're more likely to resolve. We're more likely to do it. We're more likely to reach out. And why is that important? Because you don't want to let the devil manage your relationships, do you? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:02:22]: Right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:02:23]: And so when we do this, I know it goes against sometimes local culture, I know it goes against sometimes the way we were raised, that some of us were risk averse, we're conflict averse, and we just, I don't want to say I'm uncomfortable, but the reason why is because it preserves your relationships, it causes them to bind together. And can I just say this? Even if you have delayed and I have delayed, and there's sometimes I've paid a price because you don't get as old as I am, and as Long as I've been walking with Jesus and serving Jesus, you don't go through that without at times, in a bid to do something good together, you don't get hurt feelings. That happens, right? And to be honest, I've had some friendships that, to be honest, we're just not that close anymore, right? And probably, to be honest, if you're not a kid, you probably know what I'm talking about. And the thing is, though, there have been some relationships that we've been best friends. Like, we're in each other's weddings, right? We're standing. And to be honest, all of a sudden there's a distance and sometimes maybe, like, what is going on, right? I didn't notice, but when I noticed, you know, we just try to make it right. And sometimes maybe you just couldn't make it right. Maybe you didn't agree about different things. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:04:01]: But to be honest, there's been times I've just made a call and I left a text and I've done a thing right? And the scripture says you cannot make everybody be your friend all the time. But it says it like this. As much as it depends on you, be at peace with all men, right? And I'm so glad that I've been able to resolve and make amends and try to restore right relationships and situations. Sometimes I wish I did it earlier, be honest. And sometimes I think that the enemies had a chance to get in there and do some damage. But every time you make the move that God's called us to, you open the door for restoration, for blessing, right? And you look more like Jesus in that moment when you become a peacemaker than anything else. Because Jesus said this. He says, blessed are the peacemakers, not peacekeepers. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:05:13]: What's the difference? Peacekeepers kind of just cover it all over. Peacemakers acknowledge we're not doing good, we don't have peace. And we'll stand and we'll just do what we can to make the peace. He says they shall be called sons of God. You and I look more like Jesus when we make peace than when we keep peace. Make sense? Hey, let's bow our heads. We'll close in order of prayer. Father, we sometimes wish that coming into your family that it just goes higher and higher and we never have conflict and we'd never disagree. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:06:02]: And Lord, because the church is a place of calling and it's a place of restoration. It's a place of worship. It's a place to grow. It's a place to love. And it is, Lord, it is. But you Said Lord, that we need to work and put every effort to make sure that in the midst of that that we maintain the unity of the spirit. And so, Father, sometimes we confess, sometimes we ask you to do the impossible. For you to somehow leave your throne room in heaven and revolve around the little interests of my life rather than for me to come to the place of revolving mind around you, yours. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:06:43]: Father, we confess, Lord, that we. That, Lord, would you help us, that when we do that, would you shine their light in our darkness so that we might see the fact that what we ask, Lord, it's not only not the most reasonable, but Lord, it just keeps us, Lord, in that place of lacking growth, of lacking maturity, of. Of staying more in our flesh rather than becoming more like you. And Father, I pray that at the same time we would also focus on the essentials and focus on the major things and not get caught up in some of the things that are not as important. And, Father, that there are things that are in the faith that might be meaningful to us, might be important to us. But Father, I thank you. These are not issues in which to divide over, but that each can have their own conscience as a desire to seek you in your word. And Father, when those times happen, whether we hurt someone or Father, whether we've been hurt, that we wouldn't give those hurts to the enemy, but we'd be giving it to you. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:08:04]: And we'd be trusting you, God, to become peacemakers, not just peacekeepers. Father, would you empower us toward that purpose? Hey, you know, with our heads bowed and eyes closed, you know, one of the things that God wants to do more than anything, I think if you've never done this, is to make sure that you have peace, is that you have peace with him. You know, that's why he came, that you might have peace with him. And it's like, it's not that you're any worse than the person that's next to you or the people that are around you or people at home watching online. Neither are you any better than those people you just. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:08:50]: But you're you, right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:08:53]: And like I had mentioned earlier, is that I know two things about you. You've been hurt and you've hurt other people. You know what the Bible calls that is it's evidence that we're faulty and frail people. The Bible uses the term sin. That we were not perfect, that at times we rebel, at times we do things for our own interests. And there may be human nature, but God comes and calls us to be redeemed he says this. He says, let me be the one who gives peace. Not just an internal sense of peace, but that you be in a right relationship with him. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:09:41]: So Jesus said this. He says, you can't do it because the cost is too high. What is the cost? The cost is to be separated from him or to die for your own sin. And that's too high of a cost, he said. So he says, let me pay it for you. And so he came to die in your place, in my place. And all you have to do is receive what he's done for you. Not just acknowledge, not just understand it. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:10:15]: You should receive it. It's like Jesus is extending his hand to you in friendship. He says, take my hand, put your trust in me, he says, and we'll be friends. And I believe the Lord doesn't want you to leave him hanging. If that's you this evening and you're saying, God, I'd like to be friends with you. Thank you for dying on the cross, Lord. I recognize things about my life and that I'm not perfect and that I have hurt other people. And yes Lord, I have been hurt. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:10:46]: I thank you that you paid the price. If that's you today, would you just surrender yourself to God? Call out to him and this is what he says to all who call on Him. He will not turn away way. I'm going to pray a very simple prayer and if that's you, I invite you to join me. And maybe you're here and to be honest, you've prayed this prayer before. But maybe something about this is affirms you just affirm that thing that you have done. Feel free to pray along as well. Lord Jesus, thank you for knowing me. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:11:23]: Thank you for caring for me. Thank youk for dying in my place. Because Lord, you said you loved me. You said that in youn I can be forgiven. So would you'd forgive me today, Would you'd come live inside me today. Forgive me of my sin. I turn from what I know is wrong and embrace you. You today help me to become all you created me to be. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:11:56]: Help me to know your will, to know your ways, and to walk with you all the days of my life. Thank you Lord for your kindness, your mercy. I receive it in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Hey, can we say congratulations to those folks? Hey, God bless you guys. Thanks for joining us today.