Sermon Transcript

You may be seated. I love the fact that we open the service by opening our Bibles, and it is time once again to do that. Let me invite you to open to Ephesians chapter 4. If you were here back in September, I asked you to open to Ephesians chapter 1 for the first time, as we began to walk verse-by-verse through this incredibly rich section of Scripture.

We’ve been learning that the book of Ephesians is actually probably the most structured book in the Bible. It’s very well organized. It’s kind of divided into two parts, and as we began to walk through it, we learned that in the first three chapters, it is all about these indicative, declarative, vertical statements about God and our identity in Christ. I told you that the second half of the book is very different. Well, I just asked you to open to the second half of the book, as we dive into this.

Let me give you a little review, as we’ve walked through it here. The book of Ephesians could be divided into two sections. The first three chapters are all about the indicatives: these declarative statements that are objectively true of God and objectively true of those who find their identity in Christ. The second half, chapters 4 through 6, are all about these imperative statements: things you need to do—and stop doing—based on what the indicatives said about you and about God in the first three chapters.

So, the first three chapters are all about our identity in Christ; the second three chapters are all about our activity in Christ. The first three chapters are about our position in Christ; the second three chapters are about our practice. The first three chapters are about who I am, and the next three chapters are about what I do.

In order to remind ourselves of this little exercise, do you remember some of the things God said are true about those who are in Christ? In the first chapter, he said we are holy, we are chosen, we are blameless. So, turn to your neighbor right now, look them in the eye, smile (they need that!) and say, “I am holy.” Do you remember what you’re supposed to say back to the person that just told you, “I am holy?” “Then act like it, for cryin’ out loud! Don’t give me all this stuff about being chosen and holy and blameless! Act like it!” Well, we’ve finally reached the part where we’re going to be told to “act like it.” It is not now about the indicatives. . .it is now about the imperatives.

Now, when you go to church, it is important that you get the indicatives before the imperatives. In our culture, in our default humanity, what we want to do is, we want to ignore God’s imperatives. Again, the imperatives are, “do this,” and “don’t do that.” Does everybody understand that, in the Bible, there are some do’s and don’ts? There are. But it’s important that we get the do’s and don’ts in the right order. The culture ignores God’s imperatives and it ignores God’s indicatives. The culture really doesn’t care what God has to say. They want to be their own god and do whatever they want to do.

As Christians, we come, and we’re very concerned with God’s indicatives and God’s imperatives. But, what so often happens is we end up creating this man-made, self-righteous, religious activity that shouts the imperatives. How many of you ever went to a church that shouted the imperatives? “Don’t do that!” “Stop doing that!” “Do this!” Have you been to a church like that? You don’t go to that church anymore, do you? Because, what we do around here is, we get the gospel! And this is what the gospel does: the gospel shouts the indicatives and then it ignites the imperatives! Because of what God says about who we are, it radically changes what we do.

So, we’re going to dive into this section of Scripture over the next few weeks, about some do’s and some don’ts. But, if you start at Ephesians chapter 4, you are going to fail miserably—unless you are saturated with the truth of what is in the first three chapters of Ephesians. And, here’s what we’re going to understand today as we dive into this section. The new series is called, Walk Worthy: A Deeper Conviction. Here’s what happens: indicatives turn imperatives into convictions.

All of the imperatives that God says externally you’re supposed to do (“Do this. Don’t do that.”)…Listen, when it gets in your heart and in your soul, that’s when—from the inside out—you obey God, not because He said it, but because you believe it and you love Him, and you want to live a life that is worthy of what He says is true about you. That’s when the indicatives turn the imperatives into convictions.

“Convictions” is an interesting word. When you come to church, if I do my job right and you do your job right, you should feel some conviction. Do you know what conviction is? The Holy Spirit begins to press those imperatives into your soul, and you realize, “You know what? On Tuesday afternoon, I really wasn’t like what God says I was supposed to be like.” And here I am, confronted with the truth of those imperatives, and the Holy Spirit brings weight and conviction. And it might feel kind of like a pressing into your soul, and your seat might get hot, and your palms start to sweat, and your heart starts to beat—when you realize, “You know what? God is calling me to change!”

So, here’s the first area that God is going to convict us about (and here’s the title of the message):

 

We need to be convicted about unity.

 

Did anybody notice, anywhere in the news this week, anybody talking about the subject of unity? Is there a little disunity going on in our culture right now? Did anybody watch President Trump’s…did I just say that?…inaugural address? Did anybody notice that he quoted a Bible verse?

Now, of all of the Bible verses available to President Trump, the one that he picked was Psalm 133:1. This is what is says: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” [ESV] How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

Do you know what? You can be an atheist and say “amen” to that! Everybody values how good and pleasant it is when there’s no strife and contention and fighting and warring and shouting and hating. That seems to be what the whole culture wants, but nobody knows how to achieve it. Except – people who are in Christ. And that’s what we’re going to learn here, as we dive into Ephesians chapter 4.

Let me just begin reading. I’ve talked way too long without reading God’s Word. Somebody should have already yanked me off this stage! Ephesians 4:1-3: “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity…” there’s our word–“…of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Now, let me just tell you. I had prepared to preach a message all the way down to verse 6. I tried that last night—I never got to point 2 of the message. So, we’re going to cut if off right here, and we’re going to do just a one-point message. And here is the point we’re trying to make here this morning:

 

1. Walking in unity requires personal (1-3)

 

Back up here in verse 1, Paul says, “Therefore…” See the word, “therefore?” That is the hinge word on which the whole book turns!  The word “therefore” connects everything that he said in chapters 1-3 to everything he’s about to say in chapters 4-6. Paul says, “Therefore, I a prisoner of the Lord. . .” Remember, Paul the apostle, is writing this in a prison cell because he was a man of conviction. He refused to compromise. He would rather go to jail than for people to go to hell. And so, he is writing to the church—those in Christ—from a prison cell because he was a man of conviction. He wants them to know that, because he is about to say some hard things.

Paul says, “…a prisoner for the Lord, I urge you…”  This is an urgent matter! It’s an urgent matter in our culture, it’s the most urgent matter in the church. Because if we don’t get this right, it will destroy the culture. It will destroy the church. It’s been destroying families; it’s been destroying relationships between husbands and wives and parents and children and employers and employees. This is an urgent matter! Does everybody understand that? Unity is an urgent matter!

Some of you have some destructive relationships right now. You are enduring incredibly painful relationships because there’s no unity. And you’re wondering, “How do we achieve it?” Here it is: “[I] urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”

I love the words “calling” and “called” here. The only reason I can sleep tonight, as a pastor, is that I know that my voice is not the only voice calling you to walk worthy. If I thought that getting you to walk worthy was dependent on my ability to articulate to you all the reasons why you should walk worthy, I would go insane. The only reason I can sleep tonight is, I know that it is God who is calling every person in every seat in this room right now. Are you listening to the calling of God to get you from where you are to where you need to be?

I love the word picture here. Did you see it? As a matter of fact, some of you read that—and you’re so familiar with the Bible that you just let the most often repeated word picture in the Bible slide right past you, and you didn’t even think about it. What is the most often repeated word picture in the New Testament? We just read it. Walking. And it’s so common that we don’t even think about it. Think about the implications of why Paul used this word.

Now, think about this. Put yourself back in first century Ephesus. Do you understand that Paul walked everywhere he went? No bicycles, no cars, no planes, no trains–not even any sidewalks! If you wanted to get somewhere, it was going to involve walking. Paul uses that picture to describe what the Christian life is all about.

Around here, we like to use that term. It’s part of our discipleship philosophy. We say that a quality disciple does three things: He worships Christ, he walks with Christ and he works for Christ. This is not an insignificant word picture. Just think about what’s involved in walking. It involves realizing, “I’ve got somewhere to go. I’m not where I should be, I’ve got a destination ahead of me. And so, I’ve got to start walking.”

Walking involves balance. We’re learning in Ephesians that there’s a balance between indicatives and imperatives. If you just sit around and think about the indicatives, you’re not going to go anywhere. If you just think about the imperatives, you’re not going to have any motivation to go anywhere. So, there’s some balance. There’s a balance in the Scripture of grace and truth.

If you’re out of balance on grace, then you’re not real interested in the things that need to change in your life. If you’re out of balance in truth, then you always feel condemned, because you never get it right. You need the grace. So, walking involves balance. Some of you aren’t walking because you’re out of balance. There’s balance, in the Bible, between love and truth. All of these things are important if we’re going to walk. We’ve got to get the balance right.

I was praying for our church this week, and when I pray, I see faces of those in the congregation. And, quite honestly, not everyone in the room right now is walking worthy of the calling to which you’ve been called. So, I began to think, “Why aren’t some people walking?” Are you walking? You need to ask yourself this question. Are you feeling some conviction right now? Are you walking worthy of the gospel?

The word “worthy” obviously talks about value. The point Paul’s trying to make is this: the manner of my walk reveals the measure of Christ’s worth in my life. When it comes down to it, the manner of my walk reveals the measure of Christ’s worth. How much is Jesus Christ worth to you? The more value you place in Jesus Christ, the more motivated you are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

There are some people in the room right now who are not walking worthy because you’ve never taken your first step. How many parents are in the room? Do you remember back to when you had that first child? You bring them home from the hospital, and you put them in one place. You come back three hours later, and they’re still in the same spot. It’s a glorious thing! And it actually deceives you into thinking, “This is easy!” Okay?

But after a while, all that flab on those legs (remember those chubby little legs?) starts to develop into some muscle. And then they crawl over to the coffee table and they kind of lift themselves up, and all of a sudden, they’re not just lying there. They’re now standing. They’re wobbling, you know, and they’re trying to get their balance.

After a while, they let go with one hand, and they realize, “This thing moves!” And they begin to figure out, “This can take me places! I can become mobile!” And all of the sudden, Dad’s on the other end of the room—and Mom’s got the iPhone out—and we are about the experience this child’s very first step. Dad’s over there saying, “C’mon, you can do it!” And the child takes one step, and then what do they do? They fall right on their face, and they scream, and they sue you for encouraging them to go places. It’s a bad deal!

Did you know that there are some people in this room right now who aren’t walking because you’ve never taken your first step toward your Father? This morning, do you hear the Father calling you, “Come to Me” through Christ? You can’t do this alone, but taking your first step to Christ because the Father is drawing and wooing and calling you. Out of a love for the Father, you turn your back on where you were—whatever direction you were going, or maybe just sitting there—and all of a sudden, you’re moving toward the Father.

Have you taken your first step? If you haven’t, you’re not walking worthy of the calling. Christ wants relationship with you. Your Father wants to restore; your Father wants to forgive. Your Father wants you near Him. He’s calling you this morning, and if—in Christ—you will turn from sin and put your trust in Christ and His work on the cross, you can be reconciled with the Father and you can take your first step.

There are some other people in here–you’ve taken your first step. You may have taken ten or twelve steps. You may have walked miles, actually, with Christ, but this morning you’re not walking worthy.

This past week, Andrea and I—we had some ministry we had to do in Florida (I know, I know, you feel bad for me). If you know Andrea, she loves the sun and she loves to get out in the sun. She loves to take walks when we’re in Florida. I don’t necessarily have any affection for walking, but I do have affection for Andrea, so I walk with Andrea. Not because I like to walk, but because I like Andrea.

Andrea’s a very hard person to take a walk with. I think it was on Tuesday, we were walking on the beach down there. The reason it’s hard to take a walk with Andrea is because she notices things that I otherwise would ignore. So, we’re walking on the beach, and pretty soon I lose Andrea. I’m like, “Where did she go?” I turn around, and she’s back over here, kneeling down, and she’s playing with a crab that she found in the sand. I’m like, “I thought we were taking a walk! I didn’t know we were doing marine biology!”

At another place, we took a walk on a nice sidewalk in a well-groomed, landscaped area with nice bushes. All of a sudden, I noticed I’m walking alone again. I turned around, and Andrea found a little yellow flower that fascinated her. And then she found a purple flower over here. For Andrea, walking is a very interactive experience. For me, it’s just all about getting this thing over with, and getting to the place we’re supposed to go—and burning some calories!

Anyway, I thought about some people in our church who walk like Andrea. You get distracted with pretty things or shiny things, and some of you are not walking worthy of the calling to which you’ve been called, because you have gotten distracted. Maybe it’s a career, maybe it’s a relationship, maybe it’s your education, maybe it’s a sin. And this morning God is calling you to get moving again. Take another step. No matter how far you’ve come, no matter how long you’ve strayed from the path, you need to keep walking.

There are some other people here who are not walking because you’ve gotten tripped up. If you come to my house (you’re all invited), the little walkway up to our porch has an uneven spot in the pavement. And just for fun, when people are coming up to our house, we like to gaze out the window and see how many people actually trip over this little thing. Have you tripped over it? That’s a dangerous thing! There are some of you who have gotten tripped up, and you have fallen. You may have even broken something, and you’re just sitting there—maybe in this pain this morning.

This past week, I was driving home. Ten doors down from my house is the house of Bob and Donna Hogarth. If you don’t know them…none of us would be here this morning if God hadn’t used Bob and Donna to have the vision to plant a church in Granger—Harvest Bible Chapel. There was an ambulance and a fire truck. I was like, “Oh, no! What’s going on?”

I texted them real quick, and Bob let me know that Donna had actually fallen and broken her leg. They did the x-rays, and they realized that the reason she broke this leg was that the other leg had been broken for a while and hadn’t been bearing the weight. Donna had surgery—and she’s not going to be walking for a while. She’s in rehab. But, if you know Donna, she’s going to be walking sooner than most people would, because of her tenacity to get back in ministry.

Have you fallen and been broken, and are experiencing such pain that you’re not walking worthy anymore? And maybe you’re blaming a mother or a father, or you’re blaming somebody who abused you or mistreated you, or gave you a dirty look. All kinds of excuses why you’re broken. Listen! God wants to bring healing. You may walk from this point on with a limp, but God wants you to walk worthy, no matter what’s happened—no matter how much pain—no matter how much brokenness is in your past. God the Father is calling you to get back on the path.

There are some other people here who are not walking because you have walked so long and so far, you’re tired! In your mind, you’re thinking, “Man! I just don’t know if I can take another step. Do you know how hard this life is? Do you know how long this path seems?” And you may be somebody in the older generation and you feel like, “It’s time for somebody else to walk. Here’s a nice park bench—and I’m just going to find a place right here, and I’ll just applaud those people who are walking and carrying the load.” No, no, no! Your Father is calling you to walk worthy of the gospel to which you have been called.

There are some other people here, and you’re walking. The only problem for you is, you’re walking alone. He who walks alone does not walk far. Because after a while you see a park bench, or you see a flower, or you see something shiny and it causes you to get off the path. We walk together because we need sometimes, to lean on people. And we need people to tell us that we need to take another step. “I know that you want to give up, and I know that you’re in pain, but we’re going to get to the finish line together.”

Do you understand the implications of what it means to walk worthy? Are you walking this morning? Are you walking worthy of the calling to which you have been called? It’s a conviction. “I’m going to get back in the walk. I’m going to get back on the path. . .and I’m not going to walk alone.” That’s what Christ is calling us to this morning. So, how do we do that? How do we walk in a way that generates unity?

This is what I want you to notice here about verse 3. The passage says, “…eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” [Ephesians 4] Everybody’s talking about unity and how to create unity. I want you to notice something from this verse. Unity is not something you create. Unity is something that you—what? According to verse 3, unity is something you maintain (not create), because it’s the unity of the Spirit.

Here’s the thing—the culture is looking for a way to create unity. And the reason they have to create it is because they’re not bringing themselves under the authority of the Spirit who creates the unity; when you put yourself under the authority, together, of the Spirit. And so, what Paul gives us in verse 2, are actually the ingredients for unity.

It’s kind of like soup. You’ve gotta have the right ingredients to make the soup. Everybody wants the soup of unity in our culture, but very few people want to use the ingredients that maintain the unity! Do you like chicken noodle soup? Do you like chicken noodle soup without chicken and noodles? We want the soup—we just don’t want the ingredients. You cannot have chicken noodle soup if you’re unwilling to add the noodles and the chicken.

What we’re about to see are five ingredients here that maintain the unity.

 

Walking in unity requires personal convictions. The first ingredient is found up in verse 2. What is it? “With all humility…” There’s the first ingredient. Humility. What is humility? There are a lot of different ways you could define humility, but probably the best way you could define it is simply this: Humility is the attitude that continually acknowledges need. “I have so much unfinished business in my life that I continually have to cry out to God, ‘Help! Help, God! I can’t go through this day without You! I can’t maintain this unity—this relationship—without You!’” And what that attitude does is, it strips you of an attitude of superiority over anyone.

Do you know how attractive humility is? And do you know how repulsive an attitude of superiority is? And so, what is it that destroys unity? It’s pride, arrogance and an attitude of superiority. But it is a humble attitude that says, “You know what? I’m going to welcome other people into my life because I realize I’m not better than anybody or anyone. And it’s that attitude of welcoming. It’s that attitude of, “Hey! You’ve got unfinished business in your life? So do I! Come on! Join the club!”

And do you know how attractive a church is that has an attitude of humility? In a culture, in a world, where everybody’s looking for unity, what a great opportunity it is for a church to say, “You’ve got problems. We’ve got problems. We’re just coming to Christ with our problems, and if you want to come with us, you are welcomed here without judgment.”

But, how often do people not come to our churches—and not want to have anything to do with Christians—because they feel like they will be judged because they’re different. Or because they’re sinners (gasp!). Or because they have shame or regret or mistakes in their past. Or maybe they even have struggles with things like gender identity—for crying out loud. Would we welcome people that would come with issues that deep? Or would we stand back and say, “You’re not…” Listen! Not here! Everybody, no matter the race, the color, the age, the gender or whatever sin baggage you may bring, bring it all here! Because we are here to bring all of it under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That’s a humble church.

Hey, anybody see any good movies lately? Did you know? The Resurrection of Gavin Stone—the movie that Harvest made—is now in theaters. How many of you have seen that already? Great. What have the rest of you been doing with your weekend? So, you’re all going to be in the theaters this week, I’m sure.

There’s a star in the movie…did you know about this? The best scene in the movie is when…spoiler alert…is when the pastor is talking to his daughter, and they’re trying to figure out what to do with this newcomer, this outsider in church. She’s not real impressed with him, because he’s kind of arrogant and has some unfinished business. He doesn’t know all the house rules; he’s not been “housetrained” in church. So, they’re trying to figure out what to do with this guy.

It comes down to this question: “Isn’t this what we do, as a church?” This is what we do! So, there are three things Pastor James MacDonald has encouraged all of our Harvest pastors, to kind of get these three things in front of all our churches as we kind of go to the movie here. . .and the first one is this:

 

• I will welcome without judgment.

 

It is a humble attitude that is willing to accept someone wherever they are, no matter what their struggle, no matter what their sin, and say, “You know what? You are welcome here!” We welcome, without judgment, when we have an attitude that is humble, and we recognize, “I need God.”

Another thing God does to keep you humble: He does two things. The first thing, we’ve already talked about—He convicts you of sin. A humble person, when God convicts them of sin, they agree with God. Do you know what a proud person does when God convicts them of sin? They argue with God. So, if you have an attitude of humility, what you’re doing is, you’re welcoming the conviction of God—so that you can agree with God—so that you can walk worthy of the calling to which you’ve been called.

The second thing that God does to keep you humble is: He creates circumstances in your life that you can’t handle, control or figure out, so that you understand how much you need God. Sometimes, that means losing a job, losing a relationship, losing health. Because, be honest. Isn’t it in those times that you are broken that you are most humble? Isn’t it in those times when there’s plenty of money in the bank, and relationships are going right, and everybody’s applauding and praising you and telling you how great you are that you’re tempted to have an attitude of superiority?

So do you know what God is? God is so committed to you welcoming people without judgment, God is so committed to you being humble, He does two things. He convicts of sin, and He creates circumstances you can’t handle—so that you will acknowledge, “Help, God, I need You!” That’s an attitude of humility, and that’s the first ingredient, if we’re going to maintain the bond of unity.

Here’s the second ingredient. What is it? Look in your Bible, Ephesians 4:2: “…with all humility and” next word “gentleness…” Gentleness! Let me just talk to the men here, a minute. Men, how often has your wife accused you of being too gentle? “You know what, you’re just being way too nice today! You’re thinking of me way too much! You’re being way too considerate, you’re putting me ahead of you way too often. You need to think of yourself a little more! That tone of voice you’re using—that is way too soft and tender!”

Men, are you like me—in process of, I’ve got to get better at that? My tone, my attitude, is not worthy of the calling to which I’ve been called. Gentleness refines anything in me that communicates harshness. It’s an occupational hazard, for a preacher to be a husband who’s gentle. Why? Because I want to convict Andrea! I mean, I’ve got three points and an outline—and I’ve got Greek words! And, so often, I’m not gentle. And that’s why all of the men need to be here next Sunday night, at nine o’clock, so we can learn to how to act like men who are gentle. So, humility and gentleness.

And then, here’s the third ingredient: patience. How are you doing with that? You’re like, “We don’t have time to talk about that. Let’s move on! When is this service going to be over for cryin’ out loud?” How are you on the patience scale? What is patience? Patience is your willingness to endure pain while waiting for God. While waiting for God to change me. While waiting for God to change another person. While waiting for God to change a circumstance.

If we’re going to be patient, the next thing is this: “…bearing with one another…”  You might just write down the word, “forbearance,” because you’re going to have to encounter jacked-up people. And, by the way, the longer it takes you to admit that you’re one of those jacked-up people, the more you’ve gotta go back to the first ingredient of humility. So, humility. And gentleness. And patience. And forbearance.

Do you know what forbearance does? It covers the faults of another without striking back—bearing with one another. And this leads to another conviction that we’re going to have. Not only will I welcome without judgment, but:

 

• I will forgive without limit.

 

And all of these things are embodied in Jesus Christ, right? Isn’t that the way that you want Jesus to welcome you? Isn’t that way that you want Jesus to forgive you—without limits? And so, we as the church, are going to walk worthy of the way that Christ has treated us. And then, here’s the third thing:

 

• I will love without condition.

 

And we find that’s the fifth ingredient, at the end of verse 2: “…bearing with one another in love…”  Love is the superglue of unity. Love means that I can see the image of God in every person, no matter how jacked-up they are. The image of God is stamped on every person, no matter how far from God they are, and I can love them because they’re an image-bearer of God.

Love empathizes with a person’s pain—the pain of their past. The most hurtful people are usually the people who have been hurt the most. Hurt people do what? Hurt people. So, if you’ve been hurt by a person, you might want to look through your pain to see the pain of that person, and what’s been going on in their past. If you can do that, you can love that person—even if they’ve hurt you. Love pays the price to press through that barrier.

And love—listen—always speaks the truth. We speak the truth in love. We’re going to learn that later on at the end of chapter 4. Love doesn’t shave off the hard edges. Sometimes I have to look at a person: “Because I love you, I cannot affirm the way you’re acting, because the way you’re acting is destructive—to you, to me and to God. And I love you enough to tell you that.”

So, we like to talk about how around here, at Harvest, we preach without apology. How many of you have noticed that? Now, listen—if we’re going to be a church that preaches without apology, we’d better learn to welcome without judgment. And we’d better learn to forgive without limit, and we’d better learn to love without condition. Otherwise, there will be no unity here. Wouldn’t you love to come to a church like that?

For those of you who have seen the movie, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, there is a movie star in there. His name is Shawn Michaels. It’s his first movie (I know how you feel). Shawn Michaels is not a professional movie actor—he’s actually a professional wrestler. How many of you already knew that? Some of you are ashamed to admit it, but you knew it! Listen, I don’t know what comes to mind when you think of professional wrestler, but “humility, gentleness, forbearance” are not words that readily come to mind. And yet, God can change anybody. [Shawn Michaels’ God at Work video plays.]

Let me invite you to stand for a moment. If you would, just stand there for a moment and bow your head. We’ve covered a lot of territory today. We’ve talked about “walking worthy.” Can I just simply ask you, “Are you? Have you even taken your first step?” If not, now would be a great time. Open up your heart, by faith, and tell the Lord, “I’m tired of walking in the wrong direction; I’m tired of being distracted by shiny things. Today, by faith, I trust You.”

At the end of the service, our pastors are here. You can come—maybe even physically walk from where you are to where they are, just say, “I need to begin a walk with God!” They’d love to pray with you, point you in the right direction. For others of you—you know what that’s like. You’ve walked for a while, but maybe something’s tripped you up, maybe something’s distracted you. Maybe you’ve fallen, you’ve been broken. You’re not even sure if it’s safe to walk any further. Would you just tell the Lord right now, “God, You’re worthy of more than that, and I’m going to take the next step toward You. And take another step. And just keep walking.”?

If we’re going to be a church that is unified, we’re going to have to have a deep conviction about welcoming without judgment, forgiving without limit and loving without condition. You may have thought of the people, right now, with whom there’s disunity. It could be a spouse, a former spouse, a child, a stepchild, a stepfather, somebody in your family. It could be somebody who’s kind of an outsider. Maybe they don’t look like you, they don’t talk like you, they don’t have tattoos like you. And you’re fearful that they’re so different that you could find no commonality. Listen, would you let your love for God see the image of God in that person, and risk welcoming that person into your circle, into this church—so they could hear the gospel. We are all objects of God’s mercy. There’s never a day that we don’t need a fresh batch of God’s mercy and grace. We’re going to sing in just a moment, but before we do, would you just tell the Lord, “God, I need You!” As an act of humility– “God, I need You!”