We love you, Father. Amen. Amen. We love you, Father. You are so good. You are worthy of all of our praise. We will praise you until our breath gives out. Father, you deserve it all. You deserve everything in our lives. We love you. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, worship team. Grateful for you guys. Grateful.

I want to say good morning to everybody, everyone who's watching online and everyone here this morning. If you're visiting with us, we hope that you are made to feel welcome.

There's some visitor cards in the chairs in front of you. We'd love for you to fill some of that information out and get it back to us. Drop it in one of the churches.

Also, I want to say thank you to our fellowship. Thank you so very much for just the ways that you continue to be faithful in your giving.

The ways that you continue to, in your obedience, give to the Lord because it allows us to continue to do ministry in this community.

And that only happens through your faithfulness and through your obedience.

And so thank you as you continue to just give to the Lord and are faithful to do that.

We're going to have a couple of announcements in the weeks to come, talking about some of the ministry things that we're doing and concerning children's ministry as well, too.

I believe beginning next Sunday, we are going to start back with the younger kids.

Is that the Explorer or the Discover? Discover. Thank you, Tyler.

I didn't see you earlier. I was looking for you. Discover.

However, so and the older kids will remain in here for another week or two.

We're good. It's just we're just praying as the Lord leads us and how to continue to love them well and to and to be safe with our with our our ministry.

It will have been 30 days since we kind of move some shut down things and we're trying to be wise in our changes.

So with that being said, I think this coming next Sunday is the last Sunday for Project Backpack.

We have a lot of backpacks and goods that are stored over here.

Thank you for your faithfulness to that. If you have something, please bring it by the office.

We'd love to collect that and take that for you as well, too.

So we have put a pause on our series that we were only about five or six messages into in John's gospel,

because I really felt that we needed to deal with some things, how the Bible talks about one another.

There's some one another's that we needed to talk about.

There's some one another's that we needed to do and to discuss, because as we said last week,

I believe one of the things one of the reasons why there's even within the church, there's such upheaval at times is because we're so disconnected.

We're just very, very disconnected right now.

And most of the connections that we that we have these days are through technology.

And that's probably the worst place to have just connections is when it's only through just through technology,

because a lot of things can be interpreted.

A lot of things can be misread, miss said, miss this, that and the other.

And so things go haywire.

OK, and so we started off last week in our in our little series.

I said that there's probably approximately fifty nine different one another's within the scriptures.

And we're not going to do a fifty nine week series.

So you can relax on that.

All right.

But I'm going to take a handful of really what I think are important things and things that we need to drive home for for us as a as a people and as a church.

And last week we started off with tell me what it was to what?

Love one another to love one another.

Man, everything has got to start from there, doesn't it?

If we can't love one another and love one another well, then then we got to we got to backtrack on some stuff.

We looked at Romans 12, 10, when Paul says to love one another with brotherly affection.

We looked at first Corinthians 13, where Paul bears out.

He gives us the the the platform and the and the the the map, if you will, for what true biblical love looks like.

Then we show when we went over to first John chapter three and four.

As John maps that out for us as well, too, and shows us how we are to love one another, love one another.

So in this little series, let's talk about one another.

OK, because everybody likes to talk about one another, but we're going to talk about one another in a different way.

This morning, we're going to talk about.

all that fun stuff. But how many of you really realize that living in harmony with one another is not an easy thing to do? And see, most of the married men didn't even raise their hands. They're just like, you didn't even raise your hands. OK, but we're going to see that it's not that not that easy of a thing to do. You know, I don't think it's overstating a fact that that when we come together here as the body of

RCC Rhema Community Church, I think it'd be safe to say that on the major issue of our faith, on the major issue, we have widespread agreement that we have widespread agreement. We believe in the Bible. We believe that the Bible is God's revelation of himself to us and what it looks like to be in a redeemed, reconciled relationship with him. OK, we agree on that. We agree that there is one God who exists eternally in three persons. God, the father, God, the son and God, the whole

Holy Spirit. We agree on that. We agree that all men and all women are created in the image of God. OK, we agree that that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And because of that sin, we are separated from God. We would also agree that that our that Jesus, our savior, has opened up the door into redemption and reconciliation with

God. He lived the life that we couldn't live. He paid the price that we couldn't pay. He died on the cross in our place. And in three days, he rose again. We believe that salvation is available to anyone in his name. We believe that. Right. OK.

By Christ alone, through grace alone, by faith alone. All right. Those are foundational beliefs in our in our Christian, our Christian faith that we agree on.

Otherwise, you probably wouldn't come here week after week. OK, if you had disagreement on some of those. But despite the fact that there is a widespread agreement on these major issues that the scriptures are very, very clear on, there are minor issues that the scriptures are not so clear on.

And maybe the scriptures don't even really touch on these things or don't really speak super clearly on these things.

And the result of which is you have godly men and women on this side of the issue and godly men and women on the other side of the issue of these minor league issues or what I will call disputable matters.

OK, and so and just a couple of examples.

There are some who believe that the right way to worship God is to sing the hymns of our faith.

There are others that are really happy if we sing a contemporary chorus or a song on Sunday morning.

There are some who believe that it's totally fine to have a beer or glass of wine with your dinner as long as you don't get drunk.

There are others on the other side of the equation that believe that that teetotaling is the is the right path that we need to take.

And that's that's where you need to go, where you send your kids to school, how you spend your money.

OK, whether or not it's OK for a Christian to get a tattoo.

You know, all these things are disputable matters, minor league details.

And these minor league issues, you have people on both sides of the equation.

But see, here's the danger.

If we're not careful, despite the fact that we agree on the major issues, our disagreement on the minor league issues can actually breed conflict.

It can actually breed disunity within the body of Christ, within the body of Christ.

And what happens when what happens then is that friends stop being friends.

They cut each other off.

And our progress towards the mission of the church to make disciples and bring bring the glory of God to this place.

It can be hindered or it can even come to a screeching halt when that takes place.

So how do we not allow these disputable matters to how do we not allow them to create disunity?

How do we not allow them to cause conflict?

And again, we're going to be in Romans 15, 1 through 7.

And in a larger context, we're also going to look back at Romans 14 as well, too, where Paul begins the conversation.

However, before I go there, before we unravel all this, I just need to acknowledge something.

Please hear me on this.

Around our world, across our country, in our community, and even right here in our church,

the issue that threatens to bring...

...disunity and conflict is not a minor league issue or a disputable matter like some of these other things like where you put your kids in school or whether or not it's okay for your kid to play travel league soccer or travel league softball, whatever. It's not one of those, okay? The issue of racial division and racial injustice is the issue that can...

...that can potentially bring conflict and disunity, okay? But listen to me. That is not a minor league issue. It's not a minor...it's not a disputable matter. God's Word is very, very clear on this. That every human being is created in the image of God. And that God's plan from Genesis 1 all the way to Revelation 22 is that to bring people of every tribe, every tongue, and every nation together in one people called God's people for all issues.

...eternity, okay? And because that's important to God's people then, it's important to God's people now. So when our black and brown brothers and sisters and black and brown boys and girls suffer injustice, when they are treated with disrespect, when they are hurt or wounded by the words or actions of someone else, whenever that happens and wherever that happens, that's not right.

It's not right. It's not right. And in keeping with the truth of even what this country was built on for life and liberty and equality for all, and certainly it's not keeping in the truth of this book that we hold so dear and the truth of the gospel that we hold dear.

So this morning, as we look at these disputable matters, these minor league issues that can bring division among us, I just want to be crystal clear before we go into this, that the issue of racial injustice is not a disputable matter.

It's not a minor league issue, okay? And in that, may God give us wisdom, and may God give us courage, and also give us humility and the willingness to step in and address the major league issue of racial inequality.

And because these minor league issues can bring dysfunction and conflict as well true, may He give us wisdom and humility as well to learn from His Word and hear what He has to say this morning through these things, okay?

Again, these verses, verses 1-7 of chapter 15, that's really the last 10 minutes, 15 minutes of a two-hour movie that Paul begins in chapter 14, okay?

That's where we're going to land in this, okay?

But see, here's the big idea that Paul is getting at and where he's going.

What Paul is going to say to us is this, because of the gospel, because of the gospel, when there is the potential for disagreement on a disputable matter, because of the gospel, believers in Christ are to choose a relationship of love with one another, rather than just focusing on themselves and their preferences.

That's where he's going to go with this whole thing.

Romans 15, 1.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may, with one voice, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God.

All right, just a little bit of background here.

Whenever we study the scriptures, context is always important, and it's no different this morning.

The bigger picture of what Paul's writing about here, Paul wrote Romans to the church in Rome, okay?

And in the church in Rome, there were believers that had come from a variety of different ethnic backgrounds, all right?

There were some believers who came from a Jewish background, and there were other believers who came from a Gentile, non-Jewish background.

These very two different groups, okay, of people, but these believers agreed on the major issues of faith, okay?

These believers of Jesus and the gospel of salvation in his name.

They agreed on that.

They were unified on that.

But some of these minor issues, these more disputable issues, they...

...do we eat this? Do we eat this? Do we eat this? Do we eat this?

we not eat this? What days of the Jewish calendar do we still adhere to? What do we watch? And

those were some of the major issues for them, and they were struggling with it. And on the

other side of the equation, you had these people who come from a Gentile background, and they

thought, this is no issue at all. We can eat whatever we want. I'll go to Gary's Lee's

and get barbecue all day long. It doesn't bother me, you know, that we're going to eat

this. And we feel no obligation to follow the Jewish calendar. And when Paul addresses

these two sides of the issue, the group over here who are struggling with giving up some

of their Jewish traditions, and the group over here who are like, man, it's no big deal, he

uses the words weak and strong. Weak and strong. Look again at verse 1. We who are strong have

an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. And

when Paul uses those words weak and strong, he's not dissing the other side, okay? He's

not, he's not putting them down, okay? He's not insulting them. He's using the words weak

and strong to refer to the two, to the two different ways that these two groups were

viewing the gospel. All right? One of them had a weak view of the gospel, while the other

one had a strong view of the gospel. And let me just explain that really quickly. The

people who were on the side of struggling, giving up the dietary restrictions and the

traditions, or struggling with what sort of holidays they needed to really follow or

they were supposed to observe, they were not yet fully oriented with the grace of Jesus

Christ, all right? The transforming power of Jesus Christ that truly sets us free. They

weren't yet oriented with that. They felt that somehow by virtue of being certain things or

abstaining for certain things or attending certain holidays, that they were becoming more

acceptable to God by doing these things. If I did these things, I'm going to be more

acceptable. And Paul says that's a weak view of the gospel, all right? And on the other

hand, you had those who he called it the strong view of the gospel. And Paul includes himself

in that group who has a strong view of the gospel, okay? And these are people who said,

Jesus Christ, in his life, death, and resurrection, he has fulfilled all these ceremonial laws and

regulations. It's done, it's over. Therefore, we have no obligation to attend to these certain

dietary things and these days, okay? In our context today, the issue of whether or not to eat kosher

or not eat kosher or to follow Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur, Passover, all these things is really not

an issue for us. But there are issues that can divide us. I mentioned that earlier, you know,

what kind of songs we sing, whether or not it's okay to have a beer or a glass of wine with your

dinner. How about this one? What about a Christian who struggles with anxiety or depression? Is it okay

for them to take medication? Or do they just need to pray harder? You with me on this? How you can have

people on different sides of the issue? I have been to churches and I have served at churches where

these churches felt that the proper way for a man to honor God on Sunday morning was to wear a tie.

And if you're not wearing a tie, you're not properly honoring God. They felt solid about that,

okay? And there were many of us that said, I don't want to wear a tie. I love Jesus just as much as you,

but I don't, I don't want to wear a tie. So how do we navigate? How do we navigate these disputable

issues, these minor league matters and not allow them to create division among us? If you've been in

church any amount of time, you've seen some of these things, people. Anybody with me? So look again at verse

one. We who are strong have an obligation to bear the failings of the weak and not place our,

not please ourselves. Let, let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. I don't

know if you like writing in your Bible or marking or highlighting or anything like, I do, I do. And

if you do write in your Bibles, you do circle them, you do highlight them, I would encourage you to,

to highlight, circle, whatever that word obligation. Obligation. Paul is saying it's not just a good

idea. It's not just, just a suggestion to you.

Thank you.

is exhorting those who were strong to go beyond just acknowledging those who see the matters differently than you do. You're to go beyond that. Instead, he's saying, we should choose willingly to receive that person into our circle of friends. We should receive them into our hearts. Rather than criticizing them, rather than condemning them for believing that, or see, or because you see that disputable issue differently than, than I do, okay?

Um, Paul is encouraging the strong to say, you know what? You're my brother in Christ. You are my sister in Christ. And I love you. I love you. And, and if you would rather not eat that, then don't eat that. It's, it's okay, you know? And if it's important for you to go to this Jewish event or celebrate this Jewish holiday, I tell you what, I'll go with you. I'll go with you, okay?

And this goes beyond merely tolerating them or rolling your eyes at them and going, oh gosh, you know, all these things. It goes beyond all that to choose to intentionally love this brother or sister and truly pursue a relationship of love.

It's not just tolerating them or putting up with them. It's not just tolerating them or putting up with them. It goes beyond all that. Again, because of the gospel, whenever there's the potential for disagreement or division over disputable matters, Paul is saying that believers in Christ are to willingly and intentionally choose a relationship of love with one another.

Instead of just focusing on yourself and your own preferences. This is big. This is big, okay? And we, we, we hear this, but we all, if we're really honest, we know it's not always that easy, is it? It's not always that easy.

This idea of bearing, bearing with the failings of the weak and, and pleasing our neighbor for his good. It sounds, it, to me, it sounds difficult, you know, if I'm going to be honest, but this is where I want to go back a little bit into scripture because Paul's going to address this matter in a little bit more practical detail and we can see how we're able to do this.

And the first thing that Paul is going to say when we're trying to navigate how to deal with these disputable matters, Paul says, the first thing you need to remember is, listen, that, listen, God welcomed them.

God welcomed them.

God welcomed them.

Look in chapter 14, verse 1.

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

One person believes he may eat anything while the weak person eats only vegetables.

See, that just shows you, if you're a vegetarian, you're, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, don't email me, I'm just kidding, okay?

Let the one who eats despise the one who abstains, let the one who abstains, who abstains pass, let no one, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

God has welcomed him.

You know, so how should I, how should I view this person who's in front of me when there, with some varying different views, believes differently on some of these minor league issues?

Paul's saying, we're to welcome them.

Well, why?

Because God welcomed them.

God welcomed them.

Is it all right for any of us to, to reject someone that God has welcomed?

I don't think so.

You have the right to reject that person, even though they have, they have faith in the Lord, they have come through salvation just like you, and you have the right to reject them?

Paul also goes on to say, not only that, but remember that Jesus died and rose to be Lord.

Jesus died and rose to be Lord.

Look at verse 4.

Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?

It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Look down at verse 9.

For to this end, Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Paul is telling us that because Jesus...

And guess what? They're not responsible for you either. We're responsible to Jesus. We are responsible to Jesus. All of us. He is Lord. So Paul says, look, God's welcomed him. God's welcomed him. And Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. But the next thing he says you need to remember is that we are all family. We are all family. Look at the beginning of verse 10. Why do you pass judgment on your brother?

On your brother? On your brother? Or you? Why you despise your brother? Despite our differences, we are family. If we're in the family of God and that relationship should supersede my individual preferences. That relationship should supersede my individual preferences. You are my brother in Christ. You are my sister in Christ.

Next, Paul says, you also need to remember that there's only one judge. And guess what? It ain't you. It ain't you. Look at the rest of verse 10 there.

For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God, for it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God.

So then each of us will give an account of himself to the pastor. No. To the elders. No. To your mama. No. To God. You will give an account. Paul is plainly saying there is one judge. There is someone that each person is going to give an answer to. And guess what? It ain't you. It is not you.

We have no right to climb on the bench and drag people before us and start issuing sentences before people and making judgments before people.

That's not our place on these disputable matters. There's only one person that occupies that place. And that is God.

God. And the last thing that Paul tells us, we're not almost done, but the last thing he tells us in this, I just wanted to get your hopes up too high, okay, is that we have to remember when we're trying to navigate on how to bear the failings of the weak.

He says, listen, listen, love is more important than getting what you want.

Love is more important than getting what you want.

Look at verse 13 of chapter 14.

Therefore, let us 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 a brother.

I know and I am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself.

But if it is unclean for anyone who thinks it's unclean, I'm sorry, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it's he's unclean.

For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love by what you eat.

Do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.

You know, maybe it's me.

I don't know.

But sometimes I find myself when I get in a situation over these disputable matters, these issues that really are not a hill to die on.

People who look at these things differently than I do, these things that are not a hill to die on.

Sometimes it's real quickly for me to just go, are you serious?

You are such a fool if you believe that.

You know, in my mind, I don't say that to them.

But it's hard not to go there sometimes.

Really?

That's what you believe?

You know, wow, you're making a mountain out of that.

You're going to make all those decisions.

To my shame, my mind goes there.

But Paul is telling us in these passages that love is more important than getting our way.

Love is more important.

Or having our opinion where we're making our preference stand in front of that brother and sister.

Okay?

And when we do that, we don't do that because by doing that, we can wound them.

We can wound them.

And maybe some of you can bear witness to that.

Maybe you have been wounded by people who have made this the authority.

And if you don't succumb to that, then you are a sorry person.

It's a non-negotiable.

It's one of those...

Don't you think that's what we're saying.

Don't you think that's what we're saying.

Don't you think that's what we're saying.

Don't you think that's what we're saying.

the

And I was in charge of an event that was going to be taking place. And I had a team of about, I don't know, three or four people that were going to help me with this. And we were going to have a meeting one night. And there was a Starbucks that was located close to everyone's neighborhood. And I sent an email out to everybody that was on the team. Hey, guys, we're going to have a meeting tonight, 7 o'clock. See you at Starbucks. Well, one of the ladies that was on the team, she called me. She says, Hey, Brother Curtis, I just want to let you know, I just can't be a part of this anymore. I was like, what? What in the world happened?

I mean, I thought everything was okay. Well, the lady, this lady that was on our team, she had concerns about Starbucks. She didn't like some of the decisions that Starbucks was making. She didn't like where they were going with that. And she had decided for herself that she was no longer going to be a customer of Starbucks. That was her. Okay. And so for me, the decision was simple. We'll just change locations. We'll meet somewhere else.

I was not going to get up there and pounding her about how she was being legalistic. No, that was okay. All right. That's great. So we change because I didn't want to wound my sister in Christ. That was easy. Is it not? But so many of us, that'll be the hill we die. I'll show them. We can be where we want. No, we have to be a witness in Starbucks. We got to be a witness in Starbucks. So you better show it. If you don't, your faith is not show people.

Show me in second opinions where that's written. Show me that. I think Paul is very, very clear as believers in Christ because of the gospel people because of the gospel. Whenever there is potential for division, we are to choose a relationship, a love relationship with one another rather than pursue or prioritize our own preferences in our own ways.

I mean, Paul's been pretty clear on this. First of all, God's welcomed them. Number one, Jesus is Lord over all of them. He's, he's, he's shown us that. Okay. We're family. We're not supposed to judge one another. And then love is, love is more important than getting our own way. Again, not hard to understand, but again, very hard to do sometimes. I get that. That's, um, um, and I mean, in the example that I gave

you about the lady at Starbucks, that's a real easy do, easy fix. It's not always that easy. I get that. But, um, you know, we have our preferences

because that's what we prefer. Yeah. Well, I prefer that. That's why it's my preference. Sometimes you get to build a bridge and get over yourself.

You know, it's not always, I, it's not always an easy thing. This whole idea of laying down our own preferences in order to love our brother and sister. It almost, it almost rubs against our independence. It's America, man. I do what I want. It's America. I got, I got to lay this down to love you. Come on, man. It's America. You, you rise up to me. Come to my understanding of things, right?

Right? That's why I love where Paul goes next to help us understand the difficulty and the challenge of setting aside our preferences in order to love our brother and sister, to love one another. In Romans 15, in Romans 15, three, Paul does this straight up. I'll just point him to Jesus. There you go. You want to know the reasons why I just point him straight to Jesus. Look at verse three.

For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. Jesus, out of love for me and out of love for you and out of the willingness to surrender to the father's rescue plan.

Okay? He gave up the inexpressible glories of heaven, okay? He gave up the inexpressible glories of heaven and he came into this dumpster fire called humanity.

The king of kings, God himself, came into this dumpster fire of humanity for you and for me.

I mean, that's just unbelievable.

Mark 10, 45 says, the son of man did not come to be served, but to be a servant and to give his life as a ransom for many.

To give his life, okay?

And what this is saying is that I know this issue of setting...

...to save up to save us. So how in the world are you saying, this is too hard for me to love my...this is too hard for me to give this up? This disputable matter. Really? And you're gonna say you have the love of Christ in your heart and in your life? But it'll make me feel better if I hit the send button. There we go. Okay, but I love ya. Jesus gave up praise.

...he gave up sitting at the right hand at that moment. And He came to a place where the reproaches that we should have endured were placed on Him. He took them. He took them on our behalf, okay? He goes to the cross where He was cursed. He was beaten. He was mocked. He was spit upon. And He did all of this, why? So that He could rescue us. He could rescue us.

And Paul says, look to Jesus. Look to Him. The gospel is not just some of these doctrinal points that we should know in our minds. We should know these things mentally. I mean, it is that. But the gospel is also a path for us to walk relationally with one another. With one another.

It helps us to remember that we can give up this thing that's so important to us because of all the things that Jesus gave up in order to be our Savior.

And in this last little section here, Paul is going to show how the brothers and sisters are to relate to one another with these disputable matters in view.

Romans 15, verse 5.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may, with one voice, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I love, I just love the description here of the ultimate goal.

That's what He gives us.

When we come together, when we come together, when we come together in harmony with one another, in accord with Christ, the outcome of that, the results of that is together with one voice, we are doing what?

Glorifying the Lord.

We are glorifying the Lord.

You know, Sunday mornings, we have an amazing worship here.

If it was a regular Sunday morning, we'd have Rob right here on the acoustic guitar.

Shannon's over here on the keyboards.

Usually Chuck's over here playing the bass.

And then you've got Steve over here on the electric guitar.

You've got Q beating the skins in there.

Okay?

All of them make different sounds, different sounds.

You have somebody singing a lead.

You have somebody singing a harmony.

But the first thing before they ever practice, before they ever play, what do they do?

You've got to tune first.

Because if you're not in tune, if you're not in tune, and you're singing, then guess what?

You're vocally, you're not singing in the right key, then your harmony's off.

Nobody wants to hear that.

I mean, you've been there, you've heard that, and you're like, that ain't good.

That ain't good.

But they've got to be in tune, right?

Listen, with an orchestra.

When an orchestra gets in tune, you have this massive orchestra.

The orchestra gets in tune with the oboe player.

Did you know that?

The oboe, the oboe player plays one note.

And every other person in the orchestra tunes to that one oboe note right there.

Why?

Because they find out that the oboe sound is consistent, and it never changes.

The oboe is not affected by humidity.

It's not affected by temperature, like all these other instruments.

And so when he plays that one note, everyone else tunes to that one specific note.

As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to be in harmony with one another.

In one accord with who?

Jesus.

In one accord with Jesus.

The scripture tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, as he is today, as he is tomorrow, as he is forevermore.

He's not going to change.

He's the best oboe we got.

Amen.

Amen.

in Christ. Well, what about the world? Let's not worry about the world. Let's get it right in here right now. And then the world, like I told you last week, the world hears what we believe about Jesus by what we say, but they see what we believe about Jesus by the way that we love one another. And when they see a bunch of old cranky people that are listening to the violinist, not the oboe player, they know we're all out of tune.

And everybody's playing. That's the problem with the church today. Everybody wants to play their own song. I want to play my own song. I want to do my own thing. I'm going to ask the church to follow me in this. No, that's not in accordance with Christ. In accordance with Jesus. In one accord. That's the win. That's the win. Because when we do that together with one voice,

we're bringing honor and glory to God. And that's the win. The win is not that we all come together and agree on homeschool. That we all come together and agree on this and that and the other. All these other issues. Whether or not we're supposed to wear a tie. Whether or not we sing the hymns. Whether or not...

Jesus has to be up there pulling out his eternal hair.

Who told them this?

And Satan is over there going, I don't know.

I just whispered a couple of things and people followed me.

I just got the ball rolling.

And watched them all play.

It's like our little kid at the house right now that we have.

You know, I just roll the ball.

He just...

I can do that all day long.

I'll just roll it.

He'll just chase it.

He'll just chase it.

Brings it back there.

Oh no, the ball went this way now.

Go that way.

Man.

We're not in accord with Christ.

And we're not living out the true gospel.

We're not living out the true gospel.

The win is that together with one voice, even though we may disagree on some minor issues,

we agree on the majors.

And with one voice together, we are bringing glory to God.

So what do people see when they look at our church?

The people of this church.

You know, it is my hope and it is my prayer that they see that although we may not agree together

on all these issues, on all these minor issues, these secondary things,

but they see that we agree on one thing.

That Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

And salvation...

Hear me out there if you're listening online.

Salvation is available to anyone in His name.

In His name.

That's what we agree on.

And so let's go home on this, that therefore, verse 7,

welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God.

And as we tackle these one another's in the scriptures, you know,

this is what I want you to know.

Whether it is to love one another like we talked about last week,

whether or not we're to live in harmony with one another like we talked about today,

the only way that we are able to relate and engage with one another,

no matter what the one another command might be, okay?

No matter what that one another command might be,

the only way that we are able to relate and engage with one another

is always measured by and always fueled by the way Jesus,

through the gospel, has engaged with us.

The way Jesus, through the gospel, has engaged with us.

So we love as Jesus has loved us, 1 John 3, right?

And we welcome one another because we have been welcomed by God, Romans 15.

And I believe next week we'll probably be looking at we forgive one another

because He has forgiven us, Colossians 3.

You with me?

I mean, Jesus and the gospel is always the fuel,

is always the measure,

is always the standard of how we engage and relate to one another.

Christ in me, Christ in me,

Christ in me.

I'm not going to sit here and repeat three or four points on my sermon to remind you of the sermon, like I do too many times. And then go off into another sermon. Good morning, sweetheart.

I'm just going to speak a benediction over you with the words that we read today with a couple of verses. And I pray that they see it in your heart. I pray that they bring about change. And I pray that we know what it really means to love one another well.

With all the one another commands that we're going to look at. A handful. I don't know. Two more. One more. I don't really care.

Because I think this is important for us to get this down. The importance of one another. The importance of one another.

Let's stand.

May the God of endurance and encouragement

Amen.