Jesus Has A Prayer Request | Student Pastor Zach Hammond

John chapter 17 tonight. Honor each and every one of you. Just as this morning, I see uh some guests here tonight. We honor each and every one of you. And thank you for being in the house, the house of the Lord, and worshiping with us. We hope that you make yourself right at home. And if you're wondering um maybe why and what is going on, this is a Pentecostal church. And we believe an outward demonstration of expression unto our God. Amen. You might see somebody dance. You might see somebody shout. You might see somebody lose seemingly control of their body. Um, but that's just them just remembering how good God has been to them. And you don't know like I know what God has done for me. And so don't dare judge that person that takes off running. Don't dare judge that person that takes off spinning and shouting and they lose control because they once were a mess. You see? And I don't know about you, but I if it wasn't for God and if it wasn't for his mercy, I wouldn't be here tonight. Amen. And there goes I. Whatever you would deem as the worst of sinners without the mercy and the grace of God. So, we're all just a bunch of sinners saved by grace here tonight. Amen. >> We're all just here just thanking God that if it wasn't for him, I don't know where I don't know where I'd be. And God has done so much. God has done so much for me. I'm thankful, like I said this morning, to be a part of the church. And I'm thankful to have a daysman. Amen. Anybody thankful for a mediator? Mediator this morning. I'm thankful for the souls that received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I'm thankful for the souls that lives were changed this morning. Come on. That's what it's all about. That's why we're here. Amen. If you're here tonight, you want to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. We have everything that you need to be baptized tonight. Everything. Everything you need. All we need is a willing vessel. Amen. And I believe God wants to do that in somebody's life tonight. John 17 and verse number 21 says, "They that all that they all may be one." Everybody say one. >> One. >> That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee. That they also may be one in us. that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. I want to preach to you for just a few moments. This is the final prayer request of Jesus. And so I I know that God has done so much for us. He's been faithful. He's been true. I've never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread. I've never He's never failed me one time. God's always been there and he's done so much for me. I want to bring before you tonight a request. Jesus has a prayer request. I know we lifted hands tonight. We had a lot of requests, but Jesus has a prayer request tonight. Why don't you uh shake hands with somebody next to them? Tell them it's good to see them in the house of the Lord tonight. Tell them, say, "Jesus has got a request of you." Come on, turn to that person you ignored on the other side of you. Tell them, say, Jesus has got a request of you. Jesus has, you can be seated. Jesus has a prayer request. Jesus is praying here in John 17. He says that they all may be one. Now, this is not just um this is not just a a request. Um this is something I feel like that the church, we the church, we the body of Christ have the unique ability to fulfill this prayer request. We can't fulfill this prayer request alone. You can't fulfill this prayer request individually. You can only answer the prayer requests of Jesus through the church, through the body of Christ. The church's greatest power lies in unity. Everybody say, "Unity." >> What about prayer? It's not as powerful as unified prayer. What about my worship? It's not as powerful as unified worship. at the Tower of Babel in the Old Testament. Absolutely anything we see is impossible to humanity that is unified. We see that absolutely anything is impossible for mankind if they are fitly joined together if they are in one accord and one mind that they can achieve absolutely anything. And so what encourages me tonight is to know that people with the wrong motive unified could accomplish anything that people that are led and filled of the Holy Ghost that we all now being back confounded into one language of the Holy Ghost. We can now bind together in unity and know there's no telling what could happen if a bunch of Holy Ghost fililled people decide to get in one mind and one accord. And so the request Jesus has is could they all be one? in the midst of a bunch of of followers that sad to say are are kind of bickering and complaining and and and that sort of thing, he's asking a question that is not necessarily being obeyed at the moment, but he's he's asking, could the people of God just be united? >> Could we just love one another? Could we just care for one another? Genesis 11 and 6. And the Lord said, "Behold, the people is one." He's talking about here at the Tower of Babel. And they all one language and this they begin to do and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do. >> These are people that that they're trying to do something. This is not a command of God. This is not the will of God. This is not the plan of God. How much the more could we bind together tonight, Brother Landry, and say, "Hey, I'm going to agree with you and you're going to agree with somebody across the aisle." And all of a sudden we become in one mind and one accord that anything is possible. >> Somebody shout unity. >> We understand that the people of God were divided. They were they were divided in the languages of that day. That's where it began that you have someone that speaks this language and that language. But obviously you've heard it taught. But let's just remind ourselves tonight. Pentecost brought the gathering. The Pentecost brought the people of God and brought us all back to one language of the Holy Ghost, that evidence, that language that we don't understand. It unites us in the promise, that new covenant, that greater promise that we talked about this morning. And so, behold, how good and pleasant it is when the people of God dwell in unity. So it's it's a it's it's a powerful thing and it's the final request of Jesus Christ. Everything that he just did, he was he was crucified, he was buried, he rose again, he showed himself alive, he did all the things that he did and his request before he is taken up into glory is could you all just be unified? Could you all just be one? And so we see this tactic. We see this idea and this the usage of this not only in all of our history and we could go after story after story after story, but I want to look at an Old Testament story for just a few moments tonight. And I promise you I will not be long tonight. But Saul was living Saul was living in the Old Testament as a farmer. 1st Samuel chapter 11, if you want to turn there and look at this with me, says Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. He had been plowing. He had been working the field and and uh in verse number five says upon hearing the desperate report from Jabbashgilead which you got to understand here this this report from Jabbash Gilead was a threat to them. It was a threat of uh of humiliation by oppression from Nahash by of the Ammonites. And we see that in 1st Samuel 11 and verse number five. And Saul's response. And behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field. And Saul said, "What athleteth the people, and why do they weep?" And he told him the tidings, the report of these men, and this this messenger that had come from Jabash. And the spirit of God came upon Saul. The spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard these tidings and his anger was greatly kindled. He gets frustrated. He gets mad. He hears this threat. He sees that the people of God are worried. They're fearful. They're they're scared. They're they're weeping. And so Saul, he gets upset and he he he's he's kindled. It says his anger is kindled greatly. And so he takes the yoke of oxen. See this with me? He takes the yoke of oxen that he is plowing behind. That's two oxen. They're yolked together. He's farming the field. He takes these this two this yolk of ox and he hued them into pieces. He cuts them up, chops them up. Now, this is just no small feat. These are massive animals. He cuts the oxen up into a bunch of pieces. Now, this is this gets kind of odd. All right. He cuts them up into pieces, and he sent them throughout all the coast of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, "Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto your oxen." And the fear of the Lord fell upon the people. And look at what this says. And they came out with one consent. Now, this is unique. and and and many would tie this. There's a story also in the Old Testament where you know in the book of Judges, there's some wild things happen in the book of Judges. Be careful reading the book of Judges. Every man did what was right in his own eyes in the book of Judges. All right? It's rated PG-13. You got to be careful. They did this with a a woman, not an ox. They cut her into pieces. He sent one to every tribe as a threat, but it was a civil war that was going on. It was a battle within. Saul uses this tactic with an ox because what he's trying to prove to the people that is if we don't get back unified that there's no reason for you to be plowing because there's not going to be anything to harvest. They're going to take our land. >> And so he takes and he he he cuts these oxen up and he sends them out and all of a sudden these people they they kind of get they kind they kind of get a little bit of a wakeup call. I mean I I don't know if you can kind of see the picture with me. I don't know if he put it in a box. I don't know if it came FedEx or UPS. I don't know how it got there, but can you imagine? You know, they come they come, they they they throw the flap back on the tent and in walks a messenger with an ox tail, you know, cuz I would probably be the one that gets the tail, you know? Huh? And somebody walks in with a big old ox head, a leg. Huh? Somebody's got a hip just comes in carrying a big, you know, a big old shoulder of an ox and the message is this is what your ox is going to look like if you don't gather together and get get unified. He's trying to pull the tribes, this is God's people, back together. He's trying to get them all back together in one consent. But he had to give them a wakeup call. And oh, what a power. I know when we preach about Saul, most of the time Saul is never depicted as necessarily, but this is this is a pretty powerful and and and and God I mean he was moved on by the spirit it says and anger. This is a powerful leadership move by Paul to get to by Saul to get everybody back into unity. We see this is he says if we don't unify there's there's no reason for you to to have a yoke of oxin. this is what we're going to do to yours or this is what the enemy is going to do to yours if you don't get unified, if you don't get together. And so I I I've come to maybe preach to you tonight and let you realize that if we don't stay unified, there's no reason for us to come in and keep plowing because we're going to divide ourselves among ourselves. >> We'll destroy ourselves from within. We don't have to worry about an adversary. We don't have to worry about a world or a culture. We will never be effective and we will never fulfill the kingdom of God that brother Sullivan was just talking about. It's a kingdom that can advance. But I got to stay one not only with God but with my brother. >> We used to sing it in Sunday school. You're my brother. You're my sister. So take me by the hand. >> Together we will work until he comes. That's still the fulfillment of the kingdom. It is not just about me and Jesus and my family and I'm going to come into church and just make sure that me and my and I get to the end of the week and everything's okay. No, it's about somebody else, too. >> It's about your neighbor that's lost. It's about your loved one across the aisle. It's about those people who wrecked their lives and made bad decisions. And yes, we're not all perfect. Everybody's going through a season. Everybody's got issues. But it I God help us that we don't have to kill the oxen for us to all come together. >> God help us that the man of God doesn't have to stop doing what he's supposed to be doing in plowing. >> Can I preach to the church for a few moments tonight? There are too many churches that aren't growing because all the man of God is doing is trying to keep the people in the church happy with one another. >> That this one's fighting that one and this one's mad at that one and this one can't sit over here because this one's sitting over here and they parked in my spot and they sat in my seat and God help us. He kills his oxen, try to bring them back together. Saul makes a move. He makes a move that says unity is more important than me seeing this this happen right here. I can keep plowing, but I got to get us together. I got to get us unified. We're not going to be effective in the harvest. Nobody's want to going to want to be a part of something that's divided. >> Nobody's going to want to come and they come and look and say, "Hey, all I hear is them devouring one another. Why would I want to be a part of that? I can do that down at the country club. I can do that down at >> I'm already a part of a world that hates one another." >> They could come in and feel the love of God. they could feel something that's real. >> And so what Saul exercises in the Old Testament in 1st Samuel 11, we see Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12, for as the body is one and hath many members. And all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit, that's the Holy Ghost. By one spirit, we are also baptized into one body. Whether we be Jew or Gentile, whether we be bond or free, have been we've all been made to drink into one spirit. We are a oneness church. >> We are a oneness church. I know we'll get all hoppy on one Lord and one faith and one baptism and we better. That's who we are. That's the foundation. That's the cornerstone. That's our identity. Am I in an apostolic church tonight? There is one Lord. There is one faith. And there is one baptism. There is one way. That's who we are. That's the way. That's the foundation of who we are. But God forbid we be so passionate about the doctrine, but lack passion about the oneness of the unity >> of the body of Christ. Not bond nor free. If you're addicted, if you're broke, if you're messed up, no matter if they were the ones, you were the one that was hurt by them. All brought into one spirit. For the body is not one is not one member but many. If the foot Paul gets cute here, if the foot shall say because I am not of the hand, I am not of the body. It is therefore not of the body. Question. And if the ear say because I am not the eye, I'm not of the body and therefore not of the body. If the whole body were an eye, how would we hear? I I I I I travel enough that I see spiritually churches that operate this way. >> A lot of eyes, no ears, >> huh? >> Then a lot of ears and no eyes. It's like, can you not see that? They ask obvious questions. It's pretty plain and simple right there. But they lack parts. They lack vision. They lack hearing. They lack action. They lack reaching. They're missing a limb. They're missing a body part. There there's something that's off. And you could see it there. There's there's bodies and there's people and there's gatherings that are limping around that are lame. He says here, "The whole body were an eye. How could we hear? If the whole body were hearing, what were h how would we smell? But now hath God set the members, every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. I don't know if you've ever heard brother JH Osbbor, but one of the most unique openings he ever has ever has given is one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. He starts talking about your nose and as only brother Osburn could do he he would start talking about brother Kelly what if your nose was over here on your hip got a whole different perspective of sense smelling totally different things. What if just one part of your body was positioned somewhere else? He specifically placed your nose right here that you could smell something before you put it in your mouth. You know those people at the restaurant, they're over there sniffing their food, what y'all doing? >> Huh? It's natural. Do you want to know what it smells like before you put it in your mouth? Right? It's position. The eye can't say to the hand, "I have no need of thee." Nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need for you. today much more those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary right they are necessary there's small parts of your body you get rid of it and see how life changes >> huh get rid of that thumb and try to take your contacts out yeah get rid of that thumb and try to throw a baseball that thumb is something that you have to have. It's opposition to the other four fingers. It creates productivity. But something so small can seem so meaningless that oh, we can just do without them. No, no, no. That's the body of Christ. I'm here I'm here to declare to every person under the sound of my voice, maybe you're not even here tonight. Maybe the devil's convinced you to stay home, but you are needed in the body of Christ. Every person in this room plays a part in the kingdom advancement of God doing what he wants to do right here in Maraveville, Tennessee. Every person's need I just feel like I just go. No, you are playing a part in advancing the kingdom. And God forbid and God help the person that's ever made you feel like that you weren't a part of the body. God help the person who ever looked at that foot and looked at that toe that's kind of sticking off to the side, you know, said, "We don't need you." Yeah. Get rid of it and see how you feel. It's those things that that I have seen time and time again that this kind of comical analogy that Paul uses. We act like there's certain parts that have no need. But God hath temp tempered the body together, perfectly fit together, having given more abundant honor to the part which lacked, that there would be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for uh another. Every single one of us, I I don't care more for you than I do the personality. I don't care. No, I get it that you have friends. I get it that you have more in common with other people. But that shouldn't change the fact that you care and love for every person in the body of Christ where they're different. You're different. We're all different. We all got our weird, you know, things about ourselves. We've all got those days. We've all got personality flaws. God, help us. I want to fulfill the prayer request of Jesus that we be one. And what when this is where it gets so powerful, care for one another. Verse 26. And whether one's member suffer, all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. >> That's the body of Christ. When one suffers, we all suffer. When one hurts, we all hurt. When one is in pain and going through something, we are to bear one another's burdens. >> It's a commandment. It's not the responsibility of somebody else. It's not they'll take care of it or this one to do it. When somebody's going through something, what's the how hard is it to send a text and say, "Man, I'm praying for you." Oh, how easy it is to point your finger and say, "Oh, their marriage sure is going through it, or this is going through it, or their kids are sure acting a fool, or man, this has got to be going." You know, >> how about walking in a room and thinking about somebody other than yourself? How about thinking about what what what would it mean to that person to get a random text from you on a Tuesday say, "Hey man, I had prayer this morning and I just thought about you. Pray for you and your family." That's the body of Christ. Oh Lord, use that phone for something that unifies because God knows it's doing a lot to divide. Unity, Paul describes, does not mean uniformity. 1 Peter 2:5, you also as lively stones are built up in a spiritual house and a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. We're not all just bricks. We're not all hands. We're not all eyes. We're not He said, "You're like a stone that you've been carved out. You've been not all stones are the same, but they all fit together perfectly. You are unique. We've talked about it before. Your voice is unique. Your voice is so unique that when when you you come up and you start praying, it may mean more to that person than me praying. >> That's the body of Christ. You you're you're unique. You're different. You add something. You've been through something. The the container flavors the content. >> Some of you can pray with a story I don't have. >> That Coke tastes better out of a glass bottle. >> Huh? >> I know a lot of you are healthy. Ain't be drinking no Coke, but you got to admit it tastes better out of a b a glass bottle than maybe a can. But then that plastic bottle is just like the last resort, right? Huh? The container flavors the content. It's probably why we all, you know, everybody's suffering from all kind of crazy stuff. It It flavors it. Probably getting on it or something, you know. Sorry. Um, those of you that know me know I don't care, so I'm not trying to get into any conspiracy things or nothing, but it flavors the content. What my point is is some of you have been through things that I've not been through, your neighbors not been through. And so when you come in and your voice not only resonates as unique as anybody else's voice in this room, it's unique to you, but it also it also speaks your story. It pours out a different a different flavor of that same spirit. It has some it just has a a different vibration to it. It has a different feel to it. It affects that person more because they know that person has lost a loved one that's praying for me. That person has been through cancer that is praying for me. That person was lost and was addicted and was broken that's talking to me in the altar. And so it resonates because we're all unique and we're all fitly framed together by the master craftsman and servantthood and serving one another is the magnet that attracts people. It's the it's the most effective way to sing the see the kingdom of God go forth is for a world a broken world to see the people of God serving one another and serving people that can do nothing for them. Loving one another. It's the prayer request. It's the prayer request of Jesus. Let me let me give you a little bit of a visual tonight. This is what This is what it looks like. Saul, he says, "I'm going to cut up this oxen." Paul says, "It's a body fitly framed together." Is anybody Is there anybody in here that got that that could help me could help me put this guy back together? Anybody in here's got Hey, there we go. What you got, Landry? Do you know >> an arm? I was hoping you knew you graduated from ACA. I don't know. That's a big hand. >> That's a arm. Yes, that's a arm. Yeah, I think so. Let's Let's put him here. Let's put him up here. Let's put him up here. Bring it bring it up here. Anybody else got anything they can help me out with, Here we go, Preston. What do you got, >> man? He's got a bone to pick with me. He said, "That's good. That's good." I I don't I don't know if we need that. Just just just hold on. Let me see what Let me see what she's got. She got a foot. We need that. That's going to keep us in balance. What is this, Sister Ashley? This a leg. All right. We need some legs. And and and we're trying this. This is what it looked like when the children of Israel showed up and everybody's got a piece. Everybody You got a head of a oxen. You got a head of a You know, we got we got this. Let's try to put this thing. Here we go. Here we go. Hey, there we go. We got another one of those random random pieces. Let's see. This is another arm. Landry, make sure I'm doing this right. What we got? This leg's in two pieces, I guess. Looks pretty good. What if what if we just decided we don't we don't need this guy's got a bone to pick me pick with me. I I don't I don't it kind of offensive that's offensive to me. No, don't do you know no matter if if all the tribes come together and they brought their piece of the oxen if Paul Paul's description if the whole body comes together but we're missing an eye we're missing a foot in this case we're missing a main part of the leg This body is not going to fulfill its God-given potential. >> Are you with me? >> And so tonight, all I'm trying to describe to you is let you understand is when you just all of a sudden decide to recluse yourself and say, "Ah, I just don't feel needed. I'm just going to stop doing what I've always done. I just don't feel aso as important as I used to." any any lie that the devil has told you or somebody has made you feel a certain way, I I I'm here to silence that tonight >> and to tell you every single person in this room is a part of this body. And you are more needed in this last day revival, in this last day harvest than ever before. We need you. I need you. You need me. We need each other. We're all a part of the body of Christ. Come on. If you're thankful for the church, would you just lift up a praise right now? Thank you all so much. Come on, lift up a praise. All right. I'm thankful for my brother. I'm thankful for my sister. So thankful. So thankful. So thankful. We got some feet. I'm thankful for a Kenny Johnson. Thankful for Brother White, the team. You guys, you're running those vans. You're you're you're going out and picking up people. It's needful. Reaching, reaching, reaching. You know, we've got people that you never see in this entire service that are up there in a booth making sure that everything in this room is reaching across a globe. And we'll get texts tonight from the Philippines. We'll get texts and messages online from down in Chile. We'll get texts tonight of somebody's life being changed. And somebody, oh, I was watching you all. I've been watching you all for years. Or we had people here this morning says, I watch you all every Sunday morning before we go to church. And this, what are we doing? That's a part of the body of Christ. We are reaching through the worldwide web. We're saying, uh, just anybody that wants to tap in here, anybody that wants to Every part of the body of Christ is essential. It's needed. It's It's so perfect to see how God works. Proverbs 6 says, "These six things does the Lord hate." Everybody say, "The Lord hates it. That means I don't want nothing to do with it. Six things the Lord hates. Seven are an abomination unto him. A little 67 going on. Please take that off the internet. Sorry. I don't ever want anybody to hear me say that. Six things the Lord hates. Seven are an abomination unto him. He says, "A proud look." A proud look. You know, humility looks good on everybody. It's a one-sizefits-all. I've never seen that coat not look great on anybody. A proud look. He said he hates a lying tongue. We're never more like the devil than when we lie. And we're also never more like him than when we believe his lies. And hands that shed innocent blood. and a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that run swift to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies. That's six. The last one, he that sweth discord among the brother. The reason it's his last request is he can't stand it when the people of God are fighting one another. Got something in their heart against one another. Always got drama. Always got issue. Can I tell you tonight that temptation, sure, it's killed and caused spiritual spiritual harm to thousands. But could I say that this unity disunityity has killed its tens of thousands? It's the little fox. And sadly, it's the newborns. It's the babes in Christ that get tread under the feet of the people in the church that are fighting. No one's ever left the church because of God. No one's ever left the church because his mercy wasn't enough. No one's ever left the church because God just wasn't good enough for them. They left the church because they felt like they were hurt by somebody in the church. And I understand that's that's kind of a terrible way of looking at it. People are going to hurt you no matter where you're at. You're going to be harmed no matter where you're at. There's going to be hypocrites. There's going to be people that are struggling. There's going to be hurt people, so they're going to hurt people. You've heard it said, you know, but that doesn't mean that we don't stop trying. That doesn't mean that we are we're too big not to say, "I'm sorry." Hey, I didn't I didn't mean that to come across that way. I didn't mean to offend you. that keeps the tribes from all getting disassembled and the man of God having to kill the ox and send out the parts to get them all in one consent. God's reputation can be ruined because of disunityity. Romans 2 and verse number 23, Paul says, "Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law dishonest thou God. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you as it is written. It's like I once read a quote that Gandhi wrote said, "I would have become a Christian were it not for observing Christians." If you're not going to act and react like a Christian, please don't tell anybody you are one. Right? When you're blessing somebody out in the drive-thru, please don't have a bumper sticker with First Apostolic Church on it. Amen. >> It it's it's the disunityity of the people that call themselves the body of Christ that has caused other people not to want to fitly join themselves into it. It's the one thing that is repulsive. And if we can remain unified, I tell people all the time, if we can remain in unity, I know there may be certain things you don't agree on and you don't do it exactly the same way and this and and and if we can we can stay out of the out of the areas of of just like those things don't matter. We can agree on the things that do matter, the things that are eternal, and stay unified. We got to speak the same thing. We got to love one another. We got to be big enough to be able to disagree. Unity is a priority. Unity is a priority. We can't have folks that are that are that that are that are that are leaving and going home and have issues in their heart against somebody else. And you can just you've learned to live with it. You've learned years have gone by and you've got things in your heart against somebody that is not the will of God. We do all these things in the church. Offerings, prayer, and worship, and I love all these things. Offering is mentioned 265 times in the Bible. Fasting is mentioned over a hundred times in the Bible. Prayer is mentioned over a hundred times in the Bible. Worship's mentioned over a hundred times in the Bible. But the word together is mentioned over 485 times in your Bible. gathered together. Mentioned over 200 times in your Bible. Why? Because it's not God's will for you to just have something. It's God's will for you to share it. It's God's will for you to Oh, I'm full of the Holy Ghost. Where is the fruit of that spirit? The fruit of that spirit is shown by loving one another. What is love if it's not expressed? peace, joy, goodness, gentleness, all these things are exampled through our covenant with one another. >> God is a is a perfect example towards us, but who are we showing it to? It's why it was so important to Jesus. God's desires can be held captive by the limitations of our disunityity. He prayed his final prayer for the unity of the church today in the presence of some bickering and arguing disciples. Could we just be one? The world will believe in him if they can believe in us. But we can't allow disunityity to cost us our credibility. So, I'm fearful today that there's cities that have lost people in them because not that the devil has more power than man has of God's power, but because we ex we we ex we we just mess up. We expend our energies on self-promotion and our own desires and climbing the ladder making sure that we look become self-motivated. Pride is the thing that will cause you to be an arm out of joint just over here doing your own thing. Many people today they call it they call it all sorts of things and put it in the form of perhaps even the five-fold ministry but it's not subject to the body. It doesn't fall under the head of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be a part of the body. Be willing to forgive fast. Be willing to say, "I'm sorry." Don't be so quick to write people off. Can I just tell you tonight, and I'm almost done, you stand before God. You stand before God. The one thing I guarantee he's not going to say, "Man, you gave that kid too many chances." Brother Dean, there's one thing I know he's not going to say. You were just too merciful. You You let them abuse. You let them just take advantage of you. You let them just time and time again stab you in the back. You just gave them too many chances. Brother Spitzer, I I I just I I don't It's the lack of so many different things. It causes so many dysfunctional issues within the Bible. It's a hand out of joint. Jonah, he couldn't comprehend Nineveh because he couldn't comprehend mercy. These people are they're decapitating people, marching around with their heads on poles and skinning them and putting them on the wall. These people are crazy. Nahome and all the other prophets are writing about them, but why do I have to go? He didn't understand how a God would even care about such a crazy people. But if we don't look at people through the lens of mercy, we'll think nobody deserves it but us. You'll get on a boat with the people that have nothing even to do with you and you'll throw all the purpose of their life overboard while you sit there as a problem on the ship because you don't see nothing but yourself. After God does a work, he's still the book closes and he's just a selfish person reading the mystery novel of mercy trying to figure out how could God love such a wicked people. We all need mercy. But it's not just for us. It's for the person that checks you out in the in that line at Kroger, right? You can say, "Hey, you see they're going through something. You see they're having a hard day. Hey, could I pray for you? Why? Because mercy is for them just like it is for you. I'd love for you to be a part of this body. I'd love for you to experience. I'd love to be be a part of what God is doing in our life. There is one body and one spirit. Even as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith and one baptism, one God and father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. God wants us to be one. First John 4:19 in closing, the musicians can come. We love him because he first loved us. Amen. >> I love the Lord. You love the Lord tonight. >> If a man say I love God, everybody loves God. Could you just wave your hand at me if you love the Lord tonight? I know you wouldn't be here if you didn't love God, but we love the Lord. If a man says he loves God, looks like it's 100% tonight and hateth his brother, he is a liar. That that stings a little bit, right? You say, "I I love the Lord, but you you just don't understand what they did to me. You don't understand what they said to me. You don't understand how hard it is for me to try to get over. Does it matter? We are to forgive as we are forgiven. We are to love because we are loved. We are to care. We are the example. We are the mirror image of what he is doing towards us. For he that loveth not his brother whom he has seen, how can he say that he loves God whom he has not seen? And this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also. Would you stand to your feet tonight? We see it all throughout scripture, but it is a it completely divides. We preached about this morning that there is a mediator. There is a daysman that stands in the gap between me and God. He came. Job said, "There's not a there's not a daysman for this this distance that I feel and this duress and this mess that I'm in." So, we have what Job did not. And as he becomes that mediator, Jesus Christ in the new covenant, remember we talked about this morning, he said it's a greater covenant with greater promises. All the things that we get excited and sing and jump and we praise God about every promise, every covenant, every sin that he has forgiven us. His blood is why we sing about all the great things. >> Guess what? when we don't forgive and love our brother, it's all cut off. >> He even tells us in in the story says it's like when when you don't forgive and you don't love your brother, all of a sudden there's those unexpected packages that show up on your porch of everything that you've ever done, all the things that you thought you got rid of. Some of you are living in regret because not because you you can't have forgiveness, but because you won't forgive. Your issue is not with God. Your issue is that you can't live in unity one with another. So therefore, you can't be in covenant with God. So that's awful extreme. It's what the book says. It's not my opinion. This is not a self-help class that I'm not giving you my talk. He says, "If you either love one another and you're either the body of Christ, whether you're the eye, the ear, the foot, the nose, no matter your part, no matter your gifting, no matter your calling, no matter what it looks like right now, if you are stewarding this season, you are a part of the body of Christ." So I challenge you tonight. I challenge you tonight. I know we've got some guests, but the church family tonight, the way I believe God sees this is, man, you you talk about power is when we come together on Sundays and Wednesdays and we begin to pray together. We begin to worship together. We begin to do things in unity. And when we get in one accord, greater things can happen. And so tonight, I'd love for this just to become an oldfashioned prayer meeting. If we could give God about 15 minutes, could we give God about 15 minutes? Is the body of Christ worthy? About 15 minutes of the old prayer meeting style that says, "You're my brother. You're my sister. And if you're hurting tonight, we're all hurting." Huh? If you're hurting tonight, we're all hurting. If you're broken and you're going through something tonight, it is the responsibility of this church to pray for you. It is the responsibility of the body of Christ to help encourage that individual. And so, I want to show you something tonight. And again, I'm not here to embarrass anybody. But if you need the Lord tonight, you need the Lord to answer a prayer, you've got sickness in your body, you got uncertainty in your mind, you got anything that you feel like that you would love for the church to help you pray, I invite you to this front. We're not praying yet, but I invite you to this front. Just say, "I I need some help. I'd love for the church to help bear some burdens." Maybe you got a prodal son or daughter and you'd like the church to help you pray tonight. Maybe you got some sickness in your body. Maybe you got some confusion. Maybe you just need some direction on the next season of your life. Would you come around the front here for a moment? This is what the body of Christ is all about. When one hurts, when one has a need, we all have a need. Now, every single one of you that come up around the front, I wish you would just turn around. Turn around and face the congregation. Again, I'm not trying to embarrass you. Let's all do it together. We all go through seasons. We all have needs. It's not even my It's not my business what your need is. But would the rest of the church family come and would your family find another family? Would your young person would you find another young person? Would you, father, find another father? Because this is what the body of Christ is all about. If you're hurting, we're going to pray for you tonight. If you're broken, if you're in pain, if you're in need of a healing, if you're in need of help tonight, come on, make your way. Push through and find a brother, find a sister. Brother Dean, I love you tonight. God's got a plan for you. God wants to use you. God wants to touch you tonight. No matter what your burden is, no matter what troubles your mind, God's here tonight. Bear one another's burdens. Come on. Only a selfish individual would say, "Oh, well, I'm going to go ahead and check out tonight." Come on. What if it was your son that was lost? What if it was your daughter that was lost? What if you were in need of some answers? What if you were diagnosed with that disease? Come on. I invite the singers. Find find another find another person to pray with. I wish nobody in this place would be praying by themselves right now. Nobody praying alone tonight. Nobody praying alone. This is a good oldfashioned prayer meeting. It's about the body of Christ. I need you. You need each other. We need each other. Young men, we need each other. You need your youth group. Oh, that's it. We're answering the prayer of Jesus tonight. Hallelujah. Come on. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Come on. Nobody praying alone tonight. Come on, find somebody. Make your way through the crowd and find somebody. God wants to use your voice tonight. God wants to use your prayers to encourage his people. Come on. We need each other. My family needs your family. We need each other, too. Oh, this would be a perfect time to find somebody. Maybe you're at odds with somebody. Maybe you need to tell somebody you're sorry. Maybe you need to ask somebody to forgive you. We got to be right with one another. Oh, make us one. Make us one. youth group, we got to be unified. Families, we got to be unified. Come on, let's did. Lives are being touched right now through the ministry of the body. The body can heal itself through the blood of the lamb when we're in unity. Let the body do the work right now. Come on, find somebody else. Come on, find another family to minister to. Find another young person to minister to. God's working tonight. God is working tonight. Come on over for just a few more minutes. For just a few more moments, I'm asking you to pray for a brother. Pray for us, sister. Come on. That's it. That's it. This just going to be a prayer meet tonight. It's just going to be a prayer meet tonight. We're going to let the body do its work tonight. Let the body of Christ go to work tonight. We're not going to have a dismissal. We're not going to sing a song