Embracing Christ's Love: Our Unified Mission

**Bible Reading:**

1. Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'"

2. John 13:34-35 (ESV)
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

3. Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

4. 1 Corinthians 1:10 (ESV)
"I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment."

**Observation Questions:**

1. In Matthew 28:18-20, what are the specific tasks that Jesus gives to His followers?
2. How does Jesus describe His presence with His disciples in the task of making disciples?
3. According to John 13:34-35, what is the new commandment that Jesus gives, and how will it identify His disciples to others?
4. Reflecting on Ephesians 6:12, who or what are Christians said to be in a struggle against?

**Interpretation Questions:**

1. Considering the tasks given in Matthew 28:18-20, what might be some of the challenges in fulfilling this mission, and how does Jesus' promise of His presence address those challenges?
2. How does the commandment to love one another in John 13:34-35 challenge the way we interact with fellow believers, especially when we have differences?
3. In light of Ephesians 6:12, how should the understanding of our true adversary influence the way we approach conflicts within the church?
4. What does it mean to be "united in the same mind and the same judgment" as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:10, and how can this unity be achieved despite diverse backgrounds and opinions?

**Application Questions:**

1. Identify a situation this week where you can demonstrate the love Jesus commands in John 13:34-35. What specific action will you take to show this love?
2. Think of a time when you felt divided from other believers. How can you apply the principle of unity from 1 Corinthians 1:10 to reconcile and strengthen your relationships within the church community?
3. What is one way you can actively participate in the mission of making disciples as described in Matthew 28:18-20? Consider someone in your life who may benefit from learning about Jesus.
4. Reflect on a recent conflict or disagreement you had with someone. How can Ephesians 6:12 guide you to respond differently in the future, knowing who the real enemy is?
5. Choose one aspect of Christ's character, such as compassion or mercy, to intentionally embody this week. What is a practical step you can take to reflect this attribute in your daily interactions?

Day 1: Reflecting Christ's Character
The true mission of the church extends beyond the walls of tradition and denominational boundaries. It is a call to live out the character of Christ in every interaction and community engagement. This means prioritizing love, grace, generosity, justice, compassion, and mercy—the very attributes that Jesus embodied during His time on earth. As individuals and as a collective body, the focus should be on how these qualities can be reflected in daily life, influencing others not by mere words but through actions that resonate with the heart of the Gospel. The church's role is not to be a monument of the past but a movement of transformation, driven by the example of Christ Himself [54:37].

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." - John 13:35 ESV

Reflection: How can you demonstrate one of Christ's attributes, such as compassion or generosity, in a practical way to someone in your community this week?

Day 2: Embracing Our Shared Need for Jesus
Acknowledging human imperfection is essential in fostering unity within the church. Every individual comes with flaws and shortcomings, yet these do not disqualify anyone from the love and grace of Jesus. Instead, they highlight the need for a Savior. The church should be a place where people can come as they are, find acceptance, and be encouraged to look to Christ as the ultimate example. It is His love that guides believers in supporting one another, creating a community that is not based on perfection but on the shared experience of redemption and growth in faith [55:43].

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." - Galatians 6:2 ESV

Reflection: What is one burden you can help lift from a fellow believer this week, demonstrating the law of Christ?

Day 3: Uniting Against Our Common Adversary
The church must be vigilant in recognizing its true enemy—the devil, who seeks to divide and destroy. It is not fellow believers or external differences that pose the greatest threat, but the forces of darkness that operate against the purposes of God. Unity in the church is fortified when believers stand together against this common adversary, choosing to focus on the mission of sharing the Gospel and living out the love of Christ in tangible ways. This unity is not about uniformity of thought but about a collective commitment to the cause of Christ [46:00].

"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." - 1 Peter 5:8 ESV

Reflection: In what ways can you contribute to the unity of your church community by focusing on the common mission rather than on differences?

Day 4: Persevering in God's Mission
Engaging in God's mission is akin to rowing through rough waters—it requires commitment, strength, and trust in God to carry through the challenges. The journey may be fraught with difficulties, but the calling is to persevere, keeping eyes fixed on the goal. Believers are called to push forward, not in their own strength but with the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. This commitment to God's mission is what propels the church forward, even when the waters get rough [53:17].

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." - Galatians 6:9 ESV

Reflection: What is one challenge in your spiritual life where you need to persevere right now, and how can you rely on God's strength to do so?

Day 5: Experiencing and Sharing Uncommon Love
The love of God is a transformative force that transcends human understanding. It is an uncommon love that calls believers to embrace one another, regardless of background, and to walk together in faith. This love has the power to change lives and should be the hallmark of the church's presence in the world. As disciples of Christ, the mission is to not only experience this love personally but to actively share it with others, reflecting the heart of Jesus in every encounter [59:53].

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." - John 13:34 ESV

Reflection: How can you share the uncommon love of God with someone who may feel unloved or marginalized in your community today?

Hey, come on, give Jesus a hand clap. Yeah.

Hey, before you sit down, look at someone and say, "You're looking good today." I mean, even if you got to say it by faith, just say it. You know, I said in the first service, if you're a young man sitting by a young girl you're interested in, and you didn't pick up on that line right there, you messed up.

It is so good to be back at the Father's house. I love it. Love, love this church. Of course, we welcome those. They've already said we welcome those family members joining us online. They're your community. And I know that because a lot of times I'm online with them. So I see their names come up, and it's just great to be here.

Your pastors are not just friends of ours; they're literally family. They really are. All these years that we've been together, just hanging out and sharing life. You know, they stay at our house; we stay at their house. It's like we really do know one another. We kind of have the same philosophy. We don't want to run with people in ministry that we don't know personally. And so that's kind of what we have here together.

And so I know you know this, but God sent you the greatest pastors you can have right here in Leesburg all these years. Let them know. Yeah. Let them know how much you love them.

And of course, sitting on the front row over by me is my best friend and my wife. This next June will be 41 years. 41 years. And she doesn't even look 41 years old. The best-looking grandmama, we call her Gigi. Our kids call her Gigi, your grandkids. And she literally is my best friend. I would not want to do life without her.

We just love you all so much. Those of you that haven't been here when I've been here, you might want to just strap in and hang on because we never know what I'm going to say when I'm in the house. Those laughing know that that's true.

Can we just pray?

Father, we love you. We thank you for this time together. We thank you for your word. We pray, God, that you would just open everyone's hearts and minds to receive and deposit into them the things they need. God, the things that they would want to grow through and change in. Lord, we thank you for your word, and we give you the praise and the glory in Jesus' name. Everyone say amen.

Amen. I love being here on International Sunday. It's a perfect day for me because, like Austin Powers, I am an international mystery man. You don't believe me? Ask my wife. She says I'm still a mystery to her.

And someone asked me, actually Al asked me—if you all know who Al is—he asked me if I had any international jokes, and I said no. He said, "Well, since I'm Italian, let me give you one." He said, "Do you know why so many Italian men are named Tony?" And I said no. He said, "Because when we came over on the ships, they put 'two NY' on us, and we thought it was Tony."

And so let me just start this message by saying, as I put it together, I thought of many things, but I thought about challenges and crises can be so strange and so different in our life. If we can think back—and most of us can—to the day that two airplanes flew into the Twin Towers in New York, there was a time when it drew America together. American patriotism was at an all-time high. People came together; they didn't care what each other's backgrounds were. They didn't care what color their skin was. They came together as one people, one country. Come on, one race, the human race to talk about patriotism and to talk about being unified. Everyone say unified.

And then all of a sudden, we know of another crisis we can think of that happened just about four years ago. Anyone remember that thing called COVID-19? Y'all remember that? 2020 was like the year from Hades. And it had the opposite effect that 9-1-1 had. In fact, it did not unite America at all. It polarized and divided America in so many ways.

As my wife and I watched, we could not believe what we would see, where America would be divided. People mad at one another; vitriol was stinging hot. And some people said, "You've got to wear a mask; you've got to make sure you're vaccinated; you've got to make sure you stay six feet apart." And that was the tribe that was there screaming that. Then there was the other side: "No, we believe in herd immunity; we believe shutting down education and business would be the worst thing we can do."

And we found ourselves divided among ourselves as a nation. And the sad part was it didn't stop there. It came into the church world. You know, there was a time when America was established; we'd begin colonies. And what we would do is we would establish schools, and we would establish houses of worship, and they would establish the culture. But over the course of time, if we're not careful, that has changed, and the church now has taken a silent backseat. They've been quiet about what they believe, and now culture is starting to affect the church.

And so we are called, and we have a mandate as the people of God to bring forth unity. But in that season, we saw it also divide the church. There were those churches that immediately closed down. They said they should not open back up. Some said they should stay closed for two years. Then there was the other side of that coin where other Christians and pastors were screaming, "If you're not opening up, you have no faith." And we found the church divided.

Even after the months and months and months of our church closing down in Arizona, even after they lifted all those things, we still took scornful words for opening when we did. Why? Because there was—everyone say division. I don't know about you, but I do not like division. I don't like the feeling. I don't like drama. I always say save the drama for your mama. I ain't got time for it. I don't like it. It's not in my vocabulary. Can you say amen?

And just when we thought things couldn't get any worse, we had the death of George Floyd, Brianna, and some of those things that took place in our nation, which were sad, sad, sad things, and we saw a higher vitriol than ever. We saw a higher disdain than ever, right? We saw some things taking place where there was discord and disagreement and things that took place that I had never seen really in that degree of my 60 years of living in this country.

Why? Because the enemy wants to divide us. The enemy wants to destroy us. Can you say amen? And I can only imagine that during those seasons, the enemy must have been standing back laughing. The devil must have been laughing at him thinking his ploy was working to divide, but God. Come on, everyone say, "But God."

And there's the key right there that there's always a remnant of people called the church that Jesus Christ left here that we would unite together and remind the enemy that although he wants to bring division, he wants to destroy relationships, there is a binding power through the love of God through Jesus Christ that binds us together as one. Come on, everyone say as one.

The one thing Satan wants to do is divide. Why? Because he knows one thing people forget, and many Christians forget: we're better together than we are separated. We're stronger together than we are separated. We're more effective together than we are separated. When we are divided, we are weak, and we are ineffective. When we're separated, we are weak, and we are ineffective. Amen?

So I believe there should be an urgency. I think we should keep an urgency in our life to say we are one people together in God. In fact, the Bible teaches us that in Christ there is no Greek, there is no Jew, there is no male, there is no female. In the eyes of Christ, we're all one, and we're collectively equal, and we're all the same. Come on, so I celebrate you. Let's celebrate one another because God said we are one together in him.

That urgency I'm talking about with you where Paul is talking to the church of Corinth. He has this urgency in the message in his letter. He says in 1 Corinthians 1:10, "I appeal to you," and if you stop right there and look at those first three words, "I appeal to you," what he's saying is, "I beg you, I urge you, I plead with you."

Then he continues the message, "Dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to live in harmony with each other, let there be no divisions in the church; rather be of one mind united in thought and purpose." Everyone say no divisions. Everyone say one mind.

The word division there is an important word, and when you look at that, you'll see that it's talking in such a way that it's telling us that God wants us to be together, and we can see that that word division means schism. It's the Greek word schism, and it means to split, a schism, a ripping or a tearing apart.

Now understand, when he's talking about that, we're called the body of Christ. Everyone say the body of Christ. And if I had a big picture of Jesus in my hand right now, every time there would be a schism or division in the church, it's like we're taking Jesus and we're just destroying and ripping apart that picture of who he's supposed to be.

Because what he's done through his life on earth and through the word of God being left with us, he's painting a picture of who he is. He's painting a picture of who we're supposed to be. He's leaving an example of what love is all about. He's saying, "In what we do, what I do on earth, I'm now going away. I'm leaving it through you and the power of the Holy Spirit to love as I love, walk as I walk, accept as I accept, and receive as I receive those around you." Amen?

I mean, that's some hard stuff. Look at someone and say, "He's talking to you now." But really, let's see what Jesus prayed and asked in the Bible for the Father to do. In John chapter 17, listen to Jesus' prayer.

"I pray not only for these followers but also for those who will believe in me because of their teaching. Father, I pray that all who believe in me can be—everyone say together—one. You are in me, and I am in you. I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me."

Then we skip down to verse 23. "I will be in them, you will be in me, so they will be completely—everyone say it again—one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you love them just as you love me."

There's this dynamic that when the body of Christ, the church, is unified, that when we walk together as one, as he and the Father are one, that if we come together and say, "You know what? I'm gonna set aside our differences. I'm gonna set aside those things that divide us. I want us to walk together in unity," that when that happens, the world walks away from their job, their career. They walk away from the golf course, Starbucks. They walk away from all those places where they hear and they see the division. They hear and they see the discord. They walk into church; they see where we're unified, and it brings us glorious attention to the Father God because Jesus unified us in love, and we represent then the life of God, the love of God, the grace of God, and they know then that Jesus is real because we shine. Amen?

Look at someone and say, "Shine on."

Allow me to remind you, and I know it's in your notes, but allow me to remind you of our title today. It's one body with many parts but one goal. One body with many parts but one goal. One body with many parts but one goal. Or we could call it Christians Gone Wild. Or maybe we can call it Christians with an opinion.

And can I just remind you that the topic we have today, many Christians have opinions concerning this topic, but our opinions do not matter. Only what God's Word says matters. Opinion is like bad breath. Nobody wants it, but eventually, everyone's got it. I don't know where that came from, but I'm not going to charge you extra for that little ditty right there. That's just for free.

I decided long ago in my Christian walk to not allow my opinion to supersede the Word of God. Therefore, my witness to win the lost would never be tainted by my opinion, but it would only be the truth of God's love that would come from my life, and that's all that truly, truly matters. Amen?

So I caution you today. People can be very opinionated about the subject matter, but I'm going to encourage you to leave your opinions and kick them to the curb and listen to the Word of God and receive only what He would say concerning any subject matter in our life. Come on, y'all with me?

Instead of dividing the week, the church should be united and strong, right? Why? Because we're better together. Together, we can resist the attack and the strategy of the enemy.

How do we become one? And what will unify the church? That's what I want to address for the next few moments. I want to give you those things as we go on. Go to your notes. Let's get to that first blank. Let's fill it in.

We can become unified by fighting one common enemy. One common enemy. I'm going to say common enemy. That's a big thing to look at because Christians are notorious for telling everybody what they're against.

Somebody laughed real hard that night. Oh, I know those people. Yeah, I've been one of those people, right? We've all been there where if we're not careful, we're prone to tell everyone what we're against. "I don't go for that. That will never happen in my life. I don't believe that way." And we talk about all the things we don't believe in, but yet we're supposed to—and we're called by the life and the love of God—to tell people the good news and what we are for.

The Bible says it's the love of the Father that draws us to repentance. Not telling everybody what we're against, but that God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, and there's good news that as bad as you are, he still loves you.

Well, I'm not that bad. That's your first mistake right there because you don't think you need Jesus. You think you've become Jesus. And we might be—you might look like the Lord, but you ain't him. In other words, you're taking on some more character of his nature. That's good, but we'll always need Jesus to steer us down the right path.

Look at this, Ephesians chapter six. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." That is our common enemy. That government of evil that comes from hell, that is what we are fighting, amen?

The church down the street is not our enemy. Although sometimes I'm always shocked I haven't been arrested for arson yet because I wanted to burn a few down. Don't act like I'm the only one.

Don't act like I'm the only one. Don't act like I'm the only one, y'all with me? Traditional or contemporary worship is not a fight we should take. Some of you are like, "Well, I like the old hymns." So do I. But I can sing a new song of the Lord with the best of them, y'all with me?

The person who votes differently than us is not our enemy. You mean in heaven there's gonna be all these colors and there's gonna be red and blue? You might be shocked! Because you think your party's the only one that can go to heaven, but I'm gonna tell you right now, in heaven all parties are welcome, and they're gonna show up. You may as well learn to love it now.

I just went from preaching to prodding, didn't I? The person with the different color skin, different background, different ethnicity, they are not my enemy. The person who likes different music than I like is not my enemy. Although when I was a teenager, my dad was my enemy.

Look at this, we have one enemy, the devil, the father of lies, the great deceiver. He is the enemy that we all have in common, and we're supposed to unite together and fight the forces of hell, not one another and not those others that we want to judge and say, "Are they really Christian?" No, the truth is when you ask that question, we're not being Christian. We gotta accept them and love them and just bring them into our family.

Look at John 10:10. "The thief comes only, he only shows up for three reasons: to kill, to steal, to kill, and to destroy." That's the only reason he shows up, and here's my problem with this verse with a lot of Christians: they try to use this verse as a weakness. "Well, it's the devil; he's stealing, he's killing; the devil made me do it."

No, no, no, you just made a bad choice; face it up and let's move on. And he's like, "What the devil?" The devil's not after you. The devil's not after me. He's got bigger fish to fry. He's probably some little imp that made us limp. Some spiritual darkness, but he ain't the devil. The devil's busy. He's probably busy in Washington D.C.

Sorry, sorry. I've got friends in Washington D.C. I'm just kidding a little bit, a little bit. But the truth is he's trying to destroy the church collectively. The devil's busy with a strategy with bigger powers to try to destroy the church collectively. He comes to steal, kill, and to destroy. He wants to steal our unity. He wants to kill the church. He wants to destroy the message of the good news of Jesus Christ. That's what he's attacking, and that's why he's coming against us, and that's why his government is even intact today.

We are supposed to be tearing down the forces of darkness, not one another. Everyone say, "Not one another."

Let me just tell you this. That's why Jesus went all in on the church. He said, "Upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." If you're in the church and you're part of the church, the gates of hell cannot come against you and destroy you.

So if you're saying, "The devil's after you, and my life's so destroyed right now, I just feel like the devil's all over me," then dip a little bit more into church because you'd be safe there. That's where Jesus resides. Amen? I mean, that's truth, right? We're just giving truth.

Do you know what one of the strongest uniting forces is? A common enemy. It's a common enemy that unites us. My dad taught me and my family to never run from a fight. If somebody's picking on you, don't you run from a fight. Some families had fight or flight. My family just had fight.

If I ran from a fight when I got home, my dad made me hurt worse than the fight would make me feel. And because of that, our family grew up fighting, and we would fight one another, so we fought one another. We'd be fighting. Here's the thing: my brother and I could be fighting. I don't care if it was his friend or if it was my friend. As we were fighting, if someone else would jump in, I felt sorry for that person because they reminded me we're supposed to be unified.

So we say, "Back out and step out before you get knocked out." So here's the thing about the church. We're supposed to be united together, and sometimes we find ourselves bickering and fighting. The Bible talks about the schisms and the divisions, and when that happens, the enemy comes in many times, and we should look around and say, "No, you can't walk up in here. You can't divide this. We're a family by the blood of Jesus Christ. You better back out and step out before you get knocked out."

I mean, really, that's what we're supposed to be—not allow him to come in and bring division. But we're supposed to say, "Stop. This is nonsense. We're called to be united together," and when we're united like that, it brings glory to Jesus and people believing in the Son of God. Come on, amen?

I see what you're doing here, devil. Not today, Satan. Not today. That's not just a slogan we can launch around when we want. We have that, "Not today, Satan." It's all over the place now. How about when you're really mad at someone? When you're really ticked off? Then can you control yourself to say, "Not today, Satan?"

Because we're supposed to be unified, and we should have one common enemy. It's not each other; it's the forces of hell. Amen?

There's something else that will unify the church. Number two: one common mission. One common mission. I'm telling you right now, one thing that will unify the church is everybody getting busy doing something for the kingdom.

The world says, "I got my mind, I got my money, I got my mind." Got my mind, not my money. I don't know how I know that at 60 years old. It's my children. I just blame my children, right? Lift your hand if you knew that was young bloods. Bunch of sinners.

When a mind isn't busy with something, it will accomplish nothing. When a mind isn't busy with something, it will accomplish nothing. Amen? We do the best and live the best and have the best focus when we have something to do.

My wife and I have been going to Alaska. This year will be our 23rd year in a row. I've been the keynote speaker at the same conference. We love Alaska. It's beautiful. So every year we're up there. We leave in July, and in Phoenix, it's like 197 degrees. It's hella hot. And so we try to just get out all we can.

And so we're invited, and we go to this conference, and we try to spend like an extra week there just to explore in Alaska. And so a few years ago we were in Alaska, and she saw this—she loves water, whether it's the beach or boats—and she said, "Oh, look, I found this white water rafting. Let's go to this white water rafting. It'll be fun." I went, "Yeah, let's do it."

So we show up, and it's Six Mile Creek. Here's what we found out when we got there: it's the one day hardest, most difficult, dangerous day trip you can take. My wife was like, "Oh, this says people die. It's the most dangerous." I said, "You wanted to go. I'm in it to win it now. Let's go."

Because if you know me, I've got energy I ain't never spent yet, and I'm waiting to just spend it somewhere. And so we get there, and all of a sudden we have to jump in the water fully with these floating suits on. We have to swim 1,000 yards down the river. And one guy couldn't swim. I was like, "Jesus, don't let him be in my boat. Jesus, don't let him be in my raft." He was in my raft. I ain't going to save him. I don't want to save that guy.

So we get in the boat, and all of a sudden the person that's going to guide us through, the guide says, "I need somebody that's going to help me. I need somebody that's going to be intact. I need somebody that's going to be focused, somebody that's going to be strong. And row." And I say row on the front of this raft. My wife goes, "My husband will do it." I'm looking at her like, "Your husband will do it?" So I couldn't back out. Now I had to man up. I got to do it. Remember, I wanted to be there.

So he says to me, "We're going to take off. When we start down this river, we're going to practice." He's telling the whole boat, "You better hold on to those ropes because we're going to be rowing, and you hold on. And when I tell you to row, you better row, and you better row hard." I mean, I'm called to attention now.

And so he says, "Here's what we're going to do. We're going to take off. See that rock right there? It's a big flat rock, like the size of those big doors back there. He said, 'We're going to go straight at that rock. When I say row, you row. If we don't, we're going to hit that rock, and it's dangerous.'"

Okay. So he says, "Row." He says, "Row." I said, "I'm rowing." And he rowed. And all of a sudden we hit that rock, and I'm telling you, I almost went out of the raft, almost hit the rock and went—

So we go down, and we get through the twos and the threes. Finally, we get to the fours. And I mean, my wife—I got a picture of her almost falling out. I saved her life. I was rowing and holding. I have the oar, and I have her leg. I'm like, "Baby, hold on. I'm going to throw that guy out, and you can grab him. He can't swim anyway."

So we have a little break, you know, in between the rapids. And he says, "Okay, this is the fours. The next ones are the fives. Anyone would get out now. You can get out." My wife goes, "Let's get out." I said, "No, you wanted to be here." She goes, "You get out, or you're not going home with me." I'm out.

Here's the amazing part. It kind of gives us a thing that we have to think about in the church. We're involved in this thing called mission. God's called us to do this thing called mission. And if we think mission and ministry is always going to be easy, we're wrong. Because there's times the Holy Spirit is screaming, "Row, row, row your boat," not gently down the stream, but you're in the current now. You're in the fight now. You better get ready now.

But all of a sudden we come to this thing called five, and we're tapping out as Christians because we didn't know mission was going to be that hard. We didn't know winning the lost was going to be that difficult. We didn't know we were going to have to find people that we didn't really want to be around. We didn't know we weren't going to be able to leave our purse on the ground anymore because those people look a little shady.

We didn't realize we were going to have to feed the pimps and the prostitutes the gospel of Jesus Christ. And all of a sudden we're saying, "I'm tapping out. I've got to get out of the boat." And if that's your problem, you've got to say to yourself, "Greater is he that's within me than he that is within the world."

One common mission. Come on. Look at someone and say, "Get on mission." If we're busy with God's mission, we'll have a great life, and the church will be more unified.

Look at Matthew 28. "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age." One mission. Helping people find the love and the grace of Jesus is our mission.

Do you know what many churches are known for today? Traditions, buildings, style of worship, certain denominations, Sunday fried chicken on the ground. Y'all remember that? You good Baptist people, you know what is that fried chicken after church on Sunday? We've been there. Amen?

Then there's this group of young people now watching. They're called apologists. They walk in, and they want to tell you everything you're doing wrong because they're doing it completely right. They're called self-righteous people. And that's not really welcome in the body of Christ. In fact, that's the people Jesus fought against—those self-righteous people. Come on, y'all with me?

I mean, there's a list, I think, a short list of what the church should be known for: love, grace, generosity, justice, compassion, mercy. Come on. We should be known for the character of Christ that flows through the church because we're people who have found him, he's redeemed us, and he's called us worthy by his blood, Jesus. Can you say amen?

Jesus made this process so simple. The church has messed it up. The church has made it difficult. Why? Because the church is people, and people are jacked up. Y'all are jacked up. My wife is jacked up. I'm jacked up. Look at someone and say, "You're jacked up."

That's the best response I got so far right there. You know who isn't jacked up? Jesus isn't jacked up. So he can say it in the most simplistic form of what we should be. And here it is. Look at this, John 13. "And so I'm giving you a new commandment to you now: Love each other just as much as I love you. Your love for each other will prove to the world that you're my disciples."

Did you hear it again? There it is, the connection. The church is called to be the most compassionate, grace-filled, most loving and generous place and people on earth.

Then in Romans, look what it says, Romans 15. "May God, who gives us patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other as is fitting for followers of Christ. Then all of you can join together with one voice giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory."

In that verse, the word accept—in some versions it says accepted—but it's a Greek word, and it's a long Greek word, and it's detailed and it's charming. But I'll break it down. Here's what it means: it means to open your arms to take another person to yourself. It also means to take someone by the hand and walk together as a companion.

So whoever comes through those doors and finds Jesus as their Lord, Jesus takes the time to redeem their lives. We together are not to judge them. We together are not thinking it's our job to clean them up. We together are to take them in our arms and hold them like they've never been held. Take them by the hand and walk with them as a companion to tell them, "No matter what you're going through, I'll be right here beside you. I will not leave you because Jesus is with me, and that same Jesus wants to be with you." Come on, y'all with me?

So how do we do this? Like Christ did for us, how did he accept us? When we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When we were at our most different from him, he still accepted us. When we were calling him names, he still loved us. When we were at rock bottom, he loved us and picked us up and redeemed us. That's how he said we are to love and to accept others.

They're so different. And here's what happens. I'm telling you it happens every time. I've seen it so often. It just drives me crazy. "Yeah, but you have to understand, Pastor, someone has to help them change, and someone has to clean them up."

Yeah, but, Pastor, if you still got the "yeah, buts," I call it the "yeah, buts." There is no "yeah, but" to the word of God when Jesus says it's settled. Our job is to give them the love, to give them the word. It's the Holy Spirit's job to clean them up. He'll use the word, and he'll use a lot of you when you know how to love.

But if that's your mission—to try to clean people up—you might want to start at your own house first. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. Everyone say us. His grace displayed, their acceptance into our family. They need his compassion when they're messed up.

It's time for the church to stop talking and start loving. Why? Because the church is just—I mean, the world is tired of hearing about Jesus. They want to now see him. They want to now see him. So talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than your words.

And let me just close as I begin to close. Here's one last thought I want to give you. We can only do this through number three: one uncommon love. We have a common enemy. We have a common mission. But the only way we can fight our common enemy together and the only way we can be on mission together is through one uncommon love.

God's love is not common. Loving pizza is common. Loving chips and salsa, that's common. Taco Tuesday, common. And we love it, don't we? But God's love, that's a love that you'll never understand until you experience it, you feel his embrace.

And let me just say this to you. Some people will never feel his embrace unless they feel it through you. Some people will never know the love of God until they see it in you. The only Bible some people ever read is your attitude, your actions, my attitude, my actions.

And it's got to be given through an uncommon love that's called the love of God, amen? This should be our one and only goal: to share his love. The love of God is not common. The love of God overcomes hatred. It overcomes racism, prejudice. The love of God brings forgiveness and heals relationships.

My wife and I have had that happen in our life. The love of God overlooks the drug addict. The love of God doesn't look at the sin within a person's life. God sees what he created in the beginning, and he's bringing them to us to love them with an uncommon love that they can't find anywhere else.

Christians, they have a lot of beliefs, and I agree with them. They believe that God will give them the power to get out of debt. God will give them the power to heal their bodies, heal relationships, protect them from the enemy, calm their anxiety, help them with their fears, but that same Christian will have trouble believing God can help them love someone different than them.

See, because we want to highlight who we were born on earth to be more than we want to highlight who we were born again on earth to be. It doesn't matter to me what color you are today. People say, "I don't see color." That's a lie. I see color. Look, I'm a whitey. You don't get much more white than the boy standing right here.

But I love Mexican food, and my soul is black. I play drums. That's me. I'm multicultural, international mystery man, because the blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus is in every one of us. When I got that new infusion, the new DNA, when they hooked me up to Jesus, when all of a sudden he took me in for surgical repair, when he took the old heart of stone out and he put the heart of flesh in, it had blood from every one of you because it's the blood of Jesus Christ.

There is no division. There is no difference. I tell you right now, I can see what color you are, but what color you are is in me because the blood of Jesus has called us to be family together. It is an uncommon love that can do that and cause us to love each other.

Look at Ephesians 2. "It wasn't long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin, yet you let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief and then you exhaled disobedience. All of us doing what we felt like doing when we felt like doing what we felt like doing when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with a whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all of this on his own with no help from us."

Meaning, some of you think, "I shouldn't come to church because I'm so dirty. I should clean myself up. I should get rid of some of these practices. If they knew where I was at last night, they wouldn't want me here today." Oh, my gosh. If anyone could just see.

Listen, you're not the only one that's ever felt that way. And let me tell you something. Maybe you're here, and you don't know Christ, and that's your feeling. You do not clean yourself up and come to Christ. You come as you are, and his uncommon love will change you forever, ever, ever, ever, ever.

And for those of you that say, "Yeah, but I'm bored again." That's the real Me Too movement. Me Too. I do too. Sometimes I'm in traffic, and my wife will be like, "Oh, that was a real Christian." Well, they're driving slow in the fast lane. I can whoop the devil, but that bugs me.

Some of us really want to break the law. No, just go to church. Go to church. Go to church. Go to church. No, just go ahead and smirk at me with self-righteousness. I come long enough; I'll find your lane. I'll step on your toes in a minute. I'll find where you are weak. Because we all are. If not for the love of God, none of us, none of us would be worthy. But because of Jesus. Amen.

Look, look at this. "Not any help from us. Then he picked us up, set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace, Almighty God, the first, the last, the beginning, the end, Alpha and Omega."

I sit with him not because I'm worthy, not because I'm special, but because Jesus Christ's blood flows through my veins. I am worthy and righteous because of who he is, not because of who I am. God meets us wherever we're at through the love of his son, Jesus.

I heard this story of a young man named Jim. Jim would come to the church on his lunch break near noon every day. He would come to the front row and he would sit down. He would just simply bow his head down and say, "Jesus, this is Jim."

The pastor walking through would hear him do that, and he was kind of bewildered. He only sits down, and the only thing he says is, "Jesus, this is Jim. Jesus, this is Jim." So one day after Jim was heading back to work, the pastor called him and said, "Jim, I have to ask you a question. I've watched you now for several weeks. Every day of the week you come in, you sit on the front row, and you bow your head down and you just say, 'Jesus, this is Jim. Jesus, this is Jim.' Why do you do that?"

He says, "Well, it's like this, pastor. When I go throughout my day, I just feel beat up a lot. My faith takes its hits. People around me at work, the way they act, the way they do it, pressures me. It really pushes me down. It really grinds me in myself. So when I come to the church and I sit down for one hour and I just say, 'Jesus, this is Jim,' I see myself giving—I'm giving him my burdens. I'm giving him my problems. I'm giving him my pressures. And it's the only way sometimes I can keep walking."

The pastor thought to himself, "That's really interesting." Well, after a little while, the pastor realized for a few days Jim didn't show up. So he started inquiring around, asking people, "Where's Jim?" He went down to work and he said, "Oh, Jim had a terrible accident. He's been fighting for his life in the hospital."

So the pastor said, "I'm going to go see Jim." So he walked in, and the doctors, the nurse said, "Jim's been fighting for his life. We're still not sure he's going to make it, but he's in there." And so he walked in the pastor. Then he walked over to Jim's bedside and took him by the hand. Jim opened his eyes and said, "Hello, pastor."

He said, "They don't think I'm going to make it, do they?" He said, "Jim, they said they're not sure yet." He said, "Well, I'll tell you, pastor, it don't really matter because a while ago when they all left the room, they thought I was unconscious. And I heard them talking. All of a sudden when they left the room, I heard this voice. And the voice said to me, 'Jim, this is Jesus. Jim, this is Jesus. Jim, this is Jesus.'"

Can I just say this to you right now? I don't care where you're at. It doesn't matter the condition of your heart. It doesn't matter if you think you got it all figured out. It doesn't matter if you're mad at your spouse, mad at your kids, mad at your neighbor. You kicked the neighbor's cat. It doesn't matter if you're mad at God. It doesn't matter if you've sinned last night. It doesn't matter if you've sinned on your way to church.

Jesus is saying, "This is Jesus. I'm here for you." And this church, that's what we're all about. We're going to walk with you. We're going to link arms with you. We're going to join hands with you. And we're going to love you with an uncommon love because you are not our enemy, but you are our mission.

Can we just pray? Let me just pray for you.

Father, I pray for every individual that's here. God, I pray that today you would meet them at the point of their greatest need, whatever it is. God, I pray that you'll let them know that they are the apple of your eye, even sometimes as bad as we feel. You love us with such an uncommon love that it's hard to comprehend. It's hard to understand, God, but we see it in the Bible, and we know it's true that you love us, and we have felt judged, and we have felt condemned, but many times because we judge and condemn ourselves, God.

We want that freedom. We want that love.

Listen carefully. Just a couple of questions. Here's the first one. Maybe you're here, you're born again. You know Jesus Christ. Your salvation is good. You know you're going to heaven. But during my talk today, God's Spirit dealt with you about some of these issues.

Oh, maybe you're not prejudiced. Maybe you're not racist, but maybe you've been fighting the wrong enemy. Maybe you've not been on mission as you should be. Maybe you've not been distributing God's uncommon love to those around you as you should. Maybe you're just saying, "In my Christianity, in my walk with God, I need some adjustments. I need to make some alterations. I need to mature in some areas."

I can feel God's Spirit dealing with me right now, and there's nothing wrong with that. It would be wrong to deny that. But if that's you, although you're born again, although you know Jesus, you feel God's Spirit saying you need to make some of these changes, and you want prayer, and a way of asking for prayer, come on, just slip your hand up and right back down.

Thank you. Thank you there in the back. All of you, thank you. God bless you. So many hands, because God's Word comes with that uncommon love to change us from the inside out.

So Father, I pray for every one of these believers who just said they need to change. They want to change. They want to grow. They want to make alterations and adjustments in their faith and their Christian walk. They want to become more like you. They want to fight the right enemy. They want to get on mission. They want to learn to love with that uncommon love, God, not just the love that they've had, but a deeper love.

Holy Spirit, one of your ministries to us is to remind us of God's Word. So I pray in the coming days, weeks, months, and even years that you remind each one of these people of what you spoke to their heart today. Never let them forget it.

Now, one more question. Maybe you're here, and you've not made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life. You're not sure if your life ended today and you stood before your Maker, Heaven would be your home. Because this is the truth. The Bible says we've all sinned and we've all come short of God's best, and we will face eternity one day.

I'm not trying to scare you. I'm not trying to tell you about hell. That's what God has created for us. But because man's sin, sin passed through all of us, and sin separates us from God, so we were born separated from God.

The Bible goes on to say without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness for sin. In the Old Testament, that's why they would take an animal like a lamb, the firstborn of what we call the spotless lamb. They would sacrifice that animal. The high priest would take that lamb without blemish, take the blood from it, and offer it in ceremonial fashion to forgive the people's sins for one year, and they would do that every year.

But because a man sinned, ultimately a man would have to die. That's why Jesus came to earth in the form of a man. He lived a sinless life, born of a virgin, Mary. At the end of his life, they led him to a cross where they crucified him, spilling out his blood. His blood did not cover sin for one year. His blood eradicates and erases sin from our life, past, present, and future according to the Bible.

The book of Romans says this, listen carefully because this is salvation. "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." That's salvation, believing he's the son of God, confessing him with your mouth.

You know, at the end of his life, when they buried him, he came back alive, conquering sin, conquering death, and we're saved. What does it mean to be saved? Well, first of all, it means saved from an empty life in this earth, that void, that chasm, that emptiness you've had.

Through the years, maybe you tried to fill with drugs or alcohol, parties, relationships, business, money, careers, hobbies, busyness, but you still end up thinking there must be more to life than this, and there is, but it's not something; it's someone. It's Jesus and his uncommon love. It's the only thing that will ever fill that void.

Secondly, it means saved into a place called heaven. When this life is over, eternity begins. Heaven can be your reality. In heaven, there's no more pain, there's no more suffering, there's no more disease. Love, joy, peace in the presence of Jesus with those that you love and those you influence to go with you. Are you going to be there?

Well, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father who is in heaven but by me." So you must believe in Jesus; you must confess him as Lord.

While heads are bowed, eyes are closed, whether you're here online, it doesn't matter, I'm going to ask you this question. I'm not going to have you stand up; I'm not going to put a spotlight on you; I'm not going to call you forward. I want to pray for you right there like I prayed for the others, but if that's you, you know you need Jesus; you want heaven to be your future.

Come on, as these others already have, just simply lift your hand up and right back down saying, "Pray for me." God bless you, there's one. Thank you, young lady. God bless you, sir. God bless you, sir. God bless you, young people. Someone else, come on, I saw seven so far. God bless you, there's eight. And when they're in the back, God bless you, ma'am, they're in the back. Number nine, number ten, thank you, sir. Those tears are from God; that's just God on you. That's God telling you that he loves you with an uncommon love.

Is there someone else? You just say, "Pastor, include me in that prayer." I want to know, be honest, shout it out. Thank you, sir; I appreciate that. Thank you; I appreciate that, ma'am. Is there anyone else?

Come on, we're going to move on, but before we do, thank you so much. God bless you. I don't know, 13 or 14 people, but all I know is I can see God on you; I can see those tears flowing; I can see you coming to this reality. Your life is never going to be the same after today.

I'm going to pray this prayer. Those of you that lifted your hand, I may ask you to repeat this prayer after me out loud, but those of you who are already born again, will you say it with them to support them? Let's all do it together.

Father, come on, everyone together. Father, I believe in Jesus. I believe he's your son. I believe he died on the cross, he was buried, and rose again. Jesus, I confess you now as my Lord, my Savior, forgive me for my sin, make me new. From this day forward, I place my life completely in your hands, and I place myself in a local church to learn more of you, that through greater knowledge of who you are, I will grow in deeper love with you.

Come on, welcome these to the family of God, church. Come on, celebrate. Come on, church. See, some of you think, "Why do you celebrate?" Well, because the Bible says when anyone comes to the Lord, their name is written down in the Lamb's Book of Life, and the angels of heaven rejoice.

So there's a party in heaven in your name, and we're just joining that party right now. I see God just changing some of your lives so much. I know this church will help you.

I am 56, 57, 58 seconds overtime, Pastor Terry.

1) "Jesus made this process so simple. The church has messed it up. The church has made it difficult. Why? Because the church is people and people are jacked up. Y'all are jacked up. My wife is jacked up. I'm jacked up." [55:43] (Download | Crop for social media)

2) "The one thing Satan wants to do is divide. Why? Because he knows one thing people forget and many Christians forget. We're better together than we are separated. We're stronger together than we are separated." [34:59] (Download | Crop for social media)

3) "One mission. Helping people find the love and the grace of Jesus is our mission." [54:37] (Download | Crop for social media)

4) "The love of God is not common. Loving pizza is common. Loving chips and salsa, that's common. Taco Tuesday, common. But God's love, that's a love that you'll never understand until you experience it." [59:53] (Download | Crop for social media)

5) "The love of God brings forgiveness and heals relationships. My wife and I have had that happen in our life. The love of God overlooks the drug addict. The love of God doesn't look at the sin within a person's life." [01:00:48] (Download | Crop for social media)

6) "We together are to take them in our arms and hold them like they've never been held. Take them by the hand and walk with them as a companion to tell them no matter what you're going through, I'll be right here beside you." [57:44] (Download | Crop for social media)

7) "The church is called to be the most compassionate, grace-filled, most loving and generous place and people on earth." [56:16] (Download | Crop for social media)

8) "The only Bible some people ever read is your attitude, your actions, my attitude, my actions, and it's got to be given through an uncommon love that's called the love of God." [01:00:48] (Download | Crop for social media)

9) "We're supposed to be united together, and sometimes we find ourselves bickering and fighting. The Bible talks about the schisms and the divisions, and when that happens, the enemy comes in many times." [47:22] (Download | Crop for social media)

10) "I don't care where you're at. Doesn't matter the condition of your heart. Doesn't matter if you think you got it all figured out. Doesn't matter if you're mad at your spouse, mad at your kids, mad at your neighbor. Jesus is saying, this is Jesus. I'm here for you." [01:07:32] (Download | Crop for social media)