The Power of Unity

[0:00] Praise the Lord, everybody. I don't know if our children are going to Sunday school this morning.! Yes? Okay. Children, you're going off to Sunday school this morning. Thank you.

[0:22] ! All right. We're glad the Easter Bunny's gone. If you have your Bible, I would like for you to turn to the book of Genesis, chapter number 11.

[0:44] Genesis, chapter number 11. And we're going to be again reading at verse number 1. Give me just a sec. I'm trying to get my electronic devices all synced up.

[1:01] All right.

[1:27] Genesis, chapter number 11, beginning at verse number 1. We're going to be reading out of the English Standard Version.

[1:38] It says, Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

[1:52] And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar.

[2:03] Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

[2:20] Verse number 5. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men had built. And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have all one language.

[2:36] And this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them to do.

[2:48] And I would like to preach to you for just a little while this morning on this subject, the power of unity.

[3:01] The power of unity. When some time back I ran across a, I guess it's a proverb.

[3:11] It's an old African proverb that says, If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

[3:25] If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. And I think most of us could probably understand what that means. It just simply means that there's only so far anybody's ever going to get as an individual.

[3:41] But when people decide to do something as a group, they can go farther. They can go wider. They can go deeper. They can go higher. Because it just works out that you can multiply the effect of many people instead of one individual.

[4:01] Individuals will end up running out of gas. But when you have a collective, when you have a group, there's just more gas. More gas to go around.

[4:11] And the ancients, the ancient cultures, and even in some cultures today, in some modern cultures today, they didn't elevate the idea of being an individual.

[4:27] They didn't elevate the idea of going it alone, of spearheading, of somebody being the front runner, so to speak.

[4:38] That idea was kind of a foreign concept to them. They didn't really portray that. They didn't really try to promote that. Early missionaries to Japan.

[4:51] This is an interesting example. Early missionaries to Japan, when they were going there, they were struggling to make converts. And that's because in the Japanese culture, people did not do things as individuals, but rather they did things as groups or as clans or as families or as tribes.

[5:12] So missionaries would go. They would try to evangelize younger adults. They would try to talk them into serving Jesus. And often what they would hear back is they would say, you know, that sounds really good, but let me go and ask my parents.

[5:30] Or let me go and ask my uncle. Or let me go and ask my elders. And if I get their blessing, then I'll do it. And the reason why is because they considered the counsel of their elders to be very sacred.

[5:48] They considered the counsel of their elders to be very important to their lives. And so they would not make a move without getting solid advice. And so once the missionaries kind of begin to understand that people didn't act individually, but rather they acted more as a group, they changed how they approached people in Japan.

[6:13] This was many years ago. And today, a lot of us in our current culture, a lot of us are encouraged to, quote, go it alone, to go out front, to be, as we've all heard, your true authentic self.

[6:29] Be that person. And celebrate your uniqueness. And while all of that sounds really good, what ends up happening is you end up having an abundance of individuals and an abundance of individualism.

[6:46] And while there are a growing number of people who are isolating themselves, this often really leads to a negative effect.

[6:58] But people live and communicate and kind of create their own worlds even now virtually through the Internet. So it's possible for somebody to just simply stay at home, never go anywhere, never go outside their front door.

[7:13] You can have food brought. You can have everything that you need. You can get on the Internet. You can communicate. You can talk with others. You can join chat groups or whatever it might be.

[7:23] But the problem that they're discovering with all of that now is that people are lonelier. It does not lead to people feeling like they're a part of anything.

[7:35] But rather, they're lonelier. And that's the negative effect of individualism. The ancients did not have or encourage privacy.

[7:49] It wasn't like you, if you went off to be by yourself, they thought something was wrong with you. Like, why would you go off and be by yourself?

[8:00] There must be something wrong with you. So let's find out what's wrong with you because you're going to have to be a part of us. Going in, people didn't have private rooms.

[8:11] Everybody, like, slept in the same area. It wasn't like you could go off and even have a private bath. There were times that everybody just went to go take a bath.

[8:23] Together. Male, female. Yes. But there wasn't this concept of privacy. There wasn't this concept of doing things apart from others.

[8:38] There wasn't this individualism that is so promoted in our culture today. They just didn't really have that. You were part of the tribe. You were part of the clan. Your name, the name by which you were called, it identified you with the clan or the tribe that you were a part of.

[8:57] So oftentimes, especially in Roman times, whatever your name was, it would start with your clan's name. It would start with your tribe's name or your family's name.

[9:11] And then your personal name, your first name, would come later. And in some countries, they even still do that today. And in the passage we read, the passage we read, this is a very, very, this is probably one of the most dramatic moments in all of scriptural history.

[9:30] This event that happens changes the world. It changes how people are living amongst one another and how they end up not living amongst one another.

[9:44] But in the passage that we read, the Bible says the whole earth had one language. Wouldn't that be nice if everybody just spoke the same language?

[9:56] You know, it would make my life a whole lot easier if everybody just, like, spoke my language.

[10:09] If everybody just spoke English, that would make my life easier. You know, both of my parents are from Mexico, were from Mexico, and I hardly speak a lick of Spanish.

[10:24] My Spanish is absolutely terrible. It really is. And so for years I have used the excuse that my parents never spoke to me in Spanish, and so therefore I don't speak Spanish.

[10:37] I'm over 60 now. I'm still using that excuse. And it doesn't really get me too far anymore. But on the job, you know, I have other people that work around me that oftentimes they speak Spanish, and I'm trying to figure out what they're trying to say.

[10:53] I know certain choice words that I can't mention here that I know, I kind of know what they're saying. I kind of get the gist of what they're saying. My wife sometimes, what she'll do is when the grandkids are around and she wants to tell me something that she doesn't want them to understand, and she'll start speaking to me in Spanish.

[11:12] And I'm looking at her like I'm trying to understand what you're saying here, but the truth is you'll know Nintendo.

[11:24] And so people do that. I go into people's homes, people that are from foreign countries, and I go into their homes sometimes. And while I'm in there doing some work, I hear them.

[11:37] They're speaking in their native language. They're speaking in their native tongue. And the only thing that I can ascertain is they must be talking about how wonderful I am or just how good of a job I'm doing because that's the only way that I can take it.

[11:51] I don't know if they're really talking about me, so I just choose to believe that they're talking about how wonderful I really am. But they were all of the same language.

[12:02] And the Bible says they came to this one place and they settled there. And they said to each other, let's make bricks.

[12:15] Let's make mortar. We're going to build a city and a tower whose top is going to reach into the heavens. Now this is a highly ambitious project because it really is just not a tower and it's not really a city.

[12:32] It's like a city tower is really what it is. And it is going to be tall, taller than anything else that's around. We are going to build this structure and its top is going to reach into heaven.

[12:47] And they said we're going to make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad the face of the earth. And I got to thinking about why did they want to go and build a tower whose top may reach into the heavens.

[13:01] And the one thing that I thought of was that this generation, this particular generation that we're talking about, they're not too far removed from the great flood of Noah.

[13:13] And this group heard stories. They are the descendants of Noah's sons, Ham, Shem, and Japheth.

[13:25] They are their descendants. And the story of the flood has now been passed on from one generation to another generation to another generation to another generation.

[13:36] And so it's possible that they're thinking lest there be another flood. And if there is another flood, we can just climb to the top and we'll be safe.

[13:48] And so that might have been going through their minds. And they decide to build. And they're building. And they're working. Scaffold, bricks, and mortar, and lime, and all of these building materials that are going in.

[14:04] And the project is going smoothly. Everybody's working together. Because they all speak the same language. They're all in unity. They're all in one mind. They're all doing the same thing.

[14:15] They all have the same vision. They all have the same passion. We're going to do this. And we are creating something that is wonderful. And then the Lord comes down.

[14:26] And the Lord comes down and he looks and he says, Look at what they're doing. He says, They are, They're of one mind. They're of one language.

[14:39] They're of one heart. They're of one accord. And now, And this is what God professes. He says, Now, Nothing will be restrained from them From what they have imagined to do.

[14:52] In other words, If they do this, They can do anything. Now, That's God speaking. That's not people speaking. That's not people hype or pop psych that says, You can do anything that you want.

[15:07] This is God confessing. This is my creation. Look at what they're doing. And if this continues, They're going to be able to do anything that comes into their mind.

[15:19] That's a very, very powerful statement. And we need to get that. Because he says, They're going to be able to do anything. And part of the reason that I think that the Lord professes this, Is because, This is a people that is made, After all, After the similitude and the image of God.

[15:40] See, These are descendants of Adam and Eve, Who were created in the garden. And, Adam was formed out of the dust of the ground.

[15:50] Eve was formed out of the rib of Adam. And the Lord made them in his image, In his likeness. And so, Therefore, Everybody that comes after Adam and Eve, Has some, Some, Form, Some, Amount, Of the image of God in them.

[16:15] That's you and I, Too. You know, People are smarter than what you give them credit for. People are smart. And, Sometimes we think that they're not. But, Here's what I, Here's what I look at.

[16:27] And it doesn't matter who it is. But I'm really beginning to view everybody, And think about, You know what God? They're made in your image. They're made in your image. They're made in your image.

[16:38] They're made in your image. They may not be dressed very nice. And they may be really poor. And they may be living out on the street. But you know what Lord? They're made in your image. Now, That doesn't make them saved. It doesn't make them holy.

[16:48] It doesn't make them any of that. But it does mean, That they're made in the image of God. We're all made of the same stuff. Did you know that? We are all born after the same fashion. Ever since that first couple.

[17:00] And when children begin to be born, Everybody had the imprint, Or the thumbprint of God, Upon their life. And so, We're all made like that. Now, In this day and age, Because of Jesus Christ, We have to be born again.

[17:13] So, Being born once is great. But being born again, Is far superior, Because we have to be born spiritually. That's a whole other deal. But, The Bible says, That the Lord looked down, And he said, This they begin to do, And now, Nothing will be restrained from them, From that which they have imagined to do.

[17:34] They were working together. They were building. We don't know how long they were building. We don't know how big it got. We don't know anything like that. But we do know that God comments on their unity.

[17:45] And he says, Nothing will be impossible. So, God recognizes the potential for humankind. And when you think about even modern inventions today, There are things that we are looking at, Seeing, Experiencing, Hearing about today, That we never would have thought possible 40 or 50 years ago.

[18:04] Can you imagine taking the heart out of somebody else, And putting it in this person, And it working. I mean, That's crazy, But that is happening.

[18:16] And modern science, Modern health science, All of those things, They are advancing further, And further, And further. Who thought that we would ever be in airplanes?

[18:28] Who thought we would ever be in space? These are all things that have taken place within the last couple of hundred years. And so, There are so many inventions that mankind has put forth.

[18:40] We are a people that is able to produce magnificent things. Why? Because I believe we are fashioned in the image of God.

[18:51] Part of what restrains people, Part of what restrains people, though, Is now, There are a multitude of languages. But we are even crossing those barriers again. And we are getting to be a people that can communicate a whole lot easier now, Than we ever used to.

[19:07] So, Who would have thought that you could transplant a liver, Or transplant kidneys, Or whatever the organ is, You can pretty much take it out of somebody, And put it in somebody else, And it works.

[19:20] And when man puts his mind to it, Groups, Groups, People, Can work together, And produce things, That are really, Really wonderful, And great things can really happen.

[19:34] The problem with this event that we read about, Is that, These people were doing something that was in direct obedience to God. When Noah and his clan came down off of the ark, Noah offered a sacrifice.

[19:51] Ham, Shem, And Japheth, And their wives, And Noah's wife, They were all there, They offered a sacrifice, And the Lord spoke to him after the sacrifice, And he said this, He said, Go and replenish the world.

[20:02] Be fruitful, And multiply, And replenish the earth. What this group did, Was said, Let's not go, And disperse, But rather, Let's gather together.

[20:19] And that was the mistake that they made. And so, When the Lord sees that they came together, To build this tower, This city, What he does is, He looks, And he says, Nothing's going to be restrained from them.

[20:32] So, Because they're doing this, I'm going to do something about it. And what the Lord does, Is he goes down, And he confuses their languages. One guy starts talking Chinese, Somebody else starts talking French.

[20:50] This guy starts talking Portuguese, This guy's talking English, And all of a sudden, Two guys are working together, And they can't even understand one another. And so, Now, The Lord could have done this, In many different ways.

[21:05] He could have brought another flood, But no, He promised he wouldn't do that. So, He could have caused an earthquake, To bring the whole thing down, But he didn't do that. He could have done all kinds of other things, To have destroyed the tower.

[21:15] But what he does, Is he changes everybody's language, So that they cannot talk, And communicate with one another anymore. And they leave off building, Because they're done.

[21:30] We don't understand you. We don't understand what you're saying. And when you don't understand people, You can't do anything together. When you don't understand your neighbor, There's not much that you have in common.

[21:45] When you don't understand people that you gather with, You don't accomplish very much. Because your languages are different. And so, The Lord dispersed them, Over the face of the earth.

[21:58] We call this the tower of Babel, Or the tower of confusion. And what the Lord recognized, Was that if I let them keep going, They're going to imagine some things to do, That are completely out of my will.

[22:14] And I don't want them to do those things. So I'm going to stop them right now. And that's what the Lord did. But here's the thing. I like the fact that the Lord recognizes, This is powerful stuff.

[22:31] He did not, He did not demean their unity. It just wasn't His plan. If they would have said, We're going to disperse, And we're going to re-inhabit the earth, That's what we're going to do.

[22:46] Everything would have been well. If they would have been in one mind about that, Everything would have been great. If they would have said, Hey, let's have this great idea, And let's replenish the earth, Everything would have been wonderful.

[22:59] Instead, They didn't do that, So the Lord caused them to do that. They left off, And then, They end up going to replenish the earth. But the power of their unity, Was remarkable.

[23:12] Remarkable. And that is what the Lord noted. The power of their unity. Because unity is the most powerful thing, That there actually is.

[23:25] When people join together, When people's hearts are along the same vein, When our thoughts are the same, It is the most powerful thing.

[23:36] And so, Guess what? Jesus, When he creates his church, He inserts something in it, That is more powerful than any force on the earth, And it is not just his spirit, It is unity.

[23:52] And if you go back, And you read, The book of Acts, Where the church begins, You'll read over, And over, And over, And over, They were of one mind, They were of one accord, They were of one heart, They spoke the same thing, It was all one, One, One.

[24:14] In Acts 1, It says they were with one accord, In prayer. In Acts 2, They were with one accord. In Acts 4, They were with one accord.

[24:26] In Acts 5, They were with one accord. Paul, Addressing the Corinthian church, He says, I've got a quarrel with you, I've got a problem with you, Because there's divisions that are being reported, In the Corinthian church, Some say I'm of Paul, Some say I'm of Apollos, Some say I'm of Silas, Some say I'm of Peter, And then Paul chides them, And he says, Is Christ divided?

[24:58] Did he come so that we could have different churches? Did he come so that we could have different groups? And Paul rebukes them, And he says, No. He says, That is immaturity.

[25:12] He said, I can't even talk to you like adults, Because you're so divided. And that was a problem. And some were saying, Well, you know, Paul baptized me, And so therefore, I'm better.

[25:26] Or, Peter baptized me, And so therefore, We're better. You know, And our world's not much different today, Is it? There's a lot of disunity, Around even the same ideas.

[25:42] But Paul admonishes the Corinthians, And he says, That there be no divisions among you, But that you be united in the same mind, And the same judgment.

[25:58] He said, I want you to walk together. I want you to work together. I want you to be of the same mind. Why? Because it is the most powerful thing that there is.

[26:11] Now, I've heard somebody say, The most powerful thing that you'll ever possess, Is a mind that is made up. And there's a lot of truth to that. For you individually, When you make up your mind, Or have you ever tried to, Change somebody's mind, That was made up?

[26:30] And you know, It's like hitting up against a wall. It's impossible, Because they've made up their mind. Right or wrong, Good or bad, They've made up their mind. Well, The same is true in groups.

[26:43] The same is true in the church. The same is true in the ecclesia, Which is, That a church that has the same mind, Is a very powerful, Powerful thing.

[26:57] And achieving that mind, That mind that is made up, Or achieving that mind, That where everybody is the same, Is not really as hard, As what everybody might think.

[27:08] And the reason it's not as hard, Is because the Lord didn't leave us, To try to work it out on our own. You know what he did? He put his spirit in us. He put the Holy Ghost in us.

[27:21] And the Holy Ghost is the one, That gives us that single mindedness. The Holy Ghost communicates, And it communicates through people.

[27:32] And the problem, That we face sometimes, Is that, We live in this thing called the flesh. And the apostle Paul, Kind of settled that.

[27:43] He said, You know, He says, I know that in me, Is no good thing. He says, With this, He says, There's really nothing, Much good about it. But Paul, Is the one, That promotes, The walking in the spirit.

[27:58] The thinking in the spirit. And when that begins to happen, People begin to have, The same mind. They begin to think alike. And that goes against, The grain of our culture.

[28:10] Because somebody's going to say, Well, You're just one of them. And you're just like a sheep, That's a follower. And that's exactly what we are. We are the sheep of Jesus, Who is the great shepherd.

[28:24] And by the way, I'd rather be his sheep, Than try to go out on my own, And not be a part of the flock. I would rather, Have his spirit in me, Moving in me, Speaking in me, Than me, Trying to profess, To be so smart, That I don't need the group, Or that I don't need the savior, Or that I don't need the church.

[28:45] The church is not supposed, To have factions, It's not supposed to have groups, It's supposed to have, The power of God, That rests within it, That does magnificent things.

[28:57] And I'm here to tell you, That it does not matter, What size the group, Whether it's a hundred, Or a thousand, Or ten thousand, If everybody got, In the same mind, Wonderful things could happen, Big things could happen, Miraculous things could happen, Beautiful, Wonderful, Godly, Spiritual things would happen, And those are all the things, That sometimes we say, That we want to experience, But I'm here to tell you, This morning, That one of the ways, That we're going to get there, Is that when we decide, You know what, I want to join up, With my brother, And my sister, I want to be a part of them, I don't want to be, Separate from them, I'm not better than they are, They're not better than me, We are all one in the same, We're part of the body, And that is what, We need to think of, So, In the book of Acts, In Acts chapter 4, They, Listen to this, They were together,

[29:58] Listen, This is like, I'd love to have, To have this happen, And I've never had it happen, But I want it to happen, It says in Acts chapter 4, When they prayed, The place which they were gathered together, Was shaken, Can you imagine, Having a prayer meeting, And then, The building starts to shake, And here in California, We would just think, You know, Let me get my phone, And find out what magnitude that was, You know, Because it was an earthquake, But, When they prayed, The place was shaken, That's literal, That's not symbolic, That's not figurative, It was shaken, That's wonderful, That's miraculous, When Paul, And Silas, Were in, The jail, In, Philippi, They begin to sing, Together,

[30:59] In, Unison, I don't know, Whose idea it was, But they were doing it, In unison, Two people, Two people, And there was, An earthquake, And, The jail, Doors, Came open, And the shackles, Came, Not only off of Paul, And Silas, But all, Of the prisoners, And the jailer, Ran in, Thinking that everybody, Had escaped, And he was about to take a sword, And put it through him, And Paul said, Don't do it, We're all here, We haven't escaped, And he comes down, And he falls down, Before Paul and Silas, And he says, Sirs, What must I do, To be saved?

[31:46] Two people, Started an entire movement, In the city of Philippi, And it became, A wonderful church, Why? Because there was unity, There was unity, There was unity, There was a power of unity, That cannot, Be taken away, That cannot be dissuaded, It is the most powerful thing, That there is, And if two can do it, Can you imagine, What ten could do?

[32:14] Could you imagine, What twenty could do? If everybody decided, My goodness, We're going to get down, We're going to pray, And we're going to pray, Until something happens, We're going to fast, Until something happens, We're going to pray, Until everything is shaken, That can be shaken, And we are going to pray, Until all of heaven comes down, So, People, People might say, And this, This is the folly, Of humanity, But somebody might say, Well give me a good reason, To belong to the church, But you know what, The real question is, The real question is, Give me a good reason, Not to belong, You want to get out there, On your own, You want to, Live in the world, On your own, And try to go it alone, Without Jesus, Without his church,

[33:15] Without his body, You're going to try, To be spiritual, On your own, No, No, No, It doesn't work, That way, The question is not, Whether, I can give you, A hundred good reasons, To belong, Give me one good reason, Not to belong, Because there are, No good reasons, There are no good reasons, Not to gather, There are no good reasons, Not to have unity, There are no good reasons, Not to have, The single mindedness, Why would anybody, Not want to be a part, Of the ecclesia, That Jesus died for, And rose for, And gave his blood for, And they're out there, Some people say, I don't want to conform, I don't want to conform, Well, Let me just tell you this, Whether you like it or not, You're going to conform, To something, You'll either conform, Into the image of Jesus Christ,

[34:17] Or you will conform, Into the image of the world, And there is no, You know, This is, This is, What's so strange, Is that we are, Deceived, And people are deceived, Into thinking, I'm my own man, I'm my own woman, I make my own decisions, I, You know, That's hogwash, It doesn't work that way, The great deceiver, Is out there, Deceiving people, By the millions, Trying to get them, To believe, That they are, That they are, Stronger, As individuals, Than if, Instead of them, Giving their life, Over to Jesus Christ, And being a part, Of the collective, And the minute, We think, That we are, Stronger, Than any of that, We are headed down, The wrong path, People are already, Conforming, To the world,

[35:19] And that doesn't, Really even, Take very much, Effort to do, So the answer, Is that, We're better, Together, You can go fast, If you go alone, You ever had to wait somebody, Like you're really, Needing to get somewhere, And they're, They're not ready, And they're supposed, To be on the same trip, And you're sitting in the car, And you're looking at your watch, Like we gotta go, And they're late, And it can get, I admit that, Everybody, Every one of us, Has probably been frustrated, Like that a time or two, So you can get there, By yourself,

[36:19] You can just say, Hey you know what, I'm leaving them, I'm, I'm going, I'm gonna get there, And I'm gonna have a good time, And then you get there, And you're not having, Such a great time, Because you know, That you left them, You can go fast, If you go alone, But you can go, A whole lot farther, When you go together, And, The unity, That, Jesus, Intends, To be in his church, Is not just a said unity, And, I'm just about done, But here's what I really want to, Say to us, It is, A spirit, Induced, Unity, It doesn't happen, Just simply, Because people make up their mind, It happens because, The Holy Ghost, Moves through us,

[37:21] Inspires us, Transforms us, Until we are all, Again, Speaking, The same language, And I'm not talking about, Earthly languages, I'm talking about, The language of faith, The language of faith, Because the language of faith, Is far superior, To the language of men, And when we, Are in, Are unified, There is a language, That we start to speak, Anything is possible, Anything is possible, Hey, There's a need over there, Alright, We're going to pray, God's going to meet that need, And we're going to do everything, That we can, Hey we've got a need over here, There's that person right there, You know what, We're going to join together, And we're going to meet that need, There's a need in the church, Somebody needs a healing, Somebody needs a miracle,

[38:22] Alright, We serve a God of miracles, Let's do this, That's the language, That's the language,! finish here. I have personally been in enough gatherings together where people have said, oh yeah, we're united. We're in unity. And I've personally known about things that individuals have against one another that are in those gatherings.

[39:33] So I'm not talking about a said unity. We can't have a said unity. We need a genuine, spirit-induced unity.

[39:46] Something that bonds us together through the Holy Ghost. And it has to be through the Holy Ghost. Otherwise, it just becomes very superficial.

[39:59] But if we'll adopt that, if we'll ask the Lord, join my heart with my neighbor. Join my heart, Lord, with others. Join my heart with those in the church.

[40:16] I'll never forget there was a day I walked into the service. There was a brother that was praying in the church before the church service had started. He was weeping. He was going through a terrible time in his life. He was down at the altar praying.

[40:31] And I went up with him. And as I began to pray, I began to weep with him. It was very powerful. I'd never experienced that before.

[40:45] I was feeling what he was feeling. And then another brother came and the same thing happened.

[40:56] And it wasn't long before there were several of us there. And we were all weeping and travailing.

[41:07] Because it was through the Spirit. We were helping him to carry his burden. That's what I'm talking about.

[41:19] That's what I'm talking about. It's about walking in the Spirit to that extent. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

[41:31] Now, I've got to confess to you that if there was a first-time guest that would have walked in looking at that scene, they would have thought, man, this just got a bunch of crybabies in it.

[41:42] But that's how the family of God works. And it's not just about carrying one another to the person.

[41:54] It's about sharing joy. It's about sharing victory. It is about sharing faith to believe in so many things.

[42:07] So I'm going to ask us to pray. And I'm going to ask us to pray right where we're at. And I want us to pray. Lord, help me to feel the heartbeat of my brother and sister next to me.

[42:26] Help me to feel the heartbeat of my brother and sister that's in this room. Of each and every one. And help us, Lord, to knit our hearts together.

[42:43] And if we'll knit our hearts together, we won't have many hearts. We'll just have one heart. Let's pray right now. Lord Jesus, we come to you right now.

[42:54] Trusting and believing, Lord, that you will join us together. And that you will help us, Lord, to knit our hearts together, Lord. Because there's none that is like you.

[43:08] And there's nobody, Lord, that is able, oh God, to join our hearts together like you are able, oh God. And I pray right now, Lord, in the name of Jesus, that whatever our differences might be, whether they're subtle or whether, Lord, they're more pronounced.

[43:30] Help those differences to dissolve, Lord, that we might be able, oh God, to be of one mind, of one heart, of one spirit.

[43:43] Lord, that we could look to you and speak the same language. Lord, there was a day that you dispersed people and created different languages.

[43:58] But bring us back, Lord, to speaking just one language, and that is the language of faith. Hallelujah. Can we worship him right now?

[44:10] Let's lift our voice to him. And let's ask God to help us. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We love you, Lord. Hallelujah.

[44:24] We love you today, Lord. And we magnify your name, oh God. We magnify your name, Lord.

[44:35] And we thank you today for everything, Lord, that you have done in our life. God, I pray that you would help me to knit my heart together with my brother and my sister, Lord.

[44:51] God, that we would be of the same mind and of the same heart. For all of this, God, we praise you. We praise you. And we thank you today.

[45:01] And we honor you this morning, Lord. We give you all of the glory. We give you all of the power. We give you all of the praise, oh God.

[45:14] We give you all of the praise this morning. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

[45:25] Hallelujah. Amen. I feel the presence of the Lord in here. And if we'll do this, it will change the atmosphere of the church.

[45:39] It will change the atmosphere of the church. And everything, everything will change. Our hearts will change. Praise God.

[45:50] Amen. Now, we're going to move into a different phase this morning, this afternoon. We're going to honor somebody today that is very, very special.

[46:06] And we were all holding it in until like the very last moment and somebody kind of let the cat out of the bag a little bit. It doesn't really matter.

[46:20] It doesn't really matter. But it's my wife's birthday this weekend. And we want to honor Priscilla Carrasco for it being her birthday.

[46:32] So what we're going to do is we're going to go in the other room. We have food already prepared. It's there. And we're going to sing happy birthday.

[46:44] We're going to do all that in there. But we're going to eat first. But I just want to say, happy birthday, honey. We love you. And so let's make it nice.

[46:56] Let's make it special. And just let's go. Hallelujah. the voyance.