Latest / Andy Stanley Sermons / Andy Stanley - Talking Points Part 1:- What Is Jesus Take On Politics

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Andy Stanley - Talking Points Part 1:- What Is Jesus Take On Politics · Andy Stanley Sermons

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Speaker 1: So today we begin this three part series designed to
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Speaker 1: make you uncomfortable and hopefully better. It's entitled Talking Points,
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Speaker 1: and I came up with the subtitle myself the Perfect
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Speaker 1: the perfect blend of politics and religion. We'll see how
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Speaker 1: perfect it is. That will be up to you now.
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Speaker 1: I have found it very difficult to stay away from
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Speaker 1: the topic of religion in church, but I found it
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Speaker 1: very easy to stay away from the topic of politics
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Speaker 1: in church. But whenever something Jesus says specifically intersects something
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Speaker 1: that we're wrestling with in culture or wrestling with it
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Speaker 1: specifically at a time like this in the life of
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Speaker 1: our nation, I have to talk about it. Or I
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Speaker 1: shouldn't say I have to talk about it. I get
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Speaker 1: to talk about it. I look forward to talking about
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Speaker 1: it because the words of Jesus are so relevant, and
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Speaker 1: they are so extraordinarily relevant with everything that's happening in
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Speaker 1: our nation right now, and the division that's new news
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Speaker 1: right the division in the church created by our current
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Speaker 1: political context and climate intersects directly or intersects directly with
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Speaker 1: something that Jesus taught. So we're going to look at it.
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Speaker 1: And since we are a large and more and more
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Speaker 1: diverse and geographically dispersed group of network churches in the
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Speaker 1: Atlanta area and now more and more all around the country.
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Speaker 1: It's even more important for me to talk about this
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Speaker 1: because we are set up to be divided because of
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Speaker 1: what we're about to experience in the next few months. Now.
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Speaker 1: I became I don't know, I don't want to say
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Speaker 1: painfully aware. I became extraordinarily aware of the diversity of
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Speaker 1: political views in our churches. Actually, the Sunday following the
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Speaker 1: twenty sixteen election. So here's what happened. So if you
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Speaker 1: can go back in time, Okay, it's the Sunday after
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Speaker 1: the twenty sixteen election, which meant churches and you know,
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Speaker 1: primarily Republican counties, they sang so loud on that particular Sunday, right,
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Speaker 1: I mean they were just singing, right, And churches that
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Speaker 1: were filled with primarily non Republicans they probably didn't even
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Speaker 1: have music that Sunday, I don't know, I mean it
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Speaker 1: was Remember, it was so emotional. Everybody was in shock
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Speaker 1: and awe on both you know, going both ways, and
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Speaker 1: so you know, we plan our services way ahead and
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Speaker 1: so we kind of, you know, we got to Sunday
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Speaker 1: and we just kind of did our regular thing. That's
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Speaker 1: what we do. We just rarely interfaced with what's going
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Speaker 1: on and culture unless it's, you know, something big and
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Speaker 1: dramatic and we just you know, with the program. So anyway,
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Speaker 1: after the service, I'm sitting in my truck at one
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Speaker 1: of our more suburbian campuses. And for those of you
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Speaker 1: who are watching from all over the country, we have
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Speaker 1: like nine or ten churches all over the Atlanta area,
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Speaker 1: so serve out on the outskirts and I'm sitting there
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Speaker 1: in the traffic in park just say, you know, with
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Speaker 1: my phone scrolling through Twitter. And the cool thing about
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Speaker 1: Twitter when you preach with one of these is you
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Speaker 1: find out if people are paying attention to your main points.
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Speaker 1: It's like it's so good, so like yep, yep, yep. Anyway,
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Speaker 1: so I get a mention from an African American woman
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Speaker 1: who attended our church that's more toward town, and this
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Speaker 1: is essentially what her tech said. She said this, She said,
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Speaker 1: I came to church this morning looking for reassurance. I'm
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Speaker 1: scared and no one even meant in the election. I
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Speaker 1: feel abandoned by my church, and of course as a pastor,
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Speaker 1: really as her pastor, I felt terrible. But you know,
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Speaker 1: the Republicans who would read this, if you're a Republican,
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Speaker 1: you would read this and you would say, and this
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Speaker 1: isn't I'm not you know, this is going to be uncomfortable.
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Speaker 1: So let's go ahead and be uncomfortable together. You're like,
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Speaker 1: scared of what we won, scared of what now if
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Speaker 1: the Democrats had won the election, now, that would have
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Speaker 1: been something to be afraid of. That's what you know.
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Speaker 1: You're a Republican, that's what you're thinking, right, But she's
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Speaker 1: thinking something entirely different. She has experienced this in a
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Speaker 1: completely different way, right, Because nothing divides like politics, because
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Speaker 1: nothing divides like fear. And as you know, because you've
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Speaker 1: been a victim of this, or maybe you've been a
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Speaker 1: part of this, you can raise a lot of money
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Speaker 1: peddling fear. You can't raise as much money if you're
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Speaker 1: not peddling fear. Right, I mean, the Republicans are going
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Speaker 1: to take away your opportunity to vote. The Democrats are
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Speaker 1: going to take away your guns, you know for twenty
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Speaker 1: five dollars or fifty dollars or if you check one
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Speaker 1: hundred dollars, you know, you know, if the president is
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Speaker 1: re elected, you know, the end of the world. If
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Speaker 1: a socialist democrat is elected, you know, it's the end
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Speaker 1: of the world. For twenty five dollars or fifty dollars
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Speaker 1: or one hundred dollars, right, I mean, you pedal enough fear,
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Speaker 1: you can raise a lot of money. I'm not trying
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Speaker 1: to give you any ideas. I'm just telling you it works.
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Speaker 1: But here's the question, what exactly, just within the context
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Speaker 1: of you know, the United States of America, what exactly
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Speaker 1: do we fear? And I tell you I know the
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Speaker 1: answer because the answer is the same for all of us.
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Speaker 1: You know, at the macro level, it's this, it's loss.
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Speaker 1: We fear something's going to be taken away. We fear loss.
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Speaker 1: We feel the loss of control, the loss of opportunity,
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Speaker 1: the loss of the future of our children, the loss
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Speaker 1: of our culture, the loss of our freedom, the loss
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Speaker 1: of our progress because we've made progress in some areas.
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Speaker 1: You know, White people we fear what might happen. Brown
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Speaker 1: and black people fear what has already happened. For for them,
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Speaker 1: it's not you know, theory, for them or for you,
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Speaker 1: it's history and it wasn't that long ago. So there's
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Speaker 1: fear for all of us. And it's the fear of
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Speaker 1: the unknown. And you can't raise very much money if
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Speaker 1: you don't peddle in fear. And so we're in this culture,
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Speaker 1: we're in this season and in the life of our
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Speaker 1: nation where everybody's peddling in fear, and if we're not careful,
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Speaker 1: we'll be we will be victims of that. And not
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Speaker 1: only will we be victims, we will be this is
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Speaker 1: what we're gonna talk about. We will be divided. So
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Speaker 1: back to my story. So I see this text and like, oh, no,
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Speaker 1: you know, is there something we could have done or
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Speaker 1: should have done? It was a you know, different one
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Speaker 1: of our churches, but still, you know. So the traffic
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Speaker 1: starts moving, So I put my I'm gonna pick up
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Speaker 1: my pickup truck. I put my truck in gear, and
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Speaker 1: I'm behind another pickup truck and I look and on
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Speaker 1: the back window of the pickup truck on the left
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Speaker 1: is an NRA sticker and on the right side is
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Speaker 1: a very unflattering bumper sticker that has to do with
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Speaker 1: Hillary Clinton. We'll just leave it like that. And I
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Speaker 1: thought to myself, this is all those years ago. Here
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Speaker 1: we are, here, we are we we have the complete
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Speaker 1: pretty much you know, political spectrum in our churches, and
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Speaker 1: I got to tell you, I love that. In fact,
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Speaker 1: I would say this, and maybe this is I don't
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Speaker 1: want to say this too strongly, but if you're looking
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Speaker 1: for a church where everybody's the same, you're in the
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Speaker 1: wrong church. Okay, let me just tell you. And if
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Speaker 1: you're looking for a group of churches where everybody agrees politically,
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Speaker 1: you're in the wrong church. And I hope you never
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Speaker 1: ever ever attend a church like that. Is we're going
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Speaker 1: to see you in just a minute, because what this
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Speaker 1: means for us, because we're big and we're influential. Thanks
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Speaker 1: to what you've done all over the country and really
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Speaker 1: all over the world, we have an unprecedented opportunity. We
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Speaker 1: have an unprecedented, unprecedented opportunity to model for our community
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Speaker 1: and maybe our nation, what it looks like to disagree politically,
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Speaker 1: because we are going to continue to disagree politically and
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Speaker 1: love unconditionally. Now here's the question. I don't want you
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Speaker 1: to answer out loud. I don't want you to say amen,
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Speaker 1: I don't want you to say hmmm. I don't want
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Speaker 1: you to do anything. I don't want you to throw anything,
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Speaker 1: unless you're at one of the other churches and you
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Speaker 1: throw stuff at the screen. I just keep on preaching. Okay,
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Speaker 1: So this is for you, and I really want you
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Speaker 1: because here's the thing, what we're gonna talk about today.
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Speaker 1: I understand, I'm in the audience with you. What we're
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Speaker 1: gonna talk about today. You think you've got it. I
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Speaker 1: know you do. That's why we're gonna spend three weekends
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Speaker 1: talking about this. You think you're fine, like I think
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Speaker 1: I'm fine. But I want us to really dig down
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Speaker 1: and maybe face some things we've never faced before. And
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Speaker 1: they're gonna little be a little bit scary, a little
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Speaker 1: bit terrifying. I'm not gonna ask you to change political parties.
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Speaker 1: I just want you to think a little bit differently
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Speaker 1: as a Christian. And the question I want to ask
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Speaker 1: you is do you don't answer out loud? Do you
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Speaker 1: want to do this? And do you think you can
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Speaker 1: do this? To which on the surface like, oh yeah,
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Speaker 1: I can do this, I do it all the time.
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Speaker 1: And just hang with me. And I don't mean tolerate
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Speaker 1: people from other parties and other persuasions, even those that
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Speaker 1: kind of out on the you know, the fringes and
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Speaker 1: are super extreme, not tolerate, not just be nice to
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Speaker 1: with an eye roll you know me, Let me ask
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Speaker 1: you a different way. And this is more pointed, and
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Speaker 1: I think this goes through the heart of it. Are
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Speaker 1: you willing to evaluate your politics through the filter of
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Speaker 1: our historical collective Christian faith? Are you willing to evaluate
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Speaker 1: your politics through the filter of your faith rather than
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Speaker 1: create a version of faith that supports your politics, which
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Speaker 1: is what most Christians do. As we're going to talk
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Speaker 1: about next week, everybody wants a piece of Jesus, right.
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Speaker 1: I mean, in the United States of America, Jesus is
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Speaker 1: part of every political party. He is in lockst up
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Speaker 1: no matter what your thing is, if you are a
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Speaker 1: Christian at all, or any kind of a version of Christianity,
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Speaker 1: it's like, oh yeah, and again we're gonna see next week.
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Speaker 1: He can get anywhere in the Bible. You can find
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Speaker 1: something Jesus said or somebody in the Bible said to
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Speaker 1: support your political view. The real issue is are you
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Speaker 1: willing and am I willing to put our political filter
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Speaker 1: behind instead of in front of our faith filter? Are
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Speaker 1: we willing to evaluate and reevaluate our politics in light
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Speaker 1: of what specifically Jesus has taught or let me to
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Speaker 1: say it a different way. Are you and can you be?
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Speaker 1: But are you willing to follow Jesus? I mean, that's
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Speaker 1: the mission of our church, just to inspire people to
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Speaker 1: follow Jesus. Are you willing to follow Jesus? When following Jesus,
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Speaker 1: create space between you and your political party, your party's platform,
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Speaker 1: and your party's candidate. And I'm just telling you, most
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Speaker 1: Christians are not able to do that, especially in the
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Speaker 1: climate that we're in now and in the months that
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Speaker 1: we have ahead, because it's so easy to be divided,
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Speaker 1: and it is so easy to rush through the corner,
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Speaker 1: and it's so easy to just assume that God and
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Speaker 1: Jesus are in lockstep with us. Now, any questions so far? Good? Okay? Now, Jesus,
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Speaker 1: this is what's so amazing. This is why I've to
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Speaker 1: talk about it. Apparently Jesus saw this coming, not the election,
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Speaker 1: not that part. What Jesus saw coming was the division.
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Speaker 1: In fact, this is this is extraordinary. After Jesus had
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Speaker 1: his final passover meal with the disciples, he prais a
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Speaker 1: prayer and John Matthew Mark Luke John actually records this prayer.
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Speaker 1: Sometimes it's called the high priestly prayer. And in this prayer,
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Speaker 1: this is two interesting things. Number One, he prays for us.
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Speaker 1: We're gonna look at that in just a minute. But
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Speaker 1: number two, Jesus has a prayer request. Now, if you
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Speaker 1: grew up in church, you know what a prayer request is.
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Speaker 1: You're sitting in a circle, You're about to finish your
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Speaker 1: Sunday school class or your small group. Anybody have a
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Speaker 1: prayer request. Somebody raise their hand, you share a prayer request.
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Speaker 1: Imagine sitting in a circle with Jesus. Anybody have a
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Speaker 1: prayer request. Jesus says, I have a quot request. It's like, really, yeah,
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Speaker 1: Jesus had a prayer request. And in this passage that
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Speaker 1: John records for us, we discover what Jesus asked the
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Speaker 1: Father for. Now, wouldn't you like to know what Jesus
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Speaker 1: prayed for? When Jesus pray, we know what we pray for.
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Speaker 1: You know, thank you for this day, you know, get
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Speaker 1: us to school, helping you, help my kids, you know
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Speaker 1: all this stuff. What did Jesus pray for? And so
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Speaker 1: this is cool. He's at the very end. In a
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Speaker 1: few hours, he's going to be arrested and tried and crucified,
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Speaker 1: and everything moves really quick after that. So he's praying
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Speaker 1: here at the end, and he asks something of his
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Speaker 1: heavenly Father. And what he asked of this heavenly Father
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Speaker 1: has everything in the world to do with any of you,
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Speaker 1: any of us who consider ourselves Jesus followers. This is remarkable.
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Speaker 1: Here's what he prays, Father, The hour has come. Here
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Speaker 1: we are, you know, three three and a half years
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Speaker 1: walking around with these guys, trying to explain what you're
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Speaker 1: like and explaining what the Kingdom of God is like.
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Speaker 1: But here we are at the end. The hour has come.
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Speaker 1: Glorify your son. He's about to be arrested and crucified.
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Speaker 1: And again it moves really quick. Glorify your son, in
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Speaker 1: other words, light me up in such a way that
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Speaker 1: people recognize who I am. That your son may light
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Speaker 1: you up, so that people recognize we're connected. And the
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Speaker 1: interesting thing is the hour when Jesus was crucified that
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Speaker 1: he's referring to here, the hour in which God was
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Speaker 1: most glorified. We would have been most horrified. We would
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Speaker 1: have looked away. And God never looked better because he
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Speaker 1: sent his son to redeem mankind, and Jesus like, okay,
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Speaker 1: we're at that hour. But before all those events kick off,
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Speaker 1: there's something I've got to ask you to do. Over
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Speaker 1: Heavenly Father. Here's what he says. He goes on verse eleven.
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Speaker 1: He says, I will remain in the world no longer,
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Speaker 1: but they, the disciples, are still in the world, and
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Speaker 1: I'm coming to you. I'm leaving him and He's told
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Speaker 1: him I'm leaving. I'm leaving, I'm leaving, and Peter kept
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Speaker 1: saying where are you going, Where are you going? Where
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Speaker 1: you're going? Jesus like, well, I'm going, but you can't go.
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Speaker 1: Peter's like I'm going with you everywhere, and Jesus like, no,
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Speaker 1: you're not. Okay, but what comes next is amazing. And
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Speaker 1: I think this is just my opinion. I think what
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Speaker 1: comes next most Christians don't know. So you're gonna be
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Speaker 1: an overly educated Christian after today. Now it's been in
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Speaker 1: the Gospel of John this whole time. You know, It's
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Speaker 1: like Dorothy, It's like that movie should have lasted what
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Speaker 1: twenty minutes. I've got the ruby red slippers. I'm back
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Speaker 1: in Kansas right So this has been here the whole time.
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Speaker 1: Here is Jesus' prayer request to the Father at the
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Speaker 1: very end, here's what he says, Holy Father, protect them,
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Speaker 1: these twelve guys, by the power of your name, the
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Speaker 1: name that you gave me, so that in other words,
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Speaker 1: here is the purpose of the protection. Here's specifically how
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Speaker 1: I want you to protect them. Now. The interesting thing
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Speaker 1: is he's already given them some bad news. Okay, guys,
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Speaker 1: here's the future. Here's what your future looks like. You're
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Speaker 1: gonna be arrested, flogged and beaten. Some of you are
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Speaker 1: gonna be killed. That's your future. Oh great, wish you'd
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Speaker 1: told us that early on. I know I kind of
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Speaker 1: held back because then you wouldn't follow me. But anyway,
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Speaker 1: that's your future. But now they're in right. But here
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Speaker 1: he is praying that God would protect them, and he's
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Speaker 1: not praying for their physical protection. He's praying for something
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Speaker 1: he thinks is more important than their physical protection, that
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Speaker 1: they may be here. It is, Holy Father, protect them
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Speaker 1: by the power of your name, the name you gave me,
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Speaker 1: so that they may be This is his one prayer request.
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Speaker 1: Here is what he wanted protected more than anything else,
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Speaker 1: that they may be one as we are one. At
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Speaker 1: the very end, the thing that Jesus was most concerned
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Speaker 1: about was their unity and their oneness. Because here's what
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Speaker 1: he knew, and here's what he's going to say in
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Speaker 1: the next few verses. He knew that as long as
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Speaker 1: they were in lockstep together and lockstep with his heavenly Father,
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Speaker 1: the world would change. But if they ever got divided
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Speaker 1: and splintered, things would stall out. Then in verse twenty,
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Speaker 1: he skipping down. If you're following along, he prays for you,
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Speaker 1: and he prays for me, and he prays for us.
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Speaker 1: This is amazing. My prayer, he says, is not for
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Speaker 1: them alone, not just these twelve guys. I pray also.
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Speaker 1: I pray also for those who will believe in me
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Speaker 1: through their message. In other words, that next generation of
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Speaker 1: Christians and the next generation of Christians, and the next
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Speaker 1: generation of Christians leading all the way up to us.
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Speaker 1: And what do you think he prays for us. And
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Speaker 1: the answer is is not what we pray for us.
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Speaker 1: In fact, here's something that's really sad. I mean, he's
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Speaker 1: convicting to me. My hunch is, virtually none of us
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Speaker 1: who consider ourselves Jesus followers, virtually none of us have
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Speaker 1: ever asked God for what Jesus asked God for. Virtually
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Speaker 1: none of us have ever prayed the prayer that Jesus prayed,
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Speaker 1: even though he modeled it, and clearly this was so
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Speaker 1: close to his heart and so important to him in
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Speaker 1: those final hours. Which may be the problem, because, as
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Speaker 1: we're going to discover, maybe if the church, maybe if
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Speaker 1: people like me have been begging God for this, leading
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Speaker 1: toward this, pleading toward this, the world would be a
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Speaker 1: different and better place. My prayer is not for them alone.
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Speaker 1: I pray also for those who will believe in me
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Speaker 1: through their message. That all of them, all of them.
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Speaker 1: In the first century, that meant jew and gentile, and
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Speaker 1: rich and poor, and slaves and freemen, and military leaders
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Speaker 1: and soldiers and tax gatherers and those from whom the
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Speaker 1: taxes were gathered, and the educated and the uneducated, everybody.
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Speaker 1: In the twenty first century, it means Republicans and democrats,
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Speaker 1: the privilege, the not so privileged, the independent, the indecisive,
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Speaker 1: the libertarians, the librarians, you know, the black and brown
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Speaker 1: and white and beige, privileged marriage single. In other words,
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Speaker 1: all of us, that all of the people who call
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Speaker 1: me Lord, no matter where they're from, what they've experienced are,
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Speaker 1: how good life has treated them, are, how poorly life
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Speaker 1: has treated them, Connected, disconnected. I pray that all of them,
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Speaker 1: in this vast array, the extraordinary dispersion of people with
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Speaker 1: different experiences, I pray that somehow all of them this
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Speaker 1: is amazing. May be one which sounds impossible, but Jesus
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Speaker 1: was convinced we're about to see this because he says it.
16:58
Speaker 1: Jesus was convinced is as impossible as that may sound,
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Speaker 1: it was mission critical, which meant, even though it seemed impossible,
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Speaker 1: it was absolutely imperative. This was not an add on.
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Speaker 1: This was not I wouldn't it be nice if they
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Speaker 1: just all got along, which means we should become intentional
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Speaker 1: about ensuring that there is unity in local churches and
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Speaker 1: unity in the church, because this is what Jesus prayed for.
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Speaker 1: And it doesn't come naturally, does it. And the reason
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Speaker 1: it doesn't come naturally is because, well, we only know
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Speaker 1: what we know, and we were raised by who we
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Speaker 1: were raised in, and we've experienced what we've experienced, and
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Speaker 1: we tend to run to our little corners politically and
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Speaker 1: relationally and every kind of way right and Jesus is like, Oh,
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Speaker 1: my church is gonna be so diverse, and my church
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Speaker 1: is gonna be so international, and my church is gonna
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Speaker 1: have so many different languages and so many different colors
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Speaker 1: and so many different cultures. If there was any way
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Speaker 1: they could remain one. Then he continues his prayer, Father, Father,
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Speaker 1: just as you are in me and I am in you,
18:02
Speaker 1: may they also be in us. Sow that another purpose clause.
18:07
Speaker 1: Do you know why he prayed for oneness? This is
18:08
Speaker 1: the shocker. The reason he prayed for oneness really doesn't
18:11
Speaker 1: even have anything to do with us. He prayed for
18:15
Speaker 1: oneness because of what he wanted to do through us.
18:19
Speaker 1: And there can be a lack of unity in a
18:21
Speaker 1: local church and the church will survive. But if there's
18:23
Speaker 1: a lack of unity in a local church or in
18:25
Speaker 1: the church, the will of God will not be accomplished
18:27
Speaker 1: with the church. Look at what he says, The reason
18:30
Speaker 1: I want them to be one is so that the world,
18:34
Speaker 1: not the people in the church, so the people outside
18:37
Speaker 1: the church, the people outside the faith, the people that
18:39
Speaker 1: roll their eyes and drive on by, so that when
18:43
Speaker 1: they see the unity in spite of the diversity, when
18:47
Speaker 1: they see the unity in spite of the diversity within
18:50
Speaker 1: the church and between churches, they may actually come to
18:53
Speaker 1: the conclusion they may believe that is, they might be
18:57
Speaker 1: convinced that you have me. Jesus Is, Look, this isn't
19:02
Speaker 1: an add on. This is mission critical. The way the
19:05
Speaker 1: world is gonna sit up and take notice of this beautiful,
19:08
Speaker 1: diverse thing we call the local church is when the
19:11
Speaker 1: church works together and is unified, even though we disagree
19:14
Speaker 1: and agree to disagree, even though we've been raised in
19:17
Speaker 1: such different ways that we will never see the world
19:19
Speaker 1: the same way politically, in other ways. And yet at
19:21
Speaker 1: the same time, there's this beautiful, magical, unusual unity. And
19:26
Speaker 1: Jesus Is, I'm telling you this is the way forward.
19:29
Speaker 1: This is what will eventually get the attention of the empire.
19:33
Speaker 1: This is what will eventually get the attention of the
19:36
Speaker 1: pagan world. There's never been anything like it. And you
19:40
Speaker 1: can't sacrifice your unity for anything. You know what he
19:45
Speaker 1: was doing. He was actually asking his heavenly Father to
19:49
Speaker 1: come along later and nudge us, and you know, nudge
19:54
Speaker 1: that that generation of Christians and the next generation of
19:57
Speaker 1: Christians to nudge us toward what he had just come
20:00
Speaker 1: demanded us to do a few minutes earlier when he
20:02
Speaker 1: was in having pass over a meal with his disciples,
20:05
Speaker 1: because in that conversation with his disciples, he said, look,
20:07
Speaker 1: I'm about to leave, Peter, you're not going. I'm about
20:10
Speaker 1: to leave. And here's one thing I don't want you
20:13
Speaker 1: to forget. I'm going to give you a new command.
20:15
Speaker 1: We talk about this all the time. I'm going to
20:16
Speaker 1: give you a new command. I'm going to establish a
20:18
Speaker 1: new covenant. And the new command's going to replace all
20:20
Speaker 1: the other commands. And it's very simple. Nobody even needs
20:22
Speaker 1: to write this down, he would say. He could have said,
20:24
Speaker 1: because it's so simple, and my new command is this,
20:26
Speaker 1: You're to love one another right as you're to love
20:29
Speaker 1: one another, to which they would have said that that's
20:31
Speaker 1: not really new. And Jesus would have said, I'm not through.
20:33
Speaker 1: You're to love one another as I have look at this,
20:36
Speaker 1: as I have loved you. This you don't get to
20:38
Speaker 1: make this up. I've modeled this for you as I
20:40
Speaker 1: have loved you. You're to love one another. And this
20:43
Speaker 1: was a new command, it was not a new suggestion.
20:46
Speaker 1: These were our marching orders. Again, it's not even about us,
20:49
Speaker 1: because look what he says, and the reason I want
20:51
Speaker 1: you to love each other is it's just so you'll
20:52
Speaker 1: get along because by this, by this kind of unique
20:57
Speaker 1: love for one another, even though you're not like one another,
21:01
Speaker 1: because of this unique kind of love for each other,
21:04
Speaker 1: the world will know that you're my disciples if you
21:09
Speaker 1: love one another as I have loved you. So now Jesus,
21:13
Speaker 1: after he's given them given us this command, he's going, Father,
21:16
Speaker 1: please help them to get this right. Please help them
21:19
Speaker 1: as this thing expands and grows and goes from Judea
21:22
Speaker 1: to Samaria to the uttermost parts of the words. Please
21:26
Speaker 1: help them to love each other as different as they're
21:29
Speaker 1: gonna be in so many ways. Back to John seventeen
21:33
Speaker 1: his prayer, he says, I have given them the glory
21:36
Speaker 1: that you gave me, that they may be one as
21:39
Speaker 1: weird one. There it is again, and I and them,
21:41
Speaker 1: and you and me, so that they may be brought
21:43
Speaker 1: to come look at this to complete unity, not political unity,
21:49
Speaker 1: unity of purpose, unity of a worldview, that they would
21:55
Speaker 1: see each other the way I see each of them,
21:58
Speaker 1: that they would see me the way I'm to be.
22:00
Speaker 1: This suddenly, this worldview that includes a God that loves
22:03
Speaker 1: them and a savior that dies for them, that would
22:05
Speaker 1: be so encapsulating that it would define and redefine everything
22:09
Speaker 1: for them. And then look what he says. Then here
22:12
Speaker 1: is again, it's not about you, it's not about me,
22:14
Speaker 1: it's not even about us. Then the world will know
22:17
Speaker 1: with certainty that you sent me and have loved them
22:19
Speaker 1: even as you have loved me, he was saying, Heavenly Father,
22:25
Speaker 1: you and I know everything rides on their unity, not
22:32
Speaker 1: around their politics, not around their culture, not around their language,
22:37
Speaker 1: not around bits and pieces of their worldview, not around
22:40
Speaker 1: how they do baptism, communion, or not around how they
22:43
Speaker 1: sing or when they sing, or what time of the
22:45
Speaker 1: day they meet. We know there is a core that
22:48
Speaker 1: they must be unified around. And if they are the
22:51
Speaker 1: world's gonna change. And here's the cool thing. After the
22:55
Speaker 1: Resurrection of Jesus, it happened, I mean, after the Resurrection
22:59
Speaker 1: of Jesus, the apostles went into the streets of Jerusalem,
23:02
Speaker 1: and clearly they went with one purpose. Their purpose was
23:05
Speaker 1: to make disciples of all nations, and they went with
23:08
Speaker 1: one message. The message was that Jesus is the Messiah.
23:12
Speaker 1: Jesus is the king that has come to reverse the
23:15
Speaker 1: order of things. He's come to bring the Kingdom of
23:17
Speaker 1: God to earth. And then he laid down his life
23:20
Speaker 1: unlike any other king, he laid down his life for
23:22
Speaker 1: his subjects to create an on ramp to the Father.
23:26
Speaker 1: And they went to the streets of Jerusalem with this
23:29
Speaker 1: one single command to love each other the way they
23:32
Speaker 1: had seen Jesus love them. So here's the thing. I mean,
23:37
Speaker 1: you're all very intelligent, smart people, so you know this.
23:40
Speaker 1: Let me just say it anyway, Okay, your candidate, your
23:45
Speaker 1: political candidate for president or for everything. Your political candidate,
23:49
Speaker 1: your candidates will win or lose based on how American
23:54
Speaker 1: citizens vote on a Tuesday in November. But the church
23:59
Speaker 1: will win or lose based on our behavior every single
24:03
Speaker 1: day between now and then. Let me say this again.
24:07
Speaker 1: Your political candidate, and I hope everybody votes, will win
24:10
Speaker 1: or lose based on how the citizens of the United
24:13
Speaker 1: States vote on a single Tuesday November. But the church
24:16
Speaker 1: winds are loses, the community winds are loses in some way,
24:20
Speaker 1: our nation winds are loses based on how we treat
24:23
Speaker 1: each other and love each other and love our world
24:26
Speaker 1: every single day between now and then. That's why. And
24:31
Speaker 1: I say it strong because Jesus was so clear, we
24:34
Speaker 1: must not it's not an add on, it's not a
24:36
Speaker 1: nice to have. We must not allow anything to divide us,
24:41
Speaker 1: and we must not allow any one to divide us.
24:47
Speaker 1: Remember this. We're gonna talk about this in the third
24:49
Speaker 1: week in particular. Remember this, this is so important. It
24:52
Speaker 1: was Christianity. It was Christianity. It was these unique, upside
24:59
Speaker 1: down doctrines of Christianity that shaped Western civilization. Almost no
25:05
Speaker 1: one disagrees with that. Even staunch atheists will agree that
25:09
Speaker 1: it was the message of Christianity that shaped Western civilization.
25:13
Speaker 1: It wasn't American politics, it wasn't Republicans or Democrats. It
25:17
Speaker 1: was Christianity that shaped Western civilization. It was the teaching
25:22
Speaker 1: of Jesus, not our political parties, that laid the groundwork
25:26
Speaker 1: for our modern sense of justice and fairness and the
25:30
Speaker 1: dignity of every single individual. And we've not gotten that
25:34
Speaker 1: right all the time, and we continued to get it
25:36
Speaker 1: wrong in some quarters. But the Hope is not the
25:38
Speaker 1: perfect political party. The Hope is the message in teaching
25:41
Speaker 1: of Jesus. Because it was Jesus, then it was the
25:44
Speaker 1: church that introduced these values in these ways in the beginning,
25:49
Speaker 1: and so why in the world, why in the world
25:53
Speaker 1: would we opt for something less than that, And why
25:56
Speaker 1: in the world would we allow ourselves to be divided
25:58
Speaker 1: over that. Listen throughout our very short you know this,
26:00
Speaker 1: throughout our very short history as a nation, and it
26:03
Speaker 1: is oh so short. Both political parties, both of our
26:06
Speaker 1: current political parties, have gotten it wrong. Right, during our
26:09
Speaker 1: oh so short history as a nation, both of our
26:12
Speaker 1: current political parties and their leaders have gotten it wrong.
26:15
Speaker 1: They failed us morally, they failed us in terms of
26:17
Speaker 1: their leadership. We've had some great leaders, We've had some
26:20
Speaker 1: not so great leaders. And then there's this, you know
26:22
Speaker 1: we forget during our oh so short history as a nation,
26:26
Speaker 1: several parties turned out the lights because their party was over.
26:32
Speaker 1: Are there any whigs? Are there still any whigs around
26:34
Speaker 1: your federalist? Any federalists in the room? See, here's what
26:37
Speaker 1: we forget. We're so short sighted. Come on, there were
26:40
Speaker 1: entire political parties and our short history is a nation
26:43
Speaker 1: that were so adamant about certain things and they just
26:45
Speaker 1: kind of went away. So here's the question. Why would we,
26:53
Speaker 1: as followers of an eternal king, allow ourselves to be
26:59
Speaker 1: divided by temporary political systems and temporary political leaders and
27:06
Speaker 1: temporary political platforms. Why would we allow ourselves to be
27:10
Speaker 1: divided by lesser kings? And here's the most embarrassing thing
27:15
Speaker 1: to me, why would we allow ourselves to be divided
27:19
Speaker 1: by fear? Jesus' most oft repeated command was fear not,
27:26
Speaker 1: fear not, fear not. And you know what, so many
27:29
Speaker 1: of us are so afraid of a potential something out
27:32
Speaker 1: there in the future to be afraid of. Let's just
27:34
Speaker 1: pause for a moment and think about the context in
27:36
Speaker 1: which Jesus said fear not. You got the Temple on
27:40
Speaker 1: one side that can't wait to have you arrested, and
27:43
Speaker 1: you have the Empire on the other side that that's
27:47
Speaker 1: going to perform the execution. And in the middle of
27:49
Speaker 1: those colossal forces, Jesus says to his apostles and smiles
27:54
Speaker 1: and says, guys, ignore them, fear not. A king has come.
28:03
Speaker 1: And when the king's people rally around the message of
28:07
Speaker 1: the king, we know extraordinary things can happen, because something
28:10
Speaker 1: extraordinary did happen in history. Why come on, why would
28:19
Speaker 1: we allow any political view, a view that you might outgrow,
28:26
Speaker 1: a view that you might abandon isn't it true that
28:29
Speaker 1: every ten years or so, or every fifteen years or so,
28:32
Speaker 1: your views, your political views have changed and adjusted in
28:35
Speaker 1: things that you are all adamant about. It's kind of like, well,
28:38
Speaker 1: maybe I don't know. I mean, don't your views change?
28:40
Speaker 1: Why would we run the risk? Why would we allow
28:43
Speaker 1: any strongly held or not so strongly held political view
28:47
Speaker 1: divide us from a living, breathing you. Why would we
28:51
Speaker 1: do that when Jesus single command is, look, believe what
28:55
Speaker 1: you want to believe, vote for who you want to
28:57
Speaker 1: vote for. But don't you dare miss treat someone made
29:01
Speaker 1: in my image? Why would we allow a political view
29:04
Speaker 1: to divide us from an actual, living, breathing you that
29:07
Speaker 1: Jesus died for, the you besides you, the you that
29:10
Speaker 1: lives next door to you, the you that works you know,
29:12
Speaker 1: next cube, next office over from you, or worse of all,
29:16
Speaker 1: the you that's related to you. Why come on, this
29:21
Speaker 1: is common sense. Why would we not fight for, struggle for,
29:26
Speaker 1: and sacrifice for the unity our king prayed for? It
29:32
Speaker 1: was the unity of the church that got the attention
29:35
Speaker 1: of a pagan world and eventually the empire responsible for
29:40
Speaker 1: crucifying Jesus embraced him. So don't answer out loud, just
29:48
Speaker 1: in your heart. Do you want to do this? Do
29:53
Speaker 1: you want to do this? Let me just say this.
29:54
Speaker 1: I don't say this about much, but I can say
29:56
Speaker 1: it with confidence. This is God's will for you. This
30:02
Speaker 1: is God's will for us, and this is God's will
30:05
Speaker 1: for every church because this is what Jesus prayed for.
30:10
Speaker 1: So I want to make two suggestions as we start
30:12
Speaker 1: off this journey together. Two things. Would you pray like
30:16
Speaker 1: Jesus pray because most of us have never prayed a
30:19
Speaker 1: prayer like this before. Would you pray for oneness. I'm
30:22
Speaker 1: going to give you a little prayer and it's kind
30:23
Speaker 1: of you know, it's not the best prayer in the world,
30:25
Speaker 1: but it's short. You may want to take a picture.
30:26
Speaker 1: I'm just going to have us all pray it out
30:27
Speaker 1: loud because this is God's will for us. Heavenly Father,
30:30
Speaker 1: make us one so we can influence many. This is
30:33
Speaker 1: not about church growth. This isn't about getting more people
30:36
Speaker 1: in a building. This is about the universal Church. He said, Hey,
30:39
Speaker 1: if they'll stay one, the world's gonna know what I'm
30:41
Speaker 1: up to. If they'll be one, the world will pay attention.
30:44
Speaker 1: And look up. So we should pray, and I want
30:46
Speaker 1: you to pray this for your local church wherever you
30:49
Speaker 1: attend church. Heavenly Father, make us one so we can
30:52
Speaker 1: influence many. This was the prayer of our Savior, who
30:56
Speaker 1: hours later died. This is what he wanted protected even
31:00
Speaker 1: more than the lives of his closest first century followers.
31:05
Speaker 1: So let's just get started. Let's just pray this together.
31:08
Speaker 1: I'd even just say this together all together. Heavenly Father,
31:11
Speaker 1: make us one so we can influence many. Yeah, one
31:14
Speaker 1: more time, Heavenly Father, make us one so we can influence.
31:19
Speaker 1: Second thing I want you to do, and for some
31:22
Speaker 1: of you this will be like, yeah, I do this
31:23
Speaker 1: all the time. Okay, you could do this all the time,
31:24
Speaker 1: but I just want to kind of push you a
31:26
Speaker 1: little bit. I want you to look for an opportunity,
31:28
Speaker 1: because you're gonna have to look for an opportunity. I
31:30
Speaker 1: want you to look for an opportunity to love unconditionally
31:32
Speaker 1: someone with whom you disagree politically. You're like, well, I
31:35
Speaker 1: don't even know anybody I disagree with politically. That's a problem. Okay,
31:41
Speaker 1: that right there. She kind of gets you started. Right.
31:44
Speaker 1: Let me just can I push a little bit. That's
31:46
Speaker 1: why you haven't learned anything in fifteen years. Woo, that's
31:50
Speaker 1: why you're so convinced you're right and you just can't
31:52
Speaker 1: understand talks. I've told you this, I can't understand how
31:55
Speaker 1: anybody could believe that. Well, you just made a confession.
31:58
Speaker 1: There's something you don't understand. I don't know how anybody
32:02
Speaker 1: can behave that way. You just made a confession. There's
32:04
Speaker 1: something you don't know. So Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father. But
32:09
Speaker 1: I pray for one is that we can influence many.
32:11
Speaker 1: And then I want you to look for an opportunity
32:12
Speaker 1: to love and conditionally someone with whom you disagree politically.
32:15
Speaker 1: And that may be harder than it normally is because
32:16
Speaker 1: we're more divided than we've ever been. And when you
32:20
Speaker 1: find somebody that you can serve and love unconditionally, your
32:22
Speaker 1: light's gonna shine a little bit brighter because we're so divided. Now,
32:27
Speaker 1: let me close with this. I know what some of
32:29
Speaker 1: you are thinking, and I understand this, I really do.
32:31
Speaker 1: This isn't a criticism. I get this. Some of you
32:33
Speaker 1: are thinking, Andy, okay, cool, sermon, great, you know, appreciate that,
32:38
Speaker 1: But come on, Andy, you have to say things like
32:41
Speaker 1: this here to the bridger. I mean, this is your job, right,
32:45
Speaker 1: You're just doing your job. You know Jesus said this.
32:47
Speaker 1: You're you gonna tell us what Jesus said, and you
32:48
Speaker 1: wrapped into political rapper. And that's a good I become
32:50
Speaker 1: on and Andy, aren't you being a little bit naive,
32:54
Speaker 1: to which I would say to you, No, let me
32:57
Speaker 1: give you an example of something that's really not Let
33:00
Speaker 1: me tell you what naive is naive? Is this a
33:03
Speaker 1: first century rabbi from nowhere is far away from the
33:09
Speaker 1: epicenter of activity as he could be, way way way
33:12
Speaker 1: up north, standing out in that hot Syrian sun, surrounded
33:16
Speaker 1: by twelve guys who were younger than him, and they
33:19
Speaker 1: got no political clout, They don't have anything going for them.
33:22
Speaker 1: And right out there in the blazing hot sun, this
33:25
Speaker 1: first century rabbi says this, guys, I'm gonna build my church,
33:32
Speaker 1: my movement, my assembly, my congregation, which by the way,
33:37
Speaker 1: was illegal. I'm gonna build my church, and the gates
33:40
Speaker 1: of Hades will not overcome it. Now that is naive.
33:45
Speaker 1: They look around like us, You're gonna do what I'm
33:51
Speaker 1: gonna start a movement and guys, you're gonna be part
33:54
Speaker 1: of it. In Neither Rome, nor the Temple, nor any
33:59
Speaker 1: culture nor any nation will ever stop it. Now that's naive.
34:06
Speaker 1: But he did, and it didn't, and we are part
34:13
Speaker 1: of it, and our unique sacrificial oneness is the key
34:20
Speaker 1: to fueling it in our generation. So disagree politically, love unconditionally,
34:29
Speaker 1: and pray for oneness. Disagree politically, love unconditionally, pray for oneness.
34:36
Speaker 1: Disagree politically, but love unconditionally and pray for unity. And
34:42
Speaker 1: most importantly, don't miss part two of talking points. Assass