Choosing Unity in a Divided World | A Church That Pleases God: Part 4

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Choosing Unity in a Divided World | A Church That Pleases God: Part 4

Podcast: Life.Church with Craig Groeschel
Date: January 25, 2026
Host: Life.Church
Speakers: Lead Pastor (Craig Groeschel) & Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor

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Overview

This episode focuses on the essential Christian calling to unity within the church, laying out practical, biblical strategies for fostering unity in a culture rife with division. Exploring Jesus’ prayer for unity found in John 17 and His command to love one another, the pastors discuss how division weakens the church’s witness and pleases the enemy, while true unity empowers the church to fulfill its mission. They challenge listeners to recognize their own roles in promoting unity, encourage humility, and urge Christians to prioritize primary truths over secondary disputes, ultimately advancing a church that pleases God.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Devil’s Strategy: Division Over Destruction

• Imagination Exercise: Listeners are invited to imagine themselves as the devil tasked with hindering the church—not by destroying it, but by dividing it.
  • “[The devil] doesn’t need to destroy the church… He just needs to divide the church.” (Lead Pastor, 02:10–02:13)
• Division is achieved through social media, fighting over secondary issues, and focusing on preferences, not on the core message of Christ.

2. Jesus’ Primary Prayer: Unity for His Followers

• John 17: On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus’ highest prayer was for His followers to be one—unity, not miracles, growth, or protection.
  • “My prayer is that all of them may be one… so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (Lead Pastor, quoting John 17:21, 02:51–03:24)
  • Jesus links the gospel’s credibility to Christians’ unity: “Jesus tied the credibility of the gospel to the unity of his followers.” (Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor, 03:50)

3. Unity is Critical, Division is Despised

• Biblical Foundation: God loves unity and hates division—Proverbs 6:16.
  • “God doesn’t just dislike division in his family. He hates it.” (Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor, 06:34)
• Illustration with children quarreling: Just as parents long for harmony among their children, God desires unity among believers.

4. Unintentional Division: Being Right vs. Being Loving

• Division often happens subtly—even among those convinced they are right.
  • “You can be right in your beliefs, but wrong in your approach.” (Lead Pastor, 08:21)
• Defending the truth with the wrong attitude can cause harm.

5. The “Rage Bait” Culture & Its Impact

• Rage baiting—content designed to provoke outrage—was named word of the year. This phenomenon escalates division both in society and the church, weaponizing anger and offense for engagement.
  • “Anger spreads faster than truth.” (Lead Pastor, 09:12)

6. Unity in Difference: Not Sameness, But Purpose

• Unity doesn’t mean uniformity or suppression of conviction.
  • “Unity is being different and deciding that we belong together anyway.” (Lead Pastor, 11:38)
• Focus must remain on the essentials: All are sinners in need of Jesus, and redemption comes through Him alone.
  • “What unites us is infinitely greater than what divides us.” (Lead Pastor, 12:45)

7. Three Essentials for Christian Unity

• One Enemy: Our real enemy isn’t each other, but the devil and the forces of darkness (Ephesians 6:12).
  • “The person that votes differently than you is not your enemy… We have one enemy. He is the devil.” (Lead Pastor, 14:00–14:27)
• One Mission: Jesus calls us to make disciples of all nations (not win arguments)—the great commission (Matthew 28:19).
  • “In other words, Jesus didn’t call us to win arguments, but to make disciples.” (Lead Pastor, 17:54)
  • Story: A neighbor from another church insists Life.Church is “wrong”—illustrating how even winning souls can become divisive when mission is confused for method (19:28–21:17).
• One Strategy: The only Christ-given mark of Christians is love for one another (John 13:34-35).
  • “A new command I give to you. Love one another… By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (Lead Pastor and Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor, 26:12–27:26)

8. Practical Posture: Unity in Diversity of Methods

• Churches are supposed to be different—diversity in style/methods reaches diversity in people, but all must carry the same core message.
  • “A diversity of churches reaches a diversity of people. Different styles, same Savior. Different methods, same message.” (Lead Pastor, 22:01–22:56)
• Urges listeners to focus on being good at their own mission, without criticizing others for having different callings or methods.

9. Guarding the Heart Against Division

• Division can creep in subtly (e.g., over parenting, lifestyle choices, or cultural preferences).
  • Satirical examples: “Homeschooling is obviously God’s will… they vaccinate, which is deadly… they let their kids watch K Pop Demon Hunters…” (Lead Pastor & Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor, 24:50–25:21)
• Warns against making secondary issues the mission—primary mission is making disciples, not enforcing conformity on non-essentials.

10. Love: The Definitive Mark of a Follower of Jesus

• Christians are not to be known for politics or correctness, but for radical, Christlike love.
  • “It doesn’t say we’re going to be known by our politics… It says we’re known for how we love.” (Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor & Lead Pastor, 27:29–27:50)

11. Vision of the Unified Church’s Impact

• Examples of Christian acts of love that witness to the world.
  • “Did you hear about that Christian guy at work that forgave that person… that small group that bought a single mom a car? Did you see what the church did?” (Lead Pastor, 29:05)
• Reinforces that the church is the body and bride of Christ—the world’s hope flows through it when it is united.

12. Personal Commitment and Challenge

• Unity starts personally (“Not with them, with me, with you, with us.” (Lead Pastor, 31:05)).
• Reflects on resisting the temptation to criticize other pastors or churches to elevate one’s own ministry. Commits instead to celebrating the diverse works of God in the global church.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Division:
  “God doesn’t just dislike division in his family. He hates it.”
  (Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor, 06:34)

• On Secondary vs. Primary Issues:
  “Let's work to never let secondary issues... ever distract you from your primary calling to show the love of God.”
  (Lead Pastor, 28:05–28:20)

• On What Defines Christians:
  “By this everyone will know that you're my disciples, if you love one another.”
  (Lead Pastor, 27:16–27:26, referencing John 13:35)

• On Church’s Impact:
  “When the church is divided, our message is diluted. But when the church is united, the world notices and the Father is pleased.”
  (Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor, 31:57)

• On Responding to Differences:
  “More power to you. Because when the church is divided, our message is diluted. But when the church is united, the world notices and the Father is pleased.”
  (Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor, 31:56–31:57)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Imagination Exercise — If You Were the Devil: 00:22–02:13
• Jesus Prays for Unity: 02:17–03:46
• Division vs. Unity According to God: 06:01–06:43
• Right in Belief, Wrong in Approach: 08:21–09:12
• Rage Bait and Division: 08:47–10:36
• Unity Doesn’t Mean Sameness: 11:38–12:45
• One Enemy, Mission, and Strategy: 13:02–15:23
• Church Diversity as Strength: 22:01–22:56
• Examples of Division in Everyday Life: 24:41–25:21
• Love as Christ’s Strategy: 26:12–27:26
• The Impact of Christian Unity: 29:05–31:08
• Personal Commitment to Unity: 31:19–31:57

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Conclusion and Call to Action

The episode closes with prayer and a call to action: for listeners to become “an answer to Jesus’ prayer” for unity—starting with themselves. All are urged to celebrate, not criticize, the differences within the body of Christ and to make love their defining characteristic in the world.

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Listen If You Want:

• Biblical insight and practical wisdom on Christian unity
• To understand why unity was Jesus’ highest prayer and is the church’s greatest testimony
• Steps to personally promote unity in your faith community

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Transcript

[Host/Announcer]

Welcome to Life Church. We're here to help you become who God created you to be. And we'd love to hear from you. Take a quick survey at Life Church PodcastConnect to let us know how we can support you on your faith journey. And now let's go to the Message.

[Lead Pastor]

We're gonna play a little game today.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

I'm gonna give you a little assignment.

[Lead Pastor]

And before we do, if you're meeting this weekend, I'm glad you're meeting. If you're snowed in somewhere because a big part of the nation is snowed in, tell us where you're watching from. Wherever you are, all of us, we're gonna play a game. I'm gonna ask you to use your imagination.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

This is an odd game and I.

[Lead Pastor]

Admit it, but use your imagination. And I wanna ask you if you were the devil.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

I know I told you it was.

[Lead Pastor]

Weird, but if you were the devil for one day and your assignment was to slow the work of God through the church, how would you do it?

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Imagine if you were the devil for one day and your assignment was to.

[Lead Pastor]

Try to slow the work of God through the church, how would you do it? Let me tell you what you wouldn't have to do. You wouldn't have to even shut the doors to the church. You wouldn't have to get people burning bibles. You wouldn't even have to get people to stop believing in Jesus. If you were the devil and wanted to stop the work of God through the church, one thing you could do is just get God's people to turn on each other. Divide the body of Christ. You could do it through some hateful social media posts. You could distract well meaning Christians from with secondary issues and get them fighting about secondary issues instead of communicating our primary message. You could get Christians to divide over preferences rather than being united in mission to hurt the work of God to the church. When you think about it, the devil doesn't need to destroy the church.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

He just needs to divide the church.

[Lead Pastor]

And that's one of the reasons that.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Jesus prayed for unity. I want you to think about this.

[Lead Pastor]

On the night before Jesus is going.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

To go to the cross, Jesus prayed.

[Lead Pastor]

And when he prayed, he didn't pray for miracles. He didn't pray for growth. He didn't even pray for protection. When Jesus prayed for his disciples, he prayed for unity. Look at what Jesus prayed in John chapter 17. He's praying for the disciples. And he said, my prayer is that.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

All of them may be one.

[Lead Pastor]

Why is he praying for unity? So that the world may believe God that you have sent me. Jesus says, I've given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one, so that they may be brought together in complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

As you have loved me.

[Lead Pastor]

When you think about this, the night.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Before Jesus is crucified, he prayed that we, you, me, we, the body of Christ, would be one. Why? So that the world would believe that the Father sent Jesus.

[Lead Pastor]

In other words, Jesus tied the credibility.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Of the gospel to the unity of his followers.

[Lead Pastor]

Because when we stand united, the world.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Clearly sees the love of Jesus through his body. Which brings us to our message series. We're in a message series called A Church that Pleases God. And what kind of church are we praying that we'll be? We're praying that we will be genuinely a church that pleases God. And what is a church that pleases God made up of? The answer is a church that pleases God is made up of people that are pleasing God. And we're going to find out today from the living word of God that a church that pleases God is a unified church. A church that pleases God is a unified church. And I just want to acknowledge that there was a solid amen and several head nods. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Pastor unity sounds nice, right? But what I want to tell you right now is this is not a soft suggestion. Jesus prayed make them one.

[Lead Pastor]

Because when the church stands as one, Jesus is impossible to ignore. Make them one. Make them one. Make them one. Make them one. A church that pleases God is a unified church. And it's not easy to be that, especially today, because we have a spiritual enemy working overtime to divide the pot body of Christ. And he's doing a decent job of dividing God's family. Because if we are united together, we are unstoppable, filled by the power of the Holy Spirit to make a difference in this world. But if we are divided, we are weak and ineffective. And I want to be really, really clear. This isn't just my opinion. This is God's word to be really, really clear. God doesn't just love unity, which he.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Does.

[Lead Pastor]

But he hates division. Proverbs 6, 16. Scripture tells us there are six things the Lord hates. Seven that are detestable to Him. Then you list 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The seventh is that he detests is a person who stirs up conflict in the community. He hates these things. They're detestable. That's strong language.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

God doesn't just dislike division in his family. He. He hates it. If you're a parent with kids, you.

[Lead Pastor]

Know that you just love when they get along.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

And if you're driving in a car and they're not getting along in a backseat, you'll pull that car over or you'll just start swinging for anybody, anything. God wants his family to be unified. And some of you are thinking like, I'm glad our pastor's preaching this, because I know someone who needs to hear this message. If you're sitting next to them, don't nudge them, but you can just kind of lean in their direction. And I hope so and so hears this. But I'm going to just approach this from a more humble standpoint and ask, what if the person that's stirring division isn't just them, but what if sometimes it's you, and what if sometimes it's me? Because I don't know any Christians that wake up and think, today's the day I'm going to divide the church. I don't think that happens. I think it happens more subtly and unintentionally, especially from those of us who really believe we're right. You're not laughing because you really think you're right. Like, genuinely, like, you know, I think I'm right and you think you're right. And when we're really convinced we're right, sometimes we may even be right, but our approach may not be right. In other words, let me just say this. You. You can be right in your beliefs, but wrong in your approach.

[Lead Pastor]

And sometimes we think like we're defending.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

The truth, but our attitude is actually dividing the body. I'll tell you something kind of cool. I read about that is cool thought, but not a cool outcome. The Oxford Dictionary. Word of the year for 2025. Does anybody know what the word of the word, the word of the year is for 2025? The word is rage bait. Now, if you're thinking that's two words.

[Lead Pastor]

It'S exactly what I thought.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

But nevertheless, that's what it is. And if you don't know what rage bait is, essentially, rage bait is like, any kind of content that is crafted to trigger anger or, like, very emotional reactions.

[Lead Pastor]

If any of you are on any.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Form of social media or read any type of news, chances are you see.

[Lead Pastor]

Stories or posts that drive comments and shares and division. And some argue that rage bait is actually designed to provoke outrage because anger spreads faster than truth. And all of us, me, you, we're.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

All incredibly vulnerable to the algorithms and.

[Lead Pastor]

What we look at, we tend to be fed more of. And if you find yourself getting into kind of divisive comment and seeing content and one side swings or swings on another and all of a sudden the stuff that is gets the highest engagement gets pushed out the most. And sometimes that which is most controversial and that which is most divisive gets pushed out the hardest. And if we're not careful, rage bait isn't just annoying content, but it's weaponizing divisiveness. Because especially in the body of Christ, if the enemy can just keep us.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Offended at each other, at our own.

[Lead Pastor]

And keep us suspicious of other Christians.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

And those churches and those pastors and.

[Lead Pastor]

The people who read that wrong version of the Bible, if you can just keep us suspicious with each other, the devil doesn't have to destroy the church.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

We'll literally do it for him. Jesus prayed, make them one, make them one. This is how they will know that you sent me when they're unified. Now let's just be realistic and honest. We're all going to disagree about different things. I mean, all day long we're going to disagree about politics, we're gonna disagree about certain preferences, personalities, who we like, who we don't like, end times beliefs. What version is the best version of the Bible to read?

[Lead Pastor]

We'll disagree about the most important things in church. Like what's the most holy thing to.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Do with your hands during worship? Do we worship God like this with a very comfortable.

[Lead Pastor]

Do we worship God with hands half masked?

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Do we worship God with a pageant? Wave one?

[Lead Pastor]

Is it the Holy Ghost? Touchdown.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

You know, is it two hands up in the air?

[Lead Pastor]

We'll argue about any kind of thing. And so we have to understand that unity is not surrendering our convictions. It's not pretending that we think the same. It's not acting like thinking like everybody else. Unity is being different and deciding that we belong together. And anyway, because if we can really focus on what really matters, and that is that we've all sinned and are in desperate need of a Savior and that God loved the world so much that he became one of us in the person of his Son, Jesus, who was without sin, died in our place, rose again so that our sins could be forgiven. If we can believe in a sinless Savior who gave his life to so we could be forgiven and have the power of God to do his will on earth. If we can agree about that, what unites us is infinitively greater than what divides us. So to be a church that pleases God, we have to be a unified church. And yet we're very, very different. He made us differently, which was good.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Because it was intentional.

[Lead Pastor]

So how do we love each other and be unique and be different and.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Have different opinions and live together in unity? To be unified, to be one in the family of God, we need three ones. I'm gonna tell you what we need. We need one enemy. We need one mission, and we need one strategy if Jesus is gonna make us one. Let's talk about the first thing is we need to recognize that we only have one true enemy. And it's not us, it's the forces of darkness. Ephesians 6:12 tells us this, that our struggle, our battle, is not against flesh and blood. It's not against the people who, whatever.

[Lead Pastor]

Don'T like, don't do, don't what?

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

It's not against them, but it's against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the.

[Lead Pastor]

Spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Scripture tells us that our battle is.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Not against each other.

[Lead Pastor]

The person that votes differently than you.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Is not your enemy. I'm going to say it again, because I didn't get a single amen. Cause some of you don't believe that. Like, you literally don't believe that. You literally don't believe that. Your God is not that small. The person who votes differently than you is not your enemy. The person who posts differently than you is not your enemy.

[Lead Pastor]

The person who worships in a different.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Style is not your enemy. We have one enemy. He is the devil. Lucifer, the serpent, the thief, the Prince of darkness, the accuser, the father of lies, the great deceiver.

[Lead Pastor]

Many different names, one agenda. To divide the people of God, to stop the work of God. Jesus said this.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

The thief comes to steal, to kill and destroy.

[Lead Pastor]

The devil wants to steal our unity, to kill our credibility in a dark.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

World, to destroy our witness of showing who Jesus is.

[Lead Pastor]

And one of the strongest unifying forces.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Is a common enemy. A common enemy.

[Lead Pastor]

And we as Christians, no matter the denomination, no matter the beliefs about spiritual gifts, no matter the beliefs about end times, no matter if you vote this way or that way, as Christians, we.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Do have one enemy. And a common enemy unites us. I'll explain it this way. In college, I was a part of a fraternity. I'll tell you which one, but I don't want cheers or booze. I'm just gonna tell you which one. And then I'll tell you about the one down the street. Because they were the enemy. I was in college. I was A Lambda Chi Alpha. Down the street there were the Kappa Sigs. I actually liked the Kappa Sig guys. They were sharp, good athletes. Many of them really kind, very smart. They were really, really good men. When they got together, I hated them all.

[Lead Pastor]

And some of them liked me. But when I was with the Lambda.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Kais, they hated us all. They were the enemy down the street. One time, true story, they actually came in and stole our crest. And so this was back before I was a Christian. I might have been filled with the unholy spirits, drunk on wine or alcohol or vodka or a lot of things. And we went down to her house, challenged into a fight, went out to the Taco Bueno parking lot. And about 20 of us on 20 of us threw down couple people in the hospital. I was not one of them. They were the enemy. We were their enemy. Until one day, the baseball team toilet papered both of our houses. And guess What? The Kappa 6 became our allies. Suddenly we had a common enemy. Those baseball players coming after the frat boys. And suddenly the two frats that didn't like each other became friends. Problem is, baseball players were bigger, tougher, and they're the wrong enemy. The good news is that greater is he that is in us than he that's in the world. That when we unite together against the real forces of darkness, we recognize, hey, there's actually a strategist of the dark side trying to kill the effective work of God through the church by dividing the body. When the world looks on and goes, I wonder if that Jesus stuff is true. And look how they hate each other. Look how they can't even get along. Look how they're mad all the time and angry and kind of jerks. We have one enemy, and it's not the other believers. And so the moment you feel it, even when you start to, like, get mad and start to push off of others and start to become critical of those in the body of Christ, say, whoa, okay, okay, I know we're different. But Devil, I see what you're trying to do there. I'm not gonna let you divide me against my brothers and sisters in Christ. The devil wants to divide us, but God is pleased. When we unite, Jesus prays, make them one. One enemy will unite us. Also, that one mission will unite us. Jesus told us that we have a mission. He said this. He said, go and make disciples of all nations. This is your mission. This is our mission, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. In other words, Jesus didn't call us to win arguments, but to make disciples. And I hope that we can all agree that God calls us to be a light in a dark world. He calls us to be ambassadors. That's a representative of the kingdom of God. He calls us to be witnesses. And instead, so often we're shooting at each other. Years ago, we lived in our old house. A guy knocked on my door, and I came to the front door and I opened it up, and he said.

[Lead Pastor]

Hey, I'm so and so.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

And he started to witness to me about Jesus. And I thought I should probably stop him and tell him I'm a Christian. But I thought it was cool.

[Lead Pastor]

Like, I'm excited.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

This guy's excited about his faith. So I just thought, I'll see how he does. Maybe I'll hire him.

[Lead Pastor]

Who knows, you know? And so he just starts telling me about Jesus. He's so excited. But Jesus saved my life. And he told me his testimony. He goes, he can save you, too. And he went on and on. I let him go on for quite some time. And I thought, you're doing really good, but you should try to close me soon because you're talking too much. But you're doing really, really good. And so then I thought, I said, hey, hey, let me just stop you for a second.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Just. I have to be honest with you.

[Lead Pastor]

I'm just excited you're here. It's awesome. Praise God. He saved you.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

But I actually am a follower of Jesus.

[Lead Pastor]

He said, that's amazing. I'm so glad. He goes, you need to come to my church. My church is the best. And I said, what church do you go to? And he goes, oh, I go to this. He told me the church. And I thought, I like that pastor.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

And he's a nice guy.

[Lead Pastor]

You need to come to my church. Will you come to my church this weekend? I said, well, I have to be.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Honest with you again, like, I'm actually very involved in my local church.

[Lead Pastor]

And he said, okay, great. What church do you go to? And I said, well, I'm a part of a church called Life Church. And his face just went blank.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

He looked disappointed, sad, angry, scared.

[Lead Pastor]

Nothing positive. And then, true story. I remember he just looked over his.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Shoulders like there was nobody anywhere close. Like. Like looking.

[Lead Pastor]

Make sure no one. And he looked over. And then he leaned in and he kind of whispered to me, it's just being him there.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

And he whispers to me.

[Lead Pastor]

He goes, my pastor says, your pastor doesn't preach the truth. I said, tell your pastor.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

To meet.

[Lead Pastor]

The pastor of Life Church.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

In the parking lot of Taco Boy? I didn't say that.

[Lead Pastor]

I didn't say that.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

But I was so sad. Cause I liked that guy. And my kids were, like, literally friends with his kids. And are our churches different? Oh, yeah, very different. Is our church different than a lot of churches? Like, absolutely. I hope so. Because every church is unique with a.

[Lead Pastor]

Unique calling into a unique context to reach a unique group of people. I mean, we're like, different on purpose because there's tremendous diversity in the world. Literally, if every church were the same, then we really just had the same ministry and the same reach. But a diversity of churches reaches a diversity of people. Like, different styles, same savior, different methods, same message. And God is pleased with a unity of mission, not method. If the methods aren't different, the message won't go into different places. So how do we do it? Like, just our little part, our little church in the whole scheme of things.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

What's our posture gonna be?

[Lead Pastor]

What I'm gonna ask you to do in the spirit of Jesus prayers. Try to be passionate about what we're passionate about. And let's try to be good at what we're called to do without being critical of those who aren't good at what we do or do something different than what we do. Can. I want you to feel this and unpack it. For example, I grew up in a church, going to church, but I didn't understand the gospel. I didn't know now, doesn't mean they didn't say it.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

I didn't understand it.

[Lead Pastor]

And so every week when we preach.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Anyone, we clearly and compellingly, with love, present the gospel because that's unique to our calling. What I'm not going to do is.

[Lead Pastor]

Say, if your church doesn't preach the gospel every week, do it like us. You should leave that church. That's not standing for truth.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

That's stirring division.

[Lead Pastor]

I'm very passionate about doing that. Our passion, our method, what we're called to do.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Other churches, like, if you don't you.

[Lead Pastor]

Get to preach this way. No, no, no. You just go, you preach that way. Let's be for what we're for and good at what we're uniquely called to do without pushing off of or against someone who is good at something else, passionate, something else. Because God made us uniquely different with the same message to compellingly reach a broad group of people. And so what I want to do is just try to help you. Look at you.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

And I'm going to look at me and ask, like, how's our heart? And you gotta be honest. Cause it can be really subtle. Like, literally, you can be very committed.

[Lead Pastor]

Christian, and you're judging the Christian family across the street who has a different philosophy of parenting. Because, you know, this group, homeschools, which is obviously God's will, or they shouldn't homeschool, which is obviously God's will.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

So they can be a light into.

[Lead Pastor]

The, you know, and they vaccinate, which.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Is, you know, deadly. Or they don't vaccinate, which is, you know, deadly.

[Lead Pastor]

And they let their kids watch K Pop Demon Hunters. And we don't even watch SpongeBob SquarePants, you know, and I could go on and on and on. And if I didn't offend you somewhere in there, I didn't do my job.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Because I'm trying to get to all of you.

[Lead Pastor]

Like, if you're. If that's the driving force of our mission, we've missed the real mission. Go and make disciples of all nations. Not go and make people who think.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Like you and act like you and do everything just like. Like you.

[Lead Pastor]

We have.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

We have one enemy, and we have one mission, and we have one strategy. One strategy in the body of Christ. And the Bible gives us front to back, start to end. The Bible gives us one example, and only one example of how the world will know that we follow Jesus. Jesus said in John 13, verse 34.

[Lead Pastor]

He said, a new command I give to you. All of our churches, let's say it together. What's the command? The command is to love one another.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

A new command I give to you. Love one another. Jesus says, as I have loved you. How many of you experienced the unconditional love of God as I have loved you? In that same love that you don't deserve, in the same love that you could never, ever earn. You must love one another. In the same way that we've been loved by him. He calls us to love one another.

[Lead Pastor]

By this.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

By that love. Everyone will know that you're my disciples if you love.

[Lead Pastor]

One another.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

I've got to say it, and I don't mean to poke, but I got to poke. It doesn't say we're going to be known by our politics. It doesn't say that.

[Lead Pastor]

It does not say that.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

It doesn't say we're going to be.

[Lead Pastor]

Known for being right.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

It says we're known for how we love. And, yes, you can be passionate about what matters to you.

[Lead Pastor]

Please don't do. And you can be loving.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Let me say it again.

[Lead Pastor]

You can be passionate about what matters.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

To you and be loving Say it this way.

[Lead Pastor]

Let's work to never let secondary issues.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

And I could list 50 of them.

[Lead Pastor]

Don't let secondary issues ever distract you from your primary calling.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

To show the love of God, Jesus prayed, father, make them one. Make them one. Could you imagine if we, us, you, me, the church down the street and across the other side and in the other country and to the north of us and south of us and around the world. Could you imagine if we could be the answer to the prayer that Jesus prayed? Could you imagine? Could you imagine God would be so pleased and the world would see the love of Jesus? I mean, like, on the smallest thing.

[Lead Pastor]

Like, did you hear about that Christian guy at work that. That forgave that person who did that? Can you believe the way that Christian forgave. Did you hear about that? That small group from that church that like, all pitched in and got that single mom a car. Did you see that, what the church did? I mean, I don't even really believe what they believe, but, like, when the disaster hit and they. They came out like an army and just like blessed people. Can you believe what the church did? Oh, the church matters. The church matters. The church is the body of Christ, the churches, the hands and feet of Jesus. As imperfect as it is, it's still God's bride, God's chosen vessel. And Jesus said this about his church. I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against him. And that's why God is calling us. He's calling you, he's calling me to be a united church. Because God is pleased by a unified church. And that's why we believe that Jesus, the Son of God, Jesus, through the local church, is the hope of the world through the. And it's not because we're like, oh, you're pastor. No, it's because the church is the bride of Christ. The church is the body through which God shows his love. The church reaches people, meets needs, cares for people, restores the broken, welcomes people from anywhere and everywhere, and doesn't leave them dead in their sins, but points them to the one who saved them from their sins. And we don't judge them for their sins because we've been saved by similar sins. And so we love them with the same love that we've been loved with. And the world knows that we love him because we love each other. Where does it start? Not with them, with me, with you, with us, with us.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

And so as far as it depends on us, as much as we can do, my commitment is to do the.

[Lead Pastor]

Best I can as a pastor.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

I'm very opinionated not to make other pastors. Churches look bad. Some pastors won't tell you this, but I'm gonna tell you the truth.

[Lead Pastor]

I used to say that.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Cause it's kind of effective. Cause when I say other pastors won't.

[Lead Pastor]

Tell you this, but I'll tell you.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

This, you go, boom, we like our pastor. But what I'm doing is I'm making someone else look bad to make me look better. I'm not gonna do that. Just gonna tell you what I believe. Passionate about what? That's my part. And I'm gonna do everything I can to help create a body of believers who celebrates the work of God for.

[Lead Pastor]

The church that way. And celebrates the work of God for the church that way. And if they do it different and they still believe in the same risen.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Christ, more power to you. More power to you. Because when the church is divided, our message is diluted. But when the church is united, the world notices and the Father is pleased. We have an enemy whose name is the devil. We have a mission, is to take the message all over the world. And we have a strategy. And it's not just an effective evangelism program or contemporary worship or messages. The style that I preach the way we do it is love. To come in with so much love that they go, how could people be that loving? I need to know more about what they believe. And what we believe is there's a really good God who sent a really holy and perfect son who died so we could be forgiven and rose again so we could be made new. And because we've been forgiven that we don't deserve any of it. The only thing I can do is show that love to other people. Because it doesn't make me better and it doesn't make me right. It makes me humble and it makes me loving. And the world will believe in him when we love one another. So, God, we really want to be a church that pleases you. And we know that a church that pleases you is made up of by people that are pleasing you. So help us, God, to be people pleasing you. Today, all of our churches, those of you online, a lot of you have snowed in online. You want to do your part in becoming one. You want to be more unifying. Would you lift your hands right now? Just lift your hands up. I hope every believer lifts their hands. Type in the comment section. I want to be an answer to Jesus prayer. Holy Spirit, do a work in us and God. Thank you for every unique gift that you've given every unique person and every unique passion that you've given every unique person. Passion for a unique part in your body, to protect the unborn, to rescue those who are imprisoned, to free those in bondage, to help those heal in marriages, to help people find freedom from addictions, to be an evangelist, to be a discipler, to be a voice of Jesus to the nations. God, whatever our part in the body of Christ is, help us to do it and to do it with love and to be loving to one another and be so unified, serving you that the world would see your son, Jesus. God, help us to do our part to honor you, Jesus. Make us one. As you keep praying today at all of our different places, you may feel separated from God right now. God may feel distant. And what I want you to know is that God is a relational God, and He sent Jesus to show you his love. And when you look at Jesus, what's amazing is Jesus said, hey, I did not come to condemn the world, but I came to save the world. Jesus said this. I didn't come for those who were already righteous, but I came for broken people. I came for sick people. I came for sinners. Essentially, our problem is this, that we have, every single one of us, we've sinned, and our sin separates us from a holy God. But Jesus was without sin. Therefore he could be the sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice. He's called the Lamb of God. He died as a replacement, as a sacrifice for our sins. And God raised him from the dead so that anyone, and this includes you. It doesn't matter whatever you've done in your life, doesn't matter how dark you feel. Anyone who calls on his name would be saved. Essentially, we're separated from God and we can be right with him. We can be forgiven. We can be in his family, made new by the grace of Jesus. The Bible is really clear. You cannot earn it. You don't work your way there. He loves you enough to have sent Jesus to pay the price for your sins so you be forgiven. That's how much he loves you. When you receive that gift, you're overwhelmed. I've been forgiven. I don't deserve it. I belong to him and I don't deserve it. I'm gonna show his love to everyone else today at all of our churches, all over the world, online. Those of you who recognize you're apart from him today, we're gonna step away from our sins. We're gonna call on him, the one who loves you, who will hear your prayer and make you new today at all of our churches, those of you who say, I need his forgiveness, I need his salvation. Jesus, would you save me? Would you be the Lord of my life Today you're stepping away from your sin. You're stepping into eternity. You're stepping into his grace, you're stepping into his forgiveness. Through Jesus Christ, you say, I need him.

[Lead Pastor]

Today I give you my life.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

It's your prayer. Would you lift your hands high right now? All over the place, all over the place.

[Lead Pastor]

Come on church. Can you thank God for people today at all of our churches saying, yes Jesus, we need your grace. Type in the comment section, I'm surrendering my life to Jesus. Just type that in. You may be snowed in, you may be in another part of the world. Just type in I'm surrendering my life to Jesus. And together as the body of Christ, we pray. No one prays alone. Would you pray aloud?

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Pray, Heavenly Father, forgive all of my sins.

[Lead Pastor]

Save me, make me brand new.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Fill me with your spirit so I.

[Lead Pastor]

Could know you, so I could show.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Your love so others would know you. Thank you for new life. You have all of mine. In Jesus name I pray and all.

[Lead Pastor]

God's people said amen.

[Co-Pastor/Teaching Pastor]

Amen.

[Lead Pastor]

Would you celebrate today? Welcome those born into God's family.

[Host/Announcer]

We are celebrating with those of you who just made the decision to follow Jesus. Check out the show notes for helpful resources and next steps. Remember to head over to Life Church podcast. Connect to share a little about yourself and how we can support you.