And if you don't want to change we're gonna lovingly ask you to go to some other place You can't leave unhappy disgruntled people mixed in with happy unified people Before long as I said everyone's gonna become unhappy Everyone's gonna be bothered If you if you're in a room Go back to the pink eye scenario If you're in a room with one kid with pink eye everyone touches that one kid touches their eye or their mouth what happens The whole room has pink eye We don't wanna be a church with pink eye I ain't going to a church like that So squash the beef If there is beef squash it Don't wait Do it today If you have a an ought or an issue with someone go to them and talk to them If they have an issue with you receive what they have to say to you But squash the beef loved ones 'cause you can't just leave it Agreeing in the Lord is more than avoiding tension It means actively restoring what's broken That's the third way we work to cultivate unity We practice peace and restoration Number 3 we practice peace and restoration The saying the saying that all time heals wounds well that's a lie You guys ever heard that saying "Well all time You give it enough time it's gonna heal the wound." That is a lie Time doesn't heal wounds It it hides them and what's hidden doesn't get better It gets infected and it turns septic and it poisons everything that it's connected to That's why unresolved conflict in the church is so dangerous If we don't deal with it it will come back louder messier and more damaging than the first comment when it first popped off And Paul knows this and so he doesn't just call Euodia and Syntyche to reconcile but rather he pulls someone else in He says "I also ask you," true partners true lovers of Jesus Christ and His church "I also ask you," true partners "to help these women." In other words I need you to step in between their mess."I need you to step in be- between these 2 ladies Not to take sides not to throw gas on the fire but to be a bridge to be a peacemaker to be a person who's going to reconcile these 2 ladies in peace." That's what the church needs The church needs people who don't just walk past tension but they step into the fray and they do so with humility and grace People who say "Can we talk?" People who broker forgiveness People who are willing to agree that it's time to move forward in Jesus Christ Peacemakers are so vital They aren't afraid to have hard conversations They don't sugarcoat the truth but they also they don't weaponize the truth They speak it with love just like Jesus did with the woman at the well He was able to tell her all about herself and her stank and her lostness without her feeling offended but he did it with truth and grace loved ones The church should be known for having people of peace people who can step into the middle of situations and bring reconciliation and restore peace between the 2 parties Peacemakers they have a way of showing you the error of your ways that makes you feel remorseful and cared for all at the exact same time You ever had someone tell you about yourself but you felt cared for Someone else say something to you you probably pop off at them right But there's something about that one person she sat you down and she and she you had a cup of coffee with her and she shared her story and then she showed you uh where you were going wrong You're like "You know what I have messed up." There's something about people of peace Might I encourage us to be that kind of person the one who steps in not with drama but with peace the one who helps others come together to heal and to move forward Let's be a church that is known for its peace and restoration Let's be known for that Although necessary peace and restoration they aren't the end goal They're the environment that we want to create that we want to continue to thrive in and that brings us to our next way we cultivate unity Number 4 always rejoice in the Lord It's something about putting our minds and our hearts on something other than ourselves that causes us to walk free of drama and free of all of our issues It's something about being able to rejoice in who God is and what He does for us that changes the way we live and changes the way we treat each other Here's where I'm getting at Paul isn't making a suggestion He's giving a command He says "I command you essentially rejoice in the Lord." And then he repeats himself because joy Paul is saying it's not optional for a believer You must rejoice You must be joyful And loved ones this isn't just surface level happiness It's not this forced churchy smile that some of us put on This is real deep joy that runs underneath every circumstance because it's rooted in Jesus Christ To rejoice means to live from a place of gladness to be thankful for who Jesus Christ is and what He's done for you and what He's promised to do for you in the future And Paul says "Always rejoice," as in not just when life is good but when you're also when you're still ...
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