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This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast, a podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang. Thank you for joining us.!
To be a part of a healthy church. I think we often take that for granted. There are places in our state, in our nation, in our world where people cannot just go to church on Sunday and hear the Word of God preached.
And so I count it a privilege to be a part of this church and to raise my family in this church where God's Word is primary. And I'm thankful for that. So let's remember what a joy and privilege that is.
And in light of that, what is one of the biggest threats to a healthy church? What is one of the greatest dangers that a healthy church faces? It is not persecution that only serves to purify and strengthen the local church.
It's not politics or being a part of a culture that's losing its mooring to sanity. Those things don't affect the health of the church. And they only make it shine brighter in the darkness that results.
One of the greatest threats to a healthy church is division. Rivalry and division will split congregations in very messy ways.
You know, it's church planting the Baptist way. We don't start a new church. We just break off from our old one. When people are very zealous and earnest about what takes place in the church, they run the risk of colliding with each other.
Conflict is inevitable. We are sinners. There are a lot of us in this room. Conflict is going to happen. But unity is not an option for God's people.
Unity is commanded of us by God. In Ephesians 4.3, Paul says we need to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The Spirit has given us unity.
It is our job to maintain the unity that God has given to us. Unity is what Jesus prayed for in his high priestly prayer. John 17.21, he prayed that we, his church, would be one even as he and the Father are one.
And even in the Old Testament, Psalm 133, verse 1, Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. Unity also plays an important part in our evangelistic witness as a church as well.
How can we convince unbelievers that Christ has reconciled us to God if we cannot be reconciled to each other? Unity is essential.
How can we as a church experience this unity? The only way a church can experience this God-intended unity is through individual members walking in humility.
And so our title this morning is Unity by Humility. Unity by Humility. And we'll see our text in two points this morning.
We'll see an exhortation to humility and then the example of humility. So I'd like to read our text as we begin. Philippians chapter 2, beginning in verse 1.
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
This is the word of the living God. Let me pray for us. Our fathers, we turn now to the study and proclamation of your word. I pray you'd be with me through your spirit to proclaim what is true, what has already been revealed, and help us look to Jesus.
Speak to us, Lord. Your servants listen. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen. So our first point is we see an exhortation to humility in verses 1 through 4.
An exhortation to humility in verses 1 through 4. And if you look at verses 1 through 4 in your English text, that's probably three or four sentences. In Paul's original Greek, this is one highly complex sentence.
This is a huge thought that's encapsulated in these first four verses. And Paul opens this passage with a series of if statements. There's only one if appearance in verse 1, but all of these statements are fronted by if.
If there's any encouragement in Christ, if there's any comfort from love, if there's any participation in the spirit, if there's any affection and sympathy. Now Paul knows that these things are true.
He knows that these conditions have been met because he knows who his God is, and he's appealing to the Philippians based on their experience of these things in order to prompt them to be obedient.
And verse 1 begins with so, or therefore, and it's continuing Paul's plea for unity that he began in chapter 1, verse 27. There he says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you, that you're standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.
Paul's continuing to urge them to unity, not only in their suffering, but also in their life together as a church. And these first three phrases that he uses in verse 1, I think are an intricate and intentional allusion to the Trinity.
He says, if there's any encouragement in Christ. All of the blessings that we receive at salvation come from being in Christ.
Ephesians 1, 3, our God and Father has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing. All of the blessings we receive are from being found in Christ.
If there's any comfort from love. Now the question we ask is, whose love for whom? Who is the lover and who is the beloved in this phrase?
And I think this is a reference to God's love for them. And if you notice this phrase falls in between a reference to Christ and a reference to the Spirit. This is something that's typical of Paul in 2 Corinthians 13, 14.
He says, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. If there's any comfort from God's love, any participation in the Spirit, or literally any fellowship in the Spirit.
The Spirit indwells believers in the new covenant and the first fruit that he produces is love. Love for God and love for God's people. And each one of us as individual believers ought to reflect that in our daily lives and that ought to be especially true when we gather together to worship the God who has saved us.
It should be reflected, this unity and this love should be reflected when we gather together. if there's any affection and sympathy. I think Paul is appealing to the Philippians' affection and sympathy for him, for Paul.
Because it is Paul's joy that could be completed if they obey in verse 2. So based on the Philippians' shared experience of God's encouragement and comfort and fellowship, along with their affection and sympathy they have for the Apostle Paul, Paul is exhorting them to be unified.
He says, verse 2, complete my joy. Paul's joy will be full if the Philippians obey the following commands.
Paul effectively, as a pastor or overseer of this congregation, his joy is fulfilled when his people walk in accordance with the truth. And that's still true to this day.
So how will they complete his joy? He gives several things. He says, by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind.
There's a lot of overlap in these descriptions of how they can complete his joy and make it full. We'll walk through them sequentially by being of the same mind. Paul actually uses this exact phrase in chapter 4, verse 2, if you look over there with me.
He says, I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord or to be of the same mind in the Lord.
These two ladies, as one man called them, Odius and Suntouchi, cannot get along. We don't know what caused this initial division between them.
Probably something with women's ministry and choir, just a guess, but they could not get along. And Paul speaks to them directly and says, agree in the Lord.
Be of the same mind in the Lord. Get past whatever sins are in your past. Get past whatever's tripped you up historically and agree in the Lord.
And we're not talking here about doctrines or convictions or morality. He's talking about interpersonal relationships. Now this doesn't mean that we all have to have the same opinion, but we must be united.
He's not calling us to uniformity, but we must be unified. And so he says, being of the same mind, having the same love.
Love is when someone else's needs are more important than your own and you act accordingly. And if an entire church possesses this same love, the results are a local church that becomes an outpost of heaven on earth, having the same love.
Lastly, being in full accord and of one mind. Again, there's a lot of overlap between all of these, but being in full accord, the word he uses is literally being one soul.
Being perfectly united together and of one mind, being synchronized. If you have an Apple device, all of those clocks are synchronized and so they are of one mind as they keep time synchronously.
And this is what Paul is calling the church in Philippi to and we see a picture of this in the early church in Acts chapter 2. It says they were together and had all things in common.
They were laying down their lives for each other. They were serving each other out of love and humility. So how can this be achieved? How can this be accomplished? How can we arrive as a church at the place where we're functioning this way like Paul commands the Philippians to?
two simple commands, verses 3 and 4. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. Paul's already used this term selfish ambition in this letter in verse 17. If you remember, Paul is in prison and some people are going around preaching that Paul is in prison as a punishment from God.
And he describes them as preaching from selfish ambition in order to afflict him in his imprisonment. He contrasts that explicitly with those who preach Christ from a place of love.
And so in chapter 1, he contrasts selfish ambition directly with love. If love as we've defined it is when someone else's needs are more important than our own and we act accordingly, then selfishness is seeking your own benefit alone even to the detriment of others.
This is the way of the world. Self-interest, self-aggrandizing at the expense of others. And selfish ambition is the root of all kinds of evil.
What led to Satan's fall? Him seeking to exalt himself over God. What led Adam and Eve to disobey God? They wanted to be on the same level as God.
What prompted Abraham to lie about Sarah being his sister as opposed to claiming her for his wife? He was worried they would kill him. Selfish ambition.
This is what led Jacob to lie and deceive his father Isaac in receiving the blessing. And that's just the book of Genesis. Selfish ambition or pride is at the heart of so many sins.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit or an empty glory. If you have a New American Standard, it might translate it as vain glory. This is a glory that has no weight.
A glory that is completely contrived. This is a description of those who think too highly of themselves. And Paul says, don't do anything. Don't act out of either one of these mindsets.
And this particular command reflects Paul's understanding of what is taking place at Philippi. Why would he give such a specific command if everything at Philippi was fine?
Iodia and Syntyche are just the tip of the iceberg of what lies beneath the surface at Philippi. The theme of joy permeates this letter perhaps because the Philippians were grumpy boys and girls.
He's exhorting them to walk in unity. He's exhorting them to not be divided anymore. And while it may not seem like a big deal, if these attitudes that Philippi is currently experiencing, if these attitudes go unchecked, their church, though currently healthy, is headed for stormy seas in the future.
And maybe even irreparable damage. And even if there's no outward expression of these heart attitudes, they still breed disunity and jealousy and bitterness.
And so we can't be deceived into thinking that if we feel these things inside of us, it's okay as long as they don't receive outward expression, we're wrong. Any thoughts from selfish ambition or conceit will breed division in the church.
But in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Humility is lowliness of mind. It's the first beatitude that Jesus gave in Matthew 5, 3.
He says, blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who think lowly of themselves. And in the world that this letter was written, humility had a horribly negative connotation in Greek and Roman thought.
It was a sign of weakness. Humility was befitting for slaves or those who had no self-dignity or self-respect. It was a sign of weakness.
But for Christians, humility became the soil out of which every other virtue grew. Humility is where Christianity starts. Christianity begins and ends with repentance.
Lowliness of mind. And Michael's friend, Steve Lawson, says, no one struts through the narrow gate into the kingdom. We are sheep, not peacocks, as only Steve Lawson could say.
And then he cackled wildly. It was a commentary. That was my own imagination. But humility is hated in our day as well.
Humility is not just something that was scorned in the first century. It is hated today as I speak. The supreme virtues and the surpassing excellencies of our world are self-love and self-care and taking care of your own mental health and self-fulfillment by any and all means.
Friends, we are not called to these things. We are called to humility. Take care of your basic needs. That's good. You should do that. But we are called to humility.
Do you remember when Jesus said, if anyone would be my disciple, let him fulfill himself and follow me. Let him deny himself. Take up his cross daily and follow me.
We are called to self-denial, not self-fulfillment. To humility, not pride. Humility is lowliness of mind and being poor in spirit, but it is really nothing more than a proper estimation of yourself.
It is to remember our creatureliness before God's eternality. It is in this present time to remember our sinfulness in the presence of God's holiness. And notice the alternative to humility.
Paul's not saying you need to be humble or else you'll be a mediocre Christian. He says, be humble or you'll become spiritually disfigured. Be humble or you will drive this church to division.
You'll be selfish and conceited if not humble. Count others more significant than yourselves. themselves. The way humility expresses itself is through counting others more significant than yourself.
But this isn't merely a cognitive exercise. Certainly this begins in the mind and the heart, but it should lead to action. And Paul doesn't say count them as if they were more significant than you.
We're not pretending. We need to believe and to truly think that everyone else is more important than we are. That's what humility looks like in the context of a church. And I think Paul's meaning is obvious, but applying this is difficult.
It's a simple command, but it's not easy to obey. And verse 4, let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. A humble person thinks of others.
A selfish person thinks only of himself. And so do you know what's going on in the lives of others? Are you meaningfully connected to people in our church?
do you know what's going on in their lives? At every stage of our life as a church and as individual Christians, pride is a great enemy.
It can express itself in countless ways in the church. Some people think adult ministry is more important than student ministry. And they're wrong, but I forgive them. Some people think evangelism is more important than discipleship groups.
Some people think that prayer is more important than awana. There are countless ways we can be divided or pride can manifest itself. And it's good that people are passionate about where they serve. But again, division is a great danger to a healthy church and it can creep in in such small and almost imperceptible ways like being zealous about your ministry area.
As J.C. Ryle once said, small leaks sink great ships. Small sparks kindle great fires. And a little allowed sin will ruin an immortal soul.
And if I can change the last phrase, a little allowed sin will ruin a healthy church. Division is a danger. The catalyst for division is pride and so we must fight pride at every turn.
And here's a test for detecting pride. How often do you pray? pride. Because prayer and pride have an inverse relationship.
Where there's a healthy prayer life, pride flees. Where prayer is absent, pride fills the vacuum. How often do you pray?
This call to humility is an appeal to all of us in all seasons. So that's Paul's exhortation to humility. Secondly, we see the example of humility in verses 5 through 11.
The example of humility. And this will break down into two subcategories, Christ's humility and Christ's exaltation.
And so without breaking stride, Paul launches into what is perhaps his finest hour of Christ-centered theology. In this paragraph, every syllable weighs a pound.
He's exalting Christ in the best way. And many skeptics of Christianity will say that a high view of Christ didn't develop until later in the second or third centuries.
But this passage sends that argument to the farm. The early church had a very high view of Christ and it's reflected in this letter to the church in Philippi.
In verses 5 through 8, we see Christ's humility. Paul says, have this mind that is a mind of humility among yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.
Jesus demonstrated this quality of humility. As Jeff read for us in John 13, he, being the son of God, served his followers.
And now Paul presents Jesus as the chief example of humility. humility. And the way he paints the picture of this example is so compelling because it's not merely a snapshot of a time in Christ's ministry.
It stretches back into eternity past showing this has always been the character of the son of God. This text is highly doctrinal. It's deeply theological. This is perhaps the height of the New Testament's Christology.
It's a wonderful exposition of the humility and subsequent exaltation of the son of God. And yet, Paul's point is unbelievably practical.
He's taking us to the depths of Christ's humility and to the heights of his exaltation in order that we would be humble like he was. Theology matters.
There are some people I bump into in ministry who say things like, I don't need theology, I don't need head knowledge, I need heart knowledge, I don't need to learn more, I just need to act on what I already know.
But you need to know theology. You need to know the Bible well if you have hopes of living well. That's how Paul is using theology here. Paul's pointing us to Jesus, not only for the purpose of worship, but for the purpose of imitation.
If the son of God has humbled himself in this way, how much more should we as his adopted children humble ourselves like him? And so as we reflect on these truths of verses five through eight, let's ask ourselves if this is our heart attitude toward others.
Is this our way of life? If you applied these principles to your marriage today, how would it look different? And collectively, is this our mindset as a church?
Are we known for compassion and humility? This passage shows that the son of God had this mindset of humility as both God and man.
verses six through eight take us down the staircase of Christ's condescension with each phrase taking us deeper into the depths of Christ's humility.
Verse six, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. He was existing in the form of God.
God. And when we use the word form, we typically mean something presents as a certain way, but it's actually something else underneath the surface. So a statement in the form of a question or some of those backhanded compliments that we all love, like worship was surprisingly good this morning.
Paul is layering this so deeply. The way he's using the word form is not how we use it, but referring to the actual essence, the actual nature of a being.
And so when he says Christ was in the form of God, he was equal with God. He was equal in essence and nature with God the Father. He was totally equal to his Father in glory and in attributes.
And as Hebrews 1.3 says, he radiates the glory of God. He does not reflect it. He is a source of God's glory. glory. Jesus has always existed.
He has no point of origin. This is a clear statement of the deity of the second person of the Trinity. This sets us apart from the cults and the false religions throughout the world. Jesus never has a point of origin.
The Son of God is an eternal being. And he was existing in this form for all of eternity past. But he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped or a thing to be held onto for his own advantage.
He was worthy of all honor and praise and glory for all of eternity. And he stepped away from that to save his people. He came not to live but to die, to lay down his life for the sake of his people.
Instead of holding onto it, to that glory that was rightly his, he emptied himself by taking the form, there's that word again, of a servant being born in the likeness of men.
And when we read about Christ emptying himself, a logical question we ask is of what did he empty himself? himself? And in answering that question, so many people have gone to hell in answering that question wrongly.
He did not empty himself of his divine nature. He remained what he always was, the second person of the Trinity. He continued to be the son of God. He came to earth as Emmanuel, God with us.
So how did he empty himself? He emptied himself through addition. He emptied himself through adding a human nature. He didn't empty himself of anything. He simply emptied himself.
He poured himself out. The sovereign creator made himself nothing. Mark 10 45 says the son of God came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
And the wedding of these two natures is permanent. Jesus will forever and always be both God and man. This is how divine love has expressed itself on behalf of his people and he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant.
What Jeff read earlier is so beautiful. Christ laid aside his garments and dressed himself as a slave to serve his people.
And while the disciples were jockeying for position in the kingdom, Christ dressed himself for service, Jesus being God began to wash the feet that he had formed in the womb with the water that he made in the beginning.
He made himself nothing and Paul describes him as being in the form of a servant. And how does Isaiah describe the Messiah? A servant. Jesus took on a human nature in addition to his divine nature being born in the likeness of men.
The way he did this was through a miraculous virgin conception. He was exactly like other human beings. He was a genuine man. His humanity was every bit as real as his deity.
He has always existed in the form of God but he was born as man. He was truly human and truly divine.
He became what he was not while never ceasing to be what he was. He became man while never ceasing to be God and in theology this is called the hypostatic union. The union of two natures in one person.
He was and is truly man. And this was part of the reason that he suffered. This is part of the reason his reputation today still suffers.
This is the Messiah? This is our brother? What are you talking about? This is no prophet? This is Joseph and Mary's boy. He's the carpenter. And even he wasn't God.
He was just a gifted moral teacher. He was a good man. Some people cannot see past his humanity. It was so real and so true that they cannot see past it.
Verse 8, being found in human form he humbled himself. In the form of God he had emptied himself. Now in human form he humbles himself.
And this is so important. Judas Iscariot did not humble him. Pilate did not humble him. The Roman soldiers who beat him and killed him did not humble him.
He humbled himself in obedience. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. And from the life of Christ we learned that the expression of humility is obedience.
Jesus obeyed God. His death was a matter of obedience to the Father. God. This is the expression of divine love. This is what God is like.
This is very un-God-like from the perspective of the Romans and the Greeks. But this is what the true God is like. And he didn't just humble himself to the point of death but even death on a cross.
As you know crucifixion was horrendous. Beyond the physical pain was the open shame of being hung naked on a tree after being beaten like a dog. So awful was crucifixion that Roman citizens were not allowed to be crucified no matter their crime.
And the Jews viewed anyone who was crucified as being cursed by God. And Jesus was crushed by his father. But as believers we know that beyond that the worst part was what Christ was accomplishing spiritually through his suffering physically.
He bore our sins in his body on the tree as Peter describes it. And all of this experienced so patiently by the one who rightly deserves honor and praise as the son of God.
Not merely from the ruler of a nation but from God himself. The depths of Christ's humility and love are seen and how far down he was willing to take himself from the greatest of all heights.
This is the bottom rung of the ladder from the throne of God. God. It's a stark contrast between who the son of God is by nature and the nature that he took on in order to save his people.
C.S. Lewis says, no seed ever fell from so fair a tree into so dark and cold a soil. And as Christ laid down his life, it was like a farmer planting a seed that goes into the ground and dies only to bear much fruit.
And we see the fruit of that in Christ's exaltation, verses 9-11. In verses 6-8, Christ is the subject. He's the one emptying himself. He's the one humbling himself.
In verses 9-11, Christ now is the object, the recipient of what the Father is doing to his own glory. Therefore, verse 9, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
Because of Christ's humility, because of his suffering, he receives greater glory from the Father even than he had before because of what he suffered, because of what he accomplished. He returns to heaven not only as the Son of God but also as the Son of Man.
Now there's a question in the text here. It says, he's bestowed on him the name that is above every name. What name are we referring to? The next name that appears in verse 10 is Jesus, but that was the name that he had already had.
The name he receives from the Father is Lord. In verse 11, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And I want you to save your spot here in Philippians and turn back with me to the book of Isaiah because Paul is actually quoting from Isaiah.
Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45 is at the summit of Isaiah's argument for the supremacy and uniqueness of Yahweh.
Yahweh is unique among the gods of the other nations. He is alive. He speaks. He acts. In Isaiah 45, verse 21, halfway through the verse, he says, and there is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a Savior.
There is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, for my mouth has gone out in righteousness, a word that shall not return.
To me, every knee shall bow. Every tongue shall confess. You can go back to Philippians 2.
So Paul borrows from a section in Isaiah that's about how unique Yahweh is. And Yahweh says, to me, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.
And Paul says, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. This language that belongs to Yahweh alone is given to Jesus.
God is the only Savior and Jesus is that Savior. To the Lord alone will every knee bow and every tongue confess and Jesus is that Lord. Jesus Christ bears the name of the one Lord, Yahweh, to the glory of God the Father.
So at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
To the glory of God the Father. The worship of Yahweh is Christ-centered. This is still our confession today. You heard it twice in baptism. Jesus Christ is Lord.
He is God. But this serves a dual purpose in Paul's argument because these Philippians were not only Christians who believed in the Old Testament, they were also Roman citizens. And in Rome, emperor worship was the religion of the day.
Roman citizens, upon the threat of death, were commanded to confess Caesar is Lord. And the Christians would not do this. They had a confession that Jesus is Lord.
And they believed that one day even Caesar would be forced to admit the truth because every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. However, on the last day when this confession takes place, it will not be unto salvation.
On the lips of those who love Jesus, this will be the song that we have already sung. But on the lips of those who have rebelled against him, this will be a guilty plea before their sentencing.
And if you are an unbeliever here this morning, you do not need to make Jesus the Lord of your life. He is Lord of your life. You need to recognize that and submit to him and repent of your sins and follow him.
And all of this will be to the glory of God the Father. The God who tolerates no rivals exalts the name of Jesus.
The God who will tolerate no one else taking glory will love to glorify his son. For all eternity, the Father will say, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.
Christ. This brief paragraph has eternity as its boundaries. It begins in eternity past with the Son of God being with God in heaven and sweeps toward the last day when Christ will finally be all.
But in the depths of all of this theology, let's not forget Paul's point. Let's not forget why this theology is here. Christ is being brought into focus as our example.
Christ is more than an example to us. He is our redeemer but he is an example and those who follow Christ should have this mind among themselves.
Has what Christ accomplished made any impact on your life? Has looking at Christ's humility humbled you? But Christ's life also functions as something of a pattern.
If we humble ourselves as Christ has, we will also share in his exaltation when he returns. The path to exaltation is through selfless humility.
And from verses 12 and 13 we learn that it is God working in us that will help us to sustain this unity that he's given to us. And looking back to the early church in the book of Acts, they rocked the world with the message of the gospel.
They turned the world upside down and how did they do it? They collectively obeyed a different king. Their values reflected the values of another world, a world where the firsts are last and the greatest of all are the servants of all.
They lived lives that were worthy of the gospel. Lives that stood courageously against external opposition and yet gently served one another in humble compassion.
They were able to turn the world upside down by their boldness because of the truth and by their unity through humility. And friends, Christ is still working in his church today to save souls.
So let us be bold, let us be humble, let us preserve the unity that God has given to us. May it be true of us that we do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count each other as more significant than ourselves to the glory of God and for the cause of Christ and his church.
Let me pray for us. Our Father, I am inadequate to express all the depths that are here in Philippians 2. I pray that what I've said is true and faithful to your word.
I pray you'd plant deep in our hearts, help us to humble ourselves not only before you but before each other and be like Christ and take on the form of servant in our church.
Thank you for our church and for the unity that we experience through your Holy Spirit. I pray that we'd continue as we lower ourselves before you and seek to spread the gospel to all we love.
It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you for being here this morning. You're dismissed. Thank you for being here and then we'll see you next time.
Thank you. Thank you.