Good morning. Scripture reading comes from John chapter 17, verses 21 through 23, that all of them may be one Father, just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I am them, you and me, so that they may be brought to complete unity.
And then the world will know that you sent me, and have loved them, even as you have loved me, the Word of God for the people of God. I guess it'd help if I'm about removing parts today. Well, Pam just read there and John, and what we need to look at for that is that this is Jesus's prayer. A lot of times we look at the Lord's prayer as Jesus's prayer, but that's an example of how to pray.
But this is a prayer that Jesus prayed. He's saying I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. And so what this essentially is, it's a prayer about unity. It's a prayer about being one with God, one with each other.
And we hear those words especially in Holy Communion, make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one with, and all the world until Christ comes. And we feast at His family banquet. That's a little bit of a paraphrase there. But it's all about unity, being one.
And so today that's what I wanna leave you with is, how do we understand what it means to be one with Christ, one with the Spirit, one with God, the three persons? How do we do that? And so I can't think of the word synchronize. And so I wanna tell you that synchronize is to calls to go on.
It's to move, to work, to operate. Lots of other things we get out there. But it's to do these things at the same rate and exactly together in harmony, our harmonious relationship. Think about that, synchronize together to where it looks like one.
Have you ever watched synchronize swimmers to see how they just flow so beautifully? It's amazing. But when I was getting ready for this sermon, and I was thinking about these things, that's what kept coming to my mind, synchronize to be synced together in the Spirit. That's what the church is gonna need in order to move forward.
The church is going to need to be so in sync with the Holy Spirit that you can't distinguish one from the other. Here what I'm saying. The church, not just here, but the church universal, but especially here and now, Foundry moving forward individually and collectively as the body of Christ, me included. So synchronize, you almost can't tell one from the other.
Now I wanna show you this video that to kind of spurred this on, when I watched it, and that's just the way the Lord gives things to me. I may see something or read something, and it's like, bam, but look at that. Okay, watch again. I mean, when I saw that, I was blown away.
Look at their bodies. The one on the left, you can see and the one a little bit earlier there, but they are so together. I mean, so, so together. Watch the board.
Watch the dining board. Okay, that's good, Patrick. Or whoever's back there, I can't see Daniel. No, Dylan, sorry.
Okay, so these two young men did qualify to go, would they go to France? Yeah, France for the Olympics. But do y'all notice their bodies are in sync with one another? The water, they splash at that.
I mean, all these are deductions, if not. The board is, I mean, y'all, could you imagine me up there? One would take off and I'd still be going, wait, what happened? I mean, they know each other.
You have to read body language. You have to practice day in and day out. They didn't just wake up that day and say, let's go take a dive and see what happens. This is the results of knowing each other.
This is the results of practicing. This is the results of just intimate knowledge of both the water, their bodies, the technique. It's beautiful. And what this reminded me is that we need to be just like that in our relationship with God.
We need to be so synchronized to where we are not questioning the unknown, where we're not fighting our flesh and in our flesh and we don't know what's happening next. We don't know who's coming or we don't know this. But when we are synchronized with the spirit, which is remember, God says, I'm giving you my son and Jesus Christ. He gives us Christ.
And when Christ has been, when he's headed to the cross, he's like, look, I'm going to leave something for you. A friend, a comforter, the Holy Spirit. And so our synchronized with the Holy Spirit is our gift from God. It's the way that we get to commune back to God.
It's the way that we stay connected and anchored. And so it's so very important. And so we need to be so in sync. You see, when we're floundering, I don't think we're listening.
When we're not in sync and we've stepped over here and the Holy Spirit is wanting us to work over here, we're not doing what we're called to do. When the Holy Spirit is nudging us this way and we decide, well, I want to go this way. We're not in sync. We're not working together.
We're almost working against the spirit. And scripture even tells us that we shouldn't grieve the spirit. And those things are grievance to the spirit when we don't listen. But how do we know to be in sync with the spirit?
Well, the most important way, if we back up, we'll see it there in verse 14. It says, I have given them your word. I've given them your word. And I want to say they're going to be sanctified by the truth and your word is truth.
He's like, look, I'm giving you this word. Jesus, remember the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. But also we have the word here. It's that we're synchronized when we're reading the word, when we're listening, when we're in tune with what God is telling us through his holy word, through his direction, through his guidance.
And so when we're praying, when we're reading the word, when we're worshiping, all those things help us to be in sync with who he is. And so this season, I know it's not easy. Up until two weeks ago, I had no idea what the Lord was going to do. And I was trying so hard not to make something happen.
But I wanted to rest in him. I wanted to trust him. I wanted to be so in sync that I knew what I knew, if that makes sense. Y'all were in the same exact season.
You've got to be so in tune by prayer through reading the word, fasting, whatever it is he's calling you to do. Because when you're in sync, when you're listening, I loved Mr. Johnson. I'm actually calling that forever now.
Alan Sermann last week. It's the shepherd who guides. It's the shepherd who protects. I have been, it's really interesting you did that, Alan, because all this weight in my heart has gravitated.
I'm going to cry. To the Lord's Prayer. I mean, the 23rd Psalms are. And so I kept reading it.
And there those words are. He makes a way. He restores. He protects.
He prepares. Every single one of those words are present tans. I'm not an English person. They're present tans.
It's not something he did or we'll do. It's what he's doing. He's preparing us. He's with us in all of these seasons.
But we won't know it unless we're listening for him, unless we're resting in him, unless we're sitting there and allowing him to be the one that is driving this ship. And so I guess it's my prayer for you guys. Usually I'll leave a sermon the last Sunday with a sermon encouraging to love your new pastor, to support them. I want to do that.
But we don't know what that looks like yet. But do you know what it looks like? It looks like it looks like absolutely abandonment, to obedience, to resting in him, to trusting in him. And I told someone, this has been the season where the Lord has just told me and taught me, you've been obedient, but you haven't been obedient in a wild abandonment type way, where we have to walk into unknown places and fully surrender and trust.
And so I was thinking about that. And I remember Abraham. And I remember how God would tell him go to this land, but he had no idea where he was really going. And then he would get to these places.
And then God would reveal more. And there would be another season in his life where he's like, I know you prayed for this kid. And I know well, you love him, but it's time to sacrifice him. Can you imagine?
Can you imagine that? You know, going through one season, and there's so much unknown. And then there's stability. But now you're going to need to sacrifice something.
Sometimes we need to sacrifice things for God to really work. Listen to that for a minute. Sometimes we have to sacrifice for God to really work. We have to sacrifice a prod.
We've got to be obedient. Maybe it's our time. Maybe it's our talents. I don't know.
But look at what happened to Abraham. God promised things to Abraham. And God never, ever failed to meet those promises. But sometimes God wants to push us a little bit further.
He wants us to get out of that bubble of comfort and to really, really trust him. And sometimes when we do these things in order to be so in sync with him, we're going to wrestle. And I thought about Jacob. Jacob wrestled with God to the point ahead to limp.
We're going to wrestle with why do things happen? We're going to wrestle with who is right and who is wrong. We're going to wrestle with the temptation to gossip and share mistruth. We're going to be wrestling with a lot because we are flesh and bone in this life.
But if we allow ourselves to wrestle in the way that God wants us to wrestle, to wrestle with making good decisions, wrestle with saying, I'm going to step out over here and be obedient. Then I promise we may walk with a limp, but our names will be changed and good things were going to happen. See Jacob, stay Jacob, he became Israel. God had a plan and a promise for him too.
And then I thought about Esther, how she would have to bravely go before this king and hope to find favor. And if she didn't, off with your head, like the Queen Hearts. It was a reality. That's why she said if I perish, I perish, she knew that she could die.
Friends, we've got to be so in sync that we boldly become a fourth throne of God, not knowing, or not saying we're going to die, but I'm coming before the throne of God boldly and bravely because I know he listens, I know he heals, I know he provides, and I know I'm going to live. It takes boldness to truly come before God and say, I don't know why you're calling me to this. I didn't know in April when I texted Caesar and said, it's time for me to step away. I didn't know why God was doing that.
I wrestled with why. Why now? It's only been two years. We've got so much work to do.
Why, why, why? But there was this thing that just kept saying, it's time to be quiet, it's time to rest, it's time to trust. So we had those conversations, we announced it in May. And of course, as human beings, we get a little, whoa, what just happened?
People want answers, and so they begin to wrestle, and they begin to worry. And you know, they're thinking, I've heard all the things. As a pastor, as people you wanted to get thick skinned, the church did not run me off. If the church has not been happy with me, I apologize that that has not been told to me.
So those things can stop. I stepped out because the Lord asked me to. And I want to be so in sync. I want to be so like Christ, and I know I have failed in so many ways.
But this is the season where he's telling me, watch. If you just let me, I'll put you where you need to be. I'll grow you the way you need to grow, and I'll do the same for them. But if we're not willing to allow those things to happen, and trust that God has a plan and a purpose, everything will fail.
Hear me when I say that. We're humans, we won't answers. We won't this or whatever. I have already prayed and asked the Lord to forgive me for the ways I have failed.
I ask you to forgive me for the ways I have failed. But we have to understand that we also failed together. And I love that God knew that, because once again in communion, what is the first thing that comes out? We have failed to be an obedient church.
We have failed to hear the cry of the needy. You see, we get so called up sometimes. We get called up in comforts, and we get called up in all of these things and all of these desires that we begin to get a little bit of a head, a little ahead of the spirit. Or we get a little beside the spirit.
And sometimes we just are not even close. But I believe this is the season where God's saying, look, and I hate this phrase because we've already used it, but it's like let's begin again. And the beauty of that is because he never, ever leads us. And so this opportunity is a season for Foundry to begin again, to really tune into what is the Holy Spirit asking and calling you to do?
And one of the first things that has to happen is you've got to decide who you are. Who are you? Who are you? The first thing you need to do is say, who are we?
And once we figure out who we are, who we are in Christ, what he's calling us to do, things begin to be a little more clear. It begins to be a little more revelatory. So this is not a bad thing. No, it's not a bad thing.
I believe I was sent here for a season for a purpose, for a reason, but as I told, season now it is somebody else's time, somebody else who has different gifts and different graces to bring the church to the next step. That's not a bad thing. God has gifted people with different things, for different times and for different places. When I was doing this sermon, I was thinking about the divers, but also thought about our big old dog ninja.
We had this great, big, great day. So I run over there, great, big, great name. But anyway, he was a very large dog. How much, anyway?
160 pounds, something, I don't know. He was a lot bigger than me, OK? He weighed way more than me. He stood about, I guess, to my hip when I'm walking.
People were very intimidated by Barry. And it didn't help that he's black. For some reason, people were afraid of black dogs. It just be more aggressive in people's minds.
Anyway, big old dog. We loved him, loved him, gentle giant. And now I have these two doodles, love them. But when I want my doodles, we've had to start putting one of those, what you call it, Cali?
It sounds better than what I call it. A spike collar. I kept calling it a choke collar, and that sounds so cruel. But we have to put a spike collar on them.
That don't sound any better. But you all know what I'm talking about. So they don't pull. These dogs will pull and just take off.
It's exhausting walking them. I mean, they're always wanting to go ahead of me. They're always wanting to drag me along. It's like they forget that I'm there.
It's like, I'm in charge of what you do this. And I got to laugh and tell them, is that what we do to the Holy Spirit? Isn't that what we do? We're like, I'm in charge.
These are my plans. Hit your ride and hang on, buddy. But ninja, as big and intimidating and as scary as he was, I promise you, if I walked, that dog wasn't one step ahead of me. If I went to go let him out to go to the bathroom, he always waited on me.
He's like, he knew, you need to be first. You need to be in charge. But I'm going to be right here next to you. It was the most insane thing.
I've never, I think we've had a dog sense that has done that. I mean, we've been teaching that. He had this instinct that says, I'm going to be right there with you. And if I stopped, he stopped.
If I walked faster, he walked faster. But it was the most amazing obedience out of that great big dog. And you know, that's how I think of us in the Holy Spirit. A little bit intimidating, a little bit scary.
Do we really want to be that close to something? Do we want something, someone else to be in charge of us completely? Do we want to be so obedient that we stop when we're supposed to, we slow when we're supposed to, we speed up when we're supposed to? It's a tough question, because it means that we are no longer in control.
But you know, it's beautiful. It's beautiful when it's that synchronized movement, that synchronized thought, those synchronized actions. And so that is what I would leave you with today, is to remember that we need to be one in Christ, one together. May they all be one as you father in me and I am in you.
May they also be in us, one God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit, us, all of us, one, working in unity. Over and over, we see that we're one unity. But the part that we're too careless about is where he said, so those who believe in me through their word, when you are one, when we are one, when the church is one, others are going to believe, others are going to see, others are going to hear, but when there's disunity, they're going to hear that too. When there's disunity, when there's disagreement, when there's not enough grace, they're going to choose to hear that first.
So my prayer is that, one, don't jump ship. I've ever told you all this. I'm a fickle human being. If you put your trust in the pastor, that's where you fail first.
I mean, think about it. You can't put your trust, what does that sound? Do you know what I'm trying to say? You can't put everything in the pastor.
You can't put everything in the administration. You can't put everything in the building. You put everything in Christ first and foremost. And watch what he does.
So if we're in sync with the spirit, it's going to take practice, like those divers, that's years, hours, days of practice. And sometimes that practice is laborious and it's painful. And you want to give up, but look at the reward. It's going to take practice.
It's going to take knowing who God is, having that relationship. It's knowing not to be a step ahead or behind, but a long side. It's going to be speaking as one, thinking as one, living as one. Everything should roll off of us in such a way that people say, I see the Jesus in them.
I see that. Galatians 5, 25 says, living by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. That's a beautiful reminder. If we want to live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Synchronize to move, to operate, to work, to live, to pray, to give, to serve, to be the church at the same rate and exactly together in harmony or harmonious relationship. This is your season to enter in together, to be stronger together. Don't jump ship because the pastor's leaving. Don't get aggravated and think, I'm never going back.
Don't worry about what he said or she said or they did or they did. Instead, why don't we change that mindset to say, I'm going to serve the Lord and I'm going to serve him well. Because I guarantee you, every single one of you in this room has something that boundary needs. If you want the church to avail, then get in sync with the Spirit.
Go and start going deeper, dive deeper into who he is, what he's calling you to do. I laugh because I always say, last day, best day, because it is. Last days are best days because it means it's something new on the horizon. There's something new for family to be the best is yet to come.
In my prayer of the unknown and I'm about to wrap it up. No, it's my last Sunday. I'll preach a little longer. That's season.
But when I didn't know what I was doing, I would say, Lord, I trust you, but you know when the bills are coming, do, because that's your flesh, right? He and Shelley had this conversation, did or whatnot. I trust him, but I'm a little anxious. He'll be like, Dick, talk.
And y'all, the Lord began to open doors and I never saw open. He will do that for Foundry 2. But you've got to let him work. And I think that was the biggest thing for me, is step out of the way and let him work.
And so it's not a terrible thing. It's a new season for Foundry to grow and to flourish. And when I prayed for God's best, because I'm in a season where I'm like, I don't want mediocre. I don't want, you know, I talked about McDonald's and there's nothing wrong with that.
I really didn't want to work at McDonald's. I wanted his best and I prayed for his best. And I said, no to some other things that would have been easy and comfortable because I wanted his best. And I also prayed for Foundry's best.
So Lord, I want the best for Foundry. And I will continue to pray for God's best for you. But you need to be praying for God's best. It's not a season to give up and give in.
It's a season to grow. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where the rubber meets the road. Are you going to be believers who give up and give in?
Are you going to be believers who dig their heels in and say, yes Lord, your will be done. That's kind of contradictory. Dig your heels in. We're going to be firmly planted, firmly rooted.
We're going to trust in you. So this is your season. And I pray that you would just go and grow. That you will seek God first and foremost.
And I can't wait to see what happens. I can't wait to hear to see the goodness. Sometimes we may pop off. You never know.
I don't know where the Lord will plan us. But I'm trusting that too. I'm trusting He'll plan us in the perfect place at the perfect time for the perfect reason. Because I can no longer afford to believe anything other than good.
Anything other than good. So it has been a privilege to be your pastor. So many of you I have loved. Not all of y'all, that's not bad.
All of y'all I have loved. But it's not an ending. Like I told the kids. We are united through this great love that Christ has given each of us.
This love for one another, this love for him, this love for the church. And so as always I am. I'm a phone call away, I'm a text away. I'll pray with you, I'll love you.
But I encourage you to let somebody else be your pastor and let me be your friend. Let somebody else lead you and guide you. And I say that because I want to respect who that person is. I want to respect that and have boundaries.
So I get to love you as a friend now. And I will pray for you as a friend. I will guide you as a friend and those are awesome things. I tell Frankie I'm excited because I get to see her at lunch.
She might shut her door some days. But pray for me and my family on the journey. Pray for us. Because good gracious, we've had a lot of change in four years.
Pray Jason doesn't run crazy. I'll see him run it through town crazy. You know he just couldn't take anymore. But just pray for us and let's pray for one another because I believe that God.
He's just ready for us to say, here you go. He's ready for us to surrender ourselves, to surrender the church, to surrender everything to him. And he will do great things. Let us pray.
Father God thank you for this season. Thank you for the love that you have given me through the people of Foundry and the love that I have for them. Thank you for just speaking so clearly to my heart. Even when I don't understand.
Thank you for opening doors that I never saw opening. And Lord thank you for making it clear. Lord I just pray for Foundry to receive your best. Not what they think is best.
Lord may their flesh, may their minds, may everything get out of the way so that you can help them to trust fully, completely, absolutely in you. And Lord as they trust in you, may there be nothing but unity. May they be so close in spirit with you. May they be so close that they just feel the breath of heaven on them.
Father I pray that you will open doors and you will close doors for Foundry. I pray that whomever you are preparing for them, Lord that they will come and do great and mighty things. Lord where I have failed, may they come and work wonders. Lord I pray that the church will thrive and flourish because they will surrender themselves to you and your will.
Father we thank you that you never leave us nor forsake us. I thank you that your love is so deep and your heart is so kind and your grace is just abundant. So I thank you for the calling of my life for everyone in this room. Thank you that because we are all one in Christ that we really never say goodbye.
And we know that even in this life in our physical life we don't say goodbye because one day we will be with you in heaven and we will be reunited and there is just so much goodness ahead. Will you just bless us and keep us please today tomorrow and all the days to come. Give us wisdom that surpasses anything we can ever imagine. And Lord the heart and the holy, all the thanks.
And whatever it takes to bring us closer to you, Lord let it be. Let it be so.