America, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

All right, we are kicking off a brand new series tonight. And we are stoked about to welcome everybody in the room.

If you are up in the loft or in stage two or you're joining us from El Paso Houston, Fayetteville, Cedar Rapids, Boise, Idaho,

any of the poor Slava locations, welcome everybody. We are kicking off a brand new series. And I don't know that there's ever been that more timely topic in terms of

just everything take a place in our nation where we are in the divided states of America. So we're going to talk about what the church's response and role and some key topics within that. But let me set up tonight by introducing what I think is one of the most divisive images in American history. You're ready? Right there.

This thing set the world on fire like four years ago. You guys remember this? Because when you see that image immediately everyone in the room is divided into two camps.

Who is right now thinking that thing is black and blue? Raise your hand. Okay. The louder. Who is thinking that is white and gold? You're crazy.

Let's do that one more time. That is remarkably similar. Black and blue. Raise them. All right. White and gold. Raise them. Some of you guys are raising your hand twice. It's crazy. You can be looking at the same thing. And yet you see entirely different things. I mean, some of you guys, your roommates.

You have so much in common. You've known each other. You've been friends. You have the same hair color, same everything. But when you look at this, you see two different things. And the person sitting next to you.

And if that wasn't divisive enough, there's also something that is, I think, equally as divisive in our country's history. And that is this sound right here.

Okay. Who hears Yanny? Okay. Who is correct and here's Laurel? I don't know. Keep going.

I don't know what that was. Okay. That's enough. Not only can you look at something and you're both looking at the same thing, but you see entirely different things. You can listen to something and both be listening to the same thing and hear something totally different. Why do I start there? I was thinking about this series and thinking about what is taking place in our nation right now.

Those are such pictures of how so much of our world is operator. Like people are looking at the exact same thing and taking away very, very different outcomes. Like everything has become politicized.

Or increasingly things have become politicized. It's crazy. I mean, you think about how, you know, COVID has become politicized where you have people looking at the exact same pandemic. And you have totally different takeaways.

People look at it and they're like, man, this is a total hoax. Government is trying to control shutting it down for the election. I can't believe this. And then you have somebody going, man, you just hate grandma. You just want everybody to die. That's what you think. And people are looking at the same thing and they're taking away two different things.

It's become politicized in terms of, you know, reopening schools, reopening economies, businesses. People look at the protests and they see entirely different things.

I don't know that there's been a time in last 100 years where the nation has been more divided. So we want to talk in this series about some really tough topics that we think it's really important for Christians to have a biblical worldview as they approach these topics.

Because regardless of if I see black or blue or I see yellow or white and gold, because I'm a Christian, my responsibility is to go, when I see the world around me, I don't see it through the filter of my politics. I see it through the filter of my faith.

And what does God's word have to say? So we're going to enter into this. And let's just be honest, this is a tricky topic. There's a reason why a lot of churches are not talking about this issue.

So we're going to do as best we can provide to stay in the lane and cover where God's word is clear and extend grace to one another and how we as the church can unite and be a part of uniting the divided states of America. So that's where we're heading tonight.

And let me just say one last thing. As Christians, our allegiance is to no political party. Our allegiance is to God, to Jesus, and putting your allegiance or going all in with either political party is going all in with the worldly system.

And we are citizens of heaven first and foremost above any citizenship on earth. But because we're citizens of heaven, that should inform how we operate within this world.

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