The Dream Team, Part 5

Type: Sunday Morning Service

Series: The Dream Team

Sermon: Part 5 - Unified, Fortified, & Satisfied

🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Tom Van Kempen

This message emphasizes the beauty and power of unity among God’s people, showing how it reflects the very nature of God and empowers the church to fulfill its mission. Drawing from Psalm 133, it explains that unity is good, like precious oil of anointing, and like the refreshing dew that brings life. True unity flows from God, produces blessing, and strengthens the church’s witness to the world.

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Additional Info

The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.

The Power of Unity

Unity is more than getting along—it is a reflection of the goodness of God and a key to living in the “sweet spot” of life. Psalm 133 reminds us that unity is both good and pleasant, carrying with it the essence of delight and strength. Just as God exists in perfect unity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, His people are called to live in community and harmony.

Unity as God’s Design

From creation, humanity was made for community. Marriage, family, and the church are designed to reflect the “oneness” that is found in God Himself. When we live in unity, whether in marriage, family, workplace, or church, we reflect the character of God to the world.

The Anointing of Unity

David compares unity to the anointing oil poured on Aaron, which flowed abundantly and carried a fragrance that could not be ignored. In the same way, when believers live in unity, the aroma of Christ is made known to those inside and outside the church. The Holy Spirit empowers believers with gifts and service, and true unity allows those gifts to shine for the glory of God.

Unity Fuels Mission

Jesus prayed in John 17 that His followers would be one, so that the world would believe that He was sent by the Father. Unity is not just about peace within the church; it is about effectiveness in witness to the world. When believers live shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, the gospel is displayed with undeniable power.

The Blessing of Unity

Psalm 133 ends with the promise that where unity exists, God commands His blessing. Unity brings refreshing, multiplied power, and lasting life. When God’s people make every effort to remain humble, gentle, patient, and loving, unity becomes the channel for His greatest work.

• Discussion Guide

  Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.

  Icebreaker: Share a time when you experienced being part of a really united team—sports, work, family, or church. What made it so memorable?

  Discussion Questions:

  1. Read Psalm 133. Why do you think David, who experienced so much division, treasured unity so deeply?

  2. How does the unity of the Trinity model what unity should look like among believers?

  3. Why does disunity weaken our witness to the world, while unity strengthens it?

  4. What practical steps can we take as a group to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3)?

  Action Step: As a group, identify one area where you can serve together in unity this month—whether in church, community, or in helping someone in need.

• Historical Context

  Psalm 133 – Written by David, this short psalm is one of the “Songs of Ascent,” sung by pilgrims traveling up to Jerusalem for festivals like Passover. For David, unity was a rare and cherished treasure, as his life was marked by conflict with Saul, division in his family, and strife in Israel. Mount Hermon, mentioned in verse 3, was a towering snow-capped mountain in the north that brought abundant dew and water to the land, symbolizing refreshing life flowing down.

  John 17:20–23 – In His final prayer before the cross, Jesus prayed not only for His disciples but also for all future believers. His desire was that His followers would reflect the same unity shared by Father, Son, and Spirit, so that the world would believe in Him. Unity, therefore, is directly tied to the credibility of the church’s mission.

  Ephesians 4:1–6 – Written by Paul while imprisoned in Rome, this letter encouraged the church to live in a way that matched their calling. Paul stressed humility, gentleness, patience, and love as the glue that binds unity together. Unity of the Spirit is not optional—it is essential for the body of Christ to grow and function.

• Kids Lesson

  Introduction:
  Ask the kids: Have you ever played on a team where people didn’t work together? How did it go? Today we’re learning why God says unity is powerful and good!

  Scripture: Psalm 133:1 – “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”

  Craft (10 minutes):
  Make “Unity Chains.” Each child writes their name on a strip of colored paper along with one way they can show kindness or teamwork. Loop them all together into a long chain to show how strong we are when connected.

  Game (10 minutes):
  Play a “Human Knot.” Kids stand in a circle, grab random hands, and then work together to untangle without letting go. Talk about how working together makes things possible.

  Discussion Questions:

  1. What does it mean to be united?

  2. Why do you think God loves it when His people live in unity?

  3. How can we show unity in our family, school, or church?

  Wrap-Up with Prayer:
  Pray together, thanking God for giving us friends and family. Ask Him to help us love each other and stay united so that others can see His love through us.

• Full Transcript

  Good morning and welcome to sermon number five of the Dream Team series where we're trying to encourage everyone to find a ministry that the Lord has placed upon their hearts and to join that particular Dream Team. And of course, the Tech Team is one of those wonderful teams that we need people to be a part of. And training is included. You're not thrown to the wolves or anything like that. You're given lots of opportunities to grow and expand in that particular ministry. So a few years ago, there was a church, and it was time for the annual church business meeting. And the senior pastor was all excited because the finances were in better shape than ever before. the pastor asked if there were any special needs the church should consider in the upcoming year. And so a woman rose to her feet and asked to be recognized and the pastor recognized her. And she said that the church needed a new chandelier. And with that she was interrupted by one of the deacons. And the deacon said I'm against this for three different reasons. Number one, nobody can spell chandelier. Number two, nobody can play a chandelier. And number three, what the church really needs is better lighting. Today I want to talk to you about unity. As a matter of fact, I entitled this Unified, Fortified, and Satisfied. There is something special in life when it comes to this idea of unity. The dictionary defines unity as the state of being one, combining parts into a whole. It's described as agreement or singleness of purpose or action. So today, if you have your Bibles, I would love for you to turn to Psalm 133. If you don't, we're going to be There's going to be some scriptures on the big screen. A couple of scriptures are going to be here on this back screen behind me here also at the same time. But I'm just going to read the very first scripture in Psalm 133. There's only three of them. And this is really what the sermon is about are primarily these three scriptures. So there's one point for each scripture. The first scripture is this. Behold how good and how pleasant it is. for brethren to dwell together in unity. Can I have another amen? Amen. That's beautiful. Now, a lot of theologians sense some longing here in this first particular verse because David is the author of this particular psalm. And David has had very little unity in his life. As a matter of fact, when the prophet came to anoint one of the sons as king, David wasn't even included. He was left out in the fields all by himself, so he was divided even from his very own brothers. When he came to take on Goliath, his brothers once again fought with him, that his motives were wrong and they were having a little tiff right there on the battlefield. And then once he had the victory over the giant, Saul spent years trying to kill David because he felt that everyone was going to love him more than Saul. Even when David first became king, it was over a divided kingdom. Only Judah for seven years followed him as king. And one of Saul's sons was the king for the other 11 tribes for seven long years. Even after becoming king, David couldn't even keep his own family unified. So it is with longing, it is with even a little element of surprise that David is saying, hey, hey, how good. How pleasant, how wonderful, how beautiful is living even a little bit of your life in unity. Who can say amen? Unity is really, really cool. This is a psalm of ascent. And so what we're communicating here is this is one of the psalms the Jewish people used as they were going to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holidays. Passover, Hanukkah, something like that. And so if you've ever been to Israel, you'll notice that the main road that led to Jerusalem, it started down by the Dead Sea, which is at below sea level. And then it would climb steadily upward. And so they are stepping or ascending towards their earthly Zion. You and I are heading towards our heavenly Zion. We are together in this battle going to see God someday. And we all long for heaven. There's an old saying that's been around for a long time. To live above with saints we love. Oh, that will be such glory. To live below with saints we know. Well, that's a different story. But it's true, isn't it? Sometimes our biggest frustrations are with each other. And David is saying, if you really want life to flow, you need to be in unity. You need to be on the same page. Psalm 133.1 again, behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. Simply, point number one is unity is good. Unity is good. Understand that this word good is talking about something more than basic, more than average. The Hebrew word is tobe. And it means the same thing as when we say God is good. God is the ultimate good. God is the essence of goodness. And he is saying that unity can be just like this. This is the Hebrew word Naweim. It means delightful. It means sweet and beautiful. So when the author says how good, he's saying it doesn't get any better than this. When the author says how pleasant, he's saying this is how you live life in the sweet spot. Unity is multiplied goodness. It's multiplied sweetness. And to help us understand this, we need to realize that God exists in unity. Did you hear that? When we say God is a three in one, what is the word for that? Trinity. That's right. Our God is a Trinity. Do you understand that That's really putting together two phrases, try and unity. It is a unity of three different personhoods, but it is still just one God. Three distinct personalities working together in perfect harmony, beautiful synchronicity, and glorious community. man was made in God's image. We need to understand that one of the ideas here is that you and I were created for community. We were created for unity. And so the first example that's given is Adam and Eve. When they saw each other, the two came together and became one flesh. That's right. The two became literally One Flesh. Marriage is two becoming one. So, two couples went out for dinner one night, and one of the couples just seemed to get along perfectly, and the other couple was fighting. From the moment they sat down, they were disagreeing about everything. They were disagreeing about what to drink, and what the other person should eat, and who was on a diet, and who wasn't on a diet. And in the background, there was a little group that was singing some romantic songs throughout the evening. And it got to this song entitled Always and Forever. Does anyone remember this one? Always and forever. Each moment with you is just like a dream to me. I sing this to Robin every night, just so you know. this to Robin. And so the couple that was getting along, they looked at each other and one smiled and said, this is our song, isn't it? And the other said, oh, it is our song. It's been our song since we met. And the other wife looked at her husband and said, what's our song? And he said, well, it's the battle hymn of the Republic. Marriage is supposed to be one flesh. Sometimes it's not. The family unit is supposed to be one unit. Many people. You can have eight in your family. You can have ten in your family. You can have 32 in your family. It is supposed to be one unit. I love football season. And one of the reasons why I enjoy it so much is all of the good coaches anyway, they describe their team as a They say things like this. We love each other. We've got each other's back. There's nothing we wouldn't do for one another. And the coaches realize something. That if they want to win games, they need to bring this atmosphere to the team. Even if they have an extremely talented team, it doesn't matter if they don't work cohesively together. If they don't see each other as family. And I learned a long time ago, everyone's looking for family. Everyone is wanting that special group of people, whether it's at work, whether it's on a team, whether it's at church, whether it's a literal family. Everybody wants it, but it's hard to get to also. There was a family of five, a mom, dad, six-year-old, eight-year-old, and ten-year-old, and they decided to go out to California. for vacation and they spent some time up in the Redwoods which they really enjoyed. Then they went down to San Francisco and they were going to take their kids to Alcatraz Island. But the kids were misbehaving from the moment they got up. They were fighting in the backseat of the rental. They were having problems. Mom and Dad were trying to get them to settle down and then they had to stand in this long line to get tickets for Alcatraz. And Mom and Dad, Dad especially, could barely take it. And the cashier said, how many tickets do you need, sir? And he looked at his kids and he looked at his wife and he said, I need five. Two round trip and three one way. Now, not everybody even has a family. And many of us come from families that have damaged us, hurt us. The dysfunction has been great. of the church is we are here to fill in that need. The Scripture actually describes the church as a family. It describes the church as a building. It describes the church as a body. And each of these definitions is meant to help us to understand that we are one, that we're on the same team, that we need to be on the same page. Ephesians 5.25 says we are all members of one. One. One body. Here's why this is important. Our unity determines our effectiveness in doing what God wants us to do. Did you hear that? Our unity right here will determine our effectiveness in this entire area. Whether you want a great marriage, you need to be unified. A great family, you need to be unified. A great business, a great team, Unity is the key. But for the church, it is one of the most important qualities that needs to exist. I want to share a scripture with you. John chapter 17 verses 20, 21, 22, and 23. Robin, have you got me here? We're trying to do something new here. Where'd you go? There we go. So, here's Jesus, and he's praying for his disciples. Okay? And listen to what he says. I have given them... No, no. Go back one. I think you skipped. Yes. Just there. We're not very unified right now. This is Jesus praying. My prayer is not for them alone. So he's admitting, I'm not just praying for these 12 guys right here. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message. That's you and I. We have believed in Jesus through the disciples' message. That all of them, that's all of us right here, may be one. Isn't that startling? That Jesus prayed that in 2025 that Oxford Assembly of God Church would be one. Father specifically addresses God, just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us. Okay, if you're not mind blown by now, you're missing the whole point. He's saying that the same way that God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one, He wants to put us in that same grouping. He wants us to be a part of them. May they also be in us. Here's why. So that the world will believe that you have sent me. The whole reason we have to be unified is so that the world will believe that you have sent me. believe in Jesus Christ. They will know we are disciples by our love for one another. Love brings this unification. Go on to the next slide, Robin. I have given them the glory that you gave me that they may be one as we are one. He doesn't say it once. He repeats it again and again and again. I in them. You and Me, so that they may be brought to complete unity. This isn't a partial unity. This isn't, oh, you know, I can put up with them in this area. God wants us hand in hand. He wants us shoulder to shoulder. He wants us, oh, we can disagree. Of course we can disagree. But when it comes to moving forward, we set aside differences and say, Whatever it takes in the name of Jesus Christ, who can say amen? Whatever it takes. Why? Then the world will know that you sent me and you have loved them even as you have loved me. This is all about our effective witness in communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Now let's look at verse number 2, Psalm 133, verse 2. It, referring to unity, like the precious oil upon the head running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron running down on the edge of his garments. So now David's doing something unusual here. Verse 1, he says unity is good. We can all agree with that. And then he says, but unity is like that ceremony where Aaron was originally anointed with the anointing oil. And so now we have to do a little homework. Now we have to figure out what's going on here. We have to ask, why is it described as precious oil? So I start thinking, well, when Robin and I first got engaged, I gave her a diamond wedding ring. And you would have thought that that ring was worth $10 billion. I mean, she held it in her hands. She put it on her finger. She loved that ring. She made sure that that ring was taken care of. When we had our first child, it was elevated to a whole new level. The ring now didn't mean anything. Now it was the baby. She held that baby with such tenderness and care. I walk by our own nursery here, and I see ladies holding these babies like they are the most precious thing in the world. And they are. I mean, we hold things that are precious near and dear to us. David is comparing unity to one of the most precious events in an Old Testament person's life. When they were anointed for service to God. This was no casual event. It was like a baby dedication up here on the stage. It was like a high school graduation ceremony. It was when your child walked down the aisle and got married. It was so intimate and so personal. It was one of the most precious things that could happen. And this precious oil wasn't dabbed on. It was poured. Say poured. The oil was poured on. It ran down the head into the beard, onto the garment, to the very edge of the garment. indicating the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our humanity, on our flesh. It was indicating a partnership first between God and man. Please understand that our unity between each other is indicative of our unity with our Father. it is easier to be unified with other human beings. So God has a big deal to do with all of this. His participation is primary in all of this. When you look at verse 2, it says running down on the beard, running down on the garment. Then in verse 3, it says that the dew of Mount Hermon is going to be unified with other human beings. to descend onto the mountains of Zion. It's the same Hebrew word. So three different times this word for coming down from above onto humanity is mentioned. In other words, without God, true unity is impossible. We need to be changed by God. We need to be transformed by God. We need to be anointed first and foremost with salvation. Paul actually picks up this theme in Titus chapter 3 beginning in verse 4. Listen to what Paul says. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured. poured out on us abundantly. This is a picture of what happened in the Old Testament. Paul is saying that instead of an outward oil getting you wet on the outside, the Holy Spirit is poured on the inside. And who can say amen to that? I mean, we can have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us on a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week basis. And the reason why that is needed is because when the kings and the prophets and the priests were anointed, it was to do something for God. You're saved first, and then you serve God by serving your fellow man. In the Old Testament, the special anointing oil was used on all of those offices. Today, the Holy Spirit is still anointing. people to serve by putting upon them special spiritual gifts that are unique to them and them alone, especially in the quantity of the gift that he gives you. So this is what's supposed to happen. The anointing oil was not a neutral oil. It had an aroma to it. So you're anointed for salvation, then you're anointed to serve, but this anointing is supposed to carry an aroma of sweetness. to it. In other words, your anointing should be recognizable. People should notice there's something different about you because the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of you. Exodus chapter 30 verse 25 in referencing the anointing oil. Make these, and it's a bunch of different spices, okay? Make these spices and this olive oil into a sacred anointing oil. A Fragrant Blend, the work of a perfumer. A fragrant blend. Can you imagine what it smelled like in the house or in the area when oil is being poured over these people and it smells like cinnamon? It smells like all of these different spices that have been abundantly poured out on this person. Everyone would notice. People inside the church should notice our People outside of the church, even though they don't know what it is, they should notice our anointing. It should smell good to them. It should attract them to you. And by extension, it should attract them to God. So here's my challenge. Are we drawing people in with the fragrance of Christ? Or are we pushing them away with the stench of division? When done right, Paul says, says in 1 Corinthians 3.9, we are partners working together for God. So what does our participation look like? 1 Corinthians 1.10 says, I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ to live in harmony. I'm just shocked at how many unity verses there are in the Bible. It's over and over and over again. Live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. one mind, united in thought and in purpose. Now, we're all familiar with the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville Wright. This is what Wilbur said of his brother Orville. From the time we were little children, my brother Orville and myself lived together, played together, worked together, and in fact, thought together. That unity of thought caused them to be the first to fly an airplane. I'm just here to tell you that flying an airplane is really, really cool, but telling people about Jesus Christ is even better than that. We need to understand that our purpose or our mission in life is to go into all the world and make disciples and to teach these disciples everything that Jesus has taught us. And so every change Church in the world has the same mission. But every church in the world has a different vision. The how that we're going to accomplish that is different depending upon where we are, depending upon the unique gifts that are in your particular church. What makes us unique? Well, we've talked about WOC, winning our community for Christ. On Thursday, we actually opened up registration. for walk this fall. And in the first day, we had over 50 people register. So I don't know if that's because they love us or they want to get rid of their kids. Okay? But either way, we'll take them, right? And so we need next week at our Dream Team Expo, we need as many people as possible to sign up. When you sign up, we've got a t-shirt already, a Dream Team t-shirt that we're We're going to give to everybody because we want you a part of the dream team. So please sign up for that. We talked about Convoy of Hope hygiene kits last week. I was talking to Michael Redman, one of the upper guys at Convoy of Hope, the higher-ups, and he said, Pastor, you don't understand how important these hygiene kits are. And I go, what do you mean? He goes, well, in a disaster area, the hygiene kits are like gold. He says, there are people who've not showered or brushed their teeth in three, four, five, six days sometimes. And when they get a toothbrush, it's the most valuable thing in the world to them. When they get a bar of soap and we provide some water for them and they get to bathe, it is one of the most refreshing things that happen for them. And so he said, make sure that anybody involved with those hygiene kits gets a special shout out. So I'm shouting out all those involved with hygiene kits. If you are involved with the hygiene kit, let me see your hand. Let me see your hand. Would you give those people a round of applause right now? We have so many other opportunities to get involved with Convoy of Hope. I'm excited about what the future holds in this particular area. We've highlighted children's ministries and teen ministries over the last couple of weeks, and we've already got new people signing up even before the expo, which is a super But let me tell you one of the things that I'm super proud of. And that is we've got young teenagers memorizing Scripture. I'm just telling you. The Bible says, Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. One of the keys to your sons and your daughters and your grandsons and your granddaughters being successful in their Christian life. Who cares about the business environment? I'm talking about being a successful Christian is you need to hide the Word of God in your heart. One young lady on Wednesday night, I saw her quote like 25 verses the entire first chapter of Galatians. I mean, that is astounding. A young man quoted the first 15 verses in like six or seven minutes. I mean, it was is done just like that. These kids are accomplishing great things and they need adult leaders to help them find their way. Who can say amen? So those are some of the things that we do. Recently I was talking to a couple about Pearl and Prey. And I have to admit I had seen Pearl and Prey on the calendar in the past and I had no idea what P-U-R-L was. Does everybody here know what purling is? I mean, I thought it had something to do with jewelry or something like that. It's like knitting, okay? And we have a group here that knits blankets and gloves and mittens and caps. I was told about these caps that are made from a special cotton material that doesn't cause irritation to the head of cancer patients. I'm just letting you know that that is an amazing ministry that we're doing something practical and praying for them simultaneously which is even more practical sometimes we don't even recognize it who can say amen so there are all of these opportunities that your church is involved in we have something called DIY and again I've I don't know the difference between a hammer and a screwdriver just so you know Okay. Or better yet, I see every problem as a nail, so I use a hammer every single time. Yes. And so you need to be able to use tools. I've been here for almost nine months now, and I believe that our DIY team, your do-it-yourself team, these are our people who come here and fix things, build things, rewire things. I believe that they have saved us literally tens of thousands of dollars just this year alone. Would you give them a round of applause? If you have a special skill in this area, it is one way that you can serve your church. It's one way to serve the widows in our church. It's one way of helping people on a regular basis. I just understand that there are so many giftings. that God wants to use so that people will come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In Ephesians chapter 4, I think that's my next verse that's coming up here. Ephesians chapter 4. Yeah, right here. This is what Paul says. He says, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling. So we know what our calling is. Our calling is to use our gifts to accomplish His purpose. That's the calling. But you can live a life that is unworthy of your calling, or you can live a life that is worthy of the calling that you've received. And then He tells you how. A couple of weeks ago, I said, it's what you are first before you do. We want to get the cart before the horse so many times, and we want to do and make sure everyone sees what we do. But the Bible says if you really want to live a life worthy of your calling, you need to be completely humble. Do you understand pride divides, right? Humility is some of the glue that keeps us unified. Be gentle. Why are there some people that are just so mean? And I'm talking about church people. They just cut you down. You're not important. It says be patient. This is macrothumia here. It literally means a long time before I explode with anger. There are people just looking for fights all the time. Social media causes us to be that way. Because there are so many people that get online and say things they would never say to your face. But they feel this courage come over them. I can say whatever I want online. No! You are a Christian. You are to be humble, gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love. Listen to what he says. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. We need to make every effort to say no to negativity. You know what he's saying here? He's simply saying grow up. When is the church going to begin to grow up and be what God wants them to be? When are we going to start working together? When are we going to understand that it's teamwork that makes the dream work? When will we understand that a house divided cannot stand? We have to be on the same page. And so I was going to write down pray. as my next point here. But the Bible says that we're to pray in agreement. Have you ever noticed Matthew 18, verses 19 and 20? Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in their midst. here that are just beautiful. Agree is symphoneo. Symphoneo. It's where we get our word symphony from. In other words, there are a multiplicity of instruments in the church. But when we are playing in harmony, there is a beautiful song that is created. Who can say amen? And then it says gather together or synago. Get the word synago. from that the idea of churches here. When we are on the same page, we literally become an unstoppable force. Point number three, final point here, Psalm 133.3, it is like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, life forevermore. As we make every effort towards it, God commands a blessing to come upon us. Think about that. He commands it. You can't even run away from this blessing because if God commands it, it's going to happen in Jesus' name. I've played sports for many, many years, still try, and every now and then, I feel like I get in the zone. Okay? And so Thursday night, I'm playing this game, and I just can't miss. I literally can't miss. And I mean, it's like I'm closing my eyes and throwing the ball up, and it just goes in. And what happens, though, is when you're playing basketball, you can't be in the zone by yourself. It has to be a team effort. And so my team, started setting screens and picks trying to get me open. And I would get the ball, shoot, score. Get the ball, shoot, score. Get the ball, shoot, score. So we're down to the last basket of the game. It's like 15 to 14 and anybody can win on this next possession. And so the other team says, we're going to go man to man. We're going to stop Pastor Tom. He's not going to score. And so I'm standing on the block on the left side. Or no, I'm sorry, I'm on the right side. And the guy on the left side kind of gives me the signal. And the signal is he is going to screen my man. I'm going to run over into the corner. Hopefully I can get the ball and get off a shot. So he screens my man and I come running by. But the other team was also working in coordination. So his man left him and came out to me on the corner. And as I'm sitting there in the corner, another defender is coming to block me in. So rather than allow that to happen, I do what's called a jab step. The guy guarding me falls down. I go back behind the three-point line, shoot, and score and win the game. Why? Our team was working in a coordinated effort. We were all on the same page recognizing what needs to be done. One psychologist actually describes being in the zone as flowing. Now when you're thinking Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in the area in Jerusalem over in that area because it's not in Jerusalem. It's a few miles north of there. But it's 9,000 feet in the air. It gets a bunch of snow in the winter and all that snow, it melts and forms rivers that go into the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. And all of this water comes flowing down from Mount Hermon. What you understand is things are easy when they are going downhill. Things become more difficult when you go uphill. Unity is like going downhill. Disunity is like fighting upstream. Division steals energy, drains and brings discouragement. Pat Riley says this, teamwork requires that everyone's efforts flow in a single direction. And when this happens, families, organizations, churches, and teams enter a state of heightened focus and blissful immersion. So here are the final four blessings. Pastor, if you come, I'm up. Blessing Number One is refreshing. All that water on top of Mount Hermon is supernaturally, it's like it's supernaturally brought on over to the area of Jerusalem or Zion. That can happen when a church is unified. Produces power. I call it spiritual synergy. You've probably heard this verse before, Leviticus 26.8. Five of you will chase a hundred. Have you ever thought about that? Back then, those countries fought with each other all the time. And God is telling the Israelites, you don't need to have 100 against 100. You only need 5 against 100. In other words, you're 20 times more powerful than your enemy. And then he goes, and 100 will chase 10,000. You're 100 times more powerful than your enemy. When you are unified, power, comes over your life. This isn't just something found in the Bible. Business gurus understand that when a team of employees works together on the same page, their productivity goes through the roof. It happens every single time. Finally, Psalm 133 ends with this. For there. Say there. For there. Where? That doesn't even make sense. For there. The Lord commanded the blessing. Unity. This whole chapter is about unity. When the church comes together, God commands a blessing. And listen, he says it's life forevermore. In other words, this is something that just can go on and on and on. This word life in the Hebrew, it also carries the connotation of flowing like a river. This whole scripture is a beautiful, beautiful, unified revelation that the Holy Spirit gave to David, to a man who seldom experienced unity. We don't have to follow that path. We can be a church that literally makes a difference in our community simply by getting on the same page, by participating, by serving here at the church, by serving in the community. Would you stand with me, please? We're going to have the team sing. And prayer partners, if you'd come forward, I just want you to be be available because prayer is one of those beautiful ways that we can rally together, pray for one another. Would you join Pastor Jeff and the team, please?