0:00:00.126,0:00:03.326
When we're talking about [br]one God and Father of all

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who is in all,

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this is not a universal statement

0:00:08.324,0:00:09.970
about all of creation,

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nor is it some sort of universal [br]fatherhood of God among all men.

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This is a statement - remember -

0:00:15.444,0:00:18.585
that unifies the people of God.

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This is like remember [br]back to those words -

0:00:22.824,0:00:25.755
Jesus said to Mary,

0:00:25.755,0:00:31.330
"Go tell My brothers

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I'm going to My God, My Father -

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your God, your Father."

0:00:38.285,0:00:40.255
"Go tell My brothers."

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"Your Father."

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That's the idea here.

0:00:45.303,0:00:49.796
That's the idea behind "all" -

0:00:49.796,0:00:53.905
a uniquely Christian expression.

0:00:53.905,0:00:57.575
The thing is, I can find [br]in the Old Testament

0:00:57.575,0:00:59.255
where God is called "Father" -

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the book of Malachi,

0:01:00.355,0:01:05.206
but the Jews did not call God "Father."

0:01:05.206,0:01:08.115
Catholics - yeah, they may once in awhile

0:01:08.115,0:01:09.664
throw that term around,

0:01:09.664,0:01:13.685
but they focus on the mother.

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Muslims do not call Allah "Father"

0:01:19.714,0:01:21.292
because he's not a father.

0:01:21.292,0:01:24.538
He's not a father figure.

0:01:24.538,0:01:30.146
We have one God and Father of all.

0:01:30.146,0:01:32.266
This is Christian expression to say:

0:01:32.266,0:01:36.788
you have received the Spirit of adoption

0:01:36.788,0:01:41.936
by whom you cry, "Abba, Father."

0:01:41.936,0:01:46.584
Notice: it says "Father of all."

0:01:46.584,0:01:47.916
Don't you like that?

0:01:47.916,0:01:51.326
"Father of all."

0:01:51.326,0:01:55.166
God is not like a father.

0:01:55.166,0:01:57.306
He is a Father.

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He is a Father to every [br]one of His children.

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To all - that's so unifying.

0:02:04.075,0:02:10.895
Christian, Christian, are you single?

0:02:10.895,0:02:16.694
He's your Father.

0:02:16.694,0:02:20.625
Are your children lost?

0:02:20.625,0:02:23.613
He's your Father.

0:02:23.613,0:02:27.104
Christian, do you feel empty? Forgotten?

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Lonely? Despised? Suffering?

0:02:29.555,0:02:32.557
Cold? Distant?

0:02:32.557,0:02:34.023
You have to hear it:

0:02:34.023,0:02:37.855
He's Father of all.

0:02:37.855,0:02:40.605
Sometimes we look at it and we say:

0:02:40.605,0:02:42.205
Oh, but my brother or sister -

0:02:42.205,0:02:44.467
they had this certain experience.

0:02:44.467,0:02:47.254
He's a Father to all.

0:02:47.254,0:02:49.709
He's a Father to all that come to Him

0:02:49.709,0:02:51.665
by Christ Jesus.

0:02:51.665,0:02:56.215
Through Christ we have access

0:02:56.215,0:02:59.005
in one Spirit to the Father.

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If your trust is in Christ, [br]you have access.

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It doesn't matter if somebody

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has experienced something else

0:03:04.496,0:03:06.545
or if they're on the [br]mountaintop right now,

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or if God has seemingly given them [br]blessings that you don't have,

0:03:09.706,0:03:11.895
He's a Father to all.

0:03:11.895,0:03:13.205
And I'll tell you this,

0:03:13.205,0:03:14.639
you're in the palm of His hand

0:03:14.639,0:03:15.934
and nobody plucks you out.

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He guards you. He protects you.

0:03:17.710,0:03:18.805
He knows you.

0:03:18.805,0:03:22.134
What did Jesus say?

0:03:22.134,0:03:24.336
There in Matthew 6?

0:03:24.336,0:03:26.085
He said when it comes to clothes,

0:03:26.085,0:03:27.920
when it comes to food,

0:03:27.920,0:03:32.386
He said your Father knows [br]what you have need of.

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He's mindful.

0:03:34.504,0:03:36.826
He knows what you need.

0:03:36.826,0:03:38.564
So often we feel like

0:03:38.564,0:03:41.085
He's not giving us what [br]we think He should give us

0:03:41.085,0:03:44.006
so we feel like we're somehow a stepchild.

0:03:44.006,0:03:45.917
No.

0:03:45.917,0:03:55.744
There is one God and Father of all.

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And I've heard certain Christians -

0:03:57.855,0:04:01.225
I've heard some Christians just recently

0:04:01.225,0:04:04.015
tell me that at certain points

0:04:04.015,0:04:05.736
in their Christian life,

0:04:05.736,0:04:07.956
they were confronted by certain trials

0:04:07.956,0:04:12.504
or certain situations where they felt like

0:04:12.504,0:04:17.975
they might even fall away.

0:04:17.975,0:04:19.546
You know what?

0:04:19.546,0:04:22.974
Jesus is talking to His [br]disciples one day -

0:04:22.974,0:04:26.934
you know the day - His last day.

0:04:26.934,0:04:30.015
His last day before the cross.

0:04:30.015,0:04:36.396
His last day before the grave.

0:04:36.396,0:04:39.196
And you know what He said to them?

0:04:39.196,0:04:42.960
He said guys, I'm telling [br]you what I'm telling you

0:04:42.960,0:04:46.715
so that you won't fall away.

0:04:46.715,0:04:48.285
And do you know one of the things

0:04:48.285,0:04:51.764
that He told them so [br]that they not fall away?

0:04:51.764,0:04:56.095
He says in that day,

0:04:56.095,0:05:00.003
you're going to ask in My name.

0:05:00.003,0:05:01.973
And He said this:

0:05:01.973,0:05:06.504
"I do not say to you that I will [br]ask the Father on your behalf."

0:05:06.504,0:05:07.646
Have you ever read that?

0:05:07.646,0:05:10.235
If you just stopped right [br]there, it's like, "what?"

0:05:10.235,0:05:11.885
(incomplete thought)

0:05:11.885,0:05:17.262
"That's going to cause [br]me to not fall away, Lord?"

0:05:17.262,0:05:20.535
"That You're not going [br]to intercede for me?"

0:05:20.535,0:05:22.975
Which isn't what He's saying.

0:05:22.975,0:05:24.665
That's not the emphasis there.

0:05:24.665,0:05:29.006
But He says to them:

0:05:29.006,0:05:31.412
"I am not saying to you that I'm going to

0:05:31.412,0:05:34.784
ask the Father on your behalf."

0:05:34.784,0:05:37.375
What? Why?[br]

0:05:37.375,0:05:39.884
And He comes back with this:

0:05:39.884,0:05:46.075
"Because the Father Himself loves you."

0:05:46.075,0:05:49.635
Now, of course, that came [br]just as fast as the rest,

0:05:49.635,0:05:51.647
so they didn't have really time to stop

0:05:51.647,0:05:54.605
like I did there.

0:05:54.605,0:05:56.854
But you just think about that.

0:05:56.854,0:05:59.669
What Jesus is saying is this:

0:05:59.669,0:06:01.284
Just look, guys.

0:06:01.284,0:06:04.125
You know that I've loved you.

0:06:04.125,0:06:05.774
He showed that to them.

0:06:05.774,0:06:07.576
He expressed His love to them.

0:06:07.576,0:06:10.656
He convinced them of His love.

0:06:10.656,0:06:12.916
But what He was saying [br]as He's getting ready

0:06:12.916,0:06:17.676
to go away so that they not fall away:

0:06:17.676,0:06:21.956
My Father's love for you is sufficient

0:06:21.956,0:06:24.198
for God to act on your behalf

0:06:24.198,0:06:26.645
whether I'm there or not.

0:06:26.645,0:06:30.462
Oh, He'd be there. [br]He wasn't going to leave us.

0:06:30.462,0:06:33.005
He'd still intercede for us.

0:06:33.005,0:06:35.564
But the Father Himself loves you.

0:06:35.564,0:06:36.795
Now here's the thing:

0:06:36.795,0:06:39.886
We're talking about unity.

0:06:39.886,0:06:44.355
What unifies us more than that?

0:06:44.355,0:06:48.085
The Father loves you.

0:06:48.085,0:06:50.586
This clip was from the full sermon:

0:06:50.586,0:06:52.525
One God and Father