Baptismal Identity - A Response to Criticism with Pastor Dan Schepmann | Hot Topic Friday

What happens when a church community embarks on a profound journey to explore the rich and transformative practice of baptism? Join us as we welcome Pastor Dan Schepmann from Gloria Dei in Nassau Bay, sharing the inspiring story of their recent baptismal remembrance Sunday. Over a powerful four-week sermon series, 48 members of the congregation either embraced baptism for the first time or reaffirmed their baptismal identity, facing theological questions and traditional practices head-on. Pastor Dan's insights not only illuminate the spiritual growth within his community but also challenge us to reflect on our own journey of faith.

In our second segment, we confront the difficult reality of sustaining one's baptismal identity in the midst of crises within a church community. False rumors and toxic behavior can be devastating, but responding with grace and understanding is crucial. Through a heartfelt personal story, we emphasize the need for accountability and compassion, even in the face of unjust criticism. This conversation extends to broader societal issues, including identity politics and the use of divisive labels, urging us to foster a community built on mutual respect and understanding.

Our final discussion delves into modern identity issues, particularly the experiences of parents with transgender children within the Christian community. By focusing on baptismal identities and avoiding reductive labels, we can create a more inclusive and empathetic church environment. We share a poignant story that underscores the importance of support and open dialogue, drawing parallels to other sensitive topics like miscarriages. Additionally, we explore how empowering church members for ministry can lead to a more vibrant community, supported by scriptural examples and bold pastoral leadership. Join us for a thought-provoking episode that calls for both theological reflection and compassionate action.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

This is Lead Time.

Speaker 2: 0:09

Welcome to Lead Time. Hot Topic Friday Pray, the joy of Jesus is your strength. I got one of my favorite people on planet Earth, pastor Dan Shetman from Gloria Day in Nassau Bay. We're doing our three topics today, one of the main reasons I love talking to Dan all the time. Dan, it's always a good time. Amen, brother, I'm hanging out with you Likewise, but there was a story about your baptismal remembrance Sunday. They got quite a bit of heat in various circles, so we're going to start off with that topic. 10 minutes, adam. Start the clock now. All right, dan Shetman from Gloria Day in Nassau Bay, tell us a story of your recent baptismal remembrance Sunday and some of the negative and positive comments that that you received.

Speaker 3: 0:54

Hey Tim, thanks so much for the opportunity, man, it has been a great opportunity. We did our first baptism Sunday and I can't tell you how powerful that was for our congregational family and the impact that it had in their lives, spiritually and as they are growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ. We took it as a next step right after Easter and we did a four-week sermon series. I mean, we went drilled hard down, deep, on what baptism is, the what, the how, the who and why, and we'd look at Scripture and we took some great opportunities. We talked about, you know, philip and the Ethiopian. We talked about the Great Commission, about what does it mean, to what is baptism all about? How do you baptize? Is there a right way to to be immersed, or is it a right way to be sprinkled? And, and why does the Lutheran church sprinkle? And why do other churches immerse? And, and we, just we, we, I took as many questions that people would have and try to address them in a message. We actually also then, as a culmination of that whole sermon series, we did a Sunday where I gave the opportunity for folks to either be baptized or to reaffirm their baptismal identity. That caught some people off guard a little bit. I did a lot of research, a lot of talking, a lot of different folks and what really was amazing to me was how powerful it was just for the baptism opportunity for people to hear four weeks on baptism and then respond to be baptized. We had 48 people who engaged and was involved with that first Sunday and probably a third of them were being baptized. The rest of them were being reaffirmed in their baptismal identity. I had a lot of folks I sat down and talked to about what does it mean to reaffirm your baptismal identity? And the first thing people said you can't do that. I said tell me more, help me understand. I said I was.

Speaker 3: 3:06

I grew up kind of hearing a lot of things that Luther's writings really talks about. We should remember our baptism at all times we're in the shower we should remember our baptism. I love how the seminary St Timothy and Titus Chapel they built a baptismal font in the narthex and, as we're taught, we walk in there. We would take our fingers, dip them in the water and place them on our forehead and sign on the cross or remembering our baptism. And I know a lot of churches have their baptismal font in the narthex just for that very reason, and members are encouraged to remember that baptism and Glory Day doesn't have a baptismal font in the narthex and we haven't really taught that kind of language and culture. And so I said I want to really bring that, I want to elevate baptism because it really it really will talk about what we're talking more about our identity.

Speaker 3: 3:56

I think so many people forget about their baptismal identity. We are an identity crisis as a nation and I think baptismal identity needs to be elevated and it needs to be talked about and it needs to be not only affirmed but also celebrated in the lives of God's people. And I feel a lot of times the church gives a lip service, especially Lutheran church. You know, we, we baptize a baby or baptize a kid or adult and we encourage the sponsors to help, you know, remember their baptism and mom and dad, and and we give them a candle to to celebrate their baptismal birthday every year, uh, glory day, we give them a shell, um, uh, kind of like a sort of baptismal token, uh, faith, uh reminder. But I think that's about it. And how do we live in that baptismal identity on a regular basis? And so we took this opportunity to teach on it Now.

Speaker 3: 4:54

Just recognize too that there were some folks who wanted to take what we did in a really negative way, who didn't understand. And I think the challenge I have right now and the biggest thing in our church not the biggest one of the challenges I have with our church body is people love to talk about you. They won't talk to you, and there is this. For all the flack that I got from a certain segment of our church body, not one person reached out to me asked me why we did current of our church body. Not one person ever reached out to me asked me why we did it, how we did it, what it was all about. There was one individual. He reached out to an associate pastor of ours and once he heard our story and what we did, he said wow. He said I wouldn't even done that much. That was impressive. Tell me more. I like to learn how to do it at our place.

Speaker 3: 5:46

And so you know what we did was we actually invited those people who want to be part of our baptism Sunday, that they were required to take a baptismal class, regardless if it was a reaffirmation or if it was a first time baptism. If there's a baptism and really what we, what we required, was that in that class, after you took that class, we gave you a registration link to sign up for that Sunday, and that Sunday was a big day for us. We actually we purchased a portable baptistry and we offered folks either to be sprinkled or they could be immersed with this opportunity, and we were very intentional in how we did that. In fact, we did a little orientation even before we had the worship service. We did it, we did a conjunction. We had two worship service going on the same time. We had our main worship service and then, uh, I did some teaching and then I went over into our chapel where we had, uh, the actual uh, baptisms and reaffirmations. And, uh, while I was doing my sermon, uh, our other two pastors were also giving orientation to all the different folks, reminding what we're all about, what we're doing, how it's all happening.

Speaker 3: 7:03

And once we got in there, man, I'll tell you, tim, it was powerful. It was so powerful Individuals who, man, there was a married couple. They just got married and the wife was still grieving. Their husband was never baptized. And through the four weeks, her husband decides I want to get baptized. And I'm telling you.

Speaker 3: 7:29

I got a phone call on Saturday night because they had only reserved 13 places for their family to be in and they want to know if it was okay if they could have 37 seats. I said Are you kidding me? Yes, you can, I will give you whatever you want. They had a cloud of witnesses. It was all family, a majority of family, and then friends came in and celebrated with this husband and this wife. I mean, dude, it was so incredibly powerful to have an entire family who had gone through, in the last year and a half, some incredible family crises. There was without trying to give out too many details, but there was life and death situations going on, there was medical issues, there was, I mean, just family trauma, and this family had navigated through.

Speaker 3: 8:32

Well, I've been working with them for the last two and a half years and they wanted a new start and they loved their, wanted to remember their baptismal identity and I spent a lot of time with. These are lifelong lutherans and they really, they were really struggling with should we do this, should we not do this? And, um, as we talked it through, I I asked them a question and and I've asked some other people this question too, and I don't know if it's a bad analogy or what, but I said, hey, you know I've done a lot, a lot of renewal of a wedding vows. And I asked the individual. I said, you know when, when you did your 20th wedding renewal or your 25th wedding renewal, I said did that renewal take away your marriage? Did that renewal do anything to diminish what happened? Did it make you more married? Did it make you finally married? Did it make you? What did it finally do? And and really it boiled down to it's just reminded us of the promises that we made in our wedding and recommitted to living out those marriage vows and promises of faithfulness and love, and and.

Speaker 3: 9:36

So I took the whole idea of a reaffirmation of baptism the same way, and before every baptism, and especially before every reaffirmation, my reaffirmation conversation with every one of those individuals was you are baptized. This is not anything new, special, anything crazy. This is a you are baptized, and what we're doing right now is celebrating what God did in you and through you, as an infant, as an adult, as a child, whatever it is. And so recognize that today is a reminder that you are celebrating, with the congregation, the family of God. You want to continue living in your baptismal identity as a forgiven, redeemed child of God, in your baptismal identity as a forgiven, redeemed child of God that God placed his name on your heart, called you his own and wants to live in you. And so I want to start acting like it. So for a lot of our folks, it was man. I love Jesus and I man. This is just a great opportunity for me to be reminded again how much he loves me.

Speaker 3: 10:49

And we had one other story I want to share with you. We had a probably a couple of years ago no, it's seven years ago actually. I had a church member who was there in their 80s and he didn't know if he was baptized or not. And we spent a lot of time in a conversation and I finally said look, whether you were baptized or not, we're going to baptize you or we're going to reaffirm your baptism. And that was a year and a half ago. The wife he died four months ago. The wife, in tears, came to me and said you have no idea how powerful it was that you had this baptism from my husband, because when he was diagnosed with this terminal disease, it was a painful disease and throughout the entire year and a half of suffering through. He kept saying I am baptized, I am baptized and I'm going to be with Jesus, and in tears. She shared this story. She goes I don't know if he'd have made it through that year and a half if we wouldn't have done that. And so the blowback I got again. I didn't even know what was happening.

Speaker 3: 11:58

I had a church member who private messaged me and said people are saying things about you and Gloria Day that are not true and they're saying things, they're making up things that I was there. This did not happen. I said what are you talking about? And she sent me the link and it's a private Facebook group, so it was interesting that she was on it and she shared it with me, and so, because she shared it with me, I was able to see some of the comments.

Speaker 3: 12:27

The challenge was the original poster it's just that is an actual LCMS rostered church worker who started off by saying hey, I don't know if I should elevate this or not, so I'm going to put it in this group and it was like raw meat to lions and then proceeded to share an incredible lie about what we did, a saying that we had a mass altar call that all three pastors got rebaptized, and she wasn't even there and I don't know what the axe to grind was, because she then the following week started another rumor at one of our local schools and it's just, I don't, there's something going on. I don't know what that is, but I feel bad for her and my heart bleeds for her. There's something going on and she's got to share that kind of toxicity and my heart bleeds for her. There's something going on and she's got to share that kind of toxicity and the comments in the vitriol on that page. The best thing I did was I told her to stop or get off that website. She goes.

Speaker 3: 13:34

Well, I was on the Facebook group because I'm a relatively new Lutheran. For her it was 10 years and she wanted to learn more about Lutheran and Lutheran identity. I said that is the worst place to find out what Lutherans are. I said you went into there and I said these people on that group are there to eat their young and she goes yeah, they kind of get mean at each other. I said that is not who Lutherans are. I said that's a fringe group that is really losing their voice and they're trying as best as they can to strike fear or whatever it is, and to push back, and who focus more on a purity doctrine than the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. And so she followed my advice and she closed out the link, got off the group and that gave me no more access.

Speaker 3: 14:29

That was probably the best thing for me, because I could no longer see the comments, because those comments were causing me to sin, causing me to get angry, causing me to get frustrated, causing me to like I was losing my baptismal identity, and so I wasn't losing my baptismal identity. I was forgetting about my baptismal identity and I was forgetting that these individuals who are writing these things about me are also baptized children of God. And so I was talking to my daughter about it, and I was just talking about how to handle when people malign your character and how do you navigate through that. And great conversation. We got to talk about baptismal identity. We got to talk about what it means to live as a forgiven, redeemed child of God, and that I can't control anybody else. I can just control how I respond, and I loved it when I've got so many accountability groups and my daughters are one of them, and I love it that there was something I was doing on Facebook or something.

Speaker 3: 15:34

And she goes what are you doing, dad? And I said, well, I think I'm going to help someone see something straight. And she goes what are you doing, dad? And I said, well, I think I'm going to help someone see something straight. And she goes dad, remember, they're a baptized child of God. And I went, oh, I had to delete my entire comment and then I had to say you know what? You're right, and I rewrote it and it turned it into an incredible conversation and it turned it into a wonderful dialogue that I would have never had had I looked at them through the lens of sin and no longer a baptismal identity.

Speaker 3: 16:07

So that really got me thinking quite a bit about we in America right now are in an identity crisis right now are in an identity crisis and we, we love to, to, to. We do identity politics. We have even our own church body. We have and both sides do this, or also the fact that we're saying sides. We have people that call them crazy confessionals. We have a cow, wow worship. We have, I mean, all labels and names for people that we don't necessarily like or agree with, and it's easy to what's that?

Speaker 2: 16:44

Or no or or yeah, like and actually know them, and so we don't even know them.

Speaker 3: 16:49

We say things about them. Uh, we have Democrats, republicans, progressive liberals, uh conservatives, progressive liberals, uh conservatives, uh Christian nationalists. Um, I mean crazy and and we're all trying to live in this identity crisis then. Then you look at you got uh trans, you got gay, you got lesbian, you've got straight you. And it's getting ridiculous. What if I know it's crazy? What if we started looking at everybody who's a follower of Jesus, who's been baptized, through the lens of their baptismal identity? I will tell you, I was.

Speaker 3: 17:30

I'm sorry I'm digressing, but I'm just going to tell you. I had a couple in our congregation. A husband wife got some kids and super great people followers of Jesus, and they have a trans kid. And they, I would say finally, but I've known this for a while and they posted a family photo with their trans kid. I immediately picked up the phone, called them and said I'm proud of you. And it was like what do you mean? I said I know you've been dealing with. This is the first public thing you ever put out on Facebook. And I said can I take you all to dinner? Can we go have a cup of coffee? Can we just go? Because I want to learn what you're struggling with as mom and dad.

Speaker 3: 18:17

And the amazing thing is, I think the church is missing out on an incredible ministry because of labeling people as an identity, however it is. We're not taking time to learn stories. And I just talked to mom and dad. I said tell me what kind of emotions you feel me, what, what kind of emotions? You know? They went from guilt to anger, to embarrassment to, um, uh, frustration and irritation at their friends who look at their kid differently. They still love their kid and and and and. They see how people look at their kid differently and it it irritates them, but they also agree with why they're and and and. I think there's a whole ministry in our church body that we're not looking at is how are we helping mom and dad who are navigating through a child, who's struggling with an identity crisis, of whether a gender, instead of just writing them off?

Speaker 3: 19:09

And just I learned my wife had four miscarriages early on in our life and it is amazing how miscarriages are a secret ministry in the church. No one talks about them, but I'm very open about ours and when I share that, it is amazing how many people come up to me and hey, I had one too. I had one too. My daughter's struggling with one right now, and I said let me give you two books that helped us. And I think there's also a ministry not only to those who are having miscarriages or who abortions, but also mom and dad who are dealing with kids who are struggling with gender crises, and we can stand up and we can talk about how awful everything is. We're never going to have a conversation with them, we're never going to understand, we're never going to have that opportunity to share God's grace and extend his mercy if all we do is label people, and please don't hear me saying that I don't think sin is sin, and please don't hear me saying that I don't think sin is sin.

Speaker 3: 20:18

But man Jesus hung out with sinners and prostitutes and ate with them, and the church folks are the ones that got mad at him more and more. That we are so concerned about purity of doctrine and doing it perfect, doing it according to a certain tradition or ritual. That man, we just forgot that. You know. Jesus said go make disciples. And he said love people as I love you, and that you'll know that you're my disciples, you love one another, that you'll know that you're my disciples, you love one another. That we blow off the great commandment and the great commission for the sake of being pure or for again I have to be careful that's a certain segment of our church body, it's not everybody and again I don't want to fall down that path again also of labeling.

Speaker 3: 21:17

I'm trying to figure out how can I have a dialogue with my brothers and my sisters in Christ in our LCMS about topics that they may not be comfortable with or familiar with. I felt I got from one of our members. They said hey, pastor Dan, thank you for stretching us and making us look back into scripture about what baptism is, what it does, why we do it, how we do it, and this was a great, great moment for us and the fact that so many people shared our um sermons, uh, the Bible study that I did, um, it's just, it was just great stuff. I'm sorry, I'll just keep going.

Speaker 2: 22:09

So, nah, well, we just hit the first two topics. So for those of you who are like well, I thought you said 10 minutes, actually we got 10 and 10. We talked about the baptismal story and then we talked about confusion and controversy around identity. So, adam, you got to roll, you got to give me that one. That was a solid, solid 22 minutes with Dan Shetman just rolling man, that was so good, so final one here, no baby, I loved it.

Speaker 2: 22:31

I loved it and not much, not much response. I think the only response would be that we because when we throw out words like purity or confessionalism, I care about pure doctrine Amen.

Speaker 1: 22:49

Amen, I care about confessing Christ.

Speaker 2: 22:52

Thank you. I think where we need to grow is around this final topic giving into pride. I got to be right at all costs, correct. In the Chuck Arendt book that I'm reading around kind of the middle way of Lutheranism and our story of falling off basically in American Lutheranism on one side or the other. Right Missouri historically kind of walked the middle way very well and I don't know if you know this, dan, but back in the turn of the century, 1917 or so, it was kind of the golden era of the LCMS and we were growing, we were the largest Lutheran denomination and we were kind of walking that middle way.

Speaker 1: 23:37

We were holding that tension? Yeah, we were holding that tension.

Speaker 3: 23:40

Yeah, we were holding that tension.

Speaker 2: 24:21

A heavy emphasis on the scriptures and the confessions being a true exposition of the scriptures, the doctrine that comes out of the confessions, and there were folks falling off, I would say on openness and heresy Right.

Speaker 2: 24:37

Absolutely, would say, on openness and heresy and then on the other side, heavy, heavy legalism. We were kind of and probably still today are interpreted as if we're going to fall on any side. If we're going to err on any side, it's going to be the pharisaical tendency and we're seeing that today and fear of not getting it right. And then when you think you've got it right, it's pride. There is no room for pride in the theological conversation, especially as Lutherans, dan, because it's passive faith. I have done nothing to make myself right before God. It's all him in and through me, and even the words I speak. If it's true, it's him, it's the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2: 25:16

If it's false, it's me. If it's fearful, it's me. So let's talk about vision. Last topic here, fear is a crippling emotion. Let's cast a vision for more church leaders and pastors to lead with confidence, courage and kindness. Anything to say there, man Tim.

Speaker 3: 25:34

I got eight minutes. I don't know how I'm gonna do it, tim. There's so much um. I think our church body is at a critical stage right now and we have um, we're burying our head in the sand um of how to reach um our next generation and and how we're going to reach more people for Jesus, because we're so stuck on the fact that there's only one way to do it and we have somehow lost what it means to have the priesthood of all believers and we have become, or we're trying to become, more and more clergy centric and I'm not going to do it.

Speaker 3: 26:19

I love that I have so many gifts and gift deans at Gloria Day that I'm going to utilize, celebrate and raise up in leadership roles. I am super excited to see God's people using through their character, through their calling, to make kingdom impact, and whether that's here at Gloria Day or in their community, I always you know I've got it easy. I mean people pay me to tell them about Jesus. I mean I got the greatest job in the whole wide world and you do too. And so how are we raising up people? How are we living out Ephesians of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry, and how are we living out the priesthood of all believers when we say that only way you can lead somebody is if you are ordained? And even a commission minister of religion isn't even quite there yet either in some folks of our eyes. And uh, how do we look at different lanes? Uh, opening up gospel presentation, uh, for, uh, people who could serve in a? Um, in a way, that's where they're theologically trained, they understand the confessions and they live the confessions and they understand scripture and they're going to reach people that I'm never going to have the opportunity to reach. And until we as a church body begin to see the value of the church body and the folks within our congregations who could maybe even do a better job than some of us, um, I think there's a not only pride, tim, I think you also.

Speaker 3: 28:02

There's also this uh, uh, fear, uh, I've got two guys in our congregation that they know more. One guy for sure can do his Greek and Hebrew upwards, downwards, leftward and right, and I don't know how many times I'll say hey, keith, keith, I got this word. I need you to help me do a word study on this. I got the sermon coming. I need give me all you got, and I will brag on him in worship and say, hey guys, this isn't my material. Keith gave this to me. I got another guy who has a whole website called Bible stories for adults, and, and he put together incredible content of old Testament, new Testament, church history, and it's just there for anybody to use. And, and the guys are walking um biblical uh library of practical application for scripture man, and I think every one of us have those folks.

Speaker 3: 29:00

We're not looking for them, though, and so how can we, as a church body, release our congregation members to go do ministry in the marketplace? How can we not just say go, but equip them, equip them theologically through our confessions, equip them scripturally first, and say, hey, you know what? Jesus started with 12. He then went to 72. That went to 120. And then you got 3,000. I got to tell you in Acts Church there's no way that those 11 guys, those 11 pastors, could minister to those 3,000 new converts. And so what did they do? Acts 2.42,. They met together daily in homes, without a pastor being there, and they broke bread, they had fellowship, they prayed and they studied the Bible together, or studied apostles' teachings. Right, help me understand what's wrong with that, because then, at the end of that, verse 46 says and the Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved.

Speaker 3: 30:01

We've got to stop thinking that ministry can only happen on Sunday mornings. Yes, that is a main centerpiece of our ministry, that is a centerpiece of our congregation. But, man, I look at Sunday morning as a way to equip. I look at the church on Sunday morning as a gym and a hospital. It's a place for sinners to find grace and mercy in time of need, to find health and healing. But it's a gym to where we equip, train. And you don't live in the gym, you go home, you get out and you flex those muscles out in the community. You get out and you flex those muscles out in the community.

Speaker 3: 30:39

And I think our churches today have forgotten that. They were there to equip them to go do the work of the ministry. And so, if I can say anything to our pastors is guys, don't be afraid, lead with boldness. Don't allow live in your baptismal identity, don't allow fear to drive your decisions. We don't have a spirit of timidity, we have a spirit of God and believe in a God of abundance versus a God of scarcity. We have a scarcity mindset in our Lutheran Church, missouri Synod.

Speaker 3: 31:19

You know what we serve a great God, we serve an incredible God who is bigger and gives us more than we ever could ask or imagine. And so how can we not empower our congregation folks, equip them to go do the work of the ministry in the kingdom of God, equip them to go do the work of the ministry in the kingdom of God and watch more people grow in the grace and the love of Jesus Christ and man? I have two people who are praying for the last three years that there will be renewal and revival at Gloria Day. And man, can you imagine that renewal and revival in our local communities through the local church?

Speaker 2: 31:54

Man, that's a prayer for me. Dan, this has been so good and you just referenced one of my favorite scriptures and I'm going to read to kind of close devotionally, if anyone. I would love to hear the biblical and confessional, all of the confessions, not just cherry pick argument that pastor does everything.

Speaker 1: 32:21

That pastor does the ministry and I'm serious about that.

Speaker 2: 32:26

There may be some brothers or sisters that really want to come on and have the biblical conversation, to talk about the way of Jesus, to look at the way the early church exploded. You may say you can't find it, but I'm curious, like if this is a practice, like really, really smart people, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. Really smart people have come up with like a well-articulated argument for pastor being everything in the local church. I'd love to hear it.

Speaker 3: 32:57

Everything in the local church, I'd love to hear it and we'd move you right to the top of the list to have that conversation with a spirit of kindness and charity. And I would love for people to talk with you instead about you on your podcast, because I think there's so many people that a great dialogue would have a great conversation. But I don't know if people I don't know if you experience that they don't want to come on the podcast because it's a hard conversation to have.

Speaker 2: 33:21

Well, it's vulnerable. I have to admit fault, I have to be corrected and I'm talking for myself.

Speaker 3: 33:31

I'm not talking about what I would do with other people.

Speaker 2: 33:32

I'm like okay if I miss something yeah, fair enough. But I want the spirit of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3, a prayer for spiritual strength.

Speaker 2: 33:43

Like this is the vision for I pray the Lutheran Church, missouri Synod. Paul's our guy, right, I mean Jesus is our guy. And then Paul, book of Romans, et cetera. That's where you know, luther generated. The majority of his theology is the letters from the apostle Paul. So check this out Ephesians 3, 14 to 21. Let's close and make this our prayer. For this reason, I bow my knees before the father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

Speaker 2: 34:09

That according to the riches of listen to the pronouns here according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts, through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love there it is in love may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length, and the height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Yes, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Yes, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. That's a Holy Spirit, dynamite power at work within us. To him be glory. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Speaker 2: 35:01

Dan, this has been a wonderful time. Thanks for staying in the conversation. Thanks for not giving into a spirit of despair. Thanks for not giving into. You've got a lion heart in you, dan, and trying to not give into a spirit of anger or manipulation or siloing or anything like that, but to live with the humility, the kindness, the courage of the crucified and risen Jesus, empowered by his spirit. So continue to lead boldly. Brother, proud of you, love you. Thanks for being a partner in the gospel and a partner with our work here in the Unite Leadership Collective.

Speaker 2: 35:38

Work here in the unite leadership collective. This is a lead time hot topic friday. We'll be back next friday. Tune in sharing is caring like subscribe, comment. Uh, youtube, youtube comments. They're flowing. Man, I don't get on there actually too much, but people like the cu double, double a uh, nc, no, no, no, uh, yeah, the cu conversation is is quite intriguing. Wow, yeah, wild.

Speaker 1: 35:58

So Jesus loves you.

Speaker 2: 35:59

Go and make it a great day. He's with you. He's in you. Dream big dreams to expand his kingdom today, leader. Thanks, dan, god bless.

Speaker 1: 36:07

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