1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,160 And if you would open your Bibles, please, to 1st John 8 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:32,360 chapter #2 this morning as we continue our series looking at 9 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:34,800 world religions and cults. We'll be taking our leave of 10 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,600 this series next week. And then we'll be off until 11 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:41,920 after Easter because we have just some different programming 12 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,400 taking place next week. And then after that, we will be 13 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,560 gone. Scotland missing one Sunday as 14 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,720 we go and visit Diane's parents. And then also after that, the 15 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:53,680 following Sunday, we'll have brother Scott Sandy with us. 16 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:54,880 He'll be with us during the morning. 17 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:56,480 He'll be teaching Sunday school and then church. 18 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:59,000 And then of course, not long after that, we'll be Easter. 19 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,600 And so as soon as Easter is done, we'll be back in our 20 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,560 series and we'll be taking a few more weeks and probably ending 21 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,480 sometime early or mid-May. That'll mean about a year that 22 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:09,680 we have been in this series in world religions it called. 23 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:11,240 It's hard to believe that it's been that long. 24 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,440 That's kind of what I'm looking at is our exit strategy, if you 25 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,080 will, and then getting into our next Sunday School series. 26 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,560 But in the meantime, we are in First John Chapter 2 this 27 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,200 morning and we're looking at Universal rather Unitarian 28 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,040 Universalism and the title of the lesson this morning. 29 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,280 It's a long one, but it believes everything and nothing all at 30 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:30,840 once. You say, pastor, what on earth 31 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:32,760 does that mean? Well, it just gets down to the 32 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:37,040 place of trying to find out what exactly, exactly the Unitarians 33 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,080 actually believe. And you say, what is 34 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:41,960 Unitarianism? Something that's a, that's a 35 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:43,760 thing. Is it something that is 36 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,080 prevalent? And the answer is in this area, 37 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:48,960 absolutely. Unitarian Universalism, 38 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,240 particularly in the New England area, is something that you'll 39 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:56,240 find in many New England cities and towns, including here in 40 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,160 Easton. And they are very peculiar, or 41 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,000 not just in their history, but also what they believe even 42 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:04,440 today. And really, they're more 43 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,480 remarkable for what they don't believe than what they believe. 44 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,280 And I want us to look at that this morning and have some 45 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:11,760 understanding because again, your town, even if you don't 46 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,800 live in East and your town very likely has AUU Church, ours 47 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,360 would be Unity Church here in downtown. 48 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,240 Yours has it as well. And we should be familiar with 49 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:23,240 who they are and what they believe. 50 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:26,080 And interestingly enough, they go all the way back to the 51 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:31,320 1600s, actually probably even before that as well, developed 52 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:33,160 in Europe in the mid 16th century. 53 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,400 And the term Unitarian is different than what we believe 54 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:39,920 is Trinitarians. What would you say Trinitarian 55 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:41,600 means? Well, it believes that we 56 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,280 believe in the Trinity, right? The Father and the Son and the 57 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:46,880 Holy Ghost. The Unitarians believe something 58 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,960 completely different, that Jesus is not the Son of God, or if he 59 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,440 is the Son of God, that he is not God the Son and the Holy 60 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:58,440 Spirit is more of a life force, if you will, but that truly God 61 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,520 is 1 God and say, well, we believe that as well. 62 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,280 But we also believe that God's expressed in three persons, 63 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,560 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Unitarians do not believe 64 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:09,400 that. Now why would that be wrong? 65 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,640 Well, we're in first John right now chapter #2 so let's go ahead 66 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:16,040 and just give you a brief debunking, if you will. 67 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,320 Why we believe God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy 68 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,200 Ghost. And it says in verse #21 It says 69 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:25,880 in first John chapter 2, verse 21. 70 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:28,880 I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, 71 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,600 but because you know it. And that no lie is of the truth. 72 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,440 Who is a liar but he that denieth Jesus is the Christ? 73 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:37,800 That's pretty clear right there, isn't it? 74 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,760 Who is a liar, but he that denyeth that Jesus is the 75 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,480 Christ? He is Antichrist that denyeth 76 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,520 the Father and the Son. Boy, I think that's pretty clear 77 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,800 right there, isn't it? Verse #23 Whosoever denyeth the 78 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,720 Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that 79 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:55,480 acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. 80 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:59,360 Let that therefore abide in you which he have heard from the 81 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,000 beginning. If that which he have heard from 82 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,360 the beginning shall remain in you, you shall also continue in 83 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,600 the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He 84 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,560 had promised us, even eternal life. 85 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,680 It seems very clear right there that when you believe in God, 86 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:16,440 quote UN quote, I believe in God. 87 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,279 Well, that belief has to be in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 88 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,040 That we can't just say, as the Unitarians do, that we just 89 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,960 believe in one God. Of course we believe in one God, 90 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:28,920 we're not polytheists, we don't believe in three gods, but yet 91 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,080 we believe that God again is expressed in three persons, 92 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,960 Father, Son and Holy Ghost. There's other verses that 93 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:38,120 explain that as well. Matthew 28 verse 19 go. 94 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,160 He therefore make disciples unto all nations, baptizing them in 95 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,560 what the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 96 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:50,400 Ghost. 2nd Corinthians 13 verse 14, the grace of the Lord Jesus 97 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:54,400 Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be 98 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,040 with you all. And that benediction, if you 99 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,360 will, from Paul mentions God the Father, Jesus Christ and the 100 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,240 Holy Ghost. What about Matthew 3 verses 16 101 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,680 and 17? And when Jesus was baptized, 102 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,760 immediately he went up from the water and told the heavens were 103 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,600 open to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a 104 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,080 dove and coming to rest on him. And behold a voice from heaven 105 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,120 said This is my beloved son with whom? 106 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,800 And well, please, what do you see at the baptism of Jesus, the 107 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:23,880 voice of the Father. Will you hear the voice of the 108 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:25,520 Father. You see the expression of the 109 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:29,160 Spirit in the form of a dove Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 110 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:33,040 You can go to Genesis chapter 1 and we find that Jesus is or 111 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,320 rather the Lord is in conference with himself. 112 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,680 That term us is used there. We saw last week in Isaiah 113 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,240 chapter 6 the same who shall go for us again, the Lord in 114 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:44,520 conference with himself. When you and I talk to 115 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:46,400 ourselves. Sometimes that's problematic, 116 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:48,360 isn't it? When God talks to himself, he's 117 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,280 talking between Father and Son and Holy Ghost. 118 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:55,640 And so we reject out of hand the idea that the Unitarians would 119 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,280 say that God is not expressed in three persons. 120 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,520 Again, we believe in one God. That is not God the Father who 121 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,840 is 1 God, God the Son who is a second God, God the Holy Spirit 122 00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:09,320 who is 1/3 God. That would make us polytheists, 123 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:13,360 that they are one God expressed in three persons. 124 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,480 This is what the Bible teaches. This is what we believe. 125 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,080 Now Unitarianism arose during the Protestant Reformation from 126 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:23,360 the teachings of a man named Michael Cervatus. 127 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,080 So during the time of John Calvin during the time of the 128 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,040 Reformation. In fact, Cervatus sat at the 129 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,640 feet of Calvin for a brief period of time. 130 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,800 However, even for John Calvin, some of his beliefs about 131 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,240 Unitarianism were too much for him and he was considered 132 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,680 Cervatus to be a heretic. But yet even the writings of 133 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,880 which he made during that early 1500 time period ended up 134 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:51,400 fanning the flames of which later would be a more robust 135 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:56,040 teaching of Unitarianism from one Faustus Saucinus, who 136 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,200 continued to promote anti trinitarian views of Servatus 137 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,880 and began to develop the system that now is known as 138 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:05,120 Unitarianism. Some of the other things that he 139 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,600 taught as well. Beyond believing, beyond 140 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:11,440 teaching against the Trinity, he also promoted an unbiblical view 141 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:15,120 of Christ's sacrifice. He denied that Jesus was the 142 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,360 substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of mankind. 143 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,000 He taught that men will reconciled to God through piety, 144 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:25,360 demonstrations of love and obedience to God. 145 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,280 Meaning this it was a works based salvation of which he 146 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:31,840 taught as a Unitarian. He said Jesus is more of just a 147 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:36,040 good example for us to follow really, not the Son of God. 148 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,880 And you could see that these are errors that we have seen 149 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:44,960 repackaged and reformed over and over again in different 150 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:46,560 religions. And no matter how they're 151 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:48,960 repackaged, no matter how they're repurposed, guess what? 152 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,480 They're all false. Because Jesus wasn't just a good 153 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:54,720 example. He didn't go around proclaiming 154 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,840 himself to be a good example. He went around proclaiming 155 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,600 himself to be who he was before Abraham was. 156 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,560 I am very clear, isn't it? Well, that's not just a man 157 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:06,840 talking about being a good prophet or good example. 158 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,560 That's a man who said, you've seen the father, you've seen me, 159 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,120 you've seen the father. And this is what we have, and 160 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,200 this is what is being taught. And the Unitarians would deny 161 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,320 all of this, including the very idea of original sin. 162 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:21,880 This is all denied by the Unitarians. 163 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:27,560 This man Fausta Saucinus back in the early 1600s and as such 164 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,200 around that time Unitarianism starts to spread. 165 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:32,720 One of the reasons is because it leans heavily. 166 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,679 While it does speak of the Bible, even in those times it 167 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:39,039 did use the Bible. The Bible was certainly twisted 168 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:42,240 far beyond recognition. But they did have the idea that 169 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,000 they would use the Bible. But they were entering into 170 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,760 human reasoning that this was a big idea of the Enlightenment, 171 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,960 that sure there is the Bible, but the idea of a Trinity just 172 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,800 isn't reasonable. And so because of that, we don't 173 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,280 believe it. Now if you want to take faith 174 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,120 and put your human reasoning above faith, guess what, You 175 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,160 don't have faith. Faith is a substance of things 176 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:06,440 helped for the evidence of things not seen. 177 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:11,440 It says in Hebrews Chapter 11, we understand that we don't 178 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,120 understand the Trinity. Did you catch that? 179 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,040 We understand that we do not understand the Trinity. 180 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:19,360 We understand what the Bible teaches about the Trinity. 181 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:22,040 We accept it by faith. But I can tell you that as a 182 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:25,760 pastor, I have not found over the years a good illustration to 183 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,520 be able to show people who the Trinity is because every time I 184 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,800 try to find one and every time I hear other pastors tell of one, 185 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,680 they all fall woefully short. You're saying you don't believe 186 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:37,520 in the Trinity. When did I say that? 187 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:38,680 Of course I believe in the Trinity. 188 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:41,160 I believe in it by faith. What I'm telling you is this. 189 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:46,320 Our finite minds have trouble wrapping our heads around what 190 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:47,480 it is. So what do we do? 191 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:50,680 We believe in it by faith. The Unitarians say this. 192 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:53,000 We don't understand it, so we can't believe it. 193 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,200 Can you see much different way of thinking in a way that will 194 00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:00,280 lead them very far away from the faith in the living God? 195 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,840 Well, Unitarianism starts to spread in places like 196 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:07,760 Transylvania, Poland and England in the 1600s. 197 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:12,640 But then beyond that, it starts to take root in the new American 198 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:16,080 colonies, and then beyond that into America itself. 199 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:20,720 The very first Unitarian church in the United States, you may 200 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:23,880 have been here before, I've been here several times, is King's 201 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:26,000 Chapel in Boston. If you've been on the Freedom 202 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:27,960 Trail, some of you, it's probably been a while since 203 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:29,600 you've been on the Freedom Trail, unless you had some 204 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:32,560 guests or visitors in town and they all want to go and walk on 205 00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:34,440 that red brick line throughout Boston. 206 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,400 And if you go on the Freedom Trail, you start in Boston 207 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,320 Common and then you go right around the corner and there is a 208 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:44,760 cemetery where Paul Revere is from colonial times. 209 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:48,240 But then beyond it is your next stop, which is King's Chapel. 210 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:52,280 Now, King's Chapel was an Episcopal Church for some period 211 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:56,440 of time, but Unitarian thinking ended up going into this church. 212 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:00,800 And because of that, it actually renounced its Episcopalian ways 213 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:05,960 and became a Unitarian church and is AUU church even today. 214 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:09,480 So if you go into King's Chapel, which I have many times, you'll 215 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:13,160 find a first example in the United States of A a Unitarian 216 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,920 church and now a Unitarian Universalist Church. 217 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,160 It flourished in New England. And as it flourished in New 218 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:25,880 England, and particularly in the 1800s, it became, words are hard 219 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,320 today. All right, that's not good 220 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:33,160 because it's only 1015, but it became rolled up into the 221 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,680 transcendental movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson and the like. 222 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:41,800 And so now it's even throwing off the idea of any pretense of 223 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,680 following the Bible. And now it has just become 224 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,400 literally man's thoughts about who God is. 225 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:53,880 This will continue all the way up to 19611961 is the inflection 226 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:57,160 point for the Unitarian movement because at the same time, there 227 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:01,480 is also a universalist movement that is taking place in this 228 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:04,960 region, in this area as well, particularly a Universalist 229 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:07,800 church, a Unitarian church in 1961. 230 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,160 They kind of come to this place. They say, hey, we kind of 231 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,600 believe like you, and you kind of believe like, so why don't we 232 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,840 believe the same thing together? And in the United States, the 233 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:19,680 Unitarian Universalists are born now. 234 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,800 We are at the place now where even the Unitarian Universalists 235 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:26,240 don't even look like the Unitarians of the 1500s and the 236 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:27,640 1600s again. Why? 237 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:31,080 Because they have thrown off all pretense of believing the Bible. 238 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:34,640 And literally the Unitarian Universalists believe this. 239 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:38,720 Whatever you want, you believe, whatever you want, and you can 240 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:42,040 become part of our congregation. Now, there's some limits to 241 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:45,760 that, and we'll find out what those limits are here in just a 242 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:47,640 moment. But I do want us to watch a 243 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,400 short video that comes from the Unitarian Universalist as they 244 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,440 explain in their own words who they are. 245 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:55,600 And so we're going to go ahead and watch that and then give you 246 00:12:55,600 --> 00:13:00,680 some further explanation. We are Unitarian Universalists. 247 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:05,720 We are people of many paths who are brave, curious and 248 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:07,680 compassionate thinkers and doers. 249 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:12,960 Everyday people are inundated with information, overwhelmed by 250 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,520 demands, and pulled by a culture that seeks to divide us from the 251 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:19,520 web of life. Unitarian Universalism 252 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:23,200 reconnects, bringing people together with meaning and 253 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:27,040 inspiration. We are a house without walls, a 254 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:31,000 congregation without spiritual limits, and a movement that 255 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:36,240 calls you to put more faith in yourself, your community and 256 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:39,760 your beliefs. We are a faith that honors your 257 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:46,320 mind, your heart, your journey. Simply put, we are a guided path 258 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,840 towards a better you and a better world, grounded in 259 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,800 hundreds of years of thoughtful religious communities. 260 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,240 We are people of many generations. 261 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:01,040 Ethnicities, genders and sexualities and spiritual 262 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,960 backgrounds. People engaged in making the 263 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:07,640 world a better place. People focusing on what really 264 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:12,040 matters, love, justice, integrity and hope. 265 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:16,480 Unitarian Universalists have different beliefs but shared 266 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,840 values. We are Unitarian Universalists 267 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:23,760 and at the same time we may also be agnostic, Buddhist, 268 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:31,240 Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Jewish, Muslim, Pagan, atheist, 269 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:34,960 believers in God and those who let the great mystery be. 270 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:39,120 The diversity of beliefs you'll find in a Unitarian Universalist 271 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,400 community is one of our strengths. 272 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,440 We are always learning how to see the world from a different 273 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:48,160 perspective. What unites us are our core 274 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:52,880 principles that uphold 7 real world values, believing in the 275 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:57,360 worthiness of every person, showing compassion and fairness, 276 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:02,880 accepting others for who they are, growing through a personal 277 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:09,120 search for truth, leading with democratic spirit, working for 278 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:13,640 justice, and understanding that everything is interconnected. 279 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:18,120 Seven days a week, Unitarian Universalists live these 280 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:22,560 principles by doing. When we gather, we worship, 281 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:28,880 reflect, and remind ourselves what matters most in life. 282 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,640 Whatever our age, we learn to live with more wisdom, more 283 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:37,400 awareness, more gratitude, and more soul. 284 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,320 We show our values by showing up to answer the call for social 285 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,480 justice. We have a track record of 286 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:50,680 standing on the side of love for civil rights, LGBTQ equality, 287 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,320 immigration reform, environmental sustainability, 288 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,920 reproductive justice, racial justice, and more. 289 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:02,080 Find what it means to live your deepest values out loud. 290 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,680 Join us on this extraordinary adventure of faith. 291 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:13,840 You say, pastor, that doesn't sound like a religious group, 292 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:15,200 That sounds like a political group. 293 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:19,160 And your answer would be you're getting very close to the truth 294 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,240 of what the Unitarian Universalists are all about. 295 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:24,720 What are the Unitarian Universalists? 296 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:27,720 Well, Universalist congregations, according to 297 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:31,960 their own beliefs, affirm and promote 7 principles which we 298 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:34,400 hold as strong values and moral guides. 299 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,200 We live out these principles within a living tradition of 300 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,600 wisdom and spirituality drawn from sources as diverse as 301 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,840 science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience. 302 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:48,000 And I would say very heavy on the personal experience. 303 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,280 What are those 7 principles that were mentioned there just a few 304 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:53,800 moments ago? That was the quote that I just 305 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,640 gave you just now. But what are those 7 principles 306 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:01,120 of Unitarian of Universal unitarianism #1 the inherent 307 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:06,240 worth and dignity of every person #2 Justice, equity, 308 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:11,480 compassion in human relations #3 The acceptance of one another 309 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:16,160 and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations #4A 310 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:21,040 free and responsible search for truth and meaning #5 the right 311 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,400 of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our 312 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:27,440 congregations and in society at large. 313 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,360 Number six, the goal of world community with peace, liberty, 314 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:35,440 and justice for all. And then #7 respect for the 315 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:39,840 interdependent web of all existence of which we are apart. 316 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,640 Now, from these principles that you see here, the pluralistic 317 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,560 nature of this religious system is quite obvious. 318 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,000 In general. A Christian could agree with 319 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:54,120 several of the things that are up there just in general. 320 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:58,200 But we understand from what we just read that it's not just the 321 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:01,440 meaning of the words, but it's the meaning behind the meaning 322 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:03,320 of the words that are truly dangerous. 323 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,640 That when it talks about being worth and inherent dignity of 324 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,640 every person, of course we would agree that there isn't worth and 325 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,880 inherent dignity of every person, but they would not agree 326 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,200 that there's worth and inherent dignity of the unborn. 327 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,680 They wouldn't agree with that. We could go on and on justice, 328 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:21,800 equity and compassion and human relations. 329 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:25,200 And well, I would say Micah 68 was way out in front of that 330 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:28,480 before anything that the Unitarian Universalists had ever 331 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,160 talked about, that we should do justly and love mercy and walk 332 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:35,320 humbly with thy God. But at the same time, what they 333 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,880 mean by that was, well, those things that were mentioned there 334 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,040 and their political speech at the end of the video, more than 335 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,240 what we would mean by what the Bible says about that. 336 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:50,480 And on and on and on it goes. So really what the Unitarian 337 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,480 Universalists believe is, well, all of that. 338 00:18:54,560 --> 00:19:01,280 You saw agnostic, Pagan, atheist, Christian, Buddhist, 339 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:05,960 Muslim, and on and on and on. They believe all of that and 340 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,840 none of it at the same time. How do you gather together and 341 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:13,960 worship when people don't even agree on who God is? 342 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,320 Or if there is a God, How do you gather together and worship when 343 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,520 people don't even agree what their shared values are? 344 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,920 How do we gather together? Well, we gather together because 345 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:28,000 we believe in God, we believe in Father, Son, Holy Ghost, and we 346 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,680 believe in this word. And that is really what binds us 347 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,000 together, isn't it? And if we were to get together 348 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,080 and say, well let's talk about something different other than 349 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,440 the Bible today, well that would pretty much be the end of this 350 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,160 assembly, wouldn't it? Because this is what binds us 351 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:44,280 together is the word of God that shows us Father, Son and Holy 352 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:46,880 Ghost. But these 7 principles are again 353 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,840 more arbitrary in the sense that it's just kind of things that 354 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:52,600 they have come up with over time and that they believe. 355 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:54,960 But I would even suggest you that they don't believe them in 356 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,320 the way that they say that they believe them in. 357 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,640 Now I found this several times of quotes that have explained 358 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:03,760 what Unitarian Universalist believe. 359 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:05,760 And this quote's just startling to me. 360 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,400 They say this, our faith is not interested in saving your soul. 361 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:12,680 We're here to help you unfold the awesome soul you already 362 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,120 have. There is no soul that needs to 363 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:16,480 be saved. You're inherently good. 364 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,880 They just want you to be able to have a better life. 365 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,520 They want you to unlock a better you. 366 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:26,280 This is who they are. And the very arbitrariness of 367 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,240 what they believe is not a bug, it's a feature. 368 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,840 They just want you to believe whatever you want to believe and 369 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:36,640 come together again. There's a limit to that, but 370 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:38,960 this is what they say. This is what they espouse. 371 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:40,560 You can believe whatever you want. 372 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,960 You come here, you'll find a warm and welcoming, inviting 373 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:45,600 place. It really doesn't matter what 374 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,520 you believe, as long as you come and be part of the community. 375 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:51,320 And there's a part of you that sounds that sounds really good 376 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:54,440 until you get down to it and you think it doesn't work like that, 377 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:56,840 does it? In fact, it never works like 378 00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:59,720 that in life and certainly not within the confines of a 379 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,360 so-called church. Now I want to show you a second 380 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:03,480 video. I think if we can get that 381 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,200 queued up, that I will show you a little bit of how arbitrary 382 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,440 the beliefs of the Unitarian Universalists are. 383 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,000 So we can run that. Let's go ahead and try that. 384 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:14,760 Amanda Rights. I wish I knew more about 385 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:18,040 Unitarian Universalism. I've struggled not having a 386 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:23,440 church and feeling like I want one, but none seem to fit to be 387 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:26,560 honest. So let me tell you a little bit 388 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:31,000 about why I love Unitarian Universalism. 389 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,760 And you know, maybe it would fit you, maybe it wouldn't, but 390 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,000 maybe I can give you a little bit of information. 391 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:42,000 So Unitarian Universalism is non creedal and pluralist, which 392 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,320 means that we don't have a set of beliefs that everyone has to 393 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:49,360 agree with in order to belong. And we are pluralist. 394 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:52,680 We pull from all the different worlds, religions and 395 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:57,160 philosophies and stories and life experiences. 396 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:02,760 And So what that has meant for me is that I had the room and 397 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:07,720 have had the room all my life to explore and grow. 398 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:13,480 And as I had experiences in my life, I had a religion where I 399 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:17,040 could really change what I believed. 400 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,560 But I stayed in the same religion. 401 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:25,000 And one example of that is my youngest daughter had cancer and 402 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:28,040 she developed it as a six month old baby. 403 00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:34,360 And let me tell you, any sort of faith and understandings of the 404 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:40,080 world and God and all of that, I mean, poof, they were gone in an 405 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:45,240 instant. And this, this religion gave me 406 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:53,720 the space to be able to explore those really hard questions and, 407 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,920 and whatever conclusions I came to, there wasn't going to be 408 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:01,760 someone telling me, no, you have to believe this really rigid 409 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,480 doctrine. Everyone who is in this faith 410 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:08,640 understands that it is this faith evolves. 411 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,960 And it's also expected that we are going to evolve, that, you 412 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:16,800 know, our life experiences are going to shape us in different 413 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:21,560 ways and we're going to change. And I love that there is a deep 414 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:28,440 moral center of this, this faith-based around treating 415 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:32,320 other people well and working for justice. 416 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:39,280 And, and so it is without dogma, but ethics is a huge part of 417 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:43,200 what we do, ethical living. And I get to do all of this, 418 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,480 both the work on myself and my work out in the world. 419 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,600 I get to do it with a supportive community. 420 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,600 I love these people and I love this faith. 421 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,720 At the very beginning it was mentioned there are no beliefs. 422 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,240 You heard that correct? That there is no belief here 423 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,480 that you can believe whatever you want to believe. 424 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,320 And I want to touch on what she mentioned in the middle. 425 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,960 Of course, anyone who would have to deal with the cancer of a 426 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:14,080 child, my heart would go out to them. 427 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:18,200 There's certainly no animosity in my heart towards her or 428 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:21,040 towards that situation at all. I understand when I say that, 429 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:25,600 that that is how I feel, but at the same time, to be able to say 430 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:30,080 through that my faith went out the window and that I was able 431 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,960 to decide what I wanted to believe after that event took 432 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:37,800 place. That's a dangerous form of 433 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:40,280 living. What happens is it ends up that 434 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,560 you are the decider of what faith actually is. 435 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,440 In fact, it's just all about what do you want to believe, 436 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,760 what feels right to you. It's a very dangerous place to 437 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:51,200 be. But then you get from the 438 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,960 beginning to there is no set belief to the middle of, well, I 439 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:57,160 got to get to the place where I believe what I wanted to 440 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:58,440 believe. And that belief could also 441 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,520 change over time too. We have a very real set of 442 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:03,320 ethics. Did you catch that at the end? 443 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:07,920 Well, where do ethics come from? Those ethics come from what we 444 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,320 believe and for us that comes from the word of God. 445 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,880 So the question I would have to a universal Unitarian 446 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,760 Universalist would be how can you come up with this core of 447 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,240 ethics when everyone can believe what they want to believe in the 448 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:24,200 1st place? And this is where we start to 449 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:29,600 get to the place where it really shows that there is a lot of 450 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,800 righteous talk when it comes to Unitarian Universalism. 451 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,520 But at the same time, there is absolutely zero depth because 452 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:42,040 everyone can believe what they want to believe, but you have to 453 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,160 believe like we believe. So what do you mean you have to 454 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,160 believe like we believe? Well, there's a very real set of 455 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,440 ethics that were mentioned in the first video as well as the 456 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:55,160 second video. If you don't believe in that 457 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,440 form of ethics, do you believe that you would be welcomed 458 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,240 within their society? Do you think you'd be welcome 459 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,040 within their church? The answer is we know from 460 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,600 experience, we know from testimonies of others that the 461 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:09,320 answer to that is no. Let me illustrate it to you in 462 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:11,760 this way. I I go to when I go to the gym, 463 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:14,960 I go to Planet Fitness. One of the things I love about 464 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,360 Planet Fitness big sign on the wall, no judgement, no judgement 465 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:20,240 zone, right? That's, that's, we understand 466 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,160 that there's no judgement when you go into the Planet Fitness. 467 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,440 And the whole point of that is, you know, there are people, you 468 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:26,680 know, like me, who are intimidated. 469 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:29,200 You go in and you get the meatheads that are going in and 470 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,160 that, you know, they got the, they got the gallon of water, 471 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,280 you know, they're drinking it. You don't have to be a meathead 472 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:34,840 to do that. But the idea is, you know, 473 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:36,840 they're going in there, they're they're doing their reps, 474 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,760 they're looking at the, at the mirror while they're doing it, 475 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:41,560 not because they're trying to make sure the form is right, 476 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:43,480 just because they look good. You know what I'm saying? 477 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:46,360 And they're doing all this, they're grunting, they're 478 00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:48,200 yelling, they're doing all these different things. 479 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:49,600 So Planet Fitness came up with the idea. 480 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:52,120 What if we had a place that was just, you know, where people 481 00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:55,800 could go and they don't have to worry about being judged because 482 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,960 they are not like those people. And that idea in of itself, I 483 00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:01,280 think it's great to be honest with you. 484 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,320 I enjoy that very much. But they call it a no judgement 485 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:05,880 zone. But I'll be honest with you, 486 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:07,520 there's a lot of judgement there. 487 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,440 Say, what are you talking about? Well, what if you are one of 488 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,480 those guys that go in there? You know what happens if you 489 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,720 grunt and you throw down your weights when you're done? 490 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,840 They have something that's called a lunkhead siren. 491 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:23,440 You said, what's a lunkhead? What's somebody that's like, you 492 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,200 know, you know, acting like a like a dope at the gym. 493 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:32,040 And if you drop that weight too loud, the siren goes off kind of 494 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:33,960 like, look at this guy. Look at this guy. 495 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,360 You're telling me there's no judgement. 496 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,080 You're just saying there's no judgement as long as you believe 497 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,720 like we do. But if you don't, we go look at 498 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:46,640 this guy. Look at this guy. 499 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,320 He's he's yelling, he's grunting. 500 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,360 Look at him. You know, what I'm saying is 501 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:52,920 let's just be honest about what it is. 502 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:57,120 I'm not saying that that environment that they built is a 503 00:27:57,120 --> 00:27:58,320 bad one. I think it's a good one. 504 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:00,920 But you can't call it a no judgment zone because you are 505 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:04,680 literally pointing out people who don't fit in that and say, 506 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,720 look at this guy, we have the whole place, the lights are 507 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:09,720 going on and off, the sirens going off. 508 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:12,560 Because we want you to look at this person and see what a 509 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:15,240 lunkhead they are. This is what Unitarian 510 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,080 Universalism is. It's hey, you can believe 511 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:22,880 whatever you want, just as long as you believe the things that 512 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,560 we believe in. You've got to make sure you 513 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,440 believe that women can have abortions whenever they want. 514 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:33,600 You've got to make sure you believe in immigration reform. 515 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,840 Did you hear that up there? Get not a religion, that's a 516 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:40,120 political party. You have to make sure that you 517 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:42,720 believe love is love for everybody. 518 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:45,440 You have to believe that. So if I was to go to the 519 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:49,320 Universal Unitarian Universalist congregation in town, if I was 520 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:54,240 invited and I preached a message about why God believes that, 521 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,160 well, God, why God has in his word that marriage is between 522 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:00,120 one man and one woman for one lifetime, do you think that 523 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,480 would be received well? Well, we can believe whatever we 524 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:04,840 want. No, but you can't believe that 525 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:09,400 this is a no judgment zone. Look at this guy. 526 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:13,440 You can't believe that. Do you see what's the Unitarian 527 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,400 Universalist? Do you say, pastor? 528 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:17,880 You would never be invited to be able to be a part of their 529 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:19,920 church. I have been invited to be part 530 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:23,000 of their church. In the first few years of the 531 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,360 church was open, I've been invited to several different 532 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:29,800 events with the Easton Ministerial Association, meaning 533 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:34,280 every pastor was invited to be able to come and do a 534 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:38,920 Thanksgiving service or an Easter service or a Transgender 535 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:41,040 Day of Remembrance service. These are things I've been 536 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:44,240 invited to over the years. And so I politely declined so 537 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:47,680 many times that they no longer invite me to be able to come to 538 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:49,880 those. But I have been invited to go 539 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:53,520 and to speak along with other ministers in Easton at a 540 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,600 Thanksgiving service at Unity Church. 541 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:58,000 Say, well, pastor, why wouldn't you do that? 542 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,240 Well, because we don't all agree who we're even giving thanks to. 543 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,120 And if I was to give thanks in a way, you say, well, they, they 544 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:06,120 have to believe what you believe. 545 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:11,280 No, they don't, because that arbitrariness only lasts for so 546 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:13,680 long. And here's really what it comes 547 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:15,560 down to for the Unitarian Universalists. 548 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,080 Here's what they won't admit but they know is true. 549 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:23,720 Everyone is welcome, unless they don't like what you believe. 550 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:28,040 Again, every belief is good. Well, not every belief is good 551 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:32,760 if you believe like a could we maybe put it this way, a Bible 552 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:37,680 believing Baptist or a Bible believing Christian in general. 553 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:40,520 So this is what I've come to the to the understanding of 554 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:44,320 universals are broad minded, single minded and narrow minded 555 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,240 people all at the same time. He said that doesn't make sense. 556 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:48,920 It doesn't make sense. But this is who they are. 557 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:50,800 They're broad minded. We believe everything, but 558 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:52,840 they're single minded. This is what we believe in 559 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:55,400 ethics. That also makes narrow minded 560 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:59,000 because if you don't believe like them, then they have no 561 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,440 regard for you. You can believe in whatever you 562 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:04,800 want as long as it fits within their parameters of their 563 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:06,560 ethics. This is why they believe 564 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,880 everything and nothing all at the same time. 565 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:12,240 Now I have a third video I want to show you as well. 566 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:15,680 And if you think this is just me saying this, this comes from 567 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,200 their own mouth. The same woman is going to speak 568 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,680 again and she makes very clear Unitarian Universalist is not 569 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:23,120 for everybody. It's like, whoa, whoa, hold on a 570 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:24,880 second, I'm going to watch for everybody. 571 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,800 I thought it didn't matter what, but apparently there are some 572 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,880 people who won't be comfortable in a universalist church. 573 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,200 Seems to undercut the entire argument right from the start. 574 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,640 So let's go ahead and show that. Reasons why you would probably 575 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:42,160 not be happy in a Unitarian Universalist congregation. 576 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:44,880 Let's go. First of all, if you believe 577 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:49,360 that there is only one path, one way of understanding what is 578 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:53,640 most holy and true, you're probably not going to be happy 579 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:58,720 in AUU church, because we are deliberately pluralist, we pull 580 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:02,760 wisdom from all the different worlds faiths, and every 581 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:07,120 individual UU gets to figure out what is most true for them. 582 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:11,560 If you believe that people are born evil or with a propensity 583 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:15,960 to evil, and it requires the intervening force of some type 584 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:20,440 of a deity to get us to act decent, yeah, you're not going 585 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:22,880 to be happy. In AUU church, we believe in the 586 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,280 inherent worth and dignity of all people. 587 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:30,560 If you believe that God has created a natural order and that 588 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:34,640 families should fit this traditional model with certain 589 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,880 gender roles, you're probably not going to be happy in one of 590 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,920 our congregations. If it is important for you to 591 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:45,200 hear about Jesus every Sunday, there are some exceptions. 592 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,880 We do have what are called some affiliated churches that are 593 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,880 more explicitly progressive Christian, but the vast, vast 594 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:58,080 majority of you congregations do not identify as Christian in any 595 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,200 way, although there may be Christian individual Christian 596 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,960 members in it. But but so you're probably not 597 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:05,960 going to hear about that every Sunday. 598 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:10,120 And also if it's really important to you to hear about 599 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,920 God every Sunday, again, in most of you churches, that may not 600 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,800 happen. Now, I would also say if it if 601 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,720 it's really important to you that you never hear the word 602 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:23,360 God, you might be able to find some congregations. 603 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:27,560 But overall, no, we are a big tent religion. 604 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:31,440 If you believe that spirituality has no connection with the world 605 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:35,560 of politics, you probably won't be happy in AUU church because 606 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:39,800 this is a way of us living out our religious values. 607 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:44,320 UU churches are often full of activists and they are involved 608 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:49,440 in what many see as progressive causes, the environment, 609 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:56,160 reproductive justice, LGBTQIA plus issues, voting rights, it 610 00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,360 goes on and on. So there's some reasons why you 611 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:01,000 might not feel comfortable in AUU church. 612 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:04,600 So what if none of those apply to you and you kind of find all 613 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,160 of this intriguing? Well, feel free to. 614 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:08,800 You can look at some of my videos. 615 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:12,760 I have some playlists like AUU one O 1 or ask away. 616 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:17,960 Ask me some questions. Anybody is welcome unless you 617 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:22,760 believe in Jesus Christ. And unless, Yeah, I don't think. 618 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:26,000 See, I had to show you this just so you could make sure that you 619 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:27,800 felt that way because I didn't want everyone going over to 620 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:29,679 Unity Church after Sunday school. 621 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:32,600 You're comfortable there. Unless you believe in God, 622 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:35,960 unless, unless you believe in the Bible, unless you're a 623 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:38,800 conservative. I mean, that's very clear. 624 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:41,920 People talk about, you know, religion and politics. 625 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:44,280 And we tried to be very careful here. 626 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:47,040 You know, this is not a political group. 627 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:49,960 Of course, we believe the Bible and the Bible causes our 628 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:52,920 politics to go in certain ways. But this is not a political 629 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:55,000 rally here every Sunday. It just is not. 630 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,720 And that's on purpose because we're dealing with Kingdom 631 00:34:57,720 --> 00:35:00,680 issues that far go beyond those other things that are also 632 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:03,400 important. But you're talking about not a 633 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:05,440 Sunday morning service. You're talking about a political 634 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:08,120 rally of which we are not welcome in. 635 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:09,600 And again, you say pastors this important. 636 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:13,520 Almost every town in New England has one of these churches. 637 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:18,240 The oldest church building in Easton is Unity Church. 638 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,520 This is out here and a lot of the activism that you see that's 639 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:26,080 out there for these ultra liberal causes is underpinned by 640 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:29,480 those who are part of the Unitarian Universalist Church. 641 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:32,280 So yes, it is important for us to understand, although 642 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,080 certainly you are not in the place where you say, well, I 643 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:38,160 wonder if I should go there. It's not that as much as it's 644 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,760 you need to know that this is out there and you know that 645 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:43,240 people that live in your community are going to those 646 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:47,040 churches and that everybody's welcome unless you're sitting in 647 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,600 this church today. And they would pretty much 648 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:52,760 rather that we don't go over there and mess up that which 649 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:56,800 they have, although everyone is able to believe whatever they 650 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,560 want. It reminds me of Proverbs 14, 651 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:01,400 verse 12. There is a way which seemeth 652 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:05,040 right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death. 653 00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:08,400 And that's Unitarian Universalism in a nutshell. 654 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:12,200 Their tolerance is not for those who believe something, it's only 655 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:14,200 for those who believe there is no absolute truth. 656 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:17,120 So in absence, they're only tolerant of those who believe 657 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:18,960 nothing. Because if you actually believe 658 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:22,160 something, it may not fit. Well, we, we allow Buddhists to 659 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:24,960 come in and Muslims. Let me ask you, how many Muslims 660 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:27,480 do you think with what they believe would be welcome in a 661 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:30,480 Unitarian Universalist church? The answer would be none. 662 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:35,040 You say, pastor, could you be a Christian and be in a Unitarian 663 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:37,840 Universalist church? And my answer to that, well, if 664 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,600 I press the right button there. Oh, OK, I forgot this too. 665 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:43,360 But so much going on here. All right, This is the inherent 666 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:47,760 craziness is the only word I can use of their belief. 667 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,880 The seven principles here's #5 the right of conscience to use 668 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:53,400 the and the use of the democratic process within our 669 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:55,120 congregations and in society at large. 670 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:57,440 They say they believe #5 but they don't. 671 00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:00,560 You can believe what you want. You have the freedom of 672 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:02,120 conscience to believe whatever you want to believe. 673 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:03,640 They don't believe that themselves. 674 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:07,000 Because again, if you went as a Bible believing Christian into 675 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:11,000 their society, if you went as a political conservative of 676 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,800 whatever stripe and decide to go in their society, you would be 677 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,240 ostracized. And that was made very clear in 678 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:19,480 that video, which is one of many that we could have shown you 679 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,920 here today. But can a unitary universalist 680 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:25,440 be a Christian? They mentioned that there's 681 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,840 Christians within there. I would submit to you that no 682 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:32,680 actual follower of Christ could be a Unitarian Universalist, 683 00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:36,200 period. Because of the teachings, 684 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:41,120 because of the ethics, because it goes exactly opposite to that 685 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,120 which the Bible teaches. They're wrong in so many ways. 686 00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:46,600 I don't have time to go over all these at the extent that I want 687 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:49,840 to, but they're wrong about sin. Do you remember what she said? 688 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:52,320 That we weren't born with a sin problem? 689 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:54,680 Well, that would go against what the Bible says, and that would 690 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:56,800 go against what what we see with our own eyes. 691 00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:58,920 Nobody has to teach that little baby to say no. 692 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:02,280 That comes natural. Doesn't now say it. 693 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:07,800 No, no, no. Nobody does that, and they don't 694 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:09,040 need to. Why? 695 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:14,080 Because we understand the inherent sinfulness of mankind. 696 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:16,120 Salvation. They're wrong about something. 697 00:38:16,240 --> 00:38:17,400 Hey, your soul doesn't need to be saved. 698 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:20,160 You have an awesome soul and we just want to help you unlock 699 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:22,960 that which is already within you of creation. 700 00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:26,200 Obviously they would not believe in a literal 6 day creation like 701 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:28,600 the Bible says. They would believe anything but 702 00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:31,680 that of God himself, that they can't even decide if there is a 703 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:35,400 God or not, let alone of whether there's the one true God of the 704 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:39,080 Bible, authority and revelation. I've mentioned this here before 705 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:43,600 just briefly, but they believe that authority in their beliefs 706 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:47,000 can come from poetry, it can come from reading, it can come 707 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:52,680 from the mythologies that come from years past, and it can come 708 00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:54,200 from your own personal experience. 709 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:57,920 Basically, you find revelation wherever you can find it. 710 00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:01,040 If something seems good to you, something seems authoritative to 711 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:02,520 you, then just believe it. That's good. 712 00:39:02,720 --> 00:39:06,080 Well, we believe authority comes to us through this word right 713 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,360 here. It is not the final authority of 714 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:11,960 faith and practice. It is the authority of faith and 715 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,560 practice for us in our life, the very word of God and then 716 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:19,240 mankind that they believe just in general about man and who we 717 00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:20,840 are. They would say that there's no 718 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,320 accountability because you're basically just a evolutionary 719 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,520 process. You're a cosmic mistake. 720 00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:29,440 And so if nothing else, just do what you want to do, do what 721 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:31,200 feels right. But we know that the word of God 722 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:33,120 says something completely different. 723 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:38,080 A Unitarian Universalist church is, as I just mentioned, odd 724 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:41,800 minded, single minded and narrow minded people who believe 725 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:44,320 everything and nothing at the same time. 726 00:39:44,640 --> 00:39:46,520 They believe everything, but they don't believe anything. 727 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,320 But if they do believe something, it's not like you and 728 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,840 it's not like me and it's certainly not like this book. 729 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:58,720 And so knows a very quick way to explain Unitarian Universalist. 730 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:02,520 But again, check in your town, see if there is a church like 731 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:03,880 that. Not because I want you to check 732 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:07,280 it out, but just see that they are actually much more prevalent 733 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:09,640 in this area than you could possibly imagine. 734 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:12,960 And you can find that their influence actually goes far 735 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:16,040 greater and further than probably we even understand, 736 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:19,440 particularly when it comes to a lot of these political issues 737 00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:21,960 that are out there today. When it comes to the word of 738 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:24,280 God, when it comes to being a Bible believing Christian, this 739 00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:26,480 isn't a political rally. It's all about Jesus. 740 00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:28,080 Amen. That's what it needs to be about 741 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,600 and that's what we want to make it about every single Sunday. 742 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:32,360 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 743 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:35,280 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 744 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,760 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 745 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:43,360 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 746 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:48,160 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 747 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:51,000 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 748 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:52,200 grow in His Word.