“Families don’t always get along, do they?” continued Pastor Stout. “Sometimes families–they fight. Sometimes they don’t always treat their brothers and their sisters as well as they should. God has something to say about that for us. See, when we don’t treat each other right–the Bible calls that sin…and that sin separates us from God and each other.” Pastor Stout went on to tell the crowd, “If we receive Jesus Christ, we become part of the family of God. But that doesn’t fix our problem. See, even when we come to Christ, sometimes we differ from each other. But here’s what God does. He says, “I’ve got others different, so that I can serve others through you.”
The two churches closed out the day by formally signing their Covenant of Action. “We could sign a contract,” said Pastor Stout, “but here’s all a contract is: a contract is so you can write language in it so you can get out of it. We’re not signing a contract, we’re signing a covenant today. A covenant is something you make with God, and when you make it, [God] holds you accountable.”