Sub Divisions

Thomas Kulp

Unity in Life • Sermon • Submitted 3 months ago • Presented 3 months ago

1 Corinthians 1:1–17

Church Unity

Christian Unity

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Divisions in the Church

As we enter the Playoff season in the NFL

and interesting fact becomes evident

Teams are formed, Uniforms coordinated, contracted players

all to show that they are on a particular team.

There is a battle on that field.

Two separate teams seeking to stop the other team from advancing

and scoring points to be displayed on the Big JUMBO TRON

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Let your mind envision that scene

Two teams focused on Winning, to make the other the Loser to advance their cause.

There is to be NO UNITY on that Field between the opposing colors

and more important there must be total unity on the same colored team.

i am always touched to see the players after the game greet each other,

BUT in our Christian Walk

We are not going to Shake Hands with SATAN

Our Life is not a Game ----- we must play our part for Christ

The Play, in order to produce results ---- each player be doing its part.

There is no guarantee in football that Unity

will achieve a positive result each time,

But we know that if unity doesn’t exist the play will fail.

Imagine a lineman just standing up and letting the opposition to simple run through,

or the wide receiver refusing to run the ordered route.

Chaos and Failure

The disunity of the team allows the other team to win.

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HERE is the reality in the CHURCH today.

We are not UNITED - not even close

It was pondered years ago on one Easter Sunday - driving to Los Lunas

What if just in ABQ the THREE BiGGIES --- Calvary, SageBrush and Legacy would work together

That would have to be over 50,000 if not more people UNITED

I would venture it is over 50 million dollars annually

What could change in

CHURCH - COMMUNITY - CULTURE

Churches refuse to work together

WHY --- I would venture PRIDE and CONTROL

a sense of I'm right and the others are wrong.

I have sat in rooms listening to PASTORS attacking PASTORS

and church tearing down other churches

Calling out wrong or sin --- is our calling

But are they coming from a place of LOVE FOR CHRIST, LOVE OF THE WORD

or LOVE of the PRIDE available in this world.

Seriously --- what happened to TRUTH

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

What about

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Proverbs 16:18–20 ESV

18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. 20 Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

JESUS IS TRUTH

SCRIPTURE is HIS WORD

IT IS ALL HIS — GOD IS THE OWNER

GOD MADE THAT CHURCH — NOT YOU

We are called to be the Light of the World

and that Light should SHINE on JESUS,

not the Pastor

Jesus wants us to be a flood light,

not stand in a spot light.

We NEED TO BE ON TEAM JESUS

wearing HIS NAME above ALL NAMES

The Team MUST be designated to be the LIGHT of the World

NOT allowing the Darkness to score points because they refuse to work together.

UNITY must be forefront

Unity is like minded, like missioned, and like LIVED

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The church today is as the Corinth Church in our Scripture.

It is seeking to balance the world and God,

and seek its own desires instead of the desire of GOD.

Do you really think that Satan minds or fears

a LARGE church that doesn’t grow its people.

Do you think Satan fears a small church

that stays within its wall

never sharing, never becoming

the CHURCH, THE COMMUNITY and THE CULTURE

We are for the most part untrained people.

and sadly it is mainly

the fault of the CHURCH

We need to require or at least encourage --- BOOT CAMP

this is your reminder and invite to 7:30 or 10:45 class

We are untrained and not held accountable in our world today.

Wisdom is knowledge and experience

if you lack in either it effects your ability to walk in Wisdom

You must read your SCRIPTURE — Study it --- LEARN IT

and you must be in a CHURCH to experience, have it modeled,

or YOU WILL BE LEAD ASTRAY

Don’t MISS the MESSAGE

the Corinthian Church is the example of the CHURCH today

Seeking to BALANCE the world and CHRIST

Seeking to make it fit into the World you live in MODE

and it WILL NEVER WORK

The POINT ---------------------- CHRIST ABOVE ALL THINGS

You must Walk in Wisdom, Wait on the LORD, and WALK WORTHY

We can NOT be an untrained army of soldiers, no one knowing in the faintest how to fight or fire.

Friends the OPPORTUNITY is HERE at HORIZON

there is NO LACK of places

and people to GO TO for TRAINING

BUT you must DECIDE

Do you want to Visit DISNEY LAND to ride the rides

and go back to YOUR life

or do you want to LIVE in CHRIST

Do you want to be living to

STAND BEFORE THE THRONE and

HEAR WELL DONE< GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT

Capital one said ---- What’s in your wallet

Christ asks ---- WHO IS IN YOUR HEART?

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Satan can sit back and allow the PRIDE in the WORLD

to Drive the desires of the Church

Instead of allowing Christ to be Forefront.

Instead of the Church Educating and Executing the Plans of the Lord, it seeks to Entertain and Entice.

Lets look at our Scripture today

1 Corinthians 1:10–11 ESV

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.

The verse before this verse 9 --- Clarifies our Calling --- TO BE IN FELLOWSHIP

The Greek word is Koinonia

The essential meaning of the koinonia embraces concepts

conveyed in the English terms

community, communion, joint participation, sharing and intimacy.

Inside the Church

We called out that we would be looking at Church, Community and Culture in our Series in 1 Corinthians

Paul is calling out the CHURCH

It is the second place that CHANGE starts

It must start in US, and then the RIGHT heart will DEVELOP in the CHURCH.

In our Football illustration

the players must train there bodies and mind to be the BEST for the Team,

and when they submit their skills to the team

seeking HARMONY ----- THAT WELL OILED MACHINE ---- FINDING THE ZONE

THEN

the team plays well.

So it is with the Church

You must be training in Righteousness Daily with Prayer, Reading, Studying and Growing.

then you bring your Spiritual Gifts to the Lord through HIS CHURCH.

You must RISE to your Ordained LEVEL to service GOD and Others.

A Friend shared with me that he no longer IDENTIFIES

as a BELIEVER, or a FOLLOWER of JESUS

but a PRACTITIONER of CHRIST

He needed to change his FOCUS

you can be a BELIEVER, but the demons believe and tremble

You can be a Follower, and be looking all around at the things of the WORLD

or you can COMMIT to PRACTICING the WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE.

YOU MUST DECIDE.

Being Like Jesus --- God’s Will not Yours be Done.

Building Years

Of course, just gathering people together with skills will not guarantee success.

You must work together, learn each other and TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN

Teams are build and Players available and provided.

God wills who comes and who is available,

We trust in His Provision, and Put action to His Purpose with a Plan

To train there must be a plan and a focus

We have a plan at Horizon ---

We seek to Glorify Him by Growing Others

You are on the Team

You have a ROLE

You pray, you give, you serve

Some are called to Coach, To Quarterback, to be the Protective Line,

or to Run with the Ball to move it down the field.

YOU MUST be in PRAYER DAILY.

Some want something DIFFERENT than their calling

and it can CAUSE DIVISION

They want what THEY WANT and will not FIND peace in DOING SIMPLY what GOD is ASKING

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You cannot move the ball if there is quarreling.

the running back and the quarterback in the middle of the play start to argue

about which side the ball is to be handed off.

How is that going to work out?

Paul calls out the quarreling in the church.

1 Corinthians 1:11–12 ESV

11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”

But that call out is after Paul reminds them of the FOCUS

1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

NO DIVISIONS

We must be in Unity.

Paul in Verses 14-17

Calls out that it is not Baptizing that Saves you.

He doesn’t dismiss the importance at all but rather

REMINDS us of the Focus

The Focus MUST be on the Gospel

Christ is not divided

We don’t define CHRIST, CHRIST defines US

It is not our mission to FOCUS on counting Baptisms,

but RATHER Preaching the GOOD NEWS of CHRIST