Unity for the Cause of Christ

If you were alive in Calgary in 1967, you would have noticed this building being built at the centre of the city. This picture here makes it look fascinating, but confusing at the same time. You can tell that there is a cement base, you can tell that there is a lot of steel work being done in a circular pattern.

Combined two services to one

Each person on the crew has a job to do, and it is their responsibility to follow the architects plan. There may even be a plan that they are looking at, and they might know what it is that they are working towards.

But it is going to be an amazing experience for these workers, when the entire building is fully completed, and they get to realize this architects plans as they are fulfilled.

we are together, as one congregation instead of two

If you haven’t guessed yet, this is a picture of the Calgary Tower.

Jesus is building his church, and we are the workers. We have a picture of what this church will look like in the Bible, it will be the bride of Christ, it will be a people who are righteous, holy, and transformed by the power of God.

But that can’t last. We have too many people to fit into this service. It should be that you can invite your friends and family to a service, but right now, if you do, where will they sit?

But today, we are not yet living in that full reality. Jesus Christ, our architect, has his plan, and we are his workers. We don’t yet enjoy the church as it will someday be. But we strive for unity, as Christ’s workers, so that his good, perfect and wonderful plan can be employed through us as we live our lives faithfully.

Today we are talking about Unity for the Cause of Christ.

In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul gives some very practical instructions on this topic of Unity.

Logistically, the time is coming when having one service will just not make sense. Our church is here to serve this city with the truth that God can forgive people of their sins and miraculously transform them into Christ followers.

Calgary has 1.2 million people.

Hawkwood, Ranchlands, Arbour Lake are the 3 communities closest to our church, they have a combined population of 29,000 and our church touches far more than 3 communities.

Simply stated, there are people living all around us who need to know about Jesus Christ. As we are faithful to bring the good news, these people are going to need to be discipled and become healthy church members. Growth is a necessity.

So Unity must be more than simply meeting together for a single service on a Sunday morning.

People do not come together simply for the sake of coming together, at least not in the long term. This is especially true in the life of a healthy church. We have been called by God according to his good purposes. It would be disappointing for everyone to come together, and not work towards God’s purposes.

Warren Wiersbe says:

“…there is a difference between unity and uniformity. True spiritual unity comes from within; it is a matter of the heart. Uniformity is pressure from without.”

We want to gain a Unity in this season, and then guard that unity as we move forward as a church that is faithful to Christ’s great commission to go and make disciples. We want to have one heart, and one mind about one goal, it is to introduce people to Jesus and together become fully devoted followers.

Instead, we want to gain a Unity in this season, and then guard that unity as we move forward as a church that is faithful to Christ’s great commission to go and make disciples.

In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul gives some very practical instructions on this topic of Unity.

During our scripture reading today we heard the answer to the question, Why is Unity important?

The Church in Philippi was the first place in Europe that heard about Jesus Christ.

You can read about this in .

In that chapter we meet Lydia,

we here how Paul and Silas are imprisoned for delivering a slave girl from demon possession,

we read about an Earthquake that would free all the prisoners, but instead they stay and the Jailer and his family found salvation in Jesus Christ through that event.

For those of you who enjoy geography, Philippi is located in Northern Greece.

This letter is written to them while Paul is in prison, likely in Ephasus

The letter is in many ways a thank you letter, because the church in Philippi was supplying many of Paul’s needs while he was in prison. Paul writes from heart of joy and thankfulness, and we see that joy talked about in .

Philippians 2:1 HCSB

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,

Philippians 2:1–2 HCSB

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal.

Phil 2:1-

Lets look at verse 1.

Philippians 2:1 HCSB

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,

If, If, If, If - 4 If’s to start off the chapter. I will give you two different ways to think about these “if’s”

Phil 2:1

1. They are open phrases or questions.

Paul already knows the answer. The church does find encouragement in Christ. Christians are consoled greatly by the love of God. We do have a unity and encouraging friendship with the Holy Spirit. We are absolutely the glad and thankful recipients of the affection and mercy of our amazing God.

Paul is using the if’s as ways of saying, I know that this is true about you, and because this is true of you make my joy complete and then he gives a list of ways to live in unity.

The second way of looking at the four “Ifs” is to say that they are open phrases or questions.

1. They are open phrases or questions.

The second way of looking at the four “Ifs” is to say that they are open phrases or questions.

I’ll give them to you as paraphrased by J. B. Lightfoot.

If then your experiences in Christ appeal to you with any force, if love exerts any persuasive power upon you, if your fellowship in the Spirit is a living reality, if you have any affectionate yearnings of heart, any tender feelings of compassion, listen and obey.

2. They are foregone conclusions.

Paul is using the if’s as ways of saying, I know that this is true about you, and because this is true of you make my joy complete and then he gives a list of ways to live in unity.

The second way is in fact the correct interpretation. The “if” is translated from a first-class Greek condition, which means that it speaks of certainties. And so, maybe the most helpful way to understand this verse in english is to use the word “since”.

Since there is encouragement in Christ, since there is consolation of love, since there is fellowship with the Spirit, and since there is affection and mercy …

This message is for our church. Yes, it is for you as individual people to apply and to take responsibility for, but the value, the incribible value, comes as we apply this passage to our lives collectively as the church.

But before we get to the second verse, lets stop to consider that this message is for our church corporatly. Yes, it is for you as individual people to apply and to take responsibility for, but the value, the incredible value, comes as we apply this passage to our lives collectively as the church.

Unity is Ours in Christ

What follows are practical ways that Unity is ours in Christ. But it has to be lived to be understood. This is not a sermon whose primary motive is to make us all smarter. No, these are steps to take to make us one in Christ.

Philippians 2:1–2 HCSB

2:1-2

Philippians 2:2 HCSB

fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal.

Remember, the letter to this church is one where joy is a constant theme, which is incredible when you consider that Paul wrote it from prison. He is joyful that this church is growing in Christ, that they are an encouragement to him. I can imagine him writing this letter in prison, thinking about the people who make up the church, with a constant smile on his face as he considers the amazing things that God is doing for them and through them.

But there is more, and here in he gives 4 ways that they can make his joy complete:

Thinking the same way.

Having the same love.

Sharing the same feelings.

Focussing on one goal.

We will go through each one, and do our best to practically apply them to our lives.

Thinking the same way.

Remember, we are talking about Unity and not Uniformity. This isn’t saying that each person can’t have their own individual way to bring thoughts forward, to express the strengths that God has made them with and the spiritual gifts that he has put on each persons life for the good of the Church. Uniformity would have us all be robots.

But thinking the same way, or thinking in the same way, is an essential part of unity according to .

What does this mean?

A good supporting verse is

1 Corinthians 1:10 HCSB

Now I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.

Unity comes from something deep inside of us that is bigger than any one individual person. It is an understanding and conviction in our hearts. This sort of same thinking is the result of God the Holy Spirit being our teacher and our guide.

If it weren’t for God’s saving power in our life, we would never have this unity from thinking. We aren’t born with a saving knowledge of God’s truth. Instead when repent of our own ways of thinking and doing, and we submit ourselves to God’s way of thinking and being, and he gives us new hearts and minds and calls us his children.

We wouldn’t know about God’s truth without God’s help, and we continue to rely on Him for his truth.

We want as a church to have the same understanding and convictions in life, and from that place of Unity, we can talk about how best we can obey God as his church.

Where does that understanding and those convictions come from? How can we make sure that we are searching after God’s truths, and not our own misguided opinions?

The Bible is the essential part of thinking the same way.

The Bible is the essential part of Thinking the same way.

When the Bible is our highest standard of truth, it gives us all a common understanding and foundation to think from.

There are 3 key ways that each one of us can take responsibility for unity in regards to Bible Study.

Commit to faithfully read your Bible.

if you live with your family, I highly encourage reading the Bible together regularly

Read your Bible with a small Group.

Attend Sunday Services and receive Bible Preaching.

I know that this is probably not new information for you, but it is essential that we all carry this responsibility seriously if we want to have the kind of unity that Paul talks about in .

Having the Same Love.

Race car drivers all have the same love for driving.

Fan clubs all have the same love for their celebrities, and are sometimes grouped together by a common nickname. (ex: Beliebers, Swifties)

Is there a certain affinity that pulls the church together?

Actually, it is something much stronger than affinity that brings unity to God’s church.

It is not just that we love God, it is that God’s love is in us.

John 13:34 HCSB

“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another.

Ephesians 3:14 HCSB

For this reason I kneel before the Father

Eph

Ephesians 3:15 HCSB

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

Colossians 3:14 HCSB

Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity.

Having the Same Love

John 17:11 HCSB

I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name that You have given Me, so that they may be one as We are one.

Sharing the Same Feelings

One of the metaphors for church in the Bible is the family of God. You don’t choose your family based on common interests. Imagine if you did, “Oh, he would make a good brother, he seems to really like my style of music. Maybe we should adopt her, she seems to like the same food we do.”

No, families are put together by God. The Church is put together by God, and it is the common bond of love that we share. It is not based on us all liking the same things, or looking the same way, it is based on a love for God that we all share, and a love for each other that is put into our hearts by God.

Galatians 5:13 HCSB

For you were called to be free, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.

Galatians 5

If you are out shopping, you might here a salesperson say, “How can I serve you?” But when we are a family together, a church together with the very love of God in our hearts we say, “How can we serve one another through love?”

Its a paradox, that by serving others you would know Christ’s love more, but its true.

You experience the love of God as you live out that love towards others in service.

Look for ways and opportunities to serve others. That might be as a volunteer in a church ministry. It can also mean a whole range of practical ways to encourage and help others. A quick list just to get your imagination going.

encouragement note.

Give a guest a tour of the church and offer to sit with them.

Offer to help clean someones home who needs help.

Invite people over for a meal.

make a meal for someone who can’t get out.

visit those who are in the hospital

offer babysitting to young couples

offer friendship to those who are older to you

help carry someone’s burden

Notice needs around you, and do what you can to help

Be a connecter, introduce people and make them feel welcome

To put it succinctly , the same love is something that we do, and not just something that we feel. The practical way for you to show your love to God, is to serve one another in love for his glory.

Sharing the Same Feelings.

If you are like me, then you are asking the question, “What on earth does it mean to share the same feelings?”

You and I can go to the same place, have the same experience and do it at the same time, together even, and still not have the same feelings. But Paul is listing it as an essential to Unity. And I want Unity. What does this mean?

HCSB - Same Feelings

ESV, NKJV, NRSV - Full Accord

NIV - One Spirit

I see all of these parallel translations, but I still don’t know, what is it mean to share the same feelings.

Let me give you the greek word for this.

A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible 4861. σύμψυχος

sumpsuchŏs, soom´-psoo-khos

The sense of this word is that we are “one souled”

This is not the sold in the sense of it was for sale, and now it has sold. Instead, it is the eternal soul that God places in each of us. And Unity comes as we are “One Souled”

One Souled - “being united in the same character, affections, and especially mindset as another”.

-Bible Sense Lexicon

“being united in the same character, affections, and especially mindset as another”.

Character - Mental and ethical traits. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, faith, Self Control

Affections -What affects us? We are a church that cares for the broken hearted, that lifts up the downtrodden, the seeks to save the lost, that wants for families to be united in Christ, that wants for children to grow in God’s love. We are one souled in affection, or at least we are praying that God would make us this way.

We are one souled in our mindset, and that is the mind of Christ. Who humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. The mind of Christ who came to seek and to save the lost. The mind of Christ who said that in order to be great, we must become servants of all.

And the final instruction for Unity in is that we are

Focusing on One Goal

What is that one goal, that we would live lives worthy of the gospel of Christ. And that as we live those lives, we would be used by God to proclaim that gospel in word and deed to a world that needs his truth and his hope.

Unity can only be found in Christ, through a common goal to be Christlike. Christians unity is for Christ’s glory. Any other reason for unity in Church really doesn’t make sense.

Paul then gives some warnings,

Philippians 2:3–4 HCSB

Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Unity can only be found in Christ, through a common goal to be Christlike. Christians unity is for Christ’s glory. Any other reason for unity in Church really doesn’t make sense.

Paul then gives some warnings,

Philippians 2:3 HCSB

Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.

Unity comes as we focus on a single goal. Where does disunity come from? Competing goals, factions, rivalries, selfishness. Paul’s advice is practical, look out for the interests of others.

Ephesians 6:12 HCSB

For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

The devil aims to distract us by conceit, and by rivalries, and by pride. And when we allow for that strategy to go forward, we suffer greatly for it.

What’s the solution. How is this unity accomplished.

By thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, and by focussing on one goal.

Jesus prayed to God the Father for all who would believe in him. This prayer extends to the church today.

John 17:21 HCSB

May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me.

John

Unity for the Cause of Christ

Unity is for the Cause of Christ. It is so that the world may believe that Jesus has been sent by God the Father as our Saviour King.

Unity is our responsibility, yet it is the manifest work of God on display when a church is truly living in unity.

What am I saying, Each one of us is responsible, and not one of us can make unity happen. We will be faithful to God, and when we fall we will repent and ask for his help, but we know that this sort of Unity that Paul wrote about in Philippians is a miracle of God.

Today’s sermon is not to make us smarter, it is to help each one of us know what we are responsible for as the people of Hawkwood Baptist Church. Because of that, I want to add an accountability tool to this sermon.

I am asking that in your small group this week you would discuss these questions. I am asking that you would hold one another accountable. I am asking that you would pray for and encourage one another.

Because Unity is for the Cause of Christ. We need God’s help, and we need his help to serve one another in love.

Here are the questions:

1. What is the Holy Spirit teaching you as you read His Bible?

2. What are you doing to serve one another in love?

3. What needs to change in your character, affections or mindset for the sake of Church unity?

4. Are there areas in your life of pride, conceit or rivalry that are hurting our unity?

I know that these questions are very personal, that they require trust and love to work through. I know that the questions may look intimidating, and that to be honest in this questions will be a vulnerable thing to do. But that’s not going to stop me from asking others for accountability my life. And I trust that God can use the conversations and the prayer times that come out of this as way to make this Church Unified for the Cause of Christ.

Our Closing Song today is “God So Loved”. We are singing about the cause of Christ, that we want to be unified for.

CAUTIONS -

And I know that as these words are sung, and as this sermon has been spoken, that the Holy Spirit has been at work among us. And for some of us there will be a great hope rising up in our hearts. For some of us, there will be very specific areas that we are convicted in, areas where we have been hurting the cause through division.

Small Group Questions

What I want to make available to you is a place to respond in prayer to the Holy Spirit. The front of our church can serve as an altar. As we sing this song, come and pour your heart out to God. Come and confess to him where you need his help and his forgiveness.

When the song is over, the band will keep playing softly, and this will be a place of prayer. We have people prepared to pray with you, or if you need space, you can just pray on your own.

For those of you who want to visit, I ask that you visit in the foyer, and leave the sanctuary as a place of prayer.

SONG

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26 HCSB

May Yahweh bless you and protect you; may Yahweh make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may Yahweh look with favor on you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:22–23 HCSB

The Lord spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

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