Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro -

When we think of the mission of the church and the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish our mission, we often think of telling the world that Jesus is Lord, that through Jesus we have been reconciled to God the creator of all.

We may even think of the gifts of the Spirit to support that proclamation.

And as we have been discussing, we should.

The Spirit is the source of all life.

And that includes eternal life.

But we often forget how important UNITY is to the message of reconciliation with God.

Jesus said in

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The Problem -

So, we have a problem.

Jesus says the world will know Him by our unity but, the current reality seems to point to a disjointed Church.

Maybe you are like me and find yourself struggling at times with UNITY.

It is so easy for my pride, my desires, my will, and even my personal mission to get in the way of UNITY with the Body of Jesus.

Story – 1st Baptist church of Boerne, TX.

Church split – back to merger – Pastor and I did not trust one another – refused to build a working relationship – my pride would not allow me to submit to his leadership – The church would not grow – God’s witness would not be seen – If the church was divided!

I had to either submit and work in unity or leave – Unfortunately my pride did not give in and I left.

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Disunity is ugly – And the Church is known more for it’s disunity than for it’s unity.

Church splits over carpet/ music, splitting over peripheral issues.

Honestly sometimes it appears we are looking for reasons to break apart rather than looking for reasons to join together.

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How Can We Live In Unity?

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Unity Comes Through The Life Giving Power of the Holy Spirit!

Eph 4:2-3

Unity in the church is only possible when we are living out of our unity with the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit Unifies

The Holy Spirit creates unity from diverse people by -

Breaking down the walls of pride and prejudice.

Joel 2:

God’s Spirit is not for a class, race or gender.

The Spirit of God is not concerned with age, color of skin, or if you are a male or female.

The Spirit desires to break these walls of pride and bring people together on equal ground.

The Spirit Unifies

The Spirit Makes Us Family - You could say the Spirit is thicker than blood.

1 Cor 12:

In the Spirit you have family members across the world.

You are related through the Spirit to millions of people around the world.

The Spirit Unifies

Finally the Spirit Humbles us -

In Christ the loud mouths like me are not the most necessary.

Rather those that seem weakest and least important are the most necessary.

The Spirit flips the script in the church / powerful become weak/ weak become powerful/ shy become honored and protected/ loud are not protected.

Each part is needed and each part needs the other to function correctly.

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To Live In Unity With One Another, We Must First Be Willing To Live in Unity with the Holy Spirit!

Three Ways To Unify With the Spirit That Will Lead To Unity in the Church.

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Devotion to Jesus as Lord, over our Devotion to Secondary issues.

The Spirit of God is devoted to Jesus over Himself.

Are you devoted to Jesus over your own interests?

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It is the Spirit Who Unifies and We Must Walk in Unity with the Spirit.

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2. Unified in the Mission of the Church, while functioning in your unique mission from God.

Our mission is obvious - But at times our individual mission can get in the way of the over all mission.

Acts 15:

Separated due to opposing individual missions and gifting.

Paul and Apostle - Church and Mission starter - Vision casting.

Barnabas - Parental Pastor - Disciple, grow, care for.

While they divided over method, they were all united in God’s Mission.

While they divided over method, they were all united in God’s Mission.

When we get focused on God’s mission over our own, reconciliation is the bi-product.

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It is the Spirit Who Unifies and We Must Walk in Unity with the Spirit.

Unified in the Mission of God, even when our gifting and methods differ.

Acts 1:

Acts 1:

It is the Spirit Who Unifies and We Must Walk in Unity with the Spirit.

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Finally,

3. Unified in Corporate Prayer in one accord.

Corporate prayer is not individuals meeting together and praying their own personal prayers.

Corporate prayer is when individuals meet together and are unified in prayer.

Verse 14 said they were on one accord.

They together were praying about the same thing - The Spirit of God for the Mission of God.

When we come together and center all our prayers on one God given theme - we are drawn together in a mission.

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It is the Spirit Who Unifies and We Must Walk in Unity with the Spirit.

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We cannot fix the worldwide Church but we can commit to living in unity with one another.

Osage needs to see us unified and not divided.

How can we preach reconciliation with God if we ourselves are not reconciled to one another?

Our city, Our families, our Communities need Jesus

And therefore they need us to be UNIFIED.

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It is the Spirit Who Unifies and We Must Walk in Unity with the Spirit.

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Finding Unity in the Lordship of Jesus

Being Unified in God’s Mission to the Church

And through Corporate Prayer