Division and a Reminder

We live in strange times today. We are actually more divided than we have ever been in my adult life. It doesn’t matter if the division is on race, ethnicity, beliefs or employment. There are many things that are dividing us.

We are divided as a world, the nation, states, cities , our churches and in some cases our families.

This not what any of us desire or have ever asked for.

There are 2 things I want you to take away from today’s message:

We are one in Jesus’s eyes, all of us, not just some of us

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

__________ are one in Jesus’ eyes, not just __________ of us.

All are one in Jesus’ eyes, not just some of us.

Not only are we one, but Jesus wants us all to know him. We can see this in the Parable of the lost sheep.

The 99 and the 1- he always pursues us, he is always active and around us.

However I want to look at the a couple of verses in the 1 Corinthians and then a verse in Galatians

Remember the Apostle Paul would write letters to the churches that he planted, he would write them as a matter of guidance or as a way to bring the church back to the word of God in their daily interactions.

So lets look at 1 Corinthians verse 1:10

1 Corinthians 1:10 NLT

10 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.

Paul had heard there was rivalry amongst parts of the church and he wanted to remind them of what honors God.

Lets look in Galatians 3 26-28

Galatians 3:26–28 NLT

26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

A house divided against itself ___________

A house divided against itself will fall.

In 1858 a man named Abraham Lincoln gave a speech, this is what he said.

We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation.

Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, not ceased, but has constantly augmented.

In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

It will become all one thing or all the other.

The awesome thing is that we can find this in the Bible, let’s look at Matthew 12:22-28 We find that Jesus has been casting out demons from the demon possessed man and he is being questioned by the Pharisees and what does Jesus say:

Matthew 12:25–28 NLT

25 Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 26 And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive. 27 And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. 28 But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.

When we are so divided as a nation as a people we sometimes need things to remind us that God is always with us, when we live in the world it is easy to forget that he is in control and is ever present with us.

I wear this necklace, I haven’t worn it everyday, but I have worn it the majority of the days since I was Baptized. It is a constant reminder to me of the grace God shows and the fact that he is always with me.

When I was a kid my parents hd a ton of records, it was always fun to see the record go round and round and think that that needle could make the music from the grooves in the plastic. Here is a picture of one of the 45’s I remember and listened to over and over as a kid:

The 45 has Tex Ritter’s version of the song Deck of Cards on it. Here is a video that someone put togetther a long time ago for the song. The quality isn;t the best and I would like to find someone to make a new version of it that we could use. Here you go:

It is interesting to think that someone could use a deck of cards to remember all of those things.

Gives me some great ideas of things we could do to use a deck of cards as we are talking to peoople here in our city. It could be a great seed that is planted with someon.

What is it that is with you always or that it is near you that reminds you of the fact that God is always with you?

I’m going to close with a question or perhaps a challenge

I hope that if there is division in your life, division within your family, division with someone at church, who is it that you can work toward clearing up a relationship or relationships with so that you can be united with. I challenge you that as while we pray that if there is division that is in any part of your life that you give that to God, llet him carry that weight let God Carry that burden for you.