Unity

Walk this Way #6

Recap

Real, Relational, Relevant, Effective, Excellence, Empowering, Unity

Me

Tell my faith story (Music-dress-Order of Worship)

Tell Valerie’s story

Tell my kids Story

Today we are looking at unity in the church

In Doctrine-Unity

In Opiniones-Liberty

In All Things-Love

We

We all come from many backgrounds

Think about your story

Do you have a faith background?

Was it good?

Was it bad?

Is it something completely different than Christianity

What traditions do you bring

Some of us come from different church backgrounds with different traditions

Catholic

Baptist

Pentecostal

Community Churches

Liberal churches

Conservative churches

And then some come from very different faiths

Hindu

Buddist

Muslim

And then some come with no faith background at all that bring no traditions

There is so much in the world that works to divides us

It is easy to settle into a us and them mentality

If we are honest with ourselves we all view others through the lens of our lives, families and our communities

It is easy to settle into a us and them mentality

Divide the room

Ford-Chevy

Toyota-Nissan

Rich-poor

Christian-non Christian

Red-Blue

The world and Satan love it when we are divided

You have heard the proverb “Divide and conquer”

Do you know that you can disagree with someone and still love them!

Tell Valencia Story

Being divided is not the way Jesus wants us to live.

God

You see God wants us to be unified

Jesus Prayed for All Believers to be unified.

John 17

“ 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Ephesians 4

“2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

What are we to be unified in?

We are to be unified in doctrine!

Here are some of the big doctrinal things that we are to be unified in.

In Doctrine - Unity

GOD

We believe in God. He is, He was, and He always will be. He created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them. He is known as Father, came as the Son and lives in believers as the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 1:1, Matthew 3:16–17,

John 1:1-2, Acts 2:32–33

JESUS

Jesus, God the Son, came to Earth and was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died for our sins and rose from the dead. He’s still alive and changing lives today!

Colossians 2:9, Luke 1:30-35,

1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 2 Corinthians 5:21

HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is a comforter and a guide for every born-again believer. He actually lives inside of us, His Temple, and does more for us than we can imagine.

John 16:8, Acts 2:38, Ephesians 1:13-14

BIBLE

The Bible is the book God wrote for us. It’s true, it’s accurate, it’s authentic and it’s absolutely applicable to our lives today.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

SALVATION

It’s a gift. It’s free. It’s God’s grace, not your good deeds. Jesus’ death allows your sins – all of them – to be forgiven. Wiped out, canceled, deleted, erased…you get the picture. The gift is free; all you have to do is accept it.

John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9,

Colossians 2:6, Acts 2:38

In Opinions - Liberty

It is not an us against them

Set up Romans

Romans 14

The Weak and the Strong

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:

“ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,

‘every knee will bow before me;

every tongue will acknowledge God.’ ” z

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

In all Things - Love

Love in Action

Romans 12

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” n says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” o

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12

“18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

You

So how are you going to live?

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Will you?

I know it can be hard to do this. There are people that try your patience

Life is messy

Living this way takes effort but it is worth the effort

But we are held to a high standard and don’t want to bring discredit to the Lord

Will you keep your spiritual fervor

Will you be joyful in hope

Will you be patient in affliction

Will you be faithful in prayer

Will you share with the Lord’s people who are in need

Will you practice hospitality?

Will you bless those who persecute you

Will you rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Will you Live in harmony with one another.

Will you not be proud, but willing to associate with people of low position.

Will you not be conceited.

Will you not repay anyone evil for evil.

Will you be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone?

We

Imagine a world that we influence in this manner

In a manner were we work hard everyday to live at peace

Were we think of others above ourselves

A world where we are not divided but united against a common enemy. Satan

I don’t know about you but I am ready for unity in the world.

I am tired of division

You see it is not others that are our enemy

We only have one enemy Satan

It is not an us and them the world

It is us against Satan

An we know that God wins

So let’s choose to live in a manner that we just spoke of

Maybe today is the day you join God’s team

Call to action

Let Me Pray