"Get It- Together!"

Intro: In God We Trust[ed]

It is no secret that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. Our founding fathers drafted much of our constitution, laws & declarations with a Bible in one hand a ‘ nd a pen in the other. While they were far from perfect, they knew that if they were going to build somethnig that lasts, it must be built upon “The Everlasting”.

However, each generation moves further away from from our founding principles, and further away from God as our foundation. The Church has played its part in this regression, but passively allowing the removal of these values to go unchallenged. Everyone thinks, “Somebody should do something”, never realizing that you ARE that somebody!

God has designed us to bring out the best in each other; we can also choose to do the opposite- and quite often, people bring out the worst in each other instead. Nevertheless, as human beings, we shine the most in our service to others…and WITH others in service. No major shift in civil rights, democracy, or overcoming oppression and the plethera of challenges we face has been accomplished without people cooperating. This has often meant laying aside our pride, personal preferences & goals for the greater good…which almost invariably benefits us as well. I point this out because I firmly beleive that this is by God’s design; the message, “We can do more together than we can apart” appears in many place & many forms throughout scripture. Our main text in Acts is one such example

Acts 4:29-31: “And now, Lord, pay attention to their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage, while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God courageously.”

When we are on one accord in God’s household, first God will shake things up; He will move the very ground you walk on (the things you depend on, your stability) in order to move you into alignment with His will- together!

We can also expect the Holy Spirit to move in us when we are on one accord. And God will NOT dwell in us for vanity’s sake- no! His presence comes with His purpose and His power to accomplish His will. God’s power is intrinsic-it is part of Him. You do not get the power without Him, or vice versa. Say this with me: “Lord- give me the power to do your will- together!”

My support text emphasizes the connection between unity & spiritual power.

Ps 133 NET 1 Look! How good and how pleasant it is when brothers live together! 2a It is like fine oil poured on the head which flows..

Our lesson from the text: "When does the oil flow?"- the scripture begins by saying "Look" or "Behold". Observe a working model of what happens AFTER unification! When we are unified, the oil flows. It starts at the head, but doesn't stop until it reach the skirts- when we are ALL on one accord! There are many individual blessings; for this type of blessing, all are blessed or none are blessed.

So we not only see the unified church being empowered to be witnessess, but please note how this empowerment caused them to treat one another. Let’s go back to Acts 4, but now looking at the next 3 verses (32-35):

Acts 4:32-35 “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.”

Now, don’t get scared- I’m not going to ask you to start selling your stuff & bringing the money to the church! Please do not overlook the larger point: in order for people’s needs to be met, there had to be transparency in the fellowship. Simply put, people were willing to know and be known by their family in the Faith. This is a risky proposition, especially for those of us who have been hurt by someone we trust, perhaps even someone in the church. But this is still the goal- and our past experiences & mistakes do not excuse us pursuing God’s purpose for HIS Body! We must reclaim our integrity; and leaders, we must not be afraid to correct those men & women who cause division in the Body of Christ!

Here we find the ultimate goal of the Church: to have “all things common”- Acts 2:44 The 1st outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon His Church took several days...the next took far less time. Once they mastered the principle of unity, they no longer had to struggle to be effective in God. I want to conclude with 3 common features our church should have:

Common ground- Rather than focusing on differences, make an effort to find out what we have in common.

Common characteristics- in the same way that God’s chosen people har outward markings to identify them (their clothing, their hair, their diet & so on) God’s chosen people are to be identified by inward characteristics, which far exceed other important physical characteristics like race, nationality or sex. The Biblical framework for these characteristics are known as the fruit of the spirit Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Common goal- what are we trying to accomplish together? Keeping that goal in front of us will keep us focused on what matters.