Unity of The Church
Unity of The Church
Psalm 133:1-3 KJV
“Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: That went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: FOR THERE THE LORD COMMANDED THE BLESSING, EVEN LIFE FOREVERMORE.
Like the oil running down (Anointing)
There, the Lord commanded a blessing
You see beautiful families with the ideal look of all around the table holding hands in prayer and complimenting each other and rainbows in the sky….but YOURS….hmmmm
We don’t always get our greatest “affirmation” among our closest friends, family or even church brothers or sisters.. people can make you doubt yourself and not always offer the wonderful words of encouragement that would “feel so good”.
Joseph: His brothers lied…for years, and kicked him down.
BUT, then it turned around when he had the right REACTION to the what was done against him.
God brought unity with his brothers when he determined to have the right reaction to what could have been a bitter and life altering outcome.
You cannot have Unity without individual sacrifice.
Unity is not conformity, but it DOES require sacrifice.
When being right becomes more important than the mission, then your Ego has been idolized above unity.
John 17:1-26. Jesus cry to the Father, "Make them ONE, even as You and I are One."
Unity is the utmost passion of God.
If we all consecrated ourself to the work of the Lord and to ministry and to the life of this congregation, there’s no end to what God could do and the impact that would be felt.
There has to be a certain amount of willingness to give up your individuality for the greater good of connectivity.
WE NEED TO DEVELOP THE MINDSET OF:
-Whether our knees hurt or not, we pray…
-Whether our shoulder is in joint or out of joint, we lift our hands in worship…
-Whether it’s CONVENIENT or not to be a part of the body, or be vulnerable when it really counts, we open our hearts and offer ourselves…For the sake of unity.
We brag about being a self-made man or having individual opinions, to the point we don’t think we need one another. This mindset is influenced by our culture right now in more ways than we realize.
We have to come out of our SELF.
Isolation is destructive.
Our IPADS have been our focus, our phones, etc.
It’s caused people to not know how to come into agreement with other people or how to resolve conflict in a healthy way.
…All because we don’t understand the importance of UNITY.
Having Unity also requires fellowship with others… it is good for us to have conversations with each other that encourages us in the Lord! NOT HAVING GOSSIP SESSIONS but having conversations and being engaged with each other over dinner or get togethers and sharing life’s experiences.
To have unity, you have to fight for it, and be willing to lose the vision of the way YOU always think it should be done.
You might not have EVERYONE able to connect to you… Sometimes you need to DISCONNECT with SOME of the people who influence us in ways that don’t promote us growing in God.
To have UNITY, it has to become a personal benefit to us… Something we really WANT and CARE about.
Genesis 11:1-6 (Nimrod)
Even though they were building a tower for the wrong reason - God had to stop them, because there’s nothing impossible to those who will come together in unity.
That’s why the devil fights your marriage so much…
Fights your unity in Church so much…
Segregates you from things and people who will benefit your life.
Unity requires flexibility, and bending…molding. We cannot be RIGID.
The unity of the Church can’t be based on PEOPLE, the building, or… anything. Every person is fallible and not eternal.
It has to be based on the MISSION. Just like you can’t serve God and volunteer doing it as unto MAN or unto a person.
We have to do it for GOD. When you don’t do it for a PERSON, then when that person fails you or appears to cross you the wrong way, it won’t affect your Unity, and your passion, or your relationship with God!
Unity has to based on humbleness.
We have to understand that maybe our perspective is not the only RIGHT one, and we need to consider that our opinion is not THE opinion that should take preeminence.
We cannot GAIN by only having relationship with people who are JUST LIKE US.
We BENEFIT the body by being in relationship with others who may not have our same hobbies, same background, or same perspective in EVERY area.
We have to go outside our own PREFERENCES to see what can be gained for the sake of the MISSION, and even our own personal life.
Ephesians 2:19 NLT “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.”
And what do families do?
-They eat together
-They pray together
-They talk with each other and work things out
-They grow together
-They share their day with each other….and so on
Isaiah 6
When they began to talk of the glory of God (not everything and everyone else that needs to do this or that)…but when they lifted up JESUS together, the TRAIN OF HIS GLORY FILLED THE TEMPLE.
To see God’s glory we have to have a single focus.
The reason why we don’t see as many miracles as in days gone by is because we are not in the same mindset of hunger for God and have a single focus and desire.
The devils job is:
1. To divide you
2. To distract you
3. To discourage you
Ephesians 2:20-22 NLT
You are built TOGETHER
“Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. and the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself.
We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
Through Him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.”
Armed forces: are all trained for one purpose to fight and defend our country. There are many different titles and duties, but are in unison for the same cause. Though there are also opinions and disagreements, however they all obey the commands of the commander in chief!
Jesus is the Leader of all who submit to Him. He said “if you love me, obey my commandments!“
As a soldier in the army of the Lord just like in the military, in a battle we hold up our brothers and sisters and help them if they have fallen….regardless of any personal differences we may have.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NLT
“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church.
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. as each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
KJV Ephesians 4:13 “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect (mature) man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:”
Each of us have at least one of these gifts and we have a job to do!
Prayer is the first step each of us need to learn in order to have unity…most people only pray when there is a crisis or in need of something.
Prayer is the BASIC TRAINING FOR UNITY!
Soldiers do not learn how to use their weapon in the time of battle… They go into battle prepared!
Don’t be a Lone Ranger even if you haven’t been able to count on people in the past. Have your heart open and desiring UNITY wherever it can be found. For THERE God commands a blessing (Psalm 133:1)
If we would just get together and gang up on the devil, I wonder what miracles and breakthrough could actually happen?
If we get serious with God all at the same time, there’s no end to what God can do through you.
UNITY BRINGS THE OIL (ANOINTING)
LOTS OF IT - Running down his head, down the beard, and all the way to his garment!
(You can’t keep running your vehicle without oil!)
You’re not anointed for your own self…but whoever is around you, it should flow on them.
Where the Anointing is, nothing else from the enemy can dwell there!
Anxiety can’t stay there…
Bondage can’t stay there…
-Nothing that’s not of God can’t stay where there’s unity, because His anointing and Spirit is there in the midst.
Jesus is the friend that is closer than a brother!
Proverbs 18:24 NLT “There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.”
Jesus laid down His life for His friends, even those who betrayed Him.
We are to walk in His example and watch His blessing follow from that decision at all cost.
“Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: That went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: FOR THERE THE LORD COMMANDED THE BLESSING, EVEN LIFE FOREVERMORE.
Like the oil running down (Anointing)
There, the Lord commanded a blessing
You see beautiful families with the ideal look of all around the table holding hands in prayer and complimenting each other and rainbows in the sky….but YOURS….hmmmm
We don’t always get our greatest “affirmation” among our closest friends, family or even church brothers or sisters.. people can make you doubt yourself and not always offer the wonderful words of encouragement that would “feel so good”.
Joseph: His brothers lied…for years, and kicked him down.
BUT, then it turned around when he had the right REACTION to the what was done against him.
God brought unity with his brothers when he determined to have the right reaction to what could have been a bitter and life altering outcome.
You cannot have Unity without individual sacrifice.
Unity is not conformity, but it DOES require sacrifice.
When being right becomes more important than the mission, then your Ego has been idolized above unity.
John 17:1-26. Jesus cry to the Father, "Make them ONE, even as You and I are One."
Unity is the utmost passion of God.
If we all consecrated ourself to the work of the Lord and to ministry and to the life of this congregation, there’s no end to what God could do and the impact that would be felt.
There has to be a certain amount of willingness to give up your individuality for the greater good of connectivity.
WE NEED TO DEVELOP THE MINDSET OF:
-Whether our knees hurt or not, we pray…
-Whether our shoulder is in joint or out of joint, we lift our hands in worship…
-Whether it’s CONVENIENT or not to be a part of the body, or be vulnerable when it really counts, we open our hearts and offer ourselves…For the sake of unity.
We brag about being a self-made man or having individual opinions, to the point we don’t think we need one another. This mindset is influenced by our culture right now in more ways than we realize.
We have to come out of our SELF.
Isolation is destructive.
Our IPADS have been our focus, our phones, etc.
It’s caused people to not know how to come into agreement with other people or how to resolve conflict in a healthy way.
…All because we don’t understand the importance of UNITY.
Having Unity also requires fellowship with others… it is good for us to have conversations with each other that encourages us in the Lord! NOT HAVING GOSSIP SESSIONS but having conversations and being engaged with each other over dinner or get togethers and sharing life’s experiences.
To have unity, you have to fight for it, and be willing to lose the vision of the way YOU always think it should be done.
You might not have EVERYONE able to connect to you… Sometimes you need to DISCONNECT with SOME of the people who influence us in ways that don’t promote us growing in God.
To have UNITY, it has to become a personal benefit to us… Something we really WANT and CARE about.
Genesis 11:1-6 (Nimrod)
Even though they were building a tower for the wrong reason - God had to stop them, because there’s nothing impossible to those who will come together in unity.
That’s why the devil fights your marriage so much…
Fights your unity in Church so much…
Segregates you from things and people who will benefit your life.
Unity requires flexibility, and bending…molding. We cannot be RIGID.
The unity of the Church can’t be based on PEOPLE, the building, or… anything. Every person is fallible and not eternal.
It has to be based on the MISSION. Just like you can’t serve God and volunteer doing it as unto MAN or unto a person.
We have to do it for GOD. When you don’t do it for a PERSON, then when that person fails you or appears to cross you the wrong way, it won’t affect your Unity, and your passion, or your relationship with God!
Unity has to based on humbleness.
We have to understand that maybe our perspective is not the only RIGHT one, and we need to consider that our opinion is not THE opinion that should take preeminence.
We cannot GAIN by only having relationship with people who are JUST LIKE US.
We BENEFIT the body by being in relationship with others who may not have our same hobbies, same background, or same perspective in EVERY area.
We have to go outside our own PREFERENCES to see what can be gained for the sake of the MISSION, and even our own personal life.
Ephesians 2:19 NLT “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.”
And what do families do?
-They eat together
-They pray together
-They talk with each other and work things out
-They grow together
-They share their day with each other….and so on
Isaiah 6
When they began to talk of the glory of God (not everything and everyone else that needs to do this or that)…but when they lifted up JESUS together, the TRAIN OF HIS GLORY FILLED THE TEMPLE.
To see God’s glory we have to have a single focus.
The reason why we don’t see as many miracles as in days gone by is because we are not in the same mindset of hunger for God and have a single focus and desire.
The devils job is:
1. To divide you
2. To distract you
3. To discourage you
Ephesians 2:20-22 NLT
You are built TOGETHER
“Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. and the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself.
We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
Through Him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.”
Armed forces: are all trained for one purpose to fight and defend our country. There are many different titles and duties, but are in unison for the same cause. Though there are also opinions and disagreements, however they all obey the commands of the commander in chief!
Jesus is the Leader of all who submit to Him. He said “if you love me, obey my commandments!“
As a soldier in the army of the Lord just like in the military, in a battle we hold up our brothers and sisters and help them if they have fallen….regardless of any personal differences we may have.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NLT
“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church.
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. as each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
KJV Ephesians 4:13 “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect (mature) man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:”
Each of us have at least one of these gifts and we have a job to do!
Prayer is the first step each of us need to learn in order to have unity…most people only pray when there is a crisis or in need of something.
Prayer is the BASIC TRAINING FOR UNITY!
Soldiers do not learn how to use their weapon in the time of battle… They go into battle prepared!
Don’t be a Lone Ranger even if you haven’t been able to count on people in the past. Have your heart open and desiring UNITY wherever it can be found. For THERE God commands a blessing (Psalm 133:1)
If we would just get together and gang up on the devil, I wonder what miracles and breakthrough could actually happen?
If we get serious with God all at the same time, there’s no end to what God can do through you.
UNITY BRINGS THE OIL (ANOINTING)
LOTS OF IT - Running down his head, down the beard, and all the way to his garment!
(You can’t keep running your vehicle without oil!)
You’re not anointed for your own self…but whoever is around you, it should flow on them.
Where the Anointing is, nothing else from the enemy can dwell there!
Anxiety can’t stay there…
Bondage can’t stay there…
-Nothing that’s not of God can’t stay where there’s unity, because His anointing and Spirit is there in the midst.
Jesus is the friend that is closer than a brother!
Proverbs 18:24 NLT “There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.”
Jesus laid down His life for His friends, even those who betrayed Him.
We are to walk in His example and watch His blessing follow from that decision at all cost.
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