The Unity of Believers!

                        Series: The Church 

Introduction:

A.   The church has taken some hard blows in our times!

 

1.   It has seen clergy who have stood behind the

pulpit and claimed to be something they weren't.

 

2.   It has seen church members do the same!

 

3.   It has seen strife, bickering, and fighting!

 

4.   Our own denomination recently experienced

disaffiliations!

 

B.   But the church was instituted by Christ for a purpose

and with a belief that it could carry out that purpose!

 

C.   I want to talk about "The Church - The Unity of

Believers."

                            Prayer

                       John 17:11 & 20-23

 

I.   Jesus prayed to God that the church would be one as God

and the Son were one!

 

A.   We see here that it was Christ's will and desire that

the church have unity!

 

B.   What does it mean to have this type of Unity?

 

1.   Does it mean there will be only one organized denomination of Christ's church?  No, we can  have different denominations and still have unity!

 

2.   Does it mean we will all believe exactly the same things?  No, we can't and will not ever see everything exactly the same way.  We are different human beings!  We have different experiences and upbringing!  We may disagree on some things about the Bible.  We may disagree on politics!  But we can still have Unity! This is why I like what John Wesley said, AIn essentials, Unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in everything else, charity.@

3.   On a side note, it is contrary to Wesleyan thought to make political affiliation an essential!  We need to be careful not to make political affiliation one of the essentials!

 

     a.   Isn’t about being either Republican or Democrat!

 

     b.   It is about taking a stand on some of the issues though.

 

1)   Our Social Principals do that!

 

2)   We should be united when we see people being hurt or unjustly treated!

 

                   3)   Sadly, all Christians are not united even in this today!

 

                   4)   We need to stand for the things that Jesus stood for!  That may not be easy!  Jesus

was crucified!

 

C.   Then what does it mean?  I believe he was praying for:

 

1.   A unity of Love!

 

a.   that all followers of his would have that same love as Jesus and God!

 

b.   Agape Love:

 

1)   a love that Loves when others don't love in return.

 

2)   a love that always wants God's best for the other person; it doesn't wish bad on  other people.

 

3)   a love that may not love everything they do but loves their soul.

 

4)   a love that keeps on loving even when others are persecuting us!

 

5)   a love that even loves those Democrats or Republicans who may not agree with us!

 

2.   A unity of obedience to God and God's Spirit!

 

a.   that all followers of Christ would strongly

desire (and carry it through) to obey God and

God's Spirit!

 

b.   that when Christians see that they are

stepping off the path, they would step back

on!

 

c.   and how do they know?  They are directed by God's Spirit and informed by the Word, not the letter of the Law, but the Word as interpreted to us by Jesus Christ! “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us!”

 

     1)   Christians seem to have a hard time with

this one; after all, how do we determine

what God is saying!  We can all take

different scriptures and stress those and

make all kinds of beliefs!

 

                   2)   I think looking at how Jesus lived and what

he stressed helps us to determine that! He

is the fulfillment of the law!

 

                   3)   John Wesley gave us a good tool for

discerning God’s leading: the

Quadrilateral.

 

a)   Scripture: the scripture was primary

for Wesley, but what do you do when

the scripture doesn’t really speak to

an issue or it seems to give

contrasting opinions on it?  Wesley

gave us three more things to

consider.

 

                        b)   Tradition:  How does the church of

old look at this.  Tradition is

things like our Apostles Creed, the

Nicen Creed etc.  These are things

that the early church believed!

Sometimes though, tradition can even

be affected by culture.

 

                        c)   Reason:  God is a reasonable God!

We can think of women in the ministry

or teaching in the church. The

scriptures say women should not speak and should have their heads covered.  Some take that for doctrine because the scriptures say it.  Traditionally, women have taken a secondary roll in the church; although, there are signs of women being active in the early church. But is it reasonable that God would exclude more than half of the population from spreading the word?

You could do the same thing with divorce.  Is it reasonable that a woman or man be required to live in an abusive relationship. Is it reasonable that they not be allowed to love again?  Is whatever we are thinking about reasonable based on the teachings of Jesus?

 

                        d)   Experience:  This isn’t just any

experience, but is our experience with God!  As a woman that is told they can’t be a minister because they are a woman, their experience might be that they feel called by God to be a minister, so that does not seem correct according to their experience.  All of us might experience a woman that seems to be a very capable leader!

 

                   4)   We can apply the Quadrilateral to many

issues of the day, and our church has in

the Social Principles.

 

3.   A unity of commitment to God's will!

 

a.   Wanting the will of God and praying for the will of God!

 

b.   "Not my will but thine be done." Luke 22:42

 

 

c.   If we are all wanting God's will, we won't

get in trouble because our own will gets in

the way!

 

d.   Not my will, not the preachers will, but the  will of God!

 

e.   If we are all wanting God's will, we will

work things out, but sometimes we are so

convinced we are right that we do not let God be God!

 

II.  What is the purpose of this "Unity of Believers?"  2 - fold

 

A.   1st  (v. 23)  "That the world may know that you have sent me!"

 

1.   So the world will know that God doesn't want to leave humankind in his/her sinful, miserable,

state but that God sent Jesus for the purpose of

making a way for us!  How can people know that God

sent Christ?

 

2.   How is this accomplished?  Paul recognized it as being this way:  Eph. 4:12 NRSV

 

(Eph 4:12 NRSV)  “to equip the saints for the work  of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” 

 

It=s the work of all Christians: the church!

 

(also v. 23 NRSV in our text today,

"that they may become completely one.")

 

a.   by equipping the Saints.

 

1)   by teaching them to grow, that we aren’t

done when we come to Christ, that we are

called to do something with our faith!

 

2)   by teaching them to learn so they know  what they believe and how to explain it to someone else!

 

                   3)   it might be by equipping them with the Quadrilateral as I have today!

 

b.   so they will participate in the work of the ministry.

 

1)   this is for everyone!

 

2)   We will all probably have our own way of  reaching out, but nevertheless, we should participate in the work of the ministry!

 

3)   We shouldn't let this part scare us!  We

should see it as a natural thing, and

when our plate is full, we will want to

share it with others!

 

4)   If our plate isn't full, we need to worry about filling our plates. We need to draw closer to God ourselves!  We can't share if we do not have!

 

c.   so the body of Christ will be edified or built up.

 

1)   In number:  more people will come to know the Lord!

 

2)   We will become stronger and make more of  a difference in our world!

 

B.   Second, the purpose of the Unity of Believers is "that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved

them even as you have loved me." v. 23 NRSV

 

1.   Christ wanted us to have Unity so that the world

could tell by us that God loves them!

 

2.   When we have a unity that shows this to the world,

we will make a difference!

 

          3.   Jesus came into a very legalistic and judgmental

world and he accepted people as they were.  He ate

with sinners.  He talked to the woman at the well. He received the outcasts of society. He received a tax collector as one of his closest disciples. He loved!

 

 

4.   That is how we can be the most effective as the church; show them love. Accept them as they are and show them God loves them! 

 

 

Conclusion:

 

A.   God wants to work through the church; Got set it up

that way!

 

B.   Just think, we are a part of an institution started by our Lord to make a difference in our world!

 

C.   We can only do it as we are one in God!

 

D.   Folks, are we one in

 

1.   Love

 

2.   Obedience to God in our own lives

 

3.   Commitment to God's will for our lives      ???

 

If we are then we will see some wonderful things

happen!  If we aren't then we need to ask God for this

kind of unity as we encounter Christ at the table today!

 

                      Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion