FAMILY VALUES 7 – UNITY 1, 2-16-25, Associate Pastor – Jerry Koon, New Hope Christian Church
God wants his church to be one.
John 17 - “I pray that they might be one as you and I are one, father.”
Ephesians 4:1-6 - “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. With all lowness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all.”
Philippines 1:27 - “I pray that you would be of one mind and one spirit striving together for the faith of the gospel.”
John 17 verse 11 and verse 21 to 23. “Father, I pray that they might be one just as you and I are one.”
Ephesians 4:1-6. Look at verse one. “I,” Paul speaking, “therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you, urge you, exhort you, call you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”
The walking in unity, verse one.
The way to unity, verses two and three.
And the why of unity verses four through six.
What does that mean, to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called?
2 Timothy 1 verse 9, “Called to holiness.” 1 Peter 2 verse 21, “Call to suffer.” 1 Corinthians 7:15, “Call to peace.” Ephesians 1 verse 18, “Call to hope.” Philippians 3:14, “Call to heaven.” 1 Peter 5:10, “Call to glory.” And then in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 9, “Call to fellowship.”
Romans 1:6, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 24. And in Jude 2, remember what Paul says about Christians, “Not many are called from the rich among us and the wealthy and the noble among us.”
Jude 2 talks about called in Christ Jesus. We are called ones.
Spurgeon. “A man who does not feel he is called to do anything will succeed in doing nothing in particular. The force of a man’s character is, in great measure, to be found in the strength of his conviction that he’s being called of God to do what he undertakes. It is the first grand essential for service. Let a man be only persuaded that he is called of God to go and do a particular thing and what can stop him?”
*Many of us are living a life without purpose. We are simply going through the motions, existing day by day weared down by the emptiness of a life without meaning.
Matthew 11, verse 29, “Who emptied himself and took the lowly place and came in the likeness of man in the form of a servant.”what does humility do? It puts needs and concerns of others first. Humility puts a worth and a value on others. Humility serves and sacrifices. Humility is happy to wait to be vindicated.
*Do you think if we lived like that, would our families be more harmonious? Would our churches be more united? Would our neighborhoods have less conflict?
Paul says in Acts 20 verse 19, “Serving the Lord with all humility.”
2 Timothy 2 verse 24, “The servant of the Lord is to be gentle.”
John 17 - “I pray that they might be one as you and I are one, father.”
Ephesians 4:1-6 - “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. With all lowness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all.”
Philippines 1:27 - “I pray that you would be of one mind and one spirit striving together for the faith of the gospel.”
John 17 verse 11 and verse 21 to 23. “Father, I pray that they might be one just as you and I are one.”
Ephesians 4:1-6. Look at verse one. “I,” Paul speaking, “therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you, urge you, exhort you, call you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”
The walking in unity, verse one.
The way to unity, verses two and three.
And the why of unity verses four through six.
What does that mean, to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called?
2 Timothy 1 verse 9, “Called to holiness.” 1 Peter 2 verse 21, “Call to suffer.” 1 Corinthians 7:15, “Call to peace.” Ephesians 1 verse 18, “Call to hope.” Philippians 3:14, “Call to heaven.” 1 Peter 5:10, “Call to glory.” And then in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 9, “Call to fellowship.”
Romans 1:6, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 24. And in Jude 2, remember what Paul says about Christians, “Not many are called from the rich among us and the wealthy and the noble among us.”
Jude 2 talks about called in Christ Jesus. We are called ones.
Spurgeon. “A man who does not feel he is called to do anything will succeed in doing nothing in particular. The force of a man’s character is, in great measure, to be found in the strength of his conviction that he’s being called of God to do what he undertakes. It is the first grand essential for service. Let a man be only persuaded that he is called of God to go and do a particular thing and what can stop him?”
*Many of us are living a life without purpose. We are simply going through the motions, existing day by day weared down by the emptiness of a life without meaning.
Matthew 11, verse 29, “Who emptied himself and took the lowly place and came in the likeness of man in the form of a servant.”what does humility do? It puts needs and concerns of others first. Humility puts a worth and a value on others. Humility serves and sacrifices. Humility is happy to wait to be vindicated.
*Do you think if we lived like that, would our families be more harmonious? Would our churches be more united? Would our neighborhoods have less conflict?
Paul says in Acts 20 verse 19, “Serving the Lord with all humility.”
2 Timothy 2 verse 24, “The servant of the Lord is to be gentle.”