One Body
I went to church the other night and I listened to a sermon in which a guest preacher was talking about influence. He started talking eventually about the influence we have on our brothers and sisters in Christ and talked about a lot of the verses that talk about loving each other and us all being members of one body. Then he read from Romans 15:5, which states in the King James version, "Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus" The New International version reads "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus"
Then he proceeded to tell a story of a man who was a different denomination who came into his church building because he was working with some Haitian kids and he wanted to see if he could use the building to have an event for the kids. He said he told this man that he could not let him use the building because they were "not of a like mind". He said that when the man was confused, he shared with him verses and ways in which they were different and for this reason he could not let him use the building. He said the man went away puzzled and didnt understand. The preacher then went on to say that we have to be on the same team and to be on the same team you have to play by the same rules.
From then on, I did not hear another word that the preacher was saying. The man who walked away confused after being refused the church building was not the only one puzzled. Especially in a sermon where he was also talking about loving one another and being members of one body. Though this man was a different denomination, to the preacher he was not even of the same body because he did not do things the same way as him. I assume that this man was a Christ-follower. He definitely was for doing good things since he wanted to do things for the Haitian children. I don't know that having everything "right" is a prerequisite to being a part of the body. If that is the case, then nobody would be.
There are always going to be differences between brothers and sisters in Christ. But just because we do not do everything the same does not mean that we cannot be unified. Recently, there was a big sermon series listened to in churches all across the world called One Prayer. I got to hear one sermon while I was at church with my brother and sister-in-law in Texas. In this sermon, he talked about how his one prayer would be for the church to be one. In the sermon I heard, he states that we should be unified and all have One Enemy, One Heart , and One Purpose. He also states that "Unity is not the same as uniformity." If you have a chance, listen to this powerful sermon by Craig Groeschel called "Make us One". http://www.oneprayer.com/church/lifechurchtv/en (If the link does not work, go to http://www.oneprayer.com/ and click on messages and then go to the "Make us One" sermon.) I would make time to take 30 minutes and watch it. Instead of channel surfing or surfing the web, take the time to watch the sermon. He makes some really good points about this very important topic. The guy from the different denomination who was turned away probably did not feel loved by our brother. In fact, he probably walked away thinking about what a divisive church the Church of Christ must be.
This happens all over, but since I have come to Florida, I have been to Churches of Christ that don't even fellowship with other Churches of Christ because of the way they do things. But this is never mentioned in the sermons I hear on us being members of one body, or the sermons on unity, or the sermons on loving one another. Listen to the sermon if you get a chance and I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
Also, I read another blog from a preacher in Abilene named Mike Cope who is an amazing guy and a wonderful preacher. I have his blog linked on this web page. His blog address is http://preachermike.com/. He has a very interesting post today, August 22nd, called 21st Century Restoration Movement(s) that relates directly to this subject. He also links some books dealing with the subject.
Then he proceeded to tell a story of a man who was a different denomination who came into his church building because he was working with some Haitian kids and he wanted to see if he could use the building to have an event for the kids. He said he told this man that he could not let him use the building because they were "not of a like mind". He said that when the man was confused, he shared with him verses and ways in which they were different and for this reason he could not let him use the building. He said the man went away puzzled and didnt understand. The preacher then went on to say that we have to be on the same team and to be on the same team you have to play by the same rules.
From then on, I did not hear another word that the preacher was saying. The man who walked away confused after being refused the church building was not the only one puzzled. Especially in a sermon where he was also talking about loving one another and being members of one body. Though this man was a different denomination, to the preacher he was not even of the same body because he did not do things the same way as him. I assume that this man was a Christ-follower. He definitely was for doing good things since he wanted to do things for the Haitian children. I don't know that having everything "right" is a prerequisite to being a part of the body. If that is the case, then nobody would be.
There are always going to be differences between brothers and sisters in Christ. But just because we do not do everything the same does not mean that we cannot be unified. Recently, there was a big sermon series listened to in churches all across the world called One Prayer. I got to hear one sermon while I was at church with my brother and sister-in-law in Texas. In this sermon, he talked about how his one prayer would be for the church to be one. In the sermon I heard, he states that we should be unified and all have One Enemy, One Heart , and One Purpose. He also states that "Unity is not the same as uniformity." If you have a chance, listen to this powerful sermon by Craig Groeschel called "Make us One". http://www.oneprayer.com/church/lifechurchtv/en (If the link does not work, go to http://www.oneprayer.com/ and click on messages and then go to the "Make us One" sermon.) I would make time to take 30 minutes and watch it. Instead of channel surfing or surfing the web, take the time to watch the sermon. He makes some really good points about this very important topic. The guy from the different denomination who was turned away probably did not feel loved by our brother. In fact, he probably walked away thinking about what a divisive church the Church of Christ must be.
This happens all over, but since I have come to Florida, I have been to Churches of Christ that don't even fellowship with other Churches of Christ because of the way they do things. But this is never mentioned in the sermons I hear on us being members of one body, or the sermons on unity, or the sermons on loving one another. Listen to the sermon if you get a chance and I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
Also, I read another blog from a preacher in Abilene named Mike Cope who is an amazing guy and a wonderful preacher. I have his blog linked on this web page. His blog address is http://preachermike.com/. He has a very interesting post today, August 22nd, called 21st Century Restoration Movement(s) that relates directly to this subject. He also links some books dealing with the subject.
posted by D Love at 8:24 AM
1 Comments:
WHAT? Did you go to church in Plainview and not tell me?
I am pretty sure that shunning our neighbors is a part of the bible *pattern*. I bet that guy and those Haitian kids went home and decided to change their ways and follow the gospel message.
So.... I guess you crossed that congregation off of your potential church home lists. I here stuff like that all the time at our church. We are getting really tired of it. Fortunately we are bringing them down from the inside by corrupting their children with our *liberal* thoughts.
Unity with all believers what a radical idea.
cp
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