This Week's Sermons

Unity in the Church
by Stephan Brown
Philippians 2:1-11

Here Paul is instructing the church how they are to act one to another. He's leading them to unity. And it's unity for a purpose. Vs. 2 says "working together with one heart and purpose." It's when we follow these instructions of Paul and we, the Church, are united, that we will accomplish our purpose. …In order to see what is necessary for us to achieve unity, let's look at the four things Paul admonished the church in Philippi to do. Together with that, we see that he gives the example of how Jesus demonstrated for us each of the qualities Paul was now admonishing the people to exhibit.

Unity and Diversity in the Church
by Chris Appleby
Ephesians 4:1-16

Our calling is that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rest of creation. Go back further to 1:10. God's plan for the world, and in particular, for the Church, is that all things should be brought together under one head, even Christ.

So the calling which we've received is a calling to be the new people of God bound together in unity under Christ; and so Paul goes on to outline how being the new people of God is to be worked out in the down-to-earth, concrete realities of life. As we'll see over the next couple of weeks, the new society that God is calling into being has two major characteristics. First it's one people, composed of both Jew and Gentile, without distinction, and secondly it's a holy people, set apart to belong to God, and therefore showing by its life, a purity and righteousness that befits the people of God.

Unity, A Must for the Church
by Greg Osborn
Ephesians 4:1-4

Unity is something that is not being preached as much as it should. Yet, it is an essential factor in the growth and life of the church. There have been drastic consequences resulting from the lack of it in the church. Even while Jesus was among them, the disciples sometimes fell to disputing among themselves. It's not surprising for this to happen, but it's unexcusable!

If the church is to accomplish anything for Him, we must stand together. Were not going to find a support system in the world, because the world hates us. We must support and strengthen each other.

Jesus Prays for Our Unity
by Bobby Gilstrap
John 17:20-26

Beyond His death, Jesus expected a dynamic and growing church that would last throughout the ages. When Jesus looked at the face of Peter in that circle of eleven, He saw behind Peter the whole of Pentecost and thousands more behind them. When He looked at the face of John, He saw the church of Ephesus and all the churches of Asia Minor. And when He saw the gap where Judas Iscariot had been, surely he thought of the face of Paul and all of the churches of Europe. And crossing generations and oceans, right down to this very day, He said I pray for every one of them who will believe through the Word of that original eleven.

Jesus prayed just one thing. He prayed for believers unity, so that the unity of Christians would make such an impact that the world would believe He had sent Jesus the Son. Look with me at this passage in John 17:20-26, and let's see what Jesus prayed for you and me on that night before the cross.

Unity…An Open Door Before Us
by Jonathan Busch
Ephesians 4:1-4

We have an incredible opportunity before us as a body of believers. This morning I want to speak of the doorway of unity that stands wide open before us. If we are willing to do what He asks us to do, there is going to be a harvest I believe like has never been seen before. …This is the nature of Paul's encouragement to the believers in Ephesus, a deeply personal challenge that affected to whole church. Let's look specifically at what that five-fold challenge is: 1) Humility 2) Gentle 3) Patient 4) Bearing One Another in Love 5) Peacemaker.

This Week's Videos

Welcome, Church Time: 4:20 Often what people think makes up the church is not what the Bible commanded the church to be. A look at what the church actually is…and isn't. click to watch »

They'll Let Anyone in that Church Time: 4:29 This humorous video shows how God's love is unconditional, and we can't pick and choose who to love and invite to church but be like Jesus and welcome everyone. click to watch »

Mission Accomplished Time: 1:56 The Apollo 11 moon landing was the fruition of thousands of workers coming together to achieve a common goal. click to watch »

This Week's Sermon Illustrations

The Worst Kind of Fire
Contributor: Alan Braun

When the U.S. began the Persian Gulf War in 1990, troops took on the Iraqi forces out in the desert of Kuwait. In those two months, January and February, the USA won an outstanding victory and had relatively few casualties. One of the interesting things about that war was that the majority of our troops weren't injured or killed by the enemy. They were the victims of what is called "friendly fire," from artillery. Friendly fire is where you are hit by ammunition by your own troops. In other words, it's where your own soldiers become your worst enemy. You can't prepare for it, and you never see it coming.

Right now in the church today, our biggest enemies aren't from outside, they're from within. The weapons that are used aren't rifles and missiles. It's our own words and attitudes. A lot of fellow church members are seriously wounded because the results of friendly fire. Nonbelievers avoid some of our churches because they know they'll be landing in the middle of a war zone. How many of our church folk become victims of friendly fire? How many times have you been a victim of friendly fire? More important, how many times have you attacked a fellow brother or sister with friendly fire?

All in Tune
Source: A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God
Contributor: Steven Dow

"Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all turned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship."

Spotlight vs. Laser Beam
Contributor: A. Todd Coget

Have you ever wondered what makes the difference between a spotlight and a laser beam? How can a medium-powered laser burn through steel in a matter of seconds, while the most powerful spotlight can only make it warm? Both may have the same electrical power requirements. The difference is unity. A laser can be simply described as a medium of excited molecules with mirrors at each end. Some of the excited molecules naturally decay into a less excited state. In the decay process they release a photon, a particle of light. It is here that the unique process of the laser begins. The photon moves along and "tickles" another molecule, inviting another photon to join him on his journey. Then these two photons "tickle" two more molecules and invite two more photons to join the parade. Soon there is a huge army of photons marching in step with each other. It is this unity that gives the laser its power. A spotlight may have just as many photons, but each is going its own independent way, occasionally interfering with other photons. As a result, much of its power is wasted and cannot be focused to do any useful work. However, the laser, because of its unity, is like an army marching in tight formation and is able to focus all its power on its objective.

Conflict in Community
Source: Larry Crabb, The Safest Place on Earth, p. 40.
Contributor: Matthew Rogers

"The difference between spiritual and unspiritual community is not whether conflict exists, but is rather in our attitude toward it and our approach to handling it. When conflict is seen as an opportunity to draw more fully on spiritual resources, we have the makings of spiritual community."

Get Organized
Contributor: Thomas Clawser

In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy demands that Linus change TV channels and then threatens him with her fist if he doesn't. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus. "These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they are nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold." "What channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can't you guys get organized like that?"

This Week's PowerPoint Templates

Chain

Accept One Another

Group Prayer

Handshake

Upcoming Topic

Gratitude