UNITY IN THE CHURCH (8 OF 27)
Scripture: Ephesians 2:11-22
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Unity in the Church (8 of 27)
Series: Ephesians
Collin Wimberly
Ephesians 2:11-22
Exegetical theme - Paul instructs the Ephesian believers that in Christ all the distinctions and divisions have been abolished and all believers unified.
Homiletical theme - In Christ Jesus all believers have unity.
INTRODUCTION:
ILLUS: I have pastored 4 churches that had gone through difficult times - Splintered, no unity. Bad feelings. There were groups and camps within the fellowship. There was little sense of unity in the Church.
Disunity is dismantling the church worldwide. The one place where people should come together with a common bond and a common mission has too often turned into a battle ground. Nothing has so undermined our witness to the world than disunity.
The church at Ephesus faced some of the issues that we do today. The church was in danger of being divided along racial and cultural lines. Paul teaches them that in Christ all divisions and distinctions between believers have been abolished. In Christ Jesus we have unity and it is precious. Too precious to let it slip away.
Read text.
In our text we find the problem that unity faces, God’s solution and finally the result of what God has done to combat disunity.
I) THE PROBLEM: ALIENATION
A study of the history of the ancient world tells us that none of today’s social distinctions or racial barriers are more exclusive than or unrelenting than the separation between Jews and Gentiles in Biblical times.
God had chosen the people of Israel to be his people. They were to be separate and holy. Above all, they were to be a vessel through which the knowledge of God would spread through out the world.
Unfortunately, that did not happen. They shut themselves off from others. The Jews were considered ‘‘near to God’’, the Gentiles ‘‘far from God.’’
The Jews believed Gentiles were created to fuel the fires of hell. It was not lawful to aid a Gentile woman in giving birth, for that ...
Series: Ephesians
Collin Wimberly
Ephesians 2:11-22
Exegetical theme - Paul instructs the Ephesian believers that in Christ all the distinctions and divisions have been abolished and all believers unified.
Homiletical theme - In Christ Jesus all believers have unity.
INTRODUCTION:
ILLUS: I have pastored 4 churches that had gone through difficult times - Splintered, no unity. Bad feelings. There were groups and camps within the fellowship. There was little sense of unity in the Church.
Disunity is dismantling the church worldwide. The one place where people should come together with a common bond and a common mission has too often turned into a battle ground. Nothing has so undermined our witness to the world than disunity.
The church at Ephesus faced some of the issues that we do today. The church was in danger of being divided along racial and cultural lines. Paul teaches them that in Christ all divisions and distinctions between believers have been abolished. In Christ Jesus we have unity and it is precious. Too precious to let it slip away.
Read text.
In our text we find the problem that unity faces, God’s solution and finally the result of what God has done to combat disunity.
I) THE PROBLEM: ALIENATION
A study of the history of the ancient world tells us that none of today’s social distinctions or racial barriers are more exclusive than or unrelenting than the separation between Jews and Gentiles in Biblical times.
God had chosen the people of Israel to be his people. They were to be separate and holy. Above all, they were to be a vessel through which the knowledge of God would spread through out the world.
Unfortunately, that did not happen. They shut themselves off from others. The Jews were considered ‘‘near to God’’, the Gentiles ‘‘far from God.’’
The Jews believed Gentiles were created to fuel the fires of hell. It was not lawful to aid a Gentile woman in giving birth, for that ...
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