Title: Oneness In Christ (1)
Series: One Thing
Author: Jeff Strite
Text: Ephesians 4:1-6
The story is told about a poor church in Tennessee back in the early 1900s. The congregation had had a terrible argument... and (sadly) there was a split. They couldn't stand each other., however, neither side could afford to leave and build their own church building. And so they both continued to worship in the same building - but would STILL have nothing to do with each other. In those days, their church building was heated by coal, and out back there was a storage shed where they kept the coal. I'm told that someone posted a sign outside the storage shed that said: "One Lord, One Faith, Two Coal Piles."
Our sermon series this month is entitled: "ONE THING", and each of the sermons is focusing on ONE word that sums up a vital Christian teaching. Last week the word was "Grace". And this week we're looking that the concept of "UNITY."
Unity within the church is was deeply important to Jesus. On the night that He was betrayed, Jesus prayed "that (Christians) may all be one just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:21
And Paul echoed that by writing that we should be "Eager to maintain THE UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:3
Then Paul wrote: "There is ONE BODY and ONE SPIRIT - just as you were called to the ONE HOPE that belongs to your call - ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM. ONE GOD and Father of all." Ephesians 4:4-6
But for all the importance of unity has for Jesus and for us - the church rarely been good at it. Not only have little churches like the one Tennessee struggled with splits - so have entire denominations across the US and the world.
According to a researcher named J. Gordon Melton there are 1517 different recognized denominations in USA. In his book, Melton included all kinds of groups, including cults such as the ...
Series: One Thing
Author: Jeff Strite
Text: Ephesians 4:1-6
The story is told about a poor church in Tennessee back in the early 1900s. The congregation had had a terrible argument... and (sadly) there was a split. They couldn't stand each other., however, neither side could afford to leave and build their own church building. And so they both continued to worship in the same building - but would STILL have nothing to do with each other. In those days, their church building was heated by coal, and out back there was a storage shed where they kept the coal. I'm told that someone posted a sign outside the storage shed that said: "One Lord, One Faith, Two Coal Piles."
Our sermon series this month is entitled: "ONE THING", and each of the sermons is focusing on ONE word that sums up a vital Christian teaching. Last week the word was "Grace". And this week we're looking that the concept of "UNITY."
Unity within the church is was deeply important to Jesus. On the night that He was betrayed, Jesus prayed "that (Christians) may all be one just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:21
And Paul echoed that by writing that we should be "Eager to maintain THE UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:3
Then Paul wrote: "There is ONE BODY and ONE SPIRIT - just as you were called to the ONE HOPE that belongs to your call - ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM. ONE GOD and Father of all." Ephesians 4:4-6
But for all the importance of unity has for Jesus and for us - the church rarely been good at it. Not only have little churches like the one Tennessee struggled with splits - so have entire denominations across the US and the world.
According to a researcher named J. Gordon Melton there are 1517 different recognized denominations in USA. In his book, Melton included all kinds of groups, including cults such as the ...
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