Sermon Notes 6-22-2014

Riding For the Brand

Folks Just need to get along

Unity is Vital in the Church

Paul was excited that the church in Ephesus got it

Ephesians 1:15–16 (HCSB)

¹⁵This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

¹⁶I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.

·      If you love someone your patient and loving and you stand behind them

Paul knew Unity was Critical for the Church to Survive

Ephesians 4:1–3 (HCSB)

¹Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received,

·      We have been given a Gift and serving in the Church is also a gift

·      We serve for no other reason but our love for Jesus

·      We don’t serve to like others or be liked, so why do we sow discord, because you make it about you

²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love,

·      How do we carryout our call??

·      Here you go, Humility, gentleness, Patiently and loving

³diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us.

·      The final point and the most important

·      With Diligent keeping unity in the church!!

Unity is the Key to Growing the Kingdom!

Colossians 3:14 (HCSB)

¹⁴Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity.

·      Paul says “Above all” doesn’t get much more important than that!

·      Unity is important to this church, so how are you doing with it??

You have a responsibility as a church member. You are to be a source of unity. You are never to be a divisive force. You are to love your fellow church members unconditionally. And while that doesn’t mean you agree with everyone all the time, it does mean you are willing to sacrifice your own preferences to keep unity in your church.

Gossip, slander, and all that poison coming out off our mouths is a church KILLER!

Defined:  a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others

·      Oh do we have them, every church does

·      You know who you are, always talking about somebody, so you don’t have to deal with your own sin

Paul lumps these people in with some bad company

Romans 1:29–31 (HCSB)

²⁹They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,

³⁰slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

³¹undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.

·      If you Gossip you a mixed in with this crowd

·      If you are constantly, engaged in Gossip, you’re a Wolf.

·      Some of you need to repent, and deal with this issue

·      And don’t hide your gossip on FB!

·      Gossip is bad. And gossip is destructive in your church.

·      Few things can destroy the unity of a church like gossip.

·      A unified church is powerful. Gossip tears apart that unity and renders a church powerless.

Your tongue is the strongest muscle in your body

James 3:6–10 (HCSB)

⁶And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.

⁷Every sea creature, reptile, bird, or animal is tamed and has been tamed by man,

⁸but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹We praise our Lord and Father with it, and we curse men who are made in God’s likeness with it.

¹⁰Praising and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers, these things should not be this way.

·      It takes Jesus and the Holy Spirit to tame the tongue

·      You cant do it on your own

·      It takes brothers and sisters walking with you to keep that thing in check!

So how should we respond to this issue of gossip in our church?

·      First, don’t be a source of gossip.

·      If you have any doubt whether something is gossip or not, don’t mention it.

·      Keep your tongue under control.

·      Second, if someone in the church begins to share gossip with you, gently rebuke him or her.

·      You don’t have to be harsh in your response to them.

·      Kindly say that you would rather not hear any gossip and you would hope it wouldn’t continue to spread.

·      You can be a unifier in your church with those simple words.

And if there are just a few more members like you, word will begin to travel. Other church members will know that gossip is not tolerated in your church. And the congregation will be a place of joy and unity.

Love Life!

1 Peter 3:10 (HCSB)

¹⁰For the one who wants to love life and to see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit,

“Love Life, Stop Gossiping, Check your Tongue, be a Unifier”

Forgiveness and Unity Go hand in Hand!

First and foremost because Jesus tells us to!

Matthew 6:14–15 (HCSB)

¹⁴“For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.

¹⁵But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing.

·      Pretty straight forward

·      We will get irritated with each other

·      But forgiveness is not an option

·      That does not mean that we let folks walk all over us

·      But we will get hurt and we will FORGIVE!

Unity in the church will not happen if members have unforgiving hearts.

·      Too many times members are angry and hurt because of something another member has said or done.

·      Some members are angry and hurt by the pastor because of something they said or did or failed to do.

Colossians 3:12–14 (HCSB)

¹²Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

¹³accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.

¹⁴Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity.

·      Forgiveness is the key to unity

·      Forgiveness is the first thing we must do to find true peace and Joy

·      We will never have unity in the church until we all learn to forgive

Each local church is made up of imperfect members and imperfect pastors.

·      We will make mistakes.

·      We will all sin.

·      Yes, we are all hypocrites.

Church unity is torn apart when members refuse to forgive, when any member is too prideful to grant forgiveness.Remember, Christ loved us so much that He died on a cross to forgive us. And now, as He has forgiven us, so we must forgive others.

It is essential to the unity of your church.