Sermons and Studies

Unity of the Body

If you don't have a hard-copy Bible available or an app on your phone, Bible.com is a fantastic, free resource with multiple versions in numerous languages available. (I'm not trying to promote one site over another, I just know and trust this one.)

Before we begin, why not start with some praise and worship music that hits you right in the spirit, and spend some time worshiping the God who created you? If you're limited on time, play the music while you pray. Don't forget to ask God to open your eyes to what He wants you to learn and understand from this lesson!

Also, you'll get a lot more out of reading this if you read the verses that are in the boldfaced type. Call them 'inside information'. 😉

Unity within the Church is something that we, as Christians, desperately need! There has been infighting within the Church Universal since about 800AD, when Catholicism split with the Byzantine Church. That infighting turned into open division around 1054, when the Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholics began an open feud that has lasted to this day. Now, all Christendom seems as if it is embroiled in open war. Protestant denominations bicker and squabble like hyenas around a lion's kill, all while each major sect decries and denies the legitimacy of the others. This is a shameful thing.

Psalm 122 is a Psalm of Ascents. That means that this song was one that people sang as they walked up the path into the seven hills of Jerusalem, and then up to the temple on Mount Moriah. This is a song of accord, of unity. No matter how the singers, the worshippers, personally felt about each other, they put it aside in order to focus on worshipping God.

Look how they put all of their drama aside in order to focus on God. They rejoice in the ability to congregate and they pray for the peace and propserity of the city where their place of worship rests. The Psalm ends with the blessings for each other, for the good of the assembling.

All personal ill-will is put aside 'for the sake of the House of the Lord'. The same should be true today! We must put aside denominational differences and petty quarrels so we can all worship together for the sake of Our Lord.

In Matthew 12:24-30, Jesus answers a group of Pharisees that accuse Him of being demonic. Look at verse 25 again. What is true for one must be true for all. A kingdom divided into factions cannot survive.

Read I Corinthians 12:12-26. Just as an individual congregation has many people in different roles, so the entire Body of Christ is made up of different congregations and denominations. We might as well say 'the ten-dollar bill cannot say to the five-dollar bill, 'you are not legal tender!" There is a reason for the differences!

Now, read Philippians 2:2-3. You have to admit that this is a lot easier when there are far fewer factions within any given service.

Continue on to Philippians 2:12-13. Different denominations exist so that we stubborn humans, stuck on what we believe, can gather together with minimal strife!

I Corinthians 1:10-17 is a passage that we desperately need today! Not long ago, the Chinese government demolished an organized mega-church building and threatened to jail the members if they continue to meet. In India, Christians are burned in their homes by neighbors. Right now, our brothers and sisters in Christ suffer in North Korean prisons just for owning a Bible!

Instead of arguing about liturgical details that mean nothing, in light of Eternity, we need to pray for each other. All over the world, Christians are persecuted for their faith. They get attacked, suffer constant threats to their physical safety and well-being as well as to their families, because of Jesus Christ.

We need to take time every day to pray for our fellow Christians around the world as they suffer for the sake of Christ. Let us stand for those who desperately cling to illegal faith and shine the light of God's love in a world that wants to snuff that light and silence the message.

Heavenly Father, please forgive us for dimming the light of Your Salvation with our petty disagreements with each other. Open our eyes, Lord, to the pure truth and help us to set aside our desire to win, for the sake of the Gospel. Right now, Lord, we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who walk through the lion's den every day, in their faith. Help them to grow in You and give them Your words in order to speak to others. Grant them endurance, that they may finish their race well, and wisdom to run it in such dangerous times. Most of all, Father God, we ask that You would allow Your Kingdom to spread throughout the whole world, so that all may hear and choose for themselves. We praise You because Your Word does not go out, except that it returns full to overflowing! Send Your Word, Lord! In Jesus' Name we pray and give You thanks, amen.