Download 06-01-08Unity-SermonNotes

Oak Grove Baptist Church
David Hall, Senior Minister
www.oakgrovebaptist.com
Desperate For You logo
Desperate For You Series
“Unity”
1 Corinthians
1:10-13a
Introduction: What would be your reaction if you were at home listening to your
radio when all of a sudden you heard the voice of God over that radio? That is exactly
what happened in a movie shown a long time ago entitled, The Next Voice You Hear.
What is interesting in the movie, is that it just didn’t happen to one family, but everyone
listening to radio around the world started hearing the voice of God. God was saying
the same thing to everyone. At first people reacted with disbelief - someone is pulling
off an incredible hoax – but then people reacted with fear. After several days of hearing
“The Voice,” however, people’s attitudes, actions, and priorities begin to change. The
impact of what God was saying directly affected how they lived their lives.
I have heard people say, “If only God would talk to me! If He would just tell me what to
do, I would do it.” Well, God used Paul to talk to His church’; the entire church.
Focal Scripture:
1 Cor 1:10-13
10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree
with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be
perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers, some from Chloe's household
have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of
you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still
another, "I follow Christ."
13 Is Christ divided?
(from New International Version)
John 17:22-23
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know
that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
(from New International Version)
More than forty years ago Reader’s Digest
carried a story about a town in Minnesota that got its name in a strange way. When the
community was first settled, it had no name. People began to move to the area and
1. A Definition_____ of Unity.
soon the townspeople called a meeting to choose a name for their town. Many
suggestions were made, and of course, everyone who made a suggestion thought
that their suggestion was the best and should be accepted. Well the discussion turned
heated and quarrelsome. One man in attendance that night became so disgusted by
the way things were going that he jumped up, pounded on the table with his fist, and
shouted, “Let us have harmony!” Someone present suddenly seized the idea and
shouted back, “Yes! Let’s have harmony!” And the town got its name: Harmony,
Minnesota. Now we are all aware that just calling something unified or harmonized
doesn’t make it so — that is like tying the tails of two cats together and saying they are
unified – no I don’t think so
But look at a description of the early church in Acts
“One accord” means ____ “of the same mind” The right state of
affairs in the early time of the Christian church is expressed repeatedly in the book of
Acts in places where the term "of one accord" or being "of one mind" is used. This term,
which we want to consider in some more detail in this study, is a translation of the
Greek word homothumadon. This word consists of homo and thumos; these two words
mean "same"“ and "will, wish, desire, mind, etc." The word describes a state of being of
"the same mind, the same will, same desire, same longing, etc." The word is used a
total of 12 times in the NT, 11 times in Acts, and once in Romans.
In a certain way we could draw a comparison to an orchestra which plays under the
direction of its conductor a big symphony where the various instruments each play
different tones and melodies, but where then all together do play the same piece of
music, the same symphony. As we consider this in relation to the church, we could
speak of each member of the church works together for a big whole under the direction
of God via His Word and his holy spirit, all leading up giving praise and honour to God.
2. A Demonstration___ of Unity.
An Expectation____ from the Scriptures_____ Rom 15:5-6 May the
God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among
yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph 4:2-6 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in
love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4
There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were
called- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all
and through all and in all.
Eph 4:11-13 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles,
some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12
to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and
become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Col 3:12-
15 12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves
with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other
and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the
Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all
together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as
members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
An Example________ from the Savior_________ Phil 2:5-8 5 Your
attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself
nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross!
(from New International Version) The Greek word that is translated as “your attitude” is
the word phroneo (fron eh o) and it carries the sense of a mindset or a way of thinking.
In essence it says that we should have the same mindset as Christ or we should think
the same way that Christ was thinking in this passage. Jesus was already co-equal with
God. He has always been and will always be. He created the universe and He holds all
things together. However, when the need arose to redeem humankind from the penalty
of their sins and when the only person deemed qualified to do so was Jesus, the sinless
Son of God, He freely and willingly gave up His eternal prominence and position in
heaven in order to become our sacrifice. Not only did He empty Himself, but He further
humbled Himself and took on the form of a servant. He went from the highest place to
the lowest place. He became obedient unto death. The Son of God with nail prints in
his hands. The King of Kings now has a crown of thorns on his brow. The bright and
morning star, the fairest of then thousand, the lily of the valley, the rose of Sharon now
had a spear thrust into His side by a Roman soldier. That was the mind, the attitude,
the phroneo of Christ. That we might be “one with the Father,” Jesus had a mindset of
humility and servitude. Look at Christ in John 13:1, where Jesus washes the feet of
the disciples. “No servant is greater than his master. If I am willing to wash your feet
then you ought to be willing to wash each other’s feet.” The issue here is not entirely
about washing feet; the issue here is about humility that ought to be the characteristic of
every Christian. Unlike our impulses in the secular world which are designed to
promote and advance ourselves, when it comes to life inside the church, every one of
us ought to be saying, “I need to decrease so Christ can increase.” There needs to be
less and less of us so that people can see more and more of Him. We ought to get out
of the way in our constant search for glory, attention, and prominence so that the word
of God can be heard, so the Son of God can be seen, and so the name of God be
praised. Sometimes in our church life we bring the outside world with us and seek to
turn the church into a place of personal influence. In fact, there are some people who
actually have very little influence in the outside world, so they try to compensate for that
by coming into the church and looking for a position from which they can start giving
orders and start “being in charge.” Some people come to the church so they can been
seen. Some people come to church in order to pursue and advance their own personal
program and their own private agenda. Most fights and problems in the church start at
this very point; with somebody who is more interested in lifting themselves up than they
are in lifting up Christ. We do not come to church so that we can be in charge or get our
way - but to serve and to follow His way. Christ is the only one who should be lifted up
in church - you know why? Because nothing happens when we lift up ourselves.
3. The Destroyer_____ of Unity.
Strife__ Phil 2:3-4 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not
only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. What is the objective of
strife? To pull others down. Why would someone want to pull someone down? So that
they can promote themselves!
Selfishness_____ In the wilderness the children of Israel were marred
by a spirit of strife and selfishness. They mumbled and grumbled as they wandered
around. This spirit of strife was evident from the beginning and came to a head in the
rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who challenged the right of Moses and Aaron
to be the leaders of God’s people. The story is found in Numbers 16 and it would wise
for any child of God to read what happened. God finally had enough of their gripes,
criticism, and contentiousness and allowed the ground to open up and swallow them
alive.
We need to find common ground and not find common gripes!
Girl who saw Dad pull into driveway and knew this was her chance to get even with her
little brother, so she hit him and then ran and jumped into her father’s arms for
protection. As they all entered the house, mom sees daughter hugging father but
sticking her tongue out at her brother and so the matriarch says, “Dear, you can’t hug
your father and stick out your tongue at your brother!”
4. The Demand________ for Unity.
It is His Plan___________ 1 Cor 12:14-20 14 Now the body is not made up of
one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not
belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if
the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not
for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where
would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense
of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them,
just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20
As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
(from New International Version)
It is His Prayer_________
John 17:22-23
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know
that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
At a Midwestern fair spectators gathered for an old-fashioned horse-pull. This is an
event where various weights are put on a sled hitched to a horse and pulled along the
ground. The grand champion horse pulled a sled with 4,500 pounds on it. The runner
up was close, with a 4,400 pound pull. Some of the folks wondered what they could pull
if they were hitched together. Separately; they had pulled a combined weight totaling
nearly 9,000 pounds. When the two very different horses were unified and worked
together, they pulled more than 12,000 pounds! What would happen if we were all
joined together with Christ and became the team He wants us to be?