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United in Christ
Ephesians 4:1-16
A united church will be a growing church.
• We must be united in our attitude.
– We are united by the one and only Spirit of God.
– That unity must be kept through the bond of
peace.
• Peace is found in truth.
• Peace is found in forgiveness.
• Peace is found “living in the fear of the Lord”
– That phrase denotes Christian conduct and manner of life
– Or in this passage, “live a life worthy of the calling you have
received.”
A united church will be a growing church.
• We must be united in our attitude.
– Our calling is that we can live with God for all of
eternity! Sharing in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“But we ought always to thank God for you,
brothers loved by the Lord, because from the
beginning God chose you to be saved through the
sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in
the truth. He called you to this through our gospel,
that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.”
II Thessalonians 2:13-14
A united church will be a growing church.
• We must be united in our attitude.
– A growing church will always be an immature
church or a maturing church.
• Growing in our faith, our service and our walk with the
Lord is a process.
A united church will be a growing church.
• We must be united in the faith.
– There are certain things that must be believed and
practiced to be united in Christ.
• One body—There is one church worldwide
“And he is the head of the body, the church;”
Colossians 1:18
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since
as members of one body you were called to
peace. And be thankful.”
Colossians 3:15
A united church will be a growing church.
• We must be united in the faith.
– There are certain things that must be believed and practiced to
be united in Christ.
• One Spirit—There is only one Holy Spirit
“For through him we both have access to the Father by one
Spirit.”
Ephesians 2:18
• One hope—the expectation of eternal life after death with God in
heaven
“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to
further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the
truth that leads to godliness—in the hope of eternal life, which
God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of
time,”
Titus 1:1-2
A united church will be a growing church.
• We must be united in the faith.
– There are certain things that must be believed and practiced to be
united in Christ.
• One Lord—there is only one Lord; Jesus Christ
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given to man by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through me.””
John 14:6
“yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came
and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through
whom all things came and through whom we live.”
I Corinthians 8:6
A united church will be a growing church.
• We must be united in the faith.
– There are certain things that must be believed and
practiced to be united in Christ.
• One Faith—one set of beliefs united with the word of
God and not contrary to it.
» Rom. 1:3-4; 4:24-25;
» I Cor. 15:3-5
» I Thess. 1:9-10
A united church will be a growing church.
• We must be united in the faith.
– There are certain things that must be believed and practiced to be
united in Christ.
• One Baptism—immersion into water by choice for the forgiveness of sins and
the gift of the Holy Spirit.
“Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name
of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. And you will receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit.””—Acts 2:38
“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into his death? We
were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father, we too may live a new life.”—Romans 6:3-4
• One God and Father of all—who is the one God of one people
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and man,
the man Christ Jesus,”—I Timothy 2:5
A united church will be a growing church.
• We must be united in the use of our gifts.
– “The grace that has been given to us as Christ
apportioned it,” are our diverse talents which
when used together for the same purpose will…
•
•
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Unite the church
Grow the church numerically & physically
Will, “preserve the unity of the Spirit”
Will keep the church healthy and strong
A united church will be a growing church.
Are part of the church?
Have you been united with Christ?