Unity in the Church: Part 1 | Daniel Mcleod

This message was preached  by Daniel Mcleod at The Regions Beyond Conference 'the HUB' in November 2017 and the video replayed at Word of Grace Church on January 7th, 2018. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

Phil 1:27- 30 “27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.”

Zinzindorf made a village for the Christians who were being persecuted who were from different backgrounds. But they could not get along with one another and had a fall out. He prayed and preached on unity. He created a document of covenant centred around Christ crucified.

We need to unite around essential things. The whole village came together and broke bread. The power of God came- the meeting lasted 10 hours. There was weeping, joy etc. They instituted a prayer meeting that lasted 100 years. From there, many people went out with the gospel. They realized they could not do without the power of God.

I pray we would experience power and it would lead to a missionary movement from this place. The success of the Kingdom of God through Regions Beyond depends on our unity. The speed of gospel advance is based on unity. Paul in prison is more concerned with gospel advance and not his own situation in jail.

Throughout the book of Philippians, this seems to be a driving force. In chapter 4, he is pleading with 2 women to agree with each other. He is pleading for the unity of the church.

UNITY- what is it?

It is not organizational. It’s not some magic potion. It is not even about doctrinal uniformity. Eph 4- Unity of the faith is important, but not on every minor point.

Paul is talking about being of one mind. A heart attitude- it is a relational thing. It is about having each other’s back.

Q. What is the result of Unity?

1.      It created an effective army- Those 2 women went from being shoulder to shoulder to being face to face. In the strength of unity there is more freedom for advance. Eg: Rugby- Binding.

2.      Church Unity displays the character of God: In John 17 Jesus prays that we may be one. In  God we have 3 distinct being, yet He is One. Phil 2:1-2 “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” Then it is our role to live it out in unity. When people come to your church, they should experience the unity and the Trinitarian God through you.

Q. Do people walk into the presence of God in your worship?

3.      A united church proves the power and reality of the gospel: Our life should provide evidence of unity and the power of God. We are in a very fractioned world. Social Media that ought to connect people has become a platform for disunity and hate speech and lonliness. We don’t want a friendly church, we want friends who are loyal and trustworthy. “How we display a united church is the validity of our faith”- Zinzindorf

THE ROOT OF DISUNITY:

Philippians 2:3- “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” Paul does not sugarcoat it. Where there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there will be disorder. Glory in this world is fading and finite. Satan reflects this- he was ambitious- he wanted to ascend above God and make a name for himself. This is the exact opposite of our God who descended.

Here is the tough thing- you can try and build God’s church with Satan’s attitude. You can be a leader that has this satanic attitude that thinks I want to build this church so I ascend some spiritual career ladder! If you do that, the result will be a fractured, divided and painful community. If you got to where you have with that attitude, don’t be surprised if others around you are doing the same thing and want your position. We don’t want that.

Selfish ambition and empty glory will always end up in disunity.

Study Guide for Part 1:

Points for reflection and Discussion:

1. How would you define unity? What does it look like in a local church?
2.  Is unity uniformity? Can you have diversity in unity? How is it expressed in the local church?
3. What from the above can you relate with personally? Have you ever been in a situation that has not helped advance unity: in your family, Church or job? What did you do about it?
4. How can you help advance unity at Word of Grace. Be very practical in your answer.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.

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