Embracing Unity: A Divine Call to Community

Devotional

Day 1: Love as a Manifestation of the Divine

Our love for one another is a visible manifestation of God's presence, offering the world a glimpse of the divine. This love is not just a personal journey but a collective mission to reflect God's glory through our interactions and obedience. The call to love is deeply rooted in the understanding that while no one has seen God, our love for each other allows His love to be made complete in us. This completion is not an individual achievement but a communal expression of God's presence. As we love one another, we become living testimonies of God's love, providing the world with a tangible experience of the divine. [01:50]

1 John 4:11-12 (ESV): "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."

Reflection: Think of a specific way you can show love to someone in your community today. How can this act of love reflect God's presence to them?

Day 2: Unity as a Collective Testimony

We are called to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood, not as individuals but as a community that declares God's praises. Our unity is a powerful testimony to the world, demonstrating the truth of Jesus' mission and the love of God. This unity is not merely about agreement but about embodying a shared identity that reflects God's glory. As a chosen people, our collective witness is strengthened when we work together to declare God's praises. This unity is a testament to the world of the truth of Jesus' mission and the transformative power of God's love. [03:10]

1 Peter 2:9-10 (ESV): "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

Reflection: Consider a group or community you are part of. How can you contribute to fostering unity within this group to better reflect God's love and mission?

Day 3: Authentic Community Beyond Attendance

The church should embody a deeper fellowship than any earthly organization, challenging us to move beyond mere attendance to genuine, sacrificial love and support for one another. This authentic community is what the world needs to see. The story of a former gang member who left the church due to a lack of perceived family connection serves as a poignant reminder of the need for genuine fellowship. The church is called to be a place where relationships are deeper and more meaningful than any other organization, reflecting the sacrificial love of Christ. [08:09]

Acts 2:42-44 (ESV): "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common."

Reflection: Reflect on your current involvement in your church community. What is one step you can take to deepen your relationships and contribute to a more authentic fellowship?

Day 4: Empowerment Through Decentralized Ministry

Church leaders exist to equip the saints for works of service, empowering every believer to actively participate in building up the body of Christ. This decentralization of ministry fosters a more vibrant and effective community. The role of church leaders is not to perform all the ministry themselves but to equip others to serve. This empowerment allows every believer to contribute to the growth and health of the church, creating a dynamic and engaged community. [10:14]

Ephesians 4:11-13 (ESV): "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

Reflection: Identify a gift or talent you have that can be used to serve your church community. How can you take a step towards using this gift in service this week?

Day 5: Flourishing in Local Communities

Smaller, neighborhood-based communities allow relationships to flourish and the love of Christ to be tangibly expressed. By focusing on local connections, we can better care for one another and provide a compelling witness to the world. The vision for smaller, neighborhood-based communities is to create spaces where relationships can grow and the love of Christ can be experienced in tangible ways. These local connections enable believers to care for one another more effectively and offer a powerful witness to the world of God's love. [19:10]

Romans 12:4-5 (ESV): "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another."

Reflection: Think about your neighborhood or local community. What is one practical way you can build a stronger connection with someone nearby to express the love of Christ?

Sermon Summary

Unity within the church and community is not an optional endeavor but a divine mandate. Over the past month, we've explored the biblical foundation for this call to unity, emphasizing that our love for one another is a tangible manifestation of God's presence among us. In 1 John 4:12, we are reminded that while no one has seen God, our love for each other allows His love to be made complete in us, offering the world a glimpse of the divine. This is not just a personal journey but a collective one, as we are called to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood, as described in 1 Peter 2:9. Our identity as a chosen people is not about individual purity but about being a community that reflects God's glory through our interactions and obedience.

The analogy of receiving ice skates to join a hockey team illustrates that our forgiveness and relationship with God are not solely for personal enjoyment but for participating in a larger mission. We are to work together to declare God's praises, as our unity is a powerful testimony to the world. Jesus' prayer in John 17:23 for complete unity among believers underscores the significance of our collective witness. It is through our unity that the world will recognize the truth of Jesus' mission and the love of God.

The story of a former gang member who left the church due to a lack of perceived family connection challenges us to reflect on our community's authenticity. The church should embody a deeper fellowship than any earthly organization, yet often falls short. This calls us to reevaluate our approach to church life, moving beyond mere attendance to genuine, sacrificial love and support for one another.

Ephesians 4:11-12 reminds us that church leaders exist to equip the saints for works of service, not to perform all the ministry themselves. This decentralization of ministry empowers every believer to actively participate in building up the body of Christ. Our goal is to foster smaller, neighborhood-based communities where relationships can flourish, and the love of Christ can be tangibly expressed.

Key Takeaways

1. Our love for one another is a visible manifestation of God's presence, offering the world a glimpse of the divine. This love is not just a personal journey but a collective mission to reflect God's glory through our interactions and obedience. [01:50]
2. We are called to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood, not as individuals but as a community that declares God's praises. Our unity is a powerful testimony to the world, demonstrating the truth of Jesus' mission and the love of God. [03:10]
3. The church should embody a deeper fellowship than any earthly organization, challenging us to move beyond mere attendance to genuine, sacrificial love and support for one another. This authentic community is what the world needs to see. [08:09]
4. Church leaders exist to equip the saints for works of service, empowering every believer to actively participate in building up the body of Christ. This decentralization of ministry fosters a more vibrant and effective community. [10:14]
5. Smaller, neighborhood-based communities allow relationships to flourish and the love of Christ to be tangibly expressed. By focusing on local connections, we can better care for one another and provide a compelling witness to the world. [19:10]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:20] - The Call to Unity
[01:06] - Manifesting God's Love
[02:07] - A Chosen People
[03:36] - The Ice Skates Analogy
[04:57] - Jesus' Prayer for Unity
[06:45] - A Challenge from a Former Gang Member
[09:40] - Equipping the Saints
[12:21] - Redefining Church Leadership
[18:45] - Community Pastors' Vision
[20:40] - Understanding Community
[23:16] - Stories of Service
[29:46] - Empowering the Body
[34:00] - Backyard Bible Clubs
[37:15] - Invitation to Join the Community

Sermon Clips

"well this uh this whole month we've been talking about the same thing basically this issue of unity in the church and community and how we have to get to loving one another and man understand this isn't an optional thing where we go okay we're going to try this as a church and if it doesn't work we'll go back to not caring about each other it it's um we we can't go anywhere else we have to push forward on this um remember 3 weeks ago I preached out of First John chapter 4 1 John 4:12 where it says no one has ever seen God but if we love one another God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." [00:11:48]

"and the next week um I spoke out of first Peter 1 Peter chap 2 in uh in verse 9 where it says but you are a chosen people a royal priesthood a holy nation a people belonging to God that you may declare the Praises of him who called you out of Darkness into his wonderful light and it talks about how God says that we are something that we don't think about a whole lot but he says you're a chosen race you you're you're a royal priesthood you're a holy nation he's not talking about individuals he's not saying hey you're individually pure before him he goes no you've become a part of this body and and it's this picture we explain how just like in the Old Testament his desire was not that individual Israelites would be a blessing to the nation but he wanted Israel as a nation the way they interacted with one another the way they obeyed God's law law together he said Israel collectively was going to be align to the world in the same way in the New Testament he teaches that we now are this holy nation and we are this chosen people group and somehow we have to work together to declare this the the Praises of this glorious God." [00:120:96]

"and in John 17: 23 he says I and them you and me may they be brought to complete Unity to let the world know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me the Jesus in his prayer says a very strange thing where he says Lord could you bring the church to Total Unity he says so that the world may know that you sent me and that that that you love them just like you love me and in our mind that doesn't totally compute I mean what does our Unity have anything to do with someone who doesn't believe in Jesus Christ suddenly believing in him and I I don't even know completely but I have faith that Jesus's words are true and he says you know what you you think it's apologetics you think it's a clever sermon you think it's putting on a good program that's going to lead people to Jesus let get people to believe in me he goes no it's when you reach complete Unity then the world's going to know that Jesus Christ really is the Son of God and so these aren't optional things that we're talking about this Unity we're talking about this is the only way to display Christ to the world this is God's intention from the beginning was to create this people group this people set apart for himself and so we need to learn to live with one another in the middle of this very individualistic society that we live in it's not an option." [00:311:60]

"and what saddened me was that the gangs are a better picture of Fellowship than the Church of Jesus Christ is that's not right someone should get baptized into this body and he should be she should be accepted as family not just a Sunday morning thing where a few people will greet you but that they really get jumped in in a sense into our gang into this this this group of people this holy nation this Royal PR that's God's desire is that we would be the picture of community we would be the picture of unity and acceptance and family that's what the church was meant to me I heard one preacher saying he goes you know what I I doubt very highly that when Jesus was hanging on the cross he was thinking about the western church that ah you know one day people will attend Services you know that they like and sing a few songs until they don't like it then they'll go to another church that that's what he died for but no he died for this community of people that would love each other like crazy that would look at their Earthly possessions and say I could care less about this stuff you're my eternal brother sister we have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ what's mine is yours and that type of community and that type of love." [00:485:96]

"and so that's where we're going with this church and I want to look at one more passage today it's Ephesians chapter 4: 11 and 12 talking about Jesus listen to this it says it was he who gave some to be Apostles some to be prophets some to be evangelists some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up it's explained that Jesus puts certain leaders on the earth and certain leaders in the church why what I want you to I want you to catch is why do these people exist it says to prepare God's people for works of service do you understand that's the goal the the the goal of Sunday mornings or anything we do at church is not so that you walk away and go oh that was good I think I'll come back next week it's it's it's it's not Preparing People preparing God's people to attend church is he's preparing God's people for works of service that's why we went around with the microphone in the beginning okay what did you actually do this week what did you do for the body of Christ and and to hear okay what were the works of service things you literally did out of love for other people in this body so that we could could build up the body you know so the body of Christ may be built up what did you actually do so in other words if you don't do anything with what you hear then we're failing okay if if your mindset is okay I want to attend here I want to attend there or maybe I'll attend there then then you don't get it the purpose of a church the purpose of church leaders is to get you to work to do something with your life and hopefully that's why you're here cuz you're going I don't want to waste my life I I I want to do something before I stand before God I was created for good works there are things for me to do on this Earth and many of us will say If we're honest we've wasted a lot of years of life just living for ourselves being in our own little world and we're realizing man time's ticking and it's flying by isn't it man every year just goes by quicker and quicker and quicker it's like okay what what do I want to do what I I want to do because God has given given me work to do like we talked about last week and we have to wake up in the morning say God what is it that you made me to do today how can I help build others up how can I come up with things to do and the other thing I want to point out about this passage is not only for you to understand that but because okay let me let me let me let me go back just one step traditionally when people go to church at least in in our country they think to themselves okay I'm going to come to church I'll throw some money in the basket on the way out and and and so if I have any needs I'm going to call the church and those leaders are going to meet those needs and if those leaders don't meet those needs I'm going to be angry and I'll find another church you know so I and it's this whole idea of we pay them to do the work but that is not biblical the Bible says is what the leaders do is help help you to do the work of the ministry we prepare you for works of service who's the one doing the works of service it's not the leaders they're just coming alongside of you because you have a desire to serve God and we go okay let me help you with that like maybe you say you know what I want to help this couple you know it looks like they're they're going through a divorce and I've had some help there you know we've gone through some things I want to help them but I don't know how to answer this question can you help me with it so I can get back to them is this idea of you want to do these Works you're saying you know what I want to reach out to my neighbors I want to do this and and I just need a little guidance on the and you're already doing it and we're just going yeah yeah yeah go go go do it but this idea of you doing the works of service the other thing I love about this is in the beginning it says that he gave some to be Apostles and the apostles best we can understand they were Unique Individuals they were given these gifts they were you know like Paul where he would go to different places and create these new works and start these churches and be given these miraculous gifts they would hear messages directly from from God they penned many of the words of scripture this other group he says then there were these other people that were prophets and the prophets seemed to be like God spokes people like the word prophecy is to forthe that means to to say the words that God wanted to say on the earth and sometimes we think of Prophecy just as the future because God would sometimes tell these prophets what's in the future but more often than not he was just telling the the prophets what to say to the people and so some people were gifted to communicate God's message to the world and then he says some were meant to be evangelists evangelists were those who who went around spreading the good news of how people could be saved and join this body and join this Kingdom and then there is other people who were gifted as pastors pastors is the word Shepherd it's this idea of a person you know a shepherd with his sheep you know they were the the people that would stay locally and help that one Church body there and and really care for their needs and and build them up and then other were teachers teachers seems like there was a focus on their knowledge it's more of like a a classroom type of person a person who could sit with his uh and teach deeper truths to people and and I love this because see we've Twisted this and see all those different types of people in America we expect the pastor to be all of those things right so that if I have a theological question I'm going to ask him if if I want some counseling I'm going to ask him if I want to know how to reach my neighborhood and evangelize them I'm going to ask him if we're going to plant the church he's got to do it you know and it's all this one person and and I love this passage because I'm looking at and I was looking at uh Todd and Joshua the other day Josh runs our he's he's the president of our Bible College and and Todd's our executive Pastor here and I go you know what I love about this passage is it takes so much pressure off of me um because you guys I I feel guilty I I I I I feel guilty because I go man I don't know the Hebrew like I used to or I I never was that good at it maybe I should go back to Seminary because I really should you know have have my doctor in the languages so that if anyone ask me any question you know about this Hebrew verb or whatever I I want to be able to answer them and sudden I go wait a second that's dumb you know what I'll just forward those emails to you guys I mean you I you know it's like you're the teacher God didn't give me that mind to to remember all these details of different things but that's your you're a part of the body you're supposed to do that this whole idea of these different areas where man I mean my life I I think my gift is somewhere along that prophetic side where I can go different places and speak when I when I when I read God's word it's like man I I really sense like he's speaking to me just opens my eyes to it and simplifies it so I get it and enables me to simplify it to help other people get it and I go man I think that's more of my gift and and and so that's why I my job I believe is to go around exercising that gift to the body of Christ at large so so on Thursday I was in uh in in in San Francisco um doing that on on Friday I was in Sacramento doing that yesterday I was in Dallas doing that tomorrow I'll be in Atlanta doing that you see it's is this whole idea and today I'm here hopefully doing that just saying you know I think this is what God wants for the church I think this is his desire and I go into do that well by doing that that means I can't really also be the guy that's answering theological questions and so thank God that we have teachers here I also can't be the person that's counseling everyone in the church so thank God we have pastors here and thank God you know the body of Christ and that you are being equipped so you can care for people in your own communities and you're actually doing the work of service because churches have fallen apart because they bottle neck and everyone expects this one person to do everything when biblically God says that's not what I intended for the church or for any one individual it's a body and it's made up of all of those people and so you know while I used to apologize for not being able to go to all your houses for dinner and answer all your emails and answer all your questions and counsel you all now I go oh well you know that's not that's that that's not the way God intended it I'd to be able to do everything and there's a part of me that still tries to do all of those things to some degree but it's all of us recognizing what is my gift in the body and how am I going to pull that off having said that I'm going to bring our pastors up because what we've done is um because we understand these passages we're saying you know what there's there's no way in a church this size unless we start breaking it down smaller and smaller and smaller there's no way that we can really adequately care for everyone's needs because we want to and we we want to if you have a need we want to make sure that you are really well taken care of and not with a one-sentence email response from me but a sense in which you have people actually caring for you so what we've done is we've divided up the congregation um just so that we can break it down a little easier and the whole point is so that no one gets left out so that in every Community we know who's attending Cornerstone and we know what's going on in their lives and there are people there to care for them and so we we have Matt Moore Matt is actually working with those of you who um live outside of SEI Valley whether it's Moore Park or Burbank or Santa Barbara wherever you come from Matt is your pastor he's going to help Shepherd those people if you're on the west side from aringer west of here west of here um then uh Terry is your P if you live in SEI and you're you're west of aringer then is going to be overseeing that area of it if you're in between uh aringer and Tapo Canyon Okay aringer and Tapo Canyon your house is is somewhere in there then bill is your pastor and he's going to help create leaders in that neighborhood and uh and make sure your knes are taken care of and then if you're on the east side from Tapo Canyon um all the way through the nles um that's uh that's Steve's area in East SEI and so I just asked these guys to kind share their heart for this concept of community and let them share what's going on in the neighborhoods and how you guys can get involved so we'll start with Steve good morning everybody is it starting to make sense Community are you starting to get it we've been talking an awful lot about it um one thing I want to start with is I want to say that this is not a competition that we sit up here the four of us and it's not about us um we aren't the Community but you guys are the community and I want to make that really clear because if it turns into a competition then it's actually going against what we're trying to accomplish because that wouldn't be a good example to anybody so we want to make sure that you know that we meet every single week we talk about what's going on in each other's communities we rejoice in all the stories that we hear just like you guys heard this morning and in fact the stories you heard this morning you all clapped correct it didn't matter what community they were in right you just clap because things are happening God's doing good work through his people to claim his glory for himself and I want to read a passage in Philippians it's Philippians 2 it says therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ there is any consolation of love if there is any Fellowship of the spirit any affection and compassion make my joy complete by being of the same mind maintaining the Same Love United in spirit intent on one purpose and that one purpose is to glorify God to be as Christ and that's what we want to do we want together collectively to figure out a way how we can Shepherd you guys better the church better the people that come here better that a way that we can get to know you better a way that we can practice the one anothers I have the one anothers written down here and these are all biblical it says love one another be devoted to one another honor one another live in harmony with one another accept instruct agree with serve bear with speak to submit to for forgive encourage spur one another on offer Hospitality to one another and fellowship with one another and that's not even exhaustive and you can imagine if that's how we act amongst ourselves in our neighborhoods and our communities what an example that would be to the community scripture says to let your light shine before men so they can see your good deeds and praise your father in Heaven and that's what that would be I mean they try to figure out what in the world's going on why are these people like that like the stories you heard this morning what's going on what's different about them it's the love of Christ what he's done through us and that's what would make it different and that's what it's all about amen and there's lots of stories lots of great things happening and I get really excited about all the different people that are getting involved in this and it's already happening and um we have one lady and she was in the last service so I can share her story um she heard the message about Community it was a month month and a half ago and so she came into one of the pastor's office office and she said okay I'm in your community I want to get involved what can I do now she's a widow and she's retired and she's 76 years old and she says I just want to get involved here's my background I've done nursing I've worked with elderly and these different things that I do I just want to get going so okay great believe it or not we had an opportunity there was a lady that was um pretty much in her last days over the holiday season and her son had called the church and said we need someone for my mom can we get some people to come over and visit and I thought perfect this lady would work out perfect and sure enough she did she was over there 3 days a week praying with encouraging and just spending time with this lady and I mean what a blessing that is the lady's blessed that she's going to visit she's blessed because she's able to use her gifts that God's given her you see the blessings just keep pouring out and what an amazing thing you know what her challenge was we had a little short video that we shot that we're going to do for community and her challenge was this she says I'm 76 years old old and I'm retired but that doesn't mean my gifts are retired we all need to use the gifts that God has given us amen and that's Community." [00:1121:919]

"and uh and and kind of how we've done it is we've broken up into centralism and broken up actually really each of these these guys have broken up into different groupings within East West Central and outside and and our goal is that in those smaller groupings in their community that relationships would grow you know Steve mentions uh Romans 1210 honor one another honor honor one another above yourself it says man when you add the other half of that it's like man honor one another above myself and think how difficult there that is to there's a thousand people in this room look across the room and imagine honoring somebody above yourself and then you realize you don't even know them so our goal is to allow you guys to come together in a smaller setting so you know each other and you can care for each other and and really fulfill the the roles of the body I remember France gave that message and he said all in right it was this idea he slid all chips in and I've got to look at you guys realizing that I'm a family of five I've got three kids that if anything happened to me you guys have me and vice versa that's who we as the church need to be because when we are that people are going to go that's wild I want to be a part of that." [00:1560:48]

"and I think for many of us it's a it's almost a ripoff if at the end of the day our relationship with Christ wasn't the most awesome thing to where the love of Christ the grace of God that was bestowed upon us didn't move us to care about him and others and just to be a part of that and and to lay your head at night going wow I messed up over here Lord and I missed this opportunity but I had a blast doing it yeah we we spend like the majority of our time during the week actually trying not to do ministry but doing what that passage is talking about in other words we're trying to equip you guys equip the body to do the ministry and a lot of times the way I've thought of this whole idea of equipping is let's let's put someone in a class let's get them involved in EB see let's put them through this training but so much of equipping is just encouraging people to do what they're already good at doing or what they're already uh capable of doing like so many of the guys that we work with and the women that we work with they've been doing Ministry for decades um many have been doing Ministry longer than I've been alive and uh some have gone to college you know Bible College or seminary I mean there's a lot of people that we're working with that are already able and so it's just releasing them to go and continue doing Ministry and one thing that we're doing in neighborhoods in SEI Valley and outside seami with uh different cities and such is we're looking at some key leaders and basically asking them to be like Church Plant pastors and asking them to be basically a pastor with a whole lot of latitude in their responsibilities and so in other words we're looking at some people to do hospital visits to disciple to counsel to do premarital counseling to do weddings to do funerals because we don't necessarily need to be doing that not that we can't but there's so many other people that are more available than us and more qualified than us to do that and so we're looking at kind of doing these Church plants of Cornerstone in different pockets of SEI Valley and outside seami in these different cities because these Cornerstone uh little pockets are basically the reputation of this church in those areas and so we we've realize that Cornerstone has a great reputation here on Sunday morning with the services and everything that takes place place but we really want the reputation of Cornerstone to rest upon what we all are doing midweek and so if you want to get involved uh the best way to get involved is to come to us and let us know maybe what you're already doing or what you want to do and just allow us to come alongside of you and network you with other people that are in your neighborhood or city and just encourage you to keep doing what you're already doing." [00:1780:00]

"and so I just want to say this morning we have a great opportunity opportunity coming up uh this summer for uh VBS is what it's been called Vacation Bible School this year in light of our community Movement we just really believe that the best way to bring in 600 to 700 children is to bring them in our backyards and so we're going to call it backyard Bible clubs and many of you who are here this morning have been involved in VBS for you know 20 30 years uh some have been involved here for a couple of years and we need you we need you to sign up we need you to contact us guys your community guys and as we begin laying this out next Sunday from 2:30 to 3:30 we'll be having a meeting in NPR if you've ever been a chatter leader small group leader if you've ever put together crafts whatever you need to be at this meeting we we really need to um get some information to you uh I hope that you sense excitement from us all of these guys U all of our staff Elders are behind what we're looking at doing um it's it's a positive thing we were looking at uh numbers and just so you know we give you an idea of what we were looking at as we're praying through uh this whole what are we doing as children's ministry develop Community uh over the last two years I've been here about a year and a half and I came in two years ago I first saw Cornerstone it was at kids camp and when Chuck was leading and then this past year we've had over 12200 children come through our vacation bible school and that's a great thing and and it's been an awesome week each week but out of those 12 1200 we've had less than 30 visitors and so um nothing you know really um alarming about that other than what is VBS really trying to accomplish and so we want to make sure this year as we bring Vacation Bible School to the community that we're giving every kid in SEI Valley an opportunity to connect with their friends from baseball from you know gymnastics or from music lessons or whatever there are so many opportunities for us to connect with our little friends and to bring them to our home instead of necessarily a church and so that's one of the things that we really hope to see accomplished next Sunday 2:30 to 3:30 NPR see you there." [00:2031:44]

"and if that's your desire then during the song as we're singing as a body man just come forward the community pastors up here to pray with you to baptize you um but let's stand and let's just let's just close with this last song." [00:2275:16]

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