Embracing Unity: Living Out Our Divine Calling

Paul urges us to live a life worthy of the calling we have received, emphasizing humility, gentleness, patience, and love. These virtues are essential for maintaining unity within the church, which is likened to a band where each member plays a unique part, contributing to a harmonious whole. Just as a band requires coordination and cooperation to produce beautiful music, the church requires unity and collaboration to fulfill its mission. [00:25:50]

Unity in the church is not a natural inclination for us, as we often prefer things our way. However, unity is a divine gift, established by the Holy Spirit, and our role is to protect and nurture it. This requires a commitment to common goals, such as making disciples and spreading the hope of Jesus. [00:39:24]

Paul's call to "make every effort" to maintain unity is a challenge to go beyond our comfort zones, to love deeply, and to act intentionally. This involves speaking and acting in love, as outlined in 1 Corinthians 13, and being intentional in building relationships. Unity is not just a concept but a lived experience, requiring effort and commitment. [00:42:29]

Imagine a church if you would where everybody just simply decided to do their own thing and the pastor or whoever is responsible for leading that church says all right let's go what happens chaos the same exact thing and so we'll take that same church and we'll have everybody in that congregation doing exactly the same thing pretty boring. [00:29:58]

The church today, the difference between the church in the first century with Jesus and the church nowadays, it's the same. There is nothing different from the church that we read about in the New Testament. There's absolutely nothing different from the book of Acts to Thousand Years Later to New Parish or any other Church in the world. [00:31:13]

Unity requires a shared commitment to the goals of making disciples and spreading the hope of Jesus. It is not about increasing church numbers but about strengthening the congregation and building God's kingdom. This shared mission unites us in purpose and action. [00:33:35]

Building unity involves intentional efforts to build relationships within the church. This means being deliberate in our interactions, ensuring that our actions and words reflect love and commitment to one another. Intentionality in relationships fosters a deeper sense of community and belonging. [00:48:11]

True unity is achieved through living out love as described in scripture, not based on our interpretations. This involves practicing love in a way that is sincere, deep, and from the heart, as outlined in 1 Corinthians 13 and 1 Peter. Love is the foundation of unity and the key to a thriving church community. [00:46:04]

Maintaining unity requires effort beyond our comfort zones. It involves making every effort to protect and nurture the unity of the Spirit, even when it is challenging. This commitment to unity is a testament to our faith and dedication to living out the teachings of Christ. [00:42:29]

The fruit of that is what everybody wants. All of society wants a place where they know that they have value, that they have worth, that they have meaning, that they're accepted. They all have that desire, and it's built into us. We live it, so we protect Unity by loving. [00:47:11]

Unity already exists. Everything that we need to have, everything that we need to know, everything that we need to be is already here because the Holy Spirit lives within us. You have everything that you could possibly need to walk in perfect harmony with everybody else in this room. [00:39:24]

Paul says protect it, do everything that you possibly can to protect it. I urge you live a life that's worthy of the calling you receive live a life worthy what he's talking about is this Jesus died for you make that sacrifice worth it please he did this for you he gave himself for you please make it worth the sacrifice. [00:41:51]