Introduction Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just…

To practice a faith that seeks unity marked by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The Body of Christ Paul wanted the church to know, to be informed, not to be ignorant (1Cor12:1) about the unity of the body that comes from the diversity of gifts within the body. Today we will look at his analogy and take a look at some of the gifts and set up for the bond that holds the gifts together.…

In Ephesians 4 Paul starts to explain how all the amazing truths he has shared up to now translate into everyday life for the Christian. He starts by showing how the church is both unified and diverse, and how we need humility, love, patience and respect for both one another and the different gifts God gives each of us to grow into mature children of God.

Advent Week 4

Launch: Summit Like a Sherpa Jeff Jones, Senior Pastor November 2/4, 2007 Acts 10:1-46; Acts 11:2-3, 18 Everest Bumper Introduction Today we continue our series on the book of Acts called Launch, how God helped that church take off and how we too both as a church and as believers fly the mission God…

God created the church to have unity with diversity. In Romans 14, Paul instructs Christians how to value unity over personal preferences.

Equipping disciples for ministry Our series as you know by now is based of (Eph5:11-16). To help the church know the important work and the function of the body in the work of ministry (service). Our theme passage 11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some…

Ministry of the Holy Spirit As we grow in Christ we learn to mature through knowledge and appreciation of our God. We grow when we understand the body of Christ (the church) and it’s function personally but more importantly as a unified body through the Holy Spirit. Question: When you think of transformed,…

Many Christians only associate the word worship with musical styles and preferences. However, Scripture gives us a different set of priorities when it comes to the way we respond to God. In this series we’ll look at what it means to worship God rightly, both as individuals and in our corporate gatherings.

There are many conflicting views even within our Christian faith. We explore the question on how this impacts our unity under Christ.

Unity in Diversity in Community 4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox. “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,...” “I hate people.” People make things messy. This proverb is an Metaphor We are the Oxen. Irritable, fat headed, & messy…

Christ's concern for Martha's resentment

The church is made up of people we may not always get along with or agree with--but that is God's design and He uses it for our good. Despite our differences, the Holy Spirit unites us and works in our hearts and communities for our good and His glory.

We must rediscover Holy Spirit empowered unity in the body of Christ through an appreciation for the diversity of gifts he gives to each individual.

After commending the unity of the Church as a primary response to the truth of the Gospel, Paul then turns to the diversity of the Church as each receives grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. So there is grace lavished upon all of us in salvation and grace measured to each of us for service. Both the unity and diversity of the Church are based in the corresponding unity and diversity of our Triune Godhead. The doctrine of Spiritual gifts explains much in how the Church functions.

Paul describes the church as one body with many members. Each member has something different to contribute to the whole, but without all of those different members the church would not be complete. How can we contribute our gifts to the church? Can we embrace diversity in the church and in our lives?

12 For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 So the body is not one part…

By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ church must reject ghetto living and persevere in pursuing reconciliation.

We cannot truly listen to, act or love all of God’s children if we do not also affirm how God sees all of us. And through affirming one another in all our fullness, God becomes more fully revealed to and known by us.

Love One Another Who is your neighbor? It’s anyone who has been in your place. Which is everyone, because we all need to move in to God’s Neighborhood of grace. May the orphans be embraced. May the lonely be loved. May the races be restored and may we empower the poor. - David Bowden Matthew centralizes…

Christianity was a revolutionary idea at the time of Christ. Christ changed everything, both in the 1st century but for us in our worldstoday.

What does the "average Christian" look like? Listen / watch to discover God's beautiful plan for a diverse, yet unified new people!