This Is What We Do: We Protect Unity!
Pastor Clark Pfaff

Key Point: God calls us to be united.

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!(Psalm 133:1, NIV)
 

20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. (John 17:20-23, NLT)

Key Point: What is unity?

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  (Ephesians 4:3, NIV)

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.(1 Corinthians 12:13, ESV)

…equip the people until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God... (Ephesians 4:13b, NIV)

then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.(Philippians 2:2, NIV)
 

Key Point: We protect our unity by:

a. By acting in love.

1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  (Ephesians 4:1-3, NIV)

b. By refusing to gossip.

7 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.  7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.  (James 3:7-9, NLT)

c. By forgiving one another.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.(Colossians 3:12-14, NIV)

d. By following the leadership.

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13, NIV)