(# 358) Homecoming - There is More to Unity Than Meets the Eye
Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Welcome Home!
Let’s begin our homecoming with a song of welcome…
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
HOME Phillip Phillips
Thank you for coming! It’s a pleasure to see the members of the Barah Ministries congregation who are not resident intermingled here with the resident congregation. We are one. In unity. And to those who were unable to make it here this weekend, your presence is with us as well. We miss you. You are one with us as well. In unity. Through the generosity of our non-resident congregation, and as a result of your perseverance in studying the Word of God, you are the reason we exist as a ministry. Thank you for coming together to celebrate our unity and our love for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May this be a weekend of fellowship and food and frivolity as we turn our eyes and our ears to Christ…as we turn our eyes to the worship of our Almighty God…as we listen to what He has to say about UNITY.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON There is More to Unity Than Meets the Eye
Each of you is a gift to me. In Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verses 11 to 13, the apostle Paul introduces us to the idea of the UNITY OF THE FAITH…and Paul makes it clear that God gives gifted people to us for our benefit…
EPHESIANS 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers…
God’s purpose in giving us these gifted people?
EPHESIANS 4:12 …and He gave them for the purpose of the equipping of the saints (all believers in Christ) for the work of service…He gave them for the purpose of the building up of the body of Christ…
God gave us gifted people as gifts so we would get a ‘spiritual workout” … He gave us gifted people for our “equip-ment” …
EPHESIANS 4:13 …and we are to keep on being built up until we all attain to the UNITY OF THE FAITH, and until we all attain to the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God, and until we all attain to a mature man, and until we all attain to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
God gives us people as gifts…for the building up of the body of Christ… this unified entity…the body of Christ…so as to prepare the body of Christ for the work of service to the Head…who is Christ. What kind of service are we being built up for? Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verse 10…
EPHESIANS 2:10 For we believers in Christ are God the Father’s workmanship…created to be in union with Christ Jesus for the purpose of doing good works, which good works God the Father prepared beforehand so that we believers in Christ would walk in them.
We are here to do the work which God the Father gave us to do…the things He prepared for us to do in eternity past. Do you know what work God wants you to do? Well part of that work is you being here for me, and I thank you for doing what the Father is asking of you. He is asking you to do the work of UNITY. Welcome to a place where you can learn about UNITY and how important it is in your life.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
WE ARE ROYALTY June Murphy
Here’s June Murphy to welcome our spiritual royal family home to Barah Ministries…with a song she wrote…WE ARE ROYALTY.
OPENING PRAYER Let us pray...
We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…
Father, we offer up this time to You so that You can edify us in our gathering together…Your Name is holy and welcome and magnified in our hearts, Father…as members of the unity of the body of Christ, we praise You and we thank You for all You do for us, only a portion of which is obvious to us…thank you for the UNITY…something we have…not something we have to strive for…because our unity is from the source of You and therefore it is perfect…
Help us, Father to know that we are not to live on physical food alone, but on every Word that proceeds from Your mouth…teach us obedience…show us the importance of working together…of valuing each other more than we value ourselves…following the example of Your Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…help us to see our royal family members with new eyes as result of our time together this weekend…expecting nothing from them…harboring no grudge toward them in our hearts…but knowing that You fill each of us with everything we will ever need…and remind us that we have everything we need right now, not as a future event, including unity…because You always keep on making us adequate. Let us work together with understanding and compassion in our hearts…let us not be rude or arrogant toward one another…instead let us treat other as You treat us…with unconditional love and grace and forgiveness…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit, in Christ’s name…Amen.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON There is More to Unity Than Meets the Eye
The name Mike Krzyzewski may be familiar to you, even if you can’t pronounce it correctly. He is the coach of the Duke Blue Devils College Basketball Team. He is the winningest coach in the history of men’s division one college basketball with nearly 1050 wins, and five national championships on his resume. He is a great coach and a great person. What makes him a great coach in my view is that he is a great teacher.
When each new class of basketball recruits comes to Duke for the first time, Coach K, as he is affectionately called, gives them a quiz. He says this … “one player is good…are two players better than one player?” The recruits always enthusiastically answer that two players are better than one. Coach K frowns his disapproval at their answer. You see, the correct answer to the question, according to Coach K, is that two players are better than one only if the two play as if they are one. The Lord agrees…Genesis, Chapter 2, Verse 24…
GENESIS 2:24 For this reason (marriage) a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife…and the two shall become one flesh.
Unity.
Two operating as if they are one.
Unity.
Many operating as if they are one.
On the Great Seal of The United States of America…the words E PLURIBUS UNUM…the Latin expression that means, “From many, one.”
Unity.
It is a virtue from the source of God…Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 17…
SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in union Christ, and all believers in Christ are, he is a new creature…the old things passed away (things like disunity)…behold, new things have come (things like unity).
EN KRISTO IESU
The Greek words for IN CHRIST JESUS…unity…we believers in Christ are in union with Christ…we have a unity with the Supreme Being of the Universe from the moment of salvation…a unity with the Lord Jesus Christ that can never be taken away from us…a unity that will never end…a unity that cannot dissolve. First Corinthians, Chapter 12, Verses 12 and 13…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 12:12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body…so also is Christ.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 12:13 For by the agency of one…God the Holy Spirit…we believers in Christ were all baptized into one body…whether Jews or Greeks (no racial distinction) …whether slaves or free (no social distinction)…and we were all made to drink of one God, the Holy Spirit.
What does it mean to drink of God the Holy the Spirit? In John, Chapter 7, Verses 38 and 39, the Lord Jesus Christ explains it…
JOHN 7:38 “He who believes in Me (the Lord Jesus Christ), as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
The river is not a “what” … it’s a who. Who is the river of living water?
JOHN 7:39 …the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking of God the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in the Lord were to receive…for God the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Well now, God the Holy Spirit IS given…because Jesus is glorified…seated at the right hand of the throne of His Father…Ephesians, Chapter 1, Verses 13 and 14 say…
EPHESIANS 1:13 In union with Christ, you believers in Christ also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel message of your salvation—having also believed the gospel message, you were sealed in union with Christ by the agency of God the Holy Spirit of promise…
EPHESIANS 1:14 …who is given by God the Father to us believers in Christ as a pledge of our inheritance…with a view to the redemption of God the Father’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
As believers in Christ, at the moment of our salvation, by means of the baptism of God the Holy Spirit, we were SEALED…a signature guarantee of our current unity and our future blessings as a result of the unity.
Unity is not something for which we must strive…unity is not something we must attain…like so many things in the Christian Way of Living, UNITY it is something we have. God gives us a lot of opportunities to experience and to perfect unity...
CHANCES TO PERFECT UNITY
The Lord is The Head We believers in Christ are The Body UNITY
CHANCES TO PERFECT UNITY
The Husband is The Head The Wife is The Body UNITY
CHANCES TO PERFECT UNITY
Parents are The Head Children are The Body UNITY
CHANCES TO PERFECT UNITY
Government is The Head Citizens are The Body UNITY
CHANCES TO PERFECT UNITY
Coaches are The Head Players are The Body UNITY
I was thinking recently that I wish I had a piece of land on which I could build a church…and I wish I had architectural plans for what the church would look like…and I wish there were organizations in the world who would contribute to worthwhile causes and would provide the money to build a church…and then suddenly I realized that we have all those things. So there is really no need to wish for them. So it is with unity. Since we believers in Christ HAVE unity, there is really no reason to wish for it. We need simply to realize what we have and to take advantage of it. That’s why I am glad you are here. If only for a brief while it is my hope that we experience unity.
I encourage every one of you not to be discouraged when someone you love choses to abandon unity. Be true to yourself…require nothing from them…pray for them…realize that you cannot coerce another’s will to get unity…look around you and see all those whom you are in union with…and enjoy them to the fullest…be filled up by them to all the fullness of God…that is why we are here together this weekend…to be filled up with each other.
Satan keeps us looking at discouraging pictures of disunity…and it jades our viewpoint…the picture make us forget that we are in UNITY with a Body…and that we have a Head. God gives us these times to remind us of what we have so that we can enjoy it. When I hug each of you, I am hugging myself because you are a part of me. When I look at you I see myself because you are a part of me. You mean more to me than self means to me and I am so grateful to God that He has taught me that invaluable lesson.
Sometimes, because of the smallness of Barah Ministries, Satan shows me a picture that tells me my work is meaningless. I don’t believe him for a couple of reasons…one reason is that he is a liar and the father of all lies…the other reason is because if what I am doing were meaningless I wouldn’t be changing as I am. I feel myself growing. I feel myself changing. I see myself growing and changing. I see it in you as well.
Our unity is from THE SOURCE…and yes, it can be distorted…but it cannot be erased. Thanks be to our Almighty God for that. Psalm 133, Verse 1 says…
PSALM 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to dwell together in unity!
Let’s take a music break…and listen to a song about the great source of our UNITY…Almighty God…and let’s reflect on HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD as we listen to Chris Tomlin sing...
MUSIC BREAK HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD Chris Tomlin
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON There is More to Unity Than Meets the Eye
Let’s begin the next portion of our lesson by giving you a chance to make an offering…we need and we value your financial support to continue the work of this ministry…please welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
EPHESIANS 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling…//one Lord, one faith, one baptism…//one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
OFFERING FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE Dave McClure, Instrumental
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON There is More to Unity Than Meets the Eye
Welcome back!
If we are UNITY…there are some things, as believers in Christ, we must acknowledge that WE ARE NOT. And if we are to be single minded…then we must know clearly what WE ARE in Christ.
WE ARE NOT WE ARE
In union with Adam In union with Christ
Dead in Adam Alive in Christ
First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22 For as in Adam all die…so also in Christ all will be made alive.
WE ARE NOT WE ARE
The Natural Man The Spiritual Man
First Corinthians, Chapter 2, Verse 14…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Holy Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him…and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
WE ARE NOT WE ARE
Somethings Nothings
Spiritually Dead Spiritually Alive
John, Chapter 3, Verse 7…
JOHN 3:7 “Nicodemus…do not be amazed that I (the Lord Jesus Christ) said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
WE ARE NOT WE ARE
The Old Man The New Man
In the Flesh In the Spirit
Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 9…
ROMANS 8:9 However, you believers in Christ are not IN THE FLESH but instead you are IN THE SPIRIT, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, and it does. But if (for the sake of argument) anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ (indwelling), that person does not belong to Christ.
WE ARE NOT WE ARE
In the Domain of Darkness In the Kingdom of Light
First Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 9…
FIRST PETER 2:9 But you believers in Christ are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…
WE ARE NOT WE ARE
Hidden Manifest
Ephesians, Chapter 5, Verse 13…
EPHESIANS 5:13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.
WE ARE NOT WE ARE
Of the World In the Heavenlies
Philippians, Chapter 3, Verse 20…
PHILIPPIANS 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…
WE ARE NOT WE ARE
Guided by Self Guided by the Spirit
Galatians, Chapter 2, Verse 20…
GALATIANS 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ…and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives indwelling me…and the resurrection life that I now live in the flesh (in my body) I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me unconditionally and who gave Himself up for me.
WE ARE NOT WE ARE
Under the Sovereignty of Satan Under the Sovereignty of Christ
Condemned Saved
Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 1…
ROMANS 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.
What does our God have to say about this UNITY we own? Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verse 14…
EPHESIANS 2:14 For the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is our peace, who made both groups (Jews and Gentiles) into one group…and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall…
Galatians, Chapter 3, Verses 26 to 28…
GALATIANS 3:26 For you believers in Christ are all sons of God the Father through faith in Christ Jesus.
GALATIANS 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into union with Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
GALATIANS 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek (no racial distinction)…there is neither slave nor free man (no social distinction)…there is neither male nor female (no gender distinction)…for you are all one, in union with Christ Jesus.
First Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verse 10…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Colossians, Chapter 3, Verses 13 and 14… COLOSSIANS 3:13 …bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone…just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
COLOSSIANS 3:14 Beyond all these things put on unconditional love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
First Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 8…
FIRST PETER 3:8 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit…
Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verse 3…
EPHESIANS 4:3 …being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 6…
ROMANS 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another…do not be haughty in mind…but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
Good news…Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 5…
ROMANS 6:5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, and we have, certainly we shall also be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection…
The Lord’s prayer is a prayer for UNITY…John, Chapter 17, Verses 1 to 26…
JOHN 17:1 Jesus spoke these things…and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come…glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You…”|
JOHN 17:2 “…even as You gave Your Son authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.”
JOHN 17:3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
JOHN 17:4 “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”
JOHN 17:5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was (in eternity past).”
JOHN 17:6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world…they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.”
JOHN 17:7 “Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You…”
JOHN 17:8 “…for the words which You gave Me I have given to them…and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.”
JOHN 17: 9 “I ask on their behalf…I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours…”|
JOHN 17:10 “…and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine…and I have been glorified in them.”
JOHN 17:11 “I am no longer in the world…and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”
JOHN 17:12 “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me…and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”
JOHN 17:13 “But now I come to You…and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.”
JOHN 17:14 “I have given them Your Word…and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”
JOHN 17:15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”
JOHN 17:16 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”
JOHN 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth…Your word is truth.”
JOHN 17:18 “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”
JOHN 17:19 “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”
JOHN 17:20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word…”
JOHN 17:21 “…that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
JOHN 17:22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one…”
JOHN 17:23 “I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”
JOHN 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
JOHN 17:25 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me…”
JOHN 17:26 “…and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
So here’s the thing…if we already have unity…why strive for it. When we strive for what we already have, James describes it this way…
James, Chapter 1, Verse 8…
JAMES 1:8 …a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Since we can’t be two places at once how about if we try unity from now on? Unity only? Welcome! Let’s have a great and united weekend!
GOD WANTS YOU! Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life
It’s an easy decision to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ…you can do it anytime and anywhere…let’s see what happens in a prison in Acts, Chapter 16, Verses 25 to 34…
ACTS 16:25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them…
ACTS 16:26 …and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken…and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.
ACTS 16:27 When the jailer (a prison guard) awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
ACTS 16:28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”
ACTS 16:29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas…
ACTS 16:30 …and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
ACTS 16:31 And Paul and Silas said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
No works of any kind necessary…simply faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ… ACTS 16:32 And Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to the jailer together with all the people who were in his house.
ACTS 16:33 And the jailer took Paul and Silas that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.
ACTS 16:34 And the jailer brought Paul and Silas into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in THE God (the Lord Jesus Christ) with his whole household.
CLOSING SONG HE’S BEEN FAITHFUL June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION
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