Unity Starts In The Heart Series

A. I’m excited to begin a new sermon series this morning – a series that I am calling “7 Ones Equal Unity” and will be based on Ephesians 4:4-6.

1. Over the years, I have preached many sermons using verses from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, including a sermon series on the entire letter back in 2002 – I’m sure you all vividly remember that series! Haha!

2. But I’ve never focused a series on the 7 Ones of Ephesians 4:4-6: There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (What a passage!!)

3. We will devote a sermon to each of the 7 Ones: Body, Spirit, Hope, Lord, Faith, Baptism, God.

4. But before we examine each of them, I want us to spend some time thinking about unity – what it looks like and how to achieve it and preserve it.

5. I also want us to look at the context of Ephesians 4:4-6 – It is never a good idea to lift verses out of their context, rather, Scripture should always be understood in context.

B. Let’s start with an acknowledgement that unity is not easy nor it is automatic.

1. Take a look at this cartoon of an announcement at church: “and the church unity workshop has been postponed until the deacons can agree on the date, time, and color of the participant’s name tags.”

a. Sounds like that church really needs a unity workshop!

2. Sadly, that’s way too close to reality – not just out there in the world, but in here in the church.

3. Far too many people have approached unity as uniformity, but that doesn’t work and it isn’t the kind of unity that God desires.

4. Here’s a saying that expresses that wrong kind of uniformity:

Believe as I believe, no more no less

That I am right and no one else, confess;

Feel as I feel, think as I think,

Eat as I eat and drink as I drink;

Look as I look, do as I do

Then I’ll have fellowship with you.

5. A better saying, although not a perfect one, expresses the kind of unity that God desires is this:

In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In all things, charity.

C. As we will learn during this sermon series, there are aspects of unity that require uniformity of doctrine and belief, but there is also a unity of spirit and purpose that is required for there to be unity.

1. It’s the kind of spirit and purpose that brings people together from diverse backgrounds and diverse positions to carry out the mission of God.

2. A good illustration of this kind of spirit of purpose is the way 130 artists came together to paint what is known as the Pantheon de la Guerre.

3. This painting was painted in France between 1914 and 1918 and was a gigantic panorama of the first world war.

4. The painting was 402 feet long and 45 feet high and it contained images of battlefields, flags, monuments and life-sized portraits of 6 thousand war heroes and leaders of 15 countries.

5. What an amazing undertaking and an incredible example of cooperation and single purpose.

6. The completed painting was displayed in Paris in a specially built building beginning in October of 1918 and was visited by 3 million people between 1918-1927.

7. Today, only about 7% of the original is still in existence, a large portion of what remains is a portion that emphasizes the United States contribution to WWI and can be seen in the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri.

8. This illustration reminds me of the importance of unity in the body of Christ and how all the individual parts of the body of Christ have to work together for the body to function properly and accomplish God’s mission which is much more important and lasting than a painting of WWI.

D. Now, let’s turn our attention to the context of Ephesians 4:4-6.

1. In Ephesians 4:1 Paul urges us Christians “to walk worthy of the calling we have received.”

2. “Walking worthy” does not mean that we should try to deserve our place in God’s favor, rather, it means that we should recognize how much our place in God’s favor deserves from us.

3. The focus is not on our worthiness, but on the worthiness of our calling.

E. If we look back in Ephesians chapters 1 through 3, then we can catch a glimpse of the amazing calling Paul was referring to.

1. 1:3 – God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.