Can We Have Some Harmony In This House? Series

CAN WE HAVE SOME HARMONY IN THIS HOUSE?

Ephesians 4.1-3

S: Unity

Th: Our Time, Our Turn, Our All

Pr: DILIGENTLY WORK FOR UNITY.

I. HUMILITY

II. MEEKNESS

III. PATIENCE

IV. LOVE

PA: How is the change to be observed?

• Lift Christ up.

• Have excellent relationships.

• Live unity.

Version: ESV

RMBC 3 May 09 AM

INTRODUCTION:

ILL Family (H)

A man arrived home from work one afternoon to find his son sitting on the front steps with his face in his hands. It was obvious that something was bothering the boy so the man asked him what was wrong.

The boy looked up and said, “Well, just between us, dad, I’m having trouble getting along with your wife.”

It is this type of situation that inspired the title of the message this morning.

Have you ever just sat down after a difficult time and just wished for some harmony in the house?

I am sure that many of us have some nightmare of stories of family turmoil as we were trying to get out of the house to get to church on time (or just get to church for that matter).

What we really want is everyone to just cooperate.

We just want peace.

You know, there is nothing wrong with that.

We all love peace !

It is because God has designed us for peace.

He has designed us for wholeness.

He has designed us to get along well with each other.

So, don’t you wonder why it doesn’t happen this way more often?

You know, as a church, we too are a family.

And yet, we struggle with factitiousness.

We struggle getting on the same page.

We want our own way.

We can really get passionate about it.

And instead of finding the common ground we share, we fight for what we think is right.

My concern here is not something that is made up, but comes out of a study of the history of our church, and certainly my own experience.

This is why this concept is a part of our prayer action plan, which I have been affectionately calling…

PRACT

This made up word “pract” is the combination of two words – pray and act.

These are matters that we must diligently pray on.

But we don’t stop there.

We must act on them as well.

Renouncement: We renounce an oppositional spirit.

I don’t want to sit here too long, and I shared my concern about this a few weeks ago.

But let me say that it is rare that when we have or try anything new that we don’t get some push back that is unkind in nature.

It seems the one thing we can count on is resistance.

There is a general attitude of “leave it alone; we like it the way it is.”

It is like when we first started using the screen.

We had so many complaints, we stopped using it.

Not because we thought the complaints were correct or valid, but because we were so discouraged.

It is in this type of thing that we need a change – a heart change.

This is why we make this…

Announcement: We announce a spirit of unity and cooperation in Christ.

What this does not mean is uniformity.

We are not asking everybody to be the same.

Neither are we saying that church leadership should just be blindly followed and never questioned.

There is room and need for dialogue and resolution.

But if we really believe in unity, we will understand that…

You need me.

I need you.

We need each other.

With this in mind we state our…

Affirmation: We affirm that God desires unity, and that love is the perfect bond of unity.

You know when we will get unity right?

When we get love right.

So, when we do not demonstrate unity in our midst, you know what it shows.

It shows we are not practicing agape love.

That is why our prayer action plan makes this…

Commitment: We will diligently work to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

As we come to our Scripture in Ephesians 4, I want to remind you that God cares on how we conduct ourselves individually.

But note this, He cares even more on how we do it in the context of the church.

Let’s read the passage together…

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Note this…

Unity has already been given to us.

The unity of the Spirit already exists.

The hard work of unity has already been accomplished through the cross.