One Voice Series

“ONE VOICE” Romans 15:1-7

FBCF – 10/26/25

Jon Daniels

INTRO – When I was an elementary-age & junior high-age kid, my best friend, Scot, & I would get on our bikes on any given Saturday morning & be gone all day. Our mamas didn’t know where we were & didn’t worry about us – we would just ride & ride & ride all over Cleveland. We would have a dollar or 2 in our pockets to stop at the “Handy Pantry” curb market (as my Daddy used to call a convenience store) & get a drink & some tater logs, then go ride some more.

One of the places we used to ride to was the KOINONIA (slide) Coffee House in downtown Cleveland – just a small store that had been turned into a place to stop & play some ping-pong & hang out for a little while. Would usually be a few college students in there playing some music. They’d have movie nights & concerts. Didn’t know what the word “koinonia” meant. Didn’t know that this coffee house was probably birthed out of the Jesus Movement of the late ‘60’s & early ‘70’s when many young people became disillusioned w/ the “sex, drugs, & rock & roll” culture of the day & began coming to faith in Jesus. Much of the music that you & I listen to on KLove was birthed out of the Jesus Movement.

Found out that the word “koinonia” is a pretty significant word when it comes to the life of a Christ-follower. We’ll take a look at it as we get further into this sermon.

EXPLANATION – Romans 15:1-7 (p. 949 – Refuge bulletin)

“Roamin’ Through Romans” – Where have we been?

- 1st 2 sermons – “What a Mess!” – pt 1 & 2

- “Access Granted” – the benefits of our salvation

- “Freed to be a Slave” – the oxymoron of our being set free to be a slave of God to serve Him

- Michael – Romans 8 – B/c of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we are made more than conquerors.

- The “IF” sermon – confess, believe, call

- Last week: we are marked by genuine love, zealous fervency, joyful expectancy, & generous hospitality.

Today’s sermon is a sermon for the group – will speak to us corporately, collectively, jointly. A sermon to the Church, the Body of Christ, the FAMILY of God. Today, I’m talking about US – together!

TV show came out few yrs ago – “The Is Us.” Vicki & I got hooked. “This is Us” could be the subtitle for this message. Leads to question: What does “US” look like?

This is a major topic not only in Paul’s writings but in the entire Bible. Our God is a relational God. And the Christian life is a relational life as He calls & requires us to rightly & biblically relate to one another w/in the Church.

Coming to faith in Christ & beginning that eternal relationship w/ Him is an intensely personal moment, even if it takes place in context of a large group of people such as happened in B’haven this week:

- 4-night evangelistic crusade held @ football stadium @ BHS – 10k total attendance – 3k last night – over 600 people saved!

The moment you confess, believe, & call on the name of Jesus instantly connects you in a forever relationship w/ Jesus. But it also instantly connects you in a forever relationship w/ every other Christ-follower in the world, & more specifically, w/ this body of believers called FBC Flora, if you’re a saved member here. This message is for you. If you’re a guest who is active in another church, this applies to you in that context. If you’re a guest who is considering becoming a member of FBCF, this will help you see what we consider to be a nonnegotiable aspect of membership in this church FAMILY. What is that nonnegotiable aspect? UNITY.

God has always been deeply concerned about the unity of His people. Back to word “koinonia” (slide) – “fellowship” – but more than punch & cookies or pizza parties or BBQ suppers (300+ Wed night). Certainly an aspect of fellowship. But it’s deeper than that. Can see it in the “one another” verses in the Bible:

- Romans 12:10 – “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”

- Romans 12:16 – “Live in harmony with one another.”

- Galatians 5:13 –“…through love serve one another.”

- Ephesians 4:32 – “…be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.”

- 1 Thessalonians 5:11 – “…encourage one another and build one another up…”

There are a lot of OT verses that speak to the “one another” aspect of our salvation. And Jesus prayed for unity in John 17 – v. 17 – “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” (NIV)