Unity Equals, "Unlimited Possibilities"
Ephesians 4:1-5 NKJ
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you[a] all.
Paul said, I beseech you, to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, This was not a general letter to be posted for unbelievers to read.Paul was speaking directly to those who called themselves, Christians
Illus
A little 5-year-old boy one day was playing with his 2-year-old brother when the 2 year old reached up and yanked his older brother’s hair. He screamed in pain, and his mother came rushing in. He cried and said that his younger brother had pulled his hair. His mom said, “Well, he’s only 2 years old and he doesn’t know what its like to have his hair pulled.” The mom left and seconds later she heard a scream from the bedroom, but this time it was the 2 year old screaming in pain. She rushed in and asked what had happened, to which the 5 year old explained, “You said he didn’t know what it felt like, well now he does.”
How many of you realize, you didn't choose God, how many of you are aware, that He chose you?
The Holy Spirit, gently called you to salvation and to a life long walk with the One who created you.
If you never realized that you were called before, now you do! And I want you to realize how special you are and how much God loves you today
I also want you to know, that we haven't been called for a solo career, to be glory stealers, we have been called to work together for the Glory of God!
For one day we will receive our reward, when we lay our crowns and trophies at Jesus feet and believe me, it will mean much more then, than it does in the here and now! Amen?
We have an incredible opportunity before us as a body of believers.
This morning I want to talk about the power of unity and the opportunity that stands wide open before us.
We have asked, we have believed, we have prayed, we have questioned about the harvest of souls, we would all like to see come into our church.
Up until this point, we have done all those things individually,
but not collectively and as a unified body of believers.
Unity defined:
1. The state or quality of being one; singleness.
2. The state or quality of being in accord; harmony.
3. The combination or arrangement of parts into a whole; unification.
4. Singleness or constancy of purpose or action; continuity: "In an army you need unity of purpose"
In Gods army, you need the same thing, there is strength in unity!
Ecclesiastes 4:12 NKJ
12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Just how much strength, TBS. enough to where, nothing would be impossible to achieve,
This is what can happen when there is unity as a common thread,
Have you ever heard of the Tower of Babel?
Genesis 11:4-7 NASB
4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech
Everything that has ever been achieved and considered great through out all of history, has had unity involved and as one of the main ingredients, through the process!
Acts 2:1-4 NKJ
1. When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord[a] in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Notice, they were all, everyone of them with one accord, and they had been there for quite some time, 120 days, unified with the same purpose in mind, they were all striving and praying, everybody had the same purpose, they all wanted the same thing,
They were without a doubt, unified in their objective and when the Holy Ghost fell that day, how many did He fall on?
All, All of them, Praise God!
The Holy Spirit, fell on every single one of them, the results sent shock waves around the world, that are still being felt today!
When the Pilgrims came across the ocean on the Mayflower, they had unity, they were united together with a specific goal in mind, it had taken decades and decades of preparation, just to get to that point.
They wanted to be free to worship God the way they wanted to worship Him and because of that Spirit of Unity, we are still enjoying the benefits today of the freedom of religion, they so desperately desired.
If we come together and pray about a specific objective, like the building up of His Church and the building up of His Kingdom, in a unified manner, as a unified body of believers,
He will reward us in the same way, He will pour out His Blessing on all of our efforts and will not hold anything back from us, not only in our lifetimes, but the reward will be for all of eternity. Amen?
Psalms 84:11 NKJ
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
And just in case you have forgotten the definition of Grace, I thought I would remind you today,
this is how Google defines it; (in Christian belief)
the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.
If we are willing to do what God asks us to do, we can expect there to be a harvest, a harvest we cant even begin to imagine!
Right now, imagine the greatest harvest that you can imagine, I want you to know, it fails in comparison as to what God wants and longs to do!
Acts 2:46,47 MSG
They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.
They were all, unified in the cause and the effects were amazing! Praise God!
Should we expect less, we'll should we, if we are willing to do the same?
To come together unified in prayer and praise
and be willing to commit to it and expect the uncommon results,
that only God is able to deliver, until we see it come to fruition.
If we are, His word says, He stands ready to deliver!
This sermon is for such a time as this! This is not a word that somebody else, or so and so ought to hear,
this is not a time, to be thinking about whats for lunch, or the pain in your back, or about whats going to happen tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself!
This is a word for those who are here today, you are not here by accident, this is a divine appointment in the making!
This is a word, if we're ever going to grow and grow the way I believe God wants us to grow and impact our community, that we need to apply to our lives today.
Status quo, should be a word and a frame of mind, that is never accepted or settled for in life, or in the church!
We like to read and to hear about,
all the great outpourings of the Holy Spirit
Especially what happened at the Azusa street Revival
The common thread of all of them, just like on the day of Pentecost, was and still is unity,
they were tired of the way things were, they came together in unity and sought more of God and God honored their requests!
Historical accounts read, that they all prayed and fasted for as long as it took and the windows of Heaven opened and the power of God fell and reverberated around the world.
Illus. In Bartleman’s words, ‘What really happened at Azusa Street’ he states, “ Suddenly the Spirit would fall upon the congregation. God himself would give the altar call. Men would fall all over the house, like the slain in battle, or rush for the altar en masse to seek God. The scene often resembled a forest of fallen trees…. Some claim to have seen the (shekinah) glory by night over the building.”
Azusa street happened in April of 1906, over 107 years ago and people are still talking about today, still wanting to experience it!
God is not, nor has He ever been a respecter of persons,
Where these people of affluent means, no....they just wanted more of God!
Illus. Two men were riding a bicycle built for two when they came to a big steep hill. It took a great deal of struggle for the men to complete what proved to be a very stiff climb. When they got to the top the man in front turned to the other and said, "Boy, that sure was a hard climb." The fellow in back replied, "Yes, and if I hadn’t kept the brakes on all the way we would certainly have rolled down backwards."
What God has done down the ages for others, He will do not just for some of us, but for all of us, if we humble ourselves, pray and call on His name unified together, until the Power falls!
Ephesians 1:19-20 NKJ
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
If we will come together in unity, the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the grave, we can all experience and have working in our lives
And the best part is, it's transferable power and it's our job to help transfer it, to a lost and dying world!
We have an awesome opportunity ahead of us and unified together, with the resurrection power that God has already, not one day He might make available, but has already made available to us. Praise God!
There is nothing, I repeat nothing, that we can't accomplish, for His Kingdom!
Look around you, those aren't empty seats that you see this morning, those are overflow seating for what God is about ready to do and is doing right now in our midst,
Won't you stand with me, stand united together an make a vow, to pray and praise God for what's getting ready happen in this place, until it comes to fruition!
It's time to quit wishing we had more people in the church and trust God together for the breakthrough He wants and longs to pour out in this place.
If that's you this morning, then I want you to come and stand united and agree to fervently seek the face of God,
With all your heart, mind and soul.... until the impossible becomes possible
And be a part of something miraculous
Come now, as we sing
