“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)
APPLICATION – Every Christ-follower must intentionally pursue unity in the Church.
“Apart from outright sin, nothing shatters the fellowship, the spiritual growth, & the witness of a congregation so much as disharmony [disunity] among its members.” (MacArthur) – That’s why we’ve got to fight for unity, work hard on unity, stay focused on unity, prioritize unity. When the Church is walking in unity, it will be obvious. This is what you’ll see:
WE will bear with & build up – v. 1-2 – There is one thing that many people in the world excel in – tearing other people down. There’s not a lot of bearing with & building up out in the world. But there is a lot of piling on & tearing down in our world. Social media makes it easy to do that. Bullying – both in person & online – is rampant in our world today, starting w/ elementary-age kids doing it all the way through adults who are acting as immature as an 6 y/o. Beautiful 10 y/o 4th grade girl in VA committed suicide back in March of this year.
The Church MUST be a place of zero tolerance for anything that even closely resembles bullying & tearing others down in any way, shape, or form. We must not look anything like the world in this regard. We MUST be better than that & grow in maturity in our relationships w/in the church. The call of Christ for the Church is to bear with others in their weaknesses & build them up. It means that we are to unselfishly come alongside others in their times of weakness & help carry their burden w/ them. It means that we actively look for ways that we can edify & encourage others who are in this very room today or in your Life Group.
- Who cares if they make more $ than you, drive a nicer vehicle than you, have a bigger house than you, have a better job than you, have a different skin color than you?
- Who cares if their kid goes to a different school than yours, is a better or worse athlete or musician than yours, wins more or less academic awards than yours?
The call for the church is to bear with one another & build up one another – PERIOD!
WE will endure & encourage – v. 4-5 – Endurance, perseverance, staying the course – all speak to the Christian life. Living in this fallen world means that we will all encounter hard times, trials, & difficulties that will test us, strengthen us, & deepen us in maturity. These hard times are not easy, but are necessary, & are being experienced right now by you & every other person in this room in some form. We are going through these times TOGETHER.
- The 24-hour Le Mans car race in France is most famous endurance race in the world. Teams of 3 drivers drive their cars at speeds of 200-250 mph for 24 hours. “When you begin a race, you must finish it, no matter what types of obstacles arise.”
Like those drivers in the Le Mans race, we are in this race TOGETHER! We are racing together, headed toward the finish line together, victoriously completing the race together! Which is why “the God of endurance & encouragement” tells us that “through the encouragement of the Scriptures we have HOPE!” And what is OUR hope? That Jesus is coming again SOON! CeCe Winans sings these words:
Sometimes I fall to my knees and pray, Come, Jesus, come
Let today be the day
Sometimes I feel like I'm gonna break, But I'm holding on
To a hope that won't fade
Come, Jesus, come, We've been waiting so long
For the day You return To heal every hurt and right every wrong
We need You right now, Come and turn this around
Deep down I know this world isn't home, Come, Jesus, come
WE will worship with one heart & one voice – v. 6 – Look at these words in v. 6: “together” “one voice” “glorify” – So rich! – “together” means “in one accord” or “one mind” – Like different musical notes combining into one beautiful chord. “glorify” – Gk word acutally directed to a group of people – literally “YALL give glory to God!”
We worship the one, true God w/ one heart & one voice proclaiming one message that there is only one way to heaven, & that’s through the one & only, one-of-a-kind Son of God, Jesus Christ!
WE will welcome as we’ve been welcomed – v. 7 – What an incredible thought! – WE HAVE BEEN WELCOMED BY CHRIST! Who did Jesus welcome into His presence when He was here? He welcomed the most broken, wretched, hated sinners of society – prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, blind, sick, demon-possessed people, adulterous women, children, hungry people, Pharisees who were seeking the truth, the “multitudes who were harassed & helpless, like sheep w/out a shepherd.”
How did He welcome them? In love, compassion, gentleness – with the truth that would change their lives forever – Luke 5:31-32 – “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”
The Church – THIS Church – must be the church that screams to the world, “YOU ARE WELCOME HERE!” Vision Statement: “First Baptist Flora is making much of Jesus by being a people & a place of GRACE where anyone can meet Jesus & grow in their relationship with Him.”
CONCLUSION – All of the sermon points were directed to the church as a whole:
- WE will bear with & build up
- …endure & encourage
- …worship w/ one heart & one voice
- …welcome as we’ve been welcomed
But for the “WE” to be all that God desires for us to be – in unity – YOU & I individually must make a decision to pursue unity in the Church. What do YOU need to do today to make sure the Church is living & walking in unity today? What changes do YOU need to make?
