The UNITY that is important to Christ

Intro—

• John 17 (vs.11, 20-21 here) 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...I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

• God is using this Campus Ministry to reach the lost souls of the Phoenix Valley and the world!

• We've grown so much in our unity—5 highlights

  • Household and dorm hospitality has stepped it up!

  • Radical Random Hangout times (football and games into the late evening)

  • Super Spiritually focused times

    • Quiet times

    • Evangelizing together

  • Incredible Encouragements

    • Appreciating one another

    • Teaming up to go on dates together

• I'm confident there is no doubt God is building this Campus Ministry!

• Ephesians 2: 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

• But the foundation of this Campus Ministry is still being laid!

• Tonight I want to talk about the foundational glue—that which "builds us together": The UNITY that is important to Christ

Body—

Main Text: Ephesians 4

1. Unity of the Spirit (read vs.1-3)

   1. Not man made unity—not formed by a special organizational structure

      1. Putting people in Bts can serve to many ends

      2. Not worldly unity—not clicks, "just who I get along with or what feels natural"

   2. Not feel good unity—not a unity just with those I feel good towards (vs.2 refutes that practice)

   3. Not a gimmick unity—not formed by slogans, creeds, hype of the time

      1. For example, we have a 4-fold focus as a ministry, but we're not unified because we have it, rather we have it because we are unified in Christ!

   4. Our unity is of the Spirit!

      1. The bond is so exceptional that its almost unexplainable

      2. The Bible's illustration of the Spirit—He moves like the wind, power felt but not seen

      3. Our unity is formed with a bond of peace that is done by the Holy Spirit!

2. Needing one another (read vs.11-16)

   1. Jesus allocates roles within His body where we best function together

   2. Just like the toe can't say to the foot, "I don't need you," we need to realize that we cannot function nearly the same without one another—we do need one another to mature, to grow, to glorify God!

   3. Rather, without one another we will not grow and glorify God!

   4. Really think about verse 16 and how you factor in as part of the body

3. Immunity (read vs.32)

   1. Noble thought: Forgive as Christ forgave you!

   2. You can't be forgiven if you will not forgive (Matthew 6:14-15)

      1. Oftentimes we can be blinded by our pride—I know from experience

      2. Believe it or not, we can think highly of ourselves in the way we're resolved with a person and yet still have an unforgiving attitude about them not being resolved.

4. Truth (sum up the parts because there are so many)

   1. vs.15 speaking the truth in love

      1. Two huge false assumptions that hurt truth-seeking and hurt unity:

         1. I'm surely being attacked! (and)

         2. I must always defend myself!

• Examples: Fred saying to Suzy, "Oh, look, there's a rare bird in our backyard!" Suzy snaps back, "I know, it's an oriole, you don't have to show off to me!"

• We can respond defensively in the most ridiculous situations, which shows our problem.
  

• Instead it is Christlike to practice responding in loving truth even if you are attacked.

1. I've done a whole lesson just on this point because it is so important to our unity

2. It is really an ongoing lesson—for me—on how to be a better disciple in communicating love over hostility

1. vs.17-19 "ignorance rule within" the ungodly—we can't let ignorance rule in us!

   1. I love this saying, "Be angry! But don't sin!"

2. vs.25-29 tells us to put away lying, falsehood, speaking unwholesome

   1. I know it is so easy to be conformed to the world in this way, but we need to be a spiritual ministry that fights the world off here!

3. vs.20-24 says the truth is in Jesus—in the new way of life He gives us!

5. You took off, You put on (read vs.20-24 emphasizing words took off, put on)

   1. We have a new life—re-created—to be like God in righteousness and holiness

      1. That says a lot about our unity—unity with God which brings radical unity with others!

   2. Starts with a new attitude in our your minds—

      1. In any particular situation that seems to challenge our relationships with others, a lot of times the bond of peace comes with surrender

      2. When by God's grace, we realize, "that was the old Peter, and now is the new Peter"

   3. Repentance is when change (from the inside-out) is taking place

      1. It is (by God's grace) our opportunity to take off the sin and put on Christlikeness

   4. We can practice this repentance when our apologizing includes something along these lines: "I'm sorry, that was wrong. It was something the past me would do. I want to change. Please pray for me and help me change for God."

Conclusion—

• Why is unity important to Christ?

  • Because being one as He and the Father are one:

    • Brings God glory (and)

    • It is how the world will know and believe in Him!

• God wants all of us in His Campus4Christ Ministry to continue to develop deeper convictions on becoming more unified

  • To know the glue that builds us together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit

  • Just like each of these points comes together to spell UNITY—These things and more come together to bring unity

  • Our Unity is the kind that is of the Spirit; our unity is based on having a Need for one-another; our unity also comes out of giving one-another Immunity; our unity comes from speaking the Truth in love; all this unity is yours because You've put off sin, and You have put on a Christlikeness!