Unity

1. To go deeper, read through Ephesians 1-3. What has God done for us

   
   

   according to these chapters?

2. We have oneness in Christ, but will we keep it? This is Jesus’ desire for his

   
   

   people, that they would be one as He is one with the Father (Jn. 17:21-23).

3. Living worthy of our calling requires humility and gentleness (4:2). These

   
   

   are closely tied together. Read 1 Peter 5:5; Gal. 5:23; 6:1; 2 Tim. 2:25.

   
   

   What do these passages teach us about humility and gentleness? How can

   
   

   you grow in humility and gentleness this week?

4. Living worthy of our calling also requires patience (4:2). Read Romans

   
   

   2:4; Gal. 5:22-23; 1 Cor. 13:4; Col. 3:12; 1 Thess. 5:14; 2 Tim. 4:2. What

   
   

   do these passages teach us about patience? How can you grow in patience

   
   

   this week?

5. Read 1 Peter 1:22; 2:17; 3:8; 4:8. How are we to bear with one another

   
   

   in love? What will you do this week to bear with others in love?

6. R. Kent Hughes says, “a peacemaker is willing to risk pain. Anytime one

   
   

   attempts to bring peace societally or personally, he risks

   
   

   misunderstanding and failure. If we have been wrong, there is the pain of

   
   

   apologizing. Or we may have to endure the equally difficult pain of

   
   

   rebuking another. It is so much easier (we think) to let things slide, but

   
   

   that is not the way of the peacemaker.”

7. Benjamin Merkle says, “each member (of the body of Christ) ought to be

   
   

   a contributor and participant in that unity through his use of the gifts given

   
   

   to him.” How are you using your gifts at Community Church? Don’t know

   
   

   your gifts? Take our Spiritual Gifts survey on our website: spiritualgifts.ccfdl.org/quiz

Read Hebrews 5:12-6:1. In what ways do you need to grow in maturity as a Christian? What steps will you take this week to become more mature?

5 Ways to Destroy Church Unity by Mike Livingstone

1. Making everything about youReality check: The church doesn’t exist to make you (or me) happy; it existsto glorify God. The way to maintain unity is to think of others as moreimportant than yourself and to make the mission of seeing lives changed bythe gospel as more important than personal preferences or comfort. It’s notabout you, or about me.

2. Fighting over secondary thingsWe argue and fight in the church over needless things — things that, from aheavenly perspective, don’t really matter all that much. Like #1 above,arguing over secondary things is an indication of self-centeredness. What’srequired for maintaining unity is less “self” and more “centeredness” on whatreally matters. Or like Richard Baxter said: “In necessary things, unity; indoubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity.”3. GossipingThere’s a reason James said the tongue is a fire (James 3:6). Consider thedamage it can do to a church. Gossip and other sins of the tongue haveabsolutely no place in the body of Christ. None. Gossip is a cancer in thebody of Christ that, if not removed, will destroy the fellowship. The problemof gossip is a problem of the heart, and so the correction needs to happen inthe deepest recesses of the heart. A heart problem isn’t corrected by aresolve to hold your tongue. It takes nothing less than the Holy Spiritchanging attitudes, leading to genuine repentance, which then opens theway for unity to be restored.4. Refusing to forgiveBitterness and resentment are poisons. Unforgiveness poisons the soul andit poisons the body of Christ. The church is, by nature, a fellowship rootedin forgiveness. What does that mean, practically speaking? 17th-centuryPuritan Thomas Watson said forgiveness looks like this: you don’t seekrevenge when someone offends you, you wish him well, you grieve athis calamities, you pray for him, you seek reconciliation, and show yourselfwilling to come to his aid. That’s what forgiveness looks like, and that’s whatit takes to maintain unity.5. Taking our eyes off JesusThis last one is the most insidious of all the threats to church harmony.In The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer wrote: “Has it ever occurred to you thatone hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned toeach other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but toanother standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundredworshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heartnearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closerfellowship.” It’s time for a tuning, don’t you think?“Live in harmony with one another.”