Harmony In Church

Text: I Peter 3:8-12

Thesis: harmony in God's church is attained through a purposed expression of love one to another

I. Express Love For Your Companions

-verse 8...finally all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart and a humble mind

a. evidence of love is unity of mind
b. evidence of love is compassion for one another
c. evidence of love is pity for one another

II. Express Love For Your Challengers

-verse 9...do not repay evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing
-Peter said that if you are going to have harmony in the church, we all must learn how to love our enemies
-opposition to the believer is like a head wind is to an airplane...it will allow the believer to fly higher than ever before

III. Express Love For Your Core

-verses 10-12 Peter explains that a harmonious church is a church that loves life itself
-impending persecution should never cause a child of God to give up on life

a. calculated act...verse 10 - whoever desires to love life and see good days
b. controlled act...verse 10 - let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit
c. capable act...verse 11 - let him turn away from evil and do good
d. calm act...verse 11 - let him seek peace and pursue it

-verse 12 tells us that there is a reward for loving your brothers and sisters, your enemies and life itself...the eyes of the Lord is on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers
-pitfalls for failing to express love is...the face of the Lord is against those who do evil

Sunday Stuff

I was back in the pulpit of the First Mount Zion Church today, and it was real good to be back home. I was really looking forward to being in worship at FMZBC today, and I was equally excited about preaching today. We are winding up our Unity Month and the Lord has begun to show some signs that His Word is beginning to penetrate the hearts of the people of God.

I am not a preacher who engages in false ideas of what kind of church that I have. I am not one of those Pastors who stand around in the Exhibit Hall of the Convention, with a suit on at 11 AM, walking around telling lies about what kind of church I Pastor, because somebody will eventually come to your church and they will see the real church. Having said that, when I followed the leading of the Lord to engage our congregation in a unity month, I was concerned whether or not the people would really listen to what God told me to do and follow. But today one of my senior members came up to me before worship and told me that I had a misprint on the list of scriptures that I gave them to read every day on unity. She not only told me of a misprint, but she also had the correct scripture that she was certain I meant to put in there. That really made my day and showed me that if I am faithful to the Lord, he will keep giving signs that shows that I am doing the right things.

I concluded our series on unity entitled An Open Door Towards A Brighter Tomorrow, with an exposition on I Peter 3:8-12 which I tagged Harmony in Church. Peter writes this letter to Jewish Christians as a word of encouragement for the suffering that they received simply because they were follows of Jesus Christ. He gives suffering saints assurance that because they are joint heirs with Jesus in suffering, their suffering will be transformed to glory. Chapter 2 tells us that slaves can be witnesses of Christ in a hostile world. The first 7 verses of Chapter 3 tells us that spouses can be witnesses of Christ in a hostile world. Verses 8-12 tells us that the saints can be witnesses of Christ in a hostile world. He opens verse 8 by saying finally all of you live in harmony. This word harmony in the Greek means to be in total agreement. If God's church is going to be effective in ministry, the church must walk in total agreement one with another. The only way that can be accomplished is for each member to fill the church with an expression of love one to another. Love will cover a multitude of faults.

Worship was outstanding. I will post the outline for the message tomorrow.

A Divided House Will Not Stand

Text: I Corinthians 1:10

Thesis: A church expresses true unity when they make an intended effort to make the main thing the main thing

I. Express Parallel Articulation

-verse 10...I appeal to you brothers by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you
-a unified house is united in speech

II. Express Parallel Attention

-verse 10...but that you be united in the same mind
-a unified house is united in thought

III. Express Parallel Aim

-verse 10...and the same judgment
-a unified house is united in focus

The Blessedness of Christian Unity

We began our series during our Month of Unity, which I tagged the entires series, Unity: An Open Door Towards A Brighter Tomorrow, with our look at one of the most famous verses in scripture on unity housed in the great book of Psalms, 133:1-3. I found this song interesting in that David was able to talk about brothers expressing unity one with another, when David's family had a history of not being united. But David understood that unity among God's people was essential for service. It is a blessing when God's people stick together. Here is the sermon outline:

Text: Psalms 133:1-3

Thesis: our willingness as children of God to walk together in unity, pleases God and activates the rich blessings of God on our lives

I. Sanctification of Christian Unity

-verse 2...it is like the precious oil on the head running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes
-unity of the people of God is like precious oil that was used to consecrate the high priest to set aside for service

II. Strengthening of Christian Unity

-verse 3...it is like the dew of Hermon which falls on the mountains of Zion
-God uses unity to refresh his people and keep them from withering away

III. Subsidy of Christian Unity

-verse 3...for there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore
-subsidy means reward
-whenever God's people stick together they are rewarded with life forevermore

Unity Month

Today our church is beginning an effort designed to bring about a more unified congregation in order for us to fulfill the vision that God has provided for us. This focus of this month is Unity: An Open Door Towards A Brighter Tomorrow, with our key scripture is Ephesians 4:1-4. We are fasting together every Wednesday from 6 to 6, and I am really excited about what I believe to be the genesis of our church becoming a great people.

I truly get excited when God blesses my friends to have great ministries. I was overjoyed when HB Charles Jr. became the new pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Church in Jacksonville, FL, like it was me getting blessed. I felt the same way when I found out that the congregation that HB moved from in Los Angeles, Mt. Sinai Church, has quickly selected a new leader in George Hurtt, who will do an outstanding job at that branch of Zion. When I look at all of my blogging friends and how awesome their churches and ministries have been blessed by God, I really get excited. I quote HB by saying I am praying that God will bless my friends big and bless them quick, so that when they get blessed they will get out of the line, and that only makes me closer to get what God has for me.

This month of prayer and focusing on the Word for unity, I believe, will catapult our congregation to heights never seen before. I solicit your prayers for us as we venture into unchartered territory towards a brighter tomorrow. Please pray for my strength to stand boldly and be the leader of men that God has called me to be.