In Your
Bible Read This
John 17, Acts 10
Here Is
Your Memory Verse
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to
one hope
when you were called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God
and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4,4-6.
Afterwards
Talk About This
Examine your hearts for prejudice, pre-conceived ideas and
traditions
and confess and repent for who you have been considering unclean,
that God has cleansed. Who is Cornelius in your area?
Something
To Do Before Next Time
This week visit Cornelius, as many pastors,
priests and people
from other churches as you can to encourage them.
Written
Diploma Work
On one page propose what might be done in your area that
people might believe through our oneness.
Meditate
Word By Word On This Verse
Ephesians 4.3
- Spend
a Minute to Change the World
- Pray For Colombia - 35,000,000
Spanish speakers
- 93% Catholic, 3.1%
Evangelicals, notorious for drugs and violence
- Significant church
growth
-
Be sure to
teach this lesson to others.
-
Always pray
and prepare well adding
-
your own verses and stories to
bring it to life.
1. Will Jesus
Prayer Be Answered?
Jesus prayed that we might
be one as God is One, although three very different persons are
united in that Oneness. God also intends his flock also to be one
in its rich diversity, under one Shepherd. There is no greater
source of public ridicule than our church divisions, and no more
popular excuse for ignoring the gospel. People generally have
little problem with God but the way we represent him can be
scandalous. John 17.11; 21,22; 10.16.
Is Your Evangelism
Working?
We spend huge amounts of money on mission but give little
attention to the most effective evangelistic strategy of all.
John 17,21-23 and John 13,34-35.
2. The Promise Of Being
One
Increased Anointing
And Provision
1 Chron. 12, 38-39, 2 Samuel 2,4 when David and the
mighty men became one.
Commanded Blessing
Mount Zion is a dry, dusty place but when brothers are
one it is as if Zion enjoys the daily life giving water that
Mount Hermon is famous for. The oil of healing and anointing
flows from the head to the whole body. Psalm 133
Why Do We Prefer To
Be Cursed?
Such blessing is impossible while we insist on so many
separate denomin-ations each with its own churches, colleges,
agendas and missions. Denominationalism is utterly opposed to
Jesus prayer, and builds walls of prejudice perpetuated
by generations of exclusive clergy. Every enthusiast for it
is disloyal to Gods heart.
3. Why Does This Happen?
Fallen People
We have to understand that even Christians have selfish,
competitive ambitions that lust for power and personal
empires unless restrained.
Satanic Strategy
Satan joined the Church long ago, to work on the inside
rather than simply attacking from the outside. Luke 11.17.
We Build Walls Not
Foundations
Remember this word: AIDS - for unity.
A is for absolutes,
I for interpretations,
D is for doctrines and
S for subjectives.
When we focus on our Absolutes
such as Gods existence, mans sin, Christ as
Saviour and eternal life we are very much one with each other.
Absolutes are common ground especially when we face false
religions together.
But when we continually
preach our own Interpretations of a verse, or our own Doctrines
from a series of verses, or worse if we insist on our own
cultural or Subjective feelings then we rapidly build
walls that divide us.
4. Becoming One
Thank God that in many
parts of the world a new and fresh wind from God is blowing. What
can we do to help bring healing to Christs broken and
divided body?
Repentance
Famous thinker George Bernard Shaw once asked, "What
is wrong with the world?" He answered his own question,
saying, " I am." The difference between two words
UNITED and UNTIED is only the position of one letter, the
letter I. The answer always starts with me and my position
towards you.
Guard What God Has
Given
Ephesians 4.3 tells us to keep the unity of the Spirit in
peace. To keep something implies that it already exists, so
we are more united than we think, although many things
challenge this. Unity of the Spirit is the unity that the
Holy Spirit brings, not manufactured uniformity of either
doctrine, culture, lifestyle or worship.
Confess Personal
Prejudice
In Acts 10, 9-16, God shows Peter in a vision a zoo
coming down from heaven in a sheet. "Get up Peter, kill
and eat." "Surely not, Lord," says Peter the
Jew. "You have got it wrong, I know the rules of my
religion and I am not eating those animals!"
To really make the
point God challenged Peter's prejudice, his preconceived
ideas, his stubbornness and his religious and cultural
subjective feelings three times. Why? To prepare him for a
revival where he least expected it, and where he would not
normally go because of that prejudice. Into a Gentile home
where God was waiting. Acts 10.17-48.
Unclean - Or Unknown
And Unloved?
We need to reach the many Cornelius' of today who
may be so culturally different and disliked by us that we
never imagine that God actually cares about them. Yet how
many people in the different races, religions and
denominations actually want to love a God they do not know?
Prov. 30, 1-6.
5. Becoming A United
Kingdom
Christians can be
traditional people, or charismatics, or radicals but can we grow
together that the world might believe ?
What Can We Do?
- We can focus
on the Absolutes of scripture. Stop looking at the ways
we that are different and do something together in the
ways that we are alike.
- We can
appreciate the respected Interpretations of scripture of
others, even though we think differently.
- We can pray
for the Holy Spirits activity to increase in the
whole area
- We can decide
to promote Christ and his word in our towns above any
particular name or church.
- We can
practice supportive speech and actions towards one
another. One church started a monthly lunch for Ministers
and wives. It began icy and full of suspicions but years
later it was healthy, fun and effective with city-wide
campaign called Together 95.
Taken from the
Joshua Project Unreached Peoples List
these people have no church and as yet
no cell, church or mission has committed themselves
to prayer, adoption or church planting among this people.
Vietnam
|
People
Name |
Language
|
Population
|
Roglai, Southern |
Roglai,
Southern |
20,000
|
Tai, Red (Thai Deng) |
Tai Daeng
|
100,000
|
See all of the
lessons
|