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 God’s 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 God’s existence, man’s 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 Christ’s 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 Spirit’s 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.’
To Close Pray
For The
World's Most Unreached Peoples By Name
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
|
|