A case could be made for the theme of the entire New Testament epistles to be unity. Paul pleads with the Corinthians to get along. In Philippians he tells Euodia and Syntyche to get along. In fact, he tells all of the Philippians to "make my joy complete by being like-minded." Every epistle seems to have that as, at least, an underlying theme if not overt.
Jesus pled for the church to be one. One of his final prayers on earth was for unity.
We are hosting the International Church of Christ congregation here at our building Sunday. Their minister and I have been talking for a long time. He's a wonderful man and a lover of God and Jesus. This great church wants to make an impact in the world. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet I have heard from several in the community (not our church) how they can't believe we are hosting them.
Now, a couple of observations. First of all, are we to stop anyone at the door and keep them from coming into worship? Do we ask all visitors to fill out a questionaire and ask them if they worship the way we do, believe the way we do, or understand all of the omnipotence of God the way we do? Secondly, what happen to unity? Unity doesn't come at the cost of agreeing on everything, everyway, everytime.
Jesus had a word for those like that. Pharisees. I find it very sad. Our youth minister ask me what I thought about this minor controversy. I told him, "I don't care." But the truth is, as you can obviously see, I do care. It cuts me to the heart when those who claim to be Christians (i.e. Christ-like) would look to exclude.
Our worship will be phenomemal this Sunday. Not because of my sermon, not because of what any of us do, but because of the great God we serve. And let's make sure we keep it that way. It's God we serve and not ourselves. Have a great day. JW
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5 comments:
Wish I could be there. I am sure it will be fabulous.
Thank you for hosting us. I look forward to seeing everyone there.
John Payne
Omaha Church of Christ
I am delighted to hear of this. Thank you for reaching across the divide (if there is a divide) to embrace fellow sons and daughters of God!
Thanks for building bridges and restoring the Christian unity Jesus prayed for. Please keep us posted as this may be a catalyst for others.
Phil Spadaro
It was a really good worship. I loved the fact that it was packed. I didn't realize that the Omaha CoC is affiliated with the ICOC. Not that I really care, but growing up I always heard a lot of negative things about that group.
I think it is cool that the southwest leaders were open to inviting them into our worship service. And I guess I'm somewhat confused by some of the other CoC groups that would question southwests motives.
I'm curious, are these other groups here in Omaha?
Anyway, great job to everyone that assisted in the service. Great sermon Jim. Your series has me thinking a lot about Heaven and Hell.
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