Communauté et discipulat

Growing Up as a Family Together (Jn. 13:34~35)

2019.04.14P. Cha

We are one family in Christ, but oneness must be practiced. Let us grow together through the "one another" commands: pursuing unity, building one another up with God's Word, and bearing burdens through prayer.

Becoming one takes continued practice

At a wedding the day before, two people became one through their vows, yet they must keep cultivating the habit of oneness, or marriages fall apart. The church is the same. We already have God's Word, Spirit, love and power, and we bring them into church to bless one another. But we must learn to exercise them: to bless with the Word, extend love, and intercede in prayer. The New Testament has about 100 "one another" commands, and we must learn both to give and to receive, because God blesses us through others.

Why unity matters: one God, one body

The commands about unity include being at peace, submitting, waiting, bearing with, and not speaking evil of, biting or devouring one another. Unity matters because our God is one God in three persons, a God of community, and He wants His body to reflect this. Ephesians 4 lists what we share: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. A childhood friend without Jesus has fewer things in common with us than a believer from Nigeria, Zambia or Nepal. The unity we have in Christ cannot be destroyed, yet it still has to be practiced and grown.

Grow as a family, starting with humility

Paul tells us to bear with one another in love with all humility, gentleness and patience, eager to keep the unity of the Spirit. A family willingly adjusts for a new baby or for an adopted teenager who needs ten surgeries, because that person is family. A girl adopted from an orphanage went through 11 surgeries, and the whole family patiently walked with her until she could walk. Before criticizing someone's attitude, we first look at ourselves and at what God did for us: the Son of God left His glory to adopt us. Because God treats us with kindness and gentleness, we treat our brothers and sisters the same way.

Build one another up with God's Word

Our goal is to build people up, not tear them down. So we teach, exhort, admonish, and speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. The speaker told an eighth-grade girl hearing suicidal voices that she belongs to Jesus, so she should reject the voices and fill her mind with God's truth, and the voices left. To a woman living with guilt over an abortion, he proclaimed the forgiveness Jesus won on the cross. In Acts, the church grew when the Word of God grew. A big brother once lovingly confronted the speaker's cocky college attitude and showed him a blind spot. We need mentors and friends who speak the truth to us in the same way.

Bear burdens by praying for one another

Everyone carries a burden, and sometimes it feels like thirty two-liter bottles instead of three. As family we ask how to help, and the first thing to do is pray, alone or with the person. We should also build a daily habit of prayer, starting with thanksgiving, then adoration, confession and supplication, and a 5-minute prayer three times a day can grow from there. A 72-year-old taxi driver was nervous about leading a public prayer. He was told to thank God for ten or twenty things and to pray regularly for his church. The speaker prayed for a friend of a friend, kept running into him, and was reminded that God listens. We have the Spirit living in us, so God hears us. He does not close His ears to those who pray faithfully.

Apply to Life

  • Let us keep practicing oneness in the church through the "one another" commands, giving and receiving.
  • Let us start with humility, looking at what God has done for us before judging others, and bear with our brothers and sisters in gentleness and patience.
  • Let us build one another up by speaking the truth of God's Word, and not tear each other down.
  • Let us build a daily habit of prayer, beginning with thanksgiving, and pray for the people around us.
  • Let us see the needs of others, pray for and with them, and share their burdens.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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