Moving Forward in Unity

Sermon by Ps. Bhanu

The main verse for mediation during the sermon was Joshua 1:1-5 where God asked Joshua to lead Israel to the promised land and assured to be with him like He was with Moses. 

God repeatedly told Joshua to be strong and courageous and not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord His God would be with Him wherever he would go (Joshua 1:6-9). Joshua and Caleb were different from the other ten spies sent to explore the promised land. They had the vision to see that if God had delivered them in the past, He would help then too. Both moved forward in unity and in faith. The giants in the land could kill all of them but these two had faith in God. 

John 17:20-23 mentions Jesus’ prayer for unity among the disciples before going to the cross… that all may be one so that the world gets to know God. Jesus wants us to love one another and be unified so that when the world sees us and how we stick together, they will want what we have: They will want to know our God. The way we live our lives says something profound about the God we serve. We are stronger together. This is the call for unity in the church.

Psalm 133:1 says how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 likens the church to one body with many parts. The preacher said that everybody is important and mentioned how little children in the church encourage her and she remembers that God asks us to be like little children. Church is a family and each person has to be involved as all are important to the Lord. Without each part, God cannot fulfil His plan.

God chose us and not the angels for unfolding His purpose (for salvation). We are so insignificant but still God gave His one and only son. So if He gave us His all, what are we doing? If someone is hurting or rejoicing, do we feel the same? On judgement day, our colleagues may ask us that when we knew Christ, why did we not tell them. She quoted the story of Lazarus and how the rich man wanted him to warn his family (Luke 16:19-31) of the eternal torment that awaited if they did not mend their ways. If we are in a similar state, how will we answer?

At times, church members backbite about their pastors and this leads to some people leaving the church. The spirit of disunity is at work in churches. God will hold us accountable of what we did to support our church. We need one another; we are stronger together. The preacher asked us to stand up and pray for one another. Per Matthew 5:14, we are the light of the world. Are we going to the dark places with the good news? Are we busy gossiping or working to share the gospel? If we really love people, we will share the gospel. We can pray for them and will God move in their life.

God’s promises to Joshua are given to each one of us but also the same instructions apply to us:

• We must not deviate when we have the vision then we will be successful in everything we do.
• We have to study the book of instruction (God’s word) day and night and be sure to obey and only then will we prosper and succeed in all that we do.

The preacher encouraged all of us to be a part of the first principles study in the church that teaches us elementary principles of the faith from the Bible. And if we love God, we will obey His word. She called us to pray for unity in the body of Christ so that His vision is fulfilled.