First Baptist Church, Somerville, NJ

Details

Created: 02 July 2021

“THE SPIRIT OF UNITY”

Many people in society and the church today are divided over many things such as. culturally, theologically, race, and politics. Knowing how prone we are to division; it is no accident that the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome of the urgent need to encourage to maintain the unity of the Spirit in Christ. Paul wrote the following:

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15: 5-6).

Paul words of hope and encouragement is relevant for us today. Recently, we witnessed a spirit of unity in Congress (Senate and House) to passed into law Juneteenth as a Federal Holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. It was on June 19, 1865, about two months after the Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va., Gordon Granger, a Union general, arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended. General Granger’s announcement put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued more than two and a half years earlier on Jan. 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln. Let us continue to maintain a spirit of unity despite our differences and opposition to our attitudes and belief system. Paul reminds us “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” (KJV).  

Look at what happened on the day of Pentecost. The Bible says that the disciples were all together in one accord, and suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came down from heaven and filled the house where they were staying. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other tongues. The sound drew a large crowd from the town, and they heard the disciples speaking to them, each in their own language. The crowd marveled as Peter addressed them with the good news of Christ. Three thousand people were added to their numbers that day (Acts 2). All of this happened because they were together in one accord and the power of God was present and able to work among them.

As believers we are called into one body, the body of Christ Jesus. We are to strive for unity among ourselves in all things. Unity is the state of being one. We are to be like-minded with Christ and renew our minds to the endurance and encouragement the scripture offers us. We should try to dwell in the spirit of unity between believers; there should be no divisions or arguments among us. We should live in mutual harmony out of love for each other in accordance with Christ Jesus.

When we strive for singleness of mind in Christ then the power of God is able to work among us. Paul said in today's passage that we bring glory and praise to God our Father in this way. Out of one heart and one mouth we will glorify Him Today, I pray that we make every effort to live in unity with other believers and non-believers. May the spirit of God grant you the love and patience required to live in singleness of mind so that the power of God will be evident in your lives and through it bring glory to God. Our goal is to fight for others to know Jesus. It means we call out good things in each other. It means we have healthy conflict and call each other to reach higher heights for Christ.

Yours in Christ:  Pastor Loreno R. Flemmings