Calling Connected

Calling

Connected

When Jesus said, “Follow Me”

He was not calling His disciples or us to a walk of isolation

But a calling to be connected

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus. Romans 15:5

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3

…so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:12-13

Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:13-14

 

Connected

When Jesus said, “Follow Me”…

He was not calling His disciples

or us to a walk of isolation.

After three and a half years of

teaching His disciples, Jesus prayed…

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:  I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

John 17:20-23

Jesus prayed for the disciples.

 And the ones who hear their message, that

they be one as He and the Father are one.

The teachings in our discipleship walk are to unify us.

Instead of being divided by doctrine

we grow up into the Head which is Christ…

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

 Ephesians 4:14-16

Walking together in the truth of God is a process.

It is not unity of accepting everyone’s ideas.

It is unity through maturing

in understanding the truth.

A pastor friend of mine said

anything with two heads is a freak.

 Christ is the Head and we have the

responsibility to grow up into the Head.

The call to follow Jesus is not a

call to an event, but membership.

Ephesians 5:23 tells us…

  

Christ is the head of the church,

His body, of which He is the Savior.

Colossians 2 warns us of those who have

lost connection with the Head by embracing

and teaching with false humility things of

their own notion, an unspiritual mind.

 

He has lost connection with the Head,

from whom the whole body,

 supported and held together

by its ligaments and sinews,

grows as God causes it to grow.

Colossians 2:19

The call to follow Jesus is a call to membership.

One of the clearest places to

see this is 1 Corinthians 12…

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts;

and though all its parts are many, they form one body.

1 Corinthians 12:12

It is important to recognize the

last verse of 1 Corinthians 12…

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

1 Corinthians 12:31

God is love.

We become followers of

Christ because of His love.

Whatever your part is in the body,

you are to do your part in love.

  

We are called to work together as much as we are

called to be connected to the Head which is Christ.

 

We are all called to build strong

relationships with each other.

The unity of the faith, the unity of the church,

His body, is not only Jesus’ prayer, but our strength.

 

A house divided against its self cannot stand.

When Jesus said, “Follow Me”…

He was not calling His disciples

or us to a walk of isolation.

But a calling to be connected…

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement

 give you a spirit of unity among yourselves

as you follow Christ Jesus

Romans 15:5

Make every effort to keep the unity of

the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:3

…so that the body of Christ may be built up

until we all reach unity in the faith and

 in the knowledge of the Son of God and

become mature, attaining to the whole

measure of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:12-13

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

And over all these virtues put on love,

which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Colossians 3:13-14

Scripture Reading

John 17:20-23 NIV

20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.