Verde Valley Christian Church
Dec 1 – 8, 2024
Sermon Series: Anchored in Unchanging Truth
Sermon Title:"Anchored in Unity"
Presenter: Jim Hammond
Ephesians 4:1-3
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
1. Unity is God's FOUNDATION for the church
Ephesians 4:4-6
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
2. DIVERSITY is God's DESIGN of church unity
Ephesians 4:7
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
Ephesians 4:11-12
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
3. GROWTH is God's GOAL of church unity
Ephesians 4:16
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 4:13-16
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. 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 people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of 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.
4. SUCCESS of the MISSION is the result of church unity
Ephesians 4:12
to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
