Give Thanks
For Harmony in the Body
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Welcome:
Call to Worship Children of God: welcome!
Welcome to this place of love and grace,
Welcome to this place of hope and perseverance.
God invites all of us to be a part of the beloved community,
God invites all of us to share in the good news:
We are welcome, just as we are. We are loved, just as we are.
In gratitude for all of this, let us worship God.
When I think of God’s presence in the world, I am grateful:
Grateful for the presence of hope; grateful for the gift of life.
And when I think of God’s presence in my life, I am humbled:
Humbled by the gift of grace; humbled by the invitation to begin again.
And when I think of God’s presence in this community, I am glad:
Glad to be surrounded by holy people worshipping our Holy God.
Thank you God. Let us worship our Father who loves us.
In recent months while I have been healing a bit I have been watching a series called Once Upon a Time. I watched it years ago and it popped up again so I decided to reconnect with those characters I enjoyed. It’s all about the fairy tale stories many of us grew up with and this series builds out their lives beyond the little storybooks we read. I think the reason I like it is because, throughout the entire series, there is a battle between good and evil, light and darkness. Of course, good always finds a way to conquer the evil that’s currently brewing, and even those in the dark find they are drawn to the light.
Throughout the storyline characters would be alone at different times-sometimes it was because they felt they were just fine on their own, they were independent, and didn’t need anyone else. The main character was alone at the start of her life and she was sought out and brought to her people, her family. Sound familiar to the One who seeks us out and brings us into His family?
This person didn’t believe all she was told at first about being part of this family, having fairytale characters like her parents. But eventually, she did believe- her eyes and her heart more so were opened to what was right in front of her; to see how good and priceless family is to learn from, lean on, to support one another, to fight battles together and to celebrate!
In the series, evil would bring curses that caused separation and isolation in the hopes of defeating those in the light when they didn’t have the strength of others around them. Sound familiar?
But light always finds light. Light is more powerful than darkness. You know one little flame on one candle casts light across a room of darkness.
During these times of separation, the characters struggled, their hope waivered and sometimes they felt they didn’t need others; that they could face their current battle on their own.
In one battle one of the characters was determined to fight on his own. Another character said, “You can do that, but you don’t have to, we’ll help you.”
Powerful right?
We can all choose to fight our battles alone, but we don’t have to.
Praise God for His constant presence with us wherever we are and for His gift of the Body we are joined with!
God knew we needed others created us to live and thrive in community, not isolation and independence.
In the series I mentioned, they learned in their times of separation how much they yearned to be connected again and what a treasure it is to have family to share life with. They learned to stop resisting the need for support from others and seeing it as a weakness but to see it rather as a precious gift.
In the Bible, The Apostle Paul also knew how precious the gift of being joined to the Body was. We’re going to look at a passage in Scripture where he is writing to the Christians in Rome. He longed to be with them in person. He had been kept away sometimes for the sake of sharing the Gospel in other areas, sometimes the enemy creating obstacles that kept him from getting back to them. But his heart was with them and he knew he needed them as much as they needed him.
Today, let us hear God’s Word through the letter of the Apostle Paul, and be reminded of the precious gift we have in one another; in the entire Body of Christ, we have been joined. Let us have thankful hearts filled with praise for this gift.
Romans 1: 8-17 NIV
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. 11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. 14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
- Stir One Another in Love.
Hebrews 10: 24-25 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Paul had this longing in his heart to spur one another on to love and good deeds to build the Kingdom of God. His heart was focused on encouraging those in the faith, to keep pressing in, to keep growing in the knowledge and understanding of Christ in them.
Romans 1:11 11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—
We as the body are to have this same attitude towards one another and above all else to love one another and keep unity; for this is where we remain strong. This is where we find victory in our battles when we are unified.
Ephesians 4: 2-3 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT 11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
In the series I watched, when a character would lose their way or consider going down a dark path, the family would remind that person who they are as light, good, truthful, and kind. They would remind that person of the gift of hope.
This is the gift of the family of Christ-that we mutually bless and build one another up. We remind each other who we are as new creations in Christ.
2. Keep the Faith.
Romans 1:16 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Paul’s life mission became sharing the Gospel with all who would receive it. He knew it was for everyone and if God would make a way, Paul would go wherever God sent him, to share this message of hope and salvation. His heart was changed to care for believers and help them remain in the faith they had received. Life is hard and when we’re knocked down and pulled from every direction, keeping our faith can be really difficult. This is why Paul wrote when he couldn’t be there in person. He knew how powerful the word of God is from another believer to strengthen someone’s faith and resolve to not give up. He was teaching these Christians the same power of the Gospel and speaking it over their lives and others around you. Don’t hide from it-stand in it and profess it! This would help those in Rome continue forward even without Paul there directly because they felt the power of the Spirit that joined them together rise within them. They felt the power of God’s salvation flowing in them through Paul’s words of encouragement.
King David also learned the power of having someone like family help him keep his faith, to stay strong, to stay hopeful during very difficult times before he was truly reigning as king and Saul was yet king. Saul was very jealous of David and his great approval from the people, so Saul became obsessed with hunting David down and trying to kill him. Again and again. David fled to a different region and inquired of God if those local people would hand him over to Saul and God said yes they would. So he went and hid in the wilderness, and in that time of fear and desperation, God sent someone close to David to speak to him and build him up in his faith to persevere.
2 Samuel 23: 14-18 NKJV 14 And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. 15 So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest. 16 Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” 18 So the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.
Jonathan who became a brother to David, strengthened David in his time of great need, reminding him of his faith in God, reminding him of the prophecy spoken over him, and the covenant God had made with David. This was exactly what David needed to hear in that moment to persevere and not give up hope.
We all need people like this, to speak to us and remind us of what is true, who God is, His faithfulness that never falters, His promises that are certain, and even more so, who we are as His children. Praise be to God who sends these messengers at our greatest time of need and gives them the right words to speak to our weary and fearful hearts. Praise be to God for His church as a place we can come and gather to hear these words of encouragement and make these special bonds with other believers, who become our family.
We are given a warning in Hebrews about this very truth we must help one another keep the faith and guard our hearts in love and truth.
Hebrews 3: 12-14 NASB 12 Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we keep the beginning of our commitment firm until the end,
Taking care means we must heed the warning and take purposeful action to avoid letting our hearts become hardened from sin which leads to falling away from God. We are to encourage one another daily. The blessing is that we become partakers of Christ together- when we keep the faith. We share in Him collectively!
3. Care for One Another.
How do we do this? We gather often. This is what Paul and the other apostles taught and modeled as they helped build the early churches.
Acts 2:42 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Humans are made for connection. Look at what happened during COVID-19 when everyone was isolated in all aspects of their lives. It took a huge toll on my mental health. The need for this service and support has skyrocketed and there is a shortage of help available so it can take months to actually speak with someone. Months don’t help in a crisis. We were never designed to carry our burdens alone; that is a lie from the enemy.
God’s Word teaches us we are to carry one another’s burdens: because this is the will and way of God. This is His Kingdom.
Galatians 6:2 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Paul understood and valued this greatly. When we come together, we mutually encourage each other by faith.
Romans 1:12 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
Coming back to what one of the characters said to another who was determined to fight his battle alone, “You can do that, but you don’t have to.” So why would we want to? We have to ask ourselves are we seeking the glory of God in our victories or the glory of self? Whose definition of strong are we choosing to live by? The world that says we must do all things by ourselves? Or God’s who says in your weakness My strength is made perfect draw from My power in you. I give it to you out of love. I give it to you to share with others.
Psalm 133:1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
Conclusion: In kindness and love, God gave us one another to share life with. Let us cherish the gift of the Body. Let us propose to keep harmony in the Body; building one another up in our faith and rejoice in the family He has placed us in.
Let’s pray:
Offering:
Final Song How Great Thou Art
Final Blessing: 2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
