Today is not so much of an original piece as it is a recap of a service I went to last night. The service was a combination of 4 different churches coming together to celebrate as the body of Christ. Not to stand apart over our differences, but to celebrate that ONE true thing that makes us all alike. And that is our love for and desire to serve Jesus!
The atmosphere was amazing, taking communion with so many brothers and sisters in Christ was amazing and the words spoken by the 4 different pastors were amazing.....but knowing that there were not 4 "different" churches there, but instead 1 church, Jesus's church, was the most amazing part. Each pastor brought their own style and flavor of speaking as each one focused on one thing, UNITY. It was a night of talking about what all we have in common and how much we need each other in the body of Christ. It was a night of celebrating our uniqueness within the body, but not our differences. It was a night of talking about how important it is that we are there for each other....tearing down denominational walls. It was a night of hearing how we are ALL a part of God's master plan and the more we can learn to work together, love one another and HELP each other, the more we will allow the world to see our lights shine. And for me personally, it was a night of celebrating the name of Jesus with with a group of believers who ALL have one thing in common...HIM!
Several scriptures were given that promoted us forgetting our differences and realizing out need for each other. Several examples were given of what that should look like when it works correctly, and unfortunately what it will look like if it doesn't. The theme of the night was "why church?", and I believe by the end of the night was all learned it's because we ARE the church. The one true thing I think we all walked away with was that because WE are the THE CHURCH, we need to act like it, we need to love like it and we need to fellowship like it. We can't call our selves the "body of christ" and then all like we are not all a part of the same body, because we are.
I hope and pray to see more things like this take place in our city. Unity is something that God has placed heavy on my heart, and like it was said last night, "the only way we are going to impact and change our community, city and county, state or country is together in the name of Jesus". This is so true!
No matter what our denominations are, no matter how different our worship styles are, no matter our race or age...we should all be able to come together when the thing we do have in common is JESUS. A believe in His life, His death, His resurrection and the trinity(Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is why we carry the banner of "Christian" anyway, and that should always come before the word Baptist, Methodist, Non-Denominational or anything else. If you love Christ with all your heart and have excepted Him as your personal Savior, then you are my brother and sister in Christ. And I will love, help, pray for and worship with you any time!
It is my prayer today that more and more we can put down our differences and serve our God and our communities together. Sharing unity because we share the same common love and believe in Jesus Christ!
God, thank You that YOU choice who You use. That You have showed us we can do more together than we can apart, and that our number one goal should be to see others come to You. Holy Spirit help us lay down our differences at the feet of Jesus and find it in our hearts to serve God TOGETHER. And let the darkness not just be pierced by our light, but let it be drowned out by all of our lights together. In Jesus name, Amen
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