{"id":649,"date":"2015-09-22T10:54:14","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T15:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unitemycity.tv\/tulsa\/?p=649"},"modified":"2017-03-21T16:20:41","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T21:20:41","slug":"why-is-unity-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unitemycity.tv\/tulsa\/blog\/2015\/09\/22\/why-is-unity-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is Unity Important? &#8211; Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Why is unity in The Church important?<\/strong> \u00a0Unity in the Church is the heart and desire of God. \u00a0Jesus is not divided. \u00a0There is only one Jesus. \u00a0The Body of Christ is the Church and the Church is the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23, Col 1:18, Col 1:24). Jesus did not die for His Church on the earth to be divided. \u00a0The Church may be diverse but not divided. He died for us to be united back to God through Christ. Therefore if Christ is one, His Church, the Body of Christ, must be one.<\/p>\n<p>When Jesus died on the cross, it was for <strong><em>all<\/em><\/strong> humanity. For people who choose to believe in the message of Jesus making him the Lord of their life, and becoming a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that we (together) are hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3). \u00a0This is how we are spiritually unified, but this unity should be manifested. It\u2019s important our unity be shown to the world and celebrated by us, the Church.<\/p>\n<p>In John 13:34-35 Jesus taught that \u201cit is by your love for one another that all would know you are my disciples.\u201d How then is our love shown to the world? \u00a0As followers of Christ walk in unity with one another it&#8217;s an expression of our love towards one another to the world around us. \u00a0As we do this Jesus himself said it would show the world we are His disciples. Walking in unity with one another, is one way we can visibly show our love one to another.<\/p>\n<p>Our unity with one another reinforces the message of reconciliation the Church is here to share with humanity. How can we expect the world around us to accept a message of love and reconciliation when the representatives of Jesus and God the Father on earth do not walk in a spirit of unity and love towards one another?<\/p>\n<p>Jesus himself prayed for our unity in John 17:20-23. \u00a0There are two expectations Jesus prays our unity, or oneness, would not only communicate, but prove to the world: \u00a01). \u00a0<strong>God sent His Son Jesus.<\/strong> \u00a02). \u00a0<strong>God loves them as He has loved Jesus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Our unity is a message in and of itself to people who do not yet know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. In other words, Jesus prays that we would be unified as one so the world would know God sent His own Son, Jesus, for their eternal salvation because God loves them just as much as He loves His own son &#8211; Jesus Christ. \u00a0This is the one mission all disciples of Jesus are instructed to walk out. This should be our primary motivation for unity in the Body of Christ. \u00a0If we do not desire for people to come to know Jesus Christ, then how much do we really love them?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><strong>But how does a city that is literally the \u201cBuckle of the Bible Belt\u201d practically and tangibly do this thing called unity?<\/strong><\/em> \u00a0Though we are unified because we worship and serve the same God, there is a greater expression of unity available through humble collaboration. \u00a0In <em>Experiencing God<\/em>, Henry Blackaby encourages us to \u201csee where God is moving and get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>[Why Is Unity Important? &#8211; Part 2 coming 10\/1\/2015]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why is unity in The Church important? \u00a0Unity in the Church is the heart and desire of God. \u00a0Jesus is not divided. \u00a0There is only one Jesus. \u00a0The Body of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-why"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Is Unity Important? 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