True Unity

Intro:
My message this morning has long been on my heart. We'll be talking together about something that we all want, something that's harder and harder to obtain, something that is the most under-utilized method of evangelism, and the 1 big thing God is waiting for before His return. We'll be talking about unity.

1) We all want unity (Psalm 133:1)
2) Unity is hard to find (Ephesians 4:1-6) (Harder in contemporary church culture)
3) Unity is serious to God (Proverbs 6:16-19)

But before I share what God has laid on my heart, I want to talk about what unity is not.

What true unity is NOT
1) It's not about isolating a group from other views (that's what cults do, truth has the best argument)
2) It's not about ignoring the differences b/w views (ecumenical movement)
3) It's not about 100% agreement on every issue (that's uniformity, no 2 people agree on everything, disagreement is of value, unanimous votes can be scary)

What MUST we agree on
1) That God exists and cares (Hebrews 11:6)
2) That Jesus is Messiah, Son & Lord (John 8:24)
3) That Jesus rose from the dead (Romans 10:9)

Outside of these essentials, there is no reason to divide over doctrinal disagreements. But remember, unity is not primarily about what you believe in your head, but who you follow with your feet.

What is true unity
1) It's found in following Jesus (1 Corinithians 1:10-13, Luke 9:46-50) (vertical unity, not horizontal)
2) It's an attitude of love (Colossians 3:12-17) (disagreements don't break unity, dividing does)
3) It's our great weapon in evangelism (John 17:20-23)

Conclusion
1) In essentials unity
2) In non-essentials liberty
3) In all things charity