UNITY

Sermon Notes, August 28, 2016

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

Pastor Garry’s sermon Sunday was titled “Unity” and was based on Acts 4:32-37.  There are two things from this passage that we will focus on.  First, we will focus on part of the foundation that the Church in Acts laid for all of us to stand on: If we are to follow Christ, if we are to make Disciples following the Great Commission that Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:19-20, if we are to be the Light, if we are to care for those in need, friend and foe, then we must stand united.  Not just being like-minded, but being one in spirit: spiritual unity!  The second is glaringly clear and flows out of our first area of focus: As the Church, as the body of believers, we ought to adopt the same attitude toward our possessions as the members of the Church in Acts had toward their possessions: My possessions are His possessions; it all belongs to God!

It is vital that we, as the Body of Believers, seek to be Spiritually United.  Our loyalty, commitment to and love of God helps to bring spiritual unity among His followers.  Spiritual unity is vital to the overall health of the Church.  One of the things that the first church had was that they were united on the reality that everything they owned belonged to the Lord!  This selfless attitude enabled them, freed them, to be able to give and share freely.  And wouldn’t you know it; there was no poverty among them!  Their passion for Christ was so deep that they would do anything they could to keep a brother and sister from suffering while others had more than they needed.  In fact, Luke gives us an example of what this looks like in verses 36 and 37—Barnabas sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.  This leads to our next area of focus.

It all belongs to God.   How do you feel about your possessions?  Some of us have very little attachment to our possessions.  Some of us can let some of it go, but we hold onto other things for a variety of reasons.  And still, some of us have a death grip on our possessions.  In a world that is defined by possessions, a society that is constantly welcoming the burden of “keeping up with the Joneses,” we would be wise to adopt the attitude that all of our “possessions” belong to the Lord.  This early body of believers was able to have this outlook of selfless giving and sharing because of the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  Understand that this selfless giving and sharing was not a requirement for membership; it was all voluntary.  And they didn’t give all of their possessions away.  They only gave what was needed.  This voluntary, selfless attitude of giving and sharing was infectious to onlookers.  People were attracted to the selfless giving and sharing of the early followers of Jesus Christ.

The early church that Luke documented in the book of Acts were all “one (united) in heart and mind” and they were united spiritually.  We talk about how we can be “the Light in dark places,” and as a church we have the opportunity to show our community the love of Christ.  We can only do this when we come together in unity through the promoting of the Holy Spirit.  Spirit-filled people live Spirit-filled lives.  And when we do this it becomes easy to view our possessions as His possessions!