Unity – Part I
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ”
How does the spirit of a church family successfully maintain a healthy relationship with each other for 112 years? The answer is ‘UNITY’. One Body, One Spirit, One Hope, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism and One God. We believe in oneness and Our Lord is our Master and our Owner. Ephesians 4:3 calls us to UNITY. Ephesians 4:4-6 identifies the causes of our UNITY. We have oneness of mind. We offer a place of harmony and agreement for those outside and lost in the world. The obvious question for the outside observer is who is the source of our UNITY? The simple answer is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His sacrifice on the cross nearly 2000 years ago allowed us to be reunited with our Heavenly Father and Creator of all. Over an extended period of time, roughly 1500 years, the Holy Bible became the standard for our living. The Holy Bible tells us about God, Jesus, Salvation, the Holy Spirit, sin, grace and the church. There’s only one message about these topics and one faith that we have. Our faith is the body of revealed truth given to the church by God. What Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:5 has to do with what we believe. There is only one living God and He has only one plan of salvation. That plan is Jesus Christ. Although God took care of the biggest part of our UNITY within His kingdom, He tells us that we also have work to do.
As God’s children we are commanded to live the way God’s people should live. We should always be humble and gentle because a broken spirit and a crushed heart are the only ways to get God’s attention (Psalm 51:17). UNITY requires us to be patient and accept each other with love because we are joined together with peace through the Holy Spirit. In order to maintain UNITY we must do all that we can to continue to love and care for one another so that we are letting peace hold us together (Ephesians 4:2). There is one body and one Spirit, and God chose us to have one hope.
The Shiloh Baptist Church family has 112 years that testify to that fact. There is One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism. There is One God and Father of us all, who rules over everyone. God works through all of us and in all of us. Hebrews 12:1 says that there are witnesses all around us that can attest to the fact that Jesus Christ has given each one of us a special gift to contribute to the body of our fellowship. We see these gifts at work every week during our worship services. Every one of us received what God wanted to give to us. Some keys to successful relationships as explained in the Health Encyclopedia by the University of Rochester Medical Center include communicating clearly and often, showing gratitude and appreciation for those that we love and care about, building trust with each other and being ready to forgive one another; “…if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:15 KJV). If we continue to obey and practice these Biblical principles in our daily lives then we can be assured that God our Father will continue to bless our UNITY!