Unity | Ephesians 4:1-6
As hard as it is to get people to agree on the same football team or a family to agree on where to eat, it is even harder for the church where there are people from different backgrounds, preferences, cultures, and opinions to agree. If you have a church of thousands, you get thousands of opinions. It is impossible to make everyone happy and to suit everyone’s preferences. But despite all of our differences, the church is the ONE place where we can have unity because our unity is in Jesus. My hope is that our church with people from different backgrounds, preferences, ethnicities, and giftedness will all unite around the gospel of Jesus Christ and the
vision of being a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multiplying church that reaches Naples to the Nations. The goal of our church is not to GROW but to MULTIPLY!
The book of Ephesians was written by Paul to a church where he spent over two years. Ephesus was a wealthy, metropolitan city filled with socio-economic and ethnic diversity (racial tension). Paul is writing to strengthen their faith so that the “eyes of their hearts may be enlightened” and that they would “be filled with the fullness of God.” So that the church would be unified in the gospel in reaching their city and the nations for Jesus Christ. A unified church will shake the gates of hell. There is nothing that Satan fears more than a church that is unified in Jesus Christ. This is why Satan will do everything he can to divide the church. A unified church can change the world. In a divided world, we need a united church. In Chapter 4, Paul teaches us both the cause and the cost of our unity in Christ.