My son’s football team has a chant that they say before and after games. It gets the team fired up and reminds them that they are a great team when they work together, united. It goes something like this, “One team, one family, one! One team, one family, one! One team, one family, one!”
In Christ, we are one church, one body, one team, one family.
Ephesians 4:1-6 (HCSB)
1 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, 3 diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds ⌊us⌋.
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
Paul, who is in prison for preaching the good news of Jesus Christ (v.1), urges all believers to walk in way that is worthy of their calling as followers of Jesus. The way we walk – trusting in His grace to empower us – should model Christ’s walk. And where we walk should follow Christ’s walk.
The way we walk should show everyone that we are followers of Jesus Christ.
According to verses 2-3, some characteristics of our walk should be:
- humility
- gentleness
- patience
- accepting one another in love
- keeping unity with the peace that binds us
> Which of these characteristics are the one(s) that you need pray that God will help you to display more faithfully?
In verses 4-6, there are a lot of things that unite us as believers.
- One body
- One Spirit
- One hope
- One Lord
- One faith
- One baptism
- One God and Father of all
God desires that all of His children – all of the churches around the world – be united on these major truths. We should see ourselves as part of the one body of Christ, united by the Holy Spirit, with hope of salvation through Jesus our Lord – our faith is in Him – and we display our faith in Him by water baptism. He is our God and Heavenly Father!
> Take a moment to consider the truths of the “one” truths of verses 4-6 again.
Let us show the world that we are all one in Christ. “One team, one family, one!”
As I read your article, I began to contemplate the make up of the “team of missionaries” who are going to be working as one team to accomplish many tasks on our mission trip to Masaya, Nicaragua. It’s amazing to see people from different parts of the US come together and perform as one team, one family, united under one God, going out to do His will.
Yes, pretty amazing. Praise God. He is at work. He will use you all together to accomplish His will there. Glad that my friends in NY (and other states) are continuing to partner with you in Nicaragua!