Want to learn more about Oneness in Christ? Use these Bible Studies for personal devotion, group Bible studies, or teaching a church class. Below are links to the lessons in this 13-part series.
Unity seems to be a word that has fallen out of popular
favor. Diversity is the popular word of today. Like many current
trends, it is a concept that has turned traditional thinking upside
down. The motto of the United States is “Out of many, one.”
Diversity is supposed to progress to unity according to this motto,
not the other way around. Is this traditional concept also a
Biblical concept? Does God desire us to be unified or diversified?
Let’s plunge into our study of the Bible and find out!
Why does God give us His laws? Is it a test to see if
we are “good enough” to be saved? Or, good enough to be in a right
relationship with Him? Many people think that, but that is not what
the Bible teaches. Deuteronomy 4:5-8 tells us that God gives “decrees
and laws” to make us “a wise and understanding people.” God gives us
His directions in life to bless us with a superior life. Living well
brings glory to God and to us. Let’s dig into our study of the Bible
and learn more about God’s laws and unity!
Do you seek glory? Are you what they call a “glory
hound?” When you watch a sports team, and one player seeks all of the
glory, do you think the team is unified? The way of the world is to
seek personal glory. But, you may be surprised to learn that being a
true Christian also brings you glory. Let’s dive into our study of
the Bible to learn more!
A lack of unity can be painful! At a church camp this
weekend, a friend threw a football to me. I had to run to catch it,
and just as I was getting my hands around it, my foot caught on the
ground. Instead of falling forward on my face, I tucked in my
shoulder, hit the ground, rolled and came up – still holding the
football. It looked pretty good for an old guy like me. But, there
was a failure of unity. My foot let me down, and my left shoulder
took the kind of force not normally connected with typing! That night
was painful! I’m still suffering the consequences. Let’s explore what
the Bible teaches us about unity in the body of Christ!
When you want to accomplish a task, do you look at how
people have done it in the past? Or, do you look for innovative
ideas to help you do it better? It seems that we often ignore the
lessons of history. This week our study is about the mix of power,
wealth, and unity in the early church. What lessons can we learn from
history? Let’s dig into our Bible and see what we can learn!
How many times do you say “Picture this?” Or, “let me
paint a picture of what is happening?” These are not paintings or
photographs, rather they are word pictures that help us understand a
concept. That is our study this week. What word pictures in the
Bible help us to better understand unity in the church? Let’s plunge
into our study of the Bible and learn more!
Are you like me? Have you been in a church where you
experienced conflicts, and also been in a church where you
experienced unity? What made the difference between those churches?
When I was first married our church was split along theological
lines. In many respects that was good because the dispute was over
grace. It was good to have members carefully consider that issue.
Our next church was split along racial lines. There was no excuse for
that dispute. My current church is unified and my prior church was
relatively free from conflict. The Bible records several conflicts in
the early church. Let’s explore them to see what we can learn about
resolving conflict in the church!
When I think about those who are currently my close
friends in and outside the church, their views are very similar to
mine. However close our agreement, in each case there is also at
least one area of disagreement. An exception is my wife, and even
with her I can think of a topic on which we might disagree, but, of
course, I would have the wrong opinion. Sometimes we do not realize
the extent of disagreement with friends because we only have
superficial discussions. This past weekend, a friend of mine was
greatly surprised by my views and I was surprised by his. The
discussion made me feel bad and consider whether we should have stuck
to superficial subjects. The old saying is that “iron sharpens
iron.” Isn’t disagreement helpful in shaping your thought? Or, should
we avoid discussing areas of disagreement? Let’s jump into our study
and see if the Bible sheds any light on this issue!
In most of our lessons in this series, we discussed
what we could do to be more unified. Is there a “grace” aspect to the
question of unity? Has Jesus already handled the problem? Has He
done what is necessary for us to be unified? Let’s dive into our
study of the Bible and learn more!
How do you deal with broken relationships among fellow
church members? Do you just avoid those church members? Do you try to
reconcile with them? Do you try not to think about it? Our lesson
this week is about trying to heal broken relationships. Let’s plunge
into our study of the Bible and see what we can learn!
The title to our lesson makes me smile. If there is an
area in which we have all sorts of disunity, it is in worship. Some
churches have two services with two different styles of worship, just
so everyone will be happy. Isn’t worship something deeper than just
style? Is style sometimes a smokescreen for more important issues?
Let’s jump into our study of the Bible and see what we can learn
about worship!
What is your picture of unity in the Church? What
should be the goal? We look around us and find all sorts of different
churches. If different churches form the “big picture,” why would we
expect something different in the “small picture” of our local
congregation? What about the “medium picture” of our denomination?
Should we modify our definition of unity in the Church? Is it enough
that we are all under the leadership of Jesus? Let’s open our Bibles
and see what it has to teach us!
We have hope! The best thing for discouragement is
believing that things will get better. We have discussed unity in
this series of lessons, but the best news is that we will be unified
when we get to heaven. Let’s jump into our study of the Bible and
learn what a great place heaven will be. I believe our feelings of
love and gratitude towards God will take away any division. Let’s
enjoy a vision of the future!
