2021.Church - The Unified Church
January 2021
One Church
January 31, 2021 • Bill Williamson • Ephesians 4:1–7
Whenever two or three or more gather together, joining their hearts united together, the promise is that God will be in their midst. When we come together for Worship on Sunday mornings, or as you gather in your home, the Holy Spirit unites us, and God does indeed make Himself known. We just have to pay attention. This Sunday, as we prepare for our Annual Congregational Meeting, we will look at Ephesians 4.1-6. Within those verses we are told that there one body (Church), one Spirit, because there is one God and One Lord. We will look at what it looks like to be One Church here at Grace of Christ. It’s not about a location, a building, or even the amount of people in attendance. We just have to seek God, together, united in Christ, and we are promised that we will see God. So, come with your eyes wide open. Come with hearts ready to not only give, but to also receive what God has for us in 2021.
We Are All One In Christ
January 24, 2021 • Alex Rule • John 17:20–26
Jesus prayed for all believers to be one, just as He and His Father are One. This prayer was not only for current believers at the time, but for those in the future, as well. What a wonderful invitation and blessing from Jesus to every generation. He prayed for all of us to be One, one Heart, Soul and Mind. He prayed for you and me, for John, for Carlos, for Mary and for all who believe in Him today. Who are the believers of today? Who will be the believers of tomorrow? God only knows. I remember my grandmother taught me to pray when I was very little and although I did not understand what prayer meant in that moment, God was preparing me for the future. My grandmother always prayed to God our Father and believed that He would listen to her prayers. She prayed that I would know what faith is, and come to believe in God and His son Jesus. She prayed that I would grow up, be a man; and one day get married and have children. I know she prayed for my children who she wouldn't have the chance to meet. She prayed that God would bless them and also bless the children of my children who have yet to be born. My mother prayed to God our Father for the future generations to come, that His blessing will be many always!
Change of Address
January 17, 2021 • Curt McFarland • John 17:11–19
During our second year of marriage Kathaleen and I spent a year living in Northern Ireland. It was a tense time. Belfast was a city was divided. Two distinct groups lived on opposite sides of a large (ironically named) Peace wall. When you met someone from Belfast you could identify which group they belonged to by their address. I live off the Shankill road. I live off the Falls. And that is all some wanted to know. You were either in or out. And if you were found on the wrong side of the wall … dangerous. Many of our Christian friends there were claiming another identity. An identity that didn’t depend on their current address, but on their future and eternal home. Does where we live define who we are?
Unified In Christ
January 10, 2021 • Bill Williamson • John 17:6–10
As we continue on in John 17, we will see how we are Unified as God's people, not because of what we might share in common, or by how we are all alike, but because we are in the Family of God. Each of us is a child of God. We have our differences. We have our similarities. Even though we can find unity even within our diversity, that is not what unifies us. What unifies us is our adoption into the family of God through the death of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is in and through and by the name of Christ that we are able to be One Church.
The 2021 Unified Church - Communion Sunday
January 3, 2021 • Bill Williamson • John 17:1–5
It’s been said that the local church is the hope of the world. However, it’s not the local church. Rather, it is the global Church, of whom Christ is the head. The actual Church, whatever denomination, whatever method or mode of worship, wherever its location, the church is not the hope of the world. Christ, and Christ alone, is the hope of the world. As we enter into 2021, Christ is indeed the hope of the world. The church, in all its expressions, is to be the tangible presence of Christ. In January we are going to look at what it means to be the 2021 (One) Church. Specifically, we will see how we are to be the Unified Church. Looking at Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17, we will see that it was His desire that we would be unified. In fact, that is why upon ascending into Heaven, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, that we might indeed be one people, one body, One Church, with one faith, one hope, one baptism, one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we gather for worship this Sunday, and as we share Communion, let us be reminded of the words of Paul in Ephesians 4.4-6: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”