INTRODUCTION: One of the most remarkable truths of the Gospel is that it doesn't just RECONCILE us to God, it also RECONCILES us to one another. In a world that loves to BUILD WALLS, between races, cultures, classes, and even church denominations, Jesus came to TEAR those WALLS DOWN. Today, we’re going to look at how COMMUNITY in Christ BREAKS down BARRIERS that divide, and how the Church is called to live as a united, spiritual family.

Scripture - Ephesians 2:11-22 & Galatians 3:28

3-REASONS COMMUNITY BREAKS DOWN BARRIERS

1. REASON 1: CHRIST IS OUR PEACE

a. Through Christ, ethnic, cultural, and religious divisions are abolished.

i. Ephesians 2:14 "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall

of partition between us."

b. Paul writes to a Gentile audience who had once been outsiders, alienated from the commonwealth of

Israel, without hope and without God.

c. But now, through Christ, they have been brought nearby.

2. REASON 2: WE ARE UNITED BY THE CROSS

a. Our identity in Christ transcends every worldly division. Unity in the body comes not from sameness but

from the shared redemption of the cross.

i. Galatians 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor

female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

b. At the cross, every human distinction that separates people loses its power.

3. REASON 3: WE ARE BUILT TOGETHER FOR A DWELLING PLACE OF GOD

a. The CHURCH is not a BUILDING of BRICKS and MORTAR; it’s a spiritual house made up of PEOPLE.

i. Ephesians 2:22 "In whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

b. Jew and Gentile, male and female, rich and poor, we are being built together to house the very presence of

God.