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"Oneness"

January 11, 2004
Pastor Cliffe Knechtle (32:12)




Grace Community Church is not a building but rather a community of oneness and of people who are seeking to be one with Christ and one with each other. Sin separates us from God and from each other; it destroys oneness. Isaiah 59:2 "Your iniquities have separated you from God; your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear." Sin is lethal and is why Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus calls us to repent and to ask God and others for forgiveness. If we trust in Him, He will restore oneness.

In John 17:21 - 23, Jesus prays before he goes to the cross. "Father, just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you have sent me."

Pastor Cliffe Knechtle
We live in a culture that longs for oneness. One way our society tries to attain oneness is to turn tolerance into an absolute; that there are no standards regarding our beliefs or conduct and that we should accept everything. Another way is to judge, discipline, condemn and make everyone uniform. The hardest but the best way to unity is to submit to Christ and submit to each other. We are to love and serve each other, be patient, bear each other's burdens, forgive and admonish each other, pray with each other, and be with each other through painful times. The New Testament gives us guidance as to how to produce oneness:

Romans 12:4 "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belon's to all the others." We belong to each other and are dependent on each other, not independent islands doing our own thing but rather interconnected.

Romans 12:10 "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves." Devotion implies a deep commitment, passion and love. When we put others' interests before our own, we demonstrate a profound loyalty. We are to honor and encourage each other.

Romans 12:16 & 18 "Live in harmony with one another." "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." This doesn't come natural, it takes work.

Romans 15:5 "May the God who gives us endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

1 Corinthians 1:10 "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought."

Galatians 5: 13 "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love."

Galatians 6:1&2 "If someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ".

This is what Grace Community Church is about, a community of oneness with Christ and each other.

Summary submitted by Karen Walsh