October Discipleship Challenge- Unity

Unity- is defined as the mark that demonstrate o the wold that the body of Christ is one organism with one faith, one home, one baptism and one God and one Father of all. Unity lives out the reality that Christ has already reconciled all things to himself.

So in him we belong to one another. Psalm 133:1 says "How very good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity."

The When and Why

"How very good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity."

PSALM 133:1

The desire is to live in harmony with Christ's desire for the church to be one; to be a bridge-builder and peacemaker in the body of Christ.

Jesus' longest recorded prayer is all about oneness with God and one another. Oneness with one another is a lot different than simply knowing another. Oneness is a participation in the core of another's being. Our unity doesn't depend on the quality of our lives, we are one because we belong to and are one with Christ. Christians are to live the radical unity-reality Jesus inaugurated.

So let's heed the Holy Spirit's call to live as children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus, and as a family of our Father who is in heaven. "As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone" (Romans 12:18).

Try one of the following:

-Continually pray for peace and unity within the church.

-Plan to attend Union's church service on Sunday, October 4th for World Communion Sunday.

-Study the "one anothers" found in scripture and begin living out a different

"one anothers" each week. (Several examples: Love one another, encourage one another, care for one another, live in harmony with one another, be hospitable to one another, forgive one another and belong to one another).

-Work with believers from various traditions to achieve kingdom purposes.

-As much as it depends on you, make peace with a fellow believer you are separated from. How does what you are doing reflect Jesus' prayer in John 17? What is it like

for you to make peace?