Welcome!
Today: God is one; so are we!
Passage: Eph 4
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph 4, NIV 84)-emphasis added
We see seven “ones” in the verse above, out of which three are about God
One Spirit, One Lord, One God and father of all – speaks about the God head
And then there is one body, one hope, one faith and one baptism
The underlying factor of all these is Love
Within the “one body”, which is the Church, we see a visible Church and an invisible Church
There may be many denominations, but there is only one body
There is no reason for churches to fight with each other; “let my church grow; let the other church also grow”, as long as they are part of the body of Christ
The attitude “my church should grow and let the other church fail” is not a Christian attitude; but that is what many Churches have!
Just as we feel we belong to Christ, there are millions who belong to Christ
Then, there is one faith; all roads don’t lead to Rome. Today, there are so many teachings including the one that says, there is no need to be born again! These are taught by some Church leaders. As days pass by, we will see a “dilution” and deviation of the gospel, which is on the increase
One baptism: The baptism that makes us part of the body of Christ. Jesus told Nicodemus that unless a person is born again, that person cannot enter God’s kingdom. Jesus told disciples to preach the gospel and to baptize those who believe. We do not see any baptism in the Bible that does not involve the faith and confession of the person getting baptized. With all love, let me say this: baptizing a baby has no support from the Bible. Jesus is more gracious than us, to care for the soul of a child who is not able to discern between right and wrong
There is one hope- hope in God – the hope in the coming of Jesus Christ
The whole world is anxiously waiting for redemption
Even scientists who are atheists agree to the fact that some major change is going to happen to the earth
Our model is God- the oneness and unity in the trinity
There is no conflict in the trinity because God is Love
May God give us the Spirit of love, to ourselves, to God, within the family, Church, work, everywhere we go
Amen
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank you for loving and choosing me to be yours. Thank you for being a model within the God head, so that I can be proud that you are my God. Help me love others with same love as in 1 Corinthians 13. Amen