"A Unified Church"

We had a wonderful day of worship on yesterday. It was one of those spirit-filled services that I have come to truly long for. From start to finish, the praise was high and we exalted the matchless name of Jesus to the best of our ability. The Sunday school lesson was on the subject of unity. I was lead to deal with that same subject in the sermon. I preached about "The Unified Church." God really challenged us through His word on how we can better unite for the TRUE causes of the kingdom. My thesis: "A united church creates an atmosphere that is conducive to worship, word and witness." We explored the ideas of being "together" and "in one accord." What a word for such a time as this. We've been given a "Great Commission" by our Lord and the church (local and universal) must banned together for that cause. We are told in Acts 2 that on the day of Pentecost about "3000 souls were added to the church." "Souls" not bodies... Pastors, preachers, trustee and deacon boards along with the people of our congregations need to be more concerned about "souls" and not bodies. We are so busy trying to add more people that we have not thoroughly fixed our focus on lost souls. As Rick Warren would say, "we are called to be fishers of men, not swappers of fish from tank to tank." At "the ship" we are uniting ourselves in mission. I am committed to love and lead our congregation in the Lord. I thank God for these He has entrusted. I am fully willing to accept this awesome challenge He has given.... Recognizing now the difference between uniformity and unity, we march onward.