Sermon Summary

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our new sermon series through 1 Corinthians. In our text, Paul is writing to the Corinthian church after having visited them two years prior. He sought to call the church higher, into greater unity and maturity in Christ. Chris shared how supernatural unity is a place of agreement. Christ’s church will be unified when we choose to be of the same mind, restored to God’s original plan and vision for us.

Acts 18:5–8 (ESV)
5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue

Supernatural Unity

1. Made in the image of God.

Genesis 1:27 (ESV)
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

2. Unified and reconciled with God through Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17–18 (ESV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

3. Unified and Reconciled with One Another.

Ephesians 2:14–15 (ESV)
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,

John 17:21–23 (ESV)
21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Unity in the Church

  1. United around the truth, not in spite of the truth.

Biblical Worldview Defined: Believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.

Do you have a Biblical Worldview?
• Does absolute moral truth exist?
• Is absolute truth defined by the Bible?
• Did Jesus Christ live a sinless life?
• Is God the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe, and does He still rule it today?
• Is salvation a gift from God that cannot be earned?
• Is Satan real?
• Does a Christian have a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people?
• Is the Bible accurate in all its teachings?

  1. Unity is not uniformity.
  2. Unity is theological, relational, and missional.
  3. Unity takes humility.

1 John 4:20 (MSG)
20 If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see?

“Humility before God is nothing if it isn’t proved by humility before men.” Andrew Murray


1 Corinthians 1:11 (ESV)
11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.

1 Corinthians 1:12–13 (ESV)
12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

1 Corinthians 1:14–15 (ESV)
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.

1 Corinthians 1:16–17 (ESV)
16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Discussion Questions

  1. What was the spiritual state of the Corinthian church when Paul wrote to them in 1 Corinthians?
  2. How would you define supernatural unity?
  3. How do pride and immaturity affect unity?
  4. What is a Biblical worldview? Do you have a Biblical worldview according to Pastor Chris’s definition?
  5. Have you ever struggled to trust other believers? What was the root of your distrust? How did you move forward in freedom?

Application Questions

  1. Determine whether you have a Biblical worldview this week (see Pastor Chris’s definition above). If you don’t agree with each point, get prayer with a mentor or friend this week for full alignment with God’s word.
  2. Is there something in your heart standing in the way of true unity with the church? Examples can include offense, pride, fear, etc. Bring your offense/pride/fear to the Lord this week, laying it at His feet and asking Him to fill you with the opposite spirit.