Who Is The Church?

Today, I preached about ecuminism. My Scripture text was John 17:20-26 where Jesus prayed that all beleivers would be united in Him. What is ecumenism? It is a movement promoting unity among Christian churches or denominations. The word “ecumenism” is derived from a Greek word that basically means “the inhabited world.” It is used several times in the New Testament, but one time in particular stands out. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all the world…” All the world. That is the spirit of ecumenism. All the world. We are to be one Church, one body of believers united by our common belief in the saving power and grace of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 12 said, "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." THat was the point I tried to get across this morning. The Church (capital "C"), the Body of Christ is bigger than any 1 local congregation, bigger than any one denomination, and we as disciples of Jesus Christ must realize this fact and work together to be part of God's answer to Jesus' prayer that we would be one.

To put it another way, being the Church is like eating Oreos. How many different ways are there to eat an Oreo? Some of us simply start eating it, nibbling at it as if we had all the time in the world. Some of us will twist it apart and lick the filling out first. Some of us will get a glass of milk and hold the Oreo in there until it almost ready to fall apart, and at the last minute pull it out and eat the whole thing in one bite! Does it really matter how we eat the Oreo? In the end, the Oreo is still being eaten!... What do you think?

If your heart is as my heart, then give me your hand.
Grace & Peace,
Rev.Kev