The Christ-Centered Community

2 0 1 4 S u m m e r S e r i e s : T h e G o o d a n d B e a u t i f u l C o m m u n i t y

The Christ-Centered

How many churches are there?

30,000+ Protestant

“We’re right and the rest of you are wrong!”

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JOHN 1720 “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on

behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony, 21 that they wil l all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am

in you. I pray that they wil l be in us, so that the world wil l believe

that you sent me. 22 The glory you gave to me I have given to

them, that they may be one just as we are one— 23 I in them

and you in me—that they may be completely one, so that the

world wil l know that you sent me, and you have loved them

just as you have loved me.

JOHN 1720 “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on

behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony, 21 that they wil l all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am

in you. I pray that they wil l be in us, so that the world wil l believe

that you sent me. 22 The glory you gave to me I have given to

them, that they may be one just as we are one— 23 I in them

and you in me—that they may be completely one, so that the

world wil l know that you sent me, and you have loved them

just as you have loved me.

Father and Son are not the same, yet they are one.

Church will not be the same, yet it must be one.

“Now there were staying in Jerusalem

God-fearing Jews from every nation under

heaven…” ACTS 2:5

“There is neither Jew nor

Greek, neither slave nor free, nor is there

male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” GAL 3:28

Jesus Christ Makes Us One!

“If we disagree, we must divide.”

Meager Church Conservative Democrat Grape Juice Reformed Gender Equality Just War Pro-Choice No Tongues Praise Songs Creationism Gay-Including Immersion Psychology Heterogenous

Mega-church Liberal

Republican Wine

Arminian Male Headship

Pro-Peace Pro-Life

Tongues Classic Hymns

Theistic Evolution Gay-Excluding

Sprinkling Biblical Counseling

Homogeneous

EPH45 There is one Lord. There is one faith and one baptism. 6 There is one God and

Father of all. He is over everything.

He is through everything. He is

in everything.

–James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful Community (86)

“The church of Jesus Christ has been split into many different factions who refuse to have fellowship with one another. For a

people who claim one Lord, one faith, one baptism, we are not one church but exist in isolation, judgment, suspicion and

condemnation. This is a sad and terrible situation that undoubtedly grieves the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…”

–James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful Community (86)

“…Race, class, denomination and doctrine separate the people of God.”

“If we disagree, we must divide.”“Let’s disagree without dividing.”

2COR1311 Last of all then, my brothers,

good-bye! Set your hearts on this

maturity I have spoken of, consider

my advice, live in harmony, be at peace

with one another. So shall the God of love

and peace be ever with you. (Phillips)

Disagreed Without Dividing

“The solution to gender, race and social divisions is not to eradicate our differences but to see them in light of Jesus.”

–James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful Community (99)

EPH525-27Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. (MSG)

JOHN 1720 “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on

behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony, 21 that they wil l all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am

in you. I pray that they wil l be in us, so that the world wil l believe

that you sent me. 22 The glory you gave to me I have given to

them, that they may be one just as we are one— 23 I in them

and you in me—that they may be completely one, so that the

world wil l know that you sent me, and you have loved them

just as you have loved me.

O N E