Messy Church...Messy Unity

Series: Messy Church                        1st Corinthians 1:10-2:5

Title: Messy Unity                           January 19, 2025

James 4:1-2, What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.

1st Corinthians 1:10, I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

Big Idea: By the name of Jesus… Keep unity!

1. Keep unity by avoiding fights among Christians.

1st Corinthians 1:11-12, For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 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.”

Philippians 2:3, Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

2. Keep unity by placing the wisdom of God first.

1st Corinthians 1:18-19, For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

James 1:5, If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

3. Keep unity by preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

1st Corinthians 1:22-23, For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles…

Romans 1:16, For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

1st Corinthians 2:1-5, And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my

speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Next Step: Take time this week to write a couple of sentences about…

How you can make a unique contribution while keeping unity.