Adult Sunday School Lesson for December 31, 2017

                            Faith to Unite

International Sunday School Lesson for December 31, 2017

Purpose

To practice a faith that seeks unity marked by the guidance of the Holy Spirit

Bible Lesson

Background: Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4:1-16 (CEB)

1 Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord, I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. 2 Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, 3 and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together. 4 You are one body and one spirit, just as God also called you in one hope. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all.

7 God has given his grace to each one of us measured out by the gift that is given by Christ. 8 That’s why scripture says, When he climbed up to the heights, he captured prisoners, and he gave gifts to people.

9 What does the phrase “he climbed up” mean if it doesn’t mean that he had first gone down into the lower regions, the earth? 10The one who went down is the same one who climbed up above all the heavens so that he might fill everything.

11He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. 12 His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ 13 until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we aren’t supposed to be infants any longer who can be tossed and blown around by every wind that comes from teaching with deceitful scheming and the tricks people play to deliberately mislead others. 15 Instead, by speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ, 16 who is the head. The whole body grows from him, as it is joined and held together by all the supporting ligaments. The body makes itself grow in that it builds itself up with love as each one does its part.

Key Verses

Live as people worthy of the call you received from God. Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together. (Ephesians 4:1-

Some Thoughts

As I prepare to write my comments on this lesson’s text, I am challenged to make sure that my thoughts are in agreement with the will of the Holy Spirit.

This is our fourth lesson on faith. Because it is about unity within the body of Christ, it may be the most timely and the most important.

One of the major problems we face as a body of believers is who in the world speaks for God. Back in the 1950’s 60’s and 70’s most of us accepted Billy Graham as the most important religious leader.  From presidents and other world leaders his advice and council was sought by many. There was also a time when the Pope in Rome was thought to be the conscience of Christians world wide. Today there seems to be a void at the top of world wide Christianity.

Therefore, our faith in establishing any kind of unity is challenged. I use the word “therefore” to make a point. That is how our text begins, with the therefore that responds to the previous teachings and comments in Ephesians chapter 3.

At the end of chapter 3 Paul prays for the church,  “19 I ask that you’ll know the love of Christ that is beyond knowledge so that you will be filled entirely with the fullness of God.’  Today’s text is to help us achieve that fullness.

Today we are divided on many fronts, our nation seems divided, our churches are divided, and our families our divided.  Our churches are divided not only internationally, but locally, by an order of service, or emphasis seemingly placed on the wrong things.

Paul’s call for   “all humility, gentleness, and patience,”  has never been needed more. We are not only divided, but the rankor and vile forms that it takes it is sometimes hard to find the Christianity. We are in a time where Christianity is being threatened by Christianity. By that I mean the divide between the “Evangelical Christian” and the more progressive Christians has never been greater. Neither side see’s any redeemable qualities in the other side. We have lost sight of what Paul says in verses  4-6 “You are one body and one spirit, just as God also called you in one hope. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all.”

Paul is quite bold in verses 13&14 “until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we aren’t supposed to be infants any longer who can be tossed and blown around by every wind that comes from teaching with deceitful scheming and the tricks people play to deliberately mislead others.”

The call today is for Christians to treat other Christians with the same love and respect that we are called to treat the non Christian. Lets us be mature in our actions, and united in our faith. Always seeking our guidance from the Holy Spirit, not the outside forces that try and influence us for all the wrong reasons.

My hymn for this week is “My Jesus I Love Thee.”