Complete Unity

Do you remember this song? I do. We used it for the Sonrise service 2 years ago. It was the background to our cardboard testimonies. Take a minute and watch the video...
Seriously do it.
Pretty good stuff huh? I love the lyrics of this song, not because they are good lyrics in and of themselves. Rather, I love these lyrics because they reflect perfectly the Gospel story. We were enemies of God, dead in our sin. Yet in the greatest act of love, God came to rescue us from our sin and make us whole again...new creations. It is a beautiful picture of grace that we get to be a part of...yet for many of us, it its a personal story we don't tell others all that often. My question is, why not?

Let me explain it this way...If I showed you a picture of me and I weighed 500 pounds, and then I showed you a picture of me and I weighed 180 pounds, the wow factor wouldn't necessarily be focused on me, but rather what it was that made such a transformation in me (exercise, healthy eating, photoshop).

It is the same in our lives. When we let people see who we used to be, and hoe God has saved us, the limelight is going to be on God- this should be our desire.

But you might say, I am a Christian, but I am struggling RIGHT NOW with some stuff and I am afraid of letting people see the real me (because they might doubt my faith, call me a hypocrite, leave me). What do I do?

If you have put your faith and trust in Jesus, yet you struggle with sin, along with confessing that to Jesus, you need to be in a relationship with people (or someone) who is a Christian who can support and pray for you- that is the beauty of the Church!
If you are struggling, and you have never really put your hope in Jesus, do that now and tell someone! When you do, you can walk together towards maturing and holiness...

My question to you in this...what relationships do you have in your life right now where complete unity, authenticity, and real-ness rule your friendship? You may have alot of friends, but who really knows and loves the real you?

Use these questions and passages of scripture to help you dive deeper into this idea of Friendship and Complete Unity.

1. Who in your life has access to everything about you (thoughts, actions, worries, concerns, etc...)?
- If no one, why do you think that is?

2. What is a friend?

3. Read 1 John 1:1-3a
John is goin crazy over knowing Jesus...His life, death, resurrection, and promise of forgiveness and eternal life.
Is your experience of meeting Jesus cause you to respond like John? Why or why not?

3. Read 1 John 1:3b-4
The goal of John sharing his experience with Jesus is so that others will know the fellowship, or authentic community, that a relationship with Jesus brings.
Do you feel you have real authentic connection with other Christians and with Jesus? Why or why not?

4. 1Read 1 John 1:5-6
John explains that God is light, also meaning that He is full of knowledge...nothing is hidden from Him. Does this scare you?
Verse 6 says that if we claim to be a follower of Him, we walk in the light...nothing hidden in our lives...does this describe your faith?

Oftentimes I think we claim to be followers of Jesus, but we end up walking around in darkness- shame, fear, worry, sin, because we forget who we are as followers of Jesus. Verses 7 & 9 promise that we can we made new through Jesus and that we can have completer unity (openness, authenticity) with others because of what Jesus has done in our lives!

5. What are those struggles you keep hidden inside?
- This week, confess them to Jesus, be reminded of the good news of the Gospel (1 John 1:19), and work on complete unity with others (real authentic friendships)

Plan to join us this Thursday night at Matt & Amanda's as we dig deeper into what friendship has become and how we can pursue authentic relationships with Jesus and others.