1. Prolonged Stress
2. Politicized Cultures
3. Personal Attacks
4. Pessimistic Outlooks
John 17:20-23 // “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
- A divided world needs a unified church!
WHY PRAY FOR UNITY?
1. Because we desperately need EACH OTHER.
Romans 12:4-5 NLT // Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
2. Because the world will see GOD'S LOVE.
Romans 15:7 // Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
John 13:34-35 // “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
- Disagreement is unavoidable.
- Division is a choice.
3. Because we can do INFINITELY MORE together.
Acts 4:32-34 // All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33...And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them...
