21/05/12

Be a strong united nation

Acts 6:12 - And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,


The word that we read as Church in the Bible is a conceptualised word which actually does not exist in the Bible. It is the Greek word 'ekklesia' which means assembly or congregation which is translated as church. So when we say the word church we assume as a congregation of Believers gathered in the Name of the Lord.

In today's scripture we find the people were gathered against Stephen. They were stirred by a few and soon they became many, and as a large group they managed to arrest him and take him to the council. Here we see even the evil side knows the power of being together. Stephen was a person look up on and as small groups they would not have been able to lay their hands on him but as united lot they did.

Today the Lord is telling us to understand what bought them together to become a one assembly and got them to do what they could not an individual or small group.

There were a few who spread the common understanding against Stephen that bought them together to become a united mob. If you look at this mob there were various people with different understandings of spiritual matters yet we see them united because of the common factor of Stephen.

What we see in our churches, we have so many denominations. We do not need the devil to divide us or work against us we are doing this work ourselves.

We all believe in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and the only Way to the Father. With this great common factor between us, is it not enough to unite us and become a united assembly?

We Christians are unable to do much for one reason and that is we are not united in our common factor which is Jesus Christ. We who believe that Jesus Christ is the only way should make this common factor a sufficient factor to unite us across congregations and bring us together as a Body of Christ.

The Lord is not telling us we need to not have small churches for during the times of the Apostles we see they had various small churches and they operated and were named according to the various places they were situated but they were all united helping each other in their times of need and praying for each other. They were many out of convenience, not out of understanding.

The people with callings worked between these churches and did not have the concept of my church or your church. Also there was nothing like universal church with one person overlooking all these small churches. We do not read of Peter or Paul stating he headed all the churches even though the later was instrument of initiating almost a 1000 churches. They all worked together as one team. The only one person above us all is Christ and there is only one Church in Him for there is only one Body of Christ.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, we your people have failed You because we are not as one family in You. We have divided ourselves because we have not let You be in charge of our minds and our hearts. We allow the man of the flesh to lead us more than the Holy Spirit and your Word. Holy Spirit, unite us and make us a strong nation in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]
Ephesians 4: 1-6
1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.


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