Young People's Group

HAVING ONENESS IN CHRIST

by Pastor Mitch
June 12, 2005

Building Close Bonds Of Oneness

Building a sense of bond among ourselves is never an easy task. The church is often vulnerable to petty strife and personal differences. These dilemmas often affect our solidarity. For Paul and the Philippian Church, they had a great sense of bond with each other. Paul was able to call the Philippian Church

“My beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown…”
Philippians 4:1

There was this closeness that had been built through the years. However, the Philippian Church had some problems of strife among themselves. Paul sought to deal with this by challenging them to cultivate further their sense of unity with each other. Young people, we too must learn to build our sense of bond with one another and stop any strife in our midst. How can we do this?

1. Appealing To The Practice Of Faith In Christ

“Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy…”
Philippians 2:1

These phrases are what Greek grammarians call conditional statements. This type of conditional sentence does not focus on “maybes” but “consequences”. If the Philippian Church were to truly experience comfort from the Lord Jesus and great fellowship through the Spirit of God, then they should seek to have oneness of mind.

“Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”
Philippians 2:2

Paul appealed to the Church to practise their faith in the Lord Jesus. They should seek to have the same heart and mind in love and accord. If we want to cultivate oneness as a Church, we must practise our faith.

2. Rejecting Outrightly All That Is Wrong And Unworthy

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit…”
Philippians 2:3

There must also be the rejection of all that is wrong and selfish. Paul wrote of the need to do all things by setting aside selfish ambition and conceit. It is so easy to be caught up with our own personal vainglory. It is easy for many to be focused on self. If we want to have unity, we must reject our self-interest and focus on the interests of others. Let’s not seek to do things based on our own selfish ambition. Let’s reject such wrong feelings.

3. Appropriating The Humble Mindset Of Christ

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”
Philippians 2:5

Our challenge is also to think the way the Lord Jesus did. The Lord Jesus had an objective, humble and obedient mindset. He was not afraid to take on the form of a servant. He was fully obedient to His heavenly Father’s will. Brethren, we too need to cultivate such a mindset.

“But in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”
Philippians 2:3

In humility of mind, we will regard others better than ourselves. We will seek to serve others rather than wait to be served. Young people, let’s seek to have oneness through cultivating the humble mindset of Christ.

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