United We Stand, Divided We Fall
OPENING PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, bring us together as one, like you prayed in John 17. We know you are one with the father. Make us one with each other. Amen
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.” Acts 2:42-44 NIV
REFLECT:
Weekly we meet together for worship to celebrate Christ’s sacrifice for us. Getting together is not necessarily an option. In the beginning God said “it is not good that man be alone” thus he created woman. The first family... The first church... One chapter later Satan, knowing that when we unite, we have great potential and that there is “power in numbers”, was determined to destroy this union. Hence, the fall of mankind. When Adam and Eve realized what they had done, their first response was to hide from God. Alienation is a direct result of the fall of man.
APPLY:
It seems mankind is naïve in realizing the power we have when we are unified. When we alienate ourselves from church fellowship, we become more and more vulnerable. God recognizes this power man can have when unified. In Genesis 11:4-7 NLT “Man said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.” But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other!”
Let's learn from Adam and Eve and the Tower of Babel. United we stand, divided we fall.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of each other. Show us how important it is that we embrace those in the church. Amen