PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 18:15-20
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)
Here Jesus explains how disciples ought to unite together against division.
Make every attempt to restore broken relations, involve the church if needed.
As God’s children, we together share the authority over creation (Genesis 1:26-28).
Together with God and each other, the kingdom comes among us.
I wish I could say that unity and harmony were evident when we come together.
Though at a surface level we have unity, it is very shallow – we hardly know each other.
We have a long way to go to experiencing this fellowship of the Spirit.
Jesus comes to reconcile broken relationships, between God and us and each other.
The next time you gather with other disciples, consider how well you know each other.
Is there someone you have something against, or someone who has something against you?
Is there someone you know little about, and that you’ve never bothered getting to know?
Deeper fellowship with each other is worth pursuing!
For this is how God’s power for good is exercised in the world.
And the world will know we are his disciples, if we love one another.
PRAYER
Lord, may we be more than a shallow group of people that meet in the same place every week. May we become a dynamic, Christ-centered, love-energized fellowship of deeply connected Jesus followers.
God is with us, even when only 2 – 3 are gathered in His name. Even though I try to live at peace with all, how well do I know my brothers? Not well enough to point out sins in another person. All too often our relationships are superficial and self focused. We gather together for an hour each week and then go our separate ways. The church needs to be a community of believers and not individualistic. His Spirit need to draw us/me together so be become the church He desires us to be.
Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
With Cords That Cannot Be Broken
Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
Bind Us Together In Love
There Is Only One God,
There Is Only One King
There Is Only One Body,
That Is Why We Sing.
“if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector” It seems to me that in this passage Jesus is talking about someone who was an insider but now because of sin has become and outsider. How do we treat the outsiders? Are the ones who profess Jesus part of the 99 but the person who seems to be struggling with sin or belief is the ‘one’? Do we treat the outsiders as the mission field – even those who reject Jesus? I think so. Don’t think that they are going to believe just because we say so or the church says so or even the Bible says so – when all of that is irrelevant or gibberish to them. The inside stuff didn’t work for them. A former insider who knows the path but refuses to take the advice of a fellow insider needs to be treated like and outsider – they are the mission field. We don’t give up on them when we give them space – we never assume that they are okay when they are ‘lost’. We seek to meet them and help them find their way back to Jesus.