Thompson Derek - One in christ

Aseries of six Bible Studies on church unity with notes forleaders

By

Derek Philip Thompsonand Raymond Keith Williamson

Copyright 2015

Published by DerekThompson at Smashwords

ISBN: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx(ePub edition)

Smashwords EditionLicense Notes

The authors givepermission to freely reproduce or distribute all or part of thisdocument provided it is not changed and there is acknowledgement ofthe source. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please download an additional copy for each recipient fromSmashwords.com or one of its distribution agents so that theauthors know that people are making use of their work. Thank youfor respecting the hard work of the authors.

One inChrist

Table of Contents

Advice for BibleStudy group leaders on the use of these studies.

Jesus thoughtchurch unity was important. What do the gospels say?

The church is a community ofsinful people who are saved by God and seek to continue Christ'smission in the world. The search for visible unity assumes we arealready one in Christ. The church is the body of Christ with manyparts.

The church'smission is integral to its identity. Modern ecumenism started in1910 when missionaries found disunity amongst churches was aproblem. Diversity in unity can add to the church's strength.

The church in thisfallen world is make up of sinful people. We look at an examplefrom church history of the problem of sin in the church.

Sin sets upbarriers between humanity and God and between people.

The Bible condemnsfalse teachers. But what is to be done when Christians disagree onteaching? How far can you go before the truth is compromised? Thereis to be no compromise on seeking the truth together in love. Wenever agree to disagree.

What does it meanfor the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Peace, to be the spirit of unityin the church? God gives the ministry of reconciliation to allbelievers.

An extract from apaper/report Ray Williamson gave during his time as Secretary ofthe NSW Ecumenical Council (1986-2007).

Ray Williamsons2015 Ecumenics Summer School lecture notes on the biblical andtheological bases of ecumenism.

Introduction to the Studies for Leaders

The aim of the studies is toshow that church unity is very much a teaching of Scripture. In onesense, Christians are already united in Christ, but to the world,the church looks very fragmented. The studies commence by lookingat the gospels to establish the importance of church unity, andthen we look at the nature of the church as the body of Christ, acommunity with a mission, but one that is hampered by sin. We thenturn to the issue of doctrinal differences, not pretending toresolve the problems, but to show that working for unity need notinvolve compromise to anyone's integrity. The closing studyencourages Christians to follow the Spirit of peace in working forunity.

Allow 90 minutesfor each study. The leader should decide beforehand which questionsto omit if the group is running short of time. Each study consistsof a number of short Bible readings followed by a discussionquestion or two. Ask everyone in the group to read one of thepassages in turn to include everyone in the study. The leadershould prepare answers to each of the questions prior to themeeting so that if people are having difficulty thinking of ananswer the leader can provide his or her answer to help promptideas from the other group members. The questions are only offeredas a means to guide and stimulate discussion and in a talkativegroup there may not be time or a need to deal with all thequestions in detail.

The studies openwith a short prayer by the leader. The closing prayer time can belonger and include personal matters. In a group where there aremembers new to praying in a group setting, the leader could asksomeone to pray using the suggested Bible passage. This is also anopportunity to teach people how to pray using the Bible. Explainthat you do not have to stay strictly to the words of the Bible,and might like to expand on them to make the prayer more relevantto the contemporary situation.

Each study can beprinted back-to-back on a single A4 page as a handout to groupmembers. I give permission for leaders to freely reproduce anddistribute the studies.

I would like tothank Ray Williamson for reading over the studies and givingpermission to use his two articles. These articles will providevaluable background for Bible Study group leaders.

Derek Thompson

One inChrist

There is no longerJew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male and female;
for all of you areone in ChristJesus.Gal 3:28

1.Jesus on Unity

Open the studywith prayer for Jesus' blessing on this series of studies of God'sWord.

Introduction

When looking forguidance on a subject, Christians often turn to the gospels to seeif Jesus had anything to say on it. Jesus thought church unity wasvery important and the gospels have a lot to say about the unity ofJesus' followers. Let us start our studies on church unity bylooking at some passages in the gospels that relate to churchunity.

Questions

1. Read Luke12:49-53. Why do you think Jesus would cause division?

Is this hisintention?

2. Read Luke19:45-46. The outer court of the temple was where the Gentileswere permitted to worship, but it was being used as a market place.What do we learn from this incident about Jesus' attitude towardssin in the temple?

Does this relate tothe church?

3. Read Matthew18:15-17. Jesus teaches here about how to deal with sin in thechurch. Will this work today when there is always another church toattend?

The mother ofJames and John asked Jesus if her two sons could sit at Jesus'right and left hand in his kingdom. To find out what happened nextread Mt 20:24-28. How did Jesus deal with this argumentamongst his disciples?

Disputes in the churchhappen because of sin. In this passage, Jesus does not condemn hisdisciples, but explains to them how life is different in God'sKingdom and points to his purpose in coming into the world. What isyour attitude towards others in the church who are not acting asyou think Christians should act?

5. Read Mark9:38-40. Those who were casting out demons in Jesus' name werenot in the group of disciples following Jesus. Was there anythingwrong in what they were doing?

Why was Jesus willingto overlook this? What was the disciple's attitude?

Do we display thedisciple's attitude towards events held by other churches when weignore them or speaking against them?

6. Read Mt7:21-23. Sometimes a Christian will use this passage againstpeople in other churches by saying that not everyone who callshimself a Christian is a Christian. Do you think this was Jesus'intention in this passage?

Who is to judge andwhen?

What assurance do wehave that we are not deceiving ourselves?

Jesus taughtin John 10:11-16 that he came not only to save the Jews, but alsothe Gentiles

Read John 10:16.

Does the one flockin this verse point to a universal church?

8. Read Jn13:34-35. What is the intention of Jesus' New Commandment?

How do you think theworld sees the church?

Jesus prayedfor his disciples just before he was arrested. Read Jn17:11.

Why do you think Jesusthought he needed to ask God to protect his disciples so that theywould be one?

Do you think thetiming and content of this prayer are significant?

Jesus thenwent on to pray for people who believe in him through hisdisciples' teaching.

Read Jn 17:20-23.

What reason did Jesusgive for the importance of unity amongst his followers?

Close in prayer

Ask someone in thegroup to commence the prayer time by praying