Genuine Love and Unity in the Church

1. Rom 12: 9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.  10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.  11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.  12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.  14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.  15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.  16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 

2. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. • 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.  • 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."  • 20 To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head."  • 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

3. Acts 20: 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

4. James 1: 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and uo keep oneself unstained from the world.

5. Eph 4:1 I therefore,  a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience,  bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in tthe bond of peace.

6. Eph 4:11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,  • 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,  • 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, • 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 

7. “..when in the first century Christianity started to spread from its origins in • Palestine it also took root in North East Africa not long after • Pentecost (cf. Acts 2f, 8f.) (Hildebrandt 1981:5). • The first urban centre of Christianity in Africa was Alexandria • in Egypt. While the New Testament has no record of missionary • activity in Africa as in Asia and Europe, various contacts are • implied. As noted by Groves (1948:58), the accessibility of Africa • from Palestine is shown by the story of the flight into Egypt by

8. Joseph and Mary with the infant Jesus in Matthew 2:13-15. Another • gospel character, Simon of Cyrene who bore the cross of Christ, also • came from North Africa. Then in Acts 8:26-40 one also reads of an • African on his way home who became a Christian – this time an • African called an Ethiopian (though not someone from Abyssinia but rather from a region overlapping with present-day Egypt-Sudan).

9. North Africans were the first to receive and embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The early church in North Africa went through severe persecutions A.D. 64 thru 311. In response, the church established the Catechetical Schools of Alexandria, among other similar schools of Christian instruction

10. It is felt by many that Mark the Evangelist (One of the Seventy Apostles sent out by Jesus to spread the Gospel in Luke 10) was the one who brought the Gospel to Africa via Alexandria around AD 49. The Coptic church was eventually born as a result of Mark’s witness.

11. 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. • 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;  • 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  • 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  • 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

12. Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

13. Yes, the Church should do that! Be kind, love others, preach the Word, be salt, be light!!! • We must love each other actively (Acts 2:42-47)

14. David Platt “Our lives and our churches are never intended to be designed for more pleasure and ease in this world, but for the sake of treasure in eternity.”

15. 1 Cor 12: 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  • 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  • 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.  • 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  • 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,  • 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,  • 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 

16. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. • 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. • But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it,  • 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  • 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  • 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 

17. Matt 23:27 • 27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.

18. 1 Cor 13: 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  • 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  • 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

19. Luke 11: 42 "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

20. James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: sto visit torphans and widows in their affliction, and uto keep oneself vunstained from the world.