Unifying Your Fellowship - 1 Corinthians 1:10

"Teams go nowhere when they quarrel and argue and fight. They only succeed if they work as a unit."

Family Discussion

• Name some consequences a family like yours experiences when people don't work together.
• In the Corinthian church, what were the sources of their quarrels and squabbling? Can you see the same source in your church or in your small group or in your family?
• Name one way you intend to become more unified today.

Transcription

00:14 Men, as an old college football coach, coaching the Texas Aggies, and then coaching a High School football and even coaching peewee football, I'll tell you, there's nothing that pleases a coach more than a team that works together well, and there's nothing that pleases a dad or mom more, or certainly God, than a family who works together well. Check this verse out today. First Corinthians chapter one, and check out verse 10, it says this: "Now I exhort you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you will all agree in that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind, in the same judgment." You know, what was going on in the Corinthian church is that same thing that goes on all over the country and all over the world in families and teams and businesses in church.

01:08 And I know it just wearies God probably, you know, brings his anger. But in the Corinthian church, you know, Paul, he had brought unity to the church and they were squabbling. You know, I'm of Paul, some say I am of Apollos, some would say I'm of Cephus, you know, and they were squabbling about who taught them. Paul says in First Corinthians 1:10, he says, "by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but you made complete in the same mind, in the same judgment." Man, teams go nowhere when they quarrel and argue and fight. You know what? They only succeed if they work as a unit. This is what Paul wanted the Corinthian church to know more than anything else. And it's exactly what God wants today's Christians to know too, you know. Our K-2 Buddy, you know, Adam Donia, he runs the K-2 basketball camp.

02:09 He just takes this team of guys to the state championship. For some, it's not by talent, you know, not by height and how high they jump, but because they've got those kids to work together. They were like one family going down the court. We used to play the University of Texas, they were the national champions every year. And I played nose man, and we knew we were going to get killed, not because they had the best talent in America, because they had 11 guys in orange shirts that came off the ball in one heartbeat. They won 38 straight games. Three of them were right over the top of my head because that team was unified under the brilliance of Darrell Royal. And so it is with a family. And if you're in a church working now or a ministry, you could take this principle and apply it and I'll tell you that you'll succeed in whatever you do in the long run.

03:06 So here's the question for today. Football teams get penalized if they spend too much time quarreling in the huddle. Don't you like that? Name some consequences a family like yours experiences when people don't work together. And then in the Corinthian church, what were the sources of their quarrels and squabbling? Can you see the same source in your church or in your small group or in your family? And then name one way you intend to become more unified today. I mean it, you can change in your heart to become more unified with the Christians that are in your family or in your team or in the church that you're serving. And here's the lifeline of the day. "Just as an athletic team must be unified to work toward a common goal, we as Christians must lay aside our petty differences and be unified in the work Jesus has called us to do." What differences have you had in your family that need to be laid aside to create unity today?