The Power of Unity

Unity is very important in the Body of Christ.

Psalm 133:1 (NIV)
How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!

The Bible encourage us to be united.
As a church, we are not just having a social gathering, we are in fact a family.

We understand that each one of us are very important in God's eyes.
Therefore we need to accept one another, an be united no matter what.

The opposite of unity is disunity.
Disunity is one of the weapon of the enemy.

Disunity can bring great harm to the Body of Christ.

In one of the principle in the book Sun Tzu Art of War, it says: If united, separate them.

Sun Tzu Art of War - 31 Principles
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2014/05/23/sun-tzus-33-best-pieces-of-leadership-advice/#49514a334966

In the battle, Sun Tzu only have 30,000 army, and the emperor ordered him to conquer the other nation that has 300,000 army. It is almost 10 times bigger the size.

Using that principle of disuniting the enemy, Sun Tzu won the battle.

Q & A - Brainstorm
Do you think the below can cause disunity?
Personality
Money
Race
Religion
Opinion
Age
Language
Background
Experience in life
Possession / Material
Position

Do you think having the following criteria is having unity?
Uniformity
Sitting together
Doing things together
Living together

When there is unity:
It’s easier to get along
Strength
Joy
Victory
Momentum
Speed
Growth
Peace

Q & A - Brainstorm
What can cause disunity?
War
Fighting
Selfishness
Wanting to win too badly
Ego
Gossip
Slander
Favoritism
No vision / direction
Greed
Power
Envy

What is the effect of disunity?
Bitterness
Fight
No growth
Do not bring God's glory
Hurt
Baggage (after hurt)

Discussion
1. Which is the top 3 causes of disunity that can happen in church?

2. How can we be united despite of our differences?

When there is no peace (war), we will have no peace.

Don’t have war among ourselves.
There will be baggage afterwards.
Strive = disunity.

Psalm 34:14 - Pursue peace.
We need to be a peacekeeper.
Keep the peace.

We need to speak up when we are in crisis.
It’s not always good to keep everything to ourselves.

Luke 10:1-11

Do not fight.
Ask yourself this question: Do you want to be right, or do you want this relationship?

Agreement is not the condition of unity. 
Love is.

When we have unity, there is growth and power.
The mammals in Africa confuse the lion through unity. This is how they survive as a family.