Hi Citywest,
On Sunday we had our Vision Sunday where we outplayed some key things we would love to do this year as a church.
We also shared our key scripture for 2021. A scripture for us to hold onto and work towards seeing more of in our church.
The key word I have felt in my heart for the past few months was “unity”, and the scripture God put on my heart was Psalm 133:1
In the NIV it says:
“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
To live is to sit down, to dwell , to remain and to settle.
V2-3 of Psalm 133 paint the picture of of the the huge blessing unity has.
It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
This year I want our church to live in even more unity across our ministries as a church and into our community, where Citywest Church would be know for its unity.
In a world full of disunity, we would be a family of people who will work hard to live, dwell, remain and settle in unity.
So, unity is what God wants for us, and we all know the opposite of unity is disunity.
Disunity is easy to spot, we can see it a mile away, it’s easy to see , we see it in all different parts of society. It’s obvious.
Sometimes the Devil doesn’t use the opposite because it is so easy to spot.
Often times he will use a counterfeit, it will look like the real thing, feel like the real thing, but it will just be a little bit off, it will have no value.
I think the devils counterfeit to unity is conformity.
Conformity is about looking the same sounding the same. You can all look the same on the outside but have no unity in your hearts. It looks like unity and even sounds like unity, but it adds no value at all. You can all look the same but have no unity.
Conformity is the counterfeit of unity.
The picture of true unity is abundantly clear in Romans 12:4-5
Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we belong to each other.
We are all different and we all have different gifts, and for true unity to flourish that must be celebrated, but understanding we are all part of one body.
This year, as a church and as believers we want to learn to walk in unity more and more as a fellowship of believers, and also with other Christ-centred churches in Western Sydney.
One of the beauties of unity is you will see other churches not as competitors but as family, where their success is ours and our success is theirs.
Let’s be expectant for a great year of God’s blessing as we dwell together in unity.
Pastor John.