Sermon Tone Analysis

*United in Mind and Purpose*

1 Corinthians 1:10

 

On this first Sunday of 2005

       I greet you with a promise

              Given to us by our Lord Jesus (Mark 13:31):

/              *“Heaven and Earth will pass away*/

*/                     But My words will never pass away.”/*

Did you know that…

The month of January is named after

the Roman god Janus,

who was pictured as a man with two faces,

one looking backward and the other forward.

The early days in the New Year

Are a most fitting and valuable time

to ponder the past

while anticipating the future.[1]

Have you written your New Year’s Resolutions yet?

those annual decisions to slim down,

shape up, sort through,

and generally get our lives back in order?

There’s something about starting a new year

that drives us to make resolutions.

We like the idea of leaving behind an old year,

with its mistakes and frustrations,

and beginning afresh.[2]

Thomas Mann, in /The Magic Mountain /said,

/Time has no divisions to mark its passage; /

/there is never a thunderstorm /

/to announce the beginning of a new year.

/

/It is only we mortals who ring bells /

/and fire off pistols (or fireworks)./[3]

A New Years wish says,

/May all your troubles last as long /

/as your New Year’s resolutions.*[4]*

/

An Anonymous source says,

/“New Year’s Resolutions are like friends.

/

/they are easier to make than to keep.”*[5]* /

 

At the beginning of 2005

We gather as a church to pray.

The Prayer Week Material for this year

       Was written by Dan Nighswander,

              General Secretary of Mennonite Church Canada.

The overarching topic is

       “Praying over the broken Body of Christ”.

When we *begin* a new year *with prayer*,

       We make a statement

       That we want to give the “first fruits” of our time

              As well as our money and energy

                     To God – who has entrusted it to us

                           As His stewards.

Jesus said to his disciples,

       /“Seek first the Kinkdom of God and his righteousness/

/              And all these things /

/                     Will be given to you as well.”/

(Matt.

6:33)

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians

       With its central concern for Christian Unity

              Is the focus of our prayer week,

                     And we invite you already now

                           To come and participate also during

                                  The evening meetings.

The gospel of John tells of Jesus’ passion

       For the unity of his disciples (John 17:20-23):

       Shortly before his death he prayed

              /That they may be one… /

/                     So that the world may believe…/

/                           That you have sent me…/

 

/Our world is daily rocked with terrorism, violence and war,/

/       And many who deeply hunger for human community/

/              Characterized by unity and love /

/              Look longingly to the church./

/What do they see?/ (Swen Erikson)

 

John Longhurst writes,

/During the Christmas holidays I found myself reminiscing with an old friend about the “war”.

Not the Second World War – we are not old enough for that – or any other conflict since that time.

Out “war”was a church split that tore our congregation apart over 13 years ago.

/

/Like a real war, this one also had casualties.

To this day, some people still experience pain at the thought of the harsh things that were said and done, and the longtime friendships that were broken./

/Ultimately the conflict was resolved when a group of people left our church to start a new congregation.

Today, both churches are thriving, although many would probably wish there had been a better way to achieve this happy result.

/

/Our experience was not unique.

Lots of churches have splits.

But very little is said about them – it’s an unfortunate part of church life that we’d just as soon not admit, or talk about./

/Church splits can result from disagreements over many things: doctrine, music, styles of leadership, biblical interpretation, building expansion – you name it.

/

/One big issue that is dividing some congregations and entire denominations today is homosexuality;…/

/But not all splits are over big issues.

A church in Colorado split over the spelling of a Jewish praise word: One side wanted “Hallelujah” on a banner, and the other wanted “alleluia” /(without the H).

/Splits aren’t unique to Christianity.

/(Longhurst goes on to explain splits between Hinduism and Shikism; Islam (Shiites & Sunnis); Judaism has various major groups (Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstructionsits); and so on.

/But when it comes to splitting and dividing among religious groups, Christians are the champions; one source indicates that there are as many as 34,000 distinct and separate Christian groups today.

/

Longhurst concludes, /Church splits will probably never go away.

Once a year, however, Christians around the world are invited to put aside their differences and join in the annual… Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The apostle Paul, writing to the quarreling Christians in the city of Corinth, appealed to them to “agree with one another, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought”/(1 Cor.

1:10).

What were the issues in the church of Corinth?

The city of Corinth “was noted for its wealth,

and for the luxurious and immoral

and vicious habits of the people.

It had a large mixed population of Romans,

Greeks, and Jews.”[6]

While the apostle Paul was away on a Missionary journey