20th Anniversary: Unity

Bob Schwahn | Lead Pastor | October 5, 2025

Referenced Scripture:
John 17:20-23, Ephesians:4:1-6, Galatians 3:26-28, Ephesians 6:12,
John 13:34-35

Reflection Questions:
1) The primary metaphor the Bible uses to describe the church is a family. Does the church feel like a spiritual family to you? Why or why not?

2) What challenges keep churches from experiencing a sense of family? How can we overcome these challenges?

3) What are common things that create divisions in the American church? Do you think it is possible to build bridges over these divides? Why or why not? When could it be warranted to choose to divide?

READ John 17:20-23“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

5) Is it even realistic to think that believers could be “one” just as the Father and the Son are “one” and “brought to complete unity”? What makes you skeptical about this? What makes you hopeful that this could happen? According to verse 23, why is unity central to the mission of the church (helping people come to know and follow Jesus).

6) What would you need to do differently in order to move toward the unity that Jesus prayed for in the church? What is your NEXT STEP to move toward Jesus’ vision for the church?

7) Do you think it is possible for people to be united in Christ when they think differently about God, the Bible, the Church, Culture, Social Issues, Politics, etc? Why or why not? How could that kind of unity be possible? What would it require of Christ followers?

8) How did the life and death of Jesus model a love for our enemies? How can this kind of love supersede the divisions we see in our culture? Who is our real enemy?

Ephesians 6:12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

9) How can we practically battle him and not people we disagree with?

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