Local Churches Belong To One Church

Most of us have probably grown up in churches where the needs and concerns of other local churches were rarely mentioned or thought of, much less prayed for, even for other churches in our same denomination that existed in our same community. But this falls woefully short of the New Testament pattern. What we find in the first century is that the Apostles and each local church viewed themselves as inseparably connected to and concerned for other local churches. Just as no individual Christian is an island unto himself, neither is any given local church to be an island unto herself. We desperately need one another brethren! This sermon is a plea for us to do the pioneering work of fleshing out in practical terms what it means to be inseparably connected to our sister churches.