Unity of Believers | Philippians 2:2-3 | October 11, 2026 | Aaron T. Colyer

Good morning, church.

If you have a Bible, move to Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Uh, we're looking mostly at chapter 2, verse 3, but we're gonna read it in context again this morning, verses 1 through 3.

And as you turn there, some of you always say, Thank you so much for praying for other pastors.

Uh, I hope that some of you are taking notes there in the bulletin or on your phone saying, All right, we're gonna pray for Josh Allen today.

And would you pray for Josh every time that the Spirit uh reminds you about praying for another pastor in another church?

He leads a church out in Plano, the church's Parkway Hills Baptist Church.

And Josh is an encouragement to me.

He is in a group organized by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention called the Shepherd's Collective.

And we've been in a cohort together the last couple years, and I get to go see him here in a couple weeks, but he just calls and he checks in and he says, How are things going?

And he gets people together, and we get on uh Zoom calls together and encourage one another.

I'm so grateful for a guy like Josh Allen.

I think we're very like-minded.

I think we have a lot of the same blessings in ministry and a lot of the same burdens.

And so we're praying for Josh today.

He's preaching 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 through 8, there in Plano.

I hope you will pray for him throughout the week.

Let's pray.

And let's also ask that God would give us ears to hear and eyes to see the things right here from the Bible that he wants to change in our lives.

Let's pray.

Lord, we give you all the celebration as we have through song and through prayer, through fellowship and through the way that we even remember the Lord's Supper and remember the gospel.

Now, I just ask God that you would help us to lean in.

Really lean in on the edge of our seats, anxious to hear from you.

So often David prayed in the Psalms, God, incline your ear to me.

I pray that you would do that for us.

Incline our ears to you, oh Lord, that we would know exactly how you're calling us to live.

Be reminded of the mission that you've put in front of us.

Be reminded that the watching world is aware of our every move as a church.

God, I do pray for Pastor Josh as he preached his first Thessalonians this morning.

Uh, would he preach boldly and courageously, clearly?

Would people see Jesus high and lifted up?

Would they respond to the gospel?

He was asking that we pray for revival prayers.

Uh, would you bring revival in the Dallas area in North Dallas, and specifically at Parkway Hills?

Thank you, Lord, for so many uh volunteers and lay leaders and ministry staff that surrounded him.

I just pray, God, that you would continue to help them be a healthy church, seeing your kingdom come and your will be done in Platinum.

And we ask that in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Philippians 2, 1 through 3, verse 3 highlights on unity.

That we walk in a unity, that we have a sense of one mind and the same love, that we're not conceited or self-serving or self-seeking, that we walk in unity.

I don't know how many middle children there are out there.

I'm a middle child.

Anyone else?

Middle child?

Yes.

Give it up for the middle children.

Forgotten all the time, right?

I'm looking at you, yeah.

I always felt that way.

My middle daughter feels that way.

Something else that middle children typically do is they're good at peacemaking and they bring people together.

They bring the older and the younger together.

I was a peacemaker growing up.

I had a sweet 16 bash on a budget.

I wanted to have a DJ and a dance to celebrate my Sweet 16, and so we rented out.

We lived in the Hill Country, there weren't many options, but we rented out a boxing slash jazz or size slash dance studio.

It was the cheapest thing we could rent out.

It had a dance floor in the middle for the dance studio, mirrors on the walls, and a boxing ring in the front.

So the DJ just set up in the boxing ring, and I invited everyone I could from my high school, from my youth group.

And I quickly realized when I showed up to this party that it was very divided.

Because I was in the drum line.

You had the band kids over here, but I knew some athletes and you had the jocks over there.

And then I had my youth group friends over here, and then they had clicks within themselves.

There were some softball girls and some volleyball girls, and I'm looking at these tables and so clearly divided.

Every single one of these tables has a different person.

Oh, there's the 4-H people, and they raise livestock, and they're not talking to each other.

And it really frustrated me because I'm a peacemaker.

So my role then became going to each table and picking up a few people from this table and taking them to that table and introducing them and saying, Do you know my friend so and so?

And the whole night I'm trying to bring people together because that's the way that God's wired me.

I want to be a peacemaker.

Did you know?

In all of us, whether it's known or buried deep down, there is a desire to belong.

People want to belong.

Did you know that if you're in Christ this morning, you belong?

Isn't that good news?

Yes.

If you're in Christ, you belong.

And we need to work that out and figure that out as a local church, as a church family, within our small groups.

We need to be living out that kind of unity that Jesus bought and paid for.

So yes, we're talking about unity in Christ this morning.

If we've been united with Christ, that means we're also united with one another.

Don't you remember last week we made the cross, right?

Vertical unity between us and God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, horizontal unity.

The cross makes that possible.

So let's remember that as we read this text.

And I'll just say right from the front, I say this a lot because I'm passionate about the gospel.

My sweet daughter and I, we had a great milestone trip this last week, and we met people from Australia and Portugal.

We heard people speaking German and French and Spanish, and we told a lot of people about Jesus, even though that wasn't the point of the trip.

Why?

Because the cross matters.

And I just want to tell you if you've stepped into church this morning and you're like, I just don't know about this Jesus thing, can I challenge you?

Jesus made a way for us to be saved, for us to be forgiven, for us to be washed clean.

Would you come to Christ today and surrender?

Would you say no to the world?

It's your old life and autonomy, and I can do it on my own, or I'm gonna figure it out and I'm gonna find happiness and satisfaction on my own.

And yes to Jesus.

Jesus, you made a way.

Then I could be new, then I could be clean, that I could be spotless, guiltless, that I could be satisfied.

And I just want to tell you off the front, we're talking a lot about unity, but you cannot have it if you don't first come to Christ.

Would you give your life to Jesus this morning?

Philippians chapter 2, verse 1 through 3 says this.

Philippians 2:1–3

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from his love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind, that sense of unity in full accord and of one mind.

Do nothing from selfish ambition.

But in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.

If there's a challenge that I give you this morning, it's this press into real relationships in Christian community.

Press into this authentic community.

We talk about our values here at our church, and that's one of them, right?

Authentic community, press into real relationships.

This passage reminds us of some characteristics that are foundational to the unity that we have as a church.

It's things that Christ has accomplished for us.

We expect to see these characteristics because it's evidence of our relationship with Jesus.

He's changing us from the inside out.

They should exist.

Things like encouragement in Christ, because we're united to Christ, comfort from Christ, and comfort from his love, a common fellowship or partnership of the Holy Spirit.

And if we've received tenderness and compassion, we're then able to give tenderness and compassion when others need it.

There's one scholar named D.A.

Carson who talks about this kind of fellowship.

Philippians is known as a koinania, a tight Christian bond, a close relationship.

He talks about that with this phrase, the partnership of the redeemed.

We are one in spirit and one in purpose.

We have the same mission.

We are the same family.

This is what he says when talking about the partnership of the redeemed.

So that the entire church reflects the same precious Christ, honoring God, fearing, self-denying others, edifying, and I would even add, kingdom-advancing stance.

That's the partnership of the redeemed.

That we reflect that kind of stance, that we're making progress in our joy and faith.

I'll remind you that Paul says in this passage, complete my joy, and it's not selfish.

He's not just saying it's all about me.

He's saying if you would make progress in your faith, if you would find your ultimate joy in Jesus, that would make me the most joyful.

I just want to remind you, as a preacher and one of your pastors, if you would make progress in your faith, if you would find your greatest joy in Jesus, that would complete my jewel.

And I think a part of that in context of this passage is walking in the kind of gospel unity that Jesus bought and paid for on the cross.

There is an incredible joy when a church walks out that kind of unity.

It starts with a relationship with Christ and then it extends into our relationship with others.

And can I tell you your joy, your satisfaction in Jesus, your ability to be satisfied in Christ alone is not just a you project.

Your joy is a community project.

As we walk these things out together in fellowship and together in unity, our joy in Jesus can be increased.

So let me just give you three descriptions of unity in Christ.

Some of this is review, but it's good to know.

Three descriptions from the context here of our unity in Christ.

Number one, being of one mind, right?

In full accord and of one mind.

And I think because of the context, we can say being of one mind, striving side by side for the gospel.

More than just what we think about mission, how do you how do you feel about mission?

Do you wake up thinking about mission all the time?

Paul is saying, This is the way I feel about you, church.

This is the way I feel as I pray for you in the introduction.

This is the way I feel.

I'm filled with joy.

And now he's saying, Hey, I want you to feel this idea of being of one mind, being together.

And don't forget the picture we saw a couple of weeks ago in chapter 1, verse 27 of striving side by side.

I want to read it in the context.

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you, that you're standing firm and one spirit with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.

We saw that that great picture of unity.

You know it comes from being deeply rooted.

I have one mind in full accord with everything I have, with a sense of passion, a depth to my relationship with Christ, one that doesn't just go away when the winds come and the storms come, and and and as Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount, when when the wind beats against the house, no, it's firmly rooted, it's standing on the hearing and doing of God's word.

I was not here in 2015, but I've heard the stories of the floods that came through.

And I was just down at the river access in our development, River Mountain Ranch, and I noticed, and it's a really big celebration, but I noticed that one of the cypress trees in that property made it.

We got a picture here.

Hopefully you can see it.

This is my son fishing.

We're having fun on the Blanco River.

Can you see in kind of the top left corner?

This tree now is growing green, it's budding out, it survives.

It was one of the only cypress trees in that area that survived.

And I think maybe some of it was just the fact that it wasn't hit by any major debris.

But I would also want to argue that it survived because it was deeply rooted.

And so now, after years and years, it's finally coming back and it's finally turning green.

We've lived there for going on four years, and this is the first time, late spring, summer, and now into the fall, it's green for the first time in like 11 years since that flood happened.

Isn't it encouraging to know that some of the trees are coming back?

I wonder if that can just show us a picture of what we need to be if we're standing firm, deeply rooted, with one mind and this understanding of who we are in Christ and our great identity in Jesus.

And the reason we can walk out unity is because we know who we are.

Ephesians 2, starting in verse 11.

Says, therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision, but what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ and alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who are once far off have been brought near by the blood of the cross, for he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and is broken down in his flesh, the dividing wall of hostility.

Jesus makes unity possible.

That's right.

Or what about in chapter four, there at the beginning, first couple of verses, I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

That's what gospel unity looks like.

We're eager to maintain something that's been given to us.

I can't create unity here at this church.

You can't create unity here at this church.

It is a gift that Jesus paid for.

Now, what I can do is I could put up some pretty serious roadblocks and hurdles because of things that I decide to do, and I stop being eager to maintain the unity that's been given.

I stopped striving to maintain the unity that's been given.

And if you've ever been a part of a church where you've seen that happen, you know that's terrible.

Would you pray that this church would not let that happen?

But that we would strive to maintain the unity that's been given.

It's a gospel unity.

It's because Jesus shed his blood that it brings us together.

We fight to maintain it.

So there's that language of standing firm.

Also being of one mind, there's language about striving side by side for the faith through the gospel.

We remember that if we've been called by Christ to a new unity, if we've been called by Christ to a new identity, we also have been called by Christ to a new mission.

Before we didn't have a mission to serve him and his purpose.

Now we do.

And I think we've made that pretty clear.

Matthew 28 in the Great Commission is super helpful for us.

But remember what it looked like a couple weeks ago, and I even turned around and took a picture in the second gathering.

We were locked arms, striving side by side.

I made reference to that song, Onward Christian Soldiers.

I'd love to read just a couple stanzas here.

Listen to the language.

When you think about locking arms, standing side by side, letting the gospel press forward from us as a people.

Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war.

With the cross of Jesus going on before.

See his banners go.

And verse 2 like a mighty army moves the church of God.

Brothers are treading where the saints have trod.

We are not divided.

All one body, we, one in hope and doctrine, one in charity.

Right?

There is a real battle happening all around us when we pray things like your kingdom come, your will be done.

That's not just because it's in the Lord's Prayer and Jesus taught us to pray.

We are eagerly anticipating every single small victory when someone turns from darkness into marvelous light.

They give the life to Jesus and they're made brand new.

That is a major victory.

And we're locked arms together, pressing forward.

Hell is not pressing against us, we're pressing against the gates of hell.

The gates of hell won't prevail against the church.

That's what Jesus said to Peter.

And so striving must be intentional.

We remember the mission that we've been given, we remember what Jesus said.

We're asking God to make us obedient to the Great Commission.

Jesus said in Luke chapter 10, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Pray for more workers.

Pray for people that will take this gospel seriously.

I hope that's every one of us here this morning.

And then you understand the language of striving almost assumes a struggle.

And Jesus taught the disciples that they would have hardship, that there would be persecution, that people would hate them because they took on the name of Jesus.

It assumes that there's a struggle.

Fighting against the schemes of the devil are hard enough on the outside.

Fighting against those that don't want to honor the Lord with their life is hard enough on the inside on the outside.

But what happens when it comes to the inside?

And now there's a struggle to fight to maintain the gospel unity that's been given because of things that are happening on the inside.

Paul is pleading with these Philippians, you gotta rejoice in the Lord, you gotta have joy, you gotta make progress and joy in the faith.

But one thing you can't do is get caught up with silly arguments and myths on the inside.

You can't do that, church.

There will be a struggle, so let's make sure that we're in the fight.

But then also listen to some of the language about tenderness and compassion, affection and sympathy is what my translation says.

Maybe yours says tenderness and compassion.

If we've received this grace from Jesus, we've got to be ready to extend it to others.

That's right.

That's what that's what we can do to strive in one mind.

We fight for unity because we understand what's at stake, the mission.

And we want more people to understand who Jesus is.

Amen.

That was just the first description.

I promise the next two will go quicker.

I promise.

The second description, having the same love and showing the love of Christ, this harkens us back to this idea that people are watching.

And so we show that love.

Jesus said in John 13, and they will know that you are Christians by your love.

Thank you, seven of you.

I'm gonna give you one more chance.

Jesus said in John chapter 13, they will know that you're Christians by your.

John 13 · chapter mention

So we have the same love, and we show the love of Christ.

But can I remind you that that love is a sacrificial love?

It's not a self-seeking love.

It's not put my interest above others, it's put others' interests above my own.

That's what's happening here in the context, and we'll look more at humility next week.

But just look in in in a little bit further down chapter two, the description of Jesus and his sacrificial love.

Have that mind of Christ among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grass.

But he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, being found in human form.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

See this kind of love that Jesus has shown us, having the same love or showing the love of Christ, it's his sacrificial love.

Sacrifice is not easy, sacrifice is hard.

For us to be kind of church, it's making sacrifices, putting other interests above our own, and seeing the mission of Christ fulfilled, and my desires fall to the wayside.

Why?

Because I love and surrender, I have a sacrificial love.

That's how we fight for unity as believers.

If you read our recent values study, I really appreciated this part of the study.

Talking about sacrifice and living surrendered life and being surrendered.

Maybe you had eggs and bacon for breakfast this morning.

I'm not gonna ask if you did.

I just had a little Fig Newton bar, it was a quick breakfast on Sunday for me, okay?

But if you enjoy eggs and bacon in the morning, you know that both the chicken and the pig.

Made a sacrifice, but the chicken just made a deposit and the pig gave everything he had.

If we're going to have this love of Christ and reflect that love of Christ in our fellowship so that the outside world sees it, it's gonna take sacrifice.

It's gonna take us laying down our own interests.

The community of believers shows the love of Christ when they do exactly what it says.

And I've mentioned this multiple times, but in chapter 2, verse 15, Paul says that the depraved world is a twisted generation, and church, you shine like lights in the universe when you are loving like Jesus loved.

So that's what it looks like to have that gospel unity, to have the same love and show the love of Christ.

And I want to tell you, there's few things that are sweeter than having a Christian community that has a genuine love for each other.

My wife talks about this a lot.

We we end up in a lot of counseling situations together, and she says, so many people are looking for that sense of love, and they find it in so many cheap substitutes.

What they really need to find it is in Christ and in the body of believers that are identified and changed because of what Jesus has done in their life.

This kind of community, friendships that would drop anything to be there for their brother or sister in Christ.

Meal calendars for new moms that just had babies or people that just had surgeries.

We have a ministry on Wednesdays that goes and delivers meals, his hands and his feet.

They deliver meals to shut-ins and widows and people that have just had surgeries, or people that are down on their finances, they send cards, they send prayers.

When it happens inside the church, it's not just an outreach, but inside because there's a genuine love that when one of us is hurting, all of us are hurting, therefore the whole church comes around them to bear their burden with them.

I know some some people say, Well, that didn't happen for me.

Well, maybe you didn't tell anyone about it.

Tell somebody about it.

Be in a small group, say, I'm gonna need some help here in about three weeks.

I'm really nervous, I'm anxious, pray for me, pray for that.

I have peace, I'm going in for the surgery, the recovery is many months.

Just tell someone about it, and we'll surround you.

We'll be happy to do that.

That's Christian unity when homes are shared between families for a season.

So many of you open your homes and say, Come on in, you're part of the church, you're you're a part of the Christian community, come on in.

Seasons in our life where we've opened our home.

In Roswell, we had a children's minister, her husband got a job in Artesia, and she came on staff at our church, and they had seen a rent house online, thought it was really great, thought the price was great.

They're gonna stay in the rent house until they get settled, then they might buy a house in New Mexico, and they show up and appliances don't work.

There's two AC units, but only one of them is operational.

There's no heat, it's very, very cold in the winter in New Mexico.

There are shattered windows, and the landlord says, Yeah, I'll get around to it.

I've got lots of properties.

Maybe it'll take me two or three months.

They said, Can we get our security deposit back?

He said, No, you signed a contract.

They said, Well, too bad, we're not living here.

They stayed in our home for six weeks.

Why?

Because we loved them.

They're a part of our church, they're a part of our Christian community.

They needed something, we had it.

That kind of unity is sweet when tragedy strikes and others drop everything and cancel plans to pray for and pray with those that they love.

That is a sense of same love and showing the love of Christ.

That is a picture of gospel unity.

Number third description, number three or third description, being of full accord in one spirit and walking out this like-minded passion.

One commentator talks about this one-mindedness as your souls being knit together, that the unity of believers or the partnership of the saints, as DA Carson says, it's described by our souls being knit together.

I think you know what this is.

Maybe you remember the 2015 floods, and you remember coming up to HQ and Command Center, going out, doing mud outs, and and searching for uh people that were still lost, and you're like, you walk through something tragic, and the people that you rub shoulders with in that time, you can still talk about those memories, and you've developed a bond.

Maybe you've known a first responder that shows up first scene on the accident, and they rescue someone, they save somebody's life, and later on that person gets out of the hospital and they go back to the fire department, they go back to the police station, and they want to meet their hero.

And there's an immediate bond there, right?

Because you walk through something hard together and your souls get knit together.

Maybe you've heard stories of soldiers going off to war.

I certainly heard some from a younger brother before he died.

And when they were on the front lines and they were in battle, and they he literally had people die in his arms.

And those that made it out, those that came back to their families and back to this great United States of America, they could be states away, they'd get together, and immediately they'd have a bond because they walked through something together.

I want you to know, church, we are walking through something together.

There is a very real spiritual battle all around us.

We have a mission and a passion to obey Christ.

And if we would just get busy rubbing our shoulders in the trenches where gospel work is done, we would be bonded together.

Amen.

We would be of full accord and of one spirit.

We would be walking in this kind of like-minded passion.

Jesus, it's worth it.

A life lived for your glory, it's worth it.

Sacrifices made, it's worth it.

Fighting to maintain unity inside the church because outside the church, they're watching.

It's worth it.

Jesus, it's worth it.

So we live out that kind of gospel unity, the unity of believers.

And I just ask you, FBC Wimmerly, in this church, can we stay passionate about the mission Jesus gave us?

About locking arms and striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, being in one spirit and of one mind in full accord, full passion, not just what we think, what we feel.

And I want you to know, because we'll focus more on more of it next week, there's no room for conceit or selfishness in that kind of a church.

Verse 3.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit.

It will distract from the mission every single day of the week.

Even in chapter 4 of Philippians, Paul is begging with these two sisters to stop being divided.

Write it down, chapter 4, verse 2.

You can look at it for homework.

It's so easy.

It's so easy to get that way.

So let's fight to stay united.

Amen.

I want to ask a few questions as we come to a close.

Number one, do you have real Christian community?

There's two reasons that you wouldn't have.

Number one, you've not given your life to Christ yet.

And I told you right off the front, there's always an invitation.

Jesus died to save sinners like me.

He said in Mark chapter 1, the kingdom is at hand, the time is fulfilled.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

Therefore, repent and believe the gospel.

That's the response.

We can't earn it, we don't deserve it.

But Jesus made a way and we can receive it.

We receive that forgiveness of Christ by turning from sin and saying, Jesus, I trust that you paid it on the cross.

I trust that you didn't stay in that grave.

You rose, and I want my life to count for you.

Would you save me?

That's number one, how you get into the community.

And number two, you might not have real Christian community because you're not pressing in.

You're not pressing into a small group.

You're not pressing into discipleship.

You're not pressing in for that coffee meeting or for that lunch meeting.

I love my wife.

She works three days a week at a school here in town doing speech therapy.

And even though she's working part-time, often she does lunch meetings.

Oftentimes she does double lunch meetings.

She goes to a lunch meeting and then she leaves that one to go to another lunch meeting.

Because she believes in Christian community.

I wasn't in my notes.

I just love you.

Sometimes she needs a break, by the way.

Just tell her you know what?

It's okay.

I'll bring lunch to you at the school.

How about that?

You may not have Christian community because you're not pressing into that small group.

You're not opening your home.

You're not being real or honest about your needs or your prayer request.

You're not having that authentic community because you've not engaged.

And if that's you, there is no better time to engage than now.

Our church is running into some amazing things as a church family.

God is doing amazing things.

You could have seen that last week in our circle drive when we saw that young couple get baptized in a trough.

They didn't want to wait till Palm Sunday when we'd had the trough out here for the Easter egg hunt.

I said, that's fine.

We'll set up the trough right here in the driveway.

Exciting days ahead.

Would you plug in?

Just to remind you, when that's done well, we are standing firm with one mind in this church family.

We're striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.

We're experiencing a genuine love within our church family.

We're showing the love of Christ to one another.

Does anything need a change in my life or your life that we might better show the love of Christ to one another?

And we walk as one with our souls knit together because we have a gospel partnership, the same passions and the same mission.

Church, let's be that kind of church.

Amen.

Would you pray with me?

Lord, thank you for the language we see here in Philippians 2.

It's rich, it's so rich.

I just ask that you help us walk through it in a way that honors you.

Would you just give them freedom to come speak to a pastor or someone of our ministry team?

However, we need to respond.

This is your time.

So whether it's coming bowed at these steps, whether it's comf walking to the back of the room just to get up and move.

So I ask you to give people courage.

I ask Lord that you would make things very clear.

We pray that you give us eyes to see and ears to hear.

Make things clear this morning how you're calling us to bust out of these doors and live differently for you.

And I pray that in Jesus' name.