1. Opening Prayer of Gratitude: (1min)
2.Introduction: (20 min.)
a) Opening comments and introductions
b) Ask participants: Please go to the book of Ephesians chapter 2 verse 14 - 20.
(2:14) "For He is our peace, who hath make both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us."
(2:15) " Having abolished in the His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandment contained in ordinances; for to make himself of twain one new man, so making peace."
(2:16) "And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby."
(2:17) "And came and preached peace to you which were a far off, and to them that were nigh."
(2:18) "For through Him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father"
You may be seated…
Now in this portion of scripture, Paul reminds us of how Jesus IS the believer’s source of peace…
He is our source of tranquility
He is our source of Harmony and Serenity
He is our Source of Peace for a man or woman of God…
And He says this so that we would be reminded of the fact that it has been the Son himself who has broken down the MIDDLE WALL of separation.
He has broken down that middle wall of division
He has remove the partition between us…
He has removed the Divider that is between man and woman…
Now Theologically, in this passage Paul was describing and e diagramming the wall in the temple that partitioned off the court of the gentiles from the areas accessible only to the Jews.
And the commentary says that Paul referred to that wall symbolical, emblematically and representatively to describe and relate to social, religious and spiritual separation that kept one group from another.
The wall represents the separation that keeps Kinloch folk’ fellowshipping with fegurson folks…
New Christians with seasoned saints…
The haves and the have nots…
The saved from the lost…
The young and the old…
That wall of separation that now that we are married, keeps us from friends and family that we used to have fellowship with…
We used to socialize with…
We used to communicate with…
And according to the text, it would be this same separation
This same partition…
This same spirit of division…
That would negatively impact the social, religious, and spiritual growth and development of a people…
This brings us to our final topic for the year…
Because some of us have created walls in our lives, in our marriages and even in the church…
Just like the church of Ephesian, we have created partitions…
We have created distances between one another and among certain people…
Now I’m not saying that some distance isn’t good, and the Lord knows that their some folk that we need as much distance as possible from…
But the idea here is that as a couple, It is important for us not to create artificial partitions with friends and associates….
We don’t want to create social separations or divide just because we are married now…
And God gave us the tools and talents to break down those walls. And that’s what we want to talk about today…
You see, as couples, we are all created with the need for close interpersonal relationships…
God not only provided our immediate families and children for those close relationships.
He not only provided relatives for these relationships…
He not only provided folks at your job for these relationships…
But he also provided the church…
And I know what you might be thinking, " Well I/we want to be alone"…
And that may be true, but you see, there is a great difference between being alone and being lonely…
To be alone comes from the Hebrew meaning to escape…
It actually means to "escape as to be slippery"…
Meaning when you want to be alone…
You are making a conscious effort to find peace and tranquility…
When you want to be alone, you are seeking a quiet moment were the internal and external disturbances of life can not make their way into your spirit…
There were times were Jesus just had to be alone…
He needed a little time for with the Father…
He needed a little time to rest…
He needed a little time to handle His Fathers business…
Sometimes you need to be alone…
Sometimes we need to get away to our quiet place…
Sometimes we need to be isolated from the kids…
Isolated from the work…
We need to find that place of peace…
But when you are lonely…
You are in entirely different place…
When you are lonely….
That is synonymous with feelings of seclusion, lonesomeness, and even a feeling of abandonment…
And there are many in the church that are experiencing these feelings not only on Sunday…
But everyday of the week…
Somebody once said that: "People are lonely because we tend to build walls when we should build bridges"
We need to find ways to build bridges for the people of God…
But even as couples…
We have to be careful because (even as a couple) we can find ourselves alone…
We can find ourselves in seclusion…
We can find ourselves lonesome…
We can find ourselves abandoning fellowship with other Christians…
We can find ourselves in a rut…
We can find ourselves not broadening our external relationships…
We can find ourselves not truly in fellowship…
We are worshipping and working for the Lord…
But outside of the temple we find ourselves still standing behind the wall of separation…
And God didn’t create us to live our lives without Close, Supportive, and interpersonal relationships…
And God did not create us to live isolated lives…
Separated lives…
Lonely lives…
He wants us to enjoy the company of one another…
He wants us to seek out new relationships…
He wants us to forgive the past…
And forge on to the future…
Why is this important?
What is the point of all this?
You see, not only are their people in the church that are lonely, suffering from seclusion, and feeling abandoned…
Not only is there a risk for us as couples that we can fall in to traps of loneliness…
But some of us haven’t changed the circle of friends we have socialized with in over in our a decade…
Some of us haven’t mended a relationship with a true friend when something silly caused the fall out in the first place…
Some of us have walls of separation in families with our mothers, Fathers, brothers, sisters, and cousins that we truly want to mend…
But that middle wall of separation is still standing tall, and keeping us from accomplishing what God would purpose for us in this area of our lives…
I don’t want to keep you long this morning…
But God can take a little effort on our part and make whole lot out of it…
God can take a shattered relationship and provide reconciliation…
God can take a broken situation and provide a bridge for His saints…
God can take a torn line of communication among friends and family and tie it right up…
I know He can do it because when the relationship between God and Man was shattered…
When the wall of separation existed between God and His creation…
He provided salvation through His son Jesus…
He provided mercy through His son Jesus…
He provided deliverance…
He provided reconciliation with us through Jesus…
In the spirit of Christian Fellowship, Seek out an grow our interpersonal relationships...
Find someone you have something in common with and invite them out…
Expanding our boundaries toward new groups, that’s one way to grow and develop…
And you never know I may be your influence that brings someone closer to the Lord and helps them find deliverance through our Lord and Savior.
All the great servants of God needed interpersonal relationships to achieve great things…
Moses and Joshua…
Paul and Timothy…
Even Jesus himself called on His intimate relationship with the Father when He said it is not my will but thine will that be done…
As we close out the couples ministry for 2001 and we near the end of another year that the Lord has given us. Approach another holiday season full of entertainment and giving.
We all need to listen to the Holy Spirit…
And extend our hand…
Seek out, create, mend and work on relationships and broaden the love that the Lord has given us.
You’ll be a blessing to someone and the Lord will undoubtedly honor that by placing blessings upon you.
Final Comments and Closing Prayer
Reverend Robert W. Parker
Southern Mission Missionary Baptist Church
St. Louis Mo
(314) 521-3951
e-mail: bparker@courier-journal.com
Reverend John Mitchell Jr. Senior Teacher and Pastor
