A Pastor’s Reflections on Biblical Unity 1. Biblical unity requires compromise without compromising biblical convictions.
 2. Biblical unity takes hard work and you can count on it, our unity will be tested. 3. Biblical unity recognizes we all mess up, but maintains a commitment to give people the benefit of the doubt. 4. Biblical unity requires forgiveness and lots of it by practicing the gospel. “Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:13-14). 5. Biblical unity is a good thing and pleases the heart of God.
 “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! (Psalm 133:1). 
 6. Biblical unity should be sought eagerly and without dread.
 “Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
 7. Biblical unity takes intentionality when our relationships are fractured and it results in the peace of God. 
 “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Corinthians 13:11).
 8. Unity requires agape love for it to be fully realized. 
 “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14). 
 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
 9. Biblical unity is challenged the more diverse we are, which requires us to remember our identity.
 -Add identity statements here. 
 10. Biblical unity offers the world a witness of the credibility of our Gospel message.
 “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me…I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:21, 23). 
 “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 are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). 
 11. Ultimately, when we are unified, God is glorified.
 “That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:6).
 "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6).