With One Mind

In one paragraph

This message was a study of the Greek word homothumadon, which appears eleven times in the New Testament and ten of those in the book of Acts. Pastor Joel walked through every one of those ten uses in Acts, showing what genuine unity looks like, what its counterfeits look like, and why it matters for a church. The Lord's Supper was observed as a concrete act of that unity. Homothumadon is an...

Read together

1. Acts 1:8 Jesus tells disciples they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts
2. Acts 1 (upper room passage) disciples together in one mind continually devoting themselves to prayer along with the women and Mary
3. Acts 2 (end of chapter) believers together with one mind in the temple, taking meals with gladness, Lord adding to their number
4. Acts 4 after Peter and John's release, companions raised voices to God with one mind, quoting Psalm 2
5. Psalm 2 quoted in prayer after Peter and John's release, why do the nations contend and kings take their stand against the Lord and his Christ
6. Acts 5 apostles performing signs and wonders, all together with one mind in Solomon's portico, sick laid in streets
7. Acts 7 stoning of Stephen, crowd rushing at him with one passion, Stephen seeing Jesus standing at right hand of God
8. Acts 8 (Philip in Samaria) crowds listening to Philip with one mind, unclean spirits cast out, paralyzed healed, much rejoicing
9. Deuteronomy 18:18 the Samaritan woman looking back to Moses saying be looking for a prophet like me who will rise from the people
10. John 4 Jesus and the Samaritan woman, one plants and another waters, she told the town about him
11. Acts 12 people of Tyre and Sidon coming with one mind to Herod, angel striking Herod because he did not give God the glory
12. Acts 15 Jerusalem council letter to Gentile churches, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden than these essentials
13. John 17 Jesus praying that you all may be one just as the Godhead is one
14. Acts 18 Jews rising up together against Paul before Gallio the proconsul at Corinth
15. Acts 19 crowd at Ephesus rushing into the theater dragging Paul's companions, shouting great is Artemis for two hours, assembly in confusion
16. Romans 15:5-6 (approximate) Paul's prescriptive use of homothumadon, may God grant you to be of the same mind so that with one purpose and one voice you may glorify God

Talk about it

1. The pastor walked through the ten uses of homothumadon in Acts and showed that being unified is not automatically a good thing. What was the difference between the congregations and crowds that came together for good purposes and those that came together against God's purposes?
2. After Peter and John were beaten and told never to preach again, the believers responded by praying together in one accord, calling up Psalm 2. What does it say about that group that their first move after persecution was corporate prayer rather than strategy or self-protection?
3. The pastor described the Jerusalem Council as a situation where people reasoned together from the scriptures over a real conflict, and the outcome was described simply as 'it seemed good to us and to the Holy Spirit.' What does that kind of decision-making process look like in practice, and what does it require from the people in the room?
4. The sermon pointed to table fellowship, daily temple worship, and sharing meals together as part of what held the early church together in one accord. How does ordinary, repeated time together like that shape a congregation's unity in ways that a single meeting or event cannot?
5. The pastor read from Romans at the close, praying that the church would be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one voice they might glorify God. What do you think it actually costs a person to move from doing their own thing toward that kind of shared purpose with a congregation?