What Holds Us Together When Everything Pulls Us Apart
An abstract of Jeremy McGrath’s sermon on October 12, 2025, in the Book of Ephesians series. Watch the sermon video here.
Have you ever felt so frustrated with people at church that you just wanted to walk away? Maybe someone said something that rubbed you the wrong way. Maybe you disagreed with how things were being done. Maybe you just felt like you didn't fit in with everyone else.
You're not alone in feeling this way. Even in the early church, people struggled with the same things. But here's the good news: God has a plan for bringing us together, even when everything seems to be pulling us apart.
We All Start in the Same Place
Here's something that might surprise you: before we come to faith in Jesus, we're all in the exact same situation. It doesn't matter if you grew up going to church every Sunday or if you've never stepped foot in one. It doesn't matter if you've read the Bible cover to cover or if you don't even own one.
The apostle Paul puts it clearly in Ephesians 2:12—without Christ, we're all "separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world."
That's a pretty heavy statement. But it's true. Without God, we're all wandering across a bridge that's about to collapse, completely unaware of the danger we're in. We have no real hope—whether we realize it or not.
But here's where the story gets incredible.
Jesus Changes Everything
Verse 13 continues: "But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."
Jesus didn't just save us so we could have a personal relationship with Him (though that's amazing too). He saved us to bring us together. He made peace between us and God, and He also made peace between us and each other.
Think about that for a minute. Jesus wants nothing to stand between you and other believers. He's like Spider-Man in that movie scene where he's holding two halves of a ship together, refusing to let them split apart and sink into the ocean. That's Jesus with His church—holding us together when everything else wants to tear us apart.
The Problem with Thinking We're Better
Here's where things get uncomfortable. Sometimes the biggest problem in churches isn't the people who are "far from God." It's the people who think they're close to Him.
In Jesus's time, the Jewish people often looked down on non-Jewish people (called Gentiles). They thought God loved them more. They thought they were better. They even avoided spending time with certain groups of people because they were afraid of being "corrupted."
Sound familiar?
Today, we might not use the same language, but we often have the same attitude. We think that because we go to church regularly, read our Bibles, or believe the right things, we're somehow closer to God than other people. We look at someone who lives differently than us and think, "Can anything good come from them?"
But here's the truth: we all need God's grace just as much today as we did the day we first believed. The person who's been a Christian for 50 years needs God's grace just as much as the person exploring faith for the first time. You need God's grace just as much as your neighbor with the political sign you disagree with in their yard.
What Jesus Wants for His Church
In Ephesians 2:19-22, Paul gives us this beautiful picture. He says we're all being built together into God's holy temple. We're not just individual bricks sitting alone. We're being carefully placed together, joined to one another, growing together into something beautiful.
God doesn't just care about your personal relationship with Him. He cares deeply about how we relate to each other. He wants us to grow together, not just individually.
When was the last time you thought about how you could help your church grow closer to God? Not just yourself, but your whole church community?
What This Looks Like in Real Life
So how do we actually live this out? Here are a few practical ways:
Put on church-building virtues. Colossians 3:12 gives us a list: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. When you interact with other believers, are you showing these qualities? Or are you more focused on being right, winning arguments, or protecting your turf?
Let peace be your goal. Every conversation you have with a fellow believer should have one main goal: creating more peace. Not fake peace where you avoid hard conversations, but real peace where you address issues with kindness and humility because you genuinely want to strengthen your relationship.
Remember we're all still growing. None of us has it all figured out. When someone corrects you or challenges your thinking, your first response shouldn't be defensiveness. It should be, "Maybe I have something to learn here." And when you need to address an issue with someone else, go in with humility, knowing you might be the one who needs to grow.
Reach out to people who are different from you. Are there people you've written off? Groups you've decided could never really love Jesus? Maybe it's time to get to know them. You might be surprised to find sincere followers of Jesus in places you never expected.
The Sacrifice That Holds Us Together
At the end of the Revolutionary War, George Washington's own troops almost mutinied against Congress. They were angry, frustrated, and ready to tear apart everything they'd fought for. Washington gave them a speech, but they remained cold and unmoved.
Then he pulled out a letter to read. He fumbled with it, struggling to see the words. Finally, he said, "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray, but almost blind in the service of my country."
At that moment, seeing what their leader had sacrificed, the officers wept. They finally understood. And they chose unity over division.
Have you seen what Jesus sacrificed to bring you into His family? He didn't just grow gray or lose His sight. He gave His life. He endured the cross. He paid the ultimate price to bring you peace with God and peace with others.
Let's not let that sacrifice be in vain.
Your Next Step
Maybe you're reading this and thinking, "I'm not sure I understand how Jesus brings hope to my hopeless situation." That's okay. Faith is a journey, and questions are part of the process.
We'd love to help you explore what it means to have a relationship with Jesus and to be part of His church. We're not perfect—we're all still growing together. But we'd be honored to have you join us as we learn what it means to be held together by Jesus.
Join us this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30 a.m. Come as you are. Ask your questions. See what it's like when imperfect people gather around a perfect Savior.