One Faith, One People

March 27th, 2026
by Matthew Allen

There's a question worth sitting with for a moment.

What's the one thing you can't take away from Christianity and still have Christianity?
Not what's important. Not what matters to your particular tradition or the church you grew up in. The one thing — if you stripped everything else away — that makes this whole enterprise actually the thing Jesus started.

It's a harder question than it sounds. Because if history teaches us anything, it's that religious people are remarkably good at making secondary things primary. At drawing lines in places, the New Testament never drew them. At mistaking loyalty to a brand for loyalty to a Lord.

In the early 1800s, a frontier preacher named Raccoon John Smith learned that lesson the hard way. He buried his children, buried his wife, and eventually buried his entire religious identity — before arriving at a conviction forged in genuine loss. There are a thousand opinions, he said, and one faith. And we can never unite on opinions. Only on the faith that centers in Christ.

Nearly two thousand years before Smith rode twenty miles on a borrowed horse to find something real, the apostle Paul wrote it down in a single paragraph. Seven declarations — not goals, not ideals, not things to work toward someday. Declarations about what is already true of every person who belongs to Christ.

One body. One Spirit. One hope. One Lord. One faith. One baptism. One God and Father of all.

Not seven things to achieve. Seven things that are already true.

And if that's right — if the oneness is already given and not built — then the only question left is whether the people of God will stop acting like strangers and start living like what they already are.

This Sunday, we wrap up our March series, Lord, Make Us One, with a look at Ephesians 4:4–6. We've spent this month asking hard questions about unity — what kills it, what Jesus prayed for, what the hard work of peace actually looks like. This week, we land on the simplest and most challenging answer of all.

One faith. One people. Not because we all see everything the same way. Because we all belong to the same Lord.

We'd love for you to join us this Sunday at Cornerstone Church of Christ, 5051 Wilmington Pike in Centerville. Bible classes begin at 9:30 AM, and worship begins at 10:30 AM. If you can't make it in person, you can join us online at cornerstone-coc.com. Either way — you're welcome here!

Paul describes the seven "ones" of Ephesians 4 as declarations rather than goals — how does it change the way you think about unity to realize it is something God has already given rather than something we have to build?
Raccoon John Smith watched brand loyalty masquerade as faithfulness his entire life — in what ways do you see that same tendency show up in the church today?
Paul draws a sharp distinction between the one faith that centers on Christ and the opinions we form around it — where do you find it most difficult to tell the difference between the two?
Romans 8:30 reminds us that Christ has already called, justified, and is carrying toward glory the very people we sometimes keep at arm's length — how does that reality challenge the way you treat fellow Christians you disagree with?
The sermon closed with a simple challenge — close the gap — so who is someone in your life you've been keeping at a distance, and what would it look like to take one step toward them this week?

Those Serving
CALL TO WORSHIP/PRAYER
Matthew Ringle
SONG LEADER
Chris Terrian
LEAD LORD'S SUPPER
Jeremy Price
ASSIST LORD’S SUPPER
Benjamin Baker
Dan Dekoski
Gary Stewart
Patrick Newbill
SCRIPTURE READING
Billy Robbins
Ephesians: 4:4-6
PREACHING
Matthew Allen
CLOSING PRAYER
Roger Robins
CLOSING COMMENTS
George Wacks
WELCOME CENTER
Kathy Downey
USHERS
Bob Hoopes // James Passmore
COMMUNION PREP
Marilyn Sims
CLOSING THE BUILDING
Josh Childers