{"id":48755,"date":"2024-11-12T14:24:50","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T19:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/?p=48755"},"modified":"2025-11-04T16:23:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:23:14","slug":"clayton-cloer-calls-florida-baptists-to-a-mindset-of-a-holy-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/clayton-cloer-calls-florida-baptists-to-a-mindset-of-a-holy-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Clayton Cloer calls Florida Baptists to a \u2018mindset of a holy people\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photos by Michael Duncan<\/strong><\/p>\n

ORLANDO\u2014 Clayton Cloer, president of the Baptist University of Florida<\/a>, addressed the 2024 annual gathering of Florida Baptists with a call for unity and holiness within the church in a message titled “The Mindset of a Holy People,\u201d based on 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the current state of Christian fellowship, Cloer expressed concern over the division, distrust and meanspirited discourse that has taken hold among many in the faith community. He lamented that while previous generations of church leaders fought to preserve biblical doctrine and cultivate fellowship around truth, the current generation has allowed division and deconstruction to fracture that unity.<\/p>\n

Cloer spoke of a \u201cburdened heart\u201d for holiness, urging listeners to resist the tendency toward conflict that, when unchecked, leads to broken partnerships and divided churches. Quoting from Paul\u2019s letters, he warned that the desire to hold firm in orthodoxy can sometimes spiral into envy-filled disputes and harmful rhetoric, resulting in casualties among believers and weakened fellowship. Cloer cautioned that even the church\u2019s “immune system,” designed to keep it healthy, can turn against itself when over-stimulated, creating hostility instead of healing.<\/p>\n

He outlined three principles for adopting a mindset of holiness within the church.<\/p>\n

First, believers must have awareness of identity. Cloer emphasized that believers are the \u201ctemple of God\u201d and that God\u2019s Spirit resides in each member. As Paul reminded the Corinthians, believers are divinely united, and even the most challenging individuals within the church bear God\u2019s name. This perspective, Cloer argued, should compel believers to uphold each other and honor their shared identity in Christ.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeware of your tendency,\u201d he said. Cloer pointed to the destructive process of \u201cdeconstructing the fellowship of people for whom Christ died\u201d as a grave misstep. He stressed that God will not stand idly by while believers tear down one another. Cloer urged the congregation to approach communion and fellowship with sobriety and reverence, prioritizing mutual respect and waiting on each other, as the Lord’s Supper is a proclamation of Christ and a moment of unity, not division.<\/p>\n

\u201cCare for unity,\u201d said Cloer, highlighting that \u201cGod\u2019s temple is holy.\u201d He urged believers to protect the unity within the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit, he said, resides within all believers, calling them to work together, edify one another and foster connection. Disunity, he warned, not only disrupts worship but also grieves the Spirit and mars the image of the church. The Spirit, he noted, drives believers toward unity and is quenched when divisions take precedence.<\/p>\n

To hear the sermon in its entirety, click <\/em>here.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clayton Cloer, president of the Baptist University of Florida, addressed the 2024 annual gathering of Florida Baptists with a call for unity and holiness within the church in a message titled “The Mindset of a Holy People,\u201d based on 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":48756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,188,19,45,25],"tags":[501,193,392],"class_list":["post-48755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-annual-meeting","category-baptist-college-of-florida","category-news","category-statewide","category-stories","tag-baptist-university-of-florida","tag-clayton-cloer","tag-fbsc24"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69353,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48755\/revisions\/69353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}