INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• My life in Christ, my relationship with Jesus, should it make a difference in my life?
• Now that I belong to Jesus, what now?
• Now that I belong to Jesus, what kind of impact should that have in my life? Is Jesus just another activity or another checklist?
• Or is Jesus something more?
• What does Paul mean when he wrote passages like Galatians 2:20?
• SLIDE #2
• Galatians 2:20 (CSB) I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
• In our series, WHAT NOW, we have been taking a look at how passages like Galatians 2:20 play out in our life.
• What does it look like to no longer live, but allowing Christ to live in me? What does it look like to live by faith each day?
• Last week we looked at how our relationship with Jesus should impact our relationships, today we are going to dig into the question of how my relationship with Jesus should impact my Church.
• The message today will dovetail somewhat into last week’s message, but it today we will delve into how my relationship with Jesus should impact the way I see my church as well as how involved I decide to be in my church.
• When we are baptized into Christ, we are added to His church, and when Jesus comes back, He is coming to get the church according to Ephesians 5.
• Part of belonging to Christ, one of the implications of being in Christ, is the fact that we are called to be a part of the body of Christ, the church.
• I know people who think they do not need to come to church to worship God; however, that thought reveals the lack of understanding of what God calls us to do.
• You do not have to be in this BUILDING to be able to worship God; however, refusing to be an active part of the body of Christ reveals a lack of faith, love, and understanding.
• Today we examine the thought, WHAT ABOUT MY CHURCH?
• How should me faith in and my relationship with Jesus affect IF I come to church, WHY I take the time to come to church, and WHAT do I do when I come to church.
• Today we will spend the bulk of time looking at 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.
• Let’s begin with verses 12-14.
• SLIDE #3
• 1 Corinthians 12:12–14 (CSB) — 12 For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink. 14 Indeed, the body is not one part but many.
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
I need to…
I. Promote unity -12-14
• When it comes to my church, one of the things I need to do is to promote unity.
• Paul is going to use the analogy of the human body to demonstrate this point.
• When you look at the human body, there are many parts to that body and for the body to function at peak efficiency, all those parts need to work in unity.
• We also need to realize that UNITY does not mean there are no differences.
• As a matter of fact, our diversity is part of our unity.
• As we get older, we know how a bad back or a bad knee, or lung issues can cause us a great deal of grief as we try to function each day.
• We see that Christ is the same, one body with many parts.
• Notice in verse 12, Paul does not say the church, but rather, he references Christ.
• This reminds us that Christ is the head of the church (Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:18) and that Christ stands by the church united and grounded in Him.
• We cannot build a building or gather a bunch of people and call it a Church of God unless it is headed, united, and grounded in Christ.
• A divided church is not a church that belongs to Jesus.
• One of the things that I hate is the identity politics, where we divide people by race, social economic issues, and any other thing people can think of to divide us.
• In the early church the great divides were, Jew and Gentile, economics, slave or free, and gender.
• The church struggled in these areas.
• Verse 13 tells us, For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
• In other words, there is not a Jewish Jesus, a Gentile Jesus, a rich Jesus, a poor Jesus, a slave Jesus, a free Jesus, a multiple gender Jesus, there is simply, Jesus.
• When verse 13 tells us, we were baptized by ONE SPIRIT, Paul is telling us that there was ONE Holy Spirit by which we were influenced to be baptized into Christ.
• The Holy Spirit was active in your conversion to process and still is to this day.
• Racial, differences are no obstacle to being in Christ, customs or laws, or social standing, or gender are not obstacles to being in Christ.
• In society we celebrate, the first of some gender, or the first of various races, yet in Christ we are just people. In Christ we are one family.
• We are a diverse body with varying in gender, race, socio-economic status, yet we all come together for the cause of Christ.
• We are also called to try to reach all people, not just people of a certain color, or socio-economic standing, but all.
• When we come together we need to celebrate or diversity and promote our unity!
• We are united in Christ with a mission in Christ that unites us, a love from Christ that unites us.
• Think about all the things that have to go right for you to drink a glass of water. There is a great deal of unity that happens for that simple function to take place. If any part of your body decides not to work, you will not be able to easily drink from the glass. This leads us to our next thought found in verses 15-20.
• SLIDE #5
• 1 Corinthians 12:15–20 (CSB) — 15 If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. 19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
• SLIDE #6
I need to…
II. Offer my gifts to God- 15-20
• This is important for us to grasp. As we consider the analogy of the body, what happens when a part of your body decides to quit working? Let’s say your eyes start to go bad or your ears quit working.
• Your life will be different. You will still live, but it life will be different. It will take much longer to do things, things will not be as easy, and the effort you exert to get things done will be higher.
• If we do not bring our gifts to the table, then we are hurting the body of Christ.
• Verse 18 tells us, 18 But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted.
• You were placed here by God, God has a place and a plan for you; however, since God placed you here, and if you decide to do nothing more than to sit and soak, you are causing the body of Christ to be inefficient because others have to take up the slack because you are not doing your part.
• AN EXAMPLE. SHAMELESS PLUG FOR MINISTRY TEAMS.
• Something as simple as serving communion. We have need of six people per week to serve communion to you. In first service we have 10 signed up second service we have 9. And most of these folks are signed up to do many other things also.
• So as rotate folks each month. With only 9-10 signed up for 6 needed positions each week, this means that those 9-10 people will need to serve almost every month.
• We have around 100 in here today, I would imagine that there are more than 9-10 people who could be a blessing by serving communion each month.
• I think one of the reasons we tend to sit on the bench instead of getting into the game is we feel that what we have to offer is not that important. This is what verses 15-20 cover.
• We tend to think that if we do not have some super looking gift, we are not important.
• Let me tell you something, everyone last one of you is important and what you have to offer God at FCC is important, no matter what your gifts are.
• If my attitude is that I am not going to offer what I have to God, then I will be negatively impacting His Church.
• We seek to place people where they are gifted, necessity sometimes forces us to ask people to serve where they are not because others will not step up to the plate.
• Our relationship with Jesus should cause us to want to do WHATEVER we can for the Lord.
• We have some wonderful servants at FCC who will do most anything asked of them.
• Whatever gift you have, offer it up to the Lord, it takes a diversity if gifts for the body of Christ to function.
• Paul reminds us that we are not all the same, imagine if your body just legs and nothing else. We would all run and hide! You are important! Offer what you have to God, find a way to be involved.
• We will work with you to do the best we can to place you somewhere!
• Next, we go from feeling like what we have to offer is so inferior that it is not worth offering to our next thought.
• SLIDE #7
• 1 Corinthians 12:21–24 (CSB) — 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. 23 And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, 24 which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable,
• SLIDE #8
I need to…
III. See value in everyone- 21-24
• This thought will be brief, but we have to see that EVERYONE within the body of Christ is of great value and is to be celebrated.
• Paul shifts from the member who feels inferior to the member who thinks they are superior.
• This will discourage folks from wanting to be an active part of the body of Christ if they are made to feel unimportant.
• Pride is a sin and pride will cause us to undervalue those around us.
• We need to value everyone in the body of Christ. Which is more important, your eyes, your ears, your heart, your thyroid?
• That tiny little thyroid can wreak a lot of havoc when it gets messed up.
• I do not even want to lose a little toe, or a fingernail on my body, every part Is important!
• Let’s conclude with a thought found in verses 25-27
• SLIDE #9
• 1 Corinthians 12:25–27 (CSB) — 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.
• SLIDE #10
I need to…
IV. Display concern for others- 25-27
• THIS TIES INTO LAST WEEK A BIT.
• But we are called to strive for unity and promote unity, and we are to be equally concerned for everyone who is a part of the body of Christ.
• We should be so united in Christ that when one of us is hurting, we all are hurting with them.
• Think about your own body, when one part hurts the rest suffers! One little 3mm stone running through my kidney made me feel like I was hit by a truck.
• We are one in Christ, let’s take the time to and energy to get there.
• We have so many caring people at FCC, I am blessed to be a part of the body of Christ here and so are you!
CONCLUSION
• What Now? I belong to Jesus, what about my church? Am I called just to show up, sit on the bench and cheer the others who are active, or have I received a higher calling?
• I am so glad that I have people who impressed upon me the fact that I am called to serve the Lord with all I have through His church.
• It is a blessing to serve the Lord no matter in what capacity you serve.
• If you are simply sharpening pencils, you are doing it for the Lord!
