Compiled by: Herman Abrahams (Pastor), Cornerstone Faith Ministries, P.O. Box 740, Westridge 7802, Rep. of South Africa.
E-Mail: Mentorship2003@yahoo.co.uk
Note to the reader:
If you have been blessed with this sermon compilation, I would be honoured to receive an e-mail from you simply stating where in the world you are based; I do not need any other information. This is merely so that I can have the pleasure of giving thanks to Almighty God that all over the globe, the ministry which he has entrusted to me, is blessing the body of Christ and helping to extend the Kingdom of God.
Thank you.
Herman Abrahams,
Cape Town, South Africa.
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COMMUNION MEDITATION 6_ONE BODY IN CHRIST
(1 Cor 10:16-17)
1 Cor 10:16-17 (NIV)
16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who
are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one
loaf.
1 Cor 10:17 (AMP)
For we [no matter how] numerous we are, are one body, because we all partake of the one Bread [the One Whom the communion bread represents].
1. How wonderful to know that we are one in Christ! We are one family. There is no distinction or discrimination:
GALATIONS 3
26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There
is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor
female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If
you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (NIV)
2. Not only do we have fellowship with the Lord through his death on calvary, but we also have fellowship with one another through our common participation in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. God has given us brothers and sisters in the Lord. We give thanks to God for our Christian family. No man is an island, we need one another.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Proverbs 27:17:
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
4. There is diversity among believers but there is unity. We share a relationship one with another because of our relationship with Christ.
5. [1 Cor 10:18] Paul illustrates this point by pointing back to the sacrifices offered in the Old Testament. When a sacrifice was brought the sacrifice was shared. A portion of it was burnt on the altar, a portion was eaten by the priests, and a portion eaten by those who offered it. The participants identified with what was sacrificed and with each other.
6. There was a sharing, a fellowship, a communion involved. As believers we share a relationship one with another. We have fellowship and communion with Christ and with one another.
7. Because of the fellowship we have with the Saviour and with the saints "we bless." We give thanks and rejoice. Such fellowship blesses our hearts, stirs our souls, and elicits praise.
ILLUSTRATION
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In 1765 John Fawsett was called to pastor a very small congregation at Wainsgate, England. He labored there diligently for 7 years, but his salary was so meager that he and his wife could scarcely obtain the necessities of life. Though the people were poor, they compensated for this lack by their faithfulness and warm fellowship. Then Dr. Fawcett received a call from a much larger church in London, and after lengthy consideration decided to accept the invitation. As his few possessions were being placed in a wagon for moving, many of his parishioners came to say good-bye. Once again they pleaded with him to reconsider. Touched by this great outpouring of love, he and his wife began to weep. Finally Mrs. Fawcett exclaimed, "O John, I just can’t bear this. They need us so badly here." "God has spoken to my heart, too!" he said. "Tell them to unload the wagon! We cannot break these wonderful ties of fellowship." This experience inspired Fawsett to write the hymn. "Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love! The fellowship of kindred mind is like to that above."
8. As believers we enjoy a fellowship with God and that brings us into a fellowship with other believers. It is a fellowship of kindred minds. It is a fellowship that we bless.
One Body, Many Parts (Rom 12:5; Rom 12:12-27)
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ROMANS 12 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
ROMANS 12 12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (New International Version)
