Many Members- One Body

Introduction

Story- about a team working together

How many of you are Minnesota Vikings Fans?

How many of you watched the game on December 17, 2022?

The Minn. Vikings did something that had never been done before.

It was the week before Christmas and the Minnesota Vikings were set to win the NFC North title at season record 10 wins and only-3 losses. And on Dec. 17 they were expected to have another easy win against the Indianapolis Colts who had only won 4 games all season. But as the end of the first half came to a conclusion instead of being in the lead, the Vikings trailed 33-0. You see the problem was that even though everyone on the team had great talents they were all trying to do it on their own They were not playing as a team.

But halfway through the third quarter something changed, They started to play like a team. Instead of trying to win on their own abilities, They started to use their gifts as a team. And the score of the game got closer and closer- 36-7, and then it was 36- 14, as the fourth quarter opened up they scored again making it 36-21, The Vikings no longer looked like a 12 individuals on a field they looked like a team that moved together in unison, that seamed to be able to read each others minds, One touchdown, two touch downs and and with just about 2 minutes left in the game they were still down by 8 and needed to go 64 yrds to go to get into the end zone for a chance to tie the game, a deficit no other team has been able to accomplish. The ball was hiked, and the quarterback quickly sent a short pass outside of the pocket to his running back,, with his team blocking and leading the way— He ran the entire 64 yards to score the touchdown. And then the got the 2 point conversion making the game all tied up and going into overtime where the Vikings struck first and and won the game by three, giving them the record of greatest comeback ever in NFL history.

So what was it that changed at half time for the vikings?

They didn't bring in extra players, they didn't go out and find better players, it was the same group of guys but something drastically changed, and it was awesome to watch ,

Every player did his part. They no longer played for themselves but they began to trust one another to do do the job that they were each gifted to do, and this caused them to play as a team.

There is so much power in Unity, When people come together and are unified with one purpose, they can always accomplish so much more.

We see it in politics, We see it disaster relief, We see it in sports, We see it in fund raising for the needs of others, We see it in community projects

And the church shouldn’t be any different, In fact, Jesus spoke about this very thing in his prayer for the church in John 17:20-23

John 17:20–23 (ESV)

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Jesus Prayed for our church, He prayed that the Baptist Church in Clear Lake, Iowa would be as One.

He prayed that we would be a picture to the world of His relationship with God the Father,

Jesus’s’ intent for His church is that we are a unified Body of Believers.

just imagine with me for a second, what could happen in a church when all of it’s members become unified in their love for Jesus and their desire to build up one another in Christ.

Jesus said “ It would be a picture of His perfect relationship with God the Father to the World”.

Simply put, Jesus is saying that when a church is perfectly one it will point people to the Savior. Which is what the church should be all about.

Our purpose as a church

is not to make better baptists, although we are Baptist and thats the theology we teach,

it’s not to make moral citizens, although that is a good thing as well,

Our Purpose is to point people to Jesus. to “make and Equip Disciples of Jesus”,

Turn with me to Romans 12 and follow along as I read our text for this morning starting in verse 1 and going to verse 8

Romans 12:1–8 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

In this Passage I believe we can see what it takes to be as One in the Church.

In order for us to be as One We must first

Think Rightly about Your Priority in the Church

Romans 12:1–3 (ESV)

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to

-present your bodies as a living sacrifice, -holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2

-Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,

- that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3

-For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,

but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Paul in this passage, is speaking to the church about what a healthy Church member should look like

and in verse 1-2 He gives us the foundation of someone who is a healthy church member, “ I Appeal to you brother sin Christ by the Mercies of God that you will Present your bodies as a living Sacrifice.- holy and acceptable to God. which is your reasonable worship.”

Too many times I believe Christians get their priority in the church backwards.

They think that Church somehow is all about them and what they can get out of church.

Too many Christians come to church looking for ways that they can be served and taken care of, ,

they come looking for something to make their own life seem more important,

and this way of thinking couldn’t be farther from the truth that Paul is preaching to the church.

Understand what Paul is saying in these first 2 verses is that as a Redeemed Child of God, Your priority in the church is not about you and what You get from the church,

Your priority is to present yourself as an example of Jesus Christ to your brothers and sisters in the church.

To be a living Sacrifice. Which He says is your reasonable worship.

Jesus wants you to exemplify His love for you through your love for one another.

he doesn't say that being a sacrifice makes you extra Holy, he doesn't say that when you sacrifice yourself, God Gives you more blessing,

He simply says that being a living sacrifice is just what a Christian should do.

a sacrifice is defined as "the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to help someone else."

To be a living sacrifice in the church means that you give up your own preferences and desires for the spiritual good of others. and this is our worship

To worship God is why we were created. To live a life that exemplifies Jesus is what you are meant to do.

Understand church ,if you come to church and are not sacrificing yourself for the spiritual good of others than you are outside of the plan God has for your life as the church, and that means you are not worshipping God, You are just playing Religion.

To be a living sacrifice means that You sacrifice your time for the spiritual good of others.

When is the last time that you gave up a sacrificial amount of your time to invest in the spiritual good of someone else in this church?

discipling someone is hard work, it takes time to invest in someone spiritually.

But its worth it , because God says our sacrifice is holy and acceptable worship to Him

To be a living sacrifice means that you sacrifice your Treasure for the spiritual good of others.

God’s design for Sacrificial giving is through the church.

Do you just give out of the abundance of your wealth,Do just give God what you are comfortable not having?

I think the conclusion on giving is simple. The gift that pleases the Lord is a gift given in sacrifice - giving up something that you want to keep for yourself for the spiritual good of another..

To be a living sacrifice means that you sacrifice your talents for the spiritual good of others.

Do you use the gifts and abilities to build up the body of Christ?

I hope you dont just come to church to hear a good sermon- because frankly Your going to leave disappointed. I hope you dont just come to church to sing songs because you are going to leave disappointed.

Paul is saying- Come to church ready to serve your brothers and sisters in Christ, Why - because this is your reasonable worship.

Paul wanted to make sure we get what he is saying in these first couple of verses so he sums it all up in verse 3

Romans 12:3 (ESV)

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Paul is telling the people in the church “dont be full of yourself.” Stop making everything about you!

Understand that when you make everything in the church about you , you are stealing the worship from God because you are acting just like the world without God.

If We are going to be one in Christ Than We each must first stop thinking that we are the center of the church, and start living a life of sacrificial worship.

Transition: Secondly Paul moves on in this text and says that if we are going to exemplify the Oneness of God in our church than we must

Think Rightly about Your Position in the Church

Romans 12:4–5 (ESV)

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Paul loves to use the human body as an analogy for the church.

And in this text , Paul is writing to the Church in Rome, and he assumes that they are spiritually mature enough to understand this metaphor of the body as the church, but when He wrote about the church as a Body to the Corinthian church, he went into a lot more detail, because the Corinthian church was full of unconfessed sin and immature Christians.

So when he speaks to them about the body as a metaphor of the church He wanted to spell it out very clearly so that even the most immature christians would understand what he was illustrating,

look with me at....1 Corinthians 12:12-27

The NET Bible (Chapter 12)

For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body—though many—are one body, so too is Christ. 12:13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit.

12:14 For in fact the body is not a single member, but many. 12:15 If the foot says, “Since I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that. 12:16 And if the ear says, “Since I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that. 12:17 If the whole body were an eye, what part would do the hearing? If the whole were an ear, what part would exercise the sense of smell?

12:18 But as a matter of fact, God has placed each of the members in the body just as he decided. 12:19 If they were all the same member, where would the body be? 12:20 So now there are many members, but one body.

12:21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.” 12:22 On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential, 12:23 and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity,

12:24 but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, 12:25 so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another.

12:26 If one member suffers, everyone suffers with it. If a member is honored, all rejoice with it.12:27 Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it

Paul’s point here is simple- You are not meant to be a Christian on your own! You were chosen by God to be part of his church.

And you are needed in the church for the church to do what the church is called to do.

The church is one Body with One purpose, made up of individual members.

In order to be One in Christ we must think rightly about our position in the church.

Let me be very clear . You have great value to this church. We need you in this church because God has gifted you in a special way to serve the body of Christ.

I love how Paul in this passage says that the people this world may count as useless, in the church those people are clothed with great honor.

Brothers and Sister in Christ We need you here, As part of the body, Because When you are not here the church feels it, because part of the body is missing.

Finally, Paul says that if we are going to be One in Christ as a church, Not only do we need to understand our priority is not ourselves, that our position in the church is essential, we also need to

Think Rightly about Your Purpose as the Church

So why does it matter if Im here at church or not?

Aren’t all Christians part of the universal?

Does it really matter if I am faithful at the local church?

When our understanding of our Purpose in the church is wrong. our response to the value of the church will be wrong.

.I have heard too many people say Im not giving up on God I’m just done with the church. Or I’m still going to live for God, I just don’t need the church to do it.

And My response from this passage would be, “ You cannot live for God without being actively part of a local church.

Bad theology says that we should find our fulfillment in what we get from the Church, But Paul is telling us that Good theology says that we can find our fulfillment in how we serve the church,.

Look with me again at our text in Romans at Romans 12:4-8

Romans 12:4–8 (ESV)

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

The central theme in this text is the end of Verse 6 Where Paul simply says “LET US US OUR GIFTS”

If you are a believer in Jesus than God has given you a spiritual gift that he intends for you to use in this church body. that’s your purpose as part of this church.

Your purpose as a church member is not your own spiritual growth - its your spiritual service.

God has given many different gifts to his followers to use in serving the church, and in our text Paul wants to give us a short list of examples so that we get the idea of what he means.

If you are gifted with prophecy, the ability to understand & explain Biblical truths to others than use it in the church to the best of your ability.

If God has given a heart to serve others than serve others in the church to the best of your ability,

tIf you are gifted as a teacher than us that gift to the best of your ability in the church.

If you have the gift of exhortation - the ability to motivate and encourage others to live boldly for Christ, than use that gift to build up the body of Christ.

If God has given you the gift to steward much, than give in a generous way to build up the church.

If God has gifted you as a leader, then lead in a way that points people to Jesus and not yourself.

If God has given you are heart of Mercy, the ability to show extra compassion and forgiveness to those who dont deserve it, then use that mercy to build up the church.

Do you get the point?

If you are a believer in Jesus than God has given you a spiritual gift , A special gift just for you, that he intends for you to use in this church body. that’s your purpose as part of this church.

How many of you know what Gift God has given you, so that you can use it to serve the church?

I believe that it is important for each of us to understand how God has specifically gifted us, so that we can use those gifts to build up and serve the body of Christ.

There are many ways to help you figure out how God has gifted you,

Think @ What about church gets you excited? Where would you be excited to serve? Many times God gives us those desires based on the gifts he has given.

You could Talk to spouse or someone who knows you spiritually and ask them how they think you are gifted.

You could Talk to your pastor and ask him to walk through it with you.

What I would say is this, If you dont know how God has gifted you, dont sit back and wait to figure it out. Start serving the church and God will make it very clear where you are gifted.

One of My desires for our church this year is that we give people the opportunities to serve with the gifts as God has given them and not in the areas we think we need to fill.

We want to be a church where Followers of Jesus can serve the church with the specific Gifts God has given them to serve the church,

Lets bring it Home

Christ called His church to be as One.

He has called us to be Unified as one Body in Christ,

This should be one of your greatest desires as an individual member of this One Body. That you stay unified with the church,

Why Because when A church acts like a body that loves and serves one another- it looks radically different than anything in the world. And its this radical unselfish love for another that points people to Jesus.

In order for for our church to Exemplify the Oneness of The Godhead to our community, We must have a right thinking.

We must have a right thinking when it comes to our Priority in the church.

We need to come to church not to get something for ourselves, but to serve the body of Christ.

We must have a right thinking about our Position in the church

Everyone of you is needed in this church. You matter to this church, and when you are not here our body is missing one of its members and cannot function as God designed us to function.

& We need to have a right thinking about our purpose in the church

Dont just come to church like we go to a movie to sit and be entertained for an hour, Come to church to fulfill the purpose God has given you as part of His church.

Come with a heart ready to build up the body of Christ

Come ready to use your gifts for the spiritual good of others.

Let’s Be a church that exemplifies the One Another's of Christ to our World.

Pray.