The nature of the church

Intro

Veterans Day

Glory Attah

The importance of Community

You dont really miss things until their gone...

When We left my other church to come here we took an 8 week Ministry Sabbatical. We needed it

But my wife and I would say that the hardest part was being away from the body of christ on a regular basis...

Sure we visited other churches

But That sense of deep community is so key...

So last week Pastor Bethany ushered us into a new section of 1 Corinthians where we are talking about life in the body of Christ...

What does that look like?

Why is it so impotrant.

So if you have your bibles today we are going to be in 1 Corinthians 12-14, mainly 12

Lets get into it today

Now there is so much here that we have to take it in bite sized chunks or else I am afraid that it would be too much

1 Corinthians 12:1–3 NIV

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

So first and foremost Paul is living in a very spiritual world.

with other false gods

with pagan temples

and even this phrase that you were led astray by mute idols....recognizes something that they would have immediately understood...

The phrase “led away” is also the same as “paraded....”

There was an extremely common pagan practice that actually happened to Jesus too

They Paraded the sacrificial animals through the town to the temple and the people would line up and follow the animal and witness the sacrifice

And what Paul is saying here is that there are really two systems of worship at play there is the way of the pagan world and there is the way of Christ.

and when church, you fall into these pagan systems then you literally get let to the slaughter with these powerless idols!

And even today these very pagan systems that existed in Corinth have just become secularized systems that still exist in this world…and what Paul is saying is that there are spiritual powers of darkness behind all of that

So what Paul is saying is that for the church

The chief confession of the church is that Jesus is Lord.

Paul is talking about the fact that the Lord gifts each one of us with his spirit and the chief gift is the presence of God’s spirit himself and it is by the spirit of Jesus that we are able to proclaim that Jesus is Lord

This of course was in opposition to the chief confession of the Roman world, that Cesar is Lord

It means that Jesus has power and authority over all

There is no higher authority

Money isn’t a higher authority

Power isn’t a higher authority

Sex isn’t a higher authority

My own opinions are not a higher authority

So Paul starts this section off with in the church there are two roads to walk down…The road of these mute idols and the road of the Holy Spirit which compels us to confess that Jesus is Lord

There is no other

Now keep in mind that the first thing that Paul says here in Chapter 1 is about gifts…This whole section Paul is saying when you accept Jesus and he makes you into a new person…He gives you gifts

Gifts for the Common Good

1 Corinthians 12:4–11 NIV

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

So Last week Pastor Bethany talked about the sin of the church in Corinth where they would segregate the church based on rich or poor for seating when they took communion.

This church built a hierarchy around wealth

so now what he is saying…Church what you have to understand is that the church builds one another up…The spirit of God gives each believer a gift.

Now here is what is key to know about your gift

God gives me a gift that is not for me

See if your main goal in life is wealth and prominence then you would want that gift to build you up…But Paul knows this about the church and he know’s Jesus and He knows that the gifts you are given are for others…they are outward focused

Paul’s point here is that we can not be arrogant about our gifting…Because its not for you!

Now your gifting might be helpful to you personally and you might love to use it and really, you will love to use it because it is from the Holy Spirit himself.

But its not for your benefit

What Paul says here is that it is for the common good so they are for the common benefit of the church

Then Paul gives us a sample list and I am not going to talk about all of these gifts but Paul gives us a sample list of gifts

A message of wisdom

A message of knowledge

Faith

Healing

Tongues & Interpretation of tongues

Healing

Prophecy

Distinguishing between spirits

And remember these are for the common Good...

One of the points I want to make is this and it comes with a story

One of my best friends went to college with me and we were both in a class called National Model United Nations....

Where we went to New York City for two weeks and participated in the largest Model United Nations in the world

It was a big deal. We would represent another country at the UN and we would have to know everything about that country and get our resolutions passed.

We would have something like 100 people apply to be in the Model UN and we would have 25 spots so it was incredibly competitive even getting into the program

I was the head delegate and a small committee of students and I made the selection of who would get in. Well Shocker…My best friend made the team…But he deserved it…He is really smart and really fast on his feet…Really a perfect candidate

Well we basically have 14 weeks to prepare everything for our time at the UN and really for me in college, EVERYTHING ELSE stopped and I lived and breathed NMUN

The expectation was that you come to class and participate, if your car breaks down get a taxi

If your sick, get medicine and get to class,

If your in the hospital and you are conscious then you can be on speaker phone

If you have a job that will stop you from coming to class either quit the job now or quit the class now

But the reason why your attendance is so mandatory is that everyone becomes an expert on a different kind of policy for the country we represented so we needed each person to pour into the others

So the biggest fight I have ever had with my best friend who is still my best friend by the way was that he got called into work.

He texted me…So sorry we had an emergency at work and I had to run in...

So I WAS FUMING! Hadn’t I just said to quit your job!!! HAHA

So we got into the biggest fight....and as we were arguing with each other I said something that helped me understand my core conviction about the church... His core argument to me was that he had finished everything he needed to finish and he was an expert in his area so he could skip that day

And I just remember yelling at him that there were 24 other people who needed his expertise in class and that he wasn’t there for him....that all of us come for each other...

It does us no good if only one of us knows the policy! we all need to know the policy!

And so it is with the church....

We all need what you have

You need what I have

Most every week I preach, I use the way that god gifted me and inevitably someone will thank me for my message and complement me

But you have got to understand…that’s all I’ve got! Its not a spiritual gift to ride a bike fast or far

I need you!

Some of you are gifted toward music and I am standing here and you are leading me into worship in powerful and profound ways

Some of you are gifted in tech and you are just gifted in making an awesome experience for everyone else

Some of you are just gifted in hospitality and you set the atmosphere of warmth that we have cultivated here…You make the coffee you set up events…you greet people as they walk in the door!

some of you are gifted in serving with kids…and oh my gosh I am at awe of the way you explain the bible to a 5 year old! I can not do that...

Just as much as I might bless some of you with teaching every week you all come here every week and when you use your gifting…>WOW! I am blown away

The gathering of the church for worship is not merely a matter of a group of human beings coming together to practice certain traditions or liturgy, but entails the presence and activity of God himself in and through his people as they worship and build each other up in his presence

Now to mention some of the gifts that Paul mentions

Now this is just a sample list that Paul gives...

Paul mentions tongues and the way he is mentioning it is a prayer language that is know between God and the speaker..

one of the gifts he mentions is the gift of faith and this story is often mentioned but I want to share it incase you have never heard it

1 Corinthians (The One Source of Variegated Manifestations of Grace (12:4–11))

George Müller of Bristol, England, is cited as a person who manifested this ministry. Müller founded a large orphanage, where he fed, housed and otherwise cared for over two thousand orphans with no guaranteed income from any source. He trusted God daily for the milk, food and funds to care for the children.

Mrs. Charles Cowman wrote the following revealing story about Müller:

I went to America some years ago with the captain of a steamer, who was a very devoted Christian. When off the coast of Newfoundland he said to me, “The last time I crossed here, five weeks ago, something happened which revolutionized the whole of my Christian life. We had George Mueller of Bristol on board. I had been on the bridge twenty-four hours and never left it. George Mueller came to me, and said, ‘Captain, I have come to tell you that I must be in Quebec Saturday afternoon.’ ‘It is impossible,’ I said. ‘Very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement for fifty-seven years. Let us go down into the chart-room and pray.’

“I looked at that man of God, and thought to myself, what lunatic asylum can that man have come from? I never heard of such a thing as this. ‘Mr. Mueller,’ I said, ‘do you know how dense this fog is?’ ‘No,’ he replied. ‘My eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life.’

“He knelt down and prayed one of the most simple prayers, and when he had finished I was going to pray; but he put his hand on my shoulder, and told me not to pray. ‘First, you do not believe He will answer; and second I believe He has, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it.’

“I looked at him, and he said, ‘Captain, I have known my Lord for fifty-seven years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, Captain, and open the door, and you will find the fog gone.’ I got up, and the fog was indeed gone. On Saturday afternoon, George Mueller was in Quebec for his engagement.” (Cowman 1925:241–242)

Such a Spirit manifestation of faith encourages all of us by showing us God’s work and also by providing a model to help our own trust in God to grow. Thus this gift ministers to the edification of the whole body of Christ.

I love that story because often times when I think I am doing well with faith I run into a a George Muller Type in the church and there faith stretches my own!

Now let me ask you…Whose faith was expanded that day? The Captains or George Muller?

The Captain said the whole of his faith was revolutionized...

Why because Muller used his gift and built someone else up!

We all need you to show up! We all are counting on you to use your gifts! We need you!

Church is not meant for you to come and receive…thats just one part of it…You certainly do receive

But your supposed to come here and use your gifting to build others up...

Go to a life group…Pour into your group

Find out how God has gifted you and use it!

There is a ton more scripture so lets keep going

One Baptism/One Body

1 Corinthians 12:12–31 NIV

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 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 stop being part of the body. 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? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 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!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 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, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

Now next week we are going to talk about the most excellent way....the way of love…Because what we have to remember is that Paul didn't write the great Love chapter of 1 Corinthians so we can use it in weddings....He wrote it about the way the church is supposed to be to one another

Now it applies to weddings

It applies to marriage

But first and foremost…It is for the church and the way we relate to each other....

So Paul says that we are all baptized by one spirt into one body

That is when you accept Jesus and recognize his Lordship in your life

that is when you are baptized by the spirit

You are now a part of Jesus’ body

His hands and feet on earth

You are a part of this...

I think Paul found this out the hard way...

Paul came to follow Jesus rather dramatically

If you remember back to Paul’s origin story…He was there when other Christians were being killed and on his way to find more Christians he had an experience

The Physical Jesus showed to to him and said this

Acts 9:4–5 NIV

He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

Jesus told Paul that when you are persecuting a christian you are persecuting parts of my body!

So Paul gets this from jesus himself

Every person matters to Jesus!

If you are here and you are struggling with worthyness! Jesus looks at you and sees someone indispensable

Every part of the body works together!

Every part of the body needs each other...

We have all experienced an injury in one part of the body that effects other parts of the body...

A few years ago I was skateboarding and I rolled out of a ramp and then rolled back in like I had done a hundred times but this time my back trucks hung up and I fell 6 feet down to the bottom of a concrete ramp and cracked a rib

1 little rib…and Sleeping hurt, breathing hurt, laughing hurt, coughing hurt …It was all affected!

And this is Paul’s metaphor...

Remember the church was segregating based on leaders they liked and wealth and Paul’s argument is how can you do this! You all need each other

You are all the Body!

God has made me an indispensable part of the body of Christ.

You are vital!

Your attendance here isn’t just for you! Did you know that?

It’s for you to use your gifting for others

Coming to your life group, it wont always be for you!

Its for others

So maybe your here and you dont know your gift

And there are tests that you can take of course…

But I want to encourage you to ask Jesus right now…

God how would you like to use me to build up others? Ask your spouse, ask your best friend…How has God used me in the past

Response

1. So maybe your here today and there I think are two responses.

Have you ever made the confession that Jesus is Lord?

By Default we place ourselves on the throne but have you ever acknowledged the Lordship of Jesus

2. God has gifted you for others....Are you using it?

However small you think your gifting is, God will take it and multiply it....

You may have been a part of a lot of communities in your life but there is nothing like the church

Benediction

St. Teresa of Alva (1515-1582)

Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, Yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.