The Body of Christ
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The starting position in basketball or any sport is a coveted position. In basketball you are one of your teams top 5 and you get to be on the floor a significant portion of the game. The starting position is the spot everyone wants. And often you have individuals not joining or quitting a team because the don’t get the prominent role. In basketball you need to have 6,7, 8, 9, 10 people. The first person off the bench is just as crucial as the first 5 people on the floor. The second team of players on the floor is just as important as the first team of players. Each person has a crucial role to play on the team.
When it comes to the body of Christ. Every member of the body of Christ is crucial. Every member of the body of Christ is crucial.
Talking with Zac last night about his ministry up in Alaska of keeping the computers and servers running. Some of the things that Zac does no one ever sees, but his role is crucial to the camp functioning. He does a lot of climbing on the roof to get something repaired or crawling into some random closet to fix something.
Every member of the body of Christ is crucial. Whether you are serving one individual in the church, or 50, or are behind the scenes. Each member of the body of Christ is crucial.
As we think through this truth lets lay some groundwork.
What is the body of Christ?
What is the body of Christ?
The body of Christ is the church: Colossians 1:24, Ephesians 5:23, Ephesians 1:22-23
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
The body of Christ is not the people who go to church. It is not the people who do good deeds that are a part of the church.
The church, the body of Christ is made up of those who have placed their faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross. The body of Christ is made up of those who know they are nothing in themselves, but have salvation and are made new and have purpose in Christ.
The body of Christ is not made up of individuals who are in this church or that church, but of individuals who are truly born again by grace through faith.
The body of Christ is the church. The church is all born again believers.
I don’t want to assume this morning that everyone here is a part of the body of Christ. If the Lord is pulling on your heart this morning. If you recognize the gravity of your sin, that you are lost and doomed on your own. If you recognize there is nothing you can do to earn favor with God, today is the day to come to Jesus. He is longing for you to accept His gift of salvation and is calling you now to come to Him. Answer the call.
31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
What is the body of Christ? It is the church. You are a part of the body if your faith is in Christ.
If you are a part of the body? Who is in charge of it?
Who is the head of the body?
Who is the head of the body?
The head of the body is Christ. Ephesians 1:22-23, Ephesians 4:15, Colossians 1:17-18
The head of the body is not the pastor. It is not a saint of years gone by. The head of the body is Christ.
He is the most crucial part of the body. He is in charge of the body. Every command that the head sends out we are called to comply to.
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
Christ is the example we follow both individually and as a local church family. We are to grow in becoming more like Him. Loving the things He loves. Despising sin that He despises. To grow in every way into Him. Every day, every moment learning to trust Him more. Getting to know him better year by year.
A Christmas song by This Hope entitled, Do you know him better, is a song that I grew up listening to.
“Am I closer to the reason that we celebrate this day Do you know Him better than you did last year… Finally sitting by the fire thinking back on what has been My life begs the question what is lasting in the end Has my purpose been to serve Him to share His gift with all my friends Will I know and love Him better when Christmas comes again
Christ is the head of the body whom we should be following individually and as a church family. Our Lord Jesus is who we are to follow wholeheartedly after we have placed our trust in Him.
Knowing Jesus more is not going to happen overnight. It is a daily choice to depend and rely on Him.
Knowing God’s Word is not an overnight thing either. My mom never went to Bible school but has been faithful in the Word for years. I feel she knows God’s Word better than I do at times. No seminary schooling, no retreat, no camp, no Sunday school class can replace your daily devotion to the Lord. Learning Jesus and God’s Word better is first and foremost a matter of our own heart and of a daily devotion and commitment to Him.
17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Christ, then, is the Source of a believer’s growth and also the Aim and Goal of his growth. From the Head the body derives its whole capacity for growth and activity.
Harold W. Hoehner, “Ephesians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 635.
We need Christ as our head, our leader, our example. It must be our goal to be like so we must stay connected to the head.
Mike the headless Chicken. Some farmer out in Colorado went out to get dinner and missed the frontal lobe of this chicken. This chicken made it 18 months without his head. He traveled the country and was the star of many shows bringing fame and fortune to his owner.
When it comes to the body of Christ. We cannot survive a single day without the sustaining power of Christ. He is our source of growth. He is our source of life. He is our Lord. It is His heart we must seek to have. It is the gospel of his death burial and resurrection that we must share. He is the head. He is over the church as a whole. And that must start personally.
Is He over my life? Is He over your life? Are you being submissive to his authority? Is He the star of the show in your life? You cannot survive a day without the one who must be the head of your life and the head of the church.
Removing Christ from being the head of the church is like decapitating its effectiveness. As we seek to be a light in the community. We must continue to keep Christ at the center of it all.
Christ is the head of the body of Christ, the church. And He must be the head of us individually and the head of us collectively.
How should the body of Christ function?
How should the body of Christ function?
GotQuestions.org “After His bodily ascension, Christ continues His work in the world through those He has redeemed—the Church now demonstrates the love of God clearly, tangibly, and boldly. In this way, the Church functions as “the Body of Christ.”
The body is to function as a light to reach the utterly lost. Philippians 2:15, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 16:5
15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
We are to follow our loving heavenly father as children. We are to shine as lights in the world among minds and hearts that are just messed up.
Our hearts have been exactly where they were, left on our own we would be utterly lost. No hope of a future.
Just as there were those faithful to reach and teach us we must be seeking how God would use us to do the same.
You have heard the great commission numerous times of going into the world and making disciples. This is what the early church was doing.
5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.
God was doing a special work in the early church in drawing many to him. Sometimes thousands in a single day.
How is your light shining? Is it dim or bright?
Have you ever had a flashlight that maybe has been dropped or maybe it was from a dollar store and its never quite worked right. You have to bump it or hold it in a particular way to actually get it to work and even then you can only see 2 ft in front of you. Some of these put out very little light. Even down to 100 lumens.
This would be as opposed to a 1000 lumen plus light that you can purchase now. The brightest flashlights actually can put out up to 100,000 lumens.
Is your light bright or dim? I am not talking about the scope or amount of people you reach. But about your faithfulness to the people in your life. Are you being faithful right where you are at. To the one person you care for. To the few people in your family. To your colleagues at work are you being a bright light?
The body of Christ is to function as a bright light to reach the utterly lost.
2. The body is to function in unity standing on the truth. Ephesians 4:1-6, 1 Corinthians 12:27
If you have placed your faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross you are in the body of Christ. There is only one body of Christ. If you have placed your trust in Jesus to cover your sins you are a member of the body of Christ. There is unity and comradery in that.
I hadn’t seen Zac and Anna for months and it had been even longer since we really sat down and caught up. And yet in Christ we have so much to talk about, to share stories of God’s faithfulness, to share prayer requests, to share about pranks we pulled in college. There is comradery in Christ. Unity is found in Christ.
Just because a cause or a group is unified does not mean it is for a good, biblical cause. Unity is only good if it is unity in Christ, unity in standing on the truth of God’s Word.
A unified body of Christ can be a great catalyst for God to do great good and to reach many. But a unified group that is standing on feelings or self-righteousness will only lead many, many astray.
A unified body will have an impact. But to have an impact for Christ we must stand with Christ and on the Word.
The body is to function in unity, standing on the truth.
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
If our hearts are truly in a place of humility, if our hearts are firmly fixed on Jesus being our everything. We will be able to find unity and to stay unified.
We are unified in the Church. We all have the same Holy Spirit in us. We all have the same hope of being with Jesus the giver of every good and perfect gift. In his arms in eternity we will never experience want or need again. We have the same hope. We have the same Lord, the same person we are serving. The same faith. The same newness of life we can all experience in Christ. Our God is over the universe and He is over the church.
Lets keep our opinions out of it. Let’s run to the Word and let it speak for itself. We can’t be unified if it is going to be on opinions. We can only be unified on truth. There is no room for pride in a unified church. Only standing graciously and firmly on God’s Word.
How should the body of Christ function? 1. It should function as a light to reach the utterly lost. 2. It should function in unity standing on the truth. 3. Each part’s function is critical.
3. The parts of the body are each crucial. 1 Corinthians 12:14-17
If you remember no other practical application of this sermon remember this. That every member of the body of Christ is crucial.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
Every member of the body has a crucial function. Notice all of the body parts Paul mentions. Not one of them is one that we would ever want to live without. He doesn’t mention a part of the body that is ambiguous. He mentions the hand, ear, and eye. Only ones that we cannot imagine our life without. Every one of us has a role and part to play in the local church.
I heard the other week that you do not need to discover your gifting before you serve, you discover your spiritual gifting as you serve.
4. All parts are designated by God. 1 Corinthians 12:18
18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
Every member of the body of Christ has a role that God has for them to fulfill.
What is the role that God has given you? You do not need to discover your gifting before you serve. You discover your gifting as you serve. What roles can you fill in this local church? Even if someone else is filling a role, maybe they need a break, maybe God wants you to step up in a new way.
Maybe it is the Christmas decorating and cookie eating role tonight at 5 pm central time. Maybe it is to teach a Sunday School class for a season. Maybe it is to help teach or lead at AWANA or youth group.
VBS will be coming before you know it. There will be teaching roles, snack roles, music roles, game roles, decoration roles, supervision roles that all need filled. The body of Christ working together in tandem is a beautiful thing. It is a true honor to serve alongside you all. Lets keep using our gifting to further Christ together. What is the role that God has given you?
All parts are designated by God. We can trust his gifting.
5. All parts are to build up the body. Ephesians 4:11-13
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
The apostles and prophets are not needed in today’s church and I believe are not God given roles today. But that is besides the point. The point of this verse practically is that when Truth is proclaimed, when the Word of God is proclaimed, it equips us for ministry. It equips us to build up the body of Christ. When I hear pastor Dean preach, it is equipping me for ministry both in the church and outside the church. The preaching of the Word equips us for ministry.
Be equipped for ministry in the local church and be open and pursue ministry in whatever capacity God leads you.
Conclusion: Do not hesitate to serve. Your role in the local church is crucial. Whether you serve in the background or the foreground the Lord wants to use you. Whether you are ministering to 5 or 50, God is pleased when you are faithful. Both meeting physical needs and spiritual needs are both critical. Whatever member of the body Christ has called you be, be fully committed to that role.
Every member of the body of Christ is crucial.
What is the body of Christ? It is the church, being made up of all born again believers.
Who is the head of the Church? Christ himself who saves, sustains and empowers us for life in ministry.
How is the body of Christ to function? It is to function as a light to the lost, in being unified on the Word. We need to remember that we each have a crucial, God-given role to fulfill and that that role will be used to build up and encourage others.
Is Christ the head of your life? Have you placed your trust in Him?
How is your light shining? Is it dim or bright in the World?
Oh man, I’m so excited for what God has done through us and will do through us.
What is the role that God has given you? If you don’t know, I encourage you to step forward in faith in a direction to serve. God will make it clear how He has gifted you.
17 And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”
Lets fulfill the God given... crucial roles that He has for us this week. Lets pray.