1 Cor 12:13-27

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.

Ø  Because I am not…

o   Have we guided the parts away from discovering what part they are?

o   Have we elevated certain parts above the others in importance?

o   Do we have wandering parts that are no longer attached that are pretending to be parts that they are not?

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.

Ø  If the whole body would be…

o   Are we teaching balance in the importance of versatility? Our differences make us strong.

o   Who decides what part we are? God! And where we are!

o   What part I am may determine where I am!

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.

Ø  I don’t need you!

o   There are no independent parts! No matter what part you are, even leaders!

o   What are the parts that we consider weak? Maybe the parts that are least like us? Maybe the ones that are not as visible or vocal?

o   Maybe the more important parts need a little more SPECIAL care?

o   All parts should be caring for the other parts. Care does not flow only upward (That is upward according to men’s standards of importance)

Rom 12:4-5

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. (NIV)

Gen 2:15-25

15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden as its gardener, to tend and care for it.

16 But the Lord God gave the man this warning: "You may eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the Tree of Conscience-- for its fruit will open your eyes to make you aware of right and wrong, good and bad. If you eat its fruit, you will be doomed to die."

18 And the Lord God said, "It isn't good for man to be alone; I will make a companion for him, a helper suited to his needs."

Ø  Oh if it could be just God and I!

Ø  Man seemed to have everything. The perfect world, God and ..a Job.

Ø  But God said "It isn't good for man to be alone.

o   Did God just notice it? Oh-Oh I forgot something!

o   Did he change his mind after seeing the problem?

19 So the Lord God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever he called them, that was their name. But still there was no proper helper for the man.

Ø  What is this? A distraction for Adam so that he would not notice that he was alone?

Ø  No helper was found… Somebody was looking! God respects the choice of a man! His desires!

21 Then the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and took one of his ribs and closed up the place from which he had removed it,

22 and made the rib into a woman, and brought her to the man.

23 "This is it!" Adam exclaimed. "She is part of my own bone and flesh! Her name is 'woman' because she was taken out of a man."

Ø  This was on the inside of me and you took it out. I hope Eve didn’t look like his rib!

24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife in such a way that the two become one person.

Ø  He found his rib! That part he was looking for.

*** All relationship were created from God and in some ways they contain a part of you!***

Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, etc.. Alone none of these have any meaning or benefit. We need each other to be complete.

Ø  The way God planned for us to hook up with the parts that will be a blessing to us is by LOVE!

1 Cor 12:26-27

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. (NIV)

Ø  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.

o   Is this a statement of how it should be or a statement of how it really is?

o   You are a part whether, active or inactive, attached or unattached, sick or healthy, no matter how you feel. Any part that you detach dies!

***Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.***

Ø  What is the purpose of my Body?

Ø  In today’s world the Body is the goal. Body building. Body painting, piercing, worship, training, combing, cleaning, brushing, perfuming, etc..

o   Is the purpose of the Body to maintain it?

o   Who’s body is it? Christ’s

o   The purpose of my Body or the Body of Christ is to carry whoever lives inside to others.