The make-up of the church Continued

The make up of the church pt 2

09-30-2018

Intro - welcome

recap

last week we introduced the series and hopefully last week you started to understand the church is made up of different members

last week we ended with

1 Corinthians 12:18 NASB95

18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.

you understand that is it Gods leading and God who puts people in specific roles within the church

You were challenged last week to begin to seek God as to where you are called within the church

You were also challenged last week to take a Spiritual Gifts test

I hope you have, if you have already taken one I would hope you would take it again

1 Corinthians 12:12–14 NASB95

12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many.

the Body of Christ is made up of different members, the body of Christ is not all the same pieces, we don't all look alike, we don't all have the same gifts and we shouldn't, because that is what makes the body the body

The issue with being made of different parts is unity

This week I have tried to focus on unity in my own family and I have been praying for unity within the church

When the church starts to do somethings, and we start to be an active Gospel centered church unity becomes an issue

See when we start to do the work of the Lord I believe the evil one wants to disrupt that and probably the most notable one for churches is unity

the church is to be one body, but often in the church today starts to bicker with each other, they start to nip and gossip and start to form clicks within the body and then start to do their own thing and before we know the church is going a few different directions

We are to be one body

1 Corinthians 12:4–12 NASB95

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. 12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

And I hate to cover this again but we are one body made up of different parts, and those different parts are appointed by God not man

I joke every year during VBS that if you are not sure what God has called you to that I can help discern that

Praise the Lord no one has taken me up on that, because its not the Pastors job to appoint people to roles within the church

The church is one body with multiple members that work for one purpose

See church our purpose is to share the good news of Jesus Christ

the purpose of the church as I understand it is to be the hands of feet of Jesus

We are to tell people the good news that Jesus loves them and came to save them from their sins

I believe anything apart from that is man driven and has no place in the church

We cannot and will not accomplish that goal of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the world if we are not unified

If we are not on the same page we wont accomplish our Goal

Church we have to be unified together we that one purpose

Ephesians 4:1–6 NASB95

1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

We have to be unified

We have to come together, we have to pray together, we have to eat together

We have to be unified, we have to be on the same page

At Maranatha Baptist Fellowship our goal and maybe our vision is to reach the Lost

Here at Maranatha we reach the lost through the food pantry, we reach the lost through one conversation

and some of you may begin to ask ok I am already a believer I am no longer lost, what is there for me at Maranatha Baptist Fellowship

I am so glad you ask, We have to begin to train those people who will go reach the lost which is where discipleship comes in

As a fellowship of believers, we are to gather together and to encourage one another and to challenge one another

Philippians 2:1–5 NASB95

1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

We are to have the same mind

we are to be encouraging one another, we are to be serving one another

Would you know that when you are serving another person, you are not so much worried about your self?

And if everyone serves someone else, eventually you become that someone else

However when we start to think of our own issues before others, we start to become selfish, and then we start to say things like well no one does that for me

and we start to become bitter, all because we became selfish and stoped being unified

Church do you understand how important unity is in the Body of Christ

there are enough issues outside the walls of the church why would we want to create our own inside because we cant be unified

Romans 12:3–8 NASB95

3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. 4 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; 7 if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

We are to exercise gifts according to our gifts

we are not to exercise our gifts as to how we think they should be executed

If part of the body is not going to exercise their gifts according to the Spirit of the Lord that causes the whole body to stumble

and come on you don't want the whole body to stumble do you

I mean no one wants to be that person inside the church to cause the whole body to stumble because they become selfless and disunity sets in

When we look at the early church in Acts

Acts 1:13–14 NASB95

13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

This brings about unity in the church

When we start to think about others before ourselves and we submit to the leadership and teaching of those who God has placed in leadership

We start to produce unity in the church

Closing

Our invitation is going to be not normal or simple and cause much of you some discomfort

But our invitation is to anyone who does not have a relationship with Jesus I want to invite you to the front

We will have people up front to share with you the entire Gospel of how Jesus loved you and died for you all so you can have a personal relationship with him and walk with him daily

the other part of the invitation is for anyone who is not unified or wants to pray for unity with in the church

so maybe you are a member here and you are struggling with another member

I would ask that you go and bring them to the altar and begin to pray with them

or maybe you are here and you simple want to pray for unity over the church over your family, over our city, state or nation

the altar is open and you come