Local Body of Christ
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Over the last few weeks we have talked about a few different things and maybe this morning we will tie them together
See it was a few weeks ago that we talked about the words from Jesus out of
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Come
Not serve, not go
Remember that comes later
But that you and I are to pick up the yoke of Christ
We are to focus on our walk with Jesus and when we do that
The rest of things are put in their proper place
You and I cannot serve God properly until we have COME to Him
If you will recall we tried juggling the many different things of this life
And rather than juggling the different things we are to set them down and pick up the yoke of Christ
And then last week we looked at what is it to seek Wisdom out of
20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body. 23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. 24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth And put devious speech far from you. 25 Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. 26 Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. 27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.
If you will recall we went through all this and learned that to seek Wisdom is seeking Jesus and it is the work of the entire Body
It is not just a portion of your Body or part of it
But all of it
You and I should be tuning our ears to hear the Word of God
We should be setting our eyes on Jesus and not the distractions around us
We know that what is in the heart comes out of the mouth
Our hearts need to be after Jesus and if they are not we will know
Then we should ensure our words are encouraging and up lifting and edifying
Then finally church if you and I want to walk with Jesus or have a desire to walk with Jesus then we need to walk with Jesus
Our feet tell us a lot
If we are not prepared to go then we will never God when Jesus calls us to go
This week church is about the church
Would you know that the church is a body
different parts that do different things
I know you know that because we have talked about that
It is important to note that as a believer in Jesus Christ you are part of the body of Christ universal but then you need to find a local body of Christ that God has called you to
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 all different members but as believers in Jesus Christ we are all part of the same body
But just because we are all part of the same body doesn’t mean that we are the same parts
The local church is no different
See once you have Come to Jesus, and then after you are walking with Jesus you need to find a local Body of Christ to be a part of
It is during the coming to Jesus and the walking with Jesus that you figure out where God has called you and what God has called you to be
See it is during those times that God speaks to you about where you are to serve and what are to do be doing with in the particular local body of Christ He has called you to
See It is not you accept Christ and are saved, meaning you have repented from the sin in your life and trust in the Lord as your personal Lord and savior and then immediately begin to serve
Remember that Jesus said to Come
It is our first step to come to Jesus and pick up His burden and His yoke
And then church it is to begin to walk with Jesus
To walk with Him
And it is while you are walking that you get plugged in to a local body of Christ
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.
You and I are all part of one body but we are different parts
Just like the physical body has many different parts to operate so does the church
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
See the purpose of the church is to equip you and I so that we can Go do the work of ministry
You may ask what the work of ministry is
I am so glad it did
It is to going out
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This is what you and I are to do, and it is the churches responsibility to train each other up, and encourage each other up and to train each other up so that we can go out and share the Gospel
But we can train each other up if we are all ears
19 If they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; 23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, 24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
See church it is important to note that you are all different parts of the Body
Just like the physical body has many different parts and they all serve a different role within the body
Church that is what you and I are
Within the church it is no different
There are different roles,
For instance if there was no one to work the sound, it would be tough to have worship, or if we didn’t have someone working the words on the screen we would need to invest in hymnals again
Or if we didn’t have someone who came in and cleaned the building that would be a big problem, either we would have a different and trashy church or it would put undo stress on other people within the church
Or if we didn't have people to work the nursery, or to listen to the AWANA kids then those kids might miss out on being poured into
But please listen
We are not about filling openings with warm bodies, but we are about filling those open spots with the people who God has called to those positions
It is super easy to find people to do things but do understand if your hands were ears they wouldn’t work as well as your hand do because they weren’t intended to be hands, your ears were intended to listen
Church it is about listening to the Voice and God and where He has called you
18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
See God has so uniquely gifted each and everyone of you to be part of this very unique body of Christ at maranatha Baptist Fellowship
It is walking with Jesus and listen to Him for Him to show you how you can be used at the Body of Christ at Maranatha
And then once you have heard from God as to what part of the Body you are to be you are to go and do that
Our body of Christ as many different ministries that are all about equipping each other and edifying each other to go and Share the Gospel with the Lost world
This morning as we come to a close
If you are here and do not have a personal relationship with Christ
Then we would like to invite you to the front to speak with someone about beginning a relationship with Christ this morning
For everyone else I want to invite you this morning to seek the Lord as to where you are to serve at Maranatha Baptist Fellowship
Seriously begin to seek the Lord as to where He would have you serve at maranatha Baptist Fellowship
Or maybe God as called you to join this local body of Christ this morning
The altar is open