BETTER TOGETHER

1CORINTHIANS 12:12-20

PROPS:

- Use of the legs to climb a rock as opposed to the arms. (Use pic for this).

- Two different ladders: one leans on the wall because it has no legs; the other has legs and is more stable. Which would you prefer to climb? Two legs are better than one even if you can climb higher in the leaning ladder.

- Finish with a clip from the movie Knightfall to illustrate the power of working together

INTRODUCTION

Someone once said – “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, take others with you.”—Source unknown

I’m not sure who’s responsible for that quote, but I absolutely love it. I love it because it speaks very powerfully to the message that I’m here to share with you this launch Sunday. It says, we are better together than we are apart. it says we can do more for the kingdom of God when we lock arms and face our challenges together than when we try to go it alone. it says if two can agree concerning anything that needs to be done on earth, according to Jesus, it shall be done by the Father who is in heaven (Matt. 18:18)

Partnering Can Be Challenging

Even though we know this is true, most of us would rather not work with other people. Because we know:

· They’re going to slow us down – (kids shoveling snow)

· We’re used to doing things a certain way and now we might have to learn new ways of doing things

· Sometimes we have to teach others so they can help us with what we’re doing

· Working with other people takes us out of our comfort zone and that means having to make some adjustments

· We don’t like depending on other people

· We might have to share the credit if we achieve success

“If you see a turtle sitting on top of a fence post, know that he didn’t get there by himself.”—Larry Stockstill

Two-fold goal:

To prayerfully commit this corporate effort to God.

to have you to leave here with a deeper understanding/ appreciation for what biblical of unity means – not just at a theological level but also at a practical level.

Let me read something to you from the book of 1 Corinthians 12:12-20

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

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…” 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? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

What the text is telling us is that the church is much like the human body.

· 1) We are one despite our differences; whether in gifts, titles, or function. We are one despite our ethnic and cultural background (v.12).

· 2) Just as the human body is singular in its purpose and the church, (Christ’s body) should be the same.

- If I’m walking my whole body is walking,

- if I’m sleeping my whole body is sleeping.

- If a part of me is experiencing pleasure, my whole body feels it.

· 3)The strength of the body/ church is in its diversity.

- It is ethnically and culturally diverse,

- It is diverse in terms of the giftings.

· 4) Each part needs the other to be whole. No singular part of the church/ body is complete on its own (v.15-17).

· 5) Just as God has designed the human body, in the same way he has arranged the diversity of the church (v.18).

· 6) If you and I fail to embrace the part that’s been given to us to play as members of one body…if we fail to move in the spirit of oneness…if we fail to acknowledge our need for each other, that’s when we become divided; and when we are divided we are ineffective.

1.0 GOD DOES EVERYTHING THRU PARTNERSHIPS

1.1 In creation the Father speaks, the Son, (Word) forms and brings into being what the Father speaks, and the Spirit give life

1.2 When he made man he said: “Let us make man…”

1.3 God partners in redemption

a. The Father elects then he sends the Son

b. The Son redeems then he sends the Spirit

c. And the Spirit draws people to what the Son has accomplished, regenerates, and seals those who believe

1.4 The Godhead is an intentional model of partnership because it’s showing us that this is the way God designed creation to function.

1.5 Then God partners with man

a. When he placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, he gave him the responsibility of caretaker (Gen. 2:15). That’s partnership!

b. When Jesus calls his 12 disciples before starting His ministry; that’s partnership!

c. When he prayed in Gethsemane, he asked Peter, James and John to watch with him, (Matt. 26:36-38). Even Jesus didn’t mind asking for help when he felt vulnerable.

d. When his cross was too much to bear, Simon of Cyrene stepped in to help him. That’s partnership!

e. Church is called the Body of Christ because Jesus is the head and we are the moving parts - his points of contact here on earth – the visible representatives. 1Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him—this one bears much fruit, for apart from me you are not able to do anything, (Jn. 15:5)

2.0 MARRIAGE IS A COVENANT PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN DESIGNED BY GOD FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF DIVINE PURPOSE

2.1 Adam was doing all he could to carry out his assignment, but God decided it was not good for him to go it alone (Gen. 2:18).

Then Yahweh God said, “it is not good that the man is alone. I will make for him a helper ⌊as his counterpart⌋.

2.2 Many people avoid getting married because it’s the perfect example of the tension between effort and reward, and why some people try to go it alone for as long as they can. But a godly marriage, while not trouble free, can be a taste of heaven on earth like God intended it to be.

2.3 What many don’t know is that God designed it so that your imperfections would work like sandpaper, smoothing out and perfecting each other over the years. So, you may say, “I got peace cause I ain’t got now woman/ man in my life, but you may have missed out on the growth God intended for you.

3.0 GOD USES PARTNERSHIPS TO UNLEASH POSSIBILITIES

Again, truly I say to you that if two of you agree on earth about any matter that they ask, it will be done for them from my Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matt. 18:19-20

3.1 A partnership of this nature is rare in this region. But in other parts of the country churches are merging at an unprecedented rate and experiencing new vitality and a renewed sense of vision and purpose. This partnership marks the beginning of a new era in the church. It’s the end of the era where we allowed foolish pride to blind us and from seeing the bigger picture.

a. No more empty church buildings left to decay because the leaders were too selfish to do what was needed to save the church

b. No more churches being converted into mosques or altars to be built in honor of other gods.

c. No more giving up territory that our fathers fought so hard to gain and leaving the next generation out in the cold with no place to worship.

3.2 But this vision goes beyond self-preservation; it’s a strategic move to advance the kingdom of God in this region.

3.3 Imagine with me what can happen when we link arms and embrace God’s way of working.

a. What is out of reach becomes reachable

b. What seems unattainable becomes attainable

[Run video clip to show what’s possible when we die to ourselves and commit to a greater cause]

CONCLUSION

If each of us here today would be willing to let someone else stand on your shoulders, there’s no limit to what God could do through us.

Close with my desire to plant churches. For the last 10- years i’ve wondered - sometimes through tears and in frustration - if I would ever plant another church. And it was something I felt pushed from within to do. But it just didn’t seem to come together. But then Pastor Bejoy proposed: “How do you feel about linking arms together?”