Empower

Introduction

Good morning, my name is Troy Stanley, and I’m the Lead Pastor here at FCCCB.

I’d like to welcome everyone and all of our guests here today!

I’d also like to say hello to everyone watching this online.

Recap!!!!!

Austin’s Saturday night story

You see today we will be looking at the church from the perspective of it being a body

Ants Story

Tell the story of my cousin Danny

Let me Start today by saying:

We are empowered by Jesus to continue His ministry in our world. Membership is Ownership! Growing is done by going.

Christians are members of the body of Christ---the Church

Em·​pow·​er | \ im-ˈpau̇(-ə)r \

empowered; empowering; empowers

Definition of empower

transitive verb

1: to give official authority or legal power to

Jesus Gave that power when he commissioned us to go into all the world and make disciples.

Matthew 28:19 the Great Commission

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Explanation

1st Corinthians

A letter to the church of Corinth from its founder, Paul. The letter addresses practical questions about gifts, marriage, and food.

Written by Paul previously Saul of Tarsus, he was the most influential leader in the early Christian church

Paul wrote over half the New Testament and some believe that he also wrote the book of Hebrews but we really do not know who wrote hebrews.

1st Cor 12:12-27

Unity and Diversity in the Body

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being 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 stop being part of the body. 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 placed 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.

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 put the body together, giving 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. 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.

1st Cor. 12:27 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

There are two images of the church

One is the church as a family

The other is the church as a body

Paul asks us to see the church as a body with each believer being a living part of the body with Jesus being the head leading the body

Looking at the church From the perspective of being a family speaks to relationships

Looking at the church as the body speaks to us of ministry

This is not to contrast one to the other but just two perspectives of a single reality

Two sides of the same coin 6 and 9 perspective picture

Today we are looking at the church from the perspective where we are all parts of the body joined together to form the church.

As different parts of the body joined together we become interdependent to each other

We can not exist disconnected from the body.

No one is fully equipped by themselves to be the body but must depend on others for survival

“Individualism, with its emphasis on competition to discover the “best” and “greatest,” is totally foreign to the body of Christ.”

“How much we need to rediscover the reality of the body of Christ today!”

We are ruggedly individualistic.

We are competitive.

We can find it hard to work with others in a team relationship.

“But we are a body. And it is as a body—honoring each part, ministering and being ministered to—that we must learn to live in God’s family.”

Jesus is the living Head who directs us—we are His hands and feet and eyes and ears and mouth—and it's our job to continue His own mission in our world.

The compassion Jesus showed to the sick and weary and the sin-tormented, He still shows—through His body. The church

When we as individuals and local groups of believers mature and become sensitive to the Lord’s guidance, Christ ministers to us and through us.

When this happens The church is effective and empowered by Jesus’ leading.

The church is then doing by going

Application

So how are we going to live as members of the body of Christ?

First we need understand that it is Jesus that we serve

It is Jesus that is the head of the church

The church exists for Him not for me or you.

It is His church not my church

We are His hands and feet

What we are to do as the body/church is to serve others not ourselves

Once we have this right the next step is to….

Start serving today

What do you have a passion for?

Look for ways to serve others

Don’t let the devil talk you out of serving

Be creative

If you love people enough you will find a way

You can either make excuses or you can make a difference

What will it be?

James tells us what is true about religion.

True Religion

James 1:27

27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Here are some ways we as a body are going to work out our “True Religion

Free Food Fridays Starting in October

November Food Drive

Other things that the body does

The grounds

Hospitality

Servers for church

Communications

Music

Tech and media

Greeters

First impressions

Are you ready to serve the body?

Do you know your passion

If not start praying for God to help you learn it

Ask God to show you were He wants you to serve

Don’t make excuses

Resist the Devil whispering in your ear that you can’t do something

Growing is done by going and doing the work of the church

Call to action

Let me Pray