We're reading from 1 Corinthians 12, 12 to 27.
And just to give an intro to this passage,
we're at a point in Paul's ministry
where the Corinthians are having a bit of a problem
with their community.
There's individuals, lots of individuals in the community
that are trying to big note themselves
by talking about their spiritual gifts.
And Paul's really trying to bring everyone together
as a community and try to focus not on the individual
but on the whole body of Christ.
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.
For in one spirit we are all baptized into one body,
Jews or Greeks, slaves or free,
and all were made to drink of one spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member,
but of many.
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.
If the ear should say,
because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,
that would make it no less a part of the body.
It would make it no less a part of the body.
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?
But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as he chose.
If all were a single member, where would the body be?
As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you.
Nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.
And on those parts of the body that we think less honourable, we bestow the greater honour.
And our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require.
But God has so composed the body, giving greater honour to the part that lacked it,
that there may be no division in the body,
but that the members may have the same care for one another.
If one member suffers, all suffer together.
If one member is honoured, all rejoice together.
That you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
Well, good morning everyone.
Why don't we pray as we come to God's word.
Father, I pray that you would increase each one of our understanding of who we are.
And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, what's in it for me?
What's in it for me?
I've used this illustration before.
I can't find a better one, so I'm going to reuse it.
But have you noticed what the recruitment messages on the Australian Defence Force website is like?
Whatever advertising you see.
The first thing you see when you open the webpage is,
find your ideal role in the Australian Defence Force.
Find your ideal role.
Another spot in the website says,
in the ADF, you will enjoy a rich and rewarding blend of career and lifestyle opportunities,
plus fulfilling, well-paid work, job security, and numerous benefits.
Now, I can't think of a job that should be more self-sacrificing than being in the Defence Force.
But it's not saying, what can you do for your country?
It's not even saying, protect the ones you love.
It's like, look at how it's going to help you.
What's in it for me?
I just want to use that as an illustration that we live in an individualistic culture.
And that is a big challenge to being the church God has created us to be.
Now, I want to clarify that if we lived in a different culture,
if we lived in a more collective, group, family-minded culture,
many cultures in Asia, for instance, we would need a different sermon.
Community built on hierarchy and social rank can create other problems.
Sacrificing the individual for the sake of the group,
or a person's value is based on where they're ranked in the group,
or you're doing all things for the sake of honouring those who are at the top of the group,
or the tribalism between families and groups.
There's lots of things that would be a problem
and would need a totally different sermon if we were in a different culture.
I'm saying that in the hope that you don't hear me say in this sermon,
we just need to be more community-minded.
Because the Bible gives us a totally different understanding.
Please don't hear me say,
you need to sacrifice self for the sake of more service in the community.
That's not the main thrust of this message.
And I'm hoping that's a bit of a surprise to you.
And hopefully I can demonstrate that in God's word.
So we would need a different sermon if we were in a different culture.
But the threat for us today in our individualistic culture is that
we're either going to succumb to this individualistic thinking,
what's in it for me, as we engage in community based on that,
or we have the opportunity to just be a compelling difference
to a world that's absolutely, a society that's so starved of community.
It's a big threat or a big opportunity.
I want to spend a few minutes just pointing to a few symptoms,
touching hopefully on some sore spots of where I think we can see some symptoms
of this mindset in the church, in our society.
It may not be totally within our church, but there's probably bits and pieces of this.
Let me try and, oh, let me start with church leaders.
I think this topic we can just aim at congregation.
I want to start with leaders.
How can leaders think what's in it for me?
Well, if dominant motivation as a pastor and as a leader is what's in it for me,
if my personal success as a pastor is all in measurable categories,
measurable metrics like increasing in numbers in this church
or the number of programs we're running
and the number of staff we're putting on
and the number of events reaching our community
and the number of services and church plants we're doing
and so on and so on,
my identity and value as a leader could be bound up in all these things.
And there's problems with that
because character issues in leaders can be dismissed
because look at all the ministry fruit, look at all the success.
Individuals changing churches,
there can be competition between churches.
As if it's a marketplace for consumers,
as if we're competing.
Someone might come into the church and I go,
excellent, we're building,
rather than going, should you be here
or should you be going back to the church you came from?
Is it spiritually good for you?
Is there another church in this area that's better for you?
Decisions on how to operate as a church
can be based on what works rather than what God calls us to be?
If it's all about what I'm getting out of it.
I think we see it with leaders
when the validation for ministry isn't coming
and leaders give up and change congregation
to go find somewhere where they feel more validated.
Leaving too soon.
So I don't know what you think about all that,
but I want to start with leaders
that even those seeming to be sacrificing a lot for community,
can it be driven by what's in it for me mentality?
What about symptoms for the congregation generally?
Well, I think a what's in it for me mentality
can be seen in the unspoken answer,
well, not much.
There's not much in it for me.
So I'll just turn up here and there
when it fits in around the rest of my life
that there's much more in those things.
I think we can engage in community
based on things other than Christ.
It's common needs.
What's in it for me is friendship.
I can find people like me.
And when that's going well, church is great.
When friendships, for whatever reason,
dislocation, whatever,
your interest in church drops off.
Maybe community based on
this is a great place for my children.
A moral environment to grow up in.
Mutual support as parents.
It can be a consumer mindset
that it's the clergy who give you the spiritual ministry
and I'm the consumer.
I think we can engage in ministry roles
according to,
is this volunteering convenient?
Am I being appreciated or not?
Am I feeling important by doing it?
Or when I'm thinking of leaving a church,
do I see it as my decision alone?
Or do I get the input
of brothers and sisters and pastors
to know,
is it right to dislocate
from this church family?
So I've just sprayed a bunch of symptoms,
both leaders and congregation,
and I'll let you weigh those up.
But I think this
fundamental driving
principle in our culture
can be driving us
as we engage in church.
What's in it for me?
It can look okay
for times
on the surface,
but
it will erode
the church family.
I think we see it
eroding biological family,
don't we?
What's in it for me?
So what's the antidote
to viewing yourself
and viewing the church
individualistically?
What's the antidote
to this sort of thinking?
Well,
we're going to look
at 1 Corinthians,
so if you can open to,
and stay open to,
1 Corinthians 12.
We're going to look
at the fundamental problem.
And our fundamental problem
is our understanding
of our personal salvation.
Here we see
who we now are.
So,
just for some context,
the original situation
Paul is speaking to,
the Corinthian church
was characterised
by division
and envy
and competition.
They had a very narrow
definition of gifting,
and
they were prioritising
the more showy
and spectacular gifts,
and they thought
the capabilities
that they had,
they were using them
to validate themselves.
It was a very
individual approach
to gifting.
Now,
in their case,
they were prioritising
the so-called
spiritual gifts,
the gifts of the spirit.
I don't think
we're in danger
at this present moment
to do that,
the speaking in tongues
and the healings
and such,
but
we might be tempted
to equate belonging
and importance
in the church
with a narrow
definition of gifting.
We might
prioritise
teaching gifts
over other gifts
or ability
to pray.
We might
prioritise
having authority
in positions
and office.
or
we might
be tempted
to evaluate
people's belonging
and importance
based on worldly
criteria.
If there's
measures of respect
out in the world,
they're the measures
we use in here.
So we still
can have this
mentality,
even if it's not
the particular
problem they had.
The foundation
Paul lays
is crucial
for us
to understand.
Yes,
God saves
us
individual
by individual.
He saves
us
individually.
But what
it means
to be saved
is that
I am now
vitally
connected
to Jesus.
I'm not
an individual.
The essence
of salvation,
we might
see it
by asking
this question,
whose are you?
Whose are you?
Are you
your own?
No.
Are you
the groups,
the families?
No.
You are
Christ.
Who you
are has
fundamentally
changed.
You belong
to Christ.
Now,
of course,
he created
us.
We always
belonged to
him in that
sense.
But now
we actually
know it
and love
it and
believe it
and we
are connected
to him.
Paul loves
the phrase
that a
believer is
in Christ.
Christ is
in us
by his
spirit and
that's what
verses 12
to 13
are about.
That our
baptism
pictures this.
The water
baptism pictures
the spiritual
reality that
occurred when
we had faith.
That we
are now
joined to
him and
he is
in us
by his
spirit.
We are
not
individuals.
We are
individuals,
aren't we?
But we
aren't alone.
To be
saved is
to be
joined to
Jesus
forever
into
eternity.
So then
Paul goes
on to use
the metaphor
of a
body
to help
us
understand
what it
means to
be joined
to Jesus.
Now as
we go
through this
passage,
I want to
first ask,
are you
coming at
it thinking
that the
primary message
is Christians
act like a
body?
I don't
think that's
the primary
emphasis.
I think the
primary emphasis
is,
Christian,
you are
a body.
Do you
hear the
difference there?
It's not
saying you
need to act
like it,
it's
saying,
look at
what God
has done.
He has
created a
body.
That's the
primary emphasis
here.
It's about
what God
has done.
The basis
of your
belonging
to Jesus,
belonging to
this church,
if you're a
believer,
is what
God has
done.
God
arranged the
members in
the body,
each one
of them,
there's the
individual,
each one
of them,
as he
chose.
He
arranged.
We come
into this
church for
all different
motivations,
but sovereignly,
God is the
one who's
chosen how
we are
arranged.
It may
appear very
random,
not how you
might put it
together,
put us
together,
but he has
sovereignly put
us together as
we are.
Again,
verse 24,
halfway through
the verse,
it's God who
has composed
the body.
That word
can mean
blended,
not to
eradicate
distinction,
but there's
just harmony,
there's a
composition of
the body.
He
harmonises
the diversity.
He's not
after vanilla
flavour,
he's after
unity with
all our
diversity.
And it's
the spirit
filling this
body.
Again,
it's what
God does
primarily in
this passage.
It's the
spirit who
apportions
gifts.
We can
look at
verse 7.
To each
is given
the manifestation
of the
spirit for
the common
good.
It's the
spirit who
apportions
gifts and
functions in
this body to
each member.
If you're a
believer, you
are spirit
filled.
spirit
filled.
You might
doubt that
because you
have a
narrow
definition of
what that
looks like.
We'll come
to that
later.
But
understand
that we
are all
spirit
filled.
We are
given a
function to
perform for
the common
good.
and we
all have
the same
Lord.
Verses 4
to 6,
it's a bit
of a
Trinitarian
comment.
We all
have the
same
Lord Jesus
motivating
us.
Ultimately,
I'm to
serve you
because that's
how I
serve my
Lord.
I think
Paul puts
it in his
letters in
2 Corinthians
4 verse
5.
What we
proclaim is
not ourselves
but Jesus
Christ as
Lord with
ourselves as
your servants
for Jesus'
sake.
I'm
serving for
Jesus'
sake.
We have a
common
Lord.
So this
body,
it's
assembled by
God.
It's the
Lord driving,
motivating and
directing all
of us.
It's the
spirit filling
and empowering
us to
function
differently,
to serve
for the
common
good.
It's
what God
has done.
We are
in Christ.
We are
to be
one body.
So what's
God's
purpose in
creating the
church body
like this?
We see
that in
verse 25.
Here's his
purpose,
that there
may be no
division in
the body,
but that
the members
may have
the same
care for
one another.
That word
care,
it's also
the same
word used
for anxiety,
concern.
God has
so assembled
his church
that we're
not equal.
There's
huge
differences,
but he's
so created
us that
there's no
division,
but equal
concern for
every single
member in
his body.
that's
his goal,
that's
what he
wants,
that's
what he's
going to
produce.
And we
see that
especially,
verse 26,
when one
member suffers
or one
member is
honoured.
Like how
can my
body be at
peace if
one part
of me is
hurting?
You can't,
can it?
even if,
like I had
an infected
finger recently
and it's
just like,
it's just,
it affected
my whole
mentality.
It's just,
I have to
deal with
my little
finger,
I've got to
deal with
it.
You can't
be at
peace.
If one
member is
suffering,
you feel
that,
you are
concerned
about it.
And when
one is
honoured,
it doesn't
say we're
all honoured,
it says we
all rejoice.
Imagine that.
Someone preaches
better than
me and I
go,
oh,
that's not
a threat.
The body
is being
built,
fantastic.
It's an
incredible
thing that
God creates.
He wants
a community
that is
like him
and is
unlike
anything else
in this
world.
Because
that's
what gives
him glory,
as we
saw in
Ephesians
3.
So
understanding
with the
body,
we've got
to understand
his goal,
this unity.
And
secondly,
we've got
to understand
what is
the main
thing that
keeps this
body alive.
It's not,
giftedness is
important,
but I
ordered the
sermon this
way because
I want to
prioritise what
Paul prioritises.
what God
prioritises through
Paul,
which is
chapter 13.
His main
point is for
them to
understand that
love is all
that matters,
is the main
thing.
Verses 1 to 3
of chapter 13,
if I speak in
tongues of men
and angels but
have not
love, I'm a
noisy gong or
a clanging
cymbal.
If I have
prophetic powers
and understand
all mysteries and
all knowledge,
and if I have
faith to remove
mountains but
have not love,
I am nothing.
If I give
away all I
have and if I
deliver up my
body to be
burned but
have not
love, I
gain nothing.
It's
pointless.
Love is the
essential thing
here.
I think
even in the
church we
talk about
playing to
our strengths
or we
talk about
being called
to a very
narrow,
defined area
of ministry
and I just
wonder how
much of that
is for
our own
self-validation
when we're
called here to
share the
love of
Christ.
Any
strength I
have, if
there's any
need, I
will try and
meet it,
whether I
feel strong
or not.
And if I
can't meet
that need,
I'll push
that person to
someone who
can meet
that need.
It's not
about playing
the strengths,
I don't
think.
Corinthians,
Paul is
saying, you
want to be
spiritual?
Stop looking
at your
giftedness,
although it
is given
by the
Spirit and
we'll come
to that
next.
But what's
truly spiritual,
what's truly
great is
having the
love of God,
having the
love of
Christ.
an example
of this
might be,
to contrast,
someone could
come up the
front and
pray
confidently,
eloquently,
and as
Jesus says
in Matthew
7, it
could all be
just so that
you look at
them.
And God
looks at
that and
goes,
that's just,
you're a
hypocrite.
But then
in private
conversation,
you're talking
to someone
and they
just don't
understand God's
word or
they're
struggling,
really
struggling,
and you
want to
help them,
you don't
feel confident
at all,
you try and
pray and
you fumble
through it
and you're
not sure
if the
prayer reaches
the ceiling,
let alone
God.
And God
looks at
that because
you're doing
it in love
and goes,
that's great.
Because it's
motivated by
love,
for Christ's
sake.
love flowing
through this
body is what
is going to
keep us
alive.
So having
established
that,
now let's
look at
giftedness.
The Spirit
empowers each
individual for
the good of
the whole
body.
So verses
14 to
19 deal
with people
who feel
like they've
got nothing
to offer,
and then
verses 21
to 24 deal
with people
who think
they're pretty
independent,
that they
don't need
the others.
So first,
what if you
feel like you
have nothing
to offer?
By the way,
I don't think
you're meant
to identify
what am I?
Am I the
little finger?
I don't think
that's the point
of this
metaphor.
but pretending
that you're
imagining
yourself as
the foot,
perhaps you're
more lowly,
you're in the
dust,
you're less
capable than
the hand,
and you look
at the hand
and you conclude,
I'm not like
that,
so I don't
belong.
I can't get
up front
and serve
in public
music,
I can't play
music,
I'm not
extroverted
and able to
speak to
lots and
lots of
people,
I'm not
sure what
else we
narrowly
define gifts
as,
but to
have a
narrow
mindset,
it can
create this
division and
it can make
us even
start doubting
whether we're
spirit-filled
or not.
And I
think we
can have
two common
errors,
I think we
can talk
about gifting
in terms of
formal roles,
and I
think we
can look
at gifting
as if it's
fixed rather
than dynamic
and growing.
Verse 17
to 20,
verse 17
tells us
one part
can't do the
part of
another,
like this
church would
be seriously
unhealthy if
all the
behind-the-scenes
ministries
suddenly stopped,
if all the
little conversations,
all the meals
being sent,
all the
prayers
being offered,
like this
church would
wither.
We need
each part
functioning
to be
interdependent.
Verse 18
encourages,
God arrange
the members
in the body,
each one of
them.
Don't wait
to feel
confident,
trust,
he's put
you here,
he's got
purpose for
you.
verse 19
to 20,
to reinforce
again,
he wants
diversity
in the
body.
He's not
after
uniformity,
but unity.
You are
spirit-filled.
If you
trust Jesus
as your
Lord,
that's your
starting point,
you are
spirit-filled.
How do you
know what
God calls
you to?
I'm going
to suggest
whatever need
you see
for people
to live
for Jesus,
to know
him,
to be
encouraged,
to be
comforted,
whatever need
you see,
that's a
great starting
point to go,
okay,
God wants
you to
meet that.
I really
love a
quote by
William
Wilberforce
who,
he's probably
such a
common name,
I don't
need to
say this,
but who
helped to
bring down
slavery in
England,
but he's
got a
really good
quote that
if you
have the
health and
the ability,
he says,
no person
has a right
to be idle
in such a
world as
this,
such a
broken world
as this,
that you
may not
find some
ignorance
to instruct,
some wrong,
to redress,
some want
to supply,
some misery
to alleviate.
I kind of
like that,
I'm trying to
expand our
idea of
ministry.
Yeah,
anyway,
I've probably
said enough.
Let's move on
to those,
verse 21 to
24,
those who
feel that
they are
gifted and
don't need
others.
as soon
as the
attitude of
not seeing
a person
as needed
in this
church,
maybe you
see someone
as a
burden,
that is
difficult.
Any
superior
attitude
means that
whatever
gifting you
think you
do have,
however busy
you are,
it's
unchristian.
if you're
using your
function to
bolster your
own self
importance,
rather than
using it for
the function
for Christ's
sake to
build up
others,
it is
unchristian
because it's
lacking,
chapter 13,
the love of
Christ.
Our
attitude to
people who
seem less
important should
be God's
attitude.
Here's
verse 22.
On the
contrary,
the parts of
the body
that seem
to be
weaker
are
indispensable.
They've
got a
little bit
to offer,
just
appreciate
the little
bit they've
got to
offer,
they are
indispensable.
That's
God's
attitude.
I think
in verse
23 and
24,
using the
body metaphor
again in
clothing,
he teaches
us how to
think of
people
who are
different
than us.
The
unpresentable
parts of
our bodies,
I assume
that's
talking about
the sexual
organs and
the excretion,
but I
assume that's
what it's
talking about.
Now how do
we treat
that in
our own
body?
We give
special
attention to
it.
We clothe it
especially.
we treat
it with
more honour
than we
do our
presentable
parts like
the hands
and stuff.
I don't
need to
cover my
hand,
but that's
the kind
of attitude
we should
have.
More
concern,
more
special
regard for.
I don't
think it's
about covering
up and
hiding away
from the
world.
your attitude
towards it.
The person
who I don't
think I
need,
I should
be treating
especially
as someone
who's loved
by God
and needed
in this
church.
I think
people who
like that,
I think
their very
presence
reminds us
that we
are a
community
created by
grace and
not by
effort.
There's
probably a
million other
ways all
of us are
indispensable.
Hopefully the
conversation will
continue after
this sermon.
So if we
preach church
asking what's
in it for
me, at
best we're
going to be
just this
organisation
built on
transactional
relating.
It's going
to be a
community that
you can find
anywhere in
the world.
But the
solution is
not about
don't be
less selfish.
That's not
the solution.
The solution
is understand
who me is.
Who are you
now?
You're
united to
Christ.
You're
arranged in
the body
by God.
You're
spirit-filled
to serve
your Lord
by serving
his people.
people.
I am
part of
something so
much bigger
than me
now and
it's by
being part
of something
so much
bigger than
me that
I flourish
as an
individual.
It's a
community that
doesn't
sacrifice the
individual but
we're the whole
community sacrificing
for the
individual and
one another.
Equal concern
and anxiety
for one
another.
No envy
and human
criteria for
different value
but all loved
by grace.
Now that's a
community I
want to be part
of.
I'm glad I'm
part of.
I am part
of.
So the
solution here
is not we
need to be
more community
minded.
The solution
is know who
you are.
We are in
Christ.
We are his
body.
We are his
body.
We are his
body.
I want to
pick up an
example to
help kind
of test
whether we've
grasped this
oneness with
Jesus and
oneness with
one another.
I could talk
about seasons
of sickness
but for the
sake of time
I'm just going
to talk about
those times
where we feel
guilt and
shame.
I think
that's another
reason we
disengage from
the church
is when we
feel we've
sinned again
and we
feel like we
don't belong.
And I'm
going to say
that's independent
thinking.
That's
individualistic
thinking.
Because Jesus
united himself
to you and
you to him
knowing full
well of all
your sin having
died for it.
You are
united to
him even
in those
moments of
feeling ashamed.
And what
do you need?
You need the
ministry of the
body.
Don't wait
at home until
you feel
spiritually good
again to come
back to the
church.
You need the
body.
And can I
say I think
you've got lots
to offer.
I've got lots
to offer when
I'm feeling like
that.
Because it's
when I confess
my sin to
someone I
trust that it
actually reinforces
the grace of
God.
It actually
encourages that
person.
If I'm
wanting to be
good with
God and one
another again.
You're even
serving by
needing to be
served.
Anyway,
that's my
attempt.
Even when
we're feeling
ashamed like we
don't belong,
know you're part
of the body and
you're even an
important part of
the body by
confessing that.
And I want to
finish by four
important areas
that we need to
know we are the
body of Christ.
The first is so
that we are a
taste of heaven to
our community.
Why would
people want to
come in here?
And why would
we be motivated
for people to
want to come
in if all
they see in
here is just
a religious
version of
what they can
get elsewhere?
Envy and
pride and
conflict and
clicks.
People just
using as a
platform for
their own
self-importance.
That's not
going to be a
witness to the
gospel.
But if
people come in
here and see
that there is
incredible value
of one another
that doesn't
make sense to
the value system
we have out in
the world and
there's just a
sacrifice for one
another without
trying to get
something in
return.
Across young and
old and rich and
poor and all the
different individual
and collective
culture mindsets
that are here
all the cultures
between authority
of leadership and
those following
up.
We might well
expect then
people to come
in and go
God is really
among you
because there's
nothing like this
out in the world.
So God's
honour is at stake.
We need to know
we are body so
that we can be a
taste of heaven
for those separated
from Christ and
from one another.
The second
reason we need to
know we are the
body is because
it's going to hurt
if you believe
this.
To relate
vulnerably and
deeply
relationally
it's going to
hurt this side
of heaven
because
our love for
one another
has not been
perfected yet.
Trust will be
broken at times.
Servant
hardness will be
exploited at
times.
Well what
then?
Is that
reason to
sit on the
sidelines?
Well I
think it's
crucial to
remember that
it's Christ
you're serving.
It's for his
sake that we
lean into the
brokenness and
harm.
The third
implication of
knowing we are
the body is
I think at
this season in
our church life
is that we're
in a time of
change.
As Dave
Corderwood
looks to
serve in
We War for
the rest of
this year
that's a time
of change.
And for
those who
know David
well that
could be quite
unsettling.
There's going to
be a proper
sense of loss
for his
ministry among
us and
that's right
like any
part of the
body there's
a proper
sense of
loss but
I think it
would be
wrong.
For us to
think that
this church
was dependent
on David's
ministry.
He would
hate for
us to
think that
that it
ever was.
It's always
been the
body.
Every person
ministry.
And as
we release
Dave to go
to We War
do we have
a sense of
partnership in
that?
We're not
trying to
build our
own kingdom.
We War
doesn't have
a pastor.
Okay, let's
release Dave
to go serve
there.
Are we
sharing in
that?
In that, the
body of Christ
being built up
somewhere else?
And a huge
part of what I
think will help
us transition
with Dave
not being
here is if
all of us
know we are
the body.
all those,
every joint
and ligament
doing its
bit.
The final
thing I want
to say is
maybe you've
only known
this church
and you've
been in this
church maybe
for years,
maybe your
whole life,
I don't
know, but
you see it
from that
perspective of
what's in it
for me.
I want to
ask, who's
the me you're
referring to?
Do you
yet know
the me of
being united
to Jesus?
Do you
know the me
of being part
of that family
Don was talking
about in the
kids talk?
Do you know
that me of
being one
with his body
at the church?
Have you
tasted that
yet?
If you
haven't
come to
Jesus,
it's a
taste of
heaven.
Why don't
we pray?
Let's pray.
Oh Lord,
one day
when you
return,
we will
see your
body,
the church,
in all
its glory,
totally under
your lordship
and beautifully
displaying that
mutual concern
and love
for one
another.
We look
forward to
that full
experience of
heaven.
In the
meantime,
I thank you
for those
of us who
know you.
I thank you
that you
have
called us
into your
body,
the church.
thank you
for such
a wonderful
gift of
knowing you,
of being
filled with
your spirit
and being
part of
your family.
Lord,
I pray
that you
would
enlarge
our
understanding
of who
we are
now in
Christ.
I pray
for anyone
who hasn't
yet tasted
what it's
like to
belong to
Jesus.
I pray
that you
would help
them
distinguish
between
belonging
to Jesus
and belonging
to the
institution.
I pray
that you
would draw
them to
yourself,
into your
body,
the church.
In
Jesus'
name,
Amen.