Christ's Body

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 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 cease to be 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 be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

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!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 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, while our presentable parts need no special treatment.

But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 NIV

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“For you created my inmost being;you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you becauseI am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,I know that full well.”

Psalm 139:13-14

1. We were created to serve God.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Ephesians 2:10, NLT


Issue #1: Gift Envy


Issue #1: Gift-envyIssue #2: Gift-projection

1. We were created to serve God.2. We were saved to serve God.

2. We were saved to serve God.

“It is He who saved us and chose us for His holy work, not because we deserved it but because that was His plan.”

2 Timothy 1:9, LB

2. We were saved to serve God.

“When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.” Matthew 8:14-15

1. We were created to serve God.2. We were saved to serve God.3. We are called to serve God.

3. We are called to serve God.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith


and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.


Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

Ephesians 4:11-16


So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.

2 Timothy 1:8-9

1. We were created to serve God.2. We were saved to serve God.3. We are called to serve God.4. We are commanded to serve

God.

4. We are commanded to serve God.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…

Philippians 2:5-7, NIV

Finding Your Place:1. Spiritual gifts

Finding Your Place:1. Spiritual gifts2. Your heart

Finding Your Place:1. Spiritual gifts2. Your heart3. Your abilities

Finding Your Place:1. Spiritual gifts2. Your heart3. Your abilities4. Your personality

Finding Your Place:1. Spiritual gifts2. Your heart3. Your abilities4. Your personality5. Your experiences