The Body

1
The Body

• 1 Corinthians 1212-26 Page 971

2
Where are we going?

• I want us to connect to the illustration
• Think of the church as a body and our connection
  to that body.
• I have randomly put some pictures in the
  PowerPoint and at the end I am going to ask you
  about those pictures.

3
This Month

• The theme of the church as His body will be our
  focus for the rest of the month.
• We look at the unity of the body next week,
• Jesus Christ as the head of the church body on
  December 23rd,
• and the direction of the body on December 30th.

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5
Friend and Neighbour

• People need people as they connect to Christ.
• All of us have come to Christ and choose to
  gather together because of Christ and because
  someone helped us to get to know God.
• As a guest

6
More than belief

• We live in a time when people are reluctant to
  connect to a church congregation.
• We want to be a place where people can come and
  connect to God and to others who are trying to
  serve Christ.
• We have a place for you as you come to know the
  Lord.

7
A diverse church

• We have been blessed by a congregation that has
  diversity in ages, spiritual gifts, interests,
  abilities, personalities, and experiences.
• We are a group that has been attractive to people
  who want to know the truth about God from
  scripture.
• We are a body and I appreciate what God is doing
  here.

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9
Paul and Corinth

• The Apostle Paul seems to have written from
  Ephesus in about 55 AD.
• Some consider Corinth the chief city of Greece at
  that time.
• It was a port and trade town and it had the
  income, immorality, sexual immorality, and
  diversity in religious standards that such a town
  tends to have.
• If any city needs the love of God it is this one!

10
Corinthians

• This letter is timely for the church today, both
  to instruct and to inspire.
• Most of the questions and problems that
  confronted the church at Corinth are still very
  much with us
• Yet in spite of this concentration on problems,
  the book contains some of the most familiar and
  beloved chapters in the entire Bible--e.g., ch.
  13 (on love) and ch. 15 (on resurrection).

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12
1 Corinthians 1212-26 on page 971.

• 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. 13 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.
• Just like with our physical body the church
  should be diverse and united.
• Our unity comes from what God has done to unite
  us so we are united by our salvation.

13
1 Corinthians 1214 Page 971

• 14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of
  many. 15 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. 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 cease to be part of the
  body.

14
1 Corinthians 1214 Page 971

• 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 arranged 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.

15
1 Cor 1221-26 Page 971

• 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.

16
1 Cor 1221-26 Page 971

• But God has combined the members of the body and
  has given 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.

17
People need people

• It is good to be a part of a whole.
• It is good when people know you enough to know
  when you are rejoicing.
• It is good to have people who hurt with you when
  you are hurting.
• It is good to have people who care about your
  relationship with God and who will learn and
  follow Gods truth with you.

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19
This is the plan!

• The church body is Gods plan.
• Our personal relationship with God is critical
  and being a part of a congregation does not make
  you right with God.

20
Accepting Salvation

• That part is between you and God.
• We will all be held accountable individually as
  to whether we have accepted salvation by
  connecting to Jesus life, death, burial , and
  resurrection through our death to sin shown by
  leaving our old ways, being fully immersed in
  water confessing that Jesus will lead our lives,
  and coming out of that water sinless and ready to
  live with Jesus as the leader of the rest of our
  life.

21
Baptism Cartoon

• A winter baptism gone bad!

22
Yeah, Im looking at you!

• People connect with people and when others look
  at our lives they can see a picture of the change
  that Jesus makes in our lives.
• As individual Christians our friends and
  neighbours see Christ in us but it is when we are
  together that Christ is seen more clearly.

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24
The Pictures?

• Now, back to the pictures that were in the slide
  show.
• What pictures did you see?
• Butterfly,
• Landscape,
• Globe,
• Polar bear,
• Jesus on the cross

25
Taking It Home

• Are you right with God according to scripture?
  Do you need help finding out?
• Are you a part of the church body? What are you
  doing?
• What part of Jesus do you do a fairly good job of
  displaying?
• What aspects of God do you not show very well?

26
Taking It Home

• What do we look like as a whole? Can we ask your
  opinion?
• How can we connect you to Jesus and to others?
• Will you help us be a clearer image of Jesus to
  each other and the community?
• We need you.

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Conclusion

• We are called to be a body and to be a body that
  looks like Jesus.
• We are a growing body that wants to lead people
  to Jesus not just to church.
• Lets be thankful for Gods work in our lives as
  we strive to live what the Bible teaches.
• May you be blessed this week as you reflect Jesus.