Do you know that there are 4 types of bones in every church?
1. Wishbones
2. Jawbones
3. Knuckles
4. Backbones
1. Wishbone; wishes other people to do other things
2. Jawbones; talking (talk a lot but do little)
3. Knuckles; fighting- bending and twisting people in the wrong way
4. Backbones; carries the load happily
What kind of bone am I in this church?
In the first century, there was a greco-roman church; lots of fighting. Paul uses the Corinthian church to teach us.
1. Unity
v12-13
'One' -repeated 11 times
v12, v13, v14, v18, v19, v20, v26,v27
Why?
The Corinthian church was a church of internal fighting
-Oneness and unity are not just a slogan
- There are things that can be done to keep 'oneness' in the body of Christ
-Ephesians 4:3 ; we need to make every effort to keep the unity in church
ALL CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED TO WORK HARD IN ORDER TO KEEP THE 'ONENESS' IN THE CHURCH
It's easy to see Christians fall out with one another. It's much easier to lose Christians than to gain Christians.
Sometimes because of serious sin or hurt, but others come from trivial matters.
The Work of the Holy Spirit in making all Christians in one body
v12-13
Unity in Christ is from the baptism of the Holy Spirit
1. Not water baptism, but baptism of the Holy Spirit?
-The spirit through baptism placing all Christians in the body of Christ.
-We need to makes sure that the Holy Spirit has His way in our lives ro build the 'oneness' in the body of Christ.
2. Diversity
Oneness in the body actualluy allows for different parts, different ministries, & gifts, different serving roles & responsibilities.
We have that as it is to the benefit of the unity.
The body is not made of one part, but of many.
1. We are doing members
v15 we need feet in the church move quickly and so we can get things done. We need feet as much as we need hands.
2. We need hearing members
v16 we need ears to listen to those who are weak and pained.
They need to be comforted and sympathised with.
3. We need seeing members
v17a eyes are the servers, they see the opportunities to serve God.
4. We need smelling members
v17b they keep guard for the safety of God's people. We need the kind of Christians that sense danger and remind members to keep guard.
5. We need every member
v20
Which part are you?
3. Belonging and Needing
There are 2 observations in keeping the 'oneness' in the Church
1. Belonging
v15-18
It is God doing it, keeping all parts of the body because we are a part of it.
-God makes us belong to one church; it's not about our own feelings.
2. Need
v21 We are part of body. WE NEED EACH PART
v22-23 Don't give up the parts that are weaker, God wants us to heal those weaker body parts.
Unless the parts are so sinful and stubborn that they are destroyingthe church, they will need to be removed.
We belong to this body.
v26-27
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