Finding One's Place

if you're familiar this morning with the
Bible as I trust most of you are then
you will know that the Bible uses many
different metaphors analogies images of
what it is to be the people of God in
the world let me give you just a couple
of examples there is the probably for us
the most common analogy of the church
comes from the Greek word at clay Xia
you'll recognize it in the english
transliteration of that ecclesiastical
and it literally means the called out
ones God's people are called out from
the peoples of the world to be God's
chosen and unique people another image
that you find in Scripture of the church
is that of a bride the bride of Christ
and what that emphasizes is the Covenant
elation ship between Jesus and the
church a relationship that closely
parallels that of the marriage
relationship still another image we find
in Scripture is that of the temple the
Temple of the Living God and that
emphasizes the fact that God has chosen
to dwell among his people many years ago
Moses said to the Lord in one of his
prayers who are we what makes us
distinct from the nations of the world
is it not for the fact that you have
chosen to dwell among us and there are
many analogies like that throughout
scripture where we're called God's
vineyard because he cultivates us we're
called the pillar of truth which
embodies the truth of the gospel but one
of the most common models or analogies
that Paul uses and that Paul uses here
in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 is that of
the church as body
specifically the body of Christ listen
again tile he puts it in verse 27 now
you are the body of Christ and each one
of you is a part of it you are the body
of Christ and each one of you is a part
of it now in a few moments we'll talk
more about what it is to be the body of
Christ for the moment let me just
reflect on the reality of our being a
body specifically a human body why is it
that Paul in this chapter spend so many
verses elaborating on the connection of
the church being a body while the answer
is simple it is because there is is
nothing quite like the analogy of a body
to capture the principle of unity within
diversity listen again to how he puts it
in verse 12 the body is a unit though it
is made up of many parts and thou all of
its parts are many they form one body
think through think this through with me
for just a little bit let's take a look
at this chart for an example because
here you you have a good picture of all
the parts that go into making us what we
are the print is probably too small for
you to read but that doesn't really
matter it starts off at a chemical level
with atoms and molecules and they form
the DNA which is the basis of the cell
remember we talked about this once
before how many cells in your body they
have just recently counted them finally
done it right thirty-seven point two
trillion that's
you doesn't matter whether you're fat or
skinny fat cells are just bigger than
little cells 200 different kinds of
cells and most of those cells have up to
20 variations put cells together what do
you get will you get tissue and tissue I
found rather interesting there's really
only four main types of tissue in your
body connective muscle and nervous and
then tissue combines to form organs
which you see here you know I'm not
medical person but I think that's a
stomach wouldn't you most I picked this
one because most drawings that I could
find for some reason gravitate towards
the urinary tract system I didn't think
I wanted to share that with you this
morning but this is your stomach and
your stomach is one of as many as
seventy eight organs in your body an
Oregon is defined by having two
different kinds of tissue combined to
accomplish a particular purpose now
those organs of course all come together
and they produce systems and we have
about a dozen again depending on how you
define them there's a circulatory
there's the digestive endocrine which
deals with the hormones in your body
immune muscular skeletal and here's a
big word for you integumentary so it
holds you together with your skin it is
the largest single system in your body
put all of those together what do you
get well you get a baby you get a child
you could you in me now understand you
not only have all these parts that go
into the making of this person but now
when you look at the end product of this
this child of course has a lot of parts
also I mean she's got hand she's got
elbows she's got a shoulder she's got a
head lips nose ears knees legs hands all
of those parts together make the body
and here's what's so brilliant about
this when the body is healthy you don't
even know that you've got a body isn't
that true it's only when you have an
injury or a breakdown in your body or
maybe a stroke that you discover you've
got a body and it causes you trouble but
the genius of the body is that all these
different parts than millions and
millions of them really if you add them
all up they do what your head wants them
to do without giving you any trouble now
that's an amazing thing and that is why
in this particular passage the Apostle
Paul draws on this analogy because he
says now to you and me collectively you
are the body of Christ and individually
he says you are members you are part of
it you are the body of Christ and you
are a part of it and what he says
there's two things and two very
important things for us to understand it
means first of all that Christians are
literally an extension listen to this
you are literally an extension of Jesus
because we are the body of Christ we're
not just a body together we are that too
but we are the body of Christ and what
that means is the Jesus who is the head
seated in heaven at the right hand of
ties his people together and by his word
in spirit manifests himself through his
people that's a very profound thing to
realize where two or three gathering my
name says Jesus there am I in the midst
of them when God's people get together
there is the presence of Jesus and Jesus
living in us wants to express himself
through us we are literally his hands
and his feet and he does his work
through you and through me that's an
amazing thing because as well see it a
few moments that body doesn't always
respond very well to the impulses of the
head there's a lot of fragmentation
we'll talk about that in a moment and
we'll see what the answer is to that but
I want us to understand we are the body
of Christ the second thing that that
means then is that we have to do the
work of Christ collectively we have to
do the work of Christ collectively
because for the body to function there's
there's two things that need to happen
every part in that body needs to really
properly to the head and then it needs
to relate properly to all the other
parts in all those parts working
together need to become the expression
of the living Jesus that's what it is to
be the church and that of course is
where lies the problem a little bit
because none of this comes to us
naturally naturally we as our Catechism
says we're prone to hate God and prone
tejedor neighbor naturally we have no
relationship with Christ were certainly
not interested
in doing what he wants us to do nor do
we care to lay aside our own agenda for
the agendas of others I mean the genius
of the body is every part is submitted
to the greater good and finds its
purpose in belonging to the greater
community I'll think of all the things
in the world that get in the way of that
being a reality we're all separate
individuals we have our own ideas we
have our own beliefs we have our own
backgrounds or separated in many
instances by culture and language and
customs I'm talking you know in terms of
the total diversity of the human race
and then there is the whole element of
brokenness a lot of people not only
don't know how to connect with God but
they don't know how to connect with each
other and in a world where attachment
issues are increasingly a problem you
get more and more people who just want
to you know Simon and Garfunkel years
they got to remember the song I am a
rock everybody in their own little
closets but I mean here's the funny
thing we have we have all these modern
methods of communication now right and
you get a family picture when your
family gets together what do you see
everybody is sitting in their own little
bubble looking at their own mobile or
their handheld device and the more we
know how to connect the less we know how
to connect because we live in a world
where fragmentation is a reality and I
know about you but my life long passion
and I can only attribute that to the
Holy Spirit is to see the Lord build
local church communities that model the
early church in Acts chapter 2 we've
talked about that in times gone
I I don't need to talk a lot about that
now but you'll recall that in Acts
chapter 2 we're told that the early
church devoted themselves to the
Apostles teaching to fellowship to the
breaking of bread into prayer they were
filled with all wonders and miraculous
signs were done by the apostles all the
believers were together and had
everything in common selling their
possessions and goods the gave to anyone
as he had need and every day they
continued to meet together with the
temple courts they broke bread in their
homes and eat together with glad and
sincere hearts praising God and enjoying
the favor of all the people of the Lord
added to their number daily those who
were being saved I wonder if God can
birth in our hearts of vision of what it
is that he longs for in terms of the
local church people sold out to Jesus
people sold out to each other people
prepared to lay aside all their own
agendas and peculiarities so that
together they can manifest the purposes
of God in their generation wouldn't that
make a difference in the world today and
isn't that why Jesus died and isn't that
why he gave us his spirit so the
question is how do you take all of these
pieces all of this not just
individuality their individualism how do
you take all the brokenness all the
pride all the arrogance all the things
that divide not just humanity but often
God's very own people how do you bring
that all together one of the time that
remains I want to give you probably just
2 out of 4 practical steps that we need
to take and understand if what is true
spiritually in Christ can also become
true literally in reality so let's see
how far we get this more
the first thing that we have to realize
if this is to be a reality is that in
Christ we have been baptized into one
body listen again to how Paul puts it
the body is a unit although it is made
up of many parts and though all of its
parts are many they form one body so it
is he says 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 one spirit to drink
what's Paul saying there well he's
saying two things the first thing that
he is saying is that to belong to Christ
is to belong to Christian community to
belong to Christ is to belong to
Christian community we were all baptized
by one spirit into one body whether jews
or greeks slave or free we were all
baptized into one body that is to say if
I belong to Jesus by faith in him and
you belong to Jesus by faith in Him
guess a lot you and I have a
relationship and we have a relationship
whether we realize it or not whether we
like it or not whether we want to
believe it orden want because we were
all baptized into one body it's a little
bit like being born into your natural
family of origin you have absolutely no
say about who your parents are and you
have little if any say about who your
siblings are going to be now you may
like them I hope you do you may not like
them but for better or for worse you're
part of one family and you and I by
faith in Jesus
our brothers and sisters we are members
of one body with everybody who names the
name of Jesus you are for better or for
worse identified with and connected to
that community I love the way the
Heidelberg catechism addresses that
issue in response to the question what
do you believe concerting the Holy
Catholic Church Holy Catholic means the
Holy universal Church this is one of the
phrases out of the Apostles Creed I
believe a Holy Catholic Church now
listen to the answer because it is
really really good I believe that the
Son of God through his spirit in word
out of the entire human race from the
beginning of the world to its end
gathers protects and preserves for
himself I what a community chosen for
eternal life united in true faith you
can't be part of this community apart
from belonging to Jesus and of this what
community I am and always will be a
living member so when Paul says the body
is a unit and though all of its parts
are many they form one body and so it is
with Christ for by him we were all
baptized by one spirit into one body
that's what he's talking about he says
to be in Christ is to be part of the
church as I said you may like it or you
may not like it you might like the
people you're sitting next to you may
not like the people you are sitting it's
too bad you are one body but then the
second thing that he mentions is that we
have been given the resources to make
this a reality for what does he say
we're all baptized by one spirit into
one body where the Jews are Greek slave
or free and we were all given the one
spirit to drink
the one spirit to drink is the spirit of
Jesus Jesus obeyed the father perfectly
even to the point of death on the cross
that spirit he pours out on all of us
when we joined to him by faith and that
spirit working in US and through us
works as a unifying force to overcome
all the natural obstacles that want to
keep God's people apart so it is the
spirit who makes Jesus real to me so
that I start saying no to sin and yes to
him it's the spirit who identifies for
me what my gifts are where my place is
in the body of Christ we'll talk about
that in a moment and it is the Holy
Spirit who begins to weave the body of
Christ together and he does that
supernaturally and powerfully by the
same power that raised Jesus from the
dead think of it this way in Jesus we
get the necessary DNA to overcome all
the fragmentation that was produced by
sin remember the Tower of Babel what
happened to all the nations they began
speaking other language languages and
they scattered far and wide what
happened on the day of Pentecost people
from all over the Roman Empire came
together and they all heard the
proclamation of the good news in their
own language that was the genius of the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day
of Pentecost it was an overcoming of all
the natural divisions among in between
people so in Christ there is everything
that we need to become
in reality the kind of body about the
Lord is inviting us to be think of how
you know go back thing back for a moment
to the slide of that child how are we
formed well you know enough about the
birds of the bees to know that egg and
sperm unites a gets fertilized
chromosomal information gets transferred
and out of that grows the whole human
being but all of that information of
what that human being becomes
biologically is inherent in those
original two cells when they come
together and after that it is an
unfolding of the life that is already
there it's amazing that's why there's so
much talk these days about stem cells
because stem cells are undifferentiated
cells in your body that can become
anything they need to be if you're
joined to Jesus in Jesus is the DNA that
you need to be a living member of the
body of Christ think about that it is
super naturally present in your life and
you know all you need to do is provide
an environment where that seed can be
cultivated you can't make it grow you
can make it happen it is a life that is
inside you it will unfold in the way
that it is intended to unfold if you
water it and fertilize it seek the means
of grace and get out of the way when God
is at work and stop resisting him when
he calls you into something as you yield
to the Holy Spirit the life of Christ
inside you will form Christ in you and
as Christ is formed in you
you learn to live in community and
interrupt am I making any sense here
this happens by the power of Jesus it
means you need to deal with stuff that
means you need to repent when the Holy
Spirit call but all you have to do is
obey the promptings of the word and the
promptings of the holy spirit and life
will flourish and I loved the way the
Apostle Paul sums it all up in 1
Thessalonians 4 9 because he captures
this principle that we're talking about
when he says in 14 and nine now about
brotherly love we do not need to write
you for you yourself have been taught
how by God to love one another and while
we're on this this is the difference of
doing the Old Covenant in the New
Covenant the Old Covenant comes to you
and says do this and you will live
doesn't give you any help to do it the
New Covenant is Christ in you the hope
of glory Jesus inside will transform you
to become a living member of the body of
Christ he will lead you in that
direction a lot of us here have
experienced that reality you come to
Jesus and will you discover you're
closer to other people who belong to
Jesus sometimes than your own family
members because you share now a common
life you're drinking of the same spirit
so how do we get rid of fragmentation we
embrace the fact that in Christ we are
one body and that in Christ are all the
resources we need Jesus will make it
happen we just have to do our part all
right second thing that we need to
understand is that God
he chooses what our place is in the body
verse 18 in fact God has arranged the
parts in the body every one of them just
as he wanted them to be God has arranged
the parts just as he wanted them to be
now I take that to mean that God not
only has decided that the body consists
of many parts all of which are different
we'll talk about that some day the lord
willing but he's also decided what your
place and my place is going to be
because remember for the body to
function there are two things that have
to happen we have to be in right
relationship with the Lord Jesus so that
we receive signals from the head if you
will that river of the water of life and
we have to be in right relationship with
one another which means we need to know
what our places should be and it is God
who decides what that place ought to be
earlier in chapter 12 verse 11
concerning spiritual gifts Paul says
this all these are the work of one in
the same spirit and he gives them to
each one just as he 2d turbines so for
the body of Christ of mature we need to
yes develop in our relationship with the
Lord but we also need to clarify where
in the body do we fit am I a hand mi and
I am I a mouth am I an ear am I a tissue
am I an organ what is the system that i
am part of because god has ordered the
body of Christ a function like he has
ordered the human body to function and
that of course immediately Leary's of
the question how do I know where do I
fit even
and we talked about that briefly last
week but I want to talk about it in a
bit more detail for a bit this morning
because I think Paul in Romans chapter
12 gives us four very practical steps
that we can take in order to find
increasingly where our place is in the
body of Christ because understand that
the function where we are intended to
function is where the anointing lies
when the mouth tries to be a thought you
stick your foot in your mouth you know
it's been said that if your feet smell
and your nose runs you're built upside
down you've got to know where you fit
because that's where the anointing lies
how do you find that well very quickly
it begins by submitting according to
romans 12 to God's agenda I urge you
brothers in view of God's mercy to offer
your bodies as living sacrifices holy
and pleasing to God this is your
spiritual act of worship worship isn't
just something we do when we gather
together on a Sunday like this worship
in Scripture is presenting your bodies
to go on twenty-four/seven for God to
use you in the way that he wants to use
you that begins with a transfer of
ownership a surrender of ourselves as a
living sacrifice think back we talked
last week briefly about the tabernacle
model and how God dwells in the Holy of
Holies and the desire is for his people
to have fellowship with him and that
fellowship starts at what is known as
the altar of burnt
offerings the altar of burnt offerings
represents first and foremost a coming
to Jesus in repentance for the
forgiveness of my sins that opens the
way to the presence of God but it also
means the surrender of myself to Jesus
for His purposes I know a lot of people
they have their own ideas of what they
want to be in the body of Christ and
they want to tell god what they wanted
you and what they will not want to do
were all that way by nature you'll never
get anywhere because God has this
problem where he thinks he's got and he
thinks he has the right to tell you what
to do and the reason for that is that he
happens to know better than you what you
were designed for and what your gifts us
see there are two problems that people
face in trying to leave the Christian
life one is that they are in a position
that is greater than what they're
gifting is and that causes intense
frustration and bird out the other is
you're stuck in a position that is less
than what you are gifted for and the
result of that is bored young God knows
you better than you know yourself he
knows what you have been designed to do
he has prepared for you good works from
before the foundation of the world and
what he says to you and to me is put it
on the altar and I will lead you I
believe there has to be a place in every
believers life and usually this is
progressive but there has to be a place
in every believers life when we come to
the Lord did we say okay Lord not my
will but yours be done and I can tell
you that far from just being sort of a
generic yes Lord I'll follow you it will
almost always come down to a very
specific theme a relationship that you
may need to give up or a relationship
you may need to step
to resources that you have that he wants
you to put on the altar and he's been
bugging you and you can't get away from
it to the point it makes you frustrated
some seen some habits some new place to
step into and every part of you says
Lord Here I am Watson George and you
will discover you will not know freedom
until you can actually surrender that
and say Lord I don't know how in the
world I'm going to do this but I will
trust you to make it happen somebody
here tell me who was the author of Hinds
feet on high places Anna hernard you
remember the story for years struggled
with the lord what did she struggle over
she knew she was called to be an
evangelist the woman wise to problems
she had a phobia of crowds and she
stuttered madly and she had visions of
standing in front of people utterly and
totally humiliated because nothing would
come out of her squeaky mouse and this
went on and on and on until she came to
a place where she finally laid it down
and the Lord met her and gave her by
faith supernaturally what she needed if
you've ever been in that kind of a place
where you have faced your limitations
and or your own strong desires and the
Lord has challenged you with it in on it
then you know that taking up your cross
means that his will crosses your wheel
it's a tough place to be but if we will
persevere he will wrestle us to the
ground because his will is perfect it
starts
at the cross and this isn't anything
that anybody can point out to you this
is something you will know in your heart
when the Lord twigs at you doesn't let
it go then you know when every serving
you here or every song you hear speaks
to you then you know that it isn't
because people are ganging up on you
it's because the Holy Spirit is
orchestrating what you need to hear it
starts with surrender second step
according to Romans chapter 12 we want
to know the will of God is we have to be
renewed in our thinking specifically we
must learn to think now get this we must
learn to think like a servant do not
conform any longer to the pattern of
this world but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind then you will be
able to test and approve what God's will
is his good pleasing and perfect will do
not conform to the pattern of this world
but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind time for bids us this morning
to get into all the very clever Greek
new one says that Paul is drawing on
hear the word metamorphoses that
transformation suffice it to say that in
the world your gifts your resources are
typically seen as a stepping stone for
your own agenda is that not true my
gifts my resources my talents they are
mine to use to build me up and if I need
to use you to get to where I want to be
so be it because that's what clever
people do that's how the world functions
the only reason we don't see more of it
in the Western world and we see enough
of it here is because we've been shade
by the Christian message which is a
message about servant had the message of
the gospel is the exact opposite the
message of the gospel is that whatever
God has given you is not simply for you
to build your own Kingdom to climb the
ladder of success to sit on top of the
totem pole it is given to you first of
all to serve the Lord and to be a
steward of what it is that he's given
you for which one day you will give
account and I will secondly it is to
serve the people gone what's in your
life and again the Catechism really
captures this when it goes on to say in
lord's day 21 question and answer 55
what do you understand by the communion
of saints that's another one of the
phrases you will recognize in the
Apostles Creed I believe the Holy
Catholic Church the next phrase is the
communion of saints and the answer is
this first that believers one and all as
members of this community sharing Christ
and in all his treasures and gifts we've
been talking about that that's the
anointing I given to us by Christ second
that each member should consider it a
duty to use these gifts readily and
joyfully for the service and enrichment
of the other numbers we are to use these
gifts readily in joyfully for the
service and the enrichment of other
members remember we are members of one
body one one rejoices we all rejoice
when one weeps we all weep the genius of
the Acts chapter two churches that they
were able to share their resources on
multiple levels because they saw
themselves as the children of God and
the more you know that God is more than
able in
raised Jesus to supply all of your own
needs the more he will also meet you to
meet the needs of others it's ironic
isn't it that with all the migration
that is happening with the Syrian
migrants they're all gravitating to
Europe which has a Christian heritage of
taking in strangers and the dispossessed
though that is causing increasingly a
great level of anxiety but the large and
rich mid-east nations like Saudi Arabia
and Qatar and a number of haven't taken
in a single refugee even though they are
of their own ilk in Ken and that's a
reflection of the difference in values
that even in post Christian Europe have
been utterly shaped by the power of the
gospel so if you want to find out what
your places in the body of Christ you
begin by laying it all on the altar and
saying Lord not my will but yours be
done and then you say Lord change my
thinking so that I can see that what you
have given me as a resource with which
to bless other people in in what
proportion do you want what does this
look like what does this look like in
terms of my time and my talent how do I
look after my own needs and those of my
family and how do I look after the needs
of other people that's always a
balancing act but then thirdly Paul says
we need to do a soul we're sober self
evaluation for by the grace given to me
this is verse 3 I say to every one of
you do not think of yourself more highly
than you ought but rather think of
yourself with sober judgment in
accordance with a measure of faith God
has given
you don't think more highly but with
sober judgment and i would say sober
judgment also includes not thinking of
yourself less than what you should see
my experience in ministry you know as
you know been at this for many years my
experience with ministry is that when it
comes to building the body of Christ
where every part knows their place
increasingly and every part works
together to manifest the presence and
the power of Jesus in a way that makes a
powerful difference in the world you run
almost immediately into the twofold
issue one is those who have a natural
fleshly desire to be on top of the hill
they think they are God's gift to
humanity they're not led by this spirit
and you always have to pull them back
because they are pursuing their own
agenda and that the agenda of Christ but
the other side of that equation is just
as prevalent if not more so that is the
person who is down here saying I've only
got one Talon and I'm not very good at
what I do and so they play with a false
sense of humility to avoid taking their
responsibility in the body of Christ and
the body of Christ suffers because they
are too lazy and too self-absorbed to
step into the things that God has and
Paul says you need to do some sober
self-evaluation according to the measure
of faith that God has given you it is
not humility to deny the strengths or
the gifts that God has given you may
sound humble everybody else may think
you're humble but remember what Jesus
said to the servants who buried his one
talent he wasn't particularly impressed
nor is it pride to say I think God has
given me some gifts are there ways in
which I can serve God's people in the
world around me with the gifts that God
has given may God's vision for the
church is that whatever your spiritual
gift is and we've talked about that now
sometimes parallels your natural gift
sometimes it is a supernatural anointing
that comes on you so that you could know
the heart of the mind of God and you can
lead his people forward everyone has a
spiritual gift of one kind or another
every part of the body if you're
genuinely born again matters and the
well-being of the community depends on
your faithfulness so you want to find
out what God's will for your life you
want to find out where you fit put it on
the altar learn to think of yourself as
a servant and then with sober
self-evaluation and sometimes it helps
to do this with other people around you
who know you well find out this is who I
am this is what other people affirm this
is what God blesses and then the next
step of course we talked about this a
bit last week is you need to step out in
faith Paul puts it this way we have
different gifts according to the grace
given to us if a man's gift is
prophesying let him use it in proportion
to his faith if it is serving let him
serve if it is teaching let him teach if
it is encouraging let him encourage of
it is contributing to the needs of
others let him give generously if it is
leadership let him govern diligently and
if it is showing mercy let him do it
cheerfully notice in each case the
emphasis on let him do what I said last
week it would be wonderful if our
giftings would emerge full blown
and we would never make a mistake and
everybody would love us and never
criticize us not going to happen not on
this side of heaven I can tell you that
the big challenge is to just start
stepping into it and doing it because it
is in the doing that you will find out
as I said last week where your anointing
lies where God favors you and where you
can be blessed in doing and I'll tell
you you only need to experience the wind
of the Holy Spirit under your wings once
in your life to know there is nothing
like knowing that you're flying in the
kingdom do you know that there is
nothing like knowing oh my goodness God
has just filled me with his spirit and
he has used me to advance his kingdom
purposes I give money to the church or
money to an individual and i know this
is exactly what they needed to know
where they want to be i step into a
relationship ask a question pray a
prayer and i discover that's exactly
what changes that person's life I sidle
up to somebody I become their friend and
I discover they were just on the edge of
killing themselves and my presence in
their life made a difference not going
to happen to you every day may only
happen a couple of times in your
lifetime but I guarantee you when it
happens to you you will know that it
happened and you will know there is
nothing else in the universe that even
begins to compare because you will have
tasted a moment of what it is to be
caught up in the plan and in the
purposes of God and this is when you
should say Amen and amen because that is
how it works in the kingdom I can't make
it happen you can't make it happen but
God can make it happen
and all he invites us to do is to step
into it he promises to meet us and as we
find our place in the body and we let
him guide and direct us individually and
corporately the body comes to life it
begins to move it begins to manifest
Jesus in church becomes fun I know for
some of you the target imagine church
becomes fun because you stand in awe of
what God is doing and what God can do so
let me end with this quotation from
Ephesians because the book of Ephesians
theme is how God purposes to unite all
things in heaven and on earth through
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and
here is what he says speaking the truth
in love we will in all things grow up
into him who is the head that is Christ
from whom the whole body joined and held
together by every supporting ligament
grows and builds itself up in love
what's the rest of the verse as each
part does its work will you ask yourself
this Thanksgiving weekend Lord what is
my place in the body of Christ a lot of
you you already know that you volunteer
your time talent and your treasures with
incredible generosity and the church
wouldn't be where it is today if it
wasn't for you some of us perhaps aren't
quite so sure we're quite content to sit
back maybe we've been hurt somewhere
along the line or we've tried stepping
out and it didn't pan out and so we bury
our treasure because it's just two day
dangerous but you know you'll know where
the Lord is knocking will you pray will
you consider what part it is that you
call to play in the body of Christ with
new members class coming up as a lot of
people that are part of this community
that had never formally joined the
church I understand that we love you
we're glad to have you here but it's the
Lord inviting you to take a next step of
belonging and a next step of committing
because you see the more we commit
ourselves the riskier it becomes because
ydf but how can we grow into the body of
Christ if we don't step out and really
trust him with our lives I wish I could
paint for you the picture of what lives
in my heart when the church is the
church the way God has designed it to be
and I would pray that in every way the
Lord gives us the grace in the faith to
make that in Christ become increasingly
you