And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:22-23
Today we are going to talk about the body of Christ that is the Church.
Many people don’t know how important Church is !
If you born again , if you are baptised, you are part of His body that is the Church.
Each part of the body has a specific role and witch is relate to your role in the body of Christ
Before I start you need to know : You are somebody in His Body and you need to be an active part in His Body that is the Church of Christ .
Can a hand or finger to live without been connected to a body ?
Is it possible for a foot been cut off a body and still alive and walking around ?
There are many people spiritual dead because they are not part of a church , they are jumping from one body to another body and this is so danger !
Some people they are just visitors in the body but not active member of the body of Christ.
The church is described as His body; Jesus is the head, and we are the members.
The church described as a body speak of community and togetherness, not individualism.
Question : Are you member of the Body of Christ ? Or Are you a visitor in the body of Christ ?
Some people say : I believe in Jesus , but I don’t believe in Church , they are showing their ignorance!
The Bible teaches that we are members of one another.
Jesus Christ and the church are inseparable.
Don’t say Jesus yes but the church no , because when you say that you are showing your ignorance.
If you don’t desire fellowship now with your brothers and sisters you have now, I don’t think you are going to have fellowship there in heaven.
If you love Jesus love what Jesus love.
Love for Jesus and love for what Jesus loves are inseparable.
If we love God, then we will love His church.
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
13 For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being 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 stop being part of the body.
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 placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”
1 Corinthians 12:12-18
There are four principles from this passage that will show us who we are in Him as a part of His body , (when I say His Body I’m saying Shalom Church for those who is coming to this church)
1- IN A BODY, THERE IS A PERSON
All we know about one another is through the body.
Everything you know about me , it’s because of my body , you can listen my preaching because my mouth spoke, you can read my teachings because my hand wrote ,
There is in my body a manifested person , this person is Marcio and you know me through my body.
It is through the body that we walk, talk, think, write, etc.
How the world will know the Lord Jesus Christ ? through His body, which is us – the church.
Jesus lives in His body, which is the church; and Jesus is manifested by His body.
We are to manifest the Lord Jesus Christ.
The church is the visible part of the invisible Jesus, and Jesus is the invisible part of the visible church.
Together, we manifest the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the only one who has ever lived the perfect Christian life.
If we are to live the Christian life, it will be Jesus living in and through us.
“Christ in you is the hope of glory.”
Colossians 1:27
If Jesus lives in you , your family has hope of salvation.
If Jesus lives in this Church that is His body there is Hope for Monaghan , for Ireland , for Europe and for the World.
2- IN A BODY, THERE IS A MINISTERING PURPOSE
What is the purpose of my body ? is to minister to me.
Your body is here to serve you.
Your eyes are here to help you see.
Your hands are here to feed you and to write for you.
What is Shalom Christian Fellowship here to do ?
The church is here to minister to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are here to minister to Him.
Your body does not have any plans of its own.
Your body is to serve you.
Can you imagine one day in the morning your feet saying: Mr Marcio today I’m going to Dublin or my hands saying: Marcio today I’m not going to brush the teeth because I have another plans ! I would be afraid if that happens.
We often tell Jesus what we are going to do and what we want to do.
No, He wants to do something through you.
Some people say : I don’t want go to church today. I don’t like prayer meetings , I don’t want to go , I prefer stay at home , I’m tired , I don’t like …
This church is here to hear what the head (Jesus Christ) says to do and then to do it.
We as part of The Body of Christ received different gifts to be used in the Body that is the church of Christ.
God has gifted each of us with different abilities, but the best ability is availability.
Are you available to the Lord Jesus Christ?
We are His hands and His feet; we are the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are part of His body, the local church, to serve Him.
We are His hands , His feet , his mouth, but are you available ? Are you willing to let Jesus manifest in your body ? His desires , His needs ,
Here am I lord , use me ! My hand is your hand , my feet is your feet.
God put you here to serve Him (church) not to come to a service on Sundays , because the service starts when you leave this service
3- IN A BODY, THERE IS A MOTIVATING POWER
“For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”
I Corinthians 12:13
The motivating power of Jesus’ body is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is to be the life of the local church and Shalom Church.
Without the Holy Spirit of God, there is no power in the church.
The church is organised, but it is not an organisation. The church is an organism; it has life.
The church is not a corporation with Jesus as the leader; it is a body with Jesus as the head.
When are we baptised into the body of Christ ?
This takes place when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. When we repent from our sins, receive Christ as Lord, and as a result of our commitment with Jesus we are baptised in the water and became part of the physical body of Christ that is the local church.
This two things take place at the same time : we are baptised into the body of Christ and we are sealed with the Holy Spirit.
Then we are placed into the Body of Christ and the Holy Spirit is placed into me !
I’m in the Body of Christ and the Holy Spirit is in me !
Once we are placed into the body of Christ, we receive our spiritual gift.
“But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.”
I Corinthians 12:18
So when I’m put into the body of Christ , there I receive my spiritual gifts.
Maybe you are eyes to see things for Jesus , or shoulder to bear burdens for Jesus , maybe a hand to hold things for Jesus , maybe a feet to go somewhere for Jesus.
God put every member in the body just as He pleased.
We receive our spiritual gift when we are placed into the body of Christ. It’s a birthday gift when you born again.
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we receive the power to use our spiritual gift for the glory of God.
4- IN A BODY, THERE IS A MUTUAL PROGRAM
(1 Corinthians 12:14-18)
Many member and one body , no none can be alone or without the body .
Members disconnected from the body are going to die spiritually.
We are all here to show the life of the Lord Jesus Christ to our communities.
We are here to minister to Him and a healthy body is coordinated, organised because it has organs
As individuals, we are all very different; but there are three things we all have in common if we are truly born again.
A- We have the same life.
“If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body?”
1 Corinthians 12:15-16
We are not in competition with one another. The foot and the hand can not be in competition!
There are some members doesn’t appear in public as the hand and face.
But all of them are necessary.
No part of the body can function as it ought apart from the other members of the body.
Christians should operate along with other Christians.
B- We need one another.
“And 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.””
I Corinthians 12:21
You have part of your body that you are not aware off.
Normally we tanks God for our feet , our hands , our face , but when did you thank God for your liver ? For your pancreas, for your kidneys or for your intestines.
There are parts of our bodies that are essential but we are not aware of them
C- We show the same love.
“God did this so that our body would not be divided. God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. If one part of the body suffers, then all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part is honoured, then all the other parts share its honour.”
1 Corinthians 12:25-26
We have the same life and we have the same love !
We are in the same body, and we have to love one another.
If one member is sick, it means that they are to be cared for.
If you are in this Body you can not to be arrogant. I’m better , I know more ,
You can not to show envy.
Because someone is a leader , or is doing something in front of the church you can not be jealous. You’re a liver and he is the eye !
There are many important people in church that we don’t see : Children Ministry, prayer ministry , welcome team , EV team , coffee and tea , Sound system, etc
The members of the body of Christ are not to be at war with one another.
You can not be self-sufficient ; You can not say : I don’t need you.
We need one another. The hand needs the eyes , because the eyes see and the hands gets. We need one another.
We can not have disunity; we’re in it together.
We have the same Lord.
1 Corinthians 12:27
Loyalty to the head – Jesus Christ, has to be loyalty to one another.
If one hand is loyalty to the head , this hand should be loyalty to the other hand.
If we are right with Jesus, then we will be right with one another. There can be no disunity.
We cannot be loyal to Jesus without being loyal to His church.
Loyalty to Jesus is loyalty to what Jesus loves.
You can not be loyal to Jesus without being loyal to His church.
Some people has no loyalty to their church. They thing nothing about missing Church Service.
Sunday is our day to be in the House of God. This is loyalty
Loyalty to Jesus is loyalty to the body of Jesus
When you love Jesus then you will love what Jesus loves.
Brothers and sisters , you can find a lot of faults in the Church , but Jesus loves the Church and I’m going to love it !
Because the church is His body , His Bride and He is the Head !
CONCLUSION
As believers, we need to discover our spiritual gift. You need to discover your place in the body . You have spiritual gift.
We also need to accept yourself. You are different from others and you have your gift.
Not everybody will be pastor ,
You cannot be someone else, and someone else can never be us.
God has uniquely gifted each of us, and we have a special place of service within the body of Christ.
We need to give ourselves.
Every member of the body is both a receiver and a transmitter.
We are here to receive from other members, and we’re here to give to the other members.
When a Cell body just receive and don’t give there is a problem and we call it cancer !
To Receive and give ! I’m here to receive from you and to give you.
Everybody is somebody in The Body of Christ and you need to offer yourself to God and also to the Church.
First : remember that Everybody is somebody in the body of Christ and you need to offer yourself to God and also to the church.
You are somebody in His Body and you need to be an active part in His Body that is the Church of Christ.
Are you using your spiritual gift for the body of Christ ?
Are you 100% connected and committed to your church?
Are you an active part of the body of Christ ?
Are you available to the body of Christ ?
Are you aware how important and how you need your brother /Sister ?
Are you serving and showing love to your brother /sisters?
Is there anybody in the church that you need to forgive ? Because you are hurt and biter with him/her ?
Are you loyal and committed to your church Services ?
Love Jesus and love Jesus’ Body that is His Church !