We Belong

We are a church that believes everyone belongs, is accepted and has value.

1 Corinthians 12:15–18
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.

It's so important that we know our value, and the value of in the body.

So many problems arise in church because we don’t understand who we are and that we belong.

Paul, here, is saying that we ALL , and we are ALL .

Insecure people vs. Secure people

It’s so important that we know our value and place in the body of Christ. It doesn’t come from position, it doesn’t come from , it comes from knowing that we are accepted by the Father and have been adopted into the family.

We Have Purpose

We are a church who believes that every Christian has a purpose and that purpose is important.

We all belong, but we don’t just belong to do ‘nothing’. We’re given function, we’re given giftings, we’re given things to do — and every one of those things is important.

1 Corinthians 12:17–20
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.
19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?
20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

We are equal, but we have different and giftings.

We shouldn’t the giftings that we’ve got to the giftings somebody else has got.

It doesn’t matter what our gifting is, we need to value every single one of those giftings in order to be a healthy body working together.

Exodus 17:10–13
10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.
11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up — one on one side, one on the other — so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Moses and Joshua each knew that their job was important, and they each knew that the job of the other person was important. They worked together — they functioned together as a team.

We’ve all got different functions in the church, and every single one of them is important. It’s really important that we honour those functions in order to honour one another.

We Serve Each Other

We are a church who believes that we serve one another.

1 Corinthians 12:21–25
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 honourable we treat with special honour.
24 The parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment.
25 But God has put the body together, giving greater honour 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.

The body has to be interconnected to function — give and take.

• Sometimes people just come to church, connect with God and go home.
• Other times, people are happy to minister to others but won’t allow others to help them.
• Others want everyone to help them but don’t take the time to serve others.

To function properly, those connections have to go both ways. We have to be open to give and receive.

In order to function properly in the body of Christ, we need to one another.

We Protect One Another

We are a church who believes in fighting for one another and helping each other through any struggle.

1 Corinthians 12:26
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.

To protect one another we must:

• Allow others into our lives
• Be vulnerable about our weakness
• Pray for one another
• Speak truth in love
• Persevere with one another
• Be careful of what we say about others

We believe in for one another as we honour one another.

Reflection

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you? How can you deepen relationships with others?

Next Steps

So where are you on the journey of mutually honouring?

Step 1

Do you have close relationships with other Christians where you can share concerns, challenges and where you feel you belong?

Step 2

Do you make yourself accountable to mature Christian leadership?

Step 3

Do you serve others in some kind of ministry?

Step 4

Do you often compare yourself to others?