Okay good morning everyone morning it’s good to see you uh welcome welcome to hillfields church centry and um you’re very very welcome if you’re here for the first time to worship our god with you uh with us and and if you’ve come many times then we
Come now together to worship Our God you know the Living God is uncreated just take that in for a moment just stop now move your eyes away from everything else and your mind onto this thought that our God is uncreated uncreated from Everlasting to Everlasting and we are brief we are a
Moment and yet if you are trusting in Jesus Christ this morning you have eternal life in him and so we come before our God who created everything and he gives us life right now and we bring our brief lives before him rejoicing that if you’re trusting in Jesus you are
Redeemed by his blood by his life and death and Resurrection our Salvation comes from Our God Alone and he alone has secured it for us and we come this morning to worship and adore him to worship and adore him May the Holy Spirit help us do that this
Morning let’s have a moment of silence as we prepare our hearts Eternal and everlasting God please meet with us by your spirit by your truth through your son this morning we pray in Jesus name amen amen when the music starts please Stand Let Of the cre theth Of the Every is king forever he is king forever he is King our foress Andest his power and authority unshaken [Applause] bying am kingdoms rise and kingom he is faithful through His [Applause] King King God Imortal For the cruci the bued by the son of resed by the father’s forever forting forever etal God of we ground you with the highest praise heav Shly Joy Everlasting of Jesus Christ King King forever k forever king forever King of Kings forever King of Kings forever forever Standing we’ve just been singing that we have a holy holy God our uncreated God is Father Son and Holy Spirit each person of the godhead is uncreated and fully God the holy spirit is uncreated he beautifies all creation he makes us alive in Christ he illuminates
Christ to us forms Christ in us we are totally and continually dependent upon him we praise and worship him let’s continue to worship our God living bre God My of the to my heart And your word to come in me Me I see give me passion for your P Holy Holy Spirit from light with your joy All to Cover to the Greatest gent that s of mying into Works Ofy cre ging life to all that God has show your again on Earth For fragrance of Our us on the road of sa that in the face of Christ will be C for all the world to do be seated and let’s pray together Living God as we come to seek you in prayer together Lord please give us that sense that we approach the one who is from Everlasting
To Everlasting who is gracious and kind who hears our prayers and Lord we simply come before you as a church body to bring to you one another Lord knowing that you are The Sovereign Living God Lord we thank you that Terry is here today Terry and Jean
Lord we thank you for that we pray Lord that you will continue to give him strength that he might know your sustaining Grace we pray thank you for them Lord we thank you thank you for bringing Robert and Allison back to us safely from a time away Halfway Around
The Globe Lord we thank you for your ongoing protection and Care Lord we pray for Sue Stewart Lord in her sadness and maybe her confusion we pray Lord that you will comfort her and Lord she will know your presence we pray Lord that you will speak to their family Mark and Paul
And the families Lord we pray you’ll give strength to Paul Watts as he takes the funeral service in a couple of weeks Lord may you be glorified in all that is done may people be comforted may people come to know Jesus Christ Lord we pray for Liz Young and
The family Lord as she attends and they attend the funeral and Remembrance service of her father this week and Lord we pray for our brother Raymond Clark Lord as on Thursday on the same day Lord it is planned that he will have surgery uh heart surgery Lord we commit him to
You we thank you for him and the family and Donna and the girls and we pray Lord that you will watch over him we commit him into your hands we thank you Lord for your sustaining Grace upon him and so Lord we bring all these things before you knowing Lord that if
Our lives are in your hands Lord they are secure and fast and we pray these things in Jesus name amen well just to remind you to be praying for uh Raymond especially on Thursday as he will hopefully have that surgery um at walls grave do pray for
Liz and the family on Thursday as well um as they remember her father and um also in on the fifth of of March then there will be a service here uh for Derek Stewart remembering him uh and thanking God for his life so do continue to pray for that pray for Paul
As he takes a service and pray uh for Sue and the family um if I can uh just remind you as you can see we’re pretty full um so you know as you get it in your instinct we’re just saying kind of um further up towards the front and further in uh fill
In gaps and that will that will be helpful for people who might be coming just a little bit late if I can also remind you all that um really do keep the doorway clear between the services so once you get your drink don’t have conversations in the doorway do have
Conversations just don’t have them in the doorway and that will be wonderful uh there’s coffee and tea afterwards so do stay around for that uh let me remind you that there this Tuesday is the second installment of firm foundations uh that we’re running uh where we’re looking at Doctrine in Christian Living
Uh and biblical theology this the two sessions this coming Tuesday here at the lower Forward Street strip will be uh taking a big picture look at the Old Testament and then we’ll be looking at the doctrine of scripture teaching about what the Bible is so uh we had about I
Think probably 70 or 80 people there last time so do come along for that the prayer meeting will go on there was a small group they had a wonderful time of Fellowship that will be up at the other site so the prayer meeting is available also um we’re going to begin baptism
Classes um probably in March maybe around about March 10th we’ll begin baptism classes U we have a number of people who are interested if you have not been baptized but you are trusting in Jesus Christ and you haven’t yet followed him in that way then do come
And speak to us and we have a course uh four sessions about 1 hour long every Sunday 5:00 uh four Sundays in a row or give and tape but four Sundays anyway and if that interests you come and speak to me or to SAI and we can fill you in
On further details there’s a women’s event coming up and Lizzie is going to come and tell you about that morning so yeah the next women’s event is an afternoon tea and Bake Off um so that’s happening on Saturday the 16th of March here from 2: till 4: um
You don’t have to enter the bake off to come along you can just come along as an eater that’s totally legitimate um and just enjoy some time together um if you would like to enter the bake off and you’re not a woman be you can’t come
Because it’s an event for women but you are very welcome to enter the bake off if you’d like to um and you can contact me about that um and arrange to get your cake here um even even the bake off here is not without its controversies so we
Do um we do have um a few stipulations this year um about Bake Off entries so if you would like to enter the Bake Off you need to make something that is a sweet baked thing like a cake or a biscuit or a pastry but it needs to be
Something that’s made by yourself in your oven so um that I’m not saying anybody cheated last year just so you know um but yeah so there’s Flyers out out in the lobby if you would like to use them to invite people along you can sign up and pay
Through the website um if you go to events coming up section um you can do that there it’s just £6 for a really delicious afternoon tea so it’s really good value there will be um an Evangelistic slot so do think about who you can invite along um to share the
Afternoon with you and if you’ve got any questions do um just speak to myself or Anette will you you going to say something no okay thank you Joel thank you um so we’ve got a seminar day coming up for the kind of 18 to 30s group but
We’re actually opening this one up to the whole church um so it’s called um kind of the overarching theme is edify but this one’s on abortion and euthanasia if you go to the next slide I think there’s more details on that one um and it’s thinking about kind of the
Book ends of life These are key topics topics that come up um every day topics that we need to think about and know how to respond to so it’s really important to kind of um engage with these issues and think about how we might respond to people with questions um so I’d really
Encourage you to come along um anyone can come along you can sign up um on the website or via the link and if you’re not sure how to do that just come and see me one of the apprentices or Sofia and we can uh add you on um it’s
Saturday the 9th of March um from 10 till 3: there’s three sessions um come along to whichever ones you’d like to maybe one two or three um but do come along I’d really encourage you to do that um and then the other notice I’ve
Got is just for the 18 to 30s um and that is that we’ve got a weekend away coming up um it’s May 3rd to the 6th it’s a great time to encourage one another to spend time with each other and to hear God’s word opened up and
Preach to us Paul malard will be preaching to us this year and bookings are so please do book um via the the links that we’ve sent out on the WhatsApp groups if you’re not sure you’re in those groups and you’d like to be please come and see me I can add you
In and we can sort that out if money is an issue and you’re not sure you can pay we’d hate for that to stop you from coming so do come and speak to us and I’m sure that we can sort something out um but I’d really encourage you to sign
On early because there are limited spaces thank you thank you Joel well that topic on um abortion and youth in Asia couldn’t be more relevant if you’ve been looking in the news just this last week you will have seen that there is a a proposed amendment in Parliament to
Decriminalize full-term abortions um um in the home outside hospitals but still a very very serious and Godless act uh it passed on the first vote in terms of coming up for a second vote we need to pray that it wouldn’t go ahead uh so these issues are very very pertinent let’s
Pray Living God in heaven Humanity when we reject you we become foolish Lord we are darkened in our thinking Lord what we think is wisdom is not only foolishness it is repugnant in your eyes and so Lord we cry out to you that you will have mercy upon us Lord we
Don’t always know how to deal with these issues Lord as a church as Christians Lord we we want to always uphold the Gospel of Jesus Christ we know that that alone saves people from a lost eternity but Lord we pray that you will give us wisdom to speak into these issues and to
Understand them at the right level and so Lord we pray in your mercy would you please turn back uh this amendment Lord would you please still cause there to be light in in the in the minds of humanity and Lord within government and within politicians and Lord we pray that they
Would reject this proposal that they would see the Hideous nature of it Lord that a life can be taken at full term and no one be held accountable Living God we pray that you will move and work and so Lord have mercy upon us we
Pray in this area and we ask this in Jesus name amen amen well Joel if you can come back back up please and we’re going to have the children’s talk thank you do come on up don’t be shy okay I think that’s most people do come
Around do come around now last week guys we started a story and it was a story about a man now does anyone remember his name he was here last week if you weren’t here last week don’t worry you’ll soon catch up yes Eric Eric it was Eric little and do you remember what
He did anyone remember what he did gwenny he was very good at running and what else did he do I’m really testing you here yeah he was racing other people he’s racing other people and do you remember he decided on one day of the week not to
Run because he thought God was the most important thing do you remember what he did Sunday he didn’t run on a Sunday and do you remember we talked about the race that he did win a 100 years ago in Paris um and he he chose that God was the most
Important thing but do you know what Eric said as well he said he loved running he loved doing all of those things but there was something else that he had his eyes on now I’ve got something in my bag to show you all um in here is a prize look at that that’s
Pretty good isn’t it trophy a trophy wow so Eric said you know he loved winning he loved winning at the Olympics but he he had his eyes on a different prize he had his eyes on a prize not from anyone on Earth but from God so we’re going to
Leave our prize there and we got to try and remember that Eric had his eyes on God’s prize so we’re going to say that together Eric had his eyes on God’s prize yeah good we’re going to say that a few times um he had his eyes on God’s
Prize but he left all the running behind so on the next slide if you look at the pictures again um we’ve got another slide which hopefully is going to come up but if it doesn’t don’t worry oh there we go does anyone know what flag that is this is a
Really tricky one I’m really testing you today anyone who has to go yes China Eric left everything he had and he went to China have any of you guys ever moved house any of you moved house yeah do you you have to pack everything up in boxes yeah and it’s all
It takes a lot of time you get a big van and you go and move house well Eric moved from his house here all the way to China oh those are great socks we love those socks it’s got a lovely smiley face and in China he did something he
We’re going to have another photo can you tell me what this is who this might be what what is this what kind of person is this yeah I’ve heard one answer hands up hands up yes it’s a teacher Eric became a teacher at Christian School in China
And his brother was there and his brother was a doctor as well um and they helped people in China and they helped teach people about Jesus now he was there for a few years and after a few years he met someone he met a young lady and in 1934 he got
Married so here’s a nice little photo of him with his family it’s a bit blurry but cameras weren’t so good those days um and that’s him with his two daughters and it was all going well he was doing lots of things he was serving in a different Mission which meant he
Had to run around and help people he would sometimes cycle around as fast as he could to help different people in different areas and whatever someone asked him he would help help them and why did he help them do you remember because he had his eyes go on you can
Say it with me it is eyes on God’s prize but it slowly became more and more dangerous to be in China suddenly there were planes flying above going and they were they were dropping bombs on the area bombs that would go it would explode and it was dangerous so
Eric wanted to look after his family so Eric sent his wife Florence and his two little daughters he sent them back home to keep them safe but Eric stayed he stayed even though it was really dangerous we search p and and bombs and made fire yeah bombs
Make lots of fire it’s very dangerous isn’t it so they sent his family home to keep them safe but Eric stayed Eric stayed because he wanted to help people he wanted to tell people about Jesus now in the country they started arresting everyone who wasn’t from there
Anyone who was a foreigner anyone who wasn’t from there they locked them up including Eric and they put him in a prison camp and he was stuck in a prison camp but do you think Eric was all upset or all sad sad about that or do you
Think Eric kept his eyes on God’s prize yeah yes that’s what he did he remembered that whatever happened on Earth he had a prize that was waiting for him much better and we’ got a photo of him now when he was a bit older and he was in the prison
Camp um and do you know what he did even when he was in that camp Oh this is for me this is mine it’s very precious um he used to tell people about Jesus he still did teaching he still taught the children who were there cuz there were
Some children there and he taught the adults and he taught them about Jesus and he taught them all of these different things um but after a few years Eric you listening Eric got unwell he got really ill and suddenly he died he died it was very sad and his mom
His wife and his kids who were back in in um in home they never saw him again because he got unwell and he died but even though he died and even though it was sad that they couldn’t see him in this Earth because he trusted in God and
Because he taught people about Jesus and because he he knew God he had his eyes on the prize that God would give him that he would be in heaven that he would be with God and that he would um know God then so even though it was sad and
Even though he he died when he was only young he was only 42 I know that sounds old but he was still very young um he had his eyes on God’s prize and he trusted in him and we can do the same so how old
Are we got people here I think we’ve got some people who are four anyone who’s four anyone who’s five five anyone who’s six seven 8 nine have I missed anyone three oh I missed three missed two two Jody’s sorry guys I missed two but we’re all really really young and you guys have
Got all your lives ahead of you and when you’re doing different things you got to try and remember to keep your eyes on God’s prize remember that God is the most important thing like Eric remembered um and then um when we die which is sad we will go to be with God in
Heaven so it was more of a sad story today but we’ve got to remember when we keep our eyes on God’s prize he takes care of us so thank you so much for listening you can go back to your seats and go back to James well when the music starts please Stand the truth told theor Jesus and for God kingom is for All we by his the blood of the cross In Christ We Earth and In Praise we witness you hope and way churches are Mery of God’s word his kingom is His father for all your ch by your in and our hearts are your word makes the entr your is do be seated we’re going to read together from God’s word um if you need a Bible if you need a church Bible and you don’t have one just do put up your
Hand and um Rachel or Ian can bring one to you when you do have the church Bible do turn to page 959 page 959 that will take you to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 where we will continue our Series in 1 Corinthians and in the passage that we’re looking at
Paul is continuing to respond to questions that the Corinthians have raised in their letter to him and here in chapter 12 he is continuing to teach about the church the body of Christ and how it should function as 1 and we’re going to read from verse 12 of chapter
12 through to the end of the chapter on page 9 59 for just as the human body is one and has many members and all the members of the body though many are one body so it is with Christ for in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks
Slaves or free and all were made to drink of one spirit for the body does not consist of one member but of many if the foot should say because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body that would not make it any lesser part of the body and
If the ear should say because I am not an eye I do not belong to the body that would not make it any less is a part of the body if the whole body were an eye where would be the sense of hearing if the whole body were an ear where would
Be the sense of smell but as it is God arranged the members in the body each one of them as he chose if all were a single member where would the body be as it is there are many parts yet one body 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 on the contrary the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor and our unpresentable parts are
Treated with greater modesty which our more presentable parts do not require but God has so composed the body giving greater honor to the honor to the part that lacked it that there may be no division in the body but that the members may have the same care for one
Another if one member suffers all suffer together if one member is honored all Rejoice together now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it and God has appointed in the church first apostles second prophets third teachers their miracles then Gifts of healing helping administrating and various kinds
Of tongues are all Apostles are all prophets are all teachers do all work miracles do all possess Gifts of healing do all speak with tongues do all interpret but earnestly desire the higher gifts and I will show you a still more excellent way this is the word of to the Lord
Thanks be to God let’s pray Living God we thank you for your word and we pray Lord God that you will speak to us from your word Lord please speak through Simon may we hear your voice as he preaches to us we pray Lord the same for Marco this
Evening that Lord we will hear your voice through him and please Lord help us to be soft-hearted people of yours listening and wanting to obey and wanting to see your glory and worship you speak Lord we pray in Jesus name amen well this is a time if um children
Want to go to Bible explorers that you can do that there is a crash also um going on for years zero to to to 4 years old and then there is a crash from reception through to U there is a Bible explorers reception through to year five
So as we sing you can go up that way or out that way to those classes if you wish but do stand when the music Starts Christ The we Exed by his father to and his Gra us to his church to be his to Earthly and gu by his word christs us together us for good and ser Each His goel Christ car On we call every to to Christ the to It’s great to see you all good morning uh if you if you didn’t get a Bible the first time round and You’ like one please and put up your hand and I or Rachel will bring one to you we are back on page 959 page 959 as we continue our Series
In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth uh looking at chapter 12 and verses 12 through to 31 um Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth in chapter 12 um looking at verses 12 through to 31 there there aren’t any any sermon search prizes uh
To give out the morning but keep them coming in uh maybe there will be uh next week or the week after now now the Bible is full of some very colorful and vivid pictures um uh depicting God’s people the church so uh the church in the Bible is pictured as a
Bride the bride of Christ it’s pictured as a temple um it’s pictured as a flock and uh there are other pictures that God used in the Bible to describe uh God’s people and God is using these pictures to help us to understand different truths about the
Church and and and here in this passage Paul uses a picture to help the Corinthians to understand truth about themselves and each other truth about the church and it’s the picture of the body it’s the picture of the body now to help us to get our bearings uh Paul in chapter
12-4 he’s helping the Corinthians to Think Through the area of spiritual gifts why is Paul doing that well because the understanding and the attitude of some within the church toward spiritual gifts and their use of them was having a very damaging and divisive impact on the church now clearly the Corinthians have
Asked Paul a question about spiritual gifts and the question is likely to have been something like this do spiritual gifts show people spirituality U do people spiritual gifts show people spirituality and with the way in which Paul addresses uh the gift of tongues in these chapters it would seem that some
People are putting a particular emphasis on that gift and they were saying that the gift of tongues is the gift to have and that if you have the gift of tongues that means that you are a really really spiritual person uh they seem to have been valuing people according to the
Spiritual gift that they had and it seems that they were even suggesting um that you might not even be a Christian if you didn’t have the gift of tongues and so as you can see inevitably this was causing fractions and friction within the church um so for
Example it was making some people feel inferior because they didn’t have a certain gift and it was making others feel Superior because they did have a certain gift uh we’ll be thinking in more detail about the gift of tongues in chapter 14 now we saw last week in chapter 12:
1- 11 that a spiritual gift is a Grace gift or ability or roll with gifts to equip given to the Believer by the Holy Spirit and those gifts are inow Ed by the Holy Spirit we saw that no believer is given all the gifts but every
Believer is given at least one gift uh we saw that the gifts are given primarily for the building up and for the good of the church uh we saw the the variety in the gifts is something of a reflection of the variety in the godhead
And we saw that our Unity is found not in the gifts but in the spirit who gives them to us and now in verses 12-31 Paul as he uses this very Vivid and extended illustration of a body he continues to apply some of those themes and and so we’re going to look firstly
At verses 12 to 14 at the body of Christ unity and diversity the body of Christ unity and diversity now the use of the body as a picture of the church is a brilliant illustration of what the church is in fact it’s hard to think of a better
Picture to teach the truth that Paul is trying to drive home here which is that the church is both one and many at the same time the church is both diverse and it is United and the church is one whole not in spite of its diversity but because of its diversity
I mean you think about the human body it is quite remarkable made up of many different parts yet all forming together as one whole with the whole being incomplete if one part is missing so you’ve got hands and feet and arms and legs you’ve got eyes and ears
And a mouth and a nose you’ve got the heart and the liver and the kidneys and the lungs and the brain and so on and each of these parts they they all have their own function they all do something very different they’re all individual but by themselves they are
Incomplete without the rest of the body they they don’t function by themselves they don’t work by themselves that they need to be with the other parts together they make up the whole now you will notice that as you skim your eyes through the passage Paul he he repeatedly underlines this all
Through verses 1 12 through to 31 one but many many but one one but many many but one he he keeps coming back to this and and you see that he does this in verses 12 to 14 in many ways verse 12 and verse 14 they’re like book ends on these three
Verses uh they emphasize both the individuality of the believer but also how now each believer is United to Christ they belong to the rest of his people so so each believer is now part of something much bigger than themselves they are part of the body of Christ they
Don’t exist alone they don’t exist in isolation they are now part of a whole so so so a Christian who who tries to Exist by themselves who who tries to kind of live in isolation who who who doesn’t worship with or who doesn’t serve alongside or who doesn’t live
Alongside other believers and unless they are in circumstances outside of their control maybe like persecution or poor health or old age they’re not expressing this spiritual reality that they are part of the body of Christ now in verse 13 in between this sandwich in between the two bookends Paul he he really emphasizes
That all believers um however different they may seem they have all been become part of the one body and here in verse 13 he’s he’s laying down a foundation a principle here here he uses the examples of of nationality and Status rather than gifts as examples of of people being different
To each other but being part of the one body and and Paul he emphasizes this by referring back to people’s conversion and he refers to people’s conversion in two different ways so firstly he says in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks slaves or
Free now what does Paul mean by that when the Holy Spirit brings people to repentance and Faith when they’re converted the Holy Spirit he spiritually baptizes them plunges them immerses them into the one body of Christ so as we to Mark someone’s conversion we baptize them we immerse them we plunge them into
The water for a brief second we make them part of the water so the Holy Spirit on people’s conversion he spiritually immerses people plunges people submerges them into the body of Christ he makes them a part of the body so in terms of actual spiritual realities the the Corinthians they’ve
Been submerged into the one body of Christ now notice that they haven’t become part of different bodies so you haven’t got the Jewish body you haven’t got the Greek body you haven’t got the body made up of slaves you haven’t got the body made up of those who are free
No Jew or Greek slave or free they’ve all been submerged into the one body so for us in terms of actual spiritual realities though there are young and old Christians they are all part of the one body although there are Christians who are English and Chinese and American and Australian and Indian
And so on they are all part of the one body although there are Christians who are anglicans and Baptists and Presbyterians and Pentecostals and so on they are all part of the one body and though there are Christians with terrible sin in their backgrounds and Christians uh that don’t
Have terrible sins in their backgrounds uh they are all part of the one body uh for all true Christians in terms of actual spiritual reality we’ve all been plunged baptized made part of the one body now when Paul says at the end of verse 13 all were made to drink of one
Spirit he’s he’s not referring to a kind of second experience of the spirit and he’s describing conversion in another way again expressing uh people’s Oneness in Christ so as all the isra drank from the same Rock in the wilderness in the Old Testament which Paul refers to in
Chapter 10 so so all True Believers Jews or Greeks slaves or free young or old um uh English or Chinese um Baptist or Pentecostal are those with a very immoral past are those without they’ve they’ve all look to the same God to have their deepest needs satisfied they’ve
They’ve all drunk from the same cup uh they’ve all been made part of the same body and so I think this should make us very very very thoughtful about our attitude towards and how we think about other Christians who are true Christians real Christians they truly trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ
As their lord and savior and they are following him they’re real Christians but they might seem slightly different to us that should make us very thoughtful and they’re not part of a different body it’s it’s not them over there and us here we’re all part of the one body of
Christ they are as much of a Christian as we are and so having underlined that principle Paul now applies this in different ways and in verses 15 to 20 he tells them the Corinthians that as individual parts of the body of Christ they are needed the body of Christ you are
Needed now now in this kind of atmosphere in the church in Corinth where people were judging the spirituality of others by what gift they had that meant that there were some Christians who who because they didn’t have a certain gift they felt kind of sidelined and marginalized uh they felt
Inferior um some of them it seems were almost feeling excluded because God hadn’t given them a certain gift and in these verses Paul is particularly addressing those people that were feeling excluded so he kind of he kind of of paints this very Vivid picture where different parts of the body start talking to
Themselves so in verse 15 Paul pictures a a foot talking to itself as feet tend to do and the foot says to itself well because I’m not really a hand I’m not part of the body and and in verse 16 he pictures a an ear talking to itself and say well
Because I’m not an eye I do not belong to the body they’re kind of feeling excluded they made it feel like they’re not as valuable as other parts of the body now you notice that that in verse 15 and in verse 16 that that Paul says that that how you feel about
Yourself and what you feel about yourself is not always a measure of reality what you feel about yourself is not always what is true it’s what God’s word say says about you that counts that’s that’s very helpful to remember all of the time how you feel it is
Important but it’s not always true it’s not always a measure of reality it’s what God’s word says that matters so so just because the foot didn’t feel that it was a part of the body that didn’t mean that the foot wasn’t a part of the body it was a part of the
Body and just because the ear didn’t feel that it was a part of the body that didn’t mean that the ear wasn’t a part of the body it was a part of the body and just because a Corinthian believer couldn’t speak in tongues that didn’t mean that they weren’t a part of
The body they were a part of the body and just because you don’t have a certain gift or role within the church whatever that might be that doesn’t mean that you are not part of the body you are a part of the body and you are as much a part of the
Body as anyone else you are as valuable to the body as any other believer you are needed and you are vital to the body the body of Christ wouldn’t function as well without you whoever you are in Christ and the body of Christ needs different people with different gifts to be able to
Function and it just makes makes perfect sense doesn’t it look at verse 17 if if the whole body were an eye how would it hear if the whole body were an ear how would it smell you think about us gathering together this morning as an example and
You’ve you’ve got people who’ve set up chairs uh provided transport um welcomed you as you’ve come in uh you’ve got people who will serve tea and coffee uh you’ve got those who are involved in operating uh the audio and visual side of things you’ve got those who play a musical instrument you’ve got
Those who are helping in crash right now uh you’ve got those who teach in Bible explorers uh you got people who do their children’s talk you got those who lead the service you’ve got those who preach and who teach uh then you’ve got people just acting in naturally caring for each
Other introducing themselves to someone that they’ve never spoken to before um encouraging one another uh finding out how people are getting on you’ve you’ve got deacons who are overseeing different functions and making sure that things are working well you’ve got people inviting others into their home after
The service uh showing kindness to them and so on now of course if if everyone had the same function not only would the body cease to exist but it would just be a disaster so for example imagine if everyone was on the AV team the audio
Visual team and no one had any other gift and no one had any other role that that wouldn’t be very good for the building up of the body not only that it’s a very small space over there and there’s no way that I’m cramming in there with
You there’s lots of people here no we need different people with different gifts for things to work well so that people can be built up in Christ and and it’s God verse 18 who decides who is what part of the body and who has what gift he arranges the parts of the body
In the way that he thinks best so so whatever your gift is whatever your role is in the body you are needed and you as a believer are as valuable as any other believer the body of Christ would not function as well without you now this leads on to a another Point
Verses 21 to 26 and that is that your brothers and sisters are needed so the body of Christ your brothers and sisters are needed so so here Paul is addressing those who who feel that they might be slightly special because they think that they have a superior gift and they’re
Starting to look down on others who don’t seem to have that gift and and Paul again he says he says that’s not true and that’s not right verse 21 the the eye cannot say to the hand I have no need of you and nor again the head to the feet I
Have no need of you how proud are the eye to tell the hand it doesn’t need the hand how is the eye going to get an eyelash out of its eye without the hand and and how arrogant of the head to tell the feet that they’re not needed
How is the head going to get around without the feet at verse 22 on the contrary the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable this is probably referring to the parts of the the human body that you can’t see the liver the kidneys and so
On so so so just because someone’s gift or area of service or role isn’t as visible that doesn’t mean that they’re not useful quite the opposite they’re indispensable so so you think for example of maybe an older person who who serves the church so well by spending
Much time in prayer for the church now that may not be visible to you as you serve in your ministry but it’s indispensable you think what fruit there is in your ministry because of the prayers of those older Saints those who serve in less visible seemingly less impressive ways
That they’re not to be looked down on and Paul he makes a similar point in verses 23 and 24 and I think he’s he’s using the example of the the sexual organs here so so we ensure that we cover certain parts of the body for the sake of
Modesty now this contrast with other parts of the body like the face that doesn’t need to be covered verse 24 but God has so composed the body giv greater honor to the part that lacked it that there may be no division in the body now now Paul doesn’t seem to explicitly
Say how God gives the greater honor to those parts but I I want you to ask yourself this we tend to find it quite easy to show our appreciation of those with more upfront um or visible roles or gifts it’s it’s it’s no effort at all we we’re constantly thanking them showing our
Appr appreciation of them um we we do it all the time but but but do do you ensure that from time to time you you go out of your way to honor and thank those who serve so diligently in the background making things work why should we do this so that
There’s no division or disunity in the body so so are there brothers and sisters who serve the church in much needed but less noticeable ways who you never than your brothers and sisters are needed your area of ministry probably wouldn’t work without them this concern for valuing others and
For uh Unity it’s it’s particularly shown in verses 25 and 2 six in in showing the same care for each other if if one member suffers all suffer together if if one member is honored all Rejoice together you know what it’s like when you get toothache it’s it’s not just the tooth
That hurts the whole body suffers and it’s the same with the church when when one Christian suffers when when they go through a tough time we should all feel that concern for them whoever they are and when one Christian is honored we should we should all be happy for
Them now I think that you can apply this to gifts and to serving and I I suspect this is part of what Paul is getting at so so let’s imagine imagine with me someone let’s imagine someone that that they’re using their gift the gift that the spirit has given to the they that
They do something in service of the Lord and it and it doesn’t go particularly well it’s a bit of a disaster it’s a bit of a flop and and secretly it’s perverse but secretly you feel quite happy that it hasn’t gone so well has that ever happened to
You or or or let’s imagine when someone uses their gift and they do something in service of the Lord and it and it does go really well and that person is is honored and seek secretly you feel a bit envious of them you wish it was
You and you feel sad that it wasn’t you well that’s exposing a wrong attitude towards yourself and towards your brothers and your sisters it’s it’s not all about you it’s not all about you your brothers and your sisters are needed when one suffers we all suffer and when one is honored we all
Rejoice and so we come to verses 27 to 31 if we can have that slide up and this is the body of Christ diversity in harmony the body of Christ diversity in Harmony in verse 27 Paul underlines again the the principle of the church being one body but made up of different
Parts and then in verse 28 Paul he lists out a a selection of those parts different roles or gifts that God gives people within the church and notice that it’s God who decides who has what role or gift that’s that’s been a strong emphasis all the way through this chapter you think back
To verse 11 it’s the spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills at verse 18 God arranged the members in the body each one of them as he chose of verse 24 God has so composed the body verse 28 God has appointed in the
Church and notice also in verse 28 that some of the gifts are ranked some of the gifts are ranked in terms of priority so so God has appointed in the church first apostles second prophets third teachers and then beneath those three those top three Paul gives a general mix of both
Extraordinary and also very ordinary gifts so you have Miracles and Gifts of healing and helping and leading and various kinds of tongues now throughout this section Paul has driven home the point that all believers are to be equally valued whatever gift they have and yet though that’s true that doesn’t
Mean that the gifts have the same value so so there are some gifts that clearly build up the church and do good to the church more than others and Paul he puts gifts like that at the top of the list and you see there as you look at
The one two three these were roles and gifts that were especially given by God um to to provide the scriptures and to communicate God’s word and to teach God’s word to the gathered Church uh some of these roles or forms of these roles that they no longer apply
Um today they were foundational gifts given to the first century Church to communicate God’s word and to provide the scriptures how you think of what Paul says in Ephesians 2 how the church is built on the foundation of the New Testament Apostles and Prophets so for example there are now no longer
Apostles those Apostles through whom God gave his inspired word the scriptures or through those closely connected to them there are there are no further Revelations to be written down as scripture uh the Bible is finished it’s complete the cannon is finished uh but with this emphasis here on God’s
Word that’s partly why we as a church put such a priority on word gifts that building up the church through the preaching and teaching of the scriptures you think of how Paul as he uh writes to Titus and to Timothy um he emphasizes the appointment of Elders or leaders who
Are able to teach the word um he talks to Timothy about how he must um give himself to the public reading of the scriptures and to be preaching them as we continue notice how strongly Paul underlines the fact that no one has all the
Gifts so if you look in verse 29 and 30 Paul he asks a series of of quickfire questions and the way in which they’re written in the original and you can see it here it’s clear that the answer to every single question here is no are all Apostles no are all prophets
No are all teachers no do all work miracles no do all possess Gifts of healing no do all speak with tongues no do all interpret no so so God decides who gets what gift and he doesn’t give all the gifts to everyone he he wants the body to work together in
If everyone’s a leg it would be a disaster and so if you have heard teaching in the past that says that a sign that you have the Holy Spirit is that you can speak in tongues and and and if you’ve heard teaching in the past that says that if
You can’t speak in tongues you haven’t got the spirit you can see from these verses that that teaching is not true it wasn’t true for the church in Corinth and it’s not true for the church today do all speaking tongues no I know that when the spirit was given
At Pentecost in Acts 2 and in cornelius’s house in Acts 10 and in Ephesus in Acts 19 uh people spoke in tongues but those particular occasions were defining moments in Salvation history uh they were signs to show that The Gospel wasn’t just for the Jews it
Was for all nations God doesn’t give all the gifts to everyone not everyone in the church in Corinth would have been able to have spoken in tongues and it would have been wrong of those who could to have expected it of those who couldn’t however and here’s where we
Finish you see in verse 31 that Paul does encourage us to earnestly desire gifts Paul does encourage us to earnestly desire gifts and presumably this Earnest Desiring includes asking God for them God may or may not give the gift it’s his gracious Choice it’s a
Gift H you can’t claim the gift by faith you can’t name it and claim it and demand it but it’s not wrong to desire a gift or to ask for it why should we earnestly desire them not to make ourselves feel special or important but so the church can be built up that’s
What the gifts are for and what gifts should we earnestly desire well verse 31 says the higher gifts you remember the ranking had those to do with communicating God’s word you think of how as a church from time to time we will pray that God will provide those who can teach and preach
The Bible and some of the Corinthians they were putting a far too much emphasis on the gift of speaking in tongues they were saying that the gift of tongues is the gift to have but you notice that the gift of tongues doesn’t even make it into the top
Three in fact if you look carefully you will see that in both lists in the chapter it’s at the bottom are we are to earnestly desire the higher gifts and yet still Paul says verse 31 there is something even more excellent than the one 12 three and we’ll leave that for next
Time just take a a moment to think to pray to reflect to confess uh and then we’ll Sing a a song as we pray for the unity in the Oneness of the church One found is Jesus Christ the lord L J his cre by and the world from and toly with his blood and for from every nation one through all the Earth the CH of Sal one Lord one Fai one and shly as to she pra By and she God is gu one people one theel she ising Bri go up and soon the night Oful and of the she the cons of forever more still with the vision glorious are bless the church Vict church She with those is one and Sh sweet with the Inly Lord gr to us your Gra the And to see your face father we thank you so much for the gifts that you give us by your spirit and we pray that each one of us will use those gifts for the good of others for the building up of the home and for the
Unity and the blessing of your people to your glory amen am