Sermon Illustrations on Body Of Christ

Christians Are Members of the Body of Christ

Believers are integral parts of Christ's body, assuring their secure place in Him.

A lady accepted Christ as her Savior late in life and found in Him such joy that she could not keep still about it; she was praising God and talking about it all the time. One day a friend said, "You seem pretty confident about this salvation of yours. I would not be too sure if I were you; suppose the Lord should let you slip through His fingers?" "But," said the elderly lady, "I am one of the fingers." A Christian Should Be: A MIND through which Christ thinks, A VOICE through which Christ speaks, A HEART through which Christ loves, A HAND through which Christ helps.

Every Member Valuable

1 Corinthians 12:21

Every member of the body of Christ is valuable and interdependent, none can do without another.

The eye is placed in the upper area of the head, so that by virtue of its position it's easy for it to entertain a high opinion of itself. The human hand drops down at the side of the body, so that it's natural for the eye to look down upon it in both a literal and figurative sense. But the hand knows how to speak up and defend its usefulness. Suddenly a fly alights on the eye. Instantly and instinctively the hand elevates itself and brushes the fly away, saying, "Who said, Eye, that you don't need me?" The hand goes on to plow the ground, sow the seed, and reap the harvest. It mills the wheat into flour and kneads the dough to make bread. Then it turns to the eye and says, "You, Eye, would have died long ago if it hadn't been for my labor for you. Without the food I've earned, you'd have become sightless and starved to death. You can't do without me any more than I can do without you." Paul rightly says, "The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee" (1 Corinthians 12:21).

Building Factories

Ephesians 2:20

Believers are built into Christ's spiritual temple, growing together in Him.

An engineer who was responsible for building great factories said that all such construction is now planned with the machines that are to be housed in the factory in mind. The walls and floors of the buildings are constructed so that a machine can be built into the very foundation and structure of the building, rather than set in as an afterthought. This is the way the Lord builds believers into Christ. We are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, and in Him all the building is fitly framed together, so that it "groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:20-21). That is surpassing even the modern engineers. They can frame their building and foundation and machines together "fitly," but they cannot make the building "grow." The true believers are fused in Christ and grow in Him together with Him and together with one another.

Energized by the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:19

The believer's body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, showing full consecration through bodily life.

Seneca, the Roman historian and philosopher, said, "No one is free who is a slave to the body." In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul specifically refers to the body of the believer as the temple of the Holy Spirit. "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" Yet in 1 Corinthians 3:16 he says, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" Is there a contradiction here between the body as the temple, and the whole person as the temple? No, both are correct. Our spirit pervades our body, and it is through the works of the body that the spirit, the real person, is shown. This is why the stress is on the body, because that is what people can readily discern, while the spirit is invisible. Paul knew that the body is the last area of man to be brought entirely under the Spirit's influence and power, just as the twigs and leaves are the last parts of a plant to be energized by the sap. Thus the bodily temple presents to us the complete picture of the fully consecrated man.

Body, Care for the

Neglecting the inner spiritual self while caring only for the body is foolish.

If one should send me from abroad a richly-carved and precious statue, and the careless drayman who tipped it upon the sidewalk before my door should give it such a blow that one of the boards of the box should be wrenched off, I should be frightened lest the hurt had penetrated further, and wounded it within. But if, taking off the remaining boards and the swathing-bands of straw or cotton, the statue should come out fair and unharmed, I should not mind the box, but should cast it carelessly into the street. Now, every man has committed to him a statue, moulded by the oldest Master, of the image of God; and he who is only solicitous for outward things, who is striving to protect merely the body from injuries and reverses, is letting the statue go rolling away into the gutter, while he is picking up the fragments, and lamenting the ruin of the box. Beecher.

Christians, Relationship of

All believers are spiritually related through Christ, sharing a deep, familial bond.

Every well-doer on the face of the earth is my blood relation through Jesus Christ. I feel his heart beating right up to my ribs, and mine beating back to his. All the good passed away and transfigured into glory are mine. My own mother is not more really, though more tenderly mine, than is the mother of St. Chrysostom or St. Augustine. Beecher.

Harmony, Example of

Like coral polyps, believers are united and contribute to the whole body in harmony.

The stone-corals grow by germination; so that each polypary consists of a series of generations, constantly increasing and multiplying, without ever separating from the parent stock. A necessary consequence of this mode of propagation is the intimate union of all the members of these vast communities. Each polyp has its own tentacles, mouth, and stomach; each is capable of shrinking within its cell, or seizing its prey; but here its individuality ceases, as it communicates by membranes and vessels with its neighbors; and the juices which it elaborates are made to contribute to the nutrition of the whole community. Linked together by an indissoluble chain, five millions of individuals live together in peace and harmony in one single porite of ten feet diameter.

— Hartwig

Wicked, Shelter of the

God's people can inadvertently shield the wicked, exposing the need for holiness.

A story is told of a stag, who, when pursued by the hunter, concealed himself among the branches of a thicket. He browsed off the foliage which concealed and protected him; when he was discovered by his pursuers, and slain. So God's people are a screen to the wicked. How, then, should they be treated?

Christians, Temple a type of

1 Kings 6

Believers are God's temple, shaped beautifully by the Holy Spirit.

Believers are habitations of God. (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; 6: 19). Should be as beautiful a temple as the Holy Spirit, the Builder, can make it. Yield to His Master strokes

Christianity, Social

Christianity unites believers as one body with diverse spiritual gifts meeting varied needs.

Civilized man must often go a great distance for many of the things he needs. His wants are too diversified to be met within the small radius of his immediate dwelling-place. As heat and sunshine are unequally distributed over the earth, they produce differences of climate and consequently many varieties of vegetation. There is wheat in the temperate zones, cotton and rubber-plants of warmer regions. Some sections are also far poorer in useful rocks and minerals than others. Thus Holland has no building stone. Switzerland no coal and the United States much less sulfur than it needs. There must be a constant interchange of productions that each nation have its needs supplied.

Paul tells us that each man is the recipient of spiritual gifts differing in kind and degree from that of another. But it is all of the same spirit and all are members of one body. The Christianity of the future will be a brotherhood; it will be social. (Text.)

Circulation Impeded

Physical circulation parallels spiritual circulation; obstruction harms life and function.

The moral and spiritual circulation, the free action of life-forces in character, may be checked and impeded as well as the physical forces, as described below:

From the experiments of Scharling, Gerlach, and others, it has been shown that appreciable quantities of carbonic acid gas are hourly exhaled by the skin. If this process of cutaneous respiration is absolutely interrupted, as by covering the skin with varnish, death follows very soon, the heart and lungs becoming gorged with blood, as in ordinary cases of asphyxiation. In ignorance of this physiological fact, certain monks in the middle ages gilded the skin of a young lad who was to represent an angel (angels being understood, it would seem, to have golden skin); but he did not live through the performance of the “mystery” or “morality” in which he had to play his angelic part. Even if the body be inclosed, all but the head, in a water-proof covering, asphyxiation follows. Some, indeed, present themselves in public gatherings, not within the walls of lunatic asylums, either, with the respiratory, circulatory, and perspiratory organs manifestly obstructed, and, in fact, with the whole economy of the body from head to foot hampered obviously to the eye by powder, paint, enamel, corset, tight gloves, tight shoes, and goodness knows what other contrivances for checking all the processes and movements for whose perfect freedom of action nature has carefully provided. These may, perhaps, be best explained as cases of reversion to the ways of savage progenitors.--R. A. PROCTOR, _Syndicate Letter_.

House Of The Soul

The body is a temporary dwelling until the soul receives a permanent heavenly home.

This body is my house--it is not I; Herein I sojourn till, in some far sky I lease a fairer dwelling, built to last Till all the carpentry of time is past.

— UNIDENTIFIED

Modesty

Every believer has a humble but essential role in the church's functioning.

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A group of church-members, on a tour, were delayed at a railway station. One of them, after looking at a locomotive engine, asked his friends what part of the engine they would choose to be if it represented the Church. One replied, “I would be the brake, for that is often needed for safety.” Another said, “I would prefer to be the whistle, calling people’s attention to the fact that ‘the King’s business requireth haste.’” “And I would like to be the boiler, for that is an essential part of the engine.” “What would you like to be, brother?” said one to a quiet man who had not replied. “Oh,” said he, “I think I am only fit to be the coal, ready to be consumed so long as the engine moves.”

Mutual Suffering

Suffering of one member affects the whole body, illustrating our shared human bond.

There is no individual in society; it is one body corporate. If one member sin all suffer with him. The fearful forms of torture loom up yet out of the shadows, the paddle, the rack, the chair, the cangue collar, the strangle-ring, the shin-rod, and various forms of mutilation remind one of what we see in the Tower of London. Truly, we are brethren in cruelty if we go far enough into the dark past. But God, who is rich in mercy, when He transforms an Oriental, seems first of all to take out of his heart the poison of cruelty, and to leave the spirit of self-sacrifice and tenderness instead.--JAMES S. GALE, “Korea in Transition.”

The Mirror of God

John 17:23

In Eden, Adam and Eve had God's perfect image and reflected Him. This "mirror" was shattered in the Fall. The duty of the church is to reconstruct the image by building a united and caring body of Christ out of diverse people. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about making a diverse group into a unified

body of Christ.

Three problems confront us:

1. Our natural tendency to define belonging as sameness.

2. We tend to measure ourselves according to waht the majority promotes as

the standard of what makes one truly Christian.

3. The majority does not sense any needs among itself, so concludes the rest

of the body has no needs, either.

What A Great Body!

Sermon in 1 Corinthians series. Chap 12, the church as the body of Christ.

1. In contrast to society, the Bible is in favor of groups.

a. Family.

b. Church.

2. The church needs to be revitalized.

a. It needs the Holy Spirit.

b. Christians need Christ's body.

c. Christ's body (the church) needs Christians.

3. Diversity of the body.

a. Each Christian has something unique to do.

b. But we still make up one body.

4. Inter-dependence of the body.

a. Parts need the body.

b. Parts should not reject one another.

c. There should be mutual concern.

5. How to build mutual concern.

a. Emphasize relationships.

b. Emphasize spiritual gifts.

c. Emphasize God.

Faces To the Coal

John 9:4

Don McCullough writes in "Waking from the American Dream":

"During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade which he knew would be held in Picadilly Circus after the war. First, he said, would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea lanes open. Then would come the soldiers who had come home from Dunkirk and then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa. Then would come the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky.

"Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner's caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, 'nd where were you during the critical days of our struggle?' And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, 'We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.'"

Not all the jobs in a church are prominent and glamorous. But it is often the people with their "faces to the coal" who help the church accomplish its mission.

You Gotta Have Parts

The Church thrives when we all find our niche.

1. One body.

a. The Spirit-filled life is one of interdependency.

b. Christians must work together.

2. Everybody is somebody in the body.

3. Dividing up the work load.

a. Spiritual gifts are manifestations of the Spirit.

b. They are for the common good of the body.

4. Refusing to exercise gifts.

a. They are robbing the Body of Christ.

b. They are forcing other members of the Body to carry their load.

c. They are dead weight on the Body, dysfunctional limbs.

d. They are out of touch with the Spirit of God.

5. Inexhaustible energy and motivation.

One Toe Crippled Him

Spanish golfer Jose Maria Olazabal had foot surgery in 1995. His whole body was affected by surgery on one toe, as was his golf game. It is similarly crippling when some in the Body of Christ aren't exercising their gifts.

Christ Has No Body But Yours

St. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), the mystical doctor of the church who saw all things with the eye of her soul, famously wrote:

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

________

Born in Spain, Teresa entered a Carmelite convent when she was eighteen, and later earned a reputation as a mystic, reformer, and writer who experienced divine visions. She founded a convent, and wrote the book The Way of Perfection for her nuns. Other important books by her include her Autobiography and The Interior Castle.

Is It A Team Sport?

Fewer NBA players passed the ball in 1996-1997 than they did just a decade ago, contributing to a significant drop in scores. According to Mike Wise in the New York Times (2/8/98), "After making nearly 48 percent of their shots from the field ten years ago, teams are now making less than 45 percent. What's more, fewer players are passing the ball. Ten years ago teams averaged 51.2 assists--passes leading directly to a score--each game. Today the number is 43.6."

Coach Larry Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers says, "The NBA promotes individuals, not teams. When the Bulls are playing Miami, it's Alonzo Mourning against Michael Jordan, instead of the great Chicago Bulls against the great Miami Heat. It sends a bad message. Why play a team sport and not help your teammates?"

Sometimes Christians can make the same blunder. The church works best when it works together.

--Greg Allison

Deerfield, Illinois

(Spiritual gifts, Teamwork)

Fall 1998, Vol.XIX, No. 4, Page 67

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Living Stones, Not Rolling Stones

1 Peter 2:4

About a year ago, I was watching a show on Public Television about several men and their ideas about how the Pyramids of Egypt were actually built. They each had a theory, and so they decided to put the theories to the test, only on a small scale. They were given a month to construct a small pyramid using only tools that would have been available at or around 2000-4000 BC.

One particular group took measurements and attempted to calculate out all the angles and positions where the stones would go, then set about the task of chiseling them out and putting them in place via a system of pulleys and ramps. They knew the first stone they laid was crucial, because all of the other stones would be cut to it and built around it. When they thought they had the first stone the way they wanted it, they began to build their little mini pyramid. After about 25 days or so, they had probably 15 blocks in place but then realized that their measurements had been off, and the first stone was cut at too sharp of an angle. But it was too late to start over, so they just finished it up the way it was -- flawed.

Precise stone work was crucial to the construction of any building in the ancient near east. No doubt Peter knew this and so begins a series of statements using a stone building metaphor in 1 Peter 2:4-6:

As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by

God and precious to him - you also, like living stones, are being

built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering

spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in

Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious

cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Two Large Pots

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the masters house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his masters house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.

“I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.”

“Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?”

“I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your masters house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts,” the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, “As we return to the masters house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.” Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the Pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my masters table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We are all cracked pots. In God’s great economy, nothing goes to waste. Don’t be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and you too can be the cause of beauty. Know that in our weakness we find our strength.

(author unknown)

#4489

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Was Jesus A Christian ? ( I Doubt It)

Acts 15:5

Christians come in about 13 varieties. These varieties (or mindsets) can be found in all religions. You mustn't judge any religion simply on its caricatures.

My theses:

• Each mind-set makes *part* of Christianity the *whole* of it.

• There's nothing wrong with the parts. But like a car, if you've only got parts lying around you're not going anywhere.

• Jesus rejected all these mindsets (but not the essential concerns of each of them).

For convenience I'll use terms from early Christianity, and for the sake of brevity I'll oversimplify each mindset:

[1] Sadducees are rationalists. If your *reason* can't comprehend something (miracles, resurrection, angels) you don't have to believe it. Their God is very reasonable; their theology is 'liberal'; they inhabit mainline church seminaries.

[2] Zealots are passionate about *justice*. Justice is all about fairness, the relationship of the strong to the weak, the right use of power. Their God sanctions terrorism; their theology is 'liberationist'; today they're priests and others who advocate the violent overthrow of oppressive Latin American regimes.

[3] Herodians love *power*. They climb to the top of religious institutions. Their God bestows favours on the 'haves' who are 'born to rule'. They do not realize that love of power is inimical to a devout spirituality.

[4] Scribes, elders, teachers-of-the-law regard *tradition* as master, rather than servant. Their religious way of life is ruled by precedent, what has been. 'Come weal, come woe, their status is the quo'. If it's new, it's suspect. Their God is unchanging, not merely in faithfulness, but operationally.

[5] Essenes are liturgists. 'If only we get our *worship* right, the Messiah will come.’ Their God is 'wholly other'. Their liturgies are exact, their worship-forms utterly predictable.

[6] Mystics major on *experience*. They are right-brain, rejecting rationalism, cerebralism, dogmatism. For them prayer (perhaps divorced from labour) is the essence of the spiritual life. They sometimes form monastic orders.

[7] Gnostics are syncretists. They believe there's truth in every *religion*. They invite us to make up our own identikit picture of God. They're at home somewhere in the New Age Movement; they develop conspiracy theories from the Dead Sea Scrolls; they love the Gospel of Thomas.

[8] Sophists or sages place a high premium on *knowledge* or *wisdom* (they're not the same). They develop beautiful theories about redaction criticism, whether the four gospels are 'reliable' when they describe what Jesus said and did. They write learned papers, which like those of their predecessors, will be seen in future academic circles to be largely nonsense.

[9] Sign-seekers love *miracles*. With Herod (in Jesus Christ Superstar) they'd love Jesus to 'walk across their swimming-pool.’ Their God wants everyone to be healthy, wealthy (but not necessarily wise: academia is suspect). Anything can be cured, instantly, given enough faith.

[10] Materialists measure everything, not just *money*. The bigger, faster, more brilliant, the better. Bigger churches are better than smaller churches; brilliant preachers than ordinary ones. Success, fame, ambition, optimism, 'imaging' are their watch-words. They attend Amway conventions.

[11] Do-gooders are given to paternalism. They do works of *mercy* for their own benefit, not just for the sake of the one done good to/against. Thoreau said of them, 'If you see someone coming towards you with the object of doing you good, run for your life.’ These 'people-helpers' don't realize they're in it to solve their own problems: pure altruism is very very rare.

[12] Antinomians despise holiness - at least for themselves in private. As the term implies, they're 'against law' and misuse *grace*. 'God loves to forgive, it's his business' - so they give God every opportunity to do just that.

[13] Finally, pharisees are preoccupied with two things - *law* and *doctrine*. So they become legalists and dogmatists. They talk a lot about 'truth' and 'error'. Their God is unambiguous, reducible to creeds and doctrinal statements. Their 'gospel': repentance precedes acceptance (with Jesus it was the other way around). The acid test: their non-concern for social justice and mercy amd true faith (Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42, cf. Micah 6:8). They're fundamentalists, and proud of it.

All the entities *emphasized* are O.K. as part of a religious system, but are deadly if divorced from any/all of the others. Jesus did not align himself with any of the above groups: go and do likewise!

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It Started With Only A Toe

1 Corinthians 12:12

Once there was a man whose life was unremarkable in almost every way. He got up and went to work every day just like the rest of us. He had friendships and successes and failures. His life was quite ordinary. In fact, to look at him, you might assume he was fairly unimportant in the big scheme of things. And in fact, in the dark recesses of his own mind, the man sometimes wondered just how important he could be. And he wondered this, of all places, at his church. And because he felt unimportant and unremarkable and “average,” he just assumed there was nothing of value that he could do. So most weeks, he didn't make it to church. And when he did, he sometimes wondered why he bothered.

But one day, the man's life changed forever. While helping a young co-worker move a large load of steel, the man found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time as the load broke loose, falling toward the man. The man leaped away from the avalanche of steel, and thankfully, cleared most of it. But a single steel bar, weighing more than a dozen men, knifed downward, striking the man's foot with a force too great for even his steel-toed boots to withstand.

Three weeks later, the man went home from the hospital, alive and in good spirits, but without the big toe on his right foot. The man had no intention of giving up, since a big toe is a fairly unremarkable body part. Soon, the wound was fully healed, and the man was ready to get back to living his life. It took him several weeks to overcome the soreness, but he was determined, and soon he was back at work.

One day, the man noticed that his right knee was sore. He assumed it was just a strain, and planned to just work through the pain. But instead of getting better, his knee got worse. Then, a few weeks later, his right hip began to ache. Soon, though the pain of his original injury was gone, the other pains had become so great that the man could barely walk.

His doctor explained it simply. No matter how unimportant the big toe may seem, it plays a crucial role in providing balance as we walk. And without that toe, the man had begun walking differently, putting stress on his knee. And once his knee became sore, he began walking still differently, putting stress on his hip. In the end, the doctor had a special shoe made which included a prosthetic toe of sorts, and soon the man was walking like new again.

He also started going to church again, and last month he even volunteered to help sponsor a youth trip.

Why did he do this? Because in the body of Christ, as in the human body, there really are no “unimportant” parts.

And now he understood that.

“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many [and] in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be....those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable....Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (from 1 Cor. 12:12-27 (NIV))

An Example of Love

Dr. Halbeck, a missionary of the Church of England in South Africa, from the top of a neighboring hill saw lepers at work. He noticed two, particularly, sowing peas in the field. One had no hands; the other had no feet, these members being wasted away by disease. The one who wanted the hands was carrying upon his back the other, who lacked the feet. He, in turn, carried the bag of seed and dropped a pea every now and then, which the other pressed into the ground with his feet. And so they managed the work of one man between the two.

Such should be the true union of the members of Christ's body, in which all the members should have the same care one for another.

________

William Moses Tidwell, “Pointed Illustrations.”

Japanese Christians Hate War

During a fierce battle in New Guinea during World War II an allied soldier was left for dead by the side of a trail. Later he recovered consciousness and lay there helpless, expecting every moment that Japanese soldiers would arrive and finish him off. Finally four Japanese soldiers did arrive. To his surprise, however, instead of killing him, they lifted him gently and carried him to the side of a track in another part of the forest. Before leaving him, one of them said, “You will be quite safe here. Some of your countrymen will arrive soon and pick you up. We are Christians and hate war.”

William Moses Tidwell, “Pointed Illustrations.”

The Lion and the Mouse

A LION was awakened from sleep by a Mouse running over his face. Rising up angrily, he caught him and was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously entreated, saying: “If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness.” The Lion laughed and let him go. It happened shortly after this that the Lion was caught by some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to the ground. The Mouse, recognizing his roar, came, gnawed the rope with his teeth, and set him free, exclaiming: “You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favor. You now know that it is possible for even a Mouse to bestow benefits on a Lion.”

We are all one in the Body of Christ and we can all make a difference with our gifts to build the Kingdom of God on earth.

The Father and His Sons

A FATHER had a family of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion; and for this purpose he one day told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they had done so, he placed the bundle of sticks into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break it in pieces. They tried with all their strength, and were not able to do it. He next opened the bundle of sticks, took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into his sons' hands, upon which they broke them easily. He then addressed them in these words: “My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this bundle of sticks, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks.”

If Christians work together as one, they shall be able to defeat all the forces that are opposed to God. There's strength in unity!

The Crab and the Fox

A CRAB, forsaking the seashore, chose a neighboring green meadow as its feeding ground. A Fox came across him, and being very hungry ate him up. Just as he was on the point of being eaten, the Crab said, "I well deserve my fate, for what business had I on the land, when by my nature and habits I am only adapted for the sea?'

Contentment with our lot is an element of happiness. In the Body of Christ, each of us have been given different gifts. Thus, we have to know our limits and our potentials to be effective for Christ.

The Stag at the Pool

A STAG overpowered by heat came to a spring to drink. Seeing his own shadow reflected in the water, he greatly admired the size and variety of his horns, but felt angry with himself for having such slender and weak feet. While he was thus contemplating himself, a Lion appeared at the pool and crouched to spring upon him. The Stag immediately took to flight, and exerting his utmost speed, as long as the plain was smooth and open kept himself easily at a safe distance from the Lion. But entering a wood he became entangled by his horns, and the Lion quickly came up to him and caught him. When too late, he thus reproached himself: "Woe is me! How I have deceived myself! These feet which would have saved me I despised, and I gloried in these antlers which have proved my destruction."

What is most truly valuable is often underrated. Indeed, as Christians we should never lessen the gifts and talents that God has given us.

A Little Thing Not In Place

In the year 1876, when the great Corliss engine was to be tested at the Philadelphia Exposition, and they gave the signal to the engineer to start, the engine would not move. They looked her over; they could see nothing wrong, but she would not move. They sent for the maker. He came and made an examination, and said everything was in place and in good condition, but when they tried again, the engine could not be started. Finally, as he was walking across the engine-room he heard the clinking sound of a little piece of steel, and, stooping down, picked it up, walked quickly across the room and slipped it in place, then he gave the signal, and the great engine seemed to be a thing of life, and every wheel in the Exposition Building felt its power. I take it for granted that the most of us are Christians, but it is well that each one of us should see if there is any small thing wrong in our life, for if so, we are going contrary to the will of God. We are hindering the work of God in us, and through us.

By J. Wilbur Chapan, “Present Day Parables.”

Everybody Can Do Something

In Argentina everyone is required by law to spend two years in the military service. One fellow showed up at the induction center objecting, "What good would I be? I have no arms!" They put him in the army anyway. At basic training camp his commanding officer said, "See that fellow up there on the hill pumping water? Go tell him when the pail is full. He's blind." Both men were needed in order to get the job done properly.

Couier's Law

Couier's Law is: "Every organized being forms a whole - a complete system - all the parts of which mutually correspond. None of these parts can change without the others changing also; consequently each taken separately indicates and gives all the others.

Forget Church Growth, Aim For Church Health

Ephesians 4

A decade ago, when I wrote "The Purpose Driven Church," I predicted church health, not church growth, would be the primary concern of the 21st-century church. I believe that prediction is proving itself true.

The New Testament says a lot about the health of the church. Consider just a few verses:

"As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing..." Ephesians 4:16b (NLT).

"The focus of my letter wasn't on punishing the offender but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church" 2 Corinthians 2:9 (Message).

"You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other..." James 3:18 (Message).

Church health is the key to church growth. All living things grow if they're healthy. You don't have to make them grow -- it's just natural for living organisms. As a parent, I didn't have to force my three children to grow. They naturally grew up. As long as I removed the hindrances, such as poor nutrition or an unsafe environment, their growth was automatic.

If my children had not grown up, something would have been terribly wrong. I would have done whatever it took to discover the disease and correct it. I wouldn't have remained passive, spouting cliches about faithfulness, or wanting "quality not quantity" in my children.

The same principle is true for the church. Since the church is a living organism, it's natural for it to grow if it's healthy. The church is a body, not a business -- an organism, not an organization. It's alive. If a church is not growing, it is dying.

What, then, is the secret of church health?

In a word, it's balance!

Your body has nine different systems (circulatory, respiratory, digestive, skeletal, etc.). When these systems are all in balance, it produces health. But when your body gets out of balance, we call that "disease."

Likewise when the body of Christ becomes unbalanced, disease occurs. Health and growth can only occur when everything is brought into balance.

Our entire world is based on this principle of balance. Our planet was perfectly balanced by God, at just the right angle on its axis to support life. It rotates at a speed that minimizes vibration. If this planet were just a little closer to the sun, we'd burn up and, if it were just a few miles farther from the sun, we'd freeze to death.

Nature is a collection of ecosystems that live in balance with each other. We now know that even the tiniest variation in the ecosystem creates a chain reaction. God has set up a food chain with plants and animals in balance.

In architecture, structures must be balanced. If the stress isn't balanced, a building will collapse or a bridge will fall through. There must be equilibrium. If your life is not balanced, you might collapse, and if your congregation is not balanced, it might collapse. As pastors and counselors, we must realize that healing is the recovery of balance to the body, soul and congregation.

Healthy, lasting church growth is multidimensional. I've written extensively on the fact that church health has five facets: every church needs to grow warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry and larger through evangelism.

These five purposes of the church are commanded by Jesus in the Great Commandment and Great Commission, explained by Paul in Ephesians 4, described in Jesus' prayer for the church in John 17, and modeled by the first church in Jerusalem.

In Acts 2:42-47 these five facets of health are mentioned: They fellowshipped, edified each other, worshiped, ministered and evangelized. As a result, verse 47 says, "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

Church growth is the natural result of church health. But church health can only occur when our message is biblical and our mission is balanced. Each of the five New Testament purposes of the church must be in equilibrium with the others for health to occur.

Now this is important: Because we are imperfect beings, balance in a church does not occur naturally. In fact, we must continually correct imbalance! It's human nature to overemphasize the aspect or purpose of the church we feel most passionate about.

Most evangelical churches already do the five purposes of the church -- sort of.

But they don't do them all equally well. One church may be strong in fellowship, yet weak in evangelism. Another may be strong in worship, yet weak in discipleship. Still another may be strong in evangelism, yet weak in ministry.

Why is this? It's the natural tendency of leaders to emphasize what they feel strongly about and neglect whatever they feel less passionate about. Around the world you can find churches that have become the extension of their pastor's giftedness. They focus only on what he cares about most.

Unless you set up a system and structure to intentionally balance the five purposes, your church will tend to overemphasize the purpose that best expresses the gifts and passion of its pastor.

Healthy churches are built on purpose! By focusing equally on all five of the New Testament purposes of the church, your church will develop the healthy balance that makes lasting growth possible.

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Baptist Faith and Message Article ?: the Church

Acts 2:15

The article on the church in the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message affirms that God has revealed the doctrine of the church in Scripture. It teaches that the church's form of government, its officers, its ordinances, its mission and its laws are those of the churches of the New Testament.

Baptists in the past generally held that the doctrine of the church was a revealed doctrine. Many still do. Others are returning to this conviction. Ecclesiology, in its fundamental aspects, is a matter of revelation.

Christ commissioned his apostles to establish his churches. Their practices in all areas essential to the churches are normative.

The New Testament teaches congregational church government. Such verses as Matthew 18:17; 1 Corinthians 5:12-13; 2 Corinthians 2:6; Acts 2:15-23; 6:2-6; 15:22; and Revelation 2:2,14-16,20 place the authority for discipline, doctrine and government in the members jointly.

Each church is a democracy operating under a constitution established by Jesus Christ. It is an "autonomous local congregation." All the members jointly have responsibility to do everything that Christ commanded the churches to do and should govern the church by his laws.

The New Testament requires that the churches admit those alone who are qualified. Belief in Christ and scriptural baptism are prerequisites to membership.

Believers become a church of Jesus Christ when they jointly pledge to be a church of Jesus Christ. Implicitly or explicitly (it ought to be explicit), they covenant together in the faith and fellowship of the gospel. To covenant in the faith includes teaching and upholding the truths of the gospel.

Each congregation is responsible under Christ to interpret Bible truth, proclaim it and defend it. This is not possible unless they agree together on the central truths of Scripture and gather these truths into a confession of faith.

To covenant together in the fellowship of the gospel implies agreement to maintain the discipline by which Christ intended the preservation of fellowship. The discipline includes admitting those only who credibly profess faith in Christ; correcting, warning and rebuking those who stray from truth or righteousness; excluding those who refuse the church's loving entreaties to return to the path of truth and righteousness; and restoring the repentant to fellowship.

Other church duties include maintaining the two church observances ordained by Christ -- baptism and the Lord's Supper (see Article 7) -- and exercising spiritual gifts in the congregation for mutual edification.

Christ has also given the churches their mission. They are to seek to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth (see Article 11). Christ gave this mission to the churches, not to boards, conventions and agencies.

Churches can better fulfill this mission by cooperating together and establishing such efficient channels as boards and conventions. But each congregation bears the responsibility to advance the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Boards and conventions are not the church; they are merely means to accomplish the church's mission. There is no Southern Baptist Church or Kentucky Baptist Church. Conventions are the creation of the churches and subject to them. They are large committees appointed by the churches (see Article 14).

Christ has ordained deacons and pastors as the officers of his churches. The churches democratically elect and appoint persons who fulfill the scriptural qualifications for these offices.

Ordination consists in this election and appointment. The Bible uses three synonyms to refer to the pastoral office: pastor, elder and bishop. Qualified men alone may serve in this office. Ordination councils, when taken seriously, are excellent means for assisting a church to determine if a man possesses the scriptural qualifications.

_______________________

Full text of Article 6: The Church

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3.

_________________

Wells is an associate professor of church history and director of the Center for the Study of the Southern Baptist Convention at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

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The Body Should Feel Its Aches

In our physical bodies a toothache makes the whole body react in sympathy; the cessation of that ache makes the whole body give a sigh of relief. Why can't it be that way in the Church? Is it because we're so blind to the close and sympathetic union that Scripture enjoins between the members, that we allow the folly of selfishness to take the place of the wisdom of unselfishness?

The Coach Knows What He's Doing

1 Corinthians 12

Our sons had always dreamed of playing high school football. When they finally got to realize that dream, they got to play for one of the winningest coaches in our area. And he turned what was once a team known for losing into a team that was usually in the championship series. And because I worked with the team for several years as sort of a spiritual coach, I had an opportunity to observe one of the great secrets of his success. He was a genius at knowing what position each player would play best. Many times they disagreed with the coach, of course - they saw themselves as being a star at some position they really wanted. But he could size up their capabilities like no coach I had ever seen. And invariably, the guys who thought he was wrong about the position he gave them, well, they would end up being all-conference and all-county in that spot.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Coach Knows What He's Doing."

I know a Coach like that. So do you, if you belong to Jesus Christ. He knows exactly where every one of His players can play best - even if they think they should be playing somewhere else.

That's actually what Jesus is trying to tell us in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 12, beginning with verse 7. "To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." In other words, if you know Jesus, He has gifted you for a position you're supposed to play - no exceptions. "Even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ." He goes on to point out that every part of the body, every function, is needed or the rest of the body suffers. Then this bottom line in 1 Corinthians 12:18 - this I like ... listen carefully - "But God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired."

Or, God, the Head Coach, has placed each player just exactly where He wants them on His team, playing the position He created and gifted them for. And you're one of those team members. God has gifted you, He's prepared you, He's destined you, assigned you to play the position He knows is best for you and for His Church, and for a hurting and dying world. Maybe it's time you stopped trying to get Him to play you somewhere else. He knows what He's doing.

It's an insult to your Lord to covet a position someone else has, or to compare yourself to another player on His team, or to denigrate your position as being less important than others, or to tell Him you can't play that position, or to sit on the sidelines or even leave the game because you don't like or refuse to play your position. You are depriving Team Jesus of a contribution that they need and a contribution that only you can make.

I know that, not because of who you are but because of who Jesus is. He produces spiritual champions because He knows where each player should play, including you. And remember - it's not the crowd you're playing for, or even for your other teammates - you're playing for your Coach. So put on your gear, take your position on the field, and play your God-given position with all your heart!

________________

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Machine Or Organism?

Under the old Maoist regime, the Chinese built their own farm tractors. They were designed by engineers who had been trained in the functions of engines, transmissions and chassis. But, these engineers had never worked on a farm, had never driven a farm tractor, and had never watched a farm tractor at work. So the tractors arrived without drawbars -- which made them useless for pulling plows and other equipment.

Episodes such as this angered Mao Zedong, the founder of the Chinese Communist Party, who had been reared as a peasant and who knew much more about farming than the tractor engineers did. But Mao didn't know much about how to free up the creative energies of the billion or so people he ruled. The government he instituted was a huge, bureaucratic machine that ran by rigid rules established by Mao himself. People could interact only along lines laid down by the Communist party.

The American political system has demonstrated that the best governments function like living organisms: they are flexible and adaptable to the changing needs of the people. The same goes for good churches. [1]

Do you think of your church as a machine or as an organism?

The way you think about it has a great deal to do with the way you pastor it. A machine can be dealt with one part at a time. An organism demands an integrated approach, because its parts are interdependent and complementary.

A machine is inanimate. It has no control over itself. It can respond only to outside controls.

An organism is a living thing. It has the power to transform itself, to change from within.

Organisms can adapt to their environments. Machines can function only in fixed patterns.

Organisms can learn. Machines can't.

If you expect your church to survive in an era of rapid change, you must transform it into a living, thriving, evolving organism. You must equip it to adapt to its changing environment and, indeed, to take the initiative in changing the environment itself.

A thinking organization must be able to do five things very well. It must be able to:

1. Solve problems systematically.

2. Develop new services and new approaches.

3. Learn from experience and from an examination of its own past.

4. Learn from others.

5. Spread what it learns to others.

When your church has made the switch from machine to organism, here's what it can do:

A. Mobilize the expertise of people at all levels in responding quickly to changing conditions in society.

B. Turn every member into an agent of excellence, with a commitment to ministry.

C. Enable the entire church to benefit from the expertise of the leaders.

D. Unite all members behind a common set of values, a common vision and mutually supporting goals.

Maintaining your church as a healthy organism requires an integrated educational approach. You can't educate just part of your church, any more than you can educate just part of an individual.

In football, kicking specialists are often referred to as having “educated toes,” but the toe is only a minor part of the complex process that produces a successful field goal. The eyes, brain, legs, ankles, knees -- practically every muscle and joint in the body -- must know precisely what to do and the precise moment at which to do it if the kick is to split the uprights at the proper elevation.

A church body requires a similar coordination among its members. Each member must know not only what it is doing, but also what the other members are doing and what the body as a whole is doing -- and why. Otherwise, you get tractors without drawbars.

This pervasive knowledge enables all individuals and all ministries to be mutually supportive. Such an environment can't be achieved through segmented training efforts.

A good education and development system overlooks no ministry and overlooks no facet of member development.

__________

[1] Original has “business organizations;” the text from this point on has been adapted for churches.

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Living Stones

1 Peter 2:4

When I lived in England for a short period of time, I had the privilege of wandering through many beautiful cathedrals. I remember being impressed by the tangible testimony they provided to the faith of Christians of history. I knew that many had given their lives and their wealth in attempt to incarnate the truths of the Gospel in stone so that it could be witnessed for ages to come.

I felt a faint sadness when I thought of how future generations will not have the same sort of testimony to our faith. We don’t take centuries to build our buildings, nor do we often attempt to reflect our beliefs in our architecture. Most of the churches where I have worshiped will be torn down or remodeled by the time my great-great-grandchildren are born.

Yet I had to check this feeling of nostalgia when I remembered that our primary calling is not to leave a legacy in stone. Although great architecture may be a testimony to faith, how much stronger is a legacy of flesh and blood! I would rather leave future generations a legacy of hearts regenerated than the most impressive building. The power of the Gospel manifests itself in exponential multiplication when those who receive new birth go on to reach others. Think back over your spiritual lineage. Someone shared their faith with you because someone else shared with them. If we had the ability to look back in history, you could trace your spiritual family heritage all the way back to the apostles.

As we respond to Christ’s commission to preach and live the Gospel, we are taking part in building the Church invisible. This is an important idea for the New Testament writers. Peter wrote to the believers scattered throughout the Roman world, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5).

The beautiful buildings that have survived through the centuries bear witness to the dedication of the historic Christian church. Let us emulate this dedication, not by building better buildings, but by committing our lives to fostering faith and raising strong spiritual descendants. We can take joy in the living heritage that will result. If our lives give birth to sons and daughters in the faith, future voices will be lifted in praise, and the stones will not have to cry out.

________

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All I Ever Needed To Know I Learned From LEGOs

Life might be less complicated for all of us if we each received our own LEGO kit at birth. Yes, I have learned that:

Size doesn't matter. When stepped on in the dark, a 2x2 LEGO brick causes the same amount of pain as a 2x8 brick.

All LEGO people are created equal (1.5625 inches tall). What they become is limited only by imagination.

There is strength in numbers. When the bricks stick together, great things can be accomplished.

Playtime is important. Sometimes it doesn't matter what you are building, as long as you're having fun.

Disaster happens. But the pieces can be put back together again.

Every brick has a purpose. Some are made for a specific spot - most can adapt almost anywhere - but every one will fit somewhere.

Color doesn't matter. A blue brick will fit in the same space as a red brick.

No one is indispensable. If one brick is unavailable, another can take its place.

It doesn't always turn out as planned. Sometimes it turns out better. If it doesn't, you can always try again.

________

Source: Top Greetings

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A Place In the Victory Parade

1 Samuel 30:24

If you're going to be a great coach in sports, you generally need to be a great motivator. The team rises to the level of their coach's motivation. When your team is an entire nation that's under heavy attack, the coach had better be one incredible motivator. The nation was Great Britain. The time was the beginning of WWII, when the team seemed like it was losing badly and the coach was the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. He may have been the most inspiring leader of the 20th Century as he motivated his nation to make tremendous sacrifices and win a seemingly unwinnable victory. In those early days of the war, he desperately needed the cooperation of the leaders of Britain's coal industry. Their extra sacrificial efforts would be critical to keeping the war effort going, and the way he did it was masterful. Churchill asked those industry and union leaders to picture the parade at the end of the war. Look at the proud British sailors who kept the sea lanes open, and then the soldiers who valiantly fought the land war, and the airmen who heroically won the battle in the skies, followed by the coal miners of Britain whose work made those victories possible. Churchill said, “They will not be in military uniform, but they will have won a place in the victory parade."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “A Place in the Victory Parade.”

The ultimate war, the one with the most at stake, is still raging. It's the war between the forces of Christ and the forces of darkness for the lives of the people Christ died for. That battle has never been more intense, especially as it approaches its climactic stages. Here's the question. Will there be a place for you in the great victory parade of King Jesus?

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Samuel 30:24. David has just won a mighty victory. He has left behind 200 men who were just too exhausted to go to that battle, so he has assigned them to guard the supplies. Some of those who had just fought the battle don't think that those 200 should share in the spoils of the victory. The Bible says, “The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.”

There's an exciting Biblical principle here. God considers those who fight the battle and those who support them as equal contributors and equal shareholders in the victory. In Philippians 4, Paul urged those believers to support his ministry so “my fruit will be credited to your account.” In the accounting of God, every person Paul reached for Christ, his supporters reached for Christ. Can't you just imagine getting to heaven and God showing you your account, and you're asking, “But, Lord, where did all these names come from? I don't know these people.” I can imagine the Lord saying, “They were reached by such and such a ministry or through your church and you helped reach those people. Would you like to meet them now?”

You may feel like your part in the Lord's work is insignificant. You say, “All I do is volunteer some time. I just drive, pray regularly, I give some money, I just cook. All I do is just work behind the scenes.” Hear God's words: “The share of the man who stayed with the supplies (that's who worked in an unglamorous, no glory role) is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” Now you may feel your work is insignificant, but Jesus doesn't. He promises an eternal reward even for a cup of cold water given in His name!

So do not minimize the eternal value of the work you do for Jesus; of your part in the greatest battle of all, the battle for people's never dying souls. You may not have worn the uniform of a soldier, but I believe there's going to be a place of honor for you in the parade; for anyone who contributed to the war. I hope to see you in King Jesus' Victory Parade.

________

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Turning Attendees Into A Part of the Family

Ephesians 2:19

“Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God's very own family ... and you belong in God's household with every other Christian” (Ephesians 2:19).

Today, a lot of Christians are what I call “floating believers.” It is an expression of America’s rampant individualism. Anywhere else in the world, being a believer is synonymous with being connected to a local body of believers. You rarely find a lone ranger Christian in other countries.

Many American Christians, however, hop from one church to another without any identity, accountability or commitment. They have not been taught that the Christian life involves more than just believing -– it also includes belonging. We grow in Christ by being in relationship to other Christians.

C.S. Lewis once wrote an essay on church membership, reminding us that the word “membership” is of Christian origin, but it has been taken over by the world and emptied of all its original meaning.

Today, most people associate the term “membership” with paying dues, meaningless rituals, silly rules and handshakes, and having your name on some dusty roll.

Paul, however, had a very different image of membership. To Paul, being a “member” of the church did not refer to some cold induction into an institution but rather it meant becoming a vital organ of a living body (Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 6:15, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27). We need to reclaim this image!

THE MEANING OF MEMBERSHIP

Joining a church used to be an act of conformity in our society. You joined a church because everybody else did. Now the rules have changed and conformity is no longer a motivating factor. In fact, George Gallup has found that the vast majority of Americans believe it is possible to be a “good Christian” without joining (or even attending) a local church.

Membership is now an act of commitment. The way you motivate people to join today is to show them value-for-value what benefits are in return for their commitment.

At Saddleback, we’ve found that when people understand the meaning and value of membership, they get excited about it.

There are numerous benefits to membership:

1. It identifies me as a genuine believer (Ephesians 2:19, Romans 12:5).

2. It provides a spiritual family to support and encourage me in my walk with Christ (Galatians 6:1-2, Hebrews 10:24-25).

3. It gives me a place to discover and use my gifts in ministry (1 Corinthians 12:4-27).

4. It places me under the spiritual protection of godly leaders (Hebrews 13:17, Acts 20:28-29).

5. It gives me the accountability I need to grow (Ephesians 5:21).

Nothing helps this picture come into focus like personalizing the purposes of the church. This is especially important when convincing attendees in your crowd to join your congregation.

You need to emphasize the fact that the church provides them with benefits they cannot find anywhere else in the world:

• Worship helps me focus on God. It prepares me spiritually and emotionally for the week ahead.

• Fellowship helps me face life’s problems by providing the support and encouragement of other Christians.

• Discipleship helps me fortify my faith by learning the truth of God’s Word and applying biblical principles to my lifestyle.

• Ministry helps me find and develop my talents and use them in serving others.

• Evangelism helps me fulfill my mission of reaching my friends and family for Christ.

YOUR CHURCH IS A FAMILY

There are many analogies for a Christian disconnected from a church: A football player without a team; a soldier without a platoon; a tuba player without an orchestra; and a sheep without a flock.

But the most understandable (and biblical) picture is that of a child without a family.

1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the church as “... the family of God. That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth.”

God does not want his children growing up in isolation from each other, so he created a spiritual family on earth for us. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:19, “...you are members of God's very own family ... and you belong in God's household with every other Christian.”

A Christian without a church family is an orphan.

I believe it is important today to position the church as a family, rather than as an institution. Since the 1960s, Americans have become increasingly anti-institutional. They use the phrase “organized religion” with contempt.

On the other hand, people are longing for a sense of family and community.

Today, there are a number of factors that have fragmented the nuclear family in our culture: The high divorce rate, delayed marriages, the emphasis on individuality, alternative lifestyles, women working outside the home and the high rate of mobility.

In our mobile society, people have few roots. People are no longer surrounded by the extended family of aunts and uncles, grandparents and brothers and sisters that provided a safety net for previous generations.

THE LONGING TO BELONG

Today, we have a record number of single adults in America. Vance Packard called America “a nation of strangers.” As a result, we’re experiencing an epidemic of loneliness in society. One Gallup poll reported that four in 10 Americans admit to frequent feelings of “intense loneliness.” Americans are, in fact, the loneliest people in the world.

Everywhere you look there are signs that people have a deep hunger for fellowship, community and a sense of family. Independent-minded baby boomers are suddenly longing to be connected as they enter middle age.

This longing for belonging provides the church with a timely opportunity. Positioning the church as an extended family -– and as “a place where you are cared for” -– will strike a sensitive chord in many lonely hearts.

It Takes All Kinds

Romans 16:1

Sermon in Romans series, #21 Romans 16:1-16

IT TAKES ALL KINDS

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I. Christmas letter lists.

II. A gallery of friends in Rome.

III. A gallery of friends with Paul. 16:21

IV. What this list of names reveals about the church.

A. It was multi-national and multi-ethnic.

B. It was multi-gender.

C. It worked well together.

D. It was a warm fellowship.

E. It was centered in Jesus Christ.

V. It is not a total lovefest.

A. Even in these positive affirmations, there is hint of trouble.

B. Attributes of the troublemakers.

C. Don't let troublemakers become the focus. 16:19

VI. The church is still a pile of personalities.

A. Think of the characters we have in this church.

B. And today, you are here.

C. The members of the church are Christ's body on earth.

Why Can't You Guys Get Organized?

In a PEANUTS comic strip, Lucy demands that Linus change the channel on the TV and then threatens him with her fist if he doesn’t.

“What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus.

“These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.”

“Which channel do you want?” asks Linus.

Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”

________

Bruce Shelley, WHAT IS THE CHURCH, p. 38

Here's the Church, Here's the Steeple

Randy Frazee has written a book called THE CONNECTING CHURCH. He has a son who was born without a left hand. One day in Sunday School the teacher was talking with the children about the church. To illustrate her point she folded her hands together and said, “Here’s the church, here’s the steeple; open the doors and see all the people.”

She asked the class to do it along with her - obviously not thinking about Frazee’s son’s inability to pull this exercise off. Then it dawned on her that the boy wouldn’t be able to join in.

Before she could do anything about it, the little boy next to Frazee’s son, a friend of his from the time they were babies, reached out his left hand and said, “Let’s do it together.” The two boys proceeded to join their hands together to make the church and the steeple.

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Flying Low

My wife works in the fuels squadron at an Air Force base, and many of her co-workers complain about the superior attitude of the pilots.

One day the fuel crew decided to put things in perspective for the proud pilots. They all came to work wearing shirts inscribed, “Without fuel, pilots are pedestrians.”

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Source: Laughter for a Saturday

Sermon: You Are So Gifted!

Romans 12:4

Sermon in series, "We Are Gifted," #1. Romans 12:4-6a

YOU ARE SO GIFTED!

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I. When the rest of the world opens Christmas presents.

A. This last week was Epiphany.

B. God's gifts are not limited to Christmas, either.

C. A new sermon series on spiritual gifts.

II. We are not a building but a body.

A. The metaphor of the body of Christ. Rom 12:4

B. Lots of pieces, one unit. 1 Cor 12:12

C. Every time the church has revived, it has rediscovered this.

III. Spiritual gifts cover a wide range.

A. Some passages emphasize leadership positions. Eph 4:11

B. Other passages emphasize interpersonal relationships. Rom 12

C. The most interesting involve supernatural abilities. 1 Cor 14

IV. Spiritual gifts are not limited to natural abilities.

A. They are given by God. "according to the grace given us." 12:6

B. Spiritual gifts only come after conversion.

C. Every Christian has at least one gift.

V. Our church has some amazing people.

A. Recent examples.

B. You are gifted, too.

The Perfect Team

In 1972 the Miami Dolphins embarked on an unforgettable and unparalleled season. They won all 14 games in the regular season, then had a 3-0 run through the playoffs, culminating with a Super Bowl victory. No other modern professional football team has matched that perfect record. Every year 30 some-odd teams try, but for almost 4 decades, it stands alone.

Sports enthusiasts all have their own opinion about who might be the “Greatest Team of All Time”, but one of the 1972 Dolphin team members put it best: “Perfection has a way of quieting the critics.”

The opposing coach going into the ‘72 Super Bowl was asked to comment on the awesome Miami defense. His reply was, “I can’t recall any of their names, but they are a matter of great concern to us.” Does anyone remember the nickname of the ‘72 Dolphins Defense? The “No-Name Defense.”

What made that team special was not the handful of superstars, it was the dedication of every team member. Every player was willing to execute his position with excellence for a common purpose.

Something special happens when everybody plays their position. The whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. They had some great players, no doubt. But plenty of other teams over history have had better personnel. More Pro-Bowl players, superstars, Hall of Famers. Yet no team has reached level of achievement that they did.

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if three players on that Dolphin offense decided they didn’t like what they were supposed to do, and wanted to play somewhere else.

Let’s suppose in the huddle, they call a sweep to the right with Mercury Morris running the ball. But Larry Little, Jim Langer and Norm Evans all decided that they wanted to play running back? “If I don’t play running back, then I’m not important. Guards never make the highlight reels, so forget it!”

How well do you think they would have done that year? Probably not all too well.

Well, the world of sports isn’t the only place where “Positional Confusion” can take place. It happens everywhere, and it happens in the church.

There are some congregations where the preacher does the work of the elders[*], shepherding the flock by visiting the members and handling spiritual matters.

The elders do the work of the deacons, since they were never allowed to do anything while they were deacons, they now use this opportunity to finally get to spend the Lord’s money by picking out carpet colors and lawn tractors.

And the deacons do the work of the members, basically showing up for worship and leading a prayer or serving on the table.

And then the members are expected to do nothing.

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* This reflects the leadership structure of the Church of Christ. For many Protestant denominations, elders and preachers/pastors are equivalent.

Being the Body: Jesus and His Church

In the last few years of his ministry, Chuck Colson became increasingly concerned with the extreme individualism he witnessed in American Christianity. He became dismayed at what he dubbed the “Jesus and me” attitude he saw among Christians, especially younger ones.

In fact, the last column he worked on for Christianity Today was in response to the You Tube sensation, “Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus.” While he understood the frustration people feel towards some churches, he reiterated what Martin Luther taught: “he who would find Christ must first find the Church.”

Or to put it another way: “you cannot answer the question ‘how now shall we live?’ on your own.”

This emphasis on the Church was not new for Chuck. On the contrary, it was the subject of one of his most important books, The Body, which was re-released in 2003 as Being the Body.

In it, Chuck and his co-author Ellen Santilli Vaughn examined the consequences of what they called “the improbable plan Christ put in place two thousand years ago.” That plan was to “leave the evidence of his continuing presence in the world in the hands of a motley crew of flawed human beings.”

That “motley crew,” of course, is the Church.

The Body was Chuck’s response to the realization that the Church was “infected with the most virulent virus of modern American life...radical individualism.” The radical individualism of “Jesus and me” can never be the light in the darkness that Christians are called to be.

It can never provide strong moral resolve, feed the soul, care for the needy, and guide those who have lost their way. The idea, Chuck and Ellen wrote, that “one can be a Christian and develop one’s own faith system” is “ludicrous.”

It is every bit as “ludicrous” today as it was twenty years ago, yet, if anything, the desire to distance oneself from the institution of the Church is even more pronounced today. An increasing number of Americans decline to identify themselves with any religious tradition. Because they’ve check “none of the above,” they’ve been dubbed “nones.” While some cite these findings as evidence of a growing secularism or even atheism, that’s not the case at all.

Many of the so-called “nones” say they believe in a personal God. A lot of them even want a religious funeral! They want the personal and emotional benefits of faith without the commitment to something bigger than themselves.

The rejection of individualism and emphasis on the church isn’t the only area in which The Body anticipated ideas and themes that Chuck would revisit over the next few decades. It also marked the beginning of Chuck’s worldview ministry.

While Chuck had always been engaged with the question of Christian worldview, in The Body you saw it begin to assume the kind of prominence it would have for the rest of his life. As he was fond of telling audiences back then “it does no good to tell people that ‘Jesus is the Answer’ if you don’t know what the question is.”

Understanding the questions and Christianity’s answers to them is an essential part of what it means to be the church and, so, it became an essential part of Chuck’s mission. It’s a mission that will continue here at Breakpoint and throughout Prison Fellowship.

Anything else would be, well, ludicrous.

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66 Sermon Illustrations on Body Of Christ