The Body of Christ: New Hope Together

1 CORINTHIANS 12:1-14 (NIV)

1) Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2) You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3) Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.  4) There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5) There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6) There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7) Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8) To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10) to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11) All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.  Unity and Diversity in the Body  12) Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13) For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14) Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

1 CORINTHIANS 12:27 (NIV)

27) Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

TAKEAWAYS

1. You are The Body of Christ (v27)
2. Each one is a part of the Body

I. GIFTS - how he has shaped you
II. SERVICE - how we respond and make ourselves available
III. WORKING - the result as to what God does in and through

1. Treasure
2. Time
3. Talent