Notes
Everything must be viewed in light of the Gospel. It is the driving force.
BIG IDEA: God’s grace is the foundation for who we are and what we do. This includes but is not limited to: spiritual gifts, forgiving others no matter how bad they have wronged us, teaching your kids the Bible, getting into biblical community, being generous with your money.
God’s Grace Puts You In Debt.
Many people think because grace is free that it does require anything of them once it has been bestowed upon them and the Bible never teaches that. It is true that we can never do anything to earn or merit favor with God and that we don’t do things to get him to like us more but having received grace we are now in his debt to love him and to love continually as we are in these bodies.
Bunyon “I preached as a man in chains to men in chains”. 1 Corinthians 3-We have escaped judgment not accountability.
Romans 1:14-15; Ephesians 2:4-10; 3:2; 7-13; 4:7-8, 11-16; 5:1; 1 Peter 4:10-11
Four Principles for Being One Body with Many Parts (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)
Unity (12-13)
Paul begins by comparing the local church to a human body. Psalm 139:14 says that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Amazingly, the human body has some 206 bones, 650 skeletal muscles, and 210 types of cells. The ability of the body to function as one is staggering. Just as the various parts of our body work together, so the church is to be filled with people who work together for God’s kingdom with the unified effort of a healthy body. This unity is to exist despite race, generation, gender, spiritual gift, ministry passion, culture, income, education, and other differences because the same Holy Spirit indwells, gifts, and empowers every Christian as the source of their unity.
Diversity (14-17)
Despite the unity that is supposed to exist in the church by the power of the Holy Spirit, there is still supposed to be a great diversity of people. Unity is not uniformity, but rather diversity that is brought together by the common characteristics of love for Jesus, submission to Scripture, commitment to the church, and mission to bring the truth and love of Jesus to people in the culture.
Interdependence (18-20)
Just as God has arranged our human body with its various parts to work together effectively, so He has also arranged the church body with diverse people to work together as one. This means that the specializations in the church should not lead to division but mutual love and respect. Practically, this means that everyone who calls The Bridge Church their home should find the place that God intends for them to serve as a vital part of our church body.
Worth (21-27)
Unlike the culture where various people are considered more valuable than others because they are beautiful, smart, talented, rich, etc., the economy of the church is altogether different. This means that every Christian is vitally important and contributes something to the church body, as God designed them to. Much like our own body, those parts of the church that are strong can help carry people who are weak. In the church, every Christian who is willing to function as a part of the body is deemed worthy of love, respect, and participation because they bear God’s image, are filled with God’s Spirit, and are equally a part of the church family, though they may not be given the same level of public profile.
COMMON CAUSE GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Discuss the idea of God’s grace putting you into debt. (Examine the Scriptures in Matthew, Romans and Ephesians used in the sermon.)
- How do you feel about and what do you plan on doing since you are obligated to use the gifts given to you by God’s grace?
- How do you plan on contributing to the unity of The Bridge church?
- In what ways do you see that we could become more diverse?
- Given the fact that we are to be interdependent with one another how can you reach out to those who are hurting?
- Do you feel like you are not worth as much as someone else in the church who you think has a greater gift? If so please seek encouragement from your group.