Speaker: Ms Taeko Funaoka
Sermon Title: God’s Design – Unity and Diversity in the Body
Scripture Text: 1 Corinthians 12: 1 – 31a
Introduction
In the church of Corinth, there existed a sense of superiority over others and division with spiritual gifts. Paul emphasizes in this letter that church needs to have both diversity and unity in order to function healthily.
1. Origin of diversity and unity (vv4-11).
God-the Trinity (The Father, The Son-Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit) is the origin of diversity and unity, distributing the gifts, enabling and working in all and every one of us to use the gifts for the common good and to serve Him.
2. Diversity and Unity–one body with many parts (vv12-31).
1) All parts are necessary to form a body (vv12-20).
There are many parts but one body – this is God’s design (v18). There are many gifts and service required for the body of Christ, and God has placed every one of us, who receives gifts from Him, in order to form a body, Klang Wesley.
2) All parts have equal concern for each other (vv21-26).
Weakness or strength in appearance has no relationship to our real value and our necessity to the body and to each other. Every one is necessary to a body and we all shall have a mutual concern for one another.
3) One body, being members of one another (vv27-31).
All parts form one body, individually members of it, and therefore members of one another.
What does it mean for us to say personally and corporately, beyond the formality of membership and in more practical manner,
“ All of us are together Klang Wesley, and individually member of
it, and therefore members of one another.”
Paul encourages us to eagerly desire the greater gifts (v31), that are the things that the Holy Spirit enables us to do for the common good, to build up one another in the body.
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