This past weekend at Eastbrook, we continued our preaching series entitled “God’s Grace for an Imperfect Church: 1 Corinthians.” In this second message from 1 Corinthians 12 (view the first message here), I explored the second part of Paul’s discussion of spiritual gifts that leads into his discussion of the church as the body of Christ.
You can find the message outline and video below. You can access the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body,
so it is with Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:12)
The Metaphor of the Body of Christ and Spirit-Gifts (12:12-14)
Paul’s purpose with this metaphor
Baptism and the Spirit
The unity and diversity, the diversity and the unity
The Body of Christ and Those Who Feel Inferior or Weaker (12:15-20)
The foot and the hand, the ear and the eye playing comparison games and feeling “lesser”
Replacing the body with one part defeats the point of the body
God is the source of the whole and the parts, assembling as God sees fit
The Body of Christ and Those Who Feel Superior or More Powerful (12:21-26)
The eye and the hand, the head and the feet playing comparison games and feeling “greater”
The parts that are less powerful or weaker or less presentable are treated with more care
The parts that are more presentable receive no special treatment
The point: God places the parts together to form a body for God’s purposes
There should be no division or tearing (schisma)
The parts suffer together and are honored together – because they are a body
Living as the Body of Christ and Parts of It (12:27-31)
Knowing who we are
Knowing that we need one another
Desiring the “greater” gifts but leaning toward the greater way
Dig Deeper
This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:
- Memorize 1 Corinthians 12:12
- Explore some of the following resources:
- John R. W. Stott, Baptism and Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today
- Marva J. Dawn, Truly the Community: Romans 12 and How to Be the Church
Discover more from Matthew Erickson
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Matthew Erickson 