Embracing Our Role in the Body of Christ

There's something powerful about this. There's something powerful about this. There's something powerful about this. That occurs when we recognize that we are not alone in living life in this world, that we are the body of Christ in relationship with God and one another. If we start at the beginning of this verse, we read the idea from whom the whole body fitly joined together. This idea of belonging. If you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. If you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. If you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. A fitly joined body belongs to one another. [00:05:45]

There's something unique about the idea in Scripture that the body of Christ is not just about believing, although that's important and critical. It's about belonging. In fact, Romans chapter 12, verse 5, shares this interesting idea with us. So in Christ, we, though many, form one body. And if you have this in your source for scripture, your Bible, underline it. Each member belongs to all the others. Each member belongs to all the others. In other words, we belong to one another. [00:07:03]

There's something interesting that happens when we become Christ followers that begins to shift and change our approach to life from a me mindset to a we mindset. When I was born again, when I became a Christian, God began moving in my life to change my perspective from me, myself, and I to we, ourselves, and us. Began to work. Work on me. Because my carnal nature would say, what about me? What about me? What about me? Me, me. [00:07:49]

Because God begins to shift our approach to life where now it involves we eyes and we ears and a we nose and we hands and feet and we thoughts. Because it becomes about this fitly joined body. This idea that we are connected together, that there's something powerful and unique that happens when we begin to live as a fitly joined body. But if we walk in the light, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship we have relationship, we have community, one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. [00:09:06]

We are of the same kind. We are like Christ taking all of us, every culture, every language, every individual. And dumping us in this blender and mixing us all up together because we are one of the same kind. I think it was Pastor Des Evans who said, we're not a bag of marbles, but we are a cluster of grapes. I think we've preached on grapes before. How grateful we are, thankful we are, when we understand there are great things that we can do to make this world a better place for us. And we are grapes in the kingdom of God, that we are a cluster. [00:10:48]

Or she steps on my toes. And isn't it interesting what happens if I try to just go off and do my own thing and myself, and we're out of step, out of rhythm, out of pace. So when the Bible calls us to connection as the body, there's this interesting idea that God is saying, I want you to be a fitly joined body to the point that you're connected. You're engaged in symbibazo, interdependently connected with the same pace, as if the Apostle Paul is saying, there's going to be some in the body of Christ that will want to check out, that want to do their own thing. [00:14:09]

They'll want to do their own thing. And Paul even addresses it in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 21, when he talks about, the eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you. Isn't that intriguing? The eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you. Nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Because we need one another. It's as if Paul's addressing this idea that sometimes Christ followers, and I know I may be entering your safe space today, but there are some Christians who almost promote the idea that God is a fitly joined body to the point that you're connected. That they don't need the body of Christ. [00:15:01]

No, because there is connection from whom the whole body fitly joined together, belonging, and compacted, connected by that which every joint supplies, connection, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part. Write this down, contribution. A fitly joined body contributes to one another. And look at that idea there, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part. According to the effectual working. I love that idea. It's the idea of energeio in the Greek. Effectual working. Energy. [00:18:05]

You can hear that in the Greek, energeio. Energy. It's the effectual energy working in the measure, metron, of every part. You're measuring the activation and the efficiency of every part. So we become a fitly joined body according to the energeio, the energy of every part that's activated and working efficiently. Contribution. Those people who say, you know, I don't need a church family. I don't need to be part of a church body. They don't understand the idea that they are missing out on contribution. [00:18:59]

I need you to help me grow. You need me to help you grow. There's something powerful that happens when we engage in one another's spiritual growth. That's why the Bible tells us that the early church that they met at the temple and they also met from house to house. Because the early Christians not only needed a wonderful, challenging message in the temple, but they needed the spiritual growth and the development, the augmentation of gathering together and meeting together with one another. Did you know there are at least 30 injunctions in Scripture that won't be able to happen unless there is growth and augmentation in gathering and meeting together one with another? [00:22:35]

We also recognize and declare that there's something significant about the smaller group because it creates something significantly beyond the larger celebration and gathering. I don't know if yet we as a community of faith really understand how important the launch of our community groups here at Bethesda is. I don't know if yet we as a community of faith really understand how important the launch of our of those things. Many of you know that the first two weeks of March, we're going to have a registration and integration time into community groups. [00:23:55]

And it was also made up of people or comprised of people from the church who would come as well that were nearby in our, in our community. And so now you have this bubbling, this vibrancy of this, this community group where people are so excited because they've been introduced to Christ. And now people who are gathering on Sunday morning are getting to know people who have never attended on Sunday morning and revival begins to happen because there is this sense of growth or augmentation from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies according to the effectual working and the measure of every part maketh increase of the body unto the edification of itself in love fifth idea is a fitly joined body edifies one another edification simply means to strengthen to build up I grew up in California around redwood trees in fact I graduated from Visalia high school and our motto or our mascot I should say was the Redwood Ranger played on the Redwood Ranger basketball team and and that was the on -ramp for me to play basketball in college and loved that high school but I'm familiar with redwood trees and it's interesting because redwood trees do not withstand windstorms because their roots are deep they don't have deep roots they withstand the wind because their roots spread out and into the wind with the roots of all the redwood trees. [00:27:42]