The Body of Christ: Gifted, United, and Loving (Part 1)
1 Corinthians 12.4-31; 13.13
One of the recurring dangers that we've seen in these recent sermons is that we take God's Word and make it about ourselves or our relationships with other people. For example, when we think about the fruit of the Spirit—like love, joy, peace, kindness, etc.—we are tempted to focus on how we need to be more loving, joyful, peaceful, kind, etc., without first considering God's love, joy, peace, and kindness.
This same danger applies as we focus on spiritual gifts, the unity of the church, and the need to love one another. Of course, God wants us to use our gifts, to be agents of unity, and to be expressions of his love so that we can edify others. But this is only possible because God has first loved us by uniting us to himself. Similar to what we saw last week, God's love is so radical: how could such a holy and eternal God unite us to himself when we are his own creation and are wickedly sinful before him? As we grow deeper in our appreciation for God's love and unity, we are then able to be used by God to edify others.
The sermon will focus on a passage from 1 Corinthians, which is a letter that Paul wrote to the church in the city of Corinth. Apparently, the church was very gifted; but there were also many problems of disunity and jealousy. Paul addresses this problem by reminding them that every gift and person of the church is important because the church represents Jesus's own body. Paul also reminds them that they are all united as Jesus's one body because of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, out of all of the exciting gifts that God has given them, the best gift is love.
Questions:
1. Read 1 Corinthians 12.4-31; 13.13 together and review your sermon notes. Share with one another what the Spirit might have been placing on your heart through the sermon.
2. The sermon stressed the importance of remembering how God has first loved us by uniting us to himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ before we think about being expressions of unity and love to others. Why is it so important that our efforts to love and unify are based on the fact that God first loved us and unified us to himself?
What does it mean to you personally that God loved you by uniting you to himself?
3. One evidence of the Holy Spirit is the unity among believers of Christ. This unity goes beyond our natural abilities to get along with others based on compliant personalities, common interests, etc. Share about a time when you experienced the kind of unity that can only come from the Holy Spirit.
4. Out of all of the gifts (e.g., wisdom, miracles, healing, prophecy, etc.), it is love that is the greatest. In what ways does this surprise you?
What does this say about the character of God?
5. Take a moment to ask the Spirit how he can either: (1) use your gift to encourage someone, (2) use you to be an agent of unity, and/or (3) use you to be an expression of God's love. Share with one another and pray that the Spirit will empower everyone to take this step of obedience.
