V12 – Paul will use the body analogy to make this point today- ONE BODY HAS MANY PARTS, BUT THE MANY PARTS FORM ONE BODY – We are a church of 500+ individual family units, but in each family unit there are several individuals that make up the family – so, let’s say we have somewhere between 1500-1700 individuals, men, women, children that form what we know as Restoration Church – Restoration is ONE BODY with MANY PARTS – Just down the road is Church at Woodforest – not sure how many families make up the church, but let’s assume that they have roughly the same number of families, so, their 1500-1700 individuals make up The Church at Woodforest – but now think about Restoration, Church at Woodforest, Lake Church, Hope Church, Grand Central, Collective, Freedom, First Baptist, Fellowship of Montgomery, Stonebridge, WoodsEdge, Faith – SEVERAL INDIVIDUAL BODIES that make up ONE BODY, ONE CHURCH

We can break this down in an infinite number of ways, but the point is this: the individual, while important, is not the point – the individual serves the “common good” or the greater ARE NOT THE POINT, BUT A PART OF THE BIGGER POINT

V13 – “Baptized by Spirit…” – words of Jesus in Acts 1:4-8 – this is COMMON to all believers – when you said yes to Jesus, you received the Spirit of Jesus on the inside of you – Luke 24:49, you were clothed with POWER, Acts 1:8, you received the POWER of the Holy Spirit – He says Jews and Gentiles, slave and free all drink from the same Spirit – we can say that Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Assemblies of God, all who confess Jesus as Lord are drinking from the cup of ONE SPIRIT

V14 – This speaks to diversity in the body – He is making the point he made earlier in 1 Corinthians 12 – Each has been given a gift, not the same gift, but a complementary gift that serves the common good – ONE SPIRIT for all, but the ONE SPIRIT is activating the individual gift to support the body – Ephesians 2:10, Jesus is the activator of your giftedness

V15-17– The human body is God’s most intricate creation – think about how each part of your body is working interdependently right now – your heart is beating, you’re breathing in and out, you are seeing, hearing, smelling, thinking about a variety of things ALL AT THE SAME TIME, and each function is needed – The eye is not more important than the ear, the foot, which stays covered most of the time, is not less important than the hand – ever heard the phrase, “he’s all thumbs?” It means the person is awkward and clumsy – we need BOTH fingers and thumbs – Paul is clearly using humor here to make a point –

V18-20- God placed every part of the body EXACLTY where it is needed to fulfill its purpose – so, that means that you are EXACTLY WHERE YOU NEED TO BE, and YOU ARE NEEDED TO MAKE UP THE BODY – if you are not living if your giftedness, our body is incomplete – MANY PARTS, ONE BODY

V21 – A couple of thoughts here: I broke both arms in a basketball game in 2008, and became painfully aware for a few months of my need for my arms – was with a friend on Friday night that wears hearing aids because he can’t hear without them – another friend told me yesterday that she lost taste and smell from COVID recently, and she is a chef and makes spices, so it is really impacting her ability to create – Spiritual narcissism tells you that you are God’s gift to the body, when really, you are just a part of a bigger picture – to say, “I don’t need you” is to say you know better than the one who created the body

V22-25 - Again, think remote battery – It’s not a selling point for the truck, they didn’t talk about it during the test drive, yet without it the TRUCK DOESN’T RUN – Yesterday, did memorial service for Jeff Morris’ mom – the gifts were on display – Jaylynn Park sang and Terri Bishop played piano – was beautiful – but Zach Morrow was sitting at the sound board in the back making sure they could be heard (by the way, often the only time we notice AV is when something goes wrong – thanks Andy Davis), and Leann Francis spent countless hours with the family, on the program and video slide show – Often worship leaders, instrumentalist are celebrated while the tech team is unrecognized – livestream happens every week by a group of guys huddled in a back room – Michael Wells, Tim Burke, Sam McCabe

I also thought about Brandon and Rhea Hill who are behind the scenes GLUE and Under Over Fellowship – or Tony Obrien, Mitch Hall, Kevin Smythe, so many other men who have worked out in the heat this summer serving on our parking team – Dee Myers who serves in children’s ministry putting together children’s curriculum every week, or her husband Stan who faithfully leads our safety team – Rich and Amy Garcia, who make sure you have free drip coffee ready for you every Sunday morning, or Troy Schleiker, who mans the door and greets faithfully at 8am – Tracy Davis, who makes sure we have chair out for overflow at 945, and that they are put away for 1130 – Damon and Kim Collins, who regularly are practicing the ministry of the unnoticed by setting up, tearing down for all the events that happen throughout the week – I could go on, but just a reminder that EVERY PART IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE UP ONE BODY

V26 – Paul says we suffer together and we rejoice together – If you hit your thumb with a hammer, does the rest of your body just move on independently? NO – the whole body HURTS – Romans 12:15, Paul says it – Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn –

V27 – You are part of the bigger picture – so important that we are all on the same page – why is the church losing ground in our culture? Because we are not on the same page, each living for own agenda – It’s GOD’S AGENDA, ONE BODY – You are a PART of SOMETHING BIGGER

V28 – List here moves from offices to individual giftings – apostles, prophets and teachers are more role oriented while healing, helping, guidance and tongues are more individual gifting – not an exhaustive list, and not the point – he makes the point in the next couple of verses

V29-30 – These are rhetorical questions, and the answer is NO- No one person has ALL THE GIFTS, so we NEED EACH OTHER – ad, as a body, we are incomplete if you are not living into your giftedness

V31 – Out of context, this would seem to contradict the point of the passage – “Your smaller gift is enough, but desire something greater!” Yet coupled with, “Yet I will show you the most excellent way…” sets us up for chapter 13, which means Paul is going to tell us what is most important

Closing Points:
1. The body of Christ is INCOMPLETE without YOU. Your unique gifting is essential to accomplishing the mission of both Restoration, and the greater body of Christ to change the world.

2. LIVE in the POWER of WE, not the POWER of ME. This is the Lebron James factor. Greatest player our generation, but only as good as his teammates. Lost in Cleveland for years, teamed up with Wade and Bosh to win championships, went back to Cleveland, needed Kyrie Irving, in LA, he needs AD – but those teams needed role players to win championships – 2015-16, Matthew Delladova, Iman Schumpert