Week 3, Day 4: Serve the World by Serving the Church.

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; 1 Peter 4:10; Ephesians 4:16

God chose to use the church as the vehicle to advance His Kingdom.  The church is his body, his bride, and his plan to reach the lost and change the world. The local church has a greater chance to change a community than anything else on the planet. That is the calling of the local church: to transform the community where it resides.

Switch gears for a moment.  The human body is an amazing thing.  It’s mind boggling when you think about all of the different parts of the body and how all of those different parts must work together in order for the body to function.  Think about all of the bones, muscles, joints, arteries, organs, and all of the other parts of the body: each part different and unique yet invaluable to the whole.  Without each part doing what it was designed to do, the body would fail to function or become sick.  A malfunction to just one small seemingly insignificant part could cause disaster to the entire body.  On the other hand, when all the parts are functioning properly, the human body is a truly complex and magnificent thing capable of tremendous accomplishments.  The key is that the body must maintain health by every part supplying and contributing what it was made to do.

Paul compared the church to a body in Ephesians.  As a matter of fact he actually said that the church is a body, the body of Christ.  Paul tells us that Jesus is indeed the head and that “the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”  There are several truths that we can glean from this verse.  First, that Jesus is the one who holds the church together and causes it to function the way that He designed it to function.  Second, that each one of us has a part to play in causing the body to be built up.  That’s right, every single one of us has something to contribute.  God designed each one of us in a unique way and gave us gifts that the rest of the body would need.  The key is to figure out where you fit and then go for it.  The body needs you!! Third, we learn that the body can only be truly healthy when each part is contributing.  That means that by not stepping in and using our gifts, we could actually hinder the body from performing at maximum capacity.

At Grace we want every member to be serving on a ministry team. Look around and find a ministry that fits your gift. It could be teaching children, rocking babies, welcoming guests, leading a small group, singing in the choir, running sound, etc.

I want to encourage you to begin to look at the church as a body and ask the question am I contributing what God has placed inside of me?  Am I helping this church to become all that God intends her to be or am I sitting on the sidelines?  I know that God has some amazing things in store for us as a church.  To make this happen, we need what you have.