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We
Are the Body of Christ
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[1 Corinthians 12:12]
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts;
and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ
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Anyone who
believes in Jesus and becomes a child of God makes the following confession.
¡°Jesus is Lord.¡±
He(She) confesses with his(her) own mouth
that Jesus is the Messiah who saved him(her).
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However, those who do not believe
in Jesus as their Savior do not worship God as the only God, but serve false
idols. Also, they can never confess, ¡°Jesus is Lord.¡± On the contrary, there
are those who speak recklessly about Jesus and curse Him.
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A special
and mysterious gift is given to those who believe in Jesus and become
children of God.
The Holy
Spirit gives gifts to the saved children of God.
He gives various gifts to each saved
child of God.
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Gifts
given by the Holy Spirit are called gifts.
Corinthians
tells us what gifts God has bestowed upon each person.
[To one
there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the
message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the
same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another
miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between
spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still
another the interpretation of tongues.]
(1 Corinthians 12:8-10)
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Even if the shapes
of the gifts, which are gifts from the Holy Spirit, are different, all gifts
are from the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit
selects and gives gifts to each person who is absolutely necessary.
Different types of gifts do not make any
difference in the status of children of God.
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Offices
are given according to the gifts.
[And in
the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third
teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those
able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking
in different kinds of tongues.] (1 Corinthians 12:28)
The name
of the position and the work they do are different, but the one they serve is
Jesus.
Everyone who has been given an
office from God serves to accomplish the work that Jesus has entrusted to
him.
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Different
gifts show different ways of working.
They
work differently, but it is God who helps and guides it.
Through
all of these things, God is accomplishing the will of God.
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The gifts
that the Holy Spirit gives us as gifts are not something we can receive if we
want to. It's not a given just because you see what others have received and
insist that you have it too. The Holy Spirit directly determines and
distributes what is needed to each person in order to complete the work of the
kingdom of God.
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The Church
of God was established to work together with those who have received the gift
of the Holy Spirit.
There are
people who have been given the gift of preaching the word of God.
Others
have been gifted with the gift of helping and discovering the needs of
others.
Some
people have been given the gift of healing when they pray for others.
People
who have received different gifts come together to build a church that is
pleasing to God.
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Paul
compared the church of God to our bodies when the Holy Spirit gave each
person different gifts.
In
our body, there are parts of the body that perform different functions.
Eyes,
nose, mouth, ears, hands and feet, and countless other parts do the work
entrusted to them in their respective places.
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Imagine if one of those feet said,
"I'm not a hand, so I'm not part of the body." Even if it says so,
the feet can't get away from that part of the body. Also, even if the ears
say, ¡°I am not an eye, so I am not a part of the body,¡± the ear is detached
from the body and cannot do anything independently.
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When all the parts that make up
one body perform their assigned roles without any setbacks, the body will
perform its full role.
The eye can never say to the hand
"You don't need me!" The head can't even tell the feet,
"You're useless to me!" Such a thing is unimaginable and cannot be.
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Outwardly visible parts of the body are
decorated with splendor.
But the more important parts of our body are
invisible to us, but they are working hard.
There are many invisible organs in our body
to sustain our life.
They are neither outwardly visible nor
glamorous.
But if they don't work, we can't survive
even for a second.
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I can live with dignity because every part
of our body has the purpose of honoring me and works faithfully to each role.
In
the same way, the church of God is like a body to exalt Jesus, the head, in
honor.
To
honor Jesus, the Holy Spirit has gifted us with different roles in each of
us.
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We must be faithful and correct
use of the gifts that the Holy Spirit has entrusted to us.
Jesus is honored and glorified when we
recognize all the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given us and others as equal
value and cooperate with each other. By any chance, you should not ignore or
take lightly the work of others because you think that only the work you do
is valuable. It is also wrong to think that only those who do visible things
matter. Together, we should strive to become all of us who are the joy of God
by cooperating with all those who serve one church and valuing each other.
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(This
is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the
conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)
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