Life Groups Study – Week Of 10/11

October 11, 2020

The Unshakable Kingdom Part 6: In Service Of the King

 

My Highlight

On Sunday Lennon preached about being “In Service of The King”. Looking back at your notes from Sunday’s message, what was an important thought for you?

My Story

If there was one human ability you could have with the snap of your fingers—what would it be?

This Is God’s Word

On Sunday we talked about being available to serve the King through things that help build His Kingdom. Today we are going to look at a passage that has to do with each of our places in the church as people who have different giftings and personalities from God:

1 Corinthians 12:12–26

UNITY YET DIVERSITY IN THE BODY

12 For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink. 14 Indeed, the body is not one part but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. 19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. 23 And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, 24 which our respectable parts do not need.

Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

 

Let’s Go Deeper

QUESTION: In verse 12 Paul tries to help us understand how a church (the body of Christ) should work by making a comparison we can all relate to: For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. What are some characteristics of a healthy body that we should also see in a church?

2 QUESTIONS: In 1 Cor 12:15-17, Paul says, If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

Why do you we tend to value the gifts of others as being more important and significant than our own?

What negative side effects could come from believing we don’t belong because we do not look or function in the same way as others do?

QUESTION: Paul makes a statement about God that should go a long way in causing us to appreciate our own place, and the place of others, in His body (the church). He says in verse 18 that …as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. What effect should this understanding have on the way we view ourselves and others?

QUESTION: Look at verses 24-26: God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. In the Kingdom of God there are no ‘cool kids’—there is no in crowd or out crowd. What might it look like to suffer with someone who is suffering? Or to rejoice with someone being honored?

Let’s Pray

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