What Happens to a Church When Christ is Not Center One Spirit, One Body, Most Excellent Way 1 Corinthians 12

What Happens to a Church When Christ is Not Center

One Spirit, One Body, Most Excellent Way

1 Corinthians 12

There are a lot of needs in the world around us

and all the work done can never reach beyond good

Only as we bring people into the One Body of Christ

can we start to see the process of excellence

You can gain the whole world

but if you lose your soul than what do you have?

God’s work has always been done by the Spirit,

the gifts that sanctify our spirit, soul and body

As much as doing a good job brings pride

and we should be proud of good

Excellence can only be accomplished when

we like Jesus model humility, He laid down His life

That takes LOVE

Without love we have nothing

Don’t forget the way to excellence is through One Spirit to One Body

Don’t be ignorant and be influenced by many things

Good is the enemy of Excellence

Desire Spiritual Gifts

But in all you do, do all in love

One Spirit, One Body, Most Excellent Way

1 Corinthians 12

When was the last time you used the word “Excellent”.

It feels good to be a part of something that is excellent.

The ladder of life for many is too hard to climb to the top.

Starting at poor, than average,

good and at the top is excellent.

Paul wanted the Corinthians, as well as,

you and I to know the way to the “Most Excellent”.

  How do we find the way?

Ignorance will never produce excellence?

You have to have the right influence.

The way to excellence is focused.

 There are a lot of things that influence our decisions,

each influence effects the way we go and the outcome.

Paul spends a lot of time showing us

that there is one way to excellence.

There is “One Spirit”.

It is not that there are not other spirits

because there are, but when it comes to

excellence there is only One Spirit.

The human spirit and demonic

spirits cannot achieve excellence.

We give out many awards for excellence,

for the accomplishments of the human spirit.

But those awards are only good in

comparison to the Way of Excellence.

The Holy Spirit always leads us

to the Lordship of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit leads us in truth.

John 16:13

There are 3 things to the way of Excellence…

Work, Service and Gifting.

There are different kinds of working,

but the same God works all of them in all men.

From the beginning we see God working…

 He created the heavens and the earth.

 Jesus said…

 “My Father is always at work to this very day”

John 5:17

The Work of God is always going on in the earth.

There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

 

Jesus has always been the model of a servant.

Although Jesus is God and Lord of lords

He took on the nature of a servant.  

Philippians 2:5-11

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.

The Holy Spirit gives us the gifts we need.

Those gifts are to help us serve,

like Jesus, and work, like God.

All God the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit

do is for the common good.

As they work together, we too, are to

do the same in order to see excellence.

When one of my rental properties has an

issue or need, I must be willing to work.

I also must have a heart to serve, a heart that wants

to provide the best living for my tenants as I can.

 Before I go to the property, I go to the garage

to get the best tools I will need for the job,

without the tools I can’t serve or work.

   

Just like God is one, we too, must have a willingness to work,

have a heart to serve and the tools to get the job done right.

There is One Spirit where we get the

empowerment, the tools, to do a job of excellence.

There is One Body.

There are a lot of organizations, programs,

families, but if it is not a part of the

One Body it will never be excellent.

We can do a lot of good works, but only

what builds up the Body of Christ is excellent.

 

Why? Because every need known to

man is meet through Jesus Christ.

When Jesus comes back He is coming for only

one thing, His Body, everything else will be destroyed.

Excellence always has an everlasting value,

 it is not temporary.

The Body of Christ is not perfect, it never has

been and will not be perfect until Christ returns.

The Body of Christ is made of people

who have given their lives to Christ…

Who have been bought with the price

of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.

The way to excellence is work.

 God’s work is humbling service as modeled

by Jesus who laid down His life in servanthood.

The way to excellence, desires the greater

gifts of the Holy Spirit in order to meet more

than a natural need, but eternal needs.

There are a lot of needs in the world around us

and all the work done can never reach beyond good.

Only as we bring people into the One Body of

Christ can we start to see the process of excellence.

You can gain the whole world, but if you

lose your soul than what do you have?

God’s work has always been done by the Spirit,

the gifts that sanctify our spirit, soul and body.

As much as doing a good job brings pride

and we should be proud of good…

 Excellence can only be accomplished when we,

like Jesus, model humility, He laid down His life.

That takes LOVE.

Without love we have nothing.

Don’t forget the way to excellence

is through One Spirit to One Body.

Don’t be ignorant and be influenced by many things.

Good is the enemy of excellence.

Desire Spiritual Gifts.

Paul ends Chapter 12 with…

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

This is a lead into Chapter 13…

The Love Chapter.

We can get all the mechanics of Chapter 12,

 but without love we will never reach excellence.

Scripture Reading

1 Corinthians 12 NIV

12:1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 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.   11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

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. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one 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!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 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. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And now I will show you the most excellent way.