Verse of the Day - weekend 1/16

Through the Bible - Genesis 39-44, Matthew 13:24-58

 

Good morning,

This week I've been made aware of several prayer requests and praises from friends that I know through different circles in church, from small group, Bible study, to friends that I know through church.  When you go through times of difficulty, sorrow, as well as times of joy, it's good to have such a family that we can share those times with.

 

1 Corinthians 12 relates the life of the church to the body.  All parts are needed as the body functions together as a unit.  If one part hurts another part may help compensate for the pain or loss of function.  All may not have the same gift or roll in the church, but all play an important part.

 

For today's verse we'll go to 1 Corinthians 12 to see what Paul has to say about life in the church, in the body of Christ.

1 Cor 12:25-27  The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.   (from THE MESSAGE)
or verse 26 from the Amplified Bible:

²⁶And if one member suffers, all the parts [share] the suffering; if one member is honored, all the members [share in] the enjoyment of it.

 

Notice how The Message puts it " If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. "  When someone hurts, are you involved in the hurt and the healing?  What are some of the ways that you can do so?

 

Looking back over my life and the trials of our son Jeff's car accident and Jason's brain tumor, we were thankful for the help and support of pur families, that is our family and our church family.  They not only help at the time but bring some good memories out of bad situations.  Many times lasting relationships are cultivated through such times.

 

John Piper writes, "The New Testament knows of no Christians who are not accountable members of local churches in the sense that we have just seen. "Lone-Ranger Christians" are a contradiction because becoming a Christian means being united to Christ, and union with Christ expresses itself in union with a local body of believers. It seems to us that in the New Testament, to be excluded from the local church was to be excluded from Christ. This is why the issue of membership is so important. "

 

I'm reminded of  a song from the "little church" I grew up in.

 

The Family of God

 

I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God

You will notice we say "brother and sister" 'round here,
It's because we're a family and these are so near;
When one has a heartache, we all share the tears,
And rejoice in each victory in this family so dear.

Chorus

From the door of an orphanage to the house of the King,
No longer an outcast, a new song I sing;
From rags unto riches, from the weak to the strong,
I'm not worthy to be here, but PRAISE GOD! I belong!

I hope that you are part of such a family.

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com

1 Cor 12:13-27
 Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain — his Spirit — where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves — labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free — are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.

 

I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

 

But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out"? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way — the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it's a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

 

The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

 

You are Christ's body — that's who you are! You must never forget this.    The Message