Getting To "It" - Part 3 - Authentic Christian Community

Written by Ed Allen
Sunday, 26 October 2008 09:00

Get In The Mix - Christian Community

Sermon Notes

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

¹²The 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. ¹³For 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.

¹⁴Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. ¹⁵If 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. ¹⁶And 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. ¹⁷If 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? ¹⁸But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" ²²On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴while 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, ²⁵so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

When we consistently choose to live the life of Jesus with and for one another, we build community.

1. We were made for community, but we don't have it.

A. Societal factors that contribute to an absence of community.

• Time and money pressures
• Suburbanization and commuting
• Electronic entertainment, especially TV
• Generational change

B. Spiritual factors that contribute an absence of community.

• Our sin!
  • We make toxic choices that damage our relationship with God and with others.
    • Holding on to anger
    • Pursuing lust
    • Pursuing material possessions
    • ...

2. To have community, we have to choose it.

Why choose authentic Christian community?

• God exists in community.
• It is what we are in Christ.
• It is who we are by nature.
• It is what the Lord wants for us.
• It is what the Lord calls us to be.
• It is how we bare witness to God's love for us.

3. So, what is "It"?... What is Authentic Christian Community?

Authentic Christian Community can be defined as a group of people who live the life of Jesus with and for one another sharing their lives and resources in a way that is loving, interdependent and radically open to others.

A group of people who live the life of Jesus with and for one another...

• This phrase says something powerful about who we are!
  • It means we are identified with a Christian group!
    • "Though one can be overpowered, two can defend themselves. But a cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12
  • It means we are identified with Christ.
    • To live the life of Jesus means to obey Him. Our decisions will be determined primarily by our connection to Him!
• It also says something powerful about how we function!
  • We live dependent on his power.
    • We are not people who are driven by fear or anger or a host of other things that drive most of us apart from Jesus Christ and this type of connection.
    • We are driven by a connection to Christ and we are learning increasingly how to live that out.
  • We give what he does in us to others.
    • All He does in us flows through us to others.
    • Whatever happens in me does not happen so that I feel better or more fulfilled. Whatever happens in me does not primarily happen so that I can live a more purposeful life.
    • What happens in me happens so that God can spread it through me to others.