WE are the Church

Pastor Alan Hannah

June 11 & 12, 2022

²⁷All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. [1 Corinthians 12:27 NLT]

Following Jesus demands action as part of the body of Christ, through the local church.

⁴Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. ⁵John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” [Acts 1:4-5 NLT]

⁴¹Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. [Acts 2:41 NLT]

Church = Ekklesia [Greek]

• Ek meaning “out from and to”
• Kaleo meaning “to call”

Church = A people called out of the world and to God.

1. Individuals as the Church
2. The Local Church
3. The Global Church
   

¹²The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. ¹³Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

¹⁴Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. ¹⁵If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

¹⁸But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. ¹⁹How strange a body would be if it had only one part! ²⁰Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. ²¹The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

²²In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. ²³And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, ²⁴while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. ²⁵This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. ²⁶If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

 ²⁷All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. [1 Corinthians 12:12-27 NLT]

¹¹Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹²Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. [Ephesians 4:11-12 NLT]

Following Jesus demands action as part of the body of Christ, through the local church.