building-up-the-body
Click on the above link to download the slideshow “Building Up The Body Of Christ†(347 KB)
Preview:-
We are all part of the Body of Christ.
“The body” is a metaphoric concept. The body is a key concept in Paul’s writings, and it it used to tell us a lot about the church.
Ephesians 4:11 – It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service,so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
In the church, everyone must work at building up the body of Christ.
There are at least three ways that we can take building up the body of Christ. The body of Christ is individual Christians. We must work to build up each follower of Christ. As a minister, I think of the church in congregational terms. We build up the body of Christ when we help the local church to function properly. The third way we build up the body of Christ is when we help the church to function on a world wide basis. Helping spread the gospel internationally, or ministering to the needs of others in distant countries-people that we may have never met- is building up the body of Christ.
In some ways, people on the church staff have a great idea of the contributions that people make to building up the body. When I hear how someone has taken care of someone else; when I see people come to the church building and use their talents, when young people shovel the snow so older people can come in safely, when teachers prepare their lessons so that others can learn, when people build each other up in many, many ways, the church is functioning as God intended it.
Christ is the conquering hero or emperor who ascends to his throne. In Psalms, the king, receives gifts. In Ephesians, the conquerer gives gifts to men. Specifically, there are five groups of people who are given as gifts, Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
The result is that the body of Christ might be built up until we all reach unity n the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. In other words, the goal of using our talents is to contribute to the overall growth of the church. We want to use our talents to work toward unity, until we are mature and act like Christ in his fullness.
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Qu:- Are you contributing in any way to the growth and development of the church?
Ans:- Many people seem to think that the church exists to serve them. Yes, the church should meet our needs, but the words of Jesus still ring true, “the son of man came not to be served, but to serve.” I am not asking, “Are the leaders of the church doing their jobs?” I am asking, “What are you doing to build up the body of Christ?”
If you haven’t been helping-Its time to start! I might refine the question a little….
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Qu:- What mundane things can you do to help individuals or the church?
Ans:- It doesn’t have to be something great and glorious. It can be as simple as taking a cup of soup to someone who needs it, making a phone call, picking up trash around the church ground, listening to the needs of a friend.
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Qu:- What special talents do you have that you can offer to build up the body of Christ?
Ans:- God doesn’t give us talents just for our own glory. If you have been blessed with a great intellect-don’t use it to show off-use it to help others. If have some great talent-thank God for it and put it to use in helping others. In doing so, you are helping to build up the body of Christ.
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