Intro to Message:

• Journeying through the epistles talking about Christian Living
• I want to talk to you about “A Body that Works”
• My body:
  • Shoulder injury
  • Elbow injury 
  • Achilles heel
• We get frustrated when a body doesn’t function, small things can inhibit the body from being fully engaged. In the same way, if the body of Christ isn’t working properly, we don’t see the true power of the body of Christ. 
• The Corinthians were curious about spiritual gifts.
  • They wanted to the ecstatic experience. 
  • They didn’t know what the gifts were for
• The way to understand the gifts
  • The Father is working
  • The Son is serving
  • The Spirit is empowering

Passage:

1 Corinthians 12:1–7 (NLT) — 1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

Three ways the body works

1. The GIFTS of the Spirit 
   1. The Body works best when it is empowered by the Holy Spirit
   2. A gift is given to each of us! You are not left out of this grand design
   3. Here is a list of 9 
      1. Word of wisdom
         1. Joseph/Solomon
         2. I’ve seen this gift operate through God’s people
      2. Word of knowledge 
         1. Daniel/Jesus seeing Nathaniel
         2. Gary’s hand being healed
      3. Gift of faith
         1. Abraham and Sarah
         2. George Muller
      4. Gift of healing 
         1. New Testament full of them
         2. Godson and Lillian Lusk
         3. Praying for stomach tumor
      5. Working of miracles
         1. 5000 fed
         2. Often for provision
      6. Word of prophecy
         1. Agabus in New Testament
         2. Ray McCauley 
      7. Discernment of spirits
         1. Paul in Philippi
         2. Dad with revival
      8. Tongues
         1. Acts 2
      9. Interpretation of tongues 
   4. Your job
      1. Learn your gift - Pray about it, when you grow in relationship with Holy Spirit, you will instinctively know
      2. Use your gift - Don’t just hope you have one, and sit on the sidelines, let that gift become active
      3. Desire more gifts - 1 Corinthians 14 says we can ask for the gifts
   5. Why do we have the gifts? - For the common good! 
      1. Charles Spurgeon and the bank note on the wall
2. The SERVICE of the Son
   1. Jesus came doing acts of service
   2. Mark 10:45 (NASB95) — 45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
   3. Let’s look at the way the human heart serves the rest of the body
      1. Beats 200 million times a year, 2 trillion every ten years, 16 trillion times.
      2. It serves every part of the body before it serves itself
      3. It doesn’t discriminate who it serves
      4. It quietly and invisibly does it part
      5. It is faithful and consistent and the whole body is grateful 
      6. It works harder when the rest of the body is suffering
      7. THIS IS HOW CHRIST SERVES
   4. Funny story about kids asking which human organ would make you die?
   5. The body of Christ works best
      1. When each member serves each member (acts of service)
      2. When each member doesn’t need recognition for every service.
      3. When each member does it’s function without pride
      4. When each member rejoices and weeps with each member
   6. Your job
      1. Do your function
      2. Appreciate every function 
      3. Pray for our missing functions
3. The WORKS of the Father
   1. The Spirit gives gifts, The Son gives service, and the Father has works. 
      1. Three examples
      2. The working of Creation 
         1. Spirit gave power
         2. Son gave the word
         3. Father orchestrated the work
      3. The working of Redemption 
         1. Spirit gave conception
         2. Son gave His life
         3. Father worked redemption 
      4. The working of Salvation 
         1. Spirit convicted of sin 
         2. Son paid the price
         3. Father worked salvation 
   2. The gifts make sense when they are serving the body, and the body makes a difference when it is serving the Father. 
   3. The greatest question the church can ask and mobilize towards is “What is the Father doing!?”
   4. What we KNOW He’s doing
      1. Saving the world  (MISSIONS is Huge)
      2. Preparing a bride for His Son (DISCIPLESHIP is Huge)

If we want to be a church that lasts another 60 years

• Stay filled with the Spirit 
• Serve one another and the world 
• Keep the works of the Father front and center!