WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:00.640 It's gonna work. 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:02.799 Alright, well you can uh open your Bibles right now. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:04.879 We're gonna get into uh God's word. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:10.480 Excited to do that uh with you as we jump into uh a brand new series here. 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:12.640 First Corinthians chapter 12. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:14.880 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:16.640 You can turn there now. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:22.960 Now, we've all heard the phrase before that um, you know, I could take it or leave it. 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:23.440 Right? 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:24.399 You ever heard that before? 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:26.239 You've probably uttered that phrase before. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:30.160 Uh maybe that's how you feel about Italian food. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:30.480 Right? 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:34.880 I don't know how you could possibly feel about that about it like that, because Italian food's amazing. 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:42.960 Uh, but some people are just like, meh, you know, either way, you know, I could do with or I could do uh without, or maybe that's how you feel about like going to the movies on a Saturday night. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:48.560 That could be fun, but I could also, you know, stay home and watch something, or do something else. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:50.640 You know, I'd be fine either way. 00:00:50.960 --> 00:01:03.920 Well, that that take it or leave it mindset and you know attitude is the is the very place that many professing Christians are when it comes to the church. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:04.480 Right? 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:05.280 I don't know. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:08.159 I I don't know if I really need the church all that much. 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:11.920 You know, again, I could I could take it or leave it. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:12.400 Right? 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:29.040 And that approach really what that does is it conveys a lack of understanding of and commitment to something that God wants all of us, all of his children, to be 100% all in committed to. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:30.719 That's what he wants. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:35.439 And so today, as I said, we're gonna be starting our new series over the next seven weeks. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:36.799 We're gonna be going through this. 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:39.439 It's called Uncommon Community. 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:53.840 We're gonna be highlighting really the kind of the kinds of relationships and fellowship and the community that that we believe that God wants to build here as Harvest Bible Chapel. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:57.920 These are the kind of relationships that we want to have and we want to go after. 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:01.519 Now, you might be thinking, why the word uncommon? 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:02.079 Right? 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.879 Why would you use the word uncommon? 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:11.680 Well, because listen, because there is simply nothing like the church when the church is clicking. 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:13.120 There is nothing like it. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:15.439 You're not gonna find it anywhere else. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:25.840 You know, the sense of the sense of purpose, the sense of belonging, the life-giving relationships, the joy that can be found here, the healing and the growth in your life. 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:31.840 God's power and presence is found here when the church is in a great place. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.919 And let me tell you this, you flatter will not find that anywhere else. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:46.560 You're not gonna find it at the Lion's Club, you're not gonna find it with your yoga friends, you're not gonna find it with your, you know, your motorcycle buddies or at the local bar. 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:54.319 Now listen, some of you might be tempted to think, well, I actually think I have found better community outside of the church. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:03:01.919 And I think that I have experienced those things outside of these walls and outside of these people. 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:04.639 And here's what I would say to you if you've experienced that. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:08.719 It just means that you have not experienced the church the way God intends it. 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:10.159 That's really it right there. 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:16.400 And that's really a sad uh commentary on the way things sometimes go uh in the church. 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:19.919 All right, so it's uncommon because it's unique. 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:23.520 It's uncommon because it's it's special. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:31.599 You know, uh, you know, a community so amazing that, you know, a take it or or leave it attitude is nowhere to be seen. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:44.719 Because God is here, and because God is at work, and because people truly love each other and we're welcoming to people, and we are investing each other in a way that, again, you can't find any anywhere else, right? 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:50.719 The kind of culture that people see and they and they see the relationships that are happening here, and they're like, Man, I want in on that. 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:53.039 I want to be a part of that too. 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:55.280 And so that's why we're doing this series. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.280 I think it is timely, I think it is great. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:01.120 I am looking forward to seeing how the Lord works in my heart. 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:14.319 I'm looking forward to seeing how the Lord works in your heart as well, and completely uh rejuvenating and transforming the way our local church here moves and operates and cares for each other. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:24.480 And so this series, it actually comes uh out of something that they did at Harvest in Chicago, and our small groups uh throughout this series are gonna be working through this uncommon community uh workbook. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:30.879 We're gonna be going through the seven chapters and the seven sermons are going to be um kind of in line with all of that. 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:35.600 And so it's kind of a different thing than what we normally do with our pulpit curriculum, but I'm excited about it. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:40.959 Excited about looking at how we can truly love each other and glorify the Lord in all of this. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:49.040 All right, so this is kind of the first, this is kind of the intro talk, and then we're gonna look at a lot of the one another verses uh as we go from here, right? 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:50.319 So it's gonna be a great series. 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:51.279 I'm really pumped about this. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:52.319 Let's read it right now. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:53.600 Let's get into God's word. 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:59.279 So this is 1 Corinthians 12, starting in verse 12 and reading down to verse 27. 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:08.399 It says, For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.000 For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:16.240 Jews are Greeks, slaves are free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:19.439 For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:24.800 If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:31.040 And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:34.319 If the whole body were an eye, where would the where would be the sense of hearing? 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:36.959 If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:42.000 But as it is, God arranged the members of the body, each one of them, as he chose. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:45.360 If we were all a single member, where would the body be? 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.720 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:54.720 The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:58.639 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:10.560 And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bes we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:23.360 But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:25.759 If one member suffers, all suffer together. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:28.800 If one member is honored, all rejoice together. 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:35.040 Now, you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:48.639 God, we thank you for uh what we believe will be a powerful and life-shaping, transformational uh time as we spend the next seven weeks getting into your word and looking at what is the kind of church that you want to build, Lord. 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:54.240 Lord, we know that you want to build a church that glorifies you, and we know that we want to build a church that honors you. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:58.720 And Lord, we're excited to look at what are the specific things that get towards that goal. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:05.199 And so, Lord, as we look at um today the idea that we need each other. 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:07.120 Lord, we need each other as the church. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:10.720 Life is not meant to be, you know, lived in isolation. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:19.839 God, I pray that we would understand this, that we would take this to heart, Lord, that we would desire change and desire growth and desire your glory above our own. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:22.720 Lord, would you make your word come alive? 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:23.600 Here we pray. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:25.839 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:26.959 Amen. 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:30.480 All right, so you are not an island. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:32.000 You are not an island. 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:40.399 That is the title here this morning, and it's meaning, as I just said, that life is not meant to be lived in isolation. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:42.240 We need each other. 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:43.439 We need each other. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:45.759 And I heard this before, I think this is really good. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.959 Life is inescapably relational. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:51.680 Life is inescapably relational. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:08:02.399 Now, the challenge that many of us have kind of deep down in our hearts, and maybe it even comes up to the surface quite a bit with you, the challenge is that we tend to lean away from all of that, don't we? 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:19.199 We tend to kind of back away and think that, no, I don't need other people, and we hold people and we hold, you know, the church even at arm's length, and we try to keep them out here, and I'm I'm good enough on my own, and uh I could take it or leave it. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:19.680 Right? 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:20.879 And why do we do that? 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:27.040 Well, we do that because relationships and investing in other people is hard work, right? 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:31.120 And it is messy at times, and it can get you know very complicated. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:45.279 Or again, maybe it's because you know we live in such an individualistic society where it's like this, you know, the lone ranger mentality, the, you know, I can do it my way and you know, I can do it by myself, and I don't need any help, whatever. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:53.600 That that mindset is is so encouraged and so celebrated and so ingrained in us uh that we've bought right in. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:54.080 Right? 00:08:54.159 --> 00:09:07.039 And we all you know erect fences in our backyard, and we all you know drive home after work and shut the garage door and go home, and we often isolate ourselves and we don't think about communion, and we often don't think uh that we need it. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:13.200 Okay, so what we need to learn here today, today, is that I need the church and the church needs me. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:15.759 I need the church and the church needs me. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.960 It's believing that we're better together. 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:25.279 We're better together, not on my own, not doing my own thing, but with other followers of Jesus Christ. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:26.960 I mean, that's certainly God's plan for us. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:28.000 All right, it really is. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:30.720 After all, through Christ, I am the church, right? 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:32.559 I am the church, we all are. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:35.360 And that's really the first thing as we jump into this. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:36.720 You'll see it in your notes. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:49.039 Now, a mindset that's really easy for us uh to fall into here is the idea that church uh is simply something that exists outside of me, right? 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.679 It's something that I go to. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:56.240 I get up in the morning earlier than I would like to in many cases, right? 00:09:56.399 --> 00:10:06.159 And I I jump in my car and I drag my family and we go to a building, right, uh, that that that we then meet in, right? 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.039 And it's it we can see it as an organization. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:16.879 Um I can get involved in it as much or as little as I want, just kind of like any other club or any other social scene. 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:19.919 Now, while a lot of that is is true, right? 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:22.000 There are you know, Harvest Bible Chapel. 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:24.399 We are an organization, you know, of sorts. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:27.039 You know, we do meet here in a building, and that's important. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:32.960 We come together, and it's you know, it happens once a week at least, you know, that we gather here to worship, right? 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:35.519 We all attend a place, that's why we're here. 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:38.879 Okay, we have to understand that it's so much more than that, right? 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:41.600 That's not the entirety of what church is. 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:45.440 Church isn't just a location or a place, church is the people. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:50.879 Like, church is the people, it's it's you and I as followers of Jesus Christ. 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:51.279 Right? 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:53.039 You and I are the church. 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:59.120 Now, our passage here today, as we've already read it, you've seen it, it describes the church as a body. 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:00.879 It describes the church as a body. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:06.559 We're all we're all parts together operating to make up one uh body. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:09.200 Now, we need to understand that on, I would say, two levels. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:15.600 First of all, we need to understand that on a global body, a global level, right? 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:23.360 All true Christians everywhere make up the worldwide church, the universal church, right? 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:35.200 So you could you know travel to Sri Lanka next week and go run into some Christians, and you're a you have this automatic bond because you are all part of the family of God together, right? 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:40.240 So there is a global level, a global sense in which you know we are the church. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:44.559 But then, of course, we need to understand it on a local level, right? 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:51.840 Every true Christian in this room here together are gathered to make up this local body. 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:54.639 This local body that we call harvest. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:12:00.080 And of course, there are other local churches that meet all around here in this area as well. 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:04.159 And so that the Bible, you have to understand, the Bible kind of teaches both. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:12.639 It teaches that we are all part, all Christians across the world, across time and generations are part of the local worldwide or the worldwide body of Christ. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:20.159 And then it encourages us also in the scriptures to invest, to get involved with a local body, a local body. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:22.320 And I trust that's why you're here. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:25.039 All right, so let's see what this all looks at, looks like. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:26.799 Let's get into uh the verses here. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:28.080 Take a look at verse 12. 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:35.279 Okay, verse 12, he says this, he describes it, he says, for just as the body, okay, so now what he's he's doing is he's actually describing a physical body. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:39.440 Okay, so just think about your body sitting there uh in your chair, okay? 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:50.639 It says, just as the body is one and has many members or parts, okay, and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:57.039 And so now what he does is he jumps into, he begins to describe Christ and his church. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:57.279 Right? 00:12:57.440 --> 00:12:59.360 He just begins to describe you and I. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:03.759 Now, if you want to jot this down, this is a great verse to help you kind of understand how all this works. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:06.480 It's uh uh Colossians 1, verse 18. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:08.000 Colossians 1, 18. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:13.360 In that it says that that Jesus, he is the head of the body, his church. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:14.960 Jesus is the head. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:20.559 So he is, this is the way we want to look at it, he is the leader of his church. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:23.440 He is the captain, if you will, of the team. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:25.919 He is he is the king. 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:27.519 All right, keep going. 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:33.120 It says, for in one spirit we were all, look at that word, baptized into one body. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:39.919 Now, I think what often happens when we think when we see that word baptized, we automatically think of the word, uh we think of water baptism. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:40.240 Right? 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:46.559 We've done a bunch of baptism services before in our church and baptize a number of people, and that's all really exciting, and it's all really good. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.200 However, that's not what this is actually talking about here. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:53.519 It's not saying that you need to be baptized in order to be part of the body of Christ. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:56.879 It's actually referring more to uh salvation. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:57.759 Salvation. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:08.559 When you truly trust Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, okay, you you enter, you are baptized into, you become the body of Christ. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:08.960 Right? 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:10.879 You become the church. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.320 And it says there that that's true, whether you're, well, what does it say? 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:19.360 It says whether you're you're a Jew or a Greek, you're a slave, or you're free. 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:22.480 It says, and we were all made to drink of one spirit. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:33.840 All right, so no matter what your background is, what your ethnicity or your you know social standing, your popularity, your economic status, right? 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:42.080 The family of God, the the body of Christ, the church, it's for anyone who calls on the name of the Lord. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:42.639 Right? 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:46.559 The church is for everybody if you're saved, right? 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:47.279 If you're saved. 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.480 And it says there, if you drink of one's spirit. 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:53.360 Again, this is this is talking about salvation. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:15:02.240 It's referring to salvation and the Holy Spirit that is given to us the moment that we give our lives over to the Lord. 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:02.559 Right? 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:05.919 The Spirit is given to us as a gift in that very moment. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:08.720 Once that happens, you are the body. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:11.679 You are the body of Christ, you are the church. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:31.440 Now, if we can learn to truly buy into that, you know, buy into the reality that the church isn't just you know the pastor, you know, and the elders or the leadership or you know, the ministries and you know, the building and the property and all of that type of thing. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:38.080 It's not just an etern an external entity outside of ourselves, but it's actually you, right? 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:38.879 It's actually me. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:50.480 If we can buy into all of that and you believe that you're not an island just going through life solo and I can do it all myself, I mean, just imagine the relationships that would begin to develop here, right? 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:56.320 As we realize, wow, no, I we're all part, we're all in this together, and we all need each other. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:56.799 Right? 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:06.159 You think about if you've ever like sprained your ankle or something like that, the rest of the body feels it, it hinders the way you move and live and and operate, right? 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:10.080 Every single person is necessary, right? 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:18.480 And we hopefully get to the place again with the buy-in of this mentality that you know that I don't want to keep people at arm's length anymore. 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:28.480 I want to make sure that the body of Christ here locally in our church is healthy and it's in a good place and it glorifies God. 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:29.679 Right? 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:30.799 Can you imagine that? 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:45.759 Just this life-giving community where we love each other well, where we care for each other's needs, where we support each other, where we call each other to account, and there is a high standard of biblical living. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:52.639 You know, we are in unity and in harmony together under Christ as the head. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:53.440 Can you imagine that? 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:54.720 How amazing would that be? 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:56.720 That's what we're going for. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:04.400 Now, we're gonna we're gonna build on all of this as we go here, not just through this message, but also, of course, through the rest of this series. 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:14.880 But I can't really move on without urging some of you, if you have not become a uh a member of the body of Christ, to do so today. 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:25.680 And I'm not talking about you know our integration process, I'm not talking about you know filling out a membership application, I'm talking about salvation. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:27.839 I'm talking about salvation. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:28.960 Right? 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:36.160 You need the church, and the church needs you, but first of all, you need Christ more than any of it. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:37.279 Right? 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:38.480 You need Christ. 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:45.200 And so I would really challenge you to think and consider and receive Jesus Christ as Lord today. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:55.839 You have to, of course, recognize and understand that the thing keeping you from becoming part of the body of Christ and getting saved is something called sin. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:01.599 It's how you have you have missed the mark of God's standard, you fall short of his glory. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:12.400 Any sin that you have done as has created this chasm between you and God that you cannot fix through your morality, through good behavior, through anything that you can do. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:14.960 Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone. 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:16.720 That's why he went to the cross. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:23.839 He went to the cross to pay the penalty that you should have paid, but you couldn't possibly, because you weren't righteous enough, you weren't good enough. 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:29.440 God knows that, and he so he wants to provide a way for you to be saved. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:31.119 He did it through his son Jesus Christ. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:37.359 So listen, to become a Christ follower today, it starts with recognizing that your sin is a barrier. 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:45.279 It's a barrier between you and God, and then believing that when Jesus went to the cross, he did everything that it took to secure your salvation. 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:46.640 Would you do that? 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:48.160 Would you do that today? 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.640 And once you do, you're part of this amazing thing called a church. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:19:05.680 And the support and the love and the care and the relationships that are waiting for you on the other end of that will be so much more amazing than anything you could ever, ever experience. 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:09.119 You need Christ and you need the church. 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:09.680 We all do. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:11.279 Here's a second thing. 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:14.000 I need the church, and the church needs me. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.960 And the diversity here is actually a really good thing. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:19.039 The diversity is a really good thing. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:20.400 Take a look at verse 14. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:22.160 We're gonna go through a little chunk of this here. 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:27.119 It says this, for the body, okay, so he jumps into talking about the physical body again. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:31.920 He says it does not consist of one member or part, but of many. 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:39.759 For if the f if the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:46.960 And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body either. 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:51.200 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense be of hearing? 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:54.400 If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:56.240 But as it is, I love this. 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:00.559 God arranged the members of the body, each one of them, as he chose. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:01.680 Right? 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.519 He made us all unique and brings us all together. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:06.079 Right? 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:09.440 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:10.400 And so what is he doing? 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:14.480 He's kind of painting like a picture that's made you meant to make you think that's ridiculous. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:19.519 Right, if you think of us as just an ear, like I'm just a huge ear standing here, right? 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:20.960 You're kind of chuckling already. 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:21.920 You're like, that's insane. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:22.240 Right? 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:23.279 He's like, exactly. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:24.720 That's the whole idea. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:26.160 Diversity is good. 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:34.480 We need different people, different gifts and skills, and all of it, in order to be a good, healthy church. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:39.039 Okay, he says, as it is, keep going, as it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:40.799 And then he kind of comes at it from another angle. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:46.720 He says, the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:51.680 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:55.519 And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greatest honor. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:21:02.559 And our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:10.240 And so he's saying, Some of those with different gifts than you, or different abilities and all that, we want to honor them. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:11.599 We don't want to look down on them. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:17.839 They are just as much important and vital to the health of any church as anybody else. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:27.279 And then he says there, but God, he kind of repeats it, he said it earlier, but God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:38.960 All right, now I don't know about you, but when I read through that, what kind of jumps out at me, okay, is just again how vital every single person is to the function of a healthy community. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:39.519 Right? 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:41.039 Every every person. 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:58.880 Now, the the Corinthians problem here, so give you a bit of context in why this was being written, is that is the Corinthians, what they were doing is they were actually putting an unhealthy emphasis on certain gifts and certain strength to the neglect or maybe the minimization of others. 00:21:58.960 --> 00:21:59.759 And what that was doing. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.319 It that was starting to destroy unity in the church. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:10.400 And some people thought that they were, you know, they were better, and other people felt like they didn't belong, and people were looking down on each other, and it was not a good scene. 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:23.279 And so Paul, he spent the first 11 verses of chapter 12 kind of talking about the various different gifts that are in the church and how they're all super important and necessary in uh in how it all operates. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:54.000 Okay, so just like how a physical body would be incomplete and somewhat useless if the entire thing was a foot or a mouth or an eye or an ear, okay, so the so the church body is incomplete and ultimately ineffective and unbalanced if there aren't, again, a variety of people with different skills and coming from different places, different ages and people groups and ethnicities, and of course, spiritual gifts. 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:57.279 And so we need a church to be well-rounded. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:59.440 That's what we need here at Harvest. 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:06.480 If I were to look down on somebody because they didn't have a teaching gift, that wouldn't be great. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:07.039 Right? 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:09.680 We need people with a hospitality gift. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:12.079 We need people with the gift of mercy. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:19.039 We need people who love to work with kids, we need people who love to work with adults, we need to be well-rounded in all of this way. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:21.440 Every single person is important. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.839 And again, why would he write this? 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:34.000 Why would the Apostle Paul spend time talking about this and going into detail about how the body has to work together? 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:42.480 Well, because I think this highlights something that we naturally chafe against, and that is diversity. 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:45.920 We do not like diversity. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:48.559 Now, we would never say that. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:58.240 We would never say that, yeah, you know, generally speaking, we wouldn't say like I'm better than that person, or that person needs to be more like me, or you know, that person's way better than I would. 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:04.480 We we wouldn't make that wouldn't come out of our mouth necessarily, but we don't like diversity. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:07.599 We like gathering with people who are just like me. 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:11.119 We want to gather with just people of our own age. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:13.680 You're gonna hear that, young adults, on Thursday. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:18.160 It's not about just, you know, isolating yourselves in your own little group here. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:22.000 It's about actually getting involved in the life of our church. 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:22.559 Right? 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.519 We don't just want all the seniors hanging together. 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:28.799 We don't just want all the you know 30 somethings hanging. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:32.160 We want, you know, we need diversity, we need, we need each other. 00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:39.839 And again, I think this all kind of rears its ugly head in the church in the area of comparison. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:44.160 Comparison will rob the church of so much. 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:45.119 You ever done that? 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:46.960 You ever compared yourself to somebody? 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:47.839 Of course you have. 00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:49.119 We've all done it, I have. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:52.960 And really, comparison really plays itself out in kind of one or two ways. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:56.480 And you see this happening, he he kind of pulls it apart in the scripture here. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:02.160 Maybe you're like the the foot or the or the ear in verse 15 and 16. 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:02.640 Right? 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:11.920 You you look around at people and and you think, well, well, I'm not as I'm not as good, or I'm not as I'm not as awesome as the as the hand or the eye. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:12.400 Right? 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:15.039 They've they've really got it all together. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:25.039 That person has what what I want, that person is the valuable one, and so as a result, you start to see yourself as less valuable. 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:29.599 You know, you start to see yourself as, well, I don't really have anything to contribute here. 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:34.799 And and and and you know, and I'm kind of I'm kind of useless, and you know, what do they need me for? 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:40.640 And you know, and as a result, maybe you again you hold church community and the people here at arm's length. 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:57.599 And you're like, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna get involved, and I'm I'm not gonna invest in people, and I'm not gonna use the gifts that God has given me, and I'm not gonna encourage people, I'm not gonna disciple others to the glory of God, because you compare yourself to others and you think that you don't stack up. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:11.599 And so, though technically you are here, physically you are present, and you come and you attend in many other ways, you're a million miles away. 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:22.000 Because you compare yourself to others, and you think that you're inferior, and you love to live on the periphery of community life here at Harvest. 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:27.920 And because of that, again, you're robbing yourself, but hey, listen, you're robbing others too. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:31.519 You need to get involved, you need to get invested. 00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:34.559 Okay, here's the other comparison danger. 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:37.519 Okay, and really all it is is at the other end of the spectrum. 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:43.200 Okay, so on one and in on one hand, you compare yourself, maybe you compare yourself to others and see yourselves as inferior. 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:45.039 Well, can you guess what the other side is? 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:48.480 Okay, maybe you're like what it says in verse 21, right? 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:53.440 Where the eye and and the head says to the hand and the feet, I have no need for you. 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:57.839 Don't need you, yet you're not good enough. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:03.200 Okay, in other words, you compare yourself to others and you see yourself as superior. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:05.279 I'm better than them. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:07.680 If only they were like me. 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:19.680 You know, if only they had my gifts, if only they had my charisma, if only they had my spiritual maturity, then our church would be better. 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:20.240 Right? 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:21.759 I don't need you. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:24.240 Right, what is that? 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:29.519 That is an elitist pharisaical mindset. 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:30.960 It really is. 00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:34.000 And the Lord is not not honored by it. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:35.440 And maybe that's you. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:48.880 You kind of see yourself as better than others and and as superior, and you look down on your nose, down your nose at them, and and you kind of think that, you know, our church would be better if everyone was as awesome as me. 00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:54.000 I'm gonna tell you right now, if everyone was as awesome as you, our church would be lame. 00:27:54.559 --> 00:27:55.200 Right? 00:27:55.519 --> 00:27:56.480 It's true. 00:27:56.720 --> 00:27:58.559 We need the well-balanced approach. 00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:09.200 All right, so whether we have or whether you have, you know, the inferiority complex or the superiority complex, your problem is essentially the same. 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:11.599 Do you realize that the root is the exact same? 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:12.640 What is it? 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:14.480 It's self-centeredness. 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:16.160 It's self-centeredness. 00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:19.599 You care primarily about yourself. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:28.319 You on one hand, the person is, you know, they're thinking so much about themselves and looking inward and comparing themselves to others and thinking that they don't stack up. 00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:29.920 Again, the focus is all on them. 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:33.920 The other person, they're comparing themselves to others and thinking that they're better than everybody else. 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:35.519 Again, the focus is on them. 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:37.599 It's pride, it's arrogance. 00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:44.880 And every time that you do that in your heart, or it plays itself out in all kinds of ways, what does that do? 00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:52.720 It's like you grab an axe and you just start chopping away at the foundations of the uncommon community that we're going for. 00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:55.200 And you're breaking it all apart. 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:59.119 Diversity is a really good thing. 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:00.960 We need each other. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:04.799 My gifts bring strength to the community here. 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:07.920 Your gifts bring strength to the community here. 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:09.119 Right? 00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:11.359 That's what makes a church great. 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:15.599 That's what makes a church culture something that people want in on. 00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:16.000 Right? 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:21.039 They should come through these doors and automatically recognize that the Spirit of God is at work. 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:32.000 And wow, there's something, there's something different here, and people aren't backbiting and going after each other and hurting each other, and there aren't divisions and you know disunity happening all over the place. 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:35.839 It's not it's not happening here, right? 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:49.759 Because the Lord is at work, because we don't compare, because we realize that the diversity is good, and when we when we realize that and when we start going after that and we commit to building that, just watch disciples grow. 00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:51.359 Watch it happen. 00:29:51.599 --> 00:30:00.480 You know, watch the Lord get glory, watch the Lord show up here in power every single week and throughout the week in our small groups and in our various ministries. 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:04.480 People are gonna be transformed and the Lord is gonna be honored. 00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:08.079 And hey, listen, I'm pretty sure that that's like our mission around here or something, right? 00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:09.440 I think that's on like a banner. 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:11.039 We maybe saw it when we came in. 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:12.799 I don't know, but what's our mission? 00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:13.279 Right? 00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:23.039 To glorify God to the fulfillment of the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment, right? 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:26.319 So we want to glorify God through the Great Commission, which is what? 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:28.160 Make disciples. 00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:31.440 Is that gonna happen if we're you know attacking each other? 00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:35.119 If is that gonna happen if we're not, you know, all about diversity? 00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:38.559 Is that gonna happen if we're not committed to being a healthy church? 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:39.519 No, it's not. 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:44.079