Sermon April 5th
“This week our Sermon was from 1 Corinthians 12:1-31
CAN THE PEOPLE OF GOD LIVE IN UNITY DESPITE OUR DIVERSITY? Whether or not you believe these gifts still exist today, they certainly did at the time Paul wrote 1 Corinthians and there is nothing in the text that indicates it was temporary or isolated. What did Paul want the Corinthian Church to learn? What can we apply from this passage today? Differences are part of God’s perfect design meant “for the common good.” DIFFERENT IS BETTER. God made us diverse and yet our differences can be either our greatest strength or our greatest weakness. The difference is our perspective. If we see differences as a problem to be solved it will be our weakness. If we see differences as a gift to be embraced it will be our greatest strength. In the HOLY TRINITY CHRIST IS NOT DIVIDED. GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE ETERNALLY THREE IN ONE. UNITY IN DIVERSITY. The same goes for the Church. WE ARE MANY BUT WE ARE ONE. What would happen if we were all the same? The eyes could not hear. The ears could not see. God knows where each and every part should be. He is the creator. Your body is intricately woven together by God and it is infinitely more complex than we can understand. He arranges the Church “just as he wanted” us to be. vv.25-26 say, “there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” Trinity Church is On Mission, Together. WE ARE SO BLESSED TO HAVE DIVERSITY! WE HAVE THE NATIONS GATHERED TOGETHER IN ONE PLACE! Age diversity. Racial diversity. Cultural diversity. Denominational diversity. Personality diversity. Economic diversity. Spiritual gift diversity. Male/female diversity. Vocational diversity. Experiential diversity. We are different, but we are unified. This is our strength.
Discussion Questions
1. How does your perspective on differences change your attitude towards differences as either irritating or a blessing? How have you seen this in marriage or the work place?
2. Paul uses the issue of the sign gifts in this passage to teach on unity. How have you seen the issue of the sign gifts as a divisive thing within the Church today and how does the bible teach us to navigate these differences in a way that preserves unity? How does a church full of diversity maintain unity?
