Slices
Prepare
Thank God for his greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ – Lord of all, Saviour and Friend.
Bible passage
Unity and diversity in the body
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 And so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Explore
Have you ever felt excluded by some Christians because you did not have the same gifts as them? Or have you ever wanted God to give you a particular gift which he has bestowed on someone else? Have you felt that you are not needed? Have you even tried to be a lone-ranger Christian, without the church?
Verse 13 is key. All believers in Jesus have been ‘baptised by the Spirit into one body’. Each believer has been fully incorporated by the Holy Spirit into the one body, the church. Each believer is a part of the whole, and, like the different limbs and organs of a human body, every part is needed. We are the body of Christ (vs 12,27).
As in Corinth, a local church glorifies Christ by its diversity, being made up of believers who differ widely – ethnically, socially and in their abilities, gifts, personalities and experiences that God has given each one (vs 13,15–18). You may be the only person like you in your church; therefore you are especially needed! Those in the body of Christ who are disabled or suffering will reflect our Saviour in a way others do not. A church depends on all kinds of people using their various gifts faithfully and collaboratively.
Respond
Praise God for other people’s gifts, both the apparently more ‘supernatural’ and the more ‘ordinary’.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 1 Samuel 23,24; Proverbs 31
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the SU England and Wales Board as they meet today. Pray for fruitful discussions and a clear sense of the Spirit’s leading as they discuss important matters relating to the governance of the movement.
