Audio Recording

Sermon Outline

Speaker: Rev. Tim Chang
Sermon Series: Imagining the Church

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (ESV)
12 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. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 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 a part of the body. 16 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 a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

21 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.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Sermon Outline
1. We are unique members

•  [12] 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…[14] For the body does not consist of one member but of many... [20] As it is, there are many parts, yet one body... [27] Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

•  [22] the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, [23] and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, [24] which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it

•  [15] 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 a part of the body. [16] 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 a part of the body.

 2. We belong to the body of Christ

•  [13] For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

•  [25] …that the members may have the same care for one another. [26] If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

•  [21] 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.”

 3. This is God’s design

•  [18] God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose

•  [24] God has so composed the body

•  Genesis 2:23 - Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”

Prayer of Confession
Almighty God, you created us for connection, not isolation. You arranged every member of Christ’s body as indispensable, and your design is beautiful. Yet we confess our sins. We bring division, we measure people’s worth wrongly, we see ourselves too highly and others too lowly. Instead of strengthening the body, we weaken it. Forgive us, O Lord. Turn our eyes to Jesus, whose body was broken to make us whole. May we live each day assured that we belong to him, for we are bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. Amen.

Questions for Reflection

1. What connected with you from the sermon or the passage?

2. Paul says each member of the body of Christ has value and worth, not just usefulness. Why do you think it’s hard for us to believe this about ourselves or others?

3. Describe a time when you felt overlooked or undervalued in the church or elsewhere? How did that affect you?

4. What’s the most meaningful encouragement you’ve ever received, and why did it resonate with you?  How might we grow our church’s culture of encouragement?

5. Think of a time when someone “suffered with you” or “rejoiced with you.” How did that experience shape your sense of belonging?

6. We may not be best friends with everyone in church, but what’s one simple step you could take to connect more meaningfully with someone you don’t know well?

7. What if the song that Adam sung to Eve (“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”) is being sung over us by Jesus? How might that encourage you to know that you are intimately tied to Jesus?

8. What do you sense God calling you to do from this passage?