One Body

1 Corinthians 12:12-26

1 Corinthians 1:10-13

1 Corinthians 3:1-3

1 Corinthians 12:11 One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.

He has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.

• One

• Holy

• Catholic

• Apostolic

1 Corinthians 12:12-16

12 For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink. 14 Indeed, the body is not one part but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.

1 Corinthians 12:26-27

26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.27 Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.

1 Corinthians 12:31 But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.

What does it mean to be "One?"

There is one core, central confession of faith.

Matthew 16:13-18

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

The Creed is an instrument of unity.

Die for, Defend, Discuss

What does it mean to be "Holy?"

1 Corinthians 1:1-2

1 Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Sosthenes our brother:

2 To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord—both their Lord and ours.

Holy is who we are in Christ.

We did not earn it. We don't deserve it.

But it is who we are.

Christian discipleship is about becoming who we already are.

What does it mean to be "Catholic?"

Universal, worldwide

If this confession of faith and trust in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is proclaimed, then that church, the community of the redeemed, is a part of the worldwide church.

What does it mean to be "Apostolic?"

We are connected to the apostles' teaching through their writing.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.

Ephesians 4:2-3

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:31-32

31 Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

Embrace humility.

Manage reactivity.

Cultivate curiosity.

Engage with empathy.

Seek and give forgiveness.

Recognize we are called to live out something that is not of this world, but the age to come.

" a colony of heaven in the country of death, a strategy of the Holy Spirit for giving witness to the already-inaugurated kingdom of God.”

–Eugene Peterson, The Pastor