The final week of our series:

Blueprints: God’s Design for Church and Family

• Individuals and the church

Week 2: Laying The Foundation For Healthy Families

Week 3: Quality Framing for Quality Families

This series has been about…

What works for YOUR FAMILY works for the church family

What works for the CHURCH FAMILY works for your family

Our “HOUSE” is almost complete

There is one last thing before it’s complete…

• Picks out things that may have been missed

The Importance of a BUILDING CODE

Sets a standard of EXPECTATION

• Same as a job code of conduct

When things aren’t done to code, the LOWEST BAR becomes the standard

• Dangerous

A house built to code is a safe home

A Safe Home is a GOOD HOME

When codes differ, disappointment is always the result

But what a good code LEADS TO

Let’s think about it this way…

A Proper CODE leads to PROPER CARE

• It makes sure things are safe

Today, we are talking about:

Corinthians were a mess…

• In a very pagan city

Paul writes…

1 Corinthians 12:12-21

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. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. 19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”

Comparing your kids to one another

Data says:

Sibling comparison often leads to conflict and rivalries. Unresolved, these can have extensive consequences, including:

• Being perceived as someone who shows off and brags a lot

Corinthian Church was caught in a “COMPARISON TRAP“

• Prophecy

Comparison leads to FAMILY CODE VIOLATIONS (Church or Family)

• Jealousy

Family Examples:

• Husband and wife not working together leveraging strengths rather than focus on weakness

Church Examples:

• Similar to the Corinthian church

So, Paul uses the example of the HUMAN BODY

• Many parts that work TOGETHER

1 Corinthians 12:24-26

Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

• Places and people

What is the primary way we overcome our differences and work together?

• How do we overcome comparison?

Paul Writes…

1 Corinthians 13

13 If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, (Uncomplaining, Long-suffering, Composed)

love is kind. (Generous, Considerate)

Love does not envy, (Not Resentful, Not Jealous)

is not boastful, (Not Puffed Up, Not Overbearing)

is not arrogant, (Not Full of yourself, Not Egotistical)

5 is not rude, (Polite, is Civil, Not “In your face”)

is not self-seeking, (Not Individualistic, Not selfish. It’s Mature)

is not irritable, (Not Testy, Not Grumpy, Not Whinny)

and does not keep a record of wrongs. (Ledger of past hurts)

6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Paul gives one of the best descriptions of CHRISTIAN LOVE

• This love is unique to Christians

Christian love is ACTIVE

• Not a feeling but a set of positive actions

Love does NOT always mean agreeing

• Our culture has highjacked the meaning of love

Love is COMPASSION, and CARE

• Telling someone they are wrong can be GREAT COMPASSION

Code Violations:

• Constant Impatience

This passage sums up this series so well

1 Peter 2

1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation, 3 if you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God— 5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.