Ephesians 4:3-6 NLT, “Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.”
Seven “Cords” that bind us together:
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A Common Community – “One Body”
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A Common Communion – “One Spirit”
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A Common Confidence – “One Hope”
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A Common Commitment – “One Lord”
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A Common Confession – “One Faith”
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A Common Conversion – “One Baptism”
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A Common Connection – “One Father”
1 Corinthians 12:14-25 CEV, “Our bodies don’t have just one part - they have many parts. Suppose a foot says, ‘I’m not a hand, and so I’m not part of the body.’ Wouldn’t the foot still belong to the body? Or suppose an ear says, ‘I’m not an eye, and so I’m not part of the body.’ Wouldn’t the ear still belong to the body? If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn’t hear a thing. And if they were only an ear, we couldn’t smell a thing. But God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best. A body isn’t really a body, unless there is more than one part. It takes many parts to make a single body. That’s why the eyes can’t say they don’t need the hands That’s also why the head can’t say it doesn’t need the feet. In fact, we can’t get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest. We take special care to dress up some parts of our bodies. We are modest about our personal parts, but we don’t have to be modest about other parts. God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable. He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others.”
ONE BODY
1. We are each Needed in the Body
2. We each Need the Body
3. We each have a Place in the Body
Ephesians 4:16 CEV, “Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.”
