Day 1 – We Need Each Other

[Pages:5] Daily Devotions

David H. Horner, Senior Pastor

Sermon for the week of September 29, 2013... "Rediscovering the Body of Christ" 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 18

Day 1 ? We Need Each Other

The church is God's covenant people, and we are the body of Jesus Christ.

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. (1 Corinthians 2:12-14)

Friendships and personal relationships form an essential bond in forging a covenant community. People caring for people build communities of loving relationships that provide fertile ground for the seeds of faithful ministry and gospel proclamation.

Sadly, many who profess to follow Jesus Christ today act as if they are doing God a favor when participating in "church stuff." Sporadic attendance and conditional commitments seem to be prevalent, particularly among younger people, 18-29 years old. Studies and surveys find that 59 percent of those who once attended church regularly have dropped out.

At issue are relationships, as 70 percent of millenials who drop out of church do not have close friendships with older members, and 90 percent never had a mentor at the church they once attended. Lifeway Research finds only one in six church-goers intentionally try to get to know new people they meet at church.

The bottom line for covenant people is that we need each other! We need each other's care, and we need each other for ministry. Individually we are members of the body of Christ, and God has ordained that we show the unconditional love of Christ as we relate to other members, and as we fulfill Christ's calling for us in ministry.

When You Pray: Ask the Lord to open your eyes to opportunities to build relationships and to use your spiritual gifts to serve others as a member of the body of Christ.

Daily Devotions

David H. Horner, Senior Pastor

Sermon for the week of September 29, 2013... "Rediscovering the Body of Christ" 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 18

Day 2 ? Relationships that Matter

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)

As God's covenant people, we are to initiate, cultivate and enjoy loving relationships that give us opportunities to put the love Christ on display and into action. Lifeway Research finds that over 50 percent of church-goers avoid or neglect places where they can meet and get to know and love others within the body of Christ.

When men and women who know and love Jesus Christ commit themselves to relationships, great things happen. His love flows from His heart through them with life-giving power that awakens emotions and actions, which turn people's eyes toward the Source of that kind of affection.

Relationships that refresh with the love of Christ make a difference in the lives of those on both ends of the friendship. Such relationships help us enjoy life because they are always gracious, generous, caring, loyal and sacrificial.

You may object to the idea that you need others in your life, thinking you are fine on your own, but if you are honest with yourself and if you believe the Bible, you have to admit that God created us to be in relationships--first with Him and then with others.

Anywhere you look there is a person in need of someone to love them. You have what they need, and need to give it. They have what you need and should not be reluctant to share it. God calls us to love one another!

When You Pray: Ask the Lord to lead you in starting a relationship with someone who needs the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.

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Daily Devotions

David H. Horner, Senior Pastor

Sermon for the week of September 29, 2013... "Rediscovering the Body of Christ" 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 18

Day 3 ? Learning to Love One Another

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. (Philippians 2:1-2)

People who are more intent on loving each other than finding reasons to disagree will experience the "fellowship of the Spirit" unlike anything most church-goers have ever known. Covenant people love Christ and each other as the first order of priority, just as Jesus explained.

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)

When we understand what matters to Christ is how we love one another, and we unite our hearts around biblical purposes--"same mind, same love, same spirit, same purpose," we are led to sweet communion and spiritual fellowship.

You cannot love your neighbor if you keep yourself at a distance. That's guaranteed to signal indifference. Your calling from God is non-negotiable. You must move beyond yourself and learn how to love others unconditionally in His name.

Ask yourself, do I give higher priority to form than to following Christ? Am I the kind of person who is more interested in "doing things right," or am I willing to "do the right thing," as you seek to be in "full accord and of one mind" with Christ?

When You Pray: Ask the Lord to remove anything that hinders you from drawing closer to others in order to "love your neighbor as yourself."

Daily Devotions

David H. Horner, Senior Pastor

Sermon for the week of September 29, 2013... "Rediscovering the Body of Christ" 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 18

Day 4 ? Relationships that Build Bridges

How many of us first learned of Jesus Christ because someone loved us and showed us with their actions and their words that He changes lives?

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (John13:34)

If we consider what Jesus did and how He did it, we will be immediately convinced that loving people is the most effective way of building bridges for the gospel.

Too often today people who profess to follow Christ will distance themselves from others, not only those who attend church, but also those who are not yet in the family of faith. Research shows that friendships and relationships play a major role in the level of engagement people have in a church. Intentional friendships build bridges for Christian fellowship and for the sharing of the gospel.

If you know Jesus Christ, then as a member of His covenant family, the body of Christ, you are called to be steadfast, persistent, even stubborn in finding out how to love and be loved as He intends for each one of us.

"...And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31)

Make the move to get to know and love others, and watch as God makes it a way of life. That will happen when we function as His covenant people, loving one another in the name and with the love of Jesus Christ.

When You Pray: Consider Jesus' command to love others as He has loved you, and ask Him to show you how to share His love and the gospel.

Daily Devotions

David H. Horner, Senior Pastor

Sermon for the week of September 29, 2013... "Rediscovering the Body of Christ" 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 18

Day 5 ? Every Member Is a Minister

Habitual absence, half-hearted commitments and consistently low priorities for the body of Christ leave the church at a disadvantage God never intended. As His covenant people, we are the body of Christ, a body with many parts but One Head. Members of the body are individuals saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, and drafted into His service.

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. (1 Corinthians 12:8)

You matter! God wastes nothing but has wisely and sovereignly designed you for what He wants from you that one else was created to do. As a member of the body of Christ, you are called to serve, or to say it another way, to minister.

Your ministry comes with a responsibility that no one else can meet. If you don't do it, no one else will in the way God has equipped you to do it. You have an important part in building up the body of Christ.

...from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:16)

No one can take your place because God established that the body of Christ, His covenant people, will be build up in love when we all step up and do our part, "according to the proper working of each individual part."

Let us remember that each of us must engage in the pursuit and building of loving friendships, which put the love of Jesus Christ on display. None of us can ignore the place God has prepared for us to serve in the body of Christ, His covenant people.

When You Pray: Commit to the Lord your willingness to serve Him and to minister to others in the body of Christ.

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