{"id":5007,"date":"2014-03-16T16:42:29","date_gmt":"2014-03-16T22:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/?p=5007"},"modified":"2014-03-16T16:43:13","modified_gmt":"2014-03-16T22:43:13","slug":"session-9-recap-anyabwile-contentment-with-christs-body-the-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/2014\/03\/session-9-recap-anyabwile-contentment-with-christs-body-the-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Session 9 Recap: Anyabwile, “Contentment With Christ’s Body, the Church”"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>Editor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Note:\u00c2\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Tim Ragsdale is an Elder at\u00c2\u00a0Desert Springs Church<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0in Albuquerque, NM.\u00c2\u00a0This post is a summary of Thabiti Anyabwile\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s message from Sunday morning at Clarus<\/a>, March 16, “Contentment With Christ’s Body, the Church,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile concluded our Clarus conference with a message from 1 Cor 12:12-27 on contentment with the local church.\u00c2\u00a0 He began with a question many of us face: How do we respond to people who say they love Jesus, but choose to pass on the local church? <\/i>\u00c2\u00a0He came to the realization that until they love the church, they will not see the centrality of the church<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0 It is a problem of affections; a problem of the heart. Contentment with the church comes from seeing God in the church.<\/p>\n

The Church is God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Work<\/b><\/p>\n

God arranges the members of the body just as He pleases.\u00c2\u00a0 The local church is God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s composition.\u00c2\u00a0 It is no accident that you are a Christian and that you have a particular set of gifts.\u00c2\u00a0 Do you realize that heaven has touched you?\u00c2\u00a0 God has plucked you out of the fire, saved you, sanctified you, filled you with the Spirit and prepared you with his own hands to play a vital role in the local church.\u00c2\u00a0 The church is an exquisite thing, and we see the manifold and eternal wisdom of God by observing the church.<\/p>\n

God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Vision for the Church is Glorious<\/b><\/p>\n

God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vision for the church is that we be completely united with every member showing equal concern for every other member.\u00c2\u00a0 There should be unity in the body despite its diversity (vv 12-14). Like individual works in an author or artist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s larger body of work, we are individual works with great diversity; but we are all his workmanship. Paul is specific in his definition of unity: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That the members may have the same care for one another.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/i> This is what it looks like to break down the barriers that separate us in the body.\u00c2\u00a0 We cannot allow our love to be limited some subset of the church.\u00c2\u00a0 Pastor Thabiti shared a quote from another writer: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If our fellowship and our love is confined to people like us, that may be little more than self-love spread over a slightly wider area.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

There Are Two Threats to That Vision And Our Contentment in the Local Church<\/b><\/p>\n

1) Feeling inferior and insignificant, i.e., I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter; I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the gifts of this or that person; I have nothing to contribute.<\/p>\n

2) Feeling superior and self-sufficient, i.e., I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need anyone else.<\/p>\n

The response to both of these threats is threefold:<\/p>\n