Body-Building
Chris Seidman
Part of Holy Spirit—Person, Power, and Presence
November 28, 2021

Holy Spirit: Person, Power, Presence

Body-Building
November 28, 2021
Chris Seidman, Lead Minister, The Branch Church


A gift of the Spirit is a manifestation of the Spirit of God through a believer in a particular way . This gift enables them to say something or do something for the glory of Jesus and the good of others.


1 Corinthians 12:4-6 (NIV)
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.


1 Corinthians 12:7 (NIV)
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.


1 Corinthians 12:8-11 (NIV)
To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.


1 Corinthians 1:7 (NIV)
Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.


1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (NIV)
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.


1 Corinthians 12:15-20 (NIV)
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?

If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just where he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.


1 Corinthians 12:21-27 (NIV)
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable we treat with special modesty, while our presentable parts needs no special treatment.

But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Takeaways

  • The diversity of the gifts of the Spirit is meant to bring us together and not drive us apart.

1 Corinthians 12:19-20 (NIV)
If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is there are many parts, but one body.

  • The diversity of the gifts call us to consider a more comprehensive view of “body-building.”

  • The diversity of the gifts call us to consider a more comprehensive view of “body-building.”

1 Corinthians 12:26a (NIV)
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it … .

  • What the Spirit of God does through us is second to what Jesus has done for us at the cross.


1 Corinthians 15:1-5 (NIV)
Now brothers and sisters, I want to remind of you of the gospel I preached to you … . By this gospel you are saved … . For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised from the third day according to the Scriptures … .

Communion

How have you seen the Spirit move recently to minister through someone else to you, or through you to someone else?

Give thanks as you also thank God for the greatest gift of all.