Sunday 31 May
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The reading I am using this week is taken from 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 12 - 31 : -
One Body but Many Parts verses 12 - 31
There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. We were all baptised by one Holy Spirit. And so, we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts. Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So, I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So, I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body. The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without. The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honour. The private parts aren’t shown. But they are treated with special care. The parts that can be shown don’t need special care. But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honour to the parts that didn’t have any. In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honoured, every part shares in its joy.
You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it. First, God has placed apostles in the church. Second, he has placed prophets in the church. Third, he has placed teachers in the church. Then he has given to the church miracles and gifts of healing. He also has given the gift of helping others and the gift of guiding the church. God also has given the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages. Is everyone an apostle? Is everyone a prophet? Is everyone a teacher? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in languages they had not known before? Do all explain what is said in those languages? But above all, you should want the more important gifts.
Message: -
Jesus, speaking in the form of a parable, took time to make it clear that everyone is essential to the body of the church. Many parts but only one body!
That brings with it a responsibility. A responsibility to do your part in the place that the church has in the Parish, the community it serves and in the internal working of the church.
I once heard someone say, “they have done their bit. It’s time for the younger folks to do their part now”. As you reflect on that and can see why they might say it, please remember you would be justifying a situation a bit like Christ getting to Gethsemane and saying “well, I’ve done my bit, it’s time for the younger generation to over”. He was a man in his 30s, “passing on the baton to the younger generation”. The thought scares me actually. I am so glad Christ didn’t pass on the baton. Just as no one would think that could ever be God’s master plan, it can’t be part of his local plan either.
I believe the church, as a whole, lost its way generations back. The work of the many, that’s the church, was done by the few. Everything spiritual was the remit of the minister and everything social was the remit of a few in the church – And they had a life long job with little or no way out “because there was never anyone else to take over” The thing that was missing, and in some respects is still missing, was teaching and practising succession!
Some brave churches took a view for example, that “if no one came forward to organise a Burns night social – the social wasn’t needed” others made all of the jobs folks did time limited in an attempt to give volunteers comfort that they would not need to do the job till they dropped.
Still there are areas of church life where one person has too big a workload. Where some folks can’t take on a task because they are too busy with other stuff.
Clearly, I don’t know the finer details of the workings here in Dunbar Parish Church but no matter how good we are here, there is still a need for succession planning.
Let me put it this way, a Lothian Presbytery church Session Clerk once told me they had no children so didn’t need a Child protection officer. A position we now call Safeguarding Co-ordinator. They didn’t need Sunday School Teachers either for the same reason. If children came, they would have to stay in the service and have an adult service or the church would need to resort to having a children’s service.
We know God can and will call his children home as and when he sees fit – and rightly so! Also, employers can relocate or go bust, meaning church members may need to move away for work. We therefore always need to be thinking “what would we do “if” ” – that is the basis of succession planning. But, and again a big “But”, always in partnership with God. There’s no point investing resources, time or money, unless God is in the plan! There are many parts of the body, therefore God must be in the centre, God at it’s heart, guiding and leading the rest of the body forward along His path.
Where therefore are you? Not one person in this fellowship should ever say they have no place. My place as a teaching elder is to teach others to do my job, and do it better than I can! That is why I have asked if folks have a Word for the Day to let me know. I have asked for volunteers to read and to bring prayers as part of our worship. If you feel called, let me know. Whatever your roll in the church, it is also your job to teach others to do that job. Obviously, I hope, to find another job you can do too. Jesus, after all, said come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men, and if you need me to be PC, women and children too.
I remember reading a story of first year students in a seminary having their first assignment. The first of 10 questions was worth half the marks and read: - 'What is the name of the cleaner?' After all, no cleaner, dirty toilets and floors, overflowing bins, dust everywhere and the whole seminary grinds to a halt!
Every one of you is essential in the body of the church. Even stuck at home, stuck in bed for that matter you can still pray. The vital link between Christ and Church is the people who pray. The Bible also tells us that the least will be the greatest and the greatest will be the least. I have said I would give my sermon even IF I was the only person there to hear it. Given the fact I have already heard it, mulled it over, prayed about it too. I would hope I don’t need to hear it again but if so, so be it. You, therefore give me purpose by reading this today.
I once put it this way to a congregation who were looking to recruit volunteers to lead prayers on a Sunday morning. If someone comes forward to make teas, that frees up someone from the tea rota to join the welcoming team. That in turn frees someone else up to focus on prayers that are totally relevant for that Sunday morning, rather than trying to do both jobs and possibly being slightly off form with both.
What is your succession plan? What about this church? None of us can reasonably expect things to stay the same. In medieval times the average age was only about 25 – 30 so most of us wouldn’t be here. 60 years ago, we didn’t have television, let alone 50-inch flat screen smart TVs that can access the internet. Humans have changed. The Church must change too. Covid-19 has imposed a change on church. What will we do after we can open churches up again?
That thought brings me back to what I said the other week, ask and you will receive!
Our reading finished in encouraging us to seek the gifts of the Spirit for the good of the whole church! I pray that you will pray for guidance on where God sees you within this church and seek, through prayer, the gifts of the Spirit you need to say “here I am Lord”.
Thank you for joining us and reading this message, I hope you will join us again next week.
One Body but Many Parts verses 12 - 31
There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. We were all baptised by one Holy Spirit. And so, we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts. Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So, I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So, I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body. The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without. The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honour. The private parts aren’t shown. But they are treated with special care. The parts that can be shown don’t need special care. But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honour to the parts that didn’t have any. In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honoured, every part shares in its joy.
You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it. First, God has placed apostles in the church. Second, he has placed prophets in the church. Third, he has placed teachers in the church. Then he has given to the church miracles and gifts of healing. He also has given the gift of helping others and the gift of guiding the church. God also has given the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages. Is everyone an apostle? Is everyone a prophet? Is everyone a teacher? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in languages they had not known before? Do all explain what is said in those languages? But above all, you should want the more important gifts.
Message: -
Jesus, speaking in the form of a parable, took time to make it clear that everyone is essential to the body of the church. Many parts but only one body!
That brings with it a responsibility. A responsibility to do your part in the place that the church has in the Parish, the community it serves and in the internal working of the church.
I once heard someone say, “they have done their bit. It’s time for the younger folks to do their part now”. As you reflect on that and can see why they might say it, please remember you would be justifying a situation a bit like Christ getting to Gethsemane and saying “well, I’ve done my bit, it’s time for the younger generation to over”. He was a man in his 30s, “passing on the baton to the younger generation”. The thought scares me actually. I am so glad Christ didn’t pass on the baton. Just as no one would think that could ever be God’s master plan, it can’t be part of his local plan either.
I believe the church, as a whole, lost its way generations back. The work of the many, that’s the church, was done by the few. Everything spiritual was the remit of the minister and everything social was the remit of a few in the church – And they had a life long job with little or no way out “because there was never anyone else to take over” The thing that was missing, and in some respects is still missing, was teaching and practising succession!
Some brave churches took a view for example, that “if no one came forward to organise a Burns night social – the social wasn’t needed” others made all of the jobs folks did time limited in an attempt to give volunteers comfort that they would not need to do the job till they dropped.
Still there are areas of church life where one person has too big a workload. Where some folks can’t take on a task because they are too busy with other stuff.
Clearly, I don’t know the finer details of the workings here in Dunbar Parish Church but no matter how good we are here, there is still a need for succession planning.
Let me put it this way, a Lothian Presbytery church Session Clerk once told me they had no children so didn’t need a Child protection officer. A position we now call Safeguarding Co-ordinator. They didn’t need Sunday School Teachers either for the same reason. If children came, they would have to stay in the service and have an adult service or the church would need to resort to having a children’s service.
We know God can and will call his children home as and when he sees fit – and rightly so! Also, employers can relocate or go bust, meaning church members may need to move away for work. We therefore always need to be thinking “what would we do “if” ” – that is the basis of succession planning. But, and again a big “But”, always in partnership with God. There’s no point investing resources, time or money, unless God is in the plan! There are many parts of the body, therefore God must be in the centre, God at it’s heart, guiding and leading the rest of the body forward along His path.
Where therefore are you? Not one person in this fellowship should ever say they have no place. My place as a teaching elder is to teach others to do my job, and do it better than I can! That is why I have asked if folks have a Word for the Day to let me know. I have asked for volunteers to read and to bring prayers as part of our worship. If you feel called, let me know. Whatever your roll in the church, it is also your job to teach others to do that job. Obviously, I hope, to find another job you can do too. Jesus, after all, said come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men, and if you need me to be PC, women and children too.
I remember reading a story of first year students in a seminary having their first assignment. The first of 10 questions was worth half the marks and read: - 'What is the name of the cleaner?' After all, no cleaner, dirty toilets and floors, overflowing bins, dust everywhere and the whole seminary grinds to a halt!
Every one of you is essential in the body of the church. Even stuck at home, stuck in bed for that matter you can still pray. The vital link between Christ and Church is the people who pray. The Bible also tells us that the least will be the greatest and the greatest will be the least. I have said I would give my sermon even IF I was the only person there to hear it. Given the fact I have already heard it, mulled it over, prayed about it too. I would hope I don’t need to hear it again but if so, so be it. You, therefore give me purpose by reading this today.
I once put it this way to a congregation who were looking to recruit volunteers to lead prayers on a Sunday morning. If someone comes forward to make teas, that frees up someone from the tea rota to join the welcoming team. That in turn frees someone else up to focus on prayers that are totally relevant for that Sunday morning, rather than trying to do both jobs and possibly being slightly off form with both.
What is your succession plan? What about this church? None of us can reasonably expect things to stay the same. In medieval times the average age was only about 25 – 30 so most of us wouldn’t be here. 60 years ago, we didn’t have television, let alone 50-inch flat screen smart TVs that can access the internet. Humans have changed. The Church must change too. Covid-19 has imposed a change on church. What will we do after we can open churches up again?
That thought brings me back to what I said the other week, ask and you will receive!
Our reading finished in encouraging us to seek the gifts of the Spirit for the good of the whole church! I pray that you will pray for guidance on where God sees you within this church and seek, through prayer, the gifts of the Spirit you need to say “here I am Lord”.
Thank you for joining us and reading this message, I hope you will join us again next week.