Join us this Sunday for Trinity's Easter Services.

Friday, Good Friday Service, Bethel Baptist Church (10705 East 86th Street North, Owasso, OK 74055)

Sunday, 7AM Easter Sunrise Service, Barnes Elementary Field (7809 E 76th St North, Owasso, OK 74055)

Sunday, 10AM Easter Worship, Barnes Elementary Gym (7809 E 76th St North, Owasso, OK 74055)

Join Us Sunday: 10am at Barnes Elementary

Community Group Questions | Roots for Community | Oct 28, 2018

Roots for Community
Rev. Blake Altman

God intends to change you by His Word. How is He at work in you to do that?  Read the following passage and consider these questions. 

 

READ

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

[12] 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. [15] If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. [16] And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. [17] If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? [18] But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. [19] If all were a single member, where would the body be? [20] As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. [21] The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” [22] On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, [23] and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, [24] which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, [25] that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. [26] If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

[27] Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. [28] And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. [29] Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? [30] Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? [31] But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.”

 

DISCUSS

The Dynamics of Covenant Community

1. Notice v. 27, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” We are members who work toward the health of the body, not the individual. How do our individual spiritual lives affect others in the covenant community?

2. In what way do we actually need (v. 21) one another?
 

The Function of Covenant Community

3. Pastor Blake said, “The church of Jesus Christ is not defined by how similar we are but by how we work together for something bigger than each of us.” What is the difference between a community built upon similarities and a community built upon purpose?

4. “Ultimate beauty comes not from a lover or a landscape or a home, but only through them” (Cornelius Plantinga). We, then, are called to be conduits, not cul-de-sacs, in God’s covenant community. What might a covenant community of “conduits” look like? What might it look like in these four areas: means of grace, bearing one another’s burdens, accountability, shaping the next generation?

 

The Uniqueness of Covenant Community

5. In what way is the covenant community different from other communities (e.g., families, neighbors, sports teams, non-profits, etc.)?

6. “The enticing invitation of the gospel is the scandalous belief that no problem, situation, or circumstance is beyond the redemptive work of God.” As you reflect upon your time at Trinity, what have you seen that echoes this thought? What excites you about a covenant community that holds this truth dearly?

 

ROOTS GENEROSITY CHALLENGE

7. Who has had the most impact on my life in the area of generosity? (This could be a spouse, a teacher, a church leader, someone in your small group, a family member, a friend, a public figure.)

8. Do I believe that my generosity can influence others? How have I seen this happen, either for the positive or for the negative?

 

PRAY

Go to our Triune God to see that in him all the fulness of community dwells. Ask him to impart a heart of generosity and hope for our brothers and sisters. Invite him to give you the very attitude that Christ had toward his church.