“If we are The Body… “The Eternal Purposes of the Church”

If We Are The Body It's crowded in worship today As she slips in trying to fade into the faces The girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know Farther than they know But if we are the body Why aren't His arms reaching? Why aren't His hands healing? Why aren't His words teaching? And if we are the body Why aren't His feet going? Why is His love not showing them there is a way? There is a wayChorus: But if we are the body Why aren't His arms reaching? Why aren't His hands healing? Why aren't His words teaching? And if we are the body Why aren't His feet going? Why is His love not showing them there is a way? There is a way A traveler is far away from home He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row The weight of their judgmental glances Tells him that his chances are better out on the road Chorus Jesus paid much too high a price For us to pick and choose who should come And we are the body of Christ Chorus Jesus is the way

If we are the Body… The ORGANIS M of the Church

“The church is an eternal organism in the earth, doing the will of God and accomplishing the purpose of God.”

Matthew 16:18 - “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:14 – “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Hebrews 10:6-8 – “In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when He said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law”

the sons of GodJohn 1:12 – “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” Ephesians 1:22-23 – “And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.”

as 1 Corinthians 12:12-17 – “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?”

1 Peter 4:10 – “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Corinthians 12:27 – “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”

Ephesians 4:11-12 – “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

If we are the Body… The OVERLOOKI NG of a people

If we are the Body… The OVERTHROWIN G of the enemy

For thou hast said in thine heartI will I will I will I will I willIsaiah 14: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

If we are the Body… The OBLIGATIO N of the Church

“The Eternal Purposes of the …

And He brought us out from thence, thatDeuteronomy 6:20-23 – “And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And He brought us out from thence, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.”

“The Eternal Purposes of the … To proclaim the eternal richesTo proclaim the eternal riches of Christ. Ephesians 3: 8

“The Eternal Purposes of the … To Reveal the eternal Mystery of the church.To Reveal the eternal Mystery of the church. Ephesians 3: 9

Colossians 1: “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”

“The Eternal Purposes of the … To DISPLAY the eternal wisdomTo DISPLAY the eternal wisdom of God. of God. Ephesians 3: 10-11

“The Eternal Purposes of the … To Manifest the eternal gloryTo Manifest the eternal glory of God. Ephesians 3: 21

of through toRomans 11:36 – “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

1)Christ came to live in me so I could be the person God wants me to be. 2)Christ came to live in me to bring glory to Himself. 3)Christ came to live in me to carry on His work here.

“Are YOU fulfilling the Eternal Purposes of the …