2. Wk 1 Humanity is a brotherhood
Every person craves a sense of belonging
No one “right” race
Every race is to be valued
Every race sins
Every race has uniquenesses
The gospel needs to be contextualized to meet the uniquenesses
Even in your uniqueness, you belong

3. Wk 2 God works in broken families
God's design for the family is mom, dad and children
Many Biblical families, including Jesus' had challenges
God works through broken families
A healthy family is welcoming and inclusive

4. Wk 3. God wants to welcome all people to the family of believers
Wide to narrow
You belong
All of us are brothers and sisters in humankind
All of us have some type of family in which you find a sense of belonging
(some find it in other groups)
There is a place for you in God's family

5. There is a place for you!
God uniquely fitted His Church with gifted people.
God uniquely fitted His Church with the gifts it needs to do all He has planned for us to do.
The Church was never intended to be a spectator event.
The Church is an active, moving, organism.
The Church is Christ's body

6. 1 Cor 12:4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good...11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

7. 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 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. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 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 part of the body...

8. ...18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

9. For the body of Christ to work effeciently, every person must actively use their personal gift.
If you have received Jesus, you have received a spiritual gift.
What is your gift?
Up front? Behind the scenes?
Outspoken? Quiet?
Leader? Follower?
Not “filling slots”
Using people's gifts
Empowering the body to make a difference

10. For the body of Christ to work effeciently, every person must actively use their personal gift.
Most people want to make a difference
Throughout history it has been the people in the church that have helped people
Rescue missions for the poor
Hospitals for the sick
Sunday “schools” for the uneducated
Today, social groups are doing good work
Churches are sitting in the pew
A deception of the evil one; church isn't needed

11. The Covenant Church believes with Paul that the Holy Spirit endows believers with spiritual gifts, the purpose of which is to serve the Christian community that is the very body of Christ. As a believer’s church the Covenant has valued the Reformation concept of the priesthood of all believers, and sees it rooted in the idea of mutual interdependence expressed in Paul’s notion of the body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31).
The Spirit bestows gifts on individual Christians for the benefit of others, not the benefit of the one who has received the gift.

12. It is the plan of God through the work of the Spirit that within the body of Christ we need one another. Accordingly, while recognizing the legitimacy of all the spiritual gifts, the Covenant Church has historically been unmarked by an emphasis on any one or one type of spiritual gift. This deep trust in the gentle leading of the Spirit has remained true of the Covenant Church through the years.
From Covenant Affirmations

13. We are ALL ministers. Get the Pastor out of the way
We are ALL ministers... Get the Pastor out of the way... Wind up the people and let em go!
What are you passionate about?
What gets to you?
Seems
Unjust
Wrong
Someone should do something about that!
Not just time filling
Really make a difference.

14. We are ALL ministers. Get the Pastor out of the way
We are ALL ministers... Get the Pastor out of the way... Wind up the people and let em go!
Has God called you to be an organizer?
Has God called you to be a champion for a cause OUTSIDE the church?
Has God given you a passion for helping INSIDE the congregation of God's people?
Look at your life
How much of your time is receiving?
How much of your time is giving?

15. So What? You BELONG! You have a place
You belong to the brotherhood of humanity
You belong in whatever family God has placed you in
You belong to the family of believers
You belong to the body of Jesus Christ
Here
Actively doing

16. So What? If you find Christianity boring...
Stop turning it into a spectator event
Stop turning it into a self help strategy
Stop going to Bible study after Bible study
Do one more study... on spiritual gifts
Put your faith into action
Improve your “serve”
A healthy spiritual life includes
Intake
excersize