1 – WE ARE THE CHURCH
Community: a group of people with a particular characteristic in common
Ekklesia: Assembly, A calling out
2 – WE ARE THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.
– Isaiah 54:5– Revelation 19:7-9
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
3 – WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST
12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
– 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-14
– 1 CORINTHIANS 12:26-27
26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
– MARK 2:1-12
2 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
SUNDAY ACTIVATION:
READ EPHESIANS 1: GLEAN THE FULLNESS OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE “IN CHRIST”
ASK: WHAT AM I CARRYING THAT IS HOLDING ME BACK FROM LIVING IN COMMUNITY WITH GOD AND OTHERS?
ASK/APPLY: HOW CAN I LIVE AS THE BRIDE AND BODY OF CHRIST TODAY?