Church Members [1 Corinthians 12] ~ 20260125 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
2026 01/25 The Church and its Members [1 Corinthians 12]; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20260125_church-members.mp3
Today is our annual church business meeting. It is where our voting members receive new members, review our spending, approve our budget, vote to approve officers and elders to serve this local church, discuss some of the things that keep this church functioning, and entrust ourselves to God for the future. This is a time to celebrate the faithfulness of God, what God has done and continues to do in us and through us for his glory. It’s a business meeting, but it’s also worship, thanksgiving, and prayer.
Last week we looked at what the Bible has to say about baptism, and we got to witness 6 people publicly proclaim Jesus as Lord by being baptized in his name.
The week before, we looked at what the church is, how Jesus builds his church on the solid foundation of his own identity as Messiah, God come in the flesh, and gives us as his church authority to recognize other members of his church. This week, I’d like to look at some of the things the Bible has to say about members of the local church.
In our meeting today, we’ll be introducing an annual member affirmation, a tool we will use to remind ourselves what it means to be a member, to clarify what we are committing to and signing up for as members of this local body of believers.
Who the Church Is; Pictures of the Church:
-Members of a Club? No, of a Body
When we talk about being members of a church, it is important to understand what we mean, and what we don’t mean. One of the main pictures of the church in the New Testament is the picture of a body; a church is often called a body of believers.
Ephesians 1 points us to Jesus as Lord, sovereign over the church;
Ephesians 1:22 And he [the Father] put all things under his [Jesus’] feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Jesus is the head of the church; we the church are his body.
Ephesians 4 continues this body metaphor. It exhorts us to humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain unity and peace, to maturity (4:1-3, 13)
Ephesians 4:15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. ... 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
When we talk about members of a church, don’t think membership in a club; think interconnected members of a body, body parts.
Romans 12:4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: ...
A body is one organism made up of many body parts; each part has a specific purpose and function.
-Body Parts With God-given Functions
1 Corinthians 12:12 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.
1 Corinthians 12 lists the foot, hand, ear, eye; the functions of hearing and smell. Different body parts are designed to have different functions.
Think about an activity like swimming. In order to swim, there needs to be coordination and cooperation between all the body parts; feet and legs kick, shoulders, arms and hands pull, nose, mouth, head, neck and lungs all coordinate when to take a breath, so that the heart and circulatory system can supply all those other parts with oxygenated blood to keep the body going. Imagine if one of those parts decided not to function. Have you ever been in the deep end and you get a muscle cramp in your leg? That’s a serious situation, and the rest of the body has to over-compensate to protect itself and care for the injured part!
Maybe you’ve heard of the 80 – 20 rule. It’s a statistic that says 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work in a church. That might pass for sitting on the couch using your thumb to click the remote or scroll on your phone, but it doesn’t work if we as a church body want to accomplish something great, and we have been called by Jesus to make disciples of the nations! We need the body, the whole body, all the members of the body to function as each is designed to operate so that together we can do what God is calling us to do.
**I want to invite you to prayerfully reflect; what kinds of things do you think God has equipped you to do as a part of this body? Take time this week before God, ask him how he’s gifted you to serve, connect with one of our Elders or an Elder’s wife, ask them for guidance. Get plugged in.
1 Corinthians 12:24 ...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.
This picture of the church as a body emphasizes the interconnection, interdependence, unity and diverse function and gifting that make up a body.
-Living Stones in God’s Temple
But the body is just one of several pictures the Bible uses to describe the church. Both Paul and Peter picture the church as a building, or a temple, and they were not talking about where we meet; they were talking about us, the people who make up the church.
Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
This building has a foundation; we don’t just build on sand. Jesus himself sets the shape and direction of the building. Peter calls us ‘living stones ...being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood’ (1Pet.2:4-5). Living stones must be closely connected. Think of the tumbling tower game ‘Jenga’; remove one block and it leaves a gaping hole and the tower teeters. You can only remove so many blocks before the whole tower collapses. We need to support each other. As God’s temple, we are called to be holy, set apart for God.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you (plural) are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you (plural)? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you (plural) are that temple.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your (plural) body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you (plural), whom you have from God? You (plural) are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your (plural) body.
The church (which is made up of people) is a temple, a holy dwelling place for God by the Spirit; as living stones we are joined together to enjoy the presence of God among us.
-Born (Again) into the Family; Siblings in a Household
John focuses our attention on being born again; birth and new life connect us to a family.
John 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Jesus said in John 3 ‘You must be born again.’ (3:7). In 1 John 3,
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. ... 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
Paul uses the picture of our adoption as sons into God’s family (Romans 8:14-17), clarifying the distinction between the only begotten Son of God and we who are adopted in, who as adopted sons now share the legal right to Jesus’ own inheritance!
Because we have been born of the Spirit, adopted as children of God, we have become part of a family, a household, with siblings.
Galatians 6:10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
1 Timothy 3:15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
The church is a family, siblings called to love one another and seek to uphold the family name.
-One Flock under the Good Shepherd
In John 10, Jesus calls us sheep:
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ... 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Jesus draws a contrast between a hired hand who doesn’t know or care about the sheep and abandons them when danger threatens, and himself, the owner of the flock, who knows the sheep by name and is willing to lay down his own life for his sheep. Jesus is passionate about the unity of his flock.
One characteristic of sheep is that they are defenseless and prone to wander into trouble. Peter says:
1 Peter 2:25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
He goes on to exhort the elders:
1 Peter 5:2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
The church is a flock, stray sheep brought into the fold by the good Shepherd, those who know the voice of the Shepherd and follow him. As sheep we are prone to wander; we are to hold one another accountable and go after the strays, those who begin to wander away from their Shepherd.
-The Bride of Christ
Jesus refers to himself as the bridegroom (Mat.9:15; cf. Jn.3:26-30), and at the wedding in Cana he said “what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (Jn.2:4).
Paul tells the church in Corinth:
2 Corinthians 11:2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
Ephesians 5 gives instructions to husbands and wives, but throughout he is comparing that relationship with the greater relationship of Christ to his church.
Ephesians 5:22 ...Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. ...32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
Revelation 19 says:
Revelation 19:7 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; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
The church is the betrothed bride of Christ; Jesus purchased us with his own blood, he is washing us, purifying us, sanctifying us, so that our affections are only for him, as we eagerly anticipate his return for us to take us to be with him forever.
-The Church is Committed to One-Another Ministry
In Ephesians 4, Jesus
Ephesians 4:11 ...he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Jesus gave leaders and teachers to the church to equip the saints for ministry, for building up the body of Christ. All the saints are called to build up the body, to minister to one another. There is an essential ‘one anothering’ that must go on in the church. We need each other. We need to meet together. We need to encourage one another. We need to stir up one another to love and good works. We need one another.
There are a lot of commands to this kind of one-another ministry.
Here’s a list to consider:
be at peace with one another (Mk.9:50)
live in harmony with one another (Rom.12:16; 14:19; 15:5)
have fellowship with one another (1Jn.1:7)
wash one another’s feet (Jn.13:14)
love one another (Jn.13:34-35; 15:12,17; Rom.12:10; 13:8; 1Thes.4:9; 1Jn.3:11,23; 4:7,11,12; 2Jn.1:5)
increase and abound in love for one another (1Thes.3:12; 2Thes.1:3)
love one another earnestly (1Pet.1:22)
keep loving one another earnestly (1Pet.4:8)
you are members of one another (Rom.12:5; Eph.4:25)
show honor to one another (Rom.12:10)
don’t judge one another (Rom.14:13)
don’t stumble one another (Rom.14:13)
don’t sue one another (1Cor.6:7)
don’t bite or devour one another (Gal.5:15)
don’t provoke one another (Gal.5:26)
don’t envy one another (Gal.5:26)
don’t lie to one another (Col.3:9)
don’t neglect to meet with each other (Heb.10:25)
don’t speak evil against one another (Jas.4:11)
don’t grumble against one another (Jas.5:9)
build up one another (Rom.14:19; 1Thes.5:11)
welcome one another (Rom.15:7)
greet one another (Rom.16:16; 1Cor.16:20; 2Cor.13:12; 1Pet.5:14)
show hospitality to one another (1Pet.4:9)
wait for one another (1Cor.11:33)
care for one another (1Cor.12:25)
comfort one another (2Cor.13:11)
agree with one another (2Cor.13:11)
instruct/teach one another (Rom.15:14; Col.3:16)
admonish one another (Col.3:16)
exhort one another (Heb.3:13)
encourage one another (1Thes.4:18; 5:11; Heb.10:25; Rom.1:12)
through love serve one another (Gal.5:13)
use gifts to serve one another (1Pet.4:10)
bear one another’s burdens (Gal.6:2)
bear with one another in love (Eph.4:2; Col.3:13)
be kind to one another (Eph.4:32)
forgive one another (Eph.4:32; Col.3:13)
address one another in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs (Eph.5:19)
submit to one another (Eph.5:21)
show humility toward one another (1Pet.5:5)
consider one another more important (Phil.2:3)
stir one another up to love and good works (Heb.10:24)
confess your sins to one another (Jas.5:16)
pray for one another (Jas.5:16)
do good to one another (1Thes.5:15)
glorify God together (Rom.15:6)
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2026.01.25 Sermon Notes
The Church and its Members (1 Corinthians 12)
Members of a church = parts of a body
Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:15-25; Romans 12:4-6
Each body part has a God-given function
1 Corinthians 12:12-20, 24-27
-What kinds of things do you think God has equipped you to do as a part of this body? _______________________
Living stones in a temple; a dwelling place for God
Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-5; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20
Born again into the family; siblings in a household
John 1:11-13; 3:7; 1 John 3:1-10; Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 6:10; 1 Timothy 3:15
One flock under the Good Shepherd
John 10:11-16; 1 Peter 2:25; 5:2-4
The bride of Christ
Mathew 9:15; John 2:4; 3:26-30; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:22-32; Revelation 19:7-8
Equipping saints for one-another ministry
Ephesians 4:11-16
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org