Growing Together "As One" by Robert Ricciardelli

Growing Together "As One"

"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: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:11-13)

I want to talk on unity here. This scripture says “Till we all come in the unity of the faith”. If we're ever going to truly advance the kingdom of God, if we're ever going to transform our communities, cities and nations for Christ, we're going to have to grow up together “as one” Body of Christ.

It is not enough for some of us to come into relationship and further revelation in Jesus and not be concerned with the needed contribution of our brothers and sisters in the Lord. It has never and will never work that way. We're a part of each other. The Bible calls us to be one body...the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When one of us is prosperous in the kingdom, the whole body prospers. When one of us quits or is defeated, the whole body of Christ suffers. How can that be so, because we are one body and all one in Him. Well, how significant can my little ministry be? How can the small things I do make a difference. You may not even have a clue on how big a difference you can truly make.

Some women have on of the greatest ministries of all, to raise their children. What a tremendous ministry of birthing, and raising up the next generation of Christ’s Body upon the earth for His glory. If that is all the ministry God may call them too, praise God for their faithfulness in preparing the future Bride .

They are making a difference in the kingdom of God by fulfilling the role that the Lord has asked them to fulfill. Do they get world adulation in leading their children in the ways of their Savior? Certainly not, but she receives even greater adulation and comfort in pleasing Almighty God & Father who has given her a key place in His advancing kingdom.

Before I go on, I would also like to note that I could not fulfill all that the Lord has called me to do with out the bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh woman the Lord has blessed me with in Joyce. Joyce is an incredible woman of God and together we make a difference as we die to our ways and agenda’s to fulfill His ways and His agenda’s together “as one”

Have you ever tried to walk with a broken or sprained little toe. It truly is difficult to keep your balance and yet it is just such a small part of our body. Such is the significance with every believer. They can advance the kingdom of God by fulfilling their part of obedience to the word and will of God. Or they can sadly hinder the body by not fulfilling the word nor will of God for their life.

I am talking to all of us, I am encouraging all of us to seek after Him like never before in fulfilling all that the Lord has for us. You truly are significant in the kingdom of our Lord. If you are a mother, then you have the ability to multiply what the Lord has given you in your children and they will become multipliers in the harvest of souls for years to come. That is significant! If you work in healthcare, business, finance, education, etc. , you can be radical transformers to the glory of God.

Always remember, we're not islands unto ourselves. I can't do anything without affecting you. You can't do anything without affecting me. We're joined together by God and held together Him through one another (Eph. 4:16). We can only grow up...together!

Learn to walk in the love of Christ. Do not fall prey to division and isolation. Feed on the Word daily and encourage your brothers and sisters by feeding it to them too, so we can all grow up to be "a perfect [or mature] man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

And finally…… the Message says this so well….

1 Corinthians 12: 13-28
¹³By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain--his Spirit--where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves--labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free--are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.
¹⁴I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together.
¹⁵If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so?
¹⁶If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body?
¹⁷If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell?
¹⁸As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.
¹⁹But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster.
²⁰What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own.
²¹Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out"?
²²As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way--the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach.
²³When it's a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons.
²⁴If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?
²⁵The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't,
²⁶the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.
²⁷You are Christ's body--that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything.
²⁸You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body":

This includes you, wherever your ministry may be,
parents, family, healthcare, education, business, government, church organizations, missions, environment, law…. Do all as part of the whole of His Body, and do all to the glory of the One God & Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. "As One" beloved!