SABBATH

God's Gift to Us

Sermonette: Loyalty to the Body

How Much is the Church Worth?
#1341s

Given 17-Sep-16; 20 minutes

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description: What is the total value of all of creation? How could the Creator—worth infinitely more than all the phenomena we can possibly see or comprehend—divest Himself of all His power, becoming flesh and blood like us, laying down His life? Nothing in existence has the relative worth of the Being Who has called us. When we consider the value of our calling, we must look at Paul's warning about discerning the Body of Christ more soberly, maintaining our loyalty to the body of believers, future fellow-heirs Christ has called. We are admonished to keep, not create, the unity of the Spirit. Whatever we do to the 'least' in Christ's body, we do to Christ. In our culture of rugged individualism, we need to learn that what we do and say can have a positive or negative effect on others at different levels of spiritual maturity. Some things that we know to be entirely lawful may not be expedient or edifying. We must be ready to set our own interests aside for the good of the whole, practicing the same values as our Heavenly Father and Elder Brother, Jesus Christ.