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Being the Body of Christ – our life together as a church
Emmanuel Church Discussion
SERMON - 10.15am, Emmanuel Church, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Sunday 21st may 2006
Revd. Matthew Vernon
What group of people best represents the church?
All pictures reflect aspects of the church – some being more relevant at different times. The Family was the most popular choice for representing the church.
Other insights included:
• ship's crew – people play different roles in the journey
• dancers – our worship does have "choreography"; liturgical dance can speak beyond words if its done well.
• medics – a healing community
• team – working together
• fleet of boats – we are moved by the Spirit and move together; hopefully not ships in the night that don't know each other!
• students – we're always learning and listening to the Word of God.
One group focused on the pictures representing a family and a party – noting that this image fits for people who had been coming to Emmanuel for a while. For newcomers being at church is a bit like being in an audience – even though worship is not a performance.
An additional image: ears – we are called to listen to the needs of others.
Which of these body parts represent your skills and gifts?
Each one of us could be represented by a different body part – we are gifted in different ways: for speaking; for Sunday School; for music etc…
We don't have to have children to "grow the congregation"! We can all invite other people to church.
It was agreed that we all brought gifts of our love for each other. Some of us were more active than others, but that does not matter, as there is no need for each of us to be equally skilful in everything.
We should use our talents otherwise they are wasted.
We could develop the music in terms of a choir or singing group.
Church tasks and what each one of us can contribute.
Often we see the gifts in others more readily than we do in ourselves. People often find it easier to accept an invitation to be involved than to initiate that themselves.
We need never be embarrassed about helping – members of the congregation will not (even cannot) criticise as they only see you trying to help.
Not every person can be comfortable with every task (e.g. intercessions). Similarly, volunteering to do a certain task can be daunting to begin with, but in time it can become easier and even enjoyable (!).
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