12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Paul spent considerable time in Corinth around the year 50 AD.
- So many analogies: temple, field, athletes in a race, body.
Our life together is about experiencing God’s presence (being given the Spirit to drink)
- We’ve been given the Spirit to drink.
- The OT prophesied that the Spirit would be poured out.
- In Eph 5, Paul says don’t be drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit.
- On Pentecost, the disciples weren’t drunk…
- Jesus offers the Samaritan woman “living water” to drink.
- All pointing to this deep, powerful activity of God we call being baptized in the Spirit.
- Deeper awareness of Jesus Christ as Lord
- Conviction of sin
- Renewed desire for holiness, to evangelize, to serve the poor
- Equipping with gifts and anointing
- Call to love. Call to community.
The Spirit’s activity creates community. (The Spirit’s baptism formed one body)
- I really believe that’s the pattern we see in the New Testament.
- God’s purpose in redemption includes creating a people he can call his own.
- Events of Acts 2
- We know that the gifts of the Spirit are to build up the church.
- It reflects his nature. It’s who he is.
- Because of that, every Christian who ever lived is called to community.
- To me, no surprise that Charismatic Renewal produced communities.
- At the same time, this doesn’t mean community will just happen. Or go smoothly without a lot of work!
- The Corinthians struggled with unity.
- We have our struggles too.
We need to drink even more deeply of the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- We need fresh experiences of God to bring us to new levels of maturity.
If God has called us to this community, we need to embrace it.