The Church as the Body
Text: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
This past Sunday, we continued our series at Frontier Church with a message from Pastor Travis on one of the most powerful pictures in Scripture: the church as the body of Christ.
The big idea was simple but profound: no one is just a spectator. God designed every person to serve, belong, and build up the body.
More Than Spectators
Pastor Travis opened with a story about his high school football team, one of the top in the state. Everyone knows the quarterback or the wide receiver who scores the touchdown. But what about the lineman who protects? Or the kicker no one notices until the game is on the line? The truth is, every role matters.
That’s what Paul is teaching in 1 Corinthians 12. Church isn’t a show or a Sunday program. It’s a living body, and if one part shuts down, the whole body suffers.
One Body in Christ
Paul writes: “For just as the body is one and has many members… so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (vv. 12–13).
The gospel unites us. Different stories, backgrounds, ages, and cultures—yet one Spirit. One baptism. One family.
Pastor Travis used the picture of bricks being stacked to build a house. A single brick doesn’t look like much. But when aligned and fitted together, those bricks become a strong foundation. In the same way, when believers come together in Christ, God builds something lasting and beautiful.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said: “Christian community means community through and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ.”
Every Member Matters
Paul goes on to say, “The body does not consist of one member but of many” (v. 14). Not everyone is an eye. Not everyone is a hand. And that’s the point. Diversity in the body is by design.
This speaks directly to a lie many believe: “I don’t matter here.” Maybe you don’t preach, sing, or teach kids. Maybe you serve quietly—setting up chairs, greeting at the door, or praying for others. Paul’s message is clear: you are just as essential.
Charles Spurgeon said it this way: “A church is not a collection of perfect people, but of people perfectly saved by Christ, and perfectly placed to serve Christ.”
We Suffer and Rejoice Together
Paul closes with this challenge: “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (v. 26). The church is a family, not a collection of isolated individuals. We are called to empathy, unity, and shared mission.
At Frontier, that means no one is optional. Every person is gifted. Every role matters. And when each of us steps into the place God has prepared for us, the whole church thrives.
Why? Because of Christ.
Why does this matter? Because Christ, the head of the body, gave Himself for us. He didn’t treat us as dispensable. He shed His blood to unite us as His body.
And that means the church is not about “what I get” but “how we grow together.”
A Call to Frontier
Frontier Church—you’re not here to spectate. You’re here to serve, belong, and build up the body. God has given you a unique place. Imagine what He could do if every one of us lived fully into that calling.
Will you step in and take your place?
This past Sunday, we continued our series at Frontier Church with a message from Pastor Travis on one of the most powerful pictures in Scripture: the church as the body of Christ.
The big idea was simple but profound: no one is just a spectator. God designed every person to serve, belong, and build up the body.
More Than Spectators
Pastor Travis opened with a story about his high school football team, one of the top in the state. Everyone knows the quarterback or the wide receiver who scores the touchdown. But what about the lineman who protects? Or the kicker no one notices until the game is on the line? The truth is, every role matters.
That’s what Paul is teaching in 1 Corinthians 12. Church isn’t a show or a Sunday program. It’s a living body, and if one part shuts down, the whole body suffers.
One Body in Christ
Paul writes: “For just as the body is one and has many members… so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (vv. 12–13).
The gospel unites us. Different stories, backgrounds, ages, and cultures—yet one Spirit. One baptism. One family.
Pastor Travis used the picture of bricks being stacked to build a house. A single brick doesn’t look like much. But when aligned and fitted together, those bricks become a strong foundation. In the same way, when believers come together in Christ, God builds something lasting and beautiful.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said: “Christian community means community through and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ.”
Every Member Matters
Paul goes on to say, “The body does not consist of one member but of many” (v. 14). Not everyone is an eye. Not everyone is a hand. And that’s the point. Diversity in the body is by design.
This speaks directly to a lie many believe: “I don’t matter here.” Maybe you don’t preach, sing, or teach kids. Maybe you serve quietly—setting up chairs, greeting at the door, or praying for others. Paul’s message is clear: you are just as essential.
Charles Spurgeon said it this way: “A church is not a collection of perfect people, but of people perfectly saved by Christ, and perfectly placed to serve Christ.”
We Suffer and Rejoice Together
Paul closes with this challenge: “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (v. 26). The church is a family, not a collection of isolated individuals. We are called to empathy, unity, and shared mission.
At Frontier, that means no one is optional. Every person is gifted. Every role matters. And when each of us steps into the place God has prepared for us, the whole church thrives.
Why? Because of Christ.
Why does this matter? Because Christ, the head of the body, gave Himself for us. He didn’t treat us as dispensable. He shed His blood to unite us as His body.
And that means the church is not about “what I get” but “how we grow together.”
A Call to Frontier
Frontier Church—you’re not here to spectate. You’re here to serve, belong, and build up the body. God has given you a unique place. Imagine what He could do if every one of us lived fully into that calling.
Will you step in and take your place?
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