Ma gandesc...

about 2 things this morning.

1. That we absolutely MUST function within a body of Christ. And, we absolutely MUST allow the different parts to function as they were created.

2. From Philippians...For it is God who acts through you according to His will and purpose.

When I think about the Body of Christ I usually see it as whichever Christians I am with at the moment. So, here in Marghita, I am a part of the Body of Christ of the Christians here at FCE. But, I am also a part of the Body of Christ at my home church in the city. When I am in the States and at my 'home' churches there, I am a part of their Body of Christ. And, all together, all of these Bodies make up the larger Body of Christ.
What I hadn't considered, before this week, is that even within the smaller Bodies of Christ that I am a part of here in Romania - we could be missing parts. I just assumed that if there were a group of people loving Jesus somewhere then all the parts were represented in that Body - whether small or large. This week, though, I've come to reconsider this assumption of mine. I have a team of 16 here. They have 'parts' that we do not have on our team. I have experienced such a CHANGE in ministry this past week by having this team here. I'm not trying to raise them up personally for praise. What I'm saying is that they have parts of the Body of Christ - roles in the unity of the church - that have not been present on our long-term team here at FCE.
I know they are here to do ministry in town and with the kids but there has been just as equal of ministry towards me. They aren't trying to do that on purpose - they are just using their God given roles and it has been happening naturally.
I am in awe of how God works. In experiencing this for about a week I have come to consider some points in relation to this.

1. I cannot take over roles that are missing on my team.

2. I need to embrace the 'body part' that Christ has given me here at FCE and devote myself to that/those. (Although, I think that God can change these at times.)

3. That my role in the Body of Christ is VITAL to the functioning of the Body of Christ.

4. When the body parts start working together, you long for that to be all the time. You start understanding why God WANTS us to function within a Body of Christ.

1 Cor 12:12

Eph 4:11

Caleb just woke up - need to close this for now.